Girl Talk
Surfin’, Surfin’ The Wave
All The Girls Are Surfin’ The Wave
Surfin’ The Crimson Wave Today



Miraculously, Tara got there in 15, having sped past a questionable amber light or two. She reached down to slip off her shoes as she pushed the key into the door and walked inside.
“Willow?” she called out to the seemingly empty apartment.
“In here!” Willow’s voice came from the bedroom.
Tara dropped her keys on the table and walked into the bedroom, where Willow was lying stark naked on the bed. Tara just raised an eyebrow and Willow shrugged.
“What? Have to pick Sally up in 30 minutes. I’m just expediting the process. Plus we haven’t celebrated me being two-handed again.”
She wiggled all of her fingers then turned them around and motioned Tara to her.
Tara began unbuttoning her shirt as she approached the bed. Her pants dropped to her ankles and she stepped out with delicate movements as she climbed on her knees onto the bed. Her hands pressed against the black towel underneath Willow.
“Are you bleeding already?” she whispered softly as she placed a kiss above Willow’s belly button.
“No, just a precaution,” Willow replied, her eyes closing as Tara’s lips touched her skin.
“Good,” Tara replied, kissing to the top of Willow’s mound, “We’re usually scarily synced.”
“Down to the minute,” Willow murmured, sighing contentedly, “Remember that time when we were flying into Munich and they wouldn’t let us use the bathroom? Who knew high altitudes make periods worse?”
Tara nuzzled her nose against Willow’s downy hair and trailed a finger around Willow’s lips, already starting to plump just from her breath hitting them.
“Are you tender?”
Willow spread her leg as wantonly wide as she could.
“You can have me any way you want.”
Tara glanced up, caught Willow’s eye, and with a little half-smirk, lowered her mouth.
Willow’s neck arched into the pillow and she groaned.
Tara was gentle at first but Willow quickly used her hips to express how she wanted it. Any bit of arousal Tara couldn’t lick up was spilling out onto her thighs, try as Tara might to keep up. Tara could feel Willow clenching and when she brought her finger up to circle Willow’s opening, Willow’s body tried to pull her in like a vacuum.
She left her hand in place and gave Willow’s length a final lick before kissing back up Willow’s body, leaving smears from her wet mouth along the way.
Willow’s breath was heaving as Tara rested her head on Willow's forehead, unable to keep up with the need throbbing through her. Willow looked up at Tara through lidded eyes and touched her fingertips against Tara’s cheeks.
“I need you inside me.”
Tara placed the softest of kisses on Willow’s lips just as she entered her fully in one quick swoop.
Willow’s eyes rolled back into her head and her limbs wrapped around Tara to pull her in as close as possible.
“Oh god yes.”
“Oh, you feel so good,” Tara moaned into Willow’s neck.
“
You feel good,” Willow replied as her hands roamed Tara’s back.
It only took a minute for her to unhook Tara’s bra, hitting it away when it fell between them and bemoaning the brief second Tara had to pull away from her to do so. She took a moment to turn them on her sides and dropped her hand into Tara’s underwear. She rubbed Tara’s clit for a few seconds, felt how wet she was, and quickly pulled the panties down enough for Tara to kick them off.
She rolled her fingers between Tara’s lips and slipped down to enter her. Tara followed with a similar motion and soon they were thrusting into each other at a fast pace.
“Better than bouncing?” Tara panted with a sultry half-grin as she gently bit Willow's lower lip.
Willow groaned and returned the motion, nipping at Tara’s bottom lip.
She felt an answering clench around her fingers. It sent rolling waves of pleasure through her abdomen, making her tighten inside too and she felt and heard Tara respond evocatively to it.
They passed that shared pleasure back and forth until that swell broke in one fantastical burst that left them slumped into each other with no room for anything but sweaty, gleaming skin trying to catch the same breath.
After a solid moment of stillness, Willow lazily lifted her hand and brushed the back of Tara’s cheek.
“You take such good care of me.”
“You don’t do too bad yourself,” Tara smiled crookedly, “I’ll take a booty call from you any time.”
Willow blushed but it was hidden by her already-red cheeks.
“You didn’t miss any class, right?”
Tara shook her head.
“Just study group but I’m all up to date with my work anyway. I do need to go back and get my studio time though. I’m still working out the list for the extended show this weekend.”
“Should we tell Sally?” Willow asked with an arched eyebrow as she tapped her fingers on Tara’s stomach.
“Don’t see why not,” Tara smiled easily and leaned in to kiss Willow.
They kissed for a few minutes until Tara had to pull away.
“No more watching old cake commercials, okay?”
Willow pouted.
“I don’t like that they fat shame him.”
“He always laughs,” Tara replied gently.
“Out of joy, Tara?” Willow’s eyes pricked with tears, “Or out of self-preservation?”
