Chapter 9: Planning

“What was going on over at your place the other night?” asked Lauren. It was early evening and Lauren had just arrived home.

“Oh, God! What a nightmare!” exclaimed Heather. Lauren continued looking at the teen, waiting for an explanation. At nine the previous night, the television at the MacKenzie house suddenly had the volume turned up. It was so loud, in fact, that one of the neighbors across the street had called the police, complaining about the noise level, and a sheriff’s deputy had pulled in about half an hour later. Shortly thereafter the volume dropped, and the deputy left. Within minutes of that extraordinary scene, both Mister and Mrs. MacKenzie took off separately in their cars, not to return until almost midnight.

“Well?” pried Lauren, curiosity winning out over privacy.

“Mom’s got a new kick; she’s taken up reading the Bible out loud.” Lauren raised an eyebrow at this, and Heather elaborated. “I mean, like, entire books of the Bible, non-stop, whether you want to hear it or not. Last night she decided to start in on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, right from Verse 1, and Daddy went bonkers. He starts turning up the television and Mom starts reading louder, until she was screaming, and the TV was practically rattling the windows! That’s when the cops showed up.”

“Oh Lord! What did you do?”

“I stuffed some earplugs in and went upstairs. Afterwards Mom went to church to pray for strength and Dad went out to a bar.” Heather shrugged fatalistically.

“Oh. I thought maybe your last date had something to do with it,” said Lauren.

Heather shook her head. “No more than usual these days. I really like going out with Robby, but she always gives me the third degree afterwards and Dad has to make her stop. I’d stop dating him but that wouldn’t change anything. She’s even talking about taking me out of school and sending me to parochial school, but Dad says we can’t afford it.”

Lauren felt like she was treading on thin ice. “Honey, you know that new furniture I just put in downstairs? Well, one of the reasons I bought it was for you. If you ever wanted to spend the night, it would give you a place of your own, you know? I’m not saying you should just move in, but if it ever gets too crazy, you’ll always be welcome.”

Heather looked up sharply at this and her face brightened. “Really?”

“Hey, careful now. I’m not one of your parents and don’t have any legal right over this. I won’t hide you. However, if you need to get away and call for help or the cops or something, whatever, come on over. I think your dad would understand even if your mom won’t,” explained Lauren.

Regardless of the restrictions, Heather felt a huge weight lift from her, and she hugged her mentor fiercely. “Thank you, thank you!”

Lauren smiled and helped the teen wipe her eyes. “Now, how’s the dating business going?” she asked.

Heather smiled and got a goofy grin on her face. “Pretty good. I think we’re just going out now so we can kiss and stuff. He makes me feel all gooey inside.”

“Kiss? And stuff? Define stuff.”

“You know, stuff,” replied Heather, her hands fluttering. Lauren made ‘come-along’ motions with her own hands to draw out the girl, and Heather went on. “Well, he’ll rub his hands along my back, and even down along my pants, you know, my butt, and sometimes around to the front of my shirt, to rub my tits through the shirt. That feels so good, but I don’t really let him do that very often. It’s only been the last couple of times we’ve been out. And he rubs himself against me, and I can feel, you know, his ... his ... you know, his dick against me.”

“His hardon?” asked Lauren. Heather simply blushed and nodded in agreement.

Lauren smiled. “Well, it sounds like you two are moving along. Has he gotten his hands inside your clothing yet?”

“Uh, no, but he’s tried. I’ve made him stop, but it was really hard the last time. I really wanted him to continue,” admitted Heather.

Lauren nodded in understanding. “Listen, it’s going to get more difficult. You are getting turned on by him, and your body wants to keep going. What kind of birth control are you going to use?”

Heather’s eyes opened wide at that, and she sputtered, “But we aren’t ... I mean ... we haven’t...”

Lauren gave the girl a wry look and said, “You know what they call kids like you two? Parents!” Heather tried to protest but Lauren cut her off. “Look, I’m not kidding. You two are going to start fooling around more and more, and it’s going to feel better and better, and then one day you’re going to go all the way. And then, since you didn’t get pregnant on the first go around, you’re going to think you can stay lucky, or not get caught, or whatever, that it’s really not going to happen to you. Guess what? It will!”

Heather stared at Lauren briefly, then shrugged her shoulders. “So, what do we do? I’m not really ready to do it yet. Should I get some rubbers anyway?”

