“So what am I supposed to do, sell my house and move to Orange County?”

“Well, put it this way, if Howie was to move out, would you come and live here?”

“No! Emphatically no!”

“Even though it would be practical?”

“Okay, I get your point, so what are we going to do?”

“I can’t tell you what to do with your house, but I have to find a place around here for Mary’s sake. And that’s something we have to talk about too. Mary said she wants to live with me if…..when I move, are you okay with that?”

“I’ve already considered the possibility of your kids being around, just like you have to remember that there will be a baby in our life, too, if not every day then on weekends, where ever I am.”

“I know and you should know that my love for you includes Angelica, no matter what happens there, I am one hundred percent with you.”

“So we agree about the kids.”

“And, so that there are no more misunderstandings, if I get a place around here, close to Mary’s school will you live with us?”

“It has to be around here?”

“Hey, I would rather move to L.A. because then I would be closer to my work and so would you but that would mean she’d have to drive everyday to school. I can’t expect her to do that and I would never ask her to change schools at this late date, so, yes, it has to be close to her school.”

“And when she graduates?”

“Then I’ll go wherever you want me to.”

“So she graduates in June, just four, five months from now?”

“Yes, but she’ll probably work this summer and then you know, she’ll be going to Yale in the fall.”

“Okay, how about a compromise? I’ll live with you where ever you want and then when Mary leaves you live where I want. Okay?”

“In your house?”

“Yes.”

“Bette, I told you….”

“Look Sis, I’ll rent it out during that time and every trace of Tina will be gone.”

“It will still be full of memories of her for you.”

“No, you’re wrong. It’s over. It’s all over. I can’t believe she had me on my knees for so long.”

“No, Bette. SHE didn’t have you on your knees, YOU let her.”

“Well, I’m me again and I’m feeling good about myself. We have a future together, with new jobs and yes, we’ll get a nice apartment, maybe a condo, something with tennis courts and a swimming pool, an exercise room, the whole thing. A two bedroom, maybe a three bedroom apartment with a nursery and a room for Mary.”

We were suddenly both brimming with positive energy and enthusiasm. It was contagious.

“Okay,” I said, “and whether we stay there or move to your place, eventually we can put our money together and buy a home of our own.”

“Yes, we can do that.”

“Maybe in Venice, we had good times there.”

“Oh Sweetie, we’ll be too old for that hippie kind of life.”

“Then Newport. Santa Monica. Somewhere at the ocean. A beautiful home with an ocean view.”

She laughed. “Okay, that’s all ahead of us, something to look forward to.”

We smiled affectionately at each other. Bette took my hand from her leg where I had left it and squeezed it very hard between both of her hands and lifted it up to her mouth and kissed it.

We had been so engrossed in our own world that we did not hear the front door open and we did not hear anyone approach from the entry way into the kitchen but suddenly I saw Mary standing there watching us, her arms laden with books, with a tight little smile on her mouth and her eyes opened wide.