| “Tangled” by Sep *** Honor and love to Travis. *** Part 7 The next morning, she was downstairs early. Work, she'd decided, could survive a day without her, or at the very least, wait for a while. There was nothing too pressing at the office, and she wanted to talk to John, but try as she might, she hadn't thought of an easy way to explain the subject to him. Well, she thought she might subconsciously come up with something as she drank her coffee and read the paper, but all the business news gave her was a nagging reminder that she needed to call Richard, which then in turn led back to thoughts of John. It was a vicious circle and as she got up for a refill, she heard the shuffle of his bare feet against the floor. He was up early, and he stopped in surprise as he came into the kitchen. "I didn't think you would be here." He said as he poured himself a glass of water. Well at least he was using a glass now in habit, and not drinking from the spigot. That made her smile as he stood there, his hair sleep messed, his clothes the same. "I decided to go in late this morning." She laughed as they went out to the table in the breakfast room. "I guess I'm avoiding one thing for another." When she looked at him she could tell he didn't understand and with a wave of her hand she dismissed the thought. "Truth is John, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Last night I thought about what we said, remember? I thought maybe there was something I should, well, tell you about." "What is it? " He asked as he sat down quite properly in the chair across from hers. He took an orange from the bowl in the middle of the table and began an attempt at peeling it. "Well, it's kind of difficult to talk about, but you need to know if you're going to be with Jane in the way you want." She watched him with amusement as he got a start in the orange and then bit into it wholly. "You know, from being where you were.." "In the jungle." He interrupted without looking up. "Yes, there in the jungle, you saw animals, doing what they did." "Mating." She wondered if he had the capacity to deliberately make her feel awkward while he spoke so casually, and decided he didn't mean to do it intentionally and that he was indeed listening to her. "Well yes, mating. But when the animals do it John, they do it for a reason you know." At that, he looked up with a pause to think, with orange juice glistening on his chin. She handed him a napkin and he laughed as he wiped it away half-heartedly. "The animals mate a lot. They have to. Their babies get eaten." When he said that it was her turn to laugh. "Yes, I'm sure they do. What you need to understand John, is that women, well, when they're with a man, they don't need to… to have a baby each time. They don't want to have a baby each time. Do you see what I'm saying?" His eyes shifted a little as he sat in thought, and then for a moment he looked downright embarrassed. "When a man, makes love," he emphasized those words, to let her know he'd chosen them specifically, since she'd told him to him. "When he does that, then the woman is going to have a baby each time?" She shook her head. "No. It doesn't have to be that way. There are, modern ways to make sure that doesn't happen. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. You have to make sure you and Jane are safe about that when the time comes." "How?" He asked as he pushed the plate of mangled orange away. "Well, there are a lot of methods. It might seem an odd thing for me to talk to you about John, but, I care about you honey, and your mom and dad aren't here to tell you things like this so I thought I could." A soft look came into his eyes as he stood up and came to her side. When he took her hand up in his, she smiled at him. "Thank you." He said, and she nodded. She knew he meant it without any pretext or obligation. "Tell me about these things. I don't want, don't want Jane to not want me." She laughed and got up to lead him by that hand into the front room, under his beloved atrium. "Honey, I don't think you have to worry about that." If there was one assurance she could give him it was that Jane wanted him from head to toe. For the next hour or so, they sat in the dim morning sun and discussed various ways a man and a woman took control of the situation. He seemed genuinely interested, but then he was fascinated by the simplest things so it was no surprise. He had some interesting questions that she tried her best to answer, and it was nearly hysterical when she'd explained the purpose and use of a condom to him. She actually had to excuse herself to the bathroom where she laughed and laughed at the image of his soft indignation as she explained how it was worn. He'd said with an appropriate gesture, "I would put it on me – there?" As if he couldn't possibly imagine such a horror! She'd assured him that Jane could most likely help him with the task, and that had only made her want to laugh more, for as he had paused with that face full of puzzled thought, she'd seen the spark as he imagined it, and in a flash his expression had gone from mildly aroused to totally flustered with embarrassment. When she had come out of the bathroom, he sat where she'd left him, and made a strange face that looked like a school boy who'd just admitted to doing something wicked, and getting a lecture for the very thing he enjoyed doing in the first place. She'd bent down to kiss his cheek with a little laugh. "John," She'd said as she gathered her things for the office. "You'll do fine. I'm sorry it was a strange thing for us to talk about, but you were a good listener, sweet boy. You're going to do just fine. Now just give your lady some time to come to you, and let things happen." That bit of advice made him smile warm and wide, with a soft knowledge that it would happen, not a wonder about the future in that department. She laughed again and told him she would be working late that night to make up for her missed time. She told him to ring the maid if he was hungry and warned him with a shake of one finger not to make any horrible discoveries or messes while she was gone. Then, with a sharp turn on her heels and a shake of her head, she was out the door, amazed and amused at what a day it had been so far. |