*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
"DADDDDD!" I hear Natalia yell from the bathroom upstairs as I am down in the living room playing with Oliver. "COME HERE!" she yells.
"That didn't sound good did it?" I ask Oliver as we are lying down on floor playing with some of his toys. "We better go see what's going on," I say as I stand up and pick him up to go upstairs to see what's going on with Natalia. It's not like her to scream like that so I am fearing the worst as I make my way up the stairs to her bathroom. I knock on the door.
"Dad?" she asks with a shaky voice.
"Do you want me to come in or do you want me to stand out here?" I ask.
"Um. When is Mom coming home?"
"We won't see Mom until we head to California for Wrestlemania, what's going on?" I ask.
"I need mom. Can you see if she can come home?" she asks.
"Your mom is very busy in California right now doing Wrestlemania preparations. Is there something I can help you with?" I ask as I shake my head at Oliver making him laugh. "You did call me up here, so what is it that you need?" I ask.
"Can you call Mom for me?"
"I'm not bothering your mom. What's going on? I can help you with whatever you need," I say. I hear nothing but silence on the other side of the door. "Natalia."
"Dad, go away, just call mom. I need to talk to her. I don't know what to do."
"Natalia, I am not calling your mom. What's going on?" I ask.
"Well, can you get Nikki then?"
"Nikki won't be here till later. It's just Oliver and me. What do you need, Natalia?"
"I need tampons," she says and I almost faint.
"T-T-tampons?" I ask with my mouth going dry.
"Yes, Tampons, I have my period."
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"I'm sure, Dad, I need something I don't have anything."
"Your mom didn't give you one of those emergency kits with that girl stuff in it?"
"No, Dad," she says. "I need a tampon or a pad, I need something. There is blood all over my underwear. I need something and I need a new pair of underwear."
Panic sets in and I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if it's a good idea for her to use tampons or pads. I don't know any of this stuff. I didn't expect her to get her period while her mom was gone. I'm lost at what to do. "Um," I say, "Iet me call your mom," I say.
"So now you want to call her? Doesn't she have tampons in her bathroom?"
"Yes," I say, "but I need to talk to her to see if you are able to use tampons yet or not. Do you even know how to put them in?"
"Um, no," she says.
"Okay then I need to see what your mom suggests me doing," I say nervously. I am not ready for this. I am lost. My hand starts to shake as I pull my phone out of my pocket. I can barely keep my fingers from shaking as I press Ana's name on my phone. I wait for her to answer the phone and I hope she does because I don't know what to do without her.
"Dean," she says, "I'm on my way to a meeting, what's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Yes and no," I say.
"I didn't hear a lot of confidence in that response. Are you okay?" she asks.
"I don't know," I say, "I think I'm about to faint."
"Why?" she asks.
"It's Natalia."
"Is she okay? Did something happen to her?" she asks with panic in her voice. "Please tell me she's okay."
"She, she became a woman today," I say as I want to cry.
"A woman?" she asks. "You mean she started her period?"
"Yes, what am I supposed to do? I don't know anything about this. She's asking for you and she's asking for tampons. I'm not sure what to do. Is she allowed to do tampons?" I ask.
"I wouldn't let her use them right now. She doesn't know how to use them yet."
"What do you mean? Didn't you two have that talk?"
"Of course we had that talk but we didn't go into how to put them in. I thought I had a little more time before she actually got her period. I don't want her using tampons until she knows what she's doing."
"Well, do you have pads?" I ask her. I never thought in a million years I would be talking about tampons and pads with my wife. I understand the whole situation that happens every month. I know about the tampons and the pads but I never thought I would have to have this conversation with her right now. I usually just rejoiced when she got her period before because I knew we weren't pregnant and if she needed me to, being the good man that I am I went to the store to pick her up some tampons. All the other details I don't need to know or want to know.
"I have a couple left from when I had Oliver. Ask her if it's heavy or light," she says.
"I'm not asking her that," I say, "you can talk to her."
I open the bathroom door to see Natalia sitting on the toilet to give her the cellphone. "DAD! GET OUT!" she yells. I turn my head and hand her my phone.
"It's your mom, call me when you're done talking to her. Give her all the details and then we'll go from there."
