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TK didn’t mind when people called him by Carlos’ last name. It wasn’t too far off from reality. When they got married they’d hyphenated but ultimately decided to go by their own last names at work since it was just easier for everyone involved.
The thing was, Carlos’ team thought it was hilarious to call him Reyes at every possible opportunity.
He and Carlos had been married for almost a month when the fire vs police charity relay came up.
They’d started it a few years ago when Owen became captain of the 126. He’d proposed it to the chief as a way to raise money, have a break from work, and give in to a few stereotypes. The two departments really didn’t hate each other as much as people liked to think they did. It was really just a bit of healthy, friendly competition. The two teams would compete in a series of increasingly dumb relay games and the ultimate winner would have the proceeds of the day donated to a charity of their choice. This year, TK had been tasked with choosing the charity and he’d decided on The Trevor Project.
Carlos and TK had gone to the field separately, both coming in with their respective teams. Judd had been giving him a hard time about taking it easy on Carlos all morning, even though they weren’t even in the same events.
They’d drawn a decent crowd, which happened pretty much every year. They scheduled it so that all of the schools in the area were let out for spring break. This appealed to the young kids who wanted to watch their neighborhood heroes battle it out. Of course, their mothers agreed to bring them for other reasons but TK tried not to think about that one too hard.
The police department was huddled together on the other side of the field going over their game plan, and as TK joined his team one of Carlos’ friends yelled over his shoulder, “Good luck Reyes, you’re gonna need it!”
TK flipped him off playfully before wedging himself between Judd and his dad.
“What was that about?”
“I don’t know. Carlos’ friends being stupid. Let’s get started.”
“Okay, everyone remembers their events? Marjan and Mateo are doing the human ring toss. TK and Paul are doing corn hole, and Judd and I are doing the egg throw, then we’ll meet up with the second shift for tug of war.”
The team nodded their assent and Owen clapped his hands, “Okay let's go.”
Marjan and Mateo won the human ring toss, but TK’s lack of aim blew it for them on cornhole. Judd and his dad won some points back by winning the egg toss, but the true win was going to come from tug of war.
As two of the smaller people on the team, Marjan and Mateo were at the front, with TK and Paul in the middle, sandwiched between his Dad and Judd at the back. The rest of the second shift was distributed around them.
TK was still close enough to the front to be able to see Carlos and his partner.
“Good luck Reyes,” Carlos’ partner winked.
Marjan turned around to give him a strange look, but the whistle blew, cutting off whatever she was about to say.
They managed to get the upper hand in the last few seconds, pulling the cops over the line into a big pile. TK stumbled back into Paul and their team hit the ground like dominos.
“TK get your ass off of me,” Paul shoved at his back.
“Sorry,” TK flipped onto his front and pushed himself up before offering a hand to Paul.
“The winner is Station 126!”
Their team cheered, high fiving each other as Owen retrieved the trophy.
TK approached Carlos and wrapped his arms around his waist.
“Good job baby. I’m proud of you, even if you are a shitty shitty loser.”
“Oh hush,” Carlos thumped his forehead. “You’re a sore winner.”
“Congratulations Reyes,” Carlos’ partner slapped his back lightly.
“You know I didn’t change my last name when we got married right?” TK laughed.
“I know. It’s just fun to irritate you.”
*****
The team had followed Owen home to celebrate and as TK’s husband, Carlos was allowed to join, even though as TK said, he was “a shitty shitty loser”.
He was curled up against Carlos on the couch, surrounded by his family when Judd spoke up.
“Why did they keep calling you Reyes today?” Judd questioned.
“I mean, technically it is my last name, even though I don’t go by it. They just like to be irritating.”
“Oh so kinda like you then.”
“Shut up,” TK hurled a pillow at Judd.
“Boys behave,” Owen said.
“Yes sir.”