What I did do was follow Mike after he muttered, “I’m goin’ upstairs to change.”

Layla was at his heels, I was not far behind.

I hit the bedroom to see Mike throwing his blazer on the bed and he had his phone in his hand. His attention was to it and my attention was on my clothes all over the floor. I made a mental note to pick them up (eventually), when I heard him beeping buttons on his phone.

I closed him, Layla and me in by shutting the double doors as Mike turned to me and put the phone to his ear.

One look in his eyes and I knew he was not happy as in, at all.

“Audrey? Yeah, Mike,” he said into his phone. “I’m callin’ about No’s birthday.”

Oh boy, he was growling.

Mike went on growling, “No’s explained you’ve expressed the desire to go with us. It hasn’t escaped my notice that you’ve been makin’ an effort lately with the kids. No’s been tellin’ me their weekends with you are goin’ better and I appreciate your interest in Rees’s situation, emailin’ me schools you’ve looked into. You probably got it from the kids but should hear it from me that Dusty moved in on Friday. You understand I’ve moved on, you’ve said so yourself. Both the kids are tight with Dusty, we’re buildin’ somethin’ here, it’s good and Dusty and I are committed to keepin’ it good and makin’ it better. If you wanted us to have a different kind of separation and divorce, you could have made that decision any time in the last four years. You didn’t. Now it’s too late. You won’t be goin’ to dinner with us for No’s birthday.”

Mike paused, she might have said something but whatever it was didn’t take very long or Mike cut her off because he kept talking.

“If you’re learnin’ about yourself and tryin’ to be a better Mom, I suggest you take No and Reesee and do somethin’ special with them another time. I’ll also take this opportunity to make it clear that whatever you’re attemptin’ to do, it does not involve me or my time or the life I share with our children. As I’m sure you haven’t forgotten, I’ve extended that opportunity to you more than once the last four years and you refused to take advantage of it. I would have preferred that we get along and offer some family cohesiveness to our kids but you repeatedly declined. That offer is no longer open to you. So what I’m sayin’ to you is, I got home and Rees and No were fightin’ and upset because of this shit. And what I’m tellin’ you is, whatever you’re doin’, you need to think about the way it’ll affect our kids because they’re good kids. They care about all the players in this situation and they don’t want anyone hurt. To get wherever you wanna be in your life and with them, don’t make them anxious, upset, force them to play games or to make difficult decisions where someone will have to eat shit. Because in that kind of scenario, the people eatin’ shit will be our kids. And I’ll not have that. Are we clear?”

I thought it was cool he was growly, clearly pissed and firm but still not ugly as I watched him pause.

Then he said, “Good. Take care of yourself.”

Then he hit a button on his phone, twisted his torso and tossed it on the bed.

“You okay?” I asked.

He stared at me.

Then he said, “I will be, you get your ass over here and kiss me.”

I grinned. Then I got my ass over there and kissed him.”

It didn’t last long but that didn’t mean it wasn’t good before he broke it off, set me gently away, bent to put his long fingered hands to Layla’s head and give her a belated greeting rubdown. She clearly bore no grudge that it took her Dad a while to do this and I knew it when her body started vibrating with the force of her tail wags.

Mike stopped giving attention to his dog and wandered to the closet. Mike wore jeans to work but he put nice belts, killer buttoned shirts and attractive blazers with them so he still looked authoritative and professional but he was comfortable. When he came home, the blazer and belt were gone and the shirt was changed to a t-shirt or sweater depending on his mood.

I’d know his mood that night when he muttered, “Grab me a tee, will you, Angel?”

I went to the dresser to grab him a tee then went to the door of the closet to see him shrugging off his shirt and throwing it into the hamper.

I approached with the tee as he turned to me.

“Doesn’t have a top or anything,” he stated bizarrely. My head cocked to the side as I handed him his tee trying to ignore his chest, the hotness of which I still hadn’t gotten used to.

He scrunched up his tee in preparation for tugging it on when he explained, “The hamper. It’s open. You don’t have to lift a top off or anything. Just throw your clothes right in.”

I got it then, grinned and murmured, “Smartass.”

He grinned back. Then he pulled the tee over his head and down his torso hiding his chest which, obviously, was a disappointment.

Then we heard Rees shout, “We’re havin’ hamburgers!”

Mike’s eyes moved over my shoulder and he muttered, “Fuck, she’s in a mood.” Then he started walking my way.

“A mood?” I asked, turning and moving out of the closet, Mike following me.

“Yeah.” He was still muttering. “A once a month mood.”

“Uh-oh,” I mumbled.

“Yep,” Mike agreed.

We moved out of the hall, down the stairs, Layla trailing while we listened to the fight raging on.

“We had hamburgers, like, two days ago,” No returned loudly.

“We did not!” Rees shot back hotly.

“Okay, then, last week. Still, that wasn’t too long ago and I don’t want hamburgers,” No countered.

“Well I do and so does Fin,” Rees retorted.

“The world doesn’t revolve around Fin for anyone but you, Rees,” No unwisely stated.

I bit my lip as I hit the hall and entered the kitchen. The combatants were now in a faceoff by the kitchen counter. Fin was sitting at the table, his books already out. His eyes came to me and he shook his head.

Mike entered behind me.

Before either of us could get a word in, Rees continued.

