Nick and Charlie One-Shots

life with girls

"Dad!" Heidi's panicked voice echoes down from the second floor. I put down the potato I'd been in the middle of peeling and hurry up the stairs.

"Where are you?" I call, listening for any sound that can direct me to her.

"Bathroom." I stop short outside the door of the upstairs bathroom where my now thirteen year old daughter is behind the door.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I think I need to talk to Aunty Tara. Or Aunty Tori," There's some shuffling around behind the door, "Or maybe Nan."

"Is everything okay?" I have an idea of what's happening, with the fact that she's asking to talk to one of her female relatives. But I also want her to know that she can talk to me or Charlie about anything.

"Dad, please. I need a grown up lady."

I sigh softly, "Okay. I'll call Nan and see if she can come over. But in the meantime, can I get anything for you?"

"No, I'm okay."

"Alright."

I make my way back down the stairs, running into Charlie on the way. He'd been in his office until now but must have overheard some of the conversation.

"What's up?" He asks. I'm about to answer when I spot Arlo hovering by the living room door. I tilt my head towards Charlie's office. We go inside and close the door behind us.

"I think Heidi might have started her period." I say quietly, well aware that this house had stupidly thin walls and I'm sure Heidi doesn't want her nine year old brother to know this information yet.

"Oh. Oh!" Charlie's eyes go wide, "What do we do?"

"She wants to talk to a woman, Tori or Tara or mum. I've told her I'll call mum."

"She can talk to us."

"I know, babe. And she will. But I'd imagine this is a pretty confusing thing for her. And it's not like either of us have personal experience with this stuff to help her."

"I guess. Here, call your mum now so that we can ask if there's anything we should be doing."

I nod and take his phone from his outstretched hand and find my mum's number. She answers after a few rings.

"Hello Charlie. What can I do for my favourite son-in-law?"

"Mum, it's me. Well, both of us."

"Oh, hi Nicky. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, um, we kind of need your help with Heidi."

"Is she alright?" I'm pretty sure my mum might just love her grandchildren more than she loves me, if her sudden concern is any indication.

"We think she might have started her period. She's locked herself in the bathroom and is asking for you."

Mum starts to laugh, "I thought I might get this panicked call from you boys soon."

"Mum, it's not funny!" I can see the funny side of it, but right now I'm thinking about my daughter, still locked upstairs.

"Alright, I'll come and talk to her. Give me about half an hour; I'll make a stop for some supplies on my way."

"Thank you, Sarah. Is there anything we can do while we wait for you?" Charlie asks, and I can see the relief on his face.

"Tell her I'm on my way and suggest she has a nice warm shower while she waits. I'll be there soon."

We say goodbye and hang up the phone. Charlie looks up at me with a small smile.

"Your mum is amazing. I have no idea what we'd do without her."

"Mm. With Arlo and Luca, it will be easier. They're boys and we've gone through whatever they will. But Heidi..."

"I know. But that's where she's lucky that we've got so many strong women in her life."

"Luckiest girl in the world," I say, pulling Charlie into my arms for a quick hug, "I'm going to go and tell her that mum's coming."

"Okay."

I leave him in his office and make my way back upstairs to the bathroom. Knocking softly, I hear a sniffle and some rustling before Heidi answers.

"Yeah?"

"Sweetheart, Nan is coming. She says she'll be here on half an hour. Why don't you have a nice warm shower while you wait?"

"Okay. Thanks, dad."

"Heidi?" I pause to wait for an answer but hear nothing, "Darling, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, dad. I'm just going to have a shower." I sigh and head back downstairs to find my sons lounging in the living room. Charlie has joined them and is sitting in the armchair with Luca, our 6-year-old on his lap. He catches my eye and I just nod slightly. 

**

Just over an hour later, my mum comes down the stairs after talking to Heidi. Charlie has set Arlo and Luca up with a movie in the living room so that the three of us adults can talk in the kitchen.

"Here you go, mum. Char." I hand them their cups of tea and then lean against the island counter.

"Thanks, Nick." Mum sips at her tea before speaking again, "You were right. And Heidi is just like any other girl at this stage of her life. It's a scary and embarrassing time for any young girl."

"Okay, so what do we do?" Charlie asks. I know that it's important to him that we are in tune with our kids thoughts and feelings.

"Now that I've talked to her, I'll make up a little list of things she might need each month that will need to be added to the shopping list. Just general things." Mum says, "As she gets older and gets used to it all, she will learn what she likes to use and can let you know."

"Does she know that she can talk to us about this?"

"She does. I made sure to tell her that you both are happy to listen to anything. But it might take some time before she feels comfortable talking to you. I also told her that I am here to answer questions whenever she needs, as well as all the other women in her life."

We keep talking between us for about twenty minutes or so until Heid appears in the doorway. She looks a little shy and sheepish but I smile and hold my arm out to her. She moves closer and cuddles into my side.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" I ask.

"Better now. Nan really helped."

"I'm glad I could help, honey. I've just been chatting to your dads, about the things we talked about."

"Thanks, Nan." Heidi gives her a small smile. "And I'm sorry dad, papa. I just got scared. I know I can talk to you about anything. It's just, I wasn't sure what to say."

"That's okay, sweetheart. If you ever need to talk to someone other than us, that's okay. We know that we can't understand everything you're going through. But I'm proud of you for reaching out to someone when you needed to." Charlie tells her, reaching over to touch her arm.

Heidi just ducks her head against my shoulder. I give her a gentle squeeze.

"Why don't you go and join the boys in the living room? We'll have dinner soon."

"Okay. Is Nan staying for dinner?" Heidi asks. I give my mum a questioning look.

"If you're cooking, Nick, of course I'll stay." She smiles.

"I don't know if that's a compliment for Nick or an insult to me." Charlie teases. Mum just laughs as Heidi disappears to hang out with her brothers. "My baby's growing up." Charlie pouts.

"That feeling never gets easier." Mum tells him, sending a look my way as I go back to preparing the dinner that had been abandoned when Heidi called for me.