The Birds and the Bees
"Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the Moon up above and a thing called "Love"-Herb Newman
Higher for Hire-
On a Thursday afternoon Kit Cloudkicker came home from school and paused in front of the door to Higher for Hire and coughed loudly, making a hoarse, hacking sound as he cleared his sore throat. He wasn't feeling well due to a bug that he had picked up at school from a sick kid in class who had accidentally spread his germs throughout the school. He sighed to himself as he thought about how crummy his luck was with him coming down with a cold. At least he had two weeks before school let out so he knew the odds were on his side for him to be well for the start of summer. Summer meant sleeping in, going to baseball games, cargo runs, and best of all: cloudsurfing. This weekend however he and the rest of the Jungle Aces were going to spend Saturday fishing at a little cove that lie along the cliff wall's western rim. He coughed once more and then went inside.
Rebecca hung up the phone after speaking with a pottery factory owner who had called in to request having his goods flown out to Duckburg in three days time. As soon as she hung up the door to the office opened and in walked Kit who carried his knapsack over his left shoulder.
"Hi Miz Cunningham," said the boy in a hoarse voice.
"Hi Kit," Rebecca said while wondering why his voice was sounding different, "How was school?"
"Good," answered the boy in a tone of voice that went up a few octaves.
Rebecca raised her eyebrows at Kit's change in tone.
Kit saw the look on Rebecca's face and felt embarrassed, Great, she heard how sick I sound and now she's going to try to get me to go straight to bed!
"Are you alright Kit?"
"Uh-hum," he grunted. Please don't tell me to go straight to bed it's too early!
"You sure?"
"Uh-hum,"
Rebecca saw how skittish the cub sounded and thought to herself, Why is he trying not to talk? What's wrong with him? She noticed that he looked a little out of it and sat back in wonder, I wonder…he just turned thirteen a few weeks ago and that's right around when boys…Oh my! Of course he doesn't want to talk, he's afraid that people will find out that his voice is changing! Poor boy he must feel embarrassed!
"When is Baloo due back?" Kit asked.
Hmmm his voice sounded normal there but still it's bound to be breaking, "He's due back in about an hour or so but I won't be here, I have to go and pick up Molly from the sitter."
"Oh OK."
Rebecca got up to leave but stopped at the door and looked at the boy who stood there with a miserable expression on his youthful face. It must've just started for him; poor boy needs someone to talk to. An idea crossed her mind, "Kit when Baloo gets back can you have him call me?"
"Yeah sure Miz Cunningham," Kit said and winced as the tone of his voice shifted, Don't have Baloo keep me in bed!
Rebecca gave the cub a warm smile; Something tells me that when he grows up he'll have to fight off all the girls with a stick! "Have a good night…big guy."
As soon as Rebecca left Kit breathed a sigh of relief and said to the empty room, "I need some medicine."
Later in the Afternoon-
Baloo strutted into Higher for Hire with a bag of burgers and fries from Paul's that he had picked up for Kit, Wildcat, and himself. He had swung by Wildcat's living space and gave the starving mechanic his meal and then came in to sit down and eat his with Kit.
"Kit, look what I got," Baloo said cheerily as he waved the bag in the air, "Burgers and fries!"
Upstairs Kit was busy finishing his homework when he heard Baloo arrive. He heard the pilot call out that he had burgers and fries and instantly his stomach began to growl.
"Be right there!" he called out and instantly noticed that his voice was getting worse. Gee I hope Baloo didn't notice that!
The cub was debating not doing as Rebecca asked and tell Baloo to call her. He was afraid that she would have Baloo keep him in bed or worse…give him nasty tasting cough medicine to drink. YUCK!
Downstairs Baloo sat down on Rebecca's chair and propped his feet up on her desk, Bet this would tick her off to no end if she knew I was sitting like this! The bear chuckled at this and took a bite out of his burger. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs and he looked up to see Kit. Although the boy moved like nothing was wrong Baloo couldn't help but notice the odd look on his face. The cub looked nervous about something.
"How was school?" he asked.
"Fine," Kit said quietly.
Baloo sensed something was wrong, "Why so quiet? Have a rough day in class?"
"Nope," said the boy a little louder this time.
