Chapter 14: The "Talk"

Imagine this shy look on Harry's face when it comes to the "talk" with Juliette later in the chapter. I hope you love this one! :D

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I continued working on the Vineland Scales with Harry every day, in addition to systematically teaching him math and reading to make sure we didn't accidentally gloss over any crucial bit of information or some foundational area. But we breezed through a lot of what was to be taught, which furthermore proved to me that Harry was very capable of learning and may not have a disability at all; at least not one that affects learning.

I covered the areas of domestic safety, personal care and interpersonal interactions. Again, that last one was a bit hard to judge as I'd only witnessed his interactions with Theodore and myself. Kitchen safety was a little iffy since Harry virtually destroyed the mixer but I chalked that up to to his lack of experience. I decided to make it a priority to teach him personal safety and household safety. Otherwise, he scored highly on almost every single item.

After I had completed those scales, I sat back and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked. Intuitiveness. Another skill that Harry possessed, one that was rather mature. I'd have to remember that if it came up in the Scales.

"Nothing," I fibbed. In truth, I was overwhelmed with the fact that Harry honestly had no glaring behavioral issues or deficits that I would expect a disabled kid to have with the exception of a few tics, twitches and some stuttering, which seemed to be brought on by stress rather than a consistent occurrence. What I also found overwhelming to me was Harry's lack of knowledge about how the world works. I wanted to teach him everything all at once - science, world history, government and social studies, classic literature, music history and appreciation, art and its significance. He was almost a blank slate and it was daunting to think that I had the opportunity, and the enormous responsibility, to help him to form not only his knowledge and understanding of things, but also his thoughts and opinions.

When we got to writing, it was clear that Harry had been taught the basics and that he knew his ABC's. He knew how to write his name, spell basic words, and string together a simple sentence, but his skill was not much more developed than that. I was happy to work with him on that, in addition to his other subjects.

But as my second month moved along, I began to get a little stir crazy. I wanted to ask Theodore for a few days off, but I was legitimately concerned for Harry's well-being if I left. I also wanted to be able to take Harry out somewhere to give him the chance to experience the outside world. I tossed a few ideas around in my head and then I finally decided just to come right out and ask.

Late one morning, after Harry and I had done some school work, I requested permission to see Theodore in his office and he agreed. I began by saying, "I thought you'd like to know that Harry is showing remarkable progress with his schoolwork, and he has been nothing but an angel for me. I haven't had to discipline him once. So I was wondering if I could give him a reward."

"What kind of reward?"

"Can I take him out shopping? Or on a day trip somewhere?"

"I told you he's not allowed to leave as it presents...problems," he answered, cryptic as always.

"So then...." I stalled, scrambling to come up with a way he'd let Harry go out. "Why don't you come with us?" What the hell was I doing? "Maybe you're just not comfortable with the idea of me taking him out somewhere by myself, but what if the three of us went somewhere together. Like a getaway, maybe even go overnight somewhere and let Harry experience the fun of spending the night in a hotel?"

"Are you serious?" He asked, his face twitching into a little smirk.

"Of course I'm serious. We could go somewhere and do some sightseeing, eat out, maybe let Harry pick out some new books at a real store. And, if it's not too much trouble, maybe I could take a bit of time to myself if you and Harry wanted to have some father-son time. You have to admit, I've only asked for one vacation day so far but I think this kind of outing could satisfy me for another month."

Just then, someone I presumed to be an employee came in and said, "Theodore, I need those files before I leave."

He turned to the intruder and asked impatiently, "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" Well, at least I knew I wasn't the only person with whom he acted impatiently.

"I apologize but I'm on my way out the door," the man said.

Theodore breathed out an exasperated sigh. He opened the drawer directly in front of him, grabbed a small set of keys and went to one of the many, many file cabinets that lined his office walls. He unlocked one drawer, pulled out a file and handed it to the man, who left very quickly.

Before me, I suddenly saw a gold mine. I made a mental note of where he kept the filing cabinet keys and it didn't appear that he locked the drawer where he kept them.

"Where were we?" He asked, rubbing his hands down his face with a deep sigh. "Oh yes. I don't do father-son outings," he explained in a bored voice.

"Maybe you should," I said boldly, pushing my shoulders back and steeling my gaze.

