Chapter Eight - Cooper's Party

A little while later, I couldn’t know how long, I awoke with an almighty yawn - stretching my hand high into the air. Blinking, I saw that Wubbie had tumbled down from his position snuggled under my cheek - rolling a short distance across the floor towards Laurie, who was rubbing at his eyes as he himself rose drowsily from sleep. It was silly, but I felt a sudden pang of unease that the toy had left my grasp - scooping up the stuffed wolf cub again and cuddling it reassuringly under my arm.

Laurie gave me a contented smile, crawling over to cradle his head in my lap again. “Do you like him yet?”

“Hmm?”

“Wubbie.” he clarified, holding up his own stuffie and smushing its face into Wubbie’s as if to imitate a clumsy kind of kiss. “Fuzzie always helps me sleep.”

I sighed, gently prying Laurie off of me so I could get to my knees “Yeah. Wubbie helped me too.” I conceded. It was kind of true. Despite my extensive collection, I hadn’t slept with a stuffed animal in years - but the feel of the wolf cub’s fur against my skin had left me feeling as peaceful and empty headed as a baby in a rocking cradle. I looked around, taking in the sight of toddlers laid out haphazardly across the room like shipwrecked sailors littered on a beach. Some of them were nursing on pacifiers, some clutching blankies, some cuddling stuffies just like me and Laurie. I felt my heady sense of satisfaction deflate a little, tarnished by a nagging feeling of self consciousness. Had I really just been taking a nap alongside all these babies? Had I really enjoyed it so much?

Just then, Mrs Warren passed by, tip-toeing softly through the nap pads to awake the snoozing tots one by one. Pawing around my own pad, I found my Beaver bucket hat abandoned on the floor and pushed it purposefully back atop my freshly tangled mess of hair, rising to my feet and trying to salvage some officious sense of boy scout composure.

“Mrs Warren?” I peeped, avoiding the urge to tug on her arm “Mrs Warren!” I repeated, a little louder - the tone of my high pitched treble a little too close to the sound of one of her toddler charges.

“Yes, sweetie?” she finally responded.

“Is there something I can help with?” I asked, shifting from foot to foot. “Since I’m um, s’posed to be helping.”

“That’s alright, Cooper.” Mrs Warren chuckled. “Why don’t you go and sit on the carpet? Criss-cross applesauce, just like the other children.”

I blushed, peering over my shoulder to see that a small group of little kids were already sitting expectantly on the rug. “Isn’t there anything I can do?” I insisted, feeling even more embarrassed. The other Beaver scouts were still nowhere to be found. It was as if they’d disappeared, leaving me and Laurie all but enrolled in daycare! Was this all some kind of elaborate prank? But no. Alex wouldn’t do that. Beavers was sacred to her - not an excuse to pull silly hijinks. So where on earth had she gone?

“There’s going to be a very special surprise.” Mrs Warren said cryptically, taking me by the hand along with another toddler boy she had just awoken - the same kid who’d watched us blowing bubbles - and leading the pair of us over to the carpet. I had no choice but to tag along, lowering down onto crossed legs as the boy sat down beside me.

“What kind of surprise?” I asked, a little curious.

“Don’t you worry, sweetie. Just show Huey how to wait patiently like a big boy, okay?”

I grumbled, but acquiesced - wondering just what Mrs Warren could be planning. I looked hopefully over at Laurie talking to her, the two of them whispering in indecipherable low voices, but to my frustration he didn’t come over to join us on the rug - the teacher instead escorting him over the classroom door and sending him out into the hall. I was now all alone, with just a bunch of chattering toddlers for company.

“What’s that?” the boy beside me, Huey, asked brusquely - pointing a stubby finger at the brown beaver patch on my vest that marked me out as a brown tail.

“A beaver.” I said simply, not really in the mood to talk.

“Oh!” Huey exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “Why'd ya have a Beaver?”

“Cause I’m a beaver scout.” I growled.

“What's that?”

I huffed, trying to find a succinct enough way to explain it in terms the boy could understand. “It’s like a special club.” I shrugged. “We go on hikes and do crafts and have meetings and stuff.”

