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“Are you happy?” Abuela asks him once when he picks up Christopher from her house a few weeks after their arrival in LA.
Eddie hesitates. He’s not...unhappy. Being a firefighter is better than he had dared to hope, it means he gets 48 hours off to spend time with his son after every 24 hour shift, the 118 and his team there are great, and he’s glad to see his abuela as much as he does. Christopher seems to be adjusting well, which is a relief, but it’s all a lot. They’ve only just settled into their new house and Eddie’s not sure he’s happy with Christopher’s school. Their support network here is much smaller than it was in Texas (though it seems more...supportive, at least when it comes to the decisions he’s making), and he worries he’s burdening Abuela and Pepa when he has to ask them to take Christopher so often.
Then there’s the fact that he still hasn’t reached out to Shannon even though they’re now in the same city and he knows he should. It hangs over him, and he doesn’t know what to do.
What even is happiness? He’s pretty sure he feels it when he sees Christopher laugh. So he has moments of happiness, and more of them than he has had for a long time, but…
“I’m fine, Abuela,” he says, hoping to dodge the question.
She reaches up and cups his cheek, the same way she used to when he was a kid. It kind of makes Eddie want to cry, but that’s not something he’s allowed himself to to do in ages.
“I want you to be happy, Eddie,” she says. “I think you came to the right place. I think you will find your happiness here.”
Eddie looks over at Christopher, who’s busy coloring something at her kitchen table, and bends down to kiss her cheek. “Gracias, abuela. I hope so.”
~
A little over three years later, nothing in Eddie’s life is the way it was when he arrived in LA, except for the happiness he feels when he sees Christopher happy. If someone had told him back then what was going to happen in his life within the next year or so, he’s not sure he wouldn’t have just packed up his son and gone right back to Texas.
Now, he watches Christopher make his way across Abuela’s front yard to where she’s waiting for him.
“Hola, mi ángel,” she calls out, and Christopher replies with his own greeting.
“What are you waiting for?” Buck asks, appearing at Eddie’s side, and Eddie grins at him.
“You, slowpoke.”
Buck rolls his eyes but can’t quite hide his own grin. “I would’ve found the front door by myself, I’ve been here before, you know. Or you could’ve gotten the cupcakes from the back instead.”
“Well, you made them. Wouldn’t want anyone to think I had something to do with it.”
“No one would think that anyway, Eddie,” Buck winks at him and ignores Eddie’s spluttering in favor of heading towards the house.
Eddie follows him and watches as Abuela pats Buck’s chest as he leans down to kiss her cheek sweetly.
“Hola abuela, thanks for inviting me,” Buck says, and Abuela smiles up at him.
“You’re always invited, Buck. You can put the cupcakes in the kitchen, they look delicious as always.”
Buck skips past her and Eddie takes his place to kiss his abuela hello.
“I told him he doesn’t have to bring something to every family dinner,” Abuela says with a chuckle and Eddie shrugs with a smile of his own.
“He likes doing it anyway, and we all get dessert, so I didn’t try too hard to discourage him. Sorry.”
Abuela just laughs and gestures for him to come inside. “You are terrible, Edmundo. Venga, everyone else is already out back.”
Everyone - that’s Pepa and the four of Eddie’s cousins who currently live in LA, as well as their families. They’re a pretty big group for family dinners these days, and Christopher especially loves having a big family.
When Eddie steps onto the back porch, Chris is already playing with the kids his age, while Buck has two of the smaller ones hanging from his neck as he tries to talk to Eddie’s cousin Pilar. The kids all love Buck, and he indulges them happily.
Eddie makes his round to greet everyone, then gets roped into a conversation about baseball with Victor and Gabriel, but his eyes keep wandering to the backyard where Buck is singlehandedly entertaining all seven children that are old enough, the eighth one just a bundle in Lupe’s arms. Buck is telling a story with Christopher’s help, the two of them playing off each other the way they often do, their enthusiasm contagious.
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Pilar teases him and Eddie - very maturely - sticks his tongue out. They’re the same age, and some things you just don’t grow out of.
After a while, Buck rejoins the adults and chats to Pepa and Abuela for a bit before the three of them all head inside. Eddie excuses himself and follows them.
He finds them in the kitchen, Buck relaying the latest gossip from the station to the two women while stirring one of the pots. Abuela is checking on the food in the oven and Pepa takes a stack of plates from the cupboard and sets them down on the counter.
Eddie raps his knuckles against the doorframe. “Hey, do you guys need any help or are you just in here to gossip in peace?”
Buck gives him a cheeky grin and Pepa clicks her tongue. “If you want to help, Eddie, you can set the table. Leave the food to those of us who can cook.”
“Yeah, Eddie,” Buck says, wiggling his eyebrows.
“I’m not as terrible as you all pretend,” Eddie protests, but heads towards the plates Pepa set out anyway.
He stops by Buck’s side, placing a hand on his hip to look over his shoulder. “Hmm, smells good.”
“I’m sure it tastes good too,” Buck says, leaning back against his chest, “so get a move on and set the table.”
Eddie smacks a kiss to his cheek and steps away with a laugh. “I’m going, I’m going.”
He takes the plates outside to the big table and says, “If anyone wants to fight Buck for the spot of favorite in-law, they’re gonna have to help in the kitchen right now.”
“He’s got that spot secured anyway,” Victor calls from the end of the table, “and you’re not even married yet!”
Eddie checks that none of the kids are looking and flips him off discreetly, but he doesn’t even blush anymore the way he did at these jokes before they started dating. They’re not there yet, have only really made it official about six months ago, but he’s known that Buck is it for him for longer, so it’s only a matter of time. They can joke all they want.
