Becoming Miss Cooper Ch. 03

Thank you so much to my editors Dpga4625 and incredimeters for all your help.

Chapter 1

On Monday I went wigless. The next week, I tried to do something with my hair using one of those do it yourself, videos. Finally, after almost a month I gave up and called Sal's friend Diana Reed. The following Monday morning found me in a barber's chair at Diana's house. Diana had graying hair, brown eyes, and a welcoming smile. She was 5'8", a little portly at 250 pounds, and very motherly. She had converted her 4 seasons room into a makeshift beauty parlor and was making money on the side as a hairdresser.

Sal had joined us and it was very apparent from how they talked; they were very used to working with each other. The two of them were planning exactly what they were going to do with my hair. They had started by tossing out ideas and then narrowed them down until they decided on the best course of action. It was a good thing I had no opinion about my hair as their conversation made it clear I was not going to be allowed one.

"I say stay with the bob cut and air bangs," said Diana.

"But that is so boring," Sal complained.

"My mom always went with that," I interjected but no one was listening.

"Just for now, Sal sweetie, not forever. We need to wait till it's longer and for that, she is going to have to grow it out more. In the meantime, we can make sure it doesn't thin."

Sal protested, "but she's on estradiol, so we really don't have to worry about that do we?"

"Oh yes, we do. I've seen girls on that stuff still go bald as a cue ball." Diana argued.

"Name one," Sal demanded.

Diana counted on her fingers "May, Lilly, and Ariel."

"Lilly? Really?" Sal asked shocked, "that must have been one hell of a wig."

"I'm not going to lose my hair, am I?" I asked a little scared.

"Not if I have anything to say about it, hun," Diana reassured me with a shoulder pat.

She hit a foot pedal on the chair, leaned me back, washed my hair, and then sat me back up. I hate how those things hurt your neck. My hair, as always just sat there. "Honey, your hair is growing exactly the way your DNA told it to grow. Straight, thick, and black as night. I can try to style it, but it won't hold. Your hair will still look bad and all those chemicals will dry it out more. Moisture, moisture, moisture, that is the key for you. We need to get it, grab it, and give it a big ole hug."

"I'm leaning towards what will be easy for you to maintain with minimal care and play to your hair's natural beauty. All you have to do is listen to me and get all that, 'rotate your shampoos' and 'you need to brush your hair 100 times a night,' junk out your head."

Diana's speech was more than a little convincing. I mean when she was done, I wanted to buy some Avon products. Sal was not as convinced but grunted his agreement. Diana reached for her scissors and I raised my hand, "If you want me to grow my hair out, why are you cutting it?"

"Great question," Diana said as she started to trim my hair. "I am getting rid of any damaged, broken, or spit ends. This will help it grow."

"Like a bonsai tree?"

"Yes," Diana kissed the top of my head, "Sal said you were a smart one. Like a bonsai tree...I will have to remember that one."

I smiled at Sal who was sitting with arms crossed over his chest.

He gave me a look that screamed, "Teacher's pet."

He just watched Diana work. I did too for a while but I hate silence. On top of that my curiosity was getting the better of me, "how did you meet Sal?"

"He was my pageant consultant." Clip, clip, clip "He's the best."

"Thank you, Diana." Said Sal, looking into my eyes like he was a little worried.

"It's true." She combed my hair then, clip, clip, clip. "He helped my little Alex win a ton of pageants."

"Does your daughter still do pageants?" I asked and Sal was on the edge of his seat.

"Thanks' for the compliment but I'm not that young. Alex is 28 and he's, my son." Diana combed my hair again then clip, clip, clip.

"I have a few conditioner recommendations for you to help keep your hair from drying out. You don't need to listen to me but they will help. They smell good too."

"You can ask Sal; I am great at following instructions," I said trying to joke with her.

Sal still looked uncomfortable. "She always has followed mine."

I tried to change the subject, "So Sal, who's watching the store?"

"I whole lot of pageants," Diana said to the room in general. "He was as pretty as you and the nicest person you've ever met." Diana kept trimming while she talked. "Most people were open-minded. Most didn't care if he entered. Some even thought he was cute to try. Then we met Sal and with his help, Alex started winning. That's when the knives came out."

