March 2034

Sheldon returned from his weekly trip to the comic book store with Leonard to find Iris sitting at the kitchen table with her homework in front of her. He set his new comics in the living room before sitting across from her at the table. "How was school today, kiddo?"

"Fine," Iris answered without looking up from the textbook in front of her.

"Just fine? What happened?" Sheldon had gotten better at reading other people's emotions since becoming a parent.

Picking up her books and starting to leave the room, Iris responded, "Nothing happened. I'm just trying to get my homework done."

Sheldon sat at the table for a few minutes, confused as to what just happened. Iris was always excited to tell him about her day, it was one of the things he looked forward to every evening. Determined to find out what soured Iris's mood, he looked for Amy. He knew she would know what's going on with their daughter.

As if she knew she was being looked for, Amy entered the room with a basket of clean laundry. "Hey. I know it's not laundry night, but Iris asked if I could wash a few things for her."

"What's going on with her tonight? I asked how school was and she would only say it was 'fine' before picking up her stuff and going to her room. I've never seen her not want to tell me about her day. She's been telling me about her day since she was able to string together a sentence. Did I say something this morning that upset her?"

Setting the laundry basket on the table, Amy paused to try to think of how to explain their daughter's sudden change in mood. "Sheldon, do you remember what Missy was like when she was Iris's age?"

"I was in college when we were twelve. I had things other than my sister to focus on. She was always talking about some boy, or baseball, or whatever singer she was in love with that week. We shared a room, but I was always studying while she was playing with makeup."

"You know what happens when a girl starts to become a young woman, right?" Amy asked, trying to think of another way to approach this.

"Oh, God. I thought we had more time before this happened," suddenly Sheldon realized what Amy was implying. "Howard said it was like living with two Bernadette's when this happened to Halley. He said it was miserable. If one wasn't yelling at him about something, the other was."

"She'll be thirteen in a few months. It's perfectly normal for this to happen now. Luckily for you, I doubt she's going to turn into a mini-Bernadette once a month. I was never like that when I was her age. Just go easy on her this week. I'm not saying to ignore her for the next week, but don't make a big deal about it if she doesn't feel like spending a lot of time with you," Amy explained.

Sheldon sat quietly, trying to put his thoughts into words. "Should I let her know that I know? Let her know I don't see her differently?"

"Maybe not right away, but I think she'd appreciate that. Some girls look forward to this, others dread it. She's in the latter group. I couldn't wait for it to happen, so I don't really know how she's feeling," shared Amy.

"Why was she dreading it?"

"She thinks that she won't be able to hang out with you and the guys anymore. I told her that plenty of women are into Star Wars and comic books and this shouldn't change anything about the things she likes. Treat her like you've always treated, but give her some space if she wants it."

A few days later, Sheldon was working in the den when he heard someone enter the room and sit on the couch behind him. When the person didn't say anything after a few minutes, he turned around to see who was watching him work. "Hey, kiddo. What's up?"

"Not much. Just hanging out. What are you working on?"

Sheldon got excited whenever Iris asked about his work. "Every so often, I go back at look at old work that I never solved. I'm going back over some old calculations to see if there's something I missed and if I can solve the problem now."

"Dad," Iris said, waiting for Sheldon to stop talking about what was on the white boards, "I'm sorry for the way I acted towards you earlier this week."

"Mom told me what was going on. You don't need to apologize. I understand that change can be scary sometimes, but this doesn't have to change anything unless you want it to. You've never seen me when I'm facing a major change, but it's not good for me or anyone around me. I once ran away and rode the train for an entire summer because Penny and Leonard got engaged and were talking about moving in together, plus the comic book store burned down and the university wouldn't let me change the focus of my research."

Iris smirked, "I promise I won't run away and ride the train for the summer because I got my period. Are you serious that this doesn't have to change anything? My friends talk about how everything was different after it happened to them."

"Have you ever known me to joke about change?" Sheldon asked as Iris shook her head. "How about I call Leonard and see if he and Jacob want to go to the movies? Return of the Jedi out for some reason and you've never seen it on the big screen. I'll even spring for extra chocolate."

"That sounds great. Thanks, Dad. I'll go tell Mom what we're doing," Iris said as she ran out of the room.