Screams of jubilation echoed off the bowling lanes in the Student Center as black lights and neon disco-ball prints swam across the childrens' faces.
It's Friday family night for Anginette Dearing, Betty Hancock and their three children 8-year-old twins Christopher and Chloe and 4-year-old Emma. The children were allowed to bring a few friends this time.
"Mommy! Betty! Watch me! Watch me!" long-blond haired Emma shouted as she threw the green ball down the gutter-guarded lane.
Betty is stationed at the electronic scoreboard control seat watching the children scramble in anticipation for their next turn at the rows of white pins.
Anginette is walking around the enclosed circular area making sure everyone is accounted for.
"We like to do something fun at least one night of the weekend with the kids," Anginette said as she held Chloe in her lap. "It's a lot of fun for all of us."
Each of the children is fastened with blue satin ribbons that Anginette made in honor of Prevent Child Abuse of Delaware County month. Anginette is a member of the committee and Betty is on the board of directors.
Anginette, 33, is a social work student at Ivy Tech and an intern at A Better Way, a battered women's shelter in Muncie. Betty, 47, has been a private mental-health therapist for the past 25 years and sees 32 patients a week.
The couple will celebrate their four-year anniversary this summer, Aug. 9. The two met through a mutual friend.
Anginette said it is sometimes hard for people to understand how she could be with a woman after having three children and going through a divorce.
"I knew from the first day I met Betty that there was something there," Anginette said reminiscently. "I never thought of myself as a lesbian or bisexual but just that I loved her so much. I fell in love with the person."
Betty on the other hand, said she knew she was lesbian since the first grade. She said she was raised in a religious household and feared going to hell if she acted on her feelings. It wasn't until she was hospitalized at the age of 30, weighing 93 pounds, that Betty knew she had to make a change in her life.
"My body was so stressed out that it was eating itself from the self-hatred," Betty said painfully. "I wanted so badly to deny this part of me. I knew it was time for a change or I would die."
When Anginette and Betty started their relationship, both experienced hesitations and received advice.
Betty, who has no biological children, was warned of all the responsibilities that are tied to parenthood.
"(Friends) left out the part of how great parenting can be," Betty said.
"(Christopher, Chloe and Emma) make me roll laughing everyday. They're warm, funny and innocent."
Anginette said she was nervous about getting into a relationship with a woman as a mother of three children.
"I feel like I have to be more defensive because when you're married and have three little kids and your husband it's like everything's fine," Anginette said. "If Betty wasn't everything I ever wanted, I wouldn't have made that choice."
The couple and children are aware that they are not a traditional type of family. Whenever the twins begin a new school year, they inform the teacher of their family structure. The parents of their children's friends are informed as well.
"You just never know how people are going to react," Anginette said.
The couple is open with their children.
"They always ask when we're going to get married," Betty said through a chuckle. She said they already have all the details planned out right down to having their rambunctious rat terrier, Gracie, in the ceremony.
"I just tell them when the state of Indiana allows it," Betty said. The family experienced earlier this year how the Y.M.C.A. in Muncie denied them a family pass because the state does not recognized same-sex couples.
Between soccer games, dance practices and gymnastics, Christopher, Chloe and Emma keep their mom and Betty on call around the clock.
"It definitely takes two," Betty said.
When the children spend the weekend with their father, Anginette and Betty enjoy watching movies, shopping and talking by the White River.
The sidewalk leading up to the family's half white and half red brick ranch is covered with pastel chalk dust from previous star and flower designs.
If the children go to sleep by bedtime, 8:30 p.m., Anginette's "identical twin" turns into the strawberry fairy. The fairy sometimes fitted with decorative scarves, sprinkles pink strawberry dust on their cheeks with a feather. She kisses the powder off as the childrens' tongues race in a giggle match to get a taste of the magic.
Past the drawings on the refrigerator, a step ladder of numbered pencil markings run parallel to Chloe's Pepto Bismol colored bathroom. On the first of every month, Betty measures the height of each of their children.
"Look how much we've grown!" Chloe exclaimed as she pointed her finger anxiously at the gray traces.
The family is planning a return vacation to Clifty Falls State Park this summer. Betty teases the children about having to fill a jar with their own money before the excursion is considered.
Sometimes the family likes to "play" American Idol in their green photo-flooded family room. Christopher dances to the "Devil Went Down to Georgia." Emma changes into an elegant red dress in preparation for her debut. Chloe passionately sings "Proud to be an American."
Anginette and Betty both said it took them a long to reach this level of happiness. Both have lost several ties with family members and friends because of their relationship.
"You don't have to believe strictly one way or another because I know it's a choice with me," Anginette said. "It's a choice of the person."
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