Work Text:
It was silly really. Tina was leant against the marble kitchen counter, resting her chin on her arm, captivated as Bette moved around the kitchen to make them both peppermint tea. She was telling her about the young, upcoming artists she'd visited at a local gallery earlier that morning, words falling from her lips like manna from heaven. They'd had this conversation hundreds of times before, perhaps thousands. But this time felt different for Tina, considering the journey they had been on - again - to find their way back to one another. Bette's brown eyes sparkled as she described the paintings and sculptures she'd seen. She was excited, energised, and vibrant. Tina decided there and then. There was no doubt about what she wanted to do.
I want to marry her.
Just as the thought occurred, Bette's hand suddenly waved in front of her.
"Babe, are you listening to me? You have a far off look in your eyes. Earth to T."
Tina laughed. "Sorry, I was daydreaming."
"That's okay." Bette placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her. "I was just rambling on anyway."
Tina grabbed her hand as she retreated away to her own teacup and looked up at her fondly.
"I love it when you ramble."
Bette smiled shyly before leaning down to kiss her ex-wife.
"Well… then let me tell you about this other gallery I'd like to take you to next week."
"I'm all ears, baby."
*
Tina knew Bette appreciated beauty in many forms, but she wasn't convinced that she would welcome grandeur. Lest they forget, Bette had tried grandeur before when she stole an enormous sign and ferried it cross-country to win back Jodi Lerner, and look how that turned out.
The last proposal had been made post-coitus, no less meaningful for being so, but it was simple, private, and spontaneous. It was them, but them as they existed many years ago, years that felt like a lifetime considering what had transpired since.
Tina decided she didn't want to make a grand gesture - it just didn't seem to fit at this point in their life - but she wanted it to be different somehow to last time. Retain the privacy, yes, and also the simplicity if she could, but it would need to be meaningful in a different way. A way that said, we're not the people we once were and that's okay. In all our versions, in all our lifetimes, we choose - again - each other. Tina wanted it to be unique, something only they would understand. And so the idea came to her one arbitrary afternoon as they sat chatting in their kitchen.
Tina came home from a grocery trip to find Bette sitting at their kitchen table in yoga pants and a tank top, effortlessly beautiful, as she always was to Tina. In front of her was a long metal cylinder, with various other steel attachments, an instruction manual, and three legs of equal length that Bette was screwing together to make a tripod. Tina peered at her for a few moments, a small, inquisitive smile playing on her face.
“Babe?”
Tina’s voice broke Bette unexpectedly from her focus. “Hi, T, I didn't hear you come in.”
Tina moved behind Bette and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, resting her chin snugly into the crook of her neck.
“What’s all this?”
Bette was suddenly bashful, Tina noticed as she tipped her head to the side to try and meet brown eyes.
“Um, it’s a telescope.”
“A telescope?”
“Yes. I, um, wanted to look at the stars some time.”
Tina waited a moment and watched the slight blush in Bette’s cheeks. “In LA? That seems… optimistic.”
Bette huffed a little as she relinquished the tripod and placed her hands onto the table in front of her. Tina smiled at the grumpy little expression suddenly forming on Bette’s features.
“I know that. I’d like to take it out of the city some time and have a look at what I can see.” Bette turned her head to the left to meet Tina’s affectionate gaze. “Do you know you can see maybe two or three galaxies with the naked eye but with a telescope you can see many more?”
“I did not know that,” replied Tina, the smile still playing on her lips as she tried to keep it from breaking into a laugh.
Bette eyed her for a moment with pursed lips. “You think this is silly?”
“What I think is that you are very cute,” Tina replied as she leant forward to place a light kiss at the tip of Bette’s nose.
“Hmm, didn’t answer my question.”
Tina moved away to put away the groceries and make a pot of tea, as Bette returned to constructing the telescope.
“I just didn’t realise you were into space stuff. Seems a little scientific for your artistic sensibilities, babe.”
“What is the sky if not a vast canvas of sorts? Also I think you just about avoided calling me a nerd, T.”
Tina snorted. “Nerd? Have you seen my movie collection?”
