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It happened in Buck’s backyard…
Chris and Theo are playing Animal Crossing together on a blanket Buck had set up in the grass. Eddie is on meat duty, working the new grill Buck had purchased. Buck only uses it when Eddie brings a propane tank over, still worried to have one at the house, worried Theo will play with it and get hurt. Buck is happily setting the patio table with condiments and slicing the fresh buns he made this morning.
After he’d finished prepping the table, Buck headed into the house and grabbed cheese for the burgers and drinks for everyone. He brought juice boxes for Theo, an orange soda for Chris, and two beers for Eddie and himself, placing them at their seats.
Buck walked over to Eddie and saw the burgers were done on the grill.
“Those look perfect, Eds. Can you put the cheese on them and leave them for another minute so it melts nicely, then put them on the tray.“ Buck says, handing Eddie the pack of cheese.
“Buck, are you sure they are done?“ Eddie questioned, not sure he trusts that they are fully cooked.
Buck rolls his eyes at Eddie. “You don’t need to burn them for them to be cooked,” Eddie looks at Buck, unimpressed.
“Cheese for a minute,” Buck says sternly with a smile on his face. Buck watches as Eddie finishes the burgers, moving them to the tray as Eddie turns off the grill.
“Boys! Food’s done, come eat!” Buck calls out.
Theo cheers, getting up fast, but waits patiently by Chris’s side, waiting for the older kid to stand up and get his footing, and retrieve his crutches from the grass before they both make their way over to the table.
Eddie and Buck are watching the kids as this happens. “He’s definitely your kid.“ Eddie says softly next to Buck.
The boys slide into seats; Buck goes right to helping make plates for Theo and Chris.“I’m old enough to do that by myself, Buck!” Chris groaned, no real anger behind his voice.
“Yeah, and it’s my job to serve the food I made as a good host, Chris.” Buck smiles back.
Theo picks up his juice box off the table and looks at it complexly. He looks at Buck, who is still prepping Chris’s food, then to Eddie, who is looking right back at him.
“Dad, can you help open it?” Theo asks, handing the juice box to Eddie.
Eddie and Buck both freeze.
Buck goes to say yes but looks up to see that Theo is talking to Eddie, juice box extended to his best friend.
Eddie looks at Buck wide-eyed.
“Dad?” Theo asked again.
Buck swallows hard and nods at Eddie, giving the silent ok.
“Yeah, Theo, give it here,” Eddie says, taking the juice, putting the straw in it, and giving it back to the child. Chris watches this interaction, not saying a word.
Buck started prepping Theo’s plate when the kid said, “Mr. Buck, I don’t want the yellow stuff.” When Buck picked up the mustard.
“Uh, ok honey, that's ok. Anything else you don’t want?” Buck replies. Theo shakes his head, reaching for the burger Buck’s now finished assembling.
They sit and eat as a group. The boy’s talking about what they did in Animal Crossing earlier. Buck looks to Eddie, who is zoning out, deep in thought. Buck will have to spiral about this later.
“Thank you for making dinner, Buck,” Theo says once he’s done eating. “Yeah, thank you, Buck,” Chris chimed in.
The boys leave the table and end up in the living room. Buck and Eddie are outside cleaning. Eddie is removing the tank from the grill as Buck clears the table.
“Buck, we should talk about that, right?” Eddie says. So it’s confirmed he could see the look in Buck’s eyes when he realized Theo was talking to Eddie.
“Look, I get it. I really do. You are here for him as much as I am, Eddie.“ Buck says, putting the condiments back on the tray to bring in the house.
“Is this the first time he’s said something like this?” Eddie asked.
“Yup,” Buck muttered.
Eddie looked his best friend in the eyes. “I can go inside right now and let him know that I’m Mr. Eddie to him and that I’m only Chris’s dad,” Eddie offered, fully willing to “fix” things.
“Let’s not. It’s not that big of a deal.” Buck said, looking away, avoiding eye contact with Eddie.
“But it is, Buck. I’m not his dad; you are.” Eddie tried to reason.
“Would you’ve been mad if Chris called me dad when he was younger?” Buck asked.
