Reading Time: 93 Minutes

Title: Love Changes Everything
Series: Second Chance Home
Series Order: 3
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Angst, Drama, Established Relationship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Relationship(s): Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz, background pairings
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Child Abuse, Bigotry, Violence-Graphic, Violence-Against Baby, Discussion-Child Abuse, Child Illness (Pneumonia), Major Child Injures, Canon Catfisher, Character Bashing.
Word Count: 46,310
Summary: Second Chance Home is running smoothly and Evan and Eddie are getting closer. Evan is enjoying his time at the 118, learning all he can about being a firefighter as Eddie begins contemplating his own future career. Nothing is smooth sailing when someone starts to pretend that they are Evan, and a catfishers victims start appearing to confront Evan for ghosting them.

---

---

Chapter Ten

Evan still hadn’t returned to light duty when Galen stopped by. Updating him on some of the children in his care. “So Justin is going to be reunited with his father?” he asked.

“Yes, Justin is going to be with his dad. He’s been able to complete all that we need him to. He’s worked hard in getting himself sorted in the last six months. His mother, however, has decided she wants nothing to do with her son and has left for Miami, where her sister lives. Cathy, her mother will be getting custody of her within the next week. She’s done well in the reunification too. So two families are going to be together again. The father has relinquished all rights. So won’t be in the picture anymore,” Galen said as he went through the two cases that Evan was helping with.

“I’ll be sorry to see them go, but also happy that they will be back with their families,” Evan smiled. He knew that Justin’s father and Cathy’s mother had both worked hard in being able to get custody of their children again. He had been working with them occasionally to help them along with meeting them since both Justin and Cathy were teenagers and able to have some say in things.

“It is, though Justin’s father is going to be keeping him in the same school he is already at. It’s a bit of a drive for them, but he doesn’t want to interrupt his son’s education. Cathy will be moving schools, to one nearer to her mothers,” he said, “And I think that will be it.”

“Thanks for the update, the kids are doing well,” he said as he went through what was going on with the other nine children that lived in the home. “Now, for Leyna,” he began, “she’s doing well at the moment. Any luck in finding her forever home?” he asked, part of him hoping that she had a prospective family and another hoping that she wouldn’t be leaving him.

“We’re not going to be putting Leyna up for adoption for another three months,” Galen said, looking at Evan, “Her health is up and down, and we don’t want to take the chance that a move and a new family may miss something. This is the reason why we haven’t taken her from a group home to put her with a single-child household. She is getting really good care here, and better than what she would in a foster home. Instead of here.”

“Oh,” Evan said with a slow nod, “yeah, her lungs are recovering from the pneumonia, the doctors are all keeping an eye on things.

“They are and so are you. She is thriving here, more than we thought she would,” he told him, “Now, I will take my leave, thank you for keeping me updated, as always.”

“Well of course, you are the main caseworker for the Home,” Evan said as the two of them got up and Evan went to show him out. Part of him was elated that he had a little more time to decide on adopting Leyna. He loved the tiny baby, but he was still so unsure if he was the right choice to be her dad.

XxXxX

Joshua laughed as he and Christopher walked side by side towards the play park.

Eddie and Evan were walking side by side, hands clasped together. “Okay, Boys,” Eddie called out to the two. “You can go onto the playground, you keep in sight at all times. If you see something you don’t feel good about, shout out.”

“Okay, Dad!” Christopher called out as the two began to head to the fenced-in playground.

“Okay, Uncle Eddie!” Joshua called out as he opened the gate for Christopher to go through.

“Uncle Eddie?” Eddie blinked as he looked to Evan for an answer.

Evan nodded, “I’ve become Uncle Evan, too,” he sighed, smiling slightly, “I was talking with Clive. He’s like a little brother at times. He’s just started dating someone. A bit older than him, by over ten years. He’s twenty-three, almost twenty-four, and they get along great from what I’ve heard and seen once,” he added, “But I told him, he was like a little brother,” he stated, “Joshua heard and since Clive has adopted Joshua as his son, he calls me Uncle.”

“And since we’re dating, I’m Uncle as well,” Eddie nodded.

“Yeah, Joshua wants to call Clive Dad, has done for a while,” Evan said as they moved towards the fence so they could watch the boys as they played.

“Yeah, Chris was telling me. He doesn’t know how to help his friend decide if he should or not,” Eddie said softly.

“Joshua is scared, and rightly so. Clive… Clive was there when his dad died. Joshua was as well, but he has no memory of it. Clive knows the ins and outs of what happened, and what their mother did. Clive, he wants to be called Dad, but a part of him doesn’t as to him, it would be erasing the last part of his dad for Joshua,” Evan sighed, rubbing his head, “It’s complicated in my eyes.”

“I can understand that, Chris… he still loves his mother, but he also does like her. I wouldn’t say I hate her at all. But she gave up on him and left his life. Not once before the divorce and signing away her rights did she try and contact him, not to even say sorry for hurting him. She’s… called a couple of times. Mostly to yell at me for allowing certain things. Like him being taken into Care, my parents fighting for custody. She’s disappeared again on me, not called in about a month almost,” he stated, “She has never once wanted to talk to Christopher. It’s complicated,” he smiled at Evan, “And for Clive, I can see why it would hurt, but also be a joy. He’s taken Joshua in as his son, Joshua knows this.”

“And wants to call him “Dad”, because Clive is the only dad that he’s really known,” Evan finished, nodding, “yeah, We get it. I think Clive gets it as well, but it’s hard for him to let that last little bit of his dad go.”

“Christopher!” came a female yell.

Eddie and Evan looked up and Eddie cursed, “For fucks sake,” he muttered as he went to intercept the two people that were heading towards the park. “I told you to leave us alone,” he said as he looked at his sisters.

“Tia Sophia, Tia Adriana,” Christopher said, looking at the two of them with suspicion.

“Christopher,” Adriana smiled as she looked at her nephew. He had grown since she had last seen him.

“You’ve gotten bigger,” Sophia said, smiling at him. Both of them were ignoring their brother as they looked at their nephew.

“I am growing up,” Christopher deadpanned, “it is what happens.”

“I know, but we miss seeing you without you living in El Paso anymore,” Adriana said with a pout on her face. “No doubt you’ll want to come back soon,” she added.

“Why would I want to go back to a place that made me miserable?” Christopher asked her, head tilted to one side, “You and Tia Sophia were always mean about my mommy and my daddy. Then there is Grandma, and no one is good enough to deal with her. She’s really mean about Daddy and she hated Mommy. So why would I want to be around her, and you both?” he asked them again, there was a steely glint in his eyes as he looked at both of the women.

“I don’t know what your dad has been telling you,” Adriana began.

“Daddy has said nothing about any of you. I have ears, and you all think I’m stupid because I have CP, but I’m not. You and Grandma and everyone in El Paso treat me like I can’t do anything. I’m smarter than that,” he told them both, “You hurt Dad so much with what you said to him. Why do you like hurting my dad?” he asked them both.

“We’re just concerned for you,” Sophia said, smiling at him, “How can we not be, you don’t really know your dad. He has been away for most of your life and he was hurt when he came home and he couldn’t look after you.”

“I talked to Daddy every day, well, as many days as we could and the army let him,” Christopher frowned, “He recorded messages for me and bedtime stories. So that Mommy could play them for me when he was away. When he came home, he was hurt, but he was healing and looking after me and Mommy helped and Daddy’s friends did as well,” he told her, “Grandma would always say mean things to Daddy when she came over and I hated it. I told Dad that I didn’t want to see her again because she made me feel yucky and I didn’t like feeling yucky.”

Sophia looked at him and then at Eddie, “Eddie?” she asked, “What the hell does that mean?” her words were hissed at the end as she descended on her brother.

“Evan, can you take Chris and Josh back to the truck and I’ll meet you there,” he said instead of answering her.

“Sure, come on boys,” he said as he heard them away.

Sophia and Adriana looked like they were going to protest when Eddie stepped in front of them, “No you’re not, and to answer your questions, Sophia. Helena kept telling Christopher that he was a burden and that he was causing me pain by living with me after Shannon left. He ended up waking up from nightmares almost nightly of her taking him away and never seeing me again. So I stopped them from coming around, and then there were you two, both of you kept going on about him going to live with Helena. Never once thinking that it would cause problems, because you never think about anyone but yourselves and Helena,” he snapped at her, “So what do you think he is going to say when you bring up the fact that Helena and Ramon are both trying to get custody of my son after they have already tried to do so? Did you really think he would be happy with the way that the family has been treating him and I and even his mother before she left?”

Adriana looked at her young brother, “We’re just looking out for you.”

“Then you can stop. I don’t need you to look out for me at all. I’m fully healed, about to start a new career, and looking forward to maybe one day marrying the man I love. I’m not the man you last remembered back in El Paso, back there I was scared that they would take Christopher from me, and kidnap him, and they’ve already tried three times here. At the moment, their current predicament,” he said, looking at the two of them.

“Which you need to sort out, they are facing charges, Eddie,” Adriana said, shaking her head, “I can’t believe that you’re doing this to them.”

“They did this to themselves,” Eddie sighed, “And you just can’t see it. Why the hell did they think it would be okay to take Christopher from his school?” he asked the two of them, “would you allow just anyone to go into the school and take the kids, without you even knowing? No matter who they are.”

“It’s just Mom and Dad, why wouldn’t it be alright,” Sophia shrugged.

“Would it really be fine for them to take Lanie and Juan without telling you about it? Not even when you go to the school to pick them up and find out that they had been taken by someone that the school doesn’t have on their list?” he asked, pressing them both even more. “You really wouldn’t,” he told them, “You’re lying through your damn teeth, once more to try and make it seem like they are just fine when in reality they are anything but fine.”

“They just care! They care about you and Christopher a lot. They’re scared that you are doing something that will harm Christopher,” Adriana snapped at him, as she took a step forward, “And who’s to say that the one that you’ve fallen in love with will stick around with a child that’s like Christopher around? He is special and needs help.”

“Because I know that the one I’ve fallen for, the one I know I will want to marry one day will be fine with Christopher because he runs a damn children’s home. He knows what it’s like to have children in your life; to put them first. He expects that of me, no matter what is going on. He doesn’t want me to drop everything and do what he demands, instead, he expects me to tell him that I need some time with my son each week and day. He expects me to spend as much time with Christopher as I can instead of taking him out on a date. Hell, half the time Christopher comes with us.”

“Where did you meet this fairytale prince,” Sophia snorted, not believing that someone could be with her brother and love Christopher. In her eyes, it would be hard to care for Christopher and make sure he was alright. She truly believed that their parents were the best choice for him so he would always have someone to depend on as he grew.

“I met him because he is the one that was watching over Christopher for me when he was taken into Care. He helped in making sure that my son’s health remained a top priority, and that he still went to all the appointments he had and everything while he was with them. He’s almost seven now. He spent his Sixth Birthday in Care, not at home, not with his family all around him celebrating. Because of them,” Eddie informed them, “And that’s what I’m doing. I’m going back to my son and my boyfriend and my son’s best friend. I have no need to speak or see either of you again. I wish that I could say that my sisters would have my back, and that they would be there to help me. But neither of you ever has,” he stated before turning to follow Evan.

“Eddie, you need to drop things against Mom and Dad!” Adriana shouted after him.

“Not a chance in Hell!” Eddie called out, “I just hope that when you see the court ruling after the 19th, you’ll realize just what they have been doing since I returned from Afghanistan!” he finished as he hurried to Evan and the kids. The three were waiting by the truck. As soon as Christopher saw him he went over and hugged him, his crutches bashing into Eddie’s legs but neither of them cared.

“You okay dad?” he asked him.

Eddie smiled down at his son, “Yeah, I have you, Evan, and the others, I don’t need anyone else,” he told him, as they got in the truck and headed home, the day out ruined to a point, but they could always play and spend time together at Second Chance Home instead.

Chapter Eleven

Eddie tugged at his collar, he hated wearing a suit of any kind, and this time he was dressed up for the hearing with his parents. Both sides of his family were there, including his abuela, and his grandparents on his mother’s side. He hadn’t seen them in a while, and he knew that they would take their daughter’s side. Much like his sisters and Aunts and Uncles did. The Diaz side of the family was all seated behind him, Evan there as well, being a silent support.

“Well,” the judge said as he looked up from the notes that he had on the case that was now being presented to him, “This is a custody case of the Minor Child Christopher Irvine Diaz,” he stated. “Opening arguments, please. Mr Canton,” he said looking at the lawyer that was representing Helena and Ramon, “you may go first.”

