Bette, Shane and Dana sat stuck in a huge traffic jam heading out of Los Angeles. Shane's cell phone began to ring. Opening the phone she sees that it is Alice calling. "Hey Al is everything still O.K. with Tina and the baby?" said Shane tentatively. "They have taken her back and are going to do a c-section" replied Alice. Shane relayed the information to Bette and Dana. "Shane is Bette o.k.?" asked Alice quietly. "As well as can be expected I guess" replied Shane. "O.K. tell her that they tried to stop Tina's labor but suddenly the baby's heart rate slowed down and they had to go ahead and take the baby" said Alice. "They said that barring any complications Tina should be in recovery in about 30 minutes or so" added Alice. "What about the baby Al?" asked Shane. "We can only hope for the best" replied Alice. "How long before you guys get here?" said Alice. "Right now we are sitting still in traffic and Bette is ready to get out and walk to San Diego," said Shane quietly. "I hope that we will be there in the next couple of hours, but we will have to see. This traffic is horrible today" said Shane. "I'll call you as soon as I find out anything else" replied Alice. Bette had been listening intently to the phone call but seemed at a loss for what to say. "Bette I'm sure everything will be o.k." said Shane as she gently touched Bette's shoulder.
Bette looked straight ahead and said "What if it isn't Shane? What if I loose Tina or the baby? Don't you see that I can't imagine what my life would be like if something happened to Tina. I understand that everyone thinks that I am terrible for what I did, but it wasn't that I stopped loving Tina I stopped loving myself. Somewhere along the way I forgot how to support our relationship. I didn't blame her for the miscarriage, but I never bothered to tell her that. I shut down emotionally. Candace made me feel like I mattered. Like somehow regardless of how I felt about myself, she didn't care she had no expectations. With Tina I could see the disappointment in her eyes every time she looked at me." Shane surprised herself and said "What the hell do you think Tina was feeling? Whether or not you blamed her for loosing the baby, she blamed herself. Look Bette, I'm sorry but you have to realize that you both lost each other but you were the one that went to someone else." "Shane that's enough" said Dana. "I think Bette understands what the ramifications are from what happened" said Dana.
Shane's phone began to ring again and Bette hurriedly turned around in her seat to gaze back at Shane. "Hey Al what's going on now?" asked Shane. "Tell Bette that she has a healthy baby girl" said Alice happily. "How is Tina?" said Shane. "The doctor said that she is doing o.k. but that she was going to be in recovery for a while. She has gestational diabetes and her sugar levels had gotten way out of control. They said that she is really out of it right now but that she should be fine. Have you guys made any progress at all?" asked Alice. Again Shane relayed the information to Bette and Dana. "We have moved a few miles so it looks like the traffic is letting up a little" said Shane. "I'll call you back when we get closer to the hospital" said Shane. Dana looked over at Bette and gently squeezed her hand. "How does it feel to be a mom?" she said quietly. Bette felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. Smiling she replied "It feels amazing."
They finally cleared the traffic snarl and continued the trip in silence. Dana knew that Shane had only said to Bette the things that they all had wanted to but also knew that Shane had been lost and hurt when Tina had left Bette. Shane looked up to Tina almost as though she were an older sister while she thought of Bette as more of a mother figure. This group of friends had provided Shane with the only real family structure that she had ever known and all of this had taken a toll on Shane whether or not she would admit it. Dana too longed for the normalcy of the gang missing all of their fun adventures.
She never liked to take sides but she found herself relating more to Tina than Bette after their breakup. She too thought that Bette had made a terrible mistake and had often wondered if she were Tina if she would be able to ever forgive that sort of transgression. Granted the love between the two was genuine but would they ever be able to get over the affair she wondered.
"Al we are driving into the hospital parking deck now. Is everything still o.k.?" asked Shane. "Things are fine" replied Alice. "I'll come downstairs and meet you guys." As Dana parked the car Bette was becoming extremely nervous. Her palms were sweating and she was beginning to feel nauseated. What was Tina going to do when she realized that she was there? What she did know was that at that very second she vowed that she would do whatever it took to bring her family back together.
TBC?
