Reading Time: 112 Minutes
Title: Hold Me
Series: Affirmation
Series Order: 4
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Angst, Crime Drama, Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Relationship(s): Eddie Diaz/Evan Buckley, background relationships
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Hate Crimes, Hate Speech, Violence-Graphic, Violence-Domestic, Violence-Against Children/Child Abuse. Bigotry, Canon Natural Disasters, Canon Typical Violence, Character Bashing, Dark Themes, Death Minor Character, Discussion Death of Children, Gun Violence, Homophobia, Injury, Kidnapping of a Minor, Attempted Murder, Attempted Murder of a Minor, Murder, Stalking.
Author Note: I changed things up a little for this.
Beta: HarleyJQuin. Thank you so much for all the help in editing this.
Alpha: HarleyJQuin. Once again, thank you for all the help with everything, and to BytheBry for your help with the romance side of things!
Word Count: 55,149
Summary: With Eddie home for good, Evan searches for a new career, after trauma killed his future in the LAPD. A new friendship leads him to the fire academy, and when assigned to the 107, he settles into life as a firefighter, and discovers his true calling in life. Eddie is recovering at home, and working out what might be next on the horizon.
Artist: Tpena19
Artist Appreciation: Thank you so much for all the wonderful work you have done. I’m still amazed by it all
Chapter One
Evan’s twenty-third birthday had been a quiet one. He had spent most of the day with Eddie and Christopher, before gathering for a small, well, small for the Diaz family, party at Isabel and Edmundo’s home. It had been needed, Eddie was in and out of the hospital after the first month and a half of being home. He’d developed an infection and had ended up in hospital for a while, before coming home again. Then his health went down the drain again for a bit, but thankfully he’d only spent two days in the hospital the second time. He was finally starting to heal now, putting on the weight that he had lost and slowly building up his muscles again, after spending almost a month laid up from the infection and the problems it had caused him.
Evan also didn’t want something big as they were starting to really worry about Janet, she was now confined mostly to the home, in a bed in the living room of the Whitt home. She had been gifting as many of her things away as she could, to see the smiles on the faces of her friends and family. Shannon was spending as much time as she could with her mother, even taking some time off work. Evan had noticed that Eric had been going there often, spending time with Shannon, and making sure she got the help she needed for her mother. Carla’s friend, Michelle, was the one looking after Janet in her final weeks; she’d been the one to recommend Carla to help Eddie and Christopher.
Carla had been a god-sent miracle for the first few months. When Eddie had ended up in hospital, she had taken to looking after Christopher whenever she was needed; even when it wasn’t her scheduled time. She had even taken him to the zoo with her husband for the day when Eddie had been rushed back to the hospital after only spending a few days at home. Now, she was a valued member of the family, who helped out a lot while Eddie started work a week ago at Pepa’s law firm. Evan was still researching what he wanted to do next, and starting to piece a few things together. He just wanted to talk to a few people before he made his final decision.
Halloween was in a few days, and Eddie and Evan were starting to discuss ideas on how they were going to dress up, Athena and Michael were throwing a small party for halloween. It was an adults-only gathering, and Shannon and Eric had been invited as well, but they didn’t know if they would be attending just yet; not with how Janet was doing. She was getting worse and worse as the days went on. She had even been put on a morphine pump the day before, to help with her escalating pain levels.
Evan looked up as he heard the front door open. He smiled when Eddie walked in, dressed in a tight shirt and slacks, he looked every part of the young businessman. Though he was never happy about dressing so formally, he looked handsome to Evan.
“Hey,” Eddie said, a smile appearing on his face as he saw his boyfriend. He went over and kissed him, “I hate this work. It’s mind-numbing,” he grumbled.
“I know, but it’s only for now. You needed to get out and do something,” Evan reminded him, kissing him back, “And missed you,” he murmured, “It looks like I’ll be finishing my degree early again,” he said.
“Congrats on that. And I know, sometimes I just wish that there was something else that I could do. But at the moment, I think I’m at my limit,” he murmured, as he moved his shoulder a little, wincing at the pain he could still feel.
“It’s still hurting you?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m going to get it checked out again, see what’s going on, but that’s for my follow up appointment next month,” he sighed, “I’m practically fully recovered, apart from my shoulder and the last lingering weight and muscle loss from that damn infection.”
“I’ll hopefully be there for the appointment, I want to see what they say,” Evan said as he gently brushed his hand over the injured shoulder. “Do you need to wear the sling for a bit?” he asked, knowing that occasionally Eddie had done so to help ease the pain in the joint.
“Yeah, I think I will,” he nodded, not looking happy about it, but knowing that it would be better for him if he did. Each movement he made with his arm felt like someone was stabbing him in the shoulder at that moment.
Evan smiled and nodded as he went to their bedroom and picked up the sling that had been placed on the dresser yesterday evening. He returned to the living room, Eddie had already undone a couple of buttons of his shirt as he reached out for the sling and took it. “Coffee?” he asked.
“Please,” Eddie nodded in agreement.
Evan was quick to make them both some coffee, walking back in to see Eddie now on the couch, his head resting against the back of it and him staring at the ceiling. Here we go,” he said as he placed it down before taking a place next to him.
Eddie leaned against him, “Thanks,” he smiled as he closed his eyes and rested against him. “Have you thought about what you’re going to be at the party?” he asked.
“Well, I’ve been thinking, we could do a couples costume together. I think that might be fun for us,” he suggested, going over the few that he had thought of what they could be.
“Kirk and Spock?” Eddie asked.
“That or maybe Tony and Captain America, are my top two choices,” he said, giving a small one-shoulder shrug so as not to disturb Eddie too much.
“Hmm, it would be easy getting the costumes, I suppose,” he nodded, “Even at short notice. Tony and Cap, shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.”
“I’ve got what we need in the basket, just ready for you to agree,” Evan told him as he showed him the online shop that he had found that would be able to deliver what they wanted in time for the party.
“Do it,” he smiled, “We’ll go as Cap and Tony, you Tony, me Cap?” he asked.
“Yep,” Evan grinned, putting in his details and buying the items. “Right, two days it should be here by,” he said.
“Give it three,” Eddie snorted, knowing what delivery could be like at times.
Evan snorted, “Yeah, I know,” he said as he turned his head slightly and pressed a kiss against Eddie’s head, “What do you want for dinner?”
“How about that beef stir fry you did a few weeks ago? That was good,” he answered, giving a small yawn.
“I’ll do that, I think we have what we need,” he added, as the front door opened and an excited four-year-old entered the room. He was in pre-school now, going to the daily afternoon sessions, spending three hours with other children, and doing all the fun things a child could want to do. Carla smiled as she said her goodbye, even though Eddie and Evan tried to get her to stay for at least a coffee before she had to go.
“How was your day?” Evan asked Christopher as the four-year-old started to tell him everything he did, in detail. Evan and Eddie listened, asking him questions and seeing the artwork he did. Evan got up, “Well, this needs to go on the fridge,” he said as he went into the kitchen, Christopher and Eddie following him as Evan did just that before he started preparing for dinner.
XxXxX
Evan grinned as he looked at his boyfriend, dressed as Captain America. The two were enjoying the party. Athena had invited Lou and Tommy as well, the two were dressed up as Sherlock and Watson. Eddie was talking to someone who was dressed up as Poison Ivy, there was a Harley Quin around as well. Who was quickly approaching Evan.
“Hi, finally good to see you again,” she said, the voice familiar to Evan.
“Yeah,” Evan said, trying to remember where he knew her from.
“You don’t really remember me, do you,” she smiled, “That’s okay. I can understand why not. I’m Hen Willson, I work at the 118. You saved our friend, Tommy.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember, you’re Athena’s friend, Hen. I’m so sorry,” he said, “Things were a little much when I was first attacked, and even when I settled down, things happened at a rapid pace for me and my family. Now I’m trying to figure out what I’m to do next.”
“I just wanted to say, thank you, for helping us report Gerrard. He’s gone now, fired from the LAFD, thankfully. He even faced a few formal charges, which we’re happy to hear about . We’ve got a new captain, but he’s retiring soon, so we’ll have another in a few weeks,” she said, “Thank you, for what you’ve done, and I’m sorry he tried to hurt you.”
“You had nothing to do with it, he was… sick,” Evan said. It had taken a few months for Evan to hear what Lou had to say about Owlsen, the reasons why he was doing what he was doing, and why he had targeted Evan. It hadn’t been pleasant but it had been needed, to get the last bit of closure Evan craved for a case that had taken over his life, and almost took his life.
Hen nodded, “Athena said that you’re between jobs at the moment. What happened to being a Cop?” she said, wincing a little, “Sorry if I’m being nosy,” she smiled, “My fiance said that I’m too nosey for my own good at times.”
“It’s fine,” Evan smiled at her, “It’s more of a case that I couldn’t pick up a gun again. I didn’t want to have to take a life. So I’ve been thinking about my options. My friend’s dad, Darren, has helped me narrow down what I would like to do,” he told her.
“That’s good, what have you chosen?” she asked, too curious for her own good.
“First responder,” he answered, “I’ve been looking at it, and it makes the most sense to me. I want to do something that will be physical, as well as using what skills I already have. I’m just finishing up a degree on disaster management, and firefighting does sound like something that I would be able to do. I’m in good shape of course. I made sure of that,” he said, as he tried to think of what things he still needed to do.
“Well, I think it would be good. Athena told me you’re a good man and a hard-working one. So If you think firefighting is for you, do it. It’s rewarding and hard work, mentally and physically. We save lives, but we aren’t always going to be able to, that’s something you need to be wary of. The first time someone died when I first started, I wanted to curl up and cry like a baby. I felt like I had failed at my job. It was hard for me to know that someone that relied on my help didn’t make it. That I did everything I could, and it still didn’t matter,” Hen told him, “The worst is when children are involved, I have a son, Denny, he’s five now, and I know that if something happened to him, my whole world would come crashing down.”
“I have a son, kind of,” he said, “I’m dating his father, but I’ve been in his life since he was born. He has cerebral palsy and seeing him go through operations, physio all the time, and therapy for this and that. It hurts, he’s a happy kid most of the time and has his bad days. I think… seeing a kid in any kind of trouble, in pain, hurting and that, it would hurt, but I’d want to help. I think I’m going to do that, join the academy,” he murmured, rambling a little as he went over things in his head aloud.
Hen smiled, “Then, I’ll be the first to say, that’s great. I can’t wait to see you join us.”
Evan laughed as he heard his boyfriend call him, “Gotta go, and good to meet you again, Hen, hopefully, we’ll see each other again.”
“We will,” she smiled, “see ya,” she nodded as she went off to find her friend and ask her more about Evan. She was curious about the young man.
Chapter Two
Eric placed a hand on Shannon’s shoulder as he stood just behind her, “Here, a tea,” he told her, “I know you want coffee to try and help you stay awake. It isn’t a good idea,” he said.
Shannon nodded, not going to protest, she had no fight or energy for it. She just wished the world wasn’t so cruel to her. Janet had slipped into a coma at home yesterday morning. Her breathing was starting to slow, and there was now nothing they could do, just make sure that she wasn’t in any pain. “It’s not fair,” she said, as she began to cry, “She should be with me, watching Chris grow up, and start school, get good grades, and find friends,” she murmured.
Eric wrapped his arms around her, and held her, “I wish there was something we could do to help her… but there isn’t anything. All we can do is be there for her,” he told her.
Shannon nodded against him as she set aside the tea and turned, wrapping her arms around the man and taking the offered comfort. She was grieving for her mother, she knew that. While she hadn’t passed just yet, she had been saying bye to her in little ways since she had found out that Janet’s cancer was terminal. That there was nothing that they could do to give her years with her family.
Eric let her go, his phone ringing in the other room where he had left it, “I’ll be back in a moment, alright,” he said, hugging her quickly before leaving her alone with her mother.
Shannon just nodded before she looked at her mother. She was so much thinner now. Her lips were slightly cracked, and while she was on a drip, at Eric’s push, she wasn’t getting the liquids she fully needed to stop it. “Mom,” she said, her voice breaking as she took a fragile hand. One that had held her as a child, that had guided her as a teenager, and pushed her forward as an adult. “I know you want to fight, but I think that time’s over now. It’s okay, you know. I’m going to miss you like hell, but you’ve been there for so much, and I know I wish we had longer. But, please, don’t suffer any more, Mom, I don’t want that for you. When… and when you go, tell Dad I said hi, tell Nana and Grumps the same. I love them and miss them, just like I do with you. Because I will, I’ll miss you every single day. I love you so much, Mom,” she said as he rested her head on the pillow next to her mother’s, moving closer and closing her eyes as she cried. “You don’t have to fight now, Mom. You’re not alone either, I’m right here and I’m going nowhere,” she promised as she decided to just climb on the bed and rest against her mother, a hand moving to rest on her chest, feeling the slight rise and fall of Janet’s chest.
Eric walked back in, seeing Shannon lying with her mother, he said nothing as he sat down on the chair that she had been using. It was moments later that Shannon started to cry in earnest. Eric looked closely and could see that Janet was no longer breathing. He closed his eyes for a second. He checked her over, making sure she was really gone. “I’m so sorry, Shannon.”
Shannon remained with her mother for a few more moments, crying before she slowly let her go and stood up from the bed. Eric let her have that time before he called in the death to the authorities. Eric went over to her and wrapped his arms around her and held her as they came, and soon Janet’s body was being taken away to the funeral home.
XxXxX
Eddie fumbled for his phone as it was ringing. He barely caught a glimpse of the time as he saw Shannon’s picture. Suddenly he was wide awake and poking Evan awake as he answered, “Shannon,” he said, as he waited for her to say something.
There was a small sob on the other end before Shannon spoke, “She’s… gone. She’s gone, Eddie.”
“Okay, I’m going to come over, alright,” Eddie said as he began to get up.
“No, no there’s no point, please. I… Eric is here with me. I’m alright, I’m not alone, I promise,” she stammered out between the sobs.
“Are you sure? Evan and I don’t mind coming and being with you?” he pushed a little, knowing that sometimes she needed that little push to say what was really going on in her head.
“No, Chris should stay at home. Tomorrow morning is soon enough for that,” she told him. Eddie heard someone else in the background and relaxed as he recognized Eric’s voice.
“Alright, alright. We’ll talk with Chris tomorrow and tell him what’s going on. I don’t know how much he will understand it, but we’ll tell him,” Eddie told her, “And Shannon,” he said.
“Yeah?” she murmured.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, truly meaning it. He had really liked Janet, she was the only true grandmother that Christopher had. Of course, he had his great-grandmother, Isabel, but Janet was his grandmother and one who had loved him deeply.
“She’s passed?” Evan asked, getting a nod. The two curled up against each other in bed, mourning for the loss of a good woman, a wonderful mother, and a brilliant grandmother.
XxXxX
Evan and Eddie shared a look the next morning. Christopher had been kept from pre-school. Carla had been informed of what was going on, and she had been asked to give them some advice on trying to explain death to a four-year-old so they would understand it. They had been slowly preparing him for the last few months for her passing, but today was going to be the test.
“Hey, mijo,” Eddie said as they went into the living room where Christopher was pouting about not being able to go to school.
“Daddy, what ’bout school?” he frowned at him.
“Today’s a special day,” he said, “but…” he trailed off, wincing at his words. It was a special day, but not a good special day.
“Why is it special?” he frowned, tilting his head as he looked at his dad.
Evan walked over and sat on the floor as Eddie joined him fully. “Well, you remember when we were telling you about Grandma Janet, and how she is going to be going away, and that she is going to die.”
“I ‘member,” Christopher nodded several times. “I don’t want her to go away and stop working, I love Grandma lots and lots. I like playing with Grandma,” he said, getting teary about the very thought.
