"So" Alice broke the silence as both she and Tina continued their shopping, "Speaking of Kevin . ."

Tina looked at her friend through the corner of her eye as she carefully examined a bag of bananas.

"Have you heard from him or anything?" Alice continued after a beat of silence, "I know you still talk to his mom for Angie’s sake. Does she say anything?"

"No, nothing" Tina sighed as she placed the bag of bananas down only to grab a different one, "He doesn’t call, he doesn’t write. I don’t know if he even remembers that he has a daughter"

Alice placed a sympathetic hand on her friend’s arm and rubbed it lovingly, "I’m sorry"

"Don’t be" Tina smiled sadly as she juggled the bag of bananas in her hand, "I just really wish that things had turned out different with him, you know? I wanted Angie to learn about her father from personal experience and not from the stories I’m going to tell her"

Alice remained silent as Tina stared down at the bag of bananas in her hand, unsure of what to say. She took a step back to make way for a random customer who was trying to get by.

"Sometimes I feel like I failed her" Tina continued, her tone so sad that it broke Alice’s heart. "I feel like I was trusted with this one job, to keep our family together so that Angie could grow up with both parents and I couldn’t do it"

"Oh Tina" Alice pressed her lips together sadly, a lump forming in her throat. She grabbed her friend by the shoulder, turning her into a warm hug. "Don’t ever think that okay? Kevin was an asshole and you can’t blame yourself for that. It’s not your fault you hear me?"

All Tina could do was nod, clinging to Alice for dear life as she fought like mad to hold back her tears.

"You and Angie deserve so much better" Alice continued as she rubbed her friends back, "And I’m so glad that you found better"

"I don’t want you to think that I regret the way things turned out because I don’t" Tina burst out suddenly, her eyes burning with tears. "I love Bette so much. I’ve never been happier"