Work Text:
When Eddie wakes up, he almost doesn’t remember where he is.
He knows instantly it’s not his bed, but the horribly white walls and fluorescent lights overhead confuse him. When he fully opens his eyes, everything is fuzzy, and his head is pounding just slightly, but it comes rushing back to him when he looks to the side to find his husband.
In a chair next to his hospital bed— the hospital, that’s where he is— lies Buck. He’s fast asleep, head cocked to the side, resting on the back headrest and mouth open. He’s drooling too, which Eddie always finds quite endearing. He’s not wearing a shirt, but he’s got a blanket draped over his chest where a tiny baby rests, scrunched up just as she had been before she was born 24 hours ago.
Bucks' big hand resting over her is almost the entire size of her body, and Eddie’s pretty sure he could cry from how cute that is. Either that or the hormones, pain, and exhaustion he’s currently feeling. Probably both.
However, as much as he would like to go back to sleep and rest forever, he knows he can’t. For a multitude of reasons really, because the baby is going to wake up soon and will need to be fed, Chris is coming to meet the baby in just a couple hours, and he really has to go to the bathroom.
“Buck,” Eddie whisper-yells at the man next to him. He wants to wake up his husband, but not the baby he’s holding. It took them long enough to get her to sleep last night.
Unsurprisingly, Buck doesn’t stir, because he sleeps like a bag of bricks. Eddie, from his time in the military, is a very light sleeper and has simply woken from the light seeping through the blinds. However, with a newborn now, Eddie suspects he won’t be a deep sleeper for much longer.
“Buck,” Eddie repeats just a bit louder, and when he doesn’t move a second time, he reaches out and slaps him on the shoulder.
At the contact, Buck jolts awake, head snapping up from the headrest. His hand however tightens its grip on the baby he’s holding so as not to jostle her on instinct. He looks around startled until he sees Eddie, lying in bed completely fine.
“What was that for?” He asks, sitting up in the chair, and using the back of his hand to wipe the drool from his mouth.
“I called your name twice,” Eddie replies, putting on his best unimpressed face.
At this, Buck chuckles. “Sorry.” He readjusts his position on the chair so he’s sitting up fully and looks down to check that the baby is still asleep. Thankfully, she is. “Did you need something baby?”
Eddie tries his best not to melt at Buck's soft tone and eagerness to comply with Eddie's every need, but it’s hard , especially when his husband looks at him with those blue eyes of his. Eyes, which have now been duplicated into another human being he’ll never be able to say no to.
“I have to go to the bathroom.” For Eddie to do this though, he needs Bucks' help to get out of bed and even make it over to the bathroom attached to his suite. “And I also have to— uh change.” He gestures to his crotch area. He’s not embarrassed per se, but he’s also not thrilled about having to wear a diaper, and needing Buck’s help when he needs a new one.
Buck's brows furrow as he watches Eddie's hand motion. He seems confused until it clicks into place. “Oh, yeah of course.” He smiles like it’s the simplest thing in the world, helping Eddie and for Buck it probably is.
Eddie is more than grateful to have this man as his husband. While he’s done all this before, Buck hasn’t, but still, he takes it all in stride, just like he did during Eddie’s pregnancy. He was the most attentive partner in the world, and at times maybe a bit too attentive, but Eddie wouldn’t trade him for the world.
“I’m just going to put her down,” Buck adds, before standing up, hand cradling his daughter on his chest. Carefully, he moves behind the chair where a plastic cot sits for the baby. Buck is almost comically cautious as he places her down, hands still hovering over her when she finally makes contact with the bedding, as if to check she doesn’t wake up.
The baby in the crib stirs just slightly but quickly settles back into sleep, and Buck releases an audible breath of relief. It’s only been about three hours since they last got her down and it would be great if she could sleep just a bit more.
“You’re a natural,” Eddie smiles, having watched the whole thing with amusement. They both know this isn’t his first kid, but it is his first baby, and Eddie already can’t believe how natural it seems for him.
“What, I didn’t tell you?” Buck asks, a teasing smile coming onto his lips as he rounds the bed to Eddie. “I’m a certified baby whisper.”
