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Harry had been shadowing Buck for a few weeks, just to see what it’s like and if he’d like firefighting or not. Ever since Bobby died the idea hadn’t left his mind and when Buck heard he happily volunteered to let Harry shadow him. Harry figured that even if he didn’t like being a firefighter he’d still get to know Buck a little better in the process so it was a win-win. About a week into it, at the end of a long, grueling shift Harry was talking about how he was looking forward to dinner that night because Athena was attempting Bobby’s famous lasagna recipe.
“Mom is a good cook, but nothing beats Bobby’s cooking, especially his lasagna”
As soon as he’d mentioned Bobby’s name he saw sadness fill Buck’s eyes. It was subtle, but it was there. As much as Harry missed Bobby he knew Buck missed him more. After all, May always said that Mom brought 2 kids into the marriage and Bobby brought one. And that gave him an idea.
“You should come to dinner tonight Buck. I’m sure mom would love to have you, so would May and I”.
Harry saw his eyes light up for second after, and then they were sad again. There was want there but Buck was too afraid to say it.
“No, I-uh, I wouldn’t want to intrude on your family dinner”
“Nonsense, you’re coming. End of story”
Harry may have only been 17, but he had his mother’s conviction, and that was enough for Buck.
“Ok”. He nodded quietly. And that was that.
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Buck shouldn’t have felt nervous about dinner at Athena’s but he did. Honestly if Harry hadn’t been so insistent he wouldn’t have gone at all. But now here he was, following Harry in his truck to the house. Frankly, Buck didn’t think any of them really wanted him around, especially for family dinners. He’d figured his presence would be like it was for his parents, a constant reminder of what they’d lost. Of what he couldn’t save. So he kept his distance. Then, Harry all but told him he was coming to dinner, without even getting the ok from Athena or May, and that made him nervous. They pulled into the driveway. He saw Harry exit his own car and head to the front door. Buck followed slowly, dreading the reaction he was about to face. He knows Athena would never turn him away, but he wasn’t exactly expecting a super joyous reaction either. He heard Harry say he brought a friend over for dinner and then silence. That was Buck’s que. He tentatively stepped into the doorway and into view. Athena stood there next to Harry, staring back him, the smile that was already on her face getting bigger.
“Buck!” She surged forward and wrapped her arms around him. It took all the strength he had not to completely break down right there in her arms.
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Harry stood and watched as his mother hugged Buck. He got the feeling that they both needed it.
“He didn’t want to come at first, thought he was intruding. But I insisted”.
Athena pulled away, took his hands in hers and looked up at Buck:
“Buck, you are family and you are always welcome here. You are never imposing or a burden to us”
“Yeah, you’re like our big brother. We love you” May chimed in from the couch.
“Told you” Harry said to Buck with a big smile.
Buck nodded with a smile on his face and tears welling in his eyes.
“Umm” he wiped his eyes for a moment and then took a breath. “I thought I could help you with the lasagna Athena. I mastered Bobby’s recipe a while ago. It’ll be like…like he’s having dinner with us”.
Everyone was quiet for a moment and Harry could see the smile on Buck’s face start to fade, thinking he’d said something wrong. Then Athena pulled him in for another hug.
“We would love that Buck”.
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After that, every Friday Buck came over, he and Athena cooked one of Bobby’s recipes and they ALL had family dinner together.