Page 15 of Being Julia

“That’s something I don’t think your father would want me to discuss with you.”

“I’ve heard stories, you know. Stories about him and all the women he dated when he was younger. Some of the stories aren’t so nice.”

My mom took my hand and interlaced our fingers. “All that stopped when he met me, and your father became the man he was destined to be. Listen, Julia, your dad loves you and this family more than anything else. He’s acting out of anger right now, and he’ll eventually calm down. But we need to talk about what went on here today. I want nothing but an open and honest relationship with you, and I thought that’s what we had. To be honest, I’m very hurt you felt you couldn’t come to me and talk to me about having sex with this boy.”

Tears started to fill my eyes again as I looked up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t talk to you because you wouldtell Dad or lecture me and try to talk me out of it. I think I love him, Mom.”

“Oh, Julia. Love is so complicated. You may think you love him, but at sixteen, it’s hard for you to understand what love is. You’ll have so many more boyfriends that you think you love until that one special person knocks the breath right out of you when he looks at you.”

“I bet you had a lot of boyfriends at my age.”

“I dated a couple of guys, but nobody wanted to get involved with the girl who had cancer. To be honest, before I met your dad, I had one boyfriend, and we dated for four years. His name was Kyle.”

“Wow. Four years and you broke up? Why?”

“That’s another story I’m not ready to get into with you yet. I’ll just say that he left me in our tiny apartment, and it wasn’t too long after that I met your dad.”

“Obviously, you loved Kyle if you were with him for four years,” I said.

“I did love Kyle. But there’s a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. I was with Kyle out of convenience, and I didn’t have anyone to guide me and tell me otherwise. He was there when my father died, and he was a source of comfort. So, I just stayed with him. I wish you had waited to have sex and talked to me about it first. This was your first time, right?”

“Yes, Mom. It was my first time, and I didn’t see the big deal. Sex isn’t anything special or great. It hurt, it was awkward, and I feel lousy about myself. I thought I was supposed to be glowing and feeling great. God, I can’t believe I’m going to say this to you, but you and Dad must have amazing sex because you’re always glowing.”

She smiled at me. “You want to know the truth? We do. Your father is an amazing man, in and out of the bedroom.”

“Mom, stop it! That’s way too much information, ewe.”

“Julia, you’ll know when the time is right. You’ll know when you meet the man of your dreams. You’re only sixteen, sweetie. You don’t need the complications of a boy or a relationship in your life. You have plenty of time for that,” she said as she kissed my head and got up from the bed.

“Hey, Mom,” I said as she went to leave the room.

“Yes, sweetie.”

“Am I still grounded?”

She cocked her head and pursed her lips. “Yeah, baby, you’re still grounded.”

“Can I ask you one more thing?”

“What is it, Julia?”

“Why did you come home?” I asked.

“The plane was having mechanical problems, so we never left the airport.”

“Oh,” I said as she walked out the door.

CHAPTER 6

Istayed in my room the rest of the night and thought about what my mom and I had talked about. The following day was Sunday. Every Sunday, we had family breakfast. My mom said it was the one day of the week we had to eat breakfast as a family. I didn’t want to go downstairs because I couldn’t face my dad after yesterday. There was a knock at my door, and Collin told me it was time to eat. I took in a deep breath and headed downstairs. When I walked into the kitchen, I saw my dad sitting at the table, drinking his coffee and looking at the newspaper. He didn’t look up at me like he did every morning. I walked over to my mom and kissed her good morning. I avoided my dad because I didn’t know how he’d react. Breakfast was silent, and it was uncomfortable. I ate my eggs and walked my plate to the sink. Before walking out of the kitchen, I stopped and turned around.

“I have homework I have to do, and I need my computer to do it.”

My dad looked up at me with anger in his eyes. “You canuse the computer in my office for your schoolwork. You’re not getting your laptop back.”

“Dad, please. I’m sorry,” I pleaded.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it this time, Julia.”

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