Mothered

by Zoje Stage

What made a human being turn monstrous? An error in prenatal development, a misalignment of chemicals, an insufficient ability to adapt to misfortune, too much of one thing and too little of something else?

They were all lied to. Maybe it hadn’t started as a lie—maybe it started as wishful thinking. That’s how easy it was to turn good intentions, uttered by powerful people, into absolute bullshit.

It had taken her a long time to admit to him, or understand for herself, that she wasn’t attracted to anybody—literally, had no concept of lust at first sight. That made dating extremely hard; most of the men she’d dated were ready for sex long before Grace had determined if she felt close to them in any meaningful way.

Basically Ace

Miguel had helped Grace understand she was probably “ace.” Asexual was a term she didn’t especially like, but he encouraged her to be open about it.

Honestly I prefer saying I’m Ace, rather then Asexual.

“I’m just saying . . . maybe the perfect thing doesn’t come along. But maybe you look at who you have, and maybe you find a way to make that enough.”