Chapter 51 A Pivotal Year – In the Company of Women

Nolan 18, Lissa 18, Ryder almost 14, Olivia almost 11

Annabelle 6, Victoria nearly 6, Lucas 4½

Friday, January 21

I've had this first part written for a long time and it finally fits with the rest of the story! I hope you enjoy it – it may be one of my favorites ever.

"Lisssssssaaaaaaaaa!" Olivia screamed from the bathroom as everyone showered and prepared for the day.

In a panic, Lissa ran toward the door and found it locked. "Livie, what's wrong?" As she spoke, Owen came around the corner tying his tie and offering a quizzical expression. Lissa raised her shoulders, not knowing what was up with Olivia.

Assuming his presence would be reassuring, Owen knocked on the door and gently inquired, "Olivia, honey, is everything ok?"

"Daddy, no!" Olivia screamed. "I need Lissa."

"Olivia, I'm right here. Let me in," Lissa stated.

"Alone. Just you," Olivia insisted.

Owen lowered his eyebrows and whispered, "Let me know what's up. I'll wait here."

A few minutes later, Lissa slipped out of the bathroom and Olivia rapidly closed and locked the door behind her.

"What's wrong?" Owen asked with deep concern.

Lissa winced, wishing she were experiencing just about any other moment than the one she was. "Don't tell him!" Olivia yelled from the other side of the door.

Lissa stepped toward Owen and motioned her head toward the kitchen. She pulled him into the room by the elbow. Blushing brightly, Lissa whispered, "She started her first period."

"Oh," Owen stated with surprise. "Is she… uh… is she scared?"

"No, she's embarrassed. She doesn't want you to know," Lissa explained. "You don't happen to… uh… have anything here, do you?"

"Anything?" Owen shook his head in confusion. Keying in immediately, he followed up with, "Oh, that kind of anything. No. I," he grinned awkwardly, attempting to lighten the moment, "don't use any of that kind of anything."

Lissa rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I have stuff, but not what she needs. Is there a store close by? I can go pick up something for her."

"Yeah," Owen replied as he pulled out his wallet and handed Lissa a $20 bill, "turn right out of the entrance, on your right about a block and a half. Is this enough?" Lissa nodded, but Owen stopped her. "Here, take another $20. Buy her flowers." Lissa didn't pause to ask. She hightailed herself out the door as much for her own escape as in an attempt to help Olivia.

Although he hesitated, Owen walked back to the bathroom door. "Livs? Honey. Is there anything I can get you? Lissa will be right back… said she needed to run to the store for something."

"I'm fine, Daddy… I mean, Dad," Olivia replied, trying out her more mature language now that she'd joined the club of women.

"I'll be around. Here in the apartment. Just yell if you need anything," Owen encouraged, saddened that his little girl was facing a milestone that he wasn't invited to celebrate with her.

"Yeah, ok. Ok," Olivia sounded back, far calmer now that Lissa was involved.

Before starting the car to return to the apartment, Lissa called Nolan.

"It's early, Shorty. What's up?" he answered.

"Why do these weird things happen to me?" she groaned.

"What are you talking about?" Nolan laughed.

"Olivia. She and I stayed at your dad's last night. She started her first period this morning. I had to be the one to tell Dads," she complained.

"Awww…. Little Livie's growing up," Nolan mused as he cackled. "How'd Dad handle the news?"

"He's being weird, of course. He asked me to buy her flowers when I ran to the store for pads," Lissa shared with confusion in her voice.

"Why?" Nolan asked in a long, drawn out sound.

"I don't know. I guess it's what he thinks he's supposed to do," Lissa shrugged.

"Did you… you've started, right?" Nolan inquired hesitantly.

"Huh? I started when I was like 12, Nolan," Lissa responded with faint disgust.

"No… I mean since Canada. You know, since the shower and…" he began to explain.

"Oh, sorry," she acknowledged. "Yeah, kind of. It's a weird one, but yeah, I have…I guess."

"How do you have a weird period? What's that mean?" Nolan wondered aloud. Before Lissa had a chance to respond, Nolan quickly added, "Never mind. Just glad to hear we're all good… you… you're all good."

"You're a peculiar man, Trems, but I love you," Lissa giggled.

"I love you too, Babe. Hey… buy Liv some flowers from me, ok?" Nolan chuckled.

Lissa laughed as she hung up, her heart beating with smitten love.

A few minutes later, when she returned to the apartment, she handed Owen the flowers and the change before walking toward the bathroom. Olivia opened the door a crack and rapidly confirmed, "Thanks, I know what to do." She closed the door just as quickly.

After a few minutes, Owen impatiently asked Lissa, "Should you go… help her?"

"She's fine, Dads. Really," Lissa smiled as she let out a yawn and commented, "I need coffee or something. Do you have cream? I can drink coffee if it has lots of cream."

"Should I call Mia?" Owen asked, already forgetting to address Lissa's question. Lissa adored how helpless and unsure Owen was acting. Such a highly accomplished and competent man was stumbling over his words and completely clueless about how to handle Olivia's period.

"Good idea," Lissa declared, guessing that a definitive answer was the most helpful one in the moment.

Owen stepped into his bedroom and called Amelia, who was in the midst of a surgery. Lynne was at home tending to Ryder and the littles since Amelia's shift had begun at 6am.

"Dr. Hunt," Amelia declared in a sing songy voice as the nurse put him on speaker phone.

"Can we pop off the speaker?" Owen stuttered.