I walk out of the bathroom with Oliver and give Natalia a moment with her mom. I'm sick to my stomach. I am not ready for this. I will NEVER be ready for this. Natalia is my little girl. My little princess, what happened to the little girl that took her first steps at the beach or the little girl I took to her first ballet class when she was two? What happened to the little girl that I used to play tea party with, would braid her hair in the mornings when I was home, the little girl and the ONLY little girl that could ever get me to put on a tutu and dance around? What happened to my baby? Everything is happening so fast. I am going to lose her soon to the real world. She's 11 years old she has 7 more years till she is out on her own and out in college. "Your sister isn't a baby anymore," I say to Oliver as he gives me a smile and looks at me with his beautiful big brown eyes. "But I am so glad you're a boy!" I say with a smile. "You and me can handle the guy stuff and when your sister starts to date, you and I can work together to question the boy that has her interest. There will never be anyone but the best for Natalia, got it, Little man? You and me are on a mission to make sure NO one hurts our Natalia," I say with a smile before I give him a kiss on the cheek.
"DAD!" yells Natalia from the bathroom. "Mom wants to talk to you."
I open the door before walking in I say, "Am I allowed to come in?"
"Yes, but don't look at me," she says. I turn my head and take the phone from her. "You're supposed to get me a pad from her bathroom to use for now and I still need new underwear."
"Okay," I say putting the phone up to my ear. "Hello, Baby," I say. "Did you get it all straightened out?"
"Yes," she says, "but I need you to take her to the store to pick up a pack of pads. Can you do that for me?"
"I don't know anything about that," I say, "what kind does she get?"
"She needs something for a medium flow, she knows what to pick up."
"Good, can I just send her into the store to get them and wait for her outside?"
"Go in with her, Dean. It's time to be a grown up about this. She is your daughter. You spent days changing her poopy diapers and spent days having her throw up on you and poop on you. You can handle taking her shopping for pads. She's scared Dean and if you act like a little bitch about this whole thing she's going to get even more nervous. Can you do that?"
"I guess," I say as I go into our bathroom and get Natalia what she needs before I go into her bedroom to get her a new pair of underwear. "I don't know what happened to our baby," I say.
"She grew up," she says.
"I know but why so fast. It was just yesterday that she was a baby," I say, "and now I'm taking her shopping for pads this is crazy, Ana."
"I know. I wish I could be there but you've got this."
"I think so at least," I say as I give Natalia what she needs and quickly exit out of the bathroom to give her privacy.
"You do and I have faith in you."
"Thanks," I say. "Anything else you want to tell me?"
"Just be nice to her. She's scared and she's hurting. Don't be a jerk about this with her okay?"
"Okay," I say.
"I have to go now. I will call back later to talk to both of you about this and to see how things are going. How is Oliver doing?"
"Good," I say as I look at him. "We were playing before all this happened."
"Aw, I miss my baby and you wouldn't believe how badly my boobs have been hurting"
"I'm sure he's missing the titties. In fact, the other day I caught him singing 'Ain't no boobies when she's gone.'" I smile as I hear her laugh on the other end of the phone. "He was very distraught, Ana it's not funny."
"I love you," she says making me smile. "I'm ready for my forever and always with you. 3 months and counting till the whole world will see me as Mrs. Anastasia Ambrose! I can't wait even though for 9 months I have already been I am just ready for your crazy fan girls to know and for everyone to know that you and I are forever. There is nothing less for us."
"Me too," I say with a smile. "I'll let you go. Maybe we can Skype later, get a little kinky. I'm missing the boobies too, Ana," I say.
"Sounds like a plan," she says making me smile. "I'll talk to you later. I love you."
"Love you too, Bye," I say before we hang up the phones together.
Once Natalia cleans herself up and I get Oliver ready I do the thing I have always dreaded and that is going to take my baby girl shopping for feminine products. We walk into the store and we are both nervous as we go to the female section. We walk passed pregnancy tests, condoms, I find it ironic how the pregnancy tests are above the condoms. It's a weird placement. I have learned not to rely on condoms anyway. That's how we ended up with Natalia because the condom broke. "Dad, what are you doing?" she asks.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about something. I'm following you," I say.