“I know,” he said, “But Grandma died last night.”
“She stopped working?” Christopher said. They had told him what death meant, that it meant that someone’s body stopped working. That they could no longer play and eat like everyone did.
“Yes, mijo,” Eddie nodded a few times. “She did, but we can still remember her, and talk about her lots and lots. It’s sad, and we will miss her a lot.”
Christopher nodded and began to cry, “I want Grandma,” he begged.
“We can’t give you Grandma, but in about a week, there will be a special day where we can say goodbye to her and tell all the fun stories we have of Grandma,” Eddie said as he took his son in his arms and held him. Rocking him as he grieved in the only way a four-year-old knew how to.
XxXxX
Eddie had thought about putting Christopher in a little suit but decided against it when he read the letter that Janet had written for him. Asking him to put Christopher in something bright and fun, she wanted everyone to dress in something light blue, green, or even a nice red. So, he took her words to heart. Dressed up, and made sure he was bright, like Evan and Christopher were. Shannon had dressed herself in a dress that her mother had loved seeing her in, it was a styled fifties rockabilly dress that she occasionally wore. There were many that were dressed up, looking more like they were going to a party than they were going to a funeral. Eddie knew that was exactly what Janet had wanted; something bright to celebrate her life, not dreary.
The officiant closed the funeral with a small prayer, as the music started. Ava Maria echoed within the room as people started to get up. Shannon was crying, Eric with her, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as they began to walk out. The wake would be happening in a building just across the road from where the crematorium was, where the ceremony had happened. Eddie picked up Christopher, they hadn’t brought his gait trainer inside, instead, it would be waiting at the other venue, for him to use again there.
Christopher had cried a little when he was in Shannon’s arms for a bit, saying goodbye to Janet. He didn’t like that she wasn’t working and wanted someone to help her body work again. It got a few looks from some of the other funeral goers. But some fond ones from parents who had to explain death to a young child. Knowing that it was one of the best ways to explain it to a child. That death meant that the body no longer worked and that the person was going away from them, but where they were was a nice place.
“Mommy,” Christopher said as he looked around for her.
Shannon walked over, and smiled at him, kissing his cheek, “I have to talk to lots of people, to thank them for coming to say goodbye to Grandma, so you stay with Dad and Evan, okay?”
“We tell stories about Grandma now?” he asked her, looking hopeful. He loved stories.
“Yeah, it’s almost time to tell some fun stories about Grandma,” Shannon smiled, as tears began to gather again
Eddie reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder, “I can always do it for you. I don’t mind, you can spend some time cuddling Chris,” he suggested.
“No, no I need to do this,” she told him, “but thank you,” she smiled as they made their way to the other venue. It was a moment’s walk, and soon enough they were inside. Christopher had lit up when he saw his gait trainer waiting for him, quickly insisting that he go down. As soon as he was set up, he was off going to random people and asking for their fun stories of his Grandma, and telling them his own. He could see the smiles and the lightning of the mood as Christopher went around. Soon enough Shannon had greeted everyone at the wake and made her way over. Evan was hovering nearby with Christopher.
“He’s doing exactly what my Mom thought he would,” Shannon murmured as Eric brought over drinks for himself and Shannon. Eddie already had one. Evan’s sitting there beside it.
“Yeah,” he smiled as Christopher was giggling with an older couple.
Someone walked over with a frown on their face. “Do you really think it’s appropriate to bring a child to a funeral and wake?” she asked.
“My son wanted to say goodbye to his grandmother,” Shannon said, “And to be honest, I think his brightness is what was needed the most today. Look at everyone, everyone but you, is happy he’s there. He’s asking about his grandma, asking everyone for stories. Are you going to turn him down in telling a story about a grandma he loved?” she asked the woman. Shannon had been hearing her murmur about Christopher being at the funeral when she had first spotted the four-year-old.
The woman gave a huff and walked away.
“Idiot, children like to say bye to their loved ones as well,” Eric said, “When my grandpa passed away, I was older than Chris, but I would have hated not being able to say bye,” he said as he settled down.
“Yeah,” Shannon agreed, “I knew he would want to. He was looking forward to hearing stories as well.”
“Yeah, he is enjoying it. So are others,” Eddie agreed as Christopher moved on to someone else, bouncing where he was in his gait trainer, Evan handing him a juice drink to take a few sips before he carried on talking to his newest friend.
Chapter Three
Evan was a little nervous. His talk with Hen at Halloween had cemented in his head that he wanted to be a firefighter. He hadn’t told anyone but Hen so far that this was what he was planning. He’d just finished the last of his coursework for university and had finished his degree several months early. But that was now leaving him open with nothing to do again. Sometimes he loved that his brain could hyperfocus on things and get everything that needed to be done, And other times it was a curse that wouldn’t let him do what he needed.
Evan’s thoughts turned to Shannon as he waited for Tommy to arrive. Shannon was doing alright after her mother’s passing. There were days when she didn’t want to do anything, and others when she took her son out for some fun and games, before coming back. It would be her birthday two days before Christmas. Eddie and Evan were arranging for her take a spa weekend away just after Christmas; something for her to rest, relax and maybe, just help her come back to herself. She hadn’t made any attempt to regain custody of Christopher, and both of them had quickly realized that she was burnt out. The few days she did take him, she often looked overwhelmed and exhausted by it all. Evan could tell that she was beginning to hate herself for how she was feeling. The spa weekend away was going to be given to her after the two talked with her about starting to go back to therapy.
“You look a little lost, Evan,” Tommy said as he stood over the younger man.
Evan jumped slightly, “Sorry, been thinking about a lot of things.”
“A lot has happened in the last month, from what I hear,” Tommy said as he sat down, hanging over a caramel latte that he knew Evan enjoyed, “here, and sweetened how you like. Lou made sure I knew how you liked it, for when you came over after what happened with Owlsen,” he added, as he set down his own vanilla latte, “now, how are you doing?”
“Bored,” Evan said, snorting, “Finished the degree, and I’m thinking about doing something else now. But that’s… that’s why I asked if you could meet me. I talked with Hen at Halloween, at Athena’s, and really, I wanted to talk more with you about this.”
“Oh, what’s up? Not thinking about joining the Army are you?” he joked lightly.
Evan snorted, “Nope, not at all,” he said, shaking his head, “I know I’m not suited for it. But I was thinking about putting in my application for the fire academy,” he told him, smiling slightly.
Tommy nodded, “Now talking with Hen makes more sense,” he laughed, “Yeah, I could see you being a firefighter. I thought it would suit you more than being a cop did. But you looked like you were settled into being one when I first met you. Then again, you were my savior at the time.”
“I was, I enjoyed the work a lot. I think I would still be doing it if I hadn’t had to kill so early in my career,” he admitted. “I was prepared for it to happen, but not… in my own home. I think that didn’t help. Then there is the PTSD on top. I’ve got a good handle on that,” he added, “But… It’s been a struggle occasionally. Having to move house as well, as you know, since you helped. Then, Eddie getting shot and losing his career… It was just…”
“You’re healing well, doing well. PTSD isn’t the block a lot of people believe it to be. Yeah, we have to think of other ways around things, how to get through it when we have an episode, but we learn what triggers us, we learn coping mechanisms that work for us, and how to deal with it. Slowly, we have our lives back,” he said, “I… had a hard time when I got shot down. PTSD was my own diagnosis as well, and it took a while for me to get on an even keel,” he said, “You’ve done it.”
“I think Eddie needs to see someone,” Evan blurted out.
Tommy paused, “He’s been having nightmares I take it?” he asked.
“Yeah, several of them, they can get bad, but so far he’s been able to come out of them alone. But it worries me, they’re starting to get worse,” he murmured, hand wrapped around the hot mug and staring into the liquid like it could give him all the answers he needed.
“Talk to him,” he said, “That’s all you can do, is talk to him and be there for him. There is going to be a point that he realizes that he needs help, even if he’s in therapy now, it might not be enough at the moment.”
Evan nodded, “Yeah, I know,” he sighed, “Sorry, didn’t mean to derail the conversation, “my brain just loves tangents.”
Tommy smiled, “That’s fine,” he told him, “Now, you wanted to know about being a firefighter?” he asked, getting Evan back on track.
“Yeah,” he smiled back, “I’ve got the application at home, mostly filled out and ready to be sent. I just… I just want to talk to someone else who is a firefighter, that I know well, like you. Mostly to see if this is what I really want,” he added, drinking some of his latte and enjoying the sweet taste of the caramel.
Sipping his drink, Tommy nodded, “Well, I think you would be well suited to it, you’re in good shape, might need to build up some more muscles. It’s always a good idea to be able to carry the heaviest on shift and then some. Not everyone does it, there are only two on my shift that would be able to lift me and get me out if I got hurt. Hen is slowly building her way up to being able to. So, when you start at a station, try and find the heaviest and then aim for just past that. There are also certs that you can go and get without being a firefighter. A lot of those who volunteer for SAR and such in places will often get them to be able to help them in their work. Ubran, SARTech One and Two, work toward getting them all, and Swift Water are good ones to get around here. I have those, and I’m a pilot as well. I get seconded to some of the SAR teams at times when they need an extra pilot.”
“Any others you can think of?” he asked, wondering what type of things he could do before he joined the academy.
“High Angle rescue, which covers high-rise rescues the most. That is always good here in LA, you’re going to be going on the ropes at least once a week, if not more. When you go to the academy, they have other courses that are available on the boards there. Those who are serious about becoming a firefighter will be using them like a lifeline. And in a way they are. The more you offer to a Captain on the lookout for a probie, the better chance you have of getting a good station to start at,” Tommy explained a little more.
“Anything you suggested that I do first?” Evan asked as he finished his drink.
“Start signing up for the courses now, and put in your application as soon as you’ve done that. Put proof of the sign-ups. It shows them that you’re serious about what you’re doing. There are only a certain number of spots at the academy. Oh and if you get the chance to do the short course, take it, but be prepared to work really hard for it. It’s intense, and it’s usually for those that already come in with certs, and know what firefighting is really all about. They’re the volunteers and private sector people who want to do it professionally. Former Army also get the short course sometimes. I did, and I worked my ass off to get through. So be prepared for it. I’ll bring over the books I had for it, so you can get a head start,” Tommy answered him.
Evan nodded, “It’s a lot, but yeah, this is what I want to do. Just need to tell Eddie that I’ve made a choice.”
Tommy smiled, “Will he be okay with it?” he asked, curious as to what the man would think.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine with it. He knows that it’s on the list of possible careers that I have been looking at. He’s been looking at things himself, but it’s going to have to wait until we’ve found out what’s really going on with his shoulder. We’re waiting for an appointment for a scan of it now. It’s been hurting him more and more.”
“Keep on at them to get it seen to,” Tommy said, “If it’s not life-threatening, they tend to leave things alone,” he warned, his voice serious as he looked at him.
“Yeah, we got that. Eddie’s been fighting to try and get it seen too. We finally got them to listen, so we’re just waiting for the appointment now,” Evan told him.
“Good,” he smiled, “Oh, Lou wants to invite you and Eddie over for dinner in a few days, he’s been talking about it for a while. He’s missed your conversations over the last few weeks.”
“Yeah, it’s been a little busy since Janet passed, and then Thanksgiving with the family on top. I heard you went with him to see his family this year,” he grinned.
“I bet, and yeah, it was… an experience. They’re all so damn tall,” he snorted, shaking his head as he recalled the visit.
“I know, I met them once as well, it was… a bit weird,” he grinned, “But they’re all really nice as well.”
The two talked a little more, about the plans for Christmas, and how Evan and Eddie were going to be taking Christopher to see Santa, and dragging Shannon and Eric along; since his best friend had been hanging around more and more. He would be starting his residency in a few more months, and he was both excited and nervous. He had worked hard to get to this point, after listening to his mother and his mentors at med-school. Lou and Tommy themselves were going strong, and the two had been getting closer and closer, with Tommy confessing that he could easily picture the two of them getting married at some point.
XxXxX
Evan smiled as he walked into the house after he met with Tommy. He could hear Eddie humming as he moved around the house. He headed to his laptop and opened it up. He looked at the certs that were listed on the LAFD website and clinked on them, going through the ones that Tommy had mentioned and looking at others, just in case he could do them. There were a few that were academic more than physical, so he quickly signed up for them, and then went for a couple of the more physical certs, making sure that the dates didn’t overlap with anything else.
“You seem happy,” Eddie said as he walked into the living room and saw a smiling Evan.
“I found what I want to do, I’m just starting to sign up to things, to make it easier, maybe,” he said, biting his lip.
“Firefighter?” Eddie guessed.
Evan frowned, “How… did you know?”
Eddie laughed, “Ev, I’ve been seeing you go on that website for the application form at least once a day for the last two months. So you’ve finally gone for it; I’m happy and proud of you, Evan,” he said as he walked over and leaned down, kissing him, “Now, get ready because that kid of ours is on the way home, and Carla said that he is hyped about something.”
“Oh, he said that they were doing something fun today, something to do with paints. Might be we have another masterpiece for the fridge,” Evan said as he looked at the application form and clicked send. “It’s done, I’ve signed up for a few things as well, I’ll be going to a couple out of town, but it won’t be for a month or two,” he warned.
“That’s fine,” Eddie smiled, “Now-” he began as the front door opened and an excited child called out.
“Daddy!” Christopher yelled, “Papá!” he carried on, the papá sounding more Spanish than American sounding. He zoomed into the living room, a bright smile on his face as Evan couldn’t help but start crying at what Christopher had called him. “Did I do wrong?” he asked, looking at the tears.
“They’re happy tears,” Eddie said, “because your Papá is soppy.”
“Silly soppy, Papá,” Christopher giggled as he went over and showed his painting. “This is me, Daddy, Mommy, and Papá. Mommy and Daddy said it was okay to call you Papá, is it Papá?” he asked.
“It’s very okay,” Evan smiled as he pulled Christopher into a hug.
“Silly, Papá,” Christopher grinned, but hugged him all the same.
Chapter Four
Phillip walked into the living room of his small home, two mugs of coffee in his hands as he put one down in front of his son. “So, why the excited message to meet today?” he asked, a smile on his face. He could see that his son was happy, ecstatic even.
Evan grinned as he went to the bag he had brought with him. “This,” he said as he pulled out a drawing that Christopher had brought home the day before. “He came in, yelling for his dad and then for his Papá… for me,” he held it out for his dad to see.
Phillip took it, seeing the stick figures that belonged to Christopher and his family. His mom was there, his Dad was there, and labeled right next to a stick figure with two small pink blobs around an eye. The word Papa was carefully scribbled onto it. “He’s calling you papa?”
“More like Papá, Spanish, he said he saw someone calling their dad that on one of those telenovels that Abuela loves to watch. So he wanted to call me that,” he told him, grinning from ear to ear, happy with what Christopher was now calling him. “I can’t believe he’s calling me that now,” he said, “I never thought… he would. You know, since I’m not his dad, not…”
“Evan, you know that family is more than blood. Margaret and Maddie always believe blood should come first, but I don’t. You made a family for yourself here, and you pulled me into it. I never thought I would be a grandpa, I didn’t. But here I am, with that bright little ball of sunshine calling me Grandpa. I love it, and knowing he’s calling you Papá makes me really happy,” he finished, handing the drawing back to his son before moving over to the far side of the room.
“Dad?” Evan asked as he watched him move around, grabbing a box from inside the cupboard.
“Just getting something,” he smiled as he went through the little box and pulled out an envelope. “Here we go,” he said as he walked back over.
“Another of Danny’s letters?” Evan asked, staring at it.