“Really?” Eddie can’t help but laugh. Buck makes it to Eddie’s side and holds out a hand to Eddie, so he can grab onto it while he slowly moves to swing his legs over the edge of the bed. He winces, still super sore, but still looks back up to Buck. “Can I see this certification?”
This time, Buck laughs. “Oh. You know what I must have left it—“ He shrugs, pretending to check his pockets and coming up empty. Eddie thinks that the man in front of him is such an idiot, he just has to kiss him for it. He does, pulling Buck’s hand so the man leans in, and Eddie can reach up to meet his lips.
When they pull away, Buck continues to be a support for Eddie as he stands and then helps him by taking on most of his weight, Eddie’s arm slung over Buck's shoulders. They slowly make their way to the bathroom, and Buck even helps Eddie lower to the toilet and roll down his sweats.
He helps with the underwear too and disposes of them before grabbing Eddie a new pair, leaving it on the sink next to him. He leaves while Eddie does what he needs to, so he can watch over the little girl, still sleeping in her cot. In the last 24 hours there have been very few moments where Buck hasn’t been looking at their daughter, Eddie has noticed.
He calls Buck back in when he’s done, so he can help him stand and get back into his pants. When Eddie’s standing, he’s face to face with Buck, and can’t help but lean into the man, wrapping his arms around his neck, and head dropping into his shoulder. Buck holds him like it’s the most natural thing ever. Like he was born to do so.
“Thank you for this,” Eddie mutters against the man’s bare shoulder.
“What? For helping you change your diaper?” Buck huffs a laugh. “Babe, I'm not going to make you do that yourself.”
Technically, it’s cloth underwear and basically like a giant pad, not a diaper, but Eddie doesn’t correct him. It certainly feels like a diaper.
“No. I mean yeah.” It was kind of gross and Buck acted like it was no big deal, so he does appreciate that. “But just for everything. You’ve been— really amazing.”
Buck moves his hands to rest on Eddie's hips, making sure he’s nice and close to him. “Hey now, if anyone’s been amazing it’s the man who just spent 16 hours bringing our daughter into the world.” His smile brightens, surely thinking about it. Eddie’s not sure he’s ever seen Buck more content than when he held their baby for the first time. Well other than when he’s with Christopher. “I should be thanking you.” He adds, punctuating his point.
Eddie chuckles. “You already did that. About 10 times actually.” This much is true. Buck had thanked Eddie after their daughter was born, and then several more times after that, seemingly whenever he had the chance.
“What you did was fantastic Eds. I’m just making sure you know that.” Buck counters, face morphing into something more serious now. Eddie knows this is important to him, making sure Eddie knows his worth. It’s something they’ve been working on for years. Buck’s pretty darn amazing at reminding Eddie.
When Eddie feels his eyes start to water, just because of Buck’s words and his general softness towards him and their family, he buries his head back into Buck’s shoulder. “I need you to stop saying nice things to me.” His voice cracks and he feels the force of Buck’s laugh vibrate through his body.
“Never,” the man kisses the side of Eddie’s head, and Eddie just holds onto him tighter. They’re both exhausted, and Eddie’s a hormonal wreck and the last 24 hours have been insane. So he’s not really sure how long they stand there, swaying together in the bathroom like a couple of sleep-deprived maniacs. He’s sure it has to be several minutes.
When they finally do pull away from each other, it’s due to the sounds of their daughter's cries coming from the main part of the room. She may only have been in this world for a day, but Eddie already knows the sound of her hungry cry well. For a newborn, she’s hungry a lot, and Eddie can’t help but wonder where she possibly could have gotten that from.
“Well that’s my cue,” Eddie finally speaks. He pulls away from Buck’s shoulder and takes a step to move toward the room.
“Alright, easy now.” Buck doesn’t miss a beat, sliding into his side so he can support him as they move back to the bed.
He’s quick to help Eddie get settled back on the bed so he’s comfortable when he feeds the baby. Buck also makes sure to equip Eddie with the nursing pillow so he has support to feed her. When he picks her up so gently and with so much care, he coos down at her, rocking her and absorbing just a tiny amount of time with her before he passes her off.
