It was an early Saturday morning which meant everyone had the option to sleep in but that was rarely something that happened in the Jagielski household. Something was always going on and people were on the constant move. For Jenny it was no exception when she rolled over and saw it was shortly before ten a.m. She yawned and sat up, not forgetting to put the purple stuffed monkey in its permanent hiding place underneath her bed. Grabbing a towel from the linen closet, she headed to the shower.

She pulled off her pajamas from the night before and let them fall in a heap at her feet. Adjusting the temperature of the water was when she looked down and noticed the scarlet stains in her panties. Jenny's eyes grew as wide as saucers. Looking down she could see that she was still bleeding lightly. She also saw where the blood was coming from. Stumbling backwards, tears filled her eyes. A shrill scream escaped from her throat as she began to wail.

Downstairs Jake Jagielski typed away on his laptop. He was a hard worker and there was always something to be done even when he was away from the team. It was early and he was functioning on coffee alone. He had woken up to Peyton slipping out and mentioning something briefly about taking Amanda somewhere. He had been unable to fall back asleep so had gone into the home office to try to get some paperwork done. He was engrossed in what he was doing until he heard the panicked cry of his little girl.

Jake immediately hopped to his feet. All he could do was think about getting to her. He didn't care that his mug had overturned and the warm, dark liquid was everywhere. All he cared about was getting to Jenny.

"Jen! Jenny!" he yelled, taking the steps two at a time.

He made it up just in time to see her running from the bathroom wearing only her robe. She was hysterical, crying and screaming, arms flailing. It was scary to watch someone so out of control and he could only compare it to what his wife had described when Jenny had had the infamous encounter with Teezer.

"Jen, what happened?" he asked. "What's wrong with you?"

She was trying to answer him but couldn't get out coherent word for all the yelling.

"Jenny, calm down! What's the matter? Talk to me. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

She ran past him into her bedroom where she collapsed on the bed still in an emotional frenzy.

"Jenny…"

"Dad, I…I…I…"

She still couldn't get the words together.

"It's okay. Deep breaths, Jen."

"I…I'm bleeding."

"What happened? Did you hurt yourself?"

"I don't know", she cried.

"Okay, okay. Just calm down. It's okay. Show me where you're bleeding."

"No!" she yelled, becoming even more upset as she broke away from his touch.

"Jenny, I promise I won't hurt you. But I need to see what happened."

"I can't!"

"Yes, you can. It's okay."

"No! I…"

"Is it your arm? Let me see. Did you hurt your leg?"

"No!"

"Jen…"

She frantically pointed to the private area below her waist. Jake's mouth fell open.

"I'm bleeding there", she sobbed. "I think I'm dying!"

"Is it…is it your period?" he cringed, asking every father's most uncomfortable question.

"What?"

"The, you know, the bleeding. Did you hurt yourself down there or are you just having your period?" he asked again, his handsome face bright red.

"I'm bleeding", she repeated.

"I know but…"

"What's a period?" she finally sniffled, breathing long enough to get out a real question.

Jake was stunned. That was the one thing he hadn't been expecting. She was 11 years old, almost 12. Most girls that age were already menstruating and even those that weren't knew what it was and eventually that it would come.

"You…you don't know what a period is?" he asked in disbelief.

"No", she whispered in a frightened tone.

Jake took a deep breath. Not only was it a touchy and embarrassing subject, he could barely contain his anger at a certain ex girlfriend. He wanted to wrap his hands around Nikki's neck and squeeze the very life out of her. How could she not have had the talk with Jenny?"

"It's okay. Calm down. What's happening, it…it's your period, Jenny and it's totally normal and it's supposed to happened to all girls around your age."

"But…"

His daughter looked confused and still scared out of her mind,

"Just…stop crying and hang tight, okay? It's alright. I'll be right back."

He made a beeline for the phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Hey, you've reached Peyton Jagielski's cell phone and I am unavailable. Leave your name and number at the beep and I'll get back to you…"

"Dammitt!" he cursed out loud, hanging up without leaving a message.

Running his fingers through his hair, he dialed another familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Haley?"

"Yeah. Is this Jake? What's up?"

He breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"I need you to come over…now!"

Without further explanation, the beautiful, auburn haired school teacher made her way over to her friend's house and listened to the story. She was in shock herself but more than anything she felt for Jenny. Going into the master bathroom, she pulled out a pad and then knocked softly on Jenny's door.

"Go away", the child said tearfully.

"Jenny, it's okay. I know you were scared and I'm sorry you didn't know but what is happening to your body is perfectly normal. You're not dying, sweetheart. You're just having a period. Do you know where babies come from?"

"Sex", Jenny answered in a scared voice.

"Right. Well, this is what happens when a girl's body changes into a woman's and…"

Jake could listen outside the door no longer. He walked downstairs and sat at the table until Haley came down an hour later.

"Is she okay?" he found his voice.

Haley sat beside him.

"Still shaken up but better. At least now she knows."

Jake put his head in his hands.

"I can't fucking believe Nikki…"

"Apparently Nikki never had that talk with her. She didn't know anything. What she did know about sex was just the stuff kids gossip about at school nowadays."

"Oh my God…"

"It's okay. I sat her down and explained everything. I told her what was happening and what to expect. I think she's going to be just fine."

"Thanks, Haley. God, I don't know what else to say. Peyton wasn't here and I couldn't get in touch with her and Jenny was freaking out and it totally caught me off guard…I didn't know what to do."

"It's okay. I'm glad I could help but I'm just sorry it all happened like that."

"Yeah", Jake sighed. "Me too."

"Where is Peyton?"

"Who knows? Off with Amanda somewhere."

"Just make sure she looks in on her when she gets back. You can too but it might be better coming from a woman. Jenny's still sort of embarrassed about all this."

"Peyton should have been here."

"She didn't know. None of us knew."

"Still. She should have been here."

"I…I don't know what to say."

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. It's not your fault. I just appreciate you coming over."

"Anytime", she smiled as she grabbed her purse and keys and placed a quick good bye kiss on his forehead.

Jake sat quietly as she left, waiting for Peyton and Amanda to come back. He waited and waited and waited. The longer it took, the angrier and more emotional he became. He was pissed at Nikki whose obvious lack of mothering had been proven once more. He was angry that his little girl had been so scared and he didn't know how to help her. But with each tick of the minutes on the clock, his anger grew at his wife. Where the hell was she? She was the one always yapping about helping Jenny. When Jenny needed help the most, where had she been? Off shopping or doing whatever with Amanda.

Jake shook his head. It made him sick. Everything was falling apart. Would it ever get better for Jenny? And what was going on with his marriage? Was Amanda coming between them? Too many questions and not enough answers to process. Jake's head was spinning. He was on an emotional rollercoaster.

Something had to change. Something had to give. Once again, Jenny had suffered. And once again when Peyton was needed most, she was nowhere to be found. And Jake had had enough. He was seething. He had no idea where his wife had been but when he caught up to her, she would surely wish she had never left.