Never Have I Ever…wanted to be cool

I'm mid-pancake when Rio asks me, "Neil, would you like to take Elijah out with you today?"

Finishing my food, I swallow before glancing over at my three-year-old and then glancing back at Rio. I give her a 'are you crazy?' look, but she doesn't seem to get it and just stares at me expectantly with a smile on her face as she does so.

Trying to be subtle, I cough before muttering, "Well what would we do? I have stock to check up on, and livestock to care for…I'm sure he'll be bored if he comes along."

From his seat next to me, Elijah pipes up, "No I won't Dad! I wanna go with you!"

I send Rio a 'help me' look but in return all I get is a slight grin before my wife tells me, "He's been asking me all week, and I thought that today would be the best time. Go on, Neil. Why not take him with you?"

There are a million reasons why taking my son along is not a good idea; he could get lost at the Animal Sanctuary, or get trampled by animals, or even let some livestock escape. While I mull over these thoughts in my head, already worried about things that haven't happened, Elijah pouts.

Kicking his legs out dejectedly, my son murmurs, "I just wanted to help, Dad…"

Instantly guilt sends sharp pangs through my chest, and putting down my fork I succumb to the sad looks that both my son and wife are sending me. Clearing my throat, I sigh before saying, "It's fine, Elijah. You can come along."

As if the two are in sync, both Rio and Elijah perk up at my news before giving me near identical smiles; my wife's sending my heart into overdrive and my son's filling me with a sense of pride at his willingness to help.

Leaning forward, Rio pats my hand before saying cheerfully, "It'll be fun, you'll see! "

Somehow, I wonder about the fun part.

The second we're in the barn full of livestock, I grab Elijah's hand. Unlike Rio's gentle barnyard animals, some of the animals I barn can be particularly cranky, especially after living in such close quarters with each other.

Not wanting to lose my son in the barn, I walk slowly while he toddles along beside me until we get to the horses. I come to a stop before kneeling down and letting go of Elijah's hand. Putting my own hand on my son's head, I tell him, "Stay here, with the horses. Don't move, okay?"

Elijah nods frantically, obviously eager to please me and listen to whatever I ask. His desire to fulfill my requests has me a little more at ease, before I stand up and announce, "I'm going to go get the tools to take care of the horses. I'll be right back."

Taking me all of two seconds to grab what I need from the other side of the barn, I practically sprint back to where I left my son only to find to my relief that he remains where he stands, staring at the horses with a fascinated look on his face.

"Dad, will you teach me how?" Elijah asks, pointing at the nearest horse with awe in his eyes, a smile threatening to break through on his excited face.

The second the question is posed I hesitate; teaching Rio her first year here was hard enough.

I'm no teacher by any means, and the idea of messing up in front of my son suddenly seems like a very bad idea. Clearing my throat, I say roughly, "It's not something you need to learn just yet, Elijah. I'll teach you someday when you're older."

For the next two hours I find myself pestered by my son to be taught; from feeding the animals to opening gates, Elijah asks so many questions that by the end of my work I'm ten times more exhausted than I normally am.

Closing up, I turn to grab his hand so we can walk home together when I look and see that my son is already a few paces ahead of me. I take a few steps and catch up to him before asking, "Where're you goin' buddy? Aren't you going to wait for me?"

Instead of the familiar smile that I've gotten used to seeing from him, Elijah gives me a scowl before muttering, "I'm going home. You don't wanna teach me anything just 'cause I'm not old enough."

His sudden change in attitude has me worried, and I glance over at him before deciding to not say anything until we're back home. It's a silent journey back, a far cry from the jokes and the smiles the two of us exchanged this morning on the way up.

As the farm begins to come into sight, Elijah breaks into a run to where Rio stands at the door, waiting for us with a dish towel in hand. I watch him run straight for her legs, where he buries his face in her apron and then looks up and tells her something. Rio hesitates, before nodding and patting our son consolingly on the head.

Sending Elijah inside, Rio glances up at me before shaking her head and disappearing inside the house. Just when I think I'm about to be scorned by both my family members, Rio appears at the doorway again with a light sweater on and a disapproving look on her face. Walking up to me, she puts a hand on my shoulder before saying, "Let's go for a light walk, Neil."

"But what about…"

"Elijah's fine. I told him to go play, and he's got the dogs with him so he'll be safe."

Remorsefully I glance at the house once more before turning back towards town and taking Rio's hand as we walk off the farm.

"So what happened?" Rio wants to know, our hands swinging between us as we walk on the bottom half of the mountain.