Tara raised an eyebrow and Willow scrunched her face as she heard herself.
“Yeah, okay I’ll stop watching.”
Tara patted Willow’s belly and got up. She gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom to redress while Willow lay happily, enjoying the tug of satisfaction pulling on her muscles.
“Willow?”
Willow’s head turned toward the door hearing Tara call from the bathroom.
“Yeah?”
“You’ll probably want to put a pad on.”
Willow looked down and swung her legs off the bed. After taking a moment to make sure they were steady, she got up and walked into the bathroom, where Tara was putting her moon cup. Willow got some tissue paper and checked, looking surprised when it came back red.
“Does sex induce periods the same way it does with labor?” she asked curiously, “I guess if the oxytocin makes the uterus contact it’s totally possible. Fascinating!”
She stood there contemplating it all until Tara’s voice broke through again.
“Honey.”
Willow blinked and realized she was standing there naked, and now bleeding.
“Right. Underwear.”
“I’ll get you some,” Tara offered as she was now re-dressed.
Willow sat on the toilet and opened a pad, which she pressed onto fresh underwear when Tara returned with them.
“Thanks, baby. Do you have two minutes to let me get dressed and I’ll walk out with you?”
“Sure, I’ll fill up my thermos,” Tara agreed and went off to the kitchen while Willow re-robed.
They met at the door and held hands until they got to the car.
“I’ll be home in ninety minutes, less if I can get the setlist down,” Tara said as she gave Willow a hug, “I love you.”
She kissed the side of Willow’s head three times. Willow embraced Tara tighter.
“Love you.”
They parted with another quick kiss and Tara drove off while Willow walked the few blocks to Sally’s school. She might have whistled on her way there.
She may have still been doing in when Sally came skidding up to her giving her the stink eye.
“Can you not? What are you even whistling? And why?”
“Um, in order,” Willow started to reply, “I can, but I won’t. Frankie Valli. And because it’s okay to express happy emotion and I won’t let anyone shame me for it.”
Sally’s brow creased.
“Do you ever say anything normal?”
“Occasionally,” Willow answered and then started the walk home, “I try to avoid it as much as possible.”
Sally rolled her eyes.
“So, hey, I have something to talk to you about,” Willow said after a few moments, “Your sister is going to start doing shows outside of California. So it means some weekends she’ll have to travel.”
“Oh,” Sally replied, frowning slowly.
“Yeah,” Willow nodded, “But see the thing is, I don’t want to be away from Tara that long. I’m guessing you don’t either?”
Sally shook her head.
“So…I think we should go with her.”
Sally’s eyes suddenly widened and she skipped ahead to face Willow.
“Really?!”
Willow held up a hand.
“There are rules.”
“Bogus,” Sally scowled.
Willow lifted one finger.
“One, you stay backstage with me. You
cannot sneak out onto the dance floor. This is a legal thing and super serious.”
“
O-kay,” Sally intoned in annoyance.
Willow lifted a second finger.
“Two, you wear noise-cancelling headphones. It won’t block everything out but it’ll protect your ears from any damage. Again, super serious.”
Sally bounced, still walking backward.
“Fiiinnneee.”
“And last, we have to do one educational thing in each city we’re in,” Willow finished with a resolute nod, “I’ll admit, this is mostly optics for child services.”
Sally raised an eyebrow.
“Gotta be fussy.”
Willow couldn’t help but smile.
“Exactly. Do we agree to these terms?”
Sally pretended to think about it before grinning and nodding. Arriving home at the same time, Willow opened the door.
“Get packing because we’re going to Vegas this weekend.”
Sally nearly shot up to the floor.
“Seriously?!” she asked, clutching the straps of her backpack tightly, “
Las Vegas?”
“That’s the one,” Willow answered with a smile as Sally rushed off to her bedroom, “Homework first!”
Sally remembered at the last second not to bang her door, catching it before it reverberated throughout the house.
That was one of those funny ‘rules’ she hadn’t gotten at first, people slammed doors all the time growing up; hell it served as a good warning signal to avoid whoever was doing the slamming.
When doors did slam now it made her jump and realize just how much she appreciated the quiet.
She dumped her bookbag out onto the floor and grabbed the workbook for the only homework she had – develop a structure of governance that they would test through mock trials and delegation the following week.
This was easy because she’d already begun developing something similar for her own D&D campaign.
As she contemplated whether to lean toward an autocracy or a democracy, Miss Kitty came in and climbed into Sally’s lap, nuzzling at her belly.
“How’d you know I had a tummy ache?” Sally asked, frowning as something churned inside, “Shouldn’t have eaten Aaron’s leftover taco.”
Miss Kitty nuzzled again before jumping away.
Sally suddenly felt like she’d wet herself. Her eyes widened.
“Miss Kitty, what did you do?!”
Miss Kitty just offered a soft meow and rubbed against Sally’s leg. Sally grabbed her crotch and stood up. Her stomach churned again.