“Woooah!” the boy enthused, getting up on his knees and probing an unwelcome hand at the back of my hat. “Is that your tail?” he giggled, clearly amused by the way the cutesy feature fluttered from side to side as I moved my head.

“Yeah.” I confirmed, flinching away. “But you’re meant to be sitting still.” I reminded him, perhaps a little too harshly.

“Sorry!” Huey sang, unbothered. “Beavers are so cool!” he continued to ramble, rocking restlessly from side to side as he returned to his crossed legs. “Can I be a beaver?”

“No!” I spat back at once, my frustration bubbling over. “You’re too little.” As I saw the boy’s features lower in disappointment however, I felt my stomach twist in guilt. Why was I being so mean? Just because I was feeling embarrassed? I took off my hat, resting it on the floor in front of us. “I just meant… you can be a Beaver when you’re older, okay?” I offered.

“Oh-kay…” the boy nodded, giving a sad little nod.

“Here.” I offered “Wanna wear my hat?” Trying to make up for my earlier rudeness.

“Can I!” Huey piped, snatching. Right away, it fell halfway down his face and he grinned a goofy smile. “How much older? ” He demanded.

“Like five I think.” I told him, although I still wasn’t quite certain of the exact rules.

“Oh, so like a big kid.” Huey said, disappointed again.

“How old are you now?” I asked, trying to raise the emotional toddler’s spirits again. He seemed to jump from happy to sad so quickly.

Huey touched his index finger to his thumb, displaying his remaining three fingers. “This many.” He told me proudly.

“It won’t be that long then.” I reassured him.

“How old are you?” Huey asked innocently.

That caught me off guard, “I’m a big kid.” I told him vaguely - lowering my voice to a shy whisper. Why was everyone so obsessed with my age? I suppose it was my birthday. He nodded from underneath the hat, thankfully satisfied with my answer.

By now, all the toddlers had made their way to the carpet. Meanwhile, I noticed Alex had snuck back into the classroom and was holding a paper bag. She let out a titter at the sight of me sitting amongst the toddlers, beckoning me towards her. I looked up pleadingly at Mrs Warren, instinctively waiting for her approving nod before I got up and went hurriedly over to Alex - glad to be free of the little kids.

Alex was standing at the arts and crafts table - our usual table during beaver meetings. “What did you ditch us for?” I scolded her. “You were gone for ages!” Alex just grinned at me, dumping out the contents of her paper bag onto the table to reveal a couple of styrofoam hats in the shape of crowns with a velcro spot to attach a number. “What’ve you got those for?” I asked.

“Birthday Crowns.” Alex explained with a giggle. “Mrs Warren says it's a tradition!”

I sorted through the cut out foam numbers scattered across the table, narrowing my eyebrows in displease. “These numbers only go up to four.” I protested.

“Well it is a preschool.” She remarked coyly, placing a number four on the crown. “Guess I’ll be four today.” She decided, her smile growing even larger as she saw the way I was fidgeting in my place in embarrassment.

Alex fixed the crown atop of her bucket hat, opting to leave it on. Just then, Mrs Warren caught up to us at the table. “Well it looks like the birthday girl is ready.” Mrs Warren said sweetly. She then looked down at me. “What about our birthday boy? Did you need some help?”

I shook my hands in protest. “No, that's not necessary.” I told her.

“It will be fun.” She reassured in a hushed voice and picked up the second party crown. “How old are you turning today Cooper?” She picked up the largest number. “Four?”

“I’m older than that.” I swallowed, still terrified someone might discover the truth.

“Oh that’s right. Four’s too little to be a beaver, isn’t it?” Mrs Warren said, glancing over at Huey showing off my bucket hat to the other toddlers ”Well I’m afraid I don't have any bigger numbers.” She commiserated “I do have two ‘ones’, though. I suppose you could be eleven!” She laughed at her own joke. Meanwhile, It felt like I had lost all feeling in my face. I was sure it had turned as pale as a sheet! Did she know my real age? Had my parents told her at the barbecue? No. She was just messing around. It was obvious from the look on her face that she found the thought of me actually turning eleven entirely ridiculous. “I suppose eleven would make you a cub scout like Zach, hmm?” Mrs Warren continued “Or maybe even a proper scout!”.

