Reading Time: 91 Minutes

Title: New Beginnings
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Crime Drama, Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Relationship(s): Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Anthena Grant/Bobby Nash
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Hate Crime, Homophobia, Violence – Graphic, Domestic Abuse – Adult, Domestic Abuse – Children, Bigotry, Character Bashing, Dark Themes, Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Violence – Canon Level, Stalking, Death Threats
Author Note: Thanks to HarleyJQuin, ScarslikeVelvet, Bythia and the others that helped to shape this fic.
Beta: HarleyJQuin, ScarslikeVelvet
Alpha: HarleyJQuin, ScarslikeVelvet
Word Count: 145422
Summary: With Ana and Eddie breaking up and soon Taylor and Buck doing the same. Decisions need to be made on if the two men would try the relationship that they had been dancing around. Though they aren’t the only ones that are facing a hard decisions as a surprise stops Athena and Bobby in their tracks. New Beginnings are on the horizon, but will anyone be able to get their Happy Ever After?
Artist: AngelicInsanity

 

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Chapter Sixty

Bobby looked over at Athena, she was curled as best as she could on the couch in the living room. A book was in her hand as they were relaxing on their day off. “Here,” he said as he brought over the mug of hot chocolate that she had requested.

“Oh, thank you,” she smiled, taking it from him and sighing as she smelled the chocolate. “You look like you’ve got something to talk about?” she asked him as he sat down beside her.

“I’m just wondering when you’re going to be going on Maternity leave?” he asked her, “I know you wanted to remain working for as long as you could,” he said, trying to choose his words carefully.

Athena gave him a glare, “I know you want me to go on leave now,” she told him, “I know I’m almost thirty-three weeks, but the doctor said that I’m good to remain at my desk until thirty-five,” she told him, “I have a couple more weeks that I can work.”

Bobby sighed, “I know you do, I know you want to be working as much as you can. I get that. I’m just worried, things have been going so smoothly that I’m worried something is going to happen now that we have gotten to the end of it, or almost,” he said, biting his lip.

“Oh, Bobby,” she murmured, setting aside her hot chocolate and book, she leaned into him, and let him wrap his arms around her. “I know it all seems too good to be true,” she told him, “But I’m making sure to do everything that he has told me so far, and I do mean everything. I stopped going out in the field when he wanted to, even then I didn’t feel ready to leave. If the doctor changes his mind at the next appointment, then I’ll go on leave then,” she promised him, “You don’t have to worry.”

“But I do, and I know I always will,” he sighed, enjoying the feel of her leaning against him, he placed a hand on her stomach, feeling the little kicks. “Still active then,” he commented.

“Yeah,” she snorted, “he doesn’t stop until I go to work, and then starts up on the times I’m out of work.”

“At least he knows when you need to concentrate,” he laughed lightly.

Athena sighed, “Maybe, but I could do without the acrobatics at three in the morning when I want to sleep,” she muttered.

“I felt them last time,” Bobby said, “Your stomach was against my back, they kicked hard, I have no idea how you can even sleep with that. I would be awake all the time.”

“It takes a bit of getting used to, but as long as they aren’t that hard, I can ignore them, for the most part,” she said, smirking at the thought of Bobby being woken up by the baby’s kick.

“You’re so strong,” he murmured, kissing her lightly.

“So are you,” she reminded him, “Now, what’s going to be happening at the station, I know that Taylor’s twins are due around the same time as mine. Or maybe a week or so later,” she said, not remembering the due date for them at the moment.

“They are going to be bringing in a temporary Captain to take over the shift. They’ve already got two that will be taking over the heavy rescue side of things,” he answered her, “They did offer Hen the Captaincy, but she turned it down, she didn’t want the responsibility at the moment. We’re also getting a paramedic to take over for Chimney. Though they are to be with us for a year, to get their qualification upped and then move on,” he sighed, “We’re all waiting for when Chim wants to come back. I know he said he was unsure about it. It’s just something that he’ll decide to do or not,” he murmured, thinking about the man.

Athena huffed, “He’s lucky,” she muttered.

“I know,” Bobby said, smiling at her, “I know he is, and he knows it as well. Things could have gone a whole lot differently, I know.”

“He apologized to me,” she said, “Not long after New Year. He saw me while I was at the Mall, and he came over and asked if we could have a coffee. I did, and he apologized for pushing me that day. He’s happy to see that the baby is okay, and he hoped that one day I could forgive him, though he still needs to forgive himself for all the harm he caused to those he loves,” she shook her head, before letting it lean against Bobby’s shoulder.

“That’s good,” Bobby said, “Though why didn’t you tell me that when it happened?” he asked, curiously.

“I didn’t see a point, he apologized, knows that what he did is wrong, admitted it, and is trying to make amends to everyone that he, in his altered state, harmed,” she said, “It’s more than what some people do when they find themselves in an emotional state and lash out,” she muttered darkly, “Most of the time they think because they are, then they can get away with shit. You have no idea how many times I’ve gone to a Domestic Disturbance and they’ve said that they were just overwhelmed, overwrought, so filled with anger, that they just lashed out and don’t think they did anything wrong,” she growled, “He at least knows that lashing out, even in emotional distress isn’t an excuse, it might be a reason, but it’s not an excuse.”

“I can see that,” Bobby said after a few moments.

“Now, let’s put something on and relax, the kid might be bouncing, but this Mama isn’t,” she muttered, as Bobby reached out and grabbed the remote and put on a program he knew Athena liked to watch. She reached for her hot chocolate and began to drink as she was sucked into her program, the book she had been reading, now forgotten on the end table.

XxXxX

“Okay,” Taylor said as she pulled the folder in front of her, “We have everyone’s phone numbers,” she said as she glanced over at Christopher, “But I think we might need to call in some reinforcements for this,” she grinned.

Christopher nodded, “It’s too much for just the two of us. Though we have everything sorted, we just need to call up and book the day. Dad was talking to Papa again this morning about getting married. I think they are going to keep waiting and waiting though. They always said that something else should come first,” he huffed.

“So I was thinking of who we can get to help us get this organized, I have two people in mind. One Athena Grant, who I know is only working a half shift today and will be finished in half an hour. And Isabel Diaz, a lady that no one wishes to cross,” she grinned, “So shall we ask them to help?”

“Yes!” Christopher cheered, “Bisabuela will be great to help. She knows how to make sure people don’t say anything,” he grinned, “And Nana ‘Thena will kick butt if anyone tries. Hmm,” he then said, “Maybe we should ask Auntie Maddie to come and help too?” he asked, “The more of us together, the easier it will be.”

“Okay, we’ll call those three to help us,” Taylor agreed, “And they have phones as well,” she added.

“True, Dad said I can’t have a phone yet,” Christopher rolled his eyes, “I’m slowly talking him around to my way of thinking though. What if something happened and I needed to call 9-1-1?” he said.

Taylor smiled as she made the three calls. Maddie told her that she would stop by Isabel’s and pick her up. Jee-Yun was with Chimney for the day. Maddie was starting the process of getting back to work, if things went well, then she should be able to start back at Dispatch by the middle of next month.

Christopher helped Taylor prepare lunch and drinks for when everyone arrived since all of them had said yes. Athena was even going to see about leaving work early to help them. Though they didn’t know what they were going to be helping with, just that it was a secret project that Christopher and Taylor had been working on for months.

“Hey,” Taylor greeted the last one to arrive, almost an hour later.

“So,” Athena said as she joined everyone at the table and not in the living room, seeing the folder that was in the middle of it, “What’s going on?” she asked, looking around.

“So, Chris and I started working on something not long after Eddie and Buck finally got together,” Taylor began, smirking as she glanced at Christopher.

“We’ve organized a wedding. We have a venue that we want to book, we have funds set aside and everything,” he added, “We’ve done sooo much work, but we’re going to need a little more help,” he told them all, opening the folder.

“I’ve already called the venue, they have had a cancellation for the 12th, which is a week away,” Taylor told them, “Can we pull this together and get them married on that day?” she asked them all, “I know it might seem like a rush.”

“Dad and Papa will take ages to get married, they’ll keep putting it off, I know they will, they’ve already said that once,” Christopher muttered, “So we need to do this ASAP!”

Isabel laughed and nodded, “Then let’s get them married.”

“I’ll book the venue then,” Taylor said, grinning as she grabbed her phone and made the phone call.

“Let’s have a look at the food,” Isabel said as she pulled the folder towards her and saw the caterers that had been called.

“Okay,” Taylor said, “Booked and paid for,” she grinned, “Now, we have their measurements from when they had their suits done for the Doljanchi,” she said as she glance over at Maddie, “The suits are good, but I had some new ones made.”

“Oh, I can come up with something that would get them to come and get fitted to make sure that they are right?” Maddie said, clapping her hands together.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Taylor grinned.

“I shall ask my Nieto about catering,” Isabel said, “Josphina’s son, one of my many Nietos, runs a catering business, they are at the top of your list,” she smiled.

“Yeah, we were looking at them, they are the dream for weddings. And Christopher and I have already come up with a menu too,” Taylor said as she pointed to another page in the folder, “Here.”

“Then I shall talk to Sam about it,” she smiled, pulling out her phone and calling her grandson, getting the venue details as well, to share with her grandson, Sam.

“Right, anything else?” Athena asked, pulling the folder to her and finding anything that she could help with.

“We need to start decorating the place and getting it ready. I’ve brought some of the things that we need already. I’ll be contacting the florists for the flowers soon. Christopher made the choices, they are in there,” Taylor said, “One of the main things that I’ll need to do is to contact everyone on the guest list and see if they can make it,” she added, “That is going to take most of it since we’re not going to be talking to Eddie and Buck about this.”

“All secret,” Athena smiled, “Okay, I’ll get started on this list,” she said, turning the page to the guest list, “Diaz parents?”

“We’re going to allow them to come, they have changed,” Christopher said, “But not Buck’s parents, they are never allowed to come or even know.”

