Archive of Our Own

In hindsight, Eddie should’ve known.  

He should’ve known that things had been going a little too well lately. He should’ve known that the universe, or the god he’s not really sure he believes in anymore, or whatever it is, can never just let him exist happily without something eventually going wrong.  

Because Eddie has been so happy lately. Happier than he’s probably ever been in his life, actually.  

Today is Christopher’s sixteenth birthday. His smart, kind, wonderful son is sixteen years old, and when asked last week what he wanted to do to celebrate, he said, ‘I just want to hang out with Buck and Theo. Just have a chill family day all together.’ 

Eddie’s heart skipped a beat at that. At the ease with which Chris referred to the four of them as a family. Not because it isn’t true, but because it is.  

He hadn’t planned for it to happen, but the day Buck took Theo in, Eddie and Chris showed up with bags full of old clothes and toys, and they hadn’t really left since. It’s not that Buck necessarily needed the help, but Buck had been there for Eddie and Chris over the years in ways that Eddie will never be able to repay him for.  

It’s not even really about evening the score, though. Eddie likes being there for Buck. He likes being there for Theo. He’s grown to love Theo like his own.  

Eddie has never really considered himself a kid person despite what people might think. He cares for them deeply, but if Chris hadn’t come along—and he’s so fucking grateful for that, don’t get him wrong—then he’s not sure he would’ve ever had any. For the longest time he thought he’d never love another person as much as he loves Chris, but after spending these last several months with this beautiful, amazing little boy, Eddie can confidently say he loves Theo just as equally.  

He’s not really sure when—not the exact moment anyway—but at some point Eddie realized just how intertwined their lives had become. When they’re not at work, they’re all together at Buck’s house, sharing meals, grocery trips, and fridge calendars. They’ve somehow become their own family unit without even realizing it. Maybe that thought should scare him, but instead, it just feels like everything has clicked into place.  

Today is no different.  

After Eddie woke Chris up much earlier than the teen probably would’ve liked to wish him a happy birthday, giving him nothing short of a bear hug, they walked out into the living room, where Chris was subjected to even more hugs and birthday wishes.  

Buck and Theo were already there, having decorated the entire space with blue and green streamers, banners, and balloons, and despite trying to hide it behind his usual teenage monotony, Eddie could tell how much Chris appreciated it. Buck must have come over to the Diaz house late or incredibly early to put it all together without Eddie even knowing, and his heart did a weird little squeeze at the sight of it all.  

When they made it into the kitchen, Eddie’s heart squeezed again at the actual feast Buck prepared for breakfast, including all of Chris’s favorites—a tower of chocolate chip pancakes, hickory-smoked bacon, perfectly fried eggs, and his fancy, pure maple syrup from Canada that only gets brought out on very special occasions. With food being the way to the kid’s heart, Chris’s eyes lit up at the array, and he even gave Buck another hug, which made the older man briefly tear up as he held Chris tightly against his chest. Eddie just watched them from the doorway, unable to help the fond look on his face if he tried.  

The moment was eventually broken by Theo flying back into the room. Eddie scooped him up and pressed an exaggerated smooch to his cheek, pulling delighted squeals from the kid and making his body fill with warmth. It made Eddie so fucking happy he could’ve burst. 

It’s nearly lunchtime now. Chris is sitting at the dining table, delightedly setting up the new Switch 2 that Buck had gotten him—which Eddie nearly whacked Buck with a frying pan over after not mentioning buying the overly expensive gift beforehand. Because if he had, Eddie would’ve told him, ‘Hell no, absolutely not. That’s too much.’ Which, in retrospect, is likely exactly why Buck hadn’t said anything. But what’s done is done, and Buck looks very excited that Chris likes it, so Eddie figures it was worth it just for that alone.  

Buck, Eddie, and Theo are in the kitchen making Chris’s birthday cake. Well, Buck is making the cake while Theo stands beside him on his little step stool, flour dusting his cheek and clothes, adding ingredients and stirring the batter when Buck tells him to. Eddie is just leaning against the counter, watching them work while sipping on a root beer—Buck stopped drinking entirely after his detox, and Eddie joined him in solidarity, so they’ve become craft soda connoisseurs as of late.  

“Okay, next we’re going to add in the cocoa powder,” Buck is saying, passing Theo the perfectly leveled measuring cup.  

Theo dumps the powder into the mixing bowl, only spilling a little on the tiled countertop. “What’s cocoa powder?” 

“Cocoa is the plant that they make chocolate from. So this powder makes the cake chocolatey,” Buck says.  

Theo’s eyes light up. “I like chocolate.” 

Buck smiles at him. “I know you do. We all like chocolate in this household.”  

Eddie’s stomach swoops at the casual mention of them being one household. Together. The four of them.  

“Can we put sprinkles on it?” Theo asks.  

“This is Chris’s cake, so you’ll have to ask him if he’d like some.” 

“Chris!” Theo immediately shouts at the top of his lungs—his R’s still sounding adorably like W’s—making Buck and Eddie wince at the volume. “Do you want sprinkles on your cake?” 

Chris looks up from the table with mirthful eyes. “Yeah, Theo, that sounds good.”  

Theo turns back to Buck with a toothy grin, bouncing up and down on the step stool, and Buck quickly reaches out to steady him before he can fall. “Chris wants sprinkles!"  

Buck laughs softly. “I heard. Should we do rainbow or chocolate ones?”  

Theo deliberates this for a moment as if it’s a life-altering decision, then says, “Rainbow!” 

Buck’s eyes meet Eddie’s for a moment, something soft and fond in them, before he looks back at Theo. “Alright, rainbow it is, then.” 

Eddie’s face hurts from smiling. The ease of it all—the domesticity. He likes seeing Buck cooking in his kitchen. He’s done it for years, probably knowing it better than Eddie does at this point, but it’s never felt quite like it does now. It makes his heart sing. It feels so right, existing in each other’s orbits like this. It’s everything Eddie didn’t even realize he wanted.  

Eddie is so happy, and that should’ve been his first clue that things would soon take a sharp turn. He can’t ever seem to just have something good without it eventually going south. He had hoped that maybe this time the universe would cut him a break, but then the doorbell rings, and he’s suddenly in for a rude awakening.  

“I’ve got it,” Eddie says, leaving Buck and Theo in the kitchen to answer it.  

He opens the peephole, and his stomach instantly drops when he sees who’s on the other side.  

“Mom? Papí?” He croaks in confusion as he pulls open the door. “What are you doing here?”  

His mom and dad are standing on his front porch with a large gift bag and equally large smiles.  

“Well, we didn’t get to see Christopher for his birthday last year since you decided to take him back from us,” his mom says. “So, we decided to come surprise him this year.” 

Why? Why couldn’t he just have this day alone with his three boys? It was supposed to be such a good day, but now Eddie feels like he might be sick.  

He loves his parents. He does. And he knows they love him in their own overly controlling way. But they’re so hard to be around. They could win an Olympic gold medal in getting under Eddie’s skin. He’s not even sure they realize they’re doing it most of the time, but they have a way of saying just the right things to make Eddie feel like he’s not good enough. Like he’s a disappointment no matter what he does.  

He knows without a shadow of a doubt that today will be no better. 

He ignores his mom’s condescending remark, knowing he has to pick and choose his battles. “Uh—I wish you would’ve called.” 

“Christopher is here, isn’t he?” His dad asks. “He’s not out with friends or something?”  

Eddie swallows past the lump in his throat and nods, finally letting them inside. “Yeah, he’s here. He celebrated with his friends yesterday, but just wanted to spend the day with family today.”  

He immediately regrets using the word family as his mom’s smile grows. Fuck, now they’re somehow going to think that includes them, before being shocked to find out who he’s actually referring to.  

Speak of the devil… 

Theo suddenly comes running out of the kitchen and nearly dead-legs Eddie as he barrels into the backs of them. He hides behind them as he peeks around at the strangers standing in the entryway. “Eddie, who’s that?” 

Eddie has to hold back his sigh before bending down to scoop Theo up in his arms and setting him on his hip. He still has flour on his face, so Eddie quickly licks the pad of his thumb and wipes it away from his skin. He points between the other adults. “Theo, this is my mom and dad. Mom, Papí, this is Theo.” 

The looks on their faces would almost be comical if Eddie wasn’t so stressed out already. They’re looking between him and the boy in his arms with wide eyes and their mouths hanging open in utter shock. 

Theo furrows his brows and asks. “Does that mean they’re my grandma and grandpa?”  

His mom sucks in a sharp breath, looking moments away from passing out.  

Eddie nearly has the same reaction. Theo has been curious about family trees and relations lately, so it makes sense why he would ask, Eddie supposes. Except…the idea that he’s Theo’s dad makes his stomach flip wildly, and not because he dislikes it—but because he does. He really, really does, but that’s not his place yet, if ever.  