“That was a jacked thing to say! Five people have to eat and two of those five people want hamburgers!” she screeched the last word, leaning in toward her brother. I knew this was a monthly mood considering the force of her declaration and the fact it was not about a woman’s right to chose but about hamburgers.

Then I would know No knew it too by what he said next.

“God! Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass when you’re on the rag?” he very unwisely asked and everyone in the room went still.

Then, her face aflame and showing clearly she was very near tears, Rees avoided everyone’s eyes and ran from the room, shoving both Mike and me aside to do it.

“No, dude, that was not cool,” Fin growled, his eyes on the door Rees disappeared through, his face a hard mask of anger.

“Fin’s right,” Mike clipped, his eyes locked on his son, “It absolutely was not.”

For his part, No had already come to the realization that he’d taken it too far and he looked like he wanted to kick himself. This was good because I loved that kid but I also, at that moment, wanted to kick him.

Instead, I muttered, “I’ll go talk to her.”

Then my eyes skidded through Mike’s angry ones, though his were locked on his son, and I followed Rees.

Her door was closed but I could hear the muffled sobs coming from inside.

I knocked to no answer. So I knocked again and again got no answer.

Then I opened the door a smidge, shoved my head in and saw she was curled on her bed with her back to the door.

“Hey, Reesee honey, can we talk?” I asked quietly.

“No,” she whimpered.

I thought about this then I made my decision and went for it.

I opened the door further, walked in then closed it behind me. Then I walked to her bed, sat on the opposite side of it and listened to her quiet weeping.

God, she even wept pretty. Yeesh.

I gave her a minute then said softly, “What No said was uncool and everyone down there knew it, even, after he said it in the heat of the moment, No.”

She didn’t reply.

I gave her another moment then went on, “It was written all over his face after he said it that he was sorry.”

That got me an, “I don’t care.”

If I were her at her age with my boyfriend there and what No said, I wouldn’t either.

So I told her gently, “I get that.”

Suddenly she turned, the pillow she was hugging went flying, she knifed up and her wet eyes came to me.

Yep, she wept pretty.

“God! That…that…it was humiliating,” she whispered. “I can’t…Fin…” she covered her face with her hands and through more tears kept whispering, this time dramatically, “I’ll never be able to look at him again.”

“I think that would upset Fin greatly considering he thinks the world of you and the second you ran out of the kitchen, he threw down with No on your behalf.”

Her hands slid from her face and her eyes came to me. Now they were not only wet, they were wide.

“He did?” She was still whispering.

I nodded. “He kept his seat but his meaning was clear when he told No what he said was not cool and your Dad concurred.”

Her eyes slid to the door and went unfocused.

I twisted on the bed until I was facing her and sitting cross-legged. Then I leaned my forearms into my legs and smiled at her.

“We get the pain, the cramps, the moods and the bother and we have to learn to live with that.” Her eyes came back to me. “Those guys down there also have to learn to live with stuff around that too. Including No and Fin. You have a period. That happens seeing as you’re a girl. It’s natural. It happens to every girl. It isn’t humiliating, embarrassing or anything to hide.”

“It is,” she said in her soft voice.

I shook my head and smiled again. “It isn’t and when I say that it absolutely isn’t. What it is is beautiful. What it is means your body is changing because you’re maturing. What it is means you can make babies. What it is means you’re a woman now. And there is absolutely nothing embarrassing about that. And, as for you, the woman you’re becoming is stunning.”

Her face got soft and her hand came up to rub across both her cheeks to take the tears away.

I took in a breath.

Then I continued, “What happened down there, No should be embarrassed about and he is. Not only that, everyone in that room agrees. Fin is seventeen but he isn’t stupid and he knows this happens and he knows it happens to you. I haven’t talked to him about it but my nephew has a lot of common sense so I figure he doesn’t think it’s embarrassing, he doesn’t think it’s gross, he just thinks it’s life.”

Rees tucked her knees to her chest and rounded them with her arms, quiet, still bashful but biting her lip, thinking.

I studied her wondering if I should go for it.

Then I went for it.

“He gets that and what you have to get is that for all intents and purposes, you’re a woman now. Has anyone talked to you about that?”

Her eyes slid away.

“Reesee, honey, this is important. Can you look at me?” I asked and her eyes slid back. “Has anyone talked to you about that?” I repeated.

She bit her lip some more then kind of shook her head.

“Not…I’ve…my…” she started then finished, “No.”

“You’ve gabbed with your girls about it,” I surmised.

She bit her lip again and that meant yes.

“Do they still have sex ed in schools?” I asked and she nodded.

But she added, “It’s kinda lame.”

It was kinda lame back in my day too.

“Right,” I nodded back. “The gig now is, if you have any questions, you’re free to talk to me. I’ve been getting my period for a while now so I’m pretty much an expert.”

Her lips quirked into her cute mini-smile.

“Do you get cramps?” I asked.

She nodded again.

“Do you take anything for them?” I asked.

“My, uh…one of my girls bought me some Midol,” she told me.

“Does that work?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Ibuprofen works for me,” I told her. “That doesn’t work for you, try Aleve. That doesn’t work, try one ibuprofen, one Aleve. That doesn’t work, switch it up with one or the other and a Midol. What works isn’t the same for everyone and you’ll find what works for you. But also a hot bath is awesome and we’ll get you a heating pad.”

Her head tipped to the side. “A heating pad?”

I grinned. “You put it on your belly and it feels great. Loosens the muscles. Awesome.”