“Exactly that,” Maddie nodded in agreement. They talked a little more about what was going to be happening before they all began to tackle the list of guests to make sure that they could all make it. It was a hard task, but by the end of the day, they had gotten their answers, and more importantly, some of them would be arriving early to help sort out the venue.

Chapter Sixty-One

Eddie walked through the house. Christopher was off with Taylor again, as he had been for the last two days. He knew the two of them were up to something, he just hadn’t been able to figure out what. “I’m going to get the mail!” he called out to Buck, who was in the nursery, putting the last of the clothing away into the drawer unit in the room.

“Sure, there should be a package for me, it’s for the nursery,” Buck called back.

“Okay,” Eddie nodded as he headed to get the mail. Buck was right, there was a package, it wasn’t large, but it stood on the porch waiting for them to grab it. Shaking his head he went to their mailbox and gathered the mail.

“So,” Buck said as he reached the doorstep, picking up his package and making Eddie jump.

“Damn it, Buck, do you have to sneak around like that?” he asked him.

Buck was laughing and grinned, “Of course,” he told him, “It’s fun to make you jump like that sometimes.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and started going through the mail. Mostly bills and such, “Nothing much,” he muttered, “Just a few bills that need to be paid,” he said. “Oh, and one for me.” he then added when he saw his name neatly typed onto the envelope along with his address.

“Oh,” Buck said, peering at it, “From anyone you know?” he asked.

“No, no return either,” he shrugged, “Feels a little heavy. I’ll open it in a moment,” he said, leading the way back inside, “You don’t have anything else coming for the nursery, do you?” he asked.

“No, this is the last thing we need, which is the monitors,” he grinned, “I got two sets, mainly so we can have one camera for one baby and the other for another baby,” he explained as he headed to the nursery again.

“Right,” Eddie said, following him, putting aside most of the mail, but the one addressed to him. He opened it up and put his hand in the email and yelped as he felt something slice into his fingers.

“Eddie,” Buck said as he rushed over to him, the package now forgotten on the dresser.

“I-” he began taking a step outside of the nursery as he pulled his hand from the envelope and saw blood, quite a bit of blood.

Buck rushed to the bathroom and grabbed a towel, going back and wrapping Eddie’s hand in it, “Come on, let’s go and see what we need to do.”

Eddie was a little shocked at what had just happened and followed mutely, Buck holding Eddie’s hand tightly, to try and stop the blood. Buck sat him down and unwrapped the hand slowly.

“Okay,” Buck said as he looked at it, “Okay,” he murmured again as he saw the damage, “I think we’re going to have to go and head to the ER,” he sighed, “It’s deep, and it needs stitches,” he told him.

“Really,” Eddie huffed as he now started to look at it, “Yeah, yeah it does,” he said, as he then assessed it himself, turning his hand to look at it from different viewpoints. “Deep and while not long, may need glue,” he murmured, “I think I might be able to get away with having a paramedic do it,” he said, “I don’t think a trip to the ER is needed,” he said, as Buck wrapped it back up to try and stop the bleed.

“Okay, I’ll call 9-1-1 and get the cops as well,” Buck said, using one hand to make the call. The other was holding on to Eddie’s, doing his best to stop the bleeding.

Eddie looked at the envelope that was on the side, it was blood and he wondered who could have sent it. He turned to Buck as he finished the call.

“Okay, we have a crew on the way. I’ll call Lou about what is going on instead of going through the switchboard. I want to make sure we get him and not someone else,” Buck said, as he made the second phone call.

Eddie nodded, being quiet. “I just,” he began, “I don’t know who… who could be doing this.”

“Neither do I, but we’ll see what Lou can find out,” Buck said, before going back to speaking with Lou. “Okay, see you in a moment,” he ended the call and then turned back to Eddie, “Lou’s on his way,” he told him.

“Yeah,” he sighed, shaking his head, “I can’t believe,” he muttered.

“I know,” Buck replied. It didn’t take long for the paramedics to turn up. Buck went and opened the door and they started to take care of Buck’s hand. Lou Ransone arrived not long after them.

“Hey,” Lou said as Buck stood at the door and let him in, “How’s Eddie?” he asked, noting the ambulance nearby.

“He’s okay, they are closing up his hand, it doesn’t need stitches, the glue will help better,” Buck answered as they let him in.

“What happened?” Lou asked.

“He got a letter, by the look of it, there are razor blades inside, lining it. He has several cuts and deep gashes on his hand now. He’s not going to be happy when he finds out what that means for him,” Buck said with a little sigh.

“Time off work?” he asked.

“Yeah, he won’t be able to do some things for a while until they heal a little more. He might have at least two shifts off, maybe three. Could be as long as two weeks if they take a while to really heal up,” Buck told him, as he made his way into the living room, where Eddie was seated.

“Eddie,” Lou greeted as the paramedic was bandaging the hand up.

“Hey,” he said, looking up at him.

“Are you doing okay?” he asked him.

“I am,” Eddie sighed, “Not happy, of course,” he muttered, “The letter is over there, but be careful,” he added.

Lou went over and using gloves he opened it up carefully and peeked inside, he could see the blades, now covered in Eddie’s blood. “Okay, I’m going to be taking this for some testing,” he said.

“Sure,” Eddie nodded, “I think it might be the same person that has sent those letters, they’re escalating.”

“They are, and there is a note in there, I’ll take it out when I get it to forensics, they’ll be able to do it better than what I would, and be able to preserve anything that might be there from the sender,” Lou said as he put it into an evidence bag and sealed it.

“Thanks,” Eddie said as the paramedic finished.

“You know the drill,” the man said.

“Yeah, I do, and thank you,” he nodded as Buck then showed them out.

Eddie sighed heavily, “I… I have a feeling that Ali Martin is the one that is doing this,” he said while Buck wasn’t in the room.

“I know, I’ve started a file on her as well, I’ve been helping Athena with the Patrick Martin case as well. I’m starting to question what type of role Ali Martin had during her Mother’s death. So far I’ve not been able to find out where she was during the time at all. No one is talking, one of her previous friends is also missing, and I’m concerned that she had something to do with it.”

“Right,” Eddie said, a little shocked at the idea of her being responsible for the disappearance of someone.

“I know,” Lou said, “That you and Buck know her. That she wasn’t like this when you first met her,” he said carefully, “But at the moment she is a suspect in her Mother’s death until I can talk to her. At the moment, she’s moving around too much for me to get a location on. I’ll be talking to Taylor Kelly soon about her, and to Patrick Martin again as well,” he added, sighing.

“Well, that’s done with,” Buck said as he walked back into the room, “Thank you for coming out Lou,” he said to the detective.

“It’s fine, I’m just glad I can help,” he smiled, “As I told Eddie, I’ll be taking that to be tested and to see if there is anything within it that might point to who is doing this.”

“Thanks,” Buck said once more.

“Welcome, now I’m heading off, I’ll contact you if I need anything more, I’ll let the two of you carry on with your day off,” he smiled as he saw himself out.

“You okay?” Buck asked as he went over to Eddie and sat down, he gently took his hand in his and turned it around.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, it hurts at the moment, but it’ll be fine,” Eddie smiled a little to reassure him.

“You go and rest and I’ll get the rest of the nursery sorted. I just need to put up the monitors and such and that’s it,” Buck told him, letting him go and kissing him lightly, “Please, just… take it easy and call Bobby, he’ll need to know what’s happened.”

“I know,” Eddie pulled a face, “I’m not happy about being stuck off work,” he muttered.

“Just until it’s healed enough that you can use it again. Bobby may decide to let you be the man behind so that you can still come to work. There are things that you can do even with a banged-up hand,” he smiled slightly as he then stood up straight and left the room again.

Eddie wasn’t happy as he pulled out his phone, and using one hand he dialed Bobby. He hated to disturb the man on his day off, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice either.

“Hello?” came Bobby’s voice as the call connected.

“Hey, Bobby,” he greeted him, “Sorry to disturb you on your day off, but I might need some time off.”

“Oh, what happened? You okay?” Bobby asked immediately.

“Had something come in the mail, opened it, and stuck my hand in only to end up with a load of razor blades sticking into my hand. No stitches only glued it, and didn’t want to make too much of a fuss,” Eddie said, “If anything else happens then I should head into the ER,” he added before Bobby could make him promise to go.

“Right, you’re really sure you’re okay?” he asked him, concern lacing his voice.

“Yeah, in pain of course, but there isn’t much I can do about that except for taking something over the counter for it. I’ll do that in a bit,” he answered him, “Bobby, I think this might have been Ali Martin. Even Lou thinks so. Buck doesn’t. I don’t think he wants to think like that at all,” he sighed, shaking his head before leaning back against the couch.

“Wouldn’t want to think he worst of someone you dated,” Bobby sighed heavily, “I know it took him a long time to even think like that about Abby, and even now-”

“He still makes excuses for what she did,” Eddie muttered, he was not a fan of Abby and her ghosting of Buck.

Bobby snorted, “Get me what I need and I’ll put it in the records for some leave for you. Take the next two shifts for now and I’ll put in for a floater,” he told him, “Just take it easy and if you need more time, don’t forget to inform me.”

“I won’t,” he said, hearing Buck coming back their way, “I’ll talk to you later, Bobby.”

“Okay,” he said as they ended the call.

“Bobby?” Buck asked.

“Yeah, next two shifts off, and then we have the long four days, and Christopher and Taylor have both said that we need to keep them free. They want to do something,” Eddie frowned, not sure what the two of them were up to.

“Right,” Buck said as he settled beside Eddie, “Want to watch something?”

“Sure, you pick, I might drift off after I’ve taken something,” he added as he got up himself, thankfully not feeling any dizziness at all as he went to get something for the pain before settling beside Buck and watching whatever it was that they had found to watch.

