Reading Time: 93 Minutes

Title: Enough is Enough
Series: Never Enough
Series Order: 2
Author: CorgiQueen14
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Angst, Contemporary, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Relationship(s): Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Content Rating: R
Warnings: slight mention of past non-con, Bad Parenting, Not Maddie Buckley Friendly, Not Buckley Parents Friendly, Not Chimney Han friendly, Canon typical violence,
Beta: Thea Zara, DarkAngel2792, Chris_hotrod2000 and Hourstillnoon
Alpha: Twigen
Word Count: 79,347
Summary: Two years had passed since Buck had uncovered his family’s dark secret. Now, Buck and Eddie are ready to take the next step in their relationship. But when family drama attacks them on all sides, will they make it out unscathed? Or will lightning strike when they least expect it?
Artist: BytheBry

---

---

 

Chapter 6:

“This is horrible.” Eddie sighed in bed that night, turning to look at Buck. “How do we even deal with this?

“It’s not like he’s never lied to us before.” Buck pointed out.

“Yeah, but only about little things like finishing the rest of the milk or whether or not he brushed his teeth.” Eddie retorted. “Nothing like this.”

“He’s really got to stop leaving the empty milk in the fridge,” Buck said, momentarily distracted. “There’s not enough milk in the carton for anyone else to find it useful. Just throw it out!”

Eddie flicked Buck’s ear. “That’s off-topic.”

“Sorry.” Buck grinned before becoming serious. “So what are we going to do?”

Eddie sighed, his head resting on Buck’s chest. “I really don’t know.”

~~

The next morning, they weren’t much closer to figuring it out, so they decided to consult the rest of the 118.

With so many other parents in the room, Eddie was sure that someone was bound to have a good idea.

Buck was far less optimistic about it, but he was willing to do anything to take his mind off the sperm donor situation.

“Well, in his defense, Science Club does sound kind of boring.” Chimney snarked.

“Joining was his idea.” Buck gave Chimney a look.

“He probably knew it would make a great cover.” Chimney shook his head. “Smart kid.”

“Okay, that’s not helpful,” Buck told him.

Chimney’s glib attitude after the crap he and Maddie pulled two weeks ago was not sitting well with Buck.

Hen picks that moment to jump in. “So, wait, if he wasn’t going to Science Club, then where was he?”

Eddie sighed, flopping down on the couch next to Buck. Buck automatically reached for his hand, interlocking their fingers.

“At the park with his friends, apparently.” Eddie finally answered Hen. “Which I really don’t understand, because he knows that I’d take him there anytime he wants.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Hen said, Eddie immediately giving her an offended look. “No offense, but Christopher might be getting to that age where he doesn’t want Dad around all the time.”

“Yeah, kids do grow to crave privacy,” Chimney noted. “Half the thrill sometimes is doing something and thinking you’re getting away with it.”

“Then he should’ve told us that before he got caught lying, he got grounded for one week,” Eddie told them.

“No video games, no exceptions,” Buck added.

“Tough but fair.” Hen nodded in approval.

“We try.” Buck grinned, trying to put on a big smile.

“Everything okay with you, Buck?” Hen asked, her perceptive gaze missing nothing. “You seem a little off.

Before Buck had to come up with an answer, the bell rang, and they were off to a call. Buck breathed a sigh of relief.

Saved by the bell, at least for now.

~~

“Five cars and one bike.” Eddie shook his head. “Am I right, Buck?”

Buck didn’t respond, instead going to one of the victims and getting to work. Eddie frowned. Something was off with him when the shift began today. He wondered if it had anything to do with where Buck went before the shift started. Figuring he’d deal with it after the call, Eddie kneeled down with Chimney next to the biker and started to assess his condition. “All right. How are you feeling, sir?”

“I’m just… happy I wore a helmet.” the biker groaned.

“It feels like you have a broken fibula,” Eddie told him, his mouth twisting in sympathy.

“Yeah,” the biker grunted as Eddie palpated the leg. “My left leg took the brunt of the hit, but… I was able to ride out of it, so.”

Eddie looked over his shoulder at the abandoned bike, impressed. ” It must be some bike. What happened?”

“I was just cruising on my steel frame, and that idiot over there swerved into the bike lane. He hit me and veered into that oncoming car, ” the biker told Eddie as Chimney checked on the driver. “He was driving like a crazy person!”

“Or a drunk one. Smells like a distillery in here.” Chim called from the car.

“Chim, you need a coroner?” Bobby asked.

“Nope, he’s still alive. The pulse is strong with this one.” Eddie saw Chimney try to open the door before moving to the other side of the car. Eddie went back to his patient, and before he knew it, the car was driving off, with Chimney still inside.

“Where the hell is he going?” Bobby yelled as he ran past Eddie.

“Wait a sec. Is Chim still in the car?” Buck approached Eddie, eyes wide with alarm. Eddie nodded, and Buck swore.

“Dispatch, be advised we have a possible drunk driver who just drove off with one of our paramedics in a silver Prius.” Eddie heard Bobby say, and then a blur raced past him. Eddie realized all too late that Buck had stolen the bike from his patient and was off in pursuit. His brave, incredibly stupid fiance was trying to chase down a drunk driver with a bike.

“Buck! Where the hell are you going?” Eddie yelled. He wanted to chase after him and haul him back here, but he had to finish with his patient. He shared an exasperated look with Bobby, the two of them united in one thing.

If Buck got out of this unscathed, they would kill him.

By the time his patient was ready for transport, Buck was already back with Chimney, who wasted no time in regaling everyone with how Buck had ridden out in front of the car, forcing it to stop.

Eddie clenched his jaw as he looked away, trying to calm down.

Yep. He was definitely going to kill him.

~~

After his shift, Eddie desperately needed to talk to someone. Buck was at the 118, getting reamed out by Bobby for the crazy stunt he had pulled with the bike. Eddie was still too angry to even talk about that with Buck. He had spent so long trying to convince Buck that he wasn’t expendable, and he just risked his life without even thinking of the consequences.

Between that and what was going on with Chris, Eddie just needed to talk to someone who might be able to understand. So that was how he ended up on Pepa’s doorstep.

“Thanks for this,” Eddie said, taking a sip of his coffee as he sat at her kitchen table. It’s been a long week between dealing with work and Chris.”

“I can imagine.” Pepa looked at him. “So, how’s the little inmate doing?”

“Electing for self-isolation in his cell,” Eddie said with a dry chuckle. “I finally got Christopher to actually go to his Science Club meeting today, but 20 minutes in, I get a call from his teacher saying he’s refusing to participate. She said it was an extracurricular club, so if he doesn’t want to be there, I should just take him home.”

“That doesn’t sound like Christopher,” Pepe said, brow furrowing in confusion.

“Yeah.” Eddie sighed. “I tried to talk about it with him and… he ignored me the whole drive back.”

“The old Diaz family cold shoulder. “ Pepa nodded. “Your Abuela originated it, but as I recall, you perfected it.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.” Pepa chuckled as Eddie continued to speak. “Everyone keeps on telling me this is normal and that I should give him some room to grow, but… I can’t help it if it’s my instinct to always want to protect him. You know, the world is tough. And he’s not.”

“Maybe you’re overcorrecting because your father didn’t protect you enough,” Pepa said, giving Eddie a look. “You had to grow up a lot faster than you should have. But that doesn’t mean you can keep Christopher a kid forever. You can’t stop the biological clock from ticking.”

“Is there a snooze button I can hit?” Eddie asked, chuckling slightly.

Pepa rolled her eyes at him, taking a sip of tea before continuing to speak. “You know, children, they don’t just pick up on the things we say and do. They also pick up on the things we don’t.”

“What do you mean?” Eddie cocked his head slightly.

Pepa reached for his hand. “If you don’t give Christopher some independence, let him know you trust him. How else is he ever gonna learn to trust himself?”

Eddie sighed, nodding at that.

“I haven’t thought about it like that,” Eddie said.

“Well, you need to,” Pepa said, leaning back in her chair. “Now tell me what else is bothering you.”

“How can you tell something else is bothering me?” Pepa gave him a look, Eddie sighing as he realized he wasn’t getting off that easy. “My parents still aren’t speaking to me, and my sisters refuse to take sides.”

“They still won’t come to the wedding?” Pepa asked.

“Not even a little bit.” Eddie sighed. “My side of the wedding is going to be looking very thin.”

“Why not invite your uncle Gabriel and his family?” Peopa suggested.

“You don’t think Uncle Gabriel, the texas ranger, will have an issue with me marrying a man?” Eddie raised an eyebrow at her.

“He’d be a hypocrite if he did.” Pepa told him. “His son, your cousin Carlos, is engaged to a man.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He’s also a firefighter in Austin.” Pepa smirked at him. “Looks like you two have the same type.”

“Pepa!” Eddie was shocked while Pepa cackled at that.

“I like to tease.” she waved him off. “How is your firefighter?”

“In the doghouse.” Eddie told her. “Buck took an insanely stupid risk at work today.”

“What did he do?” Pepa asked.

Eddie huffed. “He raced after a maniac in a runaway car when he only had a bike. He could have died! He completely put himself in danger for Chimney.”

“And why does that surprise you?”

Eddie blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Eddie.” Pepa gave him a look. “You’ve known ever since you met Buck that he’s the type of guy to go the extra mile for someone he loves. I think, if you’re being honest with yourself, it was part of the reason you fell for him in the first place.”

“Yeah, that might be true,” Eddie admitted.

“So why are you so angry at him for doing that now?”

Eddie had to admit that Pepa had a point. Buck was always the kind of person who put others first. Even when he and Eddie were barely friends, Buck still went out of his way to help Eddie with caring for Chris.

“So you don’t think I should be mad at him?” Eddie asked.

“No, you should be,” Pepa told him, surprising Eddie. “What he did was boneheaded. But instead of yelling at him for being how he is, try explaining to him why you were so upset at what he did.”

Once again, Pepa had a point.

“On that note, I should probably go try to talk to him.” Eddie got up with a groan. “He’s probably home by now.”

“Good luck.” Pepa told him, before adding “And good luck with Chris. Just be patient with him.”

“Thanks, Pepa.”

Eddie drove home, thinking about what Pepa had said. Buck was known for taking big risks, true. But something else had seemed off with him before they even got to the call. Eddie knew there was a bigger reason behind what happened. He just needed to know what it was. By the time he got home, he had a better idea of what he wanted to say to Buck.

And of course, that entire plan went out the window the second he opened the door.

“I’m so sorry,” Buck blurted out when he saw Eddie. “I know what I did was stupid.”

Eddie sighed, motioning for Buck to sit on the couch. Eddie sat next to him, reaching for Buck’s hand.

“Buck, I’m not going to lie to you and say that I wasn’t pissed when you did what you did.” Eddie started. “But right now I’m more concerned than anything else.”

“Concerned about what?”

“I know that you take risks for the people you love,” Eddie told him. “But something was off yesterday. That wasn’t you. You don’t act that recklessly without something being really wrong. So talk to me, Buck. What’s going on with you?”

Buck sighed, squeezing his hand. Chip worked his way onto Buck’s lap, Buck’s free hand idly petting him.

“I went to go see Connor yesterday.” Buck finally said. “I just–I needed to know why they asked me to be their sperm donor.”

“And what did they say?”

Buck sighed again. “He said that he picked me because I’m the best person he knows. And I kept thinking that if that were true, why did it take this for him to reach out to me? It feels like he only wanted to reach out to me so i could be his sperm donor, and that made me feel–”

“Like spare parts.” Eddie sighed, realizing where this was coming from.

“Exactly.” Buck scoffed. “And that made me think of Daniel, which sent me down a whole rabbit hole.”

Eddie moved closer to Buck. “None of that is on you. What happened to Daniel was not your fault. And I don’t care if Connor picked you because you’re the best person he knows. It was unfair of him to put this on you after not seeing you for years.”

“I know,” Buck told him. “I guess that yesterday I was just desperate to prove that I could save Chimney.”

“I know,” Eddie told him. “Don’t get me wrong; I’m still furious at you for putting yourself in that position. At least now, I kind of understand why you did it.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t able to be nearly this articulate with Bobby.” Buck winced. “He’s making me take my next shift off so I can get my head right.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Eddie said. “Plus, I think it’ll give you time to decide what you’re going to say to Connor.”

Buck looked at him. “How did you know I haven’t figured it out yet?”

“Because I know you.” Eddie gave him a look. “And I know you still need time.”

“Thank you for being so understanding.” Buck squeezed his hand again. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

~~

Buck was so bored being off shift the next day, and all he could think about was how he hadn’t given Kameron and Connor a response yet. He’d gotten a few texts from Connor checking in on him, and it was just making him more anxious about the whole situation. He needed to talk to someone who might know more about this than him. Someone who could give him good advice.

And it was that thinking that led him to knock on Hen’s door.

“Oh, thank God.” Ten said as she opened the door.

“Sorry, I know you’re- you’re supposed to be relaxing—” Buck started before Hen cut him off.

“No, no, no, no.” Hen wanted a hand at him. “I have never been happier to see someone show up unannounced at my house, ever. Please.” Buck was ushered inside by Hen, slightly amused by the frantic energy she was exuding.

“I’m going out on a limb and say the relaxing is not going so well,” he said, looking at her bustle around him.

Hen scoffed at that. “Doing nothing is giving me more anxiety than trying to do everything. I’m not wired for this.”

“Does that mean you’d be willing to talk to me about something?” Buck asked.

“What’s happening?”

Buck took a deep breath. “What do you know about sperm donors?”

Hen blinked at him. “I think we’re going to need to get a drink for this conversation.”

~~

Ten minutes later, Buck and Hen were downing wine and Buck had filled her in on what was going on.

“And you didn’t say no?” Hen asked, eyes wide behind her glasses.

Buck shrugged. “I didn’t feel like I could.”

“Right.” Hen nodded. “Your “age of absolutely” thing.”

“No.” Buck shook his head. “Not even ’cause of that. I didn’t want to turn them down. I felt bad for them.”

“That is very kind of you,” Hen told him. “I mean, Karen and I have been where they are. When you’re trying and you want it, and it’s just not happening, it’s devastating. If you said yes, you’d be changing their lives.”

“Right, which is a pro—you know, a big pro—” Buck told her. “If I can help ease this burden for them, why would I not do that?”

“’Cause you’d be also changing your life.” Hen reminded him.

“Yeah, come on, for, like… a few minutes?” Buck tried to joke, Hen giving him a disgusted look.

“Ew. Stop.” Buck chuckled at her reaction before she turned serious again. “But, seriously, for the rest of your life. This isn’t an anonymous donation, Buck. You won’t have to wonder whether there’s a kid out there with your DNA. You’re gonna know there is. You’ll probably get Christmas cards.”

