Chapter 7: Awkward Moment
Edward's POV
Renesmee Age: 10
It started out like any other day. I was reading the newspaper when I suddenly heard my daughter screaming from upstairs.
"Daddy! Daddy!" she screamed as she ran down the stairs as fast as she could. That's when the scent hit me. I could smell blood. There was no visible sign of injury on my daughter so I didn't understand why I smelled blood.
Nessie was in hysterics and I could not figure out why. I wished that I could read her mind and figure out what was wrong.
"Daddy I'm bleeding" she said sounding very scared. So she was bleeding then. I didn't see any wound and she's been hurt before so I didn't understand why she was freaking out so much.
"Where, I don't see anything" I said.
"From, from" her breathing became very rapid preventing any more speech.
I took her into my arms to soothe her. It worked as she started to relax.
"Now can you calmly explain what you are so upset about" she said.
"I'm bleeding from there" she said as she pointed to that area.
Oh no! I kept thinking as realization of what happened finally dawned on me. My little girl had started her period. I should have seen that coming she already had the other signs of puberty. Why oh why didn't I explain things to her sooner? Why didn't l sign her up for those health classes at her school? I was tasked with the difficult job of explaining periods to my daughter. I knew that I'd face this problem some day but nothing had ever prepared for the day that it would finally arrive.
Nessie was clearly still upset about what was happening. Who could blame her? My poor girl was bleeding and she had no idea what was going on. She was confused and scared, I didn't need to read her mind to know that. It was all my fault, I should have explained things to her sooner.
"Nessie, it's okay" I said.
"Okay? Okay? How can I be okay when I'm bleeding down there?" she asked sounding hysterical again.
"Nessie!" I shouted "relax. This is something that all women go through. Look just go take a shower and I'll explain everything" I said.
"Okay" she said.
I watched her go into the shower. What had I gotten myself into? Then it dawned on me that she would need pads now. I literally ran to the store while she was showering. It was really awkward when I entered the feminine products section. I kept getting weird looks from all of the women there. To make matters worse there were different types of pads like long, ultra thin etc.. . I didn't know what to choose so I got one of each.
Then I came across the tampons. Oh hell no! This is going to be awkward enough without having to explain to her how to put a tampon in. I got as far away from that product as possible.
I went and purchased the products as quickly as possible and ran home before Nessie would even realize I'm missing.
She was still in the shower when I got back with the dreaded products.
The dread I felt spiked when I heard the shower turn off. Within a few minutes the door opened and Nessie's head peaked through the door.
"Daddy?" she said
"I'm here baby" I said.
"Daddy what's happening to me? Am I dying?" she asked.
"No Nessie you are perfectly fine" I said. "It's completely normal, the bleeding that is" I said.
"How is that normal?" she asked.
"I'll explain in a minute. Right now you need these" I said tossing her one of the bags of pads.
Her face grew confused. "What are these?" she asked.
"They are pads. You put it on your underwear to catch the blood" I explained. Man this is so awkward!
"okay daddy" she said.
I mentally braced myself for the upcoming conversation. Isn't there a 'how to' manual that is specifically designed to help fathers explain periods to their daughters?
"I'm ready daddy" Nessie said.
"Okay" I'm not ready for this.
"Nessie this happens to every woman. It's called a period. It's part of puberty. First you get breasts, then hair in certain places, and then periods once a month" I could die right now. There are somethings that only mothers should explain and this is one of them.
"This is going to happen once a month?!" she shrieked.
"Yes it happens once a month and it lasts five to seven days" I said.
"I'm going to bleed for days and not die" she said in astonishment. Why? Why did I have to do this?
"Yes you will bleed for days and be fine. Why does this happen?" she asked. Oh great here comes more awkward questions.
"It means that you can have a baby now. Not that you should for a really really long time" I said.
"How does this mean that I can have a baby?" she asked curiously.
"Every woman has eggs stored inside her body. When a girl reached puberty one egg is released every month and if it doesn't turn into a baby the body needs to get rid of it and that is when a period happens" I explained.
I hoped that she wouldn't ask anymore questions.
"How does it turn into a baby?" Of course she had to ask that! Why?! Why couldn't she just be satisfied with that answer.
I took a deep unnecessary breath before continuing "It happens when a man and a woman perform an act of love. The man puts his, um, penis into the woman's vagina and releases these little things that look kind of like tadpoles. If one of the tadpoles touches the woman's egg a baby is created and the woman carries the baby inside of her for nine months when the baby is ready to be born" I explained. "It's called sex" I added.
I think she understood. She had already learned the technical terms for a woman's and man's body parts so she shouldn't have much trouble understanding what I was saying.
She smiled "Okay daddy" she said. She started to leave before I stopped her.
"One more thing. Sex is something only adults can do" I said.
"okay daddy" she said.
I sighed in relief. I did it, I survived the talk.
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