When Emiliana settles in her other father's arms, she seems to already calm down. She must recognize this by now, and sense that food is in her future. While Eddie situates her in the crook of his arm on the pillow, Buck moves around the bed and slips behind Eddie.
“Here, you can lay back on me.” He offers, arm snaking around Eddie’s waist. Almost immediately, he leans back into the touch, feeling so at home with Buck wrapped around him like this.
“Thank you, mi amor.” Eddie smiles. When his attention turned back to his baby, she’s still fussing, becoming impatient. Eddie gets the message, and slips the strap of his white tank top off one shoulder, for easy access to his bare chest. From there, it’s so natural the way he guides his daughter to his chest. She latches quickly and settles into his bare skin contentedly. Her little hand rests on his chest, just above her own cheek.
He can feel Buck behind him resting his chin on his shoulder, and he doesn’t need to see him to know that he’s watching him with more love and admiration than is probably humanly possible.
“I can practically feel your heart eyes burning into my neck,” Eddie comments amusedly, after a comforting moment of silence.
“Sorry,” Buck chuckles. “I just— I think I'm still having a hard time believing she’s real.”
Eddie knows exactly the feeling he’s talking about. It’s certainly a surreal experience meeting your baby for the first time. He went through the same thing with Chris. For so long— nine months to be exact— his baby was just an idea, a concept that he didn’t really know what to expect or how to prepare for, and then all of a sudden, he was a screaming little thing covered in all sorts of stuff, being placed on his chest. It was overwhelming, to say the least.
“I can confirm she’s definitely real. Went through 16 hours of labor to make sure of that.” Eddie’s definitely not going to let either Buck or baby Emi forget that any time soon. “But, I know what you mean. Chris didn’t feel real until about a week in. Of course, that’s really when all the pain meds wore off and reality finally set in that I was 19 years old with a baby.”
Buck makes a humming sound, confirming that he’s listening to every word. “You did an amazing job with him, baby.”
Eddie smiles. “Yeah, you too.” Sometimes, he thinks about where he would be without Buck. He would most likely still be a single father hopelessly in love with his best friend and drowning in self-hate and a long-denied sexuality. He would also most likely be struggling to raise a kid who means the entire world to him. It makes him infinitely more grateful to have had Buck right alongside him. He’s always been Chris’s dad, from the moment they met, really.
“And her” Buck adds. “She’s absolutely perfect.”
“Well, you helped just a little bit.”
He can hear Buck snicker behind him. “Just a little?”
“Yeah.” Eddie shrugs, still teasing. “She’s got your eyes.” The very first moment she opened them it was obvious whose bright blue eyes she’d inherited.
“Mhm. She’s going to be nothing but trouble with those.” He watches as Buck's hand comes around his torso, and his finger gently brushes his daughter's cheek.
Eddie chuckles. “You would know, right?”
“Well if she is anything like me, especially when I was a kid… we’re going to have our hands full.” Eddie has heard all about Buck’s adventures in recklessness, both from him and his sister.
While the undertones of those stories are incredibly sad to Eddie, it’s endearing to hear about his husband as a child and to one day maybe see that reflected into their own children.
“She’s your daughter, that was already implied.” He responds, trying not to sound as endeared and absolutely in love with Buck as he is. He’s trying to continue the teasing by sounding irritated, but he’s failing quite miserably.
“You love it,” the taller man responds, surely smiling wide and punctuating his point by kissing the side of Eddie’s neck. Eddie can’t argue so his head falls back onto Buck’s shoulder and they lapse into comfortable silence.
He’s not sure how long they bathe in silence, just enjoying each other and their daughters' company. However, he does know he must have closed his eyes for a minute, because when he hears a whining sound, his eyes snap open and his focus shifts downwards. His daughter has now pulled away from his chest and seems quite displeased.
It only takes him a second to realize she’s done on that side. When he tries to switch her over to the other, she doesn’t latch, her mouth not even opening, and interest is completely lost. Chris, he never had this problem and isn’t entirely sure how to handle it. Chris would eat so much sometimes it worried Eddie, but now he fears Emi isn’t getting enough.