She knew she needed a bathroom fast.
Stupid taco.She made a beeline across the hall to the bathroom. The door slammed this time.
“Sally?” Willow stood up from the kitchen table, “Are you alright?”
She heard the telltale sign of someone plonking themselves on the toilet and grimaced — it always made her flashback to India.
She poured a fresh glass of iced water for Sally to have when she came out and started second-guessing the chili she’d planned for dinner.
A few minutes passed without any more noise until there was a loud crash.
Willow jumped up again.
“Sally?”
She strode over to the bathroom and knocked.
“Sally, are you okay?”
There was no answer. She knocked more insistently.
“Sally, open the door.”
Panic rose in Willow’s throat as the heel of her hand thumped against the door.
“Sally, I’m coming in!”
She had to jump numerous times to find and reach the spare bathroom key on top of the doorframe, probably for the first time being thankful they didn’t have push-open locks. Finally, it fell to the floor and she dived on it. Her hands were shaking in terror as she managed to push it forcefully into the slot. She heard the key on the other side fall out and quickly turned it to open the door.
Sally was on her floor with her back to the tub, underwear around her thighs and desperately running Tara’s razor over her arms, sobbing.
“Sally!” Willow exclaimed at the alarming scene.
She threw herself down and wrestled the razor from Sally’s hands before checking her arms. Thankfully it was a safety razor and there were just a few scratches and one tiny cut with a single drop of blood escaping.
Sally tried to squeeze around it to get more out.
“I haveta get it out, it has to come out!”
“What, Sally, what has to come out?” Willow asked, almost shouting as she grabbed for some toilet paper to stem the bleeding.
“My demon!” Sally yelled and tried to fight Willow before eventually giving up and just sobbing into Willow’s shoulder.
Willow’s heart was pounding but it proceeded to break in two when she glanced down and saw blood in Sally’s underwear; too much to have come from her arms.
“Ssh, sweetheart,” Willow soothed gently, “There’s no demon, I promise.”
She tugged a towel off the rail and laid it over Sally’s lap.
It was all she could do to hold Sally and rock her gently.
Slowly Sally’s sobs became hiccups and then just sniffles against Willow’s neck.
She didn’t move so Willow didn’t either.
Outside, Tara pressed her key into the lock, still with a pep in her step from earlier.
The apartment was unusually quiet and empty.
“Girls?” she called out in a cheery, sing-song voice, “I finished early.”
“Tara.”
The tone of Willow’s distant voice sent shivers through Tara’s spine.
“Willow?!” she called out, running generally in the direction of her girlfriend’s voice.
She bounced from wall to wall until she tumbled into the bathroom, where she dropped to her knees in front of them.
“What happened?”
Sally looked like she might be looking up, so Willow started to pull away.
“I can leave you two—”
Sally immediately clung back onto Willow, who enveloped her back gently.
The toilet paper fell from Sally’s arm, which Tara grabbed in alarm.
“She hurt herself?”
“No,” Willow replied softly, “She tried but only got a scratch.”
Tara noticed spots of blood all around the toilet and tile floor.
“Then where did all this blood—” she met Willow’s eye and immediately understood, “Oh, darling.”
Willow did her best to cover Sally’s ear and whisper.
“She said she was trying to get the demon out.”
Tara went rigid for a moment and ended up falling back on her butt.
“Tara?!” Willow reached out over Sally’s shoulder.
Tara linked her fingers with Willow.
“Sorry, I just had a flashback,” she said, her brow creasing considerably, “Donny used to call it ‘demon week’.”
Willow remembered a gruff uttering of the phrase but didn’t realize why it had startled Tara so much until she put together the common denominator.
“Oh god,” she pulled Sally closer, “You are not a demon, no matter what anyone told you.”
There was another small hiccup.
“Sal?” Tara asked gently, “Honey, it’s okay.”
Sally slowly, tearfully, pulled her head away from Willow but stayed curled against her.
Tara reached out and stroked Sally’s hair.
“Do you know what’s happening? With your body?”
Sally could barely pull in a breath.
“A-a woman’s demon comes out if she’s not tamed.”
“No, no, no,” Tara shook her head frantically, “No, sweetie. No demon. This happens to every woman but it isn’t a demon. Have you heard of a period?”
“You put it at the end of a sentence,” Sally said in a tiny voice.
“Yes,” Willow kissed the top of Sally’s head, “But there’s another kind. This kind. Where you have blood come out of you. Were you ever told anything about this in health class?”
Sally looked confused.
“We didn’t have health class back…” she said and swallowed deeply, “Before. Or…I didn’t, anyway.”
Tara pressed her palms against both her cheeks, aghast.
“I’m so sorry we never spoke to you about this,” she said, having to blink back some tears, “This, what’s happening? It’s normal. It happens to Willow and me too. It’s happening to all of us right now, actually. We both have our periods too.”
