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“I know,” I agreed. “But it doesn’t matter, Dad. It doesn’t matter to me. I love him.”
“Is he coercing you?” was Mom’s addition.
My eyebrows drew together in confusion.
“Coercion?” I almost laughed. “Did you not hear what I just said? I love him, Mom.”
She wiped up a tear before it could fall, then met eyes with Dad.
“I don’t get it,” he said finally, shrugging. “I can’t tell you how damn wrong it feels. All of it. He’s a grown man, lived a lot of life, and he has a position of power over you as the English department guy and as your boss. This shouldn’t be happening, Mia. You know that. That’s why you’ve hid it for so long.”
I sucked on my cheek, not sure what to say because he was sort of right.
“Yes and no,” I answered. “I don’t believe it’s wrong. What we have is unique and beautiful. But I knew you would struggle to understand, and I know why. If it was a friend of mine, I’m sure I would feel the same way…but it’s not like that. We fought our attraction to each other for months. He didn’t want to date me because he felt wrong dating someone so much younger, but age doesn’t matter between us.”
“I need to know,” Mom said after a while. “Is this just…a passing fancy? You say you love him, but love comes and goes. And I know at your age, sometimes it’s hard to tell lust from love.”
“It’s not lust, Mom…”
“So what, you going to marry the guy?” Dad asked, raising an eyebrow. “At past forty, you think he’s having kids? He’ll be a senior citizen by the time your kids move out of the house!”
“No, he has two boys already, and they’re amazing—”
“He has children?” Mom gasped.
“Yes, from his previous marriage…”
“Lord, so this man is twice your age, divorced, with two kids of his own. And he’s dating his student and what… are you having sex? No man at his age is going to stick around if you aren’t.”
I gaped at Dad’s harsh words.
“Well? Are you? Did that promise you made to God mean nothin’ to you?”
Tears heated my eyes and stung my cheeks as they fell.
“Dad,” I said finally, “I made a promise that I wouldn’t take the gift of intimacy God gave me for granted. I promised that I would save that experience to share with the man that I love. I don’t think it’s a sin to love, even if our situation is a little out of the ordinary.”
“No,” Dad agreed. “It’s not a sin to love. The problem is this. Is it really love? Love is pure, unadulterated. Giving, selfless, freeing. Love is something you work for, not just something that happens.”
“I know that,” I agreed, but he stopped me with a lifted hand.
“No, Mia, you don’t. You’re still a child in all the ways that matter. You haven’t experienced the real world. You’ve been going to that college, which has been wonderful for you, but it’s isolated there and just an extension of high school. You might as well still be seventeen years old.”
Anger flooded me, but I did everything I could to tamp it down. They were hurt, and they were confused. It wasn’t about me so much as it was about their fear.
I took a deep breath and shook my head.
“I understand that you’re upset,” I said slowly. “This is a big shock, and I didn’t prepare you for it. I’m going to ask you to do two things, and that’s it.”
“And what’s that?” Dad asked, lifting a weary eyebrow.
“I want you two to pray about him and me. I want you to ask God with a sincere heart, because I have, and I know he’s the man for me. I can’t imagine that you would get a different answer than me. ”
“And what is the other thing?”
“I want you to meet him. Once you get to know him, I know your worries will evaporate.”
Dad looked over at Mom for a minute and they had a silent conversation.