“No, I wouldn’t be mad if Chris did when he was a kid, and I wouldn’t be mad if he started now,” Eddie replied without hesitation.
Buck was taken aback by the truth. His gaze finally met Eddie’s again, just to see the serious expression across his face.
“Ok, so I don’t see what the problem is,” Buck said.
“The problem is he’s only calling me dad, Buck; this is different,” Eddie argued.
Buck was done with this conversation. “If you’re not comfortable with it, then say something to him, Eds.” He said, grabbing the tray and going into the house, leaving Eddie on the patio.
Buck goes into the kitchen; he places the tray on the counter. He grabs a cup from the dishwasher, getting himself a water. Buck takes a moment to drink some and exhale, trying not to start spiralling. He starts putting everything away, zoning out. Eddie walks in, and Buck notices. He’s standing in the entryway watching Buck clean up. Eddie finally makes his presence known.
“I’m gonna talk with him now,” Eddie says. Buck's head shoots up; he just nods, puts the empty beer bottles in the sink to rinse out later, following Eddie.
Buck and Eddie make their way into the living room, waiting for the boys to finish the round of the game they are playing.
“Hey, boys, before you start the next round, we need to have a talk,” Eddie says, sitting on the Coffee table in front of the kids.
Chris looks at his dad and to Buck, who is standing off to the side, hugging himself. “Oh, so we are gonna talk about it,” Chris says. “Yeah, buddy, we are,” Eddie replied.
Theo looks around, confused about why the game was getting paused.
“Theo, I know we haven't really talked about our family arrangement before. I was hoping we could get some clarification.” Eddie starts. The child looks at Eddie with his eyebrows furrowed. “Who are we to you, bud?” Eddie asks gently.
“That’s Buck,” Theo says, pointing at Buck. “He’s Chris,” Theo says, pointing to Chris. “And you are our Dad?” Theo says, confused, pointing to Eddie. The sound of Buck sucking in air is audible from across the room.
“Theo, I’m Chris’s father. Buck is your guardian, you understand that? I’m not your Dad.” Eddie said to the child gently.
Theo looks at Chris, confused. Then back to Buck and Eddie.
“B-But you are Dad?” Theo’s bottom lip starts to wobble as the words come out.
Eddie shakes his head no. “I’m Mr. Eddie, Buck’s best friend.” At that, Theo looks at Buck, his bottom lip trembling, tears welling in his eyes.
Buck sees the start of a breakdown happening; he didn’t want to traumatize his kid more; he already lost one dad; it would be cruel to take another away.
Buck rushes over in front of Theo. “No-no Theo, it’s ok you can call Mr. Eddie dad if you want!” Buck says, lowering himself in front of the kid sitting on the couch.
Eddie stands from the coffee table and watches Buck comfort the kid. Eddie looks over at Chris, who gives him a soft smile and nod that it’s ok as he rubs Theo’s back.
It only takes a couple of minutes for Theo to fully calm down; they end up watching a movie as a family. All cuddled up on the couch. Theo falls asleep in Eddie’s arms.
“Chris, buddy, go put on your sneakers, 'cause we are leaving after I put Theo to bed,” Eddie says after the movie finished.
Eddie slowly gets up, cradling the small child on his hip. Buck gets up, following Eddie down the hall. He opens Theo’s bedroom door for Eddie. Eddie slowly leans down, placing the sleeping child into his bed, kissing his head goodnight. Buck leans over, pulling up the covers, leaving a kiss on his forehead as well.
“Night, honey,” Buck mutters, standing back up.
They walk back into the living room. Chris walks over to Buck and gives him a strong hug. It’s the first time in months that they’ve shared an embrace this strong. Chris just knew he needed it after the day they had.
“Good night, Buck. I love you,” Chris says, giving one more squeeze before letting go. Buck smiles down at the teen. “Love you more, kid.”
Eddie stands by the door watching the interaction, trying to figure out what he did right to deserve this little family they’ve built.
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When Chris and Eddie got home that night, Chris was in his room getting ready for bed. Eddie knocked before he walked in. “Hey mijo, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yeah?” Chris replied.