Chapter Sixty-Two

Buck and Eddie looked at Maddie and Taylor, the two of them were dressed in beautiful dresses, even with Taylor pregnant, she was still breathtaking. “Well,” Buck said, smiling at the two of them, “you two look beautiful, what’s the occasion?” he asked them.

“Well, it’s more of a case that we have something up our sleeves.

“What sleeves?” Eddie deadpanned, looking at their dresses.

“Haha, Very funny,” Taylor rolled her eyes, “Now, Eddie, you’re coming with me, and Buck, you’re going with Maddie, we’ll meet back up in a bit,” she smiled.

Maddie grinned and took her brother by the arm and marched him out of the house and to her car which was waiting.

Eddie stared at Taylor, “What’s going on?” he asked, not moving when she tried to get him to.

“Eddie, do you trust me?” she asked him honestly.

“Yeah,” he nodded, not hesitating.

“Then trust me now, you’ll find out what’s going on, but we need to get going,” she added, “We’ll be in the same place as Buck, but he’s got others that need to see him before this all starts,” she smiled, “Chris is waiting for you as well.”

“I know you wouldn’t leave him alone, so who’s he with?” he asked as he finally let her lead the way. They got out of the house just in time to see Buck being driven off by Maddie.

“He’s fine and with someone that you’ll see when we get there,” she told him, rolling her eyes, “Just… please, no more questions, and just do what I tell you to do,” she pointed out as she got him into the truck and got in herself. They headed away from Buck and Eddie’s home. It was almost an hour later when they pulled up to a beautiful-looking building, the gardens had some jaw-dropping scenery as well.

“I-”

“Shut up,” Taylor told him before he could ask anything again.

Eddie huffed but followed her into a small cottage, there was another one a little further away, and he glanced at Taylor. “Is Buck?”

“Yes, he is,” she told him, “But you’re needed in there first,” she told him and pushed him into the cottage.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed as he saw his family there, his parents, sisters, Abuela and Pepa, all smiling at him, all of them dressed up like Taylor was. Though she was now straightening herself out.

“Well, mijo,” Ramon said as he looked at his son, “Never thought I would be doing this with you,” he said, smirking as he saw the confusion on his son’s face.

“Dad,” Christopher said as he moved around his grandparents and came into the sight of his father. He was dressed in a light gray suit, and he had a large smile on his face.

“What? Mijo, what’s going on?” he asked his son, hoping to finally get an answer.

“Taylor and I made plans, and you said that you’d like to get married to Papa, but you might never find the time. So, I put the plans we had made into action,” he grinned, “This is your wedding, we have everything ready, all we need is you and Papa to get dressed and to get this show on the road,” he added, smiling and looking at him, “That is if you want to?”

“Of… of course I do, Of course, I want to marry Buck, but does he know?” Eddie asked, hoping that Buck was really okay with this… surprise wedding.

Taylor’s phone beeped, “Yes, he wants to, he just needs to know if you do, and since you do. I’ve sent that to Maddie. This wedding is a go!” she grinned, “I’m going to make sure everyone knows, you need to get ready.”

Eddie looked from his son to Taylor, “Thank you, to you both,” he added as he saw the two grinning.

“You really think I would let Christopher have all the fun in planning this? Though I did have some help from Maddie, Abuela, and Athena, to get this show on the road.”

“It’s all come together so nicely,” Isabel laughed, “Now, this old lady is going to go and sit down.”

“I’ll join you, Abuela,” Adriana said as she went over to her brother and hugged him tightly, “Good Luck, little brother,” she told him before Sophia did the same. The three of them left.

“Right, Abuelo, you have to walk Dad down the side aisle. Papa will be coming from the other side with Grandpa Bobby. Taylor will be at the front waiting to officiate,” Christopher grinned, “You know the drill, we practiced this yesterday. I need to find Jee, we have our own little roles,” he added as he looked to Helena, “Grandma, can I be your escort to the Hall?” he asked.

“Why, yes, Christopher, I would be very happy for the escort,” Helena laughed, going to her son, “Good luck, not that you’ll need it. I’m so happy for you,” she smiled, kissing his cheek and then resting a hand on his arm and they walked out of the small cottage, where Eddie would get ready, his dad standing there and smiling proudly at him.

“I have to admit, I never really thought I would get to do this,” Ramon said as he walked over to him. “When you married Shannon, I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t even there, and part of me was… what does Christopher call it. Butthurt, over it,” he snorted, “I was, she was a good woman and Mother, and I never wanted to see that. I’m sorry to say that I’ll never get to tell her that. I’m sorry I wasn’t more of a Father for you when I should have been. Though, how can I not be proud of the man that you have become, of the family you have? Buck is a lucky man to have you.”

“I’m the lucky one,” Eddie said, a slight smile on his face.

“You are both lucky,” Rmaon laughed, “Now, head in there and get ready.”

“Okay, Papi,” he smiled, heading to the room and beginning to get changed.

XxXxX

Buck stood there, only Bobby was left in the room with him, he had dressed in the suit, the tie hanging loose around his neck as he reached up to get it. “Bobby,” he began.

“Let me,” Bobby smiled at him, as he began to do his tie, “Reminds me of the first time. When you were going out on a day back then,” he said with a little sigh.

“Yeah, but this time, it’s for me to get married,” Buck grinned, “I can’t believe it, Bobby, I’m getting married,” he laughed.

Bobby laughed as well, “I know,” he smiled, “Now, are you ready,” he said as he smoothed down the tie.

Buck buttoned the suit jacket and nodded, “Yeah, I am.”

Bobby smiled and took Buck’s arm and said, “Well, Christopher had us practicing this bit all day yesterday.”

“So that’s why Taylor disappeared with him,” Buck shook his head.

“Yep,” Bobby said, as he then led him to the hall, taking him to the place where he was to enter with Buck. He had to wait for the right moment before entering the room, they were to wait at the doors until after Christopher’s small speech when they would head to the stage where Taylor would be waiting for them. Pictures had been taken of the guests and the hall, along with a video, and there would be more time later for the two grooms to have some pictures in the gardens of the property.

Buck and Bobby entered the Hall, Eddie and Ramon were standing at a door on the opposite side of the Hall. There were guests already seated and the aisles along the middle and Jee-Yun toddling in front of Christopher, throwing flowers as she walked, giggling as she shouted “Ucky and Eds!”

Christopher was grinning widely as he made his way behind his cousin. As soon as they got to the end. Maddie came and got Jee-Yun and Christopher took center stage. “Thank you, everyone, for coming here on such short notice,” Christopher said, his words slow to make sure that he said them right. “My Dad and Papa have been dancing around each other for so long, I had to recruit help to get them together. Taylor is awesome, and then she helped me do all this with me. Then Aunt Maddie, Nana ‘Thena, and Abuela all helped to make sure we could be here together to celebrate my Dad and my Papa finally getting married. It’s taken ages, but we’re finally here!” On his last words, the wedding march began, and with tugs from Ramon and Bobby, Eddie and Buck started to walk towards the stage where Taylor was now standing, with Christopher on one side where Eddie will stand, the other Maddie, smiling brightly, with tears in her eyes.

“Buck,” Eddie said as he took Buck’s hand with his.

“Eds,” he grinned.

“Well,” Taylor said, “Let’s get this show on the road,” she grinned. “We’re gathered here, to finally see these two idiots marry. It’s taken a lot for them to admit that they loved each other, and no doubt each of us here is as annoyed as I am that it took so long,” she said, putting her own spin on things. “I don’t know if they want to say something, a vow of some kind, so I’ll ask them,” she added, looking at Eddie first, “Eddie? Do you have anything you want to say?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, grinding, “In you, I found someone that would have my back, no matter what it’s against. You’ve helped me so much, more than you even realize. Before I even knew it, you were so important to me, to our son, and to the life I was building here in LA. Every moment of joy I’ve had, you’ve been right there beside me, and I can think of no one else that I would rather share those moments with. You slotted into our lives so easily, that I know, that we belong together. I love you, Buck, and this is the second happiest day of my life. You know, what the first is,” he grinned, as they both smiled at Christopher, who was rolling his eyes at them.

“Buck?” Taylor asked, after a few moments of silence. She could hear a few sniffles in the crowd, and even her own emotions were causing a few tears to well in her eyes. “You?” she continued.

Buck sniffed and quickly wiped his eyes, taking hold of the bandaged hand that he had been holding. He began, “You’re my family. The moment I went with you to pick up Christopher that day. Seeing how you ran to him, held him, I could help but smile and fall in love a little. Each day, I fell a little more. How could I not, you’re amazing. If soulmates existed, I know you’d be mine. Because there is no one else on the Earth that I could imagine spending the rest of my life with, other than you and our son,” he finished, smiling, “I love you, Eddie.”

Taylor smiled as they finished, “Well, everyone wipe those tears, we still have more,” she said, as she then said, “Chris, Maddie?”

Christopher stepped forward and handed his Dad something. Maddie was doing the same for Buck.

“Time for the rings,” Taylor grinned.

Buck and Eddie didn’t take their eyes off each other as they were exchanged. The iconic, ‘I do’s’ were spoken.

Taylor and Christopher shared a grin as they said together, “May I present husbands, Edmundo and Evan Diaz, you may now kiss your husband.”

Eddie and Buck leaned in close and kissed, forgetting for a moment that there were people in the room, even though they were clapping and cheering loudly. It was only when Christopher huffed and made them part did they grin in embarrassment at their friends and family.

“Now,” Christopher said as he took his Papa and Dad’s hands and faced the crowd again, “In the other hall, as you all know, there is food, drinks, and dancing to be had,” he stepped off the stage, bringing the two with him as he led the way to the other part of the building where the wedding feast and dancing would occur. It would be a night to remember for everyone when the surprised and happy couple were sent off on a two-day vacation for their honeymoon.

