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“What do you mean you got fired?”
“What do you think I mean, Eddie?” Buck asks angrily, looking up at his husband. “I got fired from the hospital. Twenty fucking days before Christmas.”
“I hope they had a good fucking reason,” Eddie snaps. “I’ll- I’ll-”
“What are you going to do, Eddie?” Buck asks, running a hand through his hair. “Nothing. There’s nothing you can do. I’m just going to have to look for another job, even though I gave years of my life to that stupid hospital, and they just throw me out like I mean nothing to them.”
Eddie frowns as he stares at Buck from across the kitchen, hating that this happened to his husband and there’s nothing he can do about it, before walking over to his husband. He bends down and gently wraps his arms around Buck, holding him tightly. “I’m so sorry, Buck. You didn’t deserve this,” he whispers.
Buck gives in and leans into Eddie’s hold. “Why now? Why before Christmas?”
“We’re still going to have a good Christmas,” Eddie whispers, gently kissing Buck’s arm.
“Dad?”
Eddie’s head snaps up and he sees Christopher walking into the kitchen. “Hey bud. Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for bed?” He slowly let’s go of Buck, but stays close to him.
“I heard upset voices. I had to come investigate,” Christopher says.
“You’re just being nosy,” Eddie chuckles. “Actually-” He looks down at Buck for a moment before looking back at Christopher. “What do you say we go to the living room, pop on a movie and cuddle?”
“Eds?” Buck asks, looking up at his husband.
“I may not be able to do anything because you got fired, but I can make sure my husband is happy, and if there’s one thing I know that makes him happy… It's movie night and cuddles with our son.”
“Can we make popcorn?” Christopher asks with excitement.
“Bud, it’s almost time for-”
“Absolutely,” Eddie says, cutting Buck off. “We can’t watch a movie without popcorn.”
“Eds,” Buck groans, leaning back in his chair. “He’s going to be up all night. We can’t give him junk food!”
“Yes we can, Buck. Tomorrow is Saturday and he doesn’t have school, so we can allow him to stay up to watch a movie with us,” Eddie argues. “Go on, buddy. Go pick out a movie. Make sure it’s something we’d all like.” He smiles fondly as he watches Christopher cheer with victory and head to the living room. “Hey, don’t get used to this Christopher! It’s a one-time thing!”
Eddie enjoys spending the weekend home with Buck, even though he knows Buck is still upset about losing his job. He’s been watching Buck search high and low for a new job that fits him. Buck is a very specific kind of person. He wants to help others. He can’t just sit at a desk job for eight hours.
On Monday, Eddie dreads having to go back to work. He knows Buck will be fine, because he gets to spend some one-on-one time with Christopher while he’s at work. Eddie has a twenty four hour shift ahead of him. Going back to work after the weekends is always difficult for Eddie.
“Have fun?” Buck questions as he looks over at Eddie.
Eddie looks over at Buck as he’s about to get out of the car. “Not likely. I’d rather be home with my boys,”
“I know,” Buck says, and reaches over to kiss Eddie. “You’ll be home soon enough though.”
“I’ll miss you,” Eddie whispers, and kisses Buck again. “Don’t have too much fun without me.”
Buck chuckles. “Not a chance, Eds,” he says. “Now get going. You’re going to be late. I love you. Christopher loves you. Don’t do anything stupid on a call.”
Eddie groans, mumbling an ‘ I love you ’ to Buck before grabbing his bag and finally stepping out of the car. He looks over at Buck once more before heading into the firehouse. He heads into the locker room.
Eddie knows today is going to be a bad day no matter what, because all he can think about is his husband getting fired two weeks before Christmas. He just wishes there was something more he can do.
“What’s gotten you looking so down?” Hen asks when Eddie’s sitting at the kitchen table later.
Eddie blinks, and looks up. “What?”
“You look like your dog just died or something,” Chimney adds, walking beside Hen.
Eddie rolls his eyes. “We don’t have a dog,” he says. “I just have a lot on my mind, that’s all.”
“Care to share with the class?” Hen asks, sitting down at the table across from Eddie.