He’s not really sure how to explain their relationship to Theo. He certainly doesn’t like the idea of them being his grandparents, even if he did officially become Theo’s other dad at some point. He doesn’t want them to try and stick their nose into Theo’s life the way they do him and Chris.  

“Um, no, Chiquillo, I don’t think so,” he says. 

Theo frowns. “But they’re Chris’s grandma and grandpa, right?” 

Eddie nods, already knowing where this is going. “Yes, they are.”  

“So why not mine?” Theo huffs indignantly.  

Eddie sighs. There’s not really a way to explain the complexities of their family dynamic they’ve created in a way that Theo would understand. In his eyes, he probably does see Chris as his brother and Buck and Eddie as his dads. So, Eddie just decides to go along with it, his parents’ reactions be damned. “Okay, Bud, they can be your grandparents, too.”  

Theo smiles happily and starts to wiggle in Eddie’s arms until he lets him down. He then walks straight up to his grandparents(?) and hugs each of their legs. “Hello, I’m Spider-Man.” 

Eddie hates that he finds it so endearing, and he secretly relishes the continued look of shock on his parents’ faces. While his dad manages to at least pat Theo gently on the back, his mom seems to be frozen stiffly in place. 

She eventually clears her throat, squinting her eyes at Eddie. “Whose is he? Do you—Do you have a new girlfriend?”  

Theo giggles and looks up at her from below. “Eddie doesn’t have a girlfriend! That’s silly!” 

Eddie nearly chokes. Silly… Yeah, maybe so. “Uh—No. No girlfriend.”  

“Then whose is he, Eddie?” His dad asks.  

And with the comedic timing of one of those corny 90s sitcoms, Buck chooses that exact moment to walk out of the kitchen.  

“Eddie, who was at the d—” He stops in his tracks, eyes flying open. “Mr. and Mrs. Diaz—Hi, uh—Oh, Theo, come here, Monkey.” He steps forward to grab the boy, who’s still attached to Helena’s legs, and sets him on his hip as he returns to Eddie’s side. “I didn’t know you were coming.” 

His mom’s face pales even further at the arrival of the other man. She rakes her eyes over him judgingly, locking in on the apron he’s wearing. It’s a gag gift that Eddie bought for him last Christmas, with the words, ‘I’m not the only fruit in this kitchen,’ printed on it in the most horrifically tacky rainbow font money can buy. Buck nearly cried with laughter when he opened it, and it has lived on the hook in Eddie’s kitchen ever since, Buck now wearing it whenever he cooks there. Right at this moment, though, Eddie is regretting it just a little bit, knowing that his parents are inevitably going to have something to say about it.  

Eddie can almost see the cogs turning in their minds as they look between him, Buck, and Theo, and he unfortunately knows what they’re thinking. He can see it in the slight upturn of his mom’s nose and the subtle frown of his dad’s mouth. The tension in the air is so thick, you’d need a diamond-coated knife to cut through it, and Eddie immediately hates it.  

He hates that they’re here. He hates that they’re already assessing, already judging, drawing incorrect conclusions and finding fault in them. He hates when Buck glances down at his apron and realization also dawns on him about what they’re thinking, his face turning red with embarrassment. Eddie hates that especially, and something fierce and protective roars inside of his chest, because no one is allowed to make Buck feel like that.  

Eddie clears his throat. “Chris is in the dining room. You can stay for lunch, but he specifically requested it to just be the four of us today.”  

His mom waves him off. “Well, that was before he knew we were coming. You said he wanted it to just be family today, and now he actually has family here.”  

Eddie opens his mouth to say something that probably would’ve been highly inappropriate for young ears, but Buck’s hand finds his forearm in a death grip, holding him back wordlessly. It works instantly, is the thing. The feeling of Buck’s hand on him is enough to make his jaw snap shut.  

His parents lock onto the contact with even more disappointment in their eyes. But luckily—at least for Theo’s sake—they don’t say anything about it yet, despite Eddie already rearing for a fight. Instead, they just push further inside toward the dining room, massive gift bag crinkling behind them.  

Theo, not understanding any of the tension between the adults and just excited for the new visitors, slides out of Buck’s arms and to the floor, following after them.  

As soon as it’s just him and Buck left in the entryway, Eddie exhales deeply and drops his face in his hands. “Fuck.”  

“Did they not tell you they were coming?” Buck whispers.  

“Nope,” he grits out. “Everything has been so good lately, and I wanted it to be just us today, but no,” he groans, throwing his hand up. “God, I think I’m fucking cursed or something.” 

Buck rolls his eyes. “You are not cursed. You don’t even believe in that shit anyway. It’s gonna be fine. We’ll just have lunch, then kick them out and have the rest of the night just us, okay? I’ll even call Pepa to come as backup if we need it.”  

Eddie’s lips twitch up a little, grateful for Buck’s confidence, but he quickly turns frustrated again when his gaze finds his apron. “I’m sorry about the whole—” he gestures down at him.  

Buck’s cheeks heat, and he reaches behind himself to start untying the strings at the back, but Eddie grabs his elbow. “Stop, you don’t need to do that.” 

“Eddie, they’re gonna think that we—” 

“Pretty sure they already do.” 

Buck scratches the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Fuck—I’m sorry.” 

Oh, hell no. He won’t stand for that. He shakes his head and squeezes Buck’s elbow tightly. “Bud, I really don’t care. And honestly…we might as well lean into it, because I doubt they’ll believe anything else now anyway. Plus, it might help to get them out of here faster.”  

Buck’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “You—You want to pretend? To be…together?” 

Eddie shrugs. “Yeah, I mean—It’ll probably be easier than trying to explain all of this anyway, and I know they’ll hate it so…win, win. It could be fun.” 

Buck just stares at him for a moment, speechless and unblinking.  

“We don’t have to,” Eddie clarifies, worried he made things weird with the suggestion. 

Buck finally nods. “No, it’s—Okay, yeah. Let’s do it.” 

“Yeah?”  

Buck’s throat works. “Mhmm. Like you said…It could be fun.”  

“Right, yeah.” 

A beat. “We need to have a story then. So we’re on the same page.”  

Eddie nods. “I don’t think we really need to lie about most of it. We met at work almost nine years ago, and we were best friends for a long time. Then… Maybe after I got back from Texas, things changed…” 

“Um, yeah, and you told me how you felt, because—Well, I never would’ve, because I thought you were straight and didn’t want to ruin our friendship, so you eventually did, and we—” 

“We’ve been together ever since. Then you took in Theo, and we all became a little family— 

“Then you proposed to me a couple weeks ago at the beach—” 

Eddie shakes his head. “Not the beach… I’d do it right here in our kitchen, with no one but Chris and Theo as our witnesses. It’s where we’ve always spent most of our time together, so it would be nice, I think.” 

Buck nods slowly, a little breathless as he says, “Y-Yeah, I like that. And we haven’t had time to plan our wedding yet, because we’ve been so busy, but—” 

“We’ll do a backyard wedding here with all our close friends and family. In the spring before it gets too hot—” 

“And if they notice we don’t have rings, we’ll say that we can’t wear them for work, anyway, but they’re currently getting made at the jeweler—” 

Eddie grins, satisfied with how well they know each other—how easily they can just bounce off of each other like this. “Yeah, that’s smart. Anything else?” 

“I’m sure Theo won’t really understand, but what about Chris? Do we need to let him in on this before?” 

“No, I’m pretty sure he’ll just go along with it. He’ll probably enjoy the free pass to mess with his grandparents, honestly.”  

“True,” Buck says, then stutters a little as he asks, “What—What about like…PDA?” 

Eddie considers this for a moment, neck warming. He and Buck had never been overly tactile, a pat on the back here, a hand on the shoulder there, and during super emotional moments or goodbyes, maybe even a stiff hug. But that doesn’t happen often. Eddie finds that he wouldn’t really mind much of anything with Buck, though. At least—Not in this scenario anyway. Because this is all just a show. It’s not real… “I don’t mind. Whatever you think feels natural.” 

Buck’s cheeks tinge the faintest shade of pink. “I—Okay. Uh, me neither. I’ll just follow your lead.”  

“Alright,” and then because he wants to make sure that Buck is cool with this, “My parents might say some fucked up stuff. Are you sure you’re fine with this? It’s really okay if you don’t want to.” 

“Are you sure?” Buck counters skeptically. “Are you okay with your parents thinking you’re queer?”  

Honestly, Eddie really couldn’t give less of a fuck what his parents think about him anymore. He’d learned a long time ago that he would never live up to their expectations, so he’s decided he’s done trying. “I’m sure. I mean it; I don’t care what they think.” 

“Okay… Then I’m fine with it, too.”  

And with that, Eddie releases a long breath and holds out his hand between them, palm up. Buck stares at it for a moment, his breath hitching barely enough for Eddie to notice, then slowly returns the gesture, lacing their fingers together. Eddie doesn’t miss the slight trembling of Buck’s hand, but decides not to mention it. Eddie’s might be too if his mind wasn’t already filled with worry about bigger issues.  

