One.

"And you intend to carry on this," Melvin Porter searches for the right word, suddenly spitting it out as if the mere notion were vile to him, "relationship out in public?"

"Daddy," Bette starts patiently. She doesn't get the chance to finish.

"I intend," Tina jumps in carefully, "to love your daughter, Mr. Porter. And I intend on doing that with the best of my ability for as long as she'll let me."

Melvin's facial expression betrays no emotion, and Tina can feel Bette's long fingers curl around her own under the table. They're uncharacteristically damp with sweat, a testament to how badly Bette had wanted the first meeting of the two most important people in her life to go well. A few excruciating seconds pass before Melvin finally nods, a hint of something in his eyes that Tina can't quite place.

"Very well, Ms. Kennard. Now, let's order, shall we?"

His tone leaves no room for argument, and both women let the subject drop.

Melvin's discomfort is still palpable even years later, but when he puts his own misgivings aside to proudly give Bette away at their wedding, Tina feels a grudging respect for the man.

Later in the day, she manages to sneak away from the festivities long enough to catch him alone for a few moments.

Melvin watches carefully as she walks toward him, and then nods politely.

"Ms. Kennard."

"Hi, Melvin."

They stand in silence for a minute or so before Tina speaks.

"I just wanted to thank you."

He doesn't pretend that he doesn't know what she means by that. He clears his throat and to her surprise, actually gives her a half-smile.

"You're not the only one who loves my daughter, Tina."

She smiles.

Two

When their baby girl is delivered stillborn, neither one of them knows if their fragile relationship is strong enough to absorb the blow. They grieve together and support each other and talk more often and more freely than they had in years.

Most importantly, they come to a painful decision together.

There's a tremendous backlash from their group of friends when Bette sells their beautiful house and spearheads the opening of a brand new gallery in New York. Tina takes on volunteer project after volunteer project, bouncing from continent to continent.

Almost three years to the day after they both left LA, Alice happens to look up while sitting at the same old table in The Planet. She rubs at her eyes and then elbows Shane in the side, gesturing wildly to the counter where Bette's ordering coffee as if it's the most normal thing in the world.

Coffee in hand, the tall brunette turns and notices them, giving a small wave as she walks toward the table with a warm grin.

"Hey, guys."

"How the hell have you been, Porter?" Alice beams widely, standing up and enveloping the other woman into a huge hug. Shane, ever the less demonstrative one, just grins up at the tall brunette from her chair.

"Hey, Bette."

Bette can't even get a word in edgewise before Alice continues, "This is insane, you'll never guess who else just walked in here a half hour ago. I mean, it's been three fucking years and all of a sudden..."

Bette sets her coffee cup on the table and walks away while Alice is still speaking, her eyes trained on the flash of blonde hair she caught out of the corner of her eye.

A few moments later Tina appears in front of her, hazel eyes contrite.

"Sorry…bathroom."

But Bette just smiles.

"You came," she says simply, a hint of disbelief in her voice.

Tina leans in for a kiss.

"So did you."

Three.

Tina feels like the world's biggest asshole.

She and Bette are trying this time, they really are. They go to counseling and they have incredibly mind-blowing sex, and they co-parent Angelica exceptionally well.

This time around though, Bette's a little softer around the edges and Tina's a little more hardened and sometimes they still have a bit of a problem understanding each other's point of view. More frustratingly, they still argue about the same old things.

At times, it's too hard and it requires too much effort and Tina longs for something easy.

So when she's in Seattle for the night after a long day of discussing scripts and budgets, she ends up at the first lesbian club she could find. The woman next to her at the bar flirts and she flirts back, and before long she agrees to dance, Bette's face flashing guiltily through her mind.

Green Eyes, as Tina has mentally labeled the woman in front of her, is an impressive dancer. She presses her body close to Tina's, her hands on Tina's waist as they move together seamlessly. One thing leads to another and the woman eventually leans close to Tina's ear, whispering an invitation to go someplace more private.

