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Eddie sneaks a glance at Buck in the passenger seat beside him. “You feeling okay?”
Buck nods, staring out the window as they navigate the busy streets bustling with morning traffic. “Yeah, just tired. I didn’t really get back to sleep after that last call out.” He turns to Eddie. “I’ll catch up tonight. It’ll be fine.”
Eddie frowns, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel. “You sure? Chris’ll understand if you want to hold off on the trip to the zoo.”
“What? No way man.” Buck sits up straighter in his seat. “This is the first weekend we’ve both had off together in weeks and we promised Chris we’d take him to see the cheetah cubs.”
“If you’re sure.” If Eddie’s honest with himself, he’s been looking forward to this trip too. They’ve both been so busy with work and now that Chris’s school is back to onsite teaching Eddie doesn’t get to see him as often. As awful as the pandemic was, it was nice to spend more time with his son.
Carla greets them both when they arrive before pointing Eddie towards Chris’s bedroom.
“What’s this?” Eddie exclaims, swinging Chris’s door open. “You’re still asleep!” He crosses the room and drops down to sprawl across the bed. “And here I thought you were excited about going to the zoo. I guess not” The quilt shakes with Chris’s giggles and Eddie raises his voice to be heard in the kitchen “Buck, Chris doesn’t want to go to the zoo, he wants to sleep.”
“So is that a no to pancakes too?” Buck sticks his head through the door. He still looks pale and tired, but his eyes dance with amusement. “I’ll go throw out the batter then.”
“ Dad! ” Chris bursts out from under his quilt. “I want pancakes. And the zoo.”
“He lives!” Chris giggles again as Eddie wraps him up in a hug. “You need to get dressed, buddy or we’re going to be late.”
He leaves Chris to get ready and follows Buck out to the kitchen. Once he’s filled the coffee maker and set it to run, he crosses the kitchen to stand behind Buck at the stove, hooking his chin over his boyfriend’s shoulder to watch him cook.
Still not happy with how pale he looks, Eddie wraps his arms around Buck’s waist, snaking his hands up under his shirt to press against the warm skin underneath. He’s not overly warm and Eddie lets out a little breath of relief.
“I know what you’re doing,” Buck says, twisting in Eddie’s hold. He sounds more amused than annoyed. “You think you’re being so sneaky.” He tugs Eddie’s hands away and pushes him towards the coffee maker. “I’m fine. I just need coffee, so why don’t you go make yourself useful instead of hovering over me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Eddie, we just lived through a global pandemic. Do you think if I was feeling unwell, I’d risk any chance of passing it on to you or Chris?”
That thought gives Eddie pause. Buck is right, and Eddie knows he’d never do anything to put Chris at risk.
“You’re right,” he says finally. “I should have trusted you.”
Buck flips the pancake onto a plate so it doesn’t burn and turns back to Eddie, grinning. “Hey, with my track record, I wouldn’t trust me either.”