A Second Act-Part 5

Author's Note: Having some fun writing this-all italics are a flashback.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

"Thanks for calling Tony," Ressler said as he walked into the man's house.

"We're fine with her staying tonight," he said with a smile. "But I couldn't help but overhear the conversation..."

"Yeah, I've made arrangements for a sitter and she knew that," Ressler said. "She's...I don't know what she's doing."

Ressler sighed.

"Sonya is our second terrible twelve," Tony chuckled. "They get better at sixteen."

"Sixteen?" Ressler asked, surprised.

Tony nodded. "When Maryann hit sixteen it was like she changed into an entirely different person."

"Sixteen?" Ressler asked, still flabbergasted.

Tony nodded and patted him on the back.

"We're having a barbeque this Sunday, you and the girls want to come?" Tony asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure that would be great, thanks," Ressler smiled at him.

"Misery loves company, right?" Tony asked as Carolina and Sonya came down the stairs.

"Get in the car Carolina," Ressler said clearly.

"Dad, it doesn't matter if I stay here or go..." Carolina started.

Ressler glared at her. "Now."

Carolina huffed and crossed her arms over her chest and stomped past him and out the door.

"Thanks, and sorry about that," Ressler said as he shook Tony's hand.

He followed Carolina out and watched her get in the passenger seat and slam the door. She was supposed to be home over an hour ago from her friend Bridget's house. He went to the house and found out she wasn't there. Bridget said she had left over two hours ago. Then he had called a couple of her friends' houses he knew and word must have got out that her dad was looking for her, because Tony Cerrelli called him and made Carolina get on the phone.

Ressler got in the car and reversed out of the driveway.

"Daddy..."

"Don't daddy me," Ressler said low and deep. "You were supposed to be at Bridget's and you know the rule; if you leave to go anywhere else you call me."

"I forgot..." Carolina said.

"Forgot the time too? You were supposed to be home over an hour ago," Ressler challenged.

"What's is the matter dad? You're going out with Aunt Liz so you aren't..." Carolina whined.

"What matters is that I need to make sure my twelve-year-old daughter is home and safe before I go out for one god damned night," Ressler said annoyed.

"I was at Sonya's!" Carolina yelled.

"And I didn't know where you were! Or, what had happened to you, Carolina I've been worried sick," Ressler said, his hands shaking on the wheel as he drove.

"You just care because you want to go out! What dad, you need to get laid?!" Carolina yelled.

Ressler jerked the car to the side and threw it in park and turned and glared at his daughter. If he believed in corporal punishment, he could have smacked her. He didn't believe in hitting his children so he turned beet red and yelled.

"Don't you ever, ever speak to me like that!" Ressler yelled at her. "I'm your father and you weren't where you were supposed to be! You are twelve years old Carolina. Twelve, not twenty-one! I work every day to take criminals off the street and I see all the things that can happen to children who go missing. I..."

Carolina started to cry. "I'm sorry daddy."

He closed his eyes and took a few breaths.

"I'm so sorry daddy," Carolina cried.

Ressler undid his seatbelt and reached over to pull her into a hug. "Sweetie..."

"I'm sorry daddy, I'm sorry..." Carolina cried.

"I was so scared," Ressler admitted as he held her tight. "I don't ever want anything to happen to you. Ever."

"I know daddy, I know...I'm sorry daddy," Carolina cried. "I...daddy...I..."

"What?" He asked as he pulled back to look at her suddenly worried something had happened.

"I got my period!" Carolina cried harder. "Mummy is gone and I..."

"Shit," Ressler swore as he felt tears pricking his eyes and pulled her back into a hug. "Sweetie it's your first time, right?"

He felt her nod against him.

"Sonya got hers last year so I wanted her help...it happened at Bridget's and I got...I left a stain on her bedspread and I had to leave before she saw..."

"Oh god honey," Ressler said as he pulled back and looked at her. "Are you okay?"

"It hurts," Carolina cried.

He sighed and wiped at her tears. "Cramps?"

She nodded.

"Your mom always got horrible cramps too," he smiled at her. "Sorry, it looks like you're taking after her for those."

She chuckled and cried and wiped at her nose.

"Do you have a pad or...?"

"Daddy!" Carolina said alarmed.

"Sweetie, I was married to you mom eleven years and have been Liz's partner and friend for thirteen years" he chuckled. "I know about pads and tampons and menstrual cups and cramps and leaks and mood swings..."

She looked at him astonished.

"Let's hit the drug store, okay?" He asked.

She nodded and wiped at her nose.

"We've got this sweetie, we've got this," Ressler said as he pulled back and did up his seatbelt. He pulled into traffic and heard his daughter crying softly in the passenger seat. She was a moody twelve-year-old who just got her first period with a dead mom and a dad she was mad at and she'd left a stain, unknowingly, on her friend's bedspread and was mortified. Which, made him think of another mortified woman one time...

The door to Liz's house opened and she waved him in while she was on the phone.

