Tina sensed a pair of eyes watching her. She turned and looked straight to Bette’s eyes giving her no space to pretend. She opened her best smile and Bette didn’t take her eyes from Tina. Both pair of pools sending the same message: I love to watch you and I loved to be watched by you.

Bette was almost embarrassed when she decided to call everybody to dinner. “Guys! Guys! Can we have dinner?

“It was about time, Porter” Alice shot back dramatically.

“Could you set the table while I have some words with Tina?” Bette asked Alice.

Tina’s heart sank with the words.  She was afraid of what Bette would say…

“ Come here, with mama B, honey! “ Bette talked softly to Angelica and to Tina, “May I speak with you?” Tina nodded in affirmation.

“Boo, say goodnight to everybody, sweetie…” Angie who was not ready to say goodnight, began to cry. The entire group said their goodnights to the little girl watching carefully, in silence the family interaction before them of Bette, Tina and Angie.

“Tina would like to talk to you about…” Bette started to talk in the hall, but Angie´s screams interrupted…

“I would like to talk to you about … This.” Bette finally completed putting Angelica in her cradle.

Tina had to breathe… She was relieved, but confused. “About what, Bette?” Tina began trying, also, to calm down their daughter.

“About Angie…” Bette said above Angelica’s cry.

Tina got worried. “What’s wrong? Is she all right?”

 Bette turned and found Tina, only two steps away from her. She compelled herself to forget about the rest of her senses “Hmmm… “She escaped to the right letting some space became between them. “ She’s out of bounds, out of limits, Tina, and I’m very worried about that. She’s two and a half and, according with some psychologists we get a short time to correct some of her behaviors.”

Tina was listening carefully. Bette looked from Angelica to Tina. “I’m trying to give her some limits, also some independence “Bette stopped for a while and began to play with Boo’s doll. “ You know…”, she kept her eyes down, afraid to look to Tina’s eyes. “I think we did it wrong, Tina…the whole thing about Angie sleeping with us, carrying her all the time. This wasn’t healthy.” Bette stopped and looked to Tina. “As a couple and as parents.”  She took her eyes from her ex partner and lead her eyes to her child, who was now, already entertained with the toys.   “It wasn’t good to Angie. She needs to know that she has to respect our decisions. When she is with me she had time to go sleep, to eat, to play and she is respecting it. But you need to do the same thing at your house, give her limits. This nagging thing is horrible. And she becomes nagging every time people do not do what she wants.