"Kids come on! We're already running late, Leo you better have brushed your teeth, I will be checking," Ray called at his kids. He had been called in early for an emergency at work and the kids were going to be late to school if they didn't hurry up.
"Daddy Annalise locked herself in the bathroom and won't come out," Leo told him standing on the stairs.
"Fuck," he muttered, "Annalise!" He called running up the stairs. "Come on we gotta go!"
"No I want Aunt Lisa!"
"Annalise please, we're late as it is."
"I need Aunt Lisa!"
"Annalise sweetie tell me what's wrong?"
"It's that thing dad say's you're banned from talking to us about."
"Oh why now? OK I'm calling her." He turned, pulling his phone out of his pocket to find Leo. "What?"
"Does this mean I don't have to brush my teeth?"
"Nice try buddy, under mine and your dad's sink, your spare is green, go." Leo pulled a face and huffed into his parent's bathroom, Ray ruffled his hair as he passed. "Hey Lisa I need a favour. Can you come here, I'll take your kids to school with Leo; Annalise needs a woman right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you." He hung up and knocked on the bathroom, "Aunt Lisa is on her way, sure I can't get you anything?"
"No."
"Alright, Leo come on, let's go downstairs, ah, teeth check. That's better, I'll pick you up after school sweetheart." Of all the days for Annalise to become a woman the universe had to pick now, when they were running late and Len was out of town and there was an emergency at work. Lisa pulled up outside in her minivan and told her kids to get out and into Ray and Len's. "She's in the bathroom, really sorry but she refuses to talk to me and Len barred me from doing it anyway. Come on kids, let's move. Thank you again."
"Go, she'll be fine."
Lisa went upstairs and knocked on the door to the bathroom. "Dad please go away."
"Not your dad," Lisa smiled. "Gonna let me in?" The lock clicked.
"OK, come in." Annalise said after a minute. Annalise was sat on the toilet, with a towel around her.
"Where're your clothes?"
"I woke up and my pyjamas had lots of blood on them, I panicked and locked myself in here. I would have called you but I left my phone in my room."
"It's OK, well I see you showered, how about I get you some clothes and supplies, you dad give you some?"
"Yeah, they're in my closet, the part with the shelves, top shelf, ah."
"Stomach cramps?"
"Yeah they started last night, I thought it was something I ate."
"OK, take two of these," Lisa said handing her a pack of Tylenol. Lisa looked in the closet and found Annalise's supplies and found her some sensible underwear, taking note of how the bed looked. A change of sheets was defiantly in order. "So I know you like wearing the boxers but you can't wear them because the wings won't attach, you know how these work?"
"I'd been meaning to ask you, but I was embarrassed when everyone was around."
"Well I'm here now, and it is nice to see your father learned from his mistakes with me."
"What mistakes?" Annalise asked as Lisa showed her how to attach pads to her underwear.
"Well your dad, very young at the time didn't know pads were a thing and bought me tampons. Tampons are not really very good when you have no experience. Ok, you put these on, then get dressed OK, I'll go strip your bed."
"Thanks Aunt Lisa."
"It's OK sweetheart."
Lisa stripped her sheets and put them in the machine for an intense wash and pulled some pamphlets out of her bag. Annalise came down the stairs looking much more like herself. "What're those?"
"Some stuff for you to read and some options for you."
"Options?"
Lisa sighed. "Mainly contraception."
"I'm 12-"
"Contraception, mainly the pill, can help regulate your periods, don't screw up your face this is your body, if you would like we can go to planned parenthood, get it set up, I already had this talk with your dad's, they're OK if you want to do this. Like you said, you're 12, but Sofia was 10 when hers started, she's been on the pill since and now every month on the dot I know when the house needs to be restocked. OK?" Annalise nodded. "I'll let your dad know and I'll pick you up after school and we'll go then. Go get your stuff."
"Thanks Aunt Lisa," Annalise said as they pulled up outside her school, "um what do I tell them when they ask why I'm late?"
