“Good….I’ll call her later.”

Angie started to put her earplugs in her ear to listen to her music. “Um…honey, before you do that, I thought maybe you might like to talk about how you are feeling about the appointment with Cindy.”

“Aren’t we suppose to talk about how we are feeling once we get there?”

Angie’s remark was bold, but quite accurate. I guess I didn’t give her enough credit for understanding the concept of therapy.

*********************
THERAPIST’S OFFICE

When we entered the office, Cindy shook my hand and immediately offered a warm smile and handshake to Angelica as well.

“I have heard a lot of pleasant things about you Angelica.”

Angie made herself comfortable in the seat, offering only a simple smile to Cindy.

Following about 15 minutes of some small talk, learning some of Angie’s interests in school, hobbies, and such, Cindy had started to touch base on parenting. She delicately talked about lesbian parents, touching only on the surface, and offering only enough that she felt Angie would need at this young age. I was so proud of Angie. She was certainly quite shy, and I reassured her often she could say whatever she wanted, but what I found was she had begun to find an ease in the innocence she possessed, and started to become a chatty Cathy. The conversation took a smooth turn to the papers that Angelica had found. The timing was perfect, for Cindy had been able to bring Angelica to that place where ‘loose lips’ were prevailing.

“How did you feel when you found them?”

I looked down at Angie, offering another reassuring nod.

“I don’t know. I was just curious,” Angie offered, a bit more reserved than she had been before.

“That’s understandable. You must have wondered a lot about your Mother.”

“I guess.”

I was worrying that Angie was turning the longer sentences she was providing earlier into only a few words, therefore possibly shutting down.

“Did you ever ask about her?”

Angie looked over at me before answering. “Yes. Mom said that Momma T had died when I was too young to know, or understand.”

“Well, I guess that’s still very true right? There wasn’t any deceit there right?”

“She told me that she died awhile after I was born.”

Angie was right, and the words pierced my heart. Those were the words I used in hopes to protect her innocent heart from taking on any responsibility in Tina’s death. It was wrong to lie to her, but I found out of the two options I had, to lie or be truthful, that the truth would only hurt her to a point which I thought could be beyond repair.

“I imagine that when you found the death certificate, that you had questions.”

“Yes, I did. I didn’t know what the big words meant. But I’m not dumb, I knew my mother died the same day of my birthday.”

“You understand that you have no responsibility in that right?”

Angie ignored Cindy.

“Angie, sometimes things just happen in life. We don’t know why. We cannot explain them. Sometimes we are disappointed, we cry, we find that things happen which are beyond our control. Most times, they occur with little contribution for us.”

Angie listened intently as Cindy spent time conveying that Tina’s death, was not a responsibility that she bore. The interaction between the two, as well as the few questions directed towards me, allowed for what I felt to be, some impressive interaction and positive communication.

“I still kind of feel like if I were not born, then she wouldn’t have died.” Angie pushed her hands under her legs which she had begun to swing under the chair.

*************
MEANWHILE

Fran looked at her watch. She was stuck in a traffic jam on her way home, and felt a bit edgy, wanting desperately to talk to Bette to find out how things went. However, she knew it was also too early, and they were still going to be in their session. Thoughts of Saturday evening filled her mind. She wondered if she should be letting herself get as excited as she was, for even if Bette’s intent was to take this in a more intimate direction, it didn’t mean that she would be able to go through with it, especially with the possibility of pictures of Tina adorning her bedroom. She wanted so much, the freedom to look forward to Saturday with a hope that wouldn’t deteriorate quickly to disappointment. As the traffic congestion started to break, she decided to hit the grocery store before heading home. Upon entering the store and grabbing a hand basket, she headed to the produce department, her eyes still quite cognizant of the watch on her wrist. Like a watched pot never boils, she knew quite well that obsessing with her watch, was not going to allow for the time to pass any quicker. She was startled upon hearing her name.

“Fran?”

Fran turned to find Alice selecting some broccoli. “Alice! Hi, how are you?”

“Good, real good,” Alice replied, scanning the basket to see if it appeared to be a dinner for two. “Bette really likes Chicken Picatta.”

Fran looked down at her basket. “Oh…I’m just getting some things for salad’s this week.”

“Oh, right. Yeah. I’m sorry, that was a little forward.”

“Please, don’t apologize. So, tell me Alice, when can I expect to see our interview in print?”

“If Jacob ever shit’s or gets off the pot. He has had it in his hands to be proofread for some time, and it doesn’t look like has made any movement.”

“That’s too bad, I was hoping to see something soon.”

“I’ll get on him again about it, and then I’ll email you if it’s okay?”

“Of course it is.”

Alice reached for a piece of eggplant and turned it around, pretending to find a good one. “So Fran……I bumped into Bette this morning.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. She seems pretty happy. I think she’s quite taken with you.”

Fran couldn’t help by smile. “Really? Well, I’m happy to hear that. I’m sensing she is allowing herself to trust me more and more, and that alone pleases me so much. She’s a beautiful woman Alice, and I don’t simply mean what is so obvious on the outside. It is her integrity. The things she believes in. How she loves hard and honorably. Her perseverance. Her intelligence. The passion she has to defend that which she believes strongly in. The willingness to not just settle for taking the path of least resistance.”

As Fran pointed out all the marvelous qualities she found in Bette, Alice could not help but smile. She felt fulfilled at the thought of Bette finally turning herself over to another woman again, and this woman by far was the greatest thing that could ever grace her life.