Chapter Text
He was warm and comfortable and he didn’t want to move.
At least until he heard the giggling and the blankets started shifting next to him.
Eddie had been desperately trying to hold on to the last little bit of sleep when he heard the door to the room click shut loudly in the quiet. Buck was cursing quietly at the noise, shuffling into the room. The smell of coffee and breakfast following him as he went.
“Daaaaaddy,” came another sleepy giggle next to him.
“Hey princess,” Buck said and the bed next to him shifted as he picked up Minnie out of the blankets where she’d been curled into Eddie’s side.
It should be illegal to be awake this early while on vacation but a happy giggle like that from Minnie had him willing to let it go this time.
He cracked his eyes open and lifted his head to see Buck still in his pajamas swaying side to side with Minnie in his arms wrapped around him like a baby koala while he tried to coax her down onto the chair to eat breakfast.
Chris was still passed out in the other bed next to the window where the sun was starting to peek through the curtains. He was less than a year away from being a teenager and he could already sleep through an earthquake if he really wanted. Some mornings were a battle but hopefully he’d be a little nicer waking up today considering they were at Disneyland.
Buck and Minnie started whispering excitedly and rustling bags so Eddie took that as his cue to get up for the day. He yawned and sat up stretching until his back cracked and rolled his shoulders. Scrubbing his hands over his face to clear the sleep out of his eyes he yawned one more time before he climbed out of bed.
Buck and Minnie had stopped moving, both staring at him with wide eyes. Minnie already had a pair of sparkly red and pink Minnie ears on her head, the same pair she'd been wearing for the last week, a piece of bacon half in her mouth. Buck’s hand was frozen deep in one of the several bags he and Minnie had returned from Downtown Disney with the night before while Chris and Eddie were out retrieving dinner.
“What are you two up to?” Eddie asked, trying hard to keep his mouth from quirking up into a smile.
Buck broke first, his face cracking into a smile as he turned to Minnie. “Do you want to show, Dad?”
Minnie started nodding wildly devouring the rest of the bacon and wiggling to get out of Buck’s hold.
Buck put her on the ground and handed her the bag. Eddie grinned and bit his lip as Minnie shuffled over to him, the hem of his LAFD hoodie that she was wearing dragging on the floor.
“Whatcha got there, mi princesa?” He asked crouching down to meet her.
“Matching shirts!”
His eyes went wide as Minnie pulled out three matching shirts, all long sleeved black and white shirts with the Disneyland castle on the front surrounded by colorful fireworks. He looked up to see Buck standing there grinning, already wearing his shirt stretched over his shoulders.
“This is why you two were so secretive last night?” Eddie asked, taking his shirt and kissing Minnie on the forehead before straightening up again. Buck and Minnie had returned from their little shopping spree the night before and refused to let him and Chris see what they’d bought.
“Min thought it would be fun if we could all match one of the days we were here. It’ll make a great Christmas card, Chimney will get a kick out of it.” Buck shrugged nonchalantly as he cut up one of the Mickey shaped waffles for Minnie.
“Oh Min, thought it would be fun, huh?” Eddie smirked knowingly, circling his arms around Buck’s waist for a hug, kissing the back of his neck.
Buck turned to look at him with a smile and a retort that Eddie kissed away properly before he could say anything. “Happy anniversary.”
Buck hummed into the kiss and pulled back before Eddie could deepen it. “Happy anniversary. And just so you know, she did think it would be fun… once I suggested it. Isn’t that right, Mins?”
“Mhmm!” She nodded around a forkful of syrupy waffle.
Eddie just laughed and went to the bathroom to get dressed in his new matching shirt, leaving Buck to wake Christopher up.
—
Christopher had opened the curtains and was finishing his breakfast on the little balcony attached to the room with Minnie while Buck stood behind his daughter and brushed her hair, pulling the curls out of her face and back into the low pigtails that she loved.
They had a near perfect view of the California Adventure park. The Ferris wheel and rollercoaster rising above the trees, the carts moving along the track and the wheel turning slowly getting geared up for the day. Eddie leaned against the railing sipping his coffee and let the early morning salty dew breeze over his face as he listened to his kids talk excitedly about their plans for the day with Buck.
They had been saving for this trip for nearly as long as Minnie had been alive. Since the start of the pandemic when it didn’t make sense for them to live apart anymore. They had cleared out that small never used office in Eddie’s house for Minnie’s nursery and tossed out some of his older furniture to replace it with the newer things Buck had for his apartment and pooled their resources together to begin saving.
They had promised Chris that they would take them to Disneyland once Minnie was big enough and they had originally planned on taking a smaller day trip once Minnie was old enough to decide she had a favorite princess. But a lot had happened to them the last few years, and with a few more near death experiences under their belts their Disney trip had been pushed back more than a few times.
Now with all of the shiny new therapy they’d all been through and three and half years of planning and saving, Buck and Eddie had decided to go all out for their kids.
If you had told Eddie two years ago when he was at the rockiest of rock bottoms that he would be staying at a Disneyland resort hotel wearing matching shirts with Buck and the kids with a ring hidden away in his backpack and listening to Minnie talk about jumbo pickles he would have laughed in disbelief and asked if he was being punked.
“Gross,” Chris said, scrunching his nose.
“I’ll eat your pickles, Chrissy.” Minnie said.
Chris sighed, he didn’t particularly like being called Chrissy but he suffered through it for his sister, but only her as he told them several times. Eddie thought that as much as he acted like he hated it he probably liked having something that was just his and Minnie’s.
They cleaned up their dishes and piled them neatly on the desk in their room and once Christopher was finished getting ready Buck slipped into the bathroom for a minute before they headed down.
“It’s your anniversary with Buck today right?” Chris asked, once the door clicked shut behind Buck.
Eddie raised an eyebrow at him.
