He ran his hand over the words for a second and then closed the notebook and put his books in his backpack for the next day.

He turned when there was a knock on his door and he called out for whoever it was to enter.

Phillip poked his head into his son’s room and smiled casually.

“Hi dad, what’s up?” Max asked unsuspectingly.

“Well Max, it’s that time I guess.” Phillip started as came into the room with his briefcase in hand.

Max raised an eyebrow at the briefcase as his father placed it on Max’s bed and he sat down next to it.

Max looked from the briefcase to his dad and just stared at him. “Time for what?” he asked curiously.

Phillip cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “Time son, for the ‘father - son’ talk.” he finally just said.

Max’s eyes widened and he turned three a little pale. Oh God no! He thought.

“Dad, I read up on this last year at the library, so it’s okay.” he tried to get out of this.

“Oh. Well, that’s good. But I want to make sure you know what’s really important, not just the very basic stuff.” Phillip said taken back at the fact that his son had looked up this information on his own already, but pleased at the boy’s initiative.

“I guess the first thing I have to ask you is...when you were reading how a young man...changes, did you notice if your biological make up was any different?” Phillip asked holding his breath. He didn’t know what he would do if Max was totally different. He knew Max had the same equipment, and no other outward differences seemed obvious, but this was about things he wouldn’t know unless he asked.

Max knew what his father meant cause he too had wondered if he was developing normally like a human, and had been very relieved to find in his readings that he was reacting just like any normal boy his age.

“Yeah. Yeah...ah... it’s the same... from what I read.” Max stammered looking everywhere but at his dad.

Phillip let out a relieved breath and nodded. “Good. That’s good.” he said and now went into logical mode. The rest was easy for Phillip the lawyer as he attacked it as he would any set of facts.

“Well then, we’ll start with the basics and go from there. I want to make sure that what you read was everything that you’ll need to know.” Phillip began as if he was giving a lecture.

Max swallowed in anticipation and his body tensed in dread.

“First, Max, as your body starts to grow and change, your voice will too. At first it will be high pitched and crack a bit, and then eventually it will get lower. And then there’s the body hair that you’ll find that will pop out of unlikely places.” Phillip continued and gave a list of those unlikely places.

Max just waited. He knew this stuff and was relieved to realize that so far, it wasn’t such a bad talk.

“And then there are the urges. I’m sure you’ve already experienced certain urges as your body has gone through the normal changes of growing. I wanted you to know that your urges are normal and it is very natural for your body to be reacting to certain stimuli.” He explained casually, warming up to the lecture he had prepared.

“Also, I’m sure you’ve been experiencing erections for years now son, but now some different things will begin to happen along with the normal hardening of your penis. It won’t just get hard now; a white fluid will start to need to be released from your penis when you’re hard. Of course you might have notice that happening already, have you?” Phillip Evans asked as he would any class he was lecturing.

He had been looking through some notes as he’d read and now he looked over at his very quiet son with curiosity.

He became alarmed as he noticed his son was practically purple in the face, looked like he was choking, and sat with his mouth hanging open in shock. “Max?” Phillip finally realized how totally embarrassing this was for his son.

“Son all of this is very normal and natural and you should not be ashamed or embarrassed about any of this. It’s part of nature and everyone goes through it.” Phillip tried to ease his son’s embarrassment. He had learned that if he was just straightforward with the facts, it would ease the tension of the subject matter. It had worked when his own dad had talked to him.

Max closed his mouth and nodded, trying to look less shocked. He took it back, This was going to be BAD!

“Well, as you’re urges increase, you will want or need to relieve them. Your body will naturally want to find that relief with a...woman, but you shouldn’t give in to those urges until you are much much older or married even. When you’ve found the one and only girl you want to spend the rest of your life with.”

Max’s mind immediately flashed to Liz. That much he had no problem knowing.

“But until you are much older or married even, you should not be irresponsible and have sex with a woman even if she wants it. And they will want it too, as they grow older. Their bodies too are changing and getting ready for the whole process of making babies. And speaking of which, I want to make sure we’re on the same page regarding exactly what you know about making babies.” Phillip said and opened his briefcase and produced a book with a smile on his face.