Chapter Sixty-Three

Athena huffed as she looked around her home, it was the day after Buck and Eddie’s wedding and she was now officially on maternity leave. She would be until six months after her son’s birth. However, she was hoping that she might be able to go back a little sooner than that. She and Bobby had already been looking at creches and daycares that other first responders tended to use because of their odd hours. The three they had tried so far, just didn’t feel right to her.

“I’m going to be spending the next six months with you after you’re born, aren’t I,” she said, rubbing her stomach. Athena didn’t know if she really would go back soon after the birth or take the full six months. She was undecided, though Bobby had already told her that she could do what she wanted and not remain home for the full maternity leave that she had been granted.

Grunting, she rolled her eyes as the baby kicked hard on her stomach, “Okay, I get it, you want me to stay at home and give you all the cuddles you could ever want,” she said, smiling a little more as she went into the kitchen to grab a drink of water and something to snack on. She looked up as she heard someone knocking on the door. “Hmm, wonder who that could be,” she muttered to herself as she went to answer it, putting her drink and snack on the end table by the couch before heading to the door. Opening it she was surprised to see Lou standing there.

“Hey, Athena,” he greeted her, “Sorry to just drop by like this, I just wanted to talk to you about a few things that I’ve been finding out,” he said, “I will be talking again to Taylor and even Patrick, but I need some insight from you on this, I think. You know them better and may have what I need as well,” he said as he was let into the house.

“Well, I can try and help you,” Athena told her friend as she led the way inside, “Drink?” she asked.

“I’m fine, thanks,” he smiled, bringing up the take-out cup of coffee he was holding.

“Smart,” she snorted, sitting down.

Lou sat down in a chair and began, “So, I’ve been going through the friends that Ali Martin had when she was a teenager. I’ve talked to Nadia as well, about Connor. She’s let us have some of her son’s DNA so we’ll be able to test them.”

“Test them against what?” Athena asked, eyes narrowing.

“We found a body yesterday. We’re going to see if it is Connor, if it is, then we can work from there. Though we’ve come across some old video footage from the area, a party was going on across the street. Taken the day that Connor went missing. It shows him getting into a car. We’re trying to enhance the footage to see if we can get a number plate from it, but it’s taking a while,” he explained what he had been able to find.

“Why wasn’t this found sooner?” she asked him.

“Because no one thought that he had gone missing, people all assumed that he had just left from the pressure of being a father,” he sighed, shaking his head, “There was no investigation. I had to go and search for most of the neighbors that Nadia and Connor had back then, and it took a while to locate a few of them since people moved. It’s been fifteen years as well.”

“And Ali Martin?” she asked him.

“Not sure of her role in things so far. Though we’re also looking at her for the death threats and the razorblade mail that Eddie Diaz has been receiving,” he grimaced, “We found some blood in the envelope that didn’t belong to Eddie. We’re going to be trying for a warrant to get Ali Martin’s DNA, if not we’ll do a comparison to Patrick Martin’s DNA profile since it’s on file.”

“Just do that, don’t wait,” Athena advised him, “Is that all?” she asked him, eating a little of the grapes she had put on her plate.

“No, we have someone from when Taylor’s Mother was killed. Someone who was hanging around Ali and Connor’s at the time,” he said, “I’ll be contacting him for an interview. Name of…” he trailed off as he pulled out his notebook, “Dean Kingston,” he said, looking back up, “Clean record, not even juvenile records at all. So, I have a feeling he might be able to tell us something we don’t know at the moment,” he added, sighing.

“Talk with Taylor, ask her what she remembers about him as well. If she remembers him, then he might have something. If she doesn’t,” Athena began.

“Yeah, he might be lying, but I really don’t think he is, from what I’m getting. One of the cops that worked on the mother’s case said that he wasn’t that happy with what they had found, that there was no way that Patrick would have killed his wife,” he sighed, “I’ll talk with Taylor, and maybe even Patrick. I know that he and Ali had some major talks during that time period as well. Also, I found out that Ali was a suspect in her mother’s death. Her being missing for the five days after the murder, and the time period before, marked her as being a person of interest. Especially as she was very dependent and standoffish with people. Showing no emotions whatsoever, according to some of the interview files I’ve been reading.”

“Right,” she nodded, “Talk with her, and then go for the interview.”

“I will, thanks for that advice on this one,” he told her, “I only took over this case because you’re on leave, so I don’t know all the players within it as well as you do,” he added as he stood up, “don’t get up, I’ll let myself out,” he told her.

“Alright, keep me informed if you can,” she told him, going back to eating her grapes as Lou nodded and left the house.

XxXxX

Talking with Taylor helped him learn a little more about this Dean character that had just entered things. Lou was hoping that he could get something from him, but he was going to be taking everything that he said with a pinch of salt. Taylor had warned him that he had a habit of lying about things and making himself more than he was. Though that was what he was like twenty years ago, he would have changed since that point.

“Dean Kingston?” Lou said as he saw a man walk up to him.

“I am, you must be Detective Ransone,” he said, holding out his hand.

Lou shook it and then gestured to the seat in front of him. “Thank you for coming,” he said to him.

“It’s fine. I have to say it’s been a long time since I’ve talked to anyone about Ali, or even Connor, though I know he went missing a while ago. People said it was because he didn’t want to be a Dad. Man, if they knew him, they would know that the idea thrilled him. He’s always wanted children, always. Something happened to him,” he said, though it sounded more like a nervous babble to Lou as he listened.

“It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you. We’re reopening the investigation into Nancy Martin’s death. We have reason to believe that her husband Patrick Martin had nothing to do with it,” Lou spoke, “Would it be alright if I record this conversation?” he asked.

“Sure, go ahead,” Dean nodded.

Lou brought out his phone and started recording, telling his name and the date, and letting Dean do the same. “A little unorthodox to have this in a cafe,” he said, as he glanced around, glad that the place was that out of the way it was mostly empty.

“Maybe, but sometimes heading into a cop station can be worse for someone,” Dean snorted, “Not that I care,” he shrugged, “Anyway, you wanted to know about Ali and Connor around the time of Nancy Martin dying?” he asked him.

“I do, just tell me what you can remember of Ali Martin during that time. What you can remember about Nancy and Patrick Martin as well, might be just as helpful,” Lou said, gesturing for him to answer.

“Well, Nancy and Patrick,” he snorted, “For those two, they were in love and it could be seen a mile away each and every single time you saw the two together,” he sighed, “I know a lot of people said that the two of them were arguing near the end, but they weren’t. Not once did I see them arguing, and I was over there a lot because Ali and I were friends. Even if her Mom and Dad didn’t like that,” he snorted again, a smirk on his face.

“Oh?” he prompted.

“Yeah, they really didn’t like Ali’s friends, we were the… bad group if you know what I mean. Getting in trouble, drugs at the time. Underage drinking, that was what we did,” he gave a shrug, “I might not have gotten in trouble with the law when I was young, but Ali was around the same age as me, maybe a few months younger, she did a few times, get in trouble with the cops, that is,” he frowned as he tried to remember.

“Right,” Lou nodded, “What was the relationship between Ali and her parents like?” he asked him.

Dean stared at him, “She hated them, both of them. To her they were the worst sort of people out there,” he said, shaking his head, “She often complained about them when she met up with us. Yelling and shouting about them, wishing them both dead and gone so she could finally have the life she wanted. She didn’t like her sister either, saying that she took up too much time to watch over. Nancy and Patrick would ask Ali to watch her younger sister at times,” he told him.

“So things were good between Nancy and Patrick?” he asked, wanting to confirm.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “Look, I know what the rumors say, I heard them, and I know that Ali was the one that started them. She began to say things to us when we were around some of the local gossips. Soon enough it was spreading and Ali was interviewed. I know she lied to them about things. She was bragging about telling the cops that she had said that her parents had been arguing a lot.”

“Do you know where Ali Martin was during her Mother’s death?” he asked this time.

“I’m not sure. I do know that she appeared with Connor, high as a damn kite,” he answered, “She was laughing, saying she was finally fucking free,” he rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t until later that we found out her mother was dead. She hid away for a few days at one of the old abandoned buildings we had claimed at the time. She stayed there until she was found. I think she had something to do with it or witnessed what had happened. Ali scares the fuck out of me, after she went to live with her Aunt, she was… different, she wasn’t afraid to get into people’s faces and beat the shit out of them. Never got caught or anything for it,” he muttered, rubbing his arm.

“I see,” Lou nodded, asking a few more questions.

“I can make a formal statement if you need it, I don’t mind,” Dean told him.

“I think that might be a good idea, have a formal interview and record your statement, thank you for volunteering.”

“Look, Ali scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, she may have been younger, but she… she wasn’t afraid to get in your face. I wasn’t exactly the badass I wanted to believe I was.,” he sighed, “She scared the hell out of me, and it wasn’t until I was eighteen that I got away, and I never really thought of coming forward with what I knew. Then I hear from you,” he shrugged.

“Right,” Lou said as the two of them finished the recording and headed to the station to get the formal statement. Lou was hoping that he would be able to now talk with Ali Martin and find out what she had to say.

Chapter Sixty-Four

Lou sat across from Ali Martin, it hadn’t been that hard to get her to agree to come in for a formal interview. Though she had taken the choice of not bringing a lawyer at all. He had advised her to do so, but she had just looked at him when he had first walked into the interview room, daring him to say something. “Miss Martin,” he began.

“Detective,” she replied, “Why am I here?” she asked.

“Your Mother’s case is being looked into again. Evidence points to a wrongful conviction, so with that in mind and the shoddy work that had been done during the investigation, we’ve reopened it,” he stated.

“Why can’t people leave this alone? Patrick killed her, he had to have done so. He would be the only one that had the chance to do it,” Ali said, glaring at the man. “Fucking Taylor, I bet she’s the one that started all this off. She just can’t leave it all alone at all,” she said, looking like she was about to get up and storm from the room. She closed her eyes, claiming herself with a deep breath.

“Miss Martin,” Lou said again, “Can you tell me what happened the day that your Mother died?” he asked her.

