36. Chapter Thirty-six

Chapter Thirty-six

Clara

Thomas strolled into my office, his hands tucked in his pockets. I looked up from the budget I'd been reading over and raised a brow. The day was almost over, and I knew Thomas wanted to get out of here as much as I did, so I was surprised at the interruption.

Not surprised he waltzed right in, though.

"You don't knock?"

He snorted. "When have I ever?"

"It's never too late to start."

"I'll take it under consideration." He perched on one of my chairs. "So, there's a small child on the phone for you. She says you're friends, which I find odd since I wasn't aware you were making friends with children."

I opened my mouth only to close it. If I were anyone else, Thomas would have been fired ages ago, but I'd always considered his irreverence a breath of fresh air in this buttoned-up corporate environment. Right about now, I was questioning my decisions.

"Did she tell you her name?"

He tapped his temple. "It was Mage. No, that's a mystical occupation. Paige? No—wait, Sage! Her name is Sage. She sounds sassy."

I groaned and reached for my phone. "That's Jake's daughter, you jackass."

"Oh, right. She did mention that."

I tossed a pen in his direction. "Go back to work."

He stood and saluted me. "Aye, aye, captain."

As soon as he left, I pressed the speaker button on my phone. "Sage?"

She sniffled. "Hi, Clara. I'm sorry for calling you at work. I don't have your cell phone number or I would have texted. I'm really sorry."

Her voice was wobbly and wet. Alarm bells sounded in my head.

"You don't have to apologize for calling me, honey. And I'll make sure to give you my cell number when I see you so you can get in touch with me whenever you need to."

"Thank you." She huffed a ragged breath. "Um, I would have called my mom, but she's on a trip for work. I thought I was just having a bad stomachache, but then I went to the bathroom…and it's not that. There's blood, so I guess…I guess I'm having my period."

I held my gasp in, but just barely. This was not what I'd been expecting to hear. Sage and I had certainly become friendly over the last couple weeks of getting to know one another, but this was a big leap.

"Are you at home?" I asked.

"Yes. My dad will be home soon, but I don't want him to know. It's just gross, and my stomach hurts really bad. I wish my mom was here. She'd know what to do. My friend said I should stick in a tampon, but I don't have any idea how to do that. Do you think you could help me, Clara?" Her question was so small and unsure, it nearly broke my heart.

"Of course I can, but your dad can help too. I promise he won't be grossed out."

"Okay." Her sob was muffled, but there was no mistaking it. "I'm sorry. I guess I should just wait for him."

"No, Sage, honey, I'm coming. I have to grab Nellie from day care and stop to get you some supplies. Can you hang on for an hour?"

"Yes," she said quickly. "I can hang on."

"Good girl. When we hang up, call your mom and tell her I'm going to come help you, okay? I'm sure she'll want to know what's going on, and even though she can't be with you, it'll make you feel better to talk to her, I promise."

"I'll call her."

"I'll be there soon, Sagie. We'll get you all fixed up."

Once we hung up, I sat there for a solid minute, frozen in fear. Not that I was afraid of periods or helping Sage. My fear was I'd screw this up for her—a momentous moment in a girl's life. She'd look back and always remember her dad's incompetent girlfriend who'd made it weird.

I quickly snapped out of it by making a list of what I needed to do. First, text Jake, then grab all the work I needed to complete tonight and pick Nellie up from day care. I lined up everything one by one, so I knew exactly what I was going to do.

My calm and confidence were in the details.

Centered now, a game plan laid out in my mind, I was on my way to Sage.

Jake opened the door for me, worry creasing his brow. "Hey, sweetness." He took my hand and pulled me into his arms. Since Nellie was on my hip, she was part of our embrace, which made her giggle.

"Hi, Jake," she squealed.

Plucking her out of my hold, he balanced her on his arm. "Hi, Nell-Belle." He smoothed a hand over her messy hair. She was always a wreck when I picked her up from day care. "You look like you had a wild day. Want me to braid your hair?"

"Two braids, please," she asked sweetly.

"Of course."

His eyes met mine, and they were full of concern. I'd texted him to tell him what was going on, so he'd hurried home from work, but Sage hadn't wanted anything to do with him. Surely, it had stung, but I understood her. When I'd gotten my period around her age, I'd been mortified my mother had told my dad and brother.

"Where's our girl?" I asked.

He blinked a few times. "Uh—she's in her bathroom. She refused to come out and asked me to leave her alone until you got here."

I held up my bag of supplies. "Don't worry about a single thing. I've got her covered. Are you okay to hang out with Nellie while I take care of Sage?"

"Yeah. Of course." He palmed Nellie's head. "I've got my work cut out for me with this munchkin. We'll keep busy."

I leaned in and kissed him. "Don't worry," I said softly, "I'm well seasoned at this. I'll get her through it."

He held my gaze for a long beat. "I would never doubt you."

After showing Sage how to use a pad, I got her to shower and change into fresh clothes, then settled her in bed and placed a heating pad on her abdomen. Reaching into my bag of supplies, I pulled out a chocolate bar and a bottle of ginger ale.

"This is my magic concoction. Chocolate doesn't fix everything, but it certainly helps."

She took the treats, but her shoulders remained slumped, and her mouth was turned down in a pitiful frown.