Buck thought about that. He’d honestly never considered the fact that this kid would still be in his life if he donated. He and Connor weren’t exactly close before this.

Hen took a deep breath. “The main thing to ask yourself… is are you capable of doing this?”

“I think we both know I’m… I’m-I’m capable, uh, that’s why they asked me.” Buck joked again, even though he didn’t find anything about this funny anymore.

Hen looked at him. “Are you capable of being a father and walking away? Because that’s what they’re really asking you.”

Buck felt a chill run down his spine as he considered that.

“Donor, not dad,” Buck said slowly, letting it sink in.

“Exactly,” Hen told him. “You’d be changing their lives, but they’re not necessarily inviting you to stay and be a part of it.”

“Right.” Buck nodded slowly. “Yeah. I guess I never really thought about that part.”

Hen put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. “You need to.”

“I really, really do.” Buck sighed.

“What does Eddie think about all this?” Hen asked.

Buck shrugged. “He said he’d be fine with whatever decision I make.”

Hen gave him a look. “Now, how do you think he really feels about it?”

Buck sighed. “I don’t know. I know he really didn’t like Connor when we met him, and he thought it was crazy that Connor would call me up to ask.” Buck huffed out a breath. “I just wish there was an easy solution to this. I could help them, but then I’m stuck knowing there’s a kid out there with half my DNA. Or I could not help them, and have to live with that guilt.”

“Buck, you don’t have to feel guilty about choosing not to help them.” Hen told him. “It’s not like you have the last viable sperm in the world. They can find another donor.”

Buck nodded at that. “I guess you’re right.”

“And I’m with Eddie. It’s kinda creepy that they called you up and asked you to dinner to ask for your sperm.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to see that.” Buck bit his lip.

Hen was right. This was a little off. Like, why did they want him to be their sperm donor? Buck wished he could believe what Connor had told him about him just being a good person, but why would he be the only option? Had they never met another good person that they could ask?

Buck was leaning towards turning Connor down flat out. He was about to tell Hen that when the phone rang.

“What?” Hen asked as she answered the phone. “You’re… you’re coding a what?”

Buck raised an eyebrow at that. Something about that seemed off. “N-No, no.” Hen shook her head. “Hang on, hang on. I need someone else to confirm this is actually happening.”

She put the phone down on the table and put it on speaker. “Tell Buck what you’re coding.”

“Uh, it’s a dog. OD’d on opioids.” Chim said, his voice tinny over the speaker.

“What the actual fuck?” Buck couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were coding a dog? How did a dog get enough opioids to OD?

“Are you two drunk?” Eddie asked over the phone.

“Absolutely,” Buck told them.

“It’s 2:00 in the afternoon.” Bobby sounded unimpressed.

“It’s 5:00 somewhere,” Buck argued back. Hen laughed at that before getting down to business.

“How much does it weigh?” Hen asked.

“15 pounds, give or take,” Chimney said into the phone.

“Okay.” Hen nodded before muttering to herself. “Point oh four kilograms per milligram. That’s six point eight…”

Buck watched this in awe. Hen was doing math. In her head, while drunk.

“Two point seven milligrams Narcan.” She finally said.

“2.7. Thanks, Hen.” Chimney hung up the phone then.

“You just did the math.” Buck pointed out. “In your head.”

“What can I say? I’m just that good.” Hen preened for a moment, causing Buck to laugh.

“Now if only you could tell me what to do here,” Buck said.

Hen turned to him.

“Buck, the entire time we’ve been talking you’ve never once said that you wanted to donate to them. You just said that you’d feel guilty if you didn’t. So, what’s really making you feel guilty?” Hen asked, getting to the point.

Buck sighed. “It’s just…I was put on this planet to be spare parts for someone else. And even though I know it’s not the same thing, Connor and Kameron asking me for my sperm—“

“Makes you feel like they just want you for spare parts like your parents.” Hen said, seeming to understand what Buck couldn’t bring himself to say.

“Yeah,” Buck told her. Connor and Kameron were part of him feeling like spare parts were all he was good for. And he hated it.

“I think you know what you have to do then,” Hen said, giving him a sympathetic smile.

Buck sighed. “Yeah, I think I do.”

~~

“So how do you feel after your time with Hen?” Eddie asked that night.

“Like I really need to watch how much wine I drink when we hang out.” Buck groaned, a mild headache pulsing behind his eyes. “Why didn’t you stop me?”

“I wasn’t there, remember?” Eddie reminded him.

“Still.”

Eddie laughed slightly at that as they cuddled in bed, Buck slowly starting to feel better. Everything seemed to be going well.

Buck and Eddie sat up in bed as they heard noises coming from the living room. Moving as one, they crept out of bed and down the hall. Buck was all ready to defend his home when he realized that it wasn’t an invader. It was Chris, playing video games with his friends.

“Didn’t we ground him?” Buck whispered.

“Apparently, it didn’t stick,” Eddie grumbled under his breath. He was about to move into the living room when Buck stopped him.

“Let’s try to be calm about this,” Buck said quietly. “I’m pissed that he’s lying to us, but I think Hen might have been right when she said we needed to talk to Chris about having a little more independence.”

Eddie nodded at that, seeming to agree with Buck, and they moved closer to the living room.

“Are you guys set for Logan’s birthday party next weekend? You’re going, right?” They heard a boy ask.

“Yeah, totally,” Chris told them. “Logan said he would have a video game party, but his mom wouldn’t let him. Then Logan said that he was getting a batting cage for his birthday. It’s going to be so cool.”

Eddie moved into the living room, Buck following suit. “Off.” He pointed at Chris. “Now.”

“I got to go.” Chris sighed into the headset as he shut off the game.

“What do you think you’re doing, Chris?” Buck asked.

“What part of “no video games for a week” don’t you understand?” Eddie followed up, crossing his arms.

“It’s not fair.” Chris groaned at them. “You never let me do anything on my own. I’m not a baby, and you always treat me like one.”

“I don’t think you’re a baby, but you sure are acting like one,” Eddie told Chris.

“Eddie—“

“And you’re acting like a jerk!” Chris cut Buck off.

“Do not use that tone with me.” Eddie snapped.

“Guys, let’s just calm down,” Buck told them both. “Each of you take a deep breath and then try again.”

Eddie and Chris both did as he asked.

“I’m sorry,” Chris said, looking at his dad.

“Okay.” Buck gestured at Eddie.

“I don’t want you to feel like a baby. And I don’t want you to think I’m a jerk. But…” Eddie trailed off before shaking his head. “…okay. Maybe sometimes I can’t help myself. You know, my instinct is to always protect you, Chris.”

“I don’t need you to protect me.”

“Well, I’m not sure that we know how to stop,” Buck told him. “You’re important to us, and we always want to make sure you’re okay.”

“You’re growing up on me, bud. But you still need to respect me and to be honest with me.” Eddie said. “We need to look out for each other. Talk to each other about what we’re going through, okay?”

Chris nodded at that and Buck jumped back on.

“Okay. You know how much we love you, but when you break the rules, there are going to be consequences. And facing them is what makes you a young man. And we’ve already established, clearly, that’s what you are, right?” Buck asked.

Chris nodded at that.

“Right.” Eddie nodded “So once your punishment’s over, we can… talk about you going to the park and hanging out with your friends without me around.”

“Awesome.” Chris grinned. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, ’cause your punishment just got extended by one week,” Eddie told him.

“Oh, come on.” Chris gave Buck a pleading look.

“Don’t look at me, we’re a team,” Buck told him. “Now get to bed.”

“Okay, goodnight, Dad. Goodnight Buck.”

“Good night.”

Buck and Eddie waited to see that Chris had actually gone into his room before flopping down on the couch.

“Man. That was rough.” Buck groaned.

“Yeah, but we handled it well.” Eddie grinned at him. “Because we’re good parents.”

“Yeah, we are. And our little boy is growing up.” Buck said, thinking about that. He and Eddie were amazing parents. And he was sure that Connor and Kameron would also be great parents. He just didn’t want to be involved. Especially not with someone who is a part of his past and not his present.

“Everything okay?” Eddie asked.

“I think I’m going to tell Connor and Kameron no.” Buck finally said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Buck nodded. “I feel for them, I really do. But I don’t feel like it’s a good idea for me to get involved. Connor still doesn’t see me as anything other than his old roommate. I’ve grown up since then. We both have. And he’s a part of my past, and I want to leave him there.”

Eddie smiled as he pulled Buck into a hug. “I think that sounds perfect to me.”

“Thanks.” Buck paused as he thought of something. “Eddie, do you want to have more kids?”

Eddie pulled back, eyes wide. “What?”

“I just realized we never had this discussion before,” Buck said, starting to ramble nervously. “It just seemed like something we should talk about given the whole sperm donor thing.”

Eddie leaned into the couch, thinking for a moment.

“I honestly hadn’t thought about it,” Eddie told him. “I love our life right now. I feel like we could have another kid and not change anything, but I don’t think it’s necessary if that makes sense?”

“It does.” Buck sighed. “And I feel the same way. You, me, Chris, and the cats. That’s all I need.”

Eddie gave Buck a quick kiss. “That sounds perfect to me. I love you, cariño.”

Chapter 7:

“We have too much stuff.”

“We don’t have too much stuff.”

“Well, we definitely have too many books.”

“I did suggest getting rid of some of the books.” Eddie reminded Buck as he packed up the kitchen.

“I know. But I can’t get rid of them!” Buck groaned from the living room.

They were leaving for the new house in the morning, and while they’d been making trips all week to drop things off, this was the last night they’d be spending in their old home. So naturally, they were packing up all the stuff that they’d left to the last minute. Chris was off at Hen and Karen’s for a sleepover, a fact that Eddie could not be more grateful for since the house was basically stripped down to nothing but their bed.

“At least we brought most of our stuff over earlier.” Eddie gives a critical look to the glasses he just packed. They better not break with all the bubble wrap around them. “We’ll just load up the cars, and then we’re done.” He sighed, closing the last box.

“Are you doing okay?” Buck came into the kitchen, leaning against the doorway. “I know this place has a lot of memories for you.”

“It does.” Eddie nodded before giving Buck a smile. “But now we’re going to create new memories in the new house. And I can’t wait for that.”

Buck grinned at that, and then Chip and Silver started meowing loudly.

“Guess that’s my cue.” He put their food on paper plates, the two cats eating hungrily. “Is there anything else we forgot to pack?”

“I don’t think so, but I’ll do a sweep before we leave tomorrow.” Eddie looked over at Buck.

“Want to order pizza?”

“God, yes.”

~~

Thirty minutes later, Buck and Eddie were eating a pizza in bed while reminiscing about the house.

“The gingerbread house making,” Eddie told Buck.

“That’s your favorite memory of this house?” Buck asked.

“Yep.” Eddie nodded. “I loved that you came over to help Chris and Denny build their gingerbread houses. I wanted to stay in that moment with you forever.”

“Sap.”

“Shut up.” Eddie shoved Buck slightly, Buck nearly dropping his pizza. “What’s yours?”

Buck thought for a moment before answering.

“The time you freaked out about technology spying on us.”

Eddie flushed a deep red. “Seriously?”

“It was cute how worried you were. Not to mention, the three of us joking around made me feel like I was a part of the family.”

“You were,” Eddie told him, his eyes soft.

There was a moment of silence, and then–

“And that look you gave me when Chris asked if we could go play video games at the loft?” Buck shook his head. “Hot. Mind-blowingly hot.”

“And you ruined the moment.” Eddie playfully glared at him as they finished their pizza.

“I’m just saying!”

~~

The next day, Buck and Eddie loaded the cars with lightning-fast efficiency.

“I will never complain about the size of this truck again,” Buck said as they heaved the mattress and broken-down bed frame into the back of Eddie’s truck.

Eddie gave him an offended look. “You complained about the size of my truck?”

Buck playfully shrugged. “It’s more that before we started dating, I wondered if the size of the truck might be compensating for something.”

Eddie’s jaw dropped. “Buck!”

“Well, obviously, that wasn’t the case,” Buck grinned as he got into his jeep. “I can’t say for certain if other people still choose to believe that, however.”

Eddie shook his head as he got into his truck. Buck called him on his phone so they could talk during the drive.

“How long do we have until the furniture gets delivered?” Eddie asked as they both drove out of the neighborhood.

“About two hours,” Buck told him. “Should be enough time to start the unpacking process at least. I think Bobby and Athena said they’d be there to help.”

“Maddie and Chimney too,” Eddie told him. “And then Hen will bring Chris around lunch.”

“So we’ll have a full house then.”

“Everyone is excited to see what the place looks like.”

“Probably.” Buck shrugged, forgetting that Eddie couldn’t see him. “I’ll happily take the help, though.”

Before long, they pulled up to the house, Buck and Eddie immediately unloading their cars. Once Buck and Eddie had set up the litter boxes, the cats were let loose. Buck knew they’d spend the rest of the day exploring the house.

The bed and mattress were set up within a half hour in the guest room. While they waited for the furniture delivery, Eddie went to the store to get some essentials to tide them over for the time being. Buck was busy hanging up clothes in their closet when he heard the doorbell ring.

“You’re early!” He grinned at Bobby and Athena.

“We figured you guys could use the help,” Bobby said as they walked inside. “What do you need done?”

“We haven’t gotten to unpacking the kitchen yet if you want to help with that?” Buck suggested, Bobby doing just that.

“The house looks amazing, Buck.” Athena gave him a hug. “And we brought you a present.” Athena handed them a pizza stone and a cheeseboard.

“This is awesome, thank you!” Buck gave her another hug.

“Now, what do you need help with?” Athena asked.

“We’re still waiting on the furniture to get delivered so I’m just hanging clothes right now.” Buck told her. “If you could do Chris’ room that would be great. Anything that goes in a dresser we’re gonna leave until after it all gets delivered.”

“Sounds good.” Buck pointed her down the hall to Chris’ room.

Another hour passed, and the furniture started to get delivered. Buck was happy that he paid for assembly as well, as it was one less thing to worry about. Eddie, back from the store, helped supervise the placement and assembly while Buck dealt with the cable and internet people.

Buck and Eddie had just gotten the TV in the living room mounted when Maddie and Chimney showed up.

“Buck, this place is amazing.” Maddie gave them their gift of scented candles. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you.” Buck smiled at her. “We’re currently trying to get all the books and stuff out on the bookshelves if you guys want to help with that?”

“Of course,” Maddie said as they walked into the living room.

“Meanwhile, I’ll be setting up the TV.” Chimney said as he plopped onto the couch and grabbed the remote. Buck was tempted to tell him that that wasn’t what he needed help with, but he decided to let it go. This was a great day, and not even Chimney could ruin that.

They ordered pizza for lunch, and by the time Hen arrived with Chris that evening, the house was completely put together.

