Dark Guardian (Black Hoods MC #3) - Avelyn Paige Page 0,10

been waiting for her.

“In the kitchen,” I call out, trying to keep my voice calm, even as the panic threatens to claw its way up my throat and out of my mouth.

I force a smile for Kevin, who looks as worried as I feel.

“You’re home too?” Lindsey asks him as she bustles into the room.

“Something’s wrong with Nat,” he replies.

Lindsey nods, but doesn’t comment any further on the matter. Smart girl.

Lindsey is in the final year of her PhD program at the local university. When she’s finished, she’ll be a fully licensed psychiatrist. But there’s a pretty good chance she’ll push it even further and move on in the program to specialize specifically in child psychiatry. I’m proud as hell of her, but I never thought her expertise would come in as handy as it does right now.

“She’s locked herself in the bathroom and she won’t come out,” I explain. “She woke up fine, went in there to get ready for school, then let out this god-awful scream. I can hear her crying in there, but when I threatened to break down the door, she begged me to just leave her alone.”

“And a little girl asking you not to break down the door stopped you?”

“I didn’t want to scare her.”

Lindsey’s frowning now. “Did she say anything at all?”

“Just that she wants to be left alone.”

Her eyes soften as she places a hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Has your sister ever had her period before?”

Kevin’s facial expression transforms from one of concern, to one of absolute horror in an instant. “How the heck would I know?” he cries. “Ew! That’s so disgusting.”

Lindsey smirks, as if he had just answered her question, and grabs her purse off of the counter. “I’ll be back,” she says as she makes her way up the stairs.

I hear the soft knock she makes on the bathroom door, along with their muffled voices.

Thinking about Lindsey’s question, I shudder and pour myself another coffee. When I’d agreed to take these kids in, I didn’t once think about periods. Hell, I hadn’t considered a lot of things. Is that what this is? Did Natalie just get her first period? I’m so out of my element on this. Thank God for Lindsey.

“I can’t believe we’re missing school because of a stupid period,” Kevin groans. Whatever worry he’d shown before is gone, only to be replaced with annoyance.

“We don’t know for sure that’s what it is,” I say, plopping my ass down in a chair.

A slow smirk spreads across his lips. He’s enjoying my misery. “You have no idea what you’re doing, do you? Do you even know what to do for a period?”

“Do you?” Sighing, I drag my hand across my face. “I know enough. By the time Lindsey came along back when she was a teen, she was already getting hers. I just bought her what she told me to. It was never exactly a topic of conversation either of us wanted to discuss.”

This makes him chuckle.

I reach out and place my hand on his shoulder. “Kev, I don’t know much about being a parent. I think we all know that well enough. But I got a decent home, two extra bedrooms, and I would never let you or your sister down like your parents and your uncle did.”

Kevin’s smile disappears as tears form in his eyes.

“When you guys are experiencing your firsts, they’re gonna be firsts for me too. But fuck it, ya know? Better to learn together than to learn that shit on our own, right?”

Kevin nods, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “Right.”

Releasing his shoulder, I sit back in my seat. “And when it comes to girly shit like periods and new bras…” We both cringe. “Well, we’ll let Lindsey handle that.”

Kevin grins. “Agreed.”

Just then, Lindsey steps out from the bathroom.

“Well?”

“We’re going to need to make a run to the pharmacy, unless you have some extra maxi pads lying around.”

“Why the fuck would I have those?” It’s not like I’ve had a woman hiding out here. Not since Gina up and left, and that was two houses ago. Her shit was long gone after what she did.

Lindsey folds her arms over her chest and laughs. “Exactly. Why don’t the two of you head to the store, and I’ll help her get cleaned up. Get some ice cream too. Do you know what flavor she likes?”

“Mint chocolate, I think.” Kevin shrugs. “Is she going to be okay?”

“She will be, Kev.”

“Come on, son. Let’s go get what we need