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Ihave to admit, having Harper at the condo has been nice.

I’m spoiling her rotten, and I’m sure she’s going to be a handful once Heath gets back. There’s nothing like having her curled up at the foot of my bed. I didn’t realize how much I missed her doggy breath and brown eyes until she showed up. The kids were ecstatic when they came home last night and realized that she was with me. Questions flew from their mouths, but once I told them their dad was out of town and it was easier to have her with us, they seemed pleased with the answer.

“Hey, Jenna, did you see the post last night from Gabby?” Trevor asks from the passanger seat of my car. “She’s going to be an aunt.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand that. She only has a brother, and he’s in your grade.”

My eyes glance at Trevor who’s looking at me. “That’s because it’s her brother who’s going to be a dad,” he confirms.

“What?” she screeches. “How is that even possible?”

“Seriously? He was having sex without a condom.”

“That’s crazy.”

“More like stupid.”

“That’s what happens when you’re not acting responsible and you don’t use protection. It’s like playing Russian Roulette, and I guess it didn’t end well for Gabby’s brother,” I add.

“That’s why I always carry a condom in my wallet,” Trevor states. “See.” He continues to pull out his wallet from his backpack, opening it and pulling out what looks exactly like a condom wrapper.

I have no words.

“What? Are you serious? Why would you have that, Trevor?” Jenna shrieks.

“You never know when things are going to go down, Jenna. I have plans for my life, and I don’t plan on having kids until I’m at least thirty, so I know that I need to be responsible. I’m not going to mess up like Gabby’s brother, no way.”

“I haven’t even held a boy’s hand, and you’re talking about sex.”

“You’re thirteen, Jenna. You shouldn’t be thinking about sex,” he declares, and I can see the big brother start to come out.

“Well, you’re fifteen, and you are,” she tries to defend.

“There’s two years between us, and you’ll find out that a lot happens in those two years. I don’t see why you’re making a big deal about it. I’m trying to be responsible here. Even when I went to the store and bought a box–”

“You bought an entire box?” Jenna is becoming exasperated, and I’m still speechless. I have a tremendous amount of questions that I’d like to pepper Trevor with, but I’m trying to stay cool, calm, and collected because I know if I fly off the handle, there’s a chance that Trevor won’t come to me if and when he’ll ever need me, and I can’t handle that.

“Yeah. The clerk asked if I was eighteen, and I told him nowhere on the box does it say I had to be eighteen to buy them. The clerk agreed.”

“I can’t even.”

“Mom’s cool with it, right, Mom?”

“Better safe than sorry,” I respond.

Yep, mother of the year.