This idea popped in my head as I was watching a few episodes of The Brady Bunch. Please R&R! Pretty average length Oneshot, so reviews would be lovely as always. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own The Brady Bunch or any of the characters. (Unfortunately)
Summary: Cindy is left to deal with a huge (personal) problem and has no choice but to turn to the last person she least expected for help.
It was a regular, warm summer day at the Brady residence; this particular day, Alice had the day off, considering all the hard work she had been doing the past week. Mr. and Mrs. Brady decided Alice could use a day or two off; which meant she spent most of her off days with her beloved – Sam. Peter was off at his girlfriend, Carry's place and would probably be gone for the majority of the day. Bobby – as usual was out with his friends doing who knows what. Usually, Greg would be gone as well; off on one of the many dates he would go on. But this particular day, decided to stay home and relax; considering he had just gotten done with finals, ending his freshman year in college. Who knew college arithmetic would kick someone's behind? Greg sure didn't. Mr. and Mrs. Brady were out as well on a business dinner for Mike's job and would probably be gone for the rest of day as well. Marcia and Jan were gone shopping, preparing for their double date tonight with the hottest guys of their grade. This left only two people in the Brady household – Cindy and Greg. Cindy decided to stay home as well; considering she had been feeling awfully tired and lazy for the past week. What didn't help were the terrible cramps she had been receiving for the past couple of days. And the cramps were coming from the weirdest and awkward place ever. This explained why she hadn't told anyone; to save herself the embarrassment she knew she would receive.
Cindy Brady was currently lying in her bed; dreaming about the new boy at her school. Almost every girl had a major crush on him and she couldn't blame them because she was one of those girls with a crush. The boy was the grooviest boy in the school. He was an eighth grader, he had the grooviest dimples ever and his piercing gray eyes made all the girls swoon; including Cindy herself.
As Cindy was about to receive a kiss from the boy of her dreams; a sudden twist in her stomach made a soft weep escape her lips. The pains in her abdomen made her clutch her aching stomach and immediately shoot up from her bed with a start. Her curly blonde hair sticking to her face as another small moan escape her slightly parted lips.
"Ouch…"
Cindy said as she closed her eyes, then the sudden feeling of wetness beneath her settled in. Cindy removed her light pink covers; revealing a small puddle of blood around and underneath her. Cindy gasped at the site. Her eyes widening; she hated the site of blood – especially the site of her own.
Cindy's first initial reaction was to scream bloody Mary and that's exactly what she did. Her piercing blue eyes never leaving the site of her own puddle of blood surrounding her.
Greg Brady was currently downstairs; flipping through the channels of the fifteen inch – colored television. Nothing truly caught his attention until he stopped on Good Times; Greg chuckled at something one of the characters had said and decided to leave it on this channel. Plus, Thelma isn't exactly hard on the eyes either, Greg thought with a grin. It was something that somewhat sparked his interest on a Saturday afternoon with nothing to do.
What brought him back to reality was hearing an ear piercing scream come from upstairs; it startled him a bit; thinking he was the only one home at the time. He quickly landed on his feet as he sprinted up the stairs and followed where the scream had come from. The girls' room; he didn't think to knock for him thinking it was an emergency.
As he burst through the door, it revealed the terrified eyes of his youngest sister; Cindy Brady. She looked up at her eldest brother and quickly pulled the covers over herself. Not wanting him to see her like this. As he took a step in; Cindy yelped in protest.
"Greg, don't!"
Greg took another step forward; worried for his youngest sister.
"Cindy! I heard you scream, what's wrong?!"
Cindy looked into the concerned baby blue eyes of her eldest brother, her heart beating a mile a minute. Should she tell him what was wrong? She could use his assistance. The young girl thought for a minute; debating if she should tell her eldest brother or not. But finally deciding against it. How would she explain this?
"Um - uh, n-nothing! It's nothing Greg." Cindy said, lying through her teeth.
Greg's thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Then why did you scream?"
Cindy thought quickly on her feet. "I – uh – thought I seen a huge spider on my bed. But I didn't. Sorry."
Greg's concerned eyes then turned to scolding eyes. "Geez Cindy, give a guy a heart attack will ya?"
Cindy gave apologizing eyes to her elder brother as he exited out her bedroom door. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she uncovered herself. How was she going to hide this?
Cindy then quickly hoped out her bed, heading towards the bathroom.
After taking a twenty minute hot shower; Cindy had no idea what was going on with her. Why was blood coming out of… down there.
It was freaking her thirteen-year-old brain out; could it be serious? Was something wrong with her?
So many questions, so little answers.
There was no way she could get in contact with Marcia or Jan. They were at the mall and mom and dad were gone on an important business dinner for dad's job.
The only person she could confide in right now was the last person she ever expected; Greg.
She was never that close to Greg given the fact that he was so many years older than her. They never really spent any quality time together. Out of all the brothers, she was closet to Bobby. He was only a year older than her so he could relate. But what she was going through now; not even he could relate to the personal problem she was having currently.
Suddenly, painful cramps by her lower stomach brought Cindy out of her thoughts and back to reality. She had to tell someone about her current condition and as much as she hated it. She had to tell Greg. He was the only person that could help her in this time of need.
Cindy took a deep breath as she crept down the stairs slowly as she found her eldest brother on the couch, watching what it looked like; The Love Boat while getting ready to eat a well-made cheese and ham sand which with barbeque chips on the side.
Cindy cleared her throat as she reached the end of the stairs, gaining the attention of her eldest brother's blue eyes piercing into her. She gulped.