Max almost choked when he realized he was going to have to look at a book with PICTUES of how people had sex! He thought he would burst into flames if his face got any redder.

Then the book was in his face and he was staring at a drawing of a man and woman fully-grown and naked, facing each.

In the next picture down, it showed the man with an erection, and Max made a muffled choking sound as he could only stare at the naked woman.

He took in the soft rounded breasts and the hair below on the female and the curves as well. He immediately imagined Liz looking like this someday and to make this whole situation even more of a nightmare, he felt his own body reacting the same was as the man in the picture. Max wished he could just crawl in a hole and die.

“Now here is how your body will react to a woman’s body, which is very normal, and then on the next page, we have the actual act that will make babies.” Phillip went on in lecture mode.

“This is what you’ve read about making babies isn’t it?” Phillip asked as the next page showed the couple performing the act in the drawing.

Max could only make a gurgled sound and nod. His face was beet red.

“Now you don’t want to do this until you’re married son. Not only can you make a baby this way, but you can get diseases and get very sick or die if you aren’t responsible and take care.”

Max pushed the embarrassment aside at the last words and swallowed, his curiosity caught. “Diseases?” he asked hoarsely.

Phillip, pleased that his son now seemed to be asking questions, nodded and continued. “Yes. You’ve heard of AIDS haven’t you?”

Max’s eyes widened and he nodded. THAT was how you got AIDS?! “So, everyone who...who does...this...will get AIDS?” Max asked in confusion and dread. Did that mean his parents were dying? That all people who did this were going to die? Liz was going to die if he married her!?

“No. Not at all! But when a man and woman join their bodies there is the potential for diseases to occur. That is why you should have yourself and the woman you finally have sex with checked and the less partners you are with the less chance you have of getting infected with the several different diseases there are.” Phillip reassured Max and then pulled out another book that had pictures of some of the most common Venereal diseases.

Max swallowed and thought he was going to be sick. Boy if these didn’t keep a guy from wanting sex he didn’t know what else would.

“Now you might be saying to yourself that you don’t want to ever have sex, but believe me son, when your body takes over, you won’t even be able to think of anything else but what it wants and needs. So you just have to remind yourself of the consequences of acting on these impulses. You wouldn’t want to get a girl pregnant when you’re both too young to take care of it and you won’t want to give her or yourself diseases by being irresponsible.”

Max swallowed and nodded. His concern for Liz overrode his embarrassment, and he listened more intently. He wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything to hurt Liz. Ever.

“I won’t do that. I won’t hurt the girl I love. I don’t HAVE to do that do I? He asked.

Phillip’s eyes widened as he realized that he had definitely put the fear of consequences in his son’s head. But he also wanted him to know it was natural and going to happen.

“Max, having sex, or rather making love with the woman you love is very natural and wonderful. You will VERY MUCH want that someday. And you should want to love this woman you chose. But you just have to realize that your body will want it long before you are old enough or responsible enough to do it.”

Now a woman also goes through changes. Her body will start to ready itself for making these babies by what is known as her getting her period.” Phillip went on when he realized Max was slowly digesting all of this.

Max’s eyes widened in curiosity. A period? What the heck did that mean? What was going to happen to Liz? He couldn’t help but be curious and concerned.

“I have a pamphlet for you to read on woman’s periods and cycles and why she has them and at what ages she will start this cycle, and I’ll let you read that afterwards. But the main thing is, once she starts this cycle, she can then be capable of producing a baby with any male she has sex with. And you don’t want to bring a baby into this world when you’re too young to be responsible for it right?” his father asked.

Max nodded. A baby! He didn’t want to think about a baby that screamed and needed changing and stuff.

“Now a woman will also start to develop on top, as you’ve noticed older woman have breasts that younger girls don’t have as yet. That starts to develop around the time your own body is changing and it will be very natural for you to notice it and be attracted to it. You’ll get sweaty palms and those urges quite often while you yourself are changing. You will also experience yourself having dreams about girls that will lead to your erection and the release of the white fluid we discussed. As a matter of fact, you will probably spend a lot of your time uncomfortably fighting these urges at the most unwanted times, but this too is all very natural. As your body is growing, it seems to have a mind of its own and you won’t have much control over when it decides to betray you.” Phillip continued.