Sally started looking between them, looking like she might be coming out of the fear fog.
“It has to do with making babies,” Willow explained gently, “Inside us, we have an organ where a baby grows called a womb. And when there’s no baby, it lets go of the lining it made to hold the baby, and that comes out as blood.”
Sally looked down at her stomach in alarm.
“I don’t want a baby!”
“You’re not having a baby, I promise,” Tara reassured, putting a hand on Sally’s leg, “Having a period means you’re not pregnant.”
“Hey, we watched Turning Red the other day, remember?” Willow prompted, “That was about periods.”
Sally pulled a confused face.
“I’m going to turn into a giant red panda?”
“Only metaphorically,” Willow frowned, “But definitely no demon. Your…”
“Dad was just wrong,” Tara finished softly, “About a lot of things. This is a big, scary thing but you are neither of those things. You’ve just entered a new phase of growing up.”
“There’s some cramps and feeling a little funky but it will all be okay,” Willow reassured.
Sally fell back gently against the bath. Tara picked up the tissues and wiped away the blood from the floor. Willow handed over the razor, which Tara put in her back pocket.
“No matter how scared or how bad you feel, you have to promise you won’t try and hurt yourself again.”
Sally gulped.
“I-I thought if I could get enough blood out my demon would go with it,” she said, unable to look up, “And you wouldn’t send me back.”
Tara raised Sally’s chin and looked her in the eye.
“We won’t, ever. No matter what.”
Sally’s eyes creased and she held back some tears, then started to seem a little embarrassed.
“There’s blood all over my clothes.”
“Not a problem!” Willow exclaimed, happy to be able to help, “Ms. M taught me a baking soda trick when I got my first period.”
“First?” Sally frowned, which only deepened when she started putting their conversation together, “Wait. If you guys have your period now, how come I’m getting it when I’m so much younger?”
Willow and Tara shared alarmed looks.
“Well, sweetie…”
“See,” Willow gestured with her hand, “It happens more than once.”
Sally narrowed her eyes.
“How much?”
Another pained look was shared.
“Once a month,” Willow eventually said through a strained smile.
“Every month?!” Sally burst out, “Until I’m your age?!”
Before the awkward stare produced an answer, Sally slumped.
“How long does it last?”
“Three…” Willow’s voice squeaked, “To seven days.”
“EVERY MONTH?!” Sally yelled in shock, “So like…11 to 25% of my life I’m gonna have blood coming out of me?”
“Nice mathing,” Willow complimented, but it fell a bit flat, “But yes. Unless you get pregnant. Which you won’t for a very, very, very long time, if at all.”
Sally slumped again, taking in all of this new information with appropriate moodiness.
“This calls for some ice cream,” Willow finally stood up, stretching her legs as she did so, “Why don’t I make a Chunky Monkey run?”
“I thought we had some,” Sally cocked her head in Willow’s direction, who laughed nervously.
“Can never have too much ice cream.”
“I’ll teach you how to use a pad, honey,” Tara saved Willow from further frozen dessert interrogation, “You stick it to your underwear to soak up the blood so they don’t get stained. Why don’t we run you a bath to get cleaned up and we’ll go from there.”
Sally nodded in silent agreement, so Tara started the tub and left her to disrobe. She closed the bathroom door behind her and she and Willow huddled near the door.
“We dropped the ball, big time,” Tara said, reaching up to massage her temples.
“Do we have a sex talk?” Willow asked in a slight panic.
Tara held a hand over her heart.
“She seems so young.”
“We should look up age-appropriate conversations,” Willow suggested.
“I’ll call my Mom,” Tara answered, “I don’t think we ever had one big conversation, just lots of little ones as they came up.”
Willow nodded.
“I was given a subscription to National Geographic and pretty much had to figure it out from there.”
Tara reached out and touched Willow’s cheek.
“You handled that really well.”
“That poor kid,” Willow replied with a deep swallow, “I’ll email her therapist about the demon thing. That…that’s going to take some unpacking.”
Tara nodded, then pulled Willow into an embrace.
“She’s okay. And we’re okay. I love you so much.”
“I love you,” Willow replied in a soft echo, kissing Tara’s cheek and closing the hug.
She pulled away and swiped at her eyes.
“Right, ice cream. The chili can chill ‘til tomorrow. Will I pick up dinner?”
“Let’s let her decide and we’ll get it delivered,” Tara suggested, “And I’ll introduce her to the concept of period movies.”
“Yes!” Willow gave a watery laugh, “Remember when we’d have our periods at the same time, and on Fridays when we did pizza and a movie we’d pick the sappiest one and cuddle and—oh, we were just being gay.”
Tara laughed, clapping a hand over her mouth. Willow giggled quietly too and shook her head.
“Okay, on the road for rocky road.”
