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“We are not getting Christopher three puppies, Buck,” Eddie says as sternly as he can manage in the face of his husband’s best puppy dog face and those of the three dogs cradled in his hands. They’re tiny. Unbearably so. It’s surprising they’re still at the shelter, actually, and he’s sure they wouldn’t be if they’d decided to go tomorrow instead. The little note taped to their crate with their names, age, and needs mentions they were found abandoned together. Two of their siblings have already been adopted. There’s nothing wrong with them. They just need a home.
Homes, Eddie reminds himself.
“But they’re a family,” Buck says, because he knows exactly what to say.
Eddie wavers. “We came here to buy one. What’s he even going to do with three?”
“They’ll love him.” Shifting two of the little squirming pups, Buck lifts teh biggest one up to Eddie’s face. The dog promptly licks the tip of his nose.
And Eddie crumbles.
“Eddie, you are not getting that boy three puppies,” Carla says, no nonsense, though there’s a touch of amusement in her tone. “Three puppies is way too much for the three of you to handle, especially if they’re not trained already. Pick one.”
Eddie waffles still. He knows she’s right. He doesn’t want her to be right. And yet, he still called her to make sure she’d be alright with three little puppies running around — and she needs to be okay with it since she offered to take care of them until it was time to let Christopher know. It was the right thing to do. Doesn’t mean he has to be happy about it. He holds up one finger to Buck and watches his husband deflate. “Thanks, Carla,” he admits half-reluctantly.
It’s hard to watch Buck hold all three of the puppies one at a time, petting them and inspecting them like one of them will suddenly be the right one. Eventually, thankfully, he picks one. She’s the biggest one. She’s all too happy to stay in Buck’s arms, to be the center of his attention.
(Eddie hates that he’s kind of jealous of a puppy.)
They sign the papers. Pay the fees. Eddie sits on the floor of one of the visitor rooms with their new puppy while Buck goes out to the jeep to get the pet carrier. The puppy sniffs at his fingers and gives them a hearty bath, trying to get at the space between them with a fervor matched by the wagging of her little tail. If this is how the puppy greets Christopher… he couldn’t stop the smile that spreads across his face if he wanted to.
Buck gets down on the floor with him once he’s back, first to pet the bundle of fur they’ve decided to adopt, and then to kiss Eddie, short and sweet, his tongue gliding across the seam of Eddie’s mouth for the split second before his husband opens up.
The puppy toddles between them.
Christopher is going to be so happy.
The one thing they didn’t factor into the decision to get the puppy today is the fact that they have to keep her a secret. It’s not an issue of where she’ll stay, actually. Carla was the one to suggest taking the dog in in the meantime, since she and her husband love dogs. Both of them thanked her profusely. She brushed it off with a laugh.
The real problem is not telling him. Because Buck is very excited, and so is Eddie. Christopher’s been asking for a dog forever now. It’s gotten to the point where neither of them are sure if he even expects to get one anymore. They didn’t plan it that way, not having been ready to take on a dog before, but now that they’re all living under one roof, now that they’re married and Buck’s adoption of Christopher is official, it’s become a more feasible idea. An idea they’ve been holding onto for three months now. But an idea is much different from actually having a puppy.
Eddie catches himself nearly giving it away twice that night. It takes Buck kicking him under the table to remind him the first time. The second time, he stops himself.
The next day, Christopher almost sees a page for cute engravable dog tags on Buck’s phone when he borrows it to play games.
They’re more careful then.
Or, at least, they try to be. The first progress report from Carla arrives and paints their new puppy as the sweetest, most friendly one she’s ever met. The pictures that come in with it make Buck coo, and he’s not afraid to admit it.
Christopher hears him. “What are you looking at?” He leans into Buck to look over his shoulder.
Buck flips to an article of odd animal friendships before he can see the screen. It’s luck, pure luck, that he had that up in his browser app, and he shares a look of relief with Eddie while Christopher scrolls past a picture of a chihuahua and a chicken cuddling.
Eddie has all of twelve hours to tease him about nearly letting it slip before he leaves the closet door open when Christopher comes in to show them he brushed around his braces well enough.
The closet that has all of the puppy supplies in it. Very obvious supplies, like the big, soft dog bed and the plastic bag full of brightly colored dog toys.
As casually as he can, Buck nudges it closed while Eddie ruffles Christopher’s hair.
It’s almost surprising they make it to his birthday without giving away the secret. Buck wakes up early that morning, the excitement keeping him from sleeping long enough for his alarm to go off, and the first thing he does is pull out the waffle maker. He knows he won’t be the only one awake for long, despite Eddie falling back into slumber as soon as Buck threw the blanket back over him. One by one, he makes big, fluffy waffles and stores them in the oven to keep warm. Bacon comes next. He fries up six slices, letting it sizzle in the pan while he pulls out the butter and syrup.
The smell of bacon is like an alarm clock of its own for the Diaz boys. Christopher is the first to stumble in, his pajamas rumpled and his hair even more so. Eddie follows behind him almost immediately, looking one hundred percent the boy’s father.
And Buck grins. This is his family, two of the most important people in his life, though there are certainly a lot of them nowadays. “I’ve got waffles in the oven.”
“Waffles,” Christopher cheers.
Eddie makes his way over to his husband and leans against him sleepily. “You were up early this morning.”
Buck kisses his cheek before pulling away to grab the waffles out of the oven. “It’s not every day a kid turns eleven.”
“Does that mean I can have whipped cream on my waffle?” Christopher calls out from the table.
Pretending to consider it, Eddie hums and yawns. “You know what? Sounds fair to me.”
So waffles and whipped cream (and maybe chocolate syrup) are first on the day’s agenda.
The next thing they do is go to a movie. It’s Christopher’s pick, of course. They get a large popcorn to share.
Then it’s lunch. Buck drops his boys off at the house before leaving to grab pizza. That’s what he says, at least, and he does pick up pizza, but first, he picks up the newest Diaz and settles her in the carrier for the short drive to get food. Technically, they aren’t opening presents until later in the afternoon, when they’ll go to Bobby and Athena’s for the party.
This one, however, neither he nor Eddie can wait for.
When he pulls up at the house, Eddie immediately opens the door and slips out alone to grab the pizza. He takes a moment to open the door of the carrier and give the excited puppy a few pats as she runs in circles in the car. “Bring her in. I’ll take care of Christopher,” he promises.
Sure enough, Buck carries the puppy into the house to find Christopher standing in the hall, practically bouncing, Eddie’s hands cupped over his eyes.
“Daaaaaad,” Christopher says, “can I open them yet?”
Buck brings the curious girl closer, close enough that she tries to squirm out of his arms to get to the birthday boy. “Go ahead.”
The squeal he lets out when he sees her doesn’t scare her, but it does make Buck wince a bit. Not that it matters, because the sheer joy on Christopher’s face is more than enough to help him brush off the slight pain in his ears.
“What’s her name?” Christopher pets her gently for all that he’s eager to hold her.
“That’s up to you,” Eddie says. He gives her a scritch behind the ears from over his son’s shoulder.
Gently, Buck helps Christopher hold her against his chest.
There’s a moment of silence. The puppy stretches up as much as she can to sniff at his face, to lick his cheek. The giggles that follow are wonderful. “Waffle,” he says once they peeter out. “Her name is Waffle.”
She is a golden color, and they do all love waffles, so Eddie tilts his head and nods. “Waffle Diaz. Sounds good to me.”
Waffle is the hit of the party later, managing to tire Christopher and Harry out as well as herself.
Buck certainly doesn’t complain about carrying her to the car, just as Eddie won’t say a word about having to carry their son.
It’s a good day.