Eddie squeezes their palms together once, twice, three times, feeling the warm, steady weight of Buck’s hand in his. It’s calloused from years on the job and weight training, yet still smooth from the expensive moisturizer he uses—Eddie always gives him shit for it, but now he understands the steep price tag. Buck’s thick, strong fingers are a little shorter than his, but they still fit together seamlessly. He likes it, he realizes with startling clarity. Really, really likes it.  

He pushes the thought away, meets Buck’s awe-filled eyes, then leads them into the dining room.  

It feels a bit like they’re headed for the gallows.  

No one notices their hands right away, too focused on Chris—a mildly confused expression on his face, likely at both his grandparents’ unexpected arrival more than the large gift in his lap. Theo is on the bench beside him, bouncing excitedly on his knees as Chris allows him to pull out the red tissue paper from the top of the bag.  

Eddie’s parents may be insufferable at the best of times, but they love kids. Despite the initial shock over Theo’s presence, they would never actually say anything explicitly mean to the kid’s face. At least not something he’ll understand. Case in point— 

“That’s Christopher’s birthday gift. You should let him open it himself,” his mother says in her usual thinly veiled condescension.  

Something hot simmers beneath Eddie’s skin, but before he can speak up, Chris frowns at her and says, “It’s okay. He likes helping me.”  

His mother’s face sours, but she doesn’t say anything else about it.  

The heat under Eddie’s skin turns to warmth at the way Chris includes Theo. Chris loves him like a little brother, always happy to help out with him, play with him, and teach him new things—even if those new things are at Buck and Eddie’s expense. And Theo loves him just as much, viewing Chris like he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, and taking everything he says like it’s gospel. Just with Chris’s calm demeanor and incredible patience for a sixteen-year-old, Theo’s abundance of energy has toned down significantly from the start, greatly helping Buck out. It’s been a joy to watch their relationship grow, and Eddie loves it more than he can say. 

From the gift bag, Chris unveils a beautiful—and likely incredibly expensive—chess set, with a polished wood board and hand-carved pieces. It’s the kind of thing anyone who likes chess would geek out over.  

But Chris hates chess.  

“What is that?” Theo asks inquisitively.  

Chris, Eddie’s ever-polite boy, smiles kindly as he says, “It’s a chess set. It’s a type of board game.” He glances up at his grandparents, who are smiling right back, seemingly very pleased with their gift. “Thank you. This is really nice.”  

Eddie’s chest squeezes. Despite being thrown into competitions by his grandparents that riddled him with anxiety and ultimately growing to hate the game, Chris is still sparing their feelings with his gratefulness. Eddie doesn’t miss the flicker of disappointment in his eyes, though, and vows to go out and buy him any game he wants for his new Switch just for the kindness in his heart that is probably more than his grandparents deserve.  

Chris’s gaze lands on him and Buck where they stand just behind his grandparents, who are sitting at the table. He instantly notices their clasped hands, his eyebrows shooting up, but he schools it when Eddie presses a finger to his lips and mouths, ‘Go with it,’ silently. Just as Eddie suspected, Chris gives a barely perceptible nod in understanding as the corner of his mouth quirks up. Eddie knows he’ll get grilled about it by Chris later, but he’s thanking his lucky stars right now for his son’s quick wit and his quiet mischief that Eddie certainly passed down to him.  

Eddie leads Buck further into the room, finally catching the attention of his parents, who immediately pale at the sight. His mom’s mouth opens and closes a few times, but Eddie doesn’t let her get any further. 

“Buck is making grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch at Chris’s request. Do you want something to drink?” 

His dad blinks, then clears his throat softly. “I’d take a beer.” 

Helena’s head snaps toward her husband, seemingly appalled that he’s just going along with it without mentioning the elephant in the room. It surprises Eddie a bit, as well, if he’s honest. But things had gotten better with his dad over the years—Eddie’s been trying anyway—maybe this is his dad trying, too. 

“We don’t have any. Buck and I don’t drink anymore. We have root beer, chocolate milk, apple juice, or water.”  

“Oh, well, root beer’s fine then. Thanks.” 

Eddie nods and turns to his mom for her preference, but she just stares back at him with a pinched expression on her face. Her eyes flit between him, then Buck, then their hands, and Eddie can see the words forming in her mind before she says them. “Are we just going to brush past this?” 

A beat. “I’ll get you a water,” Eddie tells her, then leads Buck into the kitchen.  

Buck takes the cake out of the oven to cool and starts pulling out ingredients for lunch while Eddie fills a glass with water and grabs a root beer from the fridge. Theo finds them then, the door swinging shut behind him and almost squishing his fingers, so Eddie quickly grabs it and kicks the rubber stopper underneath the frame again.  

“Eddie,” Theo says as he wraps his arms around Eddie’s knees. “Chris calls him Ab—Abelo. Do I call him that, too?” 

Buck looks over at them from the stove, surprised, but fond. 

“Sure, Buddy. You can call him Abuelo.” Eddie still doesn’t like it. Doesn’t think they deserve Theo as a grandson, but it’s too late to turn back now.  

“Ab—Abu-e-lo,” Theo sounds out. “Abuelo.” 

Eddie hums. “Good job. That means grandpa in Spanish.” 

Theo beams. “I know Spanish!” 

Eddie chuckles and holds out the root beer bottle toward him. “Here. Can you take this to your…Abuelo? Be very careful not to spill.” 

Delighted, Theo takes the task very seriously and cradles the bottle in his hands like it’s something precious as he carefully walks back into the dining room. Eddie follows him with the water glass. 

“Here, Ab-elo,” Theo says, dutifully passing him the bottle.  

His dad’s eyes grow wider while his mom’s narrow, and Eddie quickly places the water in front of her before she can start any fires with her gaze.  

With a sigh, Eddie sits at the table next to Chris, and Theo immediately climbs into his lap. Eddie wraps his arms around the boy's stomach and presses a kiss to his curls, ignoring his parents’ stares.  

“How was the trip?” Eddie asks them. 

His dad takes a sip of his drink and leans back in his chair. “Oh, you know. There was some turbulence on the flight, but it wasn’t bad.” 

“You flowed on a airplane?” Theo asks. “I never did. Did you, Chris?” 

Chris nods, amused. “I did. A few times, yeah.” 

Theo turns toward Eddie. “Did you?” 

“Lots. Helicopters, too.” 

Theo sucks in a sharp breath. “Did Buck?” 

“He has. He doesn’t like flying much, though.” 

“Why?” 

He doesn’t want to have to explain that it’s because he’s worked multiple plane crashes over the years, one of which literally being piloted by his pseudo-mom, which she had to land on the freeway, and now he gets anxious on them. So he just says, “They make his tummy upset.” 

Chris nearly chokes on his chocolate milk.  

From the kitchen and out of earshot from the table conversation, Buck accidentally drops a wooden spoon on the floor, the sound ringing out into the dining room. He picks it back up, tosses it in the sink, and grabs a new one from the drawer, unfazed and humming softly to himself as he stirs the pot on the stove.  

Eddie doesn’t realize he’s lost in a daze until Chris elbows him softly in the ribs. He wipes the dopey grin off his face and looks back over to see everyone staring at him like he’s missed something. “What?” 

His mom huffs. “I said, he seems very comfortable in your kitchen.” 

Oh, here we go.  

Eddie shrugs. “He uses it more than I do. Has for years.” 

“Buck’s a really good cook. Much better than Dad, anyway,” Chris adds. 

Eddie pokes him in the arm in retaliation. “Hey.” 

Theo bounces up and down in his lap, nearly smacking his skull into Eddie’s chin. “We baked a cake today! Chris said we could put rainbow sprinkles on it.” 

The conversation flows like that for a while, his mom asking a pointed question, Eddie giving a half-assed answer, then Chris and Theo jumping in and inevitably diverting the topic. Eddie appreciates it immensely. His mom, however, looks increasingly like she’s about to blow a gasket.  

Before she can, though, Eddie escapes back into the kitchen.  

Since everything that happened back in New Mexico, Eddie has been seeing a therapist. He had started going mostly just to get Buck to go as well, but nearly a year later, Eddie is still attending bi-weekly sessions.  

Dr. Atwell is very different from Frank—older, kinder, less blunt. She really makes him think about his answers and the why behind them, which in ways is no less infuriating than Frank had been, but it’s helped Eddie more than he thought possible.  

In their session a few weeks ago, they had gotten on the topic of how Eddie has still been denying himself joy. He had been instructed to start small, allowing himself to have an extra cookie or literal juice if he wants, while also not immediately shutting down any thoughts or feelings that he has like he normally would. Easier said than done, of course, but he’s been trying. The biggest thing that he’s allowed himself to feel and name—at least internally—is the four of them being a family and liking that fact.  

Another is simply allowing himself to look at Buck and realize just how beautiful he is. 