“Damn, you guys are efficient!” Hen said appreciatively as she walked through the door. “If I didn’t know you guys had just moved in, I’d think you had lived here for weeks.”

“Thanks, Hen.” Buck grinned as he took the plant from her arms. “I love this, thank you!”

“This is awesome.” Chris declared, eyes wide with delight. He made a beeline to his room, having picked it out earlier.

“Okay, TV and Apple TV are all set up.” Chimney said, strolling out of the living room. “I hope you know that we’re watching the Superbowl at your place this year.”

Buck fought the urge to bristle at Chimney’s casual demands. “Yeah, maybe.” He said jokingly.

“Is there anything else you want us to help with?” Karen asked.

“We’re kinda good for now.” Eddie looked around. “Everything is pretty much done.”

“Why don’t you guys stay for dinner?” Buck offered. “Might be a nice way to break in the new house.”

Everyone agreed to that, and a decision was quickly made for Chinese food.

“Buck, want to come with me to grab the stuff?” Bobby asked after the order was placed.

“Whoa. You’re making Bobby pay?” Chimney snarked. “Come on, Buckley. Rule is that the person who is moving pays for the meal. Don’t be stingy.” Maddie slapped his arm but he didn’t apologize.

Buck ignored Chimney’s jab and turned to Bobby. “Sure, let’s go.”

“Meanwhile, I’ll set up your security system,” Athena told him.

Buck nodded at that as he and Bobby walked to the car.

“Chimney’s been making an awful lot of comments like that,” Bobby said as they started to drive, his tone light.

“He’s got an issue with the trust fund.” Buck shrugged. “I think he thinks I should have split it down the middle with Maddie. She got one, but it wasn’t as big as mine.”

“How does he even know how much yours was?”

Buck was silent, and then–

“Maddie got into my banking account and told him.” Buck finally admitted.

“She did what?” Bobby stared at Buck as they stopped at a red light. “Do you need me to talk with them?”

“No, I think it’ll be fine.” Buck shrugged. “I told them it wasn’t okay. Hopefully they’ll back off.”

Bobby put a hand on Buck’s shoulder before getting out of the car. “I’m here if you need to talk.”

“Thanks Bobby.” They got out of the car to get the food.

Bobby paid. Buck put up a strong fight, but Bobby won out in the end.

By the time they got back to the house, Buck was feeling a lot calmer about Maddie and Chimney.

He could deal with the digs that Chimney made about him. It would be fine. Everything would be fine.

~~

A few days later, the 118 gets called to a house in the middle of the night.

“We responded to a home invasion in progress.” Athena filled in Bobby and the rest of the 118 as they arrived on the scene. “Found the homeowner unconscious.”

“And the invaders?” Bobby asked as they walked towards the house.

“House is clear,” Athena told him.

“No signs of forced entry?” Buck asked as they approached the victim.

“Uh, just some spilled food in the kitchen. Dispatch says that she called from upstairs. Spotted the intruder in the kitchen and ran.” Athena told him as Eddie leaned down to assess the patient.

“She took one hell of a tumble. She’s breathing but unresponsive. Pulse is elevated.” Eddie reported.

“I mean, something must have really scared her, right? You-you sure there’s no one else here?”

Athena gave him an unimpressed look. “I’m positive, Detective Buckley.”

Just then, the patient regained consciousness, only to start to panic. “We have to get out. We have to…” as she struggled, a large crack sounded. The patient yelled in pain as Eddie and the other paramedic rushed to steady her.

“That was her pelvis,” Bobby remarked, looking on with concern.

“Ma’am, I need you to stay still. A pelvic injury can lead to internal hemorrhaging.” Eddie told her, his voice calm and authoritative. “I’ll give you something for the pain, okay?” She nodded in response and Eddie turned to his partner. “Start a line. Four milligrams of morphine.”

Buck rushed to help, grabbing items from the gurney. “I got the splint sheet.”

Eddie splinted her injury as she groaned in pain. “Ma’am, you told 911 that you saw someone in the kitchen. Who did you see?” Athena asked.

“It wasn’t a man. It was… a monster.” She said, her eyes wide with fear.

Curious, Buck moves to investigate the kitchen. He opened the door, his flashlight held high as he slowly entered the room. Seeing something on the floor, he leans down to examine it. At first, his eyes widened in surprise, and then he chuckled. “Breadcrumbs.” He muttered to himself. Seeing a half-open door nearby, he slowly rose to his feet. As he got closer, he could hear a giant chittering emanating from the room within. Moving quickly, he opened the door to find a raccoon sitting on one of the pantry’s shelves, feasting on the contents of the package nearby. He looked at the raccoon for a long moment, its beady eyes staring straight into his soul.

Buck chuckled and reached for his radio. “This is Buckley. I’ve apprehended the suspect.” He closed the door to the pantry to shut it inside, and then jumped as he turned around to see Athena standing behind him.

“Careful, Buckley.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “You could break a hip.” Buck huffed out a laugh as he went to go tell Bobby about his findings.

“A raccoon, seriously?” Bobby asked.

“Must have gotten in through the doggy door,” Athena told him while the patient groaned.

“I told my husband we needed to get rid of the dog door. We don’t even have a dog!”

“Not to worry ma’am, we’ll be making sure no other invaders get through there.” Bobby motioned to Buck, who went to the truck.

With a strategically laced piece of plywood and a few screws, the dog door was closed for good.

Buck looked on at the raccoon as animal control carried it away.

“And stay out.” He smirked.

~~

Buck knew this was coming.

Hen and the rest of the 118 were playing “Pass the Potato” with Hoover, the dog they rescued from the frat. Unfortunately for them, Buck was not playing this game.

“Nope.” Buck gave Hen a look. “We cannot take Hoover.”

“Oh, come on.” Chimney looked over at Buck, brow raised. “You really can’t take care of this sweet dog for a few days?”

“Do none of you remember that we have two cats?” Eddie asked, raising his eyebrow.

Hen cursed under her breath. “I completely forgot about that.”

“Yeah. Adding a dog into the mix is a bad move.” Buck told her.

“You’re telling me that that new massive house you guys moved into can’t handle a dog on top of two cats?” Chimney asked incredulously. “Just lock the cats in a room and it’ll be fine.”

Buck and Eddie both gave him a look at that.

“Even if we tried that, if Chip got out it wouldn’t end well,” Buck said.

“You’re only worried about Chip? Not Silver?” Hen asked.

“Silver is actually okay with dogs we see on walks,” Eddie told Hen.

Chimney snorting at that. “I still can’t believe you walk your cats.”

Buck ignored Chimney as best he could. “But Chip isn’t a fan of them. He turns from this sweet little calico into this raging ball of fur that will actively go after any dog that he sees.”

Hen blinked at that.

“So why don’t you just shut Hoover up in a room?” Chimney asked.

Now all three of them were giving Chimney a look.

“Do you not realize that dogs need to be walked?” Hen asked incredulously.

“Yeah, you can’t just lock them up and hope for the best.” Eddie told him.

“How was I supposed to know that?” Chimney asked, looking annoyed.

“Okay, so you guys probably would be bad fits to watch Hoover. Got it.” Hen sighed. “He’s so sweet but I need to find him a forever home.”

Hen saying that gave Buck an idea.

“What about that lady from the raccoon call?” Buck suggested. “Didn’t she say her husband was always traveling?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t always equate to wanting a dog.” Hen pointed out.

“Either way, maybe just offer it as a possibility.” Eddie backed Buck up. “Maybe she just needs some company.”

Hen shrugged. “It could work. Let’s give her a call.”

Two days later, Hoover was with his new loving owner and the rest of the 118 could sleep easy knowing that he was with a good home. And not in any of theirs.

~~

At the end of the week, Bobby hosted a barbecue for the 118 at his house as a celebration for Hen acing her med school exams.

“So, does this mean that we can now skip the ER and go straight to Hen when we’re injured?” Buck asked, a cheeky grin on his face.

“Absolutely not.” Eddie and Bobby said at the same time, shooting Buck a glare.

Chimney cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“To Hen, and her beginning this new journey on a high note.” Chim toasted. “Congratulations, but we’re still gonna miss you.”

Hen smiled at him, misty-eyed.

“To Hen.” He raised his glass.

“To Hen!” Everyone else toasted.

Buck waited a second before bringing up something that had been bothering him. “Hey, you guys think this is gonna be the last time we…” he struggled to find the right words for. A moment. “you know, we’re all together like this?”

“No.” Chimney chuckled and shook his head.

“We live like minutes from each of you.” Hen pointed out. “This will not be the last time that we’re together.”

“I certainly hope not, although you are gonna be pretty busy.” Bobby reminded her.

“So we won’t hold it against you when you ghost us.” Eddie grinned as he took a sip, nudging Buck as he did so.

Buck was happy for Hen. He really was.

He just also felt like an era was ending, and that made the celebration a little bittersweet to him.

~~

Of course, that’s when everything went to hell for Hen and Karen.

After an accident at JPL the following week, their future seemed uncertain. And that made Eddie wonder about his own future with Buck.

“How’s Hen doing? And Karen?” Eddie asked worriedly after Buck hung up the phone with her and got back into bed.

“Hen said she’s doing okay, but that it was touch and go for a while.” Buck’s voice cracked on the last note. “They lost her but were able to get her back.”

“Thank God.” Eddie wasn’t particularly religious, but he had been praying to God that Karen would pull through.

The entire team had been worried sick about the other couple ever since dropping them off at the hospital hours earlier. When Eddie realized that they were heading straight towards Karen’s work, his heart stopped. It only started to beat again when Hen and Karen were reunited, and then tragedy struck. Karen had been badly injured and they had to rush both her and Hen to the hospital.

Buck and Eddie took Denny for the night, him and Chris having an impromptu sleepover. Eddie just wished there was more they could do. Hen had been so supportive and helpful to him when Shannon died.

“Yeah, Hen was really relieved when I talked to her,” Buck said. “And grateful for us taking Denny for the night.”

“I’d like to do more, if there was anything we could do.” Eddie told him. “Hen and Karen have always done so much for us. Taking Denny was the least we can do.”

Buck nodded in agreement. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, Eddie trying to figure out how to say the next thing on his mind.

He had made Buck his power of attorney after the well incident, but Buck hadn’t changed his since after the ladder truck since he hadn’t been injured since then.

Eddie knew that they were getting married soon, but until then, there was no way for him to get any information about when Buck was hurt. He wanted to be Buck’s power of attorney. He just didn’t know how to ask Buck about Maddie giving that up.

“Buck, I want to talk to you about something.” he finally said, Buck turning to him. “I’ve thought about this, and if you’d be willing, I’d like to be your power of attorney. I know that we’re about to get married, but anything could happen between now and then and I’d like to be prepared.”

Eddi anxiously waited for Buck’s response, and then…

“I think that’s a good idea,” Buck told him. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Buck said, taking Eddie’s hand. “If anything ever happened to me, I’d want to make sure you were able to get information and make decisions for me. Even if we weren’t getting married, you’d still be one of the most important people in my life.”

Eddie leaned in, pulling buck into a kiss.

“I love you so much,” Eddie said, finally pulling away.

“I love you too.” Buck grinned. “We can go to the attorney’s office during our next day off and get it all set up.”

“That sounds good,” Eddie said before pausing. “How are you going to tell Maddie that she isn’t your power of attorney anymore?”

Buck froze, and Eddie gave him a look.

“I was planning on not telling her for a while.” Buck finally admitted, and Eddie read between the lines.

“You were planning on me having to tell her if you got injured, weren’t you?” Eddie gave him a look. “Isn’t that a little cowardly?”

“Excuse me, but weren’t you the one who was planning on me having to tell your parents that they didn’t get custody of Chris in case anything happened to you?” Buck raised an eyebrow at Eddie.

“Um…” Eddie didn’t know how to refute that. “So basically, we’re both really cowardly?”

Buck paused, thinking it over. “I can live with that.”

“Me too.” Eddie went to lie down, pulling Buck with him. “Now, we should get to bed since I heard the boys talking about wanting your special waffles in the morning.”

“…the boys wouldn’t happen to include you, would it?”

“…I mean, I’m not going to protest if you do make your waffles.”

“Okay then,” Buck said, giving Eddie a small kiss. “I’ll make my special waffles.”

“I knew there was a reason I loved you.”

~~

Buck could tell that this call would be interesting from the moment they arrived on the scene. Perhaps it was something in the air that alerted him.

Or perhaps it was the woman rushing towards them with blood-covered hands.

“Thank God you’re here.” Her voice was frantic as she rushed to greet them.

“Dispatch reported somebody got hit by a chandelier?” Bobby took charge, the woman nodding in response

“Uh, the cables must have snapped or something.” She tried to explain as she walked with them into the house. “I-I don’t know what happened. I-I tried moving it, but it was so heavy and there was…” her voice broke. “there was so much blood.”

“Is she conscious?” Chimney asked, cutting in.

“Yes. She-she won’t shut up.”

Buck thought that was an interesting way to describe the victim of an accident, but chose to keep that to himself as they entered the home.

Buck’s eyebrows raised as he took in the scene, and the victim started to struggle more upon seeing the first responders.

“Help!” She shrieked. “Alexis, you left me.”

“To bring help!” Alexis shot back.

“Just please get this thing off of me.” She tried to push at the chandelier pinning her to the floor.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Chimney stopped her. “ Try not to move, okay? We’re gonna get you out of there.”

“All right, let’s get a backboard and gurney in here.” Bobby took charge as Buck tried to help lift her chandelier.

“Yeah, Cap, this thing’s penetrated the floor pretty deep,” Buck grunted as he failed to even move it an inch.

Bobby decided, “We’re going to have to cut it apart, piece by piece. Buck, you’re with me. Let’s get saws and Nomex blankets.”

“No sign of penetrating trauma. Can you tell us your name?” Eddie asked

“It’s Felisa.” Buck heard the woman say as he walked out the door.

“Felisa Valdez?” He heard Eddie respond and he smirked a little. No wonder the woman looked so familiar.

“What’s so funny?” Bobby asked.

“The victim is an actress from these cheesy movies Eddie loves.” Buck explained as he grabbed the tools. “He watched a few with me when we first started dating. They weren’t bad.”

“Oh. Cool.” Bobby said as they started to walk back into the house. As they reentered the house, Chimney came up to them.

“Cap, reflex of the left leg could be a potential spinal injury.” He said, his voice low.

Unfortunately, not low enough.

“Is s-something wrong?” Alexis asked worriedly. “She’s not paralyzed, right? That would severely impact her future revenue stream.”

Buck stared at her, and he could feel Bobby doing the same.

“Paralyzed?!” Felicia exclaimed.

“Maybe that’s not the thing we’re trying to focus on right now.” Eddie told her as he continued to assess her.

“All right, Chim, I want you to contact the ER.” Bobby ordered. “Buck, let’s start to saw it away from her.”

