Day after day, the prince became more and more smitten with the mermaid's beauty and innocence, and her kindness and passion made her become very dear to him. As dear to his heart as the little princess was. However it was a different kind of fondness. The prince loved the princess, his sister, as a good little child. While his feelings for the mermaid were feelings that he never thought he'd know.
He began to yearn for the maiden of the sea, he yearned to have her as the only woman he could devote himself to. To give himself to her completely. To value her above all others in his life. To give her his whole heart and soul. Yet he was still unsure of his feelings and what they meant. And furthermore he was not certain if he could bring himself to value anyone above the princess sister he had cared for.
But what the prince had yet to understand was that the princess would soon be blossoming into womanhood. It's a very difficult time when a little girl starts to become a young woman. Her body changes, and she starts to care about things like her appearance and what others thought of her. It was a time where a mother would have to be the one to guide her, not an older brother.
...
It was cleaning day for Rosie's cabaret and Charlie and Beth had offered to help. The wiped down tables, swept the floors, dusted the furniture, washed the windows, cleaned the bathrooms, they did so much cleaning that around 1:00, they had run out of soap fluid. Alastor offered to go buy some more, Charlie went with him, Beth stayed behind to have a quick lunch break with Rosie. When she finished her meal, her stomach began to feel odd so she went to the restroom.
"Oh my God!" Beth screamed so loud that she almost caused Rosie to fall out of her chair.
"Beth? Are you okay?" Rosie called.
The little girl came running out of the bathroom with panic written all over her face.
"Alastor!" She screamed. "Alastor! Alastor!"
"Alastor isn't here honey." Rosie explained. "He's still at the store."
"Call the 911!"
"Why? What's the matter?"
"I'm bleeding!"
"Did you cut yourself?"
"No! I just started bleeding! Something's wrong with me! I have to go the hospital!"
But Rosie theorized that what had frightened Beth did warrant medical help.
"Beth how old are you?" Rosie asked calmly.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Just answer the question."
"I turned eleven two months ago."
"And is your stomach hurting a little?"
"No it's hurting real bad."
"Uh-huh, and where are you bleeding?"
Beth didn't answer, she only looked downward with an uncomfortable expression, which was all the confirmation Rosie needed.
"Just as I thought. Come with me upstairs now."
"What? Why?"
"Because what you need isn't a trip to the hospital. What you need is my great Aunt Blanche's, rose water, bubble bath. It'll clean off any stench, keep the chill off your bones, and ease those nasty stomach cramps."
"A bubble bath? How is a bubble bath going to stop me from bleeding to death?"
"You're not bleeding to death. I know exactly what's wrong with you and I'll tell you all about it after your bath."
Beth wasn't sure if Rosie was right but she appeared to know what she was doing, so the girl did exactly as the woman said. In about five minutes, Rosie had the child soaking in a tub of hot water, bubbles, and rose petals.
"Now you just clean yourself up and let the heat take care of that pain." She said. "I'll call Alastor and ask him to bring you a new set of clean clothes."
"Okay but I don't understand how this is going to help." Beth said. "You're acting like there's nothing wrong with me."
"There isn't sweetie. What's happening to you is perfectly natural."
"It is?"
"Beth, do you know where babies come from?"
"Yeah. Alastor had the talk with me. Sort of. He basically said that a baby is made in a woman's belly when a man and a woman press their bodies together. I think there's more to it than that but I didn't say anything to him because he looked like he was about to pass out."
"I suppose that means he also didn't he explain to you how it is possible for a woman to have a baby?"
"Yeah. She has to put her body up against a dude. Or let a guy screw her without protection as Angel puts it."
"Well there's more to it than that Beth. That's just the last step in the woman's case. First she has to go through something called a period."
And so as Rosie was helping Beth clean herself up, she calmly explained to the pre-teen about eggs, and the process ovulation and monthly bleeding.