Eddie’s always seen him as a beautiful person on the inside, maybe not using that word specifically before as he would normally shut it down, but he is. Beautiful, that is. He’s the most caring, loyal, complex, and loving person Eddie has ever known. He’s so incredibly beautiful on the inside.  

But lately, Eddie has finally allowed himself to see just how beautiful he is on the outside, too.  

Buck is standing in front of the stove, flipping the last sandwich in the pan as he sways his hips side-to-side and whistles along to some pop song that’s playing low through his phone speaker. He’s wearing a blue corduroy button-up and light-wash denim beneath the hideous apron. His barely blonde, barely brunette curls have the beginnings of gray at the temples. His pink birthmark above his brow is the same shade as his rosy cheeks from the heat of the stovetop.  

Beautiful. 

Eddie’s never thought this about another man before. Maybe it should scare him, but it doesn’t. Not really.  

He just lets himself feel it, because Dr. Atwell said he should. She’s been pretty spot-on with everything else so far.  

Indulging himself maybe a little more than he should, though, he walks up behind Buck and gently wraps his arms around his middle, hooking his chin over his shoulder.  

Buck jumps slightly at the contact, and his breath hitches beneath Eddie’s forearms.  

He cranes his neck to meet Eddie’s eyes, and for a moment, their faces are so close, practically sharing a breath. But Buck quickly looks back at the stove again before exhaling deeply and sinking back against Eddie. “Can your parents see us from the table?” 

Eddie shrugs. “Don’t know.” 

A beat. “So you’re doing this because…?” 

He shrugs again. “Just felt like it. That okay?” 

“Y-Yeah,” he breathes out shakily. “If they walk in, it’ll look like the real deal.” 

“I—“ 

“Help me carry the food to the table?” Buck cuts him off quickly, side-stepping out of his hold to plate the gourmet grilled cheeses and ladle the tomato bisque into bowls with fidgety hands.  

Eddie blinks, unsure what just happened, but tries not to dwell on it. He just grabs a few plates and leads them back out to the dining room.  

By the time lunch is served and they’re all seated at the table, Eddie squeezing onto the bench beside Buck shoulder to ankle with Theo in the chair to their right, his mom is white-knuckling her water glass so tightly, it has to be close to shattering.  

Maybe Eddie will regret it later, but at this point, he really wants to piss his parents off. He wants them to leave as soon as possible, so sue him if he dials things up a few notches. 

He takes a bite of his sandwich, sourdough with three different kinds of cheese, and nearly groans. “This is amazing, Babe. Is there gouda in this?”  

Thank god, Buck isn’t in the middle of taking a drink, because he nearly chokes on air. He plays it off with a small cough, and Eddie’s parents don’t seem to notice anything other than the endearment itself. “Uh, thank you. Yeah, it’s gouda, swiss, and cheddar.” 

“It’s really good, Buck,” Chris mumbles with his mouth full. Eddie doesn’t chastise him about it. He’d honestly let Chris do anything right now, even drop a few F-bombs into conversation, whatever it takes to piss off his parents.  

They’re still too distracted by the ‘Babe’ comment to notice, though.  

While his dad is politely, albeit very stiffly, taking measured bites of his soup, his mom hasn’t so much as touched her plate, her face pinched as tightly as she’s clutching her spoon in her hand.  

“Are you okay, Grandma?” Theo asks suddenly from the head of the table, eyebrows furrowed in concern.  

Eddie’s never going to get used to hearing Theo refer to them that way. 

Chris quickly stuffs a piece of his sandwich in his mouth to avoid laughing as his grandma snaps her head over to Theo. She then looks back at Eddie, who just shrugs and tells her, “He asked you a question.” 

Fire flickers in her eyes, but by some miracle, she bites her tongue and exhales slowly before glancing back at Theo with a forced smile. “Yes, I’m okay.” She takes a bite of soup as if trying to prove it. 

His dad clears his throat, then, in an attempt to carry the conversation, says, “So, Buck…Eddie mentioned the firefighting competition you had in Nashville, but he never mentioned how it went. What did you place?” 

Eddie hasn’t spoken to his parents much about his personal life in a long time, but especially not since he and Chris moved back from El Paso last year. They get updates about Chris, and the bare minimum about himself, usually only when necessary in relation to Chris.  

They don’t even know about what happened in New Mexico.  

By the time he and Buck got discharged and started their journey home, Eddie hadn’t even thought about mentioning it to them. Only when they made it back to LA did he consider it when his mom texted him about something else entirely, thinking it might be warranted after nearly dying. But he ultimately decided better of it, knowing he was fine and not wanting any reason for them to fly out here or subject himself to more condescension regarding Chris’s care while he was on the mend.  

Buck wipes his hands on his napkin and smiles his signature host-friendly smile, one that, after years of knowing everything about Buck, Eddie can tell how much of a mask it is. “It was really fun. Our captain, Bobby, signed us up for the games before he passed, and we had no idea about it until a couple of weeks before. We ended up tying for first with one of the Nashville stations, but it was great just getting a long weekend off to go somewhere new—“ Buck rattles on about the games, all of it being fond memories before the devastation that came later, while Eddie’s dad asks him casual questions here and there.  

Eddie’s gaze lands on his mom, who’s already staring back at him with that same pinched look from earlier. Eddie realizes he’s been lost in a daze watching Buck as he talks, like he so often does lately. He’s not sure what his expression was doing to have his mom looking at him like this again, but this time, it hadn’t even been an act.  

Eddie can act, though. 

“—had a ladder truck tied around him and pulled it thirty feet, quicker than—than a-anyone else,” Buck stutters as Eddie very obviously wraps his arm around Buck’s waist, squeezing his side gently. Buck shivers at the contact, but doesn’t mention it, just continues his story.  

When Eddie looks back over at his mom, she’s very pointedly not looking back, pretending to be involved in the conversation. Eddie feels a bit like they’re playing cat and mouse. Game on.  

Theo is devouring his meal like he hasn’t been fed in weeks, greasy fingers and red soup smeared around his mouth, seemingly lost in thought as he separates his bite-sized pieces of grilled cheese into various piles of unknown significance. 

Eddie lets himself relish the feeling of Buck’s warmth pressed against him, taking comfort in his smooth, expressive cadence that makes even the sawtrap Eddie has found himself in feel that much more bearable. 

A gentle nudge to the thigh that’s not flush against Buck’s pulls Eddie’s attention. He looks down below table level to see Chris secretly passing his phone over. It’s open on the notes app, and there’s a message typed out that reads, ‘What exactly am I going along with?’ 

Eddie almost laughs at his son’s ingenuity, but realizes this is probably the method of passing notes with the youth these days. He takes the phone in his empty hand and uses his thumb to type out, ‘Me n Buck pretending to be engaged. Go w it n i’ll buy u anything u want 4 ur switch.’ 

‘Shit I’d have done that for free but sick! Not like it’s really that hard. You guys are basically married anyway.’ 

Eddie’s stomach does a little flip at that.  

‘Do u want them 2 stay a while?’ 

‘I love them but I was hoping it’d just be us today you know?’ 

‘Me 2. They’ll leave after lunch.’ 

‘Okay good—‘ 

“Christopher?” 

Chris’s head snaps up from his phone to his grandma, who’s looking back with an unimpressed frown.  

“I asked how school is going,” she repeats. 

Chris nods quickly, shoving his phone back in his pocket. Eddie gives him a soft pat on the knee as he clears his throat and replies, “Yeah—Yeah, school’s good. I joined the E-sports team this year.” 

Both grandparents look confused, but it’s Ramon who speaks. “You’re on a sports team?” 

Heat sizzles under Eddie’s skin at the tone in which he asked that. The subtle lilt to his voice makes it sound like the idea of Chris joining an actual sports team is something preposterous.  

Chris handles it much better than Eddie feels inside, however—the endless patience the kid has around his grandparents certainly wasn’t inherited from his dad—and he simply sighs softly and explains, “It’s E-sports. Meaning video games. Competitive gaming, basically.” 

“Oh, that’s…not very educational,” Helena says, one of the first things she’s said since lunch was served. 

“Most of the after-school clubs technically aren’t very educational,” Buck tells her kindly, unknowingly cutting Eddie off from a biting rebuttal. “It’s a good hobby for him to let off some steam after a long school day. But then again, there’s a lot of team-building and community aspects involved, so maybe it’s not entirely uneducational.” 

“Exactly,” Chris continues. “It has all the same qualities of an actual sports team, just minus the super physical stuff.”  

Ramon frowns a little. “So are you not in chess club anymore?” 

Chris hesitates, glancing at Eddie uncertainly, wondering whether he should tell them the truth or come up with some sort of lie to spare their feelings. Eddie just nods at him, silently communicating that he will back him up either way. Chris returns the gesture, then turns back to his Abuelo. “Not since I started back at school here. I do still like to play, just not competitively anymore.” He sees the frown deepen on his grandparents’ faces and quickly adds, “I didn’t have a board here—I left it in El Paso—so I’ll definitely be using the one you got me. I still need to teach Buck how to play.” 