“Your Honor,” he said as he stood up to address the man, “Mr and Mrs Diaz are young Christopher’s grandparents. They have spent the first four years of his life being there for him when the mother, Shannon Whitt, was not able to care for him and the special needs that he has. It is tragic, but Mrs Diaz took to looking after and helping to guide Christopher in his younger years. Mr Diaz is the man who would show Christopher the way of the world. He was cruelly ripped from them the day that Mr and Mrs Diaz’ son, Edmundo Diaz returned from Afghanistan, and in a blind panic took Christopher away. I will be showing evidence that Mr Diaz is not a good father to young Christopher and that he should be reunited with his grandparents who only have his best interest at their very core.”

“Thank you, and Miss Heartness,” he said looking at the woman that was seated next to Eddie. “You may do the same.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” she said, as Mr Canton sat back. She stood up and took the podium, “Your Honor,” she began, “Mr Edmundo Diaz returned home from war. Expecting to see his wife happy to see him, and his son overjoyed at him being home. He had hoped that his parents would be the same. Instead, he found a wife who had been driven to the brink of a breakdown by overbearing in-laws who stopped by at all hours of the day to berate and criticize her. To a son who didn’t wish to be near his grandparents because of the parental alienation that they were doing. Trying to turn a four-year-old child against his own parents. Having no choice after his wife left him, he moved away, to a family that he knew would help to support him and wish him well. Instead of trying to take his son from him. To only find harassment from his mother and her friends and family, and then false accusations of abuse. I will show you the evidence of such, and that the best choice is for Christopher to remain with his father, who loves him and wants nothing but the very best for him.”

The Judge looked at both sides, “And neither side can come to an agreement?” he asked.

“No, Your Honor. Mr and Mrs Diaz wish for full custody and to take Christopher back to El Paso. Where the child belongs and with family that will make sure that he is fully taken care of,” Mr Canton said.

“No, Your Honor, Mr Diaz does not wish for his child to be subjected to the ableist views of his mother’s family,” Miss Heartness stated.

“Very well,” he sighed, “I have heard your openings, and I have been looking over the evidence in this case so far. Mr Canton, call up your first witness.”

“I call Mrs Helena Diaz, to the stand, Your Honor,” he said.

“Mrs Diaz,” the judge said.

Helena stood up, her head held high as she walked to the stand and made the pledge. “I do,” she nodded.

“Mrs Diaz,” Canton said as he walked over, “What was it like to learn that your son had taken Christopher away?”

“I was devastated,” she said, tearing up a little. “He is such a bright and gentle soul. Little Christopher has special needs and I knew that this father wasn’t ready to deal with them. He had barely been able to look after himself,” she stated, shaking her head. “My husband and I had been trying to get him to see sense for a while. Trying to get Eddie to see that he needed some time for himself before being able to look after Christopher. He is a lot of work.”

“Of course, his CP, Cerebral Palsy,” he stated, getting a nod, “And how do you think your son is coping with Christopher?” he asked her.

“Poorly, I don’t want to say anything bad about my son, but I know that he isn’t father material at all. He went to war, he’s killed people,” she said shaking her head, “I just don’t think he will be treating Chrsitoher the way that he needs to. The child needs delicate hands, someone who will be able to be there for him when he is wheelchair-bound, it’s going to happen, no matter what my son says. It’s inevitable,” she added.

“And you have plans in place for that?” Canton then asked her.

“I do, we do, all of the family are ready for when that happens. We’ve even started looking at care facilities in the area for when we’re not able to help him anymore and he needs more care than what we could give him. It hurts to even think about it,” she added, dabbing at her eyes like she was crying.

Eddie listened as the woman did nothing but criticize him and put him down. Making him out to be a monster who couldn’t care for his son.

“No further questions,” Canton said “Your Honor.”

“Miss Heartness?” the judge said, gesturing for her to go next.

She stood up, pulling down her jacket, and walked forward “Mrs Diaz, you called CPS on your son?” she asked.

“Yes, he was abusing his son, what else could I do since I wasn’t there to stop it,” she answered.

“Evidence points to the contrary, that the allegations were all false. That there was no abuse reported and even after an eight-month investigation, there was no evidence to be found. But there was evidence found of parental alienation perpetrated by you and your husband, you are on record stating that Mr Diaz must have been hitting Christopher, and trying to get Christopher to say such things, correct?” she said, gesturing for the court to play the tape.

The court listened to the tape of her trying to get Christopher to say that Eddie had hurt him. It stopped after Christopher yelled at his grandma to stop being mean to his daddy.

“Mrs Diaz, you just heard yourself there, correct?” she asked, waiting for the woman to answer her.

“Well… yes,” she said hesitantly, “I was trying to make sure that Christopher was safe, as you can see he has been brainwashed to accept abuse and to say that I am being mean.”

Eddie’s lawyer carried on asking a few questions, with Helena getting a little flustered. “I put it to you, that you called CPS, along with members of your family and close friends, to falsely report that Edmundo Diaz was being abusive to his son? That you did this in the hopes that you would be given custody of the minor child Christopher Diaz?”

“I did not file a false report, I was doing what I needed to do to take Christopher out of a situation that I found intolerable,” Helena defended herself.

“A situation that meant that he was living with his father and not you?” she asked.

“Objection, leading question,” Canton protested.

“Sustained, Miss Heartness, please rephrase the question,” the judge said, looking at the woman.

“Of course,” she nodded, “What was the situation that you found intolerable?”

“My son was being abusive towards poor little Christopher,” she repeated.

“Mrs Diaz, I must remind you that you are under oath, and as you know there is no evidence of abuse, so what constitutes abuse to you?” Heartness asked her instead.

“He took him away from family, he has put him through unnecessary medical practices that aren’t needed. He is a small child and doesn’t need all those therapies and such. Why can’t he just be left alone, he doesn’t need to go to school or anything like that,” she answered, her temper flaring a little bit at the question, “What do you think it means? My son is putting poor Christopher through hell all because he wants to believe that Christopher will be able to keep on walking, will be able to hold a job or anything like that. He is setting him up to fail.”

Heartness smiled, “No further questions for this witness, Your Honor,” she said as she went back to her desk, looking at Eddie.

Eddie smiled at her and nodded, as Canton asked a question trying to soften what Helena had just said. A few more family members on his mother’s side took the stand, all to say almost the exact same thing as Helena did.

“Miss Heartness, your turn to call a witness,” the judge said as he looked at the woman.

“Thank you, Your Honor,” she nodded, standing up, “I call Evan Buckley to the stand, Your Honor. He worked in the Home where Christopher was taken, and was there for the supervised visits with the grandparents and Mr Diaz.”

“Very well,” he nodded as Evan came up and headed to the stand. Swearing the oath he took a seat and waited for Mis Heartness to start her questions.

“Mr Buckley, you came to know of the Diaz family when you were given temporary custody of Christopher Diaz?” she asked.

“Correct,” he nodded, not expanding on anything, he had gone though a couple of these custody hearings in the past. It was best for him to answer with small answers until given the choice to expand and explain what he saw and such.

“Mr Buckley,” she paused for a moment, “What was Christopher’s state of mind when he entered your care?”

“He was extremely upset at being taken away from his father,” he answered.

“Can you expand on that?” she asked.

“He was upset as he thought he was being punished for having CP and was being taken away because his mother had left him. He later learned from his grandparents that they had been the ones to make a report on Mr Diaz being abusive. He wasn’t happy when he learned that either, and called his grandparents out on the few times that they visited him at the visitor center,” Evan explained what he had observed.

“How many times did you meet Mr and Mrs Diaz?” she then asked, frowning at him.

“Five times in total, all but one at the Visitors Center, the other was in the presence of the CPS workers that had taken on Christopher’s case,” he replied.

“I see,” she nodded, “And how was their behavior towards their grandson?”

“Not good,” he answered, and at her gestured to expand on what he had seen, he carried on. “Mrs Diaz was at first trying to get Christopher to agree with her when she mentioned that Eddie must have been hurting him. When that didn’t work, she then began to wail and walk around saying that the room was not a good environment for Christopher and that they should be allowed to take him to a park. That they were good enough parents that they didn’t need supervision at all. Mr Diaz at one point tried to distract the two of us in the room so that Mrs Diaz could take her grandson away. It was not the first time that Mr and Mrs Diaz tried to kidnap Christopher.”

“What was the first time?” Heartness asked him, perking up.

“The first time was a week after he had come to the Home. Mr and Mrs Diaz were caught on camera trying to enter the property. We had to call out the cops and they were warned not to try that again. They didn’t try at the Home again, but they did three weeks later at the Visitor Center, as I said before,” he finished.

Heartness asked him a few more questions before Canton got his turn.

“Mr Buckley, is it true that you are currently dating Mr Diaz?” he asked.

“Yes I am,” he answered, “We have been dating for a couple of months now,” he added.

“Are you sure you were not dating him before that?” he asked, “We’ve evidence that you were around Mr Diaz before Chrispther was returned to his father.”

“Yes, I was permitted to take Christopher to his father after his birth mother tried to take him. She has no rights to her son at this moment in time, and the confrontation with her upset Christopher greatly. It is one of the reasons that Mr Diaz put Christopher into therapy, to deal with the feelings that came with his mother abandoning him and now his grandparents, in his words, ‘obsession with trying to be his parents’.” he answered, looking at the man calmly, they knew that would come into question, it was why Heartness was bringing in Galen and Jerry as well as witnesses since they were the ones in charge of Christopher’s Case.

Canton tried to get him to admit that he was playing the system, but Evan was easily able to refute what he was trying to suggest. Soon enough Jerry and Galen were both called and a couple of others. All the documents and evidence that both sides had were fully presented.

“Well,” the judge said as both sides rested, “On one side I see a loving father who has done all he can to make sure that his son will have the best life that he could be given. On the other side, I see two people who are determined to take a bright spark, such as Christopher Diaz, and turn him into a puppet that they can control. They accused a good man of abuse to try and get custody, and when that failed they tried kidnapping him at a visitors’ center and later at his very school. A restraining order was even put in place. Mr and Mrs Diaz, I can not in good conscience let you have anything to do with Christopher Diaz. Your views are skewed about Christopher’s disabilities. He will be able to lead a very active and free life, able to do much of what an abled-bodied person can. The restraining order is to become permanent and will not be rescinded until both Mr and Mrs Diaz have gone under psychiatric evaluation and have been deemed not a threat to Christopher. If that happens, it will be up to Mr Diaz if he wishes to allow you into your grandson’s life. Mr Diaz, you have full custody of your son, you are doing a good job with him, and you should be proud. As for the family that has lied, I hope you are ashamed of yourselves for the harm you have put on Edmundo and Christopher. Court dismissed.”

Eddie slumped where he sat, smiling as he finally felt free from his parents. He got up shaking Heartness’s hand and making sure all the paperwork was filed before they left. Ignoring the calls of Eddie’s family behind them.

Chapter Twelve

Eddie looked at the door of the cafe, his grandparents, Elias and Astrid had wanted to talk to him after the trial, going through Isabel to get in touch with him, since he had refused all contact with everyone from his mother’s side of the family. He was done having them in his life just to cause trouble. He didn’t know what the two wanted, as they had come down on Helena’s side time and time again. Eddie had said goodbye to his sisters yesterday after the hearing. Everyone had gone to his abuela’s to celebrate the verdict in the hearing. That Christopher wouldn’t be leaving his father again and that his parents no longer stood a chance of getting near his son without being arrested. It was a relief that he didn’t think he would feel.

“Eddie,” Astird said as she walked over. She was just a little shorter than Helena, her eyes warmer than he had ever known his mothers to be.

“Grandma,” he greeted, not sure how to act towards the woman.

“No hug,” she said, her voice soft and regretful.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know why you wanted to meet me. You’ve been on Helena’s side for so long and believed every single thing about me that she ever said. So I don’t know how you expected me to act to two people that have brought me down as much as what my so-called parents did,” he told her, shaking his head.

“We only had what she told us to go on,” Elias reminded him.

“You didn’t, you just chose to listen to her instead of asking for the other side of things. I was nine when I realized that I couldn’t count on my parents. It was a year later that I realized that I couldn’t go to either of you two. That you would take what they said as gospel and never once asked me what was going on. I was a child and I had no one in that house. I felt alone all the damn time. the only time I didn’t was when I was able to come here to LA and spend time with my Tia’s, Tio’s and Abuela and Abuelo,” he sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair and holding the mug of coffee that he had gotten for himself.

“Of course, you could have come to us at any time,” Elias said as Astrid was silent beside him.