She grabbed her purse and the car keys Tara had left on the table.
Tara went to find some comfy, dark pajamas and new underwear. She brought it back to the bathroom, knocking first.
Sally was in the tub looking down at the water and the little squiggles of red. She looked up at Tara.
“Do you get used to it?”
“Yes,” Tara smiled softly, sitting on the toilet lid, “But it might take a while. It is very odd when you think about it.”
Sally just nodded.
Tara opened a drawer under the sink to pull out a pad, but Sally noticed they weren’t the only objects in there.
“What are the other things?”
Tara held up a bright yellow wrapper.
“They’re called tampons. You put them inside you to soak up the blood instead of the pad on your underwear,” she explained, then opened a little silicone pouch sitting in there, “And I usually use something called a moon cup. I have two but you only use one at a time.”
She squeezed it indicatively.
“You fold it up and put it inside and it catches the blood,” she said and saw a slight wide-eyed stare being returned, “But most beginners start with pads until you learn what’s comfortable for your body.”
“Were you my age when you got it?” Sally asked as she brought her knees up to her chest.
“Little older,” Tara answered with a reserved nod, “Twelve. But sixth grade like you.”
Donny had been in eighth and told everyone “The demon is loose.”
He hid a bleeding monster mask in her locker.
It had been one of the catalysts of her pursuing a separate high school, despite being so perennially shy.
She shuddered now knowing the phrase’s origins.
Tara wasn’t going to share that memory with Sally. She was going to message Donny too to make sure he didn’t inadvertently trigger her.
“So let me show you the pad. It’s very easy and see these things? They’re called wings and they’ll make sure your pad stays put where it’s meant to.”
She did a thorough demonstration and then left Sally to dry off and get dressed in private. She came out of the bathroom pulling at the seam of her pajamas a bit but seemed to find a comfortable position eventually.
Willow arrived home shortly after, waving a paper bag.
“I got the cookie dough. I got the double chocolate chip, and I got the wildcard — hot fudge! A crying womb’s dream! It's like the fudge warms up your uter—” she trailed off at the looks she was getting, “Shutting up now.”
She went over to the freezer to deposit her purchases and noted the movie waiting on the screen.
“Mean Girls. Good choice. You need to work up to The Notebook,” she said as she closed the freezer door again, “Did we decide on dinner?”
“Burritos,” Sally replied definitively, “I had a taco for lunch and it was like my stomach was throwing a tantrum for more.”
Willow lifted her hand to high-five Sally.
“You’re a period pro already,” she said and looked to Tara, “Make sure to get extra chips and salsa.”
“But of course,” Tara grinned.
There was a Mexican street truck on the corner so Tara ended up going out to order some instead of waiting ages for somewhere to deliver.
“In a time-honored tradition, we eat on the couch,” Tara announced, making Sally’s eyes widen.
“Really?”
Willow sat on one side of Sally and murmured in her ear.
“Sometimes on the bed but don’t tell Tara.”
She winked at Sally, who just smiled, feeling a lot more comfortable about this new development in her life.
“How do our periods know to come all together?” she asked as Tara set them all up with TV trays.
“Well, we don’t know really,” Willow answered honestly, “A lot of people say it isn’t true but Tara and I have always gotten it together since we’ve been living together. We leave it as a mystery of the universe. Mother Nature doing her thing. Ms. M might know more about it now she’s all into the spirits and such. Mr. B too, he seems like an enlightened modern kinda guy.”
“Does that mean we're all going to have our period together?” Sally asked, raising an eyebrow, “For the rest of our lives?”
“Maybe,” Tara answered with a small grin.
They all looked at each other and started giggling.
They were all two-ice-cream bowls deep and had in fact moved onto The Notebook by the time nightfall had come.
Willow and Tara were blowing their noses into tissues and wiping their eyes with their sleeves. Sally was taking in the movie with a little more composure.
“Is there a you-guys version of this?” she asked as the credits started to roll.
“With two women?” Willow asked, feeling touched that Sally would consider that.
“Kind of,” Tara answered, “But not exactly.”
“There is one. It's like the inverse,” Willow added, frowning, “It's called Lost and Delirious. You…shouldn’t watch it.”
“There's a beautiful documentary called A Secret Love,” Tara interjected and Willow smiled adoringly across the couch.
She reached over and brushed her finger on Tara’s cheek.
“We watched that in Prague, nestled together in that tiny bed with the cathedral bells ringing.”
Tara nodded that she remembered but just as Willow was about to say something else, a familiar voice came from the TV where Sally had changed it back to the cable channels.
“Cordelia?”
Yes, you can hear it in her laughter. Ooh, you can see it in her smile. Yeah, you'll be hanging from the rafters. Ooh, you better stay awhile.“Cordy!?” Willow exclaimed incredulously as the title card came up on the screen, “Wow. They actually gave her that sitcom she was talking about.”
