Now, Bette felt like Tina was in the midst of some sort of revisionist history.  Bette had changed so much of her life to accommodate Tina and those actions had never been acknowledged. 

“I should have stopped it back then.  I should have said we should share in the shopping; we should pay bills together, my idea for the weekend should be considered, too.  It wasn’t like that.  Bette was the one with the cultural expertise and I always deferred to her, always indulged her.  I should have at least demanded equal time for support and tenderness.  I just gave in, became her yes-woman, made sure she was happy.”

Bette’s eyes narrowed in anger. 

“You had other things to offer.  I don’t feel it now, but I’d like to believe that I was more than just Jenny’s patron who made sure she had food, a place to sleep, clean clothes, and all that while she created.  But now, that’s how I feel—like the ***** taking care of the starving artist.”

“Tim, don’t think I’m putting all of this on Bette, I’m not.  In a way, I can understand why she did what she did.  She must have found me boring.  I think three years ago, things started going downhill, but we both tried to say that it was normal.  Bette was bored.  I was bored.  Then, two years ago, we decided that what we really needed was a baby.  We spent the last two years talking about that.  Should we, shouldn’t we, tying up things at work so I could quit, preparing for the insemination, finding a donor, issues around the donor, getting pregnant and the changes in my body, and then, losing the baby.  You know, all of our friends had told us we were boring, but I think it was me.  Bette just traveled on that path with me, but I was the boring one and she couldn’t take it anymore.”

Bette shook her head.

“If that’s true and Tina, I gotta say, I don’t think it is, it’s no excuse for what she did.  Bette should have talked to you.  If she had been unsure about anything, bored, or whatever, she should have said it.  Sneaking around behind your back, making you a laughingstock, that’s just so fucked up.”