Reading Time: 130 Minutes

Title: Merging the Families
Series: All That Mattered
Series Order: 2
Author: DarkJediQueen
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Drama, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Relationship(s): Eddie Diaz/Evan Buckley
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Violence-Graphic, Explicit Sex, Character Bashing
Alpha: Starkindler
Word Count: 32,449
Summary: Meeting the Diazes was like waking up a little and learning how to be part of another family.
Artist: AngelicInsanity

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Chapter One

April

Evan grabbed the ham from the oven and pulled it out. He smelled the cherries on the first whiff. He laid it on the counter before sticking the pineapple upside-down cake into the oven. He listened for the sound of Eddie and Chris arriving. They were coming before everyone else to have some fun setting up the backyard for the Easter Egg hunt. Evan even had a few eggs that were not stuffed with anything, as April Fools’ jokes since Easter and April Fools’ were the same day this year.

“This place looks like a bakery exploded,” Maddie said.

“Yes. But it’s all worth it. The potato salad is ready, right?”

“Yes, I stirred it, and it’s fine.”

“How about the-.”

“Evan, everything is ready. Quit worrying about everything. We are just working on the stuff that needs to be cooked last minute. After Thanksgiving and Christmas, I know you feel like you need to show them that you are good at cooking, but please, you are driving me nuts.”

Evan wasn’t worried about proving he was good at cooking. He wanted to prove that he could provide. It was kind of stupid, he knew that, but he was just worried that Eddie’s grandmother and aunt wouldn’t take him seriously.

“Eddie’s here,” Phillip said as he stuck his head in the doorway. He looked Evan up and down before nodding and heading back out.

“What does that mean?”

“That Eddie is here?” Maddie questioned. She looked like she was going to lay her hand on his forehead to check him for fever.

“No, he looked me up and down and then nodded before leaving.”

“Oh, we wondered if you were going to go for date clothes today or the fancy stuff you like to wear every Easter. We were happy to figure out that it was your fancy Easter stuff.”

“I hate you.”

“Already with the threats?” Eddie asked.

Evan kept his eyes away from Eddie right now as he was already blushing from Eddie coming into the kitchen when he did. This whole thing was for Eddie. A stomach bug hit the Diaz family, so Easter dinner was going to be put off because his grandmother and aunt couldn’t cook for it. So Evan had offered. It wasn’t going to be hard to make more food and having dinner at a different time.

The original plan had been for Evan to have it really early for him and his family and then go to Eddie’s grandmother’s for her meal. So they were having a late lunch, and Evan was freaking out.

“I know that look. Let’s go hide eggs. Chris can oversee Maddie doing what she’s doing.”

“I’m doing nothing. Everything is ready to go into the ovens, and we are just waiting until closer to eating before doing that. I’m going to cuddle on the couch with Xi and watch cartoons.”

Evan stuck his tongue out at her.

“Where are we hiding eggs?”

“In the backyard. I already have a few eggs hidden around the pool and a few that have really good prizes inside.”

“Oh, you do plastic eggs?”

“Yes. We did real eggs last year, and she didn’t do well with them. Did you bring real eggs?”

“Yes.”

“We can hide them closer to the house so that they can be found easily and watched to make sure she doesn’t smash them or throw them.”

“Throw them?” Eddie looked at the egg container in his hand.

“Oh, yes. Eggs were all over the side of the house because they made funny noises and did weird things. I heard her giggling and came around to egg destruction.”

“Egg destruction.” Eddie started to laugh.

“You laugh, but I had to clean the side of the house off; I didn’t want the smell of rotten eggs all over the house.”

“Eww,” Eddie said. He laughed, though. Eddie popped open the lid on the eggs and showed off the simple but bright-colored eggs inside.

“We should do these first and then see what kind of fun we can have hiding things that are perfect for each of their heights.”

“You get fully into all holidays, don’t you?”

Evan shrugged. He snagged an egg to hide, but Eddie’s hand on his wrist had him stopping his movement away.

“Evan.”

“Sorry. I just…she lost both of her parents before she was ever able to form any memories of them. It’s impossible to know what kind of life she should have with them, so I try to be the best for her. To make up for the parts she lost because she lost them.”

“And that’s why you are the best person to take care of her. It’s why Maria chose you. You are the best person in the world for this. She knew that you would love her so much that Xi wouldn’t ever doubt that you love her so much.”

Evan wanted to kiss him so badly. He wanted to just press their faces together and hold on for dear life. Yet, he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t risk everything like that. Eddie’s divorce might have gone through, and things were settled, but there was still so much up in the air about it all. Mostly how Eddie felt about Evan.

“You could do it, you know,” Eddie said.

“What?”

Eddie smirked and took the egg from Evan’s hand before putting it back in the carton. He then set the carton to the side before grabbing Evan’s shirt and pulling him close. “I made sure the divorce was done as quickly as possible so that you knew I meant it. I don’t want her. I might have feelings that are confusing, but on the whole, I don’t like her.”

“Why would I matter?”

“You are an idiot, but so am I.” Eddie didn’t hesitate, and he pressed their lips together.

Evan felt like he was getting shocked all over just from the simple kiss. It was nothing too fancy but the simple press of lips. Eddie started to pull back when Evan was finally getting into it. So Evan followed him back, kissing him harder and licking his lips when he pulled out a few seconds later.

“I am not an idiot. You don’t react like most people who are into me. I can’t understand something I’ve never seen before. So, don’t put that on me.”

“Damn, has everyone who has wanted to be with you treated you like a piece of meat?”

“Yes. Now let’s get these eggs hidden, and while the kids are looking for them, we can talk more. You take that side, and I’ll take this one.” Evan wasn’t sure he could be close to Eddie right now and not kiss him senselessly. He needed a little space to get his mind around things.

There were a few minutes to hide the eggs, and they both did it as fast as they could. Evan let Eddie hide the real eggs and made sure that all were accounted for because he was not dealing with a rotten egg smell everywhere until it was found a week from then.

Evan was just laying his last egg when his phone vibrated. He checked to see it was Maddie, and she had sent him a picture. He narrowed his eyes as it was probably some image of his child covered in chocolate.

It wasn’t.

No, it was him and Eddie kissing.

Maddie: I just thought you might like a memorialized image of your first kiss with Eddie.

“What’s that look?”

“Oh, nothing, just the whole house knows about the first kiss because my sister took a picture of it.”

“No,” Eddie said, then he started to laugh.

“Yes.” Evan turned the phone around to show him the image. He wanted to make sure to save it as well. It wasn’t the best, but it was a good moment. They needed to talk, and they both knew it, but Evan knew that it would come later when the kids were napping after eating and they were settled down into their own little areas of the house.

—

Evan found Eddie sitting on the back porch, looking at the setting sun. He had a beer sitting on the steps beside him. The steps down had been the main area to exit the porch, but the ramp that led down to the back area was the one that Chris used, and Xi had started to use it as well.

“All of the eggs were found, right? You were dodging my question earlier.”

“Yes, they were. You were getting so flustered I couldn’t help it. I mean, it is April Fool’s Day. So let me have my fun where I can.”

Evan picked up the beer bottle and sat down. The kids were watching a movie, and their nap time had been taken up with packing up food to take to the respective houses and making sure that Phillip got out of there with dinner.

“Aren’t the kids missing us since we are both gone?”

“No. Xi’s cuddling with Pepa while Chris is just enthralled. My mother hated movies. Maddie said she didn’t like noise, even before Daniel died, so they rarely watched movies or listened to music. The news was the only thing that was ever watched on TV. She’d hate this new world of aural overstimulation so much. There are times that I think about that and the movies I watched so much as a kid. I got to where I made my father hate the Star Wars movies. He’s better about it now, and we do go and see the new ones when we can when they are in theaters.”

“The TV was almost always going at our house, but my mother was too involved in getting gossip about the others on the street instead. It was just background noise more than anything else. I watched a lot of movies with friends. The movie theater was within walking distance of the school, so we went there to hang out after school, and in the summer, there were days I lived in the theater.”

“I never thought too much about it being strange to not see a lot of movies across all genres. Dad prefers science fiction and fantasy, so it’s what we watched a lot of. I learned about other genres from friends, going to the movies with them, but still, I missed a few big ones. I got a headache going into one of the Fast and Furious movies, never watched any others.”

“Theater too loud?”

“Yes, and it just put me off them. Maddie likes them, so they will be on the TV sometimes but usually pretty low. I guess she likes looking at the pretty people more than the plot.”

“Well, I can’t fault her for that. Those movies are how I figured out I was bisexual. I wasn’t sure who I wanted more out of all of them, and it swapped from scene to scene. So what’s got you worried?”

“I could say it’s your recently ended marriage, but I know full well how long that’s actually been over. I don’t know, honestly. I think it’s because I’ve never wanted someone as much as I want you. I like the friendship we have, and I don’t want to lose that. You’ve had a marriage, it failed and all of that but Eddie, it was a marriage. I’ve never found someone I even wanted more than a single day. It’s a strange feeling, and I’m still wrapping my head around it. Maddie’s tried to push me forward, but I didn’t want anything derailing the divorce, and dating another man who is as high profile as I am is just asking for trouble.”

“High profile?”

“Some of my rescues have gone viral from the 217. I’m one of the rising star faces in the LAFD. It’s usually Tommy and I standing side by side giving them since I’m still in my probation period. I also have over half a million followers on my Instagram. The PR team worked on getting me verified there. I didn’t even think about it, but Tommy forced me to take a meeting with them. It was good in the end because I could get a cap on a few things and made sure that things were simple on the ways I use social media.”

“Catfishing can be horrible,” Eddie said.

“Yeah. I never even thought about it. I have too many things in my life that work against me. I know I’m a privileged white man but honestly, the kind of shit I have done means that I do look at the world differently. I never looked beyond the personality of my patients. I saw a few other nurses who hated to work on certain people, and then I realized it was the color of their skin or they were married to a person of color. I know it’s not exactly right to say, but I don’t see skin color when I’m looking at victims. I see a person who needs help, and I can help them. I see a person who will be happy to have someone helping them on what could be their worst day.”

“You never once looked at me like I was less than you; hell, Evan, you took in a mixed-race child and never once thought beyond that you needed to make sure that she had someone in her life that would help her understand the world she was born into. Race is not something you don’t have to worry about when it comes to things like that. You might be the poster boy for a white man on the outside, but you don’t act like your skin color makes you better than anyone else. So don’t worry about that.”

“I hope I won’t have too many people looking at me for dating a Latino man in LA.”

“There might be a few, but honestly, the kids will be the biggest issue.”

“Why?”

Eddie started to laugh, which was not the reaction Evan was expecting.

“Evan, your kid looks like she should be mine, and mine looks like he should be yours. And I don’t just mean the color of their skin. Chris’ hair is like yours when you let it do what it wants. Xi has a couple of facial features that are very close to the traits that are in my family. No one is going to bat an eye at us, really. It looks like we each had a kid using a surrogate, and we are a happy family. That stupid Easter bunny thought so last week. He told me that our family was adorable. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I just thanked him and left.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“No, I was too shocked that it was happening at all. I had no clue what to say to that at all. I mean, honestly, who does?”

“Well, I’m sure that couples who together know what to say and how to respond to weird things like that but a pair of friends who just like to hang out? Yeah, no.” Evan leaned into Eddie, allowing the man to wrap an arm around him and hold him tightly.

“We haven’t even been on a date, and already I’m thinking of stupid things like what I’m going to get you for our one-month anniversary because I think you’ve never had that kind of thing before.”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve been pretty lacking when it comes to relationships. I should probably read a book or something.”

“Read a book?”

“Or a research binge online. Something like that. What do you think?”

“I think you should just settle in and do what I do. No two relationships are alike, and changing anything of what we do isn’t needed. You make me happy just as you are, Evan. Don’t change yourself just to make me happier; it won’t work.”

“No, I wasn’t going to change me or how I act, but I have no clue what being in a relationship is like. So a little research would be good. We already have the art of compromise down. We just rock, paper, scissors for everything.”

Eddie laughed, which was what Evan was looking for.

“You already indulge my child in her obsession with tacos, even going so far as to stick fingers in a tortilla to make her happy. I’m sure that someone will want to revoke your Mexican identity card for the shit you do just to make her happy.”

“And your little research spirals to learn everything you can about random animals that Chris just mentions in passing so you can tell him weird facts?”

“That’s just being a food friend. That’s not figuring out how to make things like breakfast tacos.”

“It was easy to do. I think that I could make anything into a taco. My father has been horrified by a few of the things I’ve posted online about the meals we’ve been making together. I love the trolling aspect of it. So, Chris wanted to go to Disney this summer. Is that something that Xi is too young for?”

“No. I’ve been thinking of taking her as well. I wasn’t sure how it would go with just me, but with you along, I think it would be a lot of fun.”

“It could be. Chris and I went for a single day when we first moved here. I wasn’t in a place where I could afford more than that. He had a blast and wants to go longer now that we have money. I told him that how long depended on how his grades were at the end of the year, with a curve for issues he has in a few classes. His tests are fine, but his classwork is not because I work with him on the material as the teacher doesn’t have a grasp of a way to make him understand it, and the teacher grades classwork like she would homework. We deal with what we can, and it’s no issue. I’ll be happy when we find a good school for him.”

“About that.”

“Dios, Evan, what did you do now?”

“Hey, don’t take that tone with me, sir. I was just looking at schools in the area. Private that, I think once we get your grants and other things worked through that, Chris can qualify for with his disability and your status as a single father, I have it narrowed down to five. We can go over those five, see which ones you like best, and then present those to Chris. I have a list of ten other schools that might be what he needs, but there are issues, or at least things I think are issues, with each place.”

“Based on what?”

“Which part? The five schools I think are the best options?” Evan waited for Eddie to nod before he went on. “Well, mostly on the things he talks about liking. The things he wishes his classes at his school did now. But also that love of drawing he’s been working on when he thinks we aren’t paying attention.”

Evan felt like a hand hit him in the chest with that statement. He realized that Chris did treat him like another parent when Eddie wasn’t around and even when Eddie was, but he deferred to Eddie in all things.

“Yeah, I noticed that a week ago. Don’t think about being upset about that. Xi does the same kind of thing. Going as far as going to me instead of Maddie a few times. She pouted but got over it pretty quickly. I think she finds the little family we are building adorable.”

“She’s finding the fact that I am happy as something good. She’s always worried that even with the better childhood I got than her, I was broken. My mother refused to hold me. I wasn’t breastfed, and Maddie did most of the feedings unless my father was home. When he was home, if he spent too much time with me, my mother got pissed. It was hell, and my father had tried to keep her happy. It didn’t work out the way she wanted in the end, and she just had too many issues to make it long-term, not without help, and she refused to get that. It’s why Dad threw us into therapy anytime it was even hinted we needed a little more help than we were getting.”

“What was she afraid of?”

“That I wasn’t able to form new attachments. The sexual relationships I bounced to and from didn’t help. I didn’t care about settling down until I was here in LA and fully settled. It was less about finding another parent for Xi and more about understanding myself differently. I didn’t need someone to help me but just someone to be with because I was lonely. I didn’t realize how lonely for a while.”

“It can sometimes hit you like that. So, let’s go in and finish whatever movie they are watching now.”

“I have the full Disney collection. Even the rare ones that they don’t like to advertise, they have done limited runs of.”

“Those are put up, correct?”

“Oh, yeah, with the rest of the adult-type movies up in the cabinet. The kids’ movies are the only ones on display like that. I would never leave something out that Maddie might put in. She did it once. Xi liked the cover, and then she was watching giant robots vs. Godzilla-like monsters. It gave her a few nightmares. Maddie didn’t realize what it was, and that’s when those got put up.”

Eddie stood up and held out a hand for Evan to slip his hand into. Evan was pulled close, and Eddie kissed him.

“I’m happy I get to do that.”

“I am as well.” Evan got close for another kiss. He really was happy that he could do that when he wanted now.

—

Few things in the world were better than sitting on the beach and watching many scantily clad men and women run around, and Evan was pretty sure that this was one of them. He laughed as Eddie rushed at the waves before getting the board under him and heading out to catch a wave. He was wearing a wet suit since the water was cooler today, and neither of them was willing to spend less time in the water due to a temperature drop in their core.

A few more waves and then their food would be done. Evan looked at where the number was displayed on the side of the hut to tell him that it was still a few minutes away and four numbers. He relaxed back on the towel again and listened to the soft breathing beside him. Xi was down for her second nap of the day, and it was well earned with how tired she had made herself in the waves.

Chris was ten feet down from him and settled in to make something with the sand he had piled up around him. It was going to be either an epic win or an epic failure, but no matter which, Chris would be good about it. The kid learned from his mistakes and never repeated the same from what Evan had learned about him.

“You good?” a person called out from the side.

Evan looked to see it was another adult talking to a kid. He turned back to look at Chris and smiled when Chris looked at him. Then that look fell off his face. He looked like he was scared for a few seconds before he took a deep breath. Before Chris could get the scream out he was aiming for, Evan was up and running to him. He didn’t stop until he had Chris in his arms. Chris still screamed as loud as he could.

“DAD!”