“Yeah, I had one, the first time I was called grandpa. This one is for you,” he said as he held it out to him.
Evan took it. A small smile on his face. The last one he had read had felt devastating to him. He often wondered in what order Daniel had written them in. Since sometimes he was so hopeful, optimistic and everything. Other times he was scared and his writing was shaky. “Okay,” he said as he took a breath and opened the letter.
Evan
I was wondering what Dad thought when we called him Dad. I’m never going to have someone call me Dad at all, ever. I wonder what it’s like. Dad said that when Maddie called him Dada, he cried a lot. And didn’t stop smiling for days. He said when I did, he picked me up and danced around with me. You called him Dada recently, he was happy as well. He was smiling and cuddling you, and I’m trying to get you to say Dandan, it’s not that different. I hope you do before I go. Just so I know you knew who I was.
Dad said you might not remember me, but he told me that he would remind you of me when you get bigger. Know that your big brother is watching and grinning. Oh, this letter is supposed to be when you become a dad. I don’t know how old you’ll be, but I bet you’re big, I wonder how big you’ll get.
Anyway, you’re reading this because you’ve become a dad, and your kid is calling you dad now. I can’t imagine what it’s like. But I saw Dad when you said Dada for the first time. He was really happy, and he told me what happened when Maddie and I said it. So what did you do? Did you cry? Dance around all happy? Was it a good thing that you got called Dad?
I wish I were there to see it, but no doubt, wherever I am, I’m laughing at your reaction. I miss you, Evan. Give a big kiss to any nephews and nieces I have. Tell them that Uncle Danny loves them a lot and will always watch over them.
Danny
Evan put the letter away. “I bet he was laughing. I burst into tears as soon as he called me Papá. Christopher worried that he’d done something wrong,” Evan told his dad, a soft smile on his face.
“I remember when he called me Grandpa, when he was so tiny. I never thought he would, but when Shannon heard him, she told me that it was fine, that he needed a few more good grandparents in his life. Now he has me, and Janet might not be here anymore, but she’s not forgotten. He still likes to hear stories about her. And then there are Isabel and Edmundo, who both adore that child. Then again, I don’t know who wouldn’t adore him,” Phillip smiled as he thought of Christopher.
“He’s an amazing kid, and he’s gone through so much as well. He does his best, and he does lose his temper occasionally, but that’s more because of the frustration he feels at his own body not doing what he wants it to. He hates it sometimes when people treat him like he can’t do anything. He likes to try things, and if they don’t work, he’ll try a different way. Sometimes, all of us will work together to find a way for him to do something he really wants to try,” Evan said, almost rushing out the words as he thought of all the things they were doing together. Swimming and even rock climbing. Finding out that there were several activities out there that Christopher could do that would help him had been a blessing. Christopher loved trying new things.
Phillip listened as Evan talked about Christopher and all the things he was now doing. It was nice to see his son so settled. Sometimes he did wonder what Daniel would have thought about it all if he were there with them still. He gave his head a little shake. “So, apart from Christopher enjoying life and all his activities, what else is going on in your life? I know you’re going to be finish with your coursework in the next week or so.”
“In two weeks, I’ve got most of it already done, just got to hand in the last paper and then I should be done,” he smiled, “And I’ve… finally chosen what I want to do,” he said, he’d not told everyone yet what he’d decided.
“Oh?” Phillip said, sitting up straight in his chair, “So, what have you chosen then? I know you were thinking about several things over the last few months. I did tell you to take your time with it, there’s no rush for you to get back out there at all. You have savings and your inheritance if you need it,” he reminded him.
“I know that, Dad,” he smiled, “But, I really don’t like just sitting around and doing nothing. I know that Ed’s gone and found a little work here and there. Just something to keep himself busy. For me, that was going back into education and getting another degree,” he shrugged as he smoothed out the envelope once more. Just for something to do with his hands.
“I understand,” he smiled, “But sometimes I do wish you would slow down. But you’ve never been the type, no matter what was going on in life,” he added, “I’m proud of you for that; not wanting to rely on money given to you.”
“Dad, I’ve never really been one to want to rely on someone else. Other people can be…” he trailed off, “I learned a long time ago that the person I need to rely on is me. It’s only in the last, what… seven, eight years, that I’ve started to trust others. With myself. Me and you, it took us a while to get here, it took talks late into the night. It took tears, yelling at each other. Letting out everything we’ve bottled up. Not just because of Margaret, but because of who we are as people. We’ve had to learn to open up, to trust someone other than ourselves. We worked hard to get this, and I’ve always worked hard on everything in my life. School, relationships, I didn’t give up for the longest of time for that last one. I was… hopeful for a long time. Then I gave up.”
Phillip smiled softly as he looked at his son. “And I started to realize just what I was losing. Daniel would have kicked my butt, so would your grandparents. You left, you moved out, you took charge of your life, and I knew that if I wanted anything to change, I needed to do the same. I needed to finally move past Daniel’s death, even though I knew it was going to happen, and I didn’t have that hope. I let her dictate how I grieved. Therapy was brutal, but needed. Now, stop stalling, what have you decided?” he asked again, smiling at his son, who often went off on tangents when they talked. Most of the time, they were interesting; others, like today, were reflective on how things had changed for the two of them over the years.
“Fine, sorry,” Evan laughed, “Firefighter, I sent in my application a few days ago. I’ve also put my name down for a few courses as well. Some certifications that will help me in my new career. I talked with Tommy about it, and even with Hen, she works at the 118 and is good friends with Athena,” he said when he saw the confused look at the name on his dad’s face.
“Ah,” he nodded, “So, firefighter,” he smiled, “Yeah, I can see that would be you.”
“I just… Evan began, unsure how to word what he preferred to do with his life.
“Like to help people, I know,” he smiled, “You always have had a large heart,” he said proudly, “one that is open to people and giving them second chances.”
“Yeah,” Evan blushed as his dad’s compliment, “If my application goes through, then I’ll begin at the academy next year, in May. Tommy said that the more I have to offer a captain, the better my chances are of being hired, even before I finish at the academy. I’m… actually looking forward to it. Like I was when I joined the police academy,” he smiled.
Phillip smiled as he listened to what his son was going to be doing over the next few months, leading up to Evan’s possible start date at the fire academy. “Sounds like you have everything well in hand,” he told him, smiling as he got up, grabbing the empty mug. “Another drink?” he asked.
“Nah, I should get back home. I’m cooking tonight, trying to decide if I want to try the jerk chicken recipe that Michael gave me. I have everything I need but the chicken. So that will mean a store run. If I don’t…” he paused for a moment, “Then I have no idea what we’re doing,” he laughed.
“Sounds like it’s jerk chicken,” Phillip said, “And I didn’t notice the time, I’ve got a dinner meeting in about three hours,” he winced, “I hate them sometimes.”
“Why don’t you get someone else to do this part?” Evan asked him.
“Because, while I don’t really like it, I also enjoy the negotiations that often come with dinners like this,” he said, “Catch 22,” he added.
“Ah, so the dinners can be annoying, but sometimes there are fun bits to them,” Evan nodded as he got ready to go, “And yeah, jerk chicken it is for dinner. No doubt Chris will be happy, he enjoyed it the last time Michael made it.”
Phillip smiled as the two talked while he showed Evan out, “Drive safe, and we’ll talk again soon,” he said as the two hugged before Evan left. Phillip closed the door behind his son and smiled as he went to clean up the mugs.
Chapter Five
Christmas was celebrated with a large family gathering. Eric and Shannon finally admitted that they had started dating, though most of those around them had guessed that was already going on. The gift for her birthday to spend a weekend at a spa was happily received. Now, Christmas Day, and more gifts had been exchanged. Eddie was holding a sleeping Christopher, the almost five year old had conked out not long after he’d had dessert.
Shannon moved over to them and sat beside her ex. “We… need to talk a little about Chris,” she murmured.
Eddie glanced over at her, “What about?” he asked, “Do you want him to come and live with you again?” he asked, a ball of something heavy sitting in his stomach at the thought of not having Christopher around all the time.
Shannon looked pained, but shook her head, “No. I would love to have him with me all the time again, I really would. But I just… I don’t think I can look after him like I had done before. I know that Carla helps you a lot when you’re busy.”
“And she could help you as well, even be there overnight if you need to spend a night away with Eric,” Eddie told her, knowing that he and Evan had taken advantage of that twice since Carla had started working for them. She happily told them that being parents doesn’t mean that they should forget about themselves as well. She’d strong-armed them into going out for a night, and even spending it at a hotel instead of coming home after their date.
“No, I can’t. I’d like to, but I took your advice and started to talk to my therapist again. I’m… not doing well,” she admitted, “I hate it, but on the bad days… When I stay away, I resent Christopher, and I shouldn’t. I don’t want that at all. I even resent my own mother as well for being ill,” she added, her words barely above a whisper.
“Right,” Eddie murmured back, “So, Chris is going to stay living with us for a while longer?”
“Yeah, at least until I’m… better, though I don’t know if I’ll ever feel better. It feels like I’m drowning and I don’t know what I’m to do. Thank you, you and Evan, for talking me into going back. I needed a break, and I’m sorry, I hate that I need it.”
“I get it, it’s hard looking after someone, and you did so well with Chris while I was gone, and then Janet as well,” he told her, letting her lean against him as he put an arm around her. “We’re here for you,” he told her, “We’re here to help and if that’s me and Evan taking custody, you know we’re good to do so until you either feel right or just want to spend more time with him. He’s your son and that’s never going to change, no matter what is going on. I’m never going to stop him from spending time with you at all.”
Shannon gave a small smile as she ran a hand over Christopher’s curls, “He’s such a great kid.”
“You’ve raised him brilliantly, don’t forget that,” Eddie told her, “You’ve been there for him.”
“Along with everyone else. Everyone has helped me, I was never alone in raising him, and I feel like an idiot for not wanting to be around him,” she murmured, “Thank you,” she said.
“We’re family,” Eddie reminded her, “It’s what we do, we support each other when we’re having trouble, being there when we need it.”
“Yeah,” she smiled, as they heard laughter coming from the other side of the room.
XxXxX
Eddie wanted to avoid the New Year Celebrations. He knew the fireworks weren’t going to be pleasant to go through. Not when he’d been having nightmares the last few nights. It felt like he would trigger something if he went to the celebrations. But there was just no way he was going to be able to get away from it all. He paced around the living room, there was just one day left before he would have to tell them that he wouldn’t be going. That he would be hiding himself away somewhere to avoid as much of the noise as possible.
He jumped as someone knocked on the door; he was alone in the house. Evan had gone out with Christopher for the day, getting something to make cakes and cookies together for the party tomorrow. Shannon was spending a bit of time with Eric and his family since they would be joining the Diaz get-together.
Eddie headed to the door and opened it, surprised to see Tommy standing there, “Oh, hey, I’m not really up for visitors at the moment,” he told him.
“I can guess why,” he said, “I’m only coming to have a quick chat and to drop something off that might just help you out,” he added, tapping the box he was carrying before giving a little shrug.
“Okay,” Eddie nodded as he let the older man inside.
“Thanks,” Tommy smiled at him, walking past him and glancing around the home, it was the first time seeing it fully decorated. He’d helped Evan move in, getting the place ready. Though Evan still had some decorating to do in the main living room the last time he had been by.
“So, what can I do for you? And would you like a drink?” he asked, he could hear his Abuela reminding him to be a good host.
“I’m good, thank you,” Tommy answered, “Can we sit down?” he asked, “While this is a quick talk, I think it would be better sitting down.”
“Okay,” Eddie frowned as he led the way to the living room, gesturing for Tommy to sit down. The two did, sitting opposite each other, Tommy putting the box on the end table next to him. “So, want to tell me why you stopped by?” he asked.
“I’m former Army, like you are,” he began, “So when coming back, the 4th of July and any time someone let off fireworks, it felt like my world was about to explode again. I hid away a lot, blasting music, or the TV, anything to try and drown out the sounds. The flashes didn’t help. I was… alone for a long time because of that. I finally found something that helped,” he said, “I went to a support group for vets,” he told him as he held out the box, “here,” he said, “For you.”
Eddie took it, “I get it, you hid away, but why-”
“Just open the box and I’ll explain more,” he said, shaking his head and smiling.
“Okay,” he said, rolling his eyes but opening them up. He frowned as he saw a pair of those noise-canceling headphones that construction workers wore around heavy machinery. “Ohhhh,” he murmured.
“Yeah, one of the guys there went into construction, he got me a pair when I talked about dreading the 4th of July. He said that having them helped him, he would occasionally take them off, just to hear the noise, to slowly let himself get used to it, but he still uses them occasionally. Just like I do, but it’s not as overwhelming as it was once. They helped me a lot, being able to go out and celebrate and no one really looked at me too weirdly,” he smiled.
“Thank you,” Eddie said, “I was worried about the party. I was going to see if there was a way to get out of it. I’ve been having nightmares again, it’s fresh in my head and I don’t know why it keeps coming back and leaving me alone like it does.”
“It’s PTSD, no doubt that’s what your therapist would be saying and telling you. There is nothing linear about healing from being over there. It’s going to stay with you for the rest of your life,” he said.
“I… I’m not going as often as I should. I’m trying to get my shoulder sorted out,” he admitted.
“Then get your ass back to it, you can do both, and both are needed to make sure you can be the best you for Evan and Chris. Not to mention the rest of the family,” Tommy reminded him, leaning forward. “I know it’s hard, it’s going to be hard. I still see someone, and I have to admit, after my attack, I picked up a few extra sessions, to make sure I would be okay. My own PTSD was giving me a lot of trouble, for a long time. Therapy helped, group and solo, do both,” he advised.
“Yeah,” Eddie nodded, agreeing, “I will. I… I do need help,” he murmured. “The nightmares, the panic, I hate it. It doesn’t help that my shoulder is still hurting me all the time, and sometimes… it feels like I’m back there, thinking I’m going to die and never see Evan or Chris, or anyone again.”
“Then put the work in, I know it’s going to be hard, hell. I’ve been there, but you have a great support system. I don’t… talk to any of my family, and haven’t in a long time. They aren’t accepting of who I am, at all,” he told him, “I made my own family. Sal was an asshole sometimes, but he was a friend, someone I could talk to and didn’t judge me, no one… I never told anyone else on shift but him that I’m bi,” he confessed, “Sal found out by accident, but he kept it to himself. They don’t know that well now either, and I think only Hen might know, and that’s because she was at the party Athena threw for Halloween. I’m not really hiding it anymore, but I’m just not announcing it for the world to hear,” he said before Eddie could ask the question.
“I can see why, with what happened with your former captain there,” Eddie admitted, “I can’t imagine having to hide all the time, in fear of being singled out by that bigot. I remember the rants that Evan had when he was investigating the case.”
“Yeah,” Tommy snorted, “That bastard was an asshole and all the fucked up shit you could think of. It was safer to keep your head down, or he’d make your working life miserable, or he’d make sure you got some of the jobs that could get you hurt. So, yeah, while Hen and Chim both have problems with his behavior, it’s more of them being held back all the time. Not allowed to do anything, those left to actually do the work, had to be careful not to earn his ire as he would send you to do the more dangerous work. Three were injured because of that shit, and one ended up having to retire because he was hurt too badly to be able to come back. In this job, we have to be able to trust each other. And not one of us trusted Gerrard to get us back home at the end of the day.”
“How was all this missed?” Eddie asked as he put aside the box with the headphones in.
