Work Text:
The air feels still as the front door closes, the silence around him not nearly as suffocating as it should feel. He can't tell if it’s relief or exhaustion that has his shoulders relaxing.
“Make sure you’re following your heart. Not just Christopher's.” Carla’s words echo in his ears and for a moment, there’s an urge to call her that has his fingers twitching for his phone. It fades quickly and what’s left in his mind is the slowly dawning reality of what he's just done. Eddie's not even sure what his heart even wants anymore, it feels heavy in his chest when he knows it shouldn't. He can't bring himself to move just yet, an ache has settled deep within his bones that makes him wonder if he'll ever be able to move again. His tired eyes focus on the mess that decorates his kitchen, fingers flexing against the fabric of his shirt where his arms are still crossed.
“It's your mess now.” Ana’s words echo in his ears like a taunt, a muscle in his jaw twitches. With a sigh he finally manages to push off the refrigerator to go see Chris, the mess can wait. His son is settled on the couch with cartoons playing on the TV, arms cuddling a familiar stegosaurus to his chest.
“Mijo-" He starts as he settles on the couch, pausing almost immediately when Chris turns to look at him.
“Why was Ana crying when she said goodbye, Dad?” His son asks with furrowed brows, confusion coloring his tone. Eddie inhales slowly through his nose, before reaching up to cup Chris' cheeks with gentle hands. Grey eyes blink up at him and Eddie has to inhale once more, thumbs absently soothing along warm skin.
“We broke up, buddy.” Are the words that leave his mouth, point blank and not at all subtle. He winces even as Chris tilts his head in his hold, nose scrunching up in a way that reminds him oddly of Buck.
“You did? Why?” Chris asks and Eddie has to swallow around the sudden lump in his throat, stomach churning uncomfortably.
“You know how sometimes puzzle pieces don't fit together no matter how hard you try?” Chris nods and Eddie lets his hands lift to card through soft curls. “That's what happened with us. I thought we’d fit together and for a while we did. Until we didn’t, and I’m sorry.” He’s whispering and Eddie isn't even sure why, guilt weighs heavily on his shoulders as he waits for Christopher's reaction.
He isn't expecting his son to move forward to settle in his lap, arms wrapping around his shoulders. “It's okay, I’m sorry you didn’t fit together anymore.” His son's voice is soft beside his ear, Eddie presses his lips together as his nose nuzzles into soft curls.
“Thank you, Mijo,” Eddie whispers softly and for a while they stay like that, hugging each other close. Until a jaw cracking yawn reminds Eddie that he needs to go to sleep, Chris giggles even as he pulls away.
“Did you want help cleaning the kitchen?” His son asks and Eddie has to blink in surprise, an eyebrow arching at the way Chris’ eyes widen before he clamps his hands over his own mouth.
“Christopher.” His son shakes his head and begins to wiggle in his lap, Eddie narrows his eyes and crosses his arms.
Five….four…three...two…
“I helped her make the muffins but I didn’t tell her where everything was, I’m sorry!” His son blurts out with wide eyes, his head ducks down in a very familiar Buck gesture.
“But you know where everything is…” Eddie murmurs with a tilt of his own head. He doesn’t even know where all the baking pans and dishes go, Buck has all but claimed the kitchen as his own. Chris always helps his best friend bake or cook when he's over, so Eddie's confused.
“Course I do, Bucky always lets me help put the dishes away,” Chris replies with a nod, hands gripping the edge of his shirt.
“So why…?”
“At first…it started as a prank to see if she could find what she needed. And then she just…didn’t put anything back,” his son replies softly, a shrug following his words. Eddie feels another jab of guilt fill his stomach, because Ana had jumped at the idea of taking care of Chris during the blackout and his son had seemed fine with it.
The visit to the station suddenly seems to take on another meaning.
Eddie hums softly as he shifts to stand, arms wrapping around Chris. His son clings as he makes his way to the kitchen, pushing the door open with his foot. “Alright, help me tackle this as your punishment.” Settling Chris down on a stool Buck had bought specifically for him in mind, Eddie turns to the sink.
By the time they were done, everything was wiped down and left to dry.
***
Dinner is a quiet affair, with some reheated leftovers Bobby had sent home with everyone. The place Ana had taken as her own sat empty now, which should bother him but it doesn't.
“Can Buck come over?” Chris asks as he finishes his last bite of food, tomato sauce somehow more on his face then his mouth.