Buck slowly approached the victim, taking out a blanket to shield the victim.

“Hi.” He said, kneeling down. “This’ll keep you safe from the sparks, okay? There you go.”

They managed to finally separate her from the chandelier, and Chimney rushed in to assess.

“All right, Felisa, how are you feeling?”

“Um, my left leg is tingling.” She frowned before brightening. “Wait, that’s a good thing, right? That means I can still feel it.”

Chimney smiled at her. “It’s very good, yeah, it’s probably a pinched nerve or maybe a spinal bruise.”

“Thank God,” Alexis said. “See? The bracelet’s working, just like I said it would.”

Buck gave Alexis another look. And he could tell that he wasn’t the only one doing so.

~~

As Eddie rode in the ambulance with Felisa and Alexis, he tried not to think about how an actress he liked was mere feet away from him. Instead, he wondered about the two of them. Something didn’t seem quite right there, but he couldn’t figure out what. Maybe it had to do with Alexis getting Felisa to spend $20,000 on a bracelet. Maybe it was something else. Either way, Eddie wanted to get to the bottom of this.

“Once I get this IV set, I’m gonna give you some Toradol,” Chimney told Felisa.

“So, you say this thing’s a good luck charm.” Eddie started to make conversation. “Why do you need it? Seems like you have a good life.”

“Uh, she’s had a run of really bad luck for almost a decade,” Alexis told them.

“Um, it’s called a curse.” Fellsa corrected her.

“Curse?” Eddie raised an eyebrow. “So, you spent $20,000 on a bracelet?”

“Alexis is constantly looking for things to turn my luck around.”

The bad feeling continued to grow. This was all sounding far too familiar to Eddie.

“Let me guess… Nothing ever works?”

“ Don’t mind Eddie.” Chimney rolled his eyes. “He’s unnaturally resistant to anything supernatural.”

“Prove to me something is real, and I’ll believe in it,” Eddie told him.

“I feel you’re confused at the definition of belief.” Chimney shot back.

“I mean, a chandelier fell on me,” Felisa told him as they transferred her to a hospital bed. “Doesn’t that sound like a curse?”

“Eh, might’ve just been a freak accident.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Only in Eddie’s head.” Chimney quipped. “I’ll get you checked in.” Chimney walked away as Alexis approached.

“Okay.” Alexis turned to Felisa. “Dimitri’s coming tomorrow to deal with the chandelier and the floors.”

“Ugh.” Felisa groaned. “God only knows how much that’s gonna cost. Do you think the Gods of Pompeii will give me a refund?”

“Stop being negative.” Alexis chided her. “The bracelet can’t help you if you won’t let it.”

Eddie gave her a skeptical look, and then Chimney returned.

“Okay, they’re gonna take you in for some scans. Good luck, Felisa.”

The two of them started to walk out, and Eddie turned to Chimney.

“Hey, you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“That we should hit that barbecue joint around the corner? Yes.”

Eddie gave Chimney a look as he shook his head. “No. Something’s up with those two.”

“Felisa and what’s her face? What?” Chimney looked back and then seemed confused. “Oh, is this about the curse?”

“Curses aren’t real,” Eddie told Chimney.

“Oh, here we go again.” Chimney groaned.

Chapter 8:

Buck thought that would be the last they saw of Felisa Valdez. And then the incident at the waxing place happened.

They were at the station restocking the trucks when Buck and Eddie heard Chimney yell. They rushed over to see Chimney staring into the empty ambulance.

“What?” Buck asked.

“That’s that damn bracelet.” Chimney pointed at the bracelet sitting on the floor of the ambulance.

“You mean Felisa’s bracelet?” Eddie asked.

“The cursed one. Yeah.” Chimney looked apprehensive. “Do you think it heard me trash-talking it?”

Buck gave Chimney a look as Hen spoke. “I don’t think it has ears.”

“Must have fallen off going to the ER. What should we do?” Chimney asked.

Now it was Eddie’s turn to give Chimney a look.

“Give her her bracelet back.” He reached for it, and Hen and Chimney rushed to stop him.

“Just to be on the safe side.” Hen gave him a pair of gloves.

“Right.” Chimney nodded. “First rule of a curse, they spread like a virus.”

“You two are being ridiculous.” Eddie ignored the gloves and picked up the bracelet.

Just as he did, there was a thud from behind them. Buck turned around to see one of the other firefighters on the ground after falling.

“I told you.” Chimney pointed at Eddie. “It’s spreading.”

“It’s not.” Eddie rolled his eyes. Buck was feeling less sure of it as Bobby noticed a puddle on the ground.

He examined it and then shot up with alarm.

“Gasoline,” Bobby shouted. “Evacuate the firehouse now.”

“Definitely spreading!” Chimney hissed.

Eddie rolled his eyes as he and Buck walked out.

~~

Later that night, Buck had convinced Eddie to explain his concerns to Bobby and Athena.

“You think she’s taking advantage of her?” Athena asked.

“Felisa said Alexis convinced her to buy that bracelet,” Eddie said as Athena examined the bracelet in question. “Supposed to be some artifact from Pompeii.”

“This?” Athena snorted. “My mother has costume jewelry that looks better.”

“Probably cost her less, too.” Buck pointed out. “That thing set Felisa back $20,000.”

“$20,000 for that?!” Bobby said in disbelief.

“It didn’t seem like it was the first thing that Alexis had convinced her to buy,” Eddie snorted.

“You sound pretty sure of that.” Bobby said.

Eddie sighed, and Buck looked at him. “When my abuelo died, my abuela had a hard time.” Eddie started to explain. “You know, he’d passed suddenly, so they never had a chance to say goodbye. She felt really bad about that.” He snorted. “Went to visit her on a summer break, and there was this… woman. Curandera. She was at the house at least once a week. Lighting velas, saying prayers, promised my abuela that she’d be able to speak to a husband she’d lost.”

“Mm, and she never did.” Athena nodded in understanding.

“No, but she never stopped trying.” Eddie shook his head, and Buck put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “She also never stopped paying. Savings, life insurance, every penny she had. My pops and Tía Pepa had to bail her out. She almost lost her house.”

“And that’s why you don’t believe in curses,” Buck said, finally understanding.

“I understand believing in something bigger than yourself, but if there’s a higher power out there, I…” Eddie shook his head. “I don’t think they’re making chandeliers fall or fuel connectors on gas pumps break.”

“The best grifters know how to play on people’s desperation.” Athena told Eddie. “The more desperate a person is, the easier it becomes to fool them.”

“And that’s what I’m worried about.” Eddie said.

“I hope that’s not what’s happening to Felisa,” Buck said before looking at Athena. “Is there anything you can do?”

“I can go talk to her, but that’s pretty much it,” Athena told them.

“Thank you,” Eddie said.

~~

When they got home that night, Eddie just held Buck in bed for a long time. His mind kept going back to everything that had happened that day. What if this woman was actually being taken advantage of, and he did nothing to help?

Only time would tell how things would turn out.

~~

The next day, they got called out to another incident involving Felisa. This time, a crystal shop accident. After that, Chimney was more determined than ever to get the bracelet out of the firehouse.

“What is that thing still doing here?” Chimney pointed at it as if it had personally offended him.

“Relax,” Bobby told him. “Eddie is trying to contact Felisa to give it back to her.”

“Yeah?” Chimney covered it with a cloth. “Well, try harder.”

Buck and Eddie both gave him a look.

“What?” Chimney said defensively. “I can see those beady little eyes looking right through me.”

“Listen, I’m starting to think maybe Eddie has a point here,” Buck told Chimney.

“Only starting to think?” Eddie raised an eyebrow at Buck. “So much for always having my back.”

Buck rolled his eyes at Eddie before turning back to Chimney as he picked up the bracelet. “The accident at the crystal shop…Bracelet wasn’t even there.”

“So maybe it infected Felisa and now it’s infecting all of us!” Chimney shot back. “Get it out of here before it dooms us all!”

“Buck, you got to…” Hen said before yelling in shock at the sight of the bracelet. “What is that thing still doing here?”

“Okay, we’re not having this conversation again.” Bobby put a stop to the conversation. “What is it you want to say to Buck?”

“Well, Connor and his wife, they’re here to see him,” Hen said, and Buck stiffened.

Chimney looked at Buck with interest. “Who are they?”

“It’s not your business,” Hen told him.

Buck frowned as he looked at Eddie. “What could they want?”

Eddie shrugged, and Buck sighed. He hadn’t heard anything from them since he declined to be their sperm donor. Whatever brought them here, it couldn’t be good.

Buck dropped the bracelet and descended the stairs, Connor and Kameron anxiously waiting at the bottom.

“Hi, can I help you?” Buck asked.

“Hey, Buck.” Connor shifted his weight between his feet, not meeting Buck’s gaze. “Sorry for bothering you at work.”

“What’s going on?” Buck asked, looking between the two of them.

Kameron stepped forward. “Buck, I was wondering if you’d reconsider being our sperm donor.”

Buck fought the urge to sigh. He was worried that it would be something like this.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea,” Buck told them.

“But why?” Kameron pressed him. “It wouldn’t take that long for the donation and then you could just walk away. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is to me,” Buck told her. “I have some personal reasons for not wanting to do this, and that’s all I’m going to say. I’m sure there are other options for sperm donors. LA has about fifty different fertility clinics.”

“I don’t want to use a sperm bank,” Kameron snapped. “Family is so important to me, and I don’t want some stranger to make up part of my family for the rest of my life. You never know what you’re getting with that sort of process. That’s why we picked you in the first place!”

Buck looked at Connor. “So much for me being asked because I’m a genuinely good person, huh?”

Connor, to his credit, looked ashamed to be a part of this. “Buck, that’s all true. But I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t first think of you because we don’t want a stranger to donate to us.”

Buck looked at the both of them and sighed. “I am a stranger, though.” Buck could see both of them ready to argue with him, so he clarified. “I mean, we haven’t talked in years, Connor. And before that, we only lived together for what, 18 months? It’s not like we were super close to begin with.”

“Of course we were!”

“Really?” Buck crossed his arms. “I don’t recall you reaching out when my leg was crushed by a ladder truck. And that was only a year after we stopped living together.”

Buck could see that Connor and Kameron didn’t have much of a response to that, so he kept going.

“Look, I feel for what you’re going through, but I can’t help you. I have my own reasons for not wanting to do this, and I don’t feel like I have to disclose them to you. Please don’t bother me at work again.” Buck turned to go back up the stairs, turning at the last second.

“I really do wish you guys the best of luck. And I hope you’re able to find another way.”

And with that, Buck reentered the loft, where everyone tried very hard to pretend they weren’t listening.

“Everything okay?” Eddie asked quietly as Buck sat back down.

“Yeah, thanks.” Buck leaned into Eddie.

Hen came over and put a reassuring hand on Buck’s shoulder. He relished the action, her support meaning more than she could know.

“I’m sorry. Are we seriously all going to pretend like we didn’t hear Buck crushing that poor couple’s dreams?” Chimney asked.

“Chim.” Hen gave him a look. “It’s not our place to judge.”

Chimney ignored her and turned to Buck. “It seems selfish to not help them out when you can. I just don’t understand why..“

And it was at that point that Buck boiled over.

“Maybe it’s because I didn’t want yet another person in my life treating me like spare parts!” Buck snapped, the loft becoming very quiet.

Chimney looked like he would rather be elsewhere at that moment.

“Okay.” Bobby stepped in. “Everyone needs to back off. Buck’s decision is his decision, and it’s not your business to comment on it.”

Everyone dispersed after that, and Buck looked up at Bobby. “Thank you.”

Bobby gave him a fond smile. “Anytime, kid.”

~~

After their shift, Eddie got ready to swing by Felisa’s place to give back the bracelet.

“You’re taking that back to Felisa?” Chimney asked.

“Yeah, you said you wanted it out of the station, so I’m swinging back by her place.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Chimney asked, giving Eddie a look.

“Well, I don’t feel good about putting an expensive bracelet in the mail, so, yeah.” Eddie frowned. “Why?”

“It just seems like you’re getting kind of friendly with Felisa, and I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t going to be a problem,” Chimney said, crossing his arms and leaning against this locker.

“Friendly with her?” Eddie cocked his head in confusion. “I just told her I was a fan of her movies.”

“Well, it just seemed like you were crushing on her a little.”

“That is completely ridiculous.” Eddie gave him a look. “I’m getting married in a few months, Chimney.”

“Don’t tell me that, tell Buck. He’s the one who might mind that his fiance is showing so much concern for a beautiful woman.” Chimney made his way out of the locker room.

Eddie found himself staring after the other man for a long moment.

He was just being ridiculous, right?

Of course, he was.

Buck knew there was nothing to worry about with Felisa, and that Eddie just wanted to make sure that she was okay.

At least, he thought Buck knew that.

He thought about that the entire ride to Felisa’s house, pulling in to see Athena’s squad car there.

He knocked on the door, and Felisa looked surprised when she saw it was him. Athena showed up behind her, not surprised to see Eddie there.

“Firefighter Diaz. What are you doing here?”

“Just Eddie,” he told her. “I wanted to give this back to you.”

He handed her the bracelet. Felisa scoffed quietly as she looked at it.

“I can’t believe I thought that was gonna change my luck.” She looked at Eddie and Athena. “I mean, poor Alexis. She almost died because of me.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Athena told her. Eddie could see a stack of photographs in her hands and figured it was Athena telling Felisa about her suspicions regarding Alexis.

“This doesn’t prove anything,” Felisa waved a hand at Athena. “Alexis would never do anything to hurt me. I mean, come on, you’ve met her.” She turned to Eddie. “You know that she wouldn’t do that.”

“I know you feel like she’s the only one you can count on.” Eddie started to say before Felisa cut him off.

“Yeah, because she is,” she snapped. “Okay? Everyone else is gone. Dead, disappeared, or…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “…simply doesn’t want to talk to me ever again. She’s all I have.”

“What about your family?” Athena asked.

“My parents got a divorce when I was a teen,” Felisa told them. “Got pretty nasty, so I filed for emancipation. The last day I spoke to them was the day the judge declared me legally an adult.”

“That must have been hard.” Eddie didn’t know what else to say to that.

Felisa, on the other hand, did.

“I don’t know why you think Alexis would do this to me,” Felisa said, annoyance in her gaze. “She paid money for that bracelet.”

“What’d she charge you again?” Eddie asked, the skepticism evident in his tone.

“All you guys have are two grainy videos of two guys in hats,” Felisa told him. “It’s just a coincidence.”

Eddie frowned. This was the first he’d heard of any man in a hat being involved.

“You know, you may be right,” Athena said, her tone measured as she spoke to Felisa. “But if it isn’t, that man is still out there, and you could be in danger.”

“I can take care of myself.” Felisa snorted.