“Do you think she’s full? She won’t latch again but I don’t know if she’s gotten enough.” He asks Buck, simply trying to gain reassurance there’s nothing to worry about.
Sure enough, Buck chimes in with exactly what he needs to hear. “The nurse said that’s completely normal, but can we bring one of them back if you want?”
After Emi had been born, a nurse came in to help Eddie with feeding her for the first time, as well as explain feeding as they typically do due to new parents. Although Eddie had been through it before he still appreciated it. Buck however, listened like nothing had ever been more interesting and then proceeded to info dump to the nurse about all the things he learned doing his research while Eddie was pregnant. It’s safe to say Buck is an expert now.
“It’s okay, I think I’m just worrying about nothing,” Eddie says, brushing his finger over the little strand of hair on his daughter's head. He’s been a little anxious since she’s been born, but he’s chalked it up to hormones and lingering anxiety from his last birth experience. “Thank you, babe.”
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re going to get the hang of this again.” Buck encourages, arms still wrapped around his waist in a comforting embrace. His gaze hasn’t left his daughter though.
“I know.” Eddie smiles. He readjusts the baby in his arms who has seemed to quiet down and looks over his shoulder back at Buck. “Do you want to burp her? I need to pump anyway.” Since Emi hadn’t eaten all too much, he’s still feeling pretty uncomfortable.
“Of course,” comes his immediate reply. Eddie knows he’s just been itching to hold her again.
He slips off the bed and out from behind him to come around to his side, and gently lifts the baby from Eddie’s arms. He brings her to his chest, and smiles down at the baby. “Come here my little duckling.” He says to her, adjusting her so her stomach is against his shoulder and his hand is on her back.
He walks around the room, first to grab a burp cloth and then simply to move as he rubs her back. Eddie watches him as he grabs the pump on the nightstand and situates himself with that. He can’t stop smiling watching Buck be a dad to their little girl. It’s very possibly the cutest thing he’s ever seen him do, which is saying something because Buck has done a lot of cute things being the human embodiment of a golden retriever.
Next to Eddie, he hears his phone vibrate against the nightstand it’s charging on. It’s been buzzing for a couple minutes but Eddie hasn’t wanted to break the peace to check it. Now though, he knows he should because it’s probably Maddie texting about bringing Chris to the hospital. When he opens his phone, Maddie has texted him, as well as the group chat they have with the whole 118 (and some.) There are also several other texts he’s received.
When Eddie opens the group chat, he finds that Buck had texted when he was asleep. He’s sent a photo of Emiliana along with her name. It’s since caused the group chat nothing but chaos. A string of texts from both Chim and Hen complain about not even knowing Eddie was having the baby in the first place, followed by a lot more congratulations and gushing over the baby.
Eddie sends back a quick text explaining that the labor was long and had been late at night. They hadn’t wanted to wake them and keep them awake waiting for him to have the baby especially when they were on shift. They both decided it would be best to announce her birth the next day. The only person who had known was Maddie, as she wasn’t on shift and was available to take Chris for the night.
“Maddie and Chim are going to bring Chris over in about an hour,” Eddie tells Buck, currently texting Maddie back and thanking her for having Chris the previous night.
“Oh good.” Buck stops where he’s been pacing at the end of the bed, and removes Emi from his shoulder, shifting her back to rest in the crook of his arm. “I bet Maddie is dying to see her.”
“Oh definitely. Chim too, he’s texted me several times in all caps gushing over her already. He’s taking great to his uncle duties already.” Eddie laughs, setting the phone back down on the nightstand.
Buck laughs too, and Eddie is sure he’s gotten his fair share of texts from everyone as well. “Chris is going to love her.” He speaks again, looking down at the baby in his arms as her eyes flutter closed.
At the age of 13, Chris has started to make a point of not letting Buck or Eddie know he feels anything other than pre-teenage melancholy. However, he’s kind of bad at it because both men can read their son like the back of their hands. While he might have acted a little grumpy about getting a new sibling, they both know he’s incredibly excited.
