Disclaimer:(My god, I'm so bad at remembering to put these on)… A-hem, I do not own the Raccoons or any of the characters used in this following fan-fiction, except for OCs such as Marianne, Sophia's mother (who won't be coming up until a bit later in the fic), and a couple that I'm still thinking of… it's only the first chapter, people!

Life and Times of an Aardvark

Cedric wanted to go on a rafting trip. Nothing too big or demanding, of course. Just a quiet little vacation for about two days or so. He knew his father needed it. As much as he denied it, Cyril was well past the big five-zero and had to be careful that he didn't overexert himself like he did in his forties. Unfortunately, Sneer Industries was a demanding corporation, and he honestly couldn't find the time to do any actual planning. Tomorrow, however, was a regional holiday and every business in the Evergreen forest was to be closed for two whole days. Cyril would usually use these days to count up his profits, but Cedric knew he could convince his father to do otherwise.

The younger Sneer knocked on Cyril's bedroom door. A couple of years ago, it would have been the office, but the businessman was now taking precautions to lower his stress levels and keep his health in check. One of these precautions was to go to be at a decent time, but the schedule change still kept Cyril awake for a portion of the night, usually reading or doing something else to pass the time.

"Pop?" Cedric called. "Are you awake?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Come on in, Cedric."

The bespectacled anteater walked in to find his father sitting on the sofa, reading an issue of Tycoon Monthly. He was furiously chewing, what Cedric assumed to be, a piece of nicotine gum. After forty years, it was hard to let go of his cigars, but after a small intervention and a slap from Lisa to be around to see his son's future grandchildren, he was willing to give it a try.

"Pop, you know how the next two days are a holiday for everyone… including businesspeople?"

Cyril looked up from his magazine, raising an eyebrow. "Fine, Cedric. You can have a couple of days off. You've been working pretty hard over the last few of weeks, so I can hold down the fort for two days."

"Um…" Cedric nervously adjusted his glasses. "That's not all of it, Pop… I want you to take those days off as well. So we can go on that rafting trip that I never got around to telling you…"

"WHAT?" exclaimed Cyril, dropping his magazine. "Absolutely not! There's way too much to do around here! Just ask Bart, err, Bert or whatever his name is to go with you."

"Aww, Pop! As much as I like spending time with my best pal, Bert and I have been hanging out almost everyday this week. Besides, we haven't spent any quality time together outside of work for ages! Come on, what do you say?"

"No way, Cedric. I remember the last time we went on a 'trip'… I 'tripped' off a cliff and broke my leg during that crazy survival trek you dragged me on!"

Cyril stood up and shook his leg for emphasis. "It still aches whenever I think about it!"

"You know it wouldn't be anything like that." Cedric sighed, crossing his arms. "I'm not a crazy manual-drone anymore. This will just be a vacation… nothing else."

Cyril sat back down on the couch. "I don't know, Cedric…"

The bespectacled aardvark smiled to himself. An 'I-don't-know-Cedric' or an 'I'm-not-sure-Cedric' meant that he wasn't in the mood to argue and could be easily swayed at the moment. Cedric decided to go in for the kill.

"Please?"

Cedric had taken off his glasses for the "puppy-eyes" to be in full effect.

"I…well…" Cyril ran a hand down his face. If Knox had ever found out it only took THAT to make him break his resolve, he'd be ruined.

"Alright! Alright! Fine! But you better have everything packed! I'm not going on some crazy rafting trip unprepared!"

Cedric grinned. "That's great, Pop! Trust me, you won't regret it!"

Cyril picked up his magazine as his son walked out of the room. "I better not…"

Tomorrow had turned out to be a very good day. Except for the occasional wispy cloud, the sky was completely clear.

Bert practically skipped towards the front door of the Sneer mansion. He couldn't wait to tell Cedric the good news. As he raised his knuckles to knock on the door, the painted oak suddenly swung open, nearly sandwiching Bert behind it.

"C'mon, Pop! We better hurry up if we want to get to the river before noon!"

"Just gimme a minute, already! This bag is heavier than it looks!"

Bert just stood dazedly as the two aardvarks marched out the door, both carrying heavy-looking backpacks.

Shaking his head, the raccoon ran up to Cedric.

"Hey! Cedric! Can you stop for a minute?"

Cedric stopped and turned around while Cyril decided to use the momentary pause to reorganize his belongings.

"Oh, hi Bert!" Cedric said. "Sorry, I can't hang out with you and the guys today. Pop and I are going rafting!"

The younger Sneer tilted his head curiously at the somewhat horrified expression of his best friend. Then he chuckled.

"I know what you're thinking, Bert. And no, this is just a short vacation. No more manual-induced survival trips for me, thank-you."

