Chapter Text
It was a typical weeknight for the Diaz family. Eddie picked up Christopher after a shift, and the two of them drove home in relative silence with only the drone of the local sports radio in the background. Like father, like son, they both needed a few minutes of decompression time before discussing their day. When they get home, they unload their things onto the dining room table and talk about their day and what the rest of the night looks like for them: what homework needs to get done, what events need to be added to the calendar, what’s for dinner, and what tomorrow looks like. Afterwards, they go their separate ways for a while before reconvening for dinner and homework. It’s a routine that they have grown to love. It’s a mundane aspect of their day, but it gives them a sense of stability and connection.
After the two of them debrief for the day, Christopher heads off to his room, and Eddie sits down to watch some TV. As Eddie is half-paying attention to his show, he can hear Christopher talking and laughing with his friends. It warms his heart knowing that Christopher is loved and cared for by so many friends.
Eddie has always been protective of Christopher. For years, he worried that his son would be ostracized for his disability. Realistically, he knows that the world is much more tolerable and accepting than it was 20 years ago when he was Christopher’s age, but he can’t help but worry about him. Christopher has never had any problems making friends. He has taken after his mother in terms of his outgoing personality. It’s one of the more noticeable personality traits Christopher gets from his mother. The only thing Eddie thinks that he and Chris have in common is their stubbornness, which is all fine and dandy until they disagree, which doesn't happen often.
After the episode he was watching ends, Eddie shuts off the television and heads to the kitchen to start dinner. Normally, he would call Christopher out to help, but he can still hear him chatting away with his friends, so he leaves him be for the time being.
Twenty minutes later, Christopher wanders into the kitchen.
“Hey! You know salad prep is my job!”
“I know, I know, it just seemed like you were having a good time talking with your friends, so I just did it. You can set the table, though!”
Christopher sighs, “Okay, I guess.” Setting the table is his least favorite chore.
Eddie puts a bowl of pasta, a plate of meatballs, a side of bread, and the salad on the table. The two of them dig in, but not before Eddie says grace. While he isn’t a practicing Catholic, he still thinks it’s important to say grace, a reminder to be thankful for what you have.
The two of them eat and chat about school and work, while also getting into a lively debate on which is the better superpower, shooting meatball bombs or shooting spaghetti webs from your fingers. When they finish eating, they take their dishes and start washing them in the sink. Eddie washes, Christopher dries, and they both put away; that’s the after-dinner dance. When Buck is over, he takes the role of putting away.
“Hey, Dad…” Christopher starts hesitantly.
“What's up, bud?” Eddie says, sensing the nerves in his voice.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“I think I want to go to sleepaway camp this summer…”
“Oh… you do? What camp?”
“Ya. Woodcraft Creek it's up by Bakersfield.”
“Ah, and how did you find out about this camp?”
“Well, I was talking to Josiah, and he goes to a camp in New Mexico that sounds really fun, so I was telling Liam how fun it would be if I could go to camp in New Mexico with my cousin, and Liam told me that he goes to a camp here!”
Eddie holds back the deep sigh he can feel coming. He loves his sister, he really does. She’s a charge nurse at the biggest hospital in El Paso, and her husband is a data analyst with the military; they aren’t exactly hurting for money. Eddie is a single father, and while he makes decent money, he knows how expensive these sleep-away camps can be. The camp Adriana sends Josiah to costs $5000 for two weeks. He wants to give Christopher the best life possible, but he doesn’t want to dip into Christopher’s college fund to send him to camp for such a short time.
“Okay, well, what do you know about this camp?”
A wide grin creeps across Christopher’s face, “Wait right here!” he says as he scampers to his room.
“Waiting!” Eddie responds as he puts down the dishes and sponge and sits at the table. He knows he’s in for a long conversation.
A few minutes later, Christopher comes back with a brochure and hands it to his dad.