My snow white cheeks blushed as red as a fire truck. “I-I’ll take four.” I decided. “But it’s just pretend, right? Like Alex isn’t four either...”

Mrs Warren nodded and attached the number four to the crown. “Of course, sweetie. I know you’re a big kid.” She took the crown and placed it on top of my mop of hair and pulled down the elastic until it snapped against my chin. “There. Birthday boy and birthday girl both all set!” She announced, winking at Alex. She winked back.

“Set for what?” I demanded, still oblivious. Neither Alex nor Mrs Warren deigned to answer however, the teacher simply ushering the pair of us over towards the big comfy chair in front of the rug where the toddlers were sitting. The chair was only meant for one, but Alex and I managed to squeeze on together - practically sitting in each other’s laps. “Seriously, what’s going on?” I whispered, but she only smiled, squirming with excitement.

“You’ll see!”

Just at that moment, Mrs Warren opened the classroom door with a flourish - waving her arm in the air like an eccentric orchestral conductor. At once, the preschool kids all broke into a discordant melody, their sugar-puff sopranos sounding out just a little out of sync with one another.

“Happy birthday to you…” They began to sing.

Accompanied by the childish chorus, Charlie, Laurie, and Zach began to process into the room; Charlie confidently leading the way, Laurie marching behind in big playful steps as if imitating a dashing soldier, and Zach trailing at the back with an sheepish half-frown on his face - only barely mumbling along to the birthday song.

“Happy birthday dear Cooper, happy birthday to you!” The song finally concluded, the kids bursting into excitable clapping and watching in fascination as the three scouts ground to a half in front of them. As soon as the hullabaloo had hushed down, Laurie skipped forward to present me with a large card depicting an image of a brown beaver hand drawn in felt tip pen. Arched above it, the words ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY COOPER!” were displayed in multicolored glitter.

“Happy birthday!” the littlest beaver scout enthused, tugging at my arm to prompt me to open the card. “Look what I wrote!” he demanded.

I squinted, struggling to read the childish scrawl. The lines were shaky, and all the e’s were backwards, but I was eventually able to decipher it. “Dear…Rascal.” I read aloud to the class, wincing a little at the use of my beaver name. “Thank you for being my best friend. Lots of love, Tic Tac.”

Despite my embarrassment at once again being thrust into the spotlight, I managed a grateful smile. “Thanks.” I blushed, not sure how else to respond to such a heartfelt message. Did Laurie really think of me as his best friend? As the only two brown tails in the Kindie lodge, we hung out quite a lot in beaver sessions, but he was only five! Could I really be best friends with a five year old?

“There’s more!” the boy insisted, pointing to a further series of scribbles.

“P….S.” I managed to decode “Take good care of Wubbie.”

Now I felt even more conflicted, reaching into my vest pocket to retrieve the felt wolf.

“You know if you give Wubbie to Cooper you won’t have him anymore, right?” Zach spoke up softly, sounding genuinely concerned as he put a gentle hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“I know! I’m not a baby!” Laurie shot back, rolling his eyes and shrugging off Zach’s grip to toddle towards me. He latched onto my arm again, nuzzling into my shoulder. “I want him to have it! He’s my best friend.”

I didn’t try to escape this time, instead offering a brief hug of my own. “You too.” I whispered, though not loud enough so that anyone else could hear. I gave him a reassuring smile, attaching Wubbie’s clip to my belt loop.

“Me next!” Alex interrupted, directing my attention to her own message. It was sweet, and I read it aloud just like Laurie’s, but the real attraction was a beautiful color pencil drawing of a raccoon - accurate down to the last detail. It was so true to life that it was hard to believe it had been drawn by a mere seven year old!

“Wow!” I praised “How’d you learn to draw so good?”

Alex shrugged, though she was clearly flattered. “Dad taught me.” she said simply.

I read out Charlie’s message next, and just like Alex he had done a drawing - or a diagram to be exact; a simple series of images showing how to tie a square knot.

“You should know stuff like that” He explained “Now you’re a big kid.”

I nodded in understanding, trying not to let on that I’d learned the square knot a good five years ago. “Thanks, Charlie.”

“Hawkeye!” Alex corrected me.

“Right… Hawkeye.”