“W’assa anna-anna-vershey?” Minnie asked, jumping around on the bed. Eddie looped his arms around her and yanked her off, she squealed out a peal of giggles as he swung her up and kissed all over her face and knocked the ears off her head.
He let up before her breathing could start hiccuping, swinging her over to his hip and checking that the backpack had her inhaler in an easily accessible pocket.
“An anniversary is…”
“Like a birthday,” Chris said for him.
“A birthday?”
“Yeah, like you just turned four a couple months ago,” Christopher explained. “Our dads have been together for four years today.”
“Four years like me!”
“Exactly like you,” Eddie said, kissing her forehead. Thinking back four years ago today when Minnie had still been a tiny baby with a breathing tube hidden away in Bobby and Athena's bedroom during that horrible dinner with the Buckley parents. The day had definitely started rough but it had turned into one of the best days of his life. The day he’d kissed Buck and Buck had kissed him back.
“Yes,” Eddie answered Chris’ earlier question, turning to him. “It is Buck and I’s anniversary today. Why?”
“So are you gonna propose to Buck today?”
Minnie gasped. “Ring!”
Eddie groaned and collapsed back onto the bed with a giggling Minnie in his arms. He prayed that the fan in the bathroom was still as loud as it was when he was in there earlier and Buck couldn’t currently hear this conversation.
“You’re gonna give Daddy the ring!” Minnie said, patting his cheeks. She’d found the ring yesterday while helping Eddie with his last minute packing, and he would have avoided telling her what it was had Christopher not walked in at that exact moment and spilled the beans.
He’d had the ring for months, carrying it with him nearly everywhere they went since the day Buck had finally woken up from the coma and he’d ordered it. They hadn’t had an issue when he’d been in the hospital after getting shot, but for some reason they’d mixed up some paperwork after the lightning strike and Eddie wasn’t allowed to sit with Buck for several agonizing hours because he “wasn’t family.” Like the three and a half years they’d been together meant nothing.
It wasn’t the best reason for finally having the ring made, but Eddie had been wanting this since Buck and Minnie moved into his house and permanently made themselves at home in his heart next to Chris. He’d been getting in his own way for years now and he was done with it. He finally felt like he was in the clear and he was going to do it. He was finally going to propose to Buck.
Because if he didn’t, Minnie would end up doing it for him. He loved his daughter very much, but four year olds were not known for their filters. Especially not this four year old.
“Yeah, Dad, you gonna give Buck his ring finally?” Chris grinned leaning over him. Chris knew just how embarrassingly long he’d had the ring for.
“Yes yes yes!” Minnie giggled, patting his face.
“You two are terrible,” Eddie moaned, dropping his head back. “You’re killing me ya know. You’re killing your father.”
“That’s alright, we got another one,” Chris said, flopping down next to him.
“Christopher!” Eddie spluttered, head popping back up as Chris started laughing.
“Who’s ready to go to Disneyland?!” Buck cheered, whipping the door open.
“Meeee! Me me!” Minnie exclaimed, scrambling all over Eddie in an effort to get to her other dad. She very narrowly missed nailing him in the crotch as Eddie sat up and put the wiggly girl down on the floor so she could race over to Buck. He stood and pulled Chris to his feet handing him his crutches.
“You ready, Dad?” Chris asked, looking at him with a cheeky smile.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, kid,” Eddie huffed, ruffling his hair.
—
The parks were barely opening by the time they made it through the front gate. The crowd was still pretty thin as they lined up behind a big family to take a picture with the Mickey floral arrangement in front of the Main Street train station. Eddie didn’t know a lot about Disneyland, but he knew enough to know that this was the classic picture spot.
All four of them in their matching Disneyland shirts, Chris standing in front of him and Buck while Minnie was high in her dad’s arms giving them the biggest smile she could. When the cast member told them to lean in close and give each other a hug, Eddie wrapped an arm around Buck’s waist and pulled him and Minnie in along with Chris.
“Your family is adorable,” the cast member smiled as she scanned the code on Buck’s phone to send them the pictures and Eddie shouldered the backpack.
“Thank you!” Buck said, sharing a bright smile with Eddie.
“Where are we heading first?” Eddie asked once they finally made it onto Main Street.
“Haunted Mansion,” Chris said looking at the app on his phone. Eddie looked over his shoulder to see that the ride had a 13 minute standby wait time. Which was odd, but what did Eddie know?
“We’ll meet you two over there,” Buck said, bouncing Minnie in his arms. “This one needs a quick potty break.”
Eddie was pleasantly surprised at how empty the park was. He would have thought that a nice Sunday day during Christmas time would be way busier than it was. It made it easier for Chris to get around at least.
“Do you have the ring with you?” Chris asked randomly once they’d made it to the Haunted Mansion. The airy musicbox-like music floated around them intertwining with the buttery scent of popcorn and something sweet.
“What?”
“The ring, do you have it with you?”
“Of course I have the ring with me,” Eddie said. Chris was one of three people that knew just how often Eddie carried the thing around with him. The other two being his Abuela and Bobby.
The ring was hidden at the bottom of the backpack that Eddie had packed with military precision and refused to let out of his sight. It was hidden beneath a bag of chili flavored pistachios, so even if Buck somehow pried the backpack out of Eddie’s hands he wouldn’t find them because he didn’t like the flavoring of the nuts.
Both of their phones buzzed, distracting them and they pulled them out to see that Buck had sent them the pictures that had been taken at the front gate. Eddie smiled softly at the picture of them all leaning in close and smiling brightly. He immediately made it the lock screen on his phone and dropped it back into his pocket.
“So you have a plan?”
“What was that?” Eddie asked. He’d very clearly heard his son, but sometimes it was just fun to mess with him.
Chris scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Of course I have a plan,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes much like Chris had. Maybe Buck was on to something about Chris being his little clone.
