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Trucy had been acting a little off for the last few days, and it had both Phoenix and Miles on edge. At fourteen, their daughter seemed to have avoided--so far, at least--most of the 'teenage angst' that other kids had, and despite a few bad days, she stayed cheery, bight, and optimistic. And now, she was snappish, grumpy, and fatigued.
"Hey, Truce? Y'know, if anything's been bothering you, you can tell us," Phoenix said as the small family ate dinner. Trucy just sighed in lieu of a response, pushing the last strands of spaghetti around her plate with a fork held in a limp hand. She really did look tired; both parents felt their hearts seize.
"'M fine, nothing's been bothering me," she finally responded. She suddenly stood, taking her plate over to the sink and scraping the remains of her food into the trash before giving the plate a quick rinse and sticking it in the dishwasher. At least she wasn't skimping on her chores, she still had it in her to be a productive member of the household. "I'm gonna go to sleep early, though."
"Alright, sweetie, hope you feel better in the morning."
"Goodnight, Trucy," Miles called as she disappeared into the nearby hallway, and he could hear some sort of reply from her that was difficult to make out. He waited until she was gone before speaking again, voice lowered as to ensure she wouldn't be able to listen in. "I'm worried about her, it doesn't matter to me what she said."
"I don't have my magatama with me... maybe we can ask her again tomorrow while I have it, and I can get some sort of answer. I don't want to pry, of course, but... I just hate to see her like this, all gloomy."
"Me too... I'm certain she'll tell us eventually, but I suppose it's alright to use the magatama. What do you think it could be? Is she getting picked on at school, perhaps?"
"God, if that was the case, I'll find whoever's bullying her and shove my foot so far down their throat that you'll be able to see my toes stick out of their-"
"Phoenix, calm yourself. I really don't think that's the case, anyway. It seems illogical, now that I think about it. She's very popular, you know. People would very quickly come to her aid."
"You're right... oh, what if she's sick; it could be so many things! Like brain cancer, or iron deficiency-"
"Phoenix, you are being very illogical right now, I'll once again remind you to calm down. Let's just wait and see, and we can try the magatama on her tomorrow. We can decide our next course of action after that."
--
The first thing that Trucy noticed when she woke up was that her sheets were damp. She was scared at first, worried that she had wet the bed or something--she was fourteen, she didn't do stuff like that anymore--but when she pulled back the sheets to investigate, she found that this wasn't the case. There was a lot of red, though.
Trucy stared at the blood for a few minutes, feeling her heart rate speed up. Oh, this was... mortifying, that was the right word. She'd have to tell Daddy and Papa, and she didn't know if they'd really understand it or know what she was going through; who was she kidding, of course they didn't know what she was going through! And they didn't have any pads or tampons or things that she needed, either!
Well, unless if she wanted to do the laundry herself at three in the morning and shove toilet paper in her underwear every month for the foreseeable future, she'd have to tell them. And, logically, she knew they'd be able to handle it, and they wouldn't be mad at her for getting the sheets all dirty... but her nice sheets were white, and oh, there was so much blood, and oh, they were ruined--
Trucy forced back her sudden tears, startled by how quickly the urge to cry had come on. It wasn't logical to think that way, she knew, and she'd have to pick herself up and stop wallowing in her misery.
Other kids in her class had reported a similar experience to hers--ruining the sheets when the first one happened, and even when subsequent ones occurred--so she knew she wasn't alone in this. She'd also seen those kids hunched over at their desks, miserable from cramps, and she knew she her immediate future didn't look that thrilling. They still stayed strong though, and trucked through each school day, so she had to get herself together, too, or this was all going to be a lot more painful than it had to be. That meant doing what those kids had all done: she had to tell her parents. Trucy extracted herself from her bed, cringing at the sensation of wetness, and shuffled to their room.
They were soundly asleep when she entered after giving a quick knock, Daddy snoring loud enough to raise the dead and laying practically on top of Papa, who was just a lump in the covers. She stepped forward, reaching out, and tapped Daddy's shoulder. He didn't respond, so she ended up giving him a light whack before he finally rolled off of Papa to look at her with bleary, half-lidded eyes.