Zach hadn’t written a message - though he had signed his name; primitive joined up writing imitating a proper grown up signature. He acknowledged me with an officious nod, getting right down to business.

“I guess I should give you all your community badges,” he announced. “If you’re all done.”

Alex and Charlie looked so excited at the prospect of getting another badge, bouncing a little on the balls of their feet. “Can we do it now?” Alex asked.

Zach nodded. “Cooper, you should go get your hat.” He directed me.

“Okay.” I said, turning back to the toddlers. Laurie followed me, darting forward a possessive little hand to stroke Wubbie dangling from my belt loop. “Uh, Laurie, if you want Wubbie back you can have him.” I offered, flushing at the childish name.

“Do you not like him?” Laurie asked, letting go of it.

“I do.” I started. “But he seems very important to you.”

Laurie nodded in agreement. “That’s why I gave him to you.” He said. “I want you to have him.”

I nodded solemnly, just hoping that there wouldn’t be tears down the line. Meanwhile, Huey seemed to have mustered a small group of fascinated toddlers, each kid taking turns trying on my hat. “Hey guys.” I said sweetly. “Can I get my hat back?”

Huey looked at me with a petulant pout. “We aren’t done with it!” He whined, getting right back to his game with the others.

I gave a bewildered frown, not quite sure what to say. It was my hat - not some baby toy! Before I could react, Laurie bounded toward the toddler - adopting the fierce frown of an older kid commanding his juniors. “Give Cooper back his hat!” Laurie demanded for me.

“No.” Huey declared once again. turning his head and grasping the brim of the hat with both hands. His stubborn features softened into a pleading frown. “I wanna be a Beaver too.” he whined.

Laurie bit his lip, nodding in understanding. He kneeled down in front of Huey. “How old are you?” he asked.

“He’s three.” I interjected.

“Cooper and I are brown tails, so we have a few years left of Beavers.” Laurie began to explain. “Brown like us, then blue like Ringtail and white like Charlie.” Laurie went on and touched his arm. “Do you know what that means?”

Huey still looked confused. “No.” He mumbled, his claw-like grip loosening on the hat.

“It means when you join our colony me and Coop will be white tails.” Laurie smiled at him. “Then we can play together all the time.” Huey’s pout turned into a little grin. “Want to know the beaver motto?” Laurie whispered at him in a low hushed tone. The other toddlers scooched forward to hear him. I kneeled down beside Laurie.

“Yes!” Huey said excitedly, clearly desperate for more information about the Beavers. He finally let go of the hat as Laurie grabbed both of his hands in his.

“Tell him Rascal.” Laurie nodded to me.

“It’s sharing, sharing, sharing.” I said in the same reverent hushed tone.

Laurie nodded. “Huey, can you give Cooper his hat back?” He instructed, still holding his hands.

“Okay.” The boy agreed at long last, taking off the hat and handing it to me. “I can’t wait to be a beaver!” He shouted excitedly.

Laurie gave him a final hug, whispering something in his ear that made the boy giggle like a maniac.

We stood up and went back to the others, standing proudly in a line with Alex and Charlie as Zach took his place in front of us with all the pomp and ceremony of a grizzled general awarding medals.

“Congratulations Kindie Lodge you have earned yourself the community badge!” he announced, “You all did a great job helping out at the daycare - and on two of your birthday’s no less!” He praised us, which felt very exciting. I had never seen Zach as anything but grumpy, but he seemed to be honestly having fun in the role of the scout master. “Hold out your hand.” He told us.

We all did as he said and Zach placed a small circular badge depicting a open palm holding up a line of cheering people. “The badge goes here.” He indicated a free spot on Charlie’s uniform - one of the last ones the white tail needed.

Alex actually began to jump up and down with excitement. “Even the Bobcats don’t have this one.” She gasped.

Soon after, we all said our goodbyes and followed Zach on the walk back to Charlie’s house. He didn’t live that far away, and we were only gone for a couple hours, but the beavers were brimming with excitement at the day's affairs.

“I can’t believe Alex and Cooper have the same birthday!” Charlie said.

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell us.” Alex added punching me in the arm.

“How old are you anyway?” Charlie asked.

