Work Text:
“Go long, Denny!” Buck shouted motioning with his hand for the boy to back up.
Denny ran backward and Buck hurled the football, watching it arc into the air before falling right into Denny’s waiting hands.
“Good job Buddy,” Buck high fived him as he ran back passing the football off to Harry.
Thanksgiving at Bobby’s was always like this. All of the men, except Bobby, were banished to the backyard while Athena cooked.
Maddie, who was almost worse than Eddie in the kitchen, was in charge of keeping little hands out of the food until it was time to eat.
Hen and Karen were over deserts and Buck and Eddie were running some energy out of the boys while May and Chimney supervised.
Denny, who had picked up a recent interest in football, had brought his ball over and they’d been throwing it back and forth for close to an hour. The boys loved for Buck to long pass it to them and then to tackle each other, wrestling for the ball in the thick covering of leaves.
Buck noticed Christopher hanging back with May at one of the tables. They were drawing together, May listening intently to whatever Christopher was talking about, but every once in a while he’d glance in Buck’s direction like he wished he could play with them.
“Do you want to go play football, Chris?” May asked quietly. She didn’t want to call him out in front of everyone, but she wanted to make sure he wasn’t feeling left out.
“I don’t know,” he trailed off, picking at the paper on one of his crayons absentmindedly.
“I bet Buck would teach you how to throw the ball,” she encouraged. “Go ask him.”
Christopher glanced between her and Buck for a few seconds then nodded. He got his crutches under him and May pushed down the urge to help him. She knew he wanted to do it on his own.
Eddie watched from his lawn chair where he was sipping a beer with Chimney. He’d been playing football with Buck and the kids but he’d played his old man card a few rounds in and went to sit down. He’d noticed Christopher watching the other boys with a faint look of sadness on his face. It hurt him that his son was never going to be able to run and play football in the backyard like Denny and Harry, but it seemed that whatever May had said to him gave him enough courage to ask Buck to play anyway.
Buck was throwing the football into the air in spirals, trying to show Denny and Harry how to spin it when he felt a tug on his sleeve.
He lobbed the ball to Harry to give it a try and turned his attention to Christopher.
“What’s up superman?”
“Buck, can I try?”
He gave a pointed look to the football in Harry’s hands.
“Sure buddy. Harry, throw me the ball.”
Harry tossed it back in his direction and Buck fixed Christopher’s stance before helping him hold the ball correctly.
“Okay, line your fingers upon the laces. Good just like that. Now Harry is gonna run and you’re gonna throw it to him okay?”
“Okay.”
“Alright. Harry go long.”
Harry ran out, though Buck noted not as far as he usually did. Christopher threw it toward him. It was a little wobbly and didn’t quite make it to his hands, but Harry dove for it and caught it anyway.
“Good job Chris,” Buck gave him a high five.
“Dad I did it,” Christopher cheered.
“I saw buddy.”
“Come play with us dad.”
“Yeah, Eddie come on.”
“Please,” Harry and Denny joined in on the begging.
“Alright alright,” Eddie pushed himself up from the chair and caught the ball Harry threw his way.
Harry ran across the yard to grab May, dragging her by the arm to play with them.
Soon they were absorbed in their game, mostly throwing the ball back and forth and running, making Eddie and Buck chase them. Buck strongly enforced the no tackling rule with the threat of no dessert. Eddie knew that usually, he would have let the boys tackle and wrestle but he didn’t want Christopher getting hurt.
He was thankful for his boyfriend’s protective streak over his son, making sure Christopher was still involved while being as safe as possible.
Eventually, they were called inside by Athena to wash up. She remarked how bad they smelled and Eddie laughed as Buck pulled her into a hug, smothering her against his chest.
She smacked the back of his head and threatened him as he ran into the kitchen, lifting Denny to use as a human shield.
Eddie helped Christopher wash up and seated him at the table between himself and Buck. The bowls and plates of food were passed around and it seemed like Athena was preparing to feed all of Los Angeles county.
When their bellies were full and the sky was dark and the kids were half asleep, they said their goodbyes.
Buck loaded a sleeping Christopher into the car then joined Eddie in the front seat. He looked like he was falling asleep himself, but reached out to hold Eddies’s hand over the center console.
“Thank you,” Eddie said softly.
“For what?”
“What you did for Chris today. Not many people would do that. You made him feel like a normal kid for a little while. I know he’ll never be able to run and play like Harry and Denny but seeing him throw a football and be happy playing with us, that’s all I want for him.”
“Eddie you know I love that kid,” suddenly he was wide awake and he shifted in his seat to look at Eddie seriously. “Yeah, he’s never gonna be a ‘normal’ kid. But you work hard to give him the best childhood possible and I want to be part of that. Even if it is just teaching him how to throw a football.”
If he weren’t driving Eddie would have kissed him.
“I love you, Evan Buckley.”
“I love you too Eddie Diaz.”