Daphne had never seen David so excited about anything. For the past two days, he'd talked about almost nothing except how he wanted to spend the night "in the real outdoors." A classmate had gone camping with his Boy Scout troop, and had told David all about it.
The weekend was coming, and Niles had decided to surprise his son. For the most part, David was a good kid who didn't really ask for much. And Niles wanted so badly to connect with his son after his disastrous attempt to climb a rock wall. So he'd gone out and bought a small tent. But that still meant they would need to find a place to camp out, as the Montana did not have a yard. Niles didn't want to tell his son about the surprise until he was certain they could do it. But David was a smart boy, and he saw the tent hidden in a closet.
"We're really going to go camping?!"
Niles sighed, wishing his son hadn't found out. "Well, I'd love to do it, but-"
Before his father could finish the sentence, David interrupted. "Can Grandpa come, too?"
The question left Niles speechless, but he knew he really should have seen it coming. David was very close to Martin.
Daphne saw that her husband was struggling. "Darling, maybe your father would at least know where to go." But she turned to David, not wanting to get her son's hopes up. "Your grandfather might not want to come, but I'm sure he'd know where you could camp." Martin and Ronee lived in an apartment building not far from the Montana, so they also didn't have a yard.
"Can we ask him, Dad?"
Niles let out a sigh. "All right."
David began to jump up and down, saying "Yes!" repeatedly. Niles loved the sight. He was glad his son had inherited Daphne's enthusiasm.
Daphne turned to Niles. "I'll give your father a call." Niles nodded at her. She picked up the phone. "Martin? I'm calling because David has something he'd like to ask you."
David stopped his celebratory dancing to take the phone when his mother held it out to him. "Hi, Grandpa. Dad bought a tent so we can go camping, but we don't know where we can do it. And I think you should come, too. It'll be so cool, being out there. Just like a real adventure!"
Martin smiled. He always loved hearing from David. He knew he'd missed out on so many experiences with Freddie, but he decided he would not let that happen again. He was grateful that David liked to do things besides read and listen to opera the way Niles and Frasier did. He was happy to encourage David's love for sports and the outdoors, but the reality was that he was getting older. It was getting harder to keep up with David. Martin knew he should help find a place where Niles and David could spend the night, but politely decline the offer to join them. But he knew how much David wanted to do this. "That does sound like fun! And I know where we could do it. A buddy of mine has a huge backyard, and he says his grandkids camp there sometimes."
"Awesome! This is going to be the best weekend ever."
David hung up the phone after talking to Martin a few more minutes about how much he was looking forward to the weekend. He handed the phone back to his mother. "Are you going to come with us, too, Mom?"
Daphne put her hand on her stomach as she shook her head. "I don't think this little one will like sleeping on the ground." Her baby was due in just a couple more months.
"Aw, OK. Guess it'll just be us guys then, right, Dad?"
Niles nodded hesitantly. He would much rather stay indoors and read a book to his son as a bonding experience. But this was what David had his heart set on, so he would make the best of it.