"Hello Bette....Tina, come on in," Helena said as she opened the door wider to allow the two woman to walk past her into the enormous livingroom. "Everyone’s already here, there’s wine and other choices over there on the side board, and plenty of appetizers as well, so please help yourselves."

On the outside Helena was in perfect hostess mode, but inwardly she was more than a little relieved that her friends had actually shown up for this little impromptu gathering. After all, the last time she had attempted to have a dinner party, none of the women, who at that time had been just Tina’s friends, had bothered to show up, or called to cancel, leaving her with hundreds of dollars worth of uneaten shushi.

Bette and Tina wandered into the livingroom, greeting their friends. Everyone was there except Kit, who was once again stuck at The Planet.

"Dinner will be ready in about forty-five minutes, so until then I thought you all might like to have a little fun and have your tarot cards read." Helena pointed to a woman with long brown hair, sitting off to the side with a small table in front of her.

"I always enjoy my sessions with Rose, so I thought you all might be entertained by the prospect as well."

The women all silently looked at each other, not sure if after this last year and all that had happened, if they really wanted to know about their futures. Helena looked around at the worried looks and immediately felt embarrassed for inviting Rose into this close knit group.

Tina saw the look on Helena’s face, and didn’t want her to feel bad for doing something she meant to be fun. "I think it sounds interesting!" She put a big smile on her face, and walked over to the table. Sitting down she held out her hand. "Hi, I’m Tina."

After introducing herself, Rose got down to work, looking very serious as she laid the cards on the table.

"Hmmm...see this? This is your money card. It tells me that this next year is going to be very profitable for you."

"Well, I like the sound of that!" Tina smiled, and looked over at a once again relieved Helena, giving her a wink.

Bette stood silently next to Alice, sipping on her wine, with her other arm across her chest. She didn’t believe for one minute that some stranger could shuffle a deck of cards, look at them and instantly know what your future was going to be. She thought the whole thing was just another scheme to talk people out of their money with the pretense of bringing them some kind of insider knowledge.

There was silence from the table as Rose sat staring at the cards. "Hmmmm...I’m not sure what this means, but see this card? It is your heart card, and it is telling me that soon you will find out that all is not as it seems."

"What do you mean not as it seems?" Tina asked with a little worry in her voice.

"Well, I’m not sure. I don’t think it is you. I think it is someone close to you, and that they will be going through some big changes....changes that could seriously effect your relationship with them." She stopped and stared at the cards, willing them to give up more information for her to pass on. "I’m sorry, that’s all I can tell you."

Tina also stared at the cards, and then looked over her shoulder at Bette. "Does it say who?"

"No, I’m sorry, they just show that it is someone close to you...someone close to your heart."

Helena groaned inside, knowing that her good intentions had just caused Tina a whole lot of worry over what was probably nothing. After all, everyone knew how much in love Bette was with Tina, and how grateful the two women were to be together again after the whole Henry fiasco.

Bette on the other hand saw the instant frown on Tina’s face...saw her forehead furrow, and immediately walked over to her, gently laying her hand on her shoulder. Leaning down, she whispered into her ear. "It’s a tarot card baby. This is not our truth. I love you with my entire being. Please don’t worry."

Reaching up, Tina squeezed the hand on her shoulder, smiling up at her partner with a look of gratitude. "I love you too," She whispered back.

"Come on," Bette took hold of Tina’s hand, and gently pulled her out of the chair. "How bout you go talk to Alice and let me take my turn." Bette gave Tina a kiss on the cheek and sat down in the chair, giving Rose a ‘don’t even think of trying to pull something with me’ look.

Rose on the other hand had seen many people like Bette, always so skeptical...that is until her readings came true, and then they would come running back to her with their wallets out begging for another reading. She smiled at the brunette, ignoring the dark eyes that were boring holes in her.

Calmly, she shuffled the cards, and just as calmly placed them on the table one by one, all the while holding Bette’s stare, but with a look of serenity on her face.

Once the cards were all in order, she finally broke contact with the Bette, and stared at the cards, trying to clear her mind of the negativity coming off of the woman sitting across from her.

Watching the two woman, Helena whispered to Tina, "maybe this wasn’t such a good idea."

Trying to reassure her friend, Tina put her arm around her waist. "No, it’s interesting." Raising her eyebrows, she smiled. "Let’s see what Bette’s reaction is to whatever it is she is going to hear."

Helena chuckled and looked back at the table, almost feeling the battle of wills that was taking place.

"Well, let’s see...you also have a money card, so it looks like your future will be quite profitable as well."

Bette just silently nodded her head, knowing the woman had to say that because she knew that she and Tina were partners.

"And....oh...hmmmm...dear me. Ah, well this is your romance card, and...well...hum...it says that there will be a man in your future."