With everyone’s help, the table is set and the kids are settled at the kid’s table in no time, and then it’s finally time to dig in.
While they wait for their turn, Buck reaches over and places his hand on Eddie’s thigh, and Eddie covers it with his own, interlocking their fingers. They share a smile and Eddie thinks of all the family dinners Buck’s already been here, first as his best friend and eventually as his boyfriend too. His family had pretty much adopted Buck right away, and he’s incredibly thankful for it, especially knowing Buck’s own family.
When Eddie first got here, it felt like he didn’t have many people. Now he’s got his family at the 118, which includes Athena, Maddie, Karen, all the kids and even Michael and David, he’s got this family right here, he’s got Carla - and he has Buck and Christopher.
He leans in to kiss Buck’s cheek and gets a questioning raise of his eyebrow for it.
“Just...happy you’re here,” he murmurs, and Buck smiles at him in a way that makes Eddie feel warm all over.
“I’m happy I’m here too,” he says, rubbing Eddie’s thigh before he lifts their hands and kisses Eddie’s knuckles quickly. “But I’m also starving, so I need my hand back for now.”
Eddie laughs and lets go of his hand so Buck can serve them some food, but nudges his knee against Buck’s under the table instead. Buck presses back.
Across the table, Pilar is grinning at them, but for once she keeps her teasing to herself. Instead, she asks Buck about his niece, who is his favourite topic and keeps him talking for ages.
“So,” Gabriel starts and Eddie doesn’t like the teasing glint in his eyes one bit, “are there any more babies in your own future, then?”
Buck looks over at Eddie and puts his hand on his thigh again, not as flustered as Gabriel probably wanted him to get. “Uh, we don’t know yet.” He nods towards Christopher at the kid’s table. “Besides, we’ve already got the best kid in the world.”
Eddie loves him so much he could burst with it.
They’ve talked about it, of course - Eddie knows how much Buck loves kids, so he had to make sure he knew Eddie might not ever want more kids. Buck had just said that he and Chris were more than enough for him, all the family he’d ever need. Sometimes, though, when he sees Buck with his niece or now with Lupe’s newborn, Eddie does wonder what he would look like holding one of their own. So it’s a firm maybe.
“He is the best, isn’t he?” Pilar says, then quickly tacks on, “Don’t tell my kids I said that.”
Buck laughs and mimes zipping his mouth shut.
After dinner, Abuela assigns clean up tasks to everyone, sticking Buck and Eddie with kitchen duty, which means putting all the dishes the others carry inside into the dishwasher and making the coffee to go with the cupcakes.
They work as a team, same as always, Eddie rinsing the dirty dishes and handing them to Buck, who’s an expert at fitting everything inside the dishwasher, while talking about what to get Athena for her birthday.
“We should just ask Hen to come up with a group present,” Eddie says eventually, leaning against the kitchen counter by the blubbering coffee maker. “I really don’t want to get her the wrong thing.”
“I’ll ask May if she knows anything, but that’s a good idea too,” Buck agrees, pushing the start button on the dishwasher. “You should suggest it to Hen in front of Chimney, I’m sure he’d back you. Maddie already texted me about it a few days ago so they’re probably desperate.”
Then, he tugs Eddie in by his belt loops and brushes a kiss to his lips.
Eddie grins, reaching up and fitting his hand to the back of Buck’s neck. “Got a few minutes until the coffee is ready.”
Buck hums and leans down to kiss him again, firmer this time. Eddie makes a pleased little noise and nips at his bottom lip, licking inside when Buck parts his lips. They make out lazily against the kitchen counter until the coffee maker stops being so noisy and Buck pulls away, laughing when Eddie chases his mouth with a noise of protest.
He takes Eddie’s face between his hands and kisses him sweetly once more. “Everyone’s waiting for my cupcakes outside, baby.”
Eddie rolls his eyes, pushing closer and pressing his lips to Buck’s chin, the corner of his mouth, his lips. “They can wait five more minutes.”
“Someone’s gonna come looking for us,” Buck says, but he keeps kissing Eddie, short little pecks that make Eddie feel...cherished, almost.
“Hey,” he says eventually, thumb brushing over Buck’s birthmark. “You make me really happy.”
“You make me happy too, Eds,” Buck smiles, turning his head so he can press a kiss to Eddie’s wrist. “I kinda love you a lot.”
Eddie smiles back at him, wrapping both of his arms around Buck’s neck in a hug, his face turned into Buck’s neck. He smiles wider when Buck’s arms immediately tighten around him too.
“I love you,” he says against Buck’s neck, delighting in the way his skin breaks into goosebumps when Eddie’s lips brush against it.
Buck kisses his temple, then sets his hands on Eddie’s shoulders and pushes him backwards. “Come on now, time for dessert. You can kiss me as much as you want once we’re back home and Chris is in bed.”
“That a promise?” Eddie asks as he fills the coffee into Abuela’s biggest coffee pot.
Buck’s already by the door, holding two serving platters of cupcakes, but he turns around to wink at Eddie. “You bet it is.”
Eddie grins and follows him back out to the porch after a minute, stopping for a moment to watch as Buck sets the cupcakes down on the kid’s table and says something to Chris that makes him laugh. With a smile, he takes the coffee to the main table and pours Abuela and Pepa a cup each before he passes the pot on to Victor.
“Gracias, Eddito,” Abuela says, catching him by the wrist. She’s looking at Buck and Chris too, but then she tilts her head up and smiles at Eddie warmly. “I told you you would be happy here.”
And Eddie really is.