"You sound kinda quiet."
"I'm just a little tired is all," said the boy as he sat down on a stool and grabbed a handful of fries.
Baloo watched the cub eat and laughed.
Kit looked at Baloo with a questioning look, "What?" he said through a mouthful of food.
"Nuthin, it just looks like you're not too tired to eat!"
The boy laughed and then said, "I'm never too tired for Paul's!" As he finished his sentence his voice switched from normal to hoarse.
Baloo raised an eyebrow, "Got something stuck in your throat?"
"Ummm yeah, I do," Kit lied, Cripes he heard that!
"OK," he said quietly, Please don't notice I'm getting sick. He was determined not to have the upcoming weekend ruined by lying in bed and missing out on going fishing with his friends.
Friday Morning-
After dropping Molly off at preschool, Rebecca arrived at Higher for Hire and sat down at her desk. She was about to put her purse on the desktop when she noticed an unfolded fast food wrapper that had several small crumbs and a small amount of ketchup on it.
"Baloo!" she said in a loud voice.
Upstairs Baloo winced as he heard his boss call his name in a less than kind voice, What a way to start my day! "Yes?" He called down as he went out the room and downstairs.
"We're you eating on my desk?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I'm just wondering who the slob was that didn't clean up after himself," Rebecca said icily.
Baloo smiled sheepishly, "That's a good question."
"One to which I already know the answer."
The gig is up! "Let me get that outta yer way."
Rebecca watched as the pilot picked up his trash and tossed it into the wastebasket, "Thank you."
"No problem."
"Oh by the way, why didn't you call me last night?"
"Why would I do that?"
"To talk about Kit."
"Talk about him how," Baloo asked. He had no idea what his boss was getting at.
Wait a minute, I bet Kit didn't even tell him to call me, "I asked Kit to tell you to call me."
"He never said anything about that."
"He already left for school didn't he?"
"About 20 minutes before you showed up."
"Notice anything unusual about him lately?"
"Like what?"
"Think Baloo," Rebecca said impatiently.
"Well hmmm let's see…" Baloo said as he thought hard, "He said he was tired yesterday afternoon, but he ate like normal so I don't think he's sick or anything."
"Notice his voice?" She asked with a smile.
"Well he was kinda quiet," Baloo said and then remembered something else, "He sounded a little hoarse but it also sounded like he was trying to hide sounding hoarse."
"You know he's a teenager now, he's not a little boy."
"Yeah so?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes and smiled again, "What happens when boys become teenagers Baloo?"
"Uh they start junior high?"
Rebecca sensed that it was time to stop beating around the bush, "Baloo I'm pretty sure that Kit's voice is breaking which means he's, you know," she paused and twirled her fingers above her head, "Growing up."
Rebecca's words finally registered after a few seconds, "Whoa, you mean you think he's…well you know…he's…uh..."
"Starting puberty Baloo," she said with a gentle smile, "He's thirteen now and he's no longer a little boy, he's on his way to being a man."
"Oh," Baloo said quietly not knowing what to do.
"He must've noticed that I noticed that his voice was cracking and he seemed pretty embarrassed about it, but that's normal I guess. I remember my older brother Ryan acting the same way when he was going through it," Rebecca said referring to her brother who was two years her senior and currently a factory manager in ST. Canard.
"I didn't realize that he was growing up so fast," Baloo said with a glum tone in his voice.
Rebecca heard the glumness in his voice and stood next to him, "Don't be a Gloomy Gus Baloo, this is completely natural for a person. Now what you need to do is sit and talk with him."
"About what…his voice changing?"
"Yes…and more. Its time someone told him about the birds and the bees."
Baloo remembered that talk, he had felt so embarrassed when his father had sat him down one spring day and laid out the facts of life for him. It wasn't exactly easy for his father either and there were a lot of awkward pauses during the whole talk.
"You want me to talk to Kit?"
"Well you are his guardian so it is your responsibility," she laughed obviously enjoying the apparent discomfort that Baloo was showing, "Besides, I'm pretty certain that Kit would rather hear it from you instead of me."
"Shouldn't he learn that in school?"
"A boy should learn it from his father…and you're the closest thing to a father that he has."