Eddie sees his mom’s lips press together tightly with the addition of that last sentence, but they’re all saved from her thoughts when Theo suddenly asks, “Can you teach me, Chris?”  

Chris nods quickly, still a little awkward about the subject matter. “Y-Yeah, I can teach you. I don’t know if you’ll like it, but I’ll show you.” 

Theo beams and returns to his grilled cheese piles, stuffing them in his mouth in random order.  

“What’s new with you guys?” Eddie asks his parents, steering the conversation away from Chris.  

“Oh, you know…The usual,” Ramon starts, taking a sip of his root beer. “Still redoing the front porch on the house. Your cousin Paco and his wife just had their baby. We went to see them last week.”  

“I saw that on Facebook,” Eddie says, lying. He didn’t even know Paco had a new wife. “Cute kid.” 

Speaking of cute kids, Theo finishes the last bite of his sandwich, then yawns as he climbs down from his chair. He walks around behind Eddie and holds up his arms. Eddie smiles softly and lifts him into his lap, and Theo immediately goes boneless against him, snuggling tight against his chest. This is usually how they get Theo down for a nap—apparently Eddie’s chest is the one place that knocks the kid out without fail.  

Eddie presses a kiss to his temple and rubs a soothing hand up and down his back as Theo settles. Buck smiles fondly at them and runs his fingers affectionately through Theo’s curls. Helena looks a bit like she’s witnessing a crime, while Ramon appears to be battling with the urge to find the act sweet, but remembering he shouldn’t be and just looks disappointed instead.  

And Eddie… He’s ready to really stir the pot.  

He can’t exactly do that with Theo present, so he slides the hand on Buck’s waist up to his neck and pulls the larger man closer to peck his cheek, feeling the day-old stubble against his lips and liking it maybe a little too much. Buck’s breath stutters, only loud enough for Eddie to hear from right beside him, but he manages to school his expression into something more neutral.  

“I’m gonna go put him down for his nap,” Eddie tells him. 

“O-Oh, I can do it.” Buck’s eyes are wide and pleading with Eddie to agree so that he doesn’t have to handle Helena and Ramon without him. 

And of course, Eddie isn’t going to subject him to that, so he nods and carefully passes a nearly asleep Theo over. “You can put him in our bed,” Eddie adds for emphasis. Theo usually naps in there when he and Buck are over, but it’s never been referred to as their bed. Because it’s not. He and Buck don’t share it. But Eddie is nothing if not thorough when trying to make this relationship seem real. Maybe he’s going a little overboard, but it’s fun. Not just because he’s toying with his parents, but also just having a glimpse of being with Buck this way.  

Buck’s throat works as he carefully stands with Theo in his arms and disappears down the hall, leaving a heaviness in the air in his wake.  

When Eddie turns back, his mom’s face is pinched and red as she’s once again clenching her spoon in her fist. Eddie knows she’s not about to bite her tongue this time. 

“Are we finally going to talk about it?” She asks. 

Eddie shrugs and pushes his empty dishes out of the way as he rests his forearms over top of each other on the table. “Talk about what?”  

She doesn’t rise to the bait of his feigned ignorance, though. “I just don’t understand…When did this happen?” 

But Eddie wants her to say it. He wants her to say what she’s so clearly avoiding. “I’m going to need you to be more specific.” 

She huffs. “Don’t play dumb, Eddie; you know what I’m asking.” 

“Do I?” 

She rolls her eyes this time. “So you and Buck are…together now? You’re dating a man?” 

His stomach does a flip-flop that he wasn’t expecting. Hearing it actually said out loud by his parents—them thinking that he’s gay and with Buck despite only half of that being true—wait…  

Huh. Okay, so maybe he is gay, but that’s kind of the least pressing thing on his mind right now. He’s feeling and naming, just like Dr. Atwell said. Maybe he’ll freak out about it later, but he’s not dismissing the thought.  

Despite how little he convinced himself he cared about their opinion, some part of him still feels that twinge of discomfort. He doesn’t want to care, but caring is deeply rooted in him from years of trying to live up to their expectations regardless of how hard he tries to fight it.  

He continues to fight it anyway.  
 
“We’re engaged, actually,” he says, feeling a ping of satisfaction at the way their faces pale ghostly white.  

"You’re what?” His dad hisses. “Since when?” 

“A couple weeks ago.”  

His mom looks like she’s about to cry, and not in a good way. “So you just, what? Got together and then engaged right away?”  

“No, we’ve known each other since I first started at the 118, which you know. But we didn’t start dating until Chris and I came back from El Paso last year. The engagement is new.”  

Eddie glances at Chris beside him, who’s thoroughly engaged in the discussion, nodding along to everything Eddie says like it’s fact. Maybe Eddie will buy him two games for his Switch.  

“I just—I don’t understand,” she repeats, rubbing a hand over her mouth. “Why are we just now hearing about this?”  

There are several ways Eddie could answer this. Oh, I forgot to mention it during the many riveting conversations we’ve had over the past year. Or, I just didn’t feel like telling you. Or even, because I know how you view this stuff and you would find a million ways of telling me that I’m yet again dragging my son down with me. The last one is probably the most honest, but he doesn’t necessarily want to say that in front of Chris, despite how aware the kid is of his grandparents’ outdated views.  

But he’s saved from responding at all when Buck reappears and returns to his spot pressed against Eddie’s side. Eddie smiles at him and squeezes his shoulder. “He go down okay?”  

Buck nods, immediately sensing the tension that’s grown in the room since he left. “Uh, yeah. He’s bundled up on your pillow with one of Chris’s Squishmallows.” Eddie’s heart squeezes at the mental image before he’s returned to the conversation at hand with Buck asking, “So what did I miss?” 

“I was just informing my parents about our engagement,” Eddie tells him pointedly. 

Buck’s cheeks turn a dusty pink. “Oh, uh, yeah. We’re very excited.” 

“Dad, I’m going to be your best man, right?” Chris asks him with an amused upturn of his lips.  

Eddie pats the little shit on his back. “Of course, Mijo. Theo is going to be the ring bearer, Jee is going to be the flower girl, and Aunt Maddie is going to be Buck’s best woman.” He and Buck hadn’t planned this, but they both know it’s how things would go if it were real. 

Chris grins. “Sweet.” 

Buck’s leg begins vibrating incessantly beneath the table, and Eddie has no idea if the nerves are due to his parents or the topic, but he places a hand on his knee to settle the movement. Buck presses into the contact. 

Ramon clears his throat, pulling their attention. He glances at Buck, “Now, I mean no disrespect but—” He starts, the precursor meaning he’s absolutely about to say something disrespectful, before looking back to Eddie. “You’ve never been…gay, Edmundo. I don’t get why you couldn’t find a nice woman to settle down with.” 

“Abuelo, there are more sexualities than just straight and gay. Buck’s bisexual.” 

Oh, Chris, his wonderful, thoughtful son. One of the things Eddie is most proud of is making sure Chris was raised in an environment surrounded by different types of people and families. He’s never had to unlearn a lot of biases that Eddie had from his upbringing. Eddie is so grateful for that.  

Ramon waves it off. “Gay, bisexual, whatever. You’ve never been that before, Eddie. I didn’t raise you to be that way.”  

You barely raised me at all, Eddie almost says, but decides better of it. His blood simmers beneath his skin, hot and bubbling. “I’ve always been gay. It’s not something you can parent me from being. But because you both tried to, it took me a while and a lot of therapy to figure it out.” 

He realizes how true his words are as soon as he says them, something settling in his chest now that they’re out in the open. Buck is looking at him thoughtfully, his mouth open and his eyes narrowed just a fraction. Eddie wonders if he can also hear the truth in it.  

“Yeah, being queer isn’t a choice,” Chris continues with a small frown. “I’m bi, too. I didn’t choose that, it just is.”  

Everyone’s heads snap to Chris then in varying degrees of shock. This is certainly news to Eddie, and one glance at Buck says that he had no idea, either.  

Eddie pats his son’s shoulder. “That’s cool, Bud. I didn’t know that.” 

Chris shrugs, the epitome of nonchalant. “It’s not a big deal. Like I said, it just is.”  

Buck smiles at Chris proudly, reaching around Eddie to ruffle his curls. “You’re right. It just is.” 

Of course, Helena sure doesn’t share the same sentiment. “I don’t understand why we’re celebrating this,” she huffs. “Christopher needs a mother. It’s important that he has that kind of influence instead of…Well, this.” She gestures between Buck and Eddie. “He needs a mother in the home to model what a normal relationship is supposed to look like. Especially at this time when he’s most susceptible to negative influence.” 

Eddie sees red.  

