Blossom prided herself in having extensive knowledge of several subjects. That meant she knew at least a little about everything, even things that weren't really important to crime fighting. But just because she knew a bit about everything didn't mean she was prepared for everything. The girls were twelve, and it was their weekend at Ms. Bellum's. A few years before, the two adults had arranged for them to spend alternate weekends at her house.
The Professor thought it was for the best since the girls were getting older and needed a female influence. Ms. Bellum agreed, since she loved them like they were her own. Blossom, as the oldest, had read up on puberty a little, just so she would be able to explain it to her sisters when the time came. But just because she had read about it didn't mean she understood everything. She acted like she did of course, because she hated feeling inadequate.
But even she couldn't control her own body. Her stomach had been hurting for days, and it never seemed to go away, only come in waves. She had managed to ignore the pain, but it only seemed to be getting worse by the time they got to Ms. Bellum's house. She was helping her sisters set up their sleeping bags in the living room when she felt a gush of water between her legs. She felt a blush rising on her cheeks as she realized what must have happened.
"Hey!" Buttercup said, catching Bubbles' attention. "Look, Blossom wet her pants!"
They burst into giggles, and Blossom could feel hot tears welling up in her eyes. Not wasting any time, she zipped into the bathroom in a flash of pink. She cried as she pulled down her pink jeans, (each of the girls had given up their dresses a few years back but still wore their respective color), and matching underwear. As she wiped away the tears to examine the damage, her eyes widened. She hadn't wet herself, she was bleeding.
Even though she was extremely smart and had read about this particular topic, she was still only twelve years old and the sight of blood waved away common sense. So she did what most twelve year old girls did.
"MOM!"
Ms. Bellum, who had been downstairs starting dinner, easily heard her scream and raced to the bathroom.
"Blossom? Blossom, what's wrong? Can I come in?" She could hear the girl crying and hyperventilating, and began to pound on the door. "Blossom?!"
Just as she was about to turn the knob the door creaked open. She pushed it the rest of the way open and stepped inside, shutting it behind her. The young redhead was sitting on the edge of the toilet lid, her pants around her ankles. When she heard the confirming click of the door, she looked up at the older woman, pink eyes filled with tears.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Ms, Bellum asked, crouching in front it the young girl.
"M-my stomach h-has been hurting a l-lot and then, wh-when I w-was helping Buttercup and B-bubbles set up their s-sleeping bags, I felt l-like I w-wet my p-pants, and then they s-started laughing!" she gasped around her tears.
The older redhead sighed, realizing exactly what was going on.
"Blossom, honey, has the Professor ever given you girls 'the talk'?" The girls shook her head no. "I didn't think so. Have you read about what this is?" A nod yes. "Okay, that makes this easier.
"When a girl about your age starts to grow up, she goes into puberty. Do you know what that is?" Blossom nodded yes. "Good. So, first of all as I suspect you've noticed, you didn't wet yourself.
"Instead, you've started your period. The blood is completely normal. It's the body's way of getting rid of a spongy casing in the uterus that keeps the baby safe if a woman is pregnant. When the woman isn't pregnant, that tissue is useless, and the body needs to get rid of it. The tummy ache is normal, too.
"It's cramps, the muscles in your uterus contracting to get rid of the old tissue faster. Now, your period only comes once a month, but it can last anywhere from three to seven days. And since this is your first one," she paused and reached under the sink, "I'm going to show you some ways to keep the blood off of your clothes."
She held up a small square wrapped in green plastic, and a thin plastic purple tube with a string on one end.
"What are those?" Blossom asked.
"This," the older woman held up the green square, "is a pad. You open it like this, and the glue makes it stick to your underwear. This," she held up the purple tube, "is a tampon. You press on this end and a ball of tightly pressed cotton comes out of the top. It goes inside you."
The girl looked disgusted, and the older woman had to suppress a smile. She threw both opened items in the small trash an beside the toilet. Reaching back under the sink, she came out with another pad and handed it to Blossom.
"Here, I think since it's your first period you'll be more comfortable with a pad."
She straightened and gave the girl the privacy to put it on. The girl stood and tugged up her underwear, but bit her lip as she looked at her pants. The older woman turned at her sigh.
"Is there blood in your jeans?" Blossom nodded, ashamed at herself. "Here, give them to me and I'll wash them. That way the Professor won't have to deal with this."
"But if I give you my jeans, what am I gonna wear for the rest of the afternoon?"
"Did you bring your tank top and shorts pajama set?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, why don't you put on your pajama shorts and I'll throw these in the wash. And then I'll talk to your sisters so they understand what's going on." She turned to go out the pants in the wash but noticed Blossom wasn't following her. "Blossom, is there something else bothering you?"
"I'm really embarrassed, in more ways than one."
"Why? This is a perfectly normal thing that every girl goes through at some point in their lives."
"Yeah, but Bubbles and Buttercup laughed, and there's blood in my jeans, and then you had to explain it to me, and I called you mom..."
She stopped as she realized what she had said. Ms. Bellum stiffened as she realized for the first time that she had responded to that name. It wasn't so much that it bothered her as it was that it occurred to her how natural it felt.
"I'm sorry," Blossom whispered.
"For what?"
"For everything, but especially because I called you mom. I didn't mean to, but I couldn't help it. It just slipped out."
Ms. Bellum felt her heart constrict as Blossom apologized for calling her mom.
"That's okay, sweetie. Now why don't you go get your shorts in and then we'll eat dinner. Does that sound good?"
"Yeah. And Ms. Bellum?"
"Yes?"
Blossom floated up and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck.
"Thanks for helping me."
"It was nothing, Blossom."
The young hero smiled as the older woman left to wash her jeans. It felt good not to have to be an expert, or the one in charge for once. It was nice to have someone like a mother to explain what she didn't understand and help her control it. And maybe she actually did mean it when she called her mom.