Thanks so much for all the reviews on the last chapter! I really enjoyed reading them. Just to let you know, this pregnancy of Rachel's won't be covered as much as her last one was, partly because there was already a pregnancy storyline in this story and partly because I'm covering her pregnancy in my other story right now. There will be moments, but not as many. I might make the story a little longer than I originally planned. What would you guys think of that?
I hope you enjoy this chapter - it's one of my favorites. And I hope you enjoy the Glee premiere tomorrow. Don't forget to review if I should keep writing :)
Chapter 58: Period
While sitting in class, Allie felt like her pants were wet. She asked her teacher if she could go to the bathroom and when she was in the stall, she looked down and saw blood on her underwear.
Why was there blood on her underwear? She hadn't hurt herself anywere that might have led to this. What if she had some sort of weird disease? She didn't know what to do.
Then she looked into the toilet and saw some blood in there as well. She swore there hadn't been any blood there when she first got here. What was going on? She felt okay earlier today.
Now she was wondering what to do. This was so weird, she wanted to talk to her dad before she went to the nurse.
Allie walked down the hall to the kindergarten classrooms and knocked on her dad's door nervously, hoping he was there. She was afraid and she needed her dad (and her mom, but her mom was at home).
"Hi sweetheart," Finn said as he opened the door. "What's up? Are you okay?"
Allie looked into the classroom, seeing the kindergarteners drawing pictures. "Dad, I need to tell you something."
Finn nodded as Allie gulped. "I don't know why, but there's blood on my underwear. I went to use the bathroom and..."
Finn looked surprised. "Do you know what that means?" Allie asked.
Finn sighed and gave Allie a hug. "I do. Look Allie, this is really something you should talk to your mom about."
"Am I sick?" Allie asked.
Finn looked at his daughter. "Can you step into my classroom for a minute?"
Allie followed her dad in. "What happened?"
"It's called a period, it's something that happens to all girls when they get older," Finn said. "It's perfectly normal, you don't need to worry about anything. It happened to you earlier than it happens to most girls."
At least she wasn't sick or anything. "Dad, it's scary," Allie said. She knew she had to get back to class, but she was too shocked and scared to go back. She wanted to go home.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Finn asked. "Would you like to go home?"
Allie sighed. "Yeah."
"How about I call your mom and tell her what happened, and you go to the nurse and tell her you're not feeling well?"
"Okay," Allie said. "Thanks, Dad."
x
Finn watched his daughter leave and felt extremely guilty. He probably should have said more to Allie. He didn't expect Allie to start her period this early. Rachel hadn't even talked to Allie about mentruation yet, they didn't think there was a need.
He was surprised that Allie had come to him first. He thought she'd go to Rachel first, but Finn was the person there Allie would feel most comfortable going to in this situation at school. As the kids in his class continued drawing, he picked up the classroom phone and dialed Rachel's number. "Rach, it's Finn."
"Finn!" Rachel said. "What's up?"
Finn looked at the kids in his class, making sure they were focused on their work. He didn't think that any of them would know what a period was yet, but he couldn't know for sure. "Rachel, Allie got her period."
"Seriously?" Rachel asked. "She's only ten... I didn't get mine until the summer before freshman year!"
"I know, I wasn't expecting this either," Finn told his wife. "It clearly really upset her, and I didn't see this coming and I probably didn't say what she needed to hear because I was sure when this day came you'd be the one to handle it - Rach, she really needs her mom right now."
"I'll be right there," Rachel said.
"Thanks babe," Finn said. "I love you." He hung up the phone, still feeling guilty. He had to get back to work, but he couldn't stop thinking about his little girl.
x
Rachel couldn't believe the phone call she'd just gotten from Finn. Her ten-year-old daughter had just gotten her period? She remembered how uncomfortable she was when she got her first period, not having someone in the house who'd been through the same thing. She remembered promising herself when Allie and Caylie were born that she'd be there for them when they got their first periods.
Rachel arrived at the school and walked in with Caylie. "Is Allie okay?" Caylie asked.
"She's fine," Rachel assured her daughter. They walked to the nurse's office. "Hi, I'm here to pick up Allie Hudson," Rachel told the nurse.
"She's in there," the nurse said.
Rachel went in and saw her daughter. "Hey."
"Hi Mom," Allie said quietly. "Can we talk when we get home?"
"Of course we can," Rachel said. The three of them left the school and drove home. When they got home, Rachel turned to Caylie. "Honey, can you go to your room for a little? I need to talk to Allie about some big girl things."
"Okay," Caylie said as Rachel and Allie went to Allie's room.
"Do you know?" Allie asked her mom.
"Yeah, your dad called me," Rachel said. "First of all, let me tell you that you have nothing to worry about. It happens to every girl. It happened to me."
"Why am I bleeding so much?" Allie asked.
Rachel noticed the fear in her daughter's eyes. "The blood is a sign that your body is developing properly and you're growing up. It comes from the part of your body that your babies will come out of when you have babies."
"So it happens to you?" Allie asked.
