Page 107

I shake my head. “I don’t care what she says. If she makes the team, I’ll be at every game.”
Allie squeezes my arm. “I will be too. Do you know when they’ll post the results?”
“Not for a few days. I hope she’s okay and doesn’t get depressed like she was last week. Do you think that was soccer related, or school related? I could barely get her to respond to my texts let alone talk to me on the phone.”
She draws in a long breath and lets it slip out between her lips. “I’m going to break the girl code here because as her dad you should know.”
I’m not sure I like the sound of that. “Ah, shit. Is she dating? Is there a boy I need to be worried about?” I brace myself for unwanted news. “Is it Christian?”
“Nothing like that. Bug had her very first period last week when you were gone.”
My eyes snap to hers. “What do you mean her very first period?”
“I mean, she’d never had one before.” Her eyes narrow. “How do you not know this being as involved in her life as you’ve been? Don’t you think she’d be asking you to buy products if she’d been having her period?”
I scrub a hand across my jaw. “I guess I just assumed she was using her allowance to get that stuff. And Marti said she took care of ‘the talk’ a long time ago.”
“Yeah, about five years ago. I’m sure at that age it went in one ear and out the other.”
My eyebrows meet in the middle. “Shouldn’t this have happened long before now?”
“It did for me, but I looked it up, it’s perfectly normal. But she wasn’t prepared and was pretty embarrassed.”
“She shouldn’t be.”
“It’s not unusual. She’ll get used to it soon enough. But don’t be surprised if she asks to go on birth control.”
My jaw drops so low it almost hits my belt. “I know you didn’t just suggest putting my thirteen-year-old on the pill. Jesus, Al.”
“To control her period.” Her eyes roll. “Being on the pill makes it more predictable, which is super important for teenagers who are planning trips to the pool and sleepovers.”
“But… it’s like giving her permission to…” I can’t even say the words.
“Calm down.” She touches my shoulder. “This is something every parent of girls needs to deal with sooner or later. I’m not saying do it now. I’m just saying it’s probably going to come up and I wanted you to be prepared.”
I sink against the wall of the concession stand. “I’m not sure if I should be happy she wasn’t reconsidering her choice to attend school, or sad that my little girl is growing up.”
Allie chuckles. “I think you’re allowed both.” She runs a hand across her belly. “And oh joy, we get to do it all over again when this little girl hits puberty.”
Christian’s cheers hit my ears again and I look out once more. But when my eyes land on Darla dribbling the ball across the field, it’s like I’m seeing her in a whole new light. I’m not sure why, because I assumed she’d been having her period for some time now. But my daughter, my little Bug, has somehow just grown up right before my eyes.
“We should go.” I tug on Allie’s hand. “It looks like they’re wrapping up and we don’t want to get caught.”
Back at the car, I sit in the driver’s seat, still feeling as if my head is spinning, when something occurs to me. I look over at Allie. “How did you know? Wait… did she tell you?”
Before I can get too excited about Darla sharing that monumental moment with Allie, she says, “I was there when it happened. There was a little blood. I gave her some supplies and washed her clothes. I’m not sure I’d have known otherwise.”
Those last few words have her looking sad. It kills me that we’ve been living together as a family for months now but Bug isn’t treating her much differently. It’s true, she isn’t getting in the digs she used to… at least I don’t think so. But who knows what goes on between them when I’m not around.
I put a hand on her thigh. “I’d hoped that my time away would somehow bring the two of you closer together.”
She shrugs. “We’re making a little progress. Baby steps are better than no steps at all.”
She reaches into her purse and pulls out a granola bar, munching on it on the way home. I smile when she hiccups a few times after. She’s so darn cute when she hiccups. By the time we’re pulling into the garage, she’s laughing.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Baby girl has the hiccups.”