This was bound to happen sooner or later


Awkward would be an understatement.

Father and son sat at the kitchen table in silence, tails twitching without making a sound.

Striker cleared his throat for the hundredth time in an hour.

Finally, Jake spoke. "What is this about, dad? Am I in trouble or...?"

"No, no, it ain't nothin' like that, kiddo." Striker ran a hand through his hair, sighing. Fuck, why is this so hard?! He'd rehearsed with Bombproof, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"Then what is it?"

Striker took a deep breath. Screw this. he's just gonna spill it out and see what happens.

"Jake, now that ye're ten, it's 'about time we have a man-to-man conversation."

"Please don't tell me ye're gonna tell me how babies are made."

Striker blinked. "How did ya...?"

Jake felt a shiver down his spine. "I might have accidentally seen one of Blitz's recordings of Moxxie and Millie doing... it," he whispered, rubbing his forearms and preparing himself for a big scolding.

Surprisingly, it never came. Instead, Striker merely rubbed his temple and muttered something.

"W-Well, yeah. That is how ye make babies... But there's more to that which we'll get into later. Right now, I'd like to talk about ye, Jake. Ye know what... puberty is, right?"

"Ye mean when kids have pimples and grow hair in... certain parts?"

"That's one way to look at it, yes. Those... changes occur because yer body is changing. In other words..." A sigh. "Ye're growin' up, my boy."

"Ye're sayin' I'm gettin' into puberty?"

"Not right now precisely, but it should be comin' in sooner than ye think and I wouldn't like ya to freak out when yer voice suddenly becomes deeper or ye wake up in the mornin' and realize yer dick is bigger."

"Dad!"

Striker chuckled. "What? That's the word for it."

"Does that mean I can see yer porno magazines now?"

The cowboy was silent for a moment. Then shrugged. "I guess I could let ya take a peek, if only to properly explain the intimate parts." He narrowed his eyes. "But no more than that till yer older, understood?"

Jake laughed. "Crystal clear, dad."