A/N: Hey there:) So, this is my first try writing an older Avery... I have already written some of her even older ones as well, but since this was the first one I wrote, I wanted it to be the first to be published. Hope you like it!
Avery is in the bathroom and feels her body trembling from head to toe. "Mom!" she yells, trying to contain the fear and the urge to cry that she feels.
"What do you need, Avery?" Harvey asks.
"I said: Mom!" Avery responds, not pretending to sound as annoying as she sounds.
"Okay, I'll go get her."
Harvey walks quickly to the room, where Donna was. "Avery is calling you from the bathroom. She asked especially for you," Harvey tells her, understanding what might be happening when he hears his own words.
Donna opens her eyes and feels a bucket of cold water falling into her head. Without answering anything to Harvey, she runs to the bathroom and knocks on the door. "I'm here, Avery." She says from the other side of the door, trying to sound as calm as she can.
"Come in, mum." She says, her voice sounding choppy. Donna enters the bathroom and finds her sitting on the toilet, her panties slightly soiled on the floor. Her daughter holds her face in her hands, resting her elbows on her trembling legs. "I think—" she babbles and cannot end the sentence.
Donna affectionately rubs her back and just stands next to her, not wanting to invade her space too much. "Your first period has begun."
"Yes, that." She replies, still unable to look at her mother.
"It's okay, Avery. It's normal." Donna says, trying to reassure her, still rubbing her back. "I'll go get you some clean panties and give you a sanitary pad. Okay?"
"Come back quickly." She sobs, uncovering her face.
"I'll do, Avery." Donna crouches in front of her. Avery's hair falls over her face, so she puts it behind her ears so she can find her fearful eyes. "Breathe, okay? Everything will be fine."
"You promise?"
She grins and nods. "I promise. You wait for me here?" Avery sighs and nods. Her mom gets up, kisses her crown, and leaves.
Donna tries to evade her own nerves because her kid ceasing to be a kid is really overwhelming, so just focuses on doing what her daughter needs. In less than a minute, she reaches for clean underwear and a sanitary pad. A few months earlier, she had already talked to her about what would happen and had shown her sanitary pads and how to use them, so Avery asked her mom to do it by herself and she waited on the other side of the door.
When Avery finishes, still trembling, she washes her hands and opens the door. Donna is there, waiting for her, and Avery approaches her and hugs her.
"Everything will be fine, I promise you," Donna whispers, hugging her affectionately against her body, rubbing one of her palms between her shoulder blades.
"I feel weird, and my lower belly and waist hurt."
"Do you wanna go to bed? I can warm up my pad for you, then we'll get one for you. That will help you."
"Come with me?" Avery asks, feeling a little embarrassed.
Donna smiles. "Of course. My bed?"
Avery grins. "Yes, your bed."
"Ok, come here."
Donna hugs her from the side of her body, and they walk together to Donna's bedroom. Avery lies down without saying more, snuggling in herself, and lets her mother remove her shoes. Then Donna sits beside her and gently scratches her head, just as she used to do when she was a little girl.
"I'll go warm up my pad, ok?" Avery nods. Her mother gives her a kiss on her head and then gets up in search of her pad to heat it up in the microwave. When she arrives in the kitchen, her husband is walking back and forth and she can't help but giggle a bit, although she also feels a little nervous. "You'll make a hole in the ground!" Donna says, putting the pad in the microwave.
Harvey giggles. "She's growing too fast."
"I know." Donna sighs. "But we can't stop it."
"I know."
"Can you stay here? We're in our room, and although we love you, it's already uncomfortable even among women. At least for a while."
"I get it. I have to be the useless one here."
Donna laughs. "You have been more useless when she was born, you know?"
"12 years later and still reproach me?"
"12 years later and I still remember how much that hurt." Harvey wants to respond, but the sound of the microwave interrupts him. "I don't have time to discuss this again now." She says, pulling the pad out of the microwave. She gives him a quick kiss and leaves him there, without the possibility of responding.
Upon returning to the room, Avery is even more curled up in herself and with tears in her eyes. "This hurts a lot, mom." She sobs.
