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12. The number of sticks sitting on the counter, all with the same result, more or less. The pink ones all have a bright red plus sign in the middle. The blue ones all flash the words ‘pregnant 3+’ on the tiny screen.
“Shit,” Buck says, taking a deep breath and gripping the counter. “Shit.”
What the hell is he going to do? Of all the times to be pregnant, all the one-night stands that this could have happened with…it had to be Eddie? They’d made a dumb decision in the heat of the moment after that argument in the kitchen a few weeks ago that led to Buck lying face down on the mattress begging for a knot.
The next day, everything was back to normal. Or as normal as things could be with Eddie still planning to go back to El Paso, Bobby gone, and his whole world upside down.
All of this to say, they haven’t talked about that night since that night. But there’s no way to ignore that now.
“Buck?” He hears Christopher call from the other side of the door. “Are you about done? I need to brush my teeth before bed.”
Buck quickly gathers all of the tests and stuffs them in his pockets, “uh, yeah, just a second.”
He turns the water on and washes his hands before reaching for the door and opening it. “All yours, kiddo.”
Buck takes off down the hallway and into the bedroom, heading straight for the closet. There’s an old shoe box in the back that he keeps sentimental things in. He grabs it and opens the lid, taking all of the pregnancy tests and shoving them in before quickly putting the lid back on.
“You good?”
Buck nearly jumps out of his skin at the proximity of Eddie’s voice behind him. He shoves the shoe box even further away from him and turns to look at Eddie, the alpha leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Mmhmm,” Buck answers before pushing past Eddie and moving to sit on the bed.
“You’re not the tiniest bit believable right now, Buck,” Eddie says, crossing the room and shutting the door before sitting beside Buck on the bed.
“I know,” Buck sighs, looking down at his hands and picking at his fingers.
“Is this-“ Eddie takes a deep breath and Buck feels him tense up beside him. “-because of that night?”
Buck lets out a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“Okay,” Eddie nods. “So, are we finally talking about it?”
“I didn’t think you wanted to,” Buck admits. “I figured it was just a-a heat of the moment thing. One night only.”
“Buck-“
“I mean, you weren’t even there when I woke up.” Buck looks up at the ceiling and blinks away the tears. “And I know now it was because you were going to pick up Chris, but….it felt an awful lot like a rejection.”
Eddie stays silent.
“And I know…” Buck takes a deep breath. “That emotions were all over the place for everyone at that point, but-”
“But I still knotted you and then left the next morning,” Eddie finishes the sentence for him.
“Yeah.”
“So-” Eddie moves to grab both of Buck’s hands. “I mean, we’ve all been in therapy for a few weeks now. Are we in a place where we can talk about it now?”
“I think we have to,” Buck says, turning to look at Eddie. “Especially now.”
“Now?” Eddie asks, watching as Buck stands up and walks over to the closet, grabbing the box he’d shoved back in there.
“Before I say anything,” Buck takes a deep breath, keeping the box guarded. “I need to know exactly where you’re at. What this is.”
“Okay,” Eddie says. “Well, I don’t want you to move out. I want you here with me. With Christopher. Our family. We’ve wasted so much time already, Buck. And I don’t want to wait anymore. We’ve all seen how short and unpredictable life is.”
“Okay,” Buck nods. “So…we’re together now?”
“Now, tomorrow, ten years from now, forever…however technically you need me to be,” Eddie says, standing up off the bed and walking over to Buck, putting his hands on his shoulders to ground him. “You are mine and I am yours, and I’m tired of pretending otherwise.”
Buck uses one hand to wipe his eyes before taking the lid off the shoe box. “So, speaking of life being unpredictable and unexpected.”
Eddie glances down at the box and sucks in a gasp.
“Buck-“ Eddie looks back up at Buck with tears in his eyes, his emotions unreadable.
“So, I’m pregnant,” Buck huffs out. “Apparently.”
“Jesus Buck,” Eddie says with a half-laugh. “How many tests did you take?”
“12. I wanted to be sure,” Buck says.
“We’re having a pup?” Eddie asks, grabbing the box away from Buck and laying it on the dresser.
“Seems like it,” Buck says, shaking the nervous energy out of his hands. “Is that-is that okay?”
“Is that okay?” Eddie repeats. “Buck, this is more than okay, come here.”
Eddie pulls Buck in towards him and the omega immediately buries his face in the alpha's neck.
Eddie laughs again, softer this time, then presses his forehead to Buck’s. “Twelve. You’re ridiculous.”
Buck sniffs and peeks up at him, eyes wet but a smile on his face. “I needed to be sure. I couldn’t…I couldn’t handle being wrong about this.”
“You weren’t wrong,” Eddie tilts Buck’s chin up and kisses him. It’s short, gentle. When they pull apart, Eddie’s face is steady. “We’ll figure it out, together.”
Buck lets out a shaky breath and laughs, because what else is there to do when you’re in this situation? “What if I screw this up? What if I can’t do it? What if-”
“You won’t be alone,” Eddie says, wrapping his arms tighter around Buck and pulling him until they’re both sitting on the bed. “I’ll be there. Chris will be there. We’ll go to the doctor and make a plan. We’ve just got to take this day by day.”
Buck buries his face in Eddie’s shirt and breathes him in. “You mean it? Even if it’s- it’s complicated?”
“Especially because it’s complicated.” Eddie’s voice is strong and steady. “We’ve already spent weeks tiptoeing around things we should have said. No more tiptoeing. You and me and Chris are a family. And this pup?” he swallows, then grins a little. “We’re going to parent the hell out of it.”
A small laugh escapes Buck. “Yeah, we’re pretty good at it, huh?”