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"Great," she replied, her tone brisk. "So, how do I deal with this right now?"
"Stock up on enough pads and tampons, okay?" I smiled. "And I'm going to come by later and bombard you with my favorite dark chocolate bars. Do you like them?"
"I could demolish them."
"Good. Also, heat compresses. As many as you can. And you can also spend some time imagining you're a high-profile assassin sent on a deadly mission. Like, really lose yourself in that crap. And know that whenever you feel funny, I'm just next door.
"That means you have someone who can take you out for pizza and ice cream. You hear me?"
She bobbed her head, the smile a constant on her lips. "I do. Thanks, Juniper. I like having you around."
I got up from her bed and walked to the door. I opened it slowly, in part because I didn't want to leave her.
"Leia?" It was a tentative question.
"Fire away."
"I'm glad you can talk to me."
The room was quiet for the briefest breath.
"I'm glad too."
Smiling, I stepped out and closed the door behind me. Reed was so close to it that I almost barged straight into him. Today was definitely not my day for smooth entrances or exits. I scowled up at him. "Excuse you, where are you trying to eavesdrop?"
He shook his head guiltily. "No, I mean, I wanted, I thought, I—"
I laughed. "It's fine. She's okay, Reed. She just got her first period."
Reed looked like I'd slapped him across the face. His cheeks went red—not faint red, but absolute bloody vermilion. The poor man had probably never heard someone say this to him before. But he was a father to a daughter, and this was high time.
"You need to get some pads and tampons for her, okay?" I said firmly. "I'm not gonna beat around the bush or sweeten it up for you. She's growing up, and she needs you to not be weirded out by everything that'll change in her life right now."
"Change?" he spluttered as if he was waking up from a sunny dream where Leia would always be five. "What change? There are more changes?"
I groaned. "Okay, this is going to take some time, and I'm hungry. Join me for lunch?"
21
Juniper
Reed followed me back to my place like a lost Golden Retriever pup. When he was in form, I'd probably think of him more as a bloodhound—but not today.
I fixed us up a mess of sandwiches and a pitcher of sweet tea. I wasn't about to say anything until I'd taken a bite. He sulked around the table, waiting for me to speak up. Two mouthfuls later, I finally did.
"What's going on with her mother?"
I could have paced out the question, moseyed around it and tried to make it all artsy and fluffy, but I was losing patience with the damn woman.
Who the hell was she, and how could she leave her kid alone at such a crucial fuckin’ time?
Like always, Reed opened and closed his mouth a few times before talking. "We divorced four years ago. She has an apartment over at the southern precinct. I don't go there all that often."
"I didn't ask you about her GPS coordinates, Reed," I snapped. The wounded expression on his face immediately struck me. Why was I being so mean to him when this was clearly not his fault?
"Okay, let me try to do this differently." I placed the half-eaten turkey on rye down on the plate and exhaled.
"She needs a woman in her life right now. She's going through a lot of changes, plus, school sucks for girls her age. It sucks in general, but more because she feels everything so acutely."