It’s one thing for them to say what they want directed at Eddie and make him feel like a disappointment. He may be okay with subjecting himself to his parents’ homophobia, but like hell is he ever going to allow them to make Chris feel that way.  

Eddie sometimes forgets that Chris is only two years shy of adulthood and perfectly capable of standing up for himself, but is quickly reminded when he goes to give his parents a piece of his mind and is cut off by Chris, face as flat as his voice when he says, “I had a mom. She died. I definitely don’t want or need another one.” 

He then stands, grabs his crutches, and leaves the dining room without another word. 

The silence that follows is a physical thing. It pulls up a chair and sits beside them at the table.  

Eddie is so mad he’s nearly seething with it, his fingers digging into Buck’s thigh so hard it will probably leave a mark. But Buck doesn’t seem to mind, also clearly pissed.  

Buck is the guy who’s usually always the mediator in tense situations. Who’s always the charming host. Who always does his best to make everyone like him if he can help it. But the first thing Eddie ever learned about Buck on his first shift at the 118 is that Buck is fiercely protective of his own.  

Christopher is his own.  

He has been for a long time, whether that has been explicitly stated in so many words or not. Buck will fight for him harder than anyone. Eddie has known that since he saved Chris’s life during the tsunami, and he’s never stopped knowing that, because Buck proves it more and more every day.  

Today is no exception.  

“It’s time for you both to leave,” Buck says, voice low and dangerous, a tone that Eddie rarely hears from the man, but one that he never wants to be on the receiving end of. It’s terrifying.  

Eddie’s parents look at Buck like he’s grown another head.  

Helena scoffs. “Who do you think you are, speaking to us like this?” 

Buck holds his ground, though, his fingers white-knuckling the edge of the table. “I’m the guy who’s marrying your son, and am guardian of your grandson, both of which you have deeply disrespected in our own home after we allowed you to see him on his birthday after he explicitly requested today just be with our immediate family. We told you that you could stay for lunch, and now lunch is over, so yeah, it’s time for you to leave.”  

And oh, how Eddie loves him.  

He’s probably known that deep down for a while now, but after this? Eddie knows for certain.  

He’s in love with Buck. There’s no doubt in his mind about it. Loving him is as innate as being gay.  

It just is. 

Eddie wants to kiss that scowl off of his face. He wants to drop down on one knee right here and propose for real. He wants to love and be loved by Buck. He wants everything with him. 

But he can do none of that right now. It’s definitely not the most convenient time to have this realization, so he has to put it on the back burner.  

“Edmundo, are you just going to let him speak to us this way?” His dad asks, affronted.  

Eddie furrows his brows and removes the hand from Buck’s knee to wrap around his shoulders, a silent show of solidarity. “He was a lot nicer about it than I was planning to be, so I’d quit while you’re ahead.” 

Helena crosses her arms over her chest. “Eddie, you’re being ridiculous. You can’t just kick us out on our grandson’s birthday. We’re his fam—” 

Eddie raises his hand, cutting her off. “We absolutely can. One thing I’ve learned since moving out here is that family doesn’t end in blood. Sometimes it doesn’t even begin with it, because neither of you are acting like someone any of us want to call family right now. I’m not holding out much hope on you learning how to be my parents, because you’ve had thirty-plus years to figure that out and still haven’t managed it, but Chris loves you and for now, wants his grandparents in his life, so I really hope that you can at least figure that out for his sake. 

“So again, please leave, and don’t come back or reach out until you’re ready to apologize. Preferably to all of us, but especially to Chris.” 

Helena looks between them like she can’t believe what she’s hearing, then, just as Eddie expected her to, she scoffs, grabs her purse, and stalks out of the house.  

Buck stands beside him. “I’m going to go check on Chris,” he says, squeezing Eddie’s shoulder lightly before turning down the hallway, leaving the other two men at the table.  

“I’ll walk you out,” Eddie tells his dad.  

The older man doesn’t resist, just sighs and follows Eddie to the front door. Ramon steps out on the front porch, then hesitates a moment before facing Eddie. 

“Mijo, I won’t pretend to understand this—” he starts, gesturing around to indicate Eddie and Buck and the family they’ve built. “But I’m sorry that you feel disrespected in your home. That was never my intention.” 

“Do you love mom?”  

“What?” He asks, confused by the seemingly abrupt topic change. 

Eddie crosses his arms as he leans against the doorframe. “You said you don’t understand, but do you love my mom?” 

He blinks, then sure as anything, “Of course.” 

Eddie nods. “What you feel for her—the way you love her—is what I feel in here,” he pats his hand over his heart, “for him. It’s the same thing, Papí.” 

There’s a flicker of something in his eyes that Eddie can’t read. It’s not disappointment exactly, but it’s not really pleasant, either. 

“I have spent so long doing what I thought I was supposed to—putting everyone else’s expectations first, because I had yours and Mom’s voice in my ear telling me every single thing you thought I was doing wrong with my life and my son. But when I finally stopped listening, I actually found what’s best for him, and for me. Buck has been the most stable and loving person in mine and Chris’s life for nearly a decade. Chris may have my humor and patience, but his mind? His heart? The way he freely gives his love and kindness? That’s all Buck. There’s so much of him in Chris, and I hate that neither of you can see it, because you’ve never made an effort to try.  

“I need you to trust that Buck and I know what we’re doing with our kids. That they’re both happy and healthy and perfect no matter who they are or become. I need you to trust that Buck loves Chris like his own and has for over half of Chris’s life. Buck would do anything for him and has. There is no one else I trust more with Chris than him, so I need you to trust me when I say that. 

“I need you to at least respect me enough to know that I am the happiest I’ve ever been. I know to you two, this family isn’t what you view as normal, but it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day, I have a family who I love and who love me. 

“I would like you both to be at the wedding, but not if you can’t change the way you feel about it. You don’t have to understand it, but I’m also not going to grovel at your feet for your blessing or approval like I’ve done nearly my entire life.  

“This is something you can actually choose. You can choose to set aside your pride and your beliefs and make an effort to educate yourselves. You can choose to apologize to your grandson, and promise to never again make him feel the way you did today. Or don’t, and see if Chris wants to see you again. The choice is yours.” 

His dad’s face is still just as stoic and unreadable, but he does eventually press his lips in a firm line and nods once. “I hear you, Son. I don’t want things to be strained like this between any of us. I will try and reason with your mother, but I promise that at least I will come back tomorrow to apologize to Christopher.” 

If Eddie wasn’t still reeling and out of breath, then he might have more energy to be surprised at the response. But it’s still the bare minimum, so he simply sighs and says, “Thank you. Are you staying at Pepa’s?” 

He nods. “Yes. We’ll be there the next few days. Our flight home is on Sunday.” 

Eddie makes a mental note to tell Pepa about their fake engagement, but knows she’ll be more than willing to cover for them since he’s pretty sure she already believes he and Buck are together.  

“Alright. See you tomorrow, then.” 

His dad nods stiffly again. “See you,” he replies, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning to walk down the driveway.  

Eddie watches him climb into their rental car. He says something to Helena in the passenger seat, shakes his head at her response, then drives off.  

Eddie shuts the front door and releases a breath as he drops his forehead against the dark wood. He just breathes for a moment, relief slowly settling in his shoulders that have been tense since the moment his parents arrived. When he finally pulls away, he startles when he sees Buck standing to his left just inside the hallway. His arms are wrapped tightly around himself as he chews his lower lip between his teeth.  

How long has he been standing there? 

“Hey,” Eddie croaks, scratching the back of his neck. “Chris okay?” 

“Yeah. He just wants to be alone for a little bit.” 

“Okay. My dad said he’s going to come apologize to him tomorrow.” 

Buck nods, shifting between his feet. “I uh—I heard.” He’s looking all around Eddie, but not quite making eye contact.  

Eddie immediately knows why. 

“You heard all of that, didn’t you.” 

Buck’s throat works, and when he finally does meet his eyes, Eddie can see the wetness pooling in them. “Yeah…Can we—Can we talk?” 

Anxiety lurches in Eddie’s stomach as he nods and leads them back into the kitchen. He really wants a fucking beer right now, but he settles for grabbing two root beer bottles from the fridge, passing one to Buck, just for something to do with his shaky hands, before leaning against the counter in front of the sink. Buck mirrors his position on the opposite counter, fidgeting with the label on his bottle, condensation dripping over his fingers.   

Eddie feels like he’s about to lose everything. Buck heard what he said to his dad, and now he’s fucking terrified that Buck is about to tell him this is too much. That he doesn’t feel the same way. That Buck is going to tell him he needs space. That he doesn’t want to be friends anymore at all. That Chris is going to lose one of the most important people in his life because of Eddie’s ridiculous idea and overzealous words.  

“I’m sorry for snapping at your parents.” 

Eddie snaps his gaze up from the floor. “What?” That is not at all what he’d been expecting to hear. 

“I shouldn’t have talked to them that way. It wasn’t my place to do that, and I’m sorry,” Buck clarifies. 

