Panic! Panic!

Your concerns were immediately flipped on their head when those words left your mother’s mouth. At first, you had been worried about how Mom would react about Grace but now, Mom had just revealed something that Grace instantly picked up on.

“How do you know what Max taste’s like?” Grace asked, with Mom being left speechless for a few seconds.

You could tell the question brought her back to her senses as she tried to come up with a way to get out of her predicament.

“Well, I err… I just…” Mom started to mumble, not able to come up with anything while her eyes darted in your direction.

You also didn’t have an answer to give straight away but given that you weren’t as heavily under the effect of ****, you were able to get your thoughts in order quicker than she could.

“I didn’t want either of you to bring this up but I guess I should have been a bit more careful” you said, stalling for even a little bit of time as both Mom and Grace’s attention shifted away from each other and towards you.

“Firstly, Grace. Are you okay with me revealing some of our secrets to my Mom about… things, if I will be revealing the same about her?” you asked, asking for Grace’s permission before continuing.

She gave a cautious look towards Mom now that the focus had returned to her but she still wanted her question answered and gave you a nod.

“And Mom, are you okay with the same, Grace getting to know some of our secrets and you getting to know hers?” You asked.

Mom looked a lot more hesitant about revealing what had gone on between you given that she already knew and had accepted that you had done things with Grace, not knowing if her best friend would react positively to the news. Still, she had caused this situation and without addressing it, she knew there was no way their friendship would be the same if she held back, slowly nodding her head without looking either you or Grace in the eye.

“Okay. So Grace I’d like to apologise for keeping you out of the loop. It wasn’t in any way malicious but due to some promises you haven’t been given the full truth and without talking to Emma, I’m still likely not going to answer some of your questions without confirming with her.” you started to say, seeing only a look of concentration on Grace’s face before you continued.

“My Mom is aware that we have been intimate although she doesn’t know the details, she has accepted it although you will have to ask her for her full thoughts on it. And in turn, me and my Mom have done similar things. Maybe even a little bit more than what we have done. I’m sure your first question is about how Emma factors into this and she wanted to keep it a secret so I won’t tell you much but she is aware. I haven’t kept this from her and I’ve been honest with her from day one. I’m sure you have more questions and I’ll try to answer them if I can” you explained, letting the silence settle in as Grace continued to stare at you.

You didn’t look away from her as you were being entirely genuine with her. There had been a bit of guilt as Grace was the only one not aware of the others at this point and while you wanted everything to be out in the open, apart from the KDK, you wanted to keep your promises to Emma first and foremost.

When Grace had finished her appraisal of you, she turned towards Mom as her next target.

“Did you really know about me and Max?” Grace asked, wanting some confirmation.

“I…I did” Mom replied, still keeping her head down.

“And you didn’t think that was strange when he’s dating Emma?” she questioned, her voice sounding more curious than angry.

“...Well he told me about you and I did warn him about facing down a lot of angry women if everything went wrong but I don’t really have an issue with it myself. I feel like I probably should but…I don’t know. I just have the feeling that it’s acceptable for him. Plus he told me about Emma” Mom explained, giving you some insight on how some of the group passives from the KDK were affecting her.

Mom did look up at you with her mention of Emma but you were glad she had kept the mention of her brief. Mom didn’t have the same promise as you towards Emma but she still avoided saying anything more than she needed to which was something you could appreciate, even if Grace did want more details.

“This is a lot to unpack but just to be clear, Emma is aware of this?” Grace said, seeing you nod and leaning back into the booth as she contemplated your answer.

Grace seemed to be focusing more on herself for the moment so you focused back on Mom. She noticed your eyes on her but you could tell she had more to ask Grace, giving her a little nod to show you would help her if needed. It took her a few seconds to work up the courage but eventually she managed to look over in Grace’s direction, breaking her out of her thoughts when they met eye to eye.

“You haven’t asked about me and Max” Mom managed to say, her own worries still at the front of her mind.

You had some slight peace of mind knowing that the KDK would give Grace a more positive reaction but Mom had no such reassurances, worrying how her friend would react after revealing some of the new taboo details of her life. Grace spotted the worry on Mom’s face almost instantly and spoke to give her opinion.

“It’s not a… conventional thing to do between family members but I get what you mean about finding it acceptable. The idea of it being anyone but you and Max doesn’t sit well with me but I get it. He certainly tempted me anyway” Grace replied, the joke lightening the mood far more than you could have managed.

It felt like you could see the weight lift off of Mom’s shoulders after Grace didn’t judge her and with them both having similar opinions, you didn’t think this would cause any issues with their friendship. Hopefully, bring them closer if you could help them.

“I wouldn’t phrase it as ‘tempted’ but I’m glad you see it that way” you joked, both Mom and Grace looking in better spirits.

“Don’t think I’ve fully forgiven you yet” Grace said, addressing you. “You haven’t explained half of what I want you to and I feel like I’m not gonna get any answers out of you unless we speak to Emma” Grace responded, her tone telling you she wasn’t actually angry at you, just frustrated that she wouldn’t be getting an answer.

“You can still ask now. Plus we can also carry on this conversation when we go away tomorrow. I don’t want to give you any ideas but I will be trapped in a car with you for at least an hour or two. So yeah, ask away” you replied, hoping she wouldn’t start with any major questions.