Karen tipped the water from the kettle into the teapot, thinking of a way to tell her mother the news. She didn't want to be a virgin anymore, and she didn't like men. She was a lesbian. She'd always known it, but was never brave enough to approach a woman about it, but now she believed that telling her mother would be the best option. She'd understand, at least she hoped she would. Her mother must have realized that she never had a boyfriend, and hardly ever talked about men or sex. As she filled the cups with tea, she kept running over in her head the way she would start the conversation.
It was now or never.
Walking into the living room, she placed her mother's tea on the table in front of the couch and sat down in a chair. Taking a deep breath, she asked,
"Mum, can I talk to you about something?" Her mother turned her head towards her and replied
"Of course you can darling, what's wrong?"
Taking another deep breath she said "nothing's wrong, I don't think, it has to do with sex."
"Oh I see," her mother said, "met someone nice have you? What's his name?"
Karen knew the next words out of her mouth would cause a big change in her life, although exactly whether that was good or bad was the big question.
"No I haven't met someone, but if I had, would you hate me if that person were a girl?"
A tense silence engulfed the room. Karen could do nothing but stare at the floor, she didn't want to look her mother in the eye. Her mother was only slightly shocked, as she had found magazines with pictures of naked women in Karen's room when she was cleaning. She got up and sat on the arm of the chair, placing her arm around her daughter.
"Don't be silly, I wouldn't hate you for having sexual feelings for women, not after what I got up to when I was your age!"