Evan looked where Chris had been looking and saw the two people standing on the boardwalk’s edge. He had never seen a picture of Ramon or Helena Diaz, but he was pretty sure it was them. Chris’ yelling had pointed out exactly where they were, and Evan didn’t like that. He looked where Xi was thankfully still asleep but couldn’t leave her there. He had no idea what to do. He wanted to get Chris to Eddie, but he couldn’t carry the two of them, especially not with Xi not understanding what was going on. She would freak out.

Before Evan could make a plan, Eddie was there, dripping wet and rushing over to Xi. She was startled when he picked her up, but she calmed down as soon as she realized it was him.

“Let’s get out of here,” Eddie said. He dropped Xi into Evan’s arms.

Ramon and Helena started toward them, but Eddie quickly threw everything into the blanket and wrapped it up before grabbing the umbrella. It had been rented, and a woman stepped up to take it from Eddie.

“I’ll take it back. Do you need me to call the cops?”

“No, thank you. I just don’t want to fight with them in public.” Eddie turned back to look at Evan.

Chris was on his feet after wiggling out of Evan’s arms. His crutches were in the blanket that was going to get sand everywhere.

“Evan, go. I’ll be right behind. You get the truck open. I’ll drop this in the back. Let me have her. I can move faster with her and the stuff.”

Evan didn’t want to let go of Xi, but he knew that Eddie was right. They swapped kids again, Xi being upset at how everything was going. Chris looked a little upset himself, but he went down into Evan’s arms with ease and didn’t fight him. Getting to the truck felt like a good thing. He got Chris settled into her seat and had him buckled in before he heard the blanket tossed in the back.

The door opened, and Evan took Xi, moved her to her seat, and got her buckled in as Eddie started the truck. It was the work of seconds before Evan could get into his own seat. He got the doors locked before he buckled in. Eddie backed out with care. Evan saw Eddie’s parents in the distance, not able to keep up with how fast Evan and Eddie could move.

They would just show up at Eddie’s, so Evan wasn’t shocked when they turned toward Evan’s house and not Eddie’s.

Eddie’s phone started ringing just as he made the first major turn toward Evan’s.

“Why are they here?” Evan asked.

“I have no idea. I’ve talked with them weekly about everything going on, and Chris also talks to them. I have said nothing that would make them come up here. I talk about you a little bit as the person helping me train up to do better in the academy. I am not sure what they are even thinking or how the hell they found me.”

Evan reached out and picked up Eddie’s phone before looking around on it. Eddie didn’t use a lot of apps, but he shoved all of the ones that were on his phone he couldn’t get rid of into a folder. Evan opened it up, and he found the tracking app. “Your parents trapped you. They installed an app that allowed them to figure out where you are at all times.”

“Erase that,” Eddie said.

“I’ll get into it and take some screenshots and various things so we have proof. I’ll also check your other settings.”

“Where was it?”

“The folder where you put all the apps you never use.”

“I never open it, and they would have figured that out. Can you tell when it was downloaded?”

“Give me a moment.” Evan looked back at Chris to see he looked worried. It was horrible to see, and Evan wasn’t sure how to make him not be scared, but he was doing a good job of helping Xi not be too upset.

“Don’t answer the phone if it rings again.”

“I wasn’t. I’ll let you handle that. Now, it was downloaded that weekend you went to visit them. I am not sure what is going on there.”

“I don’t think they like that I haven’t needed them with the divorce and that I’m making sure my mother knows my boundaries. So I have no doubt that they have your address as well. Where can we go while I call my therapist and have a conversation? I am not ready for this. I want to meet somewhere neutral when I do call them. I can’t…they followed us. Stalked us. Something. I have no clue what they did, but I don’t like it.”

Evan wasn’t sure that Eddie’s reaction was normal, but with the trauma that was being uncovered in his therapy along with the PTSD, Evan knew he was operating under the moment. Just going with him was going to calm things down a lot more than if he put his foot down about how Eddie was freaking out.

“Let’s go to the park closest to home, and we can talk there, and you can stay in the truck while I clean up the stuff we brought with us. You can come off the ledge you are on right now.”

“Okay. That sounds like a plan. I like having a plan. Let’s do that.” Eddie waited for traffic to thin out a little before he moved to the other lane that would take them a little further away and into the park.

There was an area with picnic tables but not much else, so it was usually pretty empty, and it was this time. Evan was glad when they pulled up there. He sent off a text to his father and sister to make sure that they were on the lookout for the Diazes and that if they showed up, to tell them to leave or they would call the cops on them. He wasn’t interested in whatever crap the elder Diazes wanted to get up to. He wouldn’t allow them to invade his life any more than he would allow most people to invade it without his approval.

“Can I have a shirt?” Chris asked once they were settled at the picnic table.

“Yes. I’ll work on cleaning up the stuff we had laid out, and I’ll get a shirt out for you and Xi.”

“Okay.”

“Stay close to your father. I’ll be right back. If Xi takes off away from here, scream for me, okay.” Evan looked at Eddie, who was on the phone, but Eddie’s eyes were on Xi and Chris.

Evan quickly got the blanket stuff taken care of and settled the backpacks where they could grab them and take them up into the house or wherever they settled in for the night. He debated texting Tommy to see if he still had a few rooms open in his house for them to stay in for the night.

Eddie’s head dropped as Evan got close, and his body seemed to deflate. Evan wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. He just wanted to hold him close, but Eddie’s body language screamed that he didn’t want to be touched.

Xi was the first to recover, mostly because she had been a little scared, but with Evan, she hadn’t been too upset. Now she didn’t understand most of what was going on, so she just got on with what she was doing.

“Dad’s going to go through his phone and make sure they haven’t put anything else on it, isn’t he?” Chris asked.

“Yes. I’ll make sure of it. I…I didn’t think he should fear them like that.”

“No, Dad usually just ignores them when they bring up stuff he doesn’t want to do and does what he wants. Why are they treating Dad like a child?”

“Well, I think that your grandparents aren’t too happy that your father moved you so far away, so they are trying to find a way to make him give you up to them. Which isn’t going to happen. He’ll never give you up unless he was sure he was actually hurting you.”

“He doesn’t. They did. When Grandma would pack my lunch, I got stuff that other kids didn’t have and were too young. I got picked on a little for that. With my CP and then that, kids thought there was something wrong with my brain.”

“Does your dad know this?”

Chris shrugged.

Evan would make sure that Eddie did know that. If Eddie could get enough together to show that they were hurting Chris, Eddie wouldn’t have to fear anything.

Chapter Two

April

Evan looked at Eddie, who was dead asleep in his bed. Despite everything, Eddie hadn’t gone home at all in a week. Pepa and Abuela had picked up anything they would need from Eddie’s house and ensured that Helena and Ramon were effectively caged. Evan was just happy that Eddie was sleeping. With everything going on, it was hard for him to get any sleep; his mind raced, even with being worn out from the academy.

“Bucky,” Chris said as he came into the room.

“Hey, Superman. Let your dad sleep, okay? I’m going to go and start breakfast. Want to take my spot?”

“Sure.” Chris yawned. It was a little while until he had to be up to go to school.

Evan got him into the bed, and Eddie curled around him a little like he had been Evan. It was adorable, so Evan took a picture of it quickly.

Today was a day for simple foods, so he started a batch of oatmeal. He grabbed the containers of mix-ins he had already ready. It looked like his pecans were getting low, so he had to get more chopped up for that at a later point in time. He checked the fruit, but there wasn’t anything in the fridge. Eddie must have eaten up the strawberries in there, which was fine with him. Eddie hadn’t had much of an appetite.

When the oatmeal was nearly done, Evan heard shuffling behind him. He stayed still and smiled when hands wrapped around his waist and Eddie leaned into his back. Evan patted Eddie’s arms and just enjoyed standing there with Eddie.

“I ate the strawberries,” Eddie said.

“I know. It’s okay. I can do just cinnamon, sugar, and pecans. It’s fine. I don’t need my strawberries in there. So, I will be just fine without them. I’m happy you at least wanted them.”

“I’m not looking forward to today.”

“I know. I’m not either, but I’m happy it’s being dealt with. I just want you happy, Eddie. If that means fixing everything with your parents, it means fixing it. Dad’s on tap to pick up Chris from school, and he will come back here and get dinner ready as well. Maddie will come when she’s off shift so Dad can go into the bar. Don’t worry. They have our kids well in hand.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about the kids at all. I’m worried about what kind of shit my mother will try and pile on me.”

“Well, going no contact is a good choice. So, don’t worry about that. It’s not becoming fashionable, but it’s something understood because of the horrible shit some parents put their kids through. I’m sure I would have no contact with mine if my mother hadn’t died and changed the course of our lives.”

Eddie hummed.

The appointment wasn’t until the afternoon. The first appointment was after lunch, and Doctor Guentzel had cleared two hours for the first meeting. After that, it would be up to Eddie and his parents for them to figure out exactly what they wanted out of everything. Evan was pretty sure Eddie would go no contact with some kind of grandparents’ visitation done through Pepa. Evan was hoping for the best in the end.

“Are you sure about being okay with no strawberries?”

“Yes. I don’t always have them when I make my oatmeal anyway. Sometimes I’m too lazy to cut them up.”

Eddie laughed and pulled away from Evan but not before placing a kiss on his shoulder.

The soft thunk of crutches on the floor signaled that Chris was awake and not trying to be quiet on his way into the kitchen. Once Eddie and Chris went back to Eddie’s house, Evan was going to feel so alone in the house. It had been a week, and Eddie hadn’t even been in Evan’s bed the whole time, and still, Evan craved it. Eddie wasn’t anywhere near done on the house rental agreement, though. It was renewed each year, and that was at the end of the year.

“Good morning,” Evan said without turning around.

“Morning. Can I have just brown sugar in my oatmeal?”

“Sure. I have a thing of it right here.” Evan picked up the small jar and set it on the table. “It’s what Xi likes best in her oatmeal and Eddie, no tacos.”

“Eh, I haven’t figured out oatmeal tacos yet, anyway.”

Chris giggled, and there was a few moments of silence as Evan finished the oatmeal. The soft patter of feet came with Xi into the kitchen.

“Pa!”

Evan turned around and scooped her up, making her laugh when he didn’t even look to see where she was. She laid her head on his shoulder and just settled there while Evan killed the fire. “Who is hungry?”

There were four bowls on the table already, and Eddie had a little bit of stuff in each one. He was eating his like Evan that day.

It felt good. Too damned good to have them here with him this morning. Evan wanted it and felt like an idiot for wanting something so fast. He looked away from the bowls and caught Eddie’s eyes as he did. Eddie was looking at him much the same way Evan felt like he was looking at Eddie like. That talk could come after the first session with Eddie’s parents.

—

Eddie was still on the fence if he wanted Evan there with him, and Evan didn’t want to influence that at all.

Evan sat down in the chair he was directed to while Eddie went right into Doctor Guentezel’s office. The man was handsome as hell, but he had such a kind nature that Evan could see many patients developing an unnatural affection for him.

It was going to be a long day with this, and Evan knew that Eddie was going to be worn out, so he had already picked out what food was going to be delivered to them for dinner since his father had been called into work early and not gotten the meal started. Evan hadn’t wanted to deal with it and leave Eddie alone, so the kids had been dropped off with Marisol, and now here they were.

“What are you doing here?” Helena demanded of Evan as she came into the waiting area.

“Ma’am, I will have to ask you to be nice or have the cops come here. You saw the sign, and you agreed to be civil when you agreed to this mediated therapy,” the assistant at the desk said. She was no more than thirty, but she seemed like the type to take no-nonsense from people.

“Helena, just sit down. We are already here in therapy just so we can see our grandson. Do not make it worse.”

“We never should have let Eddie move up here. He was brainwashed into some cult.”

Evan barely kept the snort to himself, but he saw the curve of the woman’s smile. She had to deal with a whole bunch of shit, given that Doctor Guentzel worked with families and parents mostly. It had to downright be a circus show sometimes.

“Evan?” Guentzel asked as he opened up the door.

Helena and Ramon stood up again, but the man just looked at them.

“I’m sorry, just Evan for now. I’ll be right with you, Helena and Ramon.”

“We demand to go inside to get this started. I will not be happy if this starts late.”

“Well, it’s good that we still have fifteen minutes before the appointment time, isn’t it?”

The door was barely closed before the snort came out. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, Evan. Lucy turned the comms on as soon as they opened the door, so Eddie and I heard that. Eddie’s changed his mind and would like you to be in here with him, just as a support. I would ask that you keep your comments to yourself unless I ask them of you.”

“I can do that. So just go over here and-”

“Why are we not allowed in there? Are they having some kind of sex thing beforehand? I’ll sue for the right to see my grandson.”

“Helena, stop it. I will put my foot down on this. You act like this isn’t going to get us anything good. Act like the adult I know you are. Sit down, and let’s wait for Eddie to be done with his appointment before our joint one. I want to resolve this so we can see our grandson and son. Don’t you want to see them?”

“Eddie never should have left El Paso. He’s acting like a child throwing a tantrum.”

“This isn’t being recorded, is it?” Evan asked.

“No, just piped through the speakers. It’s not the best practice, but I like to know the attitude of the people who come into my room. This is the best fashion in cases like this. Ready, Eddie?”

“No, but I want to get this going. Come and sit down.” Eddie patted the couch beside him.

Evan walked over and sat down, kissing Eddie’s cheek as he did. He put a little distance between them to help make sure that Helena and Ramon didn’t think the wrong thing. Or the right thing but in the wrong way. While Abuela and Pepa knew about them, Evan wasn’t sure Eddie had told anyone else. He could understand if he hadn’t. He wasn’t ever going to be something that Eddie had to feel like he had to tell people about. Evan didn’t care about that kind of thing.

“Thank you for something today, Helena and Ramon. My name is Jeffrey Guentzel. And this is Eddie’s friend Evan Buckley; he’s Eddie’s mentor while he’s going through the LAFD academy.”

“And my best friend. We bonded over our love of our children.”

“You have a child?”

“I adopted a little girl when her parents passed away. I was good friends with the mother. It was the only thing she wanted before she died of cancer.”

“And your wife?”

“Single. My father, sister, and a lovely lady named Marisol help me take care of her. It takes a village to raise a child, especially when one works a job like I do. Good childcare is hard to find, but when you do, you latch on.”

Helena gave Evan a look that said she didn’t like him from his answer to her question. Honestly, it was a horrible kind of question, but he wasn’t shocked to hear it. It was just like her to think that only a mother and a father could raise a child, though she also might just think that if Evan was a female, she would be fine raising Xi all alone since she was a woman.

“Now, I’ve talked with Eddie a lot over the time he’s been here in LA, and we have worked through more than a few issues he has stemming from his childhood and his time in the Army.”

“Issues from his childhood? I’m a perfect mother; he had no issues from how I raised him.”

“Ma’am, it’s my experience that the parents who insist they were perfect are the ones with the biggest issues. All parents mess up in some fashion; how that is dealt with makes them good parents. Today, I want to just discuss Chirs and his mother.”

“Must we discuss that horrible woman?”

“Yes, actually, we must. You hold that you are a perfect person, and yet Eddie knows that you have discussed Shannon horribly in front of Chris.’

“She’s a horrible woman who abandoned her child.”

“And that means you want to abuse Chris by discussing her like that in front of him?”

“He’s too young to understand that.”

“Mom, he’s not three anymore. He understands ninety percent of the words that are said in front of him now. In the last phone conversation, you called her a whore in front of him. That’s why he left. He didn’t accidentally hit the end call button; he did it on purpose. You might not like her, but Chris’ feelings for her are his own to manage.”

“He shouldn’t love her.”

“He should love you instead of her? Because where were you when she left? What are you going to do when he figures out that you are the main reason his mother left?”

Helena looked like she had been smacked.

Ramon, though, wasn’t saying anything. He was looking at Eddie like he was seeing him for the first time.

“I will agree to visitation with Chris, but it will be with Pepa or Abuela sitting in. I can’t find myself allowing it otherwise. Go ahead and sue for visitation, and I’ll make sure the judge sees all of the texts you’ve sent about how I can’t take care of Chris like you and how stupid I have been for leaving El Paso.”

“You will give me my child,” Helena demanded.

Eddie leaned forward, but Evan laid a hand on his shoulder, and Guentzel looked at Ramon with raised eyebrows.

“Ramon, do you feel like Chris is your child?”

“No, he’s my grandson, and I may have been over the line a little when I was trying to get Helena what she wanted. Eddie told me that Chris would never be a chance at a do-over with my children sunk in. I wasn’t sure how to go about talking to him after that. He left El Paso and wasn’t listening to either of us.”

“Despite him making the wrong choice, I’ll gladly allow him back into our home. He can work jobs again to support himself and Chris, and I’ll raise him how he needs to be raised.”

“How he needs to be raised?” Eddie asked.

“Yes. You cannot give him what he needs. You allow him to do things he shouldn’t.”

“Like learning how to move around the world in his own way? Where he can live without me?”

“He doesn’t need to live without a parent! You are harming him!”

“No, I’m freeing him. You want him to depend on you so he can’t leave you like Adriana, Sofia, and I did. Do you think a court is going to give you my kid? You can go before a judge and tell him that your three children ran hard and fast from you, but you are a good parent. The courts aren’t going to take my child from me. Not when they see my service record with the Army, the job I’m going into. Go ahead, mother, try and take my child and I’ll make sure that no one ever tells you about us ever again.”

“Edmundo,” Helena said.