Bert sighed with relief. "That's good then. But Cedric, I just came over to tell you something really splendid. Oh boy, you're gonna love it."

Cedric's ears perked slightly. Usually when Bert was too excited to even stand still, it had to be something good. "Yeah? What is it, Bert?"

The young raccoon smiled. "Lisa and Sophia are coming back! They won't be here until the end of this week, but we know for sure they're finished school and ready to come home! For good!"

Cedric gasped as his ears seemed to raise even higher. "Oh, Bert! That's wonderful! I know how much you've been waiting for Lisa to come back, and I haven't seen Sophia in so long! We call each other almost all the time of course, but I'm so glad she's actually going be staying!"

"You two will be back by the time they arrive, won't you?" Bert asked.

Cedric put on his backpack. "Oh sure, no problem! Anyway, we've got to get going, but it's been nice talking to you Bert!"

"Same here buddy. Have fun on trip!" Bert replied as he bounced off.

"Wow…" Cedric sighed to himself. "Sophia's really coming back."

"Cedric! I'm chucking the automatic popcorn-maker! We have two more at home anyway!" called Cyril. "This pack is heavy enough!"

"Whatever you say, Pop…" Cedric mumbled, still deep in thought. "Whatever you say…"

"Okay, Pop! Start paddling left… NOW!!"

Cyril was going to kill that boy.

"CEDRIC!! YOU TOLD ME THIS WAS GOING TO BE AN EASY VACATION!!" the elder aardvark bellowed, angry and attempting to be heard over the loud roar of the river.

"Sorry, Pop!" Cedric called back. "We must have taken a wrong turn and gone into the rapids! It's okay though, according to my directions, we'll still be able to get back home afterwards!"

"WE BETTER!!"

A couple of miles later, the two aardvarks had finally found a spot to make camp for the night. They settled on an island-like patch of land that was right behind the river's shore. There was also an uphill path parted through the woods that lead to a cliff edge with a stunning horizon and view.

"Alright, Cedric, help me pitch up the tent."

"There is no tent, Pop."

"What?"

"I didn't pack one. The weatherman said it was gonna be a clear night tonight, so I thought we could sleep under the stars."

Cyril sighed and shook his head. "I hope you at least brought sleeping bags."

Cedric chuckled, taking out the sleeping rolls from the pack. "Oh, don't worry, Pop. I wouldn't want to sleep on cold, hard ground anytime soon."

"Look! There's Orion!" exclaimed the younger Sneer, pointing at the constellation.

"Hmph. That doesn't look like any hunter from Greek mythology to me." Cyril replied, folding his arms behind head.

The two aardvarks had finally settled down for the night, lying down alongside each other on their sleeping bags. Cyril had wanted to get a decent night's sleep for once, but it seemed impossible to do so as his son was so insisting at pointing out each and every constellation he could find.

"Well, it doesn't, if you look at it as is. You have to use your imagination." Cedric traced his finger around the constellation. "Do you see the three bright stars in a row? They're slightly diagonal."

Cyril tilted his head. "Yeah, yeah I see 'em."

"That's Orion's belt." Cedric replied. "Now there should be a pair of stars above the belt, and another pair below it. Those represent his shoulders and knees. You can kind of make it out from there."

The elder Sneer squinted. "Oh, well there it is. Heh, isn't that something?"

"It sure is Pop, it sure is."

Cyril caught the undertone of his son's last reply. "Is there something on your mind, son?"

Cedric shook his head. "Oh no, Pop. Nothing important. You wouldn't be interested."

Cyril sat up. "Nonsense! Whenever you tell me it's nothing important, it usually is! So you might as well just me now while I'm awake."

The younger aardvark sat up as well, giving a long sigh. "Well, I'm turning twenty-five in a month, and I feel it's time for me to do something that I've felt I wasn't ready for… until now."

Cyril nodded. "And what is that?"

Cedric gulped and rubbed the back of his head. "I… I…"

"Come on, Cedric, spit it out!"

"Iwannaproposetosophia!" Cedric blurted out.

Both were silent, and nothing was heard except for the crickets near the river's shore.

"You, WHAT??" Cyril exclaimed, ears sticking straight up.

Cedric cleared his throat. "I want to propose to Sophia. I want to marry her."

"I heard you the first time!" Cyril snapped. "I've just never seen you make such a brash decision before. Do you really think you're ready for such a commitment?"

The bespectacled Sneer nodded. "You know Sophia and I have been dating since we were nineteen, and even from a distance, we've made our relationship work. I love her, Pop, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm willing to do anything to make her happy, even if she declines my proposal. As long as she's happy, I know I have done all I could."