She watched the opening of Cordelia acting in all kinds of funny snapshots.
“Oh yeah, ‘cause she’s so goofy and funny and definitely didn’t relentlessly tease me for being just that all through high school.”
“
That’s your high school bully?” Sally asked with raised eyebrows.
Tara glanced to Willow, who glanced at Sally and made herself relax her shoulders.
“It’s nice to see her doing well. Her family went through a rough time.”
Sally arched one of her eyebrows.
“Why would you be nice to a bully?”
“Because holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die,” Willow answered sagely, “Learned that one in Thailand.”
“You guys went a lot of places,” Sally commented neutrally.
“We did,” Willow nodded.
Sally turned her head.
“How come?”
“We both needed to get out of Sunnydale to find ourselves,” Tara replied with a soft smile.
“Like a big game of Where’s Waldo?” Sally suggested.
“Felt like that sometimes,” Tara replied wryly.
Willow bounced once in her seat.
“And I got to hold a koala.”
Sally threw her eyes up to heaven and groaned and everything felt normal again.
“Oh my god you are
obsessed about holding that koala!” she screeched but if you looked hard enough, you could see a smile, “Can I have more ice cream?”
“One more bowl,” Tara said, “But I am making two veggies with dinner tomorrow.”
“You’ll have to make three for me,” Willow said, scooting over beside Tara, “Because I’m getting a little extra sugar right now.”
She launched a kiss attack on Tara’s face, who ‘fought’ her off with giggles.
Sally just shook her head, plonked herself back down on the couch with her ice cream, and enjoyed watching 'Cordy!'
Willow looked at Tara and Tara looked at Willow.
Both of their eyes conveyed the same message: you do it.
“Sal?” Tara finally acquiesced, “Can we have a chat?”
Sally was doodling at the kitchen table and her eyes darted back and forth as Willow and Tara sat with her.
“You’re not in trouble,” Willow added quickly.
Sally pushed her papers in front of her and sat back with a resigned look on her face.
As she waited, Willow and Tara exchanged more looks.
“Do you know where babies come from?” Willow eventually blurted.
“You mean when a guy puts his weiner where a woman pees?” Sally’s face contorted unpleasantly, “The boys talk about it in school. It’s disgusting.”
“It’s okay to feel that way,” Tara nodded quickly, “And it’s also okay if you find those feelings…change.”
Sally frowned.
“How?”
“If you start to have feelings for boys, or, or anyone,” Tara replied, trying to keep her face neutral.
Sally scoffed and her shoulder shifted uncomfortably.
“As if.”
“See, Sally, people don’t always do…that…just for…” Willow tried to gesticulate but found her hands doing strange things so immediately pulled them back.
“It’s called sex,” Tara stated, matter-of-fact, “Have you heard of that?”
“Yeah,” Sally replied, looking down uncomfortably.
Willow scratched her own ear awkwardly.
“Boys, they pee out of their um…”
“Penis,” Tara finished, giving Willow a look, who tried not to look grossed out.
“But, but girls they pee out of one hole and have sex — and get their period — out of another,” she tried to carry on from Tara, “You pee from your urethra and the other stuff in your vagina.”
Sally pushed herself away from the table.
“Okay, gross. Why are you telling me this?”
Tara leaned in closer.
“We just want to make sure you have the right information.”
She produced a paper folded in her lap and expanded it to show where she’d drawn some diagrams.
“You need to have a sperm from a man and an egg from a woman to make a baby. And sex is how a lot of people put them together.”
“But there’s also other ways!” Willow added quickly, “Scientific ways to help people do that without having to have sex like that. If people’s parts don’t work or… something like that.”
“Okay…” Sally replied slowly, “So like they make a baby in a lab?”
“Well sorta,” Willow answered honestly, “They put the sperm and egg together in a petri dish and then put it in a woman. Or sometimes they just squirt the—”
“Okay,” Tara interrupted loudly and Willow grimaced, “There are other ways to make a baby. And lots of times, people — adults — have sex because it feels good, not just to make a baby. And sometimes around your age, girls and boys start to feel those feelings for each other.”
“You might want to hold hands or kiss,” Willow suggested.
“And that is totally normal,” Tara emphasized, “But it’s also important to know that you never, ever have to do anything you don’t want to. And that it’s never okay to force anyone else to do something they don’t want to either..”
Willow nodded strongly.
“Everyone owns their own body. No matter what anyone else says or does to tell them otherwise.”
“That’s why you punched that guy, right?” Sally asked, raising her eyebrow at Tara, “He was touching Willow and she didn’t want him to?”
“Yeah she did,” Willow grinned but quickly adopted a serious tone off Tara’s look, “Because it was totally necessary and she was saving my life.”
Sally stopped to think for a moment.
“I think I got it,” she said eventually, nodding surely, “Sucker punch any guy that gets too close.”