"He didn't tell you?" I wonder.

Rio shakes her head, before replying, "I couldn't get anything out of him. All he told me was that he thinks you hate him and he wouldn't say why."

The idea that I could hate my son is ludicrous-immediately I begin to protest, the feeling of indignation swelling in my stomach as I do so.

"Hate him? I could never hate him! He's just frustrated because I didn't want to teach him anything today when we went to the barn."

"But wasn't teaching him the whole point of him coming along?" Rio wants to know.

Slowly I hesitate before muttering, "No…I don't know. That's why I didn't want to take him."

"You don't want to teach him?"

"No, no, that's not it," I interject, before sighing and scuffing at the ground with my feet. In a reluctant voice, I admit, "I didn't want him to think I was uncool…I don't know how to teach him all those things. Hell, I could barely teach you properly the first year without having to explain it in really simple terms. Even then, you had to ask me to tell you twice, remember?"

Rio stares at me solemnly as I look up at the river nearby and murmur, "I want him to think of me as a cool dad….someone he can look up to, not some guy who can't even teach his own son how to take care of animals or a barn properly."

At this point I know I sound insane; I'm half expecting Rio to smack me and tell me to just man up and teach our son. To my surprise, I feel her head on my shoulder as her hand slips into mine.

Turning to look at her with what I'm sure is a shocked look, she nuzzles her face into my sleeve before smiling and saying gently, "Neil, you don't have to be the perfect teacher for him to think you're cool. He admires you so much…no matter what you do he'll continue to admire you just as much, if not more."

I feel a bit silly as I ask, "Are you sure?"

With a laugh, Rio brings my hand up to her face and kisses it before chiding me. Giving me a half-exasperated and half-scolding look, my wife tells me, "Of course I'm sure. If I think you're cool, he definitely thinks you're cool too."

"You think I'm cool?"

Rio kisses me on the cheek before telling me with a smile, "Yes. Very much so."

Her smile has me feeling better, and winding an arm around her waist I bring her in for a hug before pressing my lips to the top of her head. Inhaling the sweet scent that she always seems to have, I murmur, "I'm lucky I guess, to have a wife who loves me enough to put up with me and STILL thinks highly of me."

Pulling back I lean down and give her a kiss, smiling a bit when I feel her put her arms around neck as we stand by the river in the last rays of the sun. Breaking off sooner than I'd have liked, Rio shakes her head at me with a smile before asking, "Shall we go back home then?"

I stand outside the bedroom door, a little nervous about what I'm going to do. Behind me, Rio huffs before complaining in a whisper, "Go on already! You'll be fine."

"But Rio-"

I'm not given a chance to complain again; shoving into my back Rio sends me flying through the door before she shuts it behind me. When I glance up, I see Elijah sitting on his bed, facing the wall with his knees to his chest in what I know to be a sulking position.

I move forward to sit on his bed. The two of us are silent for a moment, before I say gently, "Hey, Elijah, what are you doing tomorrow?"

Without looking at me, my son mutters, "Nothing."

I can't help but smile a bit at how stubborn he is-it's a trait he no doubt got from me, along with his messy blonde hair. Leaning forward, I look at the wall across from me as I say loudly, "Well that's good. I was wondering if you wanted to come and help me at the stall tomorrow…I could teach you a few tricks and what I do when I work…if you wanted."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him perk up a bit before he asks, "R-really? You really want me to come?"

"Only if you want to," I remind him, turning to give him a smile. Elijah seems to forget all about this morning as he throws himself onto me and hugs me, exclaiming, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, I want to come!"

With a laugh I hug him back before setting him on my lap. In a serious voice, I tell him, "You have to promise to listen to everything I say….even if you don't think I'm very cool."

Frowning, Elijah tilts his head before saying, "But Dad, you're always cool!"

I smile again and ruffle my son's hair, before hugging him again.

I can only hope he won't laugh when Rod pounces on me tomorrow…

So the last story is on the horizon. I shall post it sometime this week and then that will be the end of Neil's and Rio's escapades as far as this story goes! I DID want to keep this one going on a bit longer but with school it's been pretty hard keeping up all my stories and my schoolwork, so I decided to drop one of my stories (for the first time in history, made me really sad) and to try and finish up this one.

Anyways, I feel like Neil WANTS to be cool, but never tries. So when he doesn't want to reveal that he gets to be pretty standoffish and that makes Elijah mad XD

Well, until the last story, thank you all for the reads and reviews and I hope to see you for one last Never Have I Ever!