Work Text:
“Eddie. Eddieeee, wake up!”
Eddie’s eyes shot open. He’d been cleaning while Buck took a nap before they had to go pick up Christopher when he sat on the couch to rest for 5 minutes. He must have fallen asleep.
Eddie sat up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “Hey, buddy. Did you have a good nap?”
“Mhmm. Can we go pick up Christopher from school now?”
Eddie checked the time on his phone. It was almost time to leave. “Almost. How about we go to the park after we get him?”
“Yeah!” Buck jumped up and ran to get his Care Bear backpack and shove toys into it.
“Hey, three toys maximum.” If he brought more than that Buck would likely lose them and be upset. Eddie could keep an eye on three toys.
Buck pouted and gave Eddie his best puppy dog eyes. “Can I bring five instead? Please?”
It killed Eddie to say no, but he didn’t want Buck to lose any of his toys. “Three,” he said sternly. “What do you want to bring for a snack?” Christopher would be hungry after school and Buck was always hungry.
“Teddy grahams!”
“How about teddy grahams and some grapes?”
“Can we eat them now? I’m hungry.”
Eddie laughed. “We’ll eat when we get to the park. Go use the bathroom before we go.” Eddie got two ziploc bags each of teddy grahams and two of grapes. He’d steal a couple from the kids. He grabbed two juice boxes and some water bottles, then they were ready to go pick up his son from school.
Buck and Christopher finished eating their snack and went to play, leaving Eddie to watch their stuff. Buck pushed him on the swings for a while before Chris got bored and went to sit with his dad and play on his phone. Buck was left to play alone with his toys. Out of the corner of his eye he saw somebody jump out of a tree when their parent called and decided he wanted to climb a tree too! He could definitely climb a tree! He was a good climber. He did it all the time at work!
“Eddie, Chris, watch me climb this tree!” Buck called.
Before either of them could say anything Buck was already halfway up the tree.
When Buck looked down to make sure they were watching him he was suddenly aware of how high up he was. They looked really far down....
Buck sat on the branch and hugged the tree trunk tightly. “Eddie?” He yelled down, tearfully. “I wanna go home!”
“Okay, come down and we’ll go home, bud.”
“No! Too high!”
“It’s not that high, buddy. You can do it!” Eddie’s seen him climb things much higher at work with no problem. Of course, he was always strapped into a safety harness and he wasn’t now....
“Come on, Buck,” Chris called up. “Wish Bear wants you to come down!” He waved Buck’s favorite Care Bear up in the air in an attempt to lure him down.
Buck sniffled and started to climb back down until a gust of wind blew and he got scared again. “I can’t!” He cried. “I’m sorry, Wish Bear!”
“Chris, stay here,” Eddie said to his son. “I’m going to go up there and try to get him to come down.”
“Be careful, Dad.”
“I will, bud.” Eddie climbed up to the branch right below Buck. “Hey, buddy,” he said in a soothing voice. “You think you can come down with me? I’m right here; I won’t let you fall.”
Buck wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He reached for Eddie, but stopped when he looked down at Chris again. He squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms back around the tree trunk.
“Can’t!” He repeated.
Eddie silently cursed. This was his last idea to get Buck down from the tree. Now what was he supposed to do? Call Bobby? Actually...that might work. Hopefully.
“Hey, Eddie, what’s up?” Bobby asked when he answered.
“Hey, Bobby. Uh, you think you can come to the park by my house with a ladder truck? Buck climbed a tree and now he’s scared to come down.”
Eddie heard an amused chuckle from the other end of the phone. “I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”
“Thanks, Bobby.”
“Hey, kiddo,” Bobby said, as he climbed up the ladder. “Someone’s here to see you.” He held out Buck’s bear when he was close enough.
Buck grabbed it and hugged it between his body and the tree. “I’m sorry I was too scared to come down, Wish Bear,” he sniffled.
“I’m sure she understands, Buck. I’m gonna put this harness on you now, then do you think you can climb down the ladder with me?”
Buck sniffled. “I’ll try.”
“Do you want me to hold your bear for you while you climb down?”
“Wish Bear needs a safety harness too....”
“I don’t have one that will fit her, but I bet Christopher will help you make her one when you get home. Why don’t I hold her for you? I promise to keep her safe.”
“Pinky promise?” Buck held out his pinky. Bobby held his out too and they interlocked pinkies. Finally, Buck handed over his bear and carefully climbed onto the ladder and walked down.
Once he was on solid ground, Buck hugged Eddie and Christopher tightly. “Can we go home now?” He asked.
“What do you say to Bobby?” Eddie asked.
Buck turned to the captain. “Thank you for helping me down and keeping Wish Bear safe.”
Bobby smiled and ruffled the kid’s hair. “Sure thing, kiddo. No more climbing trees, okay?”
“Kay,” Buck smiled innocently. Next time he climbed a tree he’d make sure he and Wish Bear had safety harnesses first.