Chapter Text
Eddie wants to propose. And he wants to propose right the fuck now.
It's not the first time he's wanted to. He's already got a ring—he's had it since their third date.
It's not because of the usual, where someone won't keep flirting with Buck, not believing he's taken, to the point Eddie practically shouts at them and drags Buck away.
No, not this time. This time is for a very different, very adorable reason.
This time he wants to propose because of how much he loves Buck and how fucking adorable Buck is with kids.
Oh my God.
Eddie just got back from a quick run to the grocery store. They needed flour and eggs for the cookie-baking marathon that's about to occur in the Buckley-Diaz kitchen, and he's looking at one of the most beautiful sights he's ever seen.
He is frozen at the kitchen door, staring at the view in front of him, not able to hide his smile.
Buck, Chris, Jee-Yun, and little baby Kevin-Daniel, who looks even smaller in Buck's big arms, is resting on the man's hip. They're cooking dinner together, working like a family unit. And the things it's doing to Eddie's heart right now might cause him to have a heart attack.
He can just picture it being their little baby in Buck's arms, their toddler on the counter giggling and smiling preciously, just like Jee is at the moment. With Chris walking around, helping out, and laughing. While Buck holds the baby, cooking like the pro he is, with one hand, talking adorably to the little ones, and making Chris laugh at his silliness.
Buck is glowing. He always has a glow when he's with kids, especially when it comes to Chris, his niece, and nephew.
Eddie's heart sings and quadruples in size.
Buck must feel Eddie's presence because he looks over at him with a precious smile. "Hey, baby."
"Hey, mi amor." Eddie finally moves from the kitchen door to the fridge, puts the eggs away, and then places the bag of flour on the counter, chastely kissing Buck on his cheek as he walks by.
He couldn't resist the temptation.
Buck giggles at the action, and Eddie couldn't help but smile.
"What are the chefs cooking up today?" Eddie playfully asks, leaning against the island, standing next to Chris.
"Grandpa Bobby's lasagna!" Jee shouts, smiling.
Eddie looks down at her and grins. He loves that little girl so much, she's so precious. And now Eddie wants a daughter so bad. He wants to see Buck with their daughter...
"That's right, Jee!" Buck says, in his cute kiddy voice, planting a gentle kiss on the toddler's hair before returning to the task at hand of cooking the food with a four-month-old in his arms.
Eddie can't resist, so he walks over to Jee-Yun. "Raa!" He exclaims, picking the toddler up.
"Uncle Eddie!" She exclaims, happily, throwing her arms up, as Eddie lifts her.
"Hi." He says, in his baby voice, kissing her face and head, over and over, with a big smile.
Buck sets Kevin down in his high chair at the table, since the oven dinged.
"Wash up, Chris," Buck says, sweetly. Eddie's heart just continues to melt.
That's my man right there. Mine.
Eddie is a possessive bastard, and he knows it.
"Kay, Buck." He says in his teenager sassy-ass tone and walks out of the kitchen.
Eddie has no clue where he got that from.
Buck says it's from him, but Eddie doesn't see it.
"Come on, Jee, let's get you washed up too." He walks her to the kitchen sink to help her wash her hands. Once she's done, he sets her down to wash his hands next.
Jee stays by Eddie's legs and doesn't move.
Eddie laughs, discovering her still at his feet, and picks her back up. "Ready to eat, princesscia?" He kisses her cheek.
"Yeah!" She shouts, and Eddie cackles, setting her down on the chair next to little Kevin-Daniel.
"Hi, Kevin."
He looks up at Eddie and smiles. He looks just like a mini-Chimney when he does so. "Eeddee!" Close to 'Eddie' as a four-month-old baby can get.
"That's right, Kevin," Buck says, planting a kiss on his short black hair. Then he looks up at his boyfriend with a big grin. "Hi, baby."
"Hi, cariño."
Buck gives Eddie a quick kiss and then gets a plate for everyone, putting the proper amount on it for each person, starting with the kiddos so they can eat up. Except for Kevin. Buck will feed the infant in a minute once everyone has gotten their food.
Eddie gets drinks for everyone and puts them on the table.
"What's taking Chris so long?" Eddie asks as he sits down, as Buck sets a plateful of lasagna on the table before him. "Thank you, mi alma," Eddie says with a smile.
