Chapter Text
Christopher had just finished up in the bathroom when Buck let himself back inside, and the boy let out a shriek of excitement when he saw him.
"Buck! You're back!"
"Hey, buddy!" Buck replied with a grin, his eyes skating right past Christopher to land on Eddie, who was standing in the hallway with a soft smile on his face. Buck wanted to go straight over to him and kiss him again, but forced himself to remain where he was.
With effort, he looked back at Chris.
"You didn't think I'd skip out on our breakfast pancakes, did you?" he asked.
Beaming, Christopher grabbed his hand and dragged him through to the kitchen, prattling on about how tall he was going to stack his pancakes with toppings and how it was such a relief that Buck was back to cook them because he'd been dreading having to force down pancakes cooked by his dad.
Buck caught Eddie's eye as he was pulled along and the two of them shared an amused smile.
The morning passed in a whirlwind of laughter and good food. Buck cooked the pancakes to perfection after only screwing up the very first one, and then the three of them gorged themselves on berries and sugar.
Buck had wondered if things would feel different now that he and Eddie had slept together – and confessed some pretty deep feelings via text – but the only difference he was aware of as they chatted that morning was the size of Eddie's smile and the warmth that rushed through him every time their eyes met.
Once they'd all eaten their fill and the table was empty of food, Buck and Eddie once again met each other's gazes from where they sat opposite each other. Eddie raised an eyebrow in question, biting his lower lip as if that would stop him from smiling so big. In response, because he was 99% sure he knew what Eddie was asking, Buck gave a small nod of his head. He did nothing to hide the smile on his face, however.
Turning to where Christopher was licking leftover syrup off his fingers, Eddie cleared his throat nervously.
"Hey, Chris?" he said.
"Mm?" Christopher lowered his hand to the table and smacked his lips together happily.
"Buck and I have something we wanna tell you," Eddie continued, and Buck had to stop himself from reaching across the table to take the man's hand in support; he would wait and follow Eddie's lead before instigating any contact.
"What is it?" Christopher asked, a curious expression on his face as he glanced between the two of them.
"We, um…" Eddie cleared his throat and his eyes found Buck. At exactly the same time, as though their minds were working in sync, they reached for each other and held hands on top of the table. Buck gave another encouraging nod and then Eddie turned to face Christopher again, emboldened. "Buck and I are together. We're dating."
Buck felt Eddie's hand squeeze his tightly and knew the man was anxious about how Christopher would respond. The boy was staring at them silently, no hint of his thoughts betrayed on his face as he continued to look between them. Buck gently squeezed Eddie's hand back reassuringly.
Finally, Christopher asked, "Does this mean we're not gonna hang out as a family as much?"
"What?" Eddie asked, frowning.
"Well, if you're dating… are you gonna be dropping me off at someone else's house every other night so you two can hang out without me?" Christopher asked.
"No!" Buck exclaimed, then hurriedly turned to Eddie to make sure they were on the same page. "I mean, I'm thinking no? I love hanging out with both of you. I don't wanna get rid of Chris."
The way Eddie looked at him across the table made Buck feel warm all through his chest. There was love in those brown eyes – he could recognise it for what it was now – and such a raw fondness that Buck was left breathless and wondering if this simple eye contact was inappropriate for Christopher to be witnessing.
To Buck's utter relief – only because he felt like he'd been two seconds away from climbing over the table to kiss him if he kept looking at him like that – Eddie turned back to his son.
"No," Eddie said. "We're still gonna hang out as a family. We just might see even more of Buck than we already do from now on."
Christopher grinned wide. "Then I say awesome!"
"Yeah?" Eddie asked, his own grin growing to match his son's.
"Yeah!" Christopher confirmed with a crisp nod. "Buck's already part of the family, anyway."
I will not cry, Buck told himself firmly – though he was already beginning to tear up.
"And if I wanted to ask him to move in with us?" Eddie asked casually.
"You what?" Buck gasped, snapping his head across to stare at Eddie and tightening his grip on the man's hand so much his knuckles went white. "We didn't talk about this," he hissed.
Smirking, Eddie ignored him and just kept waiting for a response from Christopher.
"Yes please!" Christopher cried out, clapping his hands together excitedly. "Does that mean we can have pancakes for breakfast every day?"
"Not every day," Eddie said with a laugh, and finally, finally turned back to Buck. Smiling warmly, he tugged gently on Buck's hand and prompted, "So? How about it?"
"How about what?" Buck asked, struggling to think past the pink love-fog enveloping his brain.
"Do you wanna move in with us?" Eddie asked, still smiling.
"Absolutely," Buck said instantly, blinking quickly to try and keep back the tears which were threatening. "I want that more than anything. I just didn't… I mean, this is happening really fast, are you sure you don't need more time to think about it?"
"I don't need more time," Eddie said softly, confidently. He gazed back at Buck, eyes overflowing with love, and Buck wondered how on earth they'd both gotten so lucky.
"If family time is gonna be like this from now on," Christopher interrupted them with a look of disgust on his face. "I think you should drop me off at someone else's house every other night."
Laughing good-naturedly, Eddie and Buck finally let go of each other's hands and sat back in their chairs. Eddie reached over to tousle Christopher's hair lightly, from which the boy quickly ducked out of reach with a grumble that was betrayed by a grin.
"Go clean your teeth. I need to talk to my boyfriend," Eddie said, then ducked his head shyly when Buck gawked at him.
Buck waited until Christopher had dragged himself up from the table and wandered down the hall – rolling his eyes and sighing the whole way – before smirking and raising an eyebrow at Eddie.
"Boyfriend, huh?" he asked.
"Would you prefer a different term?" Eddie asked, eyes glittering.
Buck was silent for a moment before the words in his head fought their way out of his mouth: "Husband, one day," he said softly, enjoying the way Eddie's eyes widened in response. "But for now… boyfriend is perfect."
Eddie got up and made his way around the table to stand beside Buck, who stood to meet him. They shifted closer and closer until there was barely a gap between them, and then Buck's eyes slid shut as Eddie's hands came up to cup his face.
Their lips met, but it was a short kiss – they couldn't stop smiling.
"I am so-"
"I'm so-"
They chuckled at themselves for starting to talk at exactly the same time and rested their foreheads together, and then Eddie murmured, "You go first."
"I'm so in love with you," Buck whispered, eyes closed and hands resting gently on Eddie's hips.
"That's exactly what I was gonna say," Eddie replied.