"Hey sweetie," Ressler said to the almost five-year-old when she ran to him and jumped into his arms.

It was Friday and Tom was supposed to take her to school in the morning and keep her this weekend and, from the sounds of it, Liz was on the phone with him.

He could hear Liz hissing and trying to keep her voice low but he could tell Agnes sensed what was going on.

"Daddy didn't come," Agnes said. "Again."

"Huh? Something really, really, important must have happened to keep him away from a wonderful girl like you," Ressler said. He didn't like Tom but he loved Agnes and he didn't want to contribute to the shit that went down with her father.

He heard Liz throw her phone against something hard.

"Can I take you to school today, sweetheart? I would love to be lucky enough to do that," Ressler smiled at her.

"Yeah!" Agnes yelled.

"Alright!" Ressler cheered before he threw her up in the air and caught her. "You ready to go?"

"I was ready a long time ago and mommy is mad a daddy," Agnes said. "Daddy makes mommy cry.."

Ressler heard Liz sniffling and blowing her nose.

"Maybe mommy needs a minute? How about I take you to school and then come back and get mommy?" Ressler asked.

Agnes nodded; happy to get to school and start her day instead of waiting for her dad.

"Go get your bag sweetie and I'll tell mommy, okay?" Ressler asked.

Agnes nodded and ran to get her stuff.

Ressler walked down the hall into Liz's bedroom and saw her standing with her back to him.

"I'm going to take Agnes to school and come back and get you, okay?" He asked.

She nodded and croaked out "Thank you."

He nodded and got Agnes and dropped her off at school before returning to Liz's house. He found her sitting on her living room sofa crying.

"Liz..." he said as he sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around the back of her.

"She's a good kid and she deserves better than him," Liz cried as she leaned into him and he wrapped his other arm around her. "Audrey thinks I should go back to court and take away his custody rights so shit like this doesn't keep happening but I always keep hoping that he'll be the dad he needs to be for Agnes' sake and..."

She cried hard against his chest and he soothed her with kind words and gentle back rubbing as she spoke about Tom and how he's screwing up her daughter. She spoke about how wonderful her daughter was and how she deserved better than him. She spoke about her regrets. He listened and listened, knowing they were going to be very late for work and not caring. Tom had been a major fuck up most of their relationship, but his treatment of his daughter was the last straw.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't..." Liz said as she pulled back and wiped at her face. "You and Audrey don't need..."

"No, you have every right to be both mad and upset with the asshole," Ressler said, clearly.

She chuckled and got up to get more tissues. He watched her suffering, trying to think of some way he could help her and Agnes. They already spent a lot of time with his family: Audrey and Liz were good friends and his girls loved Agnes. They'd taken vacations together, went on camping trips, and had sleepovers. His family was intertwined with Liz and Agnes in many ways and he hoped Agnes got some of the things that she needed from a father from him, because Tom sure as hell wasn't being much of a father for her.

She walked back to the sofa and gasped.

"Oh my god, I didn't..." she said as her face turned pink and she looked at her sofa.

His eyes traveled with hers to a bright red blotch on her sofa where she'd been. For a moment he was worried she was hurt until he looked up and saw her quickly looking between her legs.

"I think you just got your period, " he said as he stood and walked past her to the linen closet.

"Shit," she said as she ran for a tissue box to rub the stain with a tissue.

"Don't, it'll spread," he called to her as he walked back. "You got any club soda?"

She nodded and watched him walk to the fridge and come back with a now- wet towel.

"Here, I can..." She said holding out her hand.

"You go get changed, " he said as he started to scrub the strain.

"Ressler, I can't ask you to clean..." Liz said, mortified.

"You didn't ask, " he said as he dabbed. "You and I both know after having two kids with gastrointestinal issues in their early years I've cleaned up far worse than a period stain. Go get cleaned up and changed so we're not walking into work at noon. "

She, still mortified, walked toward her bedroom and shut the door.

Ressler walked up the walkway to his home carrying a CVS bag with pads, tampons, Tylenol, a heating pad, and special absorbent underwear with his arm around his daughter. He had called Bridget's mom and explained the situation with the bed spread. She was very sweet and said she'd take care of it. He'd also quickly texted Liz about the circumstances so she knew before they got home; she said she paid Mrs Bridges and sent her home and stayed with Erin and Agnes.

He halted just before they got to the door. Carolina looked up at him.

"That crack about needing to get laid..."

Carolina turned red and swallowed hard. "I'm sorry daddy. "

"You've been really quiet about Liz..." Ressler started. "Are you upset we're dating?"

Carolina smiled. "No dad, she's great, I love Aunt Liz. She's really different from mom though..."

Ressler nodded. Liz and Audrey had some similarities but not many. "And you don't like that?"

"No, it's not... I shouldn't have said what I said. "

"No, you shouldn't have, it was rude, " he did clearly. "You know, adult relationships have an aspect to them that's sex, which is really nice, but there's a lot more to it like..."

"Dad..." Carolina interrupted, blushing.