“Okay, so what is it?”
Eddie was saved from admitting that he actually did not have a plan by Buck and Minnie coming into view. Minnie was still in his arms nibbling on the biggest pickle Eddie had ever seen and they both had bright orange badges pinned to their jackets that hadn’t been there before.
“It’s barely eight in the morning-.” Eddie started.
“Vacation time, Eds,” Buck grinned, taking a bite out of the pickle when Minnie pushed it towards him. “Normal time doesn’t exist here.”
“Yeah, Dada, vacation time,” Minnie echoed, chomping back down on her pickle.
Chris made a face still not convinced.
“We got you guys something,” Buck said, pulling out two more badges from his pocket.
These were orange as well with a picture of Mickey and Friends on it with the words “1 st Visit!” scrawled underneath.
“Ohhh! I saw these on TikTok!” Chris said excitedly. Eddie pinned his to the backpack and helped Chris get his on his shirt. Chris and Buck had spent the last several weeks researching everything they could about the parks to have the best trip possible for the four of them- a lot of that had been watching TikToks and Youtube videos.
Their phones all buzzed again as Minnie and Buck finished off the last of their pickle.
“Our time is ready for Haunted Mansion,” Chris said looking up at Buck.
“Perfect timing, let’s go!”
Eddie had no idea what that meant as they walked over to another cast member and showed them Buck’s phone. They waved through to the fast lane, quickly bypassing the standby line that had gotten longer than thirteen minutes in the time they waited for Buck and Minnie.
The kids took off in front of them, Minnie bouncing excitedly down the sidewalk as she waited for Chris to catch up.
“What was that about?” Eddie asked, walking with Buck.
“I found that Disney has this disability pass we could basically sign up for. I thought it would be great for Chris and Minnie’s anxiety, it’s like waiting in line without actually waiting in the line.” Buck explained, showing him the app. "You just input the ride you want to go on and it gives you a return time.” Buck input a return time for Big Thunder Mountain for two and it gave them a return time in twenty-five minutes. “Chris wants to go on Big Thunder after this with me, I figured you could take Minnie over to Winnie the Pooh or something.”
“Sounds great,” Eddie smiled. He loved how much Chris loved Buck, he always had, since that first day his old truck wouldn’t start and Buck took him to pick up Chris from school after the earthquake. It was one of the many, many things that made him love Buck.
They made it into the first room and even though Minnie assured them several times that she wouldn’t get scared (Chris had showed her a lot of videos of the rides), the room quickly crowded in a way that made her uncomfortable as she reached up for Eddie to pick her up, which he gladly did. He didn’t want to lose her in the dark crowded room either. Chris warned him to cover Minnie’s ears and he was glad he did once the room stopped stretching and there was a loud shattering noise above them.
Minnie clung to him until they sat down in the little car buggy thing with Buck and Chris in the one behind them. She lit back up once they were settled in just the two of them out of the crowds and she spent the whole ride giggling and clapping and gasping at all the ghosts and Nightmare Before Christmas characters. Eddie found that enjoyed it more than he thought he would, but that might just be because of how happy and excited his kid was.
Buck showed him how to get to the next ride and where they were going to meet once he and Chris got off the bigger kid ride. Eddie was glad he and Buck had worked out an easy switch off game to take Chris on the bigger rides. He might be a firefighter in the best shape of his life but there was something about being in your mid-30s and being jerked around on one too many thrill rides that could knock him out of commission for a good while.
Minnie loved the Winnie the Pooh ride and seeing as there was no one in line Eddie took her on it again just to see her smile. He snapped a selfie of the two of them smiling brightly in the beehive shaped cart and sent it to the group chat that they shared with their family.
The Danger Zone
Athena: awwww my sweet baby looks so happy! That was Harry’s favorite ride when he was that age.
Bobby loved an image
Hen: Denny’s favorite was Mr. Toad’s for reasons that only God knows
Eddie: Should I be worried to take my kid on that ride?
Hen: Only if your concerned with going to hell
Eddie: ????
Maddie: Oh I love it! 😍😍😍 She’s wearing the ears I got her!
Eddie: We haven’t been able to get her to take them off all week.
Buck responded with an image of him and Chris mid-ride. They both had giant grins on their faces and Chris had his hands straight up in the air. Behind them there was a goat with a stick of dynamite in its mouth. Eddie had no idea what that was about but he was glad they were having fun.
Chimney: that goat looks like a safety hazard 🧐
Buck: you’re a safety hazard chim
Buck: 🐐
Bobby loved an image
Bobby: Looks like you’re all having a good time.
“Dada, can we get a churro, please?” Minnie asked tugging on his hand as they climbed off the ride.
“Sure thing mi princesa,” Eddie said. He was about to lock his phone when he saw one more message direct from Bobby instead of in their group chat.
Bobby: Is today the day? Good luck.
Eddie sent him back a quick thumbs up with a sigh and put his phone back in his pocket. Today would be the day, so help him. Today was going to be the day.
—
Eddie and Buck were surprised at just how much Minnie loved the Pirates ride. Buck had been a little worried that drops in the dark would scare her, but she couldn’t stop talking about them. Now that he thinks about it, maybe he shouldn’t have been too surprised considering that her biological DNA match father was Evan Buckley the Thrill Seeker.
The next few hours of their day went by rather quickly as they got in several more rides mostly in Fantasyland so that they could all go together. Eddie texted Hen another set of ‘????’ when they got off Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Buck stepped off the car behind him with Minnie looking just as confused as Eddie felt.
“Did we just… go to hell?” Buck asked before their kids pulled them over to the Teacups.
Eddie and Buck looked at the wildly spinning cups before looking at each other with the same look of horror shared on their faces.
“Oh no-.”