Eddie shook his head, “No I really couldn’t. Helena and Ramon forbid me from going anywhere, and I do mean I couldn’t go to your home which is two houses down from where we lived. Because I was twelve,” he said, shaking his head. “My sisters had always been allowed to go and see you whenever they wanted. I wasn’t, I was kept in the house at all times. I wasn’t allowed to visit friends or go out to play. I had to study, and do manual labor around the house. I learned how to do some carpentry, and woodwork, to make sure the house was in good shape. Ramon never taught me this, no I had to learn how to do this on my own and if I made a mistake I would pay for it, and go without dinner. I did everything I could to make sure everything got done in time. It didn’t occur to me that it was wrong until I was in high school and everyone was free to do what they wanted, and I wasn’t. Hell, I asked someone to prom, and I almost didn’t get the chance to go. It was only because Helena and Ramon would lose face if I didn’t go that I was able to. I tried to ask you for help, and you never did, either of you. You told on me to Helena and things got worse. instead of listening to what I was telling you, you complained about me talking to you. You only wanted to see your precious granddaughters, never your grandson, who was crying out for help.”

“We-” Astrid began but went quiet when Eddie shook his head.

“You did nothing, even seeing that I was punished, you did nothing. As long as Adriana and Sophia were fine and free to do as they pleased, it was fine,” he snorted, “So again, why are you here? You have Adriana and Sophia, you have their children for great-grandchildren. So why?”

“We do care about you Eddie,” Astrid finally said, “We do, I know you think we don’t and we haven’t had a good track record, I agree. But we only had their side of things, never yours.”

“Because you didn’t want to listen when I tried to tell you. You just shut me down and ignored me,” Eddie sighed as he got up, “I don’t think I’m going to get a straight answer out of why you are here. Because I know you don’t really care, how could you when you’ve had almost thirty years to show me that you don’t care at all?” he began to walk away from them, his heart a little heavy.

“Eddie!” Elias called out as he stood up to stop his grandson.

Eddie turned to him, “What?” he asked, “What could you possibly want from me?”

“We’re worried about you, you don’t have a lot of support here from what your parents have told us. We just want to make sure that you know you can come to us,” he told him.

Eddie snorted, “I do have support. I have the entirety of the Diaz family to fall back on. Tias, Tios, Abuela, and more cousins that I’ve had hot dinners,” he told them, “I have people that will help me out in any type of situation. Do you want to know where Christopher was during the hearing? He was with a firefighter and a paramedic as they took him and their foster son to the park. He was out having fun with a new friend and two people that I enjoy spending time with. And no, neither of them is Evan,” he added before they could even ask. “I have a life here that I’ve been building and Helena and Ramon have done nothing but try to rip that away from me and Christopher. They have both done so much to try and tear me down since I was a child, and I will never let them near my son. It’s why I always told Shannon never to let them be alone with him, since I know what they are like. I am a disappointment to them both and I stopped caring about that a long time ago. I only stayed in El Paso for a friend, who has now moved overseas to be with his family. A friend that was displaced much like I was and we helped each other out since I could never rely on family after returning.”

Astrid stood up, “Eddie,” she said mournfully, “I-”

“Go back to El Paso, I don’t want to see you again. You had your chance to get to know me and be a family to me, and you never took it. So please, leave me and my family alone, we want nothing to do with the Swedish contingent,” he finished as he turned around and left the cafe. He never knew his grandma and grandpa, they never spent any time with him on his own, always with his parents and sisters around, a beady eye on him in case he got up to something, the something that his mother would always insist on something happening. His sisters often backed her up when they knew he had done nothing. He sighed and let it go, he had to, he didn’t want this to follow him anymore. He was free of them all and he was going to enjoy it.

XxXxX

Evan walked into the 118, a bounce in his step as Eddie and he had breakfast together that morning. He had told him about meeting his mother’s parents the day before and how it was exhausting but also good to finally get a few things off his chest. “Good Morning Henrietta,” he chirped at the woman, he could see that she was happy and almost skipping around the place as well. There was a little smirk on her lips that told that something really good had happened to her and she was bursting wanting to tell someone.

“Don’t call me that,” she said, though her tone was still playful and light as she went over and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”

Evan blinked, but hugged her back before letting her go and asking, “And while that hug was welcomed and nice, what was the thank you for?” he smiled as she just hugged him again.

Hen finally let him go, “Well, I followed your advice, talked to CPS, did the applications and all that. Worked really hard, and did the interviews and the checks. Two days ago we were approved as foster parents that are looking to adopt. We just have our first foster children joining us. Twin girls, they are three years old and their parents have recently passed away,” she said, looking sad as well as happy. “They miss their parents a lot and I am unsure of how to help them, but I’m also happy to have them with us. Denny loves them to bits already. They are open for adoption as there is no other family. So we have six months before that will be the case, if they stay with us and are a good fit. But so far so good,” she said, biting her lip, before breaking out into a large smile.

“That’s fantastic news,” Evan said, genuinely happy for her. “I’ve been thinking about adopting as well. For one of the children in our care, the parent’s rights have now been fully severed. She’s been in our care since the beginning and I’ve been the main carer for her, since we tend to have one person that will focus on one kid, or two or three children that they will know better than the others in the home. It’s a way of making sure that there is someone who knows the ins and outs of a child’s health, mental and physical, and other things as well. Like awards they are going for and the like,” he told her, “So yeah, I’ve been thinking about adopting her.”

“Oh, tell me about her?” Hen said as they headed out of the locker room, ready to face the day.

“She’s only four months old and you’ve already met her, or rather helped with her rescue, she’s the baby in the pipe,” he stated.

Hen’s eyes went wide, “I forgot that you were fostering her, I thought there was talk about her going back to her birth mother.”

“No, there was never talk about that. Her rights were severed, though she faced no charges for what she had done, instead she was able to get some mental health help and she is in care herself at the moment. Children having children, unfortunately, it happens,” he sighed, “But yeah, it’s her, her health isn’t the best, but that’s because of her beginning in life. The pipe that she was in was for waste after all and she contracted a few viruses and such from that,” he shook his head, “She’s doing a lot better, but her immune system is shot to hell and back. We are careful with her, but she is in a children’s home after all, bugs and such are in and out more than the kids are,” he snorted as they reached the top of the stairs.

Both of them looked at each other and then back at Bobby, the man was moving stiffly as he went around the kitchen making waffles. The only time waffles came out was when Bobby wasn’t in the mood to do much in the way of cooking. “I’ll take over the waffle making and you tackle Bobby,” Hen said as he looked at Evan.

“Sure,” Evan said as he went over to Bobby and guided him away, the man not even protesting as Hen took over in the kitchen.

“Evan,” Bobby said, his voice more monotone than it had been after Marcy had died.

“What’s going on?” Evan asked as soon as they were in the privacy of Bobby’s office.

“I… you know Athena and I are dating,” Bobby began, getting a nod from Evan. “Well, we had a bit of a fight. I’ve noticed that she always wants to stay in, she never wants to go out and I started to get worried that she didn’t like the fact that I’m… well white,” he sighed, “It’s not fully that, but also that,” he told him, explaining what Athena had told him the night before. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be the dirty secret that she keeps hidden. I want to take her out, go dancing, have a meal out together, try new things with her,” he finished hanging his head.

“I think the best thing you can do is to wait, and maybe put a word in Hen’s ear to talk to Athena, the two are best friends, and they tell each other near on everything,” he stated.

“Maybe,” Bobby sighed, “I just feel off. Brooke and Robbie love her to bits already. They met, by accident, Athena wanted to do something together, to stay at mine. I had been about to let them sleep over at their friend’s house since they had been asking. But when Athena turned up they decided that they wanted to get to know her instead,” he smiled softly as he thought of the night. “It was nice, they like her a lot and I don’t want them to be disappointed.”

“All you can do is hope and maybe talk to her yourself,” Evan suggested, “It can’t really hurt. But give her a bit of time, let her have time to think, you two are well suited to each other.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “Thank you for talking to me and not letting me stew.”

“The only time stew should be around is when it’s really cold,” Evan joked lightly as he got up, the two headed back out and up to the loft. Hen was almost done making the waffles for breakfast as the rest of the shift started to come over and set up the tables.

“Thank you Hen,” Bobby said as he took over making the last two waffles as he gestured for her to sit down.

“We’ve got you, Bobby,” she whispered to him, as she looked at Evan for answers, shaking his head, that he would tell her later, but only because Bobby had permitted him to say something to her. Breakfast ended far too soon as the alarm was raised and they were off on the first call of the day.

Chapter Thirteen

Evan stared at the woman before him, she had just tried to slap him while he was holding Leyna, as the four-month-old baby girl was fussing and wanted to be held. “You need to back off, I’m with my daughter and I don’t need you trying to harm me where I could accidentally drop her.”

“You liar, I don’t know where you got that baby from, no doubt you fucking stole it!” she yelled out, causing those around him to start looking at them.

“Ma’am, I suggest that you back off once again, I will be calling the cops,” Evan said, as he began to get his phone out to call 9-1-1.

“Asshole!” she said as she went towards him to try and get the child from him.

Evan turned, “Ma’am, back the fuck up now!” he damned his voice giving no room for her to argue, “You come near me again and I will have you arrested and charged for attempted kidnapping!”

The woman glared as she lashed out, hitting him on the back. Evan kept his back to her as he talked to dispatch, asking for an officer to come to his location as soon as possible as he was being attacked and had a four-month-old with him that he was trying to protect.

“Give that baby here!” she screamed.

“Can someone stop her, she’s going to hit my daughter if she carries on!” Evan yelled out, hoping that one of the bystanders would actually do something. He could hear sirens in the distract as someone finally came over to help.

“Hey!” the woman said as she struggled in the womans’ grip that had come up to help.

“No, you can stay put, Buckley isn’t the type of bloke to do that,” she stated.

“And how the fuck would you know! He ghosted me, after talking to me online and then he just gets to play happy fucking family with another women he no doubt duped,” she spat glaring at the strong woman that had grabbed her.

“Buckley’s got morals that you obviously lack,” she snorted, “And I’m a firefighter as well,” she stated, “I’ve worked a couple of scenes with him, and if I remember right, there was something about a catfisher?” she asked as she looked over at Evan.

“Yeah, damn guy was talking to over a dozen women, maybe even more when he died. So he stopped talking to them and of course, since he was using an old picture of mine he stole off my Instagram, they believed it was me,” Evan sighed, “this is the fifth one that tried to hit me, and one is facing jail time for what she did.”

“What… what do you mean jail time!” the woman asked, her eyes going wide.

Evan stared at her, “The last one to attack me threw a hot drink in my face. Attacking a first responder is often classified as a felony, which means the punishment is higher, and since you also tried to take my daughter from me, you can also be charged with attempted kidnapping,” he stated, staring at her.

The woman stared for a few moments, no longer struggling. Evan began to check Leyna over, making sure she was okay. The firefighter that held her still held her tightly, but her attention was on the approaching cop car. “You’re both lying,” she yelled, moving quickly, breaking free from the firefighter and heading towards Evan. Evan looked up, eyes going wide as the woman collided with him, Leyna screaming out as she was pushed from Evan’s arms.

“Leyna!” he yelled out, reaching to try and stop her from falling to the ground. “Fuck, fuck, get that bitch and make sure she is held tight,” he said as he was down on the floor, Leyna lying still, her eyes closed. “Dispatch,” he said, glad that he had kept them on the phone, “I need an RA unit here right now. I have a four-month-old female. She is unconscious,” he said, his voice trembling as he tried to keep his emotions in check. He began to say what happened as he gently and carefully looked her over, “She’s… she’s not breathing.”

“RA unit 2 minutes out,” the dispatcher said.

The cops pulled up and two came out of one and Athena ran over from the second car that pulled up.

“Here, take this bitch, she has a whole fucking host of charges going her way,” the firefighter said as she wet over to Evan and knelt, “Right, let me take over, I know you want to do this but your emotions are all over the place,” she said, as she looked at Athena.

“Buck, come on Baby,” she said softly as she guided him away so that the firefighter could take over CPR.

“No,” Evan said wanting to go back to the little girl, his emotions now let loose as tears started to fall from his eyes, “Come on Leyley,” he said, calling out to the baby.

The sirens of the ambulance headed their way and paramedics got out rushing over. They were quick to take over. “She’s back!” one of them yelled after what felt like an eternity to Evan.

Evan slumped against Athena, crying as he heard that, “Oh thank God, thank you, God,” he said over and over again.

“Sir, do you want to come with your daughter?” the paramedic asked.

“Yes, please,” he said as he went forward.

“That girl isn’t his, he must have stolen her!” the woman yelled as she was being manhandled towards the cop car after being arrested and read her rights.

“Ma’am, that is his daughter,” Athena said, raising an eyebrow at the woman. “You’ve attacked a young man with his daughter, almost causing that little girl’s death, and still might, I suggest you shut the hell up,” she stated, she headed to the cafe where this had taken place outside of and went in to gather evidence and to have more sent her way and a detective, this was now above her pay grade.

