There had been no mention of our “talk” in the intervening years, except for my occasional whining about not being allowed to get my belly button ...ierced.We left that morning to go to the drivers license office for the written and driving tests; I passed both with flying colors. Then it was off to a gyno doc appointment. I had been seeing her yearly since the first mother-daughter talk so I knew what to expect. The Depo shot was a new addition to the routine. I received her medical briefing on. I placed my lips on her lips and tried to open her mouth. She took a few moments to respond but eventually she leme slid my tongue inside her mouth and we started french kissing. My hands in the meantime started to wander around her thin waistline and her hips.After kissing like that for sometime i asked her to come over me. I was sitting and she climbed on top of me and we started kissing each other passionately now. I became more bold and inserted my hands inside her jeans and grabbed her. “These things don’t matter as much as you think they do. We can even do it all together, if you want.” Marie pushed herself at Cassie in a way that made Cassie back away. Her friends’ faces were dark and empty. “What did they do to you?” she said.“They opened my eyes,” said Marie. “I’m going to be sick.”“Don’t be a drama queen.”“No, really, I feel sick. I’m dizzy. Mom, help me!” She almost fell, but her mother was quick to catch her. Cassie leaned on her (even though she didn’t like touching. I didn’t understand it then, but I fell in love with him.I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I was eleven, and too young to know what love is. And maybe you’re right, except that I think an eleven year old can love her parents, and her siblings, and her dog. So why can’t she love her adopted father too?I still went to her house, and she still came to mine, and time passed, and eventually that big, fancy place they had seemed almost normal without Mrs. C in it. And that feeling I had.