"Its' going to be weird."
"Look at it this way Baloo; you'll be helping to nurture a good boy into becoming a good man."
She did have a point; "OK, I'll see about talking to him when he gets back from school."
"Thatta boy," Rebecca said and patted Baloo on the shoulder.
Oh boy how am I gonna explain this to him?
Cape Suzette Elementary School-
"You sound like your comin down with something Kit," said Bert as he watched Kit cough.
"I hope not," said the cub, "I don't want to be stuck in bed all weekend."
"That wouldn't be good," said Sam.
"Yeah that means no fishing," added Felix.
"I think I'm going to go home and try to sleep it off and then hopefully I'll feel better," said Kit who then coughed again.
"Keep your germs to yourself Kit," chided Ernie who then laughed.
"Maybe he should cough on you Ernie," said Bert.
"You know something guys," said Sam, "He's not the only one who has caught a cold. It's been going around and we're probably going to get it next."
"Thanks for being the bearer of good news Sam," laughed Felix.
"Well Kit, I guess this rules you out for going to the Malt Shop after class," said Ernie.
"Have a caramel shake for me OK?" said Kit.
"OK Kit, but make sure you feel better for tomorrow."
"I'll try."
Higher for Hire-
Baloo nervously looked at the clock: it was almost 2:30; Kit would be home anytime. He sighed and tried to figure the best way for him to explain growing up to Kit. His worry was evident.
"Worried about how to talk to him?" asked Rebecca.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Yes," she laughed.
"I just don't want him to feel embarrassed."
"I know Baloo but it's normal to be embarrassed by this type of thing."
"Any advice?"
"Just relax and go with the flow," Rebecca said and then looked out the window and saw that Kit was about to come in, "Showtime Baloo."
"Hi, Kit said as he walked in.
"Hi Kit, how was school?" Rebecca asked.
"Fine," he said and headed up the stairs to his room, Please don't notice I'm getting sick!
"Where you going Kit?" asked Baloo.
"Got homework," said the boy who's voice pitched shifted.
Baloo shot a glance to Rebecca who smiled and said, "I'm going to go pick up Molly and do a little grocery shopping and then go home. Now would be a good time for you two to have a little 'talk'."
Baloo knew what she meant by 'talk'. He nodded and then headed upstairs.
Kit lay on his bed and hoped that he would feel better in the morning. He was worried that Baloo and Rebecca had noticed his sore sounding voice and would want to confine him to bed for the weekend and that just wouldn't do.
"Hey Lil Britches," Baloo said as he poked his head in the room that they both shared, "Anything on your mind?"
Kit noticed that Baloo's question seemed a little hesitant, "Not really," he lied.
"Oh OK. I was just wondering and all of that you know."
"OK."
Baloo came in and sat on his bed and looked at the cub who lay on his back, "Cause you know if there's ever anything you want to talk about then…well you can always talk to me."
"OK," said Kit who wondered what Baloo was getting at. I hope he doesn't notice that I'm coming down with a cold.
Kit coughed a little but Baloo didn't seem to pay it much attention.
"You know when I was your age I had a lot on my mind."
"OK."
"I remember when my dad talked to me about…things."
"OK."
"Stop saying OK," Baloo said a little too quickly.
"OK."
"Look Kit, I was wanting to uh, uh well you know…wanted to uh talk to you."
"What about?"
"Well its complicated you see…"
"Why do you want you to talk to me about something complicated?" Kit asked and squeezed his eyes shut as his voice cracked noticeably enough to gain Baloo's attention, Aw Cripes!
"That," Baloo said picking up on Kit's voice, "I wanted to talk about your voice."
Noooo! Now he's gonna make me stay in bed all weekend! "What about my voice?"
Baloo sighed heavily and thought about how his father had spoken to him when he gave Baloo the 'talk', here goes…"Well uh you ever heard about the birds and the bees?"
Kit looked at Baloo with a clueless expression, "What about them?"
"Kit…there's somethings that, well every boy needs to know," Heaven help me, this is embarrassing!