“Sergeant,” the firefighter said as the Ambulance headed, “I’m Lena Bosko, I’m with station 136. I’m happy to give a statement to what I saw. I came out of the cafe when I heard Buckley call for aid.”

“Right, I will take your statement in a moment, I want to view the footage and wait for a detective to head my way,” she said.

“I don’t mind waiting around for that,” Bosko nodded as she settled down to wait.

XxXxX

Evan was sitting in a waiting room, isolated and alone. He didn’t know how long he had been there for, he just knew that he was waiting for news on Leyna. Her heart had stopped in the ambulance but they had managed to get her back. They had barely said a word as they took her down to surgery.

“Evan!” came a voice as Clive rushed into the waiting room, “Oh, fuck,” he said as he saw the pained look on the slightly older male. He went over and wrapped him up in his arms. “Sorry, we’re trying to get hold of Eddie to get him here. Xiaoli is working, so is Zac and Nic,” he told him,

“Glad… glad to have someone,” Evan stammered as he held onto Clive and burst into tears. “They haven’t told me anything, just that she needed to have surgery, they took her down almost an hour ago. I’m scared, Clive, I’m scared that something has happened and I don’t want to know if it has.”

Clive held him as they waited for any news. It took almost an hour before someone came into the room, “Hello,” he greeted as he looked at the two young men. “Family of Leyna Buckley?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m… yes,” Evan said, hesitating to say anything more.

“Right,” he said with a small smile, “Leyna is still in surgery at the moment, they are stemming a brain bleed that was detected. She’s fighting though. We have found a few more injuries. She has a broken leg, which is going to be cast as soon as it is safe to do so, two ribs are fractured, and we are going to be monitoring her breathing to make sure pneumonia doesn’t develop,” he said, explaining a little more before leaving them alone again.

Evan seemed to collapse into himself as he waited. “I… Galen needs to know what is going on.”

“It’s alright, Janaia is informing him of what is going on. Sergeant Grant has been a great help and came to the Home to tell us what has been happening and she and Janaia are talking with Galen and Jerry. You don’t have to worry about anything but Leyna,” he reassured him, stopping him from getting up. Clive could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket and he spared a quick second to get it out and glance at the message. He nodded to himself.

Evan went quiet again, sitting there feeling numb as there was a knock on the door. He looked up as Clive went to open it letting whoever it was come in. Evan stumbled out of his chair and rushed over to Eddie. “Eddie,” he cried, holding onto his partner tightly.

“I’ve got you,” he said, rubbing Evan’s back as he looked at Clive. The man was typing furiously on his phone before holding it up to Eddie. He read through it, mostly updating him on what was going on with Leyna without having to say anything more. ‘Thank you’ he mouthed, getting a small tight smile as the young man sat back down. Eddie slowly pulled away only to guide Evan to the chairs as they settled down to wait for more news.

Evan leaned against Eddie, lost in thoughts as the door opened again, without him even hearing the knock or Clive answering it. All he could think of was what had happened and what he could have done more to stop it. He shouldn’t have let his attention waver from the woman at all. She had taken advantage of that and had tried to harm his daughter, and she was, she was his and he needed to make sure that happened as soon as he possibly could. He just hoped that he would be able to have that with her.

Eddie could feel his shoulder getting wet as Evan cried. He had said a few things, but it was like Evan wasn’t hearing him, lost in his thoughts and mind.

“Sergeant Grant,” Clive greeted the woman and then looked at the man who had accompanied her.

“This is Detective Ransone,” she introduced him, “Buck,” she called out to Evan. She frowned as he went over, “How long has he been like this?” she asked.

“Not long, and I’m thinking shock,” Eddie told her, “I’ve been trying to get him to answer me, but it hasn’t been working so far.”

Athena nodded, “Okay,” she said, taking hold of Evan’s hands, “Evan, Buck, Baby,” she called to him, her voice softening slightly, “Come on baby, come back, I know that mind of yours goes so far that you can’t keep up. But I need you present now,” she coaxed him, keeping up a litany of words in the homes that it would work in getting Evan out of his head.

Evan slowly started to come out of the mindset he was in, looking and finding Athena in front of him, an arm around him, and knowing that Eddie was there. “Eds, ‘Thena?” he blinked a little, looking around the room to find a worried Clive and a man that he hadn’t seen before.

“There you are,” Athena smiled, “Good to see you with us again,” she told him, “Now,” she said, taking a seat beside him. “Unfortunately,” she began, “I have brought Detective Lou Ransone with me. He just needs a statement and maybe some questions answered, and then we can wait for news,” she finished, her words were gentle and calming.

Evan froze for a moment before nodding, “Yeah, yeah, let’s get this over with. I need to concentrate on Leyna,” he said, looking at Detective Ransone.

“Good to meet you again, Mr Buckley,” he said, “I’m sorry that we’re meeting again like this, I wish it was under better circumstances” he added. “I’m going to record this, so we don’t have to keep going over things,” he said, pulling out a recorder and setting it down on a table nearby.

“Same, and yeah, that’s fine,” he nodded.

“Right, in your own words, take me over what happened,” Detective Ransone prompted, he listened to what Evan said, nodding and occasionally asking a clarifying question. “Thank you, I think that is all I need from you. We may have to talk to you again, but charges are being filed against the woman for several things.”

Evan nodded, “Thank you, just… throw the damn book at her, she deserves it,” he said, voice going cold.

“I will do,” Detective Ransone nodded, standing up, “I’m going to head out, I’ll see you at the station,” he said to Athena before saying goodbye to the three men in the room.

XxXxX

Evan and the others didn’t know how long they were in the room, though it seemed like an eternity. Athena had left to head back to the station and to her patrols. The door opened and a different doctor walked in. “Hi” he greeted them “I’m David, I was the one that performed the surgery on your daughter, Leyna,” he stated as he walked into the room. “I’m a neurosurgeon, and I was called in because of a brain bleed. She came through the surgery well, she’s a fighter, that’s for sure. With her previous health concerns, they are taking her to the NICU to be looked after there, as they are more prepared for anything that might come up when it comes to babies.”

“Is she going to be alright?” Evan asked as he was standing in front of the surgeon.

“The next twenty-four hours are critical if she comes through them without any complication, I would say that her chances are really good. There might still be some lingering issues from the injury, but nothing that we would be able to tell for a while, I’m going to have someone come and take you to see her. Normally we like to have everything restricted for her, the risk of infection could be high in her case, especially after a bout of pneumonia, as her immune system would be rather weak. So please, take the appropriate care with her, when visiting her,” he finished as he went on to tell them all a few more things about Leyna’s condition before heading off and sending in a nurse to lead them to Leyna’s room.

Clive left them alone as he headed back to the Home after learning all the details. Evan stood near the incubator that they had put Leyna in, helping her with all the functions that it needed. He was overwhelmed to be there and he knew he would have fallen to the floor without Eddie beside him.

“Leyley,” he called to her, “You have to keep fighting for me sweetheart okay, Daddy needs you to fight.” He turned and held onto Eddie seeking comfort from his partner.

Chapter Fourteen

Evan had taken some time off so he could be at the hospital with Leyna, he didn’t want to leave her alone for long at all. Scared that something would happen and he wouldn’t be there for her. Eddie had taken to spending time with him while he could as well. Though Christopher had asked him the one time that he had been able to tear himself away from Leyna, why he couldn’t come and see her as well. It was hard to tell him that she was too sick for visitors.

“Hey,” Eddie said as he walked into the room. There were another couple of people in there, some nurses and two families that were with their children.

“Hey,” Evan said as he looked up.

“Any change?” he asked as he walked over, putting a hand on Evan’s back, rubbing it a few times as he glanced down at the baby girl.

“She’s a little stronger,” he told him, “Doing well and starting to fight the ventilator. They are thinking about taking her off it tomorrow morning. If she carries on, it might be sooner.”

“That’s good news,” he smiled, kissing Evan on the temple, “Really good news. What’s the doctors saying at the moment?” he asked, sitting down on the spare chair.

“Her injuries are healing, but it is going to be a good few months before she is fully healed from the other injuries. The injury to her head might leave permanent problems behind,” he added.

Eddie nodded, the two had been warned of that. “Then we’ll have to be there for her and make sure that she will have everything she needs to fly,” he said, thinking that he would do the same for Christopher, doing everything in his power to make sure that Leyna would have the life she deserved, full of happiness and hope for a brilliant future.

“Yeah, I’m going to be meeting Galen in a couple of hours. Would you stay here with her?” he asked, looking over at Eddie.

“Of course,” he agreed easily. “Pepa is going to be picking up Christopher and taking him to the Home, he and Joshua have a playdate. Clive has already said that he would keep an eye on the two of them.”

“That’s good, and thanks,” he said. He went silent for a while, just holding onto Eddie and striking a finger over a tiny hand. Almost an hour later Evan left Eddie and went to meet up with Galen.

“Evan,” Galen greeted as soon as the young man was shown into his office. “So, what did you want to talk about?” he asked.

“I’m going to adopt Leyna, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I don’t want to leave it to chance. I love her, Galen, and this… this I-” he cut himself off, shaking his head, as he tried to regain control of his emotions.

“It’s alright, take your time. You know it’s going to be a process to go through the adoption. She is free for adoption as you know, and with what has happened, are you sure you want to do this now?” he asked him.

“Yeah, I do. No matter what might happen, she’s my daughter, Galen, she has been since I held her that first time. And I don’t mean when you brought her to the Home, I mean the moment I took her from Bobby to run her down to the ambo,” he said, shaking his head, “I want her as mine. Forever.”

“Alright, but one question. I know that you’re in a relationship at the moment, what does he think about it?” he asked.

“He’s on my side with this. He’s already said to do it, that she will be ours. At the moment, he’s sitting with her at the hospital,” Evan said, a soft smile on his face, “He knows what it’s like to have that unsureness when it comes to their child. he’s been helping me a lot, and helping me prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

“Alright, then if he wants he can be added to the adoption at a later time. When you are both comfortable with that,” Galen said, “For now, you know the drill,” he added as he got out the beginnings of the paperwork that Evan would need to go through as well as the court dates he would have to attend to make everything final.

XxXxX

Evan walked into the 118 almost two weeks after he and Leyna had been attacked. The woman was out on bail but a restraining order meant that she couldn’t go near the 118 and if she had an emergency another house would have to be called for her. Evan hadn’t heard much of what was going on since he had been mostly at the hospital with Leyna. Eddie was going to be spending some time with her while Evan was on the twenty-four-hour shift. Eddie would only be able to be there occasionally. He did have Christopher and the Academy to attend to. Clive had said he would do a few of the evenings with Leyna as did Alicia.

“Hey,” Hen said as she walked over and hugged him tightly. “I heard about what happened, how is she?” she asked. She had called a few times and even went to see him and made sure he was eating twice.

“She’s doing a lot better, they think she’ll be able to come home in a couple more days. They are just being cautious at the moment,” he said, feeling a lot better than he had in days. “I didn’t think… I didn’t think she was going to make it right at the beginning. But she proved me and everyone wrong.”

“She’s like her daddy then, strong-willed and able to push through,” she said, hugging him again before letting him, “Right, let’s get to work.”

Evan nodded and got ready for the day, heading up to the loft to see everyone gathered, all welcoming him back. Bobby nodded at him. The older man had stopped by a lot, helping when he could and making sure to bring food for Evan and Eddie if he was at the hospital visiting.

“Welcome back, Buck,” he said, “Breakfast, and then we are online,” he said as he gestured to the table to get it ready and for someone to come and help him with the food that he had been keeping warm.

Evan was quick to dive in and help. The rhythm of being back in the firehouse was soothing to his soul. The first two callouts had been practically textbook examples of a car accident. No serious injuries, just debris and damaged vehicles. Returning to the fire station, Athena was waiting there with Lou Ransone. Evan’s heart clenched at seeing them. Mostly for Lou, as the man had been the one to deal with two of the incidents that he was involved in. Dr Wells, and now the lady that had attacked Leyna and himself.

“Evan,” Athena said, a soft smile on her face as she walked over. “Sorry to come to you while you’re working.”

“Yeah, what’s going on?” he asked, looking between the two of them.

“We just got word that the woman tried to violate her bail conditions,” Lou said, “Leyna is fine, she’s still at the hospital. Miss Forester tried to get into the Home. Clive was able to make sure all the kids were accounted for and safe. The cops were called and she was taken into custody,” he finished, looking to one side as he wanted to speak with him alone.

“The kids are alright?” he asked, needing to be sure.

“Yes, they are all fine,” Athena said, “I was the responding officer. Lou came over as soon as we knew who it was that was trying to get in.”

