A Cord of Three

Cramps

This is just a warning if any guys are reading this, the chapter is about female periods.

This is the end of my life. When Tikki woke the next morning, she noticed three things. First of all, George on her right, with his head pressed into her shoulder. Secondly, Fred on her left, with one leg on hers, his arm draped over her middle and his top half practically falling off the bed. Third, her stomach was aching and moving queerly. That could only mean one thing.

She lay there for a few minutes, dreading what was coming. "Fred, George, let me up," she said at last. They both instinctively wrapped themselves around her to ensure she couldn't get away and she groaned at them. "Guys, seriously. I need to get up. I'll be back in a minute."

They reluctantly released her. As she was leaving the room, she heard Fred remark, "absolutely bonkers, she is, getting up at this hour." By 'this hour' he meant eight o'clock in the morning, and Tikki would have rather stayed in bed, but she had no choice.

She came back a few minutes later and collapsed on top of her cousins with her unhappiest groan. Her stomach felt immediate relief. Then it decided laying down wasn't enough and began scraping at her insides.

"Oi, that's rude," George grunted when she fell on him.

"You're rude," she muttered back, not really caring that it wasn't much of a reply. She squished herself back into the space between them, drawing her knees up to her chin as she lay facing Fred.

"Hey," he said. "You all right?"

"Yeah, you were fine a minute ago," George said, putting his chin on her shoulder.

She didn't look up. "That was before everything started hurting."

Now, most men would have either been confused as to why everything hurt, or they would have jumped away from her like she had leprosy, but not her cousins. They knew exactly what she was talking about in an instant.

"The first of the Four Cs," said Fred, looking at his brother.

"Cramps," said the other, rubbing his head affectionately, but gently against Tikki's shoulder. "I'll get the heat pad."

"I'll start on the tea." Fred slid out of bed, tucking the blankets into Tikki so no part of her was exposed to the chilly morning air. He hustled down to the kitchen while George went to his sister's room, leaving Tikki alone to groan and growl into her pillow.

"Gin, I need your heat pad," George said, tapping on his sister's door as he opened it.

The girl raised her head sleepily, squinting at him. "Why?"

"It's for Tikki. She's on the first of Four."

"Oh. Poor Tikki. Here." She reached under her bed and pulled a square of blue out, it's white wire dangling. She faked throwing it, making sure her brother was ready before she actually tossed it at him.

"Thanks, Gin, you're a gem." George returned to Tikki, plugging in the device, and setting it to medium heat before handing it to her. "There you go, Tikki. I'll leave you alone now, Fred will be up with the tea soon."

Tikki slid the heat pad under her shirt to tuck it against her stomach. "Thanks, George," she whispered, rocking her body to relieve the pain. The hurt started in her lower stomach, but it spread to her limbs, making them ache as her belly throbbed. Sometimes it felt like someone was scraping a rough rock along her insides, other times it felt like her organs were trying to rip each other apart.