Eddie looks up at her, and stares for a moment, before sighing. “My husband got fired last night, and there’s nothing I can do about it, and it’s really bugging me,” he says.
“Damn. Two weeks before Christmas?” Hen asks, and frowns when Eddie nods.
“But why? Shit. Didn’t you say he was a nurse?” Chimney asks, also frowning.
“Yes. He was a nurse. He gave years of his life to that damn hospital, and they just threw him out like he was nothing,” Eddie grumbles. “Now he’s jobless, right before Christmas. He’s devastated.”
“Is he looking for a new job?” Hen asks.
“That’s all he was doing last night, but I know my husband. He’s not going to want a boring nine to five desk job. He likes to help people. He wants to feel like he’s doing good for the world,” Eddie says.
“Why not just be a firefighter?” Chimney suggests. “It’s a lot of work, but-”
Eddie shakes his head. “We have a son. One of us has to have a job where we aren’t in danger,”
“What about a 9-11 dispatcher?” Hen suggests, raising her eyebrows. “If he’s emotionally stable for it. Maddie, you know Chimney's girlfriend? She always talks about how hard it is. But, it’s very rewarding,”
Eddie perks up slightly at the mention of a dispatcher, because that would be the perfect job for Buck. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea, actually. Buck could totally do that,” he says, and he looks over at Chimney. “Do you think you could talk to Maddie about getting Buck a job there?”
“Yeah, I can do that. She’s been working there for years and her opinion matters. She can put in a good word for him,” Chimney says. “I don’t know how long it will take though.”
“Thank you,” Eddie sighs in relief, and then he pulls out his phone to text Buck about being a dispatcher.
“You should bring Buck and Christopher to the Christmas gathering,” Hen adds.
Eddie looks up at Hen. “I-” He begins. “Would Bobby be okay with that?”
“Be okay with what?” Bobby asks as he walks into the kitchen.
“About Eddie bringing his husband and son to the Christmas gathering we’re having on Christmas day,” Hen says before Eddie can say anything. “His husband could use some cheering up.”
“Of course. There will be plenty of room for a few extra guests,” Bobby says, looking over at Eddie. “Haven’t seen Buck in awhile. Everything alright?”
“Yeah, just going through something right now. Thanks Bobby. I’m sure Buck and Christopher would love to join us at the Christmas gathering,” Eddie says, looking up at his captain with a smile.
Of course Buck is onboard when Eddie tells him about the Christmas party when Eddie returns home.
“It’s kind of a tradition at the firehouse, I guess, but this will be my first time attending one,” Eddie says. “Hen suggested that I bring you and Christopher. It could be fun. They’ll be tons of other kids for Christopher to play with while we’re there.”
“Eddie, of course I wanna go. It sounds perfect,” Buck says, and he walks up to Eddie.
“You don’t have to go. I don’t wanna force you to go just because it’s my job-”
“Eddie,” Buck warns in a soft tone. “I wanna go, and I know Christopher will have a blast.”
Eddie smiles at Buck, and leans forward to kiss him. “God I’m so lucky to have you,”
“Me? Fuck, Eddie. More like I’m so lucky to have you. You just went out of your way to get me a job after I got fired no less than two days ago. You didn’t have to do that-”
“You’re my husband, Buck. That’s what we do. We care for each other,” Eddie whispers.
“I love you,” Buck whispers, and leans forward to kiss Eddie again. He grips onto him as they kiss.
“I love you too,” Eddie whispers once they’ve pulled away from the kiss.
Buck doesn’t hear back from 911 dispatch about a new job, so he sits at home for two weeks while Eddie works at the firehouse. Eddie constantly assures Buck that it’s fine, that he doesn’t need to rush into finding a new job, that he should take advantage of spending time with Christopher at home.
Buck doesn’t need to worry, especially when they have plenty of money saved up.
“Why am I nervous?” Eddie asks when they pull up into the driveway of the firehouse on Christmas day. “They’ve met you. They’ve met Christopher. Why the hell am I nervous?”
“It’s okay to be nervous,” Buck tries to assure him, and he parks the car. He looks over at Eddie. “But, everything’s going to be fine so you’re nervous for nothing.