“One of the battalion chiefs and Gerrard were good buddies. Anyone that complained about him, was then written up as the problem, and Gerrard was told. Those of us who learned what was done started sending in anonymous complaints. Not that it did any good, that chief basically erased them. Thanks to Evan, Lou, and Athena putting in their own complaints in person to all of them, it couldn’t be brushed aside, not with what Owlsen had done as well. So, Gerrard was fired and charges were pressed against him. He’s doing a bit of time, as is the chief, as they were both criminally negligent and more,” Tommy answered him as he sat back.
“It blows my mind he was able to get away with that shit for so long,” he said, his eyes a little wide at the thought of how long and how many people were hurt from it, and who would have died because of the shit those two were part of.
“It was hard to get it right,” Tommy agreed, “How to save someone without Gerrard figuring out what we were doing. We managed it, but it could have cost any of us our lives or jobs.”
Eddie nodded as their talk turned to their military service and how they ended up back home.
Chapter Six
Evan felt himself being pulled out of bed. He opened his eyes, finding himself on the floor with Eddie crouching over him. “Eds,” he murmured, wondering what was going on. Then he looked at Eddie and could see that his eyes didn’t look right. They looked like they were seeing things that weren’t there.
“Stay down,” Eddie ordered as he spared him a glance. “Stay down, if you don’t they could kill you,” he added as he started to maneuver Evan behind him, as though he was protecting him from something that only he could see.
“Eddie, Eds, we’re safe, we’re safe. You don’t have to be on guard,” Evan called out, hoping to be able to get through to him.
“Quiet,” he murmured, putting a hand over Evan’s mouth, he did it gently, “We have to be quiet, we don’t want them to find us,” he whispered.
Evan wished he knew what he could do to snap him out of it. He didn’t say anything as Eddie guided them to the counter of the room, where Eddie took point before him. “Eddie,” he murmured, keeping his voice down. “We’re safe, they’re not after us,” he told him.
Eddie glanced over his shoulder, “They are, they’re approaching and you have to remain safe.”
Evan took a chance, “Stand down Diaz,” he commanded, “The enemy has been taken out. You’re safe.”
Eddie looked at him, eyes going wide for a moment as he relaxed. It didn’t take him long to actually realize what had just happened. “What… I-” he cut himself off as he looked around, standing up and glancing around the bedroom. He could see that the covers had been pulled off the bed. They had come off when Evan had been pulled from it. “I-” he said, shaking his head as he backed away from Evan. His back hit the wall and he slid down it with a broken sob.
Evan went toward him, “Eddie,” he called out, his voice gentle. He wanted nothing more than to go over and hold him, but he knew that doing that at the moment would cause Eddie to shut down and retreat. “I’m right here, I’m fine and so are you. Nothing is amis, nothing,” he told him, sitting on the floor before the man as he cried.
“I hurt you?” he gasped out.
“No, no you didn’t. You didn’t hurt me at all,” Evan said, shaking his head and opening his arms so that Eddie could see for himself. “I’m just fine. You protected me, you did.”
“I-” he said, his breathing going a little faster as he began to feel a panic building up.
“Eddie, I need you to listen to me, okay,” Evan told him, “I need you to breathe in for four,” he said, waiting for him to do it, “now hold for four,” he instructed before saying, “Now out for four.” He went through the box method, as it had helped with his own panic attacks when he had them.
Eddie slowly calmed, but there were still tears in his eyes as the panic lessened. “I hurt you.”
“No, Eddie, you didn’t,” he said, as he then asked, “Can I hold your hand? Please.”
Eddie looked at him, his eyes showing fear, as he tentatively reached out. Evan smiled as he took Eddie’s hand and held it. Eddie just looked at it, and then back at Evan.
“I really didn’t hurt you?” he asked, almost pleading with him for an answer that would reassure him he hadn’t.
“No, you didn’t. You were protecting me from the enemy, Eds. That was all you did, was get me out of bed and put me in a place where you could defend us. You’re a protector, someone that protects people, and that was what you were doing,” he rambled a little, hoping he was getting through to him.
Eddie nodded, “I… I need help, Evan,” he said softly.
“And we’ll get you that help,” he promised, as he asked, “Can I hold you?”
Eddie gave a shaky nod before he was held in Evan’s arms. He finally broke and sobbed as he grieved the loss of his career, and let out the emotions he had bottled up over what had happened to him over in the sands of Afghanistan.
XxXxX
Evan had been the one to go with Eddie to his first proper appointment at the VA. Eddie hadn’t wanted to go alone, while Evan wouldn’t be in the session with him, he would be waiting around for him. When Eddie had finished he had come out looking like he had just come back from Afghanistan. He was weary, red-eyed, and looking so tired. He had fallen into Evan’s arms and just remained in them for several minutes before he had allowed Evan to let him go so they could go home.
With a month of twice-weekly sessions, and once a week with a group. Eddie also went out with Tommy a few times as well. The two of them bonded over their time in the service. They also had basketball matches with some of the others from the VA occasionally. Evan wasn’t interested in playing, but he often went with Eddie to watch. Sometimes Lou was there to watch as well, and the two would talk and catch up. An impromptu book club had started when some of the partners of the other players had found out. Crime fiction only had been the key for their little club, and Eddie and Tommy still joked about it, since they sometimes took it to a coffee shop at times.
“Right,” came a voice as someone strode into the room Evan was currently in. “You’re all here because you all want this cert. You want to be a great firefighter and be useful to those that need your help. This course is your intro to high-angle rescues or rope rescues. It’s for those of you that are going to be dangling from a damn rope, with another on the winch, and making sure you don’t fuck it up that you ended up strangling yourself with the damn thing. Now, some of you here will already be firefighters, some will be in the academy, and others waiting for the application to go through,” he finished as he glanced around the room.
“How long is this course?” one of them asked.
“It’s a two-week course. You will learn everything you can about the basics of rope rescue. You will also learn more about high-rise rescues and more. In the books that are on the desks in front of you, you’ll find all the information that you’ll need, that will tell you the things that you will be learning. I will accept no fooling around in this course. You do it at all, and you’re gone, straight out right that second. I will not allow you to put anyone in danger. Treat what you do as though it’s a real-life scenario that you are working,” he answered, “Now, I’m a firefighter and captain, Derek Anslow. I’ve been a firefighter for twenty-five years, and a captain for ten. I’ve been teaching this course for the last five. Now, I want to go around the room and get the breakdown of each of you. Starting with you,” he said as he gestured to the one seated in front of Evan.
Evan listened, as most of them were from the academy, two were already firefighters, and there were two others like him who were applicants. He would get the confirmation or not within the next few days for the May session. It was Evan’s turn to stand up. He did so like the others.
“I’m Evan Buckley, I’m an applicant, waiting to see if I made it in. I have a few degrees, the one most relevant to my current career path is a degree in disaster management. I’m also a former police officer.”
“Former cop, it’s not usual that we get one of your guys in here,” Anslow stated, “What made you make the change?” he asked, “if you don’t mind me asking, and you sharing.”
“No, sir,” Evan said, “I was forced to shoot a suspect when they attacked me in my home during a murder investigation that I was part of. I’m not able to hold a gun any longer,” he admitted, standing tall as he saw the other looking at him.
“I’m sorry for what you’ve had to endure,” Anslow said with a nod.
“Thank you, sir,” he nodded and sat back down as the man began to go over exactly what the course aims were. Evan could feel a few eyes on him, most of them curious ones, a few judgemental, but he knew exactly what could happen should he say what he’d done.
The lecture was over, and they had a short demonstration of the skills that they would be learning through the course. Evan packed up his things as someone stood in his way. “What can I do for you?”
“You really killed someone?” she asked, a frown on her face.
“I did,” he nodded.
“How could you kill someone, that’s just…” she trailed off, a disgusted look on her face.
“Considering the person who had attacked me in my home and was trying to kill me was someone who had attacked and killed several first responders, cops, and firefighters, I had no choice. I fired my weapon as I was bleeding out in my home. I could have easily died that day as well, I hate that I had to kill someone, which is why I’m no longer a cop if you even listened to what I said,” Evan told her, “Anyone else wants to question me about something traumatic?” he asked as he could see that there were a couple more lingering around.
“No,” another classmate said, “I’m Aaron Garren, I worked with William Berry, he was a good friend, and a great firefighter and paramedic. he was there to save lives and he was taken by this bastard that attacked and almost killed Buckley here,” he stated as he looked around the room.
“I work at the 136, where Lucien Kaiser worked,” another spoke up, her eyes a little misty, “He was my best friend and my mentor. He’s the one that taught me to be a firefighter. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone in the fire service around here that feels like you,” she said, “I know I don’t. He killed a good man, one that helped me find my footing. Several firefighters were murdered, and you think that the cop he went after should have just rolled over?” she asked the other woman. They were the only two women in the group of nine.
“Well, I-” she began and then cut herself off, “just killing is wrong, in any form.”
“You’re going to come across all kinds in this work,” another said, shaking his head, “You’re going to have to help true killers, criminals, and even those that you wouldn’t ever want to go near. You’re an applicant at the moment, you currently have no idea what this job is going to be like. We’re not the ones who will be judging those we come across. And we do come across assholes that we wouldn’t normally go near.”
“Like someone who decided it was great to drink and drive, cause a pile-up, and kill six or seven people, and you still have to rescue them, help them, and treat them. You’re not the one that will be judging them, that’s up to the courts in the end,” someone else said, shaking his head.
The woman stared at them all, “I have morals.”
“Then you’re in the wrong job, your morals won’t be worth shit when you have to get down in the dirt and help the scumbags of the city,” Anslow said from behind her.
“Sir,” she said, jumping a little, “but-”
“No buts here, Miss Felicity,” he said, “morals are all well and good, but all that has to be put aside for you to do the job of saving lives, any life that needs saving, you’re going to be there for. Now, if you can’t put them aside to do the job, then you might be thinking about the wrong career move for you.”
She huffed a little but said nothing as she left. The others nodded at Anslow as he left the room again.
“Thank you, for what you did with Owlsen,” Garren added, patting Evan on the shoulder, “Doesn’t really mean much with what you had to go through, but thank you for finding Will’s killer.”
“Same from me. Oh, I’m Tina,” she smiled, “Luc meant a lot to me, not romantically, but he was a great friend and mentor. I miss him a lot, and so do the rest of our shift. To know the guy was found and killed, it… eased something for the rest of us,” she nodded and smiled at him again before they left.
Evan watched them go, he could vaguely recall meeting them when they went over the statements that had been given for the last time each victim had been looked through. He finished packing his things and headed home. He didn’t really expect to bump into any of the victim’s friends and co-workers at this course. He expected to come across them at some point after he began as a firefighter, but not before.
Chapter Seven
Eddie sat in the consultant’s office. He was supposed to have a scan on his shoulder in January, but it had been canceled and he’d had to rebook it. Now, he had finally had it done a few days before and the results were in. He’d been called for an appointment to go over what was going on.”
The doctor had the image in front of him, “So,” he said, “As you can see your shoulder is healing well. But we found this,” he said, pointing to something that was solid in the image. “This, we believe is a bullet fragment,” he added, “It’s lodged between the joint, which is what has been causing you the pain and stopping you from having full movement. It’s going to have to be removed. We can get to it, but it will mean you’re going to have to go through physio for it again. We’re basically going to be forcing a partial dislocation to get to it. Leaving it isn’t an option, it will just continue to cause pain and more damage until you’ll be unable to use your arm at all.”
“So… how come this wasn’t seen straight away?” Eddie asked as he took hold of Evan’s hand.
“From previous scans, it wasn’t near the joint at first. It’s slowly moved there. I would say that it moved in during a heavy session of PT, some months ago. The damage that it’s caused is minimal at the moment, but if you leave it, the more damage it’s going to do as it continues to work itself inside the joint. I’m going to see about getting you on the surgery schedule as soon as I can, it still might take a month. Between then and now, I’m going to see about immobilizing your arm. More movement from you will cause more movement for the fragment.”
“Right,” Eddie said with a slow nod, “Will there be a full recovery? No problems?” he asked.
“If the damage repairs itself, then yes, it will be a full recovery without any problems. As soon as the fragment is out and healing has started, we should have a better idea. But I believe it’s possible, and highly likely,” he answered him, “Are there any more questions?” he asked.
Eddie had a couple more before he finally asked, “How long will it take for me to get a date for the surgery?”
“I’ll be looking at that sometime this week, and a letter will be sent out to you with the information of time and date. if it’s not suitable, get in touch straight away, and we can rebook. Are there any dates that can’t be done?” he asked.
Eddie rattled over a few dates that had birthdays and outings already planned for.
The doctor nodded, “Right, I’ve marked those down, and we should be able to schedule the surgery around them,” he said, “there is no need for you to be in any pain while trying to enjoy yourself, or to be nervous about the op the next day,” he smiled a little.
The two men stood up as they were dismissed and said goodbye, happy that they finally found out what was causing the pain in Eddie’s shoulder. One more operation and Eddie should finally be able to recover fully.
XxXxX
Christopher looked at his dad, “Daddy, can I finally have crutches now?” he asked, they were at Christopher’s usual therapy appointment, to help him with his balance and walking.
“Well, let’s see what Miss Mimi says and then we’ll talk,” he told him. Eddie’s arm was in an immobilizing sling, he hadn’t even been able to drive himself. Evan had to drop them off while he went to run a few errands.
“Okay,” he said as they were called in.
Mimi Dawson smiled at one of her favorite clients, “Chris, good to see you again, buddy,” she greeted him, a wide smile on her face. “So, how are you doing? Still doing your stretches at home?” she asked him.
“Yeah, Papá joins in now as well. He does a lot of things. He’s going to be a firefighter now. He was a policeman,” Christopher told her as he was taken over to the mats.
Mimi got him to go through his stretches and then added a few more that he could start doing. Eddie was sitting at the sidelines watching him. He was put on a balance board, Mimi was there to help him. Christopher was doing really well, even though Evan and Eddie were seeing periods where Christopher complained of pain. They had already set up an appointment to see what was going on with the little boy. Both of them knew that this might mean another operation. They had a feeling that one would be coming, they had been told to expect it after all. They had just hoped he wouldn’t need one for another couple of years yet. He had only just turned five.
When the session was over Christopher lay on the mats and huffed as Mimi smiled down at him before going over to Eddie. “Hey, Eddie,” she smiled, “you look like you’re in a bit of a jam,” she said as he gestured to the sling.
“Fragment is stuck in the joint, gotta have an operation to get rid of it and then maybe a full recovery,” he explained quickly. “So how is Chris doing?” he asked.
“Really well. He’s got good balance, and as you saw, I’ve been trying him out occasionally with crutches, to see if he could move to them,” she answered him, smiling.
“Can he? He was asking about it earlier,” Eddie asked, “He’s been talking about it for a while, and asking me each time he comes here, and often when he gets up in the morning and has to use his trainer, he asks.”
“I think we do one more session and then yeah, the transition from trainer to crutches should easily be done,” Mimi nodded as the two looked back at Christopher. “Let me just grab some information about the transition that we do here from trainer to crutches. It will explain it and help you prepare yourself and the family as well as Christopher for it,” she finished. Eddie nodded as she went to get something before coming back and handing over a packet of information for him.
“Thank you,” he said, smiling at her as Christopher huffed again.
“That was so tiring Daddy,” Christopher said as he rolled over onto his stomach and looked at his dad and Mimi. “We need ice cream now.”
“We’ll see what Papá says,” Eddie said, “but I vote for ice cream as well.”
“Two against one,” Christopher cheered.
“Doesn’t mean it’s a yes!” Eddie called out as Mimi went to help the five-year-old from his place on the ground.
“Does Daddy, Papá is outvoted,” Christopher said as he stood up again, and with a little help in balancing until he was with his gait trainer again.
“Fine, we’ll see what he says,” Eddie snorted as Christopher grinned up at him as he made his way over.