“Let’s calm down a little,” Guentzel said. He sat up in his chair a little. “Helena, you think that Eddie is doing wrong by Christopher? Why?”

“He doesn’t even try to understand Christopher’s health issues. He feeds that boy food that is too big, and he’s going to choke. His drinks are never in sippy cups. He pushed Chris out of the walker and into crutches before he was ready. I saw the video he posted of Chris playing soccer with other kids. he’s going to hurt my baby.”

“Well, getting hurt playing is just something that happens to children. I’ve met with Chris a few times, usually when Evan here is picking up Eddie after an appointment. Chirs seems like a very happy child who knows he can try almost anything. He talked about loving swimming in Evan’s pool and how his swimming lessons were going great, and he gets to swim in the ocean for them sometimes. All in all, Chris seems like a very happy child who knows that his father will only limit him to the things that would actually hurt him no matter what.”

“You don’t understand either. No one does. Chris is not like other children.”

“No, he’s not, but he knows that. Does he need it shoved in his face all of the time?” Ramon asked.

“Ramon.” Helena looked at him.

“No, no. I’ve seen Chris when you take him to the park to sit on the blanket and read while the rest of the kids are playing and how you don’t allow him to do anything. I never thought he could do half of what he does, but it was because Shannon pushed him to do what he could.”

“Yes, by putting him through surgeries that he never needed. Forcing his body into something it wasn’t ever meant to be.”

“No. He needed those to keep the movement he had. I listened when the doctor talked to us and assumed that you also listened. No, you have it in your mind that you are the only person who loves Chris and the only one who knows what is right for him. I love you, Helena, but I can’t keep up with this anymore. You don’t care about what damage this would do to our family and just want what you want. Sofia has already broken fully from us after talking with Eddie.”

“Yes, Eddie’s poisoning them against us.”

“Or he’s telling the truth, and they see how you are acting toxic. I let you push me too much, thinking that you knew better. I should have put my foot down a long time ago.” Ramon looked at Eddie and then at Evan for a few seconds. He looked at Eddie again. “I’m sorry, Eddie. I’m sorry I tried to talk you into giving up Chris to us when you were trying to work to put food on the table. You saw Chris more than I ever saw you, and I never once thought I should give up my children.”

“You were working, and you had me. Eddie has no one.”

“And? Does that mean all single parents out there need to have their children taken from them? Women who have lost their spouses due to their jobs protecting the people? I don’t like the idea that single parents who have to work to make ends meet need to give up their children. We were able to help, but we pushed the narrative that you deserved Chris more. There were other ways we could have helped to make sure he was supported instead of trying to steal his child.”

“You are not the man I married.”

“No, I am; I’m just done indulging you when it comes to our children. I thought you knew best, and I can see you don’t. I don’t know why you don’t think anyone you raised is a good adult.”

“They are not.”

“Then that’s all on you,” Ramon said.

Helena gasped, looking at Ramon like she wasn’t sure who he was.

“You were the one that raised them. If they turned out to be horrible parents, then I guess you were a horrible role model. Or you don’t see them for who they are and gauge them all on some weird criteria. Considering how much everyone else thinks Eddie’s a wonderful father, it’s them or you. I think it’s all you; it’s all in your head. You need help, Helena, and I’ve been a horrible husband not pushing it.”

Evan wasn’t sure this was going anywhere near where Eddie thought it would. The way Eddie was sitting ramrod straight in the seat told him he was shocked. Evan wasn’t sure this would be as easy as it seemed, but he was hopeful that things would be for the better at the end of it all. He just wanted Eddie to be happy.

—

Evan sat down at the bar and looked at his father, who was mixing up a string of cocktails for a bachelorette party on the other side. He smiled as he saw an extra cherry drop into the drink for the DD for the group. The DD was getting free drinks anyway, but the little touches were nice in cases like that.

“I would like to talk to you,” Ramon said as he sat down with a glass of water in one hand and what looked like their version of Sex on the Beach.

“Sure.” Evan held up his hand, and the bartender working his side came over since he had just finished up with his last customer. “Do you like mules?”

“I do.”

“Two cucumber mules, please, on my tab. We will take over the staff break table since no one is n break there right now. If anyone does, please tell them to come over, and we will move somewhere else.”

“No one will go on break to sit there for at least half an hour. Shea sits outside unless it’s pissing the rain down, which it rarely does.”

“Thanks.” Evan picked up his drink and finished it off. He took his glass of water with him. The drinks were going to be behind the other tables that had just been dropped off, so at least fifteen minutes was more than enough time for Ramon to get his other drink down.

“Eddie tells me you came up with a lot of the drinks on the menu.”

“The shots I did and a few of the drinks. Most are ones that dad’s made. I think about half of the menu is mine, a third his, and the rest his head bartender fleshed out to fill in spots for those kinds of drinks that weren’t on the menu. It’s a good listing. Then there are weekly menus. Dad keeps track of which sells well and when, like event nights. If they sell well, they go back for later use. If they don’t, they go into the pile of don’t use and to be reworked.”

“Eddie had lunch with me today.”

“Yes, he told me about it. Before he took Chris to his cousin’s place to spend the day. Which is why I’m here. Dad gets a few breaks, and I like watching him work. I didn’t get to do that back in Pittsburgh.”

“Eddie said you had a plan to take him and Chris there on your next vacation time. So that Chris can see the city and have some fun.”

“Yes. We are trying to figure out when the best time is and what to do. Of course, Chris wants to have fun, and we do as well, but we also just want to make sure we don’t do too much. Chris wants to go to a hockey game, so that’s something. There is a soccer game. Those two seasons don’t match up too much. So we will have to figure that out as well.”

“You are nothing like what I thought you would be. I watched you a lot in the therapy session we had with Eddie. It was good, but Helena is not taking it well.”

“Eddie told me a little bit about how much she’s going off the deep end. She doesn’t like that you are now disobeying her, does she?”

“No. She’s not happy at all. She flew back home and is pouting. She’s also very, very upset that Eddie removed the app she installed. She’s also pissed off. He told Adriana and Sofia about it.”

“It’s creepy. I mean, I love my father to death, but I would never consent to that kind of app being on my phone. I would never put it on Xi’s phone.”

“Eddie only talks about her a little bit and never in detail. She’s your daughter, correct?”

Evan wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about that with Eddie’s father, but he assumed that the man was putting off what he had come to talk to Evan about. He would allow it a little bit.

“Yes. She’s two and going on fifteen, it seems. She found Marisol’s make-up yesterday and wanted to get painted. It didn’t last long, and she didn’t seem to like anything but the nail polish long-term. I’m going to go out after my next shift and hit up a store to get some fun colors and other things. I think I remember Maddie having sparkles on her nails over a decade ago. It had to have gotten better, right?”

“I have no clue. Adriana didn’t give us a lot of access to her kids, and I never understood why she was so far away until recently. Eddie’s changes after he met you were startling, but I can see why. I’ve been here a little while, nursing a drink before this one. I watched you with him. You respect him, and he shows you the same respect. It’s something I thought about a long time ago. I didn’t…I wanted to be a wonderful father when Eddie was born. I wasn’t there for his birth; I was working. I did what I thought was best, but now I’m wondering when I changed from the man who wanted to be there for his family to the man who wasn’t there when our kids needed me.”

“It’s easy to get stuck on the wrong road. It’s best to get off as soon as possible, but it’s before death, so there is time.”

“That’s a little dark.”

“Mister Diaz.”

“Ramon, please. Eddie tells me you like people you like to call you Evan but Buck is saved for coworkers and people you don’t like.”

“Yes. It’s a sticking point with a few people. I have a few people I really dislike calling me Buck. They are afraid to call me anything else or face the consequences. It’s quite interesting, honestly. You can call me Evan, but if things don’t go well, I might have you call me Buck.”

Ramon laughed, and he lifted up his drink to finish it off. He took a drink of his water after it. “The water here tastes good.”

“It’s all infused with something. There are a lot of bits of it around. You’ll see the large jugs on the counters in spots. The bartenders are the only ones with access, but the water is free. There is also free bottled water for those who don’t want to have to worry about spilling the glass or at least making it harder for someone to dose them. The bartenders try to keep an eye on everything, and the bouncers will defend anyone who is having an issue. We hope that no one is drugged here, but it’s a foregone conclusion it’s going to happen.”

“I noticed the signs all around. They make a father feel a little better. No questions asked, just help and getting people to safety.”

“Yes. But to get back to the dark point before the whole name thing. I worked as a nurse for a few years. I got burned out too quickly because I became too attached.”

“What kind of nurse that you got burned out that quickly?”

“Oncology. I saw a few people come through who had no one and were ashamed to beg forgiveness and have a family with them in their final hours. It was heartbreaking, and that’s what I mean. You are not on death’s door, and while I can’t promise you won’t get hit by a car tomorrow, you can improve things. I guess you have to decide who you want in your life more, your wife or your children.”

“There are many who choose the wife, right? I want to say I’m a strong man and will make my wife get help, but I cannot help her if she doesn’t want it. I cannot do that. So I must make the best choices for me, correct?”

“Yes. I think that you and my father will be good for each other. He’s a good man who made a choice a long time ago to let his wife go and be all his children needed. His situation was a lot different than yours as my mother committed suicide.”

“He could have spiraled after that, though.”

“He could have. He could have very easily since, barely a year before, we had lost my older brother to Leukemia. It was a bad time, but he didn’t let it destroy him. He focused on me, my sister, and himself. He put us all through therapy anytime there was an issue he felt he couldn’t help.”

“My father hated the idea of therapy, but after we got the bulk of the big issues out of the way and things settled down a little, and we focused on how messed up Eddie was, it showed why it’s needed. I never thought I would change my mind. Helena is livid that Eddie put Chris in therapy over Shannon leaving. She was going to use that as a weapon to get custody of Chris even if she thinks therapy is shit worse than I do.”

“Talk with my father about how much therapy helped him accept the death of his son and the suicide of his wife.”

“You don’t love your mother?”

“It’s an abstract thought, honestly. My father and sister were honest when it came to telling me about how she was in the two years I had been alive. Of course, most of that came out when I was a teenager and able to handle it, all with a therapist there. I still send that guy a postcard at Christmas to give him little updates about the family and me. Once I was an adult, I moved to a more adult-focused therapist instead of a child. When I adopted Xi, I sent him a card with a little information about her, and he wrote back that he thought I would be a wonderful father. He holds me as a case of getting things done with help will make a child a lot less messed up.”

“You do seem well adjusted.”

“That’s all on my father.”

“What’s on me?” Phillip asked as he walked toward them with three of the mule mugs.

Evan waited for him to set them down before he picked up one of them. He took a sip and loved the overload of ginger in it.

“Yours is different?” Ramon asked as he scooted in to allow Phillip to sit down.

“Yes, he likes a lot of ginger in his. I am not even sure how he tastes anything but ginger. We have a bottle of ginger syrup that the kitchen makes for a dessert on the menu up there. He’s gotten a few people onto it. We had it as a special one night. We warned people, and still, there were too many of them who didn’t like it because it was too much ginger.”

“Ramon Diaz,” Ramon said as he held out his hand.

“Phillip Buckley. It’s good to meet Eddie’s father. He’s a wonderful young man who makes my Evan happy. I’ll do anything to protect their relationship.”

“Dad!” Evan covered his face with his hands. He knew his father meant well, but he needed to slow his roll on that.

“I don’t care how embarrassed you are about it, Evan. I feared for a long time that, despite everything, you wouldn’t settle down and give me grandkids. Maddie’s afraid of having kids because she thinks she will be like Margaret was, but she’s coming around slowly. She might only adopt, which is fine with me. You have adopted, and Eddie’s someone who has made changes in you that I don’t think you’ve noticed. Even before the two of you were together.”

“Just going to drag it all out for the world to see?”

“Well, Ramon, at least. Your son and grandson are highlights in my life. I adore them both.”

“I’m learning how my son is. It’s slow, and he’s allowing me in where I always should have been if I was a better father. I don’t blame my job; I could have been there more when I was actually there. There are a lot of men and women who raise children together, and one of them is the main one, and the other works out of town or even out of the country. I used it as the reason why and I regret that.”

“I can help you through a few things, even recommended a therapist here in LA. Are you staying?”

“I have to go back to work in El Paso; I’m working more from home now that I have moved up, but there is an office here in LA. I might see about transferring if Eddie’s okay with that. I need to talk to him first and figure out what I will do about Helena. I…” Ramon rubbed his hands on his face. “I am not even sure I love her anymore. I stayed because of the kids and the life we had built, and it felt like a failure to leave her if I didn’t love her. But now it’s leaving her to keep the children. I’m a mess.”

“I’ll give you the name of the guy I talk to. Even if you just bounce ideas off him, it’ll be money well spent to have someone to talk with that has no bias.”

Evan wasn’t sure the world was ready for Ramon and Phillip to get along. Phillip would drag Ramon kicking and screaming into good mental health no matter what he wanted. Evan couldn’t wait to tell Eddie all about this. He sipped his mule while Ramon looked at Phillip like he was a little scared. Evan wondered if that was the look on Eddie’s face when he met Evan.

Chapter Three

July

“You are insane; you know that, right?” Evan asked as he dropped down into the seat of the Jeep. He started it and waited for the radio to try and kick on before he turned it off. He didn’t want the call to connect.

“Look, no one else would agree with you, Evan Buckley. Now, leave me alone because I’m going to do what I want, and you cannot stop me. So just hush up,” Maddie said.

Evan rolled his eyes before he put the Jeep into drive.

“Maddie, Eddie will kill you if he finds out you are setting his father up on a blind date with our father. I am not sure either of them deserves it.”

“Evan, they are so cute together. Ramon went over to Dad’s last night and cooked for him. I thought I was going to die of cuteness overload when Dad was video calling me when he walked in the door, and there was the table set up. Ramon has said more than once that he hadn’t been in love with Eddie’s mother for years. It’s not like it’s insane to think that they are fumbling. Dad’s had short-lived relationships that stopped the moment that they wanted him to let go of us since we were grown or close enough to it.”

“I don’t know about forcing it. I think it’s best to just let it be. If they are still like this months from now, the three or five, depending on how Adriana and Sofia are with everything, can sit down and figure out how to make our father see what is in front of them. Now, I’m heading over to pick up Eddie from his first shift at the 118. He finally took his truck in to get that recalled part fixed on it.”

“Fine. I’ll leave them alone, but maybe I’ll buy condoms and lube the next time I’m at the store and hide them in dad’s drawers in his bedroom.”

“Oh, Maddie, come on! That’s Dad and Eddie’s dad. I don’t need that in my head.”

“Well, I didn’t need to see your condoms and lube either, you know!”

“You were the one that looked in my bags instead of leaving your eyes out of it. Not my fault you are too nosy for your own good.”

“Blah, blah, blah. I’m going to go. Have fun picking up your beau from work. Glare at that asshat who works there. Why he chose there, I have no idea.”

“The other two captains who were interested weren’t exactly beacons of people who they would get along with. So he picked the 118. He wasn’t very talkative about it. I’ve not worked a scene with them in a while, so I have no clue what the make-up looks like right now. Tommy was pressured to take on two other guys from the last class, so we have no room at the moment. I hope he can move to where I am when Eddie’s probie year is over. I’m going to hang up and pull up the podcast I was listening to and head out. Leave dad and his bromance with Eddie’s dad alone!”

“Fine, love you.”

“Love you too, Maddie.” Evan pressed the button to hang up and swiped over to the screen with his podcast app on. He started up what he had been listening to before.

Traffic was shit, but then it always was during summer. At least it wasn’t school slow as well. He got there just as Eddie was coming outside, talking to a man that Evan thought was named Makepeace. Behind them was a woman who was talking to the Captain of the A-Shift of the 118.

Evan parked the Jeep in a visitor parking spot and got out. He had sunglasses on, and Eddie looked hot in the clothes he had chosen to wear out of there. They had plans to get breakfast.

“Can I help you, Buckley?” the captain asked.

“He’s my ride,” Eddie said.

“Really?” Makepeace asked.

“Buck, this is part of the 118 I like so far. This is Brian Makepeace; he’s the guy who is mainly training me on rescue at the moment. He’ll be moving from rescue once we have a full roster of people to replace him. This is Hen Wilson; I’m not telling you her full name as she will kill me if you call her that. And this is Captain Nash; I know you already know him.”

“I’ve seen him around. I’ve seen the others but never paid attention to the name on their turnouts. It’s great to meet you all.”

“And guys, this is my boyfriend, Evan Buckley, don’t call him Evan. He will glare at you, and he’s gotten good at looking like he might actually kill you with the glare.”

“Boyfriend?” Hen asked.

“Yeah, since Easter. It’s been great. At least the kids get along.”

“Oh, yeah, you have the one kid. I saw her once when you two were out. Best behaved toddler I have seen in years,” Makepeace said.

“Well, I try. I have good help in my father and sister on things that I have issues with. They both kind of raised me. Well, Maddie stepped in and helped while Dad worked and such, but Dad was there for me for everything.”

“Breakfast?” Eddie asked.

“Yes. I’m starved. I was let go early, but we had been out on a call since four this morning. Long and arduous but not too taxing on anything more than the mental front. How was your first day?”

“My first day was just fine, thank you,” Eddie said. He scoffed, and it made Evan laugh.

“Did you join the LAFD because of him?” Hen asked.

