In Case You Didn't Know

Chapter Eight

"Serena, you should talk to Beca about her mother, give her some closure." Henry said softly, sitting down on the couch beside his wife while she watched the twins play with their toys on the floor.

"I can't do that. I don't want to ruin the image she has of her mother." Serena said, turning to look at him.

"Keeping this a secret is hurting our daughter's relationship with Beca." Henry said. "You have to tell her."

The blonde shakes her head. "Ever since you told Stacie about my relationship with Bev, she doesn't look at me the same way." Serena said. She didn't hear footsteps coming down the stairs.

Henry's eyes widened. "Serena."

Serena turned on her heels to see Beca standing in the doorway. She'd come downstairs for a glass of water.

"Y-you had a relationship with my mother?" Beca whispers, staring at Serena in disbelief. "And Stacie knew about it?"

"Beca." Serena said softly.

Beca shook her head. "My mom wasn't just your friend, was she?" She asked. "She meant more than that to you, didn't she? You know her better than you let on, don't you?"

Serena looked over at Henry and swallowed thickly. This was going to be a difficult conversation.

"I'll take the twins." Henry said softly, standing up and moving over to the twins. He lifted them up and left the room.

"You should sit down." Serena said softly.

Beca shook her head. "No, not until you explain."

Running a hand through her hair, Serena sighed softly. "It'll be easier if we are sitting."

Beca stared at Serena. "What happened between you and my mom?"

"During the summer, before we started high school. She wanted to learn how to kiss and other things." Serena explained softly. "So I taught her. But then I found out I was pregnant with the twins, and she was kind of seeing your father." The blonde pauses and takes a deep breath. "When he... did what he did... She came to me, she wanted to forget what happened and to forget his touch."

"You taught my mom how to kiss?... What did my dad do to her? How did you help her?" Beca asked, frowning. She always thought her parents loved each other deeply. She hadn't reached this point in her mother's diaries yet.

Closing her eyes, Serena tried to figure out a way to put this into words. "Your mother and I, we never really labelled our relationship." She said, opening her eyes and looking at Beca. "We were just kids at the time and so labels just weren't our thing." Serena sighed and glanced past Beca as if in a memory. "Your father, he hurt your mother the day before school started. He was a kid, not very bright and often thought with his penis. So he had sex with her, your mother didn't say no but she didn't exactly say yes either."

"He raped her?" Beca asked, her frown deepening. She was starting to see both of her parents differently.

"In a way." Serena says softly, she didn't know how to fully explain it. "Your mom was just fourteen when it happened. So she didn't exactly understand consent and neither did your father." She said, shaking her head. "When she found out that she was pregnant, she didn't want your father to get in trouble. But that didn't mean she was in love with him or had forgiven him. In fact, she and I had a relationship freshman and sophomore year. Before we ended things, not that we really wanted to. But it was just better for everyone if we did." The blonde had a far away look in her eyes as she thought about her break up with Beverly. It had been a mutual agreement but she still felt she'd lost something despite not actually losing Beverly.