"I can in a few minutes. Right now, my friend, I have my index finger fishing around a parietal lobe attempting to find a teeny, eensy, adorable, little tumor."

"Ah… well, nothing emergent but call me back as soon as you can," Owen requested.

"Everything's ok?" Amelia wondered.

"Yeah," Owen confirmed. "Some news to share. Sooner the better." He hung up after uttering those words, not wanting to be put in a position to announce Olivia's news over speaker phone to a group of scrub nurses, residents, and staff.

Owen headed toward the kitchen and grabbed his keys, calling out, "Livs, we need to leave for school."

She popped out of the bedroom with a somewhat-embarrassed, somewhat-proud smirk and looked at her dad, "I'm ready."

Looking at her, Owen could have sworn she looked more mature and grown up. A bittersweet pride surrounded him as he reached for the flowers and explained, "Here, honey. I… I wanted to give these to you."

"Why?" Olivia wondered with deep curiosity as she accepted the gift. Lissa watched from the hallway, screaming internally, Say 'just because'! Do NOT tell her why!

"Just because," Owen grinned. Seeing Lissa, he questioned, "You'll come by later for lunch?"

"Sounds great," Lissa yawned.

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After he dropped off Olivia, Owen called Amelia. The nurse, once again, put him on speaker.

"Hello again, doctor," Amelia offered professionally as she focused on suturing.

"Hi," Owen uttered. "Can we chat?"

"Absolutely," Amelia consented. "Julie, could you please put the phone to my ear?"

The nurse held the phone for Amelia so she could hear Owen divulge, "Exciting morning around here."

"Really? How so?" Amelia questioned full of curiosity.

"Olivia started her period," Owen reported. "Thank God Lissa was here."

Amelia chortled, "Oh, Owen… that must have been a little awkward for you, huh?"

Chuckling, he admitted, "Quite a bit awkward actually. I bought her flowers – was that fitting?"

"Flowers?" Amelia cackled. "Tell me you didn't say they were to commemorate her period."

"No," he mumbled with embarrassment. "I... I felt like I should do something. I told her I bought them just because."

"Good," Amelia giggled with pity. "Oh, Owen, I'm sorry that happened on your watch. No wonder she was such a nightmare last night – all those pubescent hormones were raging through her."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he chuckled.

"A little," she teased.

"Lissa is coming by the hospital later. Want to join us for lunch?" he asked with hesitation.

"Yes. I'd like that," Amelia agreed. "Page me."

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When Lissa arrived, Owen sent Patricia to explain that he was stuck in a meeting.

"You're welcome to wait out here in the Main Lobby, or, if you like, I could take you up to OB. We're bursting at the seams with babies today," Patricia explained.

Lissa perked up, "The babies sound great!" The two headed to the Labor and Delivery unit, and Patricia introduced Lissa to Mary, the charge nurse. Mary and Amanda, another nurse, were taking a break and invited Lissa to have a seat and chat.

As the three conversed, they found themselves sharing funny family stories. Mary, the charge nurse, laughed hysterically as Lissa told the story of Amelia and Owen surrounding Nolan when he was punched in the gut. "We medical people," Mary confessed, "can become a little silly when our children aren't perfectly, 100% healthy."

Amanda commented, "And brand new Mama's are their own breed of protective and concerned mothers. They're darling, but can also be so scared."

"Really?" Lissa asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"You don't have younger siblings, do you, dear?" Mary inquired.

"I've been around Nolan's family when the twins and Lucas were newborns, but, otherwise, I really haven't been around babies. I'm an only child," Lissa disclosed.

"Until you're holding your own tiny baby in your own arms, I'm not sure anyone really understands the protectiveness of a mother," Mary mused.

"Let's show Lissa the nursery," Amanda suggested to Mary. Mary stood up and took a sip of coffee before leaving the cup in the nearby sink.

When Lissa arose, she grasped the edge of the table and uttered, "Woah."

"Are you ok, honey?" Mary inquired.

Shaking her head, hoping to regain her bearings, Lissa smiled with embarrassment, "Yeah… I think I stood up too fast."

"Dizzy?" Amanda wondered.

"And kind of light headed," Lissa explained.

Mary stepped toward Lissa and encouraged, "Sit down, hon."

Amanda sat down next to Lissa and grinned. After half a minute, she questioned, "Any better now that you're sitting down?"

"Not really," Lissa described. "I'm so embarrassed. Don't fuss over me. Maybe I didn't eat enough for breakfast or something."

"No need to be embarrassed," Amanda assured her as she wrapped a cuff around Lissa's arm and took her blood pressure. She glanced over to Mary and reported, "I would've hunched orthostatic hypotension, but it's still low: 82/55."

"What's up?" Lissa begged to know.

"Your BP is low, Larissa," Mary explained. "It's probably a fluke. Let's sit tight for a while and check it again in a few minutes. Are you having any other symptoms? Fatigue? Headache?"

"I can't seem to catch up on my sleep lately, but Nolan, my boyfriend, he just returned to college after winter break. Then Dr. Hunt and I took a quick trip down there to visit. Life has been weird and busy," Lissa detailed. "No headaches, no sore throat, no cough, no muscle pain… no other problems I can recall."

"Not to sound intrusive, but when was your last period?" Mary inquired.

Lissa smiled awkwardly and lowered her brows, "That's not an issue. I'm not pregnant or anything."

"Are you sure?" Mary pressed.

With a nervous giggle, Lissa shook her head and grinned, "Absolutely, I dealt with all that last week."

When Mary took Lissa's BP again, it had improved but was still borderline low at 92/59.

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