Chapter 154: Turning Red
Mikaela awoke with a start. A strange feeling of pain and discomfort in her belly and between her legs.
She threw off her covers to find a brown stain forming on her pajama pants.
"What the hell?" she exclaimed, rushing to her en-suite bathroom.
She sat down, and pulled down her pajama pants.
"OK, this looks bad," she muttered, surveying the thick dark fluid that had soaked through her panties and stained her pants.
She wet a paper towel, and wiped herself clean as best she could.
Changing into fresh clothes, she grabbed her soiled items, and opened her bedroom door.
"Mom! I need some help here!" she called out.
The door of the master bedroom opened, and Annette trudged out.
"It’s way too early to be up and about Mikaela," grumbled Annette.
"Yeah, well, I woke up to this," said Mikaela, showing Annette her soiled pajamas.
Annette blinked, and shook her head.
"No. No. No! You’re still ten years old! There is no way you should be getting them this early!" said Annette, panic in her voice.
"G-getting what?" asked Mikaela, now starting to worry.
Annette forced herself to calm down with deep breaths.
"They are called periods, or a menstrual cycle. You usually get them once you hit the teenage years. Every month, you will discharge an egg. Part of becoming a woman," sighed Annette.
"OK, so... This is supposed to happen?" asked Mikaela.
"Yes, but it usually happens later. Come on, we need to get you checked out, just in case," said Annette, pulling on her overcoat and picking up her car keys.
---
"OK, Mikaela, just a small prick," said the doctor, taking a sample of Mikaela’s blood.
"This is normal right? My mom tends to overreact to things," said Mikaela.
"Oh yes, perfectly normal. We just need to check if it is too early, that’s all. Sometimes things like a change in diet or even climate can cause it to come prematurely," said the doctor.
"OK," said Mikaela.
"Now, your mom is already aware of all this, but I’ll tell you anyway. First, you’re going to need to use either tampons or sanitary pads from now on. Don’t worry, you only need to wear them for a few days each month when the cycle hits. The flow stops after two or three days, and you’ll feel back to normal. Next, don’t tell your classmates about this, especially the boys. Most of them don’t know anything, and it only is a complicated mess. Next, you might start having strange thoughts and feelings, that is perfectly normal, but try not to get carried away by them. When in doubt, ask your mom, or any adult woman you trust. And you need to be a little more careful around boys and men. You’re still a kid, but you’re growing up, so it is important to set boundaries and be on your guard OK?" said the doctor.
"OK, but why should I be more careful around boys and not girls?" asked Mikaela.
"Hmm, fair point. While girls can be mean and awkward, boys go through something similar too. They stop thinking of girls as gross, and start thinking of them as pretty, and that is why you need to be careful. That change is what lets women have babies. Not everyone can control those feelings, and you might end up getting hurt," said the doctor.
"So annoying," muttered Mikaela.
"It is, but that annoyance is what brought you into the world in the first place," chuckled the doctor, helping Mikaela down from the examination table.
"Is that it?" asked Mikaela.
"Oh, I almost forgot. You’ll also need training bras," said the doctor, smacking her head theatrically.
She leaned forward conspiratorially.
"One of the perks of this? You get to explore the world of lingerie, and other grown-up women things," she whispered in Mikaela’s ear, causing Mikaela to giggle.
---
"Well doctor?" asked Annette, as Mikaela came out of the examination room.
"I’ll run a few blood tests, but it looks like a normal start of menstruation, there’s nothing to worry about," said the doctor.
"Thank goodness," sighed Annette in relief.
"Now, I recommend sanitary pads instead of cups or tampons. They are far more manageable for Mikaela to carry and use them at school.
She’ll also need a training bra, since her breast development has started. I recommend pure cotton, that doesn’t scratch. I know it is awkward to talk about these things, but I urge you to be open and upfront about the concepts of reproduction and sexual boundaries," said the doctor.
"OK, I’ve got all that," said Annette.
"I also recommend regular check-ups with your gynecologist. Growth spurts and hormones can be tricky, and monitoring them always helps," said the doctor.
"I’ll make appointments," said Annette.
The doctor smiled reassuringly.
"Relax. I know it can be a shock, but this is also a good thing to bond over, so keep that in mind," she said, and showed them out of the clinic.
