Bette, realizing that she had finished her glass of wine got up from the lounge made her way into the kitchen and poured herself another glass before heading into the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothing.  She changed into lounge pants and a navy blue tank top and sat on the bed.  The memory of the night of the benefit concert after her father had died came into her head.  Tina’s water had broken in the bathroom of the Wiltern Theater and they had made it home.  Twenty minutes later the midwife Davida had arrived checked Tina and said that she was four centimeters dilated.  So they began the long and grueling process of the baby’s birth.  Hours later they had finished walking around the house with Tina’s contraction getting stronger and closer together and she just could believe just how strong Tina really was.  The pain had to be excruciating but she continued walking around stopping and grabbing onto something every few minutes when the next contraction hit.  Bette was busy preparing with Davida for the impending birth when Tina yelled out “Bette!”  Then she had run over to Tina who had decided that grabbing her hand and squeezing the life out of it was the best solution to the pain that she was having.  Davida saw the pain that Tina was in and the look of discomfort and the look of sympathy on Bette’s face and suggested that they make their way to the birthing pool.  So they had made their way into the very bedroom that she now sat in and had gotten into the birthing pool they had sat up at the end of the bed. 

Bette still sitting there with her glass of wine remembered helping Tina into the pool and getting in behind her, rubbing her shoulders, rubbing her back, whispering calming things in her ear and supporting her in any way that she could.  Davida had suggested that Bette put her hand down to Tina’s vagina to see if she could feel and although apprehensive at first she had reached her hand down and felt something bulging down there.  Davida then helped Bette get Tina out of the pool and onto the bed where they got somewhat comfortable on so to begin that hard task of pushing the baby out.  But then with a few pushed it all had gone wrong, the baby was in distress and the amniotic fluid that was coming out of Tina was all meconium.  So they had to call an ambulance and make their way to the hospital where Dr. Wilson met them and performed and emergency C-Section.  Bette remembered never being more frightened in her life.  How her life with Tina flashing before her eyes, the good, the bad and the last few weeks of reconnection that they had shared and now when they were so close to having everything that they had dreamed of, their baby it was close to all coming to an end.  Not being a religious person really Bette had sent up prayers to every god and deity at that moment to save Tina and the baby, she didn’t know which one came through for her but somehow one of them had and their baby, their Angelica was born safely into this world.

Knock, Knock, Knock

Bette looked at her watch 7:15