A mysterious smile crossed his face, one I hadn't seen yet, and I wasn't quite sure what it meant. "Don't tell me what I should do," he said, but his tone wasn't angry or derisive. He relaxed a little further, which in all honesty, made me more nervous than if he had outright yelled at me. "Let me give it some thought. I suppose you could use a bit of...fresh air." By the time he finished speaking, his smarmy voice was causing my hairs to stand on end.

"Thank you," I said and left quickly. At least if Theodore had to come with us, it would be better than not getting Harry out at all. Now I just had to wait to hear his answer. I stopped before returning to the suite and asked Theodore one more question. "When is Harry's birthday?"

Much to my surprise, he had no hesitation in answering. "February 1."

When I returned to the suite, I looked for Harry but he wasn't in the kitchen, TV room, or the learning room. I went to look in his room and stopped cold, finding him very much awake but his eyes closed. And obviously finding some pleasure under the covers. I tried my best to step out of his room unnoticed but he caught sight of me and gasped in horror.

"I'm sleeping!" He yelled and pulled the covers all the way over his head.

I left without saying anything, hoping he wouldn't be too embarrassed about it, since he was doing a very normal and healthy thing. I went to my room, climbed on my bed with my laptop and resumed the Vineland Scales, obsessed with proving Harry's intellectual integrity.

A while later, he came into my room quietly and sat across from me. I didn't look up from my computer right away. I heard him clear his throat and say, "I was...um...taking a nap."

I looked up at him but he wouldn't meet my eyes at first. "Harry," I said in an encouraging voice. He still didn't look directly at me. "Harry, it's okay."

"W..what do you mean?" He asked.

"What you were doing in your bedroom. It's a very normal thing to do."

"I wasn't...I wasn't..." he stumbled and stuttered.

I put my laptop down and scooted closer to him. "Harry, you were touching yourself, right? Your private area?"

His eyebrows scrunched into a scowl. "Yes," he muttered. "I'm sorry. I did a bad thing."

"No! Harry, that's what I'm telling you," I said, putting my hand under his chin and tipping his face so he had to look at me. "You don't have to be sorry and it's not a bad thing. Did someone tell you that it was bad to do that?"

"Nanny Margaret said I would go to hell. And I asked Nanny Amy why my...my...my-private part, why it gets hard sometimes."

"Your penis? It's okay to say it, Harry. It's not a bad word."

"Yes, that. And Nanny Amy said I should never, ever talk about it again," he said.

I let a frustrated scream bubble up in my throat, pounding my fists on my knees.

"Are you mad at me, too?" He asked, looking pathetically penitent, with tears forming in his eyes.

"No, I'm not mad at you! I'm mad at every nanny you ever had because they were stupid!" He looked at me in shock and tried not to laugh. "You can laugh, Harry! Because your other nannies were all selfish, immature bitches. Got that?" With my permission, he erupted into loud, raucous laughter.

"Now, young Mr. Styles," I said and he laughed even harder at the way I addressed him. "We are going to talk about sex!"

"So...it's okay?" He asked shyly after catching his breath.

"What? Sex? Or talking about it?" He shrugged and put his hands out to his sides and gave me a silly questioning look, still trying to fight his embarrassment. I continued, "Yes, it's okay, we can talk about because sex is a very good thing in the proper context. Now, it's not the kind of thing you talk about with just anyone or just anywhere. But your dad or one of your nannies should have talked to you about all of this a long time ago."

I took a large gulp of air to steady my nerves upon realizing that I was actually going to give Harry the sex talk.

"Okay, how about if you tell me what you know," I said calmly. "If you're okay with that."

He nodded and smiled a little. "I know that girls and boys have sex to get babies."

"Almost right. Men and women have sex. It's very important to know that you have to be a grown up and it has to be something you want  to do. No one should ever, ever force you to do something you're not comfortable with. Okay?" He nodded, seeming a little more relaxed. "Do you want to keep talking about this?" He nodded shyly. "When boys and girls start to grow up, their bodies start changing." Oh my god, I sounded like a middle school health teacher. "You know what?" I said, pulling my laptop back to my lap and motioning for Harry to sit beside me. "Let's watch a video. Then  you can ask questions afterwards. How does that sound?"

"O..okay." He seemed uncertain.

"Harry," I said, putting my hand firmly on his shoulder. "Promise me you will feel free to ask me anything. I don't want you to be embarrassed and I don't want you to think I'm going to get mad. And, if you want to stop watching and stop talking about this at any time, we can do that, too."

