The Meaning of Family | BTS

Chapter 11

warnings for this chapter: mentions of a learning disability

"Okay," Namjoon clapped his hands as he sat across from his two oldest. "Who's ready for a little talk?"

"Why are we here, dad?" Yoongi, the now 11-year-old, asked. A few years had passed, and Yoongi was now about to start his second year at middle school. Hoseok was now 10 and entering middle school for the first time. Jimin and Taehyung were eight and about to begin the third grade, while Jungkook was six and entering first grade.

"Remember a few years ago when we all had a family meeting and we told you how babies are made?" The two boys nodded. "And we told you that this would be a three-part discussion?" They nodded again. "Welcome to part two!"

"Why are we the only two here then?" Hoseok asked, fingers drumming on his knee. "And where's Dad?"

"Dad is with Taehyung at an appointment." Taehyung's stutter, although not as prominent, was still around enough that his second-grade teacher had expressed concern on the boy's final report card, so Jin had finally managed to schedule an appointment with a speech pathologist to see what they could do to help Taehyung. "And the other boys aren't in middle school yet, so we feel that we can wait a little longer before having this talk with them. On the other hand, you two may be witnessing what we talk about very soon, especially you, Yoongi, with Sophia being your best friend." Seeing that the two's attention had been successfully grasped, he began with the talk. "I am going to explain to you what a period is."

"Won't I learn about this next year in health?" Yoongi asked.

"No." Namjoon answered. "You won't, which is why I am teaching you." Namjoon mentally cursed the school system before continuing. "So, remember how we told you in the last talk that girls produce eggs which are a part of what makes a baby?" The boys nodded. "Good. Well, those eggs are released on a monthly basis, typically one at a time, but you get the occasional month where two or more are released, which results in multiples, but that's not the point right now. So, for about 28-30 days, depending on the girl, her uterus, the place where the baby stays, will build up layers of blood and tissue in preparation for if she were to become pregnant. About 14 days into this is when an egg is released, and then it takes another 14 days on average for the egg to reach the uterus. If the egg has not been fertilized by a sperm, then those layers will be ripped from the lining of the uterus and will be expelled through her body in the form of a period." Hoseok and Yoongi's eyes widened in fear at Namjoon's description.

"That sounds horrible!" Hoseok exclaimed. "And like it hurts!"

"It does hurt, a lot." Namjoon agreed. "Periods are considered an extremely mild form of labor, the contractions of the uterus to expel the blood and tissue mimic those of labor, so a girl will be in quite a bit of pain during it. They may also be fairly emotional leading up to and during her period. But that does not mean that any time a girl gets upset, she's on her period." Namjoon turned to look at Yoongi. "I brought up Sophia because this may be happening to her very soon. Just buy her lots of chocolate whenever it does. Be a good friend." Namjoon pulled his phone out to show them the pictures he had saved of pads and tampons to explain to them the functions of the products but was interrupted by the front door opening. "We will finish this discussion later."

"Dad, dad!" Taehyung ran to Namjoon as the older two boys went to their room, giving him a big smile. "I'm intelligent!"

"You are very intelligent, Taehyung!" Namjoon gave him a hug while shooting Jin a look asking what he's talking about.

"I'm gonna go tell Minnie!" Taehyung ran off as Jin leaned down to give him a kiss.

"How'd the talk go?"