Captain Nash wandered away after saying his goodbyes, while Makepeace seemed content to stay right where he was. Evan looked into the fire station to see if that one guy would come out, but it didn’t look like it.

“Looking for someone?” Makepeace asked.

“Probably Chim,” Hen answered.

“I still don’t understand why that guy didn’t like me.”

“You reminded him of the bullies he had just because you are white and beautiful. It wasn’t a good look on him. He was injured on the job and retired from active duty. He works as a dispatcher now. He moved away to where he wouldn’t get too many calls from here, though. So I doubt you’ll run into him at all.”

“Ah. That sucks he got that injured.”

“You had to have heard about it. Everyone else in the world had.”

“Oh, damn. The guy with the rebar through his head?”

“Yeah, we were trying to get him settled down and controlled to where the bar moving wasn’t going to cause an issue, but he moved and fucked it all up. It was just the worst time for him to move. He can do good at the dispatch center but can’t do the physical stuff anymore. He’s a little upset still, but he’ll come around.” Hen looked like she was missing him a lot.

“You two were pretty close,” Evan said.

“We were. So did he join because of you?”

“No, he was accepted to the program before he even moved here. It was just luck that we met on Thanksgiving Day through a small issue with an oven and his family being invited to mine by my babysitter. It was a good day, even if a little weird with the meshing of the two sets of food that were being done.”

“Oh, that sounds fun, actually,” Hen said.

“It was chaos. Utter chaos but good chaos. We had fun, and Eddie and I started down the path that led here. I think being single fathers without another parent in the wings helped that.”

“Eddie said something to that effect,” Makepeace said.

“Hey, you guys are the ones that tried to figure out everything that was wrong with me to ensure that you knew how to handle my crazy.” Eddie finally stepped closer to Evan and kissed him on the cheek. “Let’s go and have that breakfast. I’m glad Marisol is willing to watch Chris and Xi today for the morning.”

“We gotta celebrate, and the kids decided that celebration was going to be lunch today. Tacos, by the way. I have the chicken that Xi wanted in the crock pot. Well, Marisol has it in the crock pot. I did get it prepped before I went to work yesterday.”

“I guess it’s my own fault for indulging her love of tacos, huh?” Eddie asked. He was smiling and didn’t seem to be too upset about it.

“Tacos are a favorite in your place?”

“Tacos are my daughter’s favorite, and this idiota decided that it was his job to indulge her. We have found seventeen different breakfast options that work well as tacos. You don’t even want to know about the others that we tried that were failures.”

Hen was laughing, and it looked like she felt a little for Evan. Makepeace looked like he was wondering about committing the both of them for a hold.

“We had better get going because if we take too long, it will be hell. Pepa dropped off Chris’ bag, right?”

“Yup. Marisol’s got enough stuff to last us until we both have four off and can go our separate ways.”

Eddie waved goodbye to his teammates while Evan just nodded at them. It was nothing too big, but at least it was something. Evan didn’t have to worry too much about Eddie while he was on the job. Things were calm at the moment in LA, but there was going to be something like a plane crash or even worse in the future. There didn’t seem to go too much time before something happened.

—

Evan didn’t want to wake up. He groaned and tried to roll away from the hands that were trying to wake him up.

“I locked the door, and we have an hour before we need to be up. We passed out not long after the kids. Get up, Evan.” Eddie pressed to Evan’s back and rocked his hips in.

“I’m up; I just don’t want to be awake.” Evan found Eddie’s wandering hand and brought it down to cup his erection. He was up in that fashion and was okay with doing something, but he didn’t want to do much in the way of gymnastics. They both had to work that day. It was Eddie’s second day, and his being late because of sex wasn’t an option in Evan’s eyes.

Eddie pulled his hand from Evan’s before slipping it under the shorts he had fallen asleep in. They were both just in bottom coverings of some kind. Evan couldn’t remember if Eddie was in pants or shorts.

“Good dreams or just normal morning wood?”

“Normal.” Evan rocked his cock into the hand that was wrapped around him. He groaned and tried to turn over to where they could kiss, but Eddie kept him where he was. Evan whined.

“Nope. I want to do this. Now, get the lube since I think it’s in your drawer.”

“The new tube is. The mostly empty is in yours.” Evan reached out for the drawer and found it and then the lube. He had removed the seals before putting it in the drawer. He didn’t want to fumble to get the damned thing open while horny. Or, like the last time, it was phone sex with Eddie, and he had made Eddie laugh so hard he lost his erection in his fumbling to get the bottle open.

“I love you like this, Evan. So willing to try anything I want.” Eddie wasn’t going to let Evan do a damned thing, and Evan knew it.

Evan felt Eddie pull away a little, but he didn’t move. They didn’t really choose who was the more dominant during sex; it just happened naturally, last time it had been Evan trying to get Eddie’s mind off his first day at a station after graduation. It was something that felt good between them.

“I’m gonna play.”

Evan knew he wasn’t going to get a little nap after sex. Eddie was going to play, which meant he would just be along for the ride. It had been some of the best sex Evan had ever had when Eddie was playing. He groaned as Eddie pushed him to get naked. Once the shorts were off and tangled somewhere in the bottom bedding, Eddie put Evan on his front.

The pillow was in the way, so Evan shoved that out of the way, settled with his head on his arms, and turned to look at Eddie. Eddie was slicking up a few fingers. Evan gripped the bedding a little and debated grabbing the pillow and putting it to where his head, neck, and upper chest were on it, and he could grip it. He was debating when Eddie trailed a finger down the cleft of Evan’s ass.

Evan grabbed the pillow and put it where he wanted it before Eddie brushed that same finger over his hole.

“Spread your legs, and I’ll get between them.”

Evan did as Eddie told him, spreading his legs slowly to give Eddie time to get one knee on the bed between them before the second was done as well. One finger became two for a few seconds, and then there was the pressure of those fingers on his hole. Evan gripped the pillow a little tighter before he groaned.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

“Death by foreplay. I would hate to have to be the EMTs who came to pronounce the body dead. I would mourn that loss.”

“Gah, you are horrible,” Evan said.

“What? You don’t want Mia or Misha coming to pronounce you dead? Seeing your sated body on the bed covered in body fluids from both of us?”

“You are going to kill my erection, and if I lose it, I’m not putting out.”

“You are mean.” Eddie nipped at Evan’s ass cheek and laughed a little before pushing in a finger.

“You think I’m mean? Wake me up for sex, and then you just want to play.”

“No, I woke you up for playing, and you are the one with an erection. I thought about just kissing and rubbing off on each other, but you didn’t want to move. So, this was the next best thing.”

Evan turned his head to bury his face in the pillow and shuddered through the feel of the orgasm that tried to happen. He hated that he was sometimes so touchy first thing in the morning that he could come from just Eddie fingering his prostate a little.

“There you are. Now, let it go.”

“Eds.”

“You can do it. Come on.” Eddie pushed in with two fingers, and Evan came.

The rush of orgasm was strong, and he wanted to just sink down and go to sleep, but he knew that Eddie was going to do something else.

“Condom?” Eddie asked.

“A little late for that.”

“I mean for me. Do you want me to come in you or in a condom?”

“Condom. I don’t want to deal with that today.” Evan rubbed his face on the pill before he turned his head to look to the side at Eddie. Eddie grabbed a condom he had pulled out of somewhere and rolled it on. There was something about Eddie being so excited about fucking Evan that he dropped the lube when trying to slick up his cock.

This is one of those things that Eddie wanted to try, given how quickly Evan came in the morning when he was hard when waking up. There was no one that Evan had ever wanted to try something like this, as he had never thought they would stop if it was too much.

Eddie was careful as he pushed inside Evan. His push was steady, and he didn’t pull out once, but he went slow so that Evan could feel every bit that went inside of him. His body was relaxed from orgasm, and even his hole didn’t protect the feel of a cock going inside of it.

It wouldn’t take Eddie long either, with the gasp he let out once he was fully inside of Evan. It was a good feeling to have Eddie pressed to him from head to toe as much as he could, at least. Eddie’s ability to do planks and other stupid things that he had learned to do in the military made sex like this so much easier. Eddie did not draw things out once it came to his own orgasm, and the other had already gotten off.

Evan could sometimes come again, and sometimes he didn’t do things like this, so Eddie would try, but he wouldn’t be upset if Evan didn’t come again.

“I love you,” Eddie said.

Evan snorted, reaching back to grab Eddie’s ass and jerk him up once, making Eddie thrust into him hard. “At least you didn’t say it while you came.”

“Fuck you,” Eddie said as he came.

“Aww, you already are.”

Eddie started to laugh; the feeling of his body shaking like that as he was still inside of Evan made Evan feel like he might be able to come. Eddie carefully pulled out of him as soon as possible, allowing Evan to roll over to face him.

Evan reached up and pulled Eddie down to him, rocking his hard cock up into Eddie.

“Get me off again. You woke me up. You do all of the work.”

“My pleasure, you asshole.”

“Aww, it’s okay. Don’t feel like you have to. I could just jerk off in the shower with the door locked.”

Eddie gripped Evan’s cock, rolling his hand up and down on it a little bit. His hand was slick, but Evan wasn’t sure what it was slick with, and he didn’t care. He pulled Eddie down to kiss him again, getting the kissing and jerking off he had been kind of dreaming about.

Evan came a second time; it was softer than the first, even if that felt like it was impossible. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do now, but when Eddie just kept on kissing him, wiping his hands on the bed, Evan gave in to what he wanted.

“PA!” Xi yelled before there was the sound of tiny fists on the door.

“Who needs an alarm clock when you have a toddler who likes to get up before the sun. I blame you, Buckley.”

Evan laughed, and he shoved at Eddie to get him off him. “You wash up first, and I’ll deal with my tiny terror, and then you can take care of her while I get cleaned up.”

“Deal.” Eddie rushed to the bathroom while Evan got dressed. He felt sticky, and the wipe he did with the underwear from the night before didn’t help as much as he would like. Still, he opened the door while Xi was still pounding on it, acting like a horrible alarm clock.

“Firsty,” Xi said.

“Of course you are. I swear you wake up in the morning, and all of the water is gone from your body.” Evan picked her up and checked the overnight diaper on her. There was no color, so she didn’t use the bathroom in it. They nearly had her all the way trained to use the potty alone. The simple one in her bathroom was set up to where she could do it easily. The only issue was washing her hands, but there was more than enough time to teach that.

“Do you sleep well?” Evan asked.

“All night.”

“Great.” Evan bounced her a little before sitting her in the high chair that Eddie had picked up at a garage sale that allowed her to be put at the table and less constricted like the one Evan had before it. A tray could be attached for if she was in there while Evan was cooking or if they were outside. But there was the ability to have her eat at the table with the rest of them while sitting at the table, which Evan liked.

It had been a point where Evan relaxed that as much as he knew Eddie loved her, this was proof that he accepted her and Evan in his life and was willing to step up and be a father to her. Xi’s Spanish lessons were going a hell of a lot better with her, Eddie, and Chris watching telenovelas. Listening to that much Spanish allowed her to pick up the sounds without noticing. It was bonding time for the three of them, and it made Evan’s heart ache with happiness thinking about it.

There was a note in the middle of the kitchen island, so Evan turned it around to face him as he poured out the juice and added a little water.

Went to the store last night after leaving the bar. Needed a few things, so I picked up more snacks. Marisol mentioned you were out of a few things for Xi. I know Eddie’s adjusting to working full shifts now. So don’t worry about picking them up.

Love dad

Evan smiled before picking up the letter and setting it in the small box he kept things like that. It helped him sometimes when the darkness tried to tell him that he was not worth anything. He was the reason his mother was dead. He was why Daniel was dead.

“Juice?” Chris asked.

“Give me a moment, and I’ll get you some of that mango stuff you like from the store.”

It felt good to have them both there and know Eddie was getting cleaned up to head to work. If Evan was a little more secure, he would try and talk Eddie into moving in and just paying the rent on the other place or paying to break it so they could live together. It was too fast for that, though. They lived out of each other’s pockets most of the time, though, and this was no different. He wasn’t sure what kind of situation Eddie had been in before here. He talked a little about it and how much he worked, but he wasn’t sure what kind of relationships Eddie had before Shannon. There was no telling what kind of reaction Eddie would have to Evan, just wanting to move them into his place.

“Tag, you’re it,” Eddie said as he entered the kitchen, wearing a pair of pants and nothing else. He wasn’t even in socks.

“Juice for Chris. I told him I would get the magic stuff.”

“Sure. I’ll get that. Go so we can make breakfast. Eggs, potatoes, and toast?”

“Might as well stick it in a taco.”

Eddie kissed Evan’s cheek as Evan passed him, laughing at the taco comment.

After a rushed shower and then a quick dress, Evan was back in the kitchen just as Eddie dumped the eggs into the skillet with peppers, onions, and garlic already cooked down in it. The smell made Evan feel like he was home. Not just that he was in his home but at home with Eddie and Chris here. Someone to tag team like that instead of having to try and hope that Xi didn’t get up to chaos while he was in the shower.

“Feel better?” Eddie asked.

“Much, much. I’ll take over, and you can go and finish getting dressed.”

“Just gotta get my shirt on. Did everything else already. I’ll go and get Chris ready, though, and then after we eat, you can get Xi ready.”

Eddie kissed Evan’s cheek as he passed by him, and it felt right. It just felt like the perfect thing. Soon, much too soon, but what felt like it was right, Evan would ask him to move in. There was space.

—

Evan turned the hose into the new visible area after Mia knocked the wall down enough to get water inside of just coating a wall that was long past saving.

“We have two more units rolling up. Who needs to be tapped out?” Tommy asked.

“I’m good,” Evan said. His arms were tired but not at the point where he needed to go. “Mia’s giving me a thumbs down.”

“Okay, I’ll send someone to help you get water inside. If you want to swap to knocking down walls, feel free.”

Evan didn’t say anything because he needed to get his hand back on the hose to stop it from going off-target. A few minutes later, Mia was heading away when there was a hand on his shoulder, and it squeezed. He knew that motion well.

“How did you convince your captain and mine to allow this?” Evan asked.

“Well, it’s not like we haven’t talked about being on the same team. So they just thought they could watch us and see how we do. It would be different if we were on the same team for a while before this. Let me have the hose, and you can deal with the rest of it. I see what you two were doing. Mia looked exhausted.”

“She was triaging for the trapped staff, and we got them out. I’ve just been doing this.”

Evan handed off the hose with ease and was happy when Eddie seemed to be doing okay at the simple stuff that sometimes made the job hard to do. Evan grabbed the halligan he had brought with him and motioned for Eddie to spray down an area before Evan went after the wall. He used the halligan to open the door twisted shut by the exploded gas main.

There was a monotony to containing a fire and putting it out like this. The fire had spread everywhere that it was going to, and now it was just controlling it and getting it down.

It was easy work and something that Evan didn’t allow to mess him up too much on the wearing out front. Things like this were the long haul, not a quick put-out.

“Buckley, Diaz, out. I’ve got two headed your way. As soon as they are there, out.” Tommy’s voice was stern, and it was something that Evan was used to.

Evan looked up to find that the sun had changed position by a great deal. More time had passed than he thought.

It was only a few minutes later Evan saw the pair of them coming to their area. Unlike the others milling about who was helping, these two moved with purpose. They were from a station that Evan had never worked with before. He handed over the hose and got out of the way. Eddie came out of the structure, and he passed his tools over.

There was an area set up with food and drinks. Evan grabbed a sandwich that looked like it would be good. He grabbed not only a bottle of water but one of the grape juice as well. He needed the natural sugars at the moment, and it was better than a cookie of some kind. Eddie grabbed the same sandwich and water, but he grabbed orange juice instead.

“Over here?” Eddie asked as he nodded his head toward where there was an open spot on the back of an ambulance. Hen was up inside it, eating a sandwich and looking like she was a few minutes away from passing out. She didn’t have any liquids with her.

“Hen!” Evan called out.

Hen turned to look at him, and she nodded when he held up an orange juice.

“Thanks,” Hen said when Evan handed it over when they were close enough. “I drank my water really fast and was just trying to get up the gumption to get up and head out to get the juice. Are you boys okay? Need to be checked out?”

“Nope, just the standard worn the hell out but not enough to be fully pulled. I will let one of the other companies head into the place if an expedition is needed. I don’t trust myself for that.” Evan unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite. His nose was full of smoke; the sandwich didn’t taste the best, but at least it wasn’t cardboard.

“It’s good you trust yourself enough to know where the limits are. How are you doing, Eddie?”

“Good. Not sure I wanted a fire of this magnitude on my second day, especially not in the middle of July, but at least it’s not too bad as far as loss of life goes. I’ve seen a few things on the TV since I moved here that make me not want to deal with anything but big fires with little loss of life.”

“One of my first days, we had a mass food poisoning event. One of those things that sets up in a park, and then everyone gives over tickets to try food samples? Someone actually laced one of the vendors’ foods that were on hand with an emetic. That sucked, and it made not only national news, but it just fucking sucked.”

Evan remembered that one. Hearing about it back in Pittsburgh. It hadn’t been the best news to hear, but it wasn’t the worst that could have been on there, either. No one died, just hundreds throwing up and needing to be treated for it. Thankfully it had been easier to just have the nurses and doctors come to them along with something to help with the vomiting.

