She tapped another app.

Lara was shaking her head.

Bette nodded again, “I know, I know.  So cool, right?  Tina took care of all the systems in this house, and she worked with all these tech experts to make it so easy that even a dork like me would get it!”

“You girls are the bomb,” Lara said, shaking her head again.

Just then they heard simultaneous shrieks of:

“Mother of….!”

“I have died and gone to heaven!”

“Are we still on planet earth?!”

Tina and Bette walked hand-in-hand to the front door.

The girls were standing just inside the entrance, having dropped their things on the floor, mouths agape, faces up or looking around, each one turning around slowly, taking in everything around them in.

Helena was the first who recovered, running to them.

“Bette! Tina!  This is the most awesome, stupendous, amazing New York apartment I or anyone else, I’m sure, has ever seen!”

She drew Bette and Tina into a tight hug, tears springing to her eyes.  “I don’t know why I’m suddenly so emotional…maybe it’s because I know of some of the stuff you both have gone through…then coming out of the other end of all that, and building such a beautiful home, and creating this wonderful life together…am  just so proud of both of you!”

Shane cut in, “Hey, give me some of that,” as she joined the hug.  Alice, Carmen, and Dana also stepped in, everyone tearing up, as they enveloped Bette and Tina in their warm embrace.

The blonde and the brunette continued to hold hands, heads leaned against each other, standing in the middle of the hug, as they shed tears of their own.

Bette spoke first, with a shaky voice, “We couldn’t have made it through without all of you…and we certainly owe you all a debt of gratitude.”

After a few seconds, Alice stepped back, exclaiming, “What do you mean most amazing New York apartment, Peabody?  Most amazing place anywhere!”

“Yes, yes, that’s what I meant,” Helena said, laughing, as she wiped her tears.

Everybody was talking at once, peppering Tina with questions, as Shane pulled Bette to one side, threw her arms over the brunette’s shoulders, and touched her forehead to Bette’s.

“Bette, I’ve known you a long time, and I’ve seen you hit the lowest of the low, out in the Maldives, and the highest of the highs, which may be right now.  I love you dearly, and I am just so thankful you made it all the way back to us.”  They were both crying now.