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It all started a couple of weeks ago when Eddie went to the pet store to get more of Shadow’s favorite treats. It was the beginning of October, and the store was filled with pet costumes and other Halloween-themed accessories. He would have liked to say he left the store with only what he came for, but that wasn’t true.
Although Eddie did get what he came to the store for, the treats, he also got a couple of extra things. He’d told himself that when he adopted Shadow, he’d never become one of those people who dressed up their cat. He’s not saying people who dress up their pets in Halloween costumes are bad. He just vowed to himself that he wouldn’t do it, figuring that Shadow would appreciate him not stuffing her in some ridiculous torture device of a costume.
Yet, he found himself in the checkout line at the pet store with a Halloween-themed collar and a little witch’s hat for Shadow. Eddie promised himself he wouldn’t do it. He caved, but at least it was just a little hat, not a full costume. He couldn’t help it. The brunette had just picked up the collar when he came face to face with the little hat in the cat costume aisle, and he imagined it on his kitten, and he knew she’d look precious in it.
While paying for his items, the cashier noticed the little hat and asked if he had a cat. Obviously, he had a cat… why else would he be here buying stuff for a cat? Eddie kept his snark to himself and ended up talking the poor woman’s ear off about Shadow, even showing her pictures. He was thankful there weren’t many people in the store then, but he was still quite embarrassed that he’d just had a 10-minute conversation with a stranger about his cat. Of course, that was in the past now, so there was no point in dwelling on it.
When he got home, Eddie was immediately greeted by Shadow, the small cat meowing at him and rubbing up against his legs. He knelt, pulling the new collar from the bag and getting it unpackaged before taking Shadow’s current collar and putting her name tag on the new one. He then adjusted the new collar and put it on her carefully. The collar was adorable on her; it was pink with little black and white bats and crescent moons.
“Look at you, Shadow,” Eddie smiled, scratching behind the cat’s ears. You look so pretty in your new collar, sweet girl," He complimented.
Shadow perked up and meowed at him again as if she understood what he’d said. She pressed her head firmly into Eddie's palm, demanding more attention. The man had nothing else to do, so he just sat his ass on the floor up against the back of the couch and gave the cat the attention she desired. Eventually, she curled up in his lap, and Eddie resigned to making himself comfortable here for at least a little bit because he didn’t want to disturb her.
“I knew you still loved me, Shadow,” He whispered to the kitten sleeping in his lap as he stroked her fur. He enjoyed the affection he was receiving from his cat while he still had it because he knew that when Chris arrived home from school, she’d go right back to ignoring him again.
Then Eddie heard the door knob jiggle, and his hand stilled in Shadow’s fur as the door opened to reveal his son. Chris looked around for a moment, and as he was about to call out for his dad, his eyes landed on the man sitting on the floor.
He gave a concerned look and asked, “You okay down there, Dad?”
It took Eddie about a minute too long to realize why Chris would find coming home to his dad sitting on the floor in an empty house concerning. He got there eventually, though. He was glad Chris didn’t have to see him on his bad nights… there were too many while the kid was in Texas where Buck walked in, alone or with Tommy, to him sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. Of course, it was quite a different situation now. He was in a much better place than he was a few months ago.
Eddie looked at his son, “Yeah, Chris, I’m all good. I was just putting a new collar on Shadow, and she decided to make herself comfortable on my lap.” He paused momentarily, looking at the kitten again, “I didn’t want to wake her.”
“Oh good,” the teen said, sounding relieved, “So I don’t have to call Buck to come to talk you out of an impending breakdown then.” He finished.
Eddie was taken aback, “Huh-uh wh-what…” Eddie stammered, “N-no Christopher. I’m fine, seriously.”
That was uncalled for. Yes, a few weeks ago, Eddie had arrived home from a rather intense therapy session in a concerning state, which prompted a worried Christoper to call Buck to help his dad. He didn’t want to think about that right now, though. This realization that he’d come to that day was not something he was ready to talk about with anyone else yet.
Anyway, his surprise at his son’s comment caused him to flinch. This jostled Shadow enough to wake her up and make her realize that Chris was home. Just like that, the cat was off his lap and rubbing up against Chris’s legs.
“Awe, hi, Shadow. I’m happy to see you too!” The boy said, smiling down at the cat in front of him.