“I thought you loved this kind of stuff!” Eddie argued. “You were just saying the other day-”
“I was talking about rope rescues , Eddie,” Buck gaped. “What planet were you on that you thought I would be talking about something like this.”
A dad stumbled past them with his grinning gaggle of kids looking a little green around the gills.
Chris and Minnie were waiting impatiently for them at the start of the line.
Buck and Eddie stared each other down, each refusing to break first.
“Daaaaaadddy!”
“Rock, Paper, Scissors?” Eddie asked.
Buck grimaced but put up his hands nonetheless.
“On go,” Eddie said, balling up his fist and putting up his own hands. “Three, two, one, go!”
Buck played paper, Eddie played scissors and grinned victoriously.
Buck groaned, but accepted defeat and joined Chris and Minnie in line for the Teacups. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me!” He yelled back dramatically. “The love of your life. Left to die in the trenches.”
“They’re teacups, Buck! Not trenches!” Eddie grinned and wiggled his fingers in a little wave. Buck made a face and Eddie knew that were they not standing in the middle of Disneyland, Buck would be flipping him off.
The three of them were seated in a pink teacup a few minutes later, Minnie sandwiched between Chris and Buck and Buck yanked the sparkly ears off her head as the cups began to move.
Eddie didn’t know how they did it, because Buck definitely wasn’t helping, laid back with his eyes closed and holding onto the sides of the cup for dear life, but somehow Chris and Minnie got the cup going faster than any of the other fifteen cups going. They were practically a blur in the video that Eddie took and sent to the group chat.
The Danger Zone
Athena: oh that poor boy.
Hen: thoughts and prayers for buck
Chimney: is buck still alive?
Eddie looked up just in time for Buck to stumble into him and bury his face in Eddie’s neck, hugging him around the waist.
“You good?” Eddie chuckled, wrapping his arms around Buck’s back, pressing a quick kiss to the side of his head. He wasn’t big on PDA but he’d give Buck this after taking the teacup shaped bullet.
“I think my eyes are spinning inside my head,” Buck mumbled. “Like little tops.”
Eddie laughed and rubbed his hand up and down Buck’s back steadily. “That’s physically impossible but I can imagine how that feels.”
“You owe me,” Buck muttered, turning his head away from his neck but keeping it on Eddie’s shoulder.
“Anything,” Eddie said. “Just name your price.”
“Ugh, give me a minute for the spinning to stop,” Buck said. “I’ll think of something.”
“Take your time,” Eddie chuckled, before looking up at Chris and Minnie who were bent over Chris’ phone looking at the park map. “Hey guys, your dad needs a breather. Do you want a snack?”
Minnie’s head snapped up. “Churro?”
—
They were waiting in line for their churros when Minnie gasped and started tugging on Eddie’s hand, his eyes snapped down to her daughter a second later. He’d been keeping an eye on Buck who was sitting on a nearby bench while Chris fanned his face. Buck smiled and cracked his eyes open at something the boy said right as Minnie gasped.
“Dada, Dad- Da-Dada,” Minnie chanted, pulling on his hand and pointing a few feet to the left of where Buck and Chris were sitting. There talking to another little girl was Sleeping Beauty, in a pretty color shifting dress. Minnie had a few different favorite princesses like Rapunzel and Belle, but the one that had surprised Eddie the most was Aurora. When he’d asked her why she’d just shrugged and said “Cause she takes naps and I like taking naps with Daddy.” He’d laughed but let her have it, he liked taking naps with Buck too.
“You want to go say hi?” Eddie asked, already stepping out of the line, churros could wait.
Minnie nodded while biting at her lip. Minnie didn’t like strangers much having spent almost all of her early childhood at home because of the pandemic, but this was one of her favorite princesses.
“Hey Buck!” Eddie called. Buck’s head popped off the bench, brow furrowed in concern and confusion before Eddie pointed to the side and he saw the princess. Buck’s face broke into a wide smile and he jumped off the bench and came to sweep Minnie up into his arms, all previous dizziness and dramatics forgotten.
After checking that Chris would be okay for a minute on the bench Eddie joined Buck and Minnie. Buck, of course, was charming everyone with his bright Prince Charming smile. The princess, the cast members, and the parents of the other little girl were all perfectly charmed by his boyfriend and their shy sweet little girl. Eddie had teased him before that people fell in love with Buck when all he did was hold a shy Minnie and flash his princely smile. Even out on calls he would watch people fall over themselves when Buck looked their way. He didn’t blame them. He was the first person to fall over himself when Buck smiled at him like that.
Aurora was very kind, talking softly to Minnie and smiling when the girl finally lifted her head off Buck’s shoulder to smile bashfully at her.
“You’re one of her favorites,” Eddie said, walking over, running a comforting hand down Minnie’s back. He was proud of her, this was big for her. “If they hadn’t said so already.”
“Oh, you’re so sweet,” Aurora said, taking a hold of Minnie’s outstretched hand. “Are you a princess too?”
“My da-daddy’s call me princess,” Minnie said.
“Sweetest little princess there is,” Buck smiled.
“Why am I one of your favorites?” Aurora asked curiously.
Eddie grinned.
“Because I like to take naps too,” Minnie said bashfully.
Aurora let out a surprised laugh that she quickly turned into a giggle, not many four year olds willing took naps. “Naps are great aren’t they?”
Minnie nodded.
They took a quick picture, Buck with his Prince Charming smile holding Minnie between him and the princess, with Aurora still holding her hand, giving it one last squeeze before she waved goodbye and turned to the little boy standing behind them.
Minnie wiggled excitedly and hugged Buck tightly around the neck as they went to sit back down next to Chris, who asked her how it went. Minnie nearly exploded with happiness as she started telling Chris all about her encounter with Princess Aurora. Eddie shared a smile with Buck over the kids heads before going to get back in the churro line. He had a feeling this might rival the “Grandpa Bobby and I caught a fish” story.
