Eager Beaver

Chapter Sixteen - Cooper and Dad

The weeks after camp had been fairly uneventful - quite frankly it rained too much in Welton. I hadn't even seen the other Cubs since Camp and really only hung out with the other Beavers. The Kindies and Bobcats got along more now, and it wasn't out of the question to see Liam or Ari play with us at the park. The summer was coming to an end and it seemed Dad had been busy with his new project.

Today was sorta a big deal though. This afternoon I was supposed to meet with the school to go over my summer homework. Honestly, I hadn't come close to finishing all of it. The French assignments were borderline impossible - even the instructions were in French! I had been fretting over it all week but no one had told me what all the extra work was even for. I'd never had to do summer homework any of the other times we'd moved.

Dad must have noticed how stressed I was because the day before he told me we were going on a special trip before the meeting - just the two of us. I didn't really understand why we had to go on such an important day. Surely whatever it was could wait? But he wouldn't even tell me where we were going. I had decided to wear just a colorful T-Shirt and some cargo shorts. Mom had this whole other cutesy outfit I was supposed to wear for the meeting, but I wasn't exactly desperate to put it on .

"Ready to go?" Dad asked me, poking his head into my room.

"Yup." I said eagerly.

We went to the car. I gulped as Dad opened the back seat of the sedan. I had almost forgotten the argument from the night before. Sitting there attached to my usual spot in the back was a brand new bright red car seat. Mom and Dad kept calling it a booster seat, but I didn't see any difference. It was for babies! "I thought that was a bad dream." I pouted.

"Sorry Coop, I know you don't like it but the rules are different here." Dad said sympathetically, trying to stave off a similar tantrum to the one I'd thrown yesterday.

"I'm eleven." I told him. "Can't I sit in the front?"

Dad just shook his head. "Let me help you in - just the first time." Dad offered.

I stood there, hesitant - an uneasy expression growing on my face. They had said yesterday that it was just like a normal seat, but it had a harness and everything! I wouldn't even be using the regular seat belt like I had with the booster I'd been allowed to ditch two years ago. Dad took my wordless protest as tacit permission, picking me up under the arms and plopping me onto the seat. I wanted to fight back, but the ease with which he'd handled me just made me feel like a little kid. "Dad!" I whined. He had already started to weed my arms into the straps, adjusting them so they were tight against my chest.

"It's okay Coop, you can do it yourself next time." He told me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

I groaned and wiped off the wetness the moment he turned around. Why was he treating me like such a baby this morning?

Dad started the engine and I looked poutily out the window, wondering where we could be off to. He started up the radio - a calming smooth jazz tune soothing my sulky attitude. I leant back into my new car seat, finding the squidgy soft material actually rather comfortable. Soon I was lingering somewhere halfway between wakefulness and sleep, the tight car seat harness rocking me tenderly back and forth like a baby in a bouncer as Dad's car trundled down a dusty poorly maintained side road.

The next thing I knew we had ground to a sudden halt, my eyes springing open to the sound of Dad slamming the driver door shut. He opened my door, unclasping the harness and lifting me gently out of my car seat before I could fully comprehend what was happening.

"Daddy?" I mumbled groggily, feeling a little queasy as he stood me up on the tarmac. I rubbed my eyes, taking a clumsy step forward, but tripped over my feet. I grabbed on to Dad's waist for support, ending up planting my face into his tummy.