“When Chris was little he used to beg for a sibling.” He stopped asking after Shannon left and Eddie stopped thinking it would ever be possible. Still, he smiles fondly at the memory. “Now come on, I want to take a shower before they get here and I need your help. I want to look nicer than this.” Eddie tells his husband. He’ since done pumping and removes the device from his chest.
“Babe, you look great, you don’t have to dress up for them, especially Chris. He doesn’t care.”
Eddie deadpans. “Buck I look disgusting. I haven’t had a shower since a couple of hours after she was born, I’m covered in— god knows what and I don’t want to freak Chris out if I look half dead when he gets here.”
Buck smiles, shaking his head as he makes his way over to the side of the bed. Without saying anything he kisses Eddie on the lips, taking the words right from his mouth. “You’re gorgeous, stop that. But if it’s going to help you feel better, of course I will.”
Eddie, despite himself, blushes wildly. “Good. It will, I feel like I'm covered in a layer of grossness.”
“She’s almost asleep, I’m going to put her down—“ Buck begins to turn to the plastic bassinet, but Eddie stops him, grabbing onto his arm.
“No wait.” He gestures for Buck to come closer and when he does, he leans in to kiss his baby on the forehead. “Dureme Bien Mija,” he whispers to her. “Okay, I’m good.”
Laughing, Buck kisses Eddie on the cheek before turning back to the bassinet once again and placing the baby inside. He whispers something else to her, but Eddie can’t hear what it is.
***
An hour later, once Eddie is showered, changed into clothes better than his tank top and sweats (which just means forcing himself into a stretchy bra and one of Buck’s shirts and a clean pair of sweatpants), and situated back in bed in time to close his eyes for a couple minutes, their guests arrive.
“Baby, wake up.” When Eddie opened his eyes, it’s to see Buck looming over him, lips gently brushing his forehead. He smiles and gingerly pushes himself up in bed.
“Is Emi still sleeping?” He asks, wiping the excess of sleep from his face. He wants to look at least a little presentable for his son (who will surely say something if he doesn’t.)
“Snug as a bug,” Buck responds, glancing over his shoulder at her just to make sure. “Probably for the best, less screaming when she makes her debut the better.”
Eddie can’t help but agree. “Okay, you can tell them to come up.” He agrees, looking down at himself once more. “How do I look?”
His husband looks up from where he’s texting, presumably doing exactly what Eddie asked him. “You know what I’m going to say—“ his smile is soft and melts Eddie’s heart.
Eddie rolls his eyes at the answer he was absolutely expecting. “Well, tell me anyway.”
“Amazing.” Buck concedes, and if Eddie blushes (again) then that’s his own business.
Just then, there’s a knock at the door of their room. It’s soft, followed by a voice they both recognize, “Can we come in?” Maddie asks, doing a terrible job of hiding the excitement in her voice.
“You can come in,” Eddie answers, smiling just at the thought of his family and son coming to meet his new baby. Admittedly, his family meeting Chris for the first time was a very different experience.
The first person through the door is Maddie, immediately followed by Chim who is holding a sleeping Jee on his hip, her little head nuzzled into his neck. Immediately, Maddie and Buck find each other in an embrace, and both of them greet Buck and Eddie. After they enter, Chris comes in behind them. He looks a little nervous and not at all sure what to do with himself until he sees Buck.
His face lights up when he does, and Buck’s matches instantly. “Come here kiddo.” Chris does, and Buck lifts him up into a hug as soon as they collide. He lifts him all the way off the ground and Chris makes a surprised noise while Buck just laughs. He can hear Chris laughing too. Eddie is just incredibly impressed Buck can still lift their 13-year-old son off the ground.
When Buck sets him down, he’s careful about his crutches, but he doesn’t let go, keeping his arm snug around him, and pressing a kiss to the top of his curly hair. “Are you ready to meet your little sister?”
Chris looks over to Eddie in the bed, and then the baby in the bassinet next to him. He then looks back up at Buck and nods. “Yeah.” A smile spreads into his face then, and Eddie definitely doesn’t blink away tears already.
Maddie and Chim, who have been standing by throughout this scene, start to head to the door. “We’ll let you guys have some time alone. But just know we’ll be back because I have to hold that baby.” Maddie tells them.