“It sucks you worked that, but at least it was another thing where there wasn’t a loss of life. I never heard what came of that,” Evan said.

“They figured out who did it, and they are still in prison, as far as I remember. He commented that he wanted to kill people for being pigs. Something about consuming food the body doesn’t need. I don’t remember it all.”

Evan nodded. “I’ll have to look it up and see. It’s an interesting case. I remember he had tried it, but the person had messed up the food and didn’t serve it. He didn’t seem to care about admitting what he tried before.”

“Well, there is a bit of a mental issue there, isn’t there? I didn’t follow it too closely, but I’d love to know what was decided on that front. His lawyer tried to get him a reduced sentence because of some kind of mental deficit or something like it.” Hen cracked open the juice, letting the sandwich wrapper hit the ambulance floor.

“Chips?” Tommy asked as he held out three bags of chips.

“Where were these?”

“Out. At least on the open thing. One of the boxes of food got misplaced. You three good?”

“Yes, we are. These two have no bad signs. I’ve been watching. We’ve all eaten or are eating a sandwich and have water and juice of some kind. The chips will help.” Hen took a bag from Tommy and grinned when she saw what she had.

Evan grabbed a bag of chips and didn’t care what he got. Eddie looked at his bag and frowned before turning them around. Rolling his eyes, Evan held out his bag, and Eddie took it with a smile.

“Ugh, the cute is too much,” Hen said.

Tommy laughed and clasped Evan on the shoulder before he headed out.

“What kind of chips do you have, Hen?”

“Salt and vinegar. He remembered they are one of the chips I really like when we are doing something like this. I have no clue why.”

“Reminds me of Xi and her love of suckers at the park. Never anywhere else.”

Evan groaned at that. He knew that Xi’s suckers at the park was weird.

“Who is Xi?” Hen asked.

“My daughter. Don’t let Eddie fool you. He indulges Xi in everything. Including the damned suckers in the park.”

“She’s adorable, and it’s not like you don’t indulge Chris on everything else, just usually it’s things he likes to do. Xi’s obsessed with food, and that’s about it unless you count watching TV shows.”

“She’s two and a half. Give her a few years, and she’ll be all about something else.”

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would swear you two were an old married couple.”

Evan grinned at her and ate the last bite of his sandwich to get into the chips. He finished off the water and looked out the fire. It wasn’t down yet, but soon it would be. He bumped his knee into Eddie’s and turned to smile at him.

Eddie smiled and then bumped his knee back.

“Sickening.” Hen was laughing as she said it, so it wasn’t something that felt bad.

Still, this was a good day, even with the massive fire.

Chapter Four

August

The sun was setting, so Evan knew he would have to head inside soon. Chris and Xi were doing something in the living room with Eddie looking over them. So Evan had slipped outside to stretch out on the grass and look at the sky. The colors were beautiful.

“Your father is here, and he promised to help get Xi into bed so I could come out here. He said that you only do this kind of thing when a lot is on your mind.

“Something like that. Not a lot of things on my mind at the moment, but I have one thing. It’s kind of big and something that I am worried about.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Not much.” Evan waited for Eddie to get closer. He stopped at Evan’s side and then dropped down to sit cross-legged beside him.

“Really? You were looking at me earlier like you were scared. You know that you can’t easily run me off, right?”

“I mean, I think I could, especially with what I want to ask. It’s insane and something that I have no clue what to do with it. I want it, and it doesn’t make sense.”

“But it fits, right? You, me, Xi, and Chris all living here fits, right?”

Evan laughed and closed his eyes. He felt like crying, honestly. Of course, Eddie got him.

“I’ve been thinking about it myself. The house I’m in is great, and the guy I’m renting off has been wonderful. I just want to be here all of the time, and Chris feels the same. There is a reason we are here more often than not. So, the only thing stopping us is people telling us it’s too soon. We work different places but the same shift, so it’s not like we have a lot of free time where we aren’t already together unless we are doing something with our kids.”

“It’s insane.”

“That’s what other people think. It fits, and that’s the only thing I will say about it. I’ve had nothing in my life that has felt as right as this is. Everything with Shannon and me was pushed. We were pushed into more because it was something we should have done when she fell pregnant. I’ve done a lot in my life because others think I should do it. I want to do something because it feels right.”

“I’ve done a lot of feeling right in my life, but we have two kids to deal with as well.”

“And we do pretty well with them now. We can go slow. Move things over just a little at a time. Add in an extra night with Chris and me here every few weeks.”

“Or just stay and don’t leave and just move stuff over slowly. We can get your big stuff in storage and swap the rest of it as needed. We can put the extra TV in the basement, the exercise room I have down there. I wouldn’t mind watching the news or something while working out. I just never wanted to buy a TV just for it. We can just go whole hog.”

“It’s not even been a year.”

“Dad’s not going to say a thing. He’s the one that mentioned you moving in too soon. He moved us back to Pittsburgh as soon as he was cleared without thinking about upsetting us again. I was two, but Maddie was…she was mute for a while. It would come and go, but there were days she would have a nightmare and just not talk for days.”

“And?”

“So Dad feels like people need to do what feels right to them and less on what pressure other people put. If he had done what others thought he should. He would have stayed in Hershey and not taken us back to Pittsburgh. We didn’t have family there, but his support network of friends was there. His old job took him back and let him work from home as much as possible. It was the best thing he could have done, but he wouldn’t have done it if he caved to pressure from outside people.”

“I am not sure what my father will think of it. He might like the house, though. I wonder if that’s something we could do. Have Dad move in there. He wants up here where his sister, mother, and I are. Once things are done in El Paso and everything with the court cases are done.”

“The judge is going for community service, right? For the stalking and attempted kidnapping.”

“Yes. As soon he’s done with everything, he wants to do it. The doctor he went to and did the psych eval for the court was more than willing to say that he would never do something like that on his own, and there is a bit of her pushing him to do things and slowly turning him. Dad’s worked up a lot about it all. He doesn’t like who he became and just wants to get away from mom as soon as possible.”

“So, is that a yes to moving in?”

“Yes. I’ll call and talk to Dad about what he wants. He might not want the house at all. He might want to get a smaller place. I have no clue, but I want to run it all by him before I do anything.”

“It’ll make him happy to be a consideration.”

“Therapy is going well with him; he is just talking it all through. He looks at my childhood a lot differently than I do. Adriana and Sofia will be in the next one as well. My therapist is talking to them now to cover a few things he wants to know before it all.”

Evan knew all this already, so he knew that Eddie needed to talk a few things out. He would never stop when it seemed he needed to talk for a reason. Evan had times like that as well. He just sometimes needed to verbalize things to accept them. It was easy to allow it all.

Eddie kept on talking for a few minutes before he sighed and dropped back to the grass so he could lie on his side, looking at Evan.

“Let’s just not tell Xi or Chris about the moving-in. Let’s give it three weeks of this before we just say that Chris and I are moving in.”

“Sure. I think we can work with that. It’s not like Chris will catch on too much before that. Right now, he’s happy to be here where Xi is daily. Things are going well, I think, on that front. School’s starting soon, and it will just all be a mess if you try and move before school starts. He’s in a private school, so the district doesn’t matter. How do you feel about the school?”

“Good. I feel good. The stuff we went through to get it all going seemed to do well. I’m shocked that someone you met once when going to help a friend find their mother was more than willing to help with all of that paperwork just for a meal.”

“Well, Carla just likes helping people. She was still with Abby when we were doing all of that, so she didn’t offer, but she might be someone to keep in mind for much later. Marisol does wonderfully with Chris, but we also know we might need a heavy lifter to stay longer if Chris has surgery.”

“Your father already said he and Maddie would handle that.” Eddie rolled onto his back, and his eyes stayed straight up to look at the sky. “I think it was pretty much a given that if I did anything else, he was going to be upset.”

“Should I say sorry for how my family has pushed into your life?”

“No. You shouldn’t. They ask, and while they offer, I know your father would not be upset if I wanted a registered nurse with Chris long-term over him. They offer but don’t push, unlike my mother. She doesn’t want me to have a choice in my life.”

“Well, my father has all but adopted you, so I don’t think that we need to worry about you being pressured there. Speaking of parents. Maddie wants to set up your father on a blind date with our father.”

“Ugh, Sofia wants to do the same. I pushed for her to just let it happen unless we are six months out and they are still just circling each other. It was like my father accepting that he didn’t love my mother anymore freed a part of him. It was easy to see they were just comfortable and probably would be for many, many years because it was just what is done but everything with them and me trying to take Chris just makes it so he knows that he can leave. He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to when it comes to being with her.”

“Which also helps him let you go as well.”

“I think a lot of that is fear that he’ll lose all of his kids. Family is at the base of everything, and he let his idea of family be twisted by Mom. He didn’t see it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.”

“He didn’t have to see it.”

“No, he didn’t. He could have turtled and stayed that way.”

Evan rolled over, laid his head on Eddie’s shoulder, and closed his eyes.

—

Chaos. Everything was pure chaos. Evan had never been in a house with a kid getting ready for school since he became an adult. He wasn’t sure that he could do this. He looked at where Eddie was freaking out, Chris was laughing, and Xi was making a mess in her oatmeal.

“You know you could help,” Eddie said.

“Eds, you’ve not told me anything I can help with. Everything is doom and gloom, and it’s going to fail. So give me something to do other than stand and laugh at you and Chris, and I will.”

“His books.”

“Ah, those. If you would listen to Chris. He told you they are already on the bottom of his backpack. He and Maddie packed that all last night. His lunch is already in the fridge; it just needs to be transferred to his lunch bag that attaches to his backpack. We already have his and Xi’s seats in the truck ready to take them today. Just calm down, please, before you give yourself a heart attack, and I have to call the 118 to come and transport your ass to the hospital.”

“Swear jar!” Chris yelled.

“Jar, jar, jar, mouse!”

Evan sighed and snagged a dollar out of his pocket. He had shoved a few in there that morning, knowing that one of them would drop a few words where the kids could hear it. Xi wasn’t sure what words meant someone needed to put money in the Disney fund, but she knew what swear jar meant. The one-day trip to Disney had been a hit with her, and she had wanted to go back the next day. Chris had been happy as well. The whole thing had been too easy, and Evan was waiting for that other shoe to drop on the day there.

“You two are going to give us gray hair.”

“No, we aren’t. That would be your job,” Chris said. He smirked and picked up his spoon to eat more oatmeal now that Eddie was calm.

It had been harrowing there for a few minutes as Evan had thought he would have to do the Heimlich on Chris. He wasn’t even sure how to do it on him. He needed to talk to Eddie about that. He assumed it would be just like other kids his age and stuff, but he wanted to make sure.

“You think that our job is going to give us gray hairs?”

“No, I think that you both working two different places and worrying about each other will.”

“You are too smart for your own good,” Eddie said. He inhaled and exhaled, looking at the list of things. Most had been marked off by Evan or Maddie the night while Eddie had been dealing with a call from Adriana if she needed to take her kid to the ER or not. It had felt good to help him, but then Eddie had freaked out once he woke up that morning, and now they were dealing with this.

“Well, I take after you.” Chris stuck his tongue out at Eddie and then looked down at his food.

“Lunch?” Xi asked.

“It’s breakfast; you’ll get lunch later. Now, what are we going to have, Eddie?”

“I have no clue. We can look once we get back from dropping off Chris and that meeting we have about Xi.”

Evan swallowed as he had tried to forget about that. There was nothing he could do to get ready for the meeting. It was about getting her into Durand as well in the preschool program. It was something that started when kids were three. Xi was going to turn three after the school year started, so she would be starting in the new year, carrying her all the way to kindergarten. It was meant to help parents with child care. It was going to be great if Xi was accepted. She was used to doing what she wanted for the most part during the day and even the half day that she was going to be going until just before she started kindergarten.

The program sounded wonderful. It was honestly the best in the area, but it was also with one of the best schools, and Evan wasn’t sure it was something Xi could do. She was a good kid but a little bit wild. The school would also not deal with her wanting to turn all of her meals into tacos.

“Ah, now you are the worried parent,” Eddie said.

“Just trying to wrap my head around her starting school, even a fun half-day daycare school in a few months, that’s all.”

“She’ll do fine. Marisol doesn’t let her run as wild as you do, and even when we are home with her, it’s more about learning than you think. You just have her learning things in a fun way. Every game you have you play with her has a reason. You read to her. We watch a show where she can learn the language spoken well. We all talk to her in Spanish as well as English. You don’t even notice when you slip into Spanish if I start the conversation in it.”

“I do notice it. I don’t react because I don’t want it to look like a strange thing. I’m getting there. I’m still bitter about what your sister called us.”

Chris started to giggle, and he nearly fell out of his chair. Evan reached out and made sure he didn’t. “Bucky, you are funny! It’s just normal.”

“I am not sure that being called the other half to someone’s orange is something I like, that’s all. I guess there are worse ways of being called someone’s soulmate.”

The term had been something that had made Evan’s mind just screech to a halt. Which had turned the video call into a lesson about some of the weird idioms that Eddie’s family knew. Evan knew there were some weird ones out there, even in English, but it had been a strange point to him that would forever be burned into his mind.

“Ready, mijo?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah, Dad. I’m going. I’m going.” Chris scooped up the last bite of his oatmeal and then got up.

Once Chris was out of the room, Evan looked at Xi. He had clothes laid out for her, but he wanted her to eat everything first. He would dress her in the truck if he needed to once Chris was headed into the school. The meeting didn’t happen until half an hour after the day’s first class started. So there was more than enough time.

Evan sighed when Eddie came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him.

“It’s going to be fine.”

“You say that like it’s going to help me calm down. It’s not. I promise you that. I just need to get it over with. You know how I am.”

“I do. I also know we’ve had a lot of changes in the last two months. It’ll be fine. Let’s just get going to get the kids dressed and make sure they have what they need and we have everything we need. Remember, we will go shopping and hit that lunch spot afterward.”

“Yeah.” Evan knew that they had plans today. School starting had fallen perfectly on their long stretch off.

“Ready to face the day?” Evan asked.

“Ask me after we get to school.”

Evan laughed before he headed over to pick up Xi, who was done eating and was playing drums with her spoon.

—

Evan looked at Xi as she sat perfectly still with the coloring book and crayons the assistant had given them. The glass door of the room they were that allowed him to see Xi made him feel better. Everything had gone well for the entrance exam, and Xi, while a little wild, had been good at doing what was asked of her.

“You’ve done wonders with her,” Principal Summers said as she sat down after getting some coffee from the pot.

Eddie was still over there getting coffee for the two of them.

“You were quite frank on her intake paperwork about her heritage and the trials. The different last name from you won’t be a big issue since most kids will probably just call you Mister Ramos.”

“Which is fine with me. I’ve actually been called it a few times when people don’t look at the parent name listed. Usually in a medical setting.”

“I see that you are working on teaching her Spanish at the same time as English. It’s admirable. Having Mister Diaz and Chris in your life will help with that. This list of people who might pick her up is interesting.”

Evan knew the formal interview was over, she had said so, but Summers wanted to chat a little bit before she made a decision.

“Marisol is the lady who watches her the most when I’m working. My father and sister are obvious. Tommy Kinard is my boss at the fire station, and if something does happen to me, he might be the one grabbing her to get her to me. I’ve not been injured severely on the job yet, but there are things that we cannot control. Eddie’s family is listed for the same reason as Tommy.”

“Yes, it’s always good when people have a large group to help them. I mostly meant that not only is this an exact match for Chris, but I have also noticed that his address has been updated to match yours.”

“Yes, well.” Evan ducked his head and felt the blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Evan and I decided that what we wanted and what we felt was right was more important than the opinions of others who have no idea what we are feeling.”

“Congratulations. Many bow to pressure from the outside instead of going with what they feel is right. When we did the solo interview with Chris, he talked about wanting to move in with Evan and Xi. It seemed like it was something that he really wanted to make you happy, Eddie. So I think it’s a good choice. There are those we just know. I married my husband after three months of living together. We started out as just roommates in a house for a group of teachers living together. Three months after him moving in, we married and stayed there for a year, one room, of course, before we moved into a house not far down the block. We are still happy, and it’s been twenty years. There is nothing to be worried about. Sometimes it’s just right. I’ll send you home with the list of supplies that Xi will need. We will have one last meeting in December that Xi will need to attend. It’s a mass event. It’s a small party, but its function is to introduce all of the incoming new preschool students to the teachers and see who responds best to who. Children that young need people they like more than kids who are older and understand what is going on.”

“She’s in?” Evan asked.

“Of course she is. As we normally do when siblings are here for meetings, we allow the parents and younger siblings to come to lunch, but it’s long before lunch. If you wanted to peek in on Chris, the teacher would not mind.”

“No, it’s fine. We have errands we have to do, and Chris was excited about classes, and I don’t want to bother him,” Evan said.

Eddie didn’t dispute the siblings’ part, which made Evan feel good.

“The paperwork and everything will be mailed to you, but the supply list will go home with you today. It covers all of the teachers, but there are added things there that are specific to the teacher who picks her. So just get the stuff at the top, and the stuff at the bottom can be gotten later.” Summer handed over a sheet of paper that had just a small list of things that would be needed. The backpack was laughable, as Xi already had one. When Chris had gone to get his, she had wanted her own. Right now, it was being used to transport things from the living room to the bedroom and back.