"You're welcome, baby." Buck places a quick kiss on Eddie's temple, then moves back to the counters to get the next plate ready.
As if on cue, Chris walks into the kitchen.
"Just in time, Superman, food's ready." Buck sets down a plate of lasagna on Chris's spot on the table.
"I planned it that way," Chris remarks, taking his seat.
Buck playfully ruffles the teen's hair, chuckling, as he walks back to the island to get his plate ready.
+++
They all laugh and chat throughout dinner. Buck had to make goofy faces and sounds to get Kevin to open his mouth. Buck ate in between bites that Kevin was eating. It was just perfect.
Then, Eddie cleans everything up. There was some brief protest from Buck at first, but Eddie shut it down.
One day, Buck will learn that he can get taken care of too, to the point of no protests. Eddie got there. It took some time. But he's there. He's just gotta get Buck there too.
Buck has improved immensely over the course of the four months of their relationship, though. It's been a team effort. Because they're partners in every sense of the word, well, other than tying the knot.
Which, hopefully, will happen sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed.
After the table has been cleaned off, Eddie asks the kiddos when they want to make the cookies.
They want to do it right now.
Shocker.
Buck and Eddie look at each other and laugh. Sending a telepathic message along the lines of kids and their sugar, with an eye roll.
The two men get the kitchen ready for baking while Chris and the little ones goof around at the kitchen table, giggling and laughing at nonsense.
Then Buck kicks Eddie out...sorta.
Buck firmly grips Eddie's shoulders, giving him a mischievous look. "Okay, baby, sit and look pretty for me. You are not touching the cookies." He says it for Eddie's ears only.
Eddie gives Buck a cheeky look. "Alright, Alright." The brunette chortles, then whispers, "Kiss first."
Buck smiles. "Deal." Then he kisses his boyfriend sweetly and quickly before the kids can have anything to say about it.
Eddie grins and hums into the kiss, Buck does the same.
"Okay, but little Kevin-Daniel comes with me, so you can use both hands," Eddie chuckles.
"What do you think, Kevin?" Buck asks the baby as he remains in his high chair. "Wanna stay with Uncle Eddie?"
"Eeeddee!" The infant shouts, throwing his hands mindlessly into the air.
"I'll take that as a yes," Eddie says, laughing.
Buck snorts with a smile.
Then Eddie picks the boy up and holds him in his arms, planting a sweet kiss on Kevin's head. "You're sticking with me, little guy."
"Yeee!" The little boy shouts, clapping his hands and smiling.
Eddie chuckles and kisses the boy's head again, then takes a seat at the kitchen table so he can keep an eye on his boys and Jee-Yun, bouncing a giddy Kevin-Daniel in his lap.
+++
Buck is having a crisis.
Eddie should not be allowed near little kids. It's gotta be, like, illegal or something. It's doing too many things to him.
He wants to impregnate Eddie, he wants Eddie to impregnate him.
He just wants one of them to get pregnant with their child with their DNA.
He wants them to have a girl or two, then maybe a boy. He doesn't know. He just wants to see Eddie with their little kids.
As many as they want. He's always wanted a big family, and he knows Eddie is a big family man.
We really are a perfect match. Buck thinks with a smile.
Eddie sees that Buck is looking at him, smiling, mindlessly wiping off the countertop with a damp towel.
"What?" Eddie asks, after giving Kevin-Daniel his favorite rattle to play with. "I know, it’s your favorite." Eddie giggles as the infant excitedly grabs the toy.
Buck shakes his head, his smile growing wider, looking back down at the counter. "It-it's nothing."
"Mhm." Eddie hums, knowing Buck is lying about whatever was making him smile, looking down at Kevin, who's just giddily shaking his rattle with the biggest grin on his little face. "Whatever you say, bebé."
Chris and Jee-Yun wander back into the room, asking if the cookies are done yet.
It's been five minutes since they last checked.
Buck quickly looks at the oven timer, then back at the kids. "Almost. Just a few minutes now. But, they have to cool off before you can eat them." Buck walks over to pick up his niece. "We don't want to burn our mouths, do we?" He asks her in a baby voice, bouncing her on his hip.
"No!" She shakes her head.
"That's right, sweetie." He kisses her hair.