Eddie and Athena left soon after, Eddie stopping Athena before they got into their cars.

“Think we’re wrong here?” he asked, looking back at the house.

“You know what I believe in even less than a curse?” Athena told him. “Coincidence. I’ll look into this.”

“Thank you,” Eddie told her.

He drove home, pulling into the driveway to see Buck walking in from getting the mail.

“Hey, what’s up? Buck asked.

“Not much, just swing by Felisa’s house to give her back the bracelet.” Eddie couldn’t help but watch Buck’s reaction, a small part of what Chimney said sticking with him.

“Damn, really?” Buck asked.

“Yeah, why?” Eddie immediately got worried that Chimney might have been right about Buck not liking Eddie being around Felisa.

“I was just thinking that we could have used it to scare the crap out of Chimney for a little while longer.” Buck snorted. “But you’re right, it should have gone back to Felisa.”

“Yeah, but scaring Chimney would have been funny.” Eddie snorted.

“I wonder if there are any more Pompeii-cursed bracelets we can find to scare him.” Buck thought for a second, then shook his head. “Then again, $20K is a lot to spend on a prank.”

“Buck, there is no way that bracelet is worth $20,000.” Eddie told him.

“Yeah, fair.” Buck nodded, “Jewelry is weird though. Like, tiny earrings can cost ten times as much as a bracelet. It’s crazy.”

“That’s why I’m glad we don’t wear jewelry,” Eddie told him. “Besides our rings, of course.”

“Same here.” Buck paused for a second before looking at Eddie. “Want to watch a movie or something?”

“Depends,” Eddie moved closer to Buck. “What would the or something entail?”

“I think you know.”

“I think I do, too.” Eddie pulled Buck into a kiss.

~~

After another crazy call with Felisa, this time involving her car being buried and them having to dig her out, the 118 finally got answers as to all of her bad luck. It turned out it wasn’t a curse, a jinx, or anything like that.

It was a criminal.

“Nico Perelli?” Buck scoffed as he poured Athena a cup of coffee. “That name sounds made up.”

“It is not.” Athena chuckled as she accepted it. Nicholas Perelli owns and operates an online business called ArtifactsOverstock.com. He makes trinkets in China that look like ancient artifacts.”

“And he sells them to unsuspecting collectors.” Hen shook her head in disgust.

“Why was he so desperate to get the bracelet back?” Chimney brought popcorn over to the table for everyone. “I mean, a celebrity bought one of his pieces. You’d think that he’d welcome the publicity.”

“Well, with publicity comes scrutiny from people like me,” Athena told him. “Nico wasn’t telling his customers that they were buying forgeries, so when Felisa started talking about how she was going to do a live unboxing, he panicked.”

“How many other bracelets were recovered from the ruins of Pompeii?” Bobby asked, amused.

“Twenty-seven,” Athena smirked as she took a sip of coffee, Bobby chuckling in response.

“Those guys figure how much they paid for a fake, they’re coming for him, and that’s all she wrote.” Chimney quipped.

“Why is it never “That’s all he wrote”?” Hen said with an eyebrow raised at Chimney.

“I don’t make the rules, Hen.”

“Anyway, Nico had to get it back before the unboxing.” Buck brought them back on track.

“Yeah, he was hoping to intercept it before it was delivered, but Alexis was already outside waiting.” Athena told him.

“So he started following Felisa looking for his next chance.” Eddie realized.

“When the aesthetician left, he snuck in to steal the bracelet.” Athena winced. “But, needless to say, things didn’t go as planned.”

“Why didn’t Nico grab the bracelet then, when Felisa was incapacitated?” Bobby asked.

“Because she was also screaming,” Athena told him. “Loudly. If anyone saw him running out with the bracelet, he’d have been arrested before he could make it to LAX.”

“And the bracelet ends up in an LAPD evidence locker,” Hen added.

“And it’s a celebrity robbery, so, news at 11.” Chimney rolled his eyes.

“So the crystal shop was his third attempt at getting it back.” Buck realized.

“Well, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” Athena said with a satisfied smile.

“Nico almost disfigures one woman, stabs another… No turning back.” Bobby reasoned.

“At this point, he’s all in. Time for one last desperate attempt.” Athena concluded. “And I think you all know what happened from there.”

“I’m starting to think this Nico guy’s the one who’s actually cursed,” Buck commented.

“No more talking curses, Buck,” Chimney warned him. “No more.”

“Either way, he can’t terrorize Felisa or us ever again,” Eddie said, a satisfied note in his voice.

“Right.” Bobby nodded. “And on that happy note, shift’s over. Let’s go and get some real food.”

“Hey, do you want to take Chris to the beach later?” Buck asked Eddie as they walked out of the firehouse.

“Yeah.” he bit his lip for a second, wondering how Buck would react to the next thing he said. “And I’d like to invite someone else, too.”

Buck gave him a knowing look. “Would that someone be Felisa?”

Eddie nodded. “I just want to try and talk to her one more time.”

“I know you do.” Buck squeezed his hand lightly. “You’re a good man.”

“So you’re not jealous or anything?” Eddie asked, wanting to make sure.

Buck frowned in confusion. “Why would I be jealous?”

“Chimney…” Eddie sighed. “He said that you were getting annoyed with how much I was talking about Felisa and that if I didn’t watch it you’d be worried something was going on.”

Buck groaned. “Of course he did. Well, just to be clear, I was never worried about you and Felisa. I trust you, and I know you just like to look out for people. If you stopped doing that, you wouldn’t be the man I loved.”

Eddie leaned in to give Buck a kiss. “I love you so much, cariño.”

“I love you too,” Buck said, giving Eddie a small peck on the lips. “Now let’s go. I’m starving.”

“Wow, way to ruin the moment.” Eddie drawled as they got in his truck.

“My stomach would have ruined the moment in about five seconds.” Buck retorted as Eddie laughed.

~~

Later that day, Eddie waited at the beach chairs as Buck and Chris played in the surf.

“Hey, Eddie.” Even though he was expecting it, he still jumped as Felisa spoke behind him.

“Hey,” he turned to see her, raising his eyebrows behind his sunglasses. “I didn’t think you were actually going to show up.”

“You know, I wasn’t going to, but I figured you did save my life, like, multiple times, so… I figured I owed you.” She said, shrugging as she got into the beach chair.

“So, how’s Alexis?” Eddie cut right to the chase.

“They’re releasing her tomorrow.” Felisa told him with a small smile. “She’s gonna come stay with me.”

“Did you talk to her about the money?” Eddie asked, giving her a look.

“I don’t care about that.” Felisa deflected, waving a hand.

“But she’s stealing from you.” Eddie didn’t want to push too hard, but he figured he had to make it clear to Felisa that Alexis was using her, at least one last time.

“Maybe she’s earned it.” Eddie frowned at that, and Felisa elaborated. “I mean, you know who I am. So I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of who I used to be. You know, the trouble I’d get in, the DUIs, the arrests. The friends who OD’d in my bathroom.That kind of loss…” She paused for a moment, shaking her head as she took a deep breath. “I mean, I don’t know what else you’d call it but a curse.”

Eddie took a deep breath of his own before turning to her.

“My wife died,” He said as Felisa turned to look at him. “It was three years ago. Six months later, my son was on the Santa Monica pier with my best friend when the tsunami hit.”

Felisa gasped, a hand flying up to cover her mouth. “Oh, my God. I am so sorry.”

“They survived,” Eddie told her, pointing down the beach to where Buck and Chris were busy building what they claimed would be the world’s biggest sand castle. “That’s actually them right there. Now Buck and I are getting married in a few months.”

“Yeah?” Felisa took a look at them. “They got lucky.”

“Not as lucky as you think,” Eddie told her before getting ready to share what Buck had said he could. “Two weeks after my wife died, Buck ended up with an entire fire engine on top of his leg. They almost had to amputate. A week before the tsunami, he had a pulmonary embolism. He had one piece of bad luck after another. Hell, the only reason they were on the pier that day was because I asked him to watch Chris.” Eddie took a deep breath, staring at the two most important people in his life. “They almost died that day, both of them.”

“Must have been terrifying,” Felisa said, her eyes soft with sympathy.

“Yeah, it was.” Eddie nodded. “Chris had been scared for a long time. We all were.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know it now.” Felsoia nodded at Buck and Chris playing in the surf, their sandcastle abandoned and collapsing.

“The day the beach reopened, we came here,” Eddie told her. “I mean, the longer we stayed away from the water, the more the fear would grow. I never wanted the ocean to have that kind of power over him.”

Felisa nodded at that, seeming lost in thought. Eddie decided to try saying one more thing.

“You know, sometimes it’s easier to believe that you’re cursed than believe you’re wrong, Felisa.”

Felisa looked at Eddie, smiled, and then started to get to her feet.

“I’m going to get going. I’m getting the house blessed before Alexis gets home,” she said, slightly shaking her head. “I know, I know, it sounds silly, but…”

“Hey, if it works for you.” Eddie shrugged.

Felisa nodded, giving Eddie another smile. “Take care of yourself, okay? And good luck with the wedding.”

“Thank you.” Eddie gave her a smile.

Felisa left, and Eddie stared after her for a long moment. He wished that he could have done more. He wanted to convince her that Alexis was bad news, and he knew that he had failed.

“Everything okay?” Buck collapsed into the chair that Felisa had just abandoned.

“Yeah.” Eddie sighed, looking over at Buck. “I just don’t know if I actually did anything.”

Buck’s eyes softened. “You did what you could, and that’s all you can do,” Buck told him.

“Thank you.” Eddie smiled at Buck before grabbing a tube of sunscreen from the sand next to the chairs. “Now come over here; it’s time for a top-up.”

“Come on, it has not been 90 minutes,” Buck complained as he obediently moved closer to Eddie and let him slather it all over his face.

“You and I both know that you burn like bacon,” Eddie reminded him as he got the spray out.

“Bacon only burns when you cook it.” Buck quipped before hissing as the cold spray hit his chest.

“Yes, well, I would prefer my fiance not to be burned for the weekend off we have,” Eddie told him, before lowering his voice. “Especially since Chris has a slumber party tomorrow, so we’ll have the house to ourselves tomorrow night.”

Buck’s eyes darkened and he quickly turned in his chair. “In that case, you should get my back too.”

“I knew you’d see things my way,” Eddie smirked as he continued.

~~

After everything that happened with Felisa and the cursed bracelet, not to mention Connor and Kameron accosting him at work, Buck was hoping the rest of the week would be easy. And for a while it was.

Until he started getting calls and texts from people he knew back in Pennsylvania.

Somehow, everyone in his hometown had found out he was getting married through an announcement in the paper and was calling to congratulate him.

Buck could only think of one way they could have found out, so he set out to investigate.

“Evan, this is a surprise,” Maddie said as she let him into her apartment.

“Really?” Buck asked. “You had to know this was coming.”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. What’s wrong?”

Buck scoffed. “I got calls from pretty much everyone I went to high school with congratulating me on my engagement.”

“That’s great!” Maddie said. “They must be so happy for you.”

“Oh, they are. But I haven’t posted anything about it, so how did they know?” Buck didn’t bother waiting for an answer. “It turns out that someone put an engagement announcement in the local paper back home.”

Maddie went white.

“Now who could have done that other than our parents?” Buck asked. “And how could they have known unless you told them?”

Maddie lasted all of ten seconds before she broke.

“I did tell them, but I didn’t know they would post about it in the paper,” she admitted.

“Why would you tell them at all?” Buck asked, wanting to tear his hair out. “I have asked you over and over again not to talk to them about me. Why even tell them?”

“I just figured they should get some advance notice. That way, they aren’t too shocked when the wedding invitation arrives.” Maddie told him. “Plus they’re still your parents, they deserved to know.

Buck froze. “What do you mean, wedding invitation?”

Maddie cocked her head in confusion. “I mean, you are inviting them, aren’t you?”

“No!”

“Evan, they’re our parents,” Maddie told him. “They have to come to the wedding. And they’re so excited for it already.”

“Maddie.” Buck couldn’t possibly understand why she thought any of this would be okay. “I have not spoken to our parents in two years. We do not exchange Christmas cards; we do not talk on the phone. They literally threatened me with being cut out of the will last time we talked, and I told them to go ahead. Why on earth would you think that I want them to come to my wedding?”

“You don’t want them to come at all?” Maddie asked, shock written across her face. “But they’ll miss Jee as a flower girl.”

“You can send them pictures of Jee in her dress,” Buck told her. “But I don’t want them there, and I don’t want them seeing any pictures of the wedding other than Jee in her dress.”

“So, you want me to walk you down the aisle then?” Maddie asked.

Buck winced slightly. He knew he had forgotten to have this conversation with her.

“Wait.” Maddie seemed to read the answer all over his face. “I’m not walking you down the aisle?”

“I already asked Bobby to,” Buck admitted.

“Bobby?” Maddie repeated, stunned. “But I’m your sister.”

“Yeah, but I figured that with Jee being a flower girl, you and Chimney would need to be able to take care of her during the ceremony and stuff,” Buck said, scuffing his toe against the floor. “Bobby’s always been there for me, and it made sense to ask him.”

“Are you sure this wasn’t our aunt’s idea?” Maddie asked with a fire in her gaze. “I know she doesn’t like me.”

“Maddie, Aunt Addy loves you,” Buck told her. “This is just what I wanted to do.”

Maddie seemed to doubt him, but she finally relented.

“Okay, if this is what you want,” Maddie said. “But are you sure you won’t change your mind about our parents coming to the wedding?”

“I’m sure,” Buck said firmly. “Maddie, please have my back on this. Don’t tell them anything else about the wedding. Okay?”

Buck waited for a long moment, and then Maddie sighed. “Okay.”

She held out her pinky, and Buck wrapped his around hers.

“Okay.” Buck nodded. “I gotta go.”

As he was getting ready to head out the door, Maddie spoke again.

“Is everything okay?” Buck looked back in confusion, and she elaborated. “Howie was saying something about Eddie getting close to an actress. I wanted to make sure the two of you were doing okay.”

Buck scoffed.

“Tell Chimney he gossips too much. Eddie and I are just fine, like always.”

He left without saying another word, resting his head against the steering wheel of the jeep once he was safely in his car.

If anyone had told him how much family drama went into planning a wedding, Buck would not have believed him. Between his parents and Eddie’s parents, this was almost too much for him to handle.

Luckily, he had Eddie in his corner. Between the two of them, they could handle pretty much anything.

Chapter 9:

“Hold up.” Buck stared at Eddie as they sorted through the mail. “Your cousin is engaged to who?”

“An Austin firefighter named TK Strand, why?” Eddie gave Buck a confused look, and Buck rolled his eyes.

“Babe. Don’t you remember the wildfires in Texas?” Eddie gave him another blank look. “That’s the firefighter who helped me steal the firetruck!”

