Naisha understood. Willa had had her first period and had been too embarrassed to let her father know. What should she do now? This situation was new to her. She guessed it depended on what Willa already knew about the process, and the messages she’d received.
“You okay?” she asked.
“No! It sucks! And it feels awful! And gross! And I ache all over! And I’m hungry!” Willa frowned tragically, looking so adorable that Naisha couldn’t stop herself from drawing the kid into her arms.
“Well, congratulations. I won’t tell you you’re a woman now, because this is just one more step on the way to womanhood.” She wasn’t sure how to broach the next question. “Did your mom—or your dad—tell you anything? Did you know what to expect?”
At the mention of Willa’s mother, the child’s face became a little pinched. “Yeah. She told me. And we talked a little about it in science class, remember?”
Naisha remembered. “Good. So you’re not scared, are you?”
A shake of the head.
“Do you have any supplies?”
Another shake.
“Well, that’s the first place we start.” She sent Willa to the bathroom to shower, promising to be back with some of her own pads. Back in her room, she pausing only to pick up the intercom and quickly explain the situation to Yvette and asking that the sheets be changed.
She returned in moments, holding a package in her hands, to find that William had taken advantage of the unlocked door and had slipped inside. He was now hovering near his daughter’s bed, looking perplexed.
As soon as he spotted Naisha, he hurried over. “Is she okay? Is she unwell? Does she need a doctor? Because I could get a—”
She rested a calming hand on his forearm. “It’s fine, William. She’s just having a shower.”
“But what—”
“She had her first period.”
William stared at her as if she’d suddenly begun spouting Swahili. “Beg pardon?”
She couldn’t bite back a smile. “You heard me.”
He spun around like an idiot to stare at the closed shower door. Then he pointed at it. “That’s a child in there. She’s a baby!”
She shook her head. “Not anymore.”
He looked like he was counting in his head.
“William!” she exclaimed in exasperation. “Time passes. Kids grow up. It happens, you know.”
“Happens to other kids,” he growled. “But not mine.”
She punched him on the shoulder. “Yeah, well, it happened to yours. And what’s more, she won’t be happy to see you in here when she comes out of that shower after she specifically banished you. Plus, we’re about to embark on a women-only ritual.” She waved the package of pads in her hand. “I have to show her how to use them.”
Naisha added, mischievously. “Then I’m taking her into town for ice cream.”
He was half smiling now. “Another part of the ritual?”
“You betcha.”
The next time Liam heard puttering in the kitchen late at night, he didn’t hang around tentatively in the doorway. He walked straight in, making enough noise to announce his presence, so she wouldn’t be startled.
She looked up at him and smiled. “Hey.”
“Salut.”
He couldn’t help but notice that this time, she was bundled in a thick, long-sleeved bathrobe that plummeted to her ankles, covering more of her body than even traditional modesty demanded. Was she coming down with a cold, or had she been so put out by their last encounter, when she’d been wearing a nightie small enough to fold and place in his back pocket, that she’d decided to cover up?