Sophie nodded.
“But you wouldn't stop me?”
“You're becoming an adult. I can share my concerns and help you make safe decisions. But I don't want to decide your feelings for you.”
Sophie walked quietly for several steps.
“What if I never want to meet any of them?”
Emma stopped beside a low garden wall.
She turned to her daughter.
“Then you don't have to.”
Sophie looked relieved.
“I think that's what I need to hear.”
Emma smiled.
“You don't owe anyone a relationship simply because you share a biological connection.”
Sophie slipped her arm through her mother's.
“Then I think I'll wait.”
“For how long?”
“I don't know.”
Emma laughed.
“Fair enough.”
“I've got university to worry about first.”
“That sounds sensible.”
They continued walking.
The conversation gradually shifted to dormitory supplies, lectures, and whether Sophie would remember to wash her own clothes.
Emma teased her about the mountain of laundry that sometimes appeared in her bedroom.