“Only if you feel threatened,” Tara answered quickly, “If he doesn’t take no for an answer. Then, yes, protect yourself however you have to.”
Sally shrugged.
“Okay. Can I go back to drawing?”
Willow and Tara shared relieved looks.
“If you have any questions about periods or your body changing in any way—”
“Oh god, what
else is going to happen?” Sally cut Tara off with a groan.
“Well, hair will grow all over,” Tara started and Willow nodded.
“You can get kinda…sweatier? And that can make zits and stuff grow.”
“Great, I’ll be a bleeding pizza face yeti,” Sally replied deadpan.
“You might find you start needing a bra,” Tara suggested.
That seemed to give Sally pause.
“The girls in school are always talking about that. Who has one and stuff.”
“If you want, we could take you shopping for a training bra?” Tara asked.
Sally’s nose scrunched.
“You have to train boobs?”
“It’s to get your body used to wearing one,” Tara explained and looked to Willow for support.
Willow noticed and tried to straighten up.
“Sorry, I’m thinking about training your boobs,” she admitted, unable to help a chuckle as she mocked giving a hand command, “Sit boob-boob, sit.”
She pursed her lips and looked down.
“Sorry.”
Tara could only smile adoringly and reached over to tuck some hair behind Willow’s ear.
“I love you.”
They shared a moment until Sally sighed dramatically and they focused back on the task at hand.
Tara put a hand on Sally’s shoulder.
“We want you to come to us with
any questions — about anything. There is nothing you can’t ask us, okay?”
“Okay,” Sally agreed in a bored tone.
“Yeah?” Willow asked, relief flooding her face, “Great!”
“We talked to your school,” Tara added on, “And you’ll be going to their body education classes even though you’re in a different program from the rest of your class. They happen next year before you finish your grade. And in the meantime, like we said. Come to us with anything. And definitely don’t believe everything you hear from other kids. They don’t always have the full story.”
“Okay,” Sally intoned again and made it very clear she’d had enough of them.
Willow and Tara both nodded and went off to the bedroom.
“How do you think that went?” Tara asked, sitting on the end of the bed.
“I’d give us a solid 6 out of 10,” Willow replied optimistically.
Tara frowned.
“Really?”
Willow’s face faltered and she dropped down beside Tara.
“No,” she said, dropping her head into her hands, “We were all over the place. I feel like I said ‘hole’ way too many times!”
Tara rubbed her palms on her thighs.
“But she seemed like she got what we did manage to say.”
“Yeah, I think so?” Willow looked up, “I
devoured those parenting blogs but when I sat down my mind went blank! My mind never goes blank! It’s usually shouting too much!”
“I know,” Tara sighed, “My mom sounded so wise telling me what to say and I sounded like an idiot.”
“No baby,” Willow comforted softly, cupping Tara’s cheek, “We kept the lines of communication open. That’s the most important thing.”
Tara ducked her head under Willow’s chin and they embraced for a few moments.
“I have some classwork to do,” Tara said when she pulled away, “I have to listen to some notes so I might stay in here. Is that okay?”
Willow kissed Tara’s cheek.
“Yeah, of course. I’ll get started on dinner.”
Tara smiled and rested her forehead on Willow’s.
“You are perfect.”
“Better girlfriend than sex educator,” Willow joked.
“Best girlfriend,” Tara replied, pressing a soft kiss to Willow’s lips, “More like my wifey these days.”
Willow’s eyes brightened and they hugged again.
She left Tara to work and started getting yesterday’s chili ready for tonight.
A while passed and Willow was working on Tara’s booking schedule while it all cooked.
Sally had moved on from drawing to watching TV beside Willow on the couch.
“You know all that stuff we were talking about?” she asked idly, still looking at the screen.
“Yeah?” Willow asked, slightly guarded.
Sally pulled her gaze to Willow.
“I do have a question.”
Willow closed the laptop and gave Sally her full attention.
“Sure, anything.”
“Have you ever had sex?” Sally asked as casually as asking to pass the salt.
Willow turned beet red.
“Oh,” she said, swallowing repeatedly, “Uh, well. Um. You know your sister and I are in a relationship, right?”
“Yeah, duh,” Sally rolled her eyes.
Willow’s teeth clenched.
“So…adults, in relationships…it often involves sex.”
Sally blinked several times.
“Wait,” she said, her eyes showing her slowly putting it together, “You’ve had sex
with my sister?!”
The whisper was made with such disgust that Willow had a brief moment of old shame come over her. Sally’s hand flew to her chest in alarm.
“Do you have a weiner?!”
Willow had to shake her head to bring herself back.
“What? No.”
“Tara has a wiener?!” Sally asked with a dropped jaw.
“No, honey,” Willow exhaled softly, “It’s not just men and women that can have sex. Women and women can too and men and men, it just doesn’t make a baby.”