Buck saw the moment Eddie put it together, and Eddie grinned at him. “What a small world.”

“That’s for sure.” Buck laughed. “Did I ever tell you TK thought I was flirting with him?” Eddie chuckled at that. “I’m glad they’ll be coming to the wedding. It’ll be nice to meet your cousin.”

“Agreed.” Eddie told him. “I haven’t seen Carlos since we were kids. It’ll be fun to catch up.”

“Absolutely.” Buck sorted through the mail, eyes landing on a package. “Looks like you got a present.” Eddie grabbed the package away before Buck could touch it, and Buck gave his fiance a confused look. “Everything okay?”

“It’s just some stuff I ordered for the wedding night.” Eddie tried to brush him off, but Buck’s curiosity was officially piqued.

“Things like what?” Buck asked. “Can I see?”

“Things I thought we’d both enjoy, and no.” Eddie told him. “It’s a surprise.”

“And what’s stopping me from going to look for them later?” Buck challenged Eddie, his fiance closing the gap between them.

“Because that would be very bad.” Eddie’s eyes darkened as he leaned close to Buck. “And I think you want to be good for me, don’t you?”

Buck gulped, feeling himself grow hard at Eddie’s voice. “Definitely.”

Eddie grinned at him. “I think you’ll love it, but if not, we don’t have to do anything. It’s just an idea.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it. Especially if you came up with it.” Buck pulled Eddie close, their lips crashing together in a flurry of motion. Eddie groaned as Buck bit at his lip, his tongue entering Buck’s mouth without any resistance. Buck wished they could stay like this forever, but they only had a little while before they had to pick up Chris from school. He pulled away reluctantly, giving Eddie one last kiss as he did so.

“What time is Maddie coming over tomorrow?” Eddie asked as Buck got back to sorting the mail.

“Tomorrow while you’re doing the school run.” Buck told him.

“Good.” Eddie was point blank. “Not sure how civil I’d be to her and Chimney right now.”

“Agreed.” Buck sighed. “After Chimney trying to accuse you of cheating, and Maddie telling our parents about the wedding, I wish we had more time before we had to deal with them.”

“It’s nice of you to watch Jee while they look for a house.” Eddie reassured him as he put a hand on Buck’s shoulder. “I just hope that everything goes well tomorrow.”

Buck leaned into the touch. “Me too.”

There was a moment of silence before Buck perked up.

“Our wedding invitations came in, want to take a look?” Buck asked as he opened the package.

“Did we really need wedding invitations?” Eddie asked. “Most of our guests live in town and we could text the others.”

Buck gave Eddie a horrified look. “We are not texting people about our wedding.”

Eddie threw up his hands in defeat as Buck pulled the invitations out of the box. “What do you think?”

“They’re really pretty.” Eddie complimented, Buck preening at the praise. “I like the red and blue flames on the front of them.”

“I figured it fit us perfectly.” Buck told him. “Red and blue are our wedding colors, and we are firefighters.”

“Makes sense.”

“And now we can check that off the list.” Buck pulled out his wedding clipboard and crossed it off the to do list, looking up to see Eddie staring at him.

“What?”

“Who gave you a wedding clipboard?”

Buck smirked. “You’re not the only one capable of a few surprises.”

~~

“Is that my favorite girl?” Buck grinned as he took Jee into his arms, giving her a big hug,

Maddie gasped playfully at Jee. “Who’s that? What’s uncle’s name?”

“Buck,” Jee said proudly, Buck grinning even wider at the sound of his name from his niece’s mouth.

“Thanks again for doing this,” Maddie said.

“Are you kidding? This is going to be a blast.” Buck tickled Jee slightly, the little girl giggling in response. As strained as things tended to be with Maddie and Chimney, Buck really did love spending time with his niece.

“She’s had breakfast and been changed, so you should be good till lunch,” Maddie said, putting down Jee’s stuff.

“Yes, we’ve got turkey sandwich squares or organic chicken nuggets,” Chim said before pointing a warning finger at Buck. “If she goes for the nuggets, no sharing. You are on your own.”

Buck chuckled at that before turning back to Maddie. “You guys must be excited, huh? Finally going house hunting?”

“I think so,” Maddie said, looking a little hesitant. “I mean, our apartment has so many memories and firsts…”

“We’re ready for seconds, as in a second bedroom,” Chimney said, laughing slightly. “It won’t be anything like this palace, but hopefully, we’ll be able to find something decent.”

Buck tried to ignore the dig Chimney made about their new house and instead turned to Maddie.

“Oh, you’re sick of having the world’s most adorable roommate, huh?” Buck asked, tickling Jee as she lay in his arms.

“The world’s most adorable roommate has been very active lately,” Maddie said before lowering her voice. “The terrible twos are no joke.”

“Come on, she’s not even two yet.” Buck rolled his eyes.

“Well, try telling her that.” Masdie retorted.

Just then, Chimney checked his watch. “Oh, we’d better get moving. We’ve got four drive-bys, three showings, two open houses, and hopefully, a pear tree to fit our partridge in.”

Buck rolled his eyes at the other man’s dramatics as Maddie turned to him.

“Are you sure that you’re okay with her all day?”

“Are you kidding me?” Buck asked. “I get to spend the whole day with my niece. I’m living the dream.”

Maddie hung back as Chimney headed to the car.

“Thanks again for doing this,” she said quietly. “I know things have been weird since the whole mom and dad engagement thing.”

Buck fought the urge to tense up at the mention of their parents. It had taken him a long time to get past Maddie telling them about his engagement, and he really didn’t want to be reminded of it.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Buck forced a smile on his face.

Maddie looked like she wanted to say something else, but instead nodded and left. As the door closed behind her, Buck turned to Jee.

“You ready for an awesome day?” He playfully nodded, Jee following his movements.

~~

The day passed quickly but not quietly.

Every time Buck looked away, Jee got into something.

However, he put on a brave face and smiled when Maddie and Chimney came to pick her up.

“Was she okay?” Maddie asked worriedly.

“Oh, she was a dream.” Buck assured Maddie as they grabbed her stuff and got out the door.

As soon as they left, Buck collapsed onto the couch.

“Rough day?” Eddie, who had gotten home an hour or so earlier, joined him on the couch and started lightly running his fingers through Buck’s hair.

“She’s a cute kid, but that was a lot.” Buck groaned. “I had to stop her from pulling Chip and Silver’s tails like seven times! And when I went to heat up her lunch, she tried to get in the pool!”

“Can she even swim yet?” Eddie asked.

Buck raised his head and gave Eddie a look. “Nope. Thank you so much for helping with her for the last hour. I was really starting to fade.”

“Of course, baby. No worries.” Eddie told him. “Sounds like you had a rough day.”

“Yeah.” Buck couldn’t argue with that. “That’s why I’m glad we’re not planning on any more kids.”

“You, me, Chris, and the cats,” Eddie told him. “That’s all I need.”

“Me too.” Buck pulled himself back into a sitting position, giving Eddie a kiss on the lips.

“Want to go have some fun in the bedroom?” Eddie asked, winking at Buck.

Buck was about to agree, and then he paused. “When do we have to pick up Chris?”

“Not for two hours,” Eddie told him.

“So what I’m hearing is, we can spend the next two hours however we want?” Buck asked.

“That would be my understanding.” Eddie got to his feet, pulling Buck along with him. “Call it practice for the honeymoon.

~~

After picking Chris up from school later that day, Buck and Eddie stood in his room as Chris critically looked at himself in the mirror. He’d surprised him by wanting to try on his suit for the school dance. The school dance that was not for another week.

Buck thought something fishy was going on but decided to go along with it.

“Are you sure it looks okay?” Chris asked, looking at Buck and Eddie.

“Absolutely,” Buck told him.

“Really?”

“Don’t you remember how handsome everybody said you looked when you wore it last time?” Eddie pointed out, standing next to Chris in the mirror.

“But is it too small now?” Chris asked.

“It fits you like a glove,” Buck told him. “Any bigger, and people might think you borrowed it from your father.” Buck paused for a second. “Then again, it’s way too put together for that. Eddie tends to have worse taste in suits.”

“You know I can hear you, right?” Eddie gave him a look.

“Yes, dear.” Buck smiled innocently at Eddie, the other man rolling his eyes as he chuckled.

“Can’t I wear the wedding suit?” Chris asked, looking at them both pleadingly.

“I wish you could, but they won’t be ready for a few more weeks,” Buck told him.

When Buck and Eddie had gotten measured for their custom suits, they decided to get Chris’ done at the same place. Some may say it was a waste since Chris would grow out of it soon, but the memory of them doing that together would be one that Buck would cherish for a long time.

“They say you should only be able to see a quarter inch of your shirt sleeve, but this looks more like a half,” Chris said, looking at his cuffs critically.

“Who’s they?” Eddie asked, confused.

“The Internet.”

“Or my GQ magazine,” Buck said, amusement across his face as he leaned against the doorway. “You look great, Chris.”

“Really?” Chris asked, not looking like he believed Buck.

“Any more suavecito, you can give James Bond a run for his money,” Eddie told him, leaning forward to ruffle Chris’ hair.

“Okay.” Chris paused. “Can I get a haircut this week?”

“Now, a haircut?” Buck asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why, you got some kind of hot date?”

“No. Geez!” Chris told him. Eddie shook his head at Buck.

“Okay, I need to change now. Bye.” Chris shooed them out of his room.

“Oh, okay. All right, let’s go.” Buck said as he and Eddie left the room.

“Out, out.” Chris waved them away.

“Okay, okay.” Buck couldn’t help but laugh as Chris closed the door behind him.

“What was that all about?” Eddie asked, looking back at Chris’ door.

“He’s excited about the school party, and he wants to look good,” Buck told him. I think it’s cute.”

“Yeah, but this was a whole new level.”

“Yeah, well, I’m starting to think that there might be a first crush situation here,” Buck smirked. “He certainly wants to look good for a reason. Stands to figure that that reason is a person.”

“Wow. First crush?” Eddie asked, Buck giving him a nod. Their little boy was growing up.

“I mean, that’s great,” Eddie frowned. “But I wonder why he hasn’t said anything to me about it.”

“Oh, you’re suddenly in a hurry to give dating advice?” Buck laughed at Eddie.

“Excuse me, I would give amazing dating advice.” Eddie snuffed. “I got you to date me, didn’t I?”

“Eddie, you moved me into your house and got me a cat before we ever went on a first date.” Buck gave him a look. “Do you really want our kid going that route?”

Eddie rolled his eyes at Buck. “I’m just saying, I thought we were past the whole keeping secrets phase.”

“He’s not skipping science club anymore, so that’s a plus, at least?” Buck shrugged.

“Besides, you know how it is at that age. Sometimes, talking about your dreams makes it seem all too real.”

~~

Later that night, Buck was chatting with Maddie as he recounted Chris’s dance worries.

“He sounds like you did around that age.” Maddie said, notes of fondness in her tone. “Wanting to impress that someone special.”

“Uhg, I agree with Eddie on that.” Buck sighed. “Chris can’t be interested in someone, it’s too soon! He’s still a little boy.”

“He’s not so little anymore,” Maddie told him.

“Well, I would like him to stay little for much longer, preferably forever,” Buck sniffed.

“I mean if you want a little kid around, why don’t you and Eddie look into having another kid?” Maddie suggested.

Buck laughed. “Yeah, no thanks. Not happening. Not anytime soon.”

“Oh, come on, I saw how excited you were with Jee when she came over.”

“Yeah, but that wasn’t long-term; it was just for a day,” Buck reminded her. “Eddie and I have talked about this, and we agree that it isn’t in the cards for us at this point.”

“Really? Even after moving into the new house?” Maddie sounded confused. “I thought you moved so you could have more space for kids.”

“No, we moved so we could be closer to work and school. And also because as Chris got older, we realized we needed more space.” Buck paused. “Have you seriously been waiting all this time for me and Eddie to talk about having kids?”

“I was more hoping that you’d already had the discussion and were planning to start soon.” Maddie sighed into the phone. “It’d be nice for Jee to have a relative around her age to play with.”

“I don’t know what to tell you there, but it’s not on the cards for us right now.” Buck kept his tone even, though a part of him was annoyed that Maddie kept pushing the kid thing on him.

“I guess I’m just surprised that you don’t want to have a kid. You’re so good with them.” Maddie told Buck.

Buck frowned in confusion, forgetting that Maddie couldn’t see him.

“I have a kid, Maddie.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t think I do.” Buck didn’t let her off the hook that easily.

Maddie paused for a moment before deciding to push onward. “I mean a biological kid.”

Buck’s blood ran cold. He hoped that wasn’t what Maddie was getting at, but he seemed to be wrong.

“Well, biology isn’t everything.” He finally said, fighting to keep his voice pleasant. “I’m happy with the way my life is.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

Buck wanted to scream into the phone that he was, in fact, very sure, but he refrained.

Buck ended the call shortly after, his blood boiling. How dare she? Chris was an amazing kid, and he adored Maddie and Jee. How could she assume that what Buck had with him and Eddie wasn’t enough?

Buck rolled his eyes, going into the bedroom to get in the shower.

He was going to put this out of his head for the time being.

Hopefully, Maddie got the message to leave the topic alone.

~~

The next day, Eddie recounted the dance discussion for the rest of the 118, with Buck rolling his eyes next to him when the conversation veered in a direction that Eddie was not comfortable with.

Namely, kissing.

Or more specifically first kisses.

Which was not something Eddie wanted to think about in the same conversation as his son, thank you very much.

“Hen, tell us about your first kiss.” Chimney dared her.

Hen hummed, putting a thoughtful expression on her face. “This kid Ricardo Sanchez was my first kiss. Sixth grade. Someone dared us to make out under the bleachers.”

“Ooh, salacious.” Chimney crowed and Buck, laughing at that. Eddie gave the other man a betrayed look, and he squeezed his arm in reassurance as they listened to Hen’s story.

“I was not aware there was gonna be tongue involved, so essentially, he just licked my lips for, like, five seconds, and then I ran away.” Hen admitted as Chimney laughed.

“That sounds traumatizing,” Eddie said.

“Actually, I’d call it more Illuminating.” Hen mused.

“Oh really?” Buck leaned forward.

“I realized I was kissing the wrong Suarez.” Hen winked. “His sister Martina was more my speed.”

Buck and Chimney nodded at that, with Eddie desperately trying to regain control over the conversation.

“We’ve drifted off topic. Christopher isn’t kissing anyone.” Eddie said, looking around for emphasis. “He’s not.”

“Eddie, I’ve told you it’s perfectly normal for Chris to be having a crush.” Buck told him. “Trust me, I hate it just as much as you do.”

“I know it’s normal,” Eddie said, leaning into his fiance. “I just didn’t think Christopher was old enough yet.”