"Huzzaht...? Truce, what is it...?"
"Uh... I started my period..."
--
Phoenix didn't really know how to process anything; it was the middle of the night, his daughter was telling him she'd had her first period, and he was really, really tired. What was he supposed to do about this, anyway? They hadn't prepared at all, hadn't gotten any products or anything, and her sheets probably had blood on them so she couldn't sleep in them and she was probably upset and...
"Uh... Miles..." he groaned, deciding that his husband would probably be better suited for all of this. He gave him a hard shove.
"Phoenix you can't play the piano how many times... huh? Oh... what is it, love...?"
"Truce had her period... yeah. Uh, what do we do?"
"Oh, I... I'm not totally sure." Miles pushed himself up with one arm and looked at their daughter, seemingly deep in thought. "Do we not have any products...?"
"I don't think you've ever bought any," Trucy supplied. Phoenix cursed under his breath.
"What do we do, then?"
"I suppose I'll go buy whatever she needs, then... it's only 2 AM and the corner store will be open." Miles dragged himself out of the bed, and then threw on a shirt and some sweatpants before stumbling out of the room; he snatched his glasses off of the bedside table as an afterthought. He didn't even say goodbye.
"A man on a mission, eh?" Phoenix said with a slight chuckle.
"Uh, Daddy... could you help me get new sheets?"
"Yeah, of course, Truce. Let's get you cleaned up."
--
With Trucy sleeping back in her room with clean new sheets, a large stash of sanitary pads in the cabinet under the bathroom sink, and some pain medication sitting in her room for cramps if she happened to get them, Phoenix and Miles were finally settled back in their bed.
"Goodnight again, love," Miles muttered, setting down his phone on the bedside table. It only took a second, but he could feel Phoenix's arms wrap around him; his husband was good for many things, but he also made a fantastic personal space heater on chilly nights.
"You know, Trucy isn't a little kid anymore, is she?" Phoenix muttered sleepily, just as Miles felt himself about to drift off. There was a certain amount of sadness tinging his words.
"Was she ever really a little kid? She had to grow up so fast, after all."
"Yeah, no, I don't mean like that... I mean like, she's a teenager now, and in four years she'll be headed off to college. It kinda... it just kinda hit me, sorry." And Phoenix sniffled a bit after that, so Miles could tell he was crying. He adjusted himself so that he was looking into his eyes, watching tears trail down his blotchy cheeks, and his throat constricted.
"She's always going to be our daughter, Phoenix, and I'm always going to love you no matter what."
"Heh, you're right... it's pretty early for me to be getting Empty Nest Syndrome when the nest isn't even empty, isn't it? I just... I don't want to lose her, Miles..."
"We never will. We're never going to lose her."
"I just... I know that, but... what if that was what Zak told himself, and now he's off somewhere living his life being sad because he doesn't have his daughter anymore? I told Trucy that I'd always try my hardest to be there for her so that she wouldn't lose another dad, and I know you did too, but what if I can't keep that promise...?"
"Phoenix, look at me." He looked at him. "I know that life is hard, scary, and unpredictable. I know that Trucy is getting older, and we are as well. But I intend to keep that promise; I will stay by my family, and I will fight tooth and nail for it. So you're gonna have to do that, and I know you already are. So let's ignore all the uncertainty, and live in the moment, because right now, nothing bad is going to happen to us--I don't want to hear any talk about a spontaneous gas leak or fire-- and we're going to be just fine. Trucy is safe and we are safe. Trucy is not going to turn 18 and immediately cut all communications with us. We're going to be alright."
"Y-yeah, you're right," Phoenix said in a wet whisper, and then buried his face in Miles's shoulder. It was going to leave a stain on his shirt--but frankly, Miles could care less. He let Phoenix cling onto him and sob about the future, because life was scary and sometimes words couldn't push away the anxiety. They couldn't most of the time, actually.
And when Phoenix's breathing had finally evened out, Miles finally let himself drift off, but only after he'd pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, just to remind himself that he could. That he and Phoenix were together.
They were a strong family. They would be okay.