She took it just about as terribly as I thought she would. I had valiantly attempted to alter my consciousness in some way before we made the announcement to Ned and Irene, but he wouldn't hear of it. Which was cute, in a way, but also not. So here we were, sitting on the couch in their living room, having shifted positions from being knee to knee to pressed against the extreme ends of the couch. Irene was standing, droning on in the same angry tone she'd been using for about half an hour now. Ned had left the room after quickly registering his outrage and objection to our revelation.

We had figured, or I had, that Ned wouldn't really be that upset; shocked, at first, but not in the disowning/killing mood. Finally, Irene stopped sputtering and said, "Carey, go talk to your father in the kitchen. I need to speak to Molly privately now." Without so much as a glance in my direction, he fled the room with his head lowered. I almost smiled.

Then she turned on me. "What the fuck, Molly?"

"I... it's not like we entered into this with the specific intention of hurting you. It wasn't until later that I started weighing the consequences. And eventually we came to the conclusion that it was worth this."

"'It'?" she laughed mirthlessly.

"You know, us." I fidgeted, still uncomfortable with that idea, using that term to describe whatever it was that Carey and I had at the moment.

She just stared at me and paced around the room for a moment. Then she seemed to calm down and sat in the position her son had recently vacated. "Look, I think it's great that you're finally in a position to move on. It's been nearly fifteen years. But Jesus Christ, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm not the--" I tried to interject defensively, but she wasn't having it.

"If it were any other kid, I would be supportive, you know? But it isn't just some kid. It's my kid, who you've known since birth. You've watched him grow up playing with your own kids. How can you do this?"

"I... I just..."

"It's completely perverted and disgusting to even think of what has gone on between you. You're not just victimizing him here, either. How can you do this to me? After everything Ned and I have done for--"

Angry, now: "Wait, wait, wait. Victimizing? What am I, some kind of... well, I don't know. But I'm still the same person, Irene. I haven't changed. This wasn't planned. It just happened. It wasn't my idea. But I'm glad that it did happen. And if you--if... I don't want to ask you to accept it, because if it was something similar with Jack and somebody I know I never could. I guess I... I don't know."

She sighed and avoided my stare for a minute, then spoke up a little hesitantly, a new strategy clearly dawning. "Look, no offense, Molly, but you're... you're kind of... damaged, you know? Carey's just a kid. He deserves some fresh-faced college girl with ambitions and hopes and dreams and the whole first love experience, not a woman old enough to be his mother who's also, you know... somewhat fucked up. Isn't that what you want for Jack?" She threw an innocent, searching gaze at me.

Fuck. Irene should have been a lawyer. She's the best debater I've ever seen. She knows how to keep punching until she's got you in a corner and on the defense, and then she knows how to go straight for the kill. And I'm down for the count.

She continued, pragmatically: "I don't want to forbid him from seeing you anymore, or you from seeing him, because then you can't work together, and you do work well together musically. So I think it should be you who ends it. Because, really, isn't that the only thing you can do? Just acknowledge that it was a brief sex thing, you've had your fun playing Mrs. Robinson, and both of you can move forward."

"It wasn't, though," I whispered.

"Wasn't what?"

"Just a sex thing."

"What are you calling it, then?" she asked, her voice hardening. Clearly it was time to start catching the fly with vinegar instead of honey.

"It's much more serious than that."

"What, you think it's love?" Another scary angry chuckle. "Good Lord, Molly, I really would expect more of you."

The fidgeting was fast and furious now. I had nearly rubbed a hole in my sleeve with the itchy desire to get control of something, anything. "I... I'll leave. You're right." She wasn't, but I had to get out of there. I would have said anything just to get out of the ring before another verbal death blow. I got up and started backing toward the door. "I'm sorry. You're right. It was just a thing, something we did. I'm sorry. We should never even have told you about it. It was really inconsequential. I'm... I'm going to leave now. I'm sorry."

She just smiled at me with the glow of success illuminating her bared teeth. "It's okay, it's okay. Everyone has their moment of weakness. I understand. I'll have a talk with him and everything will go back to normal."

"Okay." Finally outside, I broke into a run for the car, slamming the door behind me. I heard it bang open again as I pulled the car door closed and started the engine.

"Don't do it, Molly." His shouted words echoed through the darkness. I accelerated to drown them out and left him there, shrinking in the rearview mirror.