Aidan/Emilia: "Son, Your Breasts Are Very Nice and Don't Let Anyone Tell You Different!"

As much as being a woman is deeply strange, I think it's probably good that it happened to all of us.  I may not necessarily have a lot of advice to offer Kutter and Rusty from experience, but us all being in the same situation keeps things from getting too acrimonious.  The boys are inseparable these days, but they would fight over everything when they were younger, and this is a situation where kids yelling "you just don't understand" could get really nasty.

I'm kind of in awe of my friends who have daughters and are good fathers to them, because I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and can't imagine how I'd feel if I were entirely looking at it from the outside.  I like to think I'd be a good girl dad, but this is the first time I've had to think about it, and having it just happen all at once is different.  The other day, for instance, Rusty and Kutter were playing a videogame when Kutter got a weird look on his face, paused, and looked down before getting up and racing to the bathroom, slamming the door.  There was a little spot of blood on the leather couch where he'd been sitting.

Rusty opened his mouth as if to say something and I raised a finger.  "Just get something from under the sink and some paper towels and wipe it up, okay?  It could be you tomorrow."  He nodded and went to the kitchen while I walked to the bathroom door and knocked.  "You okay in there?"

I heard a loud sniffle.  "I don't know.  I guess i knew it was coming but it's so gross!"

"Yeah, I know.  Anyway, look in the medicine cabinet; I think the girls all marked their period stuff with heir initials.  What've you got?"

There was a pause.  "Oh, it's tampons."

"That's okay, I think that's what Emilia uses too.  I guess Rusty gets the pads.  Anyway, I don't know how much you've poked around down there, but your mom always said men make too big a deal about the whole thing.  Just read the instructions and do what they say.  Hopefully it's just uncomfortable at first."

There was a pause, and then he sounded a bit more confident.  "Okay, but I think I'll take a shower first.  Could you get me a change of clothes?  I even got some blood on the bottom of my t-shirt."

"Of course."  As soon as I heard the shower start, I went to check on Rusty, who had cleaned up the mess.  "Your brother's doing okay.  How about you?  I know it's been a couple of weeks, but this makes it all a bit more real, right?"

He nodded.  "Yeah.  I mean, it's been plenty real, but this is really real."  He looked like he wanted to say more, but was at an unusual loss for words.  I squeezed his shoulder and went into Katey's room, which I suspect wasn't as tidy before Kutter moved in.  Not wanting to intrude, I quickly opened a couple of drawers, pulling out panties, a top, and shorts, not really looking at what I was taking; the piles in there were running pretty short, as we hadn't done laundry yet after a couple of weeks.  I stationed myself back at the door and passed them through when Kutter opened it a crack.  A few minutes later he came out and I slapped my forehead.  The shorts were cutoffs just barely covering his behind, and the shirt was a crop-top camisole.

Kutter smiled nervously.  "I guess I should have been more specific."

I started sputtering apologies.  "I'm so sorry - I should have looked more closely!"

He shook his head.  "No, it's fine.  Like, this is how girls dress on a hot summer day, right?  And we're really girls now, right?  Why don't we go get ice cream?  Isn't that a thing, girls getting ice cream after their first periods?  You two go change, I'll wait."

I looked him in the eyes.  "You sure?"

He stared back, hard.  "I am not going to let this get me down, Dad."

I nodded.  "You heard 'im, Rusty.  Let's get changed."  He nodded and practically raced into Monica's room.

Once in Emilia's I looked through my inherited dresser - I confess, I had not gone through it like Kutter had - and pulled out a camisole and cut-offs for myself.  I tugged at the top a bit, took a couple deep breaths, and went back into the common area.  Rusty's jaw dropped.  "Holy shit, Dad!"

"C'mon, they're not that big!  Emilia just favored, you know, a deeper neckline than her roommates."

"Yeah, because of her great big boobs!"

I was about to say something when Kutter elbowed his brother.  "Stop being a creep, you little twerp.  It's still Dad, and it's not like you're exactly hiding your cleavage either."  He took a few steps to the door.  "You guys coming?"  I nodded and we followed.

We didn't actually walk very far, finding a nice place with not horrifically expensive cones (for New York) next to a little park. grabbing a picnic table to sit around.  Rusty took a big lick from his and jumped in.  "So, Dad, I'm not trying to be disrespectful or weird or anything, but you've been hiding those boobs, right?"

I grumbled, not really wanting to talk about it, but not wanting to lie.  "I mean, we've all been wearing these ladies' loosest tops, right?"  The boys sheepishly nodded.  "I guess maybe I've had more opportunity to look in the mirror and think that's kind of tight in the morning, but I also don't want to feel like I'm putting an pressure on you guys to embrace your new figures or whatever."

"But what if we were waiting for you to show us we shouldn't be embarrassed?"  Sensing the question rattled me, Kutter continued.  "Although now I guess I'm just going to be embarrassed by my little B-cups."

"Son, your breasts are very nice and don't let anyone tell you different!"  The boys laughed.  "But, seriously, size isn't everything and we're not exactly looking for attention from boys, are we."  The two shook their heads.  "But, anyway, I'm sorry if you've been looking for a signal from me or have been feeling held back outside the apartment.  This is new to all of us."

I narrowed my attention to Kutter.  "I do want to say, though, that you handled everything as well as can be expected, and you're kind of lucky, in that you didn't know it was coming."

Rusty looked confused.  "How's that lucky?"

"Because my guts have been killing me for the past couple of days and I couldn't figure out why until this morning.  You'd think I'd've noticed the Midol with Emilia's name on it in the medicine cabinet, but, no, I've just been taking regular ibuprofen.  So I'm probably up next, but, seriously, I think I'd rather have been surprised by my first period than feel this."

"Geez, Dad!"  Kutter shook his head.  "What about that stuff you said about us being in it together and Rusty and me being adults?  Don't hide this stuff from us!"

"Okay, I won't.  Promise."  I noticed I'd gotten an odd look.  "Although, maybe not 'Dad' when we're outside like this."

"Fine, Emilia."  A moment later, Kutter shook his head.  "Nope, feels wrong.  But I guess we'll get used to weirder, because I've got at least eight more days like today coming before we go back."

Rusty started counting on his fingers.  "Gee, thanks for that, Katey.  You guys are really making me look forward to the next couple of weeks.

He laughed, but it's kind of funny that my period came just as Kutter's ended, and now it's Rusty's turn.  I suppose this is better than it hitting us all at once, but it's been a long week!

-Aidan/Emilia