Work Text:
Daniela’s age: 4 years old
Buck and Eddie were fools to believe that everything that was happening wouldn’t affect Daniela.
First, Buck bad leg had started aching that he had to call sick at work and lay in bed for three days, barely getting up to go to the bathroom, then Eddie hit his head during another call and was told to keep an eye on a possible delayed concussion, which meant Buck forced him to be on bed rest with no strong lights and screens for at least a few days and on top of it all Christopher was behind in some school work so he was moody all the time. The three of them tried to keep a good mood in the house for Daniela’s sake, but of course she would pick up the household discomfort.
“Daddy.” Buck doesn’t even know how long he finally got to sleep before he feels their daughter’s voice in his ear and her small hand poking him. “Daddy, wake up, please.” She says, voice trembling and Buck’s eyes fly open turning towards her.
“Hey, baby, what’s wrong?” He asks quickly, picking her and bringing her on the bed with him, trying not to flinch when his recovering leg aches a little because of the sudden movement.
Instead of answering, she curls herself closer to him and sighs; she isn’t crying, but she is clearly upset.
Before he can ask, Eddie grunts next to them, his hand patting Buck’s space only to collide with Daniela’s leg instead of Buck’s chest. “Dani?” He asks, blinking awake and moving a bit too quickly for Buck’s liking considering his head injury.
“Go back to sleep, Eddie, I got her.” He tries but Eddie is already shaking his head no even if very slowly.
Daniela, hearing she woke him up, moves to look at him, bottom lip quivering slightly, “Sorry I woke you up, Dad.” She says.
Buck had explained to her her Dad’s situation as best as he could so she wouldn't go running into their bedroom to show him her videos during her screen time hour or speak too loudly around him.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m okay.” Eddie says with a smile, moving closer to the two of them, "Why are you up?” He asks, caressing the girl’s back.
She looks down at her hands and Buck and Eddie wait for her, “I had a bad dream.” She confesses hugging Buck again, seeking comfort and safety.
Buck can feel his heart ache for her and guilt wash over him. They should have handled the situation better, instead they let the pain, worry and stress win them over to the point their daughter and sister had a bad dream; Eddie’s sharp inhale tells him his husband is thinking the same.
“Oh, my love” he says hugging her even closer and kissing the top of her head, “Do you want to talk about it?” He asks looking down to meet her eyes.
She nods slowly and moves so she is sitting between them and holding on to both of them, “No one wanted to play with me, not you or Christopher, you were too busy or hurt to be with me.”
And there Buck’s heart really snaps in two for her.
“Ay, no, mijita, ven acá.” Eddie is faster to react, picking their daughter up and sitting her on his lap to hug her again, “That’s a very bad dream.” He says gently, “Daddy and I are really sorry we got hurt and we can’t play with you like we want to and what Christopher is doing is very important and it needs all of his attention, but I promise you we still want to play with you and can’t wait not to be hurt anymore so we can.” He says determined and Buck observes how Daniela looks up to him with hope filled eyes.
“So you still like me?” She asks, voice small, looking between both of them.
“Of course we do sweetheart, and we always will, you are the best daughter ever.” Buck reassures, kissing her cheek loudly and it gets a laugh out of her. “Now, should we go back to sleep?” He asks because Eddie is starting to blink more often and Buck would rather avoid him getting sick because of his head on top of everything.
Daniela shakes her head and hugs Eddie closer, “What if I have another bad dream?”
“We can make sure you only have a good one.” Buck proposes.
“How can we do that?” Daniela asks curiously, letting go of Eddie to sit back between them.
“It’s a trick that Auntie Maddie taught me when I was little like you.” He starts, Daniela’s eyes going wide at the idea that her big Daddy could ever be as little as she is. “And it worked every time.” He says taking one of her small hands in his and opening it palms up, “Now say to your hand what you would like to dream tonight.” He instructs.
Daniela thinks about it, finger tapping her chin with concentration. Eddie and Buck exchange a look over her and smile. She is adorable.
“Can I dream about unicorns?” she asks, eyes shining.
“Anything you want, angelito.” Eddie says with a smile.
“I want to dream about unicorns!” She says to her palm, “Now what, Daddy?” She asks looking at Buck excitedly.
Her enthusiasm makes them chuckle, “Now we close your fingers around it and you hold onto it really tight as you get to sleep.” Buck says, closing her hand in a fist and helping her lay down between them and tucking her in as she yawns loudly.
They lay down next to her and watch her as she gets comfortable, her closed hand tucked safely under her chin.
“Dad, ¿Puedes cantarme la canción de cuna de la abuela?” Daniela asks after a few minutes in which they both thought she had fallen asleep again.
“Está bien, pero sólo una vez.” Eddie says with a chuckle.
He doesn’t even get to the end that Daniela is already breathing peacefully in her sleep.
“Oh no.” Buck says, opening his eyes again.
“What?” Eddie asks, lifting himself on an elbow to see him.
“I forgot to lock her dream in with a kiss.” He says pouting.
Eddie frowns in the dark of their room, “What?”
“We should have kissed her fist to secure her dream” he explains.
Eddie chuckles fondly at him, “She seems okay, mi amor, now try to sleep. We will make sure to secure the dream next time.” He promises, catching Buck’s hand and kissing his knuckles.
Buck sighs and lays down, letting the sound of his husband and daughter breathing lull him to sleep.
~
When Buck and Eddie wake up in the morning, Daniela isn’t in bed with them anymore, but before they can panic the sound of laughter comes from the house and when they reach the kitchen Christopher and Daniela are standing next to each other in front of the stove and the smell of eggs fills the air.
“Hey, Monkey woke up this morning barged into my room and demanded we make you two breakfast and since I finished my assignment I said yes.” Christopher greets them when he notices them behind them.
“And I helped open the eggs!” Daniela says excitedly getting down from her stool to rush in front of them.
“Our little sous chef.” Buck says, picking her and tickling her belly as she nods proudly. She wriggles herself out of his grip to help Christopher put the plates on the table for everyone.
“You know, Daddy?” Daniela says as they all sit around the kitchen table with their bacon, eggs and toasts. Buck hums around his bite. “I didn’t have a bad dream again last night, but I also didn’t dream of unicorns.” She informs him seriously.
“That must be my fault, honey, I skipped a small detail of Aunt’s Maddie trick, but I’m glad you had a good night of sleep.” He says pinching her cheek.
“That’s fine, I dreamed I was catching butterflies, it was fun.” She says with a bright smile.
The pain in his leg is bearable, Eddie isn’t showing any sign of concussion, Christopher seems to be a lot less stressed about school and Daniela is back at her joyful self. Buck knows today is gonna be a good day.