Ali shrugged, “Like I told the ones last time, I don’t remember what was going on that day. I was high,” she rolled her eyes, “I want to leave.”

“You can, you’re free to go, but we’ve got a warrant for your DNA,” Lou said, “So you’ll have to give that first,” he added, showing her the warrant for it.

“No,” Ali said, eyes narrowing. “I want my lawyer,” she stated.

“Of course, but that won’t stop me from getting the DNA, the warrant is there for it,” he reminded her, giving a nod to the officer in the room with him. “Please see that Miss Martin’s lawyer is informed of her client and where she is,” he directed.

“Yes, Sir,” he nodded and headed out.

Lou remained quiet, not saying a word as they waited for the lawyer to appear. He knew she would call for one as soon as the DNA request came in. “Mrs Pierce,” he greeted the lawyer sometime later.

“Detective Ransone, may I speak with my client privately first?” she asked him.

“Of course, we do have a warrant for a DNA sample, I’ll return shortly with someone who can take it,” Lou said as he got up.

Almost an hour later, Lou sat down opposite the two women. The sample had been taken and was now being processed. “Miss Martin, Mrs Pierce,” he said, “With the sample retrieved. I do have some questions for your client regarding her harassment of two firefighters. Mr Edmundo Diaz and Mr Evan Diaz,” he said.

“That’s Buckley,” Ali growled at him, leaning forward. Only to sit back when the lawyer put a hand on her arm to pull her back.

“I believe that would be Evan Buckley,” Mrs Pierce said.

Lou shook his head, “He married Edmundo Diaz a week ago,” he told the two. “Mr Edmundo Diaz has received several threatening notes within the mail, and recently a letter that had razor blades glued inside. DNA that doesn’t belong to Mr Diaz was found, and we’re now going to be testing it against your client,” he added.

“My client has done nothing, you are fabricating things to try and pin something on my client,” Mrs Pierce said, shaking her head, “She wishes to leave, and since this conversation has taken another turn from what she was brought in for, we’re leaving.”

“Mrs Pierce, your client is a suspect in the murder of her Mother. We have ruled out her Father as being the one that killed her. We are also considering her a suspect in the murder of Connor Anderson, his body was found some days ago, and there is evidence of foul play. There has also been evidence found that we will be testing against Miss Martin’s DNA,” he stated.

“Connor went missing ages ago, he didn’t want to be a Dad,” Ali said, rolling her eyes. “Everyone just wants to keep bringing up bad memories for people.”

“A lie, Miss Martin, he was very much looking forward to becoming a Father and never had the chance to meet his son. His disappearance is suspicious, witness puts you as being near him the last time he was seen,” Lou told her.

“I know nothing about that, I don’t see how I would be around him, we lost touch when I moved in with my Aunt,” Ali said, shrugging, “Connor had been a good friend for a while when my Mother was alive and my Father was free. I moved in with Aunt Jenny and that was it.”

“We have evidence of calls made to Mr Anderson from a number, we’re going to be investigating it to see who it belonged to, we’re pulling up old records. As for Mrs Martin, your Mother, something was missing that was noticed at the time of the crime. It has never been found, and we’re also trying to locate that as well,” he added, “Where were you when your Mother was killed?” he asked her again.

“I don’t know, I was high,” she repeated.

“What about the day before?” Lou asked her.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged again, “You have your DNA, and I’m done, there is nothing new that you’re going to be asking me because there is nothing new that has been found.”

“Miss Martin, it isn’t hard to remember what happened around that time, I would like to know so we can rule you out as a suspect in your Mother’s murder,” Lou pushed her a little more.

“Look, I don’t remember, I don’t remember because I was traumatized by my Mother’s death. I don’t want to remember what happened. The last time I saw her… I argued with her. So why would I want to bring that up all the time? I hate that being my last memory of her,” she said as her eyes began to fill with tears. “I argued with her and then the next thing I heard she was dead!” she exclaimed emotionally as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly and wiped at them. Though no tears were falling at all.

“Detective Ransone, I would expect better than this,” Mrs Pierce said as she stood up, gesturing for her client to do so, “Normally you are so much more prepared,” she added.

“Don’t leave the state, Miss Martin,” Lou warned her before she left the room.

“What is this?” he could hear Ali yelling.

He sighed as he got up and left the room to see what was going on.

“It’s a restraining order, you’re not allowed to contact, or be in the vicinity of Taylor Kelly, Evan Diaz, and Edmundo Diaz,” the young man said as he handed it over to her, “Please note that should you violate anything within the restraining order, that you will be arrested for violating it,” he warned her before he turned around and walked away.

“How dare they!” Ali yelled out as she stormed away, muttering something under her breath.

Lou knew that she was involved, her behavior was all an act and it was easy to see through it. Without any proof, he couldn’t get the arrest warrant. For now, he would have to wait for

XxXxX

“Lou,” Athena said as the man stood on her doorstep again.

“Athena,” he sighed, “Sorry to disturb you while at home,” he told her as he was let inside.

“It’s fine, what’s going on?” she asked, as she let him go ahead of her and sit down in the living room, “And I do have Taylor here as well,” she warned him.

“That’s alright, it would save me a trip in seeing her,” he stated as he looked over at Taylor.

“Detective Ransone,” Taylor greeted, “So what is it then?” she asked him.

“I talked with Ali Martin this morning. I brought her in for questioning, I don’t have a warrant for her at the moment, but I have a feeling that I may end up with one. She wasn’t happy that she was brought in, and even unhappier when I mentioned the warrant for her DNA. She immediately lawyered up as soon as I mentioned it,” he told the two, “Now, I have three samples that it will be compared to. One from each scene that we’re investigating. There was something found with Connor Anderson’s body,” he added, bringing out his phone, “I just need to know if you know what this is?” he asked as he then turned the phone around and let Taylor take it.

Taylor looked at the picture, palling as she saw it, “Yeah, I know what it is. It’s Mom’s, it went missing when she died. There was a broken link by her body. They said that Dad pulled it off, but I know he didn’t as he asked about where it was a few days later as it wasn’t with any of Mom’s belongings when they were returned to us,” she said, looking up. “Dad got it for her the day they married. A locket with a picture of the two of them. It has a little key that is used to get into it. Dad has it. It’s only opened when the two of them are put together. He still has it, wondering where that went,” she said, handing it back.

“Where did he buy it from?” Lou asked, wondering if he could find a trail for it.

“He didn’t buy it, he had it made. I don’t know who made it, but I know that they were good friends with Dad and Mom. So you’ll have to ask him about that,” Taylor told him.

“I see, I’ll talk to him and see what I can find out,” Lou nodded, about to get up.

“Where… where did you find it?” Taylor asked him, not sure if she wanted to know the answer or not.

“It was with Connor Anderson’s body,” he answered her, “The chain is broken, and it was tangled in the bones of his hand,” he added.

Taylor closed her eyes, “She really did it then, she really killed Mom. No one else would have taken it. She was always after it, asking Mom to borrow it. Mom never took it off, telling us both that it was something special. It wasn’t until a few months after Mom passed, before Dad was arrested, that I found out that it wasn’t just a necklace but a locket. I caught… I caught Dad fiddling with his piece and he told me the story.”

Lou nodded, “I believe she did, at the moment everything is circumstantial,” he told her, “As soon as the DNA comes back, we should have some solid proof so I can get a judge to sign the arrest warrant for her.”

Taylor nodded as Athena got back up to show him the door.

“Athena,” he said as he stood at the door, “Ali Martin got the restraining order today as well. She was yelling and left muttering something. I don’t know what. I would suggest that you get in touch with the Diaz’s and also tell Taylor that it’s been done and that she might try something.”

“I’ll warn them all, and thank you for coming by. Patrick should be at home as well. Go and talk with him,” she advised him.

“I’m going to call him and do just that,” he agreed.

“Taylor,” Athena said after she had closed the door and gone back.

“I knew she hated Mom and Dad, but enough to kill and then to kill someone she was friends with?” Taylor said, frowning, “Just who the hell is my sister?” she asked, knowing she wouldn’t be getting an answer unless she confronted her sister herself.

“No idea, but let’s not think about her,” Athena told her as she settled down, “For now, let’s look forward to the birth of our children,” she added.

Taylor snorted, “Yeah,” she murmured.

Athena would warn her later, for now, they were going to relax and enjoy their day together.

Chapter Sixty-Five

Taylor looked at her phone, she sighed and closed her eyes, and opened them again. No, the message was still there. A threat, from Ali, her own sister threatened to harm her if she contacted the Cops again. She wasn’t going to listen, she’d had enough of being in her sister’s shadow, as a child she had been scared of her, upset that the sister she had started to grow up with had changed so much. Now, confirmed that she had killed not only their mother but her own friend as well. Ali was behind the letters that had been sent to Eddie. She still didn’t know how she had found out about their new address. It wasn’t public knowledge at all.

“Taylor?” Buck asked as he looked over at her, “You okay?”

Taylor gave him a weak smile, “Not really, Ali messaged me, so I’m going to forward it to Detective Ransone since he’s the one that is dealing with her stalking,” she told him as she did just that.

“Something else is going on?” Eddie asked as he brought over the tea she had asked for.

“She killed our Mom and her friend,” she finally answered after a few moments of silence. “I didn’t want to believe that she was behind it,” she added, “I know that she hated our parents, but enough to kill Mom and then to kill Conor, someone that she had once said she loved.”

“I don’t think Ali has ever been capable of love,” Buck said softly, “She never said the words and when I did, she scoffed at them. I think I knew that our relationship wasn’t going to last after that. When the bombing happened, I knew she would bail as soon as she could without seeming like a cold-hearted bitch,” he snorted, shaking his head and curling against Eddie. The man’s hand was now free of the bandage, the cuts healing well, though still there, evidence of what Ali had done to them.