Diana brought me a photo of a boy maybe, twelve or thirteen dressed in a navy-blue evening gown with silver high heels and a sash that said Little Miss Lincoln County 2008. His posture was perfect, his smile beaming and his eyes literally twinkled. "Oh, he is so adorable."

Diana took the picture back, "he sure was."

She turned me to face the mirror and her clipping slowed down significantly. "He beat this little rich girl and her mamma went crazy." Diana stopped clipping my hair altogether. "The judge told the woman that there was nothing in the rules that said a boy couldn't enter. 'We'll just see about that,' she said. "Sure enough, by the time we went to enter the next pageant the rule book had changed."

"That's horrible." I said with complete umbrage, "I wasn't planning to enter any contests or anything but that totally pisses me off. That bitch."

"I appreciate the sentiment Honey, but not the language." Diana both praised and scolded me.

"Sorry," I apologized.

Diana smiled. "I didn't say you were wrong I just said I didn't want to hear it." Diana's smile returned and she started to talk to my reflection. "We went through a lot of trials and tribulations after that with Alex. Those were what I like to call, 'the dark times.' We tried anti-depressants and other drugs. Then he tried alcohol and finally I almost lost him."

I could see a tear roll down her cheek. She had put her hand on my shoulder and I put my hand over hers. "I am so sorry, Diana."

She sniffled and then refocused, "God doesn't give you anything you can't handle but those years took me to my limit. Then God sent help when I need it most," She looked over at Sal and mouthed, thank you. "We got Alex some counseling. Then we found Doc, a doctor who knew how to do more than just schedule tests. Doc, actually knew what he was doing and he cared more about his patients than any other doctor I know, shame about his eyes, and with that, we started the slow but steady march out of perdition."

"I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through all of that. I know I have had a ton of help on my journey too, and I am thankful every day to have people like you, Sal, and Doc by my side."

"More than happy to help baby girl." Diana looked left and right like someone might be watching us. "You want to know the best part?"

"Sure," I said very interested to see how the story ended.

Diana walked out of the room and came back with a huge scrapbook. She flipped through several pages and then showed me a picture of Alex being crowned Little Miss something, I couldn't see the title on the sash. "This is Cara, the girl that Alex beat in his last pageant. The one that caused so much trouble." Diana pointed to a little girl dressed up like Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

Then she pulled out her phone and showed me a picture of two women dressed in floral Easter dresses holding a basket with a baby dressed as a bunny laying in it. I looked very closely. The two women looked familiar but I could not place them. Diana gave up and connected the dots for me. "This is Cara and Alex a few months ago, with their (Emphasis on their) daughter, Hope."

"Really?"

"Indeed." Diana left with the scrapbook and returned a few minutes later. "Cara is as nice as her mamma is mean. Cara and Alex found themselves reunited at an accounting conference about four years back. Apparently, Cara followed Alex around all morning, and then in the middle of a co-worker's presentation about a new accounting software; she stood up in front of the whole group and confessed she thought what her mother had done was wrong, she had always hated doing pageants and the only reason she had agreed to do them at all, was because she had a crush on Alex and it gave Cara a chance to be near him."

"That is so funny," I commented.

"Not to Cara's mamma it wasn't," Diana snipped one last hair. "She disowned Cara once she found out. Which was fast. The woman had spies everywhere. Cara says she doesn't care but I am still trying to mend fences. I send a Christmas card to Cara's mamma every year with new pictures of the family but they always come back as 'return to sender'. I heard her health is not the best."

"I'd love to meet your son," I said as she brushed some hair off the cape I was wearing.

"I'd love to see Alex more too, but he and Cara are the head accountants for the Class Corporation and so I don't see them as much as I would like," Diana lamented.

I could not believe the woman in the mirror was me. I mean it was me but without a wig. I stood up and moved closer to the mirror. "So, what do you think?" Diana asked.

In response, I hugged her. She hugged me back like my mom used to. "Thank you so much," I said still embracing her and sniffling a little.

"You are more than welcome my lovely little bonsai." She rocked me a little, "That's OK, isn't it? It's just the first thing I think of when I see you."

"That is so OK Diana. So OK." I said pulling back and wiping my nose on my handkerchief. Sal rule #6: Better to be without underwear than without a handkerchief.

