Okay, letβs back it up a little. Technically itβs not boys-plural, itβs boy-one. Who from the looks of these flowers has got it bad. Some no-good shit stain wouldnβt have sent her a damn present after the fact.
Is that your not-so-subtle way of asking me to talk to her? βCause based on the way this gets approached, thereβs a chance she could shut down and not tell us anything moving forward.
Take it from someone who used to hide everything involving boys from their dad. This is a proceed with extreme caution sitch.
Okay, but you had to figure this convo was going to happen sooner or later, right? Sheβs not going to just stay twelve forever.
Oh, yeah. All girls go through the horse phase. Itβs a time-honored rite of preteen passage.
[ oh. she can tell. ]
Come on, give me a little more credit than that.
What I wonβt do is go in ready for a capital-L Lecture like you seem to be gearing up for. If you grump too much in her general direction she could clam up and then you wonβt hear about any boy or girl or whoever there turns out to be someday. The fact that she told you means she trusts you enough not to blow your top. Donβt prove her wrong.
I know you want to do right by her. Thatβs more than a lot of kids get sometimes.
[ and yeah, sheβs not touching that side of it with a ten-foot pole right now. mostly because thatβd be opening up a whole separate conversational can of worms. ]
You know damn well it isnβt that. Remember how long it took her to open up about any part of what sheβd been through? My point is she couldβve not told you at all, but she did. So maybe thereβs a way to meet her halfway on this.
[ it's complicated too, because β well, he's never gotten this far. lisa never got the chance to be involved with boys. frank never had the chance to get mad at her for it.
now that he's here, it's a weird position. ]
so what are you asking me to do here i can't just let her do whatever the hell she wants
[ she can only offer so much perspective on this as someone who was a preteen girl once, although when her own father wasn't half in the bottle he was just absent in the most final of ways. she doesn't worry about frank's parenting instincts, but laura's also not a typical kid either. ]
Of course not.
How many times in her life do you think she's ever had the chance to be a normal girl? Do normal girl things? Get dressed up and dance with someone she likes? I don't think we need to worry about her going too far too fast. But there's a way to compromise here. Maybe an age when boyfriends or girlfriends or whatever are officially okay.
[ he knows she's right, and maybe that's the more frustrating thing about it. but part of it, he knows, is that there's a piece that's still nagging at him for not having been present enough when laura had gotten hurt, when she'd died. and for as much as he doesn't place that blame on anyone, and that these circumstances are with a lighter note, he doesn't change the pestering concern he has. ]
fine
but there's gonna be curfews and shit and i gotta meet him before anymore of this date crap
[ she knows what this is stemming from and itβs not a desire to go all controlling dad mode. if he didnβt care so much about her he wouldnβt have said anything at all. and now finding out after the fact probably makes him feel like heβs playing catch-up with everything lately.
but she also knows that heβs given this girl a home where she didnβt always have one before, and a little concern about potential boyfriends is understandable at any rate. shit, sometimes she forgets lauraβs not even thirteen yet. ]
So tell her what you just told me.
[ even if she wonders how the hell heβs going to enforce any kind of curfew when theyβre dealing with a tiny badass. ] You want to tag team the meet-and-greet?
[ because she doesnβt doubt this kid, whoever he is, is going to be hella intimidated unless thereβs some kind of frank buffer. ]
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text;
Is that your not-so-subtle way of asking me to talk to her? βCause based on the way this gets approached, thereβs a chance she could shut down and not tell us anything moving forward.
Take it from someone who used to hide everything involving boys from their dad. This is a proceed with extreme caution sitch.
text;
one boy, two boys, one girl, i don't give a shit how many or who
dating's off the damn table
what happened to drawings and horses
that's the shit she likes right
[ he's having a time right now. ]
no no
if you go talking to her all you're gonna do is encourage it
text;
Oh, yeah. All girls go through the horse phase. Itβs a time-honored rite of preteen passage.
[ oh. she can tell. ]
Come on, give me a little more credit than that.
What I wonβt do is go in ready for a capital-L Lecture like you seem to be gearing up for. If you grump too much in her general direction she could clam up and then you wonβt hear about any boy or girl or whoever there turns out to be someday. The fact that she told you means she trusts you enough not to blow your top. Donβt prove her wrong.
text;
and then she's got another few years after that while i'm still responsible for her
[ which ... maybe he doesn't necessarily know how long he'll be allowed that for, considering their circumstances. but that's another conversation. ]
the fact that she told me is more that she doesn't give a shit what i say and is gonna do what she wants anyway
text;
[ and yeah, sheβs not touching that side of it with a ten-foot pole right now. mostly because thatβd be opening up a whole separate conversational can of worms. ]
You know damn well it isnβt that. Remember how long it took her to open up about any part of what sheβd been through? My point is she couldβve not told you at all, but she did. So maybe thereβs a way to meet her halfway on this.
text;
now that he's here, it's a weird position. ]
so what are you asking me to do here
i can't just let her do whatever the hell she wants
text;
Of course not.
How many times in her life do you think she's ever had the chance to be a normal girl? Do normal girl things? Get dressed up and dance with someone she likes? I don't think we need to worry about her going too far too fast. But there's a way to compromise here. Maybe an age when boyfriends or girlfriends or whatever are officially okay.
text;
fine
but there's gonna be curfews and shit
and i gotta meet him before anymore of this date crap
text;
but she also knows that heβs given this girl a home where she didnβt always have one before, and a little concern about potential boyfriends is understandable at any rate. shit, sometimes she forgets lauraβs not even thirteen yet. ]
So tell her what you just told me.
[ even if she wonders how the hell heβs going to enforce any kind of curfew when theyβre dealing with a tiny badass. ] You want to tag team the meet-and-greet?
[ because she doesnβt doubt this kid, whoever he is, is going to be hella intimidated unless thereβs some kind of frank buffer. ]