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It was February 7th when Buck woke up to a text from Christopher.
That wasn’t new. Chris had been given a cell phone at the beginning of the school year for emergency purposes and was only able to call and text certain people. Buck had found out he made the cut that night when he got his first ever text from Chris, which was just asking him to log onto his Switch to play Animal Crossing with him.
Ever since that August afternoon, Buck made it a point to send Christopher a good night text if anything, unless he was over there hanging out with his favorite people. He was so happy to feel like he had a family again, one that wasn’t tied to his parents. It was a good feeling.
Waking up to a text from Christopher wasn’t new either. If he was working, Chris would usually send him a keyboard smash of emojis and leave him to figure out exactly what was being said. It gave his brain something to wake up to.
But this morning’s text was a little different. Instead of a slew of smiley faces and emojis ripped from Discord (he would never really forgive Harry for showing Chris how to do that and then not showing him), it was actually a question.
Good morning Bucky! Can you help me make my Valentines? Don’t tell Dad, please!
It took him a few moments for the words to actually compute. Chris wanted his help?
He was quick to send back that he would be honored to help, then went to find Eddie to find out when would be a good time for him to come over to help. Well, when he could come over to cook for them, which would remain a good cover.
Two days later, the two had the perfect opportunity to work on Christopher’s valentines. Eddie unexpectedly agreed to cover a short shift so that he would be able to go to Chris’ Valentine’s Party the following Tuesday. Buck had been happily voluntold to watch Chris for the day, which was never going to be a problem.
The entire living room looked like a craft store had exploded. As it turned out, Chris’ class was all attempting to make their own Valentines instead of just buying ones from the grocery store. So, as soon as the school day ended, Buck picked up his young charge and took him to the nearest Michael’s and bought anything and everything that Chris might need to make his Valentines stand out.
Chris was in charge of the art and the words on each one, which he was making custom depending on the person. Buck was regulated to cutting, envelope stuffing, and entertainment. He didn’t mind, because the entire afternoon and evening was filled with laughter and teasing.
After a few hours, Chris was on his last card and Buck was messing around with the scraps. They’d amassed a good size pile of discarded paper, which Buck had been ordered to cut up into confetti. He didn’t know exactly what Chris was planning on doing with the confetti, but he wasn’t about to ask.
Just as Chris slid the final card to Buck to put into an envelope, the boy let out a wide yawn. The sugar crash was on. Buck carefully sealed the envelope with a sticker, adding it to the stack, and then started prodding the boy to bed. At least the next day was Saturday, which meant that he could sleep in a bit.
After reading Chris the next three chapters of Mark of Athena , Buck went back out into the living room to try to unearth the room into something that would give Eddie heart palpitations. He quickly got everything at least somewhat cleaned up and back in bags. Just as he went to straighten up the coffee table, he came across one last Valentine.
It didn’t have a name on it, but he could immediately see who it was for. Chris had drawn two familiar shapes on the front of the card, holding hands. One had dark hair and the other had a very distinct mark over the left eye.
“You made this for your dad, Chris?” he whispered under his breath before opening the card. And promptly choked.
Happy Valentine’s Day to my favorite Dads!
The hand not holding the card came up to cover his face. He had never expected to see anything like that with his name on it.
“So, this is what you two got up to tonight.”
Buck spun around on the couch to see Eddie standing in the doorway. The man looked tired but unhurt. A quick glance at the clock showed that he’d been staring at the card for a good long while.
Eddie came over to join him on the couch, not seeing the card still in Buck’s hand. “You didn’t answer your phone when I called when I got off. Cleaning up after destroying my living room?” The man sat down on the couch and plucked the card out of his hand. “Chris made this?”
“He, ah, he made all of them. That one was left over, I think.”
Eddie looked down at the card. “So, you think he’s trying to tell us something?”
Buck chuckled. “Probably the same thing that everyone has been hinting at for the last couple years.” He reached over and flipped open the card. “Definitely telling us something.”
“I guess we have a lot to talk about, then.” Eddie abandoned the card and shifted to look at Buck. “You okay with that?”
Buck leaned forward. “Only if you are.” And caught the man in a soft first kiss.