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"So. You listen to my calls?"
Leia stared down at the tape in her lap. Thank god they'd gotten there before Nikki, so she'd never hear Nate's embarrassing (but honest) messages. But she couldn't stop thinking about what her mom had said. She'd listened to Leia's calls all year!
"Hm?" Donna murmured from the driver's seat. They were almost back to Grandma and Grandpa's.
"You admitted that you listen to my calls," Leia repeated. Her mom looked at her now. "You've been spying on me!"
"Only sometimes."
Donna was a little sheepish, but Leia wanted more. She wanted an apology.
"You don't... I don't know, see how that's wrong?" Leia flared her nostrils as she recalled all the steamy conversations she'd had with Jay in the last year - conversations she'd be mortified for her mom to hear. She thought about all the questions she'd asked Gwen, all the worries she'd shared with her, and felt even more mortified. "I deserve privacy, mom. Everybody does."
Donna laughed, which only infuriated Leia more. "Okay, hey. No need to use your squeaky voice."
"Mom, I'm serious!" Her voice cracked in a way that embarrassed her, but she finally had her mom's full attention.
"Leia, you have privacy," Donna frowned. "You have your own bedroom, your own bathroom. We always knock. We let you have space when you need it."
"Okay, then explain the electronic surveillance - "
"You are also only sixteen years old, Leia," her mom continued, raising her voice. "You are still a child and I am still your mother, and I am responsible for you."
"Mom," Leia groaned. "I'm almost an adult. Why won't you and dad treat me like one?"
It was the wrong thing to say - Leia realized that almost instantly.
Her mom pulled the car over to the side of the road so abruptly that Leia jolted forward a little in her seat. Donna unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to face her, her expression hard in a way it normally wasn't.
"When you're ready to act like an adult, young lady, I will treat you like an adult. Do you know what adults do? They work. And they pay bills. And they pay for their own food and their own clothes and their own phones, Leia."
Donna cleared her throat, in a way that meant that she was just getting started.
"And adults can also have mature conversations about adult topics, like having sex. They're honest with the people who care about them. And they step up to take care of their own sexual health - "
"Ugh, god, okay Mom. Stop."
But Donna didn't. She was on a roll now.
"I tried to talk to you about this. I asked about Jay. I asked how you two were doing. If you were considering having sex with him."
Leia flinched at how bluntly her mom spoke. She preferred calling sex "whoopie" and body parts "hoohoos" and "weewees" like her dad taught her.
"You pushed me away, you never wanted to talk about it. You know that's true, Leia. I knew you weren't being honest with me. So it left me with no choice."
Leia's anger was fading, but she still rolled her eyes.
"There was a reason I didn't tell you, Mom. I - "
"Nuh uh," Donna shook her head, interrupting her. "I don't need a reason, Leia. I'm your mom and I get to know these things." Off Leia's glare, she added, softer, "Not everything, but things that have to do with your personal safety - you bet. And your... your emotional wellbeing."
Her mom's voice was breaking now - she was suddenly emotional, and Leia didn't know why. But it made her feel suddenly emotional, too.
"Mom - mom, I'm fine," she assured her, even as her voice wobbled and she felt her eyes grow wet. "Look, I'm fine, okay? I'm - my emotional wellbeing is... well."
Donna laughed, and blotted at her eyes with a tissue.
"And for the record," Leia took a deep breath. "Jay and I aren't having sex yet. But I am thinking about it."
Donna blew out a deep breath, too. She looked more relieved than Leia had expected.
"Okay. Okay. Thank you for telling me that." She reached over, and squeezed Leia's hand. "Do you have any questions?"
Leia shook her head quickly. The memory of last summer - her mom's condom demonstration using a cucumber - still made her blush.
"Nope," she moved her arms definitively. "No questions."
"Okay, well." Donna glanced over at her as she restarted the car, and pulled back onto the street. "Do you have any worries?"
Leia glanced down at her lap.
"I - I kind of worry I won't be good at it," she admitted softly.
Donna didn't laugh. She caught Leia's eye in the mirror. "Nobody is good at it at first. You have to practice, just like with anything else. But if you're doing it with the right person, it'll get good. Really good."
Leia blew out an apprehensive breath. "Jay's had a lot of, uh, practice."
Donna narrowed her eyes. "How much practice?"
"More than me," Leia said glumly. She caught her mom's concerned expression. "We've talked about it," she assured her. "A lot. He's honest with me. I can't blame him for having a past, you know?"
Donna sighed wearily. "You remember how to put on a condom, right? Do you need me to show you again?"
"No, Mom!" Leia exclaimed, horrified. "God, no. I remember."
"You need one every time, Leia. And if he tries to tell you he doesn't want to use one - "
"Mom - I know," Leia assured her. She shuddered a little and Donna relented - but only for a moment.
"And your pill. You have to take that every day, too. And at the same time - "
"Every day," Leia finished for her, with a sassy smile. "Yes, I know that too. I take it every night after I brush my teeth."
"Good girl."
They'd pulled up to her grandparents' house. Her mom pulled the car into the driveway and turned it off, but neither of them moved.
"I just - I want you to feel confident in your own choices. I don't want any of those choices taken away from you."
"Mom," Leia said, gently. "I'm careful. You know me."
"I was careful, too, Le-Le." Donna smiled, almost wistfully, at her daughter. "But in the heat of the moment, sometimes things happen. I just want you to be ready."
"I feel ready."
"Good." Donna smiled softly. "Be careful with your heart, too, okay baby?"
Leia smiled, at just the thought of him. "It's safe with Jay."
"Okay," her mom squeezed her hand again. "I trust you."
"Really?" Leia raised her eyebrow, pointedly.
"Really." Donna looked sheepish again. "How about this: I'll cut out the 'electronic espionage', if you promise to keep being honest with me like this."
Leia pretended to consider it for a moment, before she nodded. "It's a deal. And Mom?"
"Hm?"
"Thanks."
She leaned over to hug her, across the center console.