“He may still be dead to the world, Mijo. The only reason I’m awake is because my cuddle monster was demanding food,” Eddie teases with a roll of his eyes, his free hand lifting to wipe away the sauce with a napkin.
“Uncle Bobby makes the best food though, Dad,” Chris murmurs with a grin, only to freeze with his eyes widening. “I mean, aside from Bucky!”
“I'm telling him you like Bobby's cooking more.”
“Daaaaaaaaaaadddd.”
“I have proof.”
“No, you don’t!”
“Afraid I do, Mijo.”
“Come on Dad, no you don't-"
The sound of the front door opening has Christopher's head whipping around so fast, Eddie can't help but wince.
“I didn't mean it!” Chris shouts, Eddie's lips twitch in amusement as he stands with their plates in hand.
“Didn't mean what, buddy?” Buck asks as he enters the dining room, hair a mess and an imprint of his pillow along his cheek. Eddie has to resist the sudden, almost visceral urge to run his fingers through the curls atop his best friend's head.
“How…when did you call him?” Chris whines out with a twist of his mouth, Eddie snorts and aims a grin at him.
“While you were showering,” he replies before turning to head into the kitchen, pausing just within the doorway to take in the lack of dishes everywhere. Setting the plates in the sink, Eddie grabs two cold beers and a juice box for Chris before rejoining them.
The sight that meets his eyes shouldn't be surprising, but even after four years, it still makes him pause as a surge of warmth blooms in his chest. Chris and Buck are hugging each other like they haven't seen the other in ages. Which has Eddie's lips lifting even as he reaches for his phone, snapping pictures before clearing his throat.
“Chris said Bobby makes the best food,” he drawls as he draws closer to them.
Their reactions are almost immediate. Buck gasps dramatically and pulls away from their hug, blue eyes wide as a hand falls against his heart.
“Christopher Diaz, how dare you,” Buck demands in mock offense.
“I didn’t mean it.” Chris whines with a pout on his lips. Eddie has to bite his lip to keep from grinning.
“Can't blame you, buddy. He does make really good food,” Buck murmurs as he slowly rises to his feet, eyes meeting Eddie's as a smile lifts his lips up. “Hey, Eds." He adds before lifting Chris up onto his hip, his free hand reaching for the bottle.
Eddie hands it over silently with a blink of his eyes, what feels like a horde of butterflies erupting in his stomach. He follows his boys as they settle on the living room couch, hands shaking slightly as he passes Chris his juice.
“What did you do today, bud?” Buck asks after a few moments of peaceful silence. His voice, Eddie notices, is slightly rough and deeper than normal, like it is just after waking up.
Yawning, Eddie lifts his beer to his lips.
Chris wiggles excitedly as he snuggles closer to Buck’s side, Eddie pulls his legs up onto the couch as his son begins to speak. He must zone out because when he blinks, Chris is grinning widely. “And- and, I helped Dad clean the kitchen too before we took a nap,” Chris states with a tilt of his head, Steggy perched on his lap.
“That sounds like an awe- wait, clean the kitchen?”
Eddie glances up, the confused head tilt Buck aims at him has his shoulders lifting.
“We cleaned most of the house before we fell asleep for a bit,” he replies with a glance to the far window, skin prickling as blue eyes watch him.
“Okay, but why the kitchen?” Buck repeats and Eddie can't help but sigh softly, fondness tinging the sound. Without another word he pulls his phone out of his pocket, thumb entering his passcode before scrolling to his Gallery.
Handing it to Buck he waits for his best friend's response, taking another sip of his beer.
“My kitchen.” Are the whispered words that draw Eddie's eyes from the cartoon before him. Buck has shifted so that his good knee is pressed to his chest, expression pinched in a way that he knew meant distress.
“Okay, before you start-" Eddie begins as he straightens, Buck interrupts him with a soft strangled sound.
“Who leaves cabinets open while the dishes are stacked like-" Buck hisses as his fingers swipe along the screen, his eyes narrowed and shoulders lifted towards his ears.
Eddie has to de-escalate this. Fast. Sitting upright and setting his bottle down on the coffee table, Eddie reaches out for Buck's wrists.