“Who is this woman?” Evan asked, he hadn’t learned much about her at all, not even a name. He was too busy watching over Leyna.

“Her name is Regina Forester,” Athena told him, as she guided him with permission to Bobby’s office so she could tell him what she hadn’t been able to until now.

Evan went with her, Lou following behind as the rest of the 118 looked on in worry and confusion. “So, who is she and why is she determined to get to me.”

“She believes that you owe her,” Athena said, shaking her head, “She believes that this man was to be the love of her life. She’s become obsessed with getting to you. We’re going to be keeping her in lock up until her trial and she is going to be undergoing a mental evaluation to make sure that this isn’t something else at play.”

“We’re concerned that she will come here eventually if she remains free. Her family are not happy about it, and we have taken to warning them to not come near you or the Home, or anywhere else that you might be,” Lou said shaking his head, “I don’t like them, they are well off, for one and I know that they are going to be doing everything they can to try and stop the trial and have her face the consequences. This isn’t the first time she’s had a run-in with the law either.”

“Right,” Evan said singing as he sat down, “What should I do?” he asked, looking at them both for some advice.

“At the moment, I would wait a bit. It’s looking like they are going to be going to the press. if they do that, then you say your side of things. Going first will only draw bad press in the end. If you react instead, you have your reputation and there is CCTV of the footage and the evidence that was put forward because of the catfisher.” Athena told him, “I know it’s not ideal, but if people become too much of a bother, then we can do something.”

“Just make sure she doesn’t go near the kids. I want her as far away from them as possible. I’ll deal with anything else as it comes,” Evan said, shaking his head and then resting it in his hands, “Why the fuck is this happening?” he asked, not expecting any answer to it.

“I don’t know, Baby,” Athena said softly as she went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “You’re a good man, a great father figure to those kids and I know Eddie loves you,” she told him, “All you have done from what I can see is do good around the place. Don’t let this change that,” she finished quietly.

Evan looked up at her, “I don’t plan on it-” he began to say as the alarms went, “Gotta go,” he said as he darted out of the office and toward the truck. Nodding at Bobby to let him know he was okay, they were off on their next call, someone staying behind to look after things and keep lunch going. Athena and Lou nodded to the man behind and left.

XxXxX

Eddie looked at his instructor. The man had just called to him while he was on the wall, doing some rope work with the others of his class. “Sir,” he nodded, frowning and wondering what was going on.

“I’ve two women that are causing a bit of a ruckus out there, they claim to be your sisters.”

“For fu…” he trailed off, “Sorry sir,” he apologized. “They might just be my sisters. I won a court case against our parents recently, stopping them from having any contact with myself and my son. Since they were being rather ableist and trying to accuse me of abuse. It didn’t work. Now my sisters are siding with them, on the matter, and believe that I can’t look after my son at all,” he sighed, shaking his head, as he explained a little of the situation. “I’ll get rid of them and the chances are I’m going to be getting a restraining order against them as well. Since this is the ninth time they’ve tried to get to me to decide what I’ve done in trying to protect my son from my family.”

“Get rid of them, we can’t have people hanging around like that if they are going to do nothing but disturb those that are working hard to get their certificates,” he stated, gesturing with his head to get Eddie to deal with it.

Eddie nodded and jogged toward the front of the academy. He could see his sisters, both of them being brats in his eyes. He wondered for a moment what it was with the woman in his family. Especially those that should be a joyful part of his life. He sighed again as he went over, “Adriana, Sophia, what the hell do you think you are doing?” he hissed at them as he grabbed them by the arms and pulled them away from the poor trainee that they had collared and was trying to get to let them inside the buildings to search for Eddie.

“This is the only way that you will pay any attention to us,” Adriana said as she pulled her arm free and stared at her brother.

“Why would I pay attention to either of you when you’ve made it very clear that you think Helena should be raising my son, and not myself? Are you going to be handing over your children to them at any point?” he asked, “Since you both believe that they make good parents,” he added, raising an eyebrow at the two of them.

“Don’t take that tone with me,” Sophia snapped at him, “We’re just lo-”

“Change the fucking record, it’s old, broken and needs to be retired or melted down at the very fucking least. Helena and Ramon Diaz will never see or go near MY son ever again. They will never be allowed into any family event that I am part of again. I want nothing to do with them. They have harmed me and Christopher for the last time. Now. I will be contacting my lawyer to get a restraining order against the two of you since you seem incapable of actually leaving me alone as I’ve asked. From now on I don’t want to see you around here again,” he told them, “Leave before I have someone call the cops instead,” he warned them. He was done playing nice with his family, he couldn’t do it anymore. The hurt it was causing wasn’t just to him, but to Christopher.

“You will regret this one day Eddie, you’re going to need us and we won’t be there to pick up the pieces. Just like Mom said, you’re going to drag Christopher down with you and you won’t have anyone,” Adriana hissed at him as she turned and walked away.

“You won’t be able to come to us,” Sophia added.

“I have better people to rely on than any of you,” Eddie laughed, “People that would rather see me helped than dead like Helena and Ramon wish I was,” he said as he then turned, ignoring the wide-eyed looks his sisters were giving him as he went back inside. He looked out the window for a moment, making sure they left before heading back to his class.

Chapter Fifteen

Evan was fully at work again, instead of the half shifts that he had been doing since Leyna had returned home. She was doing a lot better, and her doctors and surgeon were pleased with her progress, though they still weren’t able to determine if there were any permanent damages from the injuries she had received.

“Morning Buck,” Hen greeted him as he walked up to the loft. Bobby and Hen were in the middle of cooking breakfast.

Evan could smell the blueberry pancakes and smiled, “Smell damn good, Cap, Hen,” he greeted the two of them, heading over and asking, “So, anything I can help with?”

“Get the bacon ready, should be almost done cooking,” Bobby answered, sparing him a glance before flipping another pancake out of the pan and onto the stack that he tucked away again.

Evan nodded, “I’ve started the adoption process,” he said softly.

Hen stared at him, “Really?”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling, “She’s going to be mine,” he said, his smile getting wider. “She’s doing so well, Bobby, Hen, she really is. Gerry said that it might take a couple of months, but since she’s had no prospects at all in the last four months, especially when people learn that she may have disabilities or learning problems. So, I should be good.”

“How about Eddie?” Hen asked him.

“He’s all for it, he knows how much Leyna means to me, and he has been helping look after her with me,” he said, blushing a little, “He’s talked to Galen about adopting her as well, for when we reach that stage.”

“Wow,” Hen said, nodding as she put the toast in, and began to butter some that had already been toasted.

“Yeah, it’s nice to know that he’s fully on board,” Evan grinned as he plated the bacon. The others of the shift began to arrive and come up to help set up the tables and get drinks ready for everyone.

“He has a son, doesn’t he?” Hen asked.

“He does, Chris,” Evan smiled, “He’s such a great kid, doesn’t let anything get to him if he can help it,” he said, though he knew of five people who got to Christopher all the time when they were either mentioned or he saw them. His grandparents, Tias, and mother.

“What does Chris think of it all?” Hen asked.

Bobby smiled as he heard what Christopher had been calling Leyna for the last couple of weeks.

“As far as Chris is concerned, Leyna is his sister and no one is allowed to say differently,” Evan snorted, shaking his head. “Eddie is very much on board making that happen at some point.”

“Good to hear,” Hen smiled at him as the last of the food was ready and plates and everything were set. Bobby sat at the head of the table as people began to pass food around, taking what they wanted, and adding extras.

“After Breakfast, Evan, can I talk to you in my office please,” Bobby said looking at the probationary firefighter.

“Sure,” Evan nodded, wondering what was going on.

Breakfast was lively, teasing and laughter sounded and echoed around the station until Bobby got up and assigned chores to everyone, and led the way to his office. Evan follows behind him. Mitch joined them as well, at Bobby’s assistance.

“Bobby, Mitch?” Evan queried as he looked between the two.

“Hey,” Mitch grinned at him, “Well, I’ve taught you all that I can. There’s nothing else to teach you from me. You have a good head on your shoulders, and excellent training behind you as well. I don’t think there is anything more that I can show and teach you.”

Bobby nodded, “Your review is good, you get top marks for everything, and you’ve been able to come up with ideas for rescues, that are outside the box, but they get the job done. Not only that, but you are a welcome addition to the shift. I think you are now ready for the last step,” he grinned, “That’s the Shield Ceremony. The day you become a full-fledged firefighter, I will be welcoming you aboard, gladly.”

“Really?” Evan said, looking between the two of them.

“Yeah, so, two weeks, a week into June, we will be having it. I want you to think of people that you would like to invite. I have no doubt that Eddie and Chris will be top of the list with a couple of those from the Home,” he said, nodding his head and thinking of those that were in Evan’s life.

“Robbie and Brooke as well,” Evan added, grinning, “I know a few people that I would love to invite. How many?” he asked, wanting to make sure that there would be enough room for everyone first.

“With how many are in your life. I will go with twenty-five guests,” Bobby said, “That is the maximum that can be catered for at one of these.”

“Okay,” Evan nodded, starting to think of those that he wanted there.

“Have a good think, and get back to me with a list, and any that have dietary requirements,” he added.

“Thanks, Bobby, and are Brooke and Robbie stopping by today?” he asked, knowing that when the two had a half day they liked to come by and see their dad.

“They are,” Bobby answered as they headed out of the office.

Mitch headed to do his own chores and Evan followed Bobby upstairs as the two were going to be going through the kitchen area and doing a deep clean.

XxXxX

Three calls and the team were exhausted, they had been back to back, two fires that ended up needing an extra station to come in and help, and a multivehicle pile up that needed two more teams brought in just to deal with everything. It was evening, they hadn’t had time for lunch, and the promised visit from Brooke and Robbie hadn’t happened, since it had been late.

Bobby jumped out and guided the engine back into the bay. “Right,” he said as soon as everyone was standing around, “We’ve got four hours offline. Rest up, shower and we’ll ord-” he stopped, smelling something coming from the loft. They had a man behind, of course, but they weren’t the best cook in the station.

“Hey,” Athena said as she looked over the railing down at A-Shift, “I heard you’ve been busy, thought I would stop by and get something cooked for everyone,” she told them all.

“Damn, Athena,” Hen grinned, “That smells so damn good,” she laughed.

“It better,” another voice said as Karen appeared next to Athena, “We worked together to make sure that you all have a good meal.”

“Mama!” twin cries echoed as the two little girls that Karen and Hen were fostering, hoping to adopt, appeared from the locker room, where Denny was standing with them, along with Brooke and Robbie. Hen dropped to her knees as she hugged them, bringing Denny into the hug as well.

“Hey, guys,” Bobby said, a wide smile on his face as he saw his children, he went over and hugged them both tightly “I thought you were going to be home with Leanne,” he frowned for a moment.

“Athena came and got us. She knew that you were looking forward to our visit,” Robbie said as he hugged his dad.

“Then we’re having a sleepover with Athena, she and her kids have invited us,” Brooke smiled.

“Okay,” he said as he let them both go and head upstairs.

“Thought we would stop by as well,” came a male voice as Eddie showed himself, Christopher, in his arms.

“Bucky!” Christopher waved.

“Hey, buddy!” Evan grinned as he headed up to see them, kissing Eddie and hugging Christopher, “I’m going to quickly shower and then I’ll be back,” he told them.

“Okay,” Christopher nodded as he was set down. The other children came up with Hen bringing up the twins, and making sure that they wouldn’t be able to go near the stairs again.

Dinner was fun, having people visiting and being able to see them after a hard shift, even though it wasn’t fully over yet.

XxXxX

Eddie looked over at Evan, they had just finished their first date in almost a month. Leyna had been a top priority, and while she still was, Clive had been the one who had ordered him to get Eddie and go out for the night. Evan had reluctantly given in.

“So,” Eddie said as the waiter took away their plates, “You feel better now?” he asked him.

“Yeah,” Evan smiled, “I think I needed the push.” Zachary and Nikolas had been the ones to recommend the restaurant that they had gone to.

“You did, but I can understand not really wanting to go too far from Leyna if you didn’t have to,” Eddie told him, reaching out as the man returned with the check. Eddie was quick to pay before Evan could even try and pull his wallet out.

“Really,” Evan rolled his eyes.

“You got it the last time,” Eddie reminded him, laughing as they stood up. They said thank you to the staff as they left and hand in hand they began to walk back to where Eddie had parked.

“Tonight was a good night,” Evan said softly, as he looked to the sky, wishing that he could actually see more of the stars. “We need to find a good stargazing spot,” he muttered.

Eddie nodded, looking up, “Yeah, I think we do,” he agreed, “I miss seeing them at times. In some places they were so bright and so many of them,” he smiled, looking over at Evan, who was still looking at the sky above them.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Evan then asked.