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea. A better idea would be to get on the Pill. Have you talked about this stuff in school yet?” Lauren asked.

Heather answered with a head nod. “Yeah, last year, in tenth grade. They talked about the Pill and condoms and diaphragms and stuff.”

Lauren nodded in relief. “Good. I wasn’t sure whether the religious nuts were in control and preaching abstinence or not.”

“That’s all Mom talks about. Of course, that’s for other people, since I’m never going to do that sort of thing,” said Heather. “I don’t think Dad’s been getting any lately,” she commented.

“I’m not surprised,” said Lauren dryly. “Regardless. Don’t change the subject. What do you plan to do when you and Robby do start fooling around?”

Heather shrugged helplessly. “Rubbers? I don’t know. What do you use?”

“Well, for one thing, it’s not just me, it’s us. This is something that the fellow is involved in, too, you know. It’s his dick, after all!” Heather nodded her understanding and Lauren continued. “I’m on the Pill. I’ve been on it since I first started menstruating, when I was about thirteen or so, to regulate my period. As a birth control it’s pretty safe and secure, but it does not do anything against diseases. On the plus side, it is a whole lot less messy than rubbers or diaphragms, and you don’t have to worry about running out or having to stop to put one on or in. It’s much more natural.”

“I wish I could use that,” sighed the girl.

“Why can’t you?”

“Well, I’d have to get my doctor to do it and he’d just tell Mom!” Heather wailed in exasperation.

“Maybe, maybe not,” commented Lauren. “Still, there’s another way. Go down to Planned Parenthood. You can get a prescription there and they won’t tell anybody. The law is on your side in this.”

“Really? That’d be great!”

“Sure. I can take you some afternoon or evening if you want.”

“Great! Let’s go!” Heather was exuberant about the idea, and it took Lauren a moment to calm her down and explain that she would call and find some times and make an appointment.

As it turned out, Lauren was able to make an appointment for Heather that Friday morning, so she arranged to take the day off and drove Heather to the clinic that morning. The gauntlet of pro-lifers was light that day, so they were able to get inside with minimal hassle, and by noon Heather was on her way home with a prescription that she filled at a local drugstore. Lauren taught her about the need to never, ever miss a pill, and Heather looked forward to being able to start them.

The day off worked out well for Lauren in another way as well. She and Peter were planning on taking a long weekend away. After two straight weekends of domesticity, Peter wanted adult time alone with her. Gary’s mom, Helen, was going to take the children to her home for the weekend and see that they got to their school program on Monday, then watch them until Lauren came home that day. She came by at lunchtime Friday, to help the youngsters pack and take them off Lauren’s hands.

“I don’t know how to thank you!” gushed Lauren as she bundled her offspring out the door. Jimmy raced his sister to their grandmother’s car and the two climbed into the back seat.

“Oh, it’s nothing, and you know it. Besides, the way you and whatshisname are going, how much longer will I have in their lives?” she asked speculatively.

Lauren gave her mother-in-law a shocked look. “Mom! You’ll always be in our lives! You know better.”

The older woman shrugged and patted her daughter-in-law’s hand. “Does whatshisname agree? He’ll have his own mother to worry about. Is he going to want to see your first husband’s mother around?”

“Well, first, we haven’t gotten to that point, at leastwise not yet. And secondly, I don’t care if he has five mothers, you will always be part of our lives. I don’t ever want to hear otherwise! You are one of the kids’ grandmothers, and you will always be around us. Agreed?” argued Lauren.

Lauren eyed her mother-in-law speculatively. Helen Graham was only in her mid-fifties; she had married right out of college and almost immediately had gotten pregnant with Gary, her only child. Her husband had been almost ten years older than she was and had died of a heart attack only a couple of years before her son’s accident. Now, Lauren and her grandchildren were all she had left, and she occasionally got a severe case of melancholy.

On the other hand, noted Lauren, the older woman was still rather attractive, and the bouts of melancholy seemed confined to the times when she wasn’t seeing a man. She was of average height, five-five or five-six, and weighed somewhere around 140, Lauren guessed. She had an ample bosom, a pleasantly padded rear, and a waist that was slim enough to show her curves. Her legs were in good shape, and she kept her curly hair cut short and frosted blonde. She was an attractive package and dressed stylishly to show it.