Driving through Downtown-
Rebecca drove down 6th Avenue on her way to pick Molly up from school. As she negotiated traffic her thoughts turned to Baloo and Kit. Right about now the two would be engaged in the talk that every father and son dreaded; the talk about becoming a man. Even though the pair wasn't actually father and son, they exhibited all the characteristics of a dad and his boy. She smiled at the thought of how perfectly they fit one another. One was a good-hearted, down to earth man who needed someone to be his voice of reason while the other was a young, wide-eyed boy who needed a father-figure to guide him toward adulthood. All in all they made the perfect match…They're a genuine father and son if I ever seen one! She smiled and continued on her way.
Higher for Hire-
Kit looked at Baloo and tried to figure out why his friend was so nervous and wanting to talk about birds and bees. It made no sense to him.
"So what do I have to know?" he asked Baloo.
OK now how am I going to do this? What was that Rebecca said? Oh yeah, relax and go with the flow…easy for her to say she doesn't have to be the one doing the talking!
Baloo looked at Kit and saw that the boy had closed his eyes, "You awake?"
Kit was feeling the fatigue catch up with him and hoped that he'd be able to sleep off the cold but his attempt at sleep was being interrupted by Baloo who asked if he was awake. He opened his eyes and said, "I'm awake."
"OK cause there's something I need to talk to you about."
"Birds and bees?"
"Yeah that's it."
"What about them?"
"Well when a person says 'birds and bees' they don't mean the actual animals or insects…they mean…well what do you think they mean?"
Kit frowned and then said, "Dunno."
"Kit your thirteen now and well you're a teenager and well you're becoming a man so I thought that we could…you now talk about, well uh the stuff that's going to be happening to you as you become a man."
Kit's eyes bulged in his head, What? The cub couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Whoa wait a minute…"
Baloo cut him off, "Now I know that this is kinda embarrassing but I want you to know that what's happening to you is normal but its stuff that you need to hear."
Embarrassed was right: the cub now knew what this whole 'birds and bees' thing entailed and was amazed that he didn't realize what Baloo was getting at. He remembered how, a couple of months back, Felix had mentioned that his father had given him a father/son talk about becoming a man. The hippo had said that he was 'completely embarrassed' by the situation and now here he was in the same situation that his friend had been in.
"Baloo…I really don't think-"
Baloo cut him off again, "It's not a comfortable thing to talk about but it's something you need to hear."
Kit didn't think there was any way out of this one, "Oh alright," he said miserably.
Baloo took a deep breath and said, "When a boy gets to be a certain age…like thirteen he…well things start happening to him and well these are important things…you'll start to have growing pains cause your bones are growing…"
Growing pains is right! Thought the cub, "OK."
"And you'll get taller cause of it. Then you'll fill out too so you'll get heavier than you are now…and more muscular and you'll sound different too," Baloo paused and took another deep breath before he continued, "You'll also start to notice girls in 'other' ways…Do you think about them now? You know…uh like being around them?" Baloo asked nervously.
"URGH!"
Baloo ignored the 'URGH' and went on, "You might think a girl as being neat to be around," he said and added quietly, "You know…like a girlfriend and holding hands and all that stuff."
Oh my God! Kit thought and grabbed his pillow and covered his face with it, "URGH!"
Baloo stood up and looked at the boy who lie there with his pillow hiding his face, "Hey you're not the only one who's feeling embarrassed by this, you think this is easy for me?"
Kit spoke from underneath his pillow: "It's not easy for you?" came his muffled reply.
"I remember when my dad told me this stuff…it made me feel really embarrassed."
The cub pulled his pillow down toward his chest to reveal his face, "Then why do you want to talk to me about this stuff?"
"Cause every boy needs to know about this stuff to help him in growing up…besides its better to here it at home then in school or from your friends."
Kit though about it: it made sense and besides he could only imagine all of the facts that the Jungle Aces would come up with about growing up.
"I don't feel any different since I had my birthday," Kit said.
"Well that doesn't mean anything…it can happen anytime as a teenager…same thing with girls…you think about them?" said Baloo a little to cautiously, "I mean I remember a month or so ago when we was over in Pango Pango and you helped out that girl who's uncle was a criminal."