“So tired, Daddy, it’s hard work,” he said as he stood before him. “We need ice cream to refuel,” he nodded.
“Okay, I get it, your Papá isn’t going to have a choice at this rate,” he murmured, “Thanks Mimi, and I’ll tell him about the crutches,” he added.
“I’m getting them!” Christopher yelled out as he overheard.
“Not yet,” Mimi told him, “your dad can explain what’s going to happen,” she told him, tapping him on the nose.
Christopher giggled as he went crossed-eyed. “Kay,” he giggled as he then looked at his dad, “When is Papá coming?” he asked.
“He should be waiting outside for us,” Eddie said as he glanced at his phone, seeing that Evan had just arrived in the parking lot.
“Okay,” he nodded as he began to lead the way out of the physio room.
“Thanks again, Mimi, and I’ll book him his next appointment before we go,” Eddie said as he got up and followed his son outside. Quickly booking Christopher’s next session with Mimi, he smiled as he saw Evan waiting by the new truck they had gotten a couple of days ago. It was easier for Christopher to have a little more independence in getting in and out. There were little steps that he could use along with a handle that he was able to grab onto.
“Hey,” Evan said as he waved to the two.
“Papá!” Christopher yelled out excited to see him. He rushed towards him.
Evan was quick on the mark to make sure that he didn’t step into the parking lot itself. “Buddy, we told you about doing that. You have to stay on the path, not going into the parking lot unless one of us is with you and guiding you. There are silly drivers around sometimes and I don’t want you getting hurt,” he reminded him. It was a conversation that they had a few times since Christopher was getting a little more independent and didn’t want to be controlled too much on where he was and wasn’t able to go.
“Sorry, Papá, sorry Daddy,” he said as he looked at them both, a little pout on his face.
“We love you so much, that’s why we tell you these things because we never want to see you in pain, even though we know it happens because of the CP,” Eddie said as he rested his good hand on his son’s head, “Now, why don’t you tell Papá all about your fueling idea.”
“Oh, yeah!” Christopher was soon grinning again as he turned to Evan. “Papá, I worked really hard, can we have ice cream? I need fuel now.”
“Well,” Evan said as he glanced at Eddie.
“I said we could have some ice cream, as I’d like some myself,” Eddie said before Evan could say no.
Evan rolled his eyes, “Push over,” he told his boyfriend. The man had been giving into his son a lot over the time he had been home. It had been just over a year since he had been shot down, a year since he had come home for good. He wasn’t fully healed because of the damn fragment that had moved and lodged itself in his shoulder joint. “Well, how about we have dinner and dessert out then?” he suggested. “You can have ice cream after dinner, and so can Dad,” he added as he looked at the two of them.
Christopher hummed before nodding once, “Okay, that’s aregable,” he nodded grinning.
“Agreeable,” Evan corrected gently, “well done on the word choice,” he smiled at him, “Then let’s go, I know just the place,” he grinned as he led the way to the truck.
“A-gree-able,” Christopher pronounced carefully, as they walked to the truck. “I need more words, Papá.”
“We’ll do some reading together tonight, but first, dinner, ice cream, and a movie before bed,” Evan told him as they reached the truck.
Eddie watched as Evan was easily able to get Christopher into the truck, letting the five-year-old do most of it himself. “He’s growing up too fast,” Eddie said as he began to head to the passenger door.
“I know, it seemed like only yesterday you were telling me that I was going to be his godfather,” he murmured, looking at the kid in the truck. “Come on, let’s go and get something to eat. We’re going to have a mutinous kid on our hands otherwise, especially if he and his dad don’t get their ice cream,” he added with a smile on his face.
Eddie laughed and nodded, “Yes, ice cream is needed, us Diazes worked hard today,” he grinned as he got in. He buckled up and watched as Evan did the same. “Right, food!”
Christopher cheered, “Yay, food then all the ice cream!”
“All the ice cream!” Eddie joined in with the cheer.
Evan laughed as he started up the truck and pulled out of the parking lot. Music began to play, the playlist one that had been made for Christopher to sing along to, though soon enough, all three were doing so as they headed for Christopher’s favorite soft play restaurant.
Chapter Eight
Evan watched as Christopher went around the room on his crutches. They had told him that he would still need to use the gait trainer when he gets really tired, as it was going to be harder to use crutches all the time. But two days in, Christopher was refusing to rest or go near his trainer at all. Eddie and Evan understood, Christopher had gained a little freedom and didn’t want to lose it. Evan shook his head as Eddie tried to bribe his son to take it easy for a bit. They could both see that Christopher was tired. He went to read the email that he’d just received and smiled.
“Daddy, no, not tired,” Christopher yelled out as he was picked up. His crutches clattering to the floor.
Eddie had taken his sling off for a few moments, and finally had enough of Christopher rushing around and not sitting down, that he had momentarily forgotten that he wasn’t supposed to pick Christopher up with his arm at that moment in time. “Don’t care what you say, you’re aching, and you’re wincing in pain. So I know you’ve been using them too long. Now, if you don’t stop this and start paying attention to the hurt your body is telling you because it’s being pushed too much, then you’re going back to the gait trainer. I know you want to use them all the time,” Eddie began as he held Christopher in his arms.
Christopher struggled, trying to be put back down, “Down, Daddy!” he yelled in his face, getting frustrated.
“No,” Eddie told him, “Now I would love to put you down, so you can play, but I need to check you over and make sure you’ve not done damage to yourself. If you have, then you’ll not be able to use the crutches for a while. I’m not doing this to be mean, Chris,” he said, hating that he was taking Christopher’s freedom away from him.
“Then why, Daddy!” he yelled out, “I want to play and go around everywhere.”
Evan got up and went over, putting a hand on Christopher’s back, “Eddie,” he said to his boyfriend, who he could see was in pain, “Let me,” he said.
Eddie nodded tightly as he handed the struggling child over. He held his shoulder as he moved away.
“Daddy?” Christopher said, eyes going wide as he now saw the pain on his dad’s face.
“It’s fine, mijo,” Eddie said as he gave him a grimacing smile.
“Chris,” Evan said, getting the five-year-old’s attention, “I need you to listen carefully,” he told him.
Christopher looked at him and nodded, “Okay, Papá,” he said, glancing back at Eddie a few times.
“Okay, now, Miss Mimi told you that you should only use the crutches a couple of times a day, and slowly build up muscle for them. We let you have your freedom yesterday, but that ends today. You’re now going to listen to what Miss Mimi, me and your dad have been telling you. Are your arms sore?” he asked.
Christopher bit his lip as he looked down and nodded. “Yeah,” he admitted slowly.
“That’s because you pushed yourself too hard, and you need to listen to your body. It’s telling you that you did something silly. Like your dad’s body is telling him he did something silly,” he said as he looked at Eddie to see how he was doing.
“I’m okay,” Eddie murmured, rubbing his shoulder, but going over to where his immobilizing sling was and picking it up, “Help me put it back on in a moment?” he asked,
“I will,” Evan smiled at him before turning his attention back to Christopher, “Now, from now on, you’re going to be allowed to use your crutches for an hour a day, the rest of the time will be your gait trainer, every two or three days the amount of time you can use them will go up. But as soon as you get sore and your arms hurt, tell us. You need to rest and get used to it. Even after using them for years, you’ll still get tired, and when you do, you’ll know better how to rest and what to do to ease the ache you’ll get.
“Okay, Papá,” he said, “I’m sorry Daddy, I wasn’t listening to my body, or anyone. I just wanted to have fun.”
“I know you do, mijo, we all know that, but you have to do it all in moderation, or it could cause you harm; and that I really don’t want that to happen,” Eddie said as he moved over to them.
Christopher nodded as he was finally set down with his gait trainer. Evan picked up his crutches and put them to one side, not away like Christopher had thought they would be put. But somewhere where he could see them.
“Right, let’s get you sorted,” Evan said as he helped Eddie on with the sling, being careful of the arm that was now throbbing in pain.
“Thanks,” Eddie said as soon as his arm was in the sling. It was going to be hurting for a while, he knew that. He sat down and Evan went into the kitchen and came back with a cold pack. “Thanks,” he repeated, smiling and wincing as it was placed on his shoulder. There was a heat pack that was placed beside him so he could switch out when it was time.
“There,” Evan said as Christopher went over to them and climbed on the couch, sitting on Eddie’s good side and curling against him.
“You seem a little happy,” Eddie said, looking at his boyfriend.
Evan smiled, “I got the email from the LAFD, I was accepted into the short course. I start in May and by September I should be working at a station as a brand new probie.”
“That’s great news,” Eddie smiled as the man sat down, “I’m happy for you.”
“Same, but… I know you’re feeling like bottom-end stuff,” Evan said carefully.
Christopher giggled, “You can say poo, Papá, cus I feel like poo too,” he said with a wise nod of his head.
“Well, I feel like poo,” Eddie admitted with a nod, “but I’m feeling better every minute because I have my two favorite people cuddled up to me,” he said as he placed a kiss on Christopher’s head and then one to Evan’s lips.
“Yeah, always nice,” Evan admitted as he curled up close, but protectively around Eddie’s arm.
XxXxX
Coco walked up to Evan as he sat beside Eddie’s bed. His operation had gone smoothly and the bullet fragment was finally out. It was going to be a couple of weeks in a sling to make sure the arm healed, before the physio would start to return full movement to the arm and joint. But the next step in Eddie’s recovery was finally starting.
“How are you doing?” she asked as she ran a hand over his head.
“I’m doing okay, he woke up for a bit but went back to sleep. Chris is with Shannon. I heard that Eric did really well with his clinical rotation. I know he’s been applying for residency, I think,” he said, frowning a little as he wondered if he got it right.
“Yeah, his third year went great for his rotations, doing really well on that. And for residency, well, he has his Match Day in a couple of days. We’re going to be there when they open the envelopes to find out where he’s going to be spending the next several years. I need to pass on your invitation,” she told him, “I said you would be coming, I hope you don’t mind. If you can’t, then don’t worry.”
“Go,” Eddie mumbled from the bed, eyes barely open, “He’s been your best friend for years, he deserves your support, just like he’s done for you,” he added.
“I’ll be going, tell me the time, place, and date and I’ll be there,” Evan nodded in agreement.
“I’ll tell him, he was supposed to talk to you about it, but I think he pushed it aside so that you could be with Eddie. He got an extra ticket for Shannon as well. And that was something unexpected,” Coco snorted.
Evan grinned, “To you, maybe, but I kinda figured something would happen when they first met a couple of years ago
“Hey, Eddie, how are you feeling?” Coco asked him, resting a hand on Evan’s shoulder as she looked at the prone man.
“Doing okay, wondering how long it will be before I can go home,” he murmured, “Hate being in hospitals.”
“Don’t think anyone enjoys being in them,” Coco smiled, “No doubt Kayla will be up soon to check you over, she’ll be able to give you a good time for when you’re let loose,” she added with a laugh.
“That would be awesome,” Eddie smiled back, “How is Chris?”
“He’s doing fine, Shannon and Eric have taken him to the park. Carla’s going to be taking him to his appointment later on, so he won’t be missing it. Shannon would have done, but Eric has tickets to that play that Shannon has been dying to see for the last several months,” Evan smiled as he turned his attention back to Eddie, “So, how are you feeling? Any pain?” He knew that Coco had asked the same, but he wanted to know about Eddie’s pain levels.
“It’s fine, no pain that I can tell. They got me on the good stuff,” he reassured his boyfriend.
“Alright,” he said when he saw the raised eyebrow.
Coco smiled at the two, “I need to go, I’ve got rounds starting soon,” she said, “Rest up Eddie, no doubt that kid of yours is going to be vying for your attention as soon as you go home.”
“I will, and no doubt,” he yawned.
“Get some sleep,” Evan said, “I’ve got a bit of reading to do, so I’ll do that while you rest,” he told him.
“Okay,” Eddie sighed as he settled down in the bed again and let himself drift as Evan pulled out a book and began to read. Coco smiled at the two of them, giving Evan a quick hug, before leaving the room and going to do her rounds.
XxXxX
A few days later Evan sat beside Shannon and Eric’s parents as it was Eric’s turn to stand at the podium. Behind him was his name and his first photo ID from med school. It wasn’t a good photo, he looked half asleep in it. But the man that now stood at the podium, was four years older and about to step out into his field of choice. He had told no one what he wanted to do, not even where or on what he had applied for.
Eric held the letter and he looked at it, before looking at the crowd and spotting his parents, best friend and girlfriend sitting there. He opened it, hands shaking as he said, “I… I matched with my number one. I’m staying here and going to Cedars-Sinai for Neurosurgery.” His grin was massive as he looked at his parents.
Coco jumped up from her seat, cheering and clapping, Darren doing much the same. Evan and Shannon laughed and cheered, clapping as loudly as they could. There were some more after Eric, but as soon as they were able to, they rushed to find the young man.
“I’m so proud of you, baby,” Coco said as she hugged him tightly.
“Mom,” he said as he hugged her just as tightly, “I did it, seven years at Cedars, it’s honestly a dream come true, Mom, I feel like it isn’t real.”
“Not a dream, son,” Darren said, joining in on the hug.
“Congrats,” Evan said, patting him on the back, “I knew you’d get your top choice.”
Eric grinned at him, “I… yeah,” he smiled, as his parents let him go and the two best friends hugged, “You always did believe in me. When I thought I was going to fail, you were there pushing me to keep going, to study”
“Of course, I know how smart you are,” Evan snorted.
“Shannon,” Eric said as he let Evan go and turned to his girlfriend.
“Wow, Neurosurgery?” she said, shaking her head, “My accounting job doesn’t seem much beside that,” she laughed lightly.
“You’re more than you think, especially to me,” Eric told her, bringing her in for a kiss.
“Come on, dinner, all of us,” Darren said, proudly. “We’ll pick up Eddie and Chris if they’re up for it?” he asked as he looked at Evan.
“They will be,” Evan said.
“What about Phillip? I know he’s with them both at the moment,” Eric asked, “We should bring him as well, he’s the one that talked me into at least trying for Cedars Neurology,” he added.
“Him too,” Darren said, “let’s go,” he said as Eric talked to a few people as they headed out. Most of the other families were doing the same thing, going off to celebrate.
Chapter Nine
Evan ran down the beach and into the water. It had been a long time since he’d been at the beach. Christopher was already in the water with Eric and Shannon. Eddie remained on the beach, under an umbrella to keep the sun away. It had been two weeks since his surgery and he was doing a lot better. His wound was healing nicely, but he hadn’t wanted to go swimming at all, just happy to be on the beach and catch up on some reading. Tommy and Lou would be joining them in about half an hour; they were caught up in some traffic and were going to be late.
Evan swam underneath the gentle waves and surfaced grabbing Christopher and tossing him into the air.
“Papá!” Christopher laughed and giggled as he was easily caught by Evan and held tightly. “You joined in,” he grinned, “Eric is teaching me to swim.”
“That’s awesome buddy, he’s a great teacher,” he said, “He just doesn’t know how to teach me how to ice skate,” he pretended to grumble.
“Silly, Papá, you need a penguin,” he stated, “They are awesome and I can skate, Eric took me,” he grinned, as he patted Evan’s cheek.
“Well, at least he’s a good teacher for you. I always fall,” Evan huffed.
Christopher giggled and wiggled in his arms. Evan had a little trouble keeping hold of him. “My what a slippery creature you are,” Evan joked as he let Christopher back into the water.
Christopher giggled as he splashed about, his feet easily finding the sand below him, it was barely up to his chest on the five-year-old, but it was still deep enough that one slip and he was going to go under. Eric and Shannon were close by, and he also had his floaties on. Shannon went over to her son and Eric went as well.
