u/Write-Stuff04

My little cousin was removed from her father about 2 weeks ago, due to child neglect. The court has ordered no-contact because. My aunt (her grandma) and I are sort of sharing the parenting responsibility. She has been living at my apartment with me. Her grandma has guardianship for the next six months.

Tonight, I was in my room folding laundry while she was basically having the kid equivalent of the zoomies. She saw that I was folding a lacey looking bra and asked if I wear it with my boyfriend. I said that I do sometimes, but usually I just think it's cute.

A little bit later, she asked me if I "get freaky" with my boyfriend. My knee-jerk reaction was to tell her, calmly, that that isn't an appropriate question to ask others.

I thought more on it, and after a few minutes I told her that if she can't use the word sex, I don't think she's ready to talk about it. She asked me again, using the appropriate word, then asked me why. I told her yes, because we have known eachother for a long time and I love and trust him. She seemed satisfied with that answer and went back to reading.

I knew that, given her age, she was likely to ask me about it at some point. I literally just gave her a book about periods and puberty. What caught me so off guard is that she 1) asked me after only about a week and a half and 2) asked me about myself, specifically. I'm also not sure if this would be considered normal curiosity, or if it's related to something more sinister.

She has not met my boyfriend yet but has heard me talk about him. She 100% already knows what sex is, mostly through media/the internet. Her mom passed away when she was only 4, so she has never really had a solid maternal figure or lived with an adult woman.

I really, really hope I haven't given her any weird ideas. Should I have shut the question down without follow up, or would it have been better to be super candid? Anyone been in a similar situation? I am just so anxious about whether I handled it appropriately. Thanks in advance.