“Yes, I have. Do you know how many shelves I had to clear when you moved back in?”
Tina pinched Bette lightly on her shoulder as she brought her a cup of tea and sat down diagonally across from her at the table.
“Hey! I was happy to do it, but you do have a lot.”
“Exactly. My point being, it’s good to have hobbies and interests. It’s something , you know, we probably should have put more energy into… a few years ago.” Tina trailed off wistfully as she often did when memories of the divorce were resurrected. Bette sensed the slight shift in tone and reached her finger and thumb and placed them under Tina’s chin to tilt her head up.
“Don’t get sad.”
“Sorry.” Tina took a steadying breath. “So… space. The final frontier.” Bette looked at her, puzzled at the reference. Tina waved it off. “When did it become a thing?”
“Hmm, it’s a relatively new thing. I picked up a book by Carl Sagan and it started there, I guess, and then I did a little more reading and watched some documentaries. It's endlessly fascinating, if not a little overwhelming at times. For example," she paused to take a sip of tea and Tina clocked the sparkle in her eyes again. "To circumnavigate the largest known star in the universe, it would take you over 1,000 years."
Tina's gaze was, at first, adoring, but then she narrowed her eyes and smirked in realisation. “Aha.”
“What?” asked Bette.
“The night I came home drunk from the wrap party and called you from my rooftop in Toronto.”
Now Bette narrowed her eyes. “You remember that?”
“I wasn’t that drunk!” exclaimed Tina humorously. Bette gave her a knowing look. “Okay, I was, but I remember that conversation. You told me to look up at the stars when I missed you.”
Bette looked down sheepishly. “Cassiopeia.”
“Cassiopeia,” echoed Tina, as she nodded her head. “And we've circled back to my previous point. You’re very cute.”
“T…” groaned Bette as she blushed again.
Tina leaned over the table for another kiss, which Bette was only too happy to oblige despite her sudden shyness.
“On a related note, I’m going to drive up to Topanga this Friday night to give this thing a test run. I didn’t know if you wanted to make plans to see Alice or Shane or something.”
Tina stared lovingly into brown eyes as she reached out to stroke her fingers through Bette’s curls. The idea that had been slowly formulating had crystallised.
“Can I come along with you?”
Bette looked surprised, but happy all the same. “Of course. I didn’t ask as I didn’t think it would be your scene.”
Tina planted a final kiss to her temple as she moved away from the table. “Anywhere with you is my scene.”
*
The forty minute drive to Topanga was easy and uneventful, the traffic thinning as they left the city. The light pollution had greatly faded as they approached the park and Bette noticed, like an excited child on Christmas Eve, how the colour of the night sky had deepened to a rich indigo. Tina kept glancing over to her from the passenger seat, watching tenderly as Bette became increasingly animated at the thought of all the stars she might be able to see this evening.
Tina found her enthusiasm infectious and was glad of the distraction of watching her ex-wife’s lovely face. For most of the ride, she had played nervously with a frayed thread on her wool jumper, having dressed for the coolness of the evening, and she had now taken to repeatedly clasping and unclasping the lock on her purse. The gentle, metallic click was mildly irritating and hard to ignore, and once upon a time Bette might have responded with irritation and a sharp command to stop, but she simply smiled over at the blonde, reaching her hand to rest gently on Tina’s thigh.
“Are you okay, T?” she asked.
“Me? Fine. Yes. Absolutely fine,” Tina stuttered rapidly by way of reply.
“You seem a little… wired.”
She took a breath. “I’m just so happy we’re doing this. Imagine what we might see!”
Bette laughed with a quirk of her eyebrow, her tone slightly mocking but gentle all the same. “Sure you are.”
“What? I am! I promise, I am.” Tina placed her hand on top of Bette’s and stroked the backs of her fingers.
“If you say so, babe.”
Once they had parked, Bette removed the telescope from the trunk and a picnic basket and blanket that Tina had packed.
“Do you want me to carry something?” asked Tina as she watched Bette retrieve the items.
Bette winked. “I got it.”
