Grown Up Love

She laughed with joy. The way he threw himself into her, stroking her nerves too intensely for her not to cry out, taking her with his strength, wrapping a sweaty arm around her swinging chest, she thought, Now, this is a position I really do like!

"Ah! Baby, I'm gonna...ah..." He got slow, then collapsed. "Did you cum?"

"Huh?" It felt more like she'd had a fine slice of cake--delicious the whole way through. "I don't know. I just felt good."

"Good, good." Tommy got back under the covers.

Now that they were all cozy, back in lazy mode, Carly pulled her phone out from under the pillow. Missed calls? From her mother? Out the window, the streetlamps were still on in the morning mist. What could be going on this early? She called back--and the response was immediate.

"Where are you?"

Carly flashed her screen to Tommy beside her. "I spent the night with a guy."

"Who?"

"I knew him from Chartiers Valley--"

"We got you taken out of that school! What's he trying to do with you?"

Carly clung to Tommy's arm. Trying to make me happy, she thought. "He's really nice--"

"No. He's taking advantage of you."

"Do you want to talk to him?" She glanced at Tommy. She knew the look on his face--the "I'm going to get in trouble, aren't I?" look.

"Boys your age will say whatever they can to sound like they have good intentions. I'm not going to fall for it."

"But I promise--"

"Just get home. Right now."

She heard Tommy gasp. "Okay, I'll catch the bus." She hung up.

"What's she talking about?" Tommy sat up. "You're an adult!"

"She just wouldn't want me to get hurt."

"You're how old now? Twenty?"

"Yeah?" Carly folded up her pajamas on the bed and walked to her backpack to replace them with her day clothes.

"Why are you still letting your parents control you?"

She shrugged. How obvious. "I live with them!"

"You're making money, aren't you? Are you saving up to move out?"

"No, it mostly goes toward the bills so I can live there." By now, she was dressed enough to head out. Brushing her teeth and washing her face could wait.

Tommy sputtered--Carly hadn't expected her situation to be that shocking. "But why? You don't have to keep living there. Are you sure you even want to?"

Where else would she live? Her family loved her; she couldn't break their heart and just leave them behind. But it didn't make sense to be such a "grown-up" in charge at work while still living as a kid in her household. "I don't know." She stepped out to the front hall where she'd left her shoes.

Tommy followed her out. As if he knew what she wanted, he gave her one last embrace. And just before they exchanged their thank yous and byes and let her leave, he left her with this: "Just think about it. I think it's time for you to be a grown-up."

~~~

As long as Carly lived under her parents' roof, there would be no more visits to men of uncertain intentions. That's what Carly told Tommy. For the past six weeks, they'd been texting every morning and evening, even sneaking in a call when Carly got lucky. The photo surprises were a delight too.

(Tommy opted for a flip-phone because he didn't want to pay the high price of distractions and digital surveillance. An unfortunate price to pay was not being able to take such good pictures. But Carly still begged for more.)

Then one day, Tommy could hardly focus on his work at home. According to a text from Carly's bus ride, her heart had been thumping all day at work too.

Today was the day they'd agreed Carly would begin to live as a grown-up.

Slowly, quietly, she'd gotten everything packed. In recent nights, she'd left labeled boxes and bags on the driveway, few by few, ready for Tommy to come by bus and pick them up. At her requests, he'd arranged her things in his place the way she liked. With dresses hung up in his closet and nail polishes lined up in his bathroom cabinet now, he felt accomplished--he had someone worth sharing his life with.

When she arrived, and he felt the old rush of excitement with her soft hug, he knew the wait was worth it. Six weeks apart felt like little compared to the time they'd have ahead. "Carly! You're here!"

"I'm so happy to be here!" Carly took off her shoes in the spot she remembered. The daintily anxious tone in her voice was gone. "Oh, how have you been?"

"I got done with the website. Come take a look!"

Carly huddled by the screen as he scrolled. It was a colorful playland, easy to navigate and downright fun to look at. "Wow, Gladys is going to love this."

Tommy had done plenty of projects he'd enjoyed, but this one had something different: a spark of wholesome love. Carly was his inspiration. With her, he could see how kindness wasn't weakness; it was a great strength of hers, inviting more sweet and gentle thoughts into his life. Tommy could see her as an excellent mother someday.

Although Tommy earned enough for both of them, Carly insisted on keeping the job that fulfilled her. She had gotten over leaving her family, but she couldn't bear to leave the kids. Tommy bought her a bus pass good for a year, then, so she could make the ride to Bridgeville each day: over a thousand dollars, a cost Carly would've never before spent all at once. Now that Carly would only be making money for herself, Tommy was ready to teach her how to invest it wisely.

In many ways, she still had much to learn, but Tommy couldn't get impatient with her. He now had someone who'd smile and thank him, bringing warmth to the days he would've otherwise felt unappreciated for all his hard work. And it still awed him that after what he did, she'd been so merciful with him. He wished he could have seen her wonderful qualities sooner.

"Thank goodness that kid took a shit on the floor," Carly said that night, as they lay in bed ready to sleep. Tommy laughed into her comfortable chest pillows. He didn't even hear anything jarring in such an adult word coming from her anymore. All he heard was her love.