Chimney jumps in. “Me too.” He says excitedly before Maddie leads them out and leaves the small family alone.
When they’re gone, Buck takes Chris’ crutches from him and places them on the chair in the corner. He still looks a bit hesitant to go to Eddie, and Eddie picks up on it quickly.
“Come here kiddo,” Eddie encourages, gesturing with his hand from his son to come to him.
Chris looks less hesitant to close the gap now and makes his way over. Buck follows and helps him up into the bed, next to Eddie where he has scooted over and made space for the boy.
“Hi Dad,” Chris greets before leaning forward and wrapping Eddie in an impossibly big hug. Still, Eddie can tell he’s trying to be gentle. Eddie wraps his arms around his son just as quickly, and to him, this kid will always be his baby boy. It doesn’t matter that he almost doesn’t even have to lean down to hug him. When he looks at him, he can still remember when he was the size Emi is now, and that will never leave him. He will always be his first baby.
“Hi, Mijo.” Eddie greets back, kissing Chris on the side of the head when he pulls away from their hug. “Did you sleep okay last night?”
Chris nods but says, “Dad, why are you asking about me? You’re the one who just had a baby.” This causes both Buck and Eddie to laugh.
“You’re right.” Eddie concedes, ruffling the hair on the top of his son’s head. “But I’m fine and I’ll never stop worrying about my baby.”
“ Dad…” Chris says in his signature “I'm a teenager now and you’re embarrassing me” voice. His gaze drifts back to Buck who is currently lifting baby Emi out of the cot.
“Do you want to hold her?” He asks, coming closer to the side of the bed where Chris sits.
Chris looks unsure, and looks back to Eddie, almost as if asking for permission. Eddie just smiles and nods, gesturing back to Buck. When Chris turns back he nods, and holds out his arms.
Buck gently lays the baby in his folded arms, hovering just in case when he lets go. “Just remember to support the head.”
Chris shoots him a look. “I know how to hold a baby Buck.” To which Buck concedes, because Chris has held Jee-Yung and maybe he is being a bit overprotective. Eddie chuckles, amused at the scene.
As soon as the baby is settled in his arms, Chris forgets all about Buck, who takes that as a sign to come around to the other side of the bed next to Eddie. Eddie watches as his son looks down at the baby in his arms. He looks almost in wonderment at the small creature, examining her features and taking in every detail of her.
“Christoper, meet your sister, Emiliana Isabel. Emi for short.” Eddie tells him after a second, feeling the need to burst into tears just at the sight of the two of them.
“Hi, Emi. I’m Christopher— Chris for short. I’m your big brother.” Eddie is wildly shocked he’s not sobbing right now at how sweet this is. It’s very possibly the sweetest thing he’s ever seen.
“What do you think bud?” Buck asks, obviously also quite emotional over the whole scene that’s playing out before him.
“She's really… tiny.” Chris finally decides to be his response. Eddie can’t even help when he laughs. He knows Buck is laughing too because he can see his body shaking next to him.
“She certainly didn’t feel tiny,” Eddie mutters, but Buck nudges him with his elbow, but still chuckles at the comment.
“Was I this tiny?” Chris asks.
“No. You were tinier actually.” Compared to Chris, Emiliana is quite a bit bigger, despite feeling pretty tiny to two men as big as he and Buck are. Especially compared to Buck. Neither he nor Shannon were that built when he was born, but Buck is kind of huge and that certainly did not go unnoticed when Eddie had to carry his baby around for 9 months.
Chris turns back to Eddie. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. You were the tiniest thing I’d ever seen.” Eddie explains, recalling the exact moment he met his son. “As soon as you were born they put you on my chest. You were so small, and I was so scared that I would hurt you.” He wishes he couldn’t feel himself choking up. Stupid hormones.
“But you didn’t.” The boy promptly answers, looking at Eddie with an expression that can almost be described as pride. Much the same one that Eddie looks at Chris with.
“No, I didn’t.” Eddie throws his arm around his son’s shoulders and pulls him even closer into him. He feels Buck lean closer to him, and smiles when his hand slips into his own. “I never will.”
