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Too much — Bette tells Tina she just can't face it, and starts to cry. Tina shuffles Bette off to bed and gives her a sweet kiss.

Bette: "Can we just sleep?"
Tina: "Yes, please."

Bette whimpers into her pillow and Tina curls herself against Bette. Spooning never looked so good.

Morning — Jenny is picking dry cereal (Life, oh — L'Chaim) out of a bowl. Mark offers her some coffee but she ignores him. I'll take some, Mark: this is putting me to sleep.

A better yet worse morning — Bette wakes up, still spooned with Tina. She blinks at the harsh sun and takes in a slow, unsteady breath. She's known rivers.

Kit is on the floor; she slept there, next to Melvin. She says he had a rough night and was in a lot of pain.

Bette: "I feel like he's giving up... [sighs] Shelly's gonna be here in an hour; she said she wants to give him a sponge bath this morning."
Melvin: "No she will not. That's an indignity I am not prepared to endure."

Melvin, you sly old fox. You were pretending to be asleep while you listened to your daughters sigh and be sad and be a family. Anyway, he's insisting that he's perfectly capable of bathing himself, which Bette doesn't seem to be able to do these days. And he tells both of them that they can't compromise their careers just to "mope around here and watch an old man die." Sniffle.

Melvin: [to Kit] "And you: if you think Benjamin is gonna leave his family for you—"
Kit: "I don't, Daddy."
Melvin: "Whaddya mean, you don't?"
Kit: "I wouldn't do that to another man's wife."
Melvin: "It's human nature to pursue one's happiness over someone else's misery."
Kit: "Not always, Daddy. After her mother stole you from my mother, you fell in love with someone else, didn't you, Daddy?"
Melvin: "That doesn't matter."

It's gonna matter forever to these two, Melvin.

Tina walks in, apologizing for what she can see is a rather significant moment.

Melvin: "Hello, Tina."

Bette and Kit nearly snap their own necks as they whirl around to look at Melvin. Tina says hello back, kinda proudly. And Bette looks back at Tina like, "Holy fuck, did you hear that?"

Tina says she has to go, so Bette walks her the few steps to the door. They hold hands and kiss as Melvin watches with an inscrutable look on his face. Well, maybe there's a tiny bit of acceptance there.

Kit and Bette help Melvin to the bathroom, where he pretty much slams the door in Bette's face 'cause he wants his privacy. Kit is concerned, but Bette thinks he'll be okay. She and Kit listen at the door.

The doorbell rings; the nurse is there. She asks where Melvin is, and right on cue, there's a thud. They run to the bathroom, where Melvin is lying on the floor. Shelly tells him to stay still, and he says "no more hospitals." Bette runs off.

Next door — Jenny is still picking at Life... I mean, picking at the Life cereal in her bowl, and she's chomping it kind of grotesquely. She's also reading a Penguin Classic, but I can't quite see what it is. Jane Eyre seems appropriate, especially if she's reading about the madwoman in the attic. But it's probably Anais Nin or something equally obvious.

Shane asks Jenny where she was last night and why she missed Peaches. Jenny just shrugs. Mark is hiding behind a newspaper. You know, Jenny, this would all be fine if you were actually a brooding, distracted, consumed artist, but what you really are is a self-conscious selfish wannabe who shrugs and chomps and puts herself in the middle of the room so everyone will ask what's wrong. Eventually they'll get tired and stop asking.

Never mind; Bette is there, saying "I need your help." And they all jump and run. I could say it's because Bette is so commanding and fierce, but I know it's because they're all there for each other when it comes down to it, and I love that. More of that in season 3, please. And less of everything else.

Shane, Kit, Bette, Mark, and Shelly carry Melvin back to bed. Jenny stands to the side and watches, probably because if she tried to lift so much as an arm or a leg, she'd collapse into a weepy pile of clacking bones.

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