Worf sat in his chair as rigid as a block of Klingon cement trapped in a stasis field. Worf knew he would half to have this talk someday with Alexander. Every young teenager goes through it and he wished that as a young teen he would have had a adult Klingon to talk to him about it. His human mom and dad were supportive but as humans they could never fully understand what it all means The doors to their quarters opened and Alexander walked in with Toras a young beautiful Bolian teenage female that Alexander was very close with. Alexander would get shy when Worf asked if he liked her more than as a friend but Worf suspected it was true. They spent so much time on the holodeck and at the gym playing parisis squares it seemed ovious to Worf. Granted Worf didn't know much about teenagers or even like them but he did know his son. "Alexander we need to have a talk. Perhaps you could ask Toras to return tommorow. " Before giving her a chance to answer he turned to Toras "If you don't mind I would like to talk to Alexander in private. It's kind of important and private." Alexander basically rolled his eyes but Toras not one to not get a hint smiled and said Of course Mr Worf. I understand" she then smiled at Alexander as she left the room 'See you Tommorow, Bubbles" Worf didn't know what "Bubbles" meant but Alexander laughed "See you then." and waved buy to her as she left the quarters. Soon as she left, Alexander let out a exhausted grunt "Father why did you do that?" was all he could think to say as he plumpted his butt down on the quarters one and only couch. Worf annoyed at his annoyance pushed those thoughts out of his mind. "As you know your are becoming a adult and more and more of a Klingon Warrior. That means someone who fights with honor on the battlefield but it also means the other battlefield known as Klingon Love. I feel it is my duty to tell you what that exactly means. The mother is suppose to normally be part of this but we can only hope K'hyler is watching down on us from Blood Mountain in Stova-Kor with joy that this day has come." Alexander was very cool about the whole thing. "Dad I know all about the reading of Klingon poetry and the fighting and throwing of large objects." he continued 'The holodeck has some very informative programs." Worf paused and looked out the window "Alexander those programs and those mating rituals are only part of the process. A process we usually don't tell outsiders about and you will not find this info on any holodeck program." Worf then turned to him. "DO you know how we got our ridges?" Alexander know fully interested just shook his head, no. "Well many years ago a vile human disease plagued the empire and it stripped many Klingons of our ridges. We eventually found a cure but one of the prices is all males and females became sterile. They needed to find a answer and eventually they did. Alexander the answer was that the cure to make it possible for sex meant we would never get our ridges back. I'm afraid we never did get our ridges back. " Worf walked over to a desk and pulled out a dermal re-generator and scanned it over his ridges. After a few seconds Worf put the tool down and used both hands to remove his ridges. Alexander looked at his dad, mouth wide open in shock at looking at his ridgeless father. Worf then continued ."Alexander you two have fake Ridges. All Klingon parents apply them to their newborns after giving birth. We as a culture decided that the truth is only suppose to be known once one becomes at the age of maturation. I hope you understand why we did this. If you like this girl and if you ever do have sex you should both know and understand what we Klingons went through to be able to get to place were our species could do that, again. Plus you owe it to her to let her know the truth as well." Alexander didn't know what to feel . Was it shock or anger or surprise or even respect. Maybe it was all of that but one thing was sure is he knew his view on Klingons would never be the same. The human in him even hoped they would someday feel comfortable in letting others know about it because hiding a secret like that could not be emotionally healthy. Either way he knew he was going to have some stuff to say to Toras in the next couple of days. The End Jason