“Do you know why Theo called me Dad earlier?” Eddie asked his son.
Chris shook his head. “No, I don’t,” Chris answered honestly. “But I don’t mind him calling you Dad as well. I do feel bad that he’s only calling you it and not Buck.” As soon as the words left Chris’s mouth, it suddenly clicked.
“Wait, oh my god,” Chris mutters out.
“Chris?” Eddie asks.
“Dad, he’s copying what I’m calling you guys. I’ve only call Buck Buck this whole time. I only called you Dad!” Chris exclaimed with the realization. And oh… yeah, that makes sense. They spend so much time with the families together, Theo following Chris around- this would happen.
“Looks like the Buckling is catching on to that,” Chris is full on cackling.
“It’s not funny, Chris. Buck was very hurt by it,” Eddie says.
Chris looks at his dad. “I know a way I could fix this easily,” Chris replies.
“Yeah?” Eddie says, flashing a questioning look his son’s way.
“What if I just start calling Buck pops or something? Theo will copy.” Chris offers. Eddie just stares at Chris. “Or-or I can call him papa or dad as well,” Chris lets out more nervously.
“You don’t need to do that for him, Chris. You don’t need to force yourself to do anything you don’t want.” Eddie says with a pained expression on his face.
The look on Chris’s face changed, unable to hide the hurt that that could be such a bad thing. “Oh mijo, is that something you wanted to do?” Eddie asked softly.
Chris’s eyes went glassy with tears threatening to drop. “He’s pretty much been my other dad since I was 8 years old.”
“Really?” Eddie said, surprised.
“Does that make you uncomfortable? Me thinking of Buck like that?” Chris asked his dad.
Eddie shook his head no. “Chris, no, not at all. This information just proved I made the right decision after the well incident.” Eddie says. His son looked at him, questioning. “You’re old enough to know now, it’s in my will if anything happens to me and I can’t take care of you; you’d go to Buck. Not your grandparents or your Tia’s; you’d live with Buck,” Eddie says. A tear dripped down Chris’s face. Eddie reaches over, wiping it away, causing Chris to giggle.
Chris sniffles as he tries to hold back a laugh. “You know I thought you guys were together when I was a kid, but then you started dating my teacher, then Buck got with that mean redhead.”
Eddie looks at his son, dumbfounded. “What? You thought me and Buck were dating?”
“I thought you had an on-and-off-again relationship most of my childhood.” Chris offered.
“And you would have been ok with that? Me being with Buck?” Eddie asked curiously.
“Well, yeah, I’d be ok with you dating my other dad,” Chris said, rolling his eyes playfully.
“Cool,” Eddie said. Not really knowing how to respond to that.
“Cool?” Chris repeats, an eyebrow quirked up.
Eddie clears his throat. “Tomorrow we are going out to breakfast with Theo and your pops, so make sure you’re ready to leave at 8 am,” Eddie says, getting up from the bed.
“Night, Dad. Love you.” Chris beamed at his father.
“Love you more, Chris,” Eddie says, closing the door.
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The next day, Chris was up waiting in the living room, fully dressed, ready to leave at 7:30 am. Sitting waiting for his dad to get up. Chris was excited to finally get to do something he’s held back on for years. So many times he’s almost accidentally said it, and now getting the green light to call Buck his other dad has him giddy.
Eddie had put on one of his nicer casual outfits. He made his way into the living room, phone to his ears, using his free hand to try to grab his shoes when he saw Chris.
“Finally you’re ready.“ Chris said, getting up.
“Excited much?” Eddie asked, teasing, hanging up the phone, seeing the time.
“I can’t wait to see the look on Buck’s face when I call him Pops,” Chris says with a giggle.
They pack into the truck, heading off to the diner that they will be meeting Theo and Buck at. When they get inside, they are the first to arrive. They look around; the diner is a bit packed, and not a lot of seating options are open. Chris spots a booth in the back. “Dad ask for a booth; it’s open,” Chris says, pointing to the last open booth.
“Hi, can I get a table for four at the booth by the window, please?” Eddie asked the hostess.