“Well, there is now an arrest warrant out for her,” Eddie reassured the two of them. “Soon enough she’ll be facing the charges against her, both murders and the stalking,” he added, getting the two of them to nod at his words.

“I’m not going to stay long, Athena is coming over to mine,” Taylor said, “She wants something to do, Bobby is driving her nuts with trying to make sure they have meals ready for when the baby is born. She still has at least three weeks to her due date, I have what, six, seven,” she snorted, “I can’t wait for it to all be over though,” she added, rubbing her stomach and grunting when her insides became an MMA ring. “Really, they fight all the damn time in there,” she muttered.

Buck grinned, “Can I feel?” he asked, he had never just gone over to do so, he always asked.

“Sure,” she smiled as Buck got up and went over, she took his hand and placed it where they were still kicking.

“I still can’t believe that they’ll be here so soon,” he said, shaking his head, “I just… I really just want to meet them both now,” he added.

“I wish that as well,” Taylor said, “They say six weeks, but it’ll be more like 2 or three for me as well since it’s twins,” she added, she looked over at Eddie, “You coming over, may as well see what your kids are already up to,” she told him.

Eddie smiled and went over, settling on Taylor’s other side as she did the same for him. “It’s amazing,” he said, “I… I wasn’t able to do this with Christopher that much. I was in Afghanistan when Shannon found out she was pregnant. I returned for her due date, and a week before, we married in a quiet court house just us and my sisters. Then two days later Chris arrived. She didn’t like me touching either, she was done with pregnancy by the time he arrived, and the birth wasn’t easy for her either.”

“Well, I have a C-Section arranged, they think it would be best to do that, than natural. I don’t care, as long as they are healthy and whole,” Taylor said quietly, “I wonder who they’ll take after,” she added.

“Don’t know,” Buck said, “And I don’t care,” he added, “Though I kind of hope they don’t get my birthmark.”

“Oh, but I love that,” Eddie said, frowning.

“Same,” Taylor added.

“I was teased a lot when I was a kid about it,” he told them, “I don’t want that for them.”

“Well, kids suck-” Eddie began.

“Not Chris,” Buck countered.

“Yeah well he’s a damn unicorn,” Taylor rolled her eyes, “but he has a devious side,” she grinned.

“He gets that from Shannon, she was a pain when she was wronged by someone. I’m surprised sometimes that my parents were still alive and sane when I got back each time,” Eddie shook his head, “I know she wanted to retaliate to some of the things that they had done to her and Christopher.

Taylor snorted, “Well, I need to get going, you Carla will be arriving with Christopher soon enough.”

“Shit!” Buck cursed as he realized the time, “We need to get some shopping in as well, we were supposed to go earlier,” he muttered.

“Then get moving,” she told them, the two men got up and got themselves ready as Taylor did the same. “I’ll see you later on, I’m going to pick up Athena,” she said, “She’s not wanting to drive at the moment.”

“Okay,” Buck smiled as she left the house, waving to her.

XxXxX

Taylor opened her front door, “Okay, so I have already gotten some snacks, and I really can’t wait for this to be over,” she said, letting Athena inside as well.

“I know what you mean,” Athena agreed as she took off her jacket and hung it up, “I’ve been through this twice already and I have to say, it exhausted me a lot more this time around,” she murmured as she went over to the couch and crashed onto it, “Wake me up when it’s time to give birth,” she joked.

“I would, but I want you to do the same to me. This will be the only time for me, only time,” Taylor said adamantly.

“I said that about May, only the one, then Harry came along. Though I was done with the 3 am feeds and changing diapers, but no, my damn body decided that another go was just what was needed,” Athena snorted, shaking her head as she sat up properly, getting into a more comfortable position. I’ve got three weeks, just three weeks and this one is due, I’m hoping he comes a little early,” she added.

“It’s the only good thing about having twins, they come early,” Taylor smiled as she grabbed food for the two of them and something to drink, bringing it all out on a tray.

“Thanks,” Athena said, bringing out her bag of ever-present gummy bears, “Want some?” she offered.

“Sure,” she smiled. She reached over and took a few from the bag before settling herself in her own seat. “Honestly, sometimes I wish I could just grab Eddie and have him around all the time,” she said, wiggling her toes after she had taken off her trainers.

“Same with Bobby, he gives the most amazing foot rubs,” Athena laughed, grabbing her drink and taking a sip, “I miss coffee.”

“Same here,” she said, raising her mug of tea, “Tea is okay, but give me a mug of the good stuff any day,” she grinned. Taylor smiled and it remained for a few sips before it dropped, “Do you think Lou is going to be able to find her?” she asked Athena.

“I’m sure he will, he’s not one to give up. He’s back to where he had been before Hudson,” she said, shaking her head and remembering the man that had almost murdered her friend and colleague.

“I heard about that, glad that he’s gone. Sounds like a right monster,” Taylor grimaced, “Not my story to cover either,” she added, “I was working on something else at the time.”

“I know,” Athena nodded, “And I killed him, in my living room. He threatened Harry and I wasn’t going to have that,” she growled at the thought of the man and how close he had gotten to taking her son from her.

“Well, he’s gone, and I’m hoping that Ali will end up in prison. Dad… Dad suffered a lot when people believed him to have killed Mom. I never knew what to believe as I didn’t think anyone else would have wanted her dead,” she sighed. They were quiet for a while before Taylor’s phone buzzed.

“Is that Buck or Eddie?” Athena smirked, she knew that the two men often checked on Taylor, wanting to make sure she was okay. She spent a lot of time at the Diaz house but occasionally came back home to get some alone time.

Taylor grabbed her phone, a little smile on her face, that was soon dropped. “Neither,” she said, “It’s Ali,” she added, shaking her head. “I’m sending the message to Lou, she sent me another one this morning as well, while I was still with Buck and Eddie.”

“Second?” Athena asked, frowning, putting aside her drink.

Taylor nodded as she sent it on to Lou. “Yeah, she’s… threatening me for what is going on.” A message came back and she sighed, “Ali’s disappeared, no one has seen her since she had an interview with Lou yesterday,” she said, looking up at Athena.

“Well, don’t you worry, he’ll get her,” she tried to her friend, “Now, have you chosen any names yet?” she asked, “Bobby and I finally decided on one a few days ago.”

“We have a few, they are all on the shortlist, though Chris chose nearly all of the ones on the list. There are some good names,” she smiled, “He’s such a good kid.”

“He is,” Athena agreed, “So, what have you come up with?” she asked again.

“Not telling,” Taylor smirked, “People will just have to wait and find out when the babies are born.”

“Damn,” Athena laughed, “Then again, Bobby and I are going to be doing the same,” she smiled, shaking her head.

“I’ll be glad wh-” she began only to stop when she heard the front door open, “What the…” she trailed off, grabbing her phone and was about to ring Buck. When Ali stepped into the living room.

“I wouldn’t do that little sister,” she smirked, not noticing that she had already pressed the call button and muted things on her end, “You really couldn’t keep your damn nose out of shit, as always,” she snarked as she pointed the gun straight at her. “And of course, we have the lovely Sergeant Grant,” she rolled her eyes as she spotted the woman. “Up, both of you,” she directed.

“What the hell are you playing at, Ali?” Taylor asked as she slowly got to her feet.

“You’re trying to deny me what I want, and you do know now, what happens to those that deny me what I want,” she told her, “Now, get moving, you as well Sergeant,” she said, gesturing with the gun to Athena and Taylor to begin moving.

“You know you won’t get away,” Athena reminded her, shaking her head. Taylor and Athena were calm.

“I will,” she smirked, “Because they might be looking for me, but I can easily change and blend in. I’ve been planning a lot of things over the last few months since Taylor couldn’t keep her nose out of things. They won’t be looking for Linda Minas and her babies,” she said, “When they find out you’re missing, well… I’ll be long gone with my children,” she growled as she began to usher them from the apartment and down to the waiting truck. Taylor was being forced into the driving seat. While Ali got in the back with Athena, holding the gun to her stomach.

Chapter Sixty-Six

Buck stared at his phone, he had put it on speaker as soon as he answered the call from Taylor. He didn’t think he would hear from her so soon after she had left.

“I wouldn’t do that little sister.” It was Ali’s voice that came through the speakers and not Taylor’s.

“Tay!” Buck called, wanting to know what was going on. Jolting a little when he felt a hand on his arm.

“Shush,” Carla said, eyes just as wide as she looked at him, “If they are talking, they might hear you, it might put her in danger,” she warned.

“You really couldn’t keep your damn nose out of shit, as always. And of course, we have the lovely Sergeant Grant. Up, both of you.” Ali was demanding and Buck and Carla shared a horrified look.

“Can I use your phone?” he asked Carla, she nodded, handing it over.

“I’m going to make sure Christopher doesn’t listen to this,” she said as she went out of the room to do so, leaving him alone.

“What the hell are you playing at, Ali?” Taylor asked, her voice was cold.

“You’re trying to deny me what I want, and you do know now, what happens to those that deny me what I want,” Ali’s reply was hissed and cold. “Now get moving, you as well, Sergeant.” Her tone was mocking as she talked to the two of them.

“You know you won’t get away,” Athena’s voice was calm as she spoke.

“I will,” Ali sounded so sure of herself. “Because they might be looking for me, but I can easily change and blend in. I’ve been planning a lot of things over the last few months since Taylor couldn’t keep her nose out of things. They won’t be looking for Linda Minas and her babies,” she said, “When they find out you’re missing. Well… I’ll be long gone with my children.”

Buck winced as he got the call to connect with Lou. He relayed what he could to him. “I want to be out there looking, Lou,” Buck said after he told him the last bit and the door of Taylor’s apartment closed.

“It would be best if you remained at home, I can make it to Bobby’s and tell him what’s going on. He’s going to need to know what is going on,” Lou reminded him.

“I’m just going to go and tell Bobby at least, he needs to know,” Buck added.