"That sounds so gross." Beth said when the explanation was finished.
"You say that now." Rosie said drying her hair off. "And don't get me wrong, it can get annoying. But it's actually a very wonderful thing. It means that you might have a baby someday."
"Do all girls have periods?"
"All of them unless they have something wrong with that part of their body. It usually starts once she's around your age."
"If this is so normal then how come Al didn't tell me about it?"
"Well boys don't get periods so they don't think about them or expect them. Some even forget that girls have periods. If your mother was around, she would have been the one to tell you all this."
"Do mermaids like Charlie have periods?"
"Yes. All female mammals have periods. In fact it's when a mermaid gets her period, that her family begins searching for her mate. Of course their not bound to each other right away. It's just a betrothal. And because merfolk have such longer lives, their periods come late."
"How late?"
"Fifteen is the earliest age for them."
"How do you know all this?"
"My grandmother taught me of course. She and my great aunt Blanche taught me everything there was to know about magic and creatures that are considered mythical. Auntie Blanche and Grammy Marissa, what a pair those two were."
Rosie chuckled.
"Those two were so different, you'd never think the two of them were sisters. Grammy Marissa was always so moody and temperamental, like the sea. Auntie Blanche on the other hand was as calm and stiff as ice. They were both neutral in forms of morality but very loving and devoted to family."
"Was your aunt a witch too?"
"Yes. She was a seasonal witch. Her dealings were with seasons, weather, and temperature. She particularly loved were making snow fall in the Winter and making roses grow in the Summer. Oh how I loved to visit her house. She had the best garden."
"You sound so close."
"We were. Her and Grammy Marissa, practically raised me. My parents were awfully young when they had me, my father who was a regular human had to work a job and my mother was more focused on finishing her magic training. Grammy and Auntie adored me at first sight, they even picked out my name. On the day I was born, Grammy said I was as a pretty as a pearl and Auntie said I was as lovely as a rose, so they suggested that I be named Rosa-Pearlie Calhoun."
"Your real name is Rosa-Pearlie?"
"Yes and when I was your age I hated my name so much. I thought it made me sound like an old lady. I decided to go by a different name. I took ros from Rosa and ie from Pearlie, and put them together to make Rosie."
"What did your family think? My parents could have cared less but Grammy and Auntie said that I shouldn't be embarrassed. That my name was one of great beauty. So I consented to let only them call me by my real name."
"To be honest I like your real name better than mine."
"Oh Elisabeth is a lovely name. It means God is my Oath."
"It was my grandmother's name. Alastor said that she died when our mother was young but they were extremely close. She had beautiful emerald green eyes and Al says that Mom said mine were just like hers, even at birth. So that's why I was given that name."
"I remember Daisy Lee telling me about her mother. How much she loved her and missed her. And how she wished that she had gotten a chance to meet her husband and grandchild. She was sure that she would have loved Jameson and Alastor."
When Rosie started brushing out Beth's hair, the girl nervously looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"Rosie?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think that someday I could be pretty like my mom?"
"Of course. You're pretty right now and when you grow up you'll be just as beautiful as she was. In fact, wait right here."
Rosie briefly left to get something from her closet. She came back with something wrapped in a cloth. It was an oriental comb. Made from gold, studded with red coral gemstones and pink pearls.
"Your mother said that this was a family heirloom. Passed down all the way from her great, great, great, great, great, grandmother who was a French princess. The princess wore it in her long raven black hair til it turned grey and she then gave comb to her daughter and it was passed on to each generation since then. When your mother and Alastor left here, she was sure that she would never have another child so she gave me the comb because she saw me as the sister she never had. I always treasured it but now that you're here, I think that it rightfully belongs to you."
She placed the comb into Beth's hand.
"Rosie I couldn't."
"Don't be silly. She would have wanted you to have it. I know she would have."
Beth looked down at the comb in her hand and then hugged Rosie.
"Thank you." She said. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome."