Meanwhile, at the Planet…

Alice hung up her phone and slammed it on the table… “Damn Porter, she screened my call.”

“Al how many times do we have to go over this?  She’ll be here.”  Dana stated, slightly annoyed with her spouse...

“I just don’t see why she can’t ever seem to make it on time.”

“Al, you have known Bette for over 20 years, we have been having brunch every Sunday for nearly 20 years, how many times has she actually been on time?”

“Yea, I know, I just wish one of these days she will surprise me…ya know?  Plus, we haven’t seen much of her this weekend.  I thought for sure we would have some sort of welcome home BBQ for Chrissy last night but she never called.  I tried calling her last night but she never answered her phone and…”

“Don’t worry Al, she’ll be here.”  Shane interrupted, trying to stop Alice with her ramblings.

“And… Alice continued, clearly Shane had not gotten through to her… she is serious about this dating thing.  On Friday night she was telling me about how she is having such a hard time finding a decent woman to date.  So, I have taken it upon myself to help her find a date.  I have a few candidates in mind.  I think she is going to be impressed with her prospects.”

“Alice, maybe you should just let Bette handle this on her own.  You know how she can get.”  Shane said, trying to sway Alice before she stuck her nose in Bette’s business. 

Kit understood what Shane was saying and offered her own input, “You know Alice, I think we should just leave my baby sis alone, you know what I am saying?  She’ll find someone, it just has to be on her own time.”

“Oh come on guys, she is the one who came to me and told me how shitty the dating prospects are, I am simply going to give her a push in the right direction.  Why is that so bad?”  Alice said, defending her position.

“Honey, how about we just wait until Bette gets here, maybe feel it out a bit, and if she sounds like she wants us to help her find someone, then maybe we can give her a few names.  What do you think?” 

Defeated, Alice responded, “Fine fine…geez guys, do you always have to gang up on me?  I am just trying to help Bette… Alice’s attention was quickly changed to the beautiful redhead she saw sitting alone at a table on the other side of the café… Look Jane, fresh meat… Alice said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. 

Shane took interest in Alice’s new topic of conversation… “Oh…new blood.”

Dana looked to where Alice was pointing, “Crispay…”

“Dane, it wasn’t funny the first 100 times you said it, what makes you think it is going to be funny this time?” 

Dana frowned and Shane started to laugh silently…“I don’t know Al, I think she is getting to me.”

Dana turned to Shane, “Thank you Shane, that is so nice of you to say.”

“Ok, whatever guys…Turning back to Jane… So what do you think?  She’s hot right?”

“Yea, she looks hot but…I don’t know Alice.  I have the worst luck with women.” Jane answered, sounding somewhat defeated.

“You’ll never know if you never try…”

“You know what will happen if I try…I will get all interested, we will date, things will be going on well, and then all of a sudden, the shit hits the fan and the relationship is over in an instant.  I just don’t think I can handle another explosion right now.”

“You know what?  I think there really is a curse or something on that house…you and Bette both have pathetic love lives…maybe you should consider moving out.”  Alice said, clearly convinced that there was validity to her theory.

Luckily for Jane, at that moment, the front door opened revealing Chrissy holding the hand of another young girl. 

Jane wanted to change Alice’s attention from the beautiful woman, to something something safer, so seeing Chrissy was like a dream cone true.  She yelled, “Hey Chrissy!”

Chrissy looked at Lizzy and smiled, then she turned her attention to her aunts…“Hey Jane…everyone.”

“Hey, who’s your friend?”  Alice asked

“Oh…this is Lizzy.”

“Oh the famous Lizzy from camp?”  Shane inquired

Chrissy grinned… “The one and only…”

The conversation was interrupted by the unnoticed Bette… “Ladies…let me introduce you to the niece you never knew you had…” Bette said, grinning, it was easy to see that all of the girls were confused…

Alice, being Alice piped in, “Our other niece?  God Porter, what did you do? Give birth to twins and then hide her in the basement for the past 10 years?...I mean, God, she does look a hell of a lot like Chrissy and consequently you…but I am pretty sure that you did not have two of them....”