Eddie shakes his head, still not quite believing what he’s hearing. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You had every right to do that, Buck. They were being awful to Chris and us, and no one has the right to say shit like that, I don’t care who they are.”  

“Still, I’m just—” Buck hesitates, scratching his forearm. “I feel like I overstepped. They sure seem to think so.”  

“I don’t give a fuck what they think,” Eddie says fiercely. “You didn’t overstep, Buck. You’re family, even more than they are, so you’re allowed to call them out when they’re hurting our family. I’m glad you did. I appreciate you standing up for Chris like that, and I always want you to, okay?” 

Buck nods a bit shakily, his throat working despite not having taken a sip of his drink. “O-Okay.” 

Good, now that that’s settled. “I’m sorry for asking you to do this stupid pretend thing to begin with. Even though you agreed to, I could tell you were still uncomfortable with it.” 

Buck looks up at him with wide, wet eyes. “No, I—I wasn’t uncomfortable with it. Not in that way,” he says hastily.  

“Oh, uh—” Eddie frowns. “How, then?” 

Buck twirls his bottle in his hands for a moment as he continues to chew his lower lip. He looks so incredibly nervous, like he’s working himself up to something, but Eddie has no idea what.  

Eventually, Buck sighs and sets his bottle on the counter behind him, wiping the wetness from his hands on his jeans, but it’s quickly replaced by more along his waterline. “I—I really was fine with it, but I realized almost immediately what exactly I was agreeing to,” he says, growing steadier, yet still sounding desperate and almost scared. “I was agreeing to play this part knowing that after a couple hours, I would have to go back to reality pretending that this act isn’t everything I want but would never be able to have.” 

Oh.  

Oh, shit. 

Eddie’s entire body stills, feeling like all of the air has suddenly left the room.  

Then, barely above a whisper, “Oh. So you…” 

A single tear spills down Buck’s cheek, and he quickly wipes it away with the heel of his hand before he releases a borderline manic laugh. “Yes. Fuck.”  

Buck wanted this to be real. He wants it, too. 

Eddie can’t believe it. 

“So that’s why I was probably acting weird at first,” Buck continues frantically. “But then you were hugging me from behind in the kitchen, and saying all of that stuff at the table about realizing you’re gay. And then just now with your dad, telling him about us being a family, referring to them as our kids, and saying you love me all before inviting him to our nonexistent wedding…Like, holy shit, Eddie, I feel like I’m going crazy!” He laughs wetly again, throwing his hand up and dropping it back down on his thigh with a dull slap. “God forbid you saying all of that makes me feel this tiny sliver of hope that I know is fucking pointless, because none of this is real. I need you to tell me that all of that was part of the act so I can move on because—” 

Buck cuts himself off with a sharp inhale.  

Eddie hadn’t even realized he was moving until now, drink abandoned, his feet carrying him until his chest is mere inches from Buck’s. He’s so close, he can feel Buck’s body heat like a radiator in winter. Eddie can see every pore and indentation in his skin, his glassy blue eyes, the birthmark above his brow flushed as pink as his lips. All Eddie has to do is sway forward just a hair’s breadth and those plush pink lips would be touching his own.  

Instead, he drops down on one knee. 

Buck’s jaw drops open, and he slaps his hand over his mouth as his eyes grow impossibly wide. “Eddie—” 

He hadn’t planned on doing this. It hadn’t even been a conscious thought, his body moving of its own accord. And yet, this is exactly what he wants. He’s spent so long denying himself. Punishing himself and feeling like he didn’t deserve to choose things that bring him joy. But here he is, choosing joy. Perhaps, in the grandest, most impulsive way possible, by proposing to his best friend of nine years before they’ve even had their first kiss—baby steps be damned, Dr. Atwell. But when it comes down to it, is it really that impulsive if it’s been a long time coming?  

He looks up at Buck, really looks at this beautiful, flawed, perfect man. He looks up at him and sees the future. He sees Buck cooking in this kitchen, family dinners, and movie nights. He sees PTA meetings, doctor’s appointments, and last-minute science projects. He sees beach days, road trips, and holidays. He sees so many firsts that will eventually become lasts as they grow old together. He sees a lifetime spent with this family they’ve created without even realizing it.  

Eddie can’t think of anything better. 

“Buck…” He starts, taking Buck’s trembling hand in his own. “Nothing I did or said today has been an act. I thought it was at first, but I realized around the time I was coming out at the table how real everything I was saying is. Everything has been real, and if it hasn’t technically happened yet, I want it to.” 

Buck is openly crying now, his face red and splotchy as tears silently track down his cheeks. Eddie doubts he looks much better, his vision growing blurrier by the second.  

“Everything I said to my dad is true. This family is what I want more than anything. I want it with you. I want everything with you. I think we’ve waited long enough. 

“I love you, Evan Buckley,” he chokes out, barely holding it together. “Will you marry me for real?”  

Buck attempts to wipe away some of the tears from his cheeks, but it’s pointless as more just as quickly take their place. He looks up at the ceiling, smiling in disbelief as he laughs wetly. “Eddie, what the fuck—”  

Eddie is smiling, too, endlessly endeared by the man in front of him. “Is that a yes?” 

Buck meets his eyes again. “This is insane, you know that, right? You’re insane.” He laughs again, then nods. “Yes—Oh my god, yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. For real.” 

Eddie feels like he could fly, his face hurting from smiling so wide. “Yeah?” 

“Yes, Eddie, of course, I will. Holy shit, just—” He tugs on Eddie’s hand. “Just get up here and kiss me, please.” 

Eddie doesn’t have to be told that twice, letting Buck haul him up from the floor with his big arms, straight into his chest. Buck cradles Eddie’s face in his palms, both of them smiling and salty with tears, as Eddie fists Buck’s shirt at his waist. Buck doesn’t waste another second and closes the distance between them in a searing kiss.  

The moment their lips touch, Eddie feels electric, every nerve ending zapping through his body in a steady thrum of I’mkissingBuckI’mkissingBuckI’mkissingBuck. Buck kisses him soft and sweet, as if savoring the moment, as if Eddie is something precious. Eddie feels the day-old stubble around Buck’s mouth scratching lightly against his own, and it’s intoxicating, making him shiver at the touch. Eddie is overjoyed knowing that he gets to do this every day for the rest of his life.  

“Can we go hug them now?”  

“Shhh, be quiet!” 

Eddie and Buck startle, springing apart, or, Eddie does while Buck is trapped against the counter with nowhere to go. They look over to see Theo and Chris, peeking their heads around the doorway. Chris has his phone out, quickly stuffing it in his pocket when they notice him, while Theo is hiding behind his legs, both of them with large, toothy grins on their faces.  

Eddie laughs sheepishly, cheeks burning as he wipes away any remaining tears with the hem of his shirt. “Oh, uh, hi.” 

Theo steps out from behind Chris and makes a beeline straight for them, hugging both Buck and Eddie’s legs. “Why was you kissin’?” 

Eddie glances up at Buck, still looking wrecked and freshly kissed, not quite sure how to answer that. 

But they’re saved from figuring it out when Chris steps inside the kitchen and says, “That’s what grown-ups do when they love each other and want to get married.”  

Eddie supposes that’s as good an explanation as any, his heart swelling three sizes in a matter of seconds. 

Chris steps closer, then at a lower volume directly at Eddie, “This isn’t pretend, is it?” 

Eddie releases a choked laugh and pulls Chris against him, hugging him tightly and resting his cheek against his mop of brunette curls. “No, Mijo, it’s not pretend.” 

“Good, because I got all of that on video, and if it was, then I would send it to the entire 118 so they could use it as blackmail against you both until it actually became real.”  

The adults both laugh, and Buck says, “I know Chim would get a kick out of that. He’d be insufferable.”  

“It’d be deserved,” Chris adds. “Just for emotional distress alone.” 

Eddie pulls back from the embrace enough to look Chris in the eyes. “You’re okay with this, then?” 

Chris huffs and rolls his eyes. “Obviously. It’s kind of the least shocking thing that’s happened today.” He hesitates a beat as he furrows his brows. “So you’re gay, then? What you said at lunch sounded pretty honest.” 

Eddie nods. “Yeah, Bud, I think so.” They’ll probably need to have a longer conversation about this at some point, mostly about how it pertains to Eddie’s love for Shannon, but Chris is incredibly smart and emotionally mature for his age, so Eddie is pretty sure he already understands that, especially given new context… “So you’re bi, then?” 

Chris tilts his head as if he momentarily forgot about that bomb he dropped at the table earlier, then recognition hits, and he quickly says, “Oh, uh, about that. I’m not, actually. At least…Not that I know of. I was just trying to go along with the whole pretending thing and thought it would help take some of the heat off you and Buck.”  