“-And none of them are soaking and look at the pans-" Buck goes silent when Eddie squeezes once, wide blue eyes meeting his own. A mixture of disbelief, indignation, and shock are etched along Buck’s expression. With another squeeze to the warm wrists in his hold, Eddie flicks his gaze down to where Chris is settled between them. His son is completely absorbed in the show on the TV, not at all bothered by their antics. With a soft snort Eddie focuses on Buck once more, lips lifting into a smirk.
“It's been cleaned. I just forgot to take new pictures before dinner,” he explains with a shrug, Buck's lips press into a thin line and it's all the warning Eddie gets.
Buck makes a move to get up, muscles tense and eyes locked on the closed kitchen door.
“Hey, Bucky?” Chris asks just as Buck's wrists slip free from his grasp. Buck pauses and flicks his eyes down, softening when he finds Chris looking up at him.
“Yeah, buddy?” He replies quietly, some of the distressed tension leaving his shoulders.
“Steggy hug time, kid,” Chris hums with a grin.
Eddie snorts out a laugh at his son. It's become a ritual for Chris to have them hug one of his plushies. They don’t compare to an actual hug, but they do help when either of them isn't feeling okay.
Buck snorts, but dutifully reaches out for the green and brown spiked dinosaur. It looks ridiculously tiny in Buck's large hands, Buck handles it with care.
“I still wanna see it,” Buck murmurs as he presses Steggy close to his cheek.
Eddie shakes his head in fond amusement. “I literally deep cleaned my kitchen. It's fine,” Eddie hums out around the lip of his beer bottle, a snort from his left has his eyes shifting towards Buck.
“I just wanna see, Eds.”
“No. You'll try to clean it, and it's already been done.”
“I won't! Promise.”
“You do? Oh, then go see it.”
“Okay, Sassy-pants don’t start-"
The sound or a throat clearing has them both jumping, eyes flicking down to see Chris watching them. His expression is so unimpressed Eddie wonders if he learned it from Athena.
“Steggy,” Chris states with open hands, Buck hands the stegosaurus over with a confused frown. “Good. Can we watch a movie?” Eddie would be fooled by the almost innocent question, if he didn’t know that Chris had ulterior motives. As it is he arches a brow that has Chris biting his lip, another Buck-ism his son has picked up.
“What did you wanna watch?” Buck asks as he stands to grab whatever DVD Chris chooses, either not seeing their silent battle of wills, or not commenting on it.
“Finding Nemo!” Chris cheers with an excited wiggle, Eddie feels whiplash from how they'd gone from playful banter to picking a movie. Except that it dawns on him as Buck bends to set the movie in the players, that Chris’s goal had been to distract them.
And he accomplished that without either of them batting an eye.
As Buck stands, Eddie feels his eyes widen when he catches just what his best friend is wearing. Gray sweats with his navy-blue LAFD hoodie, feet covered in soft-looking socks. As the TV changes to the title menu of Finding Nemo, Buck joins them on the couch, hands lifting to take off his hoodie. What’s underneath has Eddie looking away and biting his lip, warmth filling his chest. It's his white Henley that's been missing since he honestly can't remember when.
Swallowing, Eddie sets his bottle down before standing, intending to grab some blankets and pillows from the hallway closet, as well as have a quiet moment to get his suddenly pounding heart to calm down. Neither of his boys moves as he leaves the room, the familiar opening music filling the air.
Eddie never really noticed how lively his house feels when Buck’s with them, and how quiet and stifled it felt with Ana. It was just right that Buck fit in their home. Arms laden with what he knows will lead to them all falling asleep again, Eddie turns to join Chris and Buck.
They don't even make it past Norman meeting Dory before Buck and Chris are fast asleep, cuddled close and covered in blankets that will no doubt end up kicked to the floor. He can't help but to lift his phone to take pictures, heart warm and full.
Without a conscious thought, Eddie shifts closer to Buck, he doesn't pause when his cheek ends up resting atop Buck’s head, free arm under Christopher. His heavy eyes take in the newest picture and his heart skips a beat. He's never seen the smile that stares back at him.
His fingers tap open Instagram and before he knows it, he's adding the three pictures he’s taken. The one with Buck and Chris hugging each other close, as well as the one of them curled up and fast asleep, and finally the one he's just taken of all of them.
Eddie-Diaz: Time to catch up on some 💤💤
When Ana left Eddie wasn't sure how his day would end.
On his couch with his son and best friend curled up close, Eddie can feel himself finally relax and just be. He's with his favorite people -his family- and he knows without a doubt that they have his back.