Page 23 of Something Like That

“You don’t?” Em’s voice was quiet and very high. She sounded so young.

“Of course not, sweetheart. I love you no matter what. And if you believe nothing else, please believe that.” She poured her own glass of water. Took a sip. She felt so far out of her depth, but she wanted to have an open and honest relationship with her daughter. “So, does that mean that you’re not attracted to boys? Or are you attracted to both?”

Em ducked her head again, the tips of her ears turning fuchsia. “I mean, it’s just… I want to… it’s not like…”

Alex placed her hand over Em’s again, gave another squeeze. “I’m only asking because I’m curious, not judging or anything like that.”

Em glanced at her. The fear was gone from her gaze. There was still embarrassment and maybe a bit of confusion, which was understandable. “I really only like girls.” The words were so softly spoken, she barely heard them.

She nodded. “Okay.” And she meant it. There wasn’t anything that Em could do that would stop Alex from loving her. “And Hannah?”

Em nodded and swallowed. “I don’t know if Hannah and I are a couple or not, but we like hanging out together and stuff.”

Yes, Alex had almost gotten an up close and personal view of what the stuff entailed. And she was never thinking about that again.

“Okay,” she said, nodding. That was good. Em was too young to be getting into anything too serious. “But…” She elongated the vowel sound for a few extra beats.

Em raised her eyebrows.

“Did it somehow slip your mind that you’re still grounded?”

Em rubbed the back of her neck, the tips of her ears turning pink. Her daughter had inherited that tell from her. “Sorry.”

“Not good enough.”

Em sucked in a surprised breath. “What?”

“You know the rules. When you’re grounded, it means no friends over, especially when I’m not here. And then, given the fact that Hannah’s your girlfriend—” Em made a noise in the back of her throat “—that makes it even worse.”

Em’s shoulders slumped and she crossed her arms over her chest. Defeated and defiant. What was Alex going to do with her? How was she going to survive the teen years? They said the twos were terrible, but they had nothing on the teens.

“You’re grounding is being extended for two more weeks.”

“But, Mom—”

Alex held up a finger. The whining stopped. “And, when you’re no longer grounded, and Hannah comes over, you’re not allowed to be in your room with your door closed.”

Em’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, like she had something to say, but had forgotten how to form words.

“The rule would be the same if you brought a boyfriend home.”

Em continued to flounder for words, Alex’s explanation seeming to not make a difference. “But… but… but…”

“No buts about it. You break the rules, you get punished.” A sliver of doubt slid through her, which was quickly followed by a huge dump of worry. This was all new to her. Was she being too hard on Em? Was Em going to resent her?

Em rolled her eyes, which seemed to be her go to reaction for everything these days. A bunch of Alex’s worry slipped away. “Fine, Mother.” Em got up and marched toward the stairs. At the bottom she spun back around. “But, what about Nick and the Market? I’m supposed to meet him there tomorrow.”

The mention of Nick made her heart pound for an entirely different reason, one that had nothing to do with almost walking in on her daughter making out with her girlfriend.

And nope, she was still not thinking about that, because the idea of her daughter making out with anyone was still too… yeah, it was just a no all around.

Although, it looked like she didn’t need to have that particularly awkward how-about-I-date-Nick conversation with Em. She was taking it as a win.

“You’re just going to have to call and tell him that you can’t make it.” Alex rested her hip against the counter, trying for nonchalant. She was grateful Em couldn’t see the way talking about Nick made her all jittery and warm.

“But, Mom?” The serious whine in Em’s tone was back, the one that rubbed Alex’s nerves like they were being scraped by a cheese grater. But she couldn’t be too annoyed. She was just happy to see Em more like her old self. “That’s not fair.”

“Neither is life, sweet pea.” She walked over and placed a kiss on Em’s forehead. “But I’ll do my best to make sure we get through it with as few bumps and bruises as possible.” She swatted Em on the bum. Suddenly, she was starving. She walked over to the fridge to see about finding something for dinner.