Chapter 83
“Did you—did you just propose to me?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Bethany said with an off-hand laugh. “Not until we can do it right. You know my mother is miffed enough about you turning me gay, as she puts it. Nothing less than a full-blown wedding ceremony with all the bells and whistles is going to make her accept you as one of the family. No handfasting or commitment ceremony is going to satisfy her.”
Narrowing her eyes, Dana deadpanned, “Really?”
Bethany shrugged. “Well, it’s a start. She likes you, she does. She just doesn’t like me withyou.”
“And you think a wedding is going to change that?” Dana’s mind spun out in a whirl. I can’t believe we’re talking about this. About getting married. Holy hell.
Me, marrying the woman of my dreams. Stop the press!
Leaning across the couch, Bethany planted a lingering kiss on Dana’s mouth. “Maybe not,” she conceded. “But it’ll shut her up, at least. You’re the only one I want, and once you put a ring on my finger, no one’s going to ever take it off.”
“Damn,” Dana murmured. “Guess I better start saving up, eh?”
With a laugh, Bethany sat back. “Pssh. We have plenty of time. Right now everyone’s falling over themselves to ban gay marriage.”
* * * *
Bethany had been right about graduate school—the actual number of classes Dana took per semester were fewer than what she’d taken as an undergrad, but God, the sheer volume of work made up for it. A course she attended for two hours a week required four times as much reading on her own time, not to mention the paperwork involved. There were take-home quizzes and exams—which sounded easier in theory than they were in reality—and weekly reports and term papers and Jesus Christ! If Dana had even guessed at how much work it would all entail when she’d been looking into grad school, she would’ve never mailed in the application in the first place.
But she persevered. It was either that or drop out, and she’d come too far to admit defeat. Besides, there were students in her classes younger than she was; no waywould she concede that she couldn’t do something they were able to do. She wanted a better job, doing something she loved, and she wanted to help contribute to the home she and Bethany were creating.
Only half-joking, Dana told her lover, “If we ever do get married, I want to be something more than just a trophy wife.”
That had earned her a laugh. With a smile, Bethany teased, “What, don’t you thinkkept womanlooks good on a resume?”
* * * *
Because Dana was commuting to school, and the ride could sometimes be an hour away if the trains were running late, she only took classes two days a week. She still worked at the bookstore, though she cut her hours back to accommodate her studying. But some semesters the classes she needed for her program weren’t offered on the days she’d be on campus, so she had to wait a semester or two until she could take them. Her idea of graduating in two years evaporated quickly.
“You were right,” she complained to Bethany on more than one occasion. “Grad school is nothinglike undergraduate. At the rate I’m going, I won’t get my master’s until I’m forty!”
“Oh, hush,” Bethany said. “You haven’t even hit thirty yet.”
Dana squinted at her in disbelief. “Hello? It’s right around the corner. Newsflash, babe—we’re getting old.”
Laughing, Bethany asked, “Didn’t you hear? Thirty is the new twenty.”
“Where’d you hear that mess?” Dana wanted to know. “What’s twenty, then? Then new ten?”
“Hush.” Bethany did what she always did when she wanted Dana to stop being so contrary; she leaned over and kissed her lover quiet. “At least we’re getting old together. I’m so proud of you for going back to school.”
“Yeah,” Dana groused, “because professional studentlooks great on a resume, too.” 6: Je t’aime
May 2004
As it turned out, Dana managed to graduate just before her thirtieth birthday. Well, not technically—her birthday was in October, and she needed to finish an independent study scheduled over the summer months, but the school agreed to let her walk early anyway, with the other graduates at the end of May.