"Cedric...?" Cyril gasped. He felt like it was only now that he was meeting his only child.

"But, Pop." Cedric continued. "I won't even consider it anymore unless I have your blessing. I want the assurance that you're perfectly okay and willing to support me through this… So please answer this in full honesty: Are you alright with me proposing to Sophia?"

Cyril paused, deep in thought, looking at nothing but his twiddling thumbs. Slowly he raised his eyes.

"Cedric. Do what you like. I'm way too busy and you're too old for me to give you permission over every single thing. I barely know Sophia, and I doubt that I would even have time to meet her beforehand, but you're an adult and I can expect you to make adult decisions. Just don't mess up. The Sneers are reputable for getting themselves whatever they want, and if you want to marry this girl, you have to get her yourself. Understand?"

Cedric how to read between the lines. The basic translation of his father's last speech was simple: 'Go ahead and do what you must, but don't expect any help from me'. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but he chose to be satisfied with the fact that Cyril hadn't said 'No' and ended it with that.

"Alright, Pop. I understand."

"Good." Cyril replied. "Now that's enough discussion. We're leaving bright and early tomorrow, so I can get back to my industry and YOU can get back to your job!"

"Sure thing, Pop. G'night."

Cedric yawned and rolled over to his side, promptly falling asleep.

Cyril raised his eyebrow. He always wondered how that boy could drop off so quickly. After a moments hesitation, he stood up and walked to the cliff view, settled down on a log bench, and thought.

Cedric shifted as the early-morning light hit his eyes. Blinking, he fumbled for his glasses and realized it must have been extremely early since he could see sun just barely approaching the horizon.

Turning to his right, he was not surprised to see that his father was not present at the campsite. Cyril was even an earlier riser than Cedric, if he even rose at all last night. It was easy for the older Sneer to pull all-nighters. He had lots of practice.

Glad to have not missed the sunrise, Cedric freshened up by the river's shore before going to where his Pop would most likely have spent the night: the cliff side.

Low and behold, his assumption was correct. Hunched over in what Cedric assumed to be deep contemplation, was Cyril.

"Hey, Pop." Cedric said, placing himself on the log bench beside his father.

"Ah! Oh, hello Cedric." Cyril replied, straightening up a little.

The younger Sneer gave the elder a mildly pointed look. "Please tell me you got at least some sleep last night."

Cyril scowled. "No, I didn't. And I prefer it that way, thanks just the same."

Cedric walked over and sat on the bench. "Penny for your thoughts?"

The elder Sneer snorted. "A penny?! Cedric, I raised you better than that! For heaven's sake where did you learn to insult your own father like that?!"

"Gee, Pop. It's just an expression..."

The bespectacled aardvark was used to this sort of grouchiness in the morning. The fact that they didn't pack any coffee didn't help matters either.

"Either way," Cyril began. "I was just thinking about how we SHOULDN'T do this again anytime soon. I had to move Knox's appointment about the expansion of the fireworks department. Fireworks festivals are getting a lot more popular around the forest, so that means fireworks will be a hot item on the market!"

This didn't surprise Cedric that much either. His father wouldn't go on an extended vacation even if someone PAID him for it... but then again, there was very little that Cyril wouldn't do if someone paid him for it.

Cedric looked back out at the horizon. Bright whites and yellows streaked across the sky as the sun rose. "Gee, it's been a while since I've seen a sunrise like this."

"There are more important things in life than looking at sunrises." Cyril replied. "I doubt if I have even seen a sunrise like this."

Cedric shrugged. "That's what happens when you don't get out very often."

The businessman glared, wanting to say something reprimanding, but he couldn't help but to feel something stirring deep within him as he sighed in defeat.

"I think I must agree with you on that one."

A/N: Story too sappy? Cyril too nice? Yes, I know! I consider my first chapter the "prototype" chapter, since I'm just kind of juggling ideas around and experimenting on how to portray the characters. As for the story itself, it's not a complete WAFF-fest, so don't worry. Conflict (and romance, of course), will be coming up shortly to get this story better developed. Please review, as I love constructive criticism. I'll take any comment on how to improve my story into consideration, since I love writing and want to get better at it. (I currently have my own idea for a story/novel thing, but I consider it in development hell at the moment :P).

EDIT A/N: If you have read this chapter before, you can see that I have revamped it quite a bit. A helpful reviewer had told me I missed the mark with Cyril's character, so I tried to increase his "Cyril-ness" by a few degrees. I hope it made him more in-character! (BTW, if you think that he might have been too dismissive about Cedric wanting to marry Sophia, my reason is that perhaps he's not sure how solid Cedric's resolve is, and if he'll actually go through with it.)

'Til next chapter, I bid you, Adieu!