"Hey, Olivia?" Mom stood in the doorway of my bedroom.

Yesterday was my birthday. It was later into the night, now. I would probably go to sleep soon. I was just relaxing.

"Yeah?"

Mom looked serious. Something was going on.

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah. What's up? Did I do something wrong?" I didn't know why she would be so serious.

"No, no. You're perfect." Mom came over and sat in front of me.

"What is it?" I was a little confused.

"Well, you're 15 now... you're in highschool." Mom started.

"Yeah..." I wasn't catching on.

She pulled her right knee to her chest. "I just want to make sure you're protected."

I raised an eyebrow.

Mom sighed, "I don't think you're sexually active- but, I was, at your age. And, my parents never told me about safety. Condoms, birth control. I want you to know that, if you want to go on birth control- for whatever reason- you just ask me and I'll book you an appointment."

Gross. I get that moms have to talk to their kids about this stuff, but I immediately felt insanely awkward.

"People use birth control for a number of reasons. To help with period pains, to help control how heavy a period is, to help prevent pregnancy." Mom started explaining.

I didn't know what in the world to say. This was so incredibly awkward.

"Although I would prefer for you to talk to me about whatever is going on, you don't have to explain yourself to me- if you just simply tell me you want to go on birth control, that's what will happen." Mom continued.

"Mom." I interrupted. "I'm not-" I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again. "I'm not having sex with anyone. I don't want to."

"I figured," Mom said. "But, you still need to know about these things."

I sighed. I thought maybe that would get me out of the awkwardness of this conversation.

Clearly not.

"Consent." Mom tilted her head at me. "You should never feel forced to do anything for anyone. I'm not even just talking about sex. Kissing, hugging, anything. If you tell someone no, that means no. And, if someone tells you no, that means no." Mom took a deep breath. "Saying yes to someone once does not give them permission the next time. If you kissed someone yesterday and decided today you don't want to, you can say no. And that means no."

I just nodded a little. Again, I had no clue what to say.

"No one has any right to your body other than you. You understand?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"And if someone ever does not listen when you say no you tell someone. Tell me. Don't feel afraid. I promise you that it's not as silly as it feels." Mom was speaking from deep experience, I could tell by the tears in her eyes. I bit my cheek.

I watched as Mom rubbed her eyes. "It's your body, and you have complete control." She whispered.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm okay. I just... this is really important, Olivia. I need you to understand this. You're 15..."

It just hit me why this conversation was happening today of all days. "That's when you got pregnant. When you were 15." I concluded out loud.

Mom sighed, "Olivia."

I knew that look. She always got so upset if she even so much as thought that she had made it seem like she didn't want me.

She didn't understand that I had never thought that. Of course I knew she didn't want to be pregnant at 15. But she wanted me. She loved me. She had never done anything to make me believe otherwise. I wish she knew that.

"This isn't about me, this is about you. I want you to make safe choices regarding your body." Mom said after a few moments.

"I will Mom. I promise." I understood why this was so important to Mom. She didn't want me to get into a bad situation. Like she had with my dad. It was understandable. "Sex isn't even on my mind." I told her. I knew I didn't have to tell her that, but I wanted to reassure her.

"Olivia."

"I don't even... I don't know." I sighed. "I promise that I would talk to you before... before doing anything crazy." I said. And, that was true. I knew that I would talk to Mom. It may be a little awkward, but I knew that she wouldn't judge me. And, she would want to be there for me. I had never planned on hiding something like that from her.

"Okay..." Mom nodded slowly. "You're truly the best." She added on.

I leaned forward, hugging Mom.

She immediately squeezed me tight.

Though awkward, I thought it said a lot that she had that conversation with me. She cared about me. I already knew that- she's my mom- but, she truly cared about my safety. She wanted what was best for me.

I knew that her parents hadn't really done the same with her. So, I was sure that this was a very important conversation for her. She wanted to make sure I knew, because her parents hadn't done that for her.

She was trying to 'be a better parent than her parents.' She had said that to me a lot growing up.

She tried her hardest. And, she was the best Mom.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"You're the best."

She smiled, rubbing her eyes again. She was totally gonna cry. I could tell.

"I love you, Olive."

"I love you too, Mom. You know, there's no reason to cry." I tried to stop it, but it was inevitable.

She laughed sadly. "I know, baby." Despite her statement, tears rolled down her cheeks.

We sat there in silence for a while.

A comforting silence.

The awkwardness was long gone.