A Touch Deep Inside

Chapter Two.

Alice and Betty had settled into a hotel as planned and they had been there for passed couple of days; a one bedroom with two full sized beds, something cheap and for the meantime.

"Mom, are you mad at me?" Betty wondered aloud finally after waiting a day.

"It's not great timing, kiddo," she kind of arched her brow as she sat on the edge of her bed. "I have to say I'm a little disappointed, but I can't judge as the same thing happened to me. So, in all fairness, I push that to the side."

The teen then came over and she sat next to her mom, practically begging for some form of comfort.

Alice obliged and she wrapped the girl in her arms, trying to be strong, loving and supportive all at once while also trying to be a mother; it was hard.

"Are you and dad going to divorce?"

"Hopefully," she replied rather bluntly and then paused when she realized how it came out. "I'm really sorry to be behaving so coldly, honey, I know this is hard for you guys... I don't know about Polly, but..." she sighed and shook her head. "Things are going to be rough for the next few days, but in that time I will have hoped you have spoken to your boyfriend."

"I will, I'm gonna meet him at Pop's, if it's okay? We can come up with a game plan and then you can talk to his parents, if you want."

"I will... There's just going to be wonder of where Hal is during this, but..." she shrugged.

"I'm sorry you and dad have such a terrible relationship, mom. And I'm really sorry that I'm adding to the exhaustion already."

"Babies are blessings," she swiped the girl's hair back. "It's meant to be, a good blessing on all of the terrible chaos. Your father and I were really close to separating when I got pregnant with Polly and then she came along and we really got ourselves together, then we had you, little cherry on the top of our family..."

"And then you started to fight..."

"Yeah... we did, but that's because we had stuck our pent up emotion to the side and it finally bursted. Of course, not because of you girls, you kept us glued together for a long time."

"Well, if it's good for us, I'd rather you divorce. At least we'll see you both, but not at the same time. And over time it will become peaceful, hopefully."

"Maybe."

"Where are we going to go, mom? We can't just leave everything? I'm a writer at the Blue and Gold, you the Register..."

"I won't be working there any longer if I don't want to see your father..." she paused. "I will find another paper to work at in due time. We just have to take everything one step at a time. In doing so, I want you to meet up with Adam," she spoke of her boyfriend. "Let's get the easy stuff out of the way."

"Okay, I'll be back soon," she got up and headed out of their room with only her coat and phone.

Once the teen left, Alice was left alone and she sighed. "Oh, God, have mercy on me," she prayed, shaking her head in the midst.

---

"My parents are going to kill me, Betty, how could you not be on anything to prevent this?" Adam complained, shrinking with anxiety and fear of his own in the booth.

"I am, it's not my fault," she assured. "I told you I was having issues with my pill's dosage and you insisted on not wearing protection. Look, the point is, I told my mom and I thought she was going to kill me and she didn't. Okay, so don't exaggerate. Just tell them."

"I can't."

"Why not? It's not rocket science, Adam," she claimed. "You tell them the truth."

"Betty--"