Eddie brought the churros back over, handing one each to Minnie and Chris. He took a bite of the last one and handed it to Buck to share.
“Our return time for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is in five minutes,” Chris said, nibbling on his churro.
“Great, that gives us time to finish our churros and head over,” Buck said, leaning over Minnie’s shoulder and taking a big bite of her churro. She squawked and squirmed away holding the churro as far away from him as she could.
Chris leaned over and chomped down on her churro in a way that only big brothers annoying their little sisters could manage and it took everything in Eddie not to bust up laughing while Minnie screeched and Chris immediately tried to appease her with his own churro.
—
Eddie wasn’t sure what he was expecting with the Runaway Railway ride but it was surprisingly fun and ended up being one of their family favorites. (Though a large part of that decision was probably due to Minnie stating that the ride belonged to her because her name was on it.)
Afterwards they took Minnie over to meet Minnie Mouse at her request. Chris was a good sport about it since he was too old to really be excited about meeting characters but he also knew that there weren’t very many Minnie wanted to meet due to her high anxiety around strangers.
Surprisingly the meet and greet with Minnie went even better then the meeting with Aurora went. They had thought she might have a tougher time because of the costume, but it seems like the costume might have made it easier. Minnie was all smiles, telling Minnie Mouse that they shared a name and even gave her a hug before she darted back into the safety of Buck’s arms.
That seemed to expend the last of Minnie’s social energy however, as they walked back towards Fantasyland they noticed that she was starting to wring her hands and bite and pick at her lips.
“Hey, baby girl, you okay there?” Buck asked.
“Hmmm?” Minnie turned to him with wide eyes.
“Do you want to go take a nap for a bit?”
Minnie seemed to think about this for a bit. She was hesitating, not wanting to miss out on the day, but before she could say no, Buck opened his mouth in a wide fake yawn that quickly turned real. He closed his mouth and shook his head a bit, it looked like he wasn’t expecting to be as tired as he was.
“Daddy nap?” Minnie asked, patting Buck’s face.
“Yeah, baby, daddy needs a nap. How about we ride this train back to the front of the park and we can go take a nap while Dad takes Chris on some of the big rides?” Buck asked.
Minnie nodded and yawned. Eddie ran a hand down her back before pressing a kiss to her face.
“Can you get me her ear muffs just in case?” Buck asked quietly as Minnie nestled in close against his neck.
Eddie nodded and dug the pink earmuffs out of the backpack, handing them to his partner, waving goodbye as Buck and Minnie turned towards the Toon Town train station and Eddie and Chris headed towards the Matterhorn.
The Matterhorn was vicious.
Chris asked to go on the left side, and when Eddie asked what the difference between the two sides were, Chris just grinned and said this side was more fun.
If by more fun he meant more spinal damage then yeah, the left side was way more fun. He didn’t know if he’d ever walk in a straight line again. Chris however loved it, sitting in front of Eddie and laughing hysterically the entire ride while Eddie cursed up a storm with every jarring turn.
They were waiting for their Space Mountain return time when Eddie’s phone buzzed a few times in quick succession and he pulled it out to check it, wondering if Hen was getting back to him about the chances of a back brace and c-collar to hold him upright for the next few months.
There were three photos from Buck. The first was a picture of them on the train, Minnie curled up against Buck’s side with her ear muffs firmly over her ears. They were both smiling tiredly. The next was a poorly angled selfie of the two of them, smiling tightly with their eyes closed while Minnie squeezed the life out of a churro in her hands. The last was a picture of them back in the hotel room, letting Eddie know they made it back. Minnie was wrapped up in his LAFD hoodie, her face smooshed against Buck’s shoulder and she was totally out for the count. It looked like Buck wasn’t far behind her.
Eddie: please tell me she didn’t eat that whole churro
Buck: hahaha do you think I’m crazy?
Buck: naw I ate most of it she could barely keep her eyes open after two bites
Eddie: I don’t think you’re crazy. I know you’re crazy.
Buck sent back several emojis flipping the middle finger and Eddie laughed, there was something so fun about being in love with your best friend.
Space Mountain was actually pretty fun and was probably Eddie’s favorite ride of the day. The picture that had been snapped at the end had been absolutely awful though and had Chris laughing until he cried.
There was no describing it. Between the tears in his eyes from the wind and the blinding bright flash of the picture in the car before them Eddie looked demented. Chris looked totally fine, smiling big and enjoying the ride like a normal person. Eddie looked like he needed an exorcism.
He made Chris vow to never release that picture into public. He was man enough to admit that it was hilarious, but if someone like Chimney ever got his hands on it then his life would be over.
Chris promised, but Eddie wasn’t going to hold his breath. It had made Chris laugh so hard it was probably going into the wedding video once his sisters got a hold of it. Chris had probably already sent a copy to Sophia before he even caught his breath.
Wedding video?? Where had that come from? He still needed to ask the man before he could start planning things like that.
“Hey Chris?”
“Yeah dad?”
“You’re okay with me asking Buck to marry me right? I don’t think I actually asked you.” Eddie said.
Chris gave him a look that plainly let Eddie know he was crazy. “Of course I’m okay with it. I’ve been waiting for you to do this for years.”
Eddie laughed and patted Chris on the shoulder, of course he was. Chris had always been smarter than him, one of these days he’d finally accept defeat.
“I’ve been telling people that Buck’s my dad and Minnie’s my sister for four years. It’ll be nice for it to actually be true.”
Eddie looped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in for a brief hug. “Should we go check on your dad and sister? Take a little break of our own?”