---
"Here you go, Mikaela. You pull one out of the packaging, and put them along the fork of your panties. You can keep the packaging to wrap it and throw it. Use the trash can, and don’t try to flush them down like toilet paper," said Annette, handing Mikaela a package of sanitary pads.
"OK, I think I can handle it," said Mikaela, pulling out one of the folded pads.
She went into her bedroom, and emerged a few minutes later.
"This feels weird. Like I’m wearing diapers or something," she grumbled.
"Welcome to womanhood," said Annette.
"Is this why you’re so grumpy all the time?" asked Mikaela, walking gingerly, trying to get used to the feeling of having a thick piece of spongy fabric between her legs, while wincing as a cramp went through her.
"I-I’m not grumpy all the time," said Annette, a little defensively.
"Yes you are. You’re always snapping at everyone, especially Daddy," pointed out Mikaela.
"Well, no. That’s different. Yes, periods can make you grumpy, but only for a few days a month," said Annette.
"Where’s the training bra? I might as well get used to that too," said Mikaela.
"Knock yourself out," said Annette, handing her another package.
Mikaela went into her bedroom, and pulled off her hoodie and t-shirt.
"They don’t look any different," she said, examining herself in her mirror.
With a shrug, she put on the training bra.
The bra felt snug, and looked like a plain white rectangular band, quite unlike the bras she had seen in stores.
"Meh, not as big of a deal as I thought it would be," she said, and pulled her clothes back on.
---
"Well?" asked Annette, as Mikaela came out of her bedroom.
"Not too bad. The pad still feels a bit weird, but the training bra is no big deal," said Mikaela.
"It’s still a bit of an adjustment for me. I was so not ready for this," sighed Annette.
"You went through it too, shouldn’t you have known this would happen? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?" asked Mikaela
"I thought I had more time to be able to tell you. I got it only when I was fifteen. Most girls get it when they are twelve or thirteen," sighed Annette.
"Well, it can’t be helped now. I don’t want things to get weird," said Mikaela.
"They won’t. You just need to get used to this happening a few days every month. And I suppose the good news is they will eventually stop once you hit your fifties. So you’re not going to spend the rest of your life like this," said Annette.
"So I can still go practice biking with Captain Hawkins right?" asked Mikaela.
"Yes, you can. Just don’t tell him about it," said Annette.
---
"What brings you here, Ms. Petra? We didn’t have a session scheduled," asked Natsumi.
"Mikaela got her first period. And I’m kind of freaking out," said Annette.
"Why? I mean it is early, but it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Mikaela is a girl after all," asked Natsumi.
"That’s what’s freaking me out Doc. Mikaela is ten years old. The idea of men and boys being around her now freaks me out," said Annette.
"Annette. I get that, but Mikaela can’t stay a sheltered child forever. The best you can do is ensure her environment is safe and the boys and men she interacts with are safe and trustworthy," said Natsumi.
"I’m also worried about what Mikaela might fixate on. Remember how I told you Aaron developed an obsession about women in high heels when he started to hit puberty? What will my sweet baby girl turn into?" asked Annette wringing her hands.
"OK, I want you to listen very carefully. There is no way to predict what will trigger a sexual stimulation or fetish, and such triggers affect men and boys far more than they affect women and girls. At least that’s what the research suggests. Now, if you’re worried that Mikaela will one day show up dressed in black leather and high heels, it will not be because she saw a woman wearing those things, or even if a boy asked her to try them on. That kind of connect-the-dots sexual object fixation does not work on girls. You grew up exposed to advertising and fashion before you developed your ideology and those never worked that well on you did they?" asked Natsumi.
"I suppose not," sighed Annette.
"However, this also means that Mikaela will be trying to find her own self. If you assign political and ideological meaning to everything, and arbitrarily restrict or ban items, it will backfire on you. So let her experiment and form her own opinions. If you force the issue, she will gravitate to those very items out of pure teenage rebellion, and might even build her identity around them," warned Natsumi.
"So I can basically do nothing?" asked Annette.
"Like I told you. You can ensure Mikaela’s environment is safe and healthy," said Natsumi.
"Fine, I’ll try," sighed Annette, getting up to leave.
