“Dead!”

Alice grasped her head in frustration, sobbing angry tears.  Tina left her chair to kneel next to her and embrace her while Bette stood next to her on her other side, and bent to similarly hug her and kiss the top of her head softy.

“Mommy?” they heard Angelica’s voice call out sleepily from the monitor’s speaker that Bette and Tina had affixed in a corner of one of the open shelves under the vast kitchen island.

Bette looked at Tina and motioned she would go to Angelica.  Tina nodded as she continued to stroke Alice’ arms and her hair.

Bette’s mind was racing as she thought about Alice’s friend’s unfortunate fate, as she walked quickly to the staircase, and mounted the steps two at a time to rush to Angelica’s side.

She opened their daughter’s door quietly, and peeked inside.  “Good morning pumpkin!” she greeted Angelica softly.

Angelica bounded out of her bed and ran towards Bette, who knelt down to receive the onrushing toddler with open arms.   She swept Angelica up with a fierce hug once the girl jumped into her arms, and twirled her around. “How is our baby girl this morning?” she asked, gently nuzzling Angelica’s head.  Angelica giggled in return.   

She felt Angelica’s diaper, and found it was heavy.  “How about mommy changes you first and then we can go down and give Momma T a hug, and you can also say hi to our friend Alice?  Mommy made pancakes for you this morning, angel.”

Unbidden, tears came to her eyes as Angelica clapped her hands together in delight, as the toddler patiently waited for Bette to finish cleaning her, then slipped a panty on her.  Normally, Bette would have changed her out of her jammies also, but this morning, things felt different.  Why waste time changing?

Angelica looked at her smiling happily, as Bette swept her up and hugged her tightly again. Bette was still carrying her as they headed down the staircase, unwilling to let her little girl go.

Tina saw them approach, and noticed wetness around Bette’s eyes.  She smiled at them warmly as she stood and walked over to them opening her arms.  She hugged both Bette and Angelica, and held them in her arms for a few minutes.  Then Angelica leaned over to Tina, to kiss her good morning, just as Bette had suggested to her earlier.  With a fond smile, Tina kissed her back and accepted her into her arms as Bette released her from hers.  Tina stood on her tiptoes slightly to kiss Bette deeply also before she stepped back and turned to walk towards Alice, who was still bent over the table, carrying Angelica tighter against her than she usually did.