A/N: Hey, guys, how's it going? I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving. I'm back with a new story! This story discusses a somewhat sensitive topic, but hopefully, you'll all still like it.
Thanks go to Stormy Grace for encouraging me to post this. Thanks, Gracie!
Disclaimer: I still don't own Supernatural, but it's on my Christmas list!
It was a very peaceful Saturday afternoon in the Men of Letters bunker. Not that that was atypical for the Winchesters. Since they'd officially stopped hunting, every Saturday was quiet and peaceful, a break from the ever-present stresses of life.
Not really.
Even though they weren't actively hunting, they were still Winchesters, and in true Winchester fashion, every day was filled with some kind of activity. Saturdays were usually reserved for their more unusual rowdiness, such as weapons training with Dean- learning how to build a potato gun- or science experiments with Sam- making explosives using diet coke and mentos. Whatever it was, it was really only an excuse to make a mess and cause some trouble.
Which was why Dean was so put off by the peace and quiet of this particular Saturday. On the outside, he was just sitting at one of the tables in the library, browsing through a book on chupacabra lore for another hunter. On the inside, however, he was tense and alert to all of his surroundings. The reason for his vigilance was sitting curled up in her uncle's favorite chair placed amongst the shelves of the library.
At nine years old, Amelia Winchester was a boisterous and active tomboy, a trait very obviously inherited from her father. She could be a bookworm at times like her Uncle Sam, but mostly she preferred to be roughhousing and causing chaos with Dean.
Today, she did neither. Dean had noticed that his little girl had been a little less energetic the last few days, but he figured that she just needed more sleep at night. Amelia was a little night owl, after all. But today, she seemed even more tired. This was what had Dean so on edge today, and he watched with worried eyes as his daughter got up and slowly walked out of the library.
"I hope she's not getting sick," Dean mumbled sadly. He hated it when his baby girl didn't feel well. Turning back to his book, Dean tried to concentrate on the text, which was proven difficult to do with a possibly sick child on his mind.
A piercing scream suddenly sounded from the general direction of the bathroom, followed by a shrill, "Daddy!" that had Dean jumping out of his chair and rocketing towards the bathroom with his gun drawn.
"Amelia!" Dean yelled as he burst into the bathroom. Finding his daughter alone, he put the pistol in its proper place at the small of his back. "Amelia, are you okay?" he asked in a panic as he ran to her side.
Amelia was sitting on the floor by the shower, her lower half wrapped in a towel. "Daddy!" she cried and reached out to her father.
"What is it, Baby Girl?" Dean asked soothingly as he pulled her into his lap and held her tightly.
"I came in here to use the bathroom, and th-there was blood!" Amelia cried into Dean's shoulder. "It was on my clothes, and I was still bleeding when I used the bathroom. Daddy, what's wrong with me?" she sobbed.
Understanding and relief replaced the fear and concern that Dean had been feeling all day as he realized what had Amelia so worked up. "There's nothing wrong with you," he said calmly as he rubbed her back and tangled his fingers in his daughter's light brown hair. The movement of his hands and the deep, rough timbre of her daddy's voice soothed Amelia like nothing else in this world could. "I promise you, there's nothing wrong with you. You're just growing up."
"This is normal?!" Amelia shrieked. "I'm bleeding, and I feel terrible!"
"I know, Baby. I know you feel bad, but that's just what happens when you get around your age." Amelia leaned back to look up at her dad, confused. He knew by that look that it was time for The Talk.
Unfortunately for Dean, he'd only given The Talk once before in his life, and that was to Sam. It was one thing to tell his little brother about the wonders of life. Yeah, it was super awkward, and a week and a half passed before Sam and Dean could look at each other again without going red in the face, but they were still able to get it over and done with minimal discomfort. They were both boys, after all. But now, this was Dean's daughter. Puberty was enormously different for girls than it was for boys, so Dean couldn't relate as easily to Amelia as he could to Sam. But, this was for Amelia, and he would do anything for her, which included giving her The Talk.
"When I said this is something that happens around your age?" Dean began, mentally slapping himself on the back of the head for such a horrible intro to the discussion. Amelia nodded. "What I meant was that it starts around your age." Big green eyes widened in horror and stared into the matching eyes before them. 'I can't do this,' Dean thought. Of course, though, he didn't say that out loud.
"It only starts?" Dean nodded. "How long does it last?"
"This particular cycle will last a few more days." He was interrupted by a groan and his daughter's head slamming back into his chest. "But it happens once every month until your fifties."
"So this is going to happen every month until I'm fifty?" Amelia whined. Dean winced. His daughter wasn't normally whiney, but considering the circumstances, he figured she was entitled to it. "Why haven't I heard anything about this before now?"
"Because girls don't usually start their period at nine years old," Dean explained honestly.
"So I'm not normal!" Amelia cried and buried her face back into her father's shoulder.
"No, Baby, I didn't say that," Dean sighed. "I said girls don't usually start at nine years old. It still happens to some people, just not as often as other girls that start at eleven or twelve."
"Why does it happen?" asked Amelia. Now that she knew there wasn't anything wrong with her, she was curious as to why it was happening.
"It happens so you'll be able to have kids in the future," explained Dean. "This cycle happens every month so you can have a baby. Blood and stuff builds up in your uterus over the course of a few weeks, but if there's no baby, it all bleeds out."
"So that's why I had blood on my clothes?" asked Amelia, just to be sure.
"Mhm," Dean hummed with a nod. "You'll have to use some special things to keep from bleeding on your clothes."
"Special things?" The little girl's face was pure confusion and curiosity.
'Oh, gosh,' Dean groaned internally. 'This is so awkward.' He nodded again. "Yep. There are two different things you can use. One is a sanitary pad that you put on your underwear."
"And the other one?" Amelia asked her dad. All the blood drained from his face, leaving Dean pale and looking sick. "Daddy?"
"Well, the other one..." Dean trailed off. Nope. No way was he telling his little girl how to use a tampon. "W-we'll worry about that one later." A shaky breath shuddered though him. "But do you feel better now?" he asked slowly, letting the awkwardness go in favor of his child's wellbeing.
Amelia nodded. "Yeah, especially now that I know that there's nothing wrong with me."
"I'm glad, Baby Girl." Dean pulled Amelia back to him for a hug, relieved that her fears had been allayed. "Why don't you jump in the shower? It'll make you feel better." The younger Winchester nodded and stood up, pulling her daddy up with her. "I'll bring you some clean clothes and ask Sam to get what you need at the store." Dean saw his daughter's face flame up at the thought of her uncle buying feminine products for her. "Hey, it's okay. Uncle Sam won't tell anybody. He's good at keeping secrets." The blushing didn't diminish, but Amelia didn't protest. "You go ahead and get in the shower. I'll bring you some clean clothes." Dropping a kiss on the top of his daughter's head, Dean turned to leave the bathroom.
"Daddy," Amelia called before he could get to the door. "When I get out of the shower, can we have ice cream?"
A smirk stretched Dean's lips. "You know it, Baby Girl." Now that father and daughter were both smiling, Dean left to go call his brother.
"Hey, Sam," he said when the younger man answered. "Are you still at the store?"
"Yeah, why?" asked Sam.
"Our little girl's growing up."
A/N: And we have part one. Poor Dean didn't quite know what to do with himself lol. I tried to keep a lot of detail out of Dean's explanation because of Amelia's age, but I'm not sure how well I did. Oh well. And if anybody's wondering how Amelia came about, feel free to come up with it on your own. I never felt like giving her a backstory, so you're welcome to speculate. Thanks for reading!