AGAIN

The birthday present

FLASHBACK: YEARS AGO

It was Tina's birthday and this year Bette decided she would go all out. She had been so truly happy with how things were going in her love life that she didn't think things could get any better. And now, on Tina's 28th birthday, nothing she ever thought of doing to demonstrate her love for this woman seemed to do it justice.

Tina woke up to Bette's soft kisses on her cheeks and forehead.

"Mmm morning, baby." Tina smiled at the affection for she knew it didn't happen very often, given the stress of their daily lives.

Bette smiled at Tina, who was still opening her eyes and caressed her hair. "Happy birthday, love."

"Thank you, baby."

Bette allowed Tina to see the tray of breakfast that she had brought.

"This is perfect. Thank you." She leaned in to kiss Bette but Bette backed down. "What? Pretty sure today's the one day you cannot reject me."

Bette smiled as she walked towards the chair where she had put a bouquet of lillies to give Tina. In the meantime, Tina started getting antsy. "I can't believe you're not gonna kiss me, Bette Porter."

Bette turned around and gave her the flowers followed by a ravishing kiss. "Better now?"

"Nope. I think you owe me a bit more for having rejected me just now." Tina pulled her in for a deeper kiss.

Bette moaned into the kiss and then pulled away. "By the way, I was not rejecting you. You're such a drama queen. " She rolled her eyes playfully.

"And now you're offending me. Okay, that's it. I need to get a new girlfriend."

Bette started laughing. "Don't you dare. I love you, you big idiot. "

Tina began to get up from bed. "K, now I'm an idiot??"

Bette grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back to bed. "You're not going anywhere."

"Oh, I'm not?" Tina's tone of voice turned into a low and sexy one, provocative even.

Bette shook her head. "Not until I'm finished with you."

And then they resumed their love making. And then again. And again.

"Tee, I think I need to get us another coffee. This one's cold." Bette got up from bed and put on a robe.

Tina smiled. "I'd love that, baby, and I have to get ready for work. And you too, I'm pretty sure. What time is it anyway?"

Bette looked at her girlfriend and smiled once again. "It's 7AM baby. I woke you up early so we could start this day off the right way. And I only have to be in at 9 today. You?"

"You truly are the perfect woman."

"Yeah? Still wanna trade me for a new girlfriend?"

"Not at the moment, no. Only when you refuse to kiss me."

Bette went back to bed and kissed Tina once again. "I am absolutely crazy about you. And I would just love to be here in bed with you all day long celebrating your existence. So what time it is that you have to be at work?"

"The chef expects me at 10AM this morning. So we have like an hour or two before you have to leave. "

Bette smiled once again. That seemed to be all she could do on Tina's day. "Perfect. Let's get some food in you, shall we?"

As they resumed eating breakfast and enjoying each other's company, Tina received a few phone calls and many texts wishing her a happy birthday. Just as Bette was about to leave, she asked Tina "so what do you wanna do tonight? Anything specific?"

Tina shook her head. "I specifically want you to sleep at my place. And I specifically want you to unwind with me. And then I want you. Not necessarily in that order and not necessarily only once. "

"You're gonna be the death of me," Bette said, looking at Tina's completely aroused eyes as she was just about to head out the door.

"I don't care, Porter. Make it happen." Tina announced, before getting up and kissing Bette softly.

"I love you, Tee. See you soon." She winked at Tina as she shut the door.

Tina answered a few phone calls and one of them was from Kit. "Hey, girl! Happy birthday! Any exciting plans?"

"Thank you, Kit! Yes, actually, Bette's spending the night here. Apart from that, nothing different, really."

Kit couldn't help but laugh. "And Bette spending the night with you is different how? You guys practically live together."

"Well, you asked me if I had any exciting plans, and spending the night with your sister tends to be pretty exciting on my experience."

"Ahh, love. Beautiful, isn't it? Has she given you your present yet?"

Tina started thinking. She did get lillies. "Yeah, I got this amazing bouquet of lillies from her. She's so romantic, Kit. I honestly feel just so blessed to be with her, you know? Being adored and loved by no less than Bette Porter can really do wonders to someone's self esteem."

"Well, my sister does adore and love you. Very much so. Well, I have to get going now. But just for the record, you haven't got your present yet, girl. You'll know it when you get it. And before you ask, I can't say anything."

Tina spent the entire day at work trying to figure out what this present might be. Maybe Bette thought about giving it to her but then decided not to? Maybe it was no big deal and Kit was just messing around. Maybe not. God, she was going insane.

When she arrived home, she was surprised to see Bette with a glass of wine in her hand and handing another one to Tina. Tina really was so happy that her girlfriend had managed to be home earlier than usual just to be with her.

"How was your day, birthday girl?"

"I have a feeling it's about to get better." Tina answered, kissing Bette softly and taking a sip of her wine.

Bette smiled. "I have a little something I wanna give you. It's not a big deal and if you don't like it we don't have to, um, use  it."

"Is this a sex toy? Because you don't have to wait for my birthday for us to try new things, baby, honestly-"

Bette couldn't help but laugh. "Just open the envelope," she said, handing Tina the present.

As she opened it, she saw two tickets to Paris. She knew how much Tina wanted to go but never got a chance to, and she would love to be there with the most beautiful woman in the world in the most beautiful city in the world.

"Bette... Are you serious right now?"

"I'm always serious about taking you everywhere. It's for a few months from now, so we have time to plan and figure out every detail together."

"What were you thinking when you said I might not like it? Are you insane?" Tina asked with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey, who's offending whom now?"

"Just shut up and kiss me, Porter."

AN: I think I'll throw in some flashbacks every now and then for you to understand how their relationship developed to where it is now. Please let me know what you think. This matters a lot to me!