She grabs the menus, walking them over to the booth, leaving placemats and silverware.
Chris slides in first; Eddie goes to follow, but Chris puts his crutch out, effectively blocking the seat.
“Nope, that’s Buck’s seat,” Chris says, smirking.
Eddie just raised an eyebrow. He looked at his kid sliding into the other side of the booth. They get waters for the table, opting to wait for Theo and Buck to order. When the bell on the diner door chimes, Eddie and Chris look up to see Buck walking in, Theo on his hip, looking around.
Chris pulls out his phone, putting it on record, propping it up on the syrup caddy.
Chris waves at Buck, smiling when the man finally sees them sitting. Buck starts to make his way over. “Hey guys,” Buck says, putting Theo down so he can sit next to Chris.
“No, he’s gonna sit with our dad,” Chris says.
Theo looks at Chris; Theo, who already has one knee on his seat. Then he looks over at Eddie like he’s asking what to do.
“Come here, Theo, sit with me mijo,” Eddie says, patting the bench seat next to him.
The kid gets up, walking over and climbing up next to Eddie.
Buck is just standing watching what just happened, realizing Chris is implying Eddie is dad and Eddie just called Theo mijo.
That’s when Chris speaks up.
“Pops, just sit next to me; you’re blocking the walkway.” The smile on Chris’s face is blinding.
“Ya, Pops, sit with Chris.” Theo pipes in, giggling.
“Holy shit, he actually said it,” Chris says.
“Language, Christopher!” Eddie scolds his son.
Buck is looking back and forth at his family, jaw dropped, gaping like a fish. Theo just called him Pops. He’s Pops now, not Mr.Poop or Mr.Buck but Pops. Buck’s starting to spiral when he hears it.
“Holy shit!” Theo screams, causing multiple tables to look over at them.
“Theo, no, you can’t say that word, buddy,” Eddie says. Trying to help the situation.
“SHIT!” Theo screams again….Welp, Eddie tried. Chris starts laughing hard.
“That was the word we don’t say, buddy. Holy is fine; don’t say the other one again, please.” Eddie tried to reason like Theo would listen to him.
Buck is still buffering, unable to move, still trying to process what just happened.
“Buck, sit please; you really are in the walkway,” Eddie says.
Buck snaps back into reality, slowly moving to sit next to Chris. He stares at Eddie like he’s about to ask what's going on when Chris speaks up first. “Here, Pops, this is the daily specials list,” Chris says, sliding the mini menu over to Buck.
Buck turns his head to look at Chris, a breath catching in his throat. “Chris, what is this?” Buck exhales, gesturing around them.
“A menu.” Chris jokes.
“Be nice, Chris,” Eddie says.
Buck snaps his head up to his best friend. “We figured out why Theo was calling me Dad last night. Turns out he was copying what Chris has been calling us,” Eddie tells Buck. “We figured out a way we can fix it if you’re comfortable with it. Chris wants to start calling you Pops or Papa, Dad, whatever you prefer,” Eddie says, smiling at Buck.
Buck turns his head to Chris. “You don’t need to do that for me. I know I’m not really your dad.”
“I’ve been wanting to do it for years, actually, if you’d allow me, of course," Chris admits. Buck's eyes start watering, but he doesn’t say a word. He could tell Chris had more to say.
“You’ve been my second Dad since I was 8 years old, Buck. You were around to help me with my homework, calm me down after nightmares; you raised me just as much as he did.” Chris gestures with his hand to Eddie.
Buck's eyes follow; he sees Eddie, who has matching tears in his eyes and a smile bright as the sun.
Buck turns to Chris. “Yeah, Chris, you can call me Pops or Papa, Dad. Whatever you want,” he says, pulling the kid into a strong hug.
After the group shares a couple of happy giggles, they start looking at menus to order.
While Buck was distracted, Chris grabbed his phone from the caddy, clicking the recording button off. He placed his phone face down on the table. Buck never noticed it was out.
The group sits and eats happily, sharing a family meal before they meet back up at Buck’s place. Buck and Eddie sit at the patio table as the boys play with the soccer net.