"Here is a list of conditioners to use and start washing your hair every other day, not every day," Diana instructed.

"Yes ma'am." I saluted like a good little soldier.

"I'll put you down for every first Tuesday at this time, Sound good?" Diana asked.

"Sounds great," I answered heading for the door, and then ran back to give her one last hug.

Chapter 2

After work, Dad came home a lot later than usual. I knew that he had agreed to pick up my grocery order but it was getting on to six. I turned down the pork chops and put the potatoes I had planned to serve boiled in the mixer and started making some gravy. Mashed potatoes would work just as well as boiled ones.

I saw his truck pull up and went to the kitchen door to help him unload the groceries. He wasn't getting out of the truck. It was like he was just sitting in his truck looking at himself in the visor mirror. I have to admit I was a little worried. I pulled up a website that controlled the security cameras we have outside, they also have mics and speakers. His voice was hard to make out but I thought I heard him say, "...She'll understand. She loves you."

I walked out to see what was the matter. He got out on the driver's side just as I grabbed four plastic bags out of the truck bed and left the large rolling cooler with all the cold stuff in it for him to bring in. I had everything put away by the time he came through the back door with the cooler. "Dad. You, OK? You seem dazed," I asked growing more concerned by the minute.

"I'm fine just have a few things on my mind." He came in and sat, "Sorry I'm late. Shopping took longer than I thought it would."

"That's OK." I kissed him, "I forgive you."

I was still a little concerned about him but also very jazzed about my new hairstyle. I rolled the cooler over to the refrigerator and put the things away. I was not sure if he was planning to stay here or head into the living room. "Dinner is almost done but you could catch the last few minutes of Sports Center."

"No, I'm good," he said, "may I have a glass of iced tea."

"Of course, have a seat at the bar and I'll tell your waitress." He chuckled.

I poured him a glass of tea and tried to slide it down the counter like in all the movies. The glass only slid a few inches and almost tipped over. I grimaced, and he smiled. "That needs a little work," he chided.

"I'll have to ask Mia for lessons," I responded adding spices and a little butter to the potatoes before turning on the mixer.

I handed him the silverware for the table and loaded a chop to each plate then green beans and once the potatoes looked done added them to the plates along with a splash of gravy. We sat. I took Dad's hand, "Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for a day so sweet. Thank you for the birds that sing. Thank you, God, for everything. And thank you for bringing Diana into my life," I prayed.

"I have not heard that prayer in a long time." Dad took a bite, "what brought that to mind."

"It was cross-sticked into a pillow at Diana's."

"Oh, how did your appointment go?"

"You tell me." I moved my head back and forth.

Dad looked a little nervous. "Is this one of those tests where you ask if I realized that you changed something when you really didn't, because I really hate those?"

"I know. I hate those too, but no something changed."

I gave him a minute, then another. Finally, he gave up, "I'm sorry Ami, I don't see any difference."

"I know, right," I said very excited.

"OK. You just said..."

"Right sorry. The style is the same but the hair is different."

"I am going to need a few more diagrams for this conversation."

I left the room and came back holding my wig. "It's my hair. It's real." I took his hand and put it on my head, "It's not a wig."

I could practically see the light bulb go on above his head. "Oh, yes that's wonderful." He said still recovering.

"Diana is the best. If I could pick my parents, I would want Sal to be my dad and Diana to be my mom, and you could be the tall, dark, and handsome, man that they both don't want me to date because you're too old for me." I verbally machinegunned him. "Sorry, I'm just so excited."

"I can tell."

I tried to focus the conversation back on him. "How was work?"

"Same."

"How is the chop?"

"Good."

"I have that modeling thing at Sal's the day after tomorrow, you coming?"

"Yep."

"Did you get those dates off for comic con?"

"Yep."

"I am getting really fast with my throwing stars, but my accuracy still needs a lot of work."

"Good."

"Turns out Mo, my Art teacher owns a tattoo parlor so I may be able to get my belly button pierced cheap."

I was hoping for a little more reaction but just got, "That's nice."

"Oh, and I'm pretty sure Mo and the class's model, Miss Catherine are fucking."

I started to count to 30 in my head. I got to 17 before he almost choked and said, "Wait what?"

