A/N: I know y'all like cute, sweet, little Mally, but I just had to include this chapter. She's older in this one, but we all must go through this…I just wondered how poor Nicky would react. I promise the next chapter, she'll be little again – she'll be two! Please read and review!

"Mother…mmmphhhhh!" Nick heard from the bathroom as he cleaned up lunch in the kitchen one Saturday afternoon. He didn't know what it was about, but Mally seemed to be upset about something. She had been a little touchy the last few days. Nick would have just shrugged it off, except then he heard the young girl kicking the cabinets and letting out more annoyed noises. Throwing down the kitchen cloth, he slowly walked down the hall to the bathroom door. Knocking lightly, he was a little afraid of what she might say.

"Mal?"

"What!" She answered in an annoyed tone.

"Hey, hey. Don't bite my head off. Are you okay in there?"

A loud groan followed.

"Yes, I'm fine." She scowled, and he could tell everything was not as she said. Mally wished her father would just scurry back to the kitchen. She hated males right now.

Nick didn't want to leave his daughter like this, when he could tell she was upset. Her temper was scaring him a bit, but he wanted to find out what was going on.

"Sweetheart, what's going on?"

"Nothing!"

"Mal, obviously, it's not nothing." He reasoned with her.

Mally sighed heavily. He just didn't get it.

"Jesus, dad! Do I have to spell it out for you? I'm thirteen years old!"

"Huh?"

"I'm bleeding from my vagina, dad!" She finally told him, sick of trying to hint at it for him. Her dad was such a guy.

Nick almost fell over. He knew about this…menstruation thing…but never thought the day would come when his own little baby girl would experience such a thing.

"Uh…..okay….um….yeah….do you need…."

Mally stamped her foot angrily.

"Dad! You're so embarrassing! Go call Catherine and tell her to come over!"

"Okay. Right. Will do."

"Dad, tell her to bring stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Dad!"

"Oh, right!"

Nick gaped as he walked back to the kitchen. Hooooooooly moly. Nick kicked himself for not realizing what it was before she literally had to spell it out for him. She was thirteen years old, in seventh grade, and….becoming a woman, though the state of her bedroom seemed to prove otherwise. He knew it was coming some day, but hoped it was later rather than sooner. Nick dialed the Grissoms' number and Gil answered.

"Grissom." He answered.

"Gil!" Nick was so happy to hear his voice. Someone to help. "I need to talk to Catherine right away! It's about Mally."

"She's not in right now, Nick. Can I help?"

Nick cradled his head in his arms and started beating it up and down in the air in frustration. He really did not want to talk to his boss about this.

"When will she be back?"

"Not until this evening. Nick, I'm sure I can do something."

Nick let out a heavy sigh, mortified that he was actually going to talk to his boss about menstruation.

"Mally……" He started.

Gil waited patiently, his eyebrows raised. He could tell his coworker was uneasy about something.

"Mally did….." Gil prompted him.

"Shestartedherperiod."

"She what?"

Nick wanted to slap Gil over the phone, but instead he swung the phone around like a baseball bat for a moment, then brought it back to his ear.

"She….started….her….per….per…"

"Her period?" Gil finished for him. The guy was being a spaz.

How could he just say it like that?

"Yes!" Nick groaned. Gil laughed a know-it-all laugh.

"Nick, it's a natural part of becoming a woman. All females begin menstruation at around this time, usually before the age of sixteen."

This was not the time for scientific mumbojumbo. Nick just wanted help and he wanted it now. And he didn't want to talk about it. Not ever.

"Alright alright alright! I get it! I know what it is! We don't have any…."

Nick motioned with his hands, then realized Gil couldn't see him.

"Feminine products?" Gil finished.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm sure Cath and Linds have some pads or tampons around here somewhere…"

Again, he talked about it like he was talking about bugs or the velocity of a bullet, but Nick couldn't be more out of his comfort zone.

"Can you bring some over?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be over in a minute. Do you think she needs super, or light…"

"Just bring all kinds, Gil!"

"Alright. See you in a few."

Nick hung up and walked back to the bathroom door, knocking again.

"Mal?"

"What, dad?"

"Uncle Gil's coming over with some…stuff."

"What? You called Uncle Gil? Why didn't you get Catherine?"

"She's out! He's the best I could do."

"He's so weird! Couldn't you have called Ashley's mom instead?"

"You're getting your stuff, that's what's important."

There was an awkward silence as Nick decided to sit down by the bathroom door in case she needed him, though he didn't really want to help her in any way in this state. He stared at the phone in his hands as he tried to think of something to say without completely embarrassing Mally and himself.

"You still alright in there?"

"You know….how is it possible for something to bleed for an entire week and not die?" She wondered out loud, knowing it would gross out her dad.

"I'm not going to answer that. You can ask Uncle Gil when he gets here. He's got at that stuff."

"Or I could just kill myself and get it over with."

"Mal. Don't talk like that."

