“I only gave her a little bit” Alice tried to push Angie’s hands away from her ice cream.

“I told her not to do it Tina” Dana looked at her menu for something to cover her face from Alice and Tina.

Phyllis adjourned the weekly staff meeting and Bette let out a sigh of relief.  She smiled as she was about to walk out the door.

“Bette” Phyllis called out from behind her “do you have a second?”

“Sure” Bette plastered on a smile and turned around to face her boss “what can I do for you Phyllis?”

“I was wondering” Phyllis looked around to make sure no one else was in the room “I’m having problems with Molly, or she seems to be having a hard time accepting that I’m gay.”

“Um” the wheels in Bette’s head were working over time to think of some kind of excuse out of this situation “I don’t think that I’m the best”

“Of course you are” Phyllis interrupted Bette before she could finish “you have a daughter of your own you know what I’m going through.”

“Phyllis, Angie was born in a same sex union that hardly qualifies me as an advisor for your situation.”  Bette firmly stated, a little offended that Phyllis could easily ignore her relationship with Tina.  “Besides, isn’t Molly in college or about to graduate from college?”

“Yes, she’s a senior right now but it’s really important to me that she accepts me for who I am.”

“Phyllis, Molly has to come to terms with your sexuality on her own.  You can’t force this issue on her.”  Bette said impatiently.

“I know you’re right, it’s just” Phyllis exhaled sharply and began to pace around the large table “her opinion is so important to me.”

“If you’d kept up with that” Bette looked at her carefully “you may never have come out of the closet Phyllis.” she placed her briefcase then closed the door “Since I been out my father never truly accepted me until he was on his deathbed, and as the saying goes I was truly grateful for his approval of Tina in my life, even when she and I weren’t together at the time.  Just like you had to come to terms with your sexuality, families require the same process in order to do the same.  Sometimes they take longer but you need to give them that time.”