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“heeeeyy babe,” bucks voice calls out through the phone as soon as eddie hits “accept”, and he immediately knows what that tone means.
“what did you do?” eddie asks, the phone nestled between his shoulder and his cheek as he returns to washing the dishes.
“wh-what? what makes you think i did anything?” buck splutters, and eddie rolls his eyes.
“because i know you, and i know when you’ve done something. so what is it this time?” the phone is silent for a couple of seconds before eddie hears a noise that’s not bucks breathing or the roaring car engine, but it was so soft and quiet that eddie’s not a hundred percent sure what it was.
“shh!” buck’s voice is quieter than it was before, indicating that he moved the phone away from his face. eddie stops washing the dishes so he can concentrate on the call, letting the plate sink to the bottom of the basin as he dries his hands on the towel.
“buck, who the hell is in the car?” he removes his phone from the previous postion so he’s now holding it, and uses the other hand to lean against the counter.
“um, thats a good question…” bucks voice trails off and eddie raises an eyebrow.
“don’t be mad?” buck squeaks and now eddie doesn’t know how to feel. don’t be mad? why would he be mad?
“buck if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now-“
“you’ll find out soon but i gotta go, bye!,” buck says and before eddie can protest, the call clicks to an end. he sighs, tossing his phone down on to the table and sitting on one of the chairs, bouncing his knee. he goes through many different scenarios through his head, not sure what the worst one would be. he doesn’t have too long to wait to find out, though, because about ten minutes later their jeep rolls up into the driveway. eddie springs out of his chair and races through the apartment, almost falling through the doorway to the living room. christopher looks up from his place on the couch with a questioning look on his face as his dad peers through the blinds.
eddie watches as the car door swings open and buck steps out, stretching his arms. he then proceeds to open the back door and eddie furrows his brows as he watches his boyfriend climb back out the car and-
oh.
he pulls out a carrier.
a pet carrier.
eddie lets out a heavy sigh, rubbing his forehead as he hears the front door open.
“buck!” christopher yells, turning his head to watch the blond struggle his way through the door with the carrier.
“hey buddy!” buck grins, placing the box on the floor as chris gets off the couch to greet him.
“what the hell is that?” eddie asks, pointing towards the carrier. before buck can answer, the box does it for him. a small meow echoes through the apartment, followed by some small scratching. eddie looks at his boyfriend, who’s shrugging with a sheepish smile on his face.
“oh my gosh, a cat!” christoper says gleefully, sitting down on his knees in front of the metal cage door. eddie, who’s still holding buck’s eyes, points towards the kitchen. he tells christopher to leave the cat in the carrier until they come back.
“are you fucking kidding me?” eddie whisper-hisses as soon as buck has closed the door. the blond turns around with his hands held up in surrender.
“okay okay, i know i should’ve talked to you first but hear me out-“ he starts but eddie beats him to it.
“you brought home a damn cat? what on earth were you thinking, mi amour? you didn’t even talk to me about it first!” eddie yells as quietly as possible and buck sighs.
“i know, i know. i’m sorry-“
“so what’s the story? this isn’t another hoover scenario, is it?” eddie asks, reminiscing on that one night he had hoover the dog, who wrecked his entire kitchen. he shivers at the memory.
“no i just, i drove past the pet shop,” buck mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. eddie raises an eyebrow.
“…and? was it on fire? were the animals being treated poorly?” eddie waited for an answer from his boyfriend, who stood silently for a moment.
“no. i just… i wanted a cat,” he says honestly and softly. eddie stares at him in disbelief, leaning his elbows on the counter and resting his head on his hands, a small groan escaping his lips.
“you are so lucky i love you,” he says, mainly to himself.
“sooo… can we keep him?” buck questions and eddie sighs.
“i’ll think about it,” buck is quick to pull him into a hug and although eddie wants to stay mad at him (and he will,) he can’t help but smile and wrap his arms around buck.
“you have to come meet him! eddie, he has the cutest little face and green little eyes!” the blond breaks from the hug and intertwines their fingers, dragging the brunet through the house. eddie always forget how strong buck actually is.
they make their way back into the living room and buck crouches down next to christopher who immediately asks if he can let the cat out now. eddie’s the one to reach forward and unlatch the door and they all sit still, waiting for the animal to come out.
little ginger paws make an appearance first, followed by the tiny head of a small ginger kitten. eddie raises an eyebrow.
“i thought you said it was a cat, not a kitten,” he says and buck waves him off.
“same difference,” he responds, not even looking in his boyfriends direction, causing eddie to roll his eyes. the kitten glances at all three of them, christopher first, then eddie and finally buck, before sniffing at the carpet below him.
“welcome home, buddy,” eddie doesn’t think he’s ever heard bucks voice so soft and gentle or seen him so happy. it causes his heart to warm.
christopher is quick to reach out a hand, allowing the kitten to sniff at his fingers before brushing its cheek against his thumb, causing the boy to squeal happily.
“so what made you choose this little guy?”
“reminded me of one of my favourite movies when i was younger, oliver and company,” buck answers as he picks up the cat and places him on his shoulder. the kitten purrs loudly, bumping it’s head against buck’s face. eddie reaches out to scratch behind his ears.
“so i guess we’re calling him oliver, huh?” eddie says softly and both his boys look in his direction, a glimmer of hope in bucks eyes.
“are you saying we can keep him?” eddie nods in response and buck and christopher let out loud whoops of celebration before remembering the kitten, who’s now called oliver, that runs down buck’s arm and hides behind eddie’s leg. eddie gently strokes his back.
“yeah, you’ll get used to that,”