“I know. I’m just a worrier,” Eddie mumbles. He looks over at Buck. “Shall we go?”
“Yeah, let’s,” Buck agrees, nodding. He leans over to gently peck Eddie on the lips once before getting out of the car. He shuts the door and then he moves to open Christopher’s door. He smiles when he sees Christopher looking up at him with excitement, clearly ready to get out of the car. “Let’s get you out of here.” He leans down and picks Christopher up. “Eds? Can you get his crutches?”
“I’m on it,” Eddie says, walking over to Christopher’s side of the car, and reaches in to grab his crutches. “Alright. We’ve got everything. Let’s go.”
“I still feel like I should have bought something with us. Maybe a pie or something,” Buck complains.
“Babe, there’s no need. There’s going to be plenty of food. I promise,” Eddie says.
“But it’s the polite thing to do when you’re invited to stuff like this,” Buck argues.
“You’re impossible,” Eddie laughs, placing a hand on Buck’s back as he leads the way into the firehouse. He smiles when he starts seeing familiar faces of the people that he’s worked with.
“Oh! There you are, Eddie,” Chimney says as soon as he spots Eddie.
“Hey Chim. You remember Buck and Christopher?” Eddie asks.
“Of course. Hard to forget an adorable face like that,” Chimney says, grinning at Christopher.
“Thought you were talking about me for a second,” Buck jokes, which earns an eye roll from Eddie
“Eh, you’re alright. You don’t beat this kid though,” Chimney says.
Buck grins, and he looks down at Christopher, who is trying to hide his face. “You know what? I can’t even argue with you on that one. Christopher is pretty stinkin’ adorable,”
“Oh! Eddie, you finally get to meet Maddie. She’s been excited to meet everyone today. Maddie! Mads? Where are you? I want you to meet Eddie and his family,”
“I’m coming,”
Buck perks up slightly, because that voice sounds very familiar, but there’s no way…
Buck’s eyes widen as soon as ‘Maddie’ comes into view, and Buck instantly realizes that it’s his sister, someone he hasn’t seen in years, not since he left Peenyslvania. “Maddie?”
Maddie’s head instantly snaps up, and her eyes widen as well. “Evan?”
“I-” Buck begins. He looks over at Eddie. “Take him, please?”
“What’s going on?” Eddie asks as he takes Christopher out of Buck’s arms, and watches as his husband rushes over to hug the woman. He looks over at Chimney. “They know each other?”
Chimney shrugs his shoulders. “I haven’t heard of Maddie knowing of Buck.”
“You’re still going by Buck, are you?” Maddie asks as she pulls away the hug. She looks up at Buck. “God, it’s so good to see you Evan. I- I haven’t seen you in… it’s been years .”
“Yes,” Buck says, laughing wetly. “I’d say so. What are- What are you doing here? In L.A?”
“I’d like to ask you the same question,” Maddie retorts, gently poking Buck on the chest.
“Didn’t you get my postcards?” Buck asks, frowning slightly.
“Of course I did. I didn’t know you ended up here though. Any particular reason?” Maddie asks.
“It’s just where I ended up. Then I met Eddie-” Buck says as he turns and points at Eddie. “Oh my gosh! You haven’t even met Eddie, and Christopher. Maddie, this is my husband, and this is his son.”
“ Our son,” Eddie corrects Buck, rolling his eyes.
“Husband? Since when did you get married?” Maddie asks, clearly shocked to hear this news.
“A few years ago. A lot has changed. Come on,” Buck says, pulling over towards Eddie and Christopher. “Eddie, this is Maddie. She’s uh, she’s my older sister. I told you about her a few times?”
“I remember. Hi, it’s nice to finally meet you,” Eddie says, reaching over and shaking Maddie’s hand.
“Nice to meet you as well. I didn’t know you existed until now,” Maddie says. “It’s really hard to believe that someone managed to get this one to settle down.” She grins as she looks over at Maddie.
