It was early in the morning, Ray was fast asleep on the pillow next to Mikey, Mikey was sat upright reading a Stephen King novel, while waiting for his eldest daughter to say goodbye for school. Grace had her routine of getting changed and packing her school bag, getting breakfast for herself and her parents and then kissing them and saying goodbye before leaving for school.
Today was different, something was wrong. Mikey swore he had some sort of sixth sense that could tell when something was wrong with one of his daughters. He had a strange gut feeling that one time Rowan had a fever that seemed to get worse, turns out something was really wrong, it wasn't just the flu like Ray said it was. He was right that time he had a feeling Grace was being picked on at school, and he was right that time Grace was mad at Ray for playing his guitar all night while she was napping. Mikey knew something was wrong this morning, especially when she didn't come to say good morning.
He climbed out of his bed and quietly crept to her bedroom. It was almost 7:30, and her bus left at 7:45, she was going to be late. She was lying under her covers, curled in a ball holding onto her lower torso.
"Grace? Hun, you're gonna be late for school.." Mikey whispered as he gently placed a hand on her arm.
"I don't feel good mom.."
"Whats wrong? Are you sick? Sit up."
She sat upright in her bed, her eyes droopy and her curly hair all messed up. Mikey placed the back of his hand against her forehead, but found that she had no fever.
"Are you pretending to get out of school? Hun, you have to go. Do you think you need a bit of a brain break from-"
"No mom, i'm not lying...My stomach hurts really bad.."
"Its okay to tell me you need a mental break from school, y'know? You really don't feel good?"
"No."
"Do you think i should call the doctor?"
She shrugged. Mikey sighed a little, gently lifting her up and letting her rest her head on him. He hated seeing his daughters sick. Grace was old enough to take care of herself when she got sick, but Mikey was her mom, and he was so protective of her. He made her soup and he got her all comfy, and he didn't care if he got sick the next day. As long has his little girls were okay, he didn't care.
"I need to use the bathroom." Grace mumbled.
"You need me to help you out of bed?"
"I'm eleven, mom. I'm okay."
Mikey sat down on her bed while she went to the bathroom. God, her room was a mess. Maybe he could clean up a little. There was a lot of dirty laundry on the floor, and her comics were all over the room. It was nice to see she had been reading her uncles comics, The Umbrella Academy was her favourite comic by her uncle Gee. She remembered when she used to sit with her uncle while he worked on his comics, they would spend hours together talking about their favourites.
Her uncle was pregnant at that time, anyway, so Mikey, Ray and Grace were over quite often. Gerard liked teaching Grace how to draw, he loved his little niece.
"Mom! Dad!" Grace yelled from the bathroom. She was crying, Mikey immediately shot up and rushed to the bathroom door.
"Honey, what happened?"
"I-I'm bleeding!"
"Unlock the door. Its okay."
"I cant! I-I don't wanna stand up!"
"I cant come in if you don't unlock it."
He heard Graces socks shuffling against the bathroom floor, and the lock on the door turning. He instantly opened the door and saw his daughter on the toilet with her pants and underwear around her ankles.
"Oh. Thats...Blood." He stuttered.
"What's happening mommy..?"
"I think you got your period." Mikeys eyes were filled with tears. His baby girl wasn't a baby anymore...
"I'm scared mom!"
"Okay honey, we're gonna get you in the bath and your dad's gonna go to the store and pick up some stuff for you. Pads and tampons and stuff like that, okay?"
Grace whimpered and nodded. Mikey sighed as he helped her undress, while the bathtub filled with warm water. She stepped in when it was halfway full, and while Mikey went to tell Ray what happened. He immediately set off for the store to get some candy and some pads.
"What about school?" Grace asked. She didn't want to go to school anyway, especially not like this.
"We're gonna have a good day, all four of us. Me, you, papa and Row, we'll have a Disney day. My poor baby.."
Grace whined and held onto her lower torso, crying a little. Mikey felt absolutely useless, unable to help his poor girl. If he could, he would've taken his daughters pain away and given it to himself if it meant his girls would be okay.
"I'm not a baby, mom."
"I know, and thats why i'm so sad! My baby girl is growing up!"
"Don't be silly, i'm still your baby girl. And you have Rowan too!"
"I know, mama's just being silly. Just clean up and i'll come back when your dad gets your stuff."
-
Grace walked out of the bathroom after her bath, the most uncomfortable she had ever felt. She felt droopy and tired, she knew that with periods, she would have sudden mood changes and she had already yelled at Ray once. She apologised quickly though, she had never been one for yelling at her parents and holding grudges.
She changed into her warm skeleton onesie and climbed into her parents bed, snuggling next to her dad. He wrapped one arm around her, giving her a small kiss against her curly locks.
"Wheres mom?" She asked.
"Hes just changing Rowan. How're you feeling?"
"My stomach hurts still.."
"I got some painkillers in that bag of candy, just take one with some apple juice."
Grace did as Ray said. They could hear the faint whines of the baby girl, and Mikey gently shushing her. Ray loved how great Mikey was with their daughters, he loved the sight of him holding a baby, and he loved when Grace held Rowan.
Mikey walked back in with Rowan in his arms, joining his daughter and his husband in the king sized bed. Rowan let out a soft giggle, reaching her small, chubby hands for her big sister.
"C'mere Rowan!" Grace smiled, gently taking her from Mikeys arms. Rowan loved her older sister, since she liked taking her out on walks in her stroller.
"So, first movie?" Ray asked Grace. Grace loved Disney movies, the four (well, three, before Rowan was born) of them go to Disneyland on vacation every year.
"Moana, definitely." Mikey spoke. Moana was one of his favourites. He remembered when he went to Disneyland last time, and Ray made him take a photo with Grace and someone dressed as Moana.
"No mommy! Its gotta be Mulan!" Grace giggled.
"Alright, lets settle this and watch Princess and The Frog, then Mulan, and then Moana, deal?" Ray said to the two of them, gently running his hand through Graces curls.
"Deal. I love you mom and dad."
The two parents leaned down and kissed the top of her head, Ray smiled and said, "We love you too honey."