“Thank you for the meeting today, and thank you for letting Xi in here.”

“She’s a lovely little girl, and I think she’d do well with our school versus public. We cater to as many children as we can and allow for free spirits, and I have a feeling that’s exactly what she’s going to be.”

Evan nodded and held out his hand to shake Summers’. Eddie did the same before he walked over to open the door to hold it for Evan. Evan didn’t even try and stop the blush that came from the look on Eddie’s face. Eddie had been so sure that Xi would be allowed in, not because of Chris but because of herself. She was a smart child; she was also just a good kid.

“Ready?” Evan asked.

Xi looked up at him for a few seconds before she looked back down at the picture she was working on. It was nearly done, so Evan just sat down in a chair close to her and let her keep on going. He didn’t like to stop her when she was nearly done with something, and he hadn’t given her a time she had to be done by.

“I’ll head out and call Marisol and update her. She wanted me to call as soon as we were done,” Eddie said. He kissed Evan’s cheek before doing the same with Xi’s. She barely reacted.

“See you in a few.”

“Xi is lovely. I didn’t hear any of the interview, but she’s also learning Spanish, correct?”

“Yes. We are working on it. I knew enough, but between the lady who watches her when I work and Eddie and his family, I don’t feel like she will lack that much on it. Why?”

“She asked for paper in Spanish.”

“Some of the words we have gotten done well in English, but the dual lingual household doesn’t help as much at making her answer in one language or another. I hope it’ll come easier once she’s in school.”

“One of our teachers is newer here, but she’s from Arizona and transferred up here when her partners got jobs in LA. She did wonderfully last year. She’s studied Spanish as well as Chinese in college and can speak both very, very well. If Xi keeps on like she is and they get along, Miss Ramiez will probably want to have her in her class. I think Xi would do well with a teacher who can help her better on that front.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Firsty,” Xi said.

“Yeah, you wake up like a dry sponge.” Evan rolled his eyes because Xi was always thirsty. It wasn’t something to worry about as he had already had the doctor look at her for it. She didn’t retain the water, and she didn’t drink overly. Just someone who went through a lot of it from being active.

Xi pouted as she cleaned up her area with a little prompt from Evan.

“You are such a good girl,” the assistant said as she took the crayons back as well as the extra paper. “Have a wonderful day, Xi. You too, Mister Buckley.”

“I will. Thank you, and you as well.”

Xi wanted to be carried, so she tucked her drawings to her body and then held up her free arm. Evan gladly carried her. She was light compared to the things he carried at work all the time.

Eddie was leaning against the truck with a smile on his face as he listened to someone on the phone. He was nodding his head enough for Evan to know that he was talking to his Abuela.

“Sí, Abuela.” Eddie rolled his eyes. He said something that Evan wasn’t able to catch as he opened the truck door.

“Jar!” Xi said.

Evan laughed at the way Eddie turned to look in the back door and glare at her.

“Sorry, Abuela, Evan’s daughter is telling me I owe money to the swear jar. Of course, she doesn’t know all of the English swear words, but she knows that one.” Eddie pulled the phone from his ear and tapped the button to turn it to speaker.

“Well, your Tía Pepa has a mouth like a sailor. So, of course, she’s learned what the bad ones are. I get onto her all of the time about it, actually. Now. How is Evan now that it’s over?”

“Bueno, Abuela,” Evan said.

“Good. Good. Go and have fun. I hear you are going shopping.”

“Xi needs some clothes. She’s grown out of all of her sleeping clothes. So I wanted to make sure she’s got stuff to sleep in that’s not going to keep her up. She used one of Chris’ shirts last night. It was one that didn’t fit him, but I don’t want her to think that she could only have cast-offs. I tried my hardest not to do much when it came to that.”

“What do you do with everything that she grows out of?” Abuela asked.

“If it’s in good condition, I donate it to a women’s shelter in the area that will resell it and make money for the shelter. I do it with toys and books.”

“It’s what I’ve been doing with Chris’ things, but a few shirts of his Xi claimed when we moved in. I think she likes them.”

“Well, she can have all she wants of his stuff to sleep in. I just don’t want her to ever think she doesn’t deserve new stuff.”

“You have read Harry Potter too much,” Eddie said.

“Well, maybe. I’m still right that kids should have their own clothes if they can be afforded. I get that not everyone can, but there are a lot of things there that the kid knows that they can’t afford new all of the time.”

Eddie didn’t say anything to that.

Evan had never wanted for anything in his life. His father made sure Evan had what he needed and most of what he wanted when in school. The shoes the other kids had, and the parties were the talk of the school. His sixteenth birthday party was held in Civic Arena months early since the hockey season ended long before his birthday. It had sucked as the Penguins lost, but Evan didn’t care about that. No, he had done it because it was something that the others he invited would want. The food and tickets had been covered by his father. Maddie and her friends had gone to a weekend spa retreat for her sweet sixteen.

“You know, I used to think you didn’t have issues, but then I realized that all of them are about what you feel like your life might have been like if your mother lived, which is a good thing. You are a good man, Evan Buckley.”

“Firsty.” Xi huffed and crossed her arms. Her eyes were on the cup of flavored water that was in the front seat.

“She’s your kid,” Eddie said.

“Oh, really? So when you are tired and don’t want to get out of bed, and Chris wants water next time, I can just say, ‘Hey Eddie, it’s your kid’?”

“Well, no, because Chris likes you better than me most days, and you give him the flavored water when you do it, and I just give him tap water from the sink.”

Evan laughed, but he pulled the water from the front and handed it over to Xi. She popped the straw in her mouth and sucked while glaring at Evan.

“Boys, I’m going to hang up now. Love you.”

The phone beeped with the hang-up, and Eddie started to laugh.

“Well, we have now made idiots of ourselves in front of her. Let’s go and get some clothes for her and then we can get some food and figure out what meal to make for dinner based on the list that Chris left. He wanted to celebrate his first day at school.”

“Oh, he left a list, all right,” Evan said.

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“It’s just a single item, so not sure it can be called an actual list. He just wants spaghetti with meatballs. I made sure we had everything so I could start it as soon as we got home.”

“You indulge him way too much,” Eddie said.

“Look at the pot calling the kettle black when it comes to indulging kids with their meals. Fucking breakfast tacos.”

Xi giggled, and she held out her hand.

“Well, she knows that one too.”

“I’ll put a five in when we get home.”

Eddie laughed as he walked around the truck to get into it. He waited for Evan to get in before he turned the truck on to get them ready to go.

“Xi, I think we need to trade in our partner here. He’s obviously defective.”

Xi shook her head as Evan looked at her.

“Traitor.”

It just made Eddie laugh all the more.

Chapter Five

September

The first thing Evan did after they were out of the station and waiting to see if the building would come down was pull his phone from his pocket. He found a message from Marisol that she was fine in the house and would be going to pick up the kids at school as soon as the school called her and told her to. He pressed the button to call Eddie.

It didn’t go through, so Evan started to text him just in case Marisol’s message didn’t get to him. He was just about done with that when he thought better of it and went to the family chat and started typing in there. Maddie was working, so she would be busy as hell. There was nothing wrong with the station, so they went back inside and started to gear up before even the first bell went off to tell them where they needed to be.

“Okay, we are first on tap to head to a hotel, and others will join. Buck, we don’t have someone to pair you with, so I’m going to steal someone else and make sure that you get up there because I don’t trust anyone else.”

“Okay, I’ll gear up for an expedition as soon as we get inside.” Evan thought about what he might need while running around in that place.

Then they turned the corner, and he saw it. There was so much wrong with the image that he saw. His phone vibrated, and he looked down to see that it was his father and that he was already hooked up with Marisol to get the kids so that Evan and Eddie didn’t need to worry about a thing. He was also taking them to Abuela’s to check on her.

Evan’s entire focus shifted over to what he was getting ready to do. His normal partner for things like this was out sick with a bug that no one wanted to catch. He was glad that he would have someone paired with him and hoped it wasn’t someone who he didn’t work well with. There were a few people who didn’t like how pretty Evan was. It wasn’t his fault he was this pretty, and he knew it. He just allowed them to be the assholes he thought they were, and he did his job.

“Okay, the 118 is on its way. Buckley, you are to wait for Diaz and then head inside. I’ve already cleared it with the incident commander to take him. It’s not like Nash has someone else cleared for what you are about to do. He’s still dealing with trying to get someone else to complement Diaz. Don’t do anything more stupid than what you already do.”

A few other firefighters in the engine laughed, and Evan knew it was to help ease tension. Evan didn’t do that much in the way of stupid stuff. He had someone to come home to, and he only did it when he knew he would make it. There was nothing to be done about it if he did die.

Staring at the building as he got out of the engine, Evan debated how in the hell they were going to go and do anything. He was hopeful that there was a list of people who were in rooms. It was hopeful that most were out since this was a huge tourist hotel. This meant a lot of people on the streets who were not used to the way things happened when earthquakes happened. Or the aftershocks.

It wasn’t something Evan was used to either, but he at least had the training for it. He heard more engines and ladders showing up. He looked at them for Eddie’s team but didn’t see it. He would probably come in from the other direction.

“How are you feeling about this?” Tommy asked as he stepped up to stand beside Evan.

“Good. I can do it. No fear.”

“I’m glad. Now, finish getting kitted out. Diaz is on the far side. We will make sure you are both ready. I’ll have control over Eddie, though, not Nash. His team will be more focused on triaging patients and getting people out from the ground floor of the area that has survived. I’ll take over the ones going up from all stations.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

“No, I know I don’t. Now, get going.”

Evan gave Tommy a mock salute, and he headed over to where a few other guys were gearing up to support him and others going up.

When he was dressed and ready, he turned around to see Eddie talking to Tommy. Double checking the radio he had on and making sure he knew the channels needed for everything.

“Ready?” Tommy asked when Evan finally got closer to him.

“I am. You ready, Eds?”

“Let’s go.”

Evan headed toward the hotel, listening to what Tommy was telling him about who was in there that they knew about. Their goal was the guy on the glass and the woman with him.

It was going to be interesting heading up inside. It had been a while since Evan had training for that kind of thing, but he knew what to do.

“How are you feeling?”Evan asked once they were on as solid of ground as they would get for a while.

“Fine. This is a lot less stable than I would like, but it’s not like we can’t try to make the best of what we have. I heard some are looking for a little girl. I’m not sure I want to be on duty if the outcome is not good.”

“You and me both.” Evan’s mind turned to Xi and hoped that Marisol and his father had a hold of her already and were making sure she was fine. This was the kind of thing that was hard for her to understand. Evan’s earthquake drills with her were based around the house and not a school. He hoped something like it had been gone through the first few days, but he wasn’t sure. It was a good lesson for them all.

“Your father’s last message said he had Chris, and they were waiting for Xi’s class to be brought out. They are dismissing by age and kind of rotating through on the ones that aren’t gotten the first time. Some parents had been heard from, and others not. I think he was typing while Marisol was dealing with everything else.”

“Well, Dad’s a big typer. He can type on the phone really well. I mean that. It’s infuriating. I think it’s the accountant in him. He just does things well.”

“He said he would send a picture as soon as he had both of the kids so that we could see them.”

“Good. I can’t wait to see it.”

The building shook a little, but it seemed like something to do with something else causing it, not an aftershock or it trying to go down.

The rescue didn’t go the best, but Evan knew that was possible with this kind of thing. He just wasn’t sure if they would get the woman out, either. He tried to remember her name. He kept calling her Abby in his head, but then he had Abby on his mind a little with what Carla had been telling him about how she went off the rails a little after her mother’s death. She had ghosted Evan after the funeral.

“Ma’am, I’m not sure that drinking is the best idea right now,” Evan said as he took the bottles from her.

“It’s not like they are going to miss them.”

“No, but we don’t need you to be tipsy or even drunk when trying to get you out of here. I need your senses as sharp as they can be so that when I tell you something, you do it.”

The woman rolled her eyes, but she put the bottles back on the cart. It was good that she did, as Evan didn’t want to take them from her, but he would.

There was only a single way down with the way the building had shifted while they had been in there.

“So, Buckley,” the woman said. She laughed a little and then looked him up and down. “When this is all said and done, and we are both days out from this, want to go on a date?”

“No, thank you. I’m already in a committed relationship. We just moved in together, actually.”

“Wow, she moved in without putting a ring on your finger?”

“He moved in, knowing that the ring didn’t matter to him or me. I don’t need a ring to tell me I love someone.”

“Why do all of the hot and nice ones have to be gay?”

“Bisexual, actually, but I know what you mean. A woman in college wanted to date me, but as soon as she realized I was bisexual, she refused. She said she wasn’t willing to date someone who would cheat. I still haven’t figured out how she got to that. I told her to get therapy if she thought that just being bisexual meant that someone automatically was going to cheat.”

“Or the ones that think that being bisexual and marrying a woman means that you aren’t bisexual anymore. The bi-erasure is real,” Eddie said.

Then shit got really real once they were out with Ali, which Evan was still not sure was her name.

“Well?” Evan asked as he looked at Eddie when the call about Hen being missing happened.

“We could.”

“We could also get in trouble.”

“Eh, what’s life if not living on the edge.”

“I’m blaming you.” Evan grabbed the equipment and headed after his lover.

—

The only good thing that being a firefighter had when it came to disasters was getting to be let go early if one had done really horrible stuff.

Evan wasn’t sure he could even rescue a kitten in a tree, much less anyone else in a real accident. So, he was super happy to see home.

The lights were on, and it wasn’t a shock, given it was barely nine. Xi didn’t have school the next day at all, and given everything, Chris would be doing something online that would register him as being there.

Evan was still sitting in the driveway when Eddie pulled in behind him. Maddie and Phillip’s cars were in the other part of the driveway.

It wasn’t a shock that Eddie was let go early either, with most stations that had sent people to deal with things working light shifts at their station or had been sent home. Other shifts were called in to cover the second half. It was going to be chaotic for a few days as the city recovered.

Closing his eyes for a few seconds, Evan just sat there. He opened the door and laughed when he nearly clipped Eddie with it.

“I’d say glad to see you are in one piece, but we’ve spent all day together. Bobby only kind of yelled at me.”

“Tommy said that he knew no matter if you and I were together or not, I would have gone in there to help with that. So it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”

“Your house has been taken over, by the way. Abuela and Pepa are here, and I think there was talk of a huge sleepover.”

“Oh, I read over the family chat. I saw Maddie added your close family to it, including Adriana and Sofia. That seems like it’s not the best idea, but eh, what can we do about it.”

“They are going to be nosy as fuck. Still, Maddie did text and ask if it was all right. I told her that it was. I think it’s helping them deal with things, honestly. I’m sure the earthquake made national news, and having a direct connection with people here helped them not worry about me.”

“Have you heard from your father?”

“He texted once to tell me he was glad I was okay and then that he would get his information from Abuela. I’ve not decided whether I want to add him to the chat. I get it’s a family chat, but…things aren’t there yet.”

“Hmm. We should go. I’ve seen the curtain move seven times while we have been here. Maddie will come outside and drag me in by my ear.”

Eddie laughed before he reached into the Jeep to pull Evan out of it. “Then let’s get inside. I think we were promised that leftover spaghetti and meatballs you had in the fridge.”

“Yeah, Maddie made penne pasta to go with it since I had most of it, so she assumed I didn’t have it on hand for something. She learned the hard way when she made all of the bowtie I had, which was supposed to be for a pasta salad for an event. She had to go to the store and replace it after a twelve-hour shift.”

“Sucks to be her. Why did it have to be that?”

“Oh, it didn’t, but all I had left was angel hair. I wasn’t making it out of that.” Evan hauled himself out of the Jeep with Eddie tugging on him.

“Well, I can smell the garlic from here. So I’m starving. That sandwich we ate feels like years and years ago. I just want to sleep, and I know that’ll get bigger after I eat. Thankfully I showered at the station.”

Evan grunted and waved for Eddie to get to the door. He wasn’t sure he wanted the house full of people, but he understood them wanting to lay eyes on them. The sleepover sounded like hell, but at least there would be adults to help with the kids in the morning, especially if Evan slept for hours like he thought he would.

“Pa!” Xi said as soon as the door was opened. She huffed when it was Eddie there.

Evan could hear the huff, and he moved around Eddie to snag his daughter and lift her up. His body protested it, but it wasn’t bad. Xi threw her arms around him and held on tightly.

Everyone was seated in the living room except for Phillip. Evan looked for him. He wasn’t in sight and didn’t seem to be in hearing range either. Then before Eddie even sat down beside Chris on the couch, his dad came out of the kitchen with two massive bowls of food.

Evan saw two bottles of water sitting near where they sometimes ate dinner in the living room for the pair of them. He headed toward one of them with Xi still in his arms.

“Xi added the parmesan cheese to the food, so if there is too much, blame her. She was bored while waiting for you two to come home. She heard you were on your way.”

“She likes to listen in,” Evan said. He sat down and got Xi settled on his leg while pulling the TV tray closer. His father laid down his food there and moved the water over. Phillip did the same for Eddie in the chair. He pulled his tray a little closer and smelled the spaghetti. He loved making large amounts of it and freezing it. He had made extra meatballs for the one before; the rest were just sauce for the days when he didn’t want beef. It was good with chicken in it as well.

“She does. It’s okay. She just really missed you today with all of the commotion. Her day was changed, which meant not being too happy about things. Just like you.”

