The men headed to a well-known restaurant. Rudy was concerned about Steve’s anxious demeanor but when questioned, Steve just brushed off his friend with an ‘it’s nothing’ answer.

Immediately upon entering the restaurant Steve ordered a shot of whiskey. Oscar and Rudy stared at him while they ordered their beer. They watched silently as Steve downed the shot and surprised them by ordering a second. They instantly knew something wasn’t right.

“Steve what’s going on?” Oscar asked with utmost concern.

Steve sighed heavily, down his second shot, and played with his empty glass. The warmth of the whiskey began to relax him. He informed his friends of the situation he would never be prepared for.

Rudy was the first to speak, “You mean you haven’t told her anything? She already went through puberty 2, 3 years ago.”

Steve requested the waiter bring another drink, “I know that. She knows the female anatomy and physiology part. They teach them that in school. Of course Cassie helped too. I don’t know if they teach sex education in her school but there are other things, outside of textbooks, that I feel she needs to know about and I want to know what she knows, it would put my mind at ease.” He let out a heavy sigh. “This is what I get for not remarrying.” He tossed back his third shot of amber liquid.

His friends chuckled at his unfortunate dilemma. Oscar tried to provide some support, “Steve you and Jen have never had trouble talking about anything before. This shouldn’t be that bad.” Steve just stared at his former boss who obvious was naive.

If I don’t talk to her now….” His thoughts trailed off.

Steve smirked, the whiskey was taking full affect on his empty stomach, “It’s not the…” He was having trouble even talking to his best friends about the subject. “It’s not…..the ‘mechanics’ I’m worried about discussing with her. It’s just….” His friends leaned forward as his voice got quieter willing to provide any help they could. “It’s just …I keep thinking of all the personal questions she’s going to ask me.”

Rudy questioned, “What questions are you afraid she will ask?”

Steve looked at him like he should already know. “Like how old was I when I…you know.”

“Okay let’s say she does ask that question what will you say?” The doctor thought maybe he could coach Steve through the tough parts.

“The day she was conceived.” Steve said seriously before a grin crossed his face. “I don’t know. I know I can’t lie to her.” He rubbed his face with both hands.

Oscar inquired, “So how old were you? Older than she is?”

Steve looked at his friend, “That’s classified.” He sighed again as their dinners arrived. “I have 24 hours, I’ll figure something out.”

Steve didn’t sleep much that night and was restless on the commercial flight back to California. He unknowingly jinxed himself by thinking it couldn’t get any worse. Cassie and Jen met him at the airport with warm hugs. He was glad to see no makeup on Jen’s face. On the drive to Ojai Steve was given more bad news from Jen sitting in the back seat. It seems when the rest of the boys at school found out the pretty brunette with the large blue eyes was now allowed in the dating pool they went at her like bees to honey, she accepted three more dates for next week.

Cassie glanced at Steve sitting in the front passenger seat. His eyes closed as Jen informed him of the full social calendar ahead. He was remembering his wife on the beach as men just gravitated to her. ‘Why couldn’t we have had a son?’

Arriving at the house Cassie declined the dinner invitation and said her goodbyes. She didn’t want to give Steve an excuse to put off the discussion.

Dinner was relaxed and it seemed like a good time to bring up the subject if Steve could just figure out a way to bring up the sensitive subject. He played with his food while Jen answered his questions about the boys she would be spending time with. His distractibility did not go unnoticed by his teenager.

Jen watched him as he pushed his food around the plate not looking at her. She wondered what could possibly have her father so tense. Then it hit her.

“Dad do you want to have the sex talk now?”

Steve’s eyes were as big as saucers at his daughter’s bluntness. He decided to just go with it. “What do you know about the ‘sex talk’?”

“The parents of all my friends have sat them down for the ‘sex talk’. Seeing how I’ll be dating now and how uncomfortable you look I figured that’s what you were thinking about.” She placed her napkin beside her plate and leaned her elbows on the table.

“Well aren’t you perceptive?” Steve had always been amazed and sometimes annoyed like now, at Jennifer’s uncanny ability to read a person. “As a matter of fact I have been mulling it over in my head.”

Jen thought she would lighten the mood, “So Dad what is it you need to know about sex?”

“Very funny.” He tried desperately to find the right words to use. “Jen you have grown into a very beautiful young woman and it is my job as your father to help you make the right decisions in life.” The brunette just stared at her father as he stood and began pacing the floor. After several minutes of silence he began again, “Jen when you are with a boy you like a lot there will no doubt come a time when you want to kiss him which is fine. But sometimes with teenagers and adults kissing can… can…can lead to…lead to…. other things.”

