Chapter 17

It seemed like it was taking Michelle a long time to return with the medicine. “Do you need any help, honey?” called Sarah nervously up the stairs.

“Got ‘em!” answered Michelle, the pills rattling in the bottle as she bounded down the stairs two at a time.

Sarah and John exchanged a few nervous glances as Michelle opened the bottle and deposited two huge pills in her father’s hand. He swallowed them down with a swig of beer and clicked on the TV as he reclined. Between the codeine, the cold Yuengling, and televised golf, John was soon passed out in his favorite chair.

“I’m going to go grab a shower, Mom,” Michelle said as she grabbed the pill bottle and turned toward the stairs.

“Where you going with those,” Sarah asked, gesturing toward the pills.

“I was going to put them back for you.”

“NO!” Sarah gasped louder than she had wanted. “Your father will need them again in a couple of hours. Leave them down here.”

“Are you sure, mom?” Michelle said teasingly, “I know what a stickler you are about putting things back where they belong.”

“I’m very sure, wise-ass,” replied Sarah, as she took the pill bottle from Michelle, along with any excuse for her to return to the master bedroom.

Sarah watched the ceiling until she heard the sound of the shower in Michelle’s bathroom, and realized that she was holding her breath the whole time. Satisfied that her daughter was busy showering, Sarah walked up the stairs to tidy up after her earlier “me” session. She walked into her bedroom and gasped. The toys and the box were where she left them, but all of the pictures were gone.

Michelle stepped out of the shower and dried herself with the oversized terry cloth towel. She slipped on her robe and wrapped her hair in the towel, tucking it behind her neck like a giant white turban. She opened the door to her bedroom and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her mother sitting on her bed.

“Michelle, we need to talk,” said a very serious Sarah. Michelle sat on the bed next to her mom and pulled the stack of pictures out of the pocket of her robe. She handed the photos to her mother and replied, “Yes, Mom, I really think we need to talk.”

Sarah took the stack of pictures without looking at them and set them on Michelle’s nightstand. She turned back to Michelle and said softly, “So now we each know a secret about the other.”

Michelle’s eyes darted back and forth at her mother’s comment, and she lost her position of advantage in the conversation. Hedging her bets, she replied hesitantly, “What secret do you know about me?”

Sarah caressed Michelle’s cheek and said, “I know about you and your father.” She could almost see the young girl’s heart rate double through the gape in the front of her robe. “In fact, dear, I’ve always known how you felt about your father, which is how those pictures came to be.”

“And you’re not mad?” Michelle asked, hanging her head in shame like she would when she was a little girl. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

Sarah lifted Michelle’s head up softly by her chin until their eyes met again. “No, sweetheart, I’m not mad, and you haven’t hurt me,” she said assuringly, “much to the contrary, I think what you and your father have is incredibly special.”

Michelle’s eyes teared up, and she threw herself at her mother, hugging her tightly and crying gently on her shoulder. “I love you both so much,” she said in between sobs.

“We love you too, dear,” said Sarah while rubbing Michelle’s back over her robe. The euphoria of having the weight of these secrets off her shoulders was closely matched by the warmth of her daughter’s embrace. She felt a familiar tingle at her core and wondered if Michelle’s body was reacting similarly to finally expressing the truth. She broke their embrace so she could look into Michelle’s eyes again and asked, “And you’re not upset with me?”

Michelle looked back at her mother through bloodshot eyes in confusion. After a long pause, she said, “Oh, you mean about the pictures? More curious than upset, and just a tad envious at how much better my prom dress looked on you.”

The two women laughed and hugged again.

“You know, you were playing with fire back then,” Sarah whispered to Michelle through their embrace. “You were driving the poor man crazy, and if I hadn’t stepped in, there’s no telling what your father would have done.”

“You mean, he ... ummm ... wanted to too, I mean, back then?”

“Oh my God, honey, you gave that man a constant erection from your first day of high school until you left for college!” Sarah joked. Then added, “Not that I minded, of course, since I reaped the benefit of most of those erections.”