“Just do that, go nowhere else,” Lou advised him, “Please, leave this to us, we’ve got the pseudonym that Miss Martin is going by, under investigation now that we know of it, we’ll find her,” he promised them, “We’ll find them.”

“You know you shouldn’t promise,” Buck snorted, “It’s one of the main things a first responder learns.”

“Maybe, but when it comes to my friends, I don’t ever want to let them down, I’m going to be searching for them now, you stay with Bobby,” he told them once more before ending the call.

Buck got in the jeep. The drive was quiet and Buck wondered if he should have messaged Eddie as well. He was out doing a little shopping since Carla was going to arrive with Christopher, they didn’t want him arriving at an empty house, so Buck remained behind, but he wanted to do something else first.

Buck jumped out of the jeep as soon as he parked it. Not even locking it behind him, he rushed to the door and knocked on it. The door was quickly opened and Bobby stood there, frowning at him.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked as he let Buck inside.

“Right,” Buck said as he ran a hand through his short hair, “I just…” he trailed off. I got a call from Taylor. It was her and Athena, Ali found them and kidnapped them,” he finally said after a calming breath, “Lou is already out there looking and trying to find them. I-”

“We should be doing the same,” Bobby said as he hurried to the kitchen and began to turn things off, taking things off the heat to make sure that there would be no fires. That would be the last thing that they needed.

“Do you have any way to track Athena?” Buck asked.

“She has an Apple watch that I got her. Just in case something happened,” Bobby said.

“Right, we’ll use that, talk with Lou as well,” he said as he pulled out his phone again and called Lou Ransone, “Lou,” he said, “Bobby gave Athena an Apple watch, he can track her using that.” He nodded a few times, “Fine, we’ll wait here for you to get here. If you don’t arrive soon though,” he warned, making sure that the man would keep his word and come and get them.

“He’s coming here?” he asked.

“Yeah, Lou said that Ali has a gun, she bought it a few days ago,” Buck said as he looked at Bobby.

“We’ll wait for him here,” Bobby told him, “He said he’d come here, and he’s a man of his word,” he added.

“Oh.. okay,” he nodded, feeling a little lost as he called Eddie.

XxXxX

Eddie exited the shop, heading towards his truck. His phone rang and he was about to answer it when a rain of bullets headed towards him. He began to duck as he felt the telltale burn in his arm, “For fucks’ sake,” he hissed as he glanced around, only to see a truck rushing away from the scene, what confused him was that Athena and Taylor were in it. And a third, that he could just about make out was Ali Martin. He grabbed his phone that had stopped ringing, “Oh fucking hell,” he cursed as he saw it broken, a bullet hole in it.

“You okay!” someone yelled out.

Eddie glanced around, seeing two others on the ground, “Damn,” he got up and did what any first responder did, “Sir, give me your phone, or at least call 9-1-1 and put it on speaker,” he called out to the man that had yelled at him. He rushed over to the one victim on the sidewalk and began to check him over, a young man, younger than himself, but definitely out of his teens. “Sir,” he said, as he began to give first aid, “Can someone go inside and see about getting a first aid kit!” he called out.

“Here, 9-1-1 is on the line,” the man said, putting the phone down beside Eddie.

“This is off-duty Firefighter Eddie Diaz, there has been a shooting at the convenience store,” he began as he rattled off the address. “Three victims, myself included, that I have noticed so far. One is male, around mid-twenties. Gunshot injury to the stomach, unconscious,” he said, “How’s the other?” he called out, to the young woman that was tending to the other woman that was on the ground.

“Two hit her, one on the leg and one in the chest, doing my best, but I’m no first responder!” the woman shouted back.

A young man arrived with a first aid kit, “Here,” he said, laying it down.

Eddie grabbed some gloves and quickly grabbed what he needed, “I need you to do something. Get some gloves on, take the gauze and bandage. Put the gauze over my injury and tie the bandage around it tightly,” he said, “I need to concentrate on this young man for a moment.”

The teenager nodded and with a pale face and shaking hands, he did as he was told. Eddie hissed in pain but did his best to ignore it. Eddie was quick to instruct the other man to take over treating the young man he had been. He rushed over to the woman, the young lady that had been treating her had done a good job. Changing gloves to fresh ones, Eddie began to do what he could for her as well. He was relieved when he heard the siren.

“Hey,” someone called out as soon as the 102 arrived.

Eddie gave them the details of each one.

“Where’s the third victim?” one of the paramedics asked not seeing anyone else lying on the asphalt.

Eddie rolled his eyes, “That would be me, shot twice. Thankfully more grazes than anything too serious,” he told him, “Side,” he said, gesturing to the small wound on his side that was sluggishly bleeding. Then to his arm, which was burning and annoying him considering this was the second time it’s been shot. “This one is through and through,” he added.

“Okay,” he said, eyes wide, “Let’s go sit down and I can assess,” he said, leading him toward the third ambulance.

“Can… someone do me a favor, I need to get in touch with Lou Ransone, a detective with the LAPD, as soon as possible,” he said as he sat there.

“I’ll call dispatch,” the captain of the 102 said as he walked over. “Dispatch, I have an off-duty Firefighter Eddie Diaz. He needs to get in touch with Detective Lou Ransone of the LAPD as soon as possible, can you patch us through?” he asked.

“Let me check,” came the male voice that Eddie didn’t recognize. “He’s on a case at the moment. Ali Martin has ki-”

“Yes, she’s kidnapped my friends. Athena Grant and Taylor Kelly. She was the one that shot at me,” Eddie said, shaking his head, “It’s all related.”

The captain nodded and relayed the message. Nodding as dispatch got back to them.

“They’ve been informed of what’s happened,” he said, “Now you need to head to the hospital. I know you may not want to.”

“I just want to call my husband,” Eddie said. “Can someone give me a phone for a moment so I can do so? I’d rather he not end up with a call from the hospital,” he added, looking at the firefighters and paramedics that were around him.

“Here,” a paramedic said, pulling out their phone and handing it over.

“Thank you,” he said, he quickly typed in Buck’s number, having memorized it a while ago.

“Hello?” came the confused voice of his husband.

Eddie relaxed a little as he said, “It’s Eddie, phones dead as the dodo,” he muttered, “Ali has Taylor and Athena.”

“I know,” he replied, “How do you?”

“Because they just sped off after Ali shot me,” he grumbled, “I’m fine before you even think to damn well panic.”

“Where?” Buck demanded to know.

“Arm, through and through. Side, mostly a graze,” he said, “Now, what the hell is going on?”

“Well, kidnapping, we’re about to track them, and now I don’t know what I should do,” Buck said.

“Find them, I’ll be at the hospital, just getting stitched up,” Eddie reassured him, “I’ll see about getting in contact with Carla, she is at home with Christopher?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ll call them, what hospital?” he asked, quickly getting an answer as Eddie was put in the ambulance and they headed to the hospital.

“Find them, and be safe, Buck, you know Ali wants you, she’ll try and bargain for you,” he warned him. He.

“I know, Lou just arrived and he’s already sent for SWAT. Bobby gave Athena an Apple Watch, he’s able to track her,” he said, relieved that he could do so. “He said that we’re going to be held back, and he won’t let us be in the line of fire at all,” he added.

“Stay safe,” he repeated, hoping that Buck and Bobby would do so, he knew that the two of them could act a little rashly when it came to their loved ones.

“I will, and I’ll tell Carla to meet you there, with some extra things,” Buck said, adding a quiet, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Buck,” Eddie smiled as they ended the call and he handed the phone back. “Thank you,” he said, resting back, feeling silly that he was heading to the hospital when Buck was going to be out there searching for Taylor and Athena without him watching his back.

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Ali pushed the two women to hurry up and into the building that had warning signs posted all around it. She didn’t care that the women’s waters had broken not moments before. She needed them in the building and out of sight of everyone. Her plans had to happen and she would not let them be ruined for anyone else. She was still feeling high after shooting at Eddie Diaz, a thorn in her side.

“Why the fuck did you shoot him?” Taylor finally yelled as soon as they were inside and the gun had been taken off them.

“Because he is in my way. I’ve already told you that I will kill those that get in it. Not my fault that he was trying to take what was mine. Just like you have done,” she snapped at her sister, glaring. Her face was twisted and Taylor couldn’t even see the sister she had once had.

“I hate you,” Taylor said, shaking her head, “You… you killed Mom, you killed her and then you let Dad take the fall?!” she yelled out before the sound of skin on skin echoed in the abandoned building. Taylor’s head whipped to the side as her cheek stung.

“Shut the fuck up, hate me all you want, I don’t give a shit,” Ali sneered at her, “Do you know how much of a pain it was to pretend to even like you? Why the hell do you think I kept out of your life as much as I could,” she snorted, pointing the gun towards Athena, “Over there,” she ordered.

Athena glared at her and remained where she was, “We’re in labor you stupid bitch,” she said, grunting as a contraction hit, “We need to get medical attention, or we’re going to have to help each other unless you want to get your damn hands dirty and fucking help!” she ended up yelling.

“Say anything like that again and I’ll smack you around like the bitch next to you,” Ali warned her.

“Whatever,” Athena said as she looked at Taylor, who was looking rather pale. “Taylor,” she said, “Let’s get you down,” she added, helping her down to the floor, she was bigger than Athena, finding it difficult to get up sometimes without a little help.

“You shot Eddie,” Taylor gasped out before almost screaming as a contraction rippled across her stomach, “Fucking hell, how the hell did you do this twice and now a third fucking time,” she bitched as she glared at Athena.

“Just know that at the end of it, I get a kid,” Athena snorted, “Though ask Michael, I broke his hand both times,” she grinned.

“I can damn well believe it,” Taylor laughed, a touch of hysteria within it as they finally managed to get to the ground.