"There's love, and respect, and independence, and curiosity, and commitment, and compromise, and bravery, and tenderness, and fun, and... well, a whole lot of things that don't involve sex. Liz and I are best friends, and have been for over a decade. We have a lot more to our relationship."

Carolina nodded. "I'm sorry. "

"I know you are, " Ressler said softly. "I love her though Carolina. So, if you have any issues with us, or questions, you need to..."

"Are you and Aunt Liz having sex?

Ressler swallowed hard; he'd always had an honest relationship with his kids. "We are. It's one aspect of our relationship now, like romance...that's new too."

"Are you going to have a new baby together and me and Erin and Agnes will just be the leftovers?'

"What?!" Ressler asked astounded. "No, you three girls are everything to us. Never would you be leftovers. And Liz and I are not having any babies together. We love the girls we have. We only want you girls. "

Carolina nodded and smiled.

"Honey, we both love you and would never..." Ressler started

"Were you dating and having sex with Aunt Liz while mum was still alive?"

"Absolutely not, " Ressler said clearly. "I loved mummy, I still love mummy, just different now. I would never hurt mummy or you girls that way. Never. Neither would Liz; she loved mummy too. She loved her a lot. Neither of us ever thought about dating until recently."

Ressler knew that was a small lie, Liz had been interested in him for years but never acted on that. She'd never even indicated to him in any way that she had these feelings. But the nuances of relationships were something a twelve-year-old may not understand.

Carolina nodded.

"Any more questions?" Ressler asked.

"You want us to be one family, right?" Carolina asked.

"One day, " Ressler smiled. "Right now, it's about getting used to seeing Aunt Liz as something that you haven't known her as your whole life. The same for me and Agnes. Which means sometimes Liz and Agnes may sleep over and sometimes we will stay at her place because adults who date and love each other want to wake up together. It's nice. And, although you girls have spent a lot of time together your whole lives, it's different living together then being on vacation or having a sleepover."

Carolina nodded before she looked toward her feet and took a deep breath.

"Mum... when she was sick..."

Ressler nodded and gripped her shoulder a little tighter.

"Daddy, she told me to go to Aunt Liz if I needed help or... she told me she trusted Aunt Liz with her girls because she loved us, " Carolina said.

"She did?' Ressler asked, surprised. He wasn't surprised Audrey trusted Liz; he was surprised she shared that with Carolina.

Carolina nodded.

"Thanks for sharing that, " he smiled at her with watery eyes and she smiled back as she wiped at tears in her eyes.

Carolina took another step and was stopped by her father.

"Do you want Liz to help with...?"

Carolina blushed.

"She doesn't have to, but I thought I'd ask before we got inside.," Ressler said.

"Sonya didn't know how to work a tampon, " Carolina said shyly.

"Let's get Liz on that then?" Ressler offered.

Carolina nodded.

"And sweet heart, " Ressler started. "Having you period doesn't mean you get to yell and treat me or anyone else like crap, OK?"

Carolina nodded.

"Good, " he said before they walked inside.

They heard laughing in the living room and followed the noise to find Liz playing a minion video game with Erin and Agnes. They were all yelling and laughing and there was half eaten pizza open on the coffee table.

Liz was the first to notice them. She put down her controller and walked toward them smiling.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

Ressler looked toward Carolina.

"You need some help sweetie?" Liz asked her.

Carolina ran into Liz's arms hard and cried. Liz wrapped her arms around the scared young girl and held her tight.

"I hate it, " Carolina cried into her.

"Oh sweetie, I know, " Liz said as she patted her hair and kissed the top of her head. "But it'll... it's something you'll get used to and then you won't even notice it much. It'll be okay, okay?"

Carolina sniffled and nodded against her.

"You and daddy got some supplies?" Liz asked as she looked to the CVS bag in Ressler's hand.

He handed it to Liz and leaned down and kissed Carolina on the top of her head.

"Honey, I don't know what you're going through, but you can always tell me anything, anything at all, okay? And we'll figure it out. " Ressler said to his daughter.

He watched Carolina sniffle, nod, and wipe her tears and then look up at the two of them.

"Can I just talk to Aunt Liz right now?" Carolina asked.

Ressler swallowed and nodded. "Of course, honey."

Liz gave him a small smile and started toward the stairs with Carolina still wrapped under one arm.

"The pizza is probably cold but you can take my minion, " she said to him as she walked away with Carolina snuggled into her side. "We'll need a heating pad too."

"I'll get it," Ressler said watching his growing up daughter leave with Liz up the stairs and thinking how it seemed like just yesterday that he held her sweet little newborn cooing self in his arms. How it seemed like a moment ago that she made him wear a boa and crown to her tea party. And how it felt like seconds ago when he taught her to ride a bike.

"I love you," he called out.

Both Liz and Carolina quickly replied in unison. "I love you too."

Then they turned to each other and giggled. It was the first happiness he'd seen on his daughter's face since getting her at Sonya's.

Ressler smiled at them and watched them disappear up the stairs.

To be continued... let me know what you think.