I nod at my father. I've got a pretty cool old man.
"Are you good at remembering to take medications, Tera? Because, I personally would recommend you taking the pill, at least for a while, to keep your periods regular. If you want to change in a year or two to a different method, that's perfectly fine."
"The pill sounds good, Dr. Mac."
Sandy snickers.
"What are you laughing at?" Dad teases.
"I knew we'd be having this discussion with them the first day he brought Tera and Linc home from school," Sandy says, grinning.
Dad sighs and nods. "I did as well. I'm not going to tell you you can't have sex. I know how it works—I say 'no' and you say 'yes' and do it anyway. What Iamgoing to tell you is that if you're going to be sexually active, use protection—both of you. Doubling up on protection is a very good thing just in case one method fails. The best method of contraception is abstinence," Dad says with a smirk, "but I'm pretty sure that isn't the method you both would choose."
He stands up from his chair.
"So, I'll bring you home some samples from the office today. Tera, you can start taking the pills on Sunday. Take one at the same time every day. Try very hard not to miss any or the effectiveness lowers a great deal." He tosses the gloves into the trash and washes his hands.
"Any questions?"
Tera shakes her head.
"Yeah," I say.
"Of course," Sandy teases.
I smirk. "So, if we're exclusive and not banging anyone but each other," I begin, grinning when my dad rolls his eyes at the word banging, "do we need condoms or is there something else to use instead?"
"You are such a guy," Sandy chortles.
"Well, yeah."
I can't tell if Dad wants to laugh or cry.
"My recommendation is condoms, Xan. But if you don't have any available, then I'd recommend a spermicide. Again, condoms are more effective than a spermicidal agent."
I nod. "Okay."
Tera sits up.
"I'm not going to tell Rosa or Jose about this. It's up to you if you're comfortable doing so. Just know that you can both come to me, together or separately, at any time to talk about anything. No judgments. No recriminations."
"You are such a cool dad," I tell him.
"On the inside I'm not. Trust me, if you could hear some of the thoughts going through my head, you'd know I'm not cool."
"But you're not saying them aloud, as much as you want to. That's what makes you cool," I tell him.
He nods and smirks. I can tell he wants to smile bigger, but he holds back.
"Tera, there are some tissues there to wipe the gel off. I took samples for a pap smear to make sure everything is okay in there. I should have the results in a week, maybe less, but from what I saw, everything looks good."
"Thank you, Dr. Mac. I know this isn't your idea of a good time, but I feel so much better now. I thought there was something wrong. I never had irregular bleeding before."
He nods. "Get dressed, grab some breakfast, and I'll write you both notes for school, excusing you for being late.”
I hug my dad and he hugs me back—really tight.
"Just be careful, son," he whispers in my ear.