“I know,” Chris answers matter-of-factly, his attention now switching back to the baby.
All three of them lapse back into silence, seemingly in awe of the new member of the Buckley-Diaz family. But the silence only lasts so long before a very unpleasant scent assaults all three of their noses.
“Um, what’s that?” Chris asks, nose already scrunching up at the less-than-desirable scent.
“That Chris, is your sister’s first poop,” Eddie replies, laughing at the face Chris makes when he hears this. Almost immediately he’s handing the baby to Eddie so he can use his hand to plug his nose.
“Gross.”
Buck, who has been laughing at this interaction as well, reaches out to grab Emi from Eddie. “Her first poop!” He exclaims, maybe more excited than he should be. He lifts her up so he can kiss her forehead. “Good job goose.” He tells her.
As amusing as Eddie finds this, the baby doesn’t seem to share the same sentiment, because pretty quickly after being praised for shitting her pants, she begins to fuss which turns into full-blown cries pretty quickly.
“Okay Emi girl, it’s all good I’m going to get you changed,” Buck says to the baby in his arms as he gets up from the bed. He bounces her on the way to the changing table as well, determined to calm her. However, her cries only grow louder when Buck places her on the table and begins to undress her onesie.
“Does she do this a lot?” Chris asks, already looking like he’s not going to like the answer.
“Yeah, just a bit.” Eddie chuckles, nudging Chris playfully when he makes an exaggerated groaning sound.
Turning his attention back to Buck, Eddie watches him open the diaper, and everyone can smell the awful stench that follows. “How is it?” He asks his husband.
“ Bad .” He sounds like he’s going to gag, which causes both Eddie and Chris to giggle.
“Well hurry up, it certainly doesn’t smell good,” Chris chimes in, who is still holding his nose to block the poop smell. It isn’t really helping.
Buck does, rushing to grab a new diaper, wipe the baby, and switch the diapers. Once Buck throws the diaper away and into the metal diaper trash can, they can all breathe a little better.
“I’ll go get Maddie and Chim,” Eddie says while Buck is finishing up getting the baby changed.
“You sure babe?” Buck's concerned voice comes, pulling his attention away from his task momentarily.
“I’m okay, promise.” Eddie pushes himself out of bed then, carefully, but he gets there. It does hurt, but he’s not going to get anywhere if he doesn’t move around, he knows from experience. When he gets to the door, he opens it and peeks around the corner to find Chim and Maddie sitting in the chairs in the hall.
“You guys can come back in. Buck’s just changing her diaper really quick.”
Maddie and Chim both rise from the chairs and follow Eddie back in. “Her first?” Maddie asks as they walk inside.
Eddie nods and Chim makes a face. “That’s a nasty one.” He comments, which all the adults laugh at.
“Tell me about it,” Buck adds from his place at the changing table where he had just put Emi in her new onesie. This one is light blue with little fire trucks all over it. It was a gift from Hen and Karen (who are coming later in the day to meet the baby.)
“Okay, I can’t wait any longer I need to hold my niece,” Maddie says, coming to meet Buck at the table. Chim stays with Eddie, who is still holding Jee. She's awake now though, and perks up when she sees Eddie. “Hi!” She exclaims with a big smile, and Eddie melts at that little girl.
“Hi, sweetie.” He greets, kissing the top of her head. She reaches out to him so she can be held by him as she usually is, but Chim intervenes. “Uncle Eddie can’t hold you right now baby.” Jee frowns and Eddie feelsbad.
“If we go back to the bed I can.” He suggests, hating the saddened expression on his niece's face. Chimney looks genuinely relieved when Eddie says that, and begins to follow him back to the bed. He practically dumps the little girl on his lap when he gets situated, but Eddie accepts gratefully.
“That one was getting heavy.” He says with a huff of breath before slumping down into the chair next to the bed.
“You’re old Daddy,” Jee pipes up. Both Chris and Eddie lose it. Chim looks like his world has genuinely exploded, before retaliating with tickles. That entire side of the room erupts into giggles. On the other side, having reallocated to the couch, Buck and Madeie sit side by side, memorized by the baby she’s holding.