“The beach trip should be fun. We have enough adults to watch over all the children,” Eddie said, “Chris is looking forward to it as well. I think we all are,” he added, knowing that things had been difficult around the home in the last few days. Three of the children that had been there had been taken in by family. Two were staying in the area, but another was being taken out of state by an Aunt that had stepped in to take care of their nephew. Everyone was feeling the loss, which was why the play date at the beach was happening. To help cheer everyone up.

“It should be a fun day. Janaia and Sylvia are preparing a lot of the food, Clive is helping and we have Galen and Jerry even joining us, Jo is over from Montana for a few days and will be coming with us as well. Zac and Nic are coming as they both have the day off. Xiaoli traded a shift to be able to come as well,” Evan grinned, “Bobby is going to be there, and he plans to bring Athena and their kids. I think even Athena’s ex is coming as well,” he laughed, “There’s going to be so many people,” he said, looking at Eddie, “I can’t believe how many, and that’s not including Abuela, she found out what is going on and is making a few cakes and a few other things as well for tomorrow. Bobby and Athena are also cooking and getting drinks in.”

Eddie laughed, “Well,” he said, “At least you know no one is going to be hungry.”

“I know,” he smiled, “As you said, it should be a lot of fun, we have some games and things to take down with us.”

“Good, I have a few things as well, things that I know Christopher enjoys playing in the sand with,” he said, as they reached the truck.

“Are you staying over tonight?” Evan asked him, looking up at him, normally he would go home, they had only stayed the night together once, and that was more because Evan had been scared to be alone with Leyna the first night she had returned home.

“I’d like that,” he said, leaning in for a kiss, “Let’s go home, and check on the kids,” he suggested, a smirk appearing on his face.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “Home.”

XxXxX

Evan relaxed back against Eddie, as Christopher and Joshua were playing in the water. In the small basket beside them, Leyna was sleeping peacefully, her little leg was still in the cast, but they said another month and they should be able to take it off. They had to be careful with her since each time she was in the sun or even bright light, she would start to cry, as though she was in pain. It had taken the doctor a whole to say that she was light sensitive, which meant that too long in bright lights or sunlight, without shade, would cause her to get a headache. A few of the younger children were all under the shade napping, while the older ones were either playing in the sand or out in the ocean with the adults. A few of the adults remained, watching over the younger ones and the sand castle builders.

Evan yawned, snuggling back into Eddie’s chest as the man read a book. “I liked having you with me last night, and not just because of what we got up to,” he said, blushing a little.

Eddie put his book down and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, “So did I, I loved waking up to see you smiling in the morning. To spend the day helping to get people ready. I remember talking to Shannon at one point, telling her I would love a large family. At least four, maybe even five kids. She was not on board, and I was fine with that. I remember my Tia Pepa, with all her kids, she had six of them, and they were the best of friends with each other. Yeah, they fought a lot, but they were there and had each other’s backs, and they still do. I wished so many times that it was like that for me and my sisters. Never was, but maybe one day.”

“With the Home, you’ll have all those kids, only two will be fully ours, but the rest, we can give them the love that they need,” Evan said, eyes closing as he could feel himself drifting a little.

“Yeah, maybe one day soon, we can make that a reality, for now, we have to wait a bit,” Eddie said, wanting to make sure that everything was settled before he made the last move. He knew that while Evan and he were serious, they were still finding their footing. Evan with what had happened with Wells, and then the attack by Forester. Eddie himself was trying to find his place in the world, trying to get through the academy, find a station, and make sure that his parents and sisters remained out of his life.

“Soon,” Evan nodded, shaking his head and blinking a few times, hoping to wake himself up. “Damn, I feel like taking a nap.”

“Have one,” Alicia said as she was sitting in the shade of another tent with some of the little ones. “It won’t hurt you,” she smiled, “Naps are good for the soul.”

“Is that your professional opinion?” Evan asked, smiling over her.

“Yes,” she laughed, “I believe it is,” she told him, still laughing as she went back to her book.

“Well, you heard from Dr. Andrews,” Eddie said, “have your nap, we’ll wake you when the kids start walking, or they all come bounding over here,” he said.

“Yeah, okay,” he murmured, already drifting off again.

Eddie smiled, keeping one arm around him, he settled himself down to read more of his book, awkwardly holding it with one hand.

Chapter Sixteen

Eddie grinned, looking elated as he heard his time. “Damn,” he muttered to himself, he had bested himself and beat the previous record, by only two seconds.

“Well, two years in a row that record has been beaten,” the instructor said, “Congratulations Diaz,” he told him, “Firefighter Buckley held it before you, and you beat him,” he said, holding out a hand.

“Sir,” he nodded, taking it and shaking it before looking at the next firefighter who was on the chopping block. There were still two months to go before he would be finished at the academy, but he was doing well, at the top of his class. He was grateful to Evan for making sure that he was ready for everything that was being thrown at him. He was also taking a few extra classes that he had recommended.

“Diaz,” another instructor said as he walked over, “We’re offering a Swift Water Course in three weeks, so you want to sign up for it?”

Eddie thought for a second and then nodded, “Yes, please. Evan suggested that I take as many courses as I can fit in during my time at the Academy,” he stated.

“That would be Buckley?” the man asked, getting a nod, “Good head on his shoulders, came in with several certs already done. Swift Water is one of them.”

“He does, Sir,” he agreed, “He’s been helping me prepare for what I will face during the Academy and what I might face as a probationary firefighter. We declared our relationship recently.”

“Hmm,” he said, “Well, Diaz, I’ll let you get back to your class and sign you up for the class. Several more are going to be offered a place before we open it up to others.”

“Right,” he nodded before he was let back to his class.

One of the others went over to him. “What did Instructor Farhadi what?”

“He was just informing me about a Swift Water Class that was coming up. Wanted to know if I was interested in it,” he shrugged. He could see the Instructor going to another firefighter.

“Why would anyone need anything more?” he frowned, shaking his head.

“Are you serious,” a woman said as she huffed next to Eddie. “The more you know the more you have to offer your station. Each time you have a new cert it makes you more desirable to captains. I have a couple of extra ones, not many, but a few that would make me a good choice in certain situations. I have Rope work down pat, and close quarter rescue as well. Which works well because I’m kinda fucking tiny,” she snorted.

“That really is the case, those that don’t bother, usually end up stagnating in their careers and don’t get promoted at all. If you want to be at the bottom rung for the rest of your life, then don’t work on yourself,” another piped up, laughing at the man.

“This is why two people dropped from our class, they didn’t like the fact that they would end up having to keep improving themselves,” she said.

“Ugh,” the first man said as he walked off.

“I’m Tina,” she smiled, “Good to meet you.”

“I’m Derek,” the man said, “Sorry for butting in back there, but that bloke is not a good one. He’s been thinking that he would coast through the classes and that because his daddy is a firefighter as well. From what I heard, he’s an entitled shit, the dad is a good firefighter and doesn’t tolerate bullshit either. That guy had been trying to coast, and well, it hasn’t been working. He’s going to be let go if he continues. He has the capability, but no drive.”

Tina nodded, “Yeah, he could do the job, with a bit of effort, but he just never puts any in.”

Eddie listened to the two of them for a bit longer as the last firefighter came out

“Right,” their instructor said, as he called them up. “You have your times, four of you are below the minimum for this time in your course. Three of you are borderline. The rest are good, Diaz, you’re top, Jennings,” he said, calling to Tina, “You came second with the times, well done, you were quick on your feet and you thought outside the box. Kassen, you were third,” he said looking at the tall man that was standing beside Eddie. “Well done to you three. To the four that are below. You have one week to improve yourself and do the course, and get over the mark. If you do not, then this is the end of the line for you and I suggest you think long and hard about what you are doing wrong. The three that are borderline, you better not be during the next run. Improve yourselves.”

There were some murmurings from the others, looking around.

“Now, there are five places left at the Swift Water Class that will be held here in three weeks. These are highly popular courses, they are helpful in several different ways, which you will find out should you take the course. Look at the boards and note which course will be helpful to where you want to be in five years. Because by that point, you should have a direction of what you want to do and go with yourself as a firefighter. No matter if you want to work your way up to Fire Chief, or remain as a firefighter. Even head down the paramedic route.”

The speech he was giving was one he had done so a dozen times over the last few years. Eddie listened, having heard something like this from Evan when they had first talked about Eddie applying for the academy. Evan had given him a direction, Heavy Rescue Asset, just like Evan was. They were dismissed, and allowed to leave for the day. He had to hurry if he wanted to be on time to pick up Christopher It was always a close one when he was going from the academy

XxXxX

Evan sat down on the decking at the Home. Children were playing and Bobby was walking over with two glasses full of lemonade. “Here we go,” he said as he set them down on the table.

“Thanks, Bobby,” he said, looking at the papers that were on the table, “Is this all for the shield thing?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Bobby grinned, “I’ve done this before, in St Paul, it’s nice to show a firefighter that they are joining something a lot bigger than what they think. They are joining thousands of others who go to work each day, hoping that each call goes well and that the people they see will live again. We can end up with some stupid calls, but also ones that restore our faith in humanity. Or show us the worst of it,” he told him, sitting down and taking a sip of his lemonade.

“It’s a lot,” he frowned.

“It’s not that much, it’s just going over the people invited and those that have any dietary problems. We have two that had minor allergies to Cherries and Sweetcorn. No one else has a problem, so I’m making sure that any foods we have won’t contain anything like that. You’ve got a few more that you wish to invite?” he asked, as he pulled the paper towards him.

“No, I gave you the list. I was thinking about reaching out to my sister, to see if she wanted to come. But, well, she hasn’t answered me since Grandma Lizzie passed away. So, I decided not to. She knows where I am, I haven’t changed my number and she isn’t blocked. She is free to message or call me, but she never has,” he shrugged. It hurt to know that Maddie still wasn’t talking to him, he wondered about Doug and knew something else was going on when it came to the older man. He felt like a few of the parents he had met during his work. Dangerous, volatile.

“There’s not much that you can do,” Bobby agreed, as he watched Brooke and Robbie play soccer with a few of the kids. May and Harry, Athena’s children were with them, having made friends with a few of the foster children. It helped that the four kids got along great, and had recently learned that their parents were dating. May had been happy about taking on the role of Older sister to them all. Robbie had been disappointed to know that May was a few months older than him. Harry had moaned about being the youngest in the family still, but Brooke had just commiserated with him, as much as the eleven-year-old could.

“No, there isn’t,” he shrugged, as he got up and went over to the pack n play where Leyna was now awake and starting to fuss. She had been fed through her tube not long before, and with a whiff, he knew what needed to be done, “Right, going to change this one. Oh, Clive will be letting Athena in, in about ten minutes. She’s heading this way to pick up the kids, and she said to pick up you and yours for a family date night,” he said, with a grin.

Bobby grinned, “Yeah, we go on them occasionally, have done for the last three weeks. We finally decided that we weren’t going to hide away anymore. Not since the kids knew each other and were gossiping as some officer works around the water cooler,” he snorted, having heard that from May on a recent family outing.

Evan smiled at him, “Good to know you’ve got things sorted.”

“Hen talked to her, reminded her that this wasn’t the end of something but the beginning,” he said, watching the children as May began to direct them all into a new game.

“Told you,” he said as he began to walk off, “Right, going to change this one, don’t know if you will still be here when I get back, but if not, I’ll see you soon and enjoy your day out,” he said.

Bobby nodded and waved as he drank more of his lemonade and went over the food that he was planning to make for the ceremony. It wasn’t much of anything, most of the time they had something at the beginning or the end of a shift. They had around two or three hours off line before going back on, or around shift change, so two shifts could enjoy the party.

“Hey,” Athena said as she walked onto the patio and put her arms around Bbby.

“Hey, yourself,” he said as he turned his head and they shared a kiss, “How was patrol?” he asked.

“Calm, for once, though not expecting that to last for the next one,” she snorted as she moved around and sat down in the chair that Evan had been a few minutes before. “Where’s Evan and Leyna?” she asked, looking for the two.

“Leyna needed a change,” he told her, “I’m out here watching the kids. Sylvia and Janaia are out there as well, looks like they are enjoying making up a few games,” he snorted as someone shouted out that someone else was cheating and Janania was quick to get in the way and derail any argument that might have broken out.

“Hmm,” she hummed as she looked at the papers that were spread out, “Ceremony?” she asked, getting a nod, “You’re going all out aren’t you?”

“Not really, I’ve done this for those in St Paul, the same is done around here and in a lot of firehouses around the country. We welcome someone when they join the ranks as a full-fledged firefighter. I enjoy it, if I’m honest. I get to meet their families, those that if something happens on the job, they would be the ones that I’m talking to, waiting in the room for any news if it’s serious.”