“Go and get some swimming in,” Eric told him, “I know you enjoy that,” he added.
Evan nodded and headed further out. He usually went swimming with Lou, Mathew, and others from the running group he had met years ago. The group was still going strong, and Evan enjoyed meeting with them and catching up. They had helped him even out after his attack as much as being around Tommy and Lou had. He began his swim, keeping an eye on Shannon, Eric, and Christopher, unable to completely relax with the three of them in the water. He swam a little more before he headed back to the beach. The three were out of the water and Tommy and Lou were now there.
Their beach picnic had finally been set up.
“Enjoy yourself?” Shannon asked as he grabbed a towel to dry off a little.
“Yeah,” he smiled at her, “It’s nice to be able to just go all out like that,” he told her as he dried off a little, he knew the sun would take care of the rest of the water. It was a rather warm day, even after the dip in the ocean.
“We should head out a little more,” Tommy said, “It’s good to swim out there, and surf too,” he grinned.
Evan laughed, “Yeah, been a while since we’ve gone surfing. I know you’ve missed a few swimming sessions with the group,” he added as he glanced over at Tommy. The firefighter had joined them in the group a few months ago, when his relationship with Lou started taking a more serious tone.
“We have another new captain, so scheduling is all over the place. He can’t decide who is on and when they are on,” he rolled his eyes, “They’re on the lookout for someone that will take over, but well…” he shrugged, “so far, we’re on captain number three. Looks like number four will be up at bat around May. ”
“They still haven’t got someone? I know you had someone new in October last year, Hen mentioned it.”
“Yeah, that one retired at the end of the year, number two lasted all of a month before number three came in, and he’s now retiring at the end of April. So new one in May. Oh, that reminds me, application?” he asked, glancing up at Evan as the man went to the mat that Eddie was on and sat on it with him.
Evan glanced back at Tommy, “I got in, short program,” he grinned, “Start in May.”
“That’s great, I would like to see about talking with my captain about bringing you in as a probie, but with the parade going on at the moment, I don’t think it’s a good idea at the moment. At least not until we have a stable captain,” Tommy said as he settled beside Lou.
Lou looked up from dishing out food and asked, “Is it really that bad at the 118 at the moment?”
“Yeah,” Tommy nodded, “we’ve had three captains since Gerrard was fired from the 118. Each of them has their own way of running a station, and not always gelling with the firefighters that are there. Also, this one hasn’t taken the time to learn names or even what each of us can do. He let Chimney do something he has no idea how to do; we ended up having to rescue him and the victim.”
“Damn, why didn’t Chimney say anything about it?” he asked.
“Chimney is a bit of a glory hound. He wants the fun of the exciting rescue, but he can’t be bothered to get the certs for it, even though I told him he should do it. He just thinks that because he’s been there a while and watched others do it, he should just be able to do everything,” Tommy rolled his eyes.
“That’s stupid,” Eddie snipped a little, “Like, really, he thought he could do it by watching others?” he asked, shaking his head, “That’s like saying I could do brain surgery after watching a video online.”
“I wish it was that easy,” Eric laughed, “I wouldn’t have to spend the next seven years in residency,” he added.
Eddie and Tommy looked at him and then laughed, “Yeah, you would love that shortcut. How long for all the med-school so far?”
“Six years and with my residency it’s another seven,” Eric told him, “This is the long haul. It’s a good thing that Dad’s always been good with investments, and Phillip has been helping bulk things up as well, or I’d be in debt for the next thousand years.”
“I think most are in debt when it comes to college and uni,” Buck stated, “I know I’ve got funds, I’ve been lucky with that,” he said.”
“Not many are,” Lou added, “I know I’m still paying things off.”
“Don’t even think it,” Eric and Lou then said as they both noticed the look on Evan’s face.
“What, if I can make sure that my friends, that those I’m closest to, could be debt free, why can’t I?” he complained.
“Because we’re doing fine, thank you,” Eric told him, smiling at his best friend, “I knew I was going to be in debt up to my eyeballs when I chose what I wanted to do with my life.”
“And I’m doing well, thanks,” Lou said, “most of mine are paid off now.”
“Then I can pay the last bit?” Evan said, looking a little hopeful that he could.
“No,” Lou said, shaking his head and smiling at his friend, “Evan, really, I’m good, we all are,” he added, “but thank you.”
“I found a seashell,” Christopher giggled as he held it out, “Here, have a seashell, Daddy,” he said.
“Thank you, Chris,” he smiled, taking the pretty shell, and putting it away to take home.
“And Lou’s right,” Eric began, “Thank you, for thinking of us like that, but we’re truly fine.”
Evan huffed and pouted as Lou started to hand out the plates of food he and Eric had done up and they began to enjoy a little time on the beach.
XxXxX
Evan turned around, letting his boyfriend and Christopher see him in the uniform he would be wearing for the academy. He felt a thrill of excitement going through him at the thought. April had come and gone quickly, mostly in a whirlwind of appointments for Eddie. Physiotherapy was going really well for him, along with the joint and solo therapy he was doing. He was also attending a vet’s group with Tommy at least once a week. Just for a couple of hours, and Eddie was looking happier and happier with each passing week.
“Looking good, Papá,” Christopher grinned, giving him two thumbs up.
“Yeah, very good,” Eddie said with a little leer on his face.
“Down,” Evan winked toward him, “I can’t believe I start today,” he said as he joined his family at the breakfast table. Toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs were already laid out. Eddie brought over the plate of pancakes he had finished and dished a couple out to Christopher. Evan reached over and got the syrup and poured a bit on them, knowing that if Christopher did it, they would be swimming in syrup.
“I know, I’m happy you’re going to be doing something that you’ll enjoy again,” Eddie said, “I know you’ve been a little bored at home since you finished your university classwork.”
“Yeah, what about you? Your arm is getting better, are you thinking about doing anything else?” Evan asked him, he knew that working at Pepa’s firm was alright for now, which he was still doing, but the man wasn’t going to be doing that for the rest of his life.
“I was actually thinking, when I’m back to my usual, about joining you and being a firefighter. I’ve been looking at the things that you’ve been doing and I think I want to try that. As soon as I get the all-clear, I’m going to do a couple of the certs that are on offer, then I’ll send in an application. I don’t want to end up as a paramedic though. I know that people will think that would be what I’d want to do, what with being a combat medic, but…” he trailed off shaking his head.
“Trauma,” Evan said quietly as Christopher started humming as he ate his pancakes.
“Yeah, what I had to do, and what I saw out there, I don’t want to have my mind associated with it again,” Eddie added quietly, “It’s one thing I’ve been talking about in therapy, which is helping a lot.”
“I know, you’ve not had many nightmares, at least not that have been waking me up,” Evan said, “But if you have any, do wake me. I’d rather be with you than for you to be alone,” he said softly.
“I will,” he promised, “So, you’re excited for your first day I take it?” he said changing the subject.
“Of course I am,” Evan smiled, “I’m gonna be working hard and I’ll become a firefighter,” he nodded, grinning as Christopher hummed. “You are going to have such a crash later.”
“That’s for later, Papá,” he told them, “Papá, Daddy. Mommy’s with Eric, can I call him something else, like I call Papá, Papá, and Daddy, Daddy,” he asked.
“Well,” Eddie said as he looked at Evan, “We can always see if Poppa is okay?” he suggested.
“I think Eric would like that,” Evan smiled.
“My family is so big, I have three daddies and one mommy,” Christopher grinned as he wiggled in his chair.
“You do,” Evan grinned as he ruffled his hair, “You looking forward to school today?” he asked.
“Hmm,” Christopher nodded, and then grinned, “We’re reading today, and then water play,” he told him.
“Right, I’ll make sure to put extra clothes in your bag then,” Eddie said, not knowing about water play.
“Good idea Daddy,” Christopher grinned.
“Yeah,” Eddie smiled as they ate breakfast before getting ready to head off. Evan kissed Eddie and then Christopher’s cheek when the little boy pouted at him.
“I’ll see you when I get home, love you both!” Evan called out as he got in his car and headed out.
Eddie snorted as he got Christopher in the truck and went to take him to pre-school.
Chapter Ten
Evan grinned as Eric tackled him. “This is getting to be a habit,” he laughed, and he just swung his friend around before setting him down.
“Damn, am I just a kid to you?!” Eric laughed as he was back on his feet. He was still annoyed that Evan was so tall compared to him.
Evan patted his head condescendingly. “Yeah, you’re tiny. At one point, I thought you could be Christopher’s best friend and not mine,” he joked.
“Ouch,” Eric snorted, shaking his head.
“Need the aloe?” Shannon asked him as she walked over, “Congratulations, Evan,” she smiled as she hugged the man.
“Yeah,” Eric smiled as he added, “Can’t believe it, first a cop and now a firefighter, what next?”
“This is it, this is the last time, it has to be,” Evan said, “Knock on wood,” he added, knocking on his head a few times. Eric reached up and did the same.
“You’re smart enough for anything, so,” he shrugged, “But yeah, I think this is more you, than being a cop was. I think you were good at it, but you like helping people more than it allowed.”
Evan nodded, “Yeah, that’s what I liked about being a cop. Helping the community, and keeping them safe. it’s what I liked about that job, and this, I can do the same,” he said.
“PAPA!” Christopher yelled out as he finally reached them.
Evan smiled and swung him up into the air. His crutches clatter to the ground. Eddie snorted as he picked them up. Eddie was whole and healthy finally. He’d had his last check-up the week before, his arm and shoulder joint were fully healed. It had been a hard few months for them, but Eddie had come out of it stronger than before and was now looking forward to starting the next part of his life, that as a civilian and with what he was hoping to do in the future, as a firefighter.
“Congrats,” Eddie said as he reached him, kissing him, “Do you know what station you’re going to be going to?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Evan smiled as he settled Christopher on his hip, “I’m headed to station 107, it’s a light force station, so one ladder and one triple,” he said, “I’ll be taking a slot on the triple they said, though I’ll run with the ladder at times,” he added, “The captain is Al Parker, his accent threw me the first time I talked with him. He’s British. Came over here about thirty years ago. I thought he would’ve lost the accent, but he’s kept it. He’s good and friendly from what I get from him. He’s given me a few tips and tricks about what I should do and learn the first few shifts. He’s given me a bit of an overview of how my first shift will go as well. So, all good I think.”
“Take to heart what he tells you then,” Eric said, “He sounds like a good one.”
“Yeah, he does,” Eddie agreed, smiling at Evan.
“Dinner is on me,” Phillip said as he was with Darren and Coco, standing to the side as the younger crowd celebrated.
“Yay!” Christopher yelled out as he wiggled to get down. He took his crutches and headed to Phillip, “Grandpa, Papá is a firefighter now!” he called out.
“Almost, buddie,” Evan said he and the others followed Christopher as he made his slow way over to Phillip and the others.
Phillip hugged his son as soon as he reached them, “Congratulations, Evan, I’m so proud of you,” he smiled as he let him go. “You’re a good man, and I am so proud,” he repeated, going in for another hug, “I think even Daniel would be impressed and proud of you.”
Evan smiled, “Thanks, Dad,” he said as he was then hugged by Darren.
“I told you you’d find something else,” he said, reminding them of the conversation they had while Evan had still been in the hospital recovering from his attack. “I knew you would find your way again, you might have been a little lost, but you’re okay.”
“Thanks, for everything and for talking to me and calming me down on what I should do next,” he smiled at the man, before going in for a second hug.
“Proud of you,” Darren murmured, before letting him go fully so his wife could hug the young man as well.
“My nieto,” Isabel smiled as she went over to him, “Look at you,” she said as she looked him up and down, “Such a proud young man,” she laughed as she hugged him tightly, “You make us all so proud.”
“That you do,” Edmundo added, patting him on the shoulder as he stood by his wife.
The large group headed out of the academy as soon as Evan had changed. Christopher chatted excitedly about having a firefighter Papá, and how he was going to be the most awesome kid at school. His first day was going to be the next day.
XxXxX
Eddie and Evan were nervous, Shannon was watching them with an amused smile on their face. Today was Christopher’s first day of school. He was finally starting elementary school and the five-year-old was so excited, he wanted nothing more than to be in class already. He loved to learn, and he was already reading and writing, as well as doing some simple maths. He was making all of his parents so proud of him.
There was going to be a special assembly with the new students and their parents to introduce the students and parents to the teachers who would be teaching them. The rest of the school students wouldn’t arrive until noon, giving time for the students to be shown around the school, to what classrooms they were to go to. It was a chance for them to learn things before the rest of the students were bustling around them.
Durand was a private school and ran things a little differently from most of the public schools. It also catered to those with special needs, physically and mentally. It had been their top choice, with smaller classes. They had also been given leave to have as many people with Christopher on the first day as they thought they needed. “Right,” Eddie said, “We’re in the auditorium,” he said as he led the way, looking at the map that had been given to him. Carla was with them as well, since she would be going with Christopher three times a week to the school and attending with him. It was one of the things they had liked.
“Yes,” Evan said as he looked at Christopher, “Right, Chris,” he murmured as he looked at the five year old.
“Come on, Papá, Mommy, Daddy, Miss Carla,” he grinned as he began to lead the way, though he’d taken the map from his dad to make sure he would be able to find it.
“He’s been playing those games again,” Eddie muttered, remembering the games that Christopher liked to play on the consoles they had, they often had maps and places they had to get to by reading them.
“It’s a life skill he should always have,” Evan said with a firm nod, “They can teach a lot, and not just about violence either,” he added as he saw the look Eddie was giving him.
“Age-appropriate games only,” Shannon huffed from the back.
“They are,” Evan added, “I’ve made sure of that.”
They went quiet as Christopher led the way, other parents and children were heading inside as well. “Found it!” he called out as he pointed to the doorway.
“Well done,” Eddie grinned as they entered the room and found their seats, they were all named, including those that had come. They had to write down all the names of those attending the meeting on the first day with the intake paperwork, including a list of those who were allowed to come and pick them up. Photo IDs had to be brought along with them to make sure that they were who they said they were. Soon enough the last of the students and parents were seated.
“Welcome to orientation,” the principal said as she stood up at the podium. “My name is Principal Summers, I started this school twenty years ago. I promised that I would help all those who came into these classrooms find out who they are. To help them in any way I could to ensure they can fly high. A disability isn’t an inability, but a different ability. It means we find another way of doing something. Myself and the teachers here and are here to teach you and everyone how to be the best version of you possible.”
There was a smattering of clapping.
“Now, there are three teachers that are the homeroom teachers for our new students,” she said as she began to introduce the three teachers. Christopher’s teacher was Mr Ethan Walker. A middle-aged man with a smile on his face as he was introduced. He gave a silly little wave at the kids that had them giggling. They listened as more was told about the school before they were sent off into groups with one of the other teachers to be shown around. A group of five students and their parents or guardians.
“I’m Miss Flores,” she said as she smiled at the group, “Please, we’re going to go to the classroom that you have been assigned to first, now before you think that we will be crowded with the other groups, we have a system already in place to make sure that there aren’t many people around,” she smiled.
“Is this going to be the homeroom for our daughter?” one of the parents asked.
“It will be,” she nodded, “Mr Walker is a good teacher,” she smiled as she stood in the middle of the classroom.
The group went around the school, letting themselves get familiar with it. The five children were happily talking together by the end of it and Shannon had been talking to one of the mothers, while Carla was speaking to another. Eddie had been glued to Evan’s side for most of it as he talked to some of the fathers. Eddie smiled at Evan and nodded as he went toward Christopher, “Well, Chris,” he said as he looked at his son, “I think this school is gonna be great.”