Buck rolls his eyes. “It’s not that surprising, Mads,”
“Hey. I thought I was supposed to be the one introducing you guys?” Chimney says, walking over to them. “Maddie, you didn’t tell me Buck was your brother?”
“I didn’t know this was the Buck you were talking about,” Maddie says. “The one you described him to me, he sounded totally different from my brother. But clearly, my baby brother has grown up.”
“It was bound to happen at some point,” Buck says, and shrugs his shoulders
Buck stays attached to Maddie, because he hasn’t seen his older sister in years, and he’s missed her, and they have so much to catch up on. Last Buck knew, his sister had run off from Pennsylvania with her husband Doug who is nowhere to be found. Not that Buck is complaining. He never liked Doug.
“So, that’s the famous Maddie I’ve been hearing about?” Eddie asks later when he’s alone with Buck. They’re upstairs in the kitchen. Christopher is downstairs with some of the other kids.
“Yeah,” Buck says. “I can’t believe she’s been here this whole time. I thought she was… states away.”
“I knew Chimney had a girlfriend named Maddie, but… I never even thought to ask her last name. I’m-”
“Don’t,” Buck warns, and he looks over at Eddie. “You didn’t know. I didn’t know. It’s okay. I’m not mad. Right now, I’m just happy that I know she’s here, that she’s safe. You know, this is the first Christmas that I’ve spent with her in years. That’s a nice thought. I thought I was going to be miserable this Christmas, but you made sure that I wasn’t, and I appreciate you, Eddie. So much.”
Eddie chuckles, and leans over to kiss Buck. “I told you. That’s what husbands do for each other,”
“Evan! I was just, oh-”
Buck looks over and sees Maddie walking into the kitchen. "Hey Maddie. What's up?"
“Sorry. Am I interrupting something?”
“No, Mads. We were just talking. What’s up?” Buck asks.
“Well, Chimney mentioned it to me the other week. You were looking for a job as a dispatcher?”
“Yeah?” Buck nods. “I… I got fired from my last job. Eddie mentioned being a dispatcher, and then Chimney said that he would talk to his girlfriend, his girlfriend being you, about helping me get a job.”
“Well, I did talk to Sue about letting you join the dispatch team. Chimney told me all about your skills, and Sue said she would look around and see if we have any room, but I haven’t heard back from her. Well, now that I know Chimney was talking about you, I’ve been messaging Sue. She said she’s going to try, but we can’t do anything until we’re back at work.”
“Maddie, you don’t have to-”
“Nope-” Maddie holds up her finger. “You deserve this job, Evan.”
Buck takes a deep breath, knowing that there’s no arguing with his older sister. “Thank you, Maddie,”
Maddie grins. “Besides, it’s terrible that you were let go two weeks before Christmas,” she says.
Buck scoffs, and shakes his head. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Their loss,” Eddie speaks up, and gently places a hand on Buck’s shoulder. “Buck’s incredible, and anyone would be lucky to have him working for them.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re my husband,” Buck mumbles, his cheeks turning pink.
“Not true. I do think you’re incredible, and you’d make an amazing dispatcher,” Eddie says. “At least Buck can stop fretting now at home. All he does now is look on Google for new jobs.”
“I hate sitting at home. I feel like I’m not contributing enough,” Buck whines.
“You’re taking care of our son. That’s more than enough,” Eddie whispers, and kisses Buck’s cheek.
“Which, speaking of. Christopher is adorable ,” Maddie says.
Buck grins as he looks over at Maddie. “Yeah, he is. He gets that from me,”
“Ha! That’s so funny that you think that, Buck!” Eddie laughs, and lets out a squeak when Buck tries to pinch his side. “Don’t you dare, Buckley! You know how much I hate being tickled.”
Buck smirks, and he continues to try to tickle Eddie, while Eddie tries to escape Buck’s hold.
“Uh, what on Earth are they doing?” Chimney asks when he walks beside Maddie, a cup of hot chocolate in his hands, raising his eyebrows at the two boys.
Maddie chuckles, and glances over at Chimney. “It’s good to know my brother hasn’t changed one bit. He’s still a giant kid,” she says, and looks back over at Buck and his husband, smiling fondly.