Temporary Daughter

Honesty and communication are the foundations of a healthy and long-lasting relationship. Or at least that's what he'd always heard, because sometimes things don't shake out like that. In Alex's case, it wasn't me who was dishonest, it was his mother, though not intentionally.

Let's back things up. Alex was a regular teenage boy, at the tail end of his junior year of high school, ready to start getting ready for college. In that same vein, Alex's mother was starting to date again, having not done much of it in the years since Alex's father passed away. She met an extremely nice man named Richard, who by coincidence, happened to have a daughter named Molly that was the same age as Alex. Because of that, the couple often shared stories of difficulties in being single parents and raising their kids. It was during one of these conversations that the miscommunication occurred.

"Raising a daughter as a single father is tough." Richard said. "I've been on my own for so long and she's so different than me."

"I know what you mean, my Alex is a good kid, but it's no cakewalk." Alex's mom said. "Daughters are especially difficult."

It was that momentary slip-up that caused Richard to assume, with a gender neutral name like Alex, that Alex's mom was also raising a teenage girl, a fact he'd later tell Molly, who began asking to meet Alex.

"Things have been getting fairly serious lately, and I think it would be a good idea if Molly and Alex met, I think you're great, but she has to like you too," Richard said.

"Naturally," Alex's mom said.

"You understand, raising a daughter yourself, she's your world, right?"

"Uh... right, she's my world..."

And thus, Alex was in his current predicament, his mother having sat him down and asked him to complete this insurmountable task. Pretend to be her daughter for one dinner, and then she'd figure out a way to explain the misunderstanding to Richard and hope it didn't affect their relationship too much.

"Please, Alex. It's one night and it would mean the world to me."

"I know, but you get what you're asking me, right? If anyone from school found out..."

"Nobody will know, I'll make sure of it. No salon, I'll do everything right in the house and it'll all be reversible in time for school on Monday. What do you say?"