“Morbid,” she snorted.

“A little, but I have to think that might happen one day, but we are all wishing it never will,” he sighed, he was reminded of Chimney, and of others that he had seen get hurt on the job, sitting with them as he waited for their families to come and be at their bedside. He’s only lost two firefighters on the job, and they were both back in St Paul. He hoped he would never lose another one.

Evan returned to the patio when Bobby, Athena, and their children were getting ready to leave. Athena cuddled Leyna for a moment before hugging Evan. The six of them left the Home and Evan sat down to watch the kids and keep an eye on Leyna.

XxXxX

Evan was quiet as he looked at Lou Ransone, they were in the detective’s office. He had called early in the morning asking for him to come in. “So,” Evan said as he waited for Lou to say something.

“I was going to wait for Athena to come here, but she’s been called out to domestic, she’s one of the best at dealing with them with all parties not getting hurt,” he sighed, delaying what he was about to say.

“I saw the news,” he said, wanting to roll his eyes, but refrained.

“What we thought the Forester family would do, have done so. They are trying to paint her as a victim. We haven’t done anything at all, and neither have you. Looks like the owner of the cafe released the CCTV footage with sound of the attack. People are disgusted that they are trying to paint her as a victim. The owner also made a statement of what she witnessed as she was outside at the time. feeling ashamed that she didn’t stop it before it got to that point.”

“A lot of people might be feeling that,” Evan said, shrugging, “I… she hurt a baby because she couldn’t deal with being wrong about something. Now she’s trying to play the woe-is-me game and losing even more. I know the type and she is going to lash out even more. The footage is only going to quiet her as long as someone can keep a lid on her. I know the DA is pushing for a trial to happen sooner rather than later.”

“They are, we should have a date by the end of the day. From what the DA said, and I know the judge, he hates cases involving children and will often have them heard within two months of charges being filed. We’re nearing that point,” he told him.

“Thanks, Lou, for keeping me updated,” he smiled.

“Welcome, I can’t believe what I’ve found on Forester, she has a history of violence towards people. Clerks in shops, people on the street. She’s thrown hot drinks on three people in the last two months so far. Not only that, but there is a restraining order out from her own sister, because she attacked her nephew when the two-year-old bumped into her when he was playing. I’m learning a lot and what I’m seeing is a brat,” he snorted, shaking his head.

“Reminds me of another woman that I met a few years ago. Her parents ended up having to pay out millions because of her behavior,” he said, thinking of Pierce, the woman who had tried to ruin his life, he had been grateful to the detective in charge figuring that something was right. “Thanks,” he said, as got up, “I’ll be talking to the DA again soon, no doubt.”

“As soon as he has the date, he’ll contact you,” Lou said as he showed Evan out.

Evan headed home, wanting nothing more than to cuddle with Leyna and block out the world for a little while.

Chapter Seventeen

Evan was looking around at everyone that was gathered just for him. Two weeks after being told about it, he had so many people he wanted to invite. That there just wasn’t enough room for everyone. Zac, Nic, Josh, and Xiaoli were there, his Aunt and Uncle and their spouses had come, which had excited Evan even more, to know that some of his family was there to watch him. But so were a few of those from the home and some of the older children. Brooke and Robbie were also there, under the watch of Clive. Eddie was there with Christopher, there were just so many. A couple of his cousins had wanted to come, but in the end, they had designated one of them to go and film everything so everyone in the family could see.

“I can’t believe this,” he said, feeling choked up at the sight.

Eddie wrapped an arm around him, “Well,” he said, “We’re here for you because you deserve to have us all there,” he stated.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “Xiaoli’s is in two days, and the guest list is practically the same,” he snorted, “My family has taken Xiaoli as theirs, his grandparents are being flown in as well, it will be the first time they are seeing each other in a couple of years.”

“That’s nice,” he said, “Though I didn’t know you had decided to invite Abuela and Tia Pepa,” he added as he saw the two women walking around the fire station with Hen and Mitch giving them the tour of the place.

“Of course I had to, I think I would have been killed if not,” Evan snorted.

“Damn right, you would have!” Pepa yelled out as she had heard his words.

“See!” he gestured to her.

“If everyone could get a seat please!” Bobby called out as he looked around the bay of the 118, the vehicles had all been parked outside to make room for everyone. It was one of the largest gatherings he had organized for such an occasion. He smiled as he saw so many, hugging Evan before finding a seat. At Bobby’s gesture, Evan went to stand next to him.

Everyone sat down, Eddie and Christopher taking a place at the front table, so they could be close. Evan watched with a smile as Eddie held Leyna in his arms. The cast was off her leg and her hair had started to grow over the surgical site on her head. Christopher was wiggling in his seat, excited to be there.

“Three years ago, I met Evan Buckley and his best friend, Xiaoli Huang,” Bobby began, looking from Evan to Xiaoli, who was seated next to Christopher. “They came into my station in St Paul, asking what certs they could do and what was on offer to help them start their journey into becoming firefighters. Today is a culmination of those three years of hard work, with ups and downs. That journey has finished, but it also continues. As firefighters, we continue learning new skills to help those who are having the worst day of their lives. It takes a special brand of person to be able to don the uniform and answer the call. Today, we welcome Firefighter Evan Buckley to the ranks, and welcome to the worldwide brotherhood of firefighters. Congratulations Firefighter Buckley,” he stated, holding out a hand to his friend

Evan grinned and shook it, looking around proudly at the others as they clapped. Soon enough they were up and hugging him, congratulating him.

“Congrats,” Zachary said as he went over and hugged him, “knew you could do it,” he grinned, moving aside as Nicholas did the same.

“Congrats, Ev,” Xiaoli said as he was next.

“Three days we’ll be celebrating yours,” Evan pointed out, grinning at him.

“Yeah, we’re having a BBQ at the Home next week to do a join celebration and a last day with my grandparents,” Xiaoli said, smiling as he thought of his grandparents He talked to them often, he just didn’t get much chance to spend time with them, and he knew sooner or later time would be running out for them.

“Yeah, Bobby and Clive are leading the charge at the BBQ,” Evan snorted.

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Xiaoli said, “Clive and Bobby have bonded over BBQs and different marinades,” he added as he hugged Evan again and moved on.

“Bucky!” Christopher called out, demanding his attention as he went over.

“Hey, Superman!” Evan grabbed him and swung him up into his arms.

“You’re a firefighter,” he giggled, “But you were already one.”

“I had to go through more training to be considered a full firefighter, I was only a probationary one, as I was still learning,” he explained as some of the other kids began to head over to him, hugging and asking questions.

“Okay,” Bobby said, “Food is now open,” he said, gesturing to the three tables that had been set up with the buffet of food that had been made for the day

People came up to him to congratulate him and hugged him when they could. “Here,” Eddie said after a little while, “Hold Leyna, she misses her daddy,” he added, as he transferred the baby girl to Evan.

“Thanks,” he smiled, as they shared a kiss.

“She’s been fed and changed,” he added, as Christopher leaned against him, happily eating the cake he had been given by his bisabuela.

“Right,” he nodded as they headed to the buffet to get some food. Eddie settled Christopher at the table first. Soon they were back with food. Enjoying spending time with each other as shift change began.

XxXxX

August was approaching and the court date for Regina Forester had finally arrived. Evan looked sharp in his suit, and Eddie was with him. Leyna was back at the Home, Clive was looking after her again since he had taken a shine to the baby girl. He wanted this day over with. The DA was pushing for a quick trial, while Forester and her family were trying to delay things, to turn public attention around. It hadn’t worked, especially after the video that had been released of the attack.

Opening arguments started and the defense went first. “We call Evan Buckley to the stand,” the defense attorney said as he looked toward Evan.

Evan stood and went to the stand, he was quickly sworn in and he sat down, looking at the defense and Regina Forester, she looked annoyed to be there. glaring at anyone who looked at her. Sending a glare Evan’s way and huffed and turned her head. Evan glanced over at the prosecution. The defense was up first in questioning him.

“Mr Buckley, you say that you had nothing to do with the profile on MySpace?” the defense attorney asked.

“I did not,” he answered.

“Your pictures are there, your name, the station you belong to, all things that point to you being the owner of that account,” he pushed.

“I had nothing to do with the account, it is in evidence and a police report that the owner of the account died,” Evan reminded him, wanting to roll his eyes, but knowing that would be unprofessional.

The defense moved around, as though he was thinking, “That’s awfully convenient.”

“Objection your honor,” the prosecutor said as he stood up, “Where is this line of questions going?” he asked.

“Mr Peters?” the judge said as he looked at the defense attorney.

“I am trying to establish if Mr Buckley is lying about having access to the account that lured Miss Forester into a relationship,” he stated.

“Mr Peters, it has already been documented by the court and police that Miss Forester had been contacted by the police to tell her of her being catfished by someone who was using Mr Buckley’s identity,” the Judge said, “That had already been established by this court before Mr Buckley came to the stand,” he reminded the man, “Please move on from this line of questioning.”

“Your Honor,” Peters said, not looking happy. “Mr Buckley,” he began again, “What was said during the altercation?”

“I said nothing,” Evan answered, “She came up and tried to slap me. I was able to move out of the way of it. As soon as she had tried, I told her to back up, as I had my, at the time, four-month-old daughter in my arms.”

“Did you have the baby in your arms before or after the attempted slap?” he then asked.

“Already in my arms, she had been fussing a little, and considering she had a feeding tube, her fussing could be from that shifting,” he stated.

“You say daughter, but she is in fact, not your daughter?” he queried.

“She is a foster child that I am looking after, or at the time I was. I’m in the middle of adopting her. I’ve been with her since she was released from the hospital after a traumatic birth and the parental rights of her birth family being terminated,” he answered, “That does not make her less my daughter.”

Peters tried a few more lines trying to paint Evan in a bad light, that he had done something to set Regina Forester off. Soon enough the defense had finished their line of questions, and David Ranks stood up for the prosecution and moved around the table.

“Mr Buckley,” he began, “You were out with your daughter, on the day in question.”

“I was,” Evan nodded.

“Describe the event that led to Miss Forester attacking you and your daughter?” he asked.

“After she tried to slap me, she accused me of stealing my daughter. She began to attack me again, trying to get to my daughter. I turned my back and asked for some help from the crowd. Another firefighter came to my aid, and was able to subdue Miss Forester. I explained what was going on at the time, about the catfisher and how one had ended up with some jail time for assaulting me. She then broke free before cops could arrive, and rushed towards me. I was busy checking Leyna over to make sure she hadn’t been harmed when Miss Forester ran into me forcefully and pushed Leyna from my arms. My daughter is still recovering from the fall,” he answered.

“What is the condition of your daughter at the moment?” she asked.

“Unknown,” he stated, “She is recovering but the injury is such that it could be years before the actual damage presents itself. At the moment, she is in pain often, and bright lights, such as sunshine often leave her screaming in pain. When we take her out, we have to keep her in constant shade, the doctors are thinking that there is some sensitivity to light that has developed. We don’t know if that will be a permanent problem or not.”

“I see,” he nodded, “Leyna Buckley is the victim here, and I believe that many have forgotten that. A little baby, four months old at the time of the attack. Has been left with injuries that could have easily killed her, and almost did. Three weeks in the NICU, and still recovering from the attack by Miss Forester,” he said, looking toward the defense and then the jury. A few more questions were asked before he was able to step down. He sat in that gallery, watching the rest of the trial. It was a short one, not even breaking before closing statements were given.

Mr Peters stood up, “Miss Forester, a young woman of twenty-five, thought she had found love when the firefighter Evan Buckley began to talk to her through MySpace. She had found someone that she could connect with and wanted to meet. To get to know even better. Then to be ghosted, left in the lurch. When she confronted him, found him dismissive of the feelings she had. She lashed out, as many would, but unfortunately, a child got in the way of her lashing out. She did not mean to harm the child at all, it was accidental. She is sorry that she harmed the little girl. Please, show her some leniency, she made a mistake, and it should not reflect on the rest of her life.”

Mr Rank stood up and looked at the jury, “Miss Forester knew that Mr Buckley was holding his daughter. She was screaming that he had stolen her near moments before she ran at him, pushing him and his daughter over. You have to remember that the true victim in all of this is actually a four-month-old baby who had done nothing to Miss Forester. Not even Mr Buckley had done anything to Miss Forester. He was willing to talk with her about what happened, instead, she chose violence instead of talking and went for her own form of justice and attacked father and daughter. A baby has been harmed and a father has been traumatized and gone through hell as he waited for the news if his daughter would live or not. A broken leg, fractured ribs, and a brain bleed could still leave Leyna Buckley permanently disabled. That is who you should remember when you deliberate your verdict. A baby that has their whole life ahead of them,” he finished, as he then went to sit down.

