The next morning, Mom was in the kitchen going through her usual morning ritual. As I walked in, she said, “Morning, sweetie. Get yourself a cup of coffee and sit down. I want to talk to you.”

Pulling a stool up to the island, I sat across from her, sipped my coffee and asked, “What’s up?”

Giving me her motherly look, she said, “You seem very taken by Brian. Are you in love?”

I was completely blind-sided by her question. Never before had she asked me anything about my feelings for boyfriends.

I felt myself blush as I looked down into my coffee cup before responding, “Yes, I am.”

Mom smiled, reached out and took my hand and said, “I can understand why. He’s not only charming he’s incredibly handsome.”

Looking at Mom, I said, “I have never felt this way about any other boy.”

“Jenn, I understand exactly how you feel. I don’t want you and Brian to get yourself into a situation you aren’t ready for, though. What are you doing about birth control?”

Totally surprised by her question, I blurted out, “Nothing. We haven’t done anything that could get me pregnant.”

Giving me a quizzical look, she reached into her pocket, pulled out my panties from the day before and said, “Oh really? Could have fooled me. You left these on the floor in the family room last night.”

Totally embarrassed, I blurted out, “Mom, trust me there is no way I could have gotten pregnant last night. I wouldn’t do anything without using birth control.”

Smiling, she chuckled and asked, “Should I go check for a used condom?”

“No, I told you we didn’t do anything like that. Please believe me.”

“I believe you, sweetie. Just wanted to make sure. I know perfectly well that there are ways for a man and a woman to physically express their love without intercourse,” she said.

“Mom, this is so embarrassing,” I replied.

“Nothing to be embarrassed about,” she said. “It’s perfectly natural. I’m relieved to know that you are being responsible. I do ask that the next time you two want to be intimate that you go to your room and close the door,”

“Mom, I couldn’t do that,” I retorted, “Daddy would kill the both of us.”

“Don’t worry about your father. I’ll take care of him. He’ll understand”

“How?” I asked

“Easy, I’ll just remind him of what we were like and what we did when we were your age and madly in love.”

“Way too much information Mom,”

“I guess you’re right,” she replied. “So, what are we going to do about getting you something for birth control?” she asked. “I certainly don’t want to see you two get into a situation like your father and I did.”

Not realizing what she was implying, I blurted out, “Huh?”

She looked at me with a look that said, “How stupid are you?”

Suddenly, it dawned on me. “You were pregnant before you and Dad got married?”

“Didn’t you ever do the math?” she asked. “Think about it. Our wedding anniversary is in May and your sister was born in August and we have been married for twenty-five years and your sister is twenty-five. A smart girl like you shouldn’t need a calculator to figure that out.”

“All these years I never realized that.”

“Well so much for the math lesson. Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen to you. May I suggest you make an appointment with my nurse practitioner friend Barbara? I think as a favor to me she would see you today.”

“That would be great, Mom. You’re the best.”

Later that day, I had my appointment and left the office ready to give my virginity to a very special man.