Rule #18: It's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission.

One of the greatest skills I learned from Gibbs was how to remove the peep hole of a door and flip it around.

And of course, I've done it. Always nice to see what's going on in your house before you enter it. Just in case. With my family, you never know. Ever. You seriously don't.

So I was just walking back home from my piano lesson, which is just in Mrs. Martin's apartment 2
floors up above mom's place. I was on the phone with Conner.

"So what exactly did you mean by 'I won't be having 10 of your kids'?"

"I meant I won't have 10 of your kids."

"You don't like kids?"

"I didn't say that."

"You don't like me?"

"Conner..."

"You don't want kids with me?"

"Hold up, why are we talking about this?"

"Because you're my girlfriend. "

"And we're 16, and there's a lot that has to happen before kids come into the picture. "

"I'm 17, and I know that."

"Then why are we talking about this?"

"Because I love you, and you know I'm serious about this, right?"

"What I was referring to was the fact that I am not having 10 of your kids. That's too much labor. I didn't say I didn't want to eventually have a family with you."

"See, we're getting better at talking about stuff!" he said, and began going off on his own little who knows what. I fumbled with my piano books and reached for my key. I peeked in the peep hole, and my brain completely shut down.

I looked in, to see mom and dad dancing in the kitchen.

His hands were on her waist and she was all over him, leaning in and resting on his shoulder.

I'm pretty sure the people in Mexico heard my jaw hit the floor.

Dad spun around and she laughed, and then suddenly, his lips were on hers and I was observing a very intimate moment.

"Eden? Eden... You there?"

"Hey, can you maybe come pick me up? I can't get in my house at the moment."

"Do you need me to bring your spare key? What's going on?"

"My parents are making out in the kitchen and it would not be fun to be the one who interrupted that."

He laughed. "Mom's been wanting to have you over for dinner for a while anyway. I'll hurry."

It was several hours later at the McGee household when mom finally called looking for me.

McGee answered and immediately gave it to me to deal with.
"Mom?"

"Where have you been? Its almost 9 and your piano lesson ended almost 3 hours ago."

"I heard footsteps and talking outside the apartment. I didn't want to interpret anything, so I went to the McGee's for dinner. I'm 16 mom, and I'm not on drugs. You can trust me."

I could hear her sigh. Delilah roled her eyes at me, signaling me to walk into her bedroom for some privacy.

"How did it go with dad, mom?" I asked sincerely. I could hear it in her voice. Something just wasn't quite right.

"Well, it was pretty amazing. I just never thought we would..."

"Get a second chance?"

I could hear her smile. "Yes."

"What happened?"

"Rule 18, Eden. Remember that one."

"I remember it."

"Good," she said. "Your dad is good at rule 18."

"Is he still there?" I asked. She didn't answer. "Should I just stay here tonight? You know its always alright with them."

"No sleeping with..." she began.

"I'll sleep in Kelly's room, calm down."

There have been major 'no Conner-Eden sex' implementations between our parents. I mean mom, dad, and McGee. Smart Delilah. Naive parents.

"Alright. Love you, baby girl." she said, slipping into her Hebrew.

"I love you too, Mom." I said, and we hung up.

I don't know what happened after I quit peering through the backwards peep hole. There are about 3 hours unaccounted for. They could have been spent in the bedroom or resting in front of the TV. I don't know, and I don't want to guess.

Mom sounded happy, but she also sounded nervous, like she was afraid. And I don't know how I feel about that.

It scares me that they could be so close, yet they could still fall apart.

Conner and I watched a few movies before I went up to Kelly's room. I didn't sleep well. Too much on my mind.