"Greg… I-I need to talk to you."
"Cindy, can it wait? I'm in the middle of –"
"Greg, it's important. Please."
Cindy watched as her eldest brother sighed, turning the television off and setting his lunch to the side. Cindy took this chance to go and sit on the couch by him; nervously. Greg could tell his youngest sister was nervous; he threw his hand around her shoulder to break the ice.
"What's the matter, kiddo?" Greg teased but stopped when he seen the look on his youngest sister's face.
"Greg…I have a problem; a serious problem."
Greg furrowed his eyebrows, "Well how serious could it be? You're only thirteen." Greg teased again; causing Cindy to shrug his arm off of her.
"Greg! I'm serious! If you're just going to laugh about it then why did I even bother coming to you for help in the first place?" Cindy rose to her feet, getting ready to storm off but Greg caught her by the arm before she had time to leave.
"Wait, Cindy your right. I'm sorry. I've always told you, Jan and Marcia that if you guys ever had a problem, my door was always open. I shouldn't be teasing you. Please tell me what is wrong."
Cindy seen he was serious this time, so she sat back down and fiddled with her fingers. This was going to be harder than she thought.
"Greg I – I – um…" She had trouble getting the words out; this was the most embarrassing thing she has ever had to do in her thirteen years of living.
"What is it?" Greg urged her on. She kept her eyes on her hands as she felt the heat rush to her cheeks.
"I-I keep having these weird cramps –"
"Oh that's it? You probably pulled a muscle in P.E. or something –"
"No Greg, it's not where you think it is. It's –" Her eyes narrowed down to her lap as she tried to hint to where she was going with this. But Greg was obviously slower than she thought. Even at the age of nineteen going on twenty-years-old, he still had the comprehending mind of a five-year-old. (No offense to five-year-olds!)
She sighed frustrated, "Greg! I'm bleeding. And it's not because of a cut or a scratch! It's coming from…down there."
Greg's smile faded, as his facial expression went blank and frozen. He now knew what Cindy was telling him. Greg felt the neck hairs stand straight up as he swallowed and looked down at his youngest sister in shock.
"You mean you started you're…" Greg couldn't even finish the sentence, he had never ever in his life been in this situation before. And it further creeped him out and oddly made him nervous. He couldn't stop the heat or redness that appeared on his cheeks. He could only imagine how Cindy felt having to tell him this. And he didn't make it easy by teasing her earlier. This made him feel a bit guilty as he realized he had given Cindy a hard time.
"Greg…please say something." Greg's eyes narrowed down to his youngest sister.
"Oh my goodness…" Was all he could manage to spit out; Cindy's cheeks were reddening by the minute. Telling him was hard enough, his reaction and facial expression wasn't really helping.
He was definitely grossed out and had no intention of helping her. Cindy sighed as she felt her eyes get teary. Now she has further embarrassed herself even more, she's bleeding from an abnormal place and has creeped out her brother to the max.
Before the tears could fall, Cindy rose to her feet and raced back upstairs to her room, slamming the door shut and letting the tears escape. She felt so alone. She wished Marcia and Jan were here more than ever.
Before Greg could even stop his youngest sister she had already stormed up the stairs to her room, he assumed. Greg immediately felt empathy for his sister. She was upset with him. This was a lot to bear for him; he could only imagine how it was for her. He was in no way, shape or form prepared for anything like this. But that was his sister, and she needed him right now more than ever.
Greg rose to his feet and ascended up the stairs to the girls' room. He lightly knocked on the door as he heard an echo of sniffles from the other side of the door.
"Go away, Greg…" Cindy choked out.
Greg could tell that she had been crying by the sound of her voice. He sighed, knocking again.
"I said go away!"
"Cindy, I'm sorry! I handled this situation all wrong. I really wasn't prepared to hear what you told me. But I am now. Please let me in. I want to talk. Please…" Greg practically pleaded.
He heard a set of footsteps come near the door and finally the door slowly opened, revealing a teary eyed Cindy. She went and sat back down on her bed, sniffling as she fiddled with her fingers. Greg noticed she'd do that often when she was nervous.
"I'm sorry Cindy; for teasing you earlier and for making it harder on you than it already is. It was hard for me to hear so I can only imagine how you felt having to tell me."
Cindy's baby blue eyes looked up at him with tears streaming down her rosy red cheeks; Greg slowly wiped them away with his thumb.
"Your right Greg, It was hard for me to tell you something as personal as this to you of all people. I was scared. I still am scared. Not knowing what is going on with my body is scary to me Greg. I don't want to feel alone."
Greg stared at his younger sister in amazement; even though she was only thirteen, she was no longer little Cindy. She was growing up right before his eyes. It shocked him.
"You shouldn't have to." Greg scooted closer to his younger sister, wrapping an arm around her and kissing the side of her head.
"You're my kid sister, Cindy. It's hard to accept the fact that you're no longer the little Cindy we all know. You're growing up. It's going to take some time for me to accept that you are growing up. But I will. And no matter what, you're always going to be my baby sister and I will always be there for you, no matter what. Even in trying times like these. I'm always here."
That's all Cindy needed to hear, especially from the person who it was coming from. She no longer felt alone or embarrassed; but the feeling that she was longing for the most, love and acceptance.
That day, Cindy felt closeness with Greg that she had never felt before with him or any of her siblings at that. Who knew it would take something as astonishing and vile as this to get that type of bond with Greg.
But regardless of how it happened, she knew she'd never forget this day; June 18th, 1975. The day she and Greg became the closest they have ever been.
