An hour spent in line at airport security, mixed with the general hectic chaos of the airport, was enough to damper the anticipation of even the most enthusiastic traveler. For all his excitement, Cooper had mellowed dramatically from the bouncy, ecstatic boy he’d been this morning by the time we finally sat down at our gate to await boarding.
“Are you nervous?” I nudged him lightly with my elbow, eliciting a trademark lift of an eyebrow as he squirmed in his seat to face me.
“Nah. Why would I be nervous? I’ve always wanted to fly. I was born to fly, Mama.”
I chuckled, glancing down at my watch to check the time. “Oh you were, huh? Well, you’ll get to shortly. Only an hour until take off now. I bet we start boarding within the next fifteen minutes or so.”
“Fifteen?” For a brief second his voice held a slight whine, but he checked it quickly, knowing it wouldn’t be tolerated. “I don’t think I can even last another five.” He held up four fingers, but silently counted as he looked over his hand and quickly extended his thumb so it displayed the correct number.
“Oh, I bet you can. Let’s do something to pass the time. Want to work on your reading?” He loved for me to read to him and, no surprise, he was catching on quickly.
Enthused, he immediately reached to the floor to grab his backpack so that he could pick a reading choice.
“Can we read the book Dad gave me last night?”
“Sure.” I responded reflexively, but I watched him rummage through his bag apprehensively. Jeffrey was in no way much of a reader. I couldn’t, for the life of me, imagine Jeffrey going to a bookstore to find a book for Cooper. I anticipated him pulling a comic out of his backpack. That was fine. It just wouldn’t be the reading material I knew Cooper would want. He didn’t enjoy pop-up and sticker books; he wanted more words than pictures. Just another trait that made him anything but the typical child.
“This one.”
Surprising me, he extended The Little Prince by Antoine deSaint Exupery. So much more than a simplistic children’s story, this tale had just the sort of depth that Cooper would enjoy, although I would have to explain some of the meaning to him, he wouldn’t mind. He loved to learn.
“Dad gave this to you?” I couldn’t mask the doubt in my voice.
“Yeah, but Bebop helped. He said that since the two of you were getting so many gifts for the wedding, I needed something too. He said he didn’t know what to get me, but then Bebop helped.”
That made much more sense. It was Cooper’s Bebop, Jeffrey’s dad, who’d introduced me to the story when I’d been a little girl. A warm, funny, and caring man so different from my own father, I spent most of my childhood wishing I’d been born to him instead.
“Ah, well this is a very special gift, ya know? It’s one of my favorites.”
“Really?” I’d drawn him in now. Knowing that I loved the book, he’d sit contently and listen to me read it, even if he didn’t care for it, although I knew he would.
“Yes, really. Scoot in closer and I’ll start. I don’t think this is the best book for us to practice your own reading with though, it’s a bit long.”
He pulled his feet up into the seat and slid in tight, leaning toward me. “That’s fine. I’ll just listen.”
He smiled, leaning his head against my shoulder as my heart squeezed happily. I’d just opened the cover when we were interrupted by an attendant alerting all those at our gate that boarding would begin promptly.
“Ope!” I made the excited noise as I closed the spine and slid the book back into his backpack. “This is it, Coop. We’ll read it on the plane, okay?”
“Okay.”
His legs flew off the seat so fast, he just about fell down, but catching himself he threw his backpack on and smiled ecstatically, as happy as I’d ever seen him.
Thrilled as he was, he flatly refused to board with the group “travelers with small children.” While I would’ve enjoyed the benefit of getting on the plane first, I didn’t push the issue. I wouldn’t put a damper on anything that brought him this much joy.
So once all pre-boarders had entered, we lined up with the rest, squished firmly somewhere in between groups B and C. He held my hand tightly, leaning out past the line so that he could see something besides the backsides of those in front of us.
I watched him smiling, when suddenly he jerked away from me, spinning to face something catty-corner from the line where he waved a little shyly. Startled, I crouched down next to him, placing my hand on his shoulder so that I could steady myself while I looked in the same direction. I could see no one—no one that either of us knew at least.