“Maybe the problem is it makes you feel old.” Chimney quipped. “Wait till he starts shaving.”

“Before you know it, someone’s gonna be calling you Grandpa.” Hen joined in.

“I don’t know why I tell you guys anything.” Eddie huffed.

“Who else you gonna talk to?” Chimney demanded.

“Um, hello?” Buck raised his hand from next to Eddie. “Fiance over here. Eddie can come to talk to me.”

“And I’ll be able to do that every day or the rest of my life.” Eddie leaned over to kiss Buck. “Especially after April.”

Everyone groaned at that.

“Cap, come on,” Chimney complained. “I thought we had a moratorium on the lovey-dovey shit.”

“Guys–” Bobby started before the radio screeched to life.

“Dispatch to 118, reports of a fire at DuPont RV Storage.” Bibby nodded at the message before grabbing the radio to respond.

“Copy that, Dispatch, 118 responding.”

“This just keeps getting better,” Eddie grumbled under his breath. He knew it was childish, but come on. They had just finished a massive call. Eddie was hoping for more than ten minutes of downtime before the next one.

Buck rubbed his shoulder in sympathy as a series of loud bangs sounded from the engine.

“Uh, what was that?” Buck looked around, his hand tightening on Eddie’s shoulder,

Eddie reached for Buck’s hand, taking it and squeezing it gently. He knew that any loud noises on the engines just made Buck think about the ladder truck accident, and Eddie wanted nothing more than to distract Buck from remembering that night.

“You guys secured all the gear and locked the compartment doors?” Bobby asked, looking back at them.

The team nodded, Buck still as tightly wound as a spring. “Hey, when do we have the final cake consultation?” Eddie quickly asked, trying to distract the other man. “Is it this weekend or next weekend?”

“Next Saturday,” Buck said after a minute, having to shake himself loose. “Chris is insisting on coming with us to make sure that we don’t mess things up.”

“How can we even mess up a cake appointment?” Eddie asked.

“Apparently by choosing vanilla cake instead of the superior chocolate.” Buck rolled his eyes.

“Personally, I think you guys should go with red velvet,” Hen said, Buck joining her for the next part. “Because it bleeds when you cut it.”

“Am I missing something here?” Eddie asked, watching Buck and Hen grin at each other.

“It’s kind of an inside joke,” Buck told Eddie, Hen nodding in agreement.

Eddie tried hard not to pout at that as Bobby gave directions to the driver.

“You better take Wilcox. There’s construction up ahead.”

The siren wailed as they made a turn, and all of a sudden there were several loud thuds that took place outside.

“Stop the engine. Pull over.” Bobby ordered, the engine stopping soon after.

The entire team piled out, staring at the scene in front of them.

“Try to stay still, sir. LAFD. We’re here to help.” Chimney immediately jumped into action, going to assess the man lying on the ground as he groaned in pain.

“All right. Looks like we got second-degree abrasions, separated shoulder.” Chimney reported as the man let out more pained groans.

“Try to stay still, sir.” Chimney told him as Hen came over to help.

“Irregular pupillary responses indicating a probable concussion.”

“Let’s get him a C-collar and start irrigating these wounds,” Chimney told her.

Bobby reached for his radio.

“Dispatch, this is Captain Nash, 118. We’ve encountered a trauma victim in transit. Looks like we won’t be able to make that RV Storage fire.”

While everyone else was busy, Eddie was focused on another pressing issue. Namely, where the hell did this guy come from?

There was no accident nearby, and the sounds that they had heard made it seem like this had happened recently.

“There aren’t any tall buildings around here,” Eddie noted, his brow furrowed.

“Right, and unless that song was based in truth, I don’t think it’s ever actually raining men,” Buck remarked.

Eddie gave him a look as Bobby looked around.

Just then, Eddie looked at the one thing they hadn’t checked.

The engine.

But it would have been crazy for the guy to fall from there, right?

“I don’t think he fell from the sky.” Eddie moved over to the engine, poking his head up onto the roof.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find up there, but he wasn’t particularly surprised to find the half-dressed woman lying on the roof.

“Hi.” he wasn’t sure what to say as Buck joined him.

“Hello.” Buck warily eyes the girl.

“Is he gonna be okay?” she asked, a worried look on her face.

Buck and Eddie stared at each other, not knowing how to respond.

He did not envy Bobby the paperwork that was going to occur from this.

~~

Buck was pretty sure that this was the maddest that he had ever seen Bobby.

“What the hell were you two thinking, hitching a ride up there?” Bobby asked as the woman was getting checked out.

“I don’t know.” The woman said, not really elaborating.

“You don’t know. What do you mean you don’t know?” Bobby demanded.

“It was just something we always fantasized about.” She said, her skin turning a deep red. “Having sеx on top of a firetruck.”

“Oh, like Backdraft,” Buck said. Everyone turned to Buck, Eddie watching as his fiancé flushed under the scrutiny.

“Backdraft was a seminal influence on Buck’s life,” Chimney said, a dry note to his voice.

Buck was about to fire off a retort, but Chimney honestly had a point. It was Backdraft that made him want to be a firefighter. And it led to a few memorable occasions on the job, even if he got fired after one of them. Luckily, Bobby gave him his job back, otherwise he might have never met Eddie.

“That has to be the dumbest, most dangerous, and dumbest fantasy I’ve ever heard of.” Bobby said. He was about to storm off before he thought of something and turned back. “And it’s not a truck, it’s an engine.”

Buck shook his head as he walked back to the engine with Eddie.

“I can’t believe anyone was stupid enough to do that.”

“I’m sorry. Is this coming from the man who used to steal the ladder truck and use it to hook up?” Chimney snarked.

“At least I didn’t hook up with anyone on the roof of the moving engine!” Buck defended himself.

“That’s really not the defense you think it is,” Hen told him.

“Excuse me, would you all mind laying off my fiancé?” Eddie told them. “He made mistakes when he was younger, and they were never as bad as what we just saw.”

Everyone shut up at that, and Buck nudged Eddie.

“Thanks for that.” He said with a small smile.

“I’ve got your back, cariño.” Eddie paused before snickering. “Even if I still can’t believe you used to steal the ladder truck to have sex in it.”

“Hey!”

~~

A few days later, it was time for Chris’s dance.

Buck and Eddie watched in the parking lot as Chris walked to the door. Buck pointed as Chris greeted a girl at the door of the dance before they headed in together. “You see it? You see it? It’s so cute. Oh, that is so cute. How can you not think that’s cute?” he nudged Eddie until the other man laughed.

“Okay, it’s pretty cute.”

Buck leaned back against the truck, satisfied. “So, how long do you plan on us standing guard out here?”

“Just until they get inside.” Buck gave Eddie a look. “And we can hang out in the car after.”

“It’s a chaperoned school function.” Buck rolled his eyes at Eddie. “He’s not shipping out for a year-long tour.”

“He better not,” Eddie said. “You were enough of a wreck when he went to summer camp. I can already tell that you’ll be a mess when he goes to college.”

“That is not even remotely true. I will be fine dropping him off at college.”

“Oh, really?”

“Or he can go to college at one of the many lovely colleges in Los Angeles.” Buck sniffed before laughing. Eddie laughed with him for a second before looking back at the doors of the school.

“What are you thinking?” Buck asked gently.

Eddie sighed slightly. “When you know you’re having kids, you have all these expectations of what life’s gonna be like, you know? The milestones. The first words, first steps… First crush.” His face grew sad for a moment. “Then they tell you your kid’s gonna be different, and he’s gonna have challenges other kids don’t. They warn you to manage your expectations. All those milestones start to seem like a stupid fantasy.”

“Looks like that fantasy’s turning into a reality.” Buck pointed out as Eddie sighed. “How’s that feel?”

Eddie looked over at Buck, his eyes shining. “Pretty damn good.”

Buck chuckled at that. “Yeah, I bet.” Buck checked the time on his phone. “Well, the school says this is gonna last three hours.”

Eddie hummed at that and then frowned as he saw Buck take his phone out. “Wait, wait, are you calling for a ride home, ’cause…”

Buck gave him an offended look. “And miss this milestone? Hell no.” he chuckled at the confused look on Eddie’s face. “I’m ordering takeout. How do you feel about dim sum?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Buck quickly placed the order and then turned to Eddie. “Looks like it’ll take about thirty minutes for it to get here.” he grabbed the front of Eddie’s shirt, pulling him in close. “Want to kill some time in the backseat until it does?”

Eddie’s eyes darkened. “Definitely.”

“Just making out.” Buck warned him. “We are not doing anything that could get us kicked off of the property. I can only imagine what Athena would say if the cops got called on us.”

“Sounds good to me.” Eddie grinned as he pulled Buck into a kiss.”

~~

Buck wasn’t sure what was going on with Eddie and Chris. They had kicked him out of the house today, telling him that they had a secret project that he couldn’t see them work on. So when Hen called him and asked if he wanted to go to the Renaissance Fair with her, he jumped at the idea.

“So, what made you want to come back?” Buck asked as they walked into the fair. “The possibility of more bee stings?”

Hen gave him a flat look. “Funny.”

“I try,” Buck smirked at her.

“No, I just saw something here that I thought Karen might like and figured I’d look around a bit while I was here.” She shrugged.

“How’s Karen doing?” Buck asked, concerned.

“She’s fine.” Hen waved him off. “I just wanted to get her something she might like.”

“That’s adorable.” Buck gave her a soft smile. “You really are an amazing wife. I hope I’m half as good as you.”

“At being a wife?” Hen gave Buck an odd look.

“At being married.” Buck shrugged. “It’s not like I grew up around any great examples of married couples. What if I suck at it?”

“Not possible.”

“It’s at least a little possible,” Buck argued.

“Not for you and Eddie,” Hen told him. “You two are one of the most disgustingly adorable couples I’ve ever seen. You guys are gonna make it. I just know it.”

“Thanks, Hen.” Buck gave her another smile. “That means a lot coming from you.”

Hen nodded, the two of them walking in silence for a long moment. And then–

“And if it’s any consolation, Eddie is probably worried about the same things. It’s not like he hasn’t had his share of issues with marriage in the past.” Hen reminded him.

Huh. Buck hadn’t thought about it like that before. He and Eddie didn’t talk much about Shannon. Buck knew that Eddie and Chris went to her grave every so often, but he always felt weird about joining them. He didn’t know her, and he didn’t want Chris to feel like he was trying to replace her.

Buck shook himself out of that train of thought and picked up a small sword.

“Oh, hey, what do you think?” He asked Hen, grinning.

“It’s a little small for you.” Hen deadpanned.

Buck rolled his eyes at her. “It’s for Jee-Yun.”

“Oh.” Hen nodded before snickering. “Your sister’s gonna kill you.”

“She won’t!”

“She might if you give her toddler a sword.” Hen retorted.

“That’s what being an uncle is all about.”

“Oh, so this is about stealing the best uncle spot from Albert while he’s out of the country.” Hen gave him a look. “Sneaky, sneaky Buck.”

“No, I just…” Buck tried to find the right way to say what he wanted to say. “…figured it’s never too soon for her to learn that girls can be heroes, too.”

“Facts.” Hen nodded approvingly. “You should probably get her one of these little shields, too.”

“Yes.” Buck nodded in agreement as he grabbed one. “How ’bout this one right here?”

“There you go,” Hen said, laughing at how excited he was. “Are you getting one for Chris?”

“Ooh. That would be really fun to have.” Buck paused. “Maybe I should check with Eddie though. I’m sure he’ll say yes, though.”

Buck tapped out a quick message.

Buck: they’re selling fake 🗡️ at the fair. Think Chris needs one 🤔

Eddie immediately texted back.

Eddie❤️‍🔥: Needs one, no. Want one, yes. Do not get him a sword

Buck frowned at that and then smirked as an idea popped into his head.

Buck: it says, “Message Failed.” Getting him a 🗡️

Eddie❤️‍🔥: It does not say that. Do not get him a sword

Buck: sorry it’s loud in here, I can’t 🙉 you

He realized his mistake with Eddie’s next text.

Eddie❤️‍🔥: So your eyes hear now?

Buck: …maybe.🤗

Eddie❤️‍🔥: If you get him a sword, I’ll fight you lol. Don’t test me, Buckley. 😾

Buck smirked.

Buck: 😀 Three 🗡️coming up! Challenge accepted, 👨🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻

Buck turned to grab three swords, bringing them up to the register with his other items.

“Eddie said yes?” Hen said incredulously.

“No, he said that if I brought Chris home a sword he’d fight me.” Buck smirked. “So I’m getting swords for all of us.”

Hen cackled at that.

~~

“I still can’t believe you got him a sword,” Eddie said as they lay in bed that night.

“I got us all swords!” Buck corrected Eddie, grinning. “Well, except for the cats, obviously.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Eddie shook his head, Buck seeing that he was hiding a grin.

“You know you love it.” Buck smiled at Eddie before giving him a coy look. “I was a little surprised to see that you weren’t actually planning on fighting me. I think I’d totally take you.”

“You really think so?” Eddie asked, eyebrow raised.

“I know.” Buck grinned as he moved closer to Eddie. “Wanna go for the title and find out?”

Eddie was straddling Buck before they knew it, pinning his wrists above his head.

“Absolutely.” Eddie leaned down and kissed Buck, his hands tight against Buck’s wrists.

Chapter 10:

The following weekend, Eddie was sitting at the bakery while Buck and Chris bought cupcakes.

They had just finished their consultation, finalizing the design of their cake. Buck had had the idea for the cake to be shaped like a fire station, and Eddie had thought that a wonderful idea. Now, even though the cake flavor had already been chosen, the two of them insisted on buying different flavors of cupcakes in order to be sure they made the right choice.

“Edmundo?” Eddie’s hackles rose as an all too familiar voice spoke his name.

He looked up to see Ana Flores approaching, a smile gracing her features. “What a small world?”

“Ms. Flores.”

“Ana, please.” Ana sat down without asking, looking at the sketch of the cake in front of Eddie. “Picking out a birthday cake? I would have thought Christopher was too old for a firefighter birthday party.”

“It’s for something else.” Eddie started to tell her before she cut him off.

“I’m very glad to see you, truly,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about you recently. I was wondering–”

“I’m engaged, Ana.” Eddie cut her off. He raised his left hand as he spoke, her eyes going to the ring on his finger.

“I see.” she was taken aback. “So the cake is a groom’s cake?”

“It’s our wedding cake.” Buck said as he and Chris came back to the table with their bounty. “I thought it was a cool idea for our cake.”

Ana looked as though she had just been slapped.

“How unique.” she finally said. “Well, I should be going, but best of luck to you both.”

“Bye Ms. Flores!” Chris waved goodbye.

She left the table, Buck moving to take her seat.

“I could kiss you right now,” Eddie told Buck.

