“But Sam’s mom says that girls who do that when they aren’t married are bad.She called them a bad name, Sam said. She doesn’t want Brittany to do that.”
“What exactly did she call them?”
“A horse or something. It didn’t make sense to me. I think horses are neat.”
“Does Sam know your dad and I weren’t married?”
She shook her head. “No. I didn’t tell her. I didn’t want her to call you a bad name.”
“Do you have any more questions?”
“Sam says she’s going to marry her uncle when she gets old enough. He’s in college now. He told her he would wait for her to get out of high school, but I don’t think he was serious, ’cause he laughed when he said it. I told Sam I’m going to marry Marcus when I get older. If Sam can do it, I can do it.”
“You mean after you’re out of high school?”
Cecelia pulled the quilt up closer to her chin. “I guess. I’m too young to get married now.” She paused. “Besides, I don’t want to do that icky stuff Sam and I saw in the book, the one Brittany showed us.”
“This book—does Sam’s mom know about it, Brittany’s book?”
“I don’t know. Brittany had it under her bed. It had all kinds of pictures, icky pictures.” Cecelia sighed and pulled Eeyore under the covers. “I’m going to study really hard so I can skip a grade and get old faster.”
“Why is that?”
“So I can marry Marcus sooner. That will show Sam.”
“Does Sam want to marry Marcus, too?”
“No. But my birthday’s in August and hers isn’t until September. That means I can marry Marcus before she marries her uncle. She said Marcus is too old for me, but I told her he won’t be too old after I get out of high school. That’s when she says Brittany wants to get married. But Sam and I—we’re hoping it isn’t to the boyfriend she has now. He’s really icky—and her mom and dad don’t like him either.” She yawned.
“But Marcus will be that much older, too, when you’re out of high school. Maybe you’ll meet someone else you’d rather marry by then.” Her mother leaned over and kissed her on both cheeks. “I think it’s time you went to sleep.”
“Maybe. Can I read Sea Star?”
“One chapter, then lights out.”
“Okay. Mom?” Cecelia slid under the covers.
“Yes, dear?”
“I knew you would tell me the truth. It still sounds gross, but I guess if you really love someone, then it’s okay if they do that nasty stuff every once in a while.”
Over spring break in late March, Cecelia and her mother drove with Marcus to the campground. While he set up the tent, her mother pulled out the dinner fixings. Cecelia ran around looking for twigs and wood to start the fire.
“We have to have s’mores for dessert!” she insisted loudly.
“We will, but first we need some man food.” Marcus growled like a bear and flung his arms out at her as she skipped by.
She screamed and giggled, evading his grasp.
Her mother smiled at their antics. Cecelia was glad her mother was so happy. It seemed like she was always happy when they were with Marcus.
“Cece. If you keep yelling like that, you’ll scare the wild animals away. Weren’t you the one who said you wanted to see deer and rabbits and skunks?” her mother asked.
Cecelia dumped a pile of small branches near the fire pit. “Okay. I’ll use my polite voice.”
That afternoon, the three of them walked along the river together, threw stones to see who could make the biggest splashes in the lake, and enjoyed a hike in the woods.
After dinner, they sat on a log and roasted marshmallows to squeeze between pieces of chocolate and graham crackers.After the fire died back to tiny embers, Cecelia went with her mother to the nearby bathhouse to change.
“Are you sure you’ll be warm enough in that?” her mother asked, as Cecelia pulled an oversized University of Iowa T-shirt over her head.
As her head popped out of the top, she looked over at her mother. “You have your long one on. I wanted to wear this one—it makes us like twins.”
“I guess it does, but I’m also wearing a sweater, in case I get cold. Where’s your jacket, hon?”
“Right here.” She pulled it around her shoulders as she headed back to the fire. “Hurry up, Mom. Marcus said he was gonna tell ghost stories.”
When they returned to the campsite, Marcus had banked the fire and was arranging their sleeping bags in the tent.
“Did you put mine in the middle?” Cecelia skipped over to him.