“Yeah,” Christopher grinned, “I have friends already Daddy,” he said, bouncing a little where he stood, excited for the rest of the day. “Are you, Mommy and Papá going to pick me up?” he asked.
“That’s awesome, and Papá and I are going to pick you up, as Mommy has to go to a boring meeting,” Eddie said, making a face.
“Poor Mommy,” Christopher pouted.
“I know,” he said smiling, ruffling his son’s hair before the little boy huffed at him and called out for his papá to come and straighten it again.
Eddie laughed as Evan came over and fussed. He shook his head as he stepped back. Miss Flores heading over to him.
“Your son has several people with him, is this normal?” Miss Flores asked, frowning as she watched Christopher.
“Yes,” Eddie answered her, “Myself, and his mother of course, then there is his Papá, he also has a Poppa too, but Eric had something to do that he couldn’t get out of, and then there is Carla, she’s a home health aid that has been invaluable to my family since she started working for us,” he explained.
“I see. You must be devastated to have so many men in his life claiming to be his father,” she said.
Eddie frowned as he looked at her, “Not that it’s any of your business how our family is set up. I shall tell you this, that young man with Christopher at the moment is my partner. His mother is dating finally, and has only done so once before, and never even introduced the man to our son. The one she is dating has been in Christopher’s life since he was born, much like my partner has been in Christopher’s life since he was born. Excuse me,” he said, not happy with the narrow-minded teacher.
Evan finished putting Christopher’s hair to rights and stood up, “Eddie, don’t mess it up again,” he said to him, a smile, though when he saw the stormy expression on his boyfriend’s face, he frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Just a narrow-minded teacher saying that I must be devastated to have so many men in Chris’ life claiming to be his dad,” he rolled his eyes.
“Hmm,” Carla said, “I’ll make a note of that,” she added, “That’s not something a teacher should be saying.”
“No,” Evan agreed, “Keep it in mind. Hopefully, she won’t be a teacher he’ll have to have at all.”
“I will be,” Carla said, “I’ll be making a note about Miss Flores, but should be okay,” she nodded, “Right, we have a little man to get to his classroom with the rest of his classmates,” she smiled as Christopher was now with his mother.
Eddie and Evan smiled and nodded as they headed to take Christopher back to his homeroom classroom.
Chapter Eleven
Evan sat in his car in the parking lot of fire station 107. His shift would be starting in just over half an hour, and he was both nervous and excited. He got out of his car and grabbed the duffle bag with his things in, shouldering it as he looked at the station. The shutters were up and he could see the triple standing there, gleaming in the early morning sunlight. Evan had said goodbye to Christopher and Eddie that morning with them cheering him on as he left. It had been a good morning with the two, as Eddie would be dropping Christopher off at school.
Evan stepped inside and looked around. There were two levels, a loft area near the back, and at the bottom were a few doors, no doubt leading to a few rooms, like the bunk room, bathrooms, and locker room. He would learn more later, to see if he was right. He glanced around, seeing a few people moving around. There were yells from some and greetings from others.
“Ah, Buckley, you made it,” Captain Al Parker greeted as he walked down the stairs, “Right, first, we’ll head to my office and take care of the last of the paperwork needed, then we’ll get you sorted with a locker. Your turnouts have already been set up, and I’ll have my second, Xiaoli Huang, show you where everything is. He’ll also introduce you to some of the others. I don’t expect you to know and remember everyone right away, that’ll take time,” he told him as he led the way to one of the doors near the back.
Evan followed him into the office. Going through the paperwork, next of kin, who to contact, and who would be the one that would be called should he need to get home. As well as secondary contacts for everything as well. Parker nodded as the man finished, “Right,” he said, as someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” he called out.
A tall Asian man walked in, a wide smile on his face, and dark hair flopping into amused eyes. “Hi, you must be Evan Buckley. I’m Xiaoli Huang, second in command of A-Shift here,” he said as he held out his hand as soon as he got close to Evan.
“Well, you know who I am, it’s nice to meet you as well,” Evan said, taking the hand and shaking it.
“Xiaoli, he’s all yours,” Parker said, “I’m going to file this, we’ll be going online in one hour, and Dana and Gio are on breakfast duties by the smell of things,” he added.
“That they are,” Xiaoli said, “Dana has made some dips and vegetables and fruits for it. She’s also made some cheese knafeh, which you know always goes down well,” he smiled, “Come on, I’ll show you the locker room where you can change,” he said as Evan got up.
“Do people take turns in making breakfast?” Evan asked as he followed Xiaoli out of the office.
“We do,” Xiaoli nodded as he showed him around after letting him get ready for the shift, before taking him up stairs and into the loft, “Hey, everyone, we have our probie finally,” he grinned as he clapped his hands to get their attention.
Everyone looked over and Evan felt a thrum of nervousness run through him as a few of them walked over. “Hi,” he said, giving a small wave.
“Hey, play nice,” Xiaoli warned as he went to sit down at the main table that took over the dining area of the loft space.
“We always play nice,” another Asian man said as he looked at him, “I’m Minjun Choi, most call me Min,” he told him, “Welcome to the 107,” he said, giving him a wave from where he was sitting reading a book that wasn’t in English.
“Nice to meet you,” Evan said.
“I’m Sara,” one of the women said as she walked over, “I’m one of the paramedics on shift, so you do something dumb, I’m gonna be patching your ass up and telling you off for it.”
“She will as well,” another man said as he leaned against a wall, “I’m Mathew Owens, another of the paramedics, don’t mind Sara, her kids are driving her up the wall,” he grinned.
“I could always get you to babysit again,” she smirked at him, “You owe me,” she added.
Mathew stared at her, “Not a chance in hell, or heaven or even purgatory and not even in the nine circles of hell.”
“Come on, they’re not that bad!” someone else called out. “I’m Jason, firefighter,” he said with a wave, face covered with a dark stubble.
“You’ve never babysat them,” Mathew reminded him.
“I’ve never had that pleasure,” he said with a little flourishing bow. “And before you can question the accent, I’m a brit, came over here about eight years ago, joined up, and never looked back,” he said, “Al likes to keep a few of us around.”
“He does,” Mathew nodded, his accent was British as well.
“Three of you on shift?” Evan questioned as he walked a little closer to everyone
“Yep,” Jason nodded, “We’re from all over in this shift.”
“Three Brits, I’m Mexican, Dana here is Lebanese, Xiaoli, Chinese, and Min over there from Korea,” one of the men said, “I’m Gio, and breakfast is served,” he added, grinning as he and the woman he mentioned began to bring food over.
“Smells wonderful, Dana, Gio, thank you for cooking breakfast. We’ll add you to the rotation as soon as I know what you can do, and you’ve been here for three shifts,” Parker said as he walked over and sat down, “Right, let’s eat,” he added as everyone began to find a seat.
Someone grabbed Evan by the arm, dragged him over to the table and got him to sit down, “Things can get busy, so eat what you can when you can. Sleep is the same. Especially during the long nights.”
“Right,” he said as he looked around, and grabbed a few things to try. He hummed as he ate some of the cheese knafeh, “This is good.”
“It really is, most of us are good cooks, the rest of us are passable, but never let Alisha near the stove, she can burn a salad,” one of the men said from another of the tables.
“I did it once!” a young black woman yelled out, “Once, and it wasn’t even my fault.”
“How the hell did that happen?” Evan asked, curious as to what happened that she was banned from the kitchen.
“Not my fault,” Alisha said, “Really, it wasn’t,” she began, “I was happily doing a salad, just a normal caesar salad, adding this and that, and then one of the idiots came up.”
“By idiots, she lovingly means Adam and Steve. They were having one of their play arguments,” Jason helpfully supplied.
“Yeah, them,” Alisha grinned as two men glared at her, but there was amusement in their eyes.
“They came up?” Evan asked.
“Oh, yeah,” she said, swallowing a bit of her breakfast, “they came up and began to do their usual goofing around the kitchen and mooching as they argued about something. Hell if I can remember what,” she snorted, “but I started doing some eggs on the stove, boiling them. They tossed something over there and it caught fire, one of them grabbed it and tossed it toward my damn salad. There for my salad went up in flames. And for some reason I’m the one that’s never lived it down,” she finished.
“We didn’t mean it!” Adam said as he laughed lightly at the indignant look on Alisha’s face.
“Yeah, but you two being you two, ended up with my salad catching fire and me getting a semi-ban from the kitchen. No one believed me that you two were the damn cause of it for ages!” she snipped back, laughing.
Evan laughed as did many of the others. Breakfast was mostly spent with Evan getting to know each of the crew, listening as they told little stories of things that had happened to them in the past. It wasn’t long after breakfast had been finished and clean up had begun that the alarm had gone off. Mathew had been the one to remain behind.
“It’s not a medical call, and they have three paramedics and one firefighter paramedic in Xiaoli, so I’m behind to teach you a few things,” Mathew said as he walked over, he was taller than Evan, but not by much. “Right, we’ll be cleaning up and then I’ll be showing you where everything is.”
“What is our chore list like for each shift?” Evan asked as he looked over at Mathew.
“We all rotate, but if there is something we really don’t like doing, we can swap it out,” Mathew answered with a smile on his face.
“Right, well, I’m used to doing a lot of different things, so don’t think there’ll be anything that I’ll want to refuse or ask to change,” Evan said, shrugging.
Mathew smiled, “We all say that, but there are some chores that we would swap when we can, like bathroom duty.”
“Can’t be as bad as when my partner and son had the diarrhea and sickness bug that went around and the bathroom was a biohazard. My son has a physical disability, so finds it hard to get anywhere quickly, so he didn’t always make it to the bathroom,” Evan smirked.
“Okay, maybe not as bad as that then,” he said, shaking his head, “glad I’m happy with the single life,” he snorted.
“I’m happy with my maybe getting married life,” Evan laughed.
“Maybe on the get-married?” Mathew asked him as they began to wash, dry, and put away the breakfast things.
“Yeah, we’ve been together for about two years, but I’ve known him for a long time. Since I was sixteen. I never really thought about us getting together. At least, not for a while. My partner, he was with someone, more of a friends-with-benefits situation for when he was home on leave, and they had a kid together. I ended up first as the kids’ godfather and now I’m his papá,” he smiled proudly.
Mathew smiled as they talked a little more until everyone came back. When they did, Mathew and Xiaoli showed him how things were checked, gone over, and restocked. Another call out he remained behind and got a look at some of the chores that they were to do while they were left behind. It took another three hours before Evan went on his first call where he would actually be able to help.
“Okay, Buckley, saws and jaws,” Parker called out as he began to give orders, “Xiaoli will be working with you to show you what you need to do,” he added, getting a nod from his second.
Evan followed Xiaoli, grabbing the jaws as Xiaoli grabbed the saw. “So… we’re to-” he trailed off, they were at a two-car accident.
“We’re to take the top off the car. Saws and jaws are the best ones to work. Saws if there is no leak, jaws if there is, less chance of a spark. We let the paramedics do an initial assessment and we work in groups of two or four with this type of accident. If there are more cars involved then it will be a triage situation. We decide who needs help the most, of the one that is in danger of dying and can be saved. Sometimes we have to decide between who we can save, and can’t save.”
Evan went pale at that but nodded. He followed Xiaoli as he and two more began to work on one car, and another group started to work on the other. Each had a paramedic working with them on those within the cars. They worked hard and got them out.
Mathew put a hand on his shoulder, “You did good,” he said as he patted it a couple of times and then headed to follow Sara with the gurney that had one of their patients on it.
Evan gave a small smile as he looked around. They had begun to clean up, making the road safe again for traffic to pass through. Soon enough they were back at the station and Parker called him in to do a review of his first call.
Chapter Twelve
Eddie wasn’t happy when he got the mail on Evan’s first four days off. With the usual bills, appointment reminders and such was a letter from a lawyer’s office in El Paso. He opened it up and growled a little. Tossing it aside as he waited for Evan to return from taking Christopher to school.
Evan opened the door and walked in, only to see Eddie pacing around the living room. “Eddie,” he called out, going over to him and getting in his way.
“They finally made a fucking move,” he hissed as he walked around Evan and grabbed the letter he had tossed earlier. “Here, read it.”
Evan took it and began to read, frowning, “So they are claiming that because you were in the army. Saying that Shannon isn’t a good mother, since her son has been using a gait trainer, that he is in danger still… didn’t they try and get CPS involved with that?” he asked, remembering the visit not long after Eddie had returned home.
“Yeah, they did. They are claiming that the CPS here in LA is biased against them, and they want an investigation done by someone else. In other words, someone that they chose. That isn’t going to happen. I won’t have someone they chose investigating anything,” Eddie growled.
“Eddie, you’re forgetting something here,” Evan said as he read through a second, “Due to Mr Edmundo Diaz being away in Afghanistan…” he trailed off.
“Oh…” Eddie said, eyes going wide. “They don’t know that I’m home. It wasn’t relayed to them at all during the CPS investigation?”
“No, it wouldn’t have been, since that’s our personal business. The only thing that Helena and Ramon Diaz would have been told, was that the accusations were false, and that Christopher’s perfectly fine where he is. They don’t know about his CP either, it wouldn’t have been reported to them, because, again it’s not their business. Even though we told them when they stormed in during Christopher’s birthday, it’s like they ignored that,” he frowned as he read through the letter carefully. “Yeah, no mention of his CP at all. So either they forgot, or they’re going to try and paint it as us abusing him instead of a disability.”
Eddie stood there, “They don’t know or even remember anything we’ve told them. I could have… when they burst in during Chris’ birthday that year.”
“Yeah, then, that’s when they saw the gait trainer for the first time. We told them then what was going on with him, but obviously,” he shrugged instead of finishing.
“Idiots, well, lets contact a lawyer and see about countering it. I don’t know what they plan to do, but I’m not letting them get away with anything,” Eddie said as he sank down on the couch.
Evan went over, “and I’ll get the lawyers onto it; they aren’t going to get anywhere. They’ve had no contact with Christopher except a few times when he was a baby. And those were mainly during family gatherings. The only other time they’ve been near him, they’ve ended up with a restraining order against them. They’re not allowed to go near him, remember. That’s still in effect. So we go to the lawyers, talk with them, and counter them in every single way that we can.”
Eddie looked up at him and nodded, “Yeah, we do that. And you know what, I really want a day in court with them. Make sure they know that they’re never going to get near our son, ever. They’re the ones that caused him so much harm, they’re the ones that have been bastards to you, Shannon, and me. They’re the ones that hurt Abuelo as well. I’m not going to put up with it, I haven’t in a long time and I’m not going to start just because they want to be grandparents. They had the chance.”
“They will never get a chance. So let’s get this done. Oh, and maybe talk with Dad, he knows some really good lawyers. Like, ruthless cutthroat ones,” he grinned.
Eddie smirked, “Yeah, we’ll talk with him, and see if he can’t point us in the right direction.”
“Alright,” Evan smiled, “Now, don’t forget we have that triple date tonight,” he said, changing the subject as he put the letter away. He’d call his dad later and tell him what was going on, get the ball rolling on that.
“Yeah, reminds me, Shannon and Eric are on the way over, they wanted to talk to us for a moment before we meet them for dinner later. They’re going to stop by soon,” he said as he got up and wrapped his arms around Evan.
“Feeling better now?” he asked quickly, getting a nod. “Good. Wonder what the two want?” he murmured as he hugged Eddie back. The two just stood there for a few minutes before there was a rapid knock at the door.
Evan let him go and went to answer it. Eric and Shannon stood there, smiling as they walked in. “Okay, what are you two up to?” he asked as he closed the door behind them.
“Do you two think you could come with us?” Eric asked them, “We’ve got something that we want to do, but we need a couple of people to come with.”