+++
Eight minutes later, half of the cookies had been devoured. Not just from the kiddies, Eddie, and Buck ate a handful too.
It was a great time. Full of laughter, sugar, and love.
Yeah, Buck and Eddie have decided, they want kids. At least two or three more.
Except they haven't discussed it with each other yet.
But it's out of order. They're not even married yet, much less engaged.
And Eddie would like to change that very much.
Buck wants to, but he's nervous. Eddie was married before, and he doesn't know if Eddie would even want to be married again. Plus, they've only been dating for four months. It's a little early for engagement, let alone kids. So Buck decides to put it off for at least another month, or two, maybe three.
Yeah, Eddie wants it now.
Chris laughs. Eddie turns his head to his son. He needs to talk to Chris before he does something rash, because Chris always comes first, especially with something like this.
Eddie decides he'll talk to Chris the second they are alone.
+++
Buck is playing with Kevin-Daniel on the living room floor with some of the infant's toys. And it's a wonderful sight. Chris and Jee are coloring at the dining table. It's absolutely adorable how Chris is with her. And Eddie can't imagine how wonderful it'll be to see Chris with his little brothers or sisters.
Eddie needs to stop thinking about this before he explodes or something from the excitement of that happening one day.
He takes a breath, then resumes his task of going back and forth between the two rooms, sneakily taking pictures of everyone.
God, he needs a new phone. He does not have enough storage on this thing for this.
Then the doorbell rings right as Eddie takes a photo of Buck lifting little Kevin in the air, both of them laughing adorably.
"I'll get it," Eddie says, shoving his phone in his pocket, speed-walking to the front door.
It's Maddie.
"Heyyy," Eddie greets with a smile, which she returns. "Come in," He gestures for Maddie to walk inside, and she doesn't hesitate for a second to, looking up at him, grinning, as she does so.
She sees Buck with Kevin-Daniel and makes a strangled sound. A sound Eddie knows he has made many times today because of how cute it is to see Buck with kids, regardless of their age.
"I know," Eddie says to her. "Don't worry. I took tons of pictures." He smirks.
She gasps, eyes wide, with a smile. "Send me all of them."
"Will do," He winks. "I'll go grab Jee." He walks in the direction of the living room.
She nods. "And, hey," He turns around. She stopped him before he got too far, "Let me or Howie know if you guys ever need a sitter, kay?"
He grins. "Course, and let us know if you ever want us to watch them again. It's been a whirlwind of fun," He ends with a snicker.
"Always."
Eddie walks back over to her, just a few steps, and plants a gentle kiss on her hair, then walks past Buck and Kevin, smiling at them. Then he enters the dining room, where Chris and Jee are laughing hysterically at something.
"Sorry to poop on the party," Eddie starts, clapping his hands, getting their attention. "But your mom is here to pick you and your little brother up, princessia," Eddie says to Jee.
"Aww," She pouts.
"Don't worry, you can come back anytime you want, okay?"
"Yay!" She throws her arms up into the air, smiling.
"Help me clean up?" He asks softly.
She nods, with determination to get the job done and make Uncle Eddie proud.
Once they're finished, Jee looks up at Eddie, waiting to be carried.
Edide chuckles. "C'mere." He lifts her up, she exclaims happily, then he plants kisses all over her face.
She giggles in his arms.
"Hey, Chris," He whispers to his son, leaning down to his level.
Chris looks up at his Dad, acknowledging him.
"Can you hang here for a minute? I wanna ask you something."
Chris's brows furrow. "Everything okay?"
Eddie nods, reassuring his son. "I promise. It's all good news, just wanted to ask you something."
"Okay, Dad, hurry. My friends and I wanted to play a bit before we go to bed."
Eddie grins. "Promise. It won't be long." He looks down at Jee in his arms. "Say bye to Cousin Chris, sweetie."
She turns her head and looks at Chris with a big ass grin, she opens her arms wide for a hug. “Cousin Chris!”
Eddie lowers her down onto his son's lap, so she can wrap her arms around Chris, and so he can do the same.
Eddie takes a quick photo before peeling her off Chris and taking her to Maddie.
"Mommy!" She throws her arms up as soon as she sees her mom.
"Hi, baby!" Maddie exclaims, reaching her arms out for her daughter.
