In return, I asked her a little about herself, and learned that Robyn had her ex-husband's coloration, but physically resembled herself at that age. She also said that her two sons lived with their father, and that for a couple weeks each summer, she got custody of them. Other times, her ex-husband would get custody of Robyn for a couple of weeks; and that during the rest of the year, one or the other of them would have all the kids for a couple days, like over a long weekend. When I asked, she told me that she and her husband had divorced because of "basic incompatibilities – like he just wanted to get his rocks off, and didn't care about what happened to me". I also learned that she was in her early 30's ("I married young – some of that 'boy-craziness' I told you about"), and that Robyn would be turning 13 the following month.
By this time, we'd each finished our coffee again, and when I got up to get us a refill, she said that she really did have to go, but that she'd remember what I'd said and asked. I asked her what she was going to do about the school nurse calling her, and she said that she'd tell Robyn about it, and give her permission. I pointed out to her that I thought the situation gave her a good opening to start the kind of dialogue she wanted with Robyn – that she could tell Robyn that the nurse had called, but that she didn't think Robyn should be taking such things to the nurse, who clearly couldn't be trusted. She could then use the chance to reinforce the need for care and responsibility, and show that she could be trusted by discussing the different birth control options with Robyn before taking her in to see a doctor about getting her set up with one of them – and then refraining from making any inquiries to Robyn after that. Lucy got a surprised look on her face, and conceded the point by saying "You know, I wouldn't have thought of that, but you're right. I think I'm going to have to come over here and talk to you more often!", after which I reminded her that she mustn't let Robyn know that I'd said anything about the discussions she and I'd had. Lucy nodded her understanding, came over, stood up on her toes, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek along with a "thanks!" before collecting Robyn's things and heading home leaving me wondering what she'd have had to say (and what she'd have done!) if she knew that I was already boffing her daughter.
The next day, her mother went back to work, and that afternoon, Robyn came to my place after she'd gotten out of school. When she came into my apartment, she exclaimed "You won't*believe* what happened last night!", and I gestured her toward the living room so we could talk. After we'd sat down on the couch, she turned toward me and started telling me about the long talk she'd had with her mother the previous night – how she'd gone to the nurse at school to ask about birth control (I made the appropriate surprised look-and-noises at that), how the nurse had called her mother ("Even though they say that what we talk to them about is supposed to be private" with great indignation); and about how her mother had sat and talked with her "for*hours*!" about boys, her feelings, being responsible, birth control, and so on. All during this, I made the appropriate noises and got the proper expressions on my face, so that she wouldn't know that I'd had a little bit of a hand in the matter.
She finally wound down by saying "after we finished talking, I just *knew* that I could talk about stuff to her – she really understands!". I reminded Robyn that, as surprising as it might seem, her mother had been her age once, too, and could probably remember what it had been like for her. She seemed kind of surprised at that, but quickly realized the validity of it.
After a few moments, I told her "I'm glad that you feel like you can go to your mother about what your feeling, and such. I just hope that you'll remember that your mother has a little different view of things, and that she might not always be so open and understanding about the things that you tell her". That gave Robyn some serious food for thought, and as she was contemplating it, I went in to get us each a Coke. When I got back, she looked at me and said "I think you're probably right. What can I do?"; I explained to her that I thought she and her mother were a lot alike, and that I thought they were both trying to keep an open, honest dialog going – but from different directions and perspectives. She nodded her head in understanding, and I continued with "Remember that this is probably just as new for her as it is for you, and she's probably going to have trouble with it at times just like you will. When things start to get difficult, remember how hard it must have been for her to even*start* your little talk last night, understand that she loves you very much, and does what she does because she's worried about you – that's a mother's job!", which brought me a smile and short laugh.
I went on by saying "You know that she's shown you a fair amount of trust, right?" – a solemn nod – "Then you must also know that if you do anything to betray that trust, or believe that she was wrong in giving you that trust, she's not going to be very happy about It.", getting me an even more solemn nod. I continued talking to her for a while longer, re-emphasizing all the things I'd said before, and finishing up by suggesting to Robyn that she approach her mother for another talk, and try to make sure that the two of them really understood what the other was saying – and perhaps even go so far as to write down a 'ten commandments' or 'privacy rules' or something, just to make sure that they weren't talking at cross purposes. She said that sounded like a good idea, and about that time, we heard her mother's car pull in as she got home from work. I told Robyn that she should probably get home and get her homework done, and we got outside just as her mother was getting out of the car.
Lucy saw us as Robyn was heading back to her apartment, and I gestured to her that she should come over for a bit. She nodded, signaled me that it would be a few minutes, and went on in to her apartment.
It was about 10 minutes or so before I heard her knocking at my door – and when I answered it, it was all I could do not to just stand there drooling: Lucy had changed out of her 'office uniform', and into a ragged, slightly-too-small t-shirt (*clearly* no bra on under it) that only came down to about the middle of her belly, and a pair of frayed jeans that had been trimmed off right at crotch level. I stood there looking her up and down for a few seconds before I got my senses back, and invited her in.
After she went by, headed for the chair, I could see that the seat of the jeans had gotten enough wear that her ass cheeks seemed to be peeking through as she walked. When I closed the door, she glanced over her shoulder, and saw me watching her. I went on into the living room, and sat down; she surprised me a bit by sitting at the other end of the couch, and turning toward me.
When she'd gotten herself situated, looked me in the eye and said "Thanks! It's nice to know that I'm still attractive.", making me flush a little before answering in absolute sincerity "Believe me – looking good is something that should be*way* down you list of Stuff To Worry About!", drawing a pleasant laugh from her. With that out of the way, she asked me why I'd asked her to stop by. I quickly told her about Robyn's visit to let me know about their conversation the night before. She looked a bit surprised, and I reminded her that I was probably the first adult that Robyn had felt she could really*trust* as a confidante. She got a little bit of a hurt look in her face, and I quickly followed up by saying that that was why I'd asked her to stop over. I told her that Robyn had seemed enthusiastic about their talk, but had also expressed some worries; and followed that by telling her a condensed version of what I'd told Robyn.