Vaguely, Tina realized a hand was stroking her hair. She wasn’t sure how long they’ve been standing in the middle of the living room, but she knew the little girl had fallen asleep.

“Bette?” the blonde looked up. “Angie’s asleep.”

She loosened her hold on them, turning around to watch her daughter. “Are you OK to drive?”

“We’ll be fine,” Tina tried not to move too much for fear of waking up Angelica. “Could you get her stuff?”

“I’ll go get the diaper bag. Be right back.” And without further thought, Bette leaned in to kiss Tina on the lips, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze before moving away.

Frozen on the spot, Tina reached up to touch her lips with her fingers. She replayed what had happened in her mind, convinced it was unconscious on Bette’s part. A slow smile appeared on her face, the implications behind Bette’s actions resounding in her head.

With Bette in tow, she carefully secured a slumbering Angelica in her car seat, stowing the rest of the things next to it. She shuffled her feet uncertainly, not once raising her eyes to look at Bette.

“Come here,” Bette said gently, holding out her arms to her.

She met Bette’s gaze then, searching for a reason to back out. When she found none, she rushed to Bette’s arms.

“Thank you,” Tina whispered. “Thank you for saving me from myself.”

“You saved me, too, from wasting my life,” Bette pushed a strand of hair out of Tina’s face. “Tina, we’re nowhere near the point where we can jump into a relationship, but I know we’ll get there.”

“I can’t wait,” Tina sighed and tightened her arms around the brunette. “Alice will blow a gasket when she hears this. Even Kit.”

“They’re just being protective. They’ve got a love/hate thing going,” Bette replied honestly. “But they only want us to be happy. And being together makes us happy. Ergo, they want us to be together.”

“Of course,” Tina chided.

Bette smoothed her hand on Tina’s back, rubbing it gently in hopes of offering some comfort. “It’s going to be a rough road ahead, but you’re the only one I want to take with on this journey. That never changed, wanting to spend my life with you.”