“Hey Buck,” Eddie says.
“Yeah, Eds,” Buck replied.
“You know how you have your spare office room,” Eddie says casually.
“Yeah?” Buck turns to look at Eddie, eyebrow cocked.
“You think it’s big enough for Chris's bed set and dresser to fit in comfortably?”
“Eddie?” Buck says, confused.
“Because I was thinking maybe we could upgrade him, get a taller dresser, I think get rid of one of the bedside tables.” Eddie continues.
“Eddie!” Buck tries to stop him.
“And I was thinking your room would definitely have enough space for my dresser, and we can share the closet.” Eddie didn’t stop talking.
“EDDIE!” Buck finally yelled, getting Eddie to stop.
“Eddie, you can’t just move in with me and share a bedroom; we wouldn’t even have enough space for a second bed.”
“Well yeah, we’d be sharing one,” Eddie says, acting confused at Buck's rant.
“I’m so confused.” Buck finally says.
“I want our sons to live under the same roof as their dad and papa,” Eddie says, taking Buck's hand from the table into his own.
“Eddie, I’m bi; we can’t share a bed,” Buck says, trying to pull his hand away. Eddie doesn't let go.
“And that’s a problem- why?” Eddie reasons.
“You’re straight, Eddie,” Buck states. Eddie smiles at Buck, all goofy. “You’re straight, right?” Buck asked, one eyebrow going up.
“Remember how I left Chris with you two weeks ago so I could do wine night with Karen?” Eddie starts, Buck nods. “Turns out a bottle of white wine and a couple of internet quizzes can really change a perspective on things. I’m Demisexual, as in I need a deep emotional bond with someone before I can have romantic feelings for them. Like me and Shannon had.”
Buck gulped. “Not straight.”
“Nope,” Eddie says, popping the P. “And it turns out I have a bit of a crush on my best friend.”
“Me,” Buck says, pointing at himself with his other hand. Eddie squeezes Buck’s hand.
“If you’d have me, I’d like to try and be partners again, but instead of work it would be life partners,” Eddie says.
“Life partners,” Buck repeats.
“You are starting to sound like a parrot, Buck.” Eddie laughed.
“I want to raise our sons together under the same roof. Chris and I are both getting sick of having to travel back to our house every night and back here in the mornings.”Eddie says, squeezing Buck’s hand.
“I’d love for you and Chris to move in,” Buck says honestly, tears welling up in his eyes. “I’ve been in love with you for years, Eddie,” Buck admits. A tear finally drips down his cheek.
Eddie lets go of Buck's hand to hold his face, wiping the tear away. “I really need to kiss you right now,” Eddie says, leaning in and kissing him softly.
Eddie tries to pull away from Buck, but Buck’s lips follow. Buck rises out of his seat, following Eddie’s lips into a more heated kiss. Eddie finally pushes Buck away, causing him to stumble back into his chair.
“I called Karen this morning and asked if she could babysit the kids at her place overnight. She’s gonna be here any minute to pick them up.” Eddie’s breathing heavy.
Buck's eyes are practically black; his cheeks are bright pink. “You planned this all out,” Buck says breathlessly.
“I’ve wasted years. I’m not wasting any more time.” Eddie says, giddy.
Eddie pats Buck's chest, walking way over to the boys who are both currently facing away, playing soccer.
“Boys, can you go to Theo’s room and pack him his go bag? Chris, yours is already in the car; you’re going to Aunt Karen and Aunt Hens for a sleepover with Denny and Mara!”
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After Theo and Chris are gone. Eddie and Buck are in the living room just staring at one another.“Hi,” Buck beams.
“Hi,” Eddie says back, cheeks a bright pink.
“Soooo, you have a bit of a crush on me? When did that development happen?” Buck asks. Eddie shifts, sitting sideways facing Buck on the couch, leaning into the arm of the seat.
“Consciously knowing what “it” was that I was feeling? Probably since you started dating Tommy.” Eddie says.
Buck exhales, processing the information. “Ok,” Buck nods.