And Eddie… 

He fucking laughs. Full-bellied and with so much love for this amazing boy. He pulls Chris back against his chest again, cradling the back of his head in his palm. Theo wraps around their legs while Eddie reaches out to Buck, yanking him into the group hug as they all break down into laughter. The sweet, wholesome sound is like music to Eddie’s ears in a way that makes him feel light and full of joy. This is the happiest Eddie has ever been; he’s sure of it.  

“I love you, Christopher, you know that?”  

“Yeah, Dad, I know. I love you, too.” 

“And me, too!” Theo says, bouncing up and down as he clings to Eddie’s knee.  

Eddie chuckles and lifts Theo up by his armpits, settling him on his hip and smooching his cheek. “Of course, I love you, too, Theo.” 

Theo looks pleased. “And Buck, too?” 

Eddie glances at Buck, who’s watching them with fond, glassy eyes and a seemingly permanent smile on his lips. Eddie kind of hopes it never leaves. “And Buck, too.” 

He leans over and kisses Buck, just because he can now, making Theo squeal and clap his hands together while Chris mock-gags and slaps a hand over his eyes dramatically.  

“Ugh, gross.” 

Eddie shoves the teen playfully. “Oh, be quiet, that was barely a peck.” 

Buck ruffles his curls. “Yeah, be quiet, you fake bisexual, or I’ll start calling you homophobic.” 

Chris snorts. “It’s not homophobic to be grossed out by seeing my parents kiss. That’s just my right.” 

Buck stills, his previously joking expression being wiped clean and replaced with a multitude of emotions.  

“Oh, I think you made him cry again,” Eddie teases, nudging Chris’s shoulder.  

Buck’s bottom lip wobbles. “You—You really see me that way?”  

Chris huffs a small, awkward laugh as if he’s not sure whether to be embarrassed by his admission or by Buck’s reaction to it. “I—Yeah, I do. I’ve been telling my friends you’re my other dad for like…years now.” 

Eddie didn’t know that, but it makes sense why so many of his friends’ parents refer to him and Buck as a unit.  

Buck chokes on a sob and pulls Chris into his chest. Chris laughs again, just as embarrassed, but folding himself willingly into the gesture. “I love you, Kid. I’m honored to be your other dad.”  

“Love you, too.” Chris squeezes his middle once more, then tries to pull away, which proves harder than necessary when Buck keeps him squeezed tight. “Alright, this is sappy enough.” 

“Yeah, yeah, just let me have this.” Buck holds him for a few more seconds, then finally lets him go. Eddie reaches up to wipe the new tears from Buck’s eyes, the other man leaning gently into the contact.  

“Can we have cake now?” Theo asks, breaking them out of their emotional cocoon.  

“Yes, Buddy, we sure can,” Eddie tells him. “I think you still have to put frosting and sprinkles on it, though.” 

“Rainbow ones!” 

“Rainbow ones,” Buck confirms, turning to grab the chocolate frosting he made this morning from the fridge.  

Chris sits down at the table while Eddie nudges Theo’s step stool with his foot until it’s in front of the counter where Buck is stacking the cake on a large plate, and sets the kid on top of it. Eddie grabs Buck’s apron from the hook—the tacky one that started the whole mess today to begin with, that Eddie kind of wants to frame now for its contribution to the greater good—and slips it over Buck’s head, tying the strings in the back.  

He squeezes Buck’s shoulders once, then presses a quick kiss to his cheek as he worms his arms around his waist and hooks his chin over his shoulder. He’s not sure if he’ll ever get used to being allowed to do this. 

Buck leans back against him, setting his arms on top of Eddie’s as he watches Theo messily smear frosting on the cake. After a moment, Buck tilts his head just enough to meet Eddie’s eyes. “I love you, too, by the way. I realized I didn’t say it earlier, because I was so overwhelmed that you just fu—freaking proposed to me.” He smiles softly. “But I love you so much. I have for a long time. I want everything with you, too, if that wasn’t clear.” 

Eddie’s chest warms, and not just from the heat of Buck’s body against him. He kisses him, once on the lips, then on his birthmark, something he’s wanted to do for longer than he realized. “Good. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.” 

“We’re here now,” Buck says simply, exhaling and leaning further into Eddie as he watches Theo carefully.  

After a few minutes of this, Eddie presses a final kiss to his neck, leaving Buck and his Buckling to their baking, and sits down beside Chris at the table.  

Chris looks up from his phone when Eddie joins him, then slides the device over. It’s playing the video Chris recorded of him proposing to Buck. They both look so happy—teary, but happy.  

“Thank you for taking this,” Eddie tells him, extremely grateful to have this memory to look back on.  

“Yeah, of course. I almost didn’t come in here, but Theo woke up at just the right time and came in my room asking for cake.” 

Eddie reaches over and pats his hand. “You’re a good big brother to him. He looks up to you a lot.” 

Chris smiles and shrugs. “I’ve always wanted a little brother, so." 

“So it all worked out, then.” 

Chris hums, then after a beat, “Am I really going to be your best man at your wedding?”

“Absolutely. I can’t think of anyone else I would rather it be.” 

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re marrying Buck, then, so I don’t have to compete with him for that title.”  

“You’d still win, don’t worry.” 

“Good, because I heard stories about Chim’s bachelor party, and I know I can throw one much better than that,” he says, all seriousness. “I may only be sixteen, but I’ll figure out how to get us all into the gay club.” 

Eddie barks out a laugh, catching Buck’s attention as he looks over his shoulder and points a frosting-covered spatula at them. “Hey, age-appropriate bachelor parties only. But I promise, Chris, as soon as you turn 21, I’ll take you clubbing myself.” 

Chris beams. “Sweet. Are you going to teach me how to frat flick?”  

Eddie snorts and says, “That’s the only move Buck knows, so I’m sure.” 

Buck squawks, quickly reaching over to wipe a dollop of frosting on each of their noses and making them squirm away, then hands the spatula to Theo for him to lick. “I’m sorry, I’m white as heck and built like a baby giraffe. Not all of us get blessed with the Diaz dancing genes.” 

“Don’t worry, Mi Amor, I’ll teach you. Frat flicking is not allowed at our wedding.” 

Buck blushes profusely at the Spanish endearment, turning back to the cake in front of him in an attempt to hide it.  

“Gross,” Chris murmurs under his breath. 

Eddie ruffles his hair. “Hey, you’re just gonna have to get used to it.” 

Soon after, the cake is frosted and appears to have an entire bottle of rainbow sprinkles poured on top, courtesy of Theo pulling the lid off and literally dumping the entire bottle. Buck sticks on the number sixteen candles and carries it to the table in front of Chris, Theo standing excitedly beside his chair, peering over the edge of the table like a meerkat.  

“Be careful, Theo, the fire is hot,” Chris tells him as Buck lights the candles, once again proving his role as best big brother. Theo nods, and Chris adds, “After we sing, you have to help me blow them out, but only when I say.” 

Theo bounces up and down. “Okay, okay!” 

Eddie smiles so wide, the muscles in his face burn as he pulls out his phone to start recording. Buck comes to stand beside him, wrapping his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and gently rubbing his hand in loving little circles as Eddie just drops his head against his hip. This is exactly where he wants to be.  

“Alright, ready?” Buck says. “One, two, three!” 

“Happy birthday to you—” they all begin to sing in unison, none of them on key and Theo barely knowing the words, but it’s perfect anyway.  

“Happy birthday, dear, Chris…Happy birthday, to you!” 

Theo squeals, bouncing like a little jumping bean. “Can I blow now?” 

Chris chuckles. “Yeah, ready? Blow!” 

The boys blow out the candles together—or Chris blows them out while Theo’s mouth turns into a big bubble and he makes a fart noise while simultaneously spitting on half the cake. They all laugh, endlessly endeared by the miniature Buck, who looks so much like the older Buck right now.  

“Good job, Buddy,” Buck tells him, stepping forward to pull out the candles, letting Theo lick the frosting off the number six, and turning to grab silverware and plates.  

As they sit around the table with their slices of cake, Theo’s slice coming from the half he spit all over, Eddie nudges Chris’s foot with his own.  

“I know everything was kind of weird today, so I’m sorry if your birthday wasn’t what you hoped it would be.” 

Chris looks up at him. “Are you kidding? This is the best birthday ever.” 

Eddie smiles and looks around at his boys—Theo with chocolate lining the corners of his mouth and down the front of his shirt, Chris with a big, goofy grin as he uses the number one candle to flip the adults off. And then there’s Buck. The gorgeous, loving man who reaches over to entwine his fingers with Eddie’s. The man who Eddie is going to marry. Who he’s going to love and be loved by for the rest of his life.  

Eddie had thought the universe hated him. That he couldn’t have something good without something bad inevitably following. But today made him reframe how he thinks about it. Maybe everything happens for a reason. Maybe every obstacle the universe seems to throw his way has all been leading him to this. To this amazing man he’ll soon call his husband, and to this beautiful family they’ve made together.  

So yeah. It really is the best birthday ever.