“Oh no,” Cooper said with heavy sarcasm. “What a loss that would have been.”
“Cayla was very anxious you wouldn’t feel included,” Ed said meaningfully, and Cooper shoved the hideous thing back onto his head.
“Lucky for you Oliver wasn’t here after all. What was he supposed to be, my stamen?”
Ed flushed, shook his head and wordlessly joined the others. Hopefully that would ward off some Park questions for a little while at least. He didn’t want to have to pull out the obscene pollination joke he had ready, but desperate times and all that.
For the next hour, Cooper managed to avoid his father, and chatted with Cayla, which mostly consisted of listening to her read the informational placards to him at every exhibit, peppered with what he could only assume were completely made up facts like “The beaver’s incisors keep growing all his life and his favorite color is purple.”
“That makes sense” was all Cooper ever seemed required to say, and Cayla would nod as if satisfied at his gullibility.
Sadly, his guard against adult conversation eventually skipped ahead to walk with Ed and Sophie, and Dean immediately fell back to join Cooper.
“Funny kid,” Cooper offered to his brother.
“She’s awesome,” Dean said, vibrating with pride for his stepdaughter. “She could be the next great zoologist, if she wants. Make bonkers discoveries, change the world, you name it.”
Sweet as it was, Cooper couldn’t help but think of the last great zoologist he’d known and the discoveries she had wanted to use to change the world. True to her word, Dr. Freeman had maintained her stubborn silence after the Trust refused to give her a deal, not even speaking to Cooper the two times he’d visited.
The first month after that meeting with Cooper, Park and Cola had been on high alert for any whisper of a threat. The second month only Park had remained vigilant, side-eyeing anyone who got close to Cooper and coming up with excuses not to leave him alone. Now, after three months without anything more dangerous than a paper cut, even Park had to agree her ominous warning act may have been nothing more than that: an act meant to manipulate him one last time. After all, who on earth would have any reason to be obsessed with Cooper, of all people?
Dean nudged him out of his thoughts. “What’s with the look? Is my parental bliss giving you ideas? Might there be little Park-Daytons in your future?”
Cooper snorted. “I think not.” One afternoon seemed far too little time to decide parenthood wasn’t for you. On the other hand, it had been a long afternoon. He liked Cayla a hell of a lot, but awkward Uncle Cooper was about as much energy as he could currently imagine putting into all of that.
“You never know,” Dean said teasingly. “Two years ago I wouldn’t have predicted you’d be getting married, but here we are, big day just around the corner.”
“Corner? What corner?” Cooper protested. “We haven’t even set a date yet. There’s no game plan. No decisions made. No reservations booked. No guests invited. And definitely no corners, approaching or otherwise.”
“But at least you’re handling it well,” Dean said brightly. Cooper shot him a look and Dean patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Listen, you’ve just got to start with the easy stuff. Figure out who you want there first. When you know how big an event it is, you’ll know what sort of space you’ll need, and that’ll tell you what date to pick. Bam. Wedding planned. My fee’s in the mail.”
Cooper groaned. “Who’s coming is the hardest part.”
“Well, there’s us, of course. What about Oliver’s family? You’re going to invite them, right?”
“I see you’ve been speaking with the voice I hear in my head at three a.m. while paralyzed with anxiety. Good, good.”
Dean frowned. “Does his family suck? Is that why you’re not up there visiting with him?” He leaned closer to Cooper. “Do you want me to fight someone for you?”
Cooper rolled his eyes. “They’re...fine. I like most of them fine. His siblings have been really nice to me these last few months. Their partners too.”
Well, they’d been cordial, anyway. Ever since he and Park had compromised and bought their weird little house on the woodsy property outside of DC, the Park pack had taken it as some kind of signal and accepted Cooper was here to stay. Even Park’s grandmother Helena had called him out of the blue to extend only mildly reserved well wishes on their recent purchase of “a sweet little territory.” Cooper still wasn’t sure what the appropriate response to that was supposed to be, but his nervous guffaws of laugher probably hadn’t warmed the matriarch’s heart toward him much.
Of course, what Helena hadn’t known then was that in a month or so, that “sweet little territory” was going to dramatically expand. Cooper and Park were currently in the process of finalizing the purchase of the Maudit Falls mountain retreat. By the end of November, the retreat would be protected from territory-hungry neighbors and could remain a sanctuary for rebel pack runaways. This was a good thing.
What Cooper hadn’t expected, but should have, was just how much politics was involved. After years of keeping his head down and leaving his past as the Shepherd behind, Park was essentially putting himself back on the board in a big way by claiming territory directly between two powerful packs, one of which happened to be his own family and the most powerful pack on the eastern seaboard. Park wasn’t just “visiting his family.” He was on a diplomatic mission of goodwill. It was an extremely sensitive matter.
Considering that Cooper was responsible for at least two family members’ arrests, both he and Park agreed he could sit this visit out. Goodwill and sensitivity were, alas, not his strong suits.
“It’s not that I’m opposed to inviting them,” Cooper finally said to Dean with relative honesty. “I just don’t even think they’d come. Weddings aren’t...really a thing for people like them. I don’t know if it’s really a thing for people like me either. Sometimes I think it would be simpler to just not do it at all and pretend we did.”
Dean whistled. “Don’t tell Dad that. He’s been working on his speech practically since the day you told us.”
Cooper stopped in his tracks, horrified. “Speech? No. Absolutely not. If you care about me at all, you won’t let that happen. God.”
Dean shrugged easily. “If that’s what you want, I’ve got your back. And god knows Sophe is always down for some covert sabotage.” He hesitated.
“But...” Cooper prompted.
“But I don’t see what the big deal is,” Dean said. “He’s proud of you. Happy you’re happy. Obsessed with Oliver, which is yeah, annoying, but we’re working on it, honest. What’s the harm in letting him do his little speech? Hell, let him say he loves you and knock the grand sum total of that rare event up to four per lifetime.” He smiled sheepishly. “Mmmm, ignore any projecting at the end there. But you’re getting married, Coop. Aren’t you—well, I mean, aren’t you excited?”