"Okay," he said, relaxing again.

I pulled up a video I had saved about puberty. "This explains what changes happen in your body as you grow up, and why they happen." I clicked play and Harry watched carefully. Thoughtfully. Apparently absorbing every single word.

When that video was over, I asked, "Do you have any questions?"

"No, but I'm glad you showed me. I um...never...never knew why that happened. With my um...private area and stuff. Nanny Amy said I should never talk about it. She said I was a pig."

"Oh, Harry," I sighed. "You are not a pig and you are not a bad person. Please believe that. And I will tell you again, sex is perfectly normal, your body is perfectly normal and your questions are perfectly normal. I'm just sorry that no one had the courage to talk to you about any of this before."

"Thank you, Jules," he said softly.

"So do you understand what happened when you were in bed earlier?"

"I played with myself," he said, casting his eyes down.

"The correct word is masturbation. You were masturbating and it's okay," I assured him. "Girls do it, too."

He moved his eyes to look at me but he didn't move his head, like he was afraid to look me straight in the eye. "Do...do you?"

"Of course, Harry. Like I said, it's normal. But obviously, since some parts of our body are private, we don't talk to just anyone about them. It has to be someone you trust. You can usually talk to a doctor or a parent or someone who takes care of you or a close friend, but not just anyone." He nodded in a satisfied way. "So your body went through those changes, right? You noticed your voice changing and you started growing hair on your armpits and around your penis, right?" He nodded again with a slight blush on his cheeks. "Don't be embarrassed!" I giggled. "Penis is not a bad word. You have a penis and a scrotum. I have a vagina and breasts. They're body parts!" I said with a goofy smirk on my own face. "Say it - penis."

"Penis," he said still chuckling.

"Vagina."

"Vagina," he echoed, making a funny face.

He repeated the words scrotum and breasts, too. He giggled some more and then burst into laughter. He fell over onto the bed, holding his stomach, laughing. Finally, he said, "This is so weird."

I couldn't help but laugh, too. "I know, it's kind of weird, kind of uncomfortable, but how do we learn if we don't talk about these things, right?"

He nodded, burying his face in the comforter. I patted his shoulder in comfort while we continued to giggle.

He sat up again and asked, "So, um....what they said about girls' bodies getting ready for a baby. And then if you don't get a baby, you have a...period?" His face twisted a little in either confusion or discomfort, I couldn't tell which.

"Yes, every month, I have a period just like every other woman. It's just some blood that comes out and I wear a pad in my underwear so it doesn't get all over."

"That is..." he searched for the right word, "...kind of gross."

My gut was starting to hurt from laughing so much. "It can be gross sometimes, but it's the way my body is made, so I appreciate it, knowing that some day I can get pregnant and have a baby."

He shyly asked,  "Can we watch more?"

I had another video cued up, "Life's Greatest Miracle" from NOVA, the science program. It was definitely geared more towards grown ups and it was a bit more graphic. "Why don't we wait?" I suggested. "You've learned a lot today and I think it might be good for you to think about some of it for a while before we go on to the next part. But if you have more questions, please ask me. Nothing is too embarrassing to talk about, all right?"

"Thanks, Nan...I mean Jules."

After that, Harry left my room and we didn't really do anything together until dinner time because I just wanted to give Harry his space to think about everything. By the time I started making dinner, he seemed to have moved beyond his embarrassment and we happily ate together.

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Hey all! Thanks so much for the reads, votes and comment love. I promise I'm not trying to be arrogant or pretentious when I say I think this has the potential to be one of my best stories  yet. I'm just so excited about it!!! I'd love to get it trending - Would you all please ask at least one friend or follower (preferably a Harry fan) to check it out? You know I'm happy to return the favor with shout outs or reads of your work <3

In preparation for this chapter, I actually watched a video called "Always Changing and Growing." It does an excellent job of talking about the changes of puberty in a non-embarrassing and educational way. It's made by Procter & Gamble, so of course, there's some product placement in there, but I thought it was nicely done, even answering questions about why boys get erections and why girls have discharge before their periods start. Sooo, if you feel that you've been mis-educated, click on the external link for this chapter and watch the video. Personally, the impression I get is that public schools are shit at teaching health and sex ed.

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