Kit thought back to that: he and Baloo were in Pango Pango on a routine cargo run and he had gone strolling about town and saw a girl around his age. Interested, he had walked up to her, introduced himself, and had given her a flower. He was surprised at his actions and did actually find the girl to be cute. Incidentally he and Baloo had had to tangle with her criminal uncle and they left shortly thereafter. However the bottom line was that he had found the girl to be attractive but he hadn't really thought of her in that way at the time. Something had just compelled him to go and talk to her. Had that been the start? He thought, maybe Baloo's right and I am starting to grow up…it started and I didn't even realize it…He then coughed loudly.
"Easy Kit, no need to get sick from hearing about this stuff," said Baloo with a chuckle, "Puberty is serious but it doesn't have to be bad."
"That word sounds so stupid," said Kit who also thought that the word sounded too weird, "I mean can't they just call it something else? Like getting older or something?"
Baloo laughed, "It is what it is…but I guess now we better talk about the other stuff."
"What other stuff?" the boy asked nervously.
"Well you know…about when two people…uh well when two people really like each other they…well you know they uh…" Oh boy! "They get uh… close and then they…well you see it has to do with about where babies come from."
Kit covered his face with his pillow.
43 Minutes Later-
Kit and Baloo sat on their respective beds facing one another and were both thankful that the 'Birds and the Bees' discussion was over. It had been a downright awkward talk and now Kit knew exactly how Felix had felt when his dad had given him the talk. The cub looked at Baloo and saw that the pilot was looking emotionally spent. A long silence had ensued between the two and finally it was Baloo who spoke.
"OK, let's never have this talk again."
"Amen!" said Kit who was more than relieved, "Let's pretend this conversation never happened."
Baloo smiled and then said, "So how about some dinner?"
"Sounds great!"
Saturday Morning-
Kit lay in bed with the thermometer in his mouth and felt miserable. Baloo pulled the device out and looked at it.
"101 degrees," said Baloo, "Good thing I kept you in bed cause you wouldn't be any help catching fish with your friends."
"Just my luck," said the cub in a morose voice. A second later he stared in with his hacking cough and then spoke in his crackly voice, "Hey Baloo, why'd you decide to talk to me yesterday, you know about the growing up stuff."
Baloo said a little too quickly, "Rebecca asked me to."
"What!"
"Uh she said she noticed that your voice was changing and sounding different and she said I should talk to you about growing up."
Despite feeling under the weather the cub began to laugh, "My voice isn't changing Baloo…It just sounded different cause I have a cough and cold and was trying not to let you know!"
"What? Why'd ya do that?"
"I didn't want you or Miz Cunningham to make me stay in bed instead of going fishing...lot of good it did thought!"
Baloo began to laugh, "You mean this whole growing up thing is a false alarm?"
"Yup," giggled the cub.
Baloo broke out into laughter, "You had me scared Lil Britches, I thought you were growing up!"
"Not that fast Papa Bear," said the cub who realized that as he got older he was in fact growing up, but as of yet he hadn't suffered the affects of growing up.
Baloo patted his navigator on the head, "Aw even when you grow up you'll still be my Lil Britches!"
Kit smiled at his Papa Bear and was glad that everything had been cleared up, "Thanks Papa Bear!"
Monday Morning-
Rebecca walked into the office and right up to Baloo.
"So…how did it go?" she asked.
Baloo smiled at her and said, "It went."
A Week Later-
Kit had finally gotten completely over his cold a week and a half ago and was in fine shape as was Sam who had come down with a cold a few days after he had. He now walked up to his usual table in the cafeteria and sat down next to his friends.
"Heya Kit, up for some fishing this weekend?" asked Bert.
"Yeah you missed out last time," said Ernie.
"Well I won't this time guys," said Kit, "I'm back to 100 percent!" As soon as he started to say 'percent' he voice pitch shifted into a squeakily high note.
As one the Jungle Aces turned and stared at their friend with wide eyes and saw that Kit had a wide-eyed and surprised expression on his face.
Felix began to laugh as he realized what Kit was beginning to go through. Sam giggled, Bert shook his head and Ernie gave Kit a light sock on the arm.
"Nice voice!" said the hyena with a laugh.
Kit knew what had just happened to him, It's started! He thought to himself and then said aloud, "Oh Great!"