Tina nodded in understanding.

“Maybe I should just get a red Sharpie and print the letter ‘A’ on my forehead.”  As soon as it was said, Bette and Tina looked at each other uncomfortably, both bowing their heads to ignore the obvious. ***** was not the A-word that came to either woman’s mind, but Adulterer did.

Fumbling for the right words to say, Bette looked at Tina and mumbled, “Jesus, Tina.  What did I do to us?”

“Bette, I’m not saying that I’ll ever forget about what happened, but I’m ready to forgive.  I need and want to forgive you.  It’s going to be an ongoing process.  Our problems resulted in you reaching out to someone else, but she wasn’t the cause.”

Bette started to interrupt, but Tina continued on, “And I thought about what you told me the other night; how you thought you might have had a nervous breakdown, that you weren’t yourself.  I believe that, Bette.  That affair just isn’t you.  It isn’t in your nature.”

Bette grimaced and massaged her forehead.  She turned away to stare at the door leading to the kitchen.  Looking off, she shook her head and Tina watched as Bette’s lips trembled.  Needing to comfort her, Tina reached out, grasping Bette’s forearm.  She slid her fingers up and down her arm until Bette finally turned back to face her.  Bette’s shrug never went beyond her eyes and lips to her shoulders.  Her eyes had always been expressive and to Tina’s experienced observation, she knew that Bette was holding back something that she didn’t particularly want to share.

“It’s not my nature?  Isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”  Tina wondered if there had been other affairs during their seven years together.  She had missed the signs of this one, would she have picked up on others?

Whispering, Bette began to tell her dirty little secret.  “I know I’m so much like my father.  We talked about it in therapy and that’s something I will work on.  He is not the person I want to use as the template for living my life.  What I haven’t told Suzanne, what I haven’t told anyone is that I’m not just his daughter.  I’m my mother’s daughter, Tina.  I’m the daughter of a woman who had an affair, cheated on my father, left Daddy, moved to Boston and began a new life with her new man.”  Bette began to weep.