Chapter 26

"Don't let him do anything foolish Mildred. The doctor said he couldn't do any heavy lifting or put undue stress on his hands. He can swim or exercise his hands and take care of himself but not something like moving the furniture in the family room. Mr. Overton and I will manage that later so you don't have to worry about it. I guess that's all. It's feels strange to be leaving him for an entire afternoon."

"Yes'em Mrs. Overton we'll be just fine. I'll keep a close watch on him and watch after his hands. Do you want me to stay late?"

"Could you stay until six? We won't be back until about nine but I'd feel better knowing he won't be alone too long. This is his first full day with the casts off I don't want him doing too much."

"Don't worry I can stay until six and fix him some supper and I'll see that he exercises his hands. We'll be just fine."

"There's the car horn. Mr. Overton is getting impatient. Sorry to be giving so many instructions Mildred I know you'll take good care of him and give him what he needs. See you next week. Thanks again for staying late."

"You think he will be all right don't you Carlton?"

"Of course he will Em. He's almost grown. I know it'll be a few years but he's five nine and well developed for his age. He was probably saved from worse injury because of all the sports he plays. His body is strong and if it wasn't for his face a person would think he was in his twenties. He's not a baby any more Em and you need to stop thinking of him as one."

"I know Carlton, it's just that I worry about him. Pretty soon he will be thinking about girls and God knows what will happen then."

"Em he's fifteen he's already thinking about girls and women for that matter. It comes with the territory of being male. His hormones have been on the move for two or three years now. He may not talk about it but he is thinking about having sex and my guess is that if it hasn't already happened it won't be long before it's a fact. You can't keep him locked up."

"Oh, Carlton I know he will be sexually interested in girls but I don't have to like it. I don't know why. I didn't feel this way about Trip even when I found out about it."

"Jax has always been your baby Em but you're going to have to let go."

"Okay I won't be concerned about Jax having sex. Does it matter how old they are?"

Carlton thinking back to his own experiences with older women when he was a teenager said, "Honey I'm afraid that if older women make the offer Jax is going to accept accept. It's really hard for a teenage boy with his raging hormones to pass on a chance to have sex."

"Will he be aggressive with older women?"

"I don't think so. He will be afraid that they will tell us if he were to make an unwanted advance. Plus he would be humiliated before everyone if it got around. If it happened at the club and there was a complaint he might be barred from coming to the club. No, I don't think he will make uninvited advances on his own. I think the same is true for girls his age. To have it bantered about that he was trying to force himself on someone would be devastating."

"Well, that's a relief." Carlton was right about the raging hormones but wrong about the aggressiveness at least where sex involving Emily was concerned.

"I've been thinking about what you said the other day that I need to spend more time with Jax."

"You do Carlton. He needs your friendship as well as your prospective as his man. I can't tell him how it feels to be a man. I can tell him how a man should act but it won't mean as much as it would coming from you. If, as it seems he will, he is going to be having sex he needs to hear from you how to treat women and how to protect himself."

"As far as his sexual involvement is concerned I'll take of that when it comes up which I'm sure it will before the end of the summer. Regarding us spending some time together the cubs are playing Saturday and a double header makeup Sunday. I called and they are holding box seat tickets for Jax and me. We can leave on the six o'clock flight Friday night. It will be too late to get a flight back on Sunday so we'll come back early Monday. I'll call the office and tell them I won't be in until Tuesday. Is that all right with you? You'll be here alone for two days.

"I'll be fine. I can catch up on my sleep and I can set up a tennis match for Saturday. I've missed not playing. Don't worry I'll have plenty to occupy my time. Maybe I'll call Alice and see if she wants to go to dinner tomorrow night. Don't worry about me you two need the time together."

"I'm playing golf with Jerry tomorrow morning early and Jax asked if he could get a ride to the club. I hope that's all right. He said he wanted to see his friends and go swimming. It sounded like a good thing to me."

"Yes that is a good thing. He needs to get away from the house. He's been penned up so long I'm sure he's stir crazy. At least I got to go to the store and to lunch on Thursdays when Mildred came in. I'll see you when you get back. Do you want me to pack for you? You'll need clothes for dinner for two or three nights and your Cubs stuff."

"That would be nice thank you. Well we're here where do you want to go?"

"Let's find a nice cozy bar and have a drink. Then we can decide what to do until dinner. By the way where are we having dinner?"