Eddie smiles weakly. “But, I’ve felt that way about you for a long time.”
“How long are we talking, Eds?” Buck asks.
“I could say it was when you did everything in your power to keep my son safe during the tsunami, but it was when we got off a call a week before the crush injury. We ended up back in the loft at the station sitting on the couch. You were just talking about an ocean documentary, and you were so excited, and I realized I was content with just sitting and listening to you rant. I knew I could do that happily for the rest of my life.” Eddie says.
“Ask me back,” Buck commands Eddie.
“So Buckley, when did you figure it out?” Eddie asks.
“Looking back, I definitely had a crush practically from day one. You allowed me to be a part of your family. I’ve never been wanted like that before.” Buck starts.
“So all the baby-trapping jokes Chim's been making over the years weren’t too far off, Buckley.” Eddie joked.
“Yeah, I kinda was obvious about it, huh, Diaz?” Buck says, leaning in.
Eddie had a boost in confidence. “This whole thing answered a question I’ve had for years.”
“And that is?” Buck questioned.
“Oh, that I really have caught you staring at my ass well over a dozen times over the last couple of years, that you've been checking me out,” Eddie smirks, leaning in.
“What, like it’s a crime to appreciate a hot guy's ass? Sorry I openly appreciate art, Eddie.” Buck says slyly.
Eddie laughs out loud, head falling back.
“God, I can’t wait to marry your ass,” Buck says, blushing.
Eddie looks at Buck. “Yeah? You want to marry me?” Eddie asks, breathless.
“There's a whole lot of things that I’d like to do to you.” Buck flirts as he gets onto his knees, crawling his way into Eddie’s lap, straddling him.
Eddie stops breathing, eyes going wide as Buck’s weight sinks into his lap. “Buck.” Eddie nervously breathed out.
“You’ve gotten to see almost every version of me at my best and my worst,” Buck says, face hovering over Eddie’s, looking down at the wide brown eyes. Eddie can feel Buck’s breath on his face. “But you’ve never gotten a chance to meet Buck 1.0,” He said cheekily. Buck grabs Eddie’s chin. Resting his other hand around Eddie’s neck, pulling him into a lip-bruising kiss.
They end up making out on the couch and cuddling. Eddie falls asleep on the couch with Buck on his chest that night, hand in his curls. He has his son back; he has Buck in every way, and he now has an amazing stepson. He’s never been happier in his life.
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Weeks later, the 118’s annual 4th of July BBQ is being hosted at the Buckley household. All of the 118 family is currently in Buck’s backyard. All the kids but Chris are currently playing Tag. Chris is currently sitting at the adults' tables on the patio talking with Harry, Hen, Athena, Maddie, Chimney, who is holding baby Nash, and Karen. They watch the kids play while Buck mans the grill. Eddie is in the house looking for more paper plates. Buck and Eddie plan to tell everyone that they are dating today.
Theo is running around the yard after being tagged by Jee. He’s sprinting full speed after Mara, running around where the tables are. Theo takes a sharp turn running after Mara and ends up somehow tripping and sliding across the edge of the concrete patio, scraping his knee and gliding into the grass. Theo rolls onto his side, yelping in pain. Theo immediately started crying. “Dad, it hurts!” Theo sobs out quietly in pain.
Athena was the first adult to realize what had happened. “Oh, baby, your dad is coming over now; it’s ok.” Athena comforts him. She helps Theo sit up; she can finally see the damage. “Buck, Theo scraped his knee something awful.” Athena called out over her shoulder.
“Fuck,” Buck runs from the grill over to Theo, heartbroken at the sight. Buck gets down on his good knee, picking Theo up and sitting him on his other knee.
“D-daddy Dad!” Theo calls out again in between sobs, getting louder. Clearly not calling out for Buck. Buck takes a good look at Theo’s knee, blood already dripping down his leg. Everyone in the yard goes quiet, the sounds of Theo crying out for his dad, everyone thinking he’s calling out for Connor.
“EDDIE GET THE FIRST AID KIT!” Buck called in the direction of the open sliding door.
