Chapter Text
Seven Months Later
Buck sighed as he lifted Holly out of her car seat. He was regretting doing this on the hottest day of the summer, but he had to do this today.
“Alright peanut,” Buck said, adjusting Holly in his arms as he closed the car door. “Ready?”
“Panda,” Holly said, reaching for the car. Buck chuckled and kissed her head. “Dada, panda.”
“You can play with your panda when we head home, okay?”
“Okay.” Buck smiled and kissed her head again. He then sighed and started walking, grass brushing against his sneakers as he did. Holly made a small noise and nuzzled closer to Buck.
“It’s alright, peanut.” He kissed her head again, but kept moving. He knew this place probably looked scary to his daughter, who was now hiding her face in his shirt. But he needed to do this.
Even if a graveyard scared his daughter.
“Dada, home,” Holly whined, looking up at him.
“In a bit, peanut,” Buck said. “But dada will keep you safe, okay?” Holly just nodded as they reached where they were going. He lowered himself down to the ground and settled Holly in his lap.
“Dada, where?” She asked, looking up at him.
“We’re visiting your mom,” Buck said. He glanced at the grave sadly. It had almost made him mad when he realized that Ali’s parents put him through the hell of a custody battle, but didn’t even bother to care where Ali was buried. But then he realized it meant he and Holly could visit her grave, and that felt more important than any emotions towards Ali’s family.
“Mama here?”
“Yeah peanut she is,” Buck said. “And even though your mom’s gone, we can still come here and visit her.”
“Mama.” Buck smiled sadly and kissed her head. The first two months he knew about Holly had been absolute hell. And sometimes, he wondered if things hadn’t happened the way it did. What if Ali had just been honest with him from the beginning? Or, what if the 118 hadn’t been the ones to respond to the car accident a year ago. But as he looked at Holly, who had looked away from the grave to play with his shirt, he knew none of that mattered. How he found out about Holly was no longer important. Because he knew being Holly's dad was more important than anything.
“Your mom gave me the best gift in the world, peanut,” Buck said, looking back at Ali’s grave. “She gave me you. And you’re the best thing in my life.” He glanced away from the grave towards his daughter. She was watching him and he smiled. “I love you peanut.” Holly reached her hand up, pawing slightly at his birthmark. He caught her hand and kissed it several times, earning a giggle from the toddler.
“Love you dada.” Buck smiled before standing up. “Home, dada?”
“Yeah peanut, time to go home.”
“Bye mama,” Holly said, waving to the grave.” Buck glanced back at the grave, a sad smile on his face. He left a silent thanks there, for his daughter, for everything working out, for his continued happiness, before turning and heading out of the graveyard.
Eddie stood out on the porch. Buck had texted him about twenty minutes ago saying he was coming back from the cemetery. Eddie knew this day was tough, which was why he had planned the day very particularly. But he also wanted to warn Buck before he arrived home.
Eddie smiled when he saw his fiancee pull up to the house. He had proposed to Buck a month ago. It had been both a decision out of the blue and one he hadn’t stopped thinking about. He had realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Buck when Buck had stayed after the disaster with his parents. But marriage hadn’t been something he had ever considered again, especially after all he went through with Shannon.
But then he carefully broached the subject with Christopher and the boy was obviously on board with it. So, after a quick chat with Maddie (who had cried over the phone and then blamed it on having a five month old and not sleeping much), he proposed to Buck (who cried as much as Maddie did, signaling it was a Buckley thing). They hadn’t set a date yet or talked about plans. If Eddie was honest, something simple was fine with him. All that mattered was their family, the four of them, being together and happy.
“What are you doing out here?” Buck asked as he approached the front door. Eddie smiled and took Holly from his arms.
“I know that today is kind of a hard day,” Eddie said and Buck nodded. “So, I invited everyone over. But I wanted to warn you first, in case you needed a moment.” Buck just smiled before interlacing his fingers with Eddie’s.
“I love you, you know that?”