“You didn’t like change as a child?” Eddie asked.

“No, I didn’t. Once I was set in my ways, things were over if it changed. It took a while to figure it out, but I grew out of that.”

“Mostly,” Phillip and Maddie said at the same time.

“Marisol talked us into going home and leaving just Phillip and Maddie here. Fewer people, fewer issues. I want to come over for breakfast,” Abuela said.

“You are welcome anytime, Abuela,” Eddie said.

Evan just nodded his head because he had a meatball in his mouth. It tasted great. He wasn’t going to have much time where he didn’t have food in his mouth. He wanted to eat everything in his bowl as quickly as possible.

“This one won’t be talking much,” Maddie said. She leaned into Evan a little bit and wrapped an arm around him.

“He never does when he’s eating and starving,” Eddie said.

“Eddito, you did good work today. Be proud of yourself for what you did and who you saved.”

“I am Abuela, I am.”

Evan let the conversation around him just happen. He was too tired to do anything but eat and cuddle with his kid. He wasn’t going to engage in most of the conversation, and he was glad that no one tried to make him. He just wanted to enjoy a good meal with the people he loved and then settle down into bed before going back to work when he was called back.

—

Xi bounced as she walked through the mall with the backpack leash on her. He wasn’t sure what he would find as far as Halloween costumes went for her, but he was more than willing to see what the mall had. Eddie and Chris had gone shopping for theirs after school one day and thus had borne the secret behind who they were.

Which was why Evan was there with Xi, and he had no idea what to do. The year before, Evan hadn’t really done much with her costume beyond buying a princess dress. It had been rather generic and simple, but she had loved running around in it for days afterward. There was, of course, so much that she could fit in.

There had been one costume so far from the first store they went to that she liked. Of course, she had liked many of them, but it was the only one she had kept returning to. Evan didn’t care if their costumes matched. Evan would be working that night, and he didn’t mind it. Maddie was going to take Xi around to the various houses in the neighborhood, but there was a big Halloween party the Saturday after Halloween that they would all be going to. It seemed like it was going to be a fun party, but Evan wouldn’t wear anything that would make it hard for him to hold Xi. One that would be uncomfortable was out of the question as well.

There was a hat on a rack of random hats just inside the door of the next shop. Evan picked it up, and he debated what he was going to do. He had almost everything he needed, down to the chaps as well. One summer during college, he had gone out west with a friend and worked his family’s dude ranch for the summer. He had come back with clothes he had never really worn again, but most should fit. The chaps might be an issue, but he figured a leather shop could fix that. Eddie would hate and love him in equal measure for wearing something like that, but it would be great for him.

“Pa!” Xi darted forward and picked up a purple hat that was nearly a perfect match to what he would be wearing. It was honestly a good choice.

“Yeah?” Evan walked over and crouched down in front of her before he took the hat and put it on her head. “Well, look at my little cowgirl. You want to be a cowgirl for Halloween?”

Xi nodded her head.

“Well, I can make that happen in more ways than one. Now that we have an idea, I think this hat’s not good enough. I know a place that will get you a better hat. We can get it covered in rhinestones as well. What do you think?”

Xi nodded her head. “Pretty.”

“Yup, we will make you all pretty. Well, we have a plan and an idea. So, let’s go and do that.”

“Carry.”

“Of course.” Evan picked Xi up and settled her into his arms. He put the hat back where it belonged and then headed out of the store. There were a few things in the mall he wanted to pick up, but he also wanted to go to the party store and see if Xi would settle on something for her upcoming third birthday party.

The party store was the first one they got to. Xi was excited about the candy, so Evan carried her around and let her drop things in the basket based on what she liked the look of and what Even knew she liked. It wasn’t hard to get her narrowed down to a single theme for the part based on the crown she would be wearing out of the store.

“She’s adorable and well-behaved,” the cashier said as she scanned the crown, cut the tag off, and dropped it into the bag before handing it to Xi.

Evan put the crown back on Xi’s head as she watched her candy being put into the bag. The cashier seemed to enjoy Xi counting as each thing was dropped in as well. Some people didn’t like that kind of thing. Xi swapped to Spanish at ten, and then it was a weird back and forth for the next few items scanned.

“It’s a work in progress,” Evan said.

“Oh, but it’s adorable. She’s happy, and that’s all that matters.”

“She is happy.”

The rest of the few things Evan wanted to do in the mall took little time. Before he knew it, they were pulling up outside of the hat shop. Mia had talked about the place and showed him a few hats from there. It had been a place he wanted to go, and he had seen a hat in the picture that he hoped was in a child’s size.

As soon as they walked in, Evan made sure the backpack was secure on Xi’s back. The way she was looking around meant she was going to take off in a few seconds.

“Welcome to Hats Are Us. First time?”

“Yes. A few people I work with come here for their nights out at bars in get-ups, as they call it. So I thought that since Miss Xi and I figured out what we want to be for Halloween. I have almost everything I need, but she needs a full get-up for being a cowgirl. First, we need a gemstone purple cowgirl hat.”

“Oh, we have one of those, and if there is not one in her size at the moment, we can make one easily. Let’s head to the pretty section.” The woman held out her hand, and Xi slipped hers into it, and then they walked over to where hats were on display. There were even normal baseball caps there with gems all over them. Evan plucked the crown off her head and hung it out of his pocket.

“PA!”Xi raced over and snagged a hat that was on a low shelf. It was a LA Kings hat with purple stones all over it. “You?”

“You think I wanna wear that?” Evan took it, and he checked the size to see if it was adjustable. He made it bigger and slipped it on. It wasn’t his favorite team, but he did watch them on TV a good deal when he could. Growing up in Pittsburgh, he had been forced to be a Penguins fan, at least as far as it seemed. He had gotten attached to a few players and followed them more than anything.

Marc-André Fleury was his favorite, so his team of the moment was the Vegas Golden Knights.

“We have other teams as well in a variety of colors. We have permission to buy these and do it. We worked with Fanatics to make sure we were licensed.”

“Thanks for the assurance. Got any Golden Knights?”

“Oh, we do. Who is your favorite player?”

“Fleury.”

“I have just the hat for you. Go ahead and look at the cowgirl hats for Miss Xi here and I’ll go into the back and get the trio of hats we have that I think you’ll like.”

Evan nodded and turned his attention to the hats they came there to buy. There was a purple hat that looked to be Xi’s size. It was covered in rainbow gems. He plucked that up and dropped it on her head.

Xi turned to look at herself in the mirror before she took the hat off and looked at it. She touched a few of the gems and smiled before putting it back on.

“Like that one?”

“Yeah,” Xi said.

“Well, I’ll take a picture and send it to the Abuelas if you want. I bet they will coo over it.”

Xi nodded so hard she nearly knocked the hat off. Evan got his phone out and started to take pictures while Xi made faces and poses. Despite not having a mother in her life for the last two years, she was doing pretty good at being girly when she wanted to be. She was also not very girly when she wanted to be.

“So, this hat isn’t a set in the way it has to be sold as a set. The person who made them did a set when she got inspired.”

The first hat that caught his eye was the yellow one; it had three flowers in gems on it scattered across the forehead area. All were pride rainbows. The other two hats were black, and one had the same pride colors, and the other was the pansexual colors.

“She did sets for the main ones we sell but can make another if there is something else you want.”

“Oh, no. I’ll take the set. I love the flowers for the pride flags, and if I had to pick a favorite team right now, it would be the Knights. Xi will take that hat as well.”

“That’s great. Any other hats for her?”

“Is there a kids’ section?”

“Yes, over here. We have a lot of fun with kids’ hats.”

Evan looked around in the kids’ section and found what he was looking for. The sports stuff. Xi had been all about kicking a ball in the backyard with Eddie and Chris lately after watching some kids playing soccer in the park one day. There was a kids’ league that he would start her in that coming spring if she still wanted to play. It was a good sport for her since it did pretty well in the US. She would have a good career if she wanted one in it, and it stuck.

“Ready to go and meet Eddie and Chris for lunch?” Evan asked once they were checked out with not only the cowgirl hat for Xi but three different baseball caps for her that would adjust with her age. Then a hat for Eddie and Chris as well. Eddie would wear his hat mainly because Xi had picked it out, and Chris would adore his.

The place they were eating lunch was closer to home, so once Evan was in the Jeep with Xi bucked in and crown back on her head, he texted Eddie to tell him where they were headed. Everything was in the back hatch of the Jeep, so Eddie couldn’t peek at the packages.

Evan sat down, and he found Xi’s playlist to play while they got stuck in traffic.

“Horse?” Xi asked.

“Yeah, we will figure that out later. I have a few ideas.”

Xi wasn’t the type of kid that wanted to ride a horse on a stick. That had failed epically one time, and the toy was taken to the women’s shelter so that she would stop being upset when seeing it.

Maybe Carla would have a few ideas on that. She was good with that kind of thing. It was beyond Evan. Marisol and Eddie’s Abuela might have a few ideas as well.

“Tacos?”Xi asked.

“You are going to turn into a taco, sweetling. A giant taco with a mouth, and then it will be cannibalism if you eat tacos.”

“Tacos!” Xi screeched when she saw the truck they were going to. Eddie had been the one to find this place and get them all hooked on it.

Evan had no regrets about the pancake book he had bought and was waiting for it to be shipped to him. It boasted three hundred sweet and savory pancake recipes. The ones listed in the excerpt he had found had been more than enough to tell him he should really like most of them.

Chris’ favorite meal was pancakes, and some of the savory ones sounded like ones they could do for dinner.

Eddie was already there with a table taken over in the lot and a flag on their table that had their order number.

Phillip was sitting with them, smiling as he talked to someone on the phone. It was the smile that Evan had figured out was for Ramon.

It was sickening how they already were, but then Evan knew that he and Eddie were much the same.

“Pappi!” Xi exclaimed as she got out of the seat when Evan unbuckled her.

“Yeah, Eddie and Pappi.”

Pappi was for Phillip, while Ramon was Pop Pop. It was interesting when trying to figure out who she was talking about when she was excited and merging words together. Pa, Pappi, and Pop Pop could all sound the same.

Evan let Xi go when Eddie was looking at them and was able to keep his eye on her while Evan locked up the Jeep. There was no traffic in the area, but Xi still looked both ways before she came out from behind the Jeep.

“How has she not turned into a taco?” Phillip asked as Evan sat down with his jug of water. He needed to finish it off, and he had already told Eddie not to worry about getting him a drink.

“I wonder the same thing, but then I think she would still eat them even if she was a taco.”

“Taco cannibalism,” Eddie said.

“That’s what I was thinking as well. Then she noticed you both, and all thoughts of taco cannibalism left my head.” Evan pulled the basket of chips and the bowl of queso closer to him and started to nosh on them.

“Hungry?” Eddie asked.

“Starved, actually. We had fun at the mall, and I picked up a few presents that you two will get later.”

“Later, like Christmas or later today?” Chris asked.

“Later today.” Evan grinned when Chris pouted a little bit. “You can wait a few hours, or I can just wait for Christmas.”

“No, I can wait.”

Eddie chuckled and ruffled Chris’ hair as a waiter dropped off the first of their food. It looked like Phillip had gotten one of the appetizers as a meal. It was one that Evan liked himself sometimes, so he understood it.

The burrito that came out a few minutes later was nearly as thick as Evan’s arm. He loved it so much.

Eddie had a quesadilla, while Chris and Xi had tacos.

Life was pretty good, and it was just going to get better.

Chapter Six

October

Evan frowned as he looked at his phone. He had missed a call from Eddie, Phillip, and Marisol.

Only Eddie left a message, while Phillip and Marisol sent him texts. He paused in stuffing his face with a burger from the shop close to the call they were on. He was on his breathing break and stuffing his face since they had been working non-stop since nine and needed food.

Evan put his phone to his ear, pressing it there so he could go back to eating.

Eddie: Evan, everything is fine. Abuela fell and broke her hip. She’s at the hospital getting checked out. Pepa is there with her, and Marisol is already setting up a place in your house for Abuela to go to until she can go elsewhere. I hope that’s okay. Your father and Maddie both just agreed and set her on task. Maddie was working in the ER when she went in. I’m sure they have both texted. When Chris and Xi are done with school, your father will pick them up and take them to see Abuela. I am not sure what the plans for the rest of the evening are. Text me when you get this; I know you are busy on that callout with the fire trying to take over three buildings. Love you.

Evan let the phone drop down into his lap. Once he had finished eating, he would gladly message Eddie but right now, food was more important than texting him. Xi was loving the daycare part of Durand that allowed her to go there a few days a week in preparation for her going to preschool every day for half days in January. They didn’t call it daycare but school, so she didn’t get upset.

First was a call to Phillip to make sure everything from when Marisol had her stay with him was still in good shape in the basement, and he knew where it was. Marisol and the stairs weren’t good friends when it came to carrying things. There would have to be a few things for them to do to ensure that Abeula would stay with them. Having Marisol there would help. It was going to be an adventure with her in the house. Having Xi there for part of the day would help her when she was bored.

“You look like you swallowed a lemon,” Tommy said as he walked over and sat down beside him with his own burger and a large fry that he offered up to Evan.

“Eddie’s grandma fell and broke her hip. She’s fine. Just eating quickly to be able to text when I am done and let him know it’s fine that my father and sister just started moving her into our house.”

“Well, I’m glad she’s not injured more than that. You don’t strike me as one to be upset about her staying there.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I mean, I moved Marisol into the house to have her recover after her surgery. We had someone else on tap to help take care of her as well as Xi when Maddie couldn’t. That’s not the issue at all. I’m happy they stepped up since I can’t do anything here, and I don’t need to be there.”

“Eat more fries. I asked for a small one, and they gave me a large one. You only got a burger.”

“I ordered fries, but they weren’t in the bag. I assume they combined a lot of people’s stuff. They aren’t the best at this kind of order.”

“No, they are not. Let’s have a few minutes here. You type on your phone, and I’ll feed you fries.”

Evan laughed, but he did as Tommy said. Every time he was done typing something, a fry would appear in his line of sight. He would snag it with his lips and then go back to typing out what he wanted on his phone.

“Did she get around pretty well before the whole thing?” Tommy asked when Eban finally set down his phone.

“She did. She was good for her age. She’ll heal up just fine and be moving around long before Eddie is ready to let her do it.”

“You two are good together. Even more than what we have seen when you work on the job together. You two work well in sync, but also it shows in your personal life. It’s a good thing.”

“Dad said that once. He was pretty happy with me starting things with Eddie.”

“He’s a good man as well. He stopped the other day when you were out on that call with Mia and Parker. He was happy to drop off the cookies but also talked to us. I can really see you in him.”

“Maddie says that all of the time. I’m happy about it. There are worse parents out there.”

“Like Eddie’s. I’ve heard a few whispered things about him. Not so much gossip but just the rest of the team telling what they know to be facts so that no one asks about his mother.”

“Which is a good thing. He’s not happy with her, and his father is trying. He really was drinking the Kool-Aid about a lot of things. My father has taken him under his wing, and there is a budding relationship there. It’s kind of weird, honestly. They fit together for a lot of the same reasons that we do. Dad’s never wanted a relationship. Or I should say he tried a few times and then just gave up to focus on us.”

“And Eddie’s dad is divorcing his wife for her way of being. How is that going?”

“Ramon doesn’t talk to Eddie about it too much, I think he talks to my father about it, but we’ve never asked about that. So, we just live with knowing that my father is trying again for the first time in a long time.”

“Why did he stop?”

“Well, the women he tried to date always had issues that we would always come first. He didn’t put us first before my mother killed herself. So after that, we were his focus. Once I was a certain age and Maddie was an adult, the people around him told him that he needed to not put us first. He doesn’t know, but if we need him, he’s there. We are both well-adjusted adults, and we are happy, which is what he wanted.”

“So, I heard your sister was caught flirting with a cop in the ER when he was getting her statement about a victim that had come through.”

“Oh, she was flirting hard, but no one is giving me the name of the cop. Athena just laughed at me.”

“I still don’t even understand how you got her to like you. She is standoffish with anyone who isn’t in the 118. I know she’s dating the captain over there.”

“Oh, she is, and since Eddie’s there, she’s thawed to me a little bit. She was listening to other people there who called me a spoiled rotten trust fund baby. I actually heard one of them call me a glory hound behind Eddie’s back. The one guy who looks like he should be in the WWE told them to shut up.”

“Makepeace. He’s a good guy and someone who doesn’t take that kind of stuff lying down. I really miss him from when I transferred here. So, how do you feel about heading back?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” Evan looked at the fries to see that all of them were gone. He wasn’t sure how many he had eaten. He really hoped that Tommy got some.

“Then head out. We were winding down, and we were the last to eat. So don’t feel bad about any of that.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

Tommy laughed and shoved him. Evan made it seem like he stumbled as he got up, making Tommy laugh more.

—

Evan sat down in the chair and looked around the station. For once, everything was caught up, and he was going to be the man behind the rest of the day after an idiot had gone after him with a baseball bat while he had been trying to help treat his wife. The man was now facing even more charges than the spousal abuse he had been arrested for.

Tommy had sent him to get looked at, and he had come back on the ambulance after another call and promised he would be good and stay behind.