Eddie watched as Chris carefully maneuvered around the small animal so he wouldn’t trip over her on his way to the couch. He groaned as he stood up. Yeah, he knew he’d regret sitting on the floor. Oh, well.
The brunette stretched his back and watched the cat hop on his son’s lap. He watched Chris cup Shadow’s face and scratch her cheeks and chin. Eddie watched as she moved her head around to get the teen to her neck under her collar. He obliged, of course, which caused Shadow to purr loudly.
Chris smiled as he looked at the new collar. “The collar is cute, Dad; it suits her, " He said while petting the kitten.
“Yeah? Shadow seems to like it, too. She didn’t even fight me when I put it on her.” Eddie said as he picked up the bag from the pet store and put it on the coffee table before sitting on the couch next to his son.
Chris looked curiously at the bag on the table, “What else did you get from the pet store?” He asked.
“Just the treats that Shadow likes,” Eddie answered.
“I know there’s something else in the bag, Dad. What are you hiding from me?” the teen questioned with a grin.
Okay, if Eddie were being completely honest with himself, yes, he had planned to hide the fact that he ended up buying a costume for Shadow from Chris. When the teen asked if they could buy a costume for the kitten a couple of weeks ago, he’d refused point blank. He never liked the idea of dressing animals, particularly cats, up in costumes because he didn’t think he'd ever seen a cat look happy to be dressed up like that. He was rather embarrassed that he’d caved when he told Chris that it absolutely wouldn’t happen.
Eddie sheepishly pulled the little witch’s hat from the bag, and Chris gasped, “ No way! Dad, you said you wouldn’t!”
The brunette looked down, “I caved. I saw the hat and imagined it on Shadow, and I had to buy it.”
His son smiled, “She’s gonna look so cute in it!”
“Why do you think I bought it?” Eddie paused before continuing, “She’s gonna hate me for this, right?”
“Not if you give her treats,” Chris shrugged.
“You think that would get her to stay still for a picture?” Eddie joked.
“Hm… that might be pushing it a little bit.” The teen laughed.
“You might be right about that one, buddy.” Eddie laughed, ruffling the boy’s hair.
“H-hey, stop that, Dad!” Chris exclaimed, batting his dad’s hands away, “You’re messing up my hair.”
The teen may have been asking him to stop touching his hair, but he was laughing and smiling. By now, Chris had been home for a couple of months, and he and Eddie were working on their relationship in therapy. He was grateful for things slowly returning to a new normal.
He was still so happy to have his son under the same roof and that things between them were getting better. Eddie had to get off this train of thought quickly because if he stayed on it too long, he’d start crying.
Alas, he managed to reign himself in. “Okay, Okay. I’ll stop,” He said, pulling his hand away from Chris’s hair.
The teen huffed and fixed his hair. Still slightly smiling, he looked at Eddie again. “So, can we have pizza for dinner?” He asked, hoping his dad would say yes.
Eddie thought about it momentarily: “Yeah, we can have pizza, but you have to go start your homework first.”
Chris pumped his fist at the pizza for dinner confirmation and gingerly took Shadow off his lap, placing her on the couch. “Okay, I’ll go get started,” He said as he stood up and walked down the hall to his room, with the little black cat following him.
~The Day Before Halloween~
“And you’re absolutely sure that you don’t want to dress up? Because this is your last chance to change your mind.” Eddie confirmed for the fifth time that week.
Chris rolled his eyes, “Yes, Dad, I’m sure. None of my friends are dressing up anyway.”
Eddie frowned, “You’re growing up too fast on me, bud.” He paused, dramatically putting his hand over his heart, “I don’t know if my heart can take it.”
“Oh my god,” The teen groaned, “Dad, please stop being so sappy.”
“Well, I’m sorry, Chris, I can’t help being a little sappy about you growing out of Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday.”
“Yeah, okay, whatever… So are we gonna put the hat on Shadow or what?” Chris asked.
“Yeah, we are,” Eddie confirmed, grabbing the little witch’s hat from the coffee table. Can you get her to sit on your lap? I’m going to need you to hold her while I put it on.”
It was one of those rare times that Shadow wasn’t hovering around them, so Chris called her. The cat came running immediately and jumped on the teen’s lap. Eddie sat on the coffee table across from them and watched as his son started petting Shadow.
“Okay, Chris, you ready?” He asked, getting the hat ready.