"Are you OK?" I started to examine his forehead. "I mean did you get hit on the head or something today?"

"No, I just have something I need to talk to you about," he said emotionless.

"OK." I said putting my fork down, "What about?"

"You know I love you, right?" He asked.

I didn't like that question. I didn't like his tone or how he was looking at me. I have never had a boyfriend before and only a couple of girlfriends over the years and they had all broke up with me over the phone or via email so my break-up experience was pretty limited. I have, however, watched hundreds of rom-com movies, and the way Dad was talking sounded very much like how the breakup scenes usually started.

"Yes," I said very nervous.

"I love you so much and I will always love you," he went on scaring me more and more.

"Dad really, you're scaring me," I said my eyes moistening.

"I'm sorry," he started, "I'm not doing this well."

"Dad, please just rip the band-aid off, before I start crying."

"I think we should stop dating."

"What?" I exploded out of my chair, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, no." He was backpedaling at the speed of sound, "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" I asked sitting again.

"I meant I just don't see the point."

"What?" I was up again this time the chair toppled over behind me.

"That's not what I meant either." He was on the verge of crying too.

My mood shifted from fear to anger, "Well, the count is 2 and 0 and I am getting pissed, so you had better get it right this time or I'm going to the bullpen."

I'm not sure what made me prouder of myself, that I was controlling my emotions this well despite what he had said or the fact I was retaining so much baseball knowledge. I took several deep breaths and held onto my center like I have been learning in yoga class. I could almost see the gears in his head turning. It was kind of comical how nervous he looked. I half expected smoke to start coming out of his ears.

"I'm so sorry Ami," he stammered, "I practiced this all day in my head and it made so much more sense then."

I could see that he really was trying which helped me get my emotions back in check. "Let's just both calm down and take this from the top."

"You know this was a lot easier with your mother," he said pulling a little velvet box out of his pocket.

My eyes locked on the box. "Just breathe, Dad."

"I love you, Ami. I like going on dates with you and if you want to keep going on them, we can," he looked at me to make sure I was not about to head for our room to pack, "and will, but I always considered dating like a trial run for marriage."

"OK. I am with you so far," I said thinking, where is he going with this?

My eyes never left the box. I could just about read the gold leaf pressed into its crushed velvet top. It said, Stein. Joseph Stein was a local high-end artist and custom jeweler.

"But you and I have known each other for almost 15 years. We have lived together for a long time and unless I am totally wrong, I'd say we are pretty compatible."

He looked at me for confirmation, "I like what I am hearing so far."

The truth was my heart was pounding and my ears felt like they were popping like I was on an airplane.

"Well then, why do we need to do the whole dating thing? I figure why do we need to practice for being married when we are practically married already." He picked up the box, "Why not just get married."

I wanted to say something at that moment but all I could manage was "aaauauuau."

The fact that he had rendered me speechless must have encouraged him to go on. "Ami May (I had taken my mother's name as part of mine as a show of love for her) Cooper, I love you. I want you more than anything in this world. Will you marry me?"

He opened the box and I swear I forgot how to breathe. He had taken one of my mother's rings, had the stones removed, and placed it in a new princess-cut setting. The eight phases of the moon, minus the new moon, were engraved on either side of the stone which I assume represented a full moon. A row of blue sapphires ran through the middle of the band in a channel that started at the waxing crescent, the first phase of the moon, around the back to the waning crescent the last phase. The jeweler had added a gold latus-work covering the center stone so you could still see the whole stone but it looked as though someone had caught the moon in a net and pulled it down just for me. I loved the symbology.

I was so overwhelmed that I was mute. Tears were rolling one after another down my cheeks. My bottom lip was trembling and my throat was as dry as Death Valley. "Yes," I whispered.

He looked confused so I repeated a little louder grabbing my cloth napkin off the table and using it to wipe my eyes, "Yes, Yes, of course, Yes."

"Yes," he repeated making sure he had heard me right.

I grabbed my glass of tea and took a big gulp. Relubricated my vocal cords started to vibrate again and I said, "Yes you are simply wonderful," then I hit him with my napkin, "stupid" slap, "insensitive," slap, "MAN. I thought you were breaking up with me. You Jerk."