“There are so many fun things! Liam told me all about it! There's rock climbing, fishing, and so many sports. They have a garden and a lake! Please, Dad! Can I go?? Sam and Levi are also going! Liam says the counselors are super nice, and the food is good, and it’s so fun, please!!” Christopher pleads.
Eddie scans the paper, “Let me look into it and we can talk about it later, okay?”
Christopher sighs and hangs his head as he walks to his room.
Eddie grabs his computer and pulls up the camp website. He looks at all the information they have on there, the maps, the promotional videos, the testimonials, and the scariest page of all, dates and rates. He winces as he clicks on the page, expecting the worst. To his surprise and relief, the camp is much less expensive than the one Adriana sends her kids to. It’s still pricey, but it’s much more affordable. Eddie’s computer beeps as a message from Christopher pops up. It’s a screenshot of his conversation with Liam.
Eddie rolls his eyes and reaches for his phone to make a phone call.
“Hello?” the woman on the other line answers.
“Your son is poisoning the mind of my son!”
“Ooooh, with what? The gay agenda? The use of the gender-neutral ‘they’? The conspiracy theories about Bluey’s gender? OH! No, I got it! It’s the recent tirade about how the Jacksonville Jaguars are purposefully tanking their season so they can get Trevor Lawrence as their QB next year!”
Eddie sighs, “No. Summer camp.”
“Oh,” The woman on the other end responds defeatedly, “What’s wrong with summer camp?”
Eddie had called Amie Coleman, Liam’s mom. Over the years of the various play dates, science clubs, and sleepovers, he’s grown close with not only Amie but also her wife, Rosie. Amie was never a camp kid herself, but Rosie was. She spent eight years as a camper and eight as staff. Eddie has heard a multitude of stories from her about her glory days at camp. He knew she couldn’t necessarily be objective about this, which is why he called Amie. It wasn’t that Eddie had a problem with camp; it was that he wasn’t sure it was right for Christopher.
“He’s been talking it up, and now Christopher wants to go.”
“And that’s a problem, why..?”
“I-I don’t know. I’m not sure he’s ready for it.”
“Eddie, he’s never going to be ready for it.”
“Gee, great advice there!”
Amie groans, “You didn’t let me finish! You’re really bad at that, you know… Anyway, there’s never going to be a perfect time to send your kids to camp. There’s not really a way for kids to know if they’ll be ready or if they’ll like it. We took a risk sending Liam when he was 6, and it worked out, but he was scared shitless beforehand. Yes, he was excited but also terrified. Sometimes you gotta just push your babies out of the nest and hope they fly, and if they don’t, you’ll be there to pick them up!”
Eddie groans, “You really think this is a good idea? The kids are nice there? He’ll have fun? The counselors will look out for him?”
Amie laughs, “Yes, to all of the above. They have a wonderful staff, and Rosie knows the directors quite well; they are so kind and compassionate. He’s in good hands.”
Eddie sighs as he scrolls through the website, “When do I even send Chris? There are so many options! What if…” he trails off.
“You’re not sending him for one week.” Amie finishes his thought.
“Well, why not?!”
“He’s too old! One-weekers are literally kindergartners and first graders. Liam’s going term two! We’ll coordinate so they’ll be there at the same time. We can even request that he and Liam are in the same cabin, so hopefully, that will ease any discomfort that any Diaz family member might be feeling about this.”
“Ouch,” Eddie laughs.
“And, you know Liam, he’s not afraid to speak his mind, so if some kid’s being a dick towards Chris, he’ll let him have it.”
Eddie smiles, thinking about the many times Liam has given him a (respectful) piece of his mind.
“Maybe some of my son’s fiery yet respectful attitude will rub off on Christopher; he needs some spunk!”
“Oh no, he’s got plenty. You keep the spunk in your household!”