Just then the phone rang, startling the mortified father. It was Gil.

"Hey, it's me again. Listen, you're not gonna believe this, but there is not one single pad or tampon in this house. Nada."

"What? Are you kidding me?" It was like he was stuck in the middle of a horrible sitcom.

"No. We'll have to go to the store."

"I'm not asking for that stuff at the store!"

"Nick, it's your daughter. She needs it! Be a man!"

"Will you come with me?" Nick asked, sounding like a little kid.

"Yes, Nick. Would you like me to hold your hand too?"

"Hey, this is hard for me! Wait till Natalie starts."

"Yeah. I'll meet you at Walgreen's in ten."

They hung up again and Nick picked himself up off the floor.

"Mal. I'm gonna have to go to the store. They didn't have any."

"Are you kidding? I'm dying here!" She yelled from within.

"Just hold tight, sweetheart. We'll be back soon."

Nick sped off in his Denali, leaving Natalie alone in the bathroom, coping. He'd never driven so fast before in his life, except for when Mally was born. Gil arrived at about the same time he did, because his house was closer. He could tell Nick was worried and grossed out at the same time. His little girl was growing up. He'd been through it with Lindsey before, but he'd taken it a little bit better than Nick. Well, a lot better.

"Nick, just breathe. It's all part of…"

"I know. All part of growing up. I can't help it. I'm freaking out here."

The two men went inside and found the feminine aisle quickly. They were shocked to find a number of different brands, and an endless number of combinations.

"What does she need?" Gil asked.

"Hell if I know!"

"Let's see. It's her first time, so probably not tampons…"

"Grissom! You don't have to think out loud!"

"Pads with wings…extra slim…heavy…fast-absorbing…light…magic dust…"

Just then, a young female employee came up to them. She'd seen them enter and one looked really freaked.

"May I help you with something?" She asked in a pleasant tone. Both men turned to see her, looking surprised and not sure if they wanted to talk to her.

"Yes, miss." Gil started, smirking. He turned to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "This is my friend Nick Stokes. His daughter got her first period today, and he needs some help picking out some appropriate products."

"Well, tell her congratulations for me."

Nick looked at her like she was crazy.

"Yeah, I'll do that. What do I need?"

"Well, first timers usually prefer pads. I'd recommend the slim fitting regular flow fast absorbing."

She pulled a package off the shelf and handed it to Nick, who in turn handed it to Grissom.

"Thank you, ma'am." Nick told her. Grissom punched the package back to Nick's chest as they walked towards the cash register. "Thanks a lot, Grissom." He told him. Grissom must think he was pretty smug, embarrassing the hell out of him like that.

"Hey, I was just trying to get information. For Mally's sake."

"Thanks. And Mally thanks you too." They exchanged goodbyes in the parking lot and headed their separate ways.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

"I have them!" Nick yelled as he walked through the door. "I got 'em, Mal." He said a little softer as he neared the bathroom. Nick was surprised to see the bathroom door open. Just then, Mally came down the stairs from her bedroom.

"Mal, what are you doing out? You didn't have…"

"I used the phone, dad. I called Mrs. Jenkins next door and she brought some over. You should try it sometime."

Nick dropped the bag he was carrying on the floor, surprised that she had thought of something so simple. He'd meanwhile been losing his mind. Sometimes, he just knew she was so much smarter than him.

"Oh…well…okay. Good thinking." He gave her an approving nod.

Mally grinned at her dad. He was so lost with this female stuff. He really needed a girlfriend. She leaned down and picked the bag off the floor.

"But thanks for getting these. I'll use them at some point."

"Uh…you're welcome."

Mally looked around her dad at the bathroom, trying to signal for him to move, but he didn't get it. Big surprise.

"Excuse me, dad." She gently pushed him aside and stuffed the bag in the cabinet. "Do we have any Advil? I'm getting girl pains really bad."

"Girl pains?"

"Dad…"

"Oh, right. Yeah, I'll get you some."

Nick had trouble speaking the rest of the night and even looking at his daughter. He was just glad she knew what she was doing. As a single dad, he really had no idea how to deal with stuff like this – he had to deal with everything, no matter what. He had been thinking a lot of the evening quietly about how at this stage in her life, Mally really needed a mother. Nick hated himself for not being able to provide her with one. He did his best, though, and they thankfully did have a good enough relationship. She acted so maturely for her age sometimes, and he was so proud.

When he tucked her in that night, though, Nick realized nothing had really changed.

"Are you okay now?" Nick asked her, sitting on the age of her bed, leaning over her.

"Yes, dad. I'm fine." She smiled up at him.

"You don't need anything?"

"I know where the bathroom is."

Nick chuckled a little. "Good. I love you, Mally." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Night."

"Good night, daddy."

Nick smiled as he walked to her door and switched off the light. Yeah, nothing had changed – he still tucked her in at night, and she still called him daddy. Everything was fine.