The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3164 by Angharad Copyright© 2017 Angharad

---

This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
*****

She pulled up her clean knickers with a sanitary pad attached to the crotch. “God that feels weird,” she said as she redressed. “Did it feel weird the first time you wore one, Mummy?”

At last a question I could answer from experience, if it was a rather different one from hers. “Yes it did, it felt like I was wearing my cycling shorts inside my knickers.” Well it was true, it did feel like that except it the sannie pad didn’t cover my sit bones as well like a chamois in cycling shorts would.

“Weird,” she said and burst out laughing.

“You realise what’s happened?”

“Yeah, I’ve come on, haven’t I?”

“You have, darling.” I opened my arms and she leapt into them.

“This is going to happen all the time now, isn’t it?”

“For about the next forty years unless you’re pregnant.”

“Ugh to both of those, can’t they stop it, Mummy?”

“Why would you want to stop it?”

“Well it’s messy and my tummy has felt strange for days, it started hurting last night when I went to bed, like cramp sort of pain.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I got to sleep eventually and this morning it didn’t hurt—now I know why. Stupid body.” I’m sure if someone told her in a few years time she couldn’t have any more periods for whatever reason, she’d want one, or she’d want a baby which would require ova to be produced and wombs made ready. There was she condemning her young body in front of me, someone who’d give their eye teeth to have a period or better still a baby.

“Have they explained what happens in a period?”

“Yeah, ad nauseum and how I could get pregnant if I do anything silly with a boy. Like I’m going to do that, I’m twelve years old for God’s sake, and I’m not even sure I like boys let alone want to have sex—it hurts doesn’t it—shoving something up there?”

“It can do,” I smiled, but didn’t add, not half as much as a baby coming back down the same passage does.

“Thought so, my dad’s girlfriend used to scream when they had sex, so it must have hurt.”

“Could be,” I said non-committally. If she does ever get beyond her current barriers to intimacies with someone, she might discover other reasons why people sometimes yell during sex but for the moment I left that unsaid. I hoped there would be plenty of time to discuss such things.

Trish came to see where we were—in my en suite bathroom with the door locked. “You in there, Mummy?”

“Yes,why?”

“Just wondered, where’s Livvie?”

“I don’t know, why?” I indicated Livvie should stay quiet.

“Thought we could play chess or something.”

“Okay.”

“You gonna be in there all day?” she continued.

“Don’t be so nosy,” I rebuked her.

“Well you say that to me,” she said back to me in voice that sounded a little strained. Now what do I do?

“Go and find Livvie and I’ll see if I can find some chocolate for you all.”

“Okay, don’t be long.”

“She’s so rude, isn’t she?” said Livvie when we heard the hoof beats recede, this coming from someone who could be blunter than a wooden club.

“She doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“I suppose I’ll have to tell her—about, you know,” she pointed at her groin.

“It would probably be easier.”

“At least we’ll know what to do when she gets one,” she said seemingly forgetting Trish’s path to womanhood as she had mine.

“Indeed,” I said not sure what I was thinking, other than Hannah and Meems will be next then Cate and Lizzie. By that time I should have some experience of dealing with the mood swings and the mess. I gave Livvie my pack of sanitary towels. I’d bought them for after my operation, when the goo from dilation slides down your leg. It also padded it a little and that was good because it was quite tender in the beginning.

I let her out of the bathroom and Trish was sitting on my bed. “You lied to me,” she said, then jumped off the bed and ran out of my bedroom. I went to call after her and Livvie said she’d go and explain what we were doing.

I felt my heart drop. What do you do with children? You don’t want them to tell lies so you explain that honesty matters a great deal and that they shouldn’t lie, then you demonstrate that adults do it all the time and no one says anything. Double standards by anyone’s measure; but what do you do? There are times when telling the truth is more damaging than a wee white lie. Or so it seems at the time.

I went downstairs and saw Trish and Livvie talking, Trish spotted me and quite pointedly turned away from me, snubbing me. I let it go in the hope she’d understand after Livvie brought her up to date. Life was going to be different from now on and it may well be that we need to think about organising some separate bedrooms. My head was spinning. I’d thought about this happening then pushed it to the back of my mind assuming we had a long time to sort it. I was a bit out on my dates—but just a bit—a big bit. Oh bugger.

I was making tea in the kitchen when Hannah came out and asked, “Mummy, why does Trish say she hates you?”

“Does she? I must have done something to upset her. If she were to come and see me I’d try to put it right, but she has to come to me.”

“She said you lied to her.”

“We had a bit of a misunderstanding.”

“Was that over Livvie’s period?”

“I don’t think I wish to continue this conversation.”

“Suit yourself,” she said and went off.

“What was all that about?” asked Stella who had just come in with her two girls.

“Livvie has started her periods.”

“Ah, not the easiest subject for you to deal with.”

“I don’t think it is for anyone,” I said rather sharply.

She looked shamefaced at me and mimed, ‘Sorry’. Then she left to sort out her girls.

I honestly felt like getting my car and driving off into the sunset. Some days it seemed that no matter how hard I tried to keep everyone’s ball in the air, I’d drop several and they would all then round on me for something which wasn’t entirely my fault, but being the customer interface, so to speak, I got it in the neck whatever happened. Mostly I didn’t allow it to get to me, but today I had and I could feel a ton of resentment. I continued making a pot of tea hoping its curative powers would assist in finding resolution with Trish.