“Buck she’s beautiful.” She tells her brother, glancing back up at him. Her eyes are already glossy, but she’s doing a good job of blinking her tears away.
“Well, that’s all Eddie.” The man dismisses it with a bit of a chuckle. “Besides the blue eyes, I guess.”
Maddie rolls her eyes. “It’s both of you, you dork.” She looks back at the baby, just as Emi opens her eyes and practically blinds the two of them with how blue they are. “You know I’m really, really proud of you.”
“That I’m a dad?” Buck asks, sounding slightly confused by Maddie’s statement.
“You were always a dad, Buck. Ever since you met that little boy.” She gestures over to Chris where he’s chatting with Jee, Eddie, and Chimney. “I’m proud of you for getting out. Making a life for yourself, finding someone you loved, and building a beautiful family with him.”
At this point, Buck looks like he’s about to cry too, and he doesn’t sound any better when he says “Yeah well.. me too. I’m proud of you for all those reasons too.”
Maddie doesn’t say anything then. Just nudges Buck gently with her elbow and smiles back at him. However, it says a lot more than words could have said anyway.
The siblings chat a little more while Maddie continues to enjoy her baby quota, while Eddie talks to Chim. Well, he talks to Jee a lot more because she has a lot to tell him. She first starts by telling him everything that happens at her preschool, all about her friends, and then asks a lot of questions about her new baby cousin. Eddie answers all of them.
“Okay Chim, you’re up. You want to hold her?” Buck asks from the couch a few minutes later. Chim jumps up from his chair faster than Eddie had ever seen him move probably.
“Yes, give me my niece,” he says immediately, arms outstretched to take the baby from Buck who laughs at his eagerness. His wife looks just as amused. They end up just switching places, so Chim sits on the couch where Buck had been and Buck returns to the bed next to Eddie.
“Hello, Miss Jee.” Buck greets with a smile he reserves for his children and his nieces and nephews. Jee immediately climbs off of Eddie’s lap and into Buck’s lap. The two of them quickly fall into conversation, and Eddie watches them fondly.
He lapses back into conversation with Chris, and he can’t help but feel so incredibly at home in this one little room. It’s not everyone he loves, but it’s a good portion and an incredible change from the first time he had a baby. He just feels so— lucky. He feels incredibly lucky to have this family and wouldn't trade them for the world.
After several minutes of simply hanging out with the kids, Chim and Maddie return from the couch over to the bed with the baby. “She’s looking a bit hungry, I thought you might want her.” She offers Eddie back the baby, who accepts gratefully. Sure enough, as soon as she settled onto his chest, her face is nuzzling into him searching for food.
“Thank you.” He says back up to Maddie.
Maddie smiles “She truly is just a gorgeous guy.” Chimeny chimes in his agreement next to her. “It’s lunchtime soon so we’re going to get out your hair now. Please let us know if you need anything, we’ll be happy to help out”.
“Thank you guys so much,” Buck tells them, handing Jee back off to Chim and waving as she is picked up by her father.
“You’ve been incredible,” Eddie adds. Of course, both Maddie and Chim brush it off as nothing. They all say their goodbyes, exchange hugs, and then are gone.
Eddie already feels exhausted from the encounter, as good as it was for his family to stop by and meet the baby. He’s simply just exhausted constantly, which is to be expected after having a baby. However, he is glad to just be with his husband and children now, at least for a little while before more people come to visit.
“Okay hold on, let me take a picture of you guys,” Buck says after they leave, getting up from the chair and pulling his phone out. “I want it as my new lock screen.” He explains, but both Eddie and Chris groan.
“Oh come on guys. Just smile.” He tells them, walking around to the end of the bed. He holds the phone up and peeks out from the side. “Everyone says… happy birthday Emi!” He’s absolutely ridiculous. Eddie and Chris share a look that says just that before they give in.
“Happy birthday Emi!”
Buck takes the picture. Eddie definitely doesn’t cry when he sees it. He definitely doesn’t put it as his phone background, and he definitely doesn’t print it out to frame it and hang it in their home.
He definitely doesn’t.
The picture stays up until they move, the first in a long line of other ones over the years.