Bette continued to grin…without answering Alice, she placed her hands on Lizzy’s shoulders… “This is Elizabeth Kennard…” Bette said, smiling broadly. 

There were various responses from the girls…

“Kennard?”  “Huh?”  “Say what?”  “Seriously?”  There was obvious confusion from all of the girls at the table. 

…Yet, Alice continued on her tirade without missing a step…

 “Ok Porter, you are so full of shit… turning her attention to Lizzy and Chrissy… Pardon my French girls…”

Lizzy laughed – she felt oddly comfortable talking with these strangers… “No worries but you know, she is not mistaken…My name really is Elizabeth Kennard…although everyone just calls me Lizzy.”

For the first time since the girls made their appearance in the Planet, Alice seemed slightly stumped… “Huh?”

It took all of Tina’s self-control to not burst into laughter…she had easily hidden herself from the girls by standing directly behind Bette and their daughters.  Her nerves quickly settled, and she felt confident in making herself known.  She slowly emerged from her place of refuge putting on her best brave face, taking Lizzy’s other hand in her own…

“Hey guys” She smiled sheepishly… “How’s it going?”

 There was absolute silence.  Bette, Tina, Chrissy, and Lizzy stood, smiling in silence.  All of them were unaware how the girls would take these sudden revelations. 

As the girls turned their attention from Lizzy to Tina, you could practically hear their jaws drop onto the table top when they realized that they were actually seeing Tina before them. 

After being momentarily stunned, Alice quickly regained some semblance of her wits… “No fucking way…”

Bette snapped quickly into mom mode… “Alice...Language…”

Alice stared at Tina, smiling.  Without turning her attention to Bette, she spoke…“Oh, come on Porter, you know it was an appropriate reaction.”

Shane smiled.  She couldn’t believe her eyes…“Oh come on Bette, you know she’s right…I can already tell this is going to be one fucking good story.”

She quickly got to her feet and made her way over to the Kennard-Porter clan. 

Focusing her attention on Tina, she smiled… “Welcome home Kennard.” She pulled Tina into a tight embrace. 

Tina was overwhelmed by the warmth expressed by Shane’s loving gesture.  Through tears of joy, she replied, “It’s great to be here!”

They released from their hug and Tina turned her attention to Lizzy, Shane followed Tina’s actions… “Shane, I’d like to introduce you to my daughter…this is your niece Lizzy.”

Lizzy apprehensively held her hand out to Shane but was rather surprised when Shane quickly moved past her hand and pulled her into a tight embrace, much like the one she had given her mother moments earlier. 

After the others watched these heart- felt exchanges, between Shane and the Kennards, they were shaken from their states of shock by the realization that they were in fact looking at Tina for the first time in over a decade. 

Once this initial shock wore off, it was like a free for all as all the girls scrambled to hug Tina and introduce themselves to Lizzy. 

Kit was up first, with tears in her eyes, she approached Tina “Oh baby girl, I can’t believe you’re here.”

“Me neither Kit.”

After their hug, Tina turned to introduce her to Lizzy, who was standing there shell shocked… “You’re Kit Porter aren’t you?”

Tina smiled… “Kit, Lizzy is one of your biggest fans”

Kit laughed through her tears “Is that so?  We we’re going to have to talk because I hear you are one hell of a singer!”

Lizzy laughed at how comfortable Kit made her feel… “Yea, thanks, that’d be great.”

“But until then, come give your aunt a hug.”  With that, Kit pulled Lizzy into a hug.

Next up was Dana… “Tina, I can’t believe it’s really you.”

Tina giggled… “It’s really me… turning to Lizzy…. Lizzy honey, this is Dana Fairbanks…”

A huge grin shot to Lizzy’s face… “Chrissy never told me her aunt Dana is Dana Fairbanks…me and mom are your biggest fans.  We used to watch you play all the time and we also saw you play in the U.S. Open, you were brilliant…We also have been fans of your breast cancer foundation…we always gave good donations…now I realize why they were anonymous… Lizzy shot a look at Tina who smiled sheepishly…