Ali watched then, gun trained on Athena all the time. She knew that she was the more dangerous of the two women. She had been hoping to just get Taylor on her own, but of course, it couldn’t be that easy. “You want to know why I shot that bastard because he dared to take what’s mine. With him dead, well, I can get to Buck now. He’ll be mine, especially if he wants to be near his children. We all know that Buck wants a family, that’s all he wanted,” she smirked, eyes glinting as she looked at Athena and Taylor.

“You’re not going to get my kids,” Taylor grunted out as she felt another contraction, “It’s happening too quickly,” she moaned as she looked at Athena.

“You won’t have a choice, you’re going to be dead. Maybe I should find old Patrick and kill that bastard too,” Ali laughed cruelly at her sister. “All of you, gone, never to bother me again. Would be nice.”

“Sick bitch,” Taylor growled out, glaring at her sister, “What the fuck did we do to you?!” she demanded to know. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. She could still remember Eddie’s face as he heard the gunshots. Her sister had just aimed and fired, not caring who she was hitting at all.

“Eddie’s going to be fine,” Athena said, as though she was sensing her thoughts. She leaned a little closer and whispered, “Her aim was so damn bad, I’ll be surprised if anyone died from the gunshot wounds,” she added, hoping that would be true. She had counted at least one civilian and Eddie that had been hit, there might have been another, but she wasn’t sure as they had sped away before she could confirm.

“Yeah, he better be, he has two more kids that he needs to meet,” she said, “Why the fuck has this happened now, why couldn’t they wait a little longer until we’re away from the crazy bitch,” she said.

“Stress can cause labor to start quickly and suddenly,” Athena said, “And we’re in a hell of a stressful situation,” she muttered darkly as she glared at Ali, who was still sneering at the two of them.

“Shut your fucking mouth, I’m not the one that brought up all this again. That was that stupid bitch,” she hissed at Athena, glancing over at Taylor, “Why the fuck you couldn’t leave it alone, I’ll never know. Then again, maybe this will help me a little. I’ll kill you two and set fire to this place. I’ve already got it set up that my death is going to be faked,” she grinned, “Just got one or two more things to do to set that up.”

“Why did you kill Mom? She loved you,” Taylor said. She really wanted to know why her mother had died.

“She got in my way,” Ali said, shrugging, “She kept trying to stop me from doing what I wanted. I wasn’t going to keep putting up with it. Then when she was dead, Dad started doing the same. Since the cops were looking into the death again, I just… pointed out that I had heard them arguing a lot, teared up, telling them it was why I was always out of the house. So easy to get them to fall for it. I was young, and that worked in my favor as well.”

“What about Connor? He was a friend of yours,” Athena asked, wanting to keep her talking. She knew that they would be found. Her Apple Watch could track her and she made sure that Eddie had been able to see her in the car. He had looked directly at her, she had seen the recognition in his eyes and she knew that he was still alive, he might be hurt, but alive and able to speak.

“Some friend when he figured out that I had killed her and wanted to tell someone. I found out what he was going to do and made sure that he wasn’t going to. It was easy tricking him into going with me, I told him I was going to turn myself in. Took him, when he questioned me, it was easy to deflect,” she snorted, smirking before looking angry, “But he took my necklace from me.”

“Don’t you mean Mom’s locket that Dad had made for her, specially made for her, so it’s unique, one of a kind in the world,” Taylor said, “It’s how they knew it was you, you took something that no one else would have had in the world,” she shook her head, “I remember Mom and Dad showing me, you didn’t want to know and walked away.”

“Idiots,” Ali sneered, “It doesn’t matter, as soon as my children are here, I’m gone. I was going to just cut you open, but since you’re giving birth anyway,” she gave a shrug, “Though if it takes too long, then I’m just going to rip them out of you. It won’t matter if you die, I want you dead remember.”

“Bitch,” Taylor muttered, trying her best to control her yell as another contraction hit.

“Not as big of one as you,” Ali snorted.

Athena breathed through her own contractions and then said, “You better hope you have something here that can help the babies because they are early.”

“They’ll be just fine,” Ali dismissed.

“You know that ain’t the truth,” Athena said.

“Buck talked a lot about twins and how they come early, but only a few weeks,” Taylor said, looking at her sister, “They need to be at a hospital.”

Ali began to head over to them, “Right you can sep-” she broke off into a scream as Athena kicked forward, making her knee bend unnaturally as Athena didn’t pull her kick at all, she used her full force behind it.

Ali tried to bring the gun up as she lay on the ground, but Athena was already over her, twisting it out of her hand as she snapped on the safety and tossed it towards Taylor. Athena was able to restrain her long enough to grab the phone from her and tossed that as well.

Taylor was quick to grab and call 9-1-1, explaining to dispatch what was going on. “Detective Ransone is on the way here, along with SWAT,” she snorted, “More are also now on the way, and fucking hell, these damn contractions,” she screamed out.

“Good,” Athena said, “Now, let’s make sure this little bitch doesn’t try anything else because I am one hair away from breaking some bones.”

“Get off me, you fat fuck!” Ali screamed as Athena was sitting on her, holding her in such a way that she couldn’t move without causing herself a lot of pain.

“I’m pregnant, not fat, bitch,” Athena growled, twisting the arm a little more for the insult. The door opened and Lou went through with Bobby and Buck following. Lou took care of Ali, while Bobby went over to Athena and Buck to Taylor.

“Ambulances are on the way as well as the cops for this one,” Lou said as he glanced down at Ali that was now cuffed.

“Good,” Athena grunted, “I am not going to have this kid here,” she muttered.

“You won’t,” Bobby said as he checked her over, “Buck and I are old hats at this, so you’ll be just fine.”

“The full moon ones you told me about?” Taylor asked as she looked at Buck.

“Yeah,” Buck grinned, “It’s going to be fine, we’ll get you to the hospital, the same one Eddie is at. He’s been checked out, he’s doing fine, stitches and a little blood loss, but nothing that threatens his life at all.”

“Good, what about anyone else?” Athena asked, “I know at least one more was hit.”

“Two others were shot as well, but both are in surgery, the prognosis looks good,” Lou was the one that answered her.

“That’s good,” Athena said, before squeezing Bobby’s hand as a contraction hit.

It didn’t take much longer for the paramedics to arrive and for everyone to be rushed to the hospital. Buck made calls to everyone to tell them what was going on. Eddie met with them, having been discharged not long after he had been patched up.

People began to gather in the waiting room. Isabel had contacted Helena and Ramon about what was going on. They would ask to come and visit when the babies were older, giving the little family time to settle and get a routine.

“How long is it going to take?” Christopher asked as he looked at Isabel.

“Babies come in their own time, it might take a few hours yet,” she answered him, patting him on the hand.

“I can’t wait,” Maddie grinned, as she handed Jee-Yun over to her father when the one-year-old reached out towards him.

“Same, I can’t believe it,” Patrick murmured from the back of the room, Gregory was next to him.

“I think most of us can’t,” Hen said, smiling over at Karen, who was nodding along.

The minutes turned into hours as they all waited for news on the two women.

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Bobby was grinning as he walked toward the waiting area. “Hey,” he greeted them as he saw them all lookup and stare at him. He felt somewhat unnerved by the action.

“So?” Hen asked, waiting for him to say something more.

“Baby Boy, 7lb 3oz,” he answered her, “They’ve checked him over and he’s healthy, Athena is doing great as well.”

“Will we be able to see them?” May asked, wanting to see for herself that her mother was okay.

“They’re just cleaning up now and then I can take Harry and May to see them, no one else tonight, but tomorrow, visiting hours will open up as normal and you can come by then to see them,” he said, “How about Taylor?” he asked, “Any news from that front?”

“The only thing we know is that she is too far along to go for the C-Section that she was supposed to have,” Hen answered him, “But that’s all we know, we haven’t seen them since then.”

“I’m worried for Taylor,” Christopher said as he leaned against Isabel.

“I know,” Josephina said softly, “But she’ll be okay, she’s a very strong woman,” she added, rubbing his back as she looked at her mother.

“Yeah,” Christopher mumbled, looking down as Isabel put an arm around him and held him tightly, murmuring something in his ear.

Bobby smiled as Harry and May got up, “Right, come with me, we’ll wait outside until your mother is ready for you,” he told the two of them as he led the way to Athena’s room.

It was a few more hours before Eddie came into the room, he looked shocked, but with a happy smile on his face, “Well,” he said as he looked around the room, “After this, all of you are to go home, including you, Mijo.”

“Can I see them first?” he asked, eyes wide as he got up.

“Unfortunately not at the moment, they are being taken down to the NICU for a little while, but the doctors have said that they are pretty strong for being early and so small. If they hit the milestones they need, then we can take them home,” he said, shaking his head, “Taylor is, she’s damn well amazing that’s all I need to say.”

“So, what did she have?” Hen asked.

“Firstborn is a baby boy, 4lb 1oz, the second is baby girl, 4lb 3oz,” he began, “And a surprise third is a baby boy 3lb 11oz,” he finished.

“Triplets!” Patrick explained, “I thought she was having twins?”

“The third must have been hiding behind his siblings all the time,” Eddie said, “Doesn’t happen often that they don’t see them or even hear their heartbeat, but well it did this time,” he added, “He’s on the small side, smaller than his siblings, but they are being taken care of, they are going to be put in the NICU as I said. We’ll be able to visit them soon,” he added, he’d only been able to hold them for a few moments before they were taken away.

“Can I… see Taylor,” Christopher then asked, getting up and going over to his dad.

“Sure, she’d like that,” he said, “Patrick, you’re welcome to join us as well,” he added, looking at the older man.

“Thank you,” Patrick said as he got up.

Eddie talked a little more before he took Christopher and Patrick to see Taylor. Buck was waiting there for them, cuddling Christopher for a moment.

“How are you?” Patrick asked as she walked over to the bed.

“Scared,” Taylor answered honestly as she looked at her dad and then smiled as Christopher went over to the bed and reached out for her.

“I’m scared too,” Christopher said, “But you’re in the hospital, