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It wasn’t every day that the entire fire fam had a weekend day off. In fact, it was a scheduling nightmare that only Karen and Athena could solve. But every six months or so, they figure it out, and the gathering begins.
This time, instead of having a big dinner at the Grant-Nash household, everyone was meeting at the park closest to the Diaz (and Buckley, though he’d still deny it) household. It had the best playground for Christopher, and there was more than enough space for everyone to spread out. On top of that, Eddie (or rather Buck, but again, he’d deny it) had just gotten a brand new grill, and had offered (been ordered) to bring it to the park.
All in all, it was shaping up to be a good day.
As always, the boys took over the jungle gym as soon as they all arrived, immediately spinning a tale that none of the adults could keep up with. Not that they minded. As long as the boys stayed in sight, they would let them have their fun.
Buck arrived a bit behind everyone, as he had picked up an extra shift and was just getting off. After ditching his backpack and greeting everyone with hugs (and a not so obvious kiss on the cheek to Eddie) before heading off to join the kids. It was something he always did, mostly because he wanted to spend every moment he could with Christopher.
As he approached the jungle gym, he could easily make out the sounds of the boys laughing and plotting. He slowed his steps, trying to be a bit more quiet, and listened in.
“We need to hide, or the monster will catch us!” Denny whispered, doing a poor job of masking his voice.
“He can’t fit in here, we’re safe from him,” Harry said. “We can plan a counter attack to protect our kingdom.”
Then he heard Christopher’s unmistakable voice. “I can distract him, he could never eat me! You’ll be able to look for another place to hide!”
Buck put his feet on the bottom rung of the ladder and quickly lifted himself the last two inches he needed to be at their height. “Plotting against me?” He said loudly, startling them.
Both Denny and Christopher had been sitting, which met when they startled, they didn’t fall. Unfortunately, Harry had been standing, and when he spun around, he accidentally kicked Buck right in the face, knocking him off the ladder and flat onto his back.
“Buck!”
Over by the rest of the party, none of them had noticed anything amiss, until they all heard Harry and Denny calling for help. Eddie and Hen shared the briefest of glances before sprinting across the grass.
“You can stop running, I’m fine,” Buck called from the ground. He hadn’t pulled himself up, but that was mostly because he didn’t want to deal with the scolding he’d get if he actually did.
Hen knelt down next to his head, her off duty medical bag settling against the mulch right besides her. “Let us be the judge of that. What on Earth did you do?”
“It’s always my fault,” Buck grumbled under his breath before answering the question. “I startled the boys, and because of how much I startled them, I lost my grip and fell of the ladder.”
“Only you, Buck, could avoid telling the whole truth while there’s a sneaker mark across your face.” Eddie deadpanned from next to the boys, making sure they were all okay.
After a minute, Hen gave Buck a relatively clean bill of health, telling him he avoided the ER, but he was in time out at the picnic tables until after they ate. Once lunch was over, they’d reevaluate.
As everyone slowly made their way back to the tables, Harry tugged on Buck’s arm to get him to stop. “I’m sorry I kicked you,” the boy said miserably.
“Hey, it’s okay. It was an accident. And you have good reflexes. Let’s talk your mom into martial arts training,” Buck said, easing Harry’s worries.
“Only if your head isn’t my target.”
“Of course not. You already hit that target.”
The two quickly made their way across the rest of the grass and joined their family for the rest of their pleasant day.