“Yup!” Chris chirped, gently holding the cat in his lap.
“Here goes nothing. Please don’t hate me after this Shadow.” Eddie hoped out loud as he started putting the hat on her.
Shadow was much more calm about having a hat put on her head than he’d expected her to be. She didn’t even try to wiggle away as he adjusted it so the ear holes fit around her ears correctly. Even as Eddie stepped back for a better view and Chris loosened his grip, she didn’t even paw at the hat in an attempt to remove it. She just sat with her head tilted to the side and stared at him with her big green eyes from her spot on Chris’s lap.
Eddie quickly snapped a few pictures of Shadow. With her head tilted, she almost looked like she was posing for the photo—no treats were needed. He quickly sent Tommy a picture of the kitten, with the caption Shadow’s first Halloween, because he knew the man would appreciate it. The brunette was pleased with his decision to buy this witch’s hat for her because it looked freaking adorable on her. He was just hoping that this next part would be as easy as getting the hat on the cat, though he suspected it wouldn’t be.
“I know you’re not wearing a costume this year, but I still need a picture of you for Halloween, even if it’s just you holding Shadow. Please?”
Chris rolled his eyes in true teenager fashion and huffed, “Fine, but only because she’s so cute.”
“Thanks, bud. Now smile for the camera,” Eddie directed.
He rolled his eyes again at his Dad’s direction to smile, making Eddie wonder if he was like that at Chris’s age. The kid gave a half-assed, I don’t wanna be here kind of smile, and Eddie gave him a look.
“Come on, Christopher, I’m really not asking for much here. Can you please at least try not to look like I’m holding you hostage?”
“Well, I mean… you kind of are,” Chris mumbled.
“Dios mío,” Eddie groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Chris, please just humor me for a few minutes and give me a good smile.”
The teen begrudgingly gave Eddie a smile that didn’t look forced. He took the picture and smiled at his phone. He wouldn’t dare say it out loud because Chris would resent him for calling him cute, but this picture of the teen smiling while holding the kitten was very cute to him.
“See, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah, whatever… Can we go now? I’m gonna be late to school.” Chris grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
Eddie looked at his watch and mumbled “Shit” under his breath. “Okay, let's get going. You have everything you need, right?”
“Yup, we double-checked my bag last night. Remember.”
He did remember double-checking Chris’s overnight bag last night. If he hadn’t, the kid wouldn’t have had a change of socks or underwear, his pajamas, or a toothbrush. He was staying at his friend Theo’s house for a couple of nights while on shift. Eddie took the little hat off of Shadow and grabbed Chris’s overnight bag and his own while the teen grabbed his backpack. They left quickly, getting to the school with time to spare.
“Alright, buddy. I’ll see you on Sunday. Be good for Theo’s parents, okay? Have fun, and stay safe.” Eddie said, clasping his son’s shoulder.
Chris did the unexpected and reached over the center console, pulling Eddie into a hug. “I will, Dad. You stay safe, too. Love you.”
Was this kid trying to make him cry? Eddie managed to keep his emotions in check as he hugged the teen back. “Love you too, hijo. I’ll stay safe, I promise.” He responded softly.
Chris pulled away, “Okay, I should get going,” He said, getting ready to exit the car. And as if he’d known the next thing that would come out of Eddie’s mouth, the teen continued, “No, I don’t need help. Theo’s going to help me with my bag.” He gestured for his friend to come over.
“Thanks, dude.” The teen said to his friend as he grabbed his overnight bag.
“Yeah, no problem, Chris.” Theo smiled. “Good morning, Mr. Diaz.” He greeted.
“Good morning, Theo. You two have a good weekend, yeah.” Eddie greeted, pausing before continuing, “Keep Chris out of trouble for me.” He joked.
Theo did a little salute, “Don’t worry, Mr. Diaz. I’ll make sure he stays out of trouble.” He snickered.
Chris glared at his dad as smacked his friend’s leg with his crutch and said, “Come on, Theo. The bell is going to ring in like two minutes.” He said, starting to walk away. Bye, Dad. Send me that picture of Shadow.”
Eddie smiled, “Okay, hijo, see you soon.”
The teen waved as he walked away with his friend; Eddiee stayed until they were out of sight before making his way to work and mentally preparing himself for the crazy shift ahead.