Jen was fighting hard to keep the smile from spreading across her face. She went along already knowing where this was going, “Lead to what dad?” She said innocently.

Steve sighed heavily, “to more intimate…. things.”

“You mean sex?” Steve turned and looked at her still not at all comfortable with the topic. “Well other things and yes, sex.” He resumed his pacing.

Hating to see her father struggle Jen decided to throw him a life preserver, “Dad, I already know about sex.” She didn’t have to wait long for a reaction. He stopped right in front of her.

“You do? How, your friends? Jen I don’t want you learning about this stuff from your friends. There are a lot of myths out there and I want you know the facts.”

“Dad slow down, we learned about it in school.”

Steve sighed, “School huh?”

She nodded, “Of course I have some questions though.”

“Okay,” Steve was tentative, “Shoot.”

“How do I know I’m old enough?”

Steve tried his best to explain honestly, “Well, everyone is different. I’d prefer you waited until you were married, or at the very least, engaged but I know it doesn’t always happen that way.”

“Did you wait until you were married?”

Right between the eyes, yep that’s where that one hit. “Ah…well…” He exhaled slowly, “No I didn’t but that doesn’t make it right Jen.”

“How old were you?”

“It doesn’t matter, like I said everyone is different. I hope you will come to me if you were seriously considering that step, you know 5 or 6 years from now, so we can discuss it further.”

Jen chuckled at his subtle way of asking her to wait. “What other things would we discuss?”

“Oh things like sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy and ways to avoid it.”

“Okay.”

“There are other important things to consider too Jen.” Their matching blue eyes met. “You only get one first time Jen. You need to keep that in mind. I would hope that you would want to wait for that someone special and be sure, ya know?”

“That makes sense.”

“Another thing is your reputation. I know at your age it’s important to be popular. Young girls who have sex with their boyfriends become quite the topic of conversation at school and it won’t be favorable I can tell you that.” He saw that she was taking in everything he was saying. “One more thing you need to know, you will need to be strong enough and confident enough not to be talked into doing anything you don’t want to do. I know how boys are and when hormones are flying they will say anything to persuade you to go along…especially when all their blood has gone below their belt and they stop thinking clearly.”

Jen laughed, “You mean they lose their mind?”

“No it’s just….” He sighed again trying to be tactful, “Your mother once told me a girl should never believe anything a man says when he’s…when he’s...let’s just say ‘standing at attention.’”

Jen laughed as her father’s face turned red, “And when did she share this information with you?”

“That’s none of your business young lady.”

Jen stood and put her five foot seven frame in front of her father. “Don’t worry Dad I have so much I want to accomplish…college…medical school…I won’t do anything that would jeopardize that.” She slid her arms around his lean waist, “You can trust me.”

He smiled as he savored the rare embrace with his fast growing teen, “I trust you. I just don’t trust the boys. What do you say I teach you some self-defense moves I learned in the Air Force?”

“No Dad I’ll be fine.”

Steve was as nervous as Jen when Friday night finally arrived. As she took a long shower he snuck into her room and took the tight jeans and white blouse she had laid out to wear on her date and replaced them with a turtleneck and baggy sweat pants that his slim daughter would not doubt drown in. He opened the bathroom door a crack and yelled to her, “I bought you a new outfit for your date tonight. I put it on your bed.”

Unsure of his reason she relied hesitantly, “Ah thanks Dad.”

When she entered her room and saw the hideous outfit she laughed. He stopped by her room as she was carefully applying the light blush to her cheeks just like Cassie taught her. “What you don’t like the outfit?” He asked in a hurt tone seeing her wearing the blue jeans and white shirt

“Oh Dad.” She winked at him as he went to answer the doorbell. She quickly finished not wanting to give her father too much time to interrogate her date.

The handsome young man stood in awe of the famous astronaut who stood in the doorway. Steve ushered him in and to Jen’s relief didn’t abuse him too much. Little did she know as he walked her date to the car he whispered that his daughter was his most prized possession and was expected home safely by 10:00 p.m. the tight grip he had on the boys shoulder relayed the importance of his message. The answer came in the form of a nervous, “yes, sir.”

Steve stayed up waiting for his daughter to return. He saw headlights bounce off the living room wall as they drove into the driveway. He had kept the house lights off and thanks to Dr. Wells he didn’t need them. With his bioinc eye he watched from the window as the young man gallantly walked her to the door and asked her permission before kissing her. She nodded her okay.

Steve watched the scene filled with memories of his first awkward kiss. They leaned their heads together and their slightly over-puckered lips touched briefly. As they stepped back they smiled nervously and said goodnight. Steve moved backward into the dark house remembering his first kiss with Jessica. He suddenly felt very lonely.