Amie laughs, “A little more spunk never hurt anyone. Anyway, I think Christopher would enjoy camp. After the last couple of years he has had, I think he would really thrive at camp. I also think… you would thrive with him at camp.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You never do anything for yourself! I know it’s hard when you’re a single parent, but your threshold for fun is so low, dude. Use the time that Christopher is having fun to do something fun for yourself that maybe you couldn’t do otherwise.”
“Uh, like what? Do you and Rosie do anything special when Liam goes?”
“We have in the past! Every other summer, while Liam’s at camp, we plan a vacation for the two of us. It’s been good for us to get away without the added stress of childcare or the guilt of leaving Liam behind. He’s having fun, why can’t we?! You should take a solo trip or something! Oooh, or go to a retreat? I can send you the information about the yoga and meditation retreat we went on a few years ago, it was so transformative, it might be useful for you!”
“Yoga isn't really my speed…”
“All the more reason to go!”
“I’ll pass on that one. Time away does sound nice. I’ve never taken a vacation without Christopher or by myself, for that matter. Might be interesting.”
“It’ll be great! Okay, well, I’ll send you ideas of past trips we’ve been on for inspiration, and when you sign Chris up for term 2, let us know, and we can update Liam’s bunkmate request form! Ahh! This is going to be so much fun for the boys!”
“Woah, I haven’t made a decision yet.”
“Yes, you have. I am an excellent persuader. Text me when he’s enrolled! Love ya!”
“I-” Eddie objects, but the line is already dead. “That woman, I swear,” he mumbles as he opens iMessage for a second opinion.
Eddie: Chris asked me about going to summer camp tonight… Haven’t decided on it yet. The terms are two weeks long. Thoughts?
Buck: 2 weeks?! Isn’t he a little young for that? What happens if he gets homesick? It’s not like he can call home, right? Aren't those places supposed to be off the grid?
Eddie: I mean, ya, it’s out in the middle of nowhere. We can write. He loves getting mail. And there are kids as young as 5 who go, so it’s not like he’d be the baby. He really wants to go. His friend Liam’s been going for years and loves it, so it’s not like he’ll be completely alone.
I talked with Liam’s mom, Amie, and she made some good points. It’d be good for him, right?
Buck: He is a tough kid. He should be fine. I’m sure it’ll be good for him to get out of the house for a while and have new experiences.
When is it?
Eddie: Mid-June. It’s a nice time. Right in the middle of summer.
Breaks it up a bit.
Buck: So what are you going to do while he’s gone?
Eddie: Haven’t thought that far ahead aha. Got some ideas. Probably take vacation time and sleep.
Buck: You’re going to use your vacation time to sleep?
Eddie: Ya, I have like 27 days saved up
Not like I’m going to go visit my parents
Buck: Go on a trip lol
Or do something other than sleep. That’s lame.
There are lots of cool places in California you could go
Eddie: That’s true. What kind of places?
Buck: Lots of national parks, Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, etc. There are also a bunch of cool cities up north
Eddie: Damn, look at you
You should plan it for me since it seems like you know more than me haha
Buck: Ok
Eddie: Seriously?
Buck: Hell ya, I love road trips
Can I come with
Eddie: hahaha of course
Buck: Hooray!
Eddie laughs at the text and puts his phone down before standing from the table and walking towards Chris’s room. He knocks softly on the door before peeking his head inside.
“You want to come help me fill out the forms?”
Christopher’s eyes light up, and he gets off his bed and hurries towards Eddie to hug him.
“Thank you so much, Dad!”
Eddie squeezes tighter as he looks down at his son, “Of course.”
They spend the next half-hour filling out all the necessary forms.
“Thank you again, Dad! I’m so excited to tell Liam tomorrow!”
Eddie smiles and kisses his head, “You’re welcome. It’s getting late. Why don’t you start getting ready for bed, and I’ll be in in a minute, okay?”
Christopher smiles, hops off the couch, and heads towards his room.
Eddie pulls out his phone.
Eddie laughs as he sets his phone on the counter and wanders down the hall to help Chris get ready for bed.