Max shifted in his seat, his face becoming red again. So his dream of Liz had been normal. He’d felt weird after it and all he’d done in the dream was kiss her and look at her naked.

“Which brings me to my next point. Although you will want to act on these urges with a woman, you shouldn’t for many more years to come. But, you do need to release this sexual tension and there are other ways of doing this.” Phillip reached for another book.

Max jumped out of his chair. He had read about this too and did not want to talk about this in detail with his dad. “I’ve read about that dad, we don’t need to go over that, Please.” He said hoarsely and with begging eyes.

Phillip looked up at his son who looked ready to bolt and took pity. He nodded. “Alright, I’ll just leave this book with you, and you let me know if you have any questions. But just know that this is all normal and what you should do to relieve that sexual pressure you’ll get quite often while growing.” Phillip stressed.

Max choked out a reply and nodded, then sat down again in relief. They must be done now he sighed.

“And lastly,” Phillip began and reached back into his briefcase to produce two more objects.

Max just stared at the objects in his father’s hand and was thoroughly confused. What the heck did a cucumber have anything to do with this? And what was the little package in his father’s other hand.

“When you do finally have sex, hopefully it will be after you are married, but if you don’t wait until then, you should ALWAYS take precautions and protect yourself so that you don’t give the girl you love a baby or either one of you any of those diseases.”

Max was totally baffled and Phillip saw this. He continued calmly. “You will protect your body where it joins with the woman. You will wear what is called a contraceptive or rubber is the more common name for it.”

Max frowned. He still didn’t know what the cucumber was for, but he tried to understand what his father had just said. “So how do people have babies if they are protecting themselves?”

“Well when you and your wife are ready to have a baby, then you don’t wear it. And if the two of you have not had a lot of partners and unprotected sex, you should both be clean and not have to worry about diseases. Not everyone who makes love is going to get a disease son, it only can happen if you sleep with too many different people. But if you and your wife have both been tested and hopefully neither of you have slept around previously, you shouldn’t have to worry about diseases when you have unprotected sex.” Phillip explained and then began to open the foil package.

“Now, this is how you would go about protecting yourself. It’s a good idea to know where to buy this protection and what to do with it exactly.” He began.

When Max realized what the package contained, and what his father had just said he choked and turned three shades of beet red. OH GOD! Not his mother’s vegetables!

“Now we will assume this is the man’s body and it’s ready and needs to be protected. Here is what the protection can look like and this is how you use it.” He began to demonstrate the process for his son. “I’ll actually leave you with a few of these just so you know what they look like and in case you ever, God forbid, need them before you’re married.” Phillip said trying to optimistically hope that Max would wait until he was married, but also trying to be very realistic as well.

Max’s mouth dropped open and he couldn’t take anymore. His mother’s vegetable being discussed with sex was just too much.

When Phillip looked up finally, he realized that his son had had all he could take. He sighed knowing this hadn’t been easy, but he felt he had covered the basics and then some. He felt for his son and finished the lecture at this point. He calmly put away the cucumber and then left the condoms and some of the reading material on his son’s bed.

“You can read over the rest of this and let me know if you have any questions okay? I know this wasn’t easy Max, but if you are going to become a man, you have to learn what that means and what the consequences of acting like one entails?” Phillip finished.

Max could only nod, beyond relieved that this talk was finally over. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to look at another cucumber as long as he lived without dying of shear embarrassment.

As Phillip began to open the door, he saw his wife ready to knock. Max jerked upright, his face turning all different shades of purple and red again.

“Are you guys done? I wanted to let you know that dinner is ready.” Diane Evans smiled and gave her totally embarrassed son an understanding look filled with pride and love.

“Good, I’m starved. What are we having?” Phillip smiled relieved himself to have the lecture done and thinking it had gone well.

“I’m trying out a cucumber casserole I read about. Which is why I’ve had so many of those in the fridge lately.” Diane smiled and then stopped in alarm as Max made a choking sound and bolted for the bathroom.

“Max?!” Diane asked with concern and then turned to her husband who actually looked a little ill himself. “Phillip?” she asked.

Phillip couldn’t bring himself to explain so he just opened his briefcase and showed his wife the contents side by side.