"I thought I expressed my views on having a baby prior to Megan telling me about her partner."
"Janet," Tina softly said her name.
"What?"
"Her partner's name was Janet."
"Whatever her name was," Bette began to explain herself in depth, once again, on her views about adding to their family. "She is not the reason that I do not want to have another child. She reinforced that obviously, but the fear of something happening to you was there before she even told me about her partner."
"So the entire reason you don't want a child is because of the fear something will happen to me?" Tina challenged.
"That's the biggest reason," Bette began to explain. "I've not wanted to pursue this because of the risks and potential outcomes for you and our child given your age."
"What if we didn't have to go through that?"
"What do you mean?" Bette asked worried about the direction the conversation was taking. "Will you bottom line for me what Megan has to do with us having another baby?"
"She has one," Tina said watching Bette's expression closely.
"Excuse me?"
"Megan has a child," Tina got up and handed Bette the file that had been sitting on her nightstand. "That is the complete story of Megan and her partner Janet. The baby, who is named Sarah, survived when Megan honored Janet's wish and chose the baby's life over Janet's."
Bette's shaking hands opened the file folder as her eyes began to skim the contents. Tina knelt back on the bed next to Bette, watching her eyes move quickly across the words in front of her and her reaction to those words.
"Sarah," Bette blinked back tears as she looked at the picture of Megan holding her child close to her chest. "I don't understand. How can she have a child and I've never seen her with one?"
"Megan's mother, who is ill, has been watching her so she can finish this show in honor of Janet."
"I knew she was personalizing the show even before she told me her story," Bette began to speak as if almost to herself. "But I had no idea the baby survived."
"She's beautiful."
"You've seen her?" Bette asked with a trace of anger in her voice.
"I held her."
"Tina," Bette quickly wiped a tear away before looking in Tina's direction. "What more is there?"
Tina swallowed the lump caught in her throat, afraid to tell Bette the certain future Megan had chosen and the desire for them to raise her baby.
"Babe," Tina took Bette's hand in her own and stroked it gently. "Megan is dying."
Bette's mouth fell open and her hands began to shake as she blinked back fresh tears.
"What?" Bette asked barely above a whisper.
"Megan has cancer," Tina used her other hand to flip to the page in the report detailing her medical condition. "She decided not to take treatment because her odds aren't strong that, even with treatment, she'll survive."
"That's absurd!" Bette's anger rang true in her voice. "She's not an 80 year old woman that's lived a full life!"
"She's made her choice Babe."
"Bullshit!" Bette got up off the bed and began to pace in anger. "She has a responsibility to that child, if nothing else, to turn over every rock and fight until she can't anymore. There are medical advances every day that can help her."
"You're preaching to the choir," Tina said as she watched Bette pace in front of her. "I told her all that."
"Well she'll hear it from me!"
"She doesn't want a lecture or your pity Babe."
"Well then what does Megan want?" Bette shot back.
"For us to raise Sarah," Tina said calmly.
She knew Bette had heard her clearly when she stopped pacing and stood staring into Tina's face with anger in her eyes. She shook her head and took a moment to comprehend what Tina had just shared with her.
"She wants us to raise Sarah?" Bette asked in order to gain some clarification.
"She wants her child to be raised by a lesbian couple that best represents what her mothers were when they were alive."
"We hardly know this woman! I slept with her years ago to get a show and now I'm working on a show with her to save my gallery. I hardly think we qualify as friends and someone you would ask to raise your child."
"She has nobody else."
"So we're the logical choice?" Bette asked sarcastically. "And of course this solves your issue because you get another child."
"I'm not that selfish Bette," Tina began to get upset. "We were still debating whether to have one or not when I found all this out and had a conversation about it with her."
"This takes the risk to you and our child out," Bette began to rationalize Tina's thinking to her. "So you thought I would just jump on us adopting Megan's baby once she allows herself to die?"
"She's made her mind up about her health."
"Like hell she has," Bette began to search for clothes to change into. "I haven't talked to her yet and obviously you haven't pointed out the selfish behavior she's clinging to by refusing treatment."
"She has a 20% chance to live even with treatment Bette!"
"And that little girl deserves that 20% to be fought for," Bette slipped her shoes on. "If she thinks we're close enough to ask me to raise her child, than she better know that we're close enough that she's going to listen to reason."
"She just got Sarah to bed," Tina followed Bette out of the bedroom and down the hall. "Running over there to disturb her isn't going to help the situation any."
"Her fight for that 20% starts now Tina," Bette squared off with her wife. "If I ever were to agree to take this child and raise her, and I have not agreed to that yet, it would be because she fought the fight of her life and it wasn't meant to be. Not because Megan gave up on herself and that little girl!"
Bette walked out of the house leaving a stunned Tina standing in the dark living room alone. Angelica, quietly listening to the raised voices from the comfort of her bedroom, tried to comprehend what she had overheard.
"My mom wants to adopt a baby?" Angelica muttered quietly to herself
She looked over at the clock and saw she had limited time to stage her dress and shoes in her closet to make changing for the dance easier given she had to also sneak out. She had packed a bag for the hotel, including her bikini, because Darren said there would be a hot tub for everyone to use.
Angelica pushed down the guilty feeling that resided in her stomach as she pushed clothes aside in the closet to make room for her formal dress. She was happy she had the sense to purchase it before she had been caught drinking, because she hadn't been out of Tina or Bette's sight since.
The gown was red, and although she struggled, she also managed to swipe red 3-inch heels from Bette's closet that matched the fabric of the dress perfectly. The dress had a lower neckline revealing a fair amount of cleavage. Angelica knew it wouldn't be a dress that her mothers would approve of, yet when she tried it on, she couldn't help but to purchase it with the credit card that Bette had given her to use only in an emergency.
The dress hung on the hanger by the thin spaghetti straps and as Angelica looked at it, she had to admit she was very excited to go to her first dance. It was surely to be special, given how much her and Darren cared for one another.
Angelica sat back down on her bed and thought about the words that echoed in her mind about Tina wanting to adopt a child. She knew her mothers weren't likely to notice her being gone, given the argument she had heard.
"I'll have to deal with the baby thing after the dance," Angelica thought. "Once I go to the dance and sneak back in tomorrow morning, I'll make sure I tell them I don't want a sibling."
Angelica grabbed her cell phone and turned it on, waiting for the phone to come alive.