Chris nodded a little too quickly and as much as Eddie knew Chris valued his independence he didn’t want him to be in pain from so much walking. He might need to recruit Minnie into getting Chris to sit in the fancy double stroller that wasn’t really even a stroller tomorrow. They’d bought it specifically for this trip knowing how much walking was involved and how much Chris wouldn’t want a wheelchair. The front part was a stroller seat for smaller children like Minnie and the back of it was more of a chair like seat for older kids. Hell, Eddie might need to be pushed around in it if Chris makes him go on the Matterhorn again.
Once they made it back to the hotel, Eddie and Chris walk into the room as quietly as they can, Eddie holding the door so the latch doesn’t click loudly and wake up Minnie. Chris shuffles past him and drops down on his bed with a groan muffled by the pillows. Eddie is about to follow him down into the blankets when he walks fully into the room only to stop as soon as Buck and Minnie.
Eddie is in a stupid amount of love.
Minnie is still smooshed into Buck’s shoulder and neck while Buck is starfished across the entire bed, his face turned towards his daughter, nose in loose curls that have fallen out of her pigtails, the arm that Minnie is using as a pillow is curved protectively around her.
If he didn’t know how tired Buck was he would have woken him up and proposed right there. Eddie did know how tired his boyfriend was however, Buck hadn’t slept very well the night before having a restless night that had been more common since he’d been struck by lightning. Eddie had slept through most of it having grown accustomed to the tossing and turning of Buck and both their kids, but he always knew Buck had a bad night when he was up before dawn much like he’d been this morning.
So instead of proposing to his sleeping partner Eddie instead flopped down on the bed next to Chris, resting his eyes for a few moments before Chris poked his cheek and asked him to rub his legs.
Eddie clicked on the TV, muting the volume and turning on subtitles watching some old episode of Forensic Files while he rubbed Chris' tired legs. He made it through three episodes of Forensic Files and two attempts of Chris trying to teach him how to play Zelda before the occupants of the other bed began to move again.
Minnie’s head popped up on the other side of Buck’s torso and Eddie laughed a bit when Chris started singing “quick before the hyenas come…”
“C’rissy?”
“I’m here, Minnie,” Chris said, waving from his spot on the bed.
Minnie disappeared behind Buck’s chest for a moment before they watched her wiggle her way down the bed and shuffle sleepily over to their side of the room. Buck snuffled and dragged a hand down his face as Eddie picked Minnie up and set her in his lap. She leaned against his chest sleepily, absolutely drowning in his LAFD hoodie. Minnie had a habit of stealing his and Buck’s hoodies to sleep in lately. Every couple of weeks they had to go raid her bedroom to find all their missing hoodies, especially now that it was getting colder.
“God, how long was I asleep?” Buck asked, propping himself up on his elbows and looking around the dim room tiredly.
“About two hours,” Eddie said, rubbing a hand up and down Minnie’s back as she yawned and tried to wake up more. “Sun went down not that long ago.”
“Right,” Buck flopped back against the bed. “Why does it go down so early again?”
“Daylight Savings,” Chris said.
“Right, and why do we have Daylight Savings again?” Buck asked, pushing himself all the way upright and swinging his legs to the floor.
“M’hungry,” Minnie said, scrubbing at her eyes in the exact same way Buck did.
“Me too,” Chris agreed.
Buck and Eddie agreed and after a few more minutes of waking up, retying Minnie’s pigtails as they freshened up and one minor moment of panic when Eddie saw Buck with the backpack (he’d just been putting Minnie’s ear muffs back) they were ready and heading back to Disneyland.
—
Main Street and Jolly Holiday where they decided to eat dinner were much more crowded then it had been earlier in the day. Which surprised Eddie since the park still didn’t seem all busy before he and Chris had left not that long ago. Understanding dawned a few minutes after they’d finally found a table- only three chairs so Minnie was sitting in his lap eating her grilled cheese- and the music suddenly got much louder. It made Minnie jump and nearly launch herself at Buck before they realized it was the Christmas parade.
“Well that was perfect timing,” Buck said looking at his watch as they watched the first float go by with the music box ballerina dancing on top. Minnie had since calmed and was absolutely fascinated as they watched her go by. Eddie watched Buck make some notes on his phone, they might have a little dancer on their hands.
Right now, though, their little dancing princess was eager to be a pirate more than anything. Already begging to go on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride again before Eddie had even finished chips, chips that Minnie had been helping herself to the last several minutes.
“I already set up a return time for twenty minutes,” Chris said to appease his sister. “That gives us enough time to finish dinner and ask any questions if we need to.”
Forget snipers and collapsing wells, his own kid was going to be the death of him.
Buck looked like he was about to ask a question of his own, wondering what Chris was talking about until Minnie dragged his attention back away.
Eddie breathed a sigh of relief. As much as he loved Buck, he didn't want to propose so publically. Minnie probably got the social anxiety from him.
Much to Minnie’s delight, the Pirates ride was just as good the second time as it was the first and Eddie had to agree with her. It was a fun ride.
Afterwards, Chris wanted to go on Space Mountain with Buck so they checked in and were assigned a time forty-five minutes from then. Minnie dragged them into the little shop in Adventureland as they made their way over to Tomorrowland. A bright pink and purple monkey with long dangling arms and legs and velcro hands had caught her eye, along with the green monkey that she insisted was its brother.
And well, this is why Buck and Eddie saved all that money in the first place. So they bought the monkeys and Minnie excitedly velcroed the hands together behind her neck so it was dangling down her front like a giant party necklace.
Chris had his hanging down his back.
They were passing the castle, all lit up with dazzling Christmas lights and sparkling frost with Minnie talking quietly to her monkey when Eddie almost tripped over someone as they knelt down on one knee and people started gasping around them.
You gotta be freaking kidding me, Eddie thought as Buck came to a halt with Chris to watch the proposal.
“That’s so sweet,” Buck smiled softly. The ring in his backpack felt like a lead ton and if Chris kept eyeballing him like that Eddie was going to fling himself into the castle moat.
