Chapter 21

Once we were in the library, Dad began pacing the room. Was he at a loss as to where to start? I stood there quietly and waited.

Finally he said, “You know the story Papa tells of how your mother and I met?”

“Yes, sir.” Around the time I’d started getting interested in the opposite sex, I’d done a little arithmetic, and I figured unless I was somewhat premature, my parents must have jumped the gun and had sex before they were married. Then I’d forgotten about it, because imagining my parents having sex…that was just something I didn’t want to consider. Robin and I knew, although our other siblings were too young or too unconcerned to understand—when Mum and Dad got a certain look in their eyes and disappeared into their bedroom, they were going to be making each other exceedingly happy.