Eddie was bitching about some reporter at work and how much she was pissing him off. It had been nothing but that for days. Eddie hadn’t used the reporter’s name, but with the clues given in his rants, Evan was pretty sure it was Taylor Kelly, who was one of Evan’s favorites. She had been part of his routine since he had arrived in LA. Still, that didn’t mean she was a good person.

Evan laughed and relaxed back in the chair a little before looking up at the ceiling. He tried to count the pipes, but then a few more messages came through.

Eddie: I think about your eyes all the time. They really are windows to the soul, and I want to keep them as they are forever.

Evan raised an eyebrow. Eddie had said things like that before, but when they were working, even if they were both on downtime between calls, they didn’t get into this kind of thing over the phone.

Eddie: Makepeace says you are so pretty that he finds it hard to look at anything but you.

Evan got up and walked over to the radio. He picked it up just as the rest of the shift started to arrive back. The ambulance was the first back inside.

“Buck?” Tommy asked.

“I think that something is wrong with the 118. Eddie messaged me something he would never do while working, and then he told me that Makepeace said I was so pretty that he couldn’t look at anything but me when I was around. That’s not normal for him at all.”

“I’ll get a hold of dispatch and figure out what is going on. Load up the ambos and let’s get ready to head out again,” Garza said as he sat back down in the engine’s cab. He swapped the channel on his radio and started to talk into it.

Evan wasn’t sure what was happening, but he didn’t want to be left behind for this.

“Parker, you stay behind just in case something else needs to be done. We are taking just the engine and the two ambos if we go out,” Tommy said.

“Load up 217,” Garza called out.

The bell went off seconds later with the information about where they were heading. Evan used his good arm to pull himself into the engine, and he settled down as Tommy dropped an ice pack on his shoulder. It was time to ice it again.

“Keep that one while we are heading out. The new paramedic at the 118 is calling for support as the rest of the shift is high. Another unit is heading back to the 118 because Captain Nash is there as the man behind to close out the shift. The rest are at a beauty pageant, and the paramedic can only focus on the victim they were called for while the rest are just high. It’s suspected that the shift was given food. There were brownies that all of them ate, outside of the paramedic who is allergic to nuts,” Garza said.

Evan couldn’t help his legs bouncing as they barreled to where the 118 was. His thoughts were only on Eddie.

“Buckley, you help assess all of the victims, and then you can go with Diaz to the hospital. I’ll make sure that someone gets you your vehicle there. I know you are not cleared to drive, so whoever does it will drive you both home after he’s released. Even if it’s just calling your sister and father to come and get it and then pick you up.”

“Thanks, Cap,” Evan said. He looked at the hall they were heading to. He could see it even though they were a block away still. He couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing up and down even as Tommy pressed a hand to his shoulder.

A bump had the ice pack falling. He caught it with his other hand and laid it back there, pressing it down. He was in the sling for a few days and would be behind until he got cleared. He was able to move it around a little, but not much. There were no breaks, just bruises, and swelling. He was glad he didn’t have to worry about a broken collarbone.

Evan was the second out, but only because Tommy was sitting at the door. The engine was brought because there was no way to fit the others into the ambulances to get them out of there.

“You did good, Paramedic Smith. For now, you are under my command. Where is Diaz?”

“He’s over in the corner with Makepeace talking about Diaz’s boyfriend. Honestly, on the way over the way Diaz was talking about him, I knew something was wrong. I figured that it was the reporter who had brought up something that set him off. Then they were freaking out about tiny beauty queens. Or that they were giants. Then I really knew it. I radioed as soon as I could. The 36 had an ambulance on its way back, so they diverted here and took the victim we were set to come and get first. Then I had to babysit while they figured out what the hell to do.”

“And the engines?”

“The other shift is coming in. A few are being dropped here to get them back to the station, and the rest are getting rid of the food.”

“Getting rid?”

“Well, it’s being taken for testing but getting it all bagged up to be picked up. There is an officer with them.”

“You go and do what you need to. We have the rest of your team.”

Smith nodded his head and took off.

“Go, Buckley, Stones.”

Evan headed off, and he found Eddie with each. He was leaning against Makepeace, and they were talking about how cute Evan was with Chris and Xi in his lap.

“It’s a good thing that I know you love me, Diaz,” Evan said.

“Evan?” Eddie shot up and wrapped his arms around Evan in a hug.

“I got you, Eds. Let’s get you checked out real quick to make sure you don’t have a bad reaction.”

The rest of the 217 spread out to check out each member of the 118.

“You are high as a kite. Whoever did this is going to regret it. Dosing an entire station while on shift? I don’t even want to know what is going on with that. Now, look at me.”

Eddie’s eyes were blown wide, and he looked on the verge of tears.

“It’s okay.”

“You are in a sling!”

“I told you I had something to tell you when you got off, and you needed to come and get me. This was it. Now, I’m not even going to touch you checking me out with how high you are right now. So don’t even try that. Now, Eds. Let’s get you into the ambulance.”

“I think he ate two of them,” Smith said.

“That would explain it. What about Makepeace?”

“Three? Given his body size, though. Need help with him?” Smith asked.

“No, I got Eddie, and the wonderful Stone twins can get Makepeace. We can take them into the same ambulance as I think it might go better.”

“He’s my second best friend,” Eddie said.

“I know.” Evan laughed before he pressed a kiss to Eddie’s forehead.

“Handcuffs?” Athena asked.

“No, these two are fine. I don’t like handcuffing people who aren’t dangerous,” Misha said.

Athena huffed, but she walked away.

Evan looked to see that some of the rest of the 118 were in cuffs. These two being cute in the corner, had probably missed being cuffed when it looked like the rest were in them. He understood when the good guys were less than the drugged ones, but now with the 217 there, it was easier to make sure it was fine.

“Let’s go, big guy,” Evan said as he helped Eddie up.

Mia and Misha helped Makepeace to his feet.

“How did you know?” Eddie asked.

“Cause you sent me stuff you only tell me when we are naked in bed.”

“Oh.” Eddie started to blush.

“You are so high.”

The trip to the hospital was pretty quick. With Eddie trying to climb into his lap, Evan constantly fought that off. Makepeace was just sitting beside him, pouting that he didn’t get to be part of the cuddle. Which had Mia leaning into him.

The only good thing was that Captain Garza had called ahead, and a massive room in the ER was cleared for them to stick all of the 118 into. It was one of the mass casualty rooms. Usually used for people in beds with rolling curtains. It helped to keep them all calm to see each other.

Evan stayed in the room, and Eddie kept trying to pet his arm.

It got better once they were all asleep. He looked at the time and was glad that they had gotten under pretty quickly, recovering from the dosage as well as the night and day of working beforehand.

“How are they?” Maddie asked as she came into the room. She was dressed for work but didn’t have her badge on yet.

“Good. Sleeping it all off but good.”

“I was updated by Sergeant Grant about how you figured it out at about the same time Paramedic Smith called it in. He’s their newest paramedic, so he’s working with Hen this week, and he’s got brass balls for calling that in. I know that most newbies to a shift would have done something else.”

“Well, his calling it in and getting people to the 118 as soon as possible stopped Captain Nash from killing himself. There was a whole thing about it. We were kept informed. He was affected the worst because of his past. I am not sure what it was.”

Evan looked at where Nash was and how he was the worst off once it kicked in. Something about if that meant he wasn’t clean anymore.

Hen was on her side with her hand holding Nash’s. It seemed like she was trying to comfort him.

After the initial exam, no curtains had been pulled around the beds. It seemed like they wanted to be able to see each other.

“I just got off. I thought I would head home, but I wanted to check in with you first. I was pulled from this because of Eddie. I’m not upset. Eddie’s grandma was okay, but I guess Eddie was too close. Of course, the shift supervisor called him my brother-in-law.”

“Well, he kind of is. I mean, he’s still a little gun-shy about marriage after Shannon. I’m working on that, and it might take a while.”

“I have a feeling it won’t take nearly as long as you think it will. He’s so in love. I heard he was waxing poetic about your eyes.”

“And my ass to the nurse who was taking his vitals when we got here. Makepeace was helping that one. If that man wasn’t straight as a razor, I would say he wanted a night with the two of us. He’s just secure in his sexuality and can appreciate beautiful things in all forms.”

“Need anything?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Okay, call when you need a ride. I am taking the car home, and then Dad’s going to pick me up, and I’m going to drive your Jeep home. Then one of us will come and get you when he’s released. I’ll get you an ice pack before I leave, and you are not fighting me on that.”

“No, I’m not. I can’t lift it right now. I need to move it some to get a little more blood flowing to it after the icing. I have pills, and one of the nurses already got me stuff from the food they keep on hand for paramedics and EMTs that bring people. I took them on time, and I have timers and everything.”

Maddie kissed Evan’s forehead before wrapping him in a gentle hug.

Evan wrapped his good arm around her and held on tightly.

“Evan?” Eddie asked a few minutes later.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Not good. I don’t think that stuff agreed with me at all. Where’s Makepeace?”

“Over here, feeling like I got run over by a bus.”

“Maddie’s getting me ice, and then she’s going to go home, then they are going to get my Jeep. We can get your truck at a later time, or I can just drop you off at work your next day.”

“Is your shoulder fine?”

“Yeah, just bruised and swollen. Not even a hairline fracture or anything. An abusive asshole went after me with a baseball bat when I was helping treat his wife for what he did. He snuck into the house past the uniforms who were supposed to be watching for him. Or he had been hiding somewhere in the house. I’ll be the man behind until I’m cleared or go with and be the person in control of the scene. Tommy’s all about training me on that. I think he wants me to replace him when he becomes the captain.”

“Well, that’ll be good. You mean it on your shoulder?” Eddie asked.

“Yes, I would never lie about something like that. I promise you. You want to sleep more?”

“Yes.”

“Then do it. I’ll be here when you wake up, protecting your virtue.”

Makepeace snorted and said something that was too mumbled for Evan to hear.

—

There was no such thing as a simple party when it came to the Diaz family. Evan was learning that the hard way.

He sat down and looked at the list of invited people, which he had seen many times before as the list had grown. There were marked by each one stating the status of their invite.

Everyone from Evan’s station was being invited with their kids, and Makepeace had been invited from Eddie’s. It was supposed to be a simple party that was now featuring a taco bar.

“Flip it over,” Abuela said.

Evan flipped the paper over and looked at the list of supplies that were needed as well as their status. Then below was the list of foods and where they went on the tables. There was even a picture.

“She’s three.”

“And? It needs to be fun for everyone else as well. So, things will be good for everyone, and she’ll have a blast.”

“She’ll start to expect things like this.”

Abuela looked at him.

“Okay, I know. Halloween and such, I know. I’ve been trying to figure out how to ask Eddie something, but I’m afraid of it. I’m not sure why. I was asking if I should move the party.”

“No. Where my family and my husband’s family were from really don’t celebrate Dia De Los Muertos.”

“I wasn’t sure. Maria’s family didn’t as well. I was going to help her with that, but she said she remembered her husband every morning when she woke up and went to bed. No remembrance was needed outside of the anniversary of the death.”

“Okay.” Evan sighed. He wasn’t sure about it. A few of the people he knew in the city did celebrate it. Marisol did, but she did it all very private and didn’t talk about it much.

“So, this party will also just be a fun party. She’s going to get used to having a lot of parties with Halloween and then her birthday the next day. You are okay with all of this, right? I know your father and I just sort of took it all over.”

“Yes, I am fine with it. It’s more than I would have done, but it’ll be fun. The family grew a lot over the last year.”

“We did, but that’s always a good thing. Now, be a good niño and get me my pills and the snack Eddie left in the fridge for me, por favor?”

“Por supuesto, Abuela.”

“Such a good boy.”

Evan felt the blush on his face, and he turned to see Eddie in the doorway with a grin on his face. He knew exactly why Eddie had Abuela tell him all about the plans. Evan would probably veto at least half of it if it was Eddie.

Money wasn’t the issue. It was just the whole thing of a huge celebration for her third birthday. He had done something big for the first birthday Evan had with her, but that had been just between the two of them, really.

“You okay?” Eddie asked.

“Por supuesto,” Evan said.

“Smart ass.”

“JAR!”

Evan looked down to see Xi holding out her hand. She was getting better at the whole cuss word thing.

Eddie pulled a dollar out of his pocket, handing it over. Xi took off toward the jar in the living room.

“I think I want to blame you for that.”

“You are the one that said it.”

“But you are the one who started that jar.”

“Eh. It’s not really helped that much by not saying most of the words, so I’m just going to have to make sure I teach her what is good to say and what is not when it comes time. At least in polite company. It’ll be nice when I can take a dollar from them in place of giving one up.”

“I don’t see that succeeding in the end.”

“No, but I can try. So a taco bar, really?”

“Pepa. She’s out getting the various trays to make sure that people can stuff easily. Small crock pots for the meats and everything else will be cold or at least kept a little warm like the hard shells and tortillas.”

“It’ll be good to have some of that stuff for later. I know I want to start to host things that are bigger than just us. I wouldn’t mind getting to know your team a little better.”

“Hen has plans that day already with Karen and Denny, so they already said they couldn’t come. I don’t know Athena well enough to even think about inviting her and her two kids. Even if she and Bobby are dating.”

“Yeah, that’s a shocker, but I guess not really. He’s kind of perfect for her from what little exposure I’ve had with him. I have seen Athena more given her job.”

Evan focused on the snack and getting Abeula a drink. It was nice to just have something simple to focus on. Between Abuela’s broken him, Eddie getting dosed at work, and Evan’s shoulder, there had been a lot going on over the last little while. It wasn’t hard to get lost in the flow and forget the small things.

“Well, let’s leave her to her thoughts while she snacks and then takes her meds.” Eddie handed over the meds to Abuela, who was making notes on the side of the sheet with the table layout.

Evan let Eddie pull him into the living room. Once he was on the couch, Evan rolled his shoulder a little. It was still tight from being hit the week before.

“She will scale back if you really want it,” Eddie said as he dropped down on the couch beside him. He coaxed Evan to lie down and started to run his fingers through Evan’s hair.

“I know, but she wants to do it. It sounds like fun. She’s doing the hard parts of it, and running around to get things is easy enough for me.”

“She’s more than willing to use her as a kid to dote on. Adriana, Sofia, and I were not around much, and the great-grandkids weren’t around at this age. She’s enjoying it a great deal, and I’m glad you aren’t upset at how much she does with her.”

“I’ll take all the people I can get helping me. Dad had friends that had kids our age, and me having time out of the house with them helped him. He trusted them with me, and so he was able to just settle down. We have a lot of family we can shove her and Chris off onto when we want alone time.”

“I always thought when I was a kid that once I had kids, I would never want to be away from them. Once they hit a certain age. I wasn’t much into babies when I was younger. Later on, I realized that a few minutes away from my sisters was something I wanted, and I knew it would be the same with a kid. Still, I love Chris so much that I hate that I want a few minutes sometimes, but I know that I need it. Of course, he and Xi play together in the bedrooms a good bit of time in the evening, so it feels like I get more adult time than I thought I would.”

“It’s kind of nice, ain’t it? Xi’s always one to be alone for a little bit, especially now that she’s going to school for half a day as she does. It’s her winding down time. It’s not like she had homework.”

“No, she doesn’t. Outside of bringing snacks. She treated that like a five-page research paper.”

Evan closed his eyes and rolled over gently, burying his face into Eddie’s gut. Eddie’s hand in his hair scratched a little more deeply. It felt good.

“I’m going to go to sleep,” Evan said.

“That’s okay. You are tired. I’m tired. Let’s nap. The kids are all taken care of, and Pepa’s shopping for dinner since she wanted to make something I didn’t have the spices for. We can take a nap, and it won’t fuck us up too much when we try and sleep tonight.”

“Hmm, sleeping does sound good.” Evan reached up and snagged the blanket on the back of the couch.

Eddie helped him get it over him and then went back to scratching at his head. Eddie’s hand didn’t stop as Evan started to slip into sleep. He woke up a little as the front door opened up, and Pepa called out to Eddie.

“Sala,” Eddie called out softly.

Evan turned a little more into Eddie and waited for Pepa to start talking.

“I ordered the cake based on what Evan wanted. Based on the cake, I’ve told Mama the maximum number of people we can have. There will also be a smaller cake for Xi to have for herself. I also ordered the candy for the candy jars on the table from the sweet shop. I’ll drop off the jars on my way to work on Monday and pick them up again at the end of the day.”

“You are a godsend, Pepa. Thank you for that.”

“She deserves it, and you both deserve to have help with this. I also have fun doing this. It’s kind of fun. Birthday parties were harder to do something like this back in the day I was raising my kids. It’s nice that it’s easier and there are options more than just blue and pink for things. Of course, purple is popular as well. So, there are a few things that have to be ordered in for the candy.”

“Of course there is. Purple is very popular. She loves it, though. I think she would paint herself purple if she could.” Eddie’s hand dropped into Evan’s hair, and he rubbed his fingers around.

It started to put Evan back to sleep all the way. He was glad that people wanted to help him plan the party because he had no idea what he was doing with that. He would learn from this one and be able to help more with the next year’s party. It wasn’t like it was going to get lesser the next year. Xi would be spoiled by how much everyone around her wanted her to have a good life.

Chris’ birthday was going to be interesting when the time came. It would be a lot of fun to help Eddie with that.

Their life spread out before them, and Evan was happy with what was coming.

The End

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