"I know." And although she knows it isn't consolation, she cannot deny or lie to her either. "But this will help you." Donna quickly takes off her shoes and sits next to her daughter, with her legs stretched out on the bed. "Come closer..." she murmurs, her hand scratching her back and Avery does it, turns to her mum, and rests her head on her shoulder. Donna puts the warm pad on her underbelly, and Avery feels a rare shiver. "Put it where it hurts. That will help menstruation get out faster, and that relieves the pain."
"I don't like it."
Donna sighs and wraps her with her arm, letting her kid curl up more against her body. "I'm not going to lie to you. It's annoying, but you'll get used to it. We all do."
"And it always hurts?"
"That depends. Sometimes my belly hurt, or my head, or my waist, and other times it didn't hurt at all. That's different in every woman and in every stage of life. It wasn't always the same way for me."
Avery sighs and surrounds her mom with her arm. "Will it pass in a while?"
"I hope so, honey." Donna gives her a kiss on her forehead. "Are you cold, right?" Donna asks, feeling her forehead cold.
"Yes, a little," Donna reaches for one of the blankets they have at the end of the bed and covers her daughter.
"You'll be fine, Avery." She murmurs, stroking her hair. "I know it's weird and uncomfortable, and it hurts, I know... But you'll see how in a while you'll get used to it."
"Really?"
"Really, all women do it."
"Anyway, this is horrible!" Avery snorts.
Donna wants to put up with a laugh because it's horrible, but she doesn't make it. "Well, yes, it's a bit horrible!" she says, giggling, making her kid giggle as well.
"Do you promise me it will be less horrible?"
"Yes, I promise you."
"I trust in you, mom." Avery murmurs and Donna smiles enormously. "Can I stay here?"
"Of course, Avery." Avery feels a new cramp and complains with her face hidden against Donna's body, who only curls her up more against her and starts scratching her hair with her fingers.
"Will you always do this?" she murmurs.
She frowns. "What thing?"
"Take care of myself and scratch my head like when I was a kid."
"Absolutely always," Donna responds honestly. "No matter how much you grow up, you'll always be my little girl."
"Thanks, mom."
Donna smirks. "No, Avery... You don't have to say thank you. You know you're the most important to me, and while it hurts me a bit to watch you grow up because you know you're still my baby." Avery giggles. "It's also pretty amazing to do so."
"A few weeks ago we were talking about this with my friends at school, and some of them said that there are things they can't talk to their moms, so thank you for this." She pauses. "I know sometimes I get angry and yell at you, but I'm glad you're my mom."
"You won't make me cry right now, won't you?" Donna says, doing her best to hold back a tear, and her daughter giggles. "I'm so proud of my little woman." She murmurs and kisses her forehead. "You can talk to me about whatever you need, always," she adds, still with her fingers tangled in her hair. "And I'll take care of you, even when you don't let me take care of you."
"I'll always let you."
Donna smiles and hugs her tighter, begging for that to be true. Adolescence is approaching, and the truth is that she is a little afraid of it. "Remember those words a few years from now," Donna tells her, trying to sound funny, going down with her hand on her back.
"I'll remember them." She murmurs and feels another cramp.
"Try to loosen your body. You're very tense, and that won't help you."
"But I can't, Mom!" she responds, frustrated.
"Okay," Donna responds, raising her hand back to her head, and without saying more, she spends several minutes scratching her scalp and feeling like she slowly loosens against her body. "Sleep for a while if you want."
"But... if the pad moves."
"It'll move a little, and if something gets stained, we will wash it and nothing will happen. You can't go for so many days without sleep. Don't you think?"
Avery covers her face with shame. "Sorry, I'm a fool."
"No, don't say that. You are not a fool. This is new, and it's okay for you to ask." She says, putting her hands on her wrists, making her look at her again.
"And when should I change the pad?"
"Within a few hours, it will depend on how much menstruation you have. You'll see that the first days are more than the last. You'll learn how to handle it over time."
"Okay." She sighs.
"But you don't have to do it yet. You can sleep for a while."