Buck rubs circles into Theo’s back, trying to calm him down, but it’s not working in the slightest. Moments later, Eddie is rushing out of the house with a red bag in hand, looking around, spotting Theo on Buck’s knee, seeing the blood dripping down his leg.
“Daddy!” Theo screams, reaching for Eddie.
Eddie gets down on his knees in front of Theo to look over the injury.“Oh Mijo, don’t worry, Daddy will make it better.” Eddie says as he inspects the wound. “Dad,” Theo called out, hugging Eddie tight, sobbing into his neck.
“Shhh, it’s ok, honey. Let me clean your knee,” Eddie says gently, pulling out of the hug to look at the damage. Theo sniffles, nodding his head, allowing Eddie to look over the scrape. Eddie starts cleaning it up with the wound wash from his kit.
“He was calling for Eddie,” Athena states, catching eyes with Buck.
“Yeah, Theo knows his dad is better with the boo-boos than I am,” Buck says as he continues rubbing circles into Theo’s back.
Theo turns his head to Buck, “Papa, can I have ice cream?” Theo sniffles out, before grabbing Buck's shirt, pulling it to his nose, wiping snot across it like it’s a tissue.
“How about we finish cleaning your knee, we eat dinner, then after we can have ice cream?” Buck offers.
“Almost done, buddy; just need a bandaid,” Eddie says, going into the kit and picking out a couple of options for Theo to pick from.
“I want the dinosaur on the skateboard one, Dad,” Theo asks, pointing.
“Good choice,” Buck says. Eddie smiles up at his partner. “Sure thing, bud,” Eddie says, opening it up and placing it on Theo’s knee.
Once it’s plastered on his knee, Theo gets off Buck's knee and goes back to playing like he didn’t just sob himself snotty.
Buck goes to stand up using Eddie’s shoulder to push off of and is met with Maddie standing in front of him.
“When were you going to tell me about this new development?” She questioned her little brother. Looking between him and Eddie.
“It’s a very new development,” Buck replied, blushing.
“Aunt Maddie, it’s my fault.” Chris buds in from the patio table. “Theo started calling my dad, Dad, copying me, so I fixed it.” Chris beamed at the adults.
“And how did you do that?” Maddie asked Chris.
“I started calling Buck pops and papa; Theo started to copy,” Chris said, happy with himself.
“I told you he’s a Buckling,” Chim says. Karen, who is sitting next to him, elbows him hard. “Hey,” Chim mutters out.
“I actually got the first time Theo and I called Buck pops on video! Wanna see?” Chris offers his phone to Athena first. The group gathers around her, watching the interaction in the diner.
Everyone is laughing at the whole “shit” situation and awwing at Buck’s reaction to finding out Chris sees him as a second dad. As the video cuts, everyone has tears in their eyes.
“We ended up sticking with Dad/Daddy for my Dad and Papa/Pops for Buck,” Chris says happily as he takes his phone back.
“Sharing kids, this is a whole nother level of the weird codependency y'all have,” Harry jokes.
“You should just get married at this point, adopt each other's spawns,” Chim adds in trying to be funny.
Buck and Eddie look at each other, Buck nodding, giving the ok. “About that, we’d like to make an announcement,” Eddie says, placing a hand around Buck's waist, pulling him in. The yard goes quiet for the second time that night.
“Me and Buck are officially dating,” Eddie tells the group, before leaning in and stealing a soft peck from Buck. Buck, who immediately wraps his arms around Eddie’s neck, pulling him into another kiss a little more heated but nothing more than PDA.
The silence is broken by Karen screaming, “Get it Diazzz.” Everyone starts laughing at that. Eddie pulls away from Buck’s lips, giggling.
“Took you two long enough.” Athena comments.
Buck smiles, leaning into Eddie’s side. “We are getting married, by the way. We haven’t picked a date yet or gotten rings, but we both agreed we wasted too much time already.” Buck says, squeezing Eddie.
Buck goes back to finishing up dinner; they eat as a family, talking about what the future holds. Theo happily eats his ice cream cone sitting in Buck’s lap, using his shirt as a napkin. Buck is excited for what the future holds.