“Feeling’s mutual,” Eddie said and Buck’s smile only grew. “Now come on.” He tugged Buck’s hand as they headed inside. He saw Buck’s face light up, hearing how lively the house was. “Bobby and Athena are in the kitchen if you want a sneak peek at what they’re cooking.” Buck smiled and kissed Eddie’s cheek before disappearing into the kitchen. Eddie headed towards the living room where everyone else seemed to be.
He paused in the doorway, just taking everything in. He could see Christopher, Harry, and Denny working on a LEGO structure that was growing increasingly taller. It was currently taller than them, which meant they were passing pieces to Albert, to keep its height going. Chimney was watching his brother with an amused expression, while holding Joy, who was babbling happily. Hen and Karen were sitting on the couch, across from May who was playing with Nia. And Eddie just smiled at everyone present, grateful that they had agreed to come over and grateful that they were always there for them.
“Maddie!” Eddie was brought out of his thoughts by Holly’s excited cry for her aunt. Maddie smiled as she approached, scooping the eighteen-month-old out of his arms.
“There’s my favorite niece,” Maddie said, pressing a few kisses to Holly’s cheeks, to the delight of the toddler. “Where’s Buck?”
“He went to see what Bobby and Athena were up to,” Eddie said with a smile.
“Did he seem okay?” Maddie asked. “I know we were both worried this wasn’t going to be an easy day.”
“He seemed fine,” Eddie said. “I think he’ll be better though for everyone being here.” Maddie nodded and smiled.
“He’s really lucky to have you, Eddie.” Eddie was about to say something when there was a cheer from the LEGO crew. Buck had come out of the kitchen and Christopher was leading the excitement in seeing him. Eddie just smiled and glanced back at Maddie.
“Nah, I’m the lucky one.” Maddie nodded with a smile as she handed Holly back to Eddie. She walked over to Chimney, who was standing by where Buck was sitting. Eddie took a moment to watch as he bounced Holly in his arms. Buck was smiling, laughing at something Hen was saying, while watching the boys continue their LEGO tower. He remembered how he felt a year after Shannon’s death and he knew Buck didn’t need to be alone. He needed to be surrounded by his friends and family. And Eddie was more than happy to provide that.
He walked over and sat down next to Buck, who beamed at him. Eddie smiled and wrapped his free arm around Buck, settling Holly in his lap. Buck just leaned back against him, a happy sigh escaping his lips. And Eddie just smiled before joining in the conversation.
“Chris is down for the count.” Buck looked up from where he was sitting in the living room. Everyone had stuck around past dinnertime, until all of the smallest children needed to go to sleep. In fact, Nia, Joy, and Holly had all been asleep by the time everyone was leaving.
“I still can’t believe that they built a tower almost as tall as Albert,” Buck said as Eddie sat down next to him. Eddie chuckled and Buck fidgeted with his hands. He glanced at the coffee table, something Eddie noticed.
“Everything okay?” Buck swallowed a little and took Eddie’s hand. “Buck? What’s going on?”
“There was something I wanted to ask you,” Buck said, running his thumb across Eddie’s knuckles. His heart was beating a little faster and he could feel the nerves building up. Eddie just watched him carefully. “I’ve actually been thinking about it since you proposed.”
“Is this about the wedding?” Eddie asked. “Because I was really hoping for something simple.”
“It’s not actually,” Buck said. “But simple sounds fine with me. Honestly, all I need is our friends and family there.” Eddie smiled and Buck felt his heart flutter. “But anyways, this is, uh, something different.” Buck let go of Eddie’s hand and picked up a manila envelope that was sitting on the table. Eddie raised an eyebrow as Buck handed it to him.
“What is this?” Eddie asked, eyeing the object.
“Just open it.” He could hear his heart pounding in his ears and tried not to fidget with his hands as Eddie opened the envelope. “I had Jennifer draw it up. She was actually really happy to hear from me and not because of bad news. She’s really great and without a doubt the nicest lawyer I’ve ever met.”
“Buck,” Eddie said, cutting Buck’s rambling off. He was staring at the paper, so Buck couldn’t read his expression. As he looked up, Buck sucked in a breath. “You want me to adopt Holly?”