Soon enough the jury was dismissed and they were sent out to wait. It was less than an hour before the court was called back in. The jury had come to their decision quickly. Standing back in the court, the verdict was read, “Guilty.”

XxXxX

Three days after the verdict came back, they were there for sentencing. The judge looked at Miss Forester. “Miss Forester,” he began, “You have been found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to a four-month-old baby. An innocent and defenseless child. Now, as this is not your first offense, nor even the second you have been convicted of. This is your third strike,” he said as he looked at Miss Forester. “I am going to be giving you the full sentence, of 25 years to life. You were warned Miss Forester the last time that you came into this court that should you get another felony strike against you this would be your sentence.”

“What?!” she yelled out, eyes going wide. “No!”

“Miss Forester, quiet,” he demanded. “You had been warned,” he stated, “Your sentence will be a minimum of 25 years. No parole until then at the very least. You have caused harm, not only to adults but to a child, a baby,” he spat, “Bailiff, you can take the defendant down now,” he finished.

Evan sighed in relief as he heard the news. Finally she was going to be punished for what she did. The judge dismissed the court and he began to head out. He could hear the family sobbing and crying. Wailing that this was unfair of someone so young to be punished like this. He shook his head, she had three chances to do the right thing and now the luck had run out and she had to face the consequences of her actions. He saw Eddie waiting for him and he went over and kissed him hugging him tightly, he could see a few news crews around, the Forester family had tried to get media involved in the case. Hadn’t worked to their advantage as he and Eddie moved through them with little comment on the situation.

Chapter Eighteen

Evan looked up from his phone as a shadow passed over him. “Oh, hey Hen,” he greeted the paramedic.

“Buck,” she smiled, “What’s got that smile on your face?” she asked, sitting down next to him.

“Josh proposed to Xiaoli last night. He’s over the moon of course. Since Josh moved in a few days ago, they want to make it official. Thing is, Zac and Nic are starting to plan a wedding as well,” he laughed, “Both would like to get married within the next year, so I’m going to be busy with weddings,” he smiled, “It’s great news all around Eddie is about to graduate from the fire academy. We had to fight a little as he really wanted to come here. He’ll be here later, to talk with Bobby about that,” he said, looking over at her, “How are the twins and Denny doing? And Karen?” he asked her.

“Karen is doing well, loving being a mom to toddlers again,” she smiled softly, as she thought of her wife. As for Denny, he enjoys being a big brother so much, I wish we had thought to do this earlier. We were thinking about getting a sperm donor, but… it doesn’t always work. Things happen,” she shrugged, “I’ve been reading up about it a lot, and while there are so many cases of success, it’s the ones that don’t, that play on my mind.”

“Yeah, no matter what, there are always going to be failures, but there are more success stories, a lot more,” he reminded her.

“I know, it’s stacked in our favor,” she smiled, “But meeting you, seeing what you do. The times we’ve visited the home and seen the children, reminded me that there are so many children out there that want and need families. Someone to love them and be their family. Adopting… I think that is what we are meant to do. I love the girls so much. Denny is such a doting big brother, he loves to read to them and teach them things. I love them so much, and in a few more months, we may have the option to adopt them. It’s nice, and we’ve even been talking about finding a slightly larger place, so we might be able to adopt another child, or, just carry on fostering,” she told him. “Giving a child a loving home as they wait for their parents to find their footing.”

“It’s special, rewarding work, and it can be heartbreaking when you have to see them leave. Sometimes we are able to keep in touch with the kids, as they’ve made friends, sometimes we don’t. It can really hurt, I’ve had to say goodbye to 9 children, each of them going to their permanent homes. Sometimes that’s with their parents, others with fostering to adopt, and occasionally a relative that is stepping up to take on the role of parent to them. No matter what you do, there is always going to be something that will play on your mind,” Evan murmured, pocketing his phone.

“That’s what it’s like being a parent though,” she said, nodding along with him.

“Yeah, the people you are around are also part of that process, no matter what. Because they are going to be around the child in question, so they have to be checked out. Which is why everyone that comes to mine has to have that background check ready,” he said with a shrug, “Even the parents of the children’s friends have to have a minor check done if they are to be allowed into the house. But I think that is more about my peace of mind than anything. I don’t want someone around that could prove to be a danger to any of the children. I have several vulnerable children that have been traumatized. We specialize in that because we have a psychiatrist on site nearly all the time,” he told her.

Hen paused at that, “Chimney,” she said softly.

“What about him?” Evan asked, frowning as she looked at him.

“He’s up for parole, it’s early, but he’s up because of good behavior and adhering to the court orders,” she answered, “He’s doing okay. Wanting to get back out and get his life back. He knows that he can’t be a firefighter or paramedic again, but he’s trying to think of things that he could do.”

Evan nodded, “Right, you need to be careful with him around, especially as you’re a foster parent at the moment. Keep him from the house. He needs to know that his being around in the house could hurt your adoption plans. After the adoption and checks and such are done, then you might be able to introduce him, but just be careful. I know you, he’s your friend and you’ll want to help him, do so away from the house. Don’t lie to CPS or your caseworker about him either. Be upfront by telling them that you have a friend, what happened, what courses he’s gone through in prison, and what he is going to be doing out of it. State that you are not planning on having him near the house and that only you will be seeing him outside of it. The children are not to go near him,” he advised, “Chimney has been through it, he made a mistake and then put his foot down, he was an idiot about it all. He’s learned his lesson, no doubt about that, but he needs to be aware that his actions will have long-lasting consequences.”

Hen slumped where she was sat, putting her head in her hands, “I know, I know I can’t have him around them. But Buck, he was so good with Denny when he was a baby. Always researching what I needed to help my little boy. He was great when Karen and I needed those couple of hours away from Denny to recharge ourselves. Hell, the first time we went out was because he kicked us out of our home and sent us on our way. We came back to find him fast asleep with Denny on him, in the middle of the living room,” she snorted, thinking of all the good times she could remember with her friend.

“He’s still that man, I believe he made the wrong choices, in the heat of the moment,” Evan said, shaking his head, “He was a damn good paramedic, and when you got him away from the lying and womanizing, he could be a good person.”

“That was the thing I hated the most about him. When he wasn’t around women, he was a good man. But as soon as one stepped into his view, it was like the Chimney I knew disappeared. Me and Karen fought about it a few times. I’m just hoping when he comes out that he would have changed,” she sighed, “I think he has, he’s not talked about anyone in a while, wanting to meet anyone either,” she added.

“Good, he should concentrate on getting himself back out there, finding work, finding a place to live. I know he has people here in LA that can help him, I heard that from you.”

“Yeah, the Lees, they’ve been there for him for a long time, though he has somewhat separated from them a little after their son died. They were there for the trial and I know that they’ve visited him a couple of times a week as well,” she stated, “Well, I just hope he really does turn his life around when comes out. He needs to.”

Evan nodded as he heard a familiar voice. He jumped up and went over to the railing. Grinning as he saw Eddie downstairs. “Hey,” he greeted his boyfriend.

“Hey, Ev,” he grinned back and waved. Eddie jogged to the stairs and headed up them, “I’m here to meet with Bobby. I had a meeting at two other stations. This is the last one. Though I know of four more that would like to meet me. I already tried to say that I want to come here,” he sighed, shaking his head as Evan reached out and took a hand.

“I didn’t even get an interview,” Evan snorted. “I was told to show up here and that was it. Bobby knew me from before, and he was taking me unseen, as it were. Though really…” he trailed off with a shrug.

“He knew you were going to be a great firefighter,” Eddie finished for him.

“Bobby is right,” Hen said as she got up and walked over to them, “Buck has been great around here. Keeping people on their toes,” she laughed, “But in a really good way. reminding us that we can’t just do nothing, we have to keep going for more.”

“I can’t just sit around and do nothing,” Evan shrugged, grinning at her, “Never been able to.”

“We know,” Hen and Eddie said, laughing at the pout on Evan’s face.

“Buck,” Mitch said as he walked over, “Well, this might be the newbie that’s taking over for me?” he said as he looked at Eddie. “Cap did say we have an interview with a potential probie today.”

“That would be me,” Eddie said, “Eddie Diaz,” he added, holding out his hand, “We met at Evan’s ceremony last month.”

“I remember, the man is so damn smitten with you and that kid of yours. Though that little girl of his is a little doll, she’s beautiful,” he said, shaking his hand, “Hope you will learn all you can from Buck. He’s learnt it all from me, and I know he’s putting what I taught him to good use. Hopefully in a month you’ll be at his back to keep him safe.”

“I will,” Eddie promised, “We’ve been working hard with HR and HQ about us working at the same station while in a relationship. We’ve got the go-ahead,” he added, grinning.

“Good to hear,” Mitch said as they heard Bobby call out for Eddie to join him in his office.

“Gotta go,” Eddie said, squeezing Evan’s hand as he rushed down the stairs and followed Bobby into his office.

Bobby looked across his desk toward Eddie after they had sat down, “Well, with Mitch retiring, we need another heavy rescue, when Evan told me that you were going through all the certs for it as well. I knew we had to have you aboard. You’re a good man, one that has helped Evan already. I think I can trust the two of you to remain professional on the job,” he added looking at the man.

“I would prefer to work with Evan,” Eddie said, “It would be nice to be able to work with you as well. I know that you’re a good captain, and you expect the best of the firefighters who work under you. I enjoy the fact that you encourage people to get more certs as well.”

“I am big on that, I was a little lax when I first started here. Getting my footing and learning the different SOP’s for the area. Then finding out the bad eggs in the station and transferring them, reorganizing shifts,” he shook his head, “The 118 was a labor of love in the end. We’ve got a good group of people together now, and we work well together. I think that you will fit in well.”

“It’s a good thing that I’ve already met everyone during Evan’s Shield Ceremony,” he smiled, “Though Xiaoli and his lot were trying to recruit me as well,” he laughed, shaking his head as he remembered Xiaoli’s captain also trying to get him to join them as their new probie.

“The captain over there runs a good ship,” he stated. “He could be a good choice as well, but I hope that you will consider the 118 more.”

“I already do,” Eddie said, “I plan to come here, we’ve already got the forms ready because of our relationship,” he added.

“I remember Evan asking for them,” he smirked, “Well, I know you’ll both do well, you both have good heads on your shoulders. So I will be expecting a lot from you both, I look forward to working with you,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Same here, Bobby,” Eddie grinned, taking the hand and shaking it. He got up and headed out of the office. Evan was standing there waiting for him, an eyebrow raised in question. Eddie gave a nod and the two of them grinned as they headed toward the exit. “I’ll be getting my start date as soon as I put in the last of the paperwork, especially the declaration of our relationship,” he said, looking at the forms and paperwork that Bobby had given him as he accepted the probationary place at the 118.

“I’m glad that they aren’t going to be splitting us up first,” Evan said, relieved that was the case. There had been murmurs about having Eddie do his probationary year somewhere else before joining him at the 118. It had taken some fast talking by Bobby and Evan himself to get them to drop it and to let them try.

“Yeah,” he smiled, kissing him, “I’ll see you later, Chris wants to go to the park today, was thinking about going and picking up Leyna since I’ve been cleared to do so alone,” he finished.

“You know to keep her in the shade,” he stated, getting a nod.

“Don’t worry, I know, shade only, if she starts crying go inside somewhere and rest for a bit. There’s a nice little gazebo at the park Christopher wants to go to. So it’s a shaded area,” he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her.”

“I know you will,” Evan sighed, “I know that she’s in prison, but that doesn’t mean I won’t worry.”

Eddie went over and pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly and murmuring into his ear, “You’re her dad, you’re contracted to worry about her and you will till the moment you breathe your last. It’s who parents are, we love our children with every little cell in our bodies.”

Evan hugged back, sinking into Eddie’s arms, “I know, Bobby said it was like having your heart living outside of your body.”

“He’s right,” he agreed, kissing his cheek and moving back, “Everything is going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” Evan said, standing tall. “She’s getting better each day, her lungs are doing well. Her motor functions are a little slow, but that’s to be expected, she is going to be okay, no matter what.”

“Exactly, because you’ll be there and so will I. And no doubt Christopher has a list of things he wants to read to her and teach her hidden somewhere in his room,” Eddie smiled at him, holding his hands.

Evan laughed, “Yeah, I can picture that,” he nodded, “Thanks,” he said, “And enjoy the time with Leyna and Chris at the park. I’m here till tomorrow.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow after you’ve had some sleep,” he said, “Love you, Evan.”

Evan smiled softly, “I love you, too, Eddie,” he said as they leaned in and kissed. Moving away from each other as they headed their separate ways, for now.

---