"Okay," she replies, resting her head on her mother's chest.
Finally, Avery falls asleep after a while, and so does Donna.
A few hours later, Avery wakes up suddenly, and as she sits down, she feels she has really just stained everything and Donna wakes up from her movements.
"What's wrong?" Donna asks, sitting next to her.
"I feel like I stained everything here." She says, her body shaking.
"No, don't worry about it. You haven't stained anything." She caresses her between her shoulder blades. "Do you wanna go to the bathroom?" Avery nods. "Use this bathroom. If you need me, call me. Open the furniture and you'll find pads if you need to use another one. You know I stopped using them some time ago, but I've kept them because I knew you'd need them."
Avery nods and runs to the bathroom. Donna waits patiently on the other side until she comes out again.
"It's come out a lot." She says, with a weird face.
"That's good for relieving pain. Have you stained something?" she denies it with her head. "Okay, and you changed it?" Avery nods this time. "Is it still hurting?" Donna says, rubbing her back with her hand.
"Yes, less, but yes."
"Will we warm up the pad again, do you want?"
"Yes, please," Avery responds and goes back to bed.
Later, Donna and Avery are again in bed and have put something on the TV, when Harvey approaches them, sits at the end of the bed, and caresses her daughter's feet. "Do you feel better?" he asks, trying not to sound uncomfortable.
"Yes, a little."
"Can I do something for you?" Harvey offers because he has already spent too much time feeling useless.
"Don't be angry, but I wanna be with mom now."
"No, don't worry. I don't get angry." He responds and gets up to go away.
"Harvey, wait!" Donna says, and Harvey turns to look at them again. "Maybe you can do something. You can go and buy the biggest chocolate you can find for her."
Avery opens her eyes in the face of surprise. "Did you say the biggest chocolate?"
Donna giggles. "Yes, that was what I said."
"Do you feel fine, mom?" Avery says, giggling.
Donna giggles again. "Yes, chocolate in these cases helps. Trust me." She winks at her.
"Go and buy it, please dad! Before she regrets it." Avery says to her father and everyone laughs.
So, Harvey goes to buy the chocolate while they stay there.
They are lying face to face, and Donna drags her fingertips on her scalp.
"Stop looking at me like this, mom."
"How?"
"It seems that you're about to cry."
Donna smiles. "That's it, I had you in my belly... do you understand what that means? And you're growing up so fast!"
Avery rolls her eyes. "No, don't start with it now."
"That rolling eye…" Donna says.
"I got this from you. You can't blame me."
"You say?" Donna rolls her eyes and the two giggle. "Do you feel better?"
"Yes, pretty much, but I still wanna be in bed."
"It's okay, I usually stayed on the sofa on the first day if I could do it."
"I'll have to go to school tomorrow," Avery remembers and suddenly feels shaking again.
"And it will all be fine, okay?"
"If I stain, everyone will laugh." She says, distraught.
"Some of your friends have already had their first period?" Avery nods. "Well, then you can talk to them if you feel unsafe. You can ask them if you've stained yourself, and if that happens, you'll cover yourself with something. Or you can even have extra pants and panties in your bag if that makes you feel more secure."
Avery sighs angrily. "I wanna stay here with you."
"We have several hours yet." Donna approaches her and hugs her again against her body. "If you feel really bad, maybe you may miss it, but if you don't feel pain, you have to go. This will be part of your life from now on, and you will gradually learn how to handle it."
"And how do I carry the pads?"
"I had a small bag with pads that I used to put in all my purses. We will find one for you since now you will have to carry them always."
"Ok, but it still feels weird."
"I know... but it will cease to be so weird. You'll see."
Avery nods and allows her mother to hug her for a few minutes until Harvey brings her chocolate and, finally, she finds something good in all of this.
This will probably be the last update of this series for this year since I'm working on a Christmas ficlet project that I'll be posting on my Twitter account (raffsmile) during almost all of December. But I promise this family will be back in 2023 :) And you know I'd like to know what you think about this chapter. Thank you for being here and see you soon!