My face went pale as the all important question was asked for the second time that day. How was I going to keep it a secret? “I bet he’s six. Don’t brown tails turn six?” Alex asked the group.

Charlie pondered for a moment. “He could be seven like you Alex.”

Alex got really excited and grabbed my shoulders. “Is it true Coop? Then we’d be the exact same age - like twins!” She shouted.

“Uh…” I stammered, not able to articulate even a single word. I just couldn’t admit it! An eleven year old beaver? It was mortifying! It would be the talk of the whole town! I couldn’t just lie. Who would wanna be friends with me if they found out I’d been lying to them this whole time?

“Maybe he’s five?” Laurie proposed. “Then he would be the youngest - since I turned five aaages ago.”

The idea seemed to make Zach giggle. “Yeah Cooper, how old are you?” he asked.

“I’m not telling.” I decided. It wasn’t a lie if I didn’t say anything after all. “It’s a secret.”

“What? Not fair.” Alex said with a grin.

Overwhelmed, I picked up my pace - breaking into a full run as we turned onto Charlie’s house. Following my lead, the other kids ran after me - trying to catch up after my head start. Tired and panting, I was almost on the brink of tears as I ran past the colorful painted houses and leafy green trees of Welton. I had kept the secret for over a month now, but there was no way I could keep this up forever. I needed to think of something convincing to tell the Kindies eventually. The longer I kept it up, the worse things would get.

I couldn’t stay ahead of the other kids for long, Zach shouting ahead for me to be careful of the road as I crossed over and jogged the final distance up the steps to Charlie’s front door. I rang the bell, trying not to look as dejected as I felt as the other Beavers caught up - chatting amongst themselves as they crowded affectionately around me. Thankfully, they seemed to have dropped the issue of my age - instead jabbering on breathlessly about some cartoon kids show I’d never heard of. I guess it must have been Canadian.

Still, I was more than a little relieved when Mrs Diaz opened the door.

“Hey kids!” she greeted enthusiastically, moving aside as we pushed forwards into the hallway. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah!” Alex shouted out, still giggling at some inside joke that had gone over my head. She produced her badge, shaking it proudly in the air. “We got our community badges!”

“Let's go out back!” Charlie suggested, “We can play water guns!”

The Beavers all trampled off down the hall, even Zach shepherding behind them trying to keep some semblance of order. Suddenly feeling very sad, I sat down on the step. What was I doing? I’d been in Canada for almost a month now, and still my only friends were a bunch of little kids! I hadn’t even been able to work up the courage to tell them how old I really was - too embarrassed, or self-conscious, or perhaps just plain scared that they’d abandon me. It was silly. For the first time there were actually other kids that seemed to like me, but I still felt like an outsider. Like I didn’t belong. I probably didn’t.

“Are you okay, Cooper?” Ms Diaz asked, offering a warm comforting smile.

“Hmm?” I hummed, taken by surprise “Oh… yeah. I’m just tired.” I lied.

She nodded in understanding. “The Beavers can be exhausting, that’s for sure.” She gestured for me to stand, leading me the short distance over to the kitchen. “Here.” she offered, presenting me with a multi-colored paper plate “You can have the last slice of cake. As a special birthday treat.”

I gave a start, once again taken off guard “You know?”

Ms Diaz chuckled. “Of course I do, honey. Your parents told me.”

I shyly took the plate, slinking sadly over to the table and digging in the plastic fork. “I told them not to…” I mumbled through a bite.

“You’re a sweet boy.” Ms. Diaz praised, patting me on top of my beaver hat. “But everyone deserves something special on their birthday.” I nodded, grateful at least for the sugary treat. We sat in silence for a little while as I finished up the cake, leaving me to brood jealously on the sound of the other children playing happily in the yard.

I was just about to go and find my parents, planning on heading home, when I heard Laurie’s voice shouting out from the cacophony of shouts and laughter. “Where’s Cooper?”

“Sounds like they’re missing you.” Ms. Diaz remarked, relieving me of my empty plate. “You wanna go play?”

I managed a shy smile, clutching on to Wubbie still swinging from the hook on my belt. “I guess…”

“Have fun, sweetie!” Ms. Diaz called after me, watching me jog down the hall towards the birthday party back in full swing.