A few other stargazers, evidently regulars, were dotted around the park. Tina hoped that Bette was not feeling in a social mood considering what she had planned, and was thankful when Bette led her by the hand to a quiet spot some distance from the others. The air was cool, but there was hardly any breeze, and the night sky above them was mesmerising in navy blue and speckled with dots of silver.
Leant back on the blanket, Tina watched lovingly as Bette set up the telescope, completely engrossed in the task at hand. As she fiddled with various settings and attachments, Tina listened to her mumbling and muttering to herself, and chuckled.
“What’s so funny, Kennard?” asked Bette as she turned around.
“You. Talking to yourself.”
Bette smiled to herself. “Oh.”
Tina poured out two small wines into plastic glasses. “Can you see anything yet?”
“Hmm, not quite. I’m trying to adjust the scope with the eye finder properly. Your eyes need some time to adapt to the dark. You can see more clearly over time.”
Tina smiled as she continued to stare at Bette. “Yes, you definitely can.”
Bette turned around again, a quizzical look on her face. “You’re in an odd mood tonight.”
“You have no idea,” she laughed in reply as she drummed her fingers against her purse once more, and Bette returned to the telescope.
Half an hour or so passed as Bette quietly continued to tinker with the telescope, as “oohs” and “ahhs” occasionally fell from her lips. Tina was content to watch her, the eager pupil enjoying her new hobby, all enthusiasm and concentration. This version of Bette - passionate, focused, rapt - was one of Tina’s favourites, but she loved all the versions, and she felt her heart leap as she considered what she would soon ask. She looked down at her purse before rising to her feet to stand alongside her ex-wife.
“So when is it my turn, baby?”
Bette had been so enthralled in what she could see, she’d forgotten that perhaps Tina too would want to get in on the action. She moved to the side and wrapped her arm gently around Tina’s waist, pulling her towards the telescope.
“Okay, look through this bit here, T,” she said, pointing to the eyepiece. She rested her hand against Tina’s lower back as she watched Tina bend down towards the telescope.
“Oh my God, Bette, this is incredible,” she exclaimed. “To think this has been here the whole time and we can’t see it. Imagine if we could see this from our yard.”
Bette beamed. “Right? I’d spend all my time out there if I could see this every night."
Tina continued looking through the eyepiece for a little longer then stood upright, casting her eyes upwards towards the sky. “It’s beautiful.”
Bette simply stared at her side profile. “Yes, she is.”
Tina turned to meet brown eyes, and even in the dark, Bette knew she was blushing. Tina smiled briefly and looked at her feet.
“You’d think after twenty-six years, I’d stop blushing every time you say something nice to me.”
Bette stepped closer and played with a lock of blonde hair. “I hope you never stop blushing.”
“And I hope you never stop saying nice things.” Tina tilted her head up for a soft kiss. As they withdrew, Bette put her arm around Tina’s shoulder as they both looked skywards. “So can you tell me what we’re looking at?”
“Hmm, I can try. Let’s see.” Tina waited patiently as Bette found her bearings and allowed her eyes to adjust. She moved behind Tina and wrapped her arms around her shoulders and chest. “Can you see on the upper left there, four stars? Shaped like a crucifix?”
“Hmm, vaguely. The bottom star is a little faint.”
“But you can see it, just. That’s Cygnus, or more commonly known as the Southern Cross.”
Tina smiled and gripped Bette’s hand tighter in her excitement.
“Okay, show me another one.”
“Are you testing me, T? Okay, let’s see.” A few minutes passed. “Find Cygnus again and look north east from there. What do you see?”
“Um… there’s a sort of box shape?”
“Right, but if you keep looking right there’s another star.”
“Oh I see it!” Tina replied, her voice going up an octave. “Like a house on its side.”
“That’s the one. Cepheus it’s called. Named after a mythological Greek king who was the father of Andromeda, which is also a very famous galaxy in our universe which can be seen with the naked ey– sorry, is this boring?”
Tina tilted her head up in surprise. “Not one bit.” She dropped her voice. “It’s actually quite sexy.”
“Oh, really?” Bette replied, nuzzling her nose against Tina’s.