"Thank you." She blinked up at me. "Do you think you could sit with me for a few minutes? I don't really want to be by myself."

"I'd love to." I took a seat on her full-size bed, propping up against the headboard. She curled onto her side to face me, and I helped her adjust the heating pad. "Do you feel better now?" I asked.

"I think so." She bit down on her bottom lip. "I feel kind of stupid too. All my friends have their periods already. I've been wanting mine to come for a long time, but now that it's here…I don't know, I guess I'm a little sad. Why do you think I'm sad, Clara?"

"There could be a lot of reasons."

I slowly reached out, wanting to stroke her hair but unsure she'd accept it. When she didn't move away, I smoothed my palm over the top of her head and ran my fingers through the ends.

"It could be something as simple as your hormones making you emotional. To be honest, that's probably a big part of it." I scooted down a little, bringing myself closer to her level. "I was around your age when I got my first period. It happened at school, and I bled through my pants. Luckily, someone told me before everyone saw, but guess who that person was?"

Her mouth twisted. "I hope it was a teacher with a quiet voice."

I shook my head, my eyes going wide. "It wasn't. It was the boy I'd been crushing on since the start of middle school—Brian Kegan. ‘You've got blood on your butt' were the first words he'd ever spoken to me."

Rolling her face into her pillow, she groaned mournfully. "Nooo. Did you drop out of school?"

"Unfortunately, my parents wouldn't let me. They wanted to celebrate my ‘becoming a woman,' as they'd put it, by taking me out to dinner. My mom made me a chocolate cake with congratulations written on the top, and I was totally devastated by all of it. I cried and yelled that I wasn't a woman and didn't want to be. That I was still a kid, and they couldn't make me accept being a grown-up. Thank goodness I have a really patient, understanding mother."

"She didn't get mad when you yelled?" Sage asked.

"Not at all." I lifted her hair, rubbing my thumb over the silky strands. "She held me in her lap—something she hadn't done in ages since she's a tiny woman and I'd already been taller than her by then—and told me I would always be her little girl."

She gave me a dubious look. "Do you think that's true?"

"Yeah. My mom would totally hold me in her lap now if I'd let her." I scooted down even farther to lie beside her. "A few years ago, I went through something really sad. My mother tucked me into bed with her, fed me chocolate, and promised me everything would be okay."

"I'm glad you have a mom like that," she whispered.

"Me too." I brushed her hair off her forehead. "Getting your period is part of your body growing up and a step toward you becoming a woman, but that doesn't mean your girlhood is over. It doesn't mean you aren't your dad's girl anymore or your mom's baby. You are, and I think you always will be."

She nodded. "My dad seemed really worried about me."

"He definitely was."

Her nose wrinkled. "I just felt so gross. I didn't want him to be grossed out."

I poked her shoulder. "He changed your diaper, honey. Believe me, there's nothing that can gross him out now."

"Oh no," she moaned. "I didn't even think about that. How can my dad even look at me? I've seen Dex's diapers, and they're—" She gagged as dramatically as a girl with tears in her eyes could.

"That's how much he loves you."

Her shudder shook the mattress. "It has to be a whole lot to get past that."

I chuckled, but what I wanted to do was give this girl a big hug. She really was something special. But then, she had Jake and Carly as her parents, so that made sense.

"When you're feeling up to it, I know your dad would love to see you with his own eyes. Nellie too, for that matter."

Her eyes brightened, and she wiped away the few tears that had escaped. "Nellie's here? Really?"

"She's my sidekick. I don't go many places without her. Your dad's tackling her tangled rat's nest while you and I hang out."

She gave me a wobbly smile. "I was thinking, at least I didn't bleed in front of the boy I like."

I snorted a laugh. "Girlie, that happened more than twenty years ago and I still think about it. For your sake, I'm relieved too. No one needs that kind of trauma."

"Did you ever talk to him again?"

I solemnly shook my head. "Not in middle school. The little twerp had spread it around to everyone."

Sage gasped. "Oh no. That's the worst."

"It sucked, but guess what? When we grew up and I started working for Rossi Motors, I happened to see him there for a job interview and looked at his résumé. He wasn't at all qualified for the job he wanted, so I took the opportunity to tell him Rossi doesn't hire dipshits."

Her mouth fell open. "No. That's epic."

I laughed. "Okay, not really. But I did tell him we weren't interested in hiring him, and that made up for all the mortification I went through because of him."

She stared at me, her eyes alight. I could practically read the millions of thoughts bouncing around her mind. Perhaps it hadn't been the best story to tell her, but it was one of my favorites.

Her brows waggled with mischief. "You got your revenge."

"I did. You don't judge me for being petty and holding a grudge?"

"No way. That guy had it coming. He didn't have to spill the tea way back then, and he had some nerve applying for a job he didn't deserve. Sounds like he was an all-around tool."

I tapped her nose, pleased at her read on the situation. It had been ages since I'd had a conversation with anyone Sage's age, but I found her exceptionally easy to talk to.

"You're absolutely right, honey."

Sometime during our conversation, she'd rid herself of the last vestiges of sadness. Her eyes, which were so like her father's it would have been eerie had they not been so gorgeous, were clear, and her mouth was tipped up at the corners. I matched her expression, returning her smile.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said.

I cupped her smooth cheek and let her see the emotion stirring in my gaze. "You know, I was just thinking the same thing."