She never learns the woman's actual name, and maybe it's better that way because then she can pretend it never happened. She's not sure why it does, exactly, because if there's one certainty in her life right now, it's her love for Bette and their daughter. She thinks that maybe it's her way of proving to herself that she's still got it, or maybe she's just lonely. Her inner cynic thinks that maybe this is a belated attempt at getting back at Bette for cheating to begin with. Tina hopes, somewhere deep, that she's not that kind of person, but that thought quickly leaves her mind as she comes in this stranger's bed, her white-knuckled fingers wrapped tightly around pitch black sheets.

Tina crawls out of the woman's bed early, escaping while Green Eyes is still asleep. She takes a cab back to her hotel room and heads directly for the shower, scrubbing herself raw under water that turns her skin bright red. She stands there, letting it beat at her chest until it runs cold, and then reluctantly towels herself dry.

Twenty minutes later, she's packed up and ready to go hours before her flight is scheduled to depart.

Stomach in knots, she plays with her cellphone, tossing it from hand to hand and running her fingers over the buttons before punching in the number she knows by heart.

She feels like crying when Bette picks up on the first ring.

"Hi there, gorgeous."

Tina can hear the warmth of Bette's smile through the phone and takes a deep breath before answering.

"Hi, Baby."

The brunette instantly notices that something's off.

"Are you okay?"

Tina huffs a mirthless laugh and squeezes her eyes shut tightly, wiping away a stray tear.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she trails off before adding honestly, "I just really miss you right now."

Four.

"…and then what?"

Alice leans forward toward Bette, eager to hear the rest of the story.

Bette rolls her eyes and takes another sip of coffee.

"And then nothing. I kissed her and she kissed me back."

Alice raises an expectant eyebrow.

"And what? That's it?! Are you holding out on me, Porter? Because if you are, you suck."

Bette sighs and places an elbow delicately on the table, her chin in her hand.

"And then, Alice," she continues, slightly embarrassed, "she jumped backward like I bit her and mumbled something about Eric. Then she left. That's it."

Shocked, Alice leans back in her chair and blinks.

"This chick resisted the Bette Porter charm? I don't believe it."

Bette shoots her a warning look.

"You're not helping."

Alice leans forward again and pats her hand reassuringly.

"Ah, don't worry, Porter. There's plenty more fish in the sea."

Bette snorts.

"Thanks, Al. Look, I've got to get to work. See you later?"

Bette stands up and makes her way toward the door, leaving a still surprised Alice in her wake.

"Tina Kennard," the blonde mutters to herself, "you are one stupid, stupid woman."

One.

Tina blows her nose yet again, unwittingly creating a honking noise that makes both the women in her life laugh.

Angelica hands a bottle of water to Bette, who rubs Tina's back comfortingly.

"Here," their daughter says with an affectionate smile, "keep her hydrated before she shrivels up, she's leaking fluids everywhere!"

"Hey," Tina defends herself, taking the water and sipping at it, "you should be honored that I love you enough to cry like this, kid. We can't all be as stoic as this one."

She jerks her thumb backward toward Bette, who rolls her eyes and makes a face at Angelica.

"That's exactly right," Bette agrees dryly, "I don't love you enough to bawl because you're going to be a plane ride away, making friends and pretending to study while playing numerous games of beer pong."

Angelica looks innocently at her mother.

"But I'm underage."

"Said no undergrad ever," Tina says pointedly.

Angelica laughs and shakes her head, looking up at the ceiling of her dorm room.

"Why couldn't I have gotten normal parents?"

"They would have too boring for you," Tina suggests as Bette checks her watch.

"We've got to get to the airport," she slides off of Angelica's bed and wraps an arm around her daughter's shoulders, the embrace nearly pulling her off the desk chair. "Do you think you've got everything you need?"

Angelica nods and stands, her hands stuffed in the back pockets of her jeans.

"I think I'm good."

Tina rises and reaches for her daughter's elbow, pulling the young woman into a hug.

"You can call if you need anything, you know. Morning, middle of the night, whenever. "

She nods as Tina releases her. "I will."

They're standing just outside Angelica's door when Bette gently takes her daughter's face in her hands and looks into her eyes.

"I'm so proud of you," she says softly, kissing her forehead. "You're going to blow them all away."

It's all it takes to break through Angelica's resolve, and her eyes fill with tears. She throws an arm around both of her mothers and hugs them tightly, then pulls away and wipes at her eyes, giving them a wobbly grin.

"Now stop making me cry!"