Eddie hands Jee right over, planting a quick kiss to the girl's hair. "Love you, princessia."
Jee-Yun smiles, "Love you, Uncle Eddie!"
Everyone chuckles.
Eddie then looks at his boyfriend, who's happily holding baby Kevin-Daniel in his arms.
"I can't forget about you, Kevin," Eddie says in his baby voice, walking over to Buck and him. He kisses the baby's head, then Buck's lips for a brief second because it's been too long since they've done so.
"I'm going to walk out with Maddie."
"Okay, bebé, see you in a minute."
Buck grins and kisses Eddie—both of them smiling into it—then follows Maddie to the door, grabbing the baby bags on the way out.
"Bye-bye, Uncle Eddie!" Jee shouts.
"Bb Eeeedeee." Kevin-Daniel babbles.
Everyone laughs.
Eddie waves to the little ones. "Bye-bye, Jee and Kevin!"
Eddie closes the door behind them once they reach Maddie's car, and quickly makes his way to the dining room to talk to Chris about proposing to Buck.
+++
Eddie is relieved to see Chris still at the table.
"Hey, mijo," Eddie greets, taking a seat in the chair next to Christopher.
"Hey, Dad." Chris looks up from his drawing he's working on. "What did you want to ask me?" Chris suddenly looks at his father wide-eyed. "You and Buck aren't breaking up, right?!"
"What? No!" Eddie exclaims.
"Okay, good. You two promised you never would."
"And I hope it stays that way." He gives Chris a nervous look. "Especailly because I'm thinking of proposing."
Chris beams.
"But I wanted to see what you thought first. Because mine and Buck's relationship is about you too. We are a unit. Me, you, and Buck. Always and forever."
"I know, Dad." Chris sassily rolls his eyes. "You and Buck have both said that. Repeatedly. And never say always and forever again. It's cringy."
Eddie chuckles. "So," He meets his son's eyes. "What do you think about it? Me proposing to Buck?"
"When?"
Eddie blinks, confused. "W-what do you mean?"
"I'm going to Denny's on Friday night. Do it then. When I come back on Saturday we can go out and celebrate!"
"That soon? That's three days from now!"
"Do you have a ring?"
"Yeah. Had one for months."
"See, it's perfect! I'll help you plan it all. We can make dinner for you guys when Buck is at work and hide it in the fridge. It's perfect!"
Eddie laughs. "You've thought a lot about this haven't you?"
"And you haven't?"
"Tons of times."
"So, what are we gonna make? I was thinking something simple where you can't mess it up."
He scoffs. "I'm not a bad cook."
"Yes you are. Luckily Buck is a good cook."
They both laugh. "So you're really okay with this?"
Chris nods, smiling. "We've always been a family, Dad. Make it official." He ends with a little giggle.
Eddie hugs his son. "Once Buck leaves for shift. We'll go shopping."
"Deal. Now can I go play games with my friends now?"
Eddie chuckles. "Sure. Me and Buck will probably watch a movie, so you're welcome to join us anytime, mijo."
"Okay, Dad." Chris pulls out of the hug and makes his way to his bedroom.
Eddie finishes cleaning up until Buck comes inside so they can cuddle and watch a movie before bed.
+++
Buck follows right behind Maddie as they walk towards her car.
They get Jee in her seat and Kevin-Daniel in his.
Buck has been oddly quiet the whole way. Usually he babbles about what all they did. But radio silence.
"Okay, what's going on with you?" She asks, hands on her hips.
"N-nothing!" His voice cracks, revealing that he's lying.
"Buck."
He sighs "Fine! I-I'm thinking about proposing."
Her eyes go wide, excitedly. "Oh my God, Buck! That's amazing!"
"Don't get your hopes up. I've had a ring for a little bit. But I-we've only been dating for four months. That's a little early."
She gives him a look. "You two have practically been married for seven years. It about time."
"He's been married before. He might not want to even get married again." He reasons.
"Buck. He loves you. Of course he'd want to marry you. But, give it some thought before you do anything rash, okay?"
He takes a deep breath. "Yeah, okay, good idea. I'll do that. You head home, Mads. Let us know if you ever want us to watch them again."
"Deal." She wraps him in a quick hug before hopping in the car and driving off.
Buck waits until she's no longer in view before walking back inside.