“What are they doing, Daddy?” Minnie asked, reaching up to Buck with little grabby motions.
“They’re proposing, princess,” Buck said, hefting her up into his arms.
“Po-posing?” Minnie questioned and Eddie could have sworn he felt his heart stop. This was it. This was the moment Minnie was going to slip up because Eddie couldn’t man up and ask Buck himself. This was the moment Eddie was going to have to propose and it was going to be in public and he was going to look like a freaking copycat.
The people around them cheered as the couple kissed.
“It’s when someone asks the person they’re in love with to marry them.”
Minnie had her thinking face on, cute little scrunched nose and all. Eddie’s heart still hadn’t restarted.
“Like Anna and Kristoff?”
“Exactly like Anna and Kristoff,” Buck smiled and he began walking towards Tomorrowland again. Eddie’s heart stuttered back to life.
He never thought he would say this, but thank freaking god for Frozen.
They still had some time to kill before Buck and Chris needed to go to Space Mountain so they decided to help Buzz Lightyear in his battle against Zurg. Eddie and Chris thought they did pretty good with their solid 75,000 and 88,000 points as they got off the ride. Buck and Minnie got off right after them, Buck in total disbelief while Minnie giggled wildly.
“250,000 points?!” Chris exclaimed. “How?!”
“What was your score, Buck?” Eddie asked, judging from his reaction it wasn’t great.
Buck rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” Eddie asked, curving a hand behind his ear.
“3,000,” Buck muttered.
“3,000?!” Chris crowed, dissolving into a fit of laughter. “How did Minnie score 250,000 while you scored 3,000?”
“Yeah yeah, laugh it up kid. Just remember a four year old scored higher than you.” Buck said, rolling his eyes with a smile tugging on his lips.
“Yeah but I scored higher than you,” Chris grinned.
Buck ruffled his hair with a light shove that had Chris laughing again. “Whatever. Is it time for Space Mountain or not?”
Chris looked down at his phone. “Five more minutes, but if we head over there now we should be able to get in.”
“Great!” Buck dropped a kiss down on Minnie’s head. “Be good for you dad, princess. We’ll be back in a bit.”
Eddie and Minnie waved bye to Buck and Chris and turned towards Fantasyland.
“What do you want to do, mi princesa?” Eddie asked, glancing down at Minnie.
“The boats,” she pointed out with no hesitation. They’d gone on the Storybook Land Canals earlier in the day, but it was starting to look like his little princess was doing her best to turn into his little pirate. Maybe a little pirate princess.
Minnie enjoyed the little Disney princess castles and villages as much as she had earlier that day and the two of them walked over to the churro cart that was right there.
“Dada?” Minnie asked once they were sitting on a nearby bench and a few bites into their churros.
“What’s up?” Eddie asked.
“Are you going to po-prose to my Daddy?”
Eddie coughed as he inhaled some of the cinnamon sugar and it hit the back of his throat.
“Yeah, princess, I’m going to propose to Daddy.”
“So you can get married?”
“Yeah,” Eddie nodded. “Is that okay?”
“Will you still be my Dad?” She looked worried and Eddie frowned, switching his churro to his other hand and wrapping his arm around Minnie’s shoulders.
“Of course I’ll still be your Dad. You’re mi princesa. I’ll always be your Dad.”
Minnie let out a shuddery breath.
“Chrissy will still be brother? An-an-and Daddy will still be Daddy?”
Eddie pulled her up into his lap to look at her in her sparkling blue eyes. “Yes. Nothing will change, Minnie. It will actually make things better.”
“Better?”
Eddie nodded. “People get silly about things and say that we need a special piece of paper to make things easier. Getting married gives you one of those special pieces of paper. And then we’ll get another paper that says I’m your Dad.” That much Eddie was absolutely sure of considering the extensive talks he and Buck had had over their wills.
“But you are my Dad,” Minnie frowned.
“You’re right, and nothing will change that,” Eddie said. “Some people just like to have things written down.”
“Like Grandpa Bobby and his lists,” Minnie said.
Eddie let out a surprised laugh. “Kind of like that. Grandpa Bobby likes his lists doesn’t he?”
Minnie nodded and took a bite out of her churro seemingly appeased by his assurances. He hoped she wasn’t worried anymore.
"If you still get to be my Dad then you can po-prose to Daddy." Minnie said around a mouthful of churro.
That sounded good to Eddie.
Buck and Chris caught up to them a few minutes later and Buck burst out into a fit of laughter the second he caught sight of Eddie’s face.
Eddie frowned down at Chris who was also laughing. “You showed him the picture didn’t you?”
“I showed him the picture,” Chris wheezed.
“What picture?” Minnie asked and Buck and Chris went into another round of laughter.
“A really silly picture of me from earlier,” Eddie said.
“Can I see?” Minnie asked and Chris was pulling his phone out before Eddie could say no.
Minnie at least didn’t find it as hysterical as Chris and Eddie did, giggling lightly before patting Eddie’s face and saying, “You’re silly, Dada.”
“Very silly,” Buck agreed, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.
—
Eddie let the hot water stream over his back and loosen the knots in his back as the last of the shampoo washed away. It smelled like Buck. It was Buck’s actually, to save space in their suitcase they decided to only bring Buck’s toiletries of things they could share like shampoo and body wash. They weren’t even that far from home. Barely an hour, but Eddie was glad they’d saved so much money that they could fork out the cash for the hotel. He couldn’t imagine driving the hour home for the next three nights after spending most of the day in the park like they had today.
They probably thought he was drowning himself in here or Chris did at least. He was running out of time. It was barely nine PM and he still had three hours left in his and Buck’s anniversary, but it was now or Minnie. He was rather impressed she’d been able to keep it in for as long as she had, which meant she was getting close to her little four year old breaking point.