“You looked like you needed rescuing.” Buck grinned.

“I really did.” Eddie groaned.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I always have your back.” Buck smiled at Eddie. “Now, let’s go home. We have cupcakes to eat.”

Eddie grinned as they left the bakery, not looking back.

~~

“Every year, I think, “”Well, that’s it. We’ve seen everything now,”” and then the Santa Anas blow in, and it’s like, oh, look, something weirder.” Buck told Eddie as they got out of the engine during their next shift.

“It’s a severed hand.” Eddie rolled his eyes, lightly nudging Buck. “We’ve seen those before.”

“Yeah, usually in the general vicinity of its owner.”

“Well, I don’t think the wind blew it off the person’s arm.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!”

Bobby rolled his eyes at the two’s antics. “Hen, Chim, what do we think?”

“It doesn’t look like it was cut off.” Hen examined the severed limb. “Wound’s pretty jagged. Maybe blown off?”

“The fireworks.” the caller said, everyone turning to look at her. “Right before my husband got home, someone was setting off fireworks.”

“I’m not hearing any fireworks now.” Bobby pointed out. “You know which house?”

“I think that way.” she pointed off down the street, and Bobby turned to the rest of the team.

“Okay, everybody. Time to go door-to-door. We have to find the person who belongs to this hand.”

Buck groaned as he set off in search of the victim. Eddie could deny it all he wanted, but Buck knew the Santa Anas were to blame.

A while later, the team all met back up where they started.

“No luck?” Bobby asked as they all met back up.

“No. Searched the whole block.” Buck shook his head. “I mean, it could’ve come from anywhere, right? The dog could’ve picked it up further away.”

Bobby was starting to consider that possibility and then–

“Excuse me.” A boy interrupted them. “Can I give you guys a hand with anything?”

Buck tilted his head in suspicion, noticing something off about the way the kid was holding their hand to their chest.

“Thanks, we’ve got all the help we need,” Eddie said before Buck could stop him.

“Oh, okay. Cool.” the kid nodded, slowly backing up. Before any of them could react, he stole the cooler with the severed hand and started running. Everyone started looking at each other, and then Buck turned to Eddie.

“Not it,” Buck smirked.

Eddie groaned and started chasing down the kid. Meanwhile, the rest of them started to follow at a much slower pace. Eddie had almost caught the guy when he tripped and fell.

“Two hands, nine fingers!” Eddie called out to Buck and the others as they finally caught up.

“So, who’s missing the hand?” Eddie interrogated the kid.

“My buddy. He’s in the car.” the kid groaned in pain. “You got to help him out. I was gonna take him to the hospital.”

Buck saw Bobby sigh and reach for his radio. “Uh, this is Captain Nash, 118. We’re gonna need an additional ambulance at the location. We have two victims with traumatic amputations.”

“You know where your finger is?” Eddie examined the wound.

“No. I didn’t try looking for it. I was too worried about my friend Manolo.” Hen and Chimney rushed over to the nearby car to go check on the other kid while Buck and Bobby stayed with Eddie.

“How exactly did you both manage to lose appendages?” Bobby asked, his tone unimpressed as he stared down at the kid.

“Fireworks fight.” The kid said it was a completely obvious answer.

Buck raised his eyebrows in shock. That had to be the dumbest thing he had ever heard, and after over five years on the job, that was not a short list.

“Why didn’t you call 911?” Buck asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

“My mom’s on the neighborhood council. She’s responsible for cracking down on illegal fireworks.” The kid said, Buck shaking his head at the response.

“Awkward.” Eddie quipped while wrapping the injured hand.

“What were you thinking of doing with the hand?” Bobby asked, the kid not having an answer for them.

Just then, Chimney yelled that they had found the finger, and Buck ran off to collect it. Holding a severed finger was not something he had ever expected to do, and it was just as gross as he had imagined that it would be.

“How are you gonna explain this to your mom?” He heard Eddie ask as he walked over with the finger.”

“Um… I don’t know.” the kid said as Buck kneeled down to check the finger against the wound. It was then that he realized the issue.

“Cap, small issue. This is a thumb.”

“He’s not missing a thumb,” Bobby said, realizing what Buck was getting at.

“There’s another victim.” Eddie groaned.

“All right. We’re going to have to start another search,” Bobby said as he reached for his radio. “Dispatch, this is Captain Nash, 118 again. I think we’re going to need a third ambulance.”

“Things just keep on getting weirder.” Buck adjusted his gloves as he and Eddie got up to look for the third victim.

As they walked, Buck turned to Eddie.

“Can we agree that if Chris does anything as dumb as this, he’s grounded for life?”

“Absolutely not.” Eddie told him. Buck was ready to argue with him until–

“He ever does anything as stupid as this, I’m telling Pepa. She’ll scare him straight.”

Buck cackled as they separated to search for the third victim.

~~

Eddie felt like his mind was going at a million miles an hour. They were ten hours into their shift, and he had not been able to get a wink of sleep. He tried counting sheep, tensing and untensing his muscles, blinking a million times really fast so his eyes would get tired, and nothing was working. Buck, on the other hand, was happily snoring, which he would always deny that he did, in the bunk next to him.

Finally giving up, Eddie pulled himself out of bed and went up to the roof for some alone time. However, it turns out that he wasn’t the only one to get that idea.

“You guys couldn’t sleep, either?” Eddie asked as he sank into the lawn chair, the rest of the shaft around him.

“Starting to feel like it’s contagious,” Hen muttered, a cup of hot tea in her hand.

“Where’s Buck?” Chimney asked.

“Oh, he’s fast asleep in the world’s emptiest bunk room.” Eddie told them, envying his fiance’s ability to fall asleep anywhere. “What’s got you up?”

Chimney shifted in his seat slightly. “Well… I was looking into that house. The one where Williams thought he saw that ghost.”

“The Murder House?” Eddie asked, thinking back to their earlier call.

“Yeah, I wanted to know more about it. Seemed like it hadn’t been lived in for a while.”

“It’s not surprising, considering it’s called the Murder House.” Hen pointed out, rolling her eyes at Chimney. “Also, maybe that’s why you can’t sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Chimney waved her off.

“What kind of murder?” Eddie asked, morbidly curious. Buck couldn’t stand true crime documentaries, but Eddie watched them all the time.

Chimney leaned forward in his seat, a macabre glint in his eyes. “Triple homicide in the ’60s. Dad came home right before Christmas, killed his three daughters, then himself. Mother somehow got away. Nobody knows where she ended up. House has been vacant ever since.”

“I can’t imagine why.” Eddie deadpanned, Chim giving him a look. Before anyone could say anything, a loud screech filled the air, followed by a loud thud from the engine bay.

“Hey, watch out! What the hell?” one of the firefighters downstairs yelled before another screech filled the air. They all looked at each other and ran downstairs, Bobby in the lead. Eddie blinked as he took in the sight before him. Someone was actively trying to drive their car into the firehouse despite the firefighters trying to head them off.

“No, no, no, stop. Hey. You can’t be in here.” Bobby told them. “No, no, no, stop. Stop.”

“Is everyone okay?” Eddie asked as they went over to the driver. Then they realized that the driver was a young woman who appeared completely dead to the world, her eyes wide open as she stared in front of her.

“Whoa.”

“I’ll call Dispatch.” one of the other firefighters ran off.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Bobby called out to the woman inside the car, who seemed unresponsive.

“Maybe she had a stroke or a cardiac event?” Eddie suggested.

“Ma’am, can you open your door?” Bobby asked. To everyone’s surprise, she responded and got out of the car. And then came the real surprise. She was completely naked.

“Whoa.” Eddie put a hand up and averted his gaze.

“Hey, what, uh, what happened? I heard a shout.” Buck ran over to them, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He skidded to a stop when he realized what was going on, copying Eddie in averting his gaze. “Okay. This is not a dream I’ve had before.”

“I should hope not since we’re getting married.” Edide snarked at him.

“You know what I meant.” Buck rolled his eyes at Eddie, the two of them trying very hard not to look at the naked woman.

“Is she…” Eddie asked, just wanting to clarify.

“Naked,” Buck confirmed.

“And asleep?” Chimney sounded confused, which summed up how Eddie was feeling as well.

“Ma’am?” Bobby tried to get her attention.

Chimney snapped his fingers on her face twice with no response. “She’s out cold. Maybe she’s sleepwalking.”

“You mean sleep driving.” Eddie corrected him.

“Uh, what should we do? Isn’t it dangerous to wake a sleepwalker?” Buck asked.

“Probably not as dangerous as driving while sleeping,” Chimney remarked, Eddie having to admit that he had a point there.

“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do.” Bobby stepped up and took charge. “Buck. Get a blanket. Chim, let’s check her out to be safe. Maybe she left her ID in the car. Eddie, can you check the front seat?”

“She’s naked.” Eddie pointed out, gesturing at her. “You really think she thought to grab her purse on the way out the door?”

“I don’t know.” Bobby gave a frustrated groan. “Maybe it’s in the cup holder or the glove compartment or something.”

“Cap, here.” one of the other firefighters gave Bobby a radio.

He quickly explained the situation, waiting for a response. “Yeah, great, thanks.” he turned to the rest of the firehouse. Dispatch is sending officers.”

“Okay.” Bobby settled the blanket around her shoulders, and then all hell broke loose. The girl woke up and started screaming, clearly terrified.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re in a safe place. My name is Hen, and I’m-I’m a firefighter, okay?” Hen rushed forward to calm her, the girl’s screams eventually subsiding. “We just want to help you. Can you tell me what your name is?”

“Uh… Lizzy. Lizzy Sampson,” the girl said as Hen led her away from the car.

“Lizzy, if it’s alright with you, I’m going to check you out to make sure you’re okay.” Chimney stayed a respectful distance as he talked to Lizzie.

“It’s fine,” Lizzie said and Chimney finally moved forward to start his examination.

“So, Lizzy, apparently, you got behind the wheel while you were sleeping,” Bobby told her. “Do you have a history of this kind of thing?”

“Um, sleepwalking, yes. But this, this is new.” Lizzie answered him, seeming shaken by how she woke up.

“Pupils are equal and reactive. No sign of head trauma or a concussion.” Chimney finished his examination.

“You’re pretty lucky,” Eddie told her. “The way you came in here, you could’ve really hurt yourself or us.”

“I don’t know if lucky is the right word to describe how I feel. It’s more like mortifying.” Lizzie flushed a deep red as she realized she was wearing nothing but a blanket.

“Do you remember anything?” Hen asked, her voice soft and calm.

“I went to bed around 11:00, like I always do, and the next thing I know, I’m standing in a firehouse,” Lizzie told them.

“And do you always sleep in the nude?” Buck asked, still not looking at her.

Lizzie crossed her arms, a defensive look on her face. “I like to sleep with the window open and feel a… breeze.” she huffed. “Clearly, I’m regretting that choice now.

Chimney finished his examination of her. “Okay, so, you seem to be fine, but if it’s okay, we’re gonna take you to the hospital to get checked out, just to be on the safe side.”

“I guess.” she shrugged.

“All right, Buck, why don’t you check the locker room, and see if we got some clean T-shirts, sweats, something.” Bobby took charge, sending Buck to the locker room.

Buck did as he asked, and Eddie turned to Bobby.

“What do we do about her car?” Eddie asked quietly.

“My car?” Lizzie asked, giving them an odd look.

“The one you almost ran us over with.” Bobby pointed back to it, the door still open.

“Weird.” Lizzie wrinkled her nose. “I don’t have a car.”

“Oh, my God.” Eddie’s eyes went wide as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Buck was never going to let him hear the end of this. And he was going to use this to back up his claim that the Santa Ana’s are crazy.

Little did they know that something was indeed coming into town that was going to cause a lot of trouble.

But it wasn’t coming in on the wind.

~~

On the way out of the house the next morning, Buck grabbed Eddie’s sweatshirt. He didn’t think anything of it, since they borrowed each other’s clothes all the time.

He certainly wasn’t expecting anyone else to make a big deal out of it either.

“Damn, did you really need to brand him, Eddie?” Chimney joked.

Eddie gave Buck a confused look before Buck pointed to the sweatshirt.

“I just grabbed it on the way out of the house this morning, that’s all.” Buck told him. “Though I might as well start getting used to the name Diaz since that’ll be my last name in a few months.”

Everyone turned to look at Buck.

“You’re changing your last name?” Hen asked.

“Yeah?” Buck didn’t get why everyone was confused. He turned to Bobby. “Is there a specific time to fill out that paperwork or is now okay?”

“Now’s fine,” Bobby told him. “I’ll need the extra time to get your turnouts ordered and everything.”

“Does Maddie know you’re changing your name?” Chimney asked.

“I guess not.” Buck realized. “I guess it just never came up.”

“How can it now come up that you’re changing your name?” Chimney demanded.

“Because it’s not really anyone’s business but ours?” Buck motioned to him and Eddie. “We talked about it, but overall decided that I wanted to go by Diaz after the wedding.”

“So we’re gonna have Evan Diaz and Eddie Diaz?” Hen asked.

“No. I’ll still go by Buck.”

“You’re changing your first name too?!”

Bobby took this moment to step in.

“Okay, enough about names. We all have jobs to do so let’s get to it.”

Everyone scattered as Buck followed Bobby into his office to do paperwork.

~~

Buck wasn’t particularly surprised to get a call from Maddie after his shift. He was just surprised that Chimney waited that long.

“You’re changing your name?” Maddie asked as soon as he picked up the phone.

“And hello to you too.”

“Evan.”

Buck sighed. “Yes, I’m changing my name after the wedding. I thought everyone would have realized that.”

“But why not just hyphenate?” Maddie asked. “Buckley-Diaz doesn’t sound bad.”

“I don’t want to hyphenate,” Buck told her. “I just want to take Eddie’s last name.”

“And you’re changing your first name too?” Maddie asked. “That’s what Chimney said.”

“I’m not changing my first name, I’m just still going to go by Buck.” Buck considered for a second. “Maybe I’ll make Buck my middle name or something. Either way, I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”

Maddie sighed. “It just…it feels like you’re erasing the Buckley part of you.”

Buck resisted the urge to tell her that was kind of the point, and instead, he tried to be more understanding.

“Maddie. You’ll always be my sister, that’s never going to change. I’m just changing my last name to reflect the new family I’m joining. Okay?”

Maddie sighed again. “Okay.”

“Have you picked a dress for Jee yet?” Buck asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Yep.” Maddie told him. “I ordered it a few weeks ago, it should be here soon.”

“Great.” Buck grinned, imagining how cute his little niece would look in her flower girl dress. “Let me know how much it is and I’ll Venmo you for it okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Buck hung up the phone soon after that, sighing.

He didn’t expect Maddie to take the news of his upcoming name change that badly. Hopefully that was the last surprise before the wedding.

 

---