Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 148: Rosie

Julie knocks gently on the door and announces her presence when she appears twenty seconds later, although she doesn't wait for a response before she steps in. She closes the door behind herself, glancing at Rosie hugging herself against Courtney's side before moving to grab Rosie's small desk chair. She shifts it near the end of the bed, sitting down in front of them, immediately turning her attention to Rosie.

"Hey darling, Aunty Courtney said you wanted to talk to me?" she prompts, her own voice gentle. Rosie nods, slowly, before launching into a stumbled explanation of the boys at school, and how she hates hugs now, and she didn't want to hug Pa either.

"And Aunty Courtney is okay because she asked first and she taught me about cot- cons- what's the word again?" She turns, tugging slightly at Courtney's sleeve.

"Consent," Courtney fills in, briefly glancing at Julie to mouth a silent 'sorry' over Rosie's head. Julie simply nods, though, watching intently as Rosie continues.

"Consent, like people have to ask me to touch me," she finishes.

"Aunty Courtney is absolutely right," Julie confirms, the first she speaks since Rosie starts talking, "those boys at school are very wrong, have you told your teacher about them?"

"Yeah but he just said boys do that because they like you," Rosie mutters, Julie giving an audible sigh in response.

"That's not true at all. Would you like me to talk to your teacher after winter break?" she affirms, Rosie messily nodding in response. "Okay, I'll talk to your teacher. And I can talk to Nan and Pa for you too, okay? And honey, you know the other thing is, if anyone ever touches you when you don't want them to, you should tell me or Dad."

"I was scared that you'd get mad at me for not wanting to hug Pa," she mumbles, voice filling with tears again.

"Honey, I'll never get mad at you for telling me something like this, or when something is making you uncomfortable," she tells her, "Was it less scary to talk to Aunty Courtney?"

"Yeah," she mumbles.

"You can always tell your Mum things like this, Rosie, and if you can, it's best to tell her first. But if you really don't want to talk to Mum or Dad, you still need to talk to an adult, and you can always talk to me if you want to," Courtney confirms, carefully glancing up to meet Julie's eyes as she does, although Julie nods and gives her a small smile.

"Absolutely. And Aunty Courtney can help you tell me eventually like today, or maybe sometimes she won't need to tell me and you can just talk to her," she tells Rosie, who nods in understanding and acceptance.

"What if you're not here though Aunty Courtney?" she asks, face shifting into a perplexed frown for a moment.

"You could always ask Mum or Dad if you can call me on their phones?" she suggests, Julie humming her agreement as Rosie nods, accepting that plan.

They both sit with Rosie a little longer, before asking if she wants to join everyone else out in the living room. She shakes her head firmly, and it leaves Rosie contentedly alone as Courtney and Julie wander back up the hallway to join everyone else in the living room.

"Sorry I went so hard on the consent lesson, the way she was talking about everything was just- horrifying," Courtney mumbles, but Julie quickly brushes her apology off.

"It is horrifying. And I'm glad you did that. I know you and Shayne try to ask us everything, but there's a reason we trust you two with our kids. We know you love them and care about them- I don't mind if you're teaching her things that come up. And I think you probably did a better job with that than I could have," Julie tells her, Courtney sighing softly in response.