He turned the water up a little bit warmer and rolled his shoulders under the hot stream to get the last of the knots. Maybe the water could undo the knots in his head too.
He could do this. He was going to do this. It was Buck for crying out loud. After everything they’d been through together the highest highs and the absolute lowest of lows, Buck wasn’t about to leave him now. He knew Buck wasn’t going to leave him in a million years but all the therapy in the world couldn’t erase that small seed of doubt. It was mostly self doubt about himself, but doubt was doubt and he called on every coping mechanism Frank had taught him to bury that seed.
He loved Buck and Buck loved him.
Besides technically Buck proposed first. Back years ago during that horrible dinner. They even joked about it to this day. It wasn’t like Buck would be blindsided, they’d talked about getting married before. It was something they both wanted. The last four years had just been so crazy they hadn’t gotten the chance to even consider it.
He was going to do this.
He loved Buck.
They both wanted this. Both of their kids wanted this.
He was going to ask Buck to marry him.
Holy shit, he was really going to do this.
He shut the water off and toweled dry as fast as he could before pulling on his pajamas. A pair of flannel bottoms and Buck’s LAFD hoodie because Minnie still had his hostage.
He pulled the door open and walked into the room to see Buck putting together everyone’s outfits for their day tomorrow. Not matching like today, but still coordinated. On his head was a pair of Minnie’s sparkly black ears with a white and red bow, a gift from Hen if Eddie remembered correctly.
Minnie was giggling when Buck asked if he should wear the ears tomorrow instead of her, because he pulled them off quite well.
“No Daddy!” Minnie laughed.
“No???” Buck gasped. “Let’s see if you still say no after I… tickle you!” Buck said, grabbing Minnie’s foot and tickling the bottom of it before he pulled her closer and tickled her sides until she was shrieking. Buck relented to let her breathe just in time for Chris to roll his eyes, a small smile threatening to grow across his face.
“Oh you think you’re safe from these fingers do you?” Buck asked, looking at Minnie who was still giggling breathlessly.
Chris’ eyes went wide as he realized his mistake. “Wait, Buck-!”
But it was too late as Buck pounced and started tickling Chris sides too like he had when he was younger. Minnie joined in the fun, tickling under his arm as Buck held it up so he couldn’t escape.
“Buck!” Chris hiccuped out between gasping laughs. “Uncle! Uncle! You win!”
Buck flopped to the middle of the bed between the kids, sparkly ears still firmly in place on his head. Minnie dropped down on his chest and Buck gave her a kiss on the head while looping his arm around Chris’ shoulders. “That’s what I thought.”
And Eddie couldn’t handle it anymore, his heart was going to explode. Waiting for the perfect moment was stupid when there were moments like this. It was time, he’d been thinking about this proposal for months, he’d written it out all the ideas of things he wanted to say. So he finally opened his mouth and-
“Hey Buck, does the last name Diaz still sound pretty good?”
And that was not what he’d been planning on saying. Not even close.
Buck’s mouth dropped open slightly as he gaped at Eddie.
“What? Eddie-”
Eddie dropped down on his knees at the edge of the bed, reaching out for Buck’s closest hand, wrapping his fingers around his wrist, right over his hammering heart beat.
“I love you, Evan. Buck " He said quickly, holding on to Buck's wrist for dear life. "I love you so much, every part of you. I love how much you love Chris and Minnie. The way you are with them- it makes me want to be the best I can be. I love that you bring out the best in me. I love the way your hair curls when it’s still drying after a shower. I love that you’re my best friend. I love you. So, Buck,” Tears were gathering in the corners of Buck’s eyes and Eddie could feel his throat start to clog but he powered through. His hand tightened around his wrist before sliding up to lace their fingers together. “Buck, will you please marry me?”
It was silent for only a moment before Buck squeezed his hand back.
“Yes!” He pulled Eddie up onto the bed and into a kiss, wrapping his other arm around his neck. Eddie kneeled on the bed, his free hand winding up into Buck’s damp curls. It was everything he’d ever wanted and more.
“DAD THE RING!”
Eddie startled and pulled back, breaking the kiss when Chris yelled right in his ear.
“Oh, shit, right-” Eddie pulls back and nearly dives for the backpack on the other side of the room, digging through it until he finds the bag of pistachios. He reaches in and pulls out the small ziploc baggie with the ring in it.
“You hid it in the pistachios?!” Buck gasped, covering his face with his hands and laughing breathlessly.
“Somewhere you would never look,” Eddie shrugged with a grin.
“Ring ring ring!” Minnie cheered, wiggling excitedly. “It’s really pretty Daddy!”
“You knew about this?!” Buck gaped, wrapping his arms around a giggling Minnie and pulling her into his lap and kissing the top of her head.
“She found it by accident yesterday while I was packing,” Eddie explained, emptying the baggie into his hand. The ring was very pretty. A shiny black with a ring of opalescent color striking through the center. “I’ve been carrying it around for months now, she just gave me the last push I needed. Otherwise she would have ended up proposing for me.”
Buck held out his slightly shaking hand and Eddie took it, sliding the ring onto his finger before dropping a kiss on it and lacing their fingers together.
“The middle part is made of sand from that first trip we took as a family,” Eddie explained. As Buck and Minnie studied it. Even Chris who was grinning broadly at his dad couldn’t look away from the ring and he’d helped pick it out.
“Laguna Beach,” Buck breathed.
The first time Buck braved going to the beach after the tsunami.
“That’s when I decided I wanted you and me to be forever.”
Buck looked up at him with a watery smile. “You sap.”
Eddie shrugged and rolled his eyes to the ceiling, just for Buck to pull him in for another quick kiss.
Buck squeezed his hand and Eddie slid his fingers back around his wrist, like all the times before.
“Of course you and me are forever.”