One Direction preference

21. You're Daughter Has Her First Period And You're Not Around

HARRY:  Harry hadn’t seen or heard from your daughter all morning, which is unusual since she usually is up and about by 9:00 each morning.  Finally around 11:15, he goes on a search for her.  He calls out her name but gets no response.  Thinking she might be feeling sick and still be sleeping, he pokes his head into her bedroom, but doesn’t see her there.  “If she snuck out of the house last night, she’s grounded until she’s 75…” he mutters to himself as he thinks of where else she could possibly be.  He passes by the bathroom and notices the door is closed.  He taps gently on the door, calling out your daughter’s name softly.  “Go away!” she shouts through the door.  “Are you ok?” Harry asks, worried by her unusual erratic behavior.  “I’m fine!  Where’s mom?”  “She’s not here…  Is there something I can help you with?”  At this, your daughter opens the door and pokes her head out.  Tear streaks stain her face and she sniffles before saying, “Do you know where she keeps her…um…her things?”  Harry looks at her blankly.  “What things?”  “Daaad…” she groans, leaning her forehead against the doorjamb.  “Please don’t make me say it…” she pleas.  “I don’t know what - OH!  Oh my God…those things??  You needthose things??  Already?  Um, ok…  Hang on.”  Harry retreats to your bedroom and pulls out a bunch of your womanly products.  “I, uh,” he clears his throat, “I don’t know what’s what or what you need so I got you one of everything,” he explains, quickly handing over the products to his daughter as though there were some kind of toxic chemical on them.  “Thanks, Dad,” she quips awkwardly before shutting the door again.  Harry lets out a breath and runs his hand through his hair before turning to head for the living room.

LIAM:  “Dad, come quick, I need your help!!” Makenzie shouts from the bathroom.  Liam breaks into a sprint to get to his daughter.  “What is it?  Are you hurt?!” he panics when he reaches the door.  Makenzie cracks the door open just enough to peek through and look at her father.  “There’s blood…” she states simply.  “Blood where?  Did you cut yourself?  Let me in to have a look at you,” he says so quickly, Makenzie is pretty sure he’s stopped breathing.  “No, Dad!!  It’s not that kinda blood.  I don’t know what to do!”  Liam’s face pales.  “Did your mother explain this to you at all?” Liam asks, his voice barely above a whisper.  “Not really…” Makenzie admits.  “Oh, God…” Liam sighs.  “Your mum keeps her things in the cabinet below the sink.  Um, I guess just try them out until one fits?” he offers helplessly.  Makenzie gives him a disturbed look, not liking the sounds of that.  “Can you just bring me a phone so I can call Mom please?” she asks.  Liam nods, turning to get his daughter the phone as he mutters, “Please let her answer…I’m not cut out for this…”

ZAYN:  “Come on, sleepyhead.  You have to get out of bed and get ready for school,” Zayn tells your daughter, poking his head into her bedroom.  “I’m not going today.  I’m staying in bed all day,” she grumbles, pulling the covers tighter around her body.  Zayn chuckles.  “No denying that you’re my daughter,” he muses, ”but I can’t let you do that.  Up, up, up!”  It’s then that she yanks the covers down from around her face and glares at him.  ” I can’t go to school today,” she insists.  “Why not?  Are you sick?” Zayn asks, entering the room to step close enough to place a hand to her forehead.  She swats it away.  “I’m not sick.  Not really.  I just can’t go to school today,” she states firmly.  “I’m not just gonna let you stay home for no reason - your mother will kill me if she finds out.”  “I have a reason, Dad.  Can’t you just leave it at that?”  “No, I can’t.  You know there’s nothing you can’t tell me, so what’s this about?”  Zayn takes a seat on the edge of his daughter’s bed.  She simply points in the direction of the book you had bought several months ago to explain to your daughter about her period.  “Oh God!” Zayn exclaims, jumping up off the bed as though it and your daughter are tainted.  “Uhh…ok.  You can stay home this whole week if you want.  I won’t make you go to school.  Oh my God.  I’m gonna go call your mother.  She’ll know what to do,” Zayn spits out, not knowing what else to do or say.  Your daughter throws her pillow over her head and groans.  “Dad, I know what to do!  Mom already prepped me for all of this!  I just can’t go to school because I have really bad cramps.”  Zayn shudders and makes an inhuman noise before exiting the room, leaving your daughter sighing and rolling over in bed to try to sleep off the discomfort.

LOUIS:  “What’cha got there, baby girl?  Doing some wash?” Louis asks Lea as she passes through with an armful of her bedsheets.  She hadn’t seen Louis sitting in the armchair, and his presence startles her.  “Oh, um, yeah,” she answers quickly before scampering off to throw the sheets in.  Something about her tone piques Louis’ interest.  He rises to follow her into the laundry room.  “Didn’t your mother just wash those the other day and put them on your bed?” Louis questions.  Lea’s face pinkens.  “Dad, please just go,” she begs.  “Did you spill something on them?  Here, let me take a look; you might not have to put them in the wash.  We might be able to just clean the one little area.”  Louis reaches to take the sheets from Lea’s hands, but she tightens her grip, refusing to let him take them.  “Lea…  You won’t be in trouble for whatever it is.  Let me help you,” Louis tries to persuade his daughter.  “No, it’s embarrassing,” she hisses.  Louis just scrunches up his face in confusion.  “God, you are so dense, Dad!” she snaps, finally just opening the sheets enough to show him the stain.  “There are you happy now?!”  Louis just nods in understanding, not knowing what to say at this point.  He clears his throat awkwardly.  “I’m not even gonna scold you for calling me dense because I know that if you are anything like you’re mother then that could have been much, much worse.”  Lea rolls her eyes as she shoves the sheets into the washer, her mood a complete 180 from what it had just been.  Louis runs a hand down his face.  “Congratulations on being a woman!” he finally says, receiving a not-so-appreciative glare from his daughter.

NIALL:  Niall hears your daughter rummaging around in something in your room one afternoon, so he pops his head in to investigate.  “What are you looking for?  You know you aren’t supposed to go into your mum’s things.  “I got my period.  I need a pad.  Do you know if Mom has any?” she asks casually.  Niall hadn’t been expecting her to say this, nor had he been expecting her to be so blunt about something so foreign to him.  “You need a what?  Are you old enough for something like that?”  “Ummm…yeah!  It’s not like you have to be a certain age or anything.  It just kinda happens when it happens.  Now does she have anything or not?”  “I don’t think she uses pads.  But she has some tampons in the drawer there,” Niall tells her.  “I don’t know how to use those!  Can you go to the store and get me some pads?”  “Do I have to?  Your mother only made me buy her these kinds of things once and I got the wrong thing so she’s never sent me back.”  “It’s kinda hard to screw up pads, Dad.  Come on, please?” she begs.  Niall rolls his head back and groans.  “There’s a reason men don’t get this.  I can’t deal with this right now.”  Suddenly struck with an idea, Niall pulls out his phone to call you.  When you finally let the laughter subside, you’re able to tell him what kind of pads to get your daughter.  “Time to put on your big boy pants and accept the fact that your daughter is turning into a woman,” you tease, knowing how much Niall hates the subject of periods.  “Yeah, yeah, just get back from your business trip soon so you can deal with this.  This is the mum’s area.”