TO THE STARS
Chapter Three
"Daddy!"
Jack, who had been reclining on the
couch, flailed into a sort of V-shape before rolling off the couch and thumping
onto his feet. He shook his blond hair out of his blue eyes, which were wide.
Twelve-year-old Josephine Dawson ran into the room, shrieking.
"What? What is it?"
Jack yelped, catching his daughter by the arms.
"Dad, I’m
hemorrhaging!" she shrieked hysterically.
Jack began to panic.
"What?"
"I’m bleeding like
crazy!" she sobbed. "I’m so scared! Daddy…"
"Where? I don’t see
it," Jack said worriedly, his eyes searching her frantically.
"It’s…down there,"
Josephine mumbled, her eyes downcast.
It took a moment to register with
Jack. When it did, his face turned about as red as his wife’s hair.
Oh, God.
Why did this stuff happen to him?
Just…why? Jack felt that he was being cursed by women; he loved Rose to death,
but she was always a pain when it came to…that time of the month. So was Izzy,
now that he thought about it. And then that time he had tried to explain about
where babies come from…ugh. Yep, Jack was cursed. He sighed, considerably
calmer now that he knew his daughter was just going through the changes of
womanhood instead of dying. Which was actually just as bad, seeing as how he
never wanted Josie to grow up.
"Okay…um…Josie, sweetie,
maybe we should just…sit down and…and talk."
"But Daddy, I’m
hemorrhaging!" Josie protested.
"I know, but…it’s a
different…kind of…hemorrhaging, and I think that…well, maybe I should explain
it to you."
"I don’t wanna die!"
Josie burst out.
"You won’t!" Jack
promised. "Just…sit down, okay?"
"Okay," Josie sniffled,
sitting gingerly and reluctantly down on the couch.
Jack sat beside her and drummed a
tattoo on his legs. Where to begin? He was going to have to have a word with Rose
later on; how on earth could she have let her youngest daughter not know about
that…stuff? And Izzy had made no secret of the fact that she, too, was a woman;
why hadn’t she ever told Josie anything? Surely they would have at least
mentioned it when Josie was curious.
"Daddy, my stomach really
hurts," Josie complained, gripping her abdomen.
Jack winced. "Um…yeah.
That’s normal. Now, sweetie, I…do you know anything about…about how babies are
made?"
Josie shook her head.
"Well…you see…when…um…when a
man and woman…well, we’ll get to that later." Jack cleared his throat.
"When a woman…er…girl, rather, gets to a certain age…she…her body makes
room for a baby."
"I thought a dad had to be
involved…" Josie said slowly.
Jack made a wild, shushing motion
with his hands. "No. We are not getting into that today. Just…okay. So,
just in case there’s a…a dad and…all of that, the female body makes a
special…um…pouch, I guess, for a possible baby. You with me so far?"
"Wait…like a kangaroo?"
Josie asked innocently.
Jack bit his lip. "Um…sure.
Like a kangaroo. So…uh…anyway, when this happens--and at a very young and
illegal age, if you ask me--the in question…starts…to bleed. From down
there."
Josie glanced down at her lap.
"Oh," she said softly.
Jack nodded, relieved she was
starting to see where he was going. "Yes. So…um…you’re
not…hemorrhaging…you’re just…making room for a baby. But this does not mean,
however, that you are old enough to even think about having a baby. You have to
be thirty years old and you have to have a special…uh…certification from the
government before you can find a dad for your future children."
Josie nodded, hanging onto his
every word. "So…this bleeding…"
Jack felt a wave of nausea pass
over him.
"It’s…normal?"
He nodded.
Josie reflected on this for a
moment. "So…what do I do now?"
"Um…isn’t Izzy around here
somewhere?" Jack asked, really wanting to get off this subject as soon as
possible.
"Oh, yeah!" Josie
replied, beaming. She threw her arms around her father’s neck and kissed him on
the cheek before skipping out of the room. She bounded up the stairs and went
into Izzy’s room. The fifteen-year-old glanced at her one time before bursting
into laughter and rolling around on her bed.
"That was great! Oh, the
look on his face! Josie, my love, you have the makings of an actress!"
"Piece o’ cake," Josie
said confidently, tossing her curls over her shoulders and holding out her
hand. "Now, pay up."
"You got it," Izzy
hooted, wiping a tear and dropping the assortment of dimes and nickels into her
sister’s hand. "Gosh, that was priceless! He was terrified!"
"Honestly, I am twelve years
old," Josie said in a manner that suggested that twelve was a very
sagacious age. She dropped onto the bed beside Izzy. "I mean, jeez. I
started last year!"
"Men can be clueless,"
Izzy agreed. "Did I ever tell you about the time he tried to have the
birds and the bees talk with me?"
"I love that story,"
Josie giggled.
Small footsteps preceded the
little boy that poked his head into the room. "What are you guys laughing
about?"
"Nothing, Tommy," Izzy
assured her brother while Josie cackled.
"Something’s making you
laugh!" Tommy protested, looking upset.
Izzy had a very devious look on
her face. She crooked her finger, beckoning to her five-year-old brother.
"Come here and we’ll tell you, Tommy."
"Daddy!"
"What?" Jack groaned;
he had just been returning to his nap. Were his children never quiet? First
Josie, now Tommy.
"Where do I come from?"
Jack opened his eyes and looked up
at where his son was peering at him between the bars of the banister that
overlooked the living room. "What?"
"Sissy says babies come from
pockets in mommies’ tummies that bleed…"
"Izzy!" Jack bellowed.
The room upstairs exploded with laughter.