Strong Enough (An Older Brother Story)

An Awkward Conversation

Amelia's POV:

I go to Clayton's room and get the pad and skirt to give Sophia and then I head back out to the living room. Clayton looks at me with a concerned expression on his face and I say simply "She started her period." He just says "Oh." and then looks at me dumbfounded for a second. Then he ask "Isn't she a little young for that?" I say "No, 12 is a pretty normal age. And she is almost 13. Anyways, please don't freak out or make a big deal out of it, she is really embarrassed." He nods and says "Okay." and then we stop talking when we hear Sophia walking down the hallway.

When she gets to the living room they both look at each other for a second and then look down at the floor. This could not be more awkward. I interrupt the uncomfortable silence to say "Alright, let's head to church."

*a few hours later*

Clayton's POV:

Sophia and I have said less than 5 words to each other since this morning. I really don't know what to do here. I know she talked to Amelia, but I still feel like I am supposed to do something. Church was fine, we don't usually talk much during the service anyways. However, the car ride was eerily silent and she went straight to her room as soon as we got home. I want to talk to her because I want her to know that this isn't something that she should feel awkward or embarrassed about, but I also don't want to make the situation any worse. I just can't believe that my baby sister is old enough for this, pretty soon she will start going on dates and kissing boys and... I am just not ready for that. Amelia interrupts my thoughts and ask "Are you okay love?" I say "Yeah, I'm going to go talk to Sophia." She gives me a look and says "Don't be awkward." I look at her feigning being hurt and say "Me? Awkward? Never!" and then proceed to accidentally trip over he coffee table when I get up, making her burst out laughing.

I walk back to Sophia's room and knock on the door. She ask "Amelia?" and I respond "No kiddo, it's me." she sighs and says "Go away Clayton, I don't want to talk to you right now." Ouch, that stung a little bit. I guess I really am on the verge of raising a teenager. I say, trying to hide the hurt in my voice, "Sophia, we need to talk, we can't just avoid talking about this." I hear her sigh loudly and she says "Fine. Come in." She is sitting on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest and she looks like she has been crying. I sit down on the side of her bed and she starts crying again. I say gently "Hey, it's okay, everything going to be okay." and move so that I am sitting next to her and can put my arm around her. She leans on my shoulder and says, crying more, "I miss mom." I kiss the top of her head and say "I know baby, I know." and just let her cry for a little bit. After a few minutes I say "I know I'm not mom, but I want you to know that I am here for you, for anything and everything, no matter how awkward or uncomfortable. You are growing up now, and there are things that come along with growing up that we are going to have to talk about, there's no way around it."  She say "Yeah, I know. Maybe we could filter those conversation through Amelia a little though?" I smile and say "That is probably workable." After a second I kiss her head again and say "I love you so much kiddo." She smiles a little and says, rolling her eyes, "Yeah, I know." I give her a look and she says "I love you too... And I am sorry I was so rude to you this morning." I say "It's okay, I forgive you. But don't think this means that you get a free pass just because you are on your..." and I trail off. She rolls her eyes and says "Period?" I say "Yeah." and she says "Period Clay, say it." I say uncomfortably "Period." And she smirks. Then I say "Hey, I may not be a girl, but I do know how to make one feel better when they are dealing with this. Do you want to order some pepperoni pizza and triple chocolate brownies from Pizza Hut?" She smiles and says "That sounds great actually." I laugh a little and say "Okay, sounds like a plan." and then I add "And then afterwards you and Amelia can go buy some ... period ... stuff." She rolls her eyes and says "You can come too bubby, after all, we have to be able to talk about these things."