Bette stared into Collie’s eyes before answering.  “I know th-that you said legally I’m not Angelica’s mother, but in my eyes, in Tina’s eyes, in the eyes of our family and friends, I’m this baby’s mother, too.  But, to answer your question, I’ve been offered a number of things, but I do have the luxury at this time to be a bit choosey about the offer I accept.”

“How is that, Bette?  From what I read in your original application, you were paid in full through the end of your contract at that little museum you were fired from.  With a new baby and your roommate, excuse me, your domestic partner in here, I would imagine that your money is already running low.”

Bette smiled.  “We have insurance and my father passed away recently.  His estate was rather substantial.”  Bette didn’t go into how things were set up.  Her mind hadn’t completely wrapped around some of the things her father had done.  Daddy had left her wordless when she learned of his eleventh hour deeds.  The night before her father had moved into Bette’s house, he had sent for his lawyer, Julian Abernathy.  Abernathy took the late flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles with the requested papers in hand.  Melvin Porter had his attorney add a codicil to his Will as well as setting up a Trust Fund.  Both provisions involved “the child of Tina Kennard.”  Daddy had refused to acknowledge Tina as Bette’s significant other until his very last moments on earth, but at some point he realized the importance of this unborn child in his own daughter’s life.  She couldn’t help but be reminded of two of her last conversations with her father.  The first one, she reiterated that although he might be ashamed of her due to the life she was leading with Tina, she was his daughter and proud of the person she had become.  The second conversation, Bette had thought Melvin lucid, but he was hallucinating—thinking he was talking to his former wife and begging her to take care of his little girl, Bette.  Bette wanted to believe that the supplement to his Will and the Trust Fund were her father’s attempt at doing the right thing for her child, the way he had done with David, Kit’s son.  Even if he strongly disapproved of Bette’s relationship with Tina, he knew it was honorable to acknowledge the place the child would have in his own daughter’s heart.  If nothing else, Melvin Porter was a thinking man and could be persuaded by his intellect to do what was right.