"Way ahead of you, here," she handed Annalise an envelope, "you got spares in your bag?"
"Yes. Good, when you hand that into the office they should give you a note for your gym teachers, you're on pool this semester right?"
"Yeah?"
"Not this week or while it's happening."
"And the cramps?"
"Over the counter relief, as the packet allows, don't overdo it." Lisa smiled. "Have a good day."
Ray was cooking dinner when Lisa dropped Annalise back home that evening. "Everything OK?"
"Yeah." She attempted to get out of the upcoming conversation by jogging straight upstairs.
"Nice try, come and sit down. I know your dad banned me from 'the talk' I just want to let you know that you can talk to me if you need to. OK?"
"I get it, can I go now?"
"What's the rush?"
"We've been in traffic for an hour and I had a supersized coke with my big belly burger."
"Oh, um yeah, sorry go. We aren't done talking."
"Yes we are." His phone rang. "Hello? Hey Len, she just got home, she's fine and you already know the answer to that other part. No she won't speak to me. Home early? When? Tomorrow? That's great, the kids are gonna be so excited, Leo misses you and well, Annalise might actually talk to you."
"Hey don't feel bad, I went through this with Lisa, I have more practise. Don't take it too personally. Love you."
"Love you too, see you soon. Hey wanna talk to Leo he just came downstairs."
"Yeah, put him on."
"Leo come talk to dad." Leo ran into the kitchen excitedly and took the phone. "Annalise dinner in five and dad's on the phone."
"Not hungry and I'll text him later!" She called back down. He sighed but didn't push.
"Looks like it's just me and you buddy," he said as Leo hung up with Len.
Later that night after he had put Leo to bed Ray sat back with a beer, using the news as background noise as he read through some reports from work when he heard the stairs creak. He looked up to see Annalise looking like a deer in headlights. "Everything OK?" She nodded. "You sure?"
"Could you, um, let me know how long to heat up the wheat bag in my bear? And turn on the outlet for the microwave? I'm still too short."
Ray smiled, "sure." Ray followed her to the kitchen and took the wheat bag out of the bear it came in. "Three minutes on the mid to high setting."
"Thanks dad." She said pulling a face.
"Are you sure you're OK?"
"It's the cramps, the Tylenol isn't helping and Sofia said this helps her. Growing up sucks." She groaned.
"I hear that." Ray said sympathetically. Ray prepared her wheat bag bear for her and held it out to her.
"Thanks dad." She said softly holding it against her.
"You know, I used to know a woman, she was great; we named you after her actually. Anna, she was called."
"Yeah?"
"Mmhmm, we used to live together and when she got really bad cramps I used to make her my grandmother's special tea, I could make it for you if you like, it could help. I've tried it before, it's really nice," he assured her. Annalise nodded and Ray smiled, feeling a little guilty as pain flashed across her face. "Why don't you go lay on the couch, I've heard that can help," Annalise nodded and Ray set about making her tea.
Annalise sat to accept her tea and sipped it as Ray instructed. "Thanks dad."
"I get you feel crap but do you feel ill? You look a little pale sweetie."
"I haven't felt so good since lunch," she told him. "Daddy," she began which tripped Ray up a little, after turning 8 she had insisted she was too old to call him and Len 'daddy' and so the term only cropped up when she felt really vulnerable and ill. "Could I sit on the floor and you braid my hair that always takes my mind off of feeling lousy."
"Of course sweetheart," he said placing a pillow on the floor between his feet. His braids weren't as precise as Len's but they did the trick at distracting Annalise from the pain and feeling ill. After her hair was braided Annalise laid back down on the couch, resting the pillow against Ray's leg while they switched the news for Annalise's favourite Disney film, Mary Poppins, falling asleep as she sang Feed the Birds but Ray let the rest of the movie play before he took her to bed, tucking her in he stroked her hair and pressed a kiss to her temple she roused briefly and whispered:
"Night daddy," before drifting back to sleep. She may have been becoming a woman, but to him, and to Len she would always be their little girl.