Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first thing TK noticed when he woke up was that it was much too early. The sun was still low in the sky, casting an orange hue across the dim room. TK glanced at the clock which read 6:00 am. He was about to turn over and go right back to bed when a noise caught his attention. From down the stairs, he could hear his dad talking and from the sound of it, the people he was speaking to were in the room as well.

Who the hell was at his house so early?

TK pulled on a pair of sweats and made his way down the stairs. As he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he found his dad, Carlos, and Judd all standing around the kitchen island with coffee cups in their hands.

"Ah, sleeping beauty is finally awake!" Judd laughed.

All TK could do was blink sleepily at the three men until Carlos came over and pressed a quick kiss to his lips with a whispered "Hey tiger" as he pulled back.

Shaken out of his sleepy haze, TK finally asked "What's going on here?"

"We're all going to the farmer's market this morning! They open at 7:00 so hurry up and go get changed" Owen said with a smile.

TK's first instinct was to laugh. Surely they must be joking? Who the hell wakes up before the sun just to buy some fruit? Couldn't they just get some doughnuts at the drive-thru at a more reasonable hour?

As he looked around the room, however, TK realized they were in fact not joking. They were all dressed and looking expectantly at him.

"We would've woken you up sooner but we all know how you get when you're tired" Carlos chuckled next to him.

Owen and Judd snickered as TK glared at Carlos for that comment. No one in their right mind likes being up at this hour. If it was up to him TK would gladly sleep the morning away. Nevertheless, with their lighthearted teasing following him TK made his way to change. Why did all the men he loved have to be so disciplined and pulled together? Couldn't he have found people who loved eating cocoa puffs and watching netflix at 11 am as much as he did?

TK was pulled from his thoughts by Judd's booming voice shouting "TK! Hurry up, we aren't gonna be late because you spent too long picking out a hoodie!"

As they pulled up to the farmer's market, Carlos turned to look at the other man occupying the backseat of Owen's car. TK looked so peaceful, asleep with his head on Carlos' shoulder, his hood partially blocking the view of his face. Carlos almost felt bad waking him up but the small smile he got when TK opened his eyes and saw him made it worth it. As the four of them began to walk the market, stopping at various booths along the way, Carlos couldn't help but notice TK dragging his feet a little.

"Come on, love, pick up the pace a little."

"Carlos, you guys are the ones who got me up so early. No one should be awake right now" TK huffed.

"Aw, come on. Isn't nice to be healthy and enjoy some fresh air?" Owen asked.

TK rolled his eyes and continued his sulking. As much as he loved his dad, Carlos, and yes even Judd, he knew he'd never be like them. They were all the types to color code their calendars and make sure they drink enough water every day and TK.... well TK was a bit of a mess. He slept in, threw his clothes wherever, and had never even owned a calendar.

As he continued to look around, TK noticed a little girl maybe 5 or 6 nearby who looked equally grumpy at having been pulled out of bed to examine tomatoes and carrots. He laughed to himself as she pulled an orange slice off a free sample table and shoved it in her mouth to give herself an orange peel smile. Never one to be outdone, TK grabbed some parsley from a basket and put it under his nose and pursed his lips to give himself a fake little mustache. The little girl laughed at his antics and before he could turn around to rejoin his group, TK heard the sound of camera clicks to his side. As he turned, he saw his three favorite men all with their phones up and pointed directly at him. TK blushed under the attention but owned it, striking silly pose after silly pose until the others were laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes.

"I have to hand it to you, TK, you always know how to keep life interesting" Judd laughed.

"Yeah, what would we do without you to keep us on our toes?" Carlos questioned as he leaned in to remove the parsley from TK's face.

So TK may not be the organized one, or the healthy one, but as he looked at the smiles on his family's faces as they sent the pictures to the rest of the 126, he felt that maybe that was alright.

Chapter Text

Judd arrived at the firehouse tired but ready for another day of work. He headed to the locker room and quickly changed into his uniform, nodding at Paul and Mateo who had been chatting when he walked in.

"Hey, have you seen TK?" Paul asked

"No, I haven't. Didn't his shift start 15 minutes ago?" Judd replied.

Paul and Mateo shared worried looks before nodding. Judd tried not to let the panic creep in. They all knew TK had some serious problems in the past but surely they would've noticed if something serious was going on.

The three men made their way out of the locker room and began working on their assigned chores for the day. TK probably just overslept, Judd reasoned. He wasn't gonna lose his cool over his brother being a little late to work.

As more minutes ticked by, Judd couldn't help his heart rate picking up with each change of the time and still no TK. It all came to a crashing halt, however, when his phone buzzed and he saw a text from the missing man himself that simply said "Come outside. It's an emergency."

Judd ran out of the station, frantically searching for any sign of TK when he spotted him sitting on the curb, cardboard box at his side.

"TK, what's going on? Are you okay?" Judd called out.

TK's head whipped around as he responded "There you are! Come here, I need your help."

Judd approached him as TK started rummaging around in the box. Judd honestly didn't know what he was expecting but TK pulling out various colored ties and immediately pressing them up against Judd's face was not it.

TK stared as he held up the ties one by one, frowning at some and looking considerate towards others. Judd finally worked himself out of his stupor to ask "what the hell are you doing?"

"I needed good light to see how the ties looked against your skin tone so it had to be outside" TK responded distractedly.

"My skin... outside light... TK, what in the world are you going on about?"

For the first time since he had come outside, TK finally looked at Judd and had the audacity to make a face like Judd was the crazy one.

"Well I'm not gonna have my best man wear coral when he's clearly more of a turquoise now am I?" TK said with a little huff.

Judd was so annoyed by TK's attitude for a minute, he almost completely glossed over what was just said and when he realized his eyes went wide.

"Wait, best man... so that means..." Judd's eyes caught the silver band resting on TK's left hand and was completely and utterly dumbfounded. When his eyes made their way back to TK's face he also looked somewhat shocked and a little guilty.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I got so excited to start planning I think I skipped the part of actually telling everyone."

And at that, Judd broke down into slightly hysterical laughter. Only his brother would get so caught up on something like matching ties to skin tones and manage to forget to actually tell anyone he got engaged. He couldn't wait to tell this story at the reception.