“And we couldn’t think of anyone better,” Shannon added, “Trust us?”
Eddie and Evan shared a look, “Alright,” Eddie nodded, “We’ll trust you, now what do you-”
“Go and wear something good, like we are,” Eric said as he gestured to the rather fetching dress that Shannon was wearing and the almost suit that Eric was wearing.
Eddie and Evan shared a look once more as they nodded, “Alright, dress up nice,” Evan said as the two headed to the bedroom and changed. “I think they’re going to elope, and we’re being dragged in.”
“Yep,” Eddie said, “But you know, I don’t blame them, I know my Abuela would love to make a big celebration of everything, and then there is Coco and Darren, you know them better.”
“I do and they’ve got a fund for Eric’s wedding. They’ve had it for years, adding to it every now and then. It’s a nice pot, from what Darren said, considering he’s like Shannon and they’re both accountants, he also knows how to budget well,” Evan said as he did up the slacks over his tucked-in shirt. “Right, I’m ready, you?”
“Ready, let’s go and see them married if we’re right,” Eddie said, though he was pretty sure they were.
“We’re right,” Evan snorted.
Eddie smiled as they went back to join the two. They got into Eric’s car, the same one he’d gotten for his seventeenth birthday. He loved it and he and his dad worked on it whenever they got some free time together. Eric was soon pulling up outside the courthouse. With a shared looked Evan and Eddie got out and Eric took Shannon’s hand as they walked inside.
Shannon stopped them as Eric went off to talk to someone. “Right, no doubt you guessed that we are eloping. Eddie, Evan, you’re my best friends and my family. The only family outside of an aunt that I’ve seen once in the last decade, and of course, Christopher,” she smiled, “I can’t think of a better day than to have you both here for this. And Evan, Eric is your best friend, you’ve been friends for two decades, and he wouldn’t have anyone else by his side today. So, that’s why we asked for the two of you to come with us. To be the witnesses to our marriage, and to stand with us both.”
“You know I will,” Eddie smiled at her, as he pulled her into a hug, “And yeah, we guessed as soon as you said we needed to go somewhere all dressed up,” he grinned as he let her go.
“Mommy!” came a yell as Eric returned with Carla walking beside him, and in front of them was Christopher. “Papá, Daddy!” he yelled again.
“And of course, we have one last member to join us,” Shannon smiled as she knelt down to hug her son for a few moments, “Thanks for getting him, Carla,” she smiled at the older woman.
“You’re welcome and thanks for letting me come along. I’m playing wedding photographer,” Carla smiled as she held up a digital camera, “It’s a bit of a hobby of mine. Don’t often get to indulge, as you can imagine. ”
“It does explain why all the pictures you’ve taken of Christopher and everyone always turn out so well,” Evan smiled at her.
“Well,” Eric said, “Thanks for agreeing to come.”
“You know your mother is going to kill you, and then me, for not stopping you and dragging you home to them,” Evan grinned at his best friend.
“They would make a song and dance of it all, and I just… want to be married to this beautiful woman, who’s made my world light up. Along with her son,” Eric said, a smitten look on his face as he watched Shannon with her son. She was doing a lot better now, therapy was helping and while Eddie and Evan still had full custody at least once a week Christopher would stay the night with his mom and Eric, who had moved in two months after Janet had passed away.
“Let’s get you both married,” Eddie said, as the group headed into the room as Baxter-Whitt had been called.
Eddie and Evan smiled as they watched the two exchange vows and rings. Christopher clapped and giggled as they did. When they kissed he yelled out, “Eww!” but then cheered as they were declared husband and wife.
XxXxX
Lou and Tommy looked up as Eric, Shannon, Eddie, and Evan turned up. All four of them were dressed up a little. Much like they had asked Tommy and Lou to do, and considering the restaurant that had been booked, it had a bit of a dress code.
“So what’s the occasion?” Tommy asked as they headed inside, quickly being seated.
“Well, I thought to celebrate getting married we should have a nice meal with some really good friends,” Eric said with a smirk and a shrug.
Tommy looked at the two, “You both got married?” he asked Shannon and Eric.
“We did,” they smiled, linking hands before showing off their rings.
“Congratulations,” Lou smiled at the two of them, “Yeah, it really does call for a celebration,” he added.
“Oh, everything has already been paid for,” Evan said, “And don’t even think about trying anything,” he warned Eric when the man was about to protest.
“Fine, I’ll let you have this one, and I do mean this one,” he said, giving his best friend a pointed look.
Evan nodded, feeling smug. They ordered drinks, everyone having taken an Uber to get to the restaurant, instead of driving, and placed their food orders.
“How’s things going at the 107?” Tommy asked Evan, as the waiter brought over their drinks.
“It’s going really well there, I’ve been there for three shifts so far. The captain is great, and the second in command is really helping me to settle in and to learn the ropes of the station. I heard that another captain was brought in for the 118.”
“Yeah, Robert Nash, came from out of state; they head hunted him specifically and he’s taken over. So far he’s been there a month and clean-up is going well. He’s transferred a couple of problems out of the station so far, so it looks promising. I’m just hoping that we get some new blood in, and we can finally start to put Gerrard and Owlsen behind us,” Tommy answered him, “We’ll have to wait and see what happens next.”
“Yeah,” Evan nodded, “Hopefully, he cleans up properly,” he added.
Tommy nodded as more talk started up. Eric started to tell them about the start of his residency at Cedars, Shannon about starting to talk with Darren about setting up their own accounting firm, with a bit of help from Phillip. Lou had a few cases going, but nothing as bad as the one that Evan had worked on with him and Athena.
The meal had been enjoyable, as was the company as the three couples split for the night, congratulating the newlyweds once more before they headed home.
Chapter Thirteen
Evan was shaking as he was guided to the cab of the triple. Elise was the one to sit with him, as the others bustled around to clear the area. Minjun joined them soon after, having darted to a coffee shop and grabbed a hot tea with plenty of sugar in it.
“Here,” Minjun said as he handed over the take-out cup to Evan, “Take it, let it warm you up,” he advised.
Evan reached out, his hands were shaking, “I can’t…” he said, shaking his head and pulling his hands back, without taking the cup.
“Take it,” Minjun insisted.
“Listen to him,” Elise said, her voice soft and coaxing as she took the cup and tried to get him to take it as well.
Evan hesitated for a minute before taking the cup. The warmth of it surprised him. “I…”
“We know, we understand,” Minjun said, “Losing someone is hard, especially in this job. We’re here to save them, as many of them as we can. Sometimes, we just can’t.”
“He was so little,” Evan said, biting back a sob, “He’s smaller than Chris, he was a child and he…” he trailed off.
“We know,” Elise said as she rubbed his back and wondered if this was the moment when they would have to call family in to come and take him home. The first loss is always hard, it’s harder still when it’s children. And losing a family, that’s…” she trailed off. “They’re going to sort out the scene, and then we’ll be heading back to the station,” she said instead.
Minjun nodded, “Drink up,” he suggested.
Evan nodded numbly as he took a sip, the liquid was hot, the slight burn giving him something to focus on other than what he had just seen. He didn’t even realize that the scene was over as the triple started to rumble around him as they moved away from the scene. The others were now in the cab with him
“Come on,” Minjun said as they reached the station. Elise took the empty cup. And got out, as did many of the others. Minjun remained with Evan as they got him out of the triple and into the locker room.
Elise approached Parker and said, “I think we should call someone in.”
“No need,” Parker stated, “One of the cops on the scene knows him, and knows him well. She’s going to come here and talk with him. You need to understand, he has a kid, so it’s gonna hit and hit hard.”
Elise nodded, “Wouldn’t his partner be a better idea, or his dad?” she asked.
“I can’t see it getting any better,” Parker said, shaking his head. “For now, we’ll see how this cop does. If they do alright, then I’ll send him home. If not, then I’ll call either his partner or dad.”
“Okay,” she said, turning to see a woman in a cop uniform striding into the station. Can we help you?” she asked.
“I’m Sergeant Grant, I’m here to speak with Evan Buckley,” she said, a pained smile on his face, “I know he just suffered his first loss on the job.”
“Ah yeah, Sergeant Grant, yes, you’re the one who approached me and told me that you’d be stopping by,” Parker said with a nod. He’s in the locker room at the moment, with one of my other firefighters.” He informed her, “Why don’t we head up, and you can wait for him up there?”
Athena nodded, “Alright,” she said, following the Captain up to the loft.
Evan made his way into the large loft area around twenty minutes later, in a fresh uniform and his hair curled and slightly damp. “Athena,” he said as he saw her.
“Hey, Buckaroo,” she smiled softly as she got up and went over to him. It didn’t take long for him to be wrapped in her arms.
“A whole family, Athena, a whole family. He was so small, smaller than Chris,” he said, breath hitching as he hugged her tightly.
“Oh, baby,” she murmured, “There is nothing worse,” she told him, “nothing worse than seeing death like that. The moment they’re gone, and we’re doing all we can to save them. I know you, I know you would have been doing your best, along with everyone else.”
“He was still… he was still breathing for a while, still alive, and then he was just gone, and we couldn’t do anything. Nothing could be…” he shook his head and held her, closing his eyes as he tried to get rid of the image of a tiny body being worked on by Mathew and Dana.
“This job is a hard one,” Parker stated as he sat back down, “It’s one that will drag you under at times. Will make you and break you in the same shift. You’ll see some wonderful miracles, and you’ll see the most heartbreaking of sights,” he told him gently.
Xiaoli nodded as he finished making drinks for everyone. “I remember my first loss on this job. It was a young woman, she had a kind smile on her face, even at the end, and I wish that there was more that I could have done for her.”
“Older man,” Parker said, shaking his head, “Was a grump, but I could understand why, he was alone, and called for help when he and his neighbor got into some trouble with a lift. I was new on the job, just married, and in a strange new country,” he snorted, “He grumbled at me the entire time I was with him. He told the others to help his neighbor first, not him, he was hiding an injury, a bad one. He bled out before we could help him.”
Evan was settled at the table, another drink put in front of him as the others began to talk about their own first losses on the job. Each of them in their own way was heartbreaking. Athena sat beside him.
“Buckaroo, even I went through my first loss on the job,” she told him, “It was a robbery at a convenience store. I was called in, I think this was about a year into the job, I was on my own. My first time riding solo instead of with a partner,” she sighed, “I got there, the perp had already fled, but the man was laying there, in a pool of blood, bleeding out from three gunshot wounds. I stayed with him, doing what I could to try and keep him alive until help could arrive. But, there was just nothing that I could do. I couldn’t save him, but I was there, he wasn’t alone. And sometimes, that has to be enough.”
Evan looked at her, “Yeah, thanks, all of you,” he stated, holding the drink in front of him, a second had replaced the first one he had been given. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
“We all go through this, no matter what background we came from,” Gio stated, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, “Even those that went to war, say that losing someone as a firefighter and paramedic, as a first responder, hits differently. Because here, we’re not expecting to lose someone, we’re not expecting death to come like it does.”
Parker nodded, “I’ve heard that from some of the others on the job,” he stated, “We lose some, and this won’t be the last time you’ll have to go through this. My suggestion is to go home early today and spend time with your family. Remember that what we do, while heartbreaking and soul destroying at times, also saves the lives of so many that will be able to return to their families at the end of the day.”
Evan nodded, drinking some more of the hot chocolate that he had been given, “I’ll… do that.”
“Good,” Minjun smiled at him, “Now, I have a question, Buckaroo?” he asked, hoping that the story behind the name was a good one.
Evan cracked a small smile as Athena gave a little laugh. “Okay, I… think I’ll let you tell this one,” Evan told her.
Athena nodded, “This was about three months into the job,” she began, “We were chasing down this giant of a man. He’d done something stupid.”
“He’d stolen a few dildos from the sex shop,” Evan smirked, “It was a very memorable day all around I believe.”
“I got hit by one,” Athena huffed, “it flew out of his pocket.”
“Drive by dildoing,” Evan snorted, cheering up as he began to remember the day he’d earned the nickname Buckaroo from Athena.
“So we’re chasing him down, like I said, he was a giant of a man; taller than even Evan, and big, and I do mean, built like a damn tank. For his size, he was fast. Evan’s off like a damn shot and jumps on his back. This guy is big and Evan looks so damn small against him,” she snorted. “He’s hanging on as this guy is trying to get Evan off. He looked like he was at the rodeo, on a bucking bronco,” she laughed, shaking her head, “I started calling him Buckaroo that day. This guy just couldn’t buck our Evan,” she smiled, looking at the young man she had mentored for a while.
“Buckaroo,” Elise smiled, “It’s a good nickname,” she nodded.
“Reminds me of a game I played when I was younger with my nieces and nephew,” Parker snorted.
“I remember that game,” Athena grinned, “It’s what it reminded me of,” she laughed, shaking her head as she looked at Evan, to see how he was taking the change in tone of the conversation. She noted he was smiling, and he had laughed a little as well. It wasn’t as bright as it usually was, but she could understand that.
“Well, Buck,” Parker said, “I think you might have your nickname,” he laughed.
“Do you have one?” Evan asked, a little curious.
“Nosey,” Parker said, “My full name is Aloysius Parker, my parents were… fans of Thunderbirds, when my captain found out when I first got over here, he didn’t understand the reference. So when he said my full name aloud, one of the others did, and started calling me Nosey, which is Parker’s nickname in Thunderbirds,” he snorted, “it stuck for a while until I became captain. Then it fell out of use, and I’m just old Al Parker these days.”
“I have the nickname of Little Plum,” Xiaoli said, “it’s what my name means,” he smiled, “Or I’m called Little Li,” he added.
“And occasionally LiLi,” Minjun grinned at him. “I don’t have a nickname-”
“You do!” Elise yelled out, “Mountain,” she grinned, “His last name means Mountain,” she told Evan, “and well, considering when he first started here, he was one of the tallest on the shift, it worked well, then Matt came along and…” she said gesturing to the man that towered over everyone on shift, including Evan.
Evan smiled as everyone talked about nicknames. Athena was the one to take him home. As soon as Evan reached home and walked into the house, he could hear Christopher giggling and Eddie talking and laughing. The sounds were a soothing balm on his soul after the afternoon that he’d had. “Eddie,” he called out, not wanting to see Christopher just yet, he wanted to make sure that the sad look on his face wasn’t there.
Eddie came out, frowning, “I thought you had work until tomorrow morning?” he asked as he walked over.
“I… I had my first loss today, a family of three, the kid,” he murmured, shaking his head, “he didn’t make it, and he was so small, smaller than Chris and I just… I just need to be home,” he said as he found himself held in Eddie’s arms as he began to cry.
Eddie held him, rubbing his back and holding him tightly. “We’re right here for you, you’re not alone, I know it hurts,” he murmured, not sure if anything was really helping with what Evan was going through.
Neither of them noticed the click-clack of crutches as Christopher appeared in the hallway. “Papá sad?” he asked, frowning.
“Yeah, just a little,” Evan said as he wiped away the tears.
“Cuddle time,” Christopher stated as he dropped his crutches and held out his arms for his papá to take him.
Evan smiled as he went and picked Christopher up, cuddling his son as Eddie guided them into the living room, picking up the crutches before making them something warm to drink. Evan just sat there, cuddling Christopher as the five-year-old told him all about his day at school.
Really loving this series. Your OCs are great and it’s lovely to Xiaoli again.
It’s great to see Evan with so much family. I like the 107s addition.
Thank you
Good bye, Janet. Still makes me a bit sad. Firefighter Buckley here we come! 🙂 You know, your Tommy is a really good friend. I love the family vibes here. Well, for most; certain Diaz peeps be cray-cray. The 107 was fun to see again.