"Yeah," Rachel said. "Well, it's not happening now because I'm pregnant, but when I'm not, it happens to you. It's going to happen about about once a month for about a week at a time."
"But I don't like having blood on my underwear," Allie said.
"I'm going to show you the things that you can use to keep it from getting on your underwear," Rachel said.
"Will those things hurt?" Allie asked.
Rachel noticed how uncertain Allie looked. "They won't hurt at all. How about I show you how they work?"
"Thank you Mom," Allie said. Rachel felt good that she could help her daughter.
x
Being at home had helped Allie recover from the shock of getting her first period. She was definitely glad she'd had her mom with her. It was times like this that she was glad Rachel was taking time off from Broadway to be at home. Rachel had showed her how tampons and pads worked and now she was practicing her viola in the living room. The door opened, and she saw that Finn was home from work.
"Hi Dad!" Allie said.
"Hi Allie," Finn said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Allie put down her viola and sat on the couch. Finn sat down next to her. "Allie, I'm sorry I couldn't be more help at school today. I wasn't expecting this to happen, and I was sure that when this happened, you'd go to your mom since she's been through it. I'm sorry, honey."
"It's okay," Allie said. "You did make me feel better."
"I love you," Finn said.
"I love you too," Allie said.
Rachel came in. "Hi, Finny."
"Are you ready for our doctor's appointment?" Finn asked.
Rachel smiled. "I'd forgotten, with everything that happened today."
"I got Blaine to come over and watch the girls," Finn said. "It works, since Santana and Brittany have their kids this week."
"You're sure you'll be okay?" Rachel asked Allie. "I can see if I can reschedule my doctor's appointment if you don't want me to leave."
"I'll be okay," Allie said. "You guys are the ones who told me it's normal," Allie said. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
The doorbell rang and Finn went to answer it. "Please don't tell anyone," Allie told her parents before they let Blaine in.
"Don't worry, we won't," Rachel said.
"Uncle Blainey!" Caylie said as she ran up to Blaine.
"Hi Caylie," Blaine said. He looked over at Allie. "Hi Allie."
"Thanks so much for coming," Rachel said.
"Just call us if you need anything," Finn said right before he and Rachel left.
x
"I hope she'll be okay," Finn sighed as they sat in the office, waiting for the doctor.
"She's fine, it happens to every girl," Rachel said. The truth was, she was worried too. She wanted to be there for Allie right now.
The doctor came in, letting Rachel and Finn know that they had to stop talking about it. "Hi Rachel," the doctor said. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," Rachel said. "We're excited to see our baby again."
"I'm sure you are," the doctor said. She turned to Finn. "How's she doing?"
"She's doing fine," Finn said. "Just the usual cravings and morning sickness."
"That's to be expected," the doctor said as she gelled Rachel's stomach and began scanning. Rachel noticed the confused look on the doctor's face.
"Is the baby okay?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, the baby's fine," the doctor said. "Everything's going well for this point of a pregnancy. It's just that we didn't notice something at your last ultrasound."
"What is it?" Rachel asked. The doctor had said everything was okay, but what hadn't they noticed?
"There's another baby in there," the doctor said. "You're having twins."
"Twins?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, twins," the doctor said.
"Wow," Finn said. "So we're going to have four kids!"
"Four kids," Rachel repeated. She couldn't believe it.
"As you know, it's too early to know the gender, but I can tell you that they're identical," the doctor said.
"Do you think they're boys or girls?" Finn asked Rachel.
"I still think they're boys," Rachel said.
"I would be happy with all girls," Finn said.
"Yeah, I'd love either," Rachel said. "But I know you want a boy."
"Should we tell the girls that it's twins?" Finn asked.
"Let's let them be surprised," Rachel said.
x
"Allie, come play with me and Uncle Blaine!" Caylie called.
"I have to do my homework," Allie called from her room.
"Maybe she'll play after she finishes her homework," Blaine said to Caylie. "So Caylie, do you like preschool?"
"Yeah!" Caylie said. "They have lots of cool toys there."
"That's good," Blaine said.
Finn and Rachel went into their apartment, both resisting the urge to tell Blaine and their daughters that it was twins, not one baby. "How was the appointment?" Blaine asked.
"It was good," Rachel said. "Want to see the photos?" They'd had separate photos printed of each baby so they could keep the fact that it was twins a secret.
"Duh!" Caylie said.
Rachel showed Caylie the photos. "Those don't look like babies!" Caylie said.
"Well, they're still growing," Finn said. "Where's Allie?"
"Here I am!" Allie said as she looked on at the pictures. "That's our little brother or sister, Caylie!"
"Kurt will be so excited to see these," Blaine said.
"Bring him over sometime," Finn said. "And thanks for being with the girls."
"You know I love my nieces," Blaine told Finn.
Rachel looked at Allie and mouthed to her, "Everything okay?"
Allie mouthed back, "I'm okay." Rachel was just glad she could be there for her daughter when this had happened, something she hadn't had with her first time.