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It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon.
Buck and Eddie picked their kids up from Aunt Maddie’s after their shift ended and they had a nice family breakfast at the local diner with their regular waitress, a sweet older woman that always gave Theo extra crayons and smiled at him instead of scolding him. Afterwards, the two men settled in for a nap with the reassurance that Chris would keep Theo relatively occupied with a video game.
So, Eddie had fallen asleep with the warmth of the autumn sun streaming through the window on his back and his husband by his side.
He was woken up, however, by a loud THUD, chorused by shouts of panic from their two boys.
Eddie was alert in an instant. He may have put a dent in the wall with how hard he flung the bedroom door open.
Before he knew it, he was in the living room, looking at Theo wide-eyed in the corner and Chris kneeling next to Buck, who had a hand cupped to his face, failing at keeping the deep red blood from dripping onto the rug.
“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Buck insisted, daring to look up at his partner and give a smile that was entirely unconvincing with blood-stained teeth.
“What happened?!” Eddie screeched. He didn’t wait for an answer before he continued. “Theo, grab some towels, quick! Chris, first aid kit.”
While the two boys sprang into action, Eddie grabbed Buck’s shoulder to get a better look at the damage, helping him sit up but still lean forward.
Theo returned with as many towels as his little arms could carry. Eddie didn’t hesitate to grab one and hold it to Buck’s nose. When Chris handed him the kit, Eddie put on gloves and ran his hand through golden brown curls. Buck leaned into the touch despite both men knowing the gesture was less for comfort and more for checking for any other bumps or cuts. Eddie only relaxed slightly when he found no additional injuries.
“Okay, can someone tell me what happened?”
“It’s nothing, I just tripped.” Buck responded, voice muffled to an almost comical degree by the towel.
“If by ‘just tripped’,” Chris used air quotes, “You mean, ‘chased after Theo and fell face-first into the coffee table’, then yeah, he just tripped.”
Eddie nodded and turned to catch the betrayed look Buck sent to Chris. He shook his head fondly and continued.
“How’re you feeling? Scale of one to ten.”
“Me? I feel like a million bucks.”
“But you’re just one Buck!” Theo exclaimed.
“And you better stay one Buck in one piece.” Eddie sighed and coaxed his partner to lower the towel. The blood seemed to have stopped but it was hard to tell. He grabbed the antiseptic wipes and got to work.
The blood had ceased and Eddie was able to confirm that yes, Buck’s nose was broken, but no, Buck did not need to have it realigned. He sent Buck to clean himself up and Chris to get an ice pack. He removed his gloves and was starting to contemplate whether to clean the rug or just trash it and buy a new one when he noticed it.
The Q-Word. Silence. Something every parent wishes for yet feels that dreadful pit in their stomach when it happens, because when there is silence, there’s something wrong.
Sure enough, his gut was correct. Theo, standing by the armchair, teary-eyed and clutching his plush parrot to his chest.
“Are you alright, bud?” Eddie asked. The question made Theo’s tears overflow and drop from his cheeks to the floor.
“I’m sorry!” Theo wailed.
“Whoa, hey, hey, you’re okay. What are you sorry for?” Eddie enveloped him in a hug as he spoke, not caring about the wet patch forming on his henley.
“It’s all my fault!” The kid sobbed.
Eddie’s brows furrowed, “How would it be your fault?”
“Buck was running after me when he fell. I asked him to play pirates with me!”
“Aw, Theo, you didn’t want Buck to fall or get hurt, did you?”
The boy shook his head without lifting it from Eddie’s shoulder.
“Then it’s not your fault.” Eddie stated simply. “Sometimes things like this happen, and it’s not anybody’s fault. And I’m sure Buck doesn’t blame you.”
Theo didn’t speak. Eddie held him until his cries began to ebb.
Then, in a small voice, too timid for the usually exuberant kid, Theo asked, “Is Buck gonna have to leave like my mommy and daddy?”
Eddie’s heart sank like a stone, thrown into the deep ocean. “He’s gonna be okay, mijo. He’ll be a bit bruised for a while, but he’s not going anywhere.”
Theo didn’t seem convinced, another wave of tears threatened to wash over. Eddie picked him up and brought him over to the bathroom to see Buck poking at his nose and wincing, the ice pack abandoned on the counter.
“Stop poking at it!” Eddie chided.
“I wasn’t poking!”
“He was poking.” Chris shrugged at Buck’s second look of utter betrayal. However, as soon as Buck caught sight of the redness around Theo’s eyes, his full attention was on the small boy. He swiftly took Theo from his husband’s arms and hugged the kid close.
“Hey, why the sad face? I’m okay.” Theo curled further into Buck’s chest.
Confused blue eyes looked up to meet knowing brown.
“He asked if you were going to leave like his mom and dad did.” Eddie repeated softly.
Buck’s expression seemed to go through all the stages of grief in a moment before settling somewhere between somber and heartbroken.
“Oh buddy,” Buck sighed as he held his kid tighter, carding his fingers through the kid’s hair. “I’m not gonna leave you like that, not if I have anything to say about it, okay? I’m gonna be just fine. It’s a little ouchie that looked like it was a big ouchie.”
Theo stuck his pinkie out from the safety of Buck’s chest & his favorite parrot. “You promise it’s a little ouchie?”
Buck’s pinkie wrapped around Theo’s. “I promise spider-man. And thanks to you and superman over here,” He ruffled Christopher’s hair and ignored the groan of disdain from the teenager. “Super-Eddie was able to patch me up!”
Buck sealed the promise with a kiss to their intertwined fingers and Theo’s tears dried.
“I’m sorry you fell while you were playing pirates with me.” Theo spoke softly.
“No need for a ‘sorry’ here. It was my own fault I tripped. Plus, I’ve got a cool story to go with the bruise! I fought in an epic, swashbuckling battle!
Chris snorted and quipped, “Yeah, you lost to Tablebeard the Four-Peg-Legged.”
The entire family broke into laughter. Even Buck’s betrayed face couldn’t hold with the force of their happiness.