It was a Friday morning and I was preparing breakfast, or at least trying to, as I scraped the bottom of the pan in an effort to save what was left of the eggs when I heard Brady thump down the stairs.

"Morning Bee!", I said while setting a pitcher of orange juice on the table, "Breakfast will be ready in a couple of minutes and there are tea and juice already on the table."

"Thanks, Dad.", came a mumbled response, as I finally turned off the stove, deciding that maybe it would be better if the two of us got our breakfast outside from now on.

I could feel Brady's eyes burning holes in the back of my head so I turned around to see the boy still standing at the doorway, fidgeting with his hands and chewing on his bottom lip.

"Okay, spit it out. Did you do something? Am I going to get another call from the school?", I asked immediately, already imagining myself back in the principal's office, the last place I wanted to visit again since the man was absolutely dreadful.

"Please tell me that you haven't painted graffiti on the school building again. I know that it looks better that way but the principal did not agree with that statement the last time."

"No, dad. I gave up trying to make that place prettier after last time. It's just not worth it when they don't appreciate your hard work.", Bee said with a small pout forming on his face making me chuckle despite myself.

"So what is it then? Because I can tell there is something on your mind."

Brady looked down at the question, his cheeks burning up and it made me all the more curious since this was very unusual behavior for my boy.

"I sort of have a date tonight.", he said after a few moments, making me freeze with my cup of tea hanging half-way up to my mouth.

Oh. I did not see that one coming.

Is it already time for that?

Looking at him I suddenly saw a young man standing in front of me, instead of the boy he seems to have been just yesterday. Brady had been my baby for so long that I had somehow missed him becoming a man.

"Okay.", I said for a lack of a better word, my mind racing away at what I could possibly say to him, as I tried to remember if I had ever had a similar conversation with my dad.

"Are you excited or nervous?", I asked him in the end, figuring that it was a safe one, at which the boy nodded slowly.

"A little. It's just that... this... this is my first date and I really don't want to mess it up. What if she doesn't like me or thinks that I am boring? Or... Oh my God! What if we have nothing to talk about, or she thinks that I am a bad kisser!?", he started babbling and I could already see him working himself up into a state so I held up my hands and shushed him.

"Hey, hey! Wait a second. Calm down and come sit here."

Brady's mouth snapped shut before he dragged himself to the table and sat down with a huff as I joined him, suddenly fighting off a strong sense of déjà vu, as I remembered having a similar conversation but not with my dad; with him.

Had I looked and sounded like this when I had asked Jake for help that day so long ago?

If so, I now totally understood why Jake's first reaction was to laugh since I myself wanted to do the same thing but it would be a very bad parental move, and even I realized it.

"I want you to breathe and listen to me. I know that it is scary to go out for the first time and I know that you think that it will be a disaster, but it won't. If you just relax and act like you usually do then everything will be fine. And for the record, if she didn't like you than she wouldn't have agreed to this date in the first place, right?"

"I guess.", Bee mumbled, but I could already see that he was starting to feel better, as one side of his mouth quirked up just a little.

"And if it doesn't go well then that's okay too. You are only fourteen, Bee, believe me when I say that there will be a lot more dates in your future."

"Thanks, Dad.", he said after a few moments and to my surprise hugged me tightly, something he rarely ever did anymore, so I took my chance and hugged him back, enjoying it for as long as it lasted.