"Okay," she says as we reach the aisle. "Mom told me that I need to get something more than thin but something less than thick. Is this it?" she asks handing me a pack of pads. I let out a deep breath as I look at the package.
"I think these are it, Natalia," I say.
"Okay," she says putting them into the basket. "This is embarrassing huh?"
"Nothing embarrassing about it, it's life," I say. "Is there anything else you need?"
"No, I'm good," she says, "but I was thinking about how you are shopping with me for this. I know you don't want to. I'm sorry I started today."
"Don't even be sorry. You can't control these things. It's all right."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm good," I say as we make our way to the register. I put the pads on the belt and wait for the cashier to ring us up. It is a quick wait and we are on our way home after our adventure. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. It was actually a pretty good trip. It's just accepting the fact that my baby girl is growing up so fast. I would keep her little forever if I could.
LATER THAT NIGHT:
"He is so cute," says Nikki, our nanny as we are in the living room with Oliver while Natalia is upstairs taking a shower.
"Thanks," I say with a smile as I play with Oliver.
"So," she says moving closer to me as I move away from her. "You've got a big match on Sunday don't you?"
"My return match, yeah," I say, "it's been a long time coming," I say as she moves closer to me again. "Can you move back a little bit? You're kind of in my personal space."
"I'm sorry," she says with a smile. "So are you excited about your match?"
"I would say I'm excited."
"That's good. I can't wait to see it."
"I'm sure," I say nervously as I feel her hand on my arm touching my muscles.
"You're really strong," she says as she rubs them. "You have some nice arms."
"Um, thanks," I say moving my arm away from her. "I think maybe it's time for you to go home. I think I can handle the kids from here."
"But I'm scheduled till 11," she says. "We can hang out together."
"I don't want to hang out with you. I did my workout, the kids are getting ready for bed and I'm home now. I really don't need you to be here."
"We can hang out while the kids are in bed," she says, "I'd like that."
"I'll tell you who wouldn't like that," I say.
"Who?" she asks getting closer to me once again.
"My fiancée," I say, "I'm a very loyal man, Nikki. I don't know what you're trying to pull but I don't like it. I am in love with Ana. I have been in love with Ana for 12 years now and I will never cheat on her or do anything with another woman out of respect for her. If you can't respect her you don't have to work here. Now back up and leave. I told you I am home. I don't need you to be here."
"But what about my pay?" she asks.
"I'll pay you whatever you would have made if you worked to 11. I just need you to leave now. You're making me uncomfortable and you're disrespecting my fiancée in HER house. I also feel that it's better you don't go to California with us. Ana's dad can handle the kids. I need you to leave and I will be telling Ana about this."
"I didn't do anything inappropriate."
"But you're trying to and that's enough. You need to leave."
"You know you want me," she says.
"No, Nikki, I don't. I have the woman that I want and we're getting married in June. I don't want you. I don't want anyone but the woman I am marrying. She's mine, I'm hers, my heart is hers. There will NEVER be anyone like her," I say. "You need to leave, Nikki."
"Come on, Dean," she says as she gets closer to me. "Just one kiss."
"No, I don't want a…." I say before her lips are on mine and before I can even push her away and stop her Natalia is in the room.
"What is going on here?" she yells as Nikki pulls away with a smile.
"Natalia," I say, "Nikki was leaving. It's not what you think."
"I'm telling my mom," she says before giving Nikki a look of death.
"Nikki, you're fired," I say, "leave now."
"I'm still telling mom," says Natalia as she pulls out her cell phone.
"Natalia, listen to me, I was going to talk to your mom later," I say as Nikki leaves. "Don't.."
"Mom, Nikki and dad were kissing," she says before I can even stop her.
*A/N: What did you think of Natalia becoming a woman while Ana was away? Do you think Dean handled it well? If he wouldn't have talked to Ana do you think he would have handled it the way he did? What do you think of them counting down till their forever and always for the world to know? Do you believe they will be forever and nothing less? What did you think of Nikki coming onto Dean? What about his reaction? Were you surprised? What about Natalia telling her mom? How do you think Ana is going to react? Please review and thank-you for reading.