“Well we are getting married,” Buck said with a small shrug. “And I just think it would be good if she had two parents in her life.” Eddie just looked back at the paper and Buck could see the shock etched on his face.
And then he laughed. Buck’s mouth dropped open in shock. He expected a lot of reactions from Eddie, but certainly didn’t expect him to laugh about it. He was asking Eddie to adopt his daughter. It was a totally serious question and not funny at all.
“Are you laughing at me?” Buck asked incredulously.
“Just because you stole my thunder.” Buck raised an eyebrow at that as Eddie stood up. He tugged Buck’s hand and Buck got up as well, following Eddie down the hallway and into their room. Buck watched him as he moved about the room, a chuckle escaping his lips. He walked over to his bedside table and opened a drawer. Buck’s mouth dropped open as he pulled out a similar looking manilla envelope.
“I had a whole plan for this,” Eddie said. “There was going to be dinner and Christopher was going to be there too but you stole my thunder.” He passed the envelope to Buck, who pulled the papers out. “Jennifer drew it up for me too.”
“Eds.”
“I talked to Christopher about it,” Eddie said and Buck looked up at him, tears in his eyes. “He was so excited that his Buck was going to be his second dad. I did have to swear him to secrecy though, which is super hard because he’s a kid and…” Buck cut him off, crossing to him and kissing him hard. Eddie wrapped his arms around Buck’s waist, pulling him closer. All of Buck’s concerns and nerves were gone. Instead, his heart was bursting with so much love that he didn’t even know was possible. Buck pulled away and a laugh escaped his lips as he let his forehead fall against Eddie’s.
“So,” Eddie started, locking eyes with Buck. His hands moved from Buck’s waist to cradle his face with his hands, which always made Buck. Eddie smiled sweetly at him. “Do you want to adopt my kid?”
“Only if you’ll adopt mine.” Eddie chuckled and pressed his lips to Buck’s. Buck smiled into the kiss, a truly indescribable feeling of happiness flowing through him.
“Deal,” Eddie said, pulling away to smile at him. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Buck said with a smile, his hands drawing small circles at Eddie’s hips, keeping the two close to each other. “I love this life we’ve built. I love our kids. I love all of it.” And Buck meant it. He was full of so much love, he was sure he was going to burst. “You think Chris is going to be mad you did this without him?”
“He’ll get over it quickly,” Eddie said with a chuckle. “Especially once he realizes he can call you dad.” Buck tilted his head a little and Eddie smirked. “Or something else. Maybe pops?”
“No, I jokingly call Bobby that sometimes,” Buck said. Eddie furrowed his brows in an adorable way and Buck chuckled. “How about we think of it in the morning? Because right now, I have some ideas that involve you, me, and this bed.” Eddie raised his eyebrows and Buck rolled his eyes before kissing him. “All PG of course. Unless you play your cards right.”
“I tend to bat a thousand when it comes to playing my cards right,” Eddie said and Buck snorted before pulling him towards the bed. The two sets of adoption papers were left on the bedside table, along with a silent agreement to sign them in the morning. As soon as they were both lying down, Buck wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist, letting his head rest on his shoulder. One of Eddie’s arms wrapped around his shoulders, the other gently carding through his hair.
“Remember when I thought the universe was against us?” Buck asked, glancing up at Eddie. “I’m really glad you convinced me otherwise.” Eddie smiled and leaned down, pressing a long kiss to Buck’s lips. Buck sighed, a smile blooming across his face.
“Me too,” Eddie said, his hand moving from Buck’s hair to his cheek, gently running his thumb across his cheek as he did. “And now we have our whole lives to look forward to.”
“Maybe the universe was on our side all along.” Eddie smiled warmly, pulling Buck closer to him. Buck sighed happily, his eyes started to drift shut. He remembered a year ago, before the car accident, before he knew about Holly, before any of that, when he couldn’t help but wonder what was next. Well, now he knew what was next. A life with Eddie and their kids. A life of love and happiness. The best kind of life he could ask for.
And so, he drifted off to sleep, in the arms of the man he loved and who loved him right back, knowing both of their kids were fast asleep down the hall, completely and utterly happy.