“Now who’s blushing?” laughed Tina. They turned their eyes back to the stars.
“Well I’ll keep going then, I guess. In Greek mythology, Cepheus, father of Andromeda, was married to guess who?”
Bette waited a few moments, but Tina simply shrugged in her arms.
“I’ll give you a hint. It’s our favourite constellation. Do you remember the name?”
Bette waited a few minutes as the cogs in Tina’s head turned, before a wide grin broke out on Tina’s face. “Cassiopeia.”
“Cassiopeia.” Bette planted a kiss against Tina’s cheek.
“But I can’t see it tonight.”
“It’s there, T. Look north of the house you just found. Remember the W shape, although it’s a little lopsided tonight.”
Tina feigned ignorance and shook her head. “I still can’t see it.”
“There,” implored Bette, pointing her finger right to where the lopsided W was clearly twinkling at them in the night sky. “You really can’t see it?”
Tina shrugged. “Nope.”
Bette huffed a little. “If I had my star chart with me I could point it out for you and map it to the sky, but I don’t.”
“Aha, but what if I remembered your star chart?” smiled Tina as she removed Bette’s arms and turned to bend down and retrieve a neatly-folded map of the sky from her purse. She handed it to Bette.
“Thanks, babe.”
Tina watched closely as Bette unfolded the map and turned it around to find Cassiopeia. At first, she furrowed her brow as her eyes scoured the map intently. Her fingers skipped across the embossed paper, first over Canes, up over Ursa Minor, and then she twisted the paper around to locate Cepheus. Just as she was about to lay her finger over Cassiopeia, Bette suddenly noticed the new embossing next to the W shape. Tina watched carefully and saw the exact moment of recognition flicker in Bette’s perfect, brown eyes, and she leaned in and took hold of Bette’s warm hand. On the paper where the W shape of Cassiopeia lay, in Tina’s elegant handwriting, formed a question.
Will you marry me?
Bette took a sharp intake of breath as her mouth fell open. She could feel Tina’s racing pulse in their intertwined fingers. As she read and re-read the words, tears formed in her eyes and she gradually broke out into a huge smile.
Tina, meanwhile, felt like she hadn’t breathed in minutes, waiting agonisingly for an answer. Bette’s smile told her everything she needed to know about her answer, but she wanted to hear the words so as to memorise the sound forever.
“Are you serious?” asked Bette, her eyes watery and soft.
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life,” Tina replied, finally exhaling. "I know we’ve done this twice before, but the third's a charm, right?” Tina looked up to the stars once more. “Bette, I love you more than anything in this galaxy and the next. And if it’s true we can live multiple lifetimes in this universe, then in every lifetime, I choose you. Every single one.”
Tina swiped her own tears away and reached out to gently cup Bette’s wet cheek.
“I don’t want to waste any more time just being your ex-wife. I need that ring back on my finger. I need the world to know that I am yours, and you are mine. So please will you marry–”
Tina wasn’t able to finish her sentence before Bette’s lips crashed against her own. She threw her arms around Bette’s shoulders as they kissed passionately and slowly beneath the starry sky. As they came up for air - breathless, teary, and laughing - Bette leant her forehead down to touch Tina’s.
“Yes, a thousand times yes, I will marry you.”
Tina lifted her hand up to caress through brown locks and trace a tear-stained jawline.
“Thank God for that.”
“Is this why you were nervous tonight?”
“Of course,” she exclaimed in reply.
“As if the thought of saying no would even cross my mind.” Bette leaned down and kissed Tina once more, this time soft and chaste. “In the vastness of space and the immensity of time, it is my joy to share a planet and an epoch with you.”
Tina’s eyes crinkled. “Did you just make that up?”
Bette laughed. “I wish. It was Sagan.”
“There’s gonna be three of us in this marriage, aren’t there?”
“Until I move onto my next hobby.”
They laughed again as Bette moved to wrap her arms around Tina from behind, and they both looked up again towards the sky.
“Oh and by the way,” said Bette, her voice raspy and warm against Tina’s ear.
“What?”
“You owe me a new star chart.”