“Then why are you doing it?!” Sally asked, gagging on nothing.
“Well, remember Tara said sometimes people have sex for fun, not just to make a baby?” Willow tried to keep her tone even, “When you’re in a relationship, sex is a way to feel close and express your love.”
Sally looked shell-shocked for a moment before gasping.
“Have you done it in this apartment?” she asked, jumping off the couch to pace, “Oh my god, oh my god.”
She stared Willow dead in the eye.
“Have you done it while
I’m in the house?”
Willow’s face was all she needed for an answer. She dropped down to the floor and then sprung back up, shaking all of her limbs.
“THAT IS DISGUSTING!”
She marched to the room and slammed the door; the sound reverberating through the apartment.
Willow closed her eyes, only opening when Tara’s voice spoke a moment later.
“…what just happened?”
Willow opened her eyes and saw Tara’s head poking out from the bedroom.
She pushed her fists together.
“She put two and two together that we,” her hands were thrown upward, “You know, do it. Regularly. With her in the apartment.”
Tara leaned against the doorframe with an arched eyebrow.
“That was a little too much information, sweetie.”
Willow just held her hands up again and face-planted the couch. Tara patted her head as she walked by and into Sally’s room.
She decided not to reprimand her for the slammed door given the circumstances.
Sally was curled up on her bed with her pillow over her head. Tara sat alongside her.
“You wanna talk about it?”
Sally screamed into her pillow.
“I don't care, I don't care, I don't care!”
She groaned and lifted her head just enough to be heard.
“I want my brain bleached,” she replied, still muffled through the pillow, before flinging herself up into a sitting position with disgust on her face, “How do you even have sex with no weiners?”
Tara took both of Sally’s hands.
“As you get older, you’ll understand. Right now, you just need to know it’s about connection and feeling close and sometimes, for some people, just because it feels good,” she answered honestly, “And this is why only adults should be doing it. Because there are consequences if you’re not ready or with the wrong person. On your body and your mind and your heart. And why if you see anything in videos or anything like that…it’s not real. It’s not how two people connect.”
Sally folded her arms at her chest.
“Will you stop having sex with Willow?”
Tara shook her head.
“No, I won’t. It’s an important way we express our love.”
“Jeez, you don’t do enough of that already?” Sally groaned, looking away and then back at Tara, “Will you at least stop doing it when I’m in the house.”
Tara tapped Sally’s leg.
“I promise you’ll never know.”
Sally narrowed her eyes.
“How do you know?”
Tara raised an eyebrow.
“Did you know before today?” she asked and Sally released her arms, “Any more questions?”
Sally looked around for a moment before settling her gaze on Tara.
“Did you ever like a boy?”
Tara shook her head.
“No, but I very much liked a girl and those feelings are the same,” she answered and tried to keep her tone light as she asked the next question, “Do you like a boy?”
Sally couldn’t meet Tara’s eye.
“I like him,” she said, shrugging one shoulder slowly, “But I don’t know if I
like him. I never thought about it until…”
Tara nodded slowly.
“Well, it’s okay not to know right now. You can figure it out in time.”
Sally considered it and nodded.
“Yeah, okay.”
Tara grabbed a pillow and held it to her stomach.
“How’s the period going?”
“I didn’t get any cramps today,” Sally said with a smile.
“Good,” Tara smiled back.
Sally adopted a proud look.
“And I changed my pad in school without anyone noticing.”
Tara leaned over to hug her sister.
“That’s great, Sal, well done.”
They parted and Tara cupped Sally’s face and kissed her hairline.
“Do I still get ice cream?” Sally asked with a grin.
“Of course. It’s a civil right,” Tara offered a half-smile.
“I’m considering making it a real one in the government I’m creating,” Sally replied seriously.
“Where there’s ice cream, there’s peace,” Willow said from the doorway, getting the others’ attention, “Sorry, I wasn’t eavesdropping, I just wanted to tell you dinner is ready. And I rented the new Inside-Out movie for us to watch after. Thought it might be fun to watch together.”
Sally jumped off the bed, seemingly over her shock and disgust from before.
“I’m starving!”
She ran past Willow to the table and Tara stood off the bed and came over.
“All good?” Willow asked with a raised eyebrow.
Tara exhaled softly.
“Either everything is all good.”
She smiled softly at Sally’s childlike innocence of using sour cream to make a smile on her chili and all of the changes of the last few days.
“Or it’s all kicking off.”
Willow put an arm around Tara’s waist.
“Sounds like life.”
Tara turned and popped a kiss on Willow’s forehead.
“One I’m so happy to share with you.”
“Can you two hurry up so we can eat?” Sally looked behind in disbelief, “Smooch on your own time.”
“Hey, at least she’s waiting for us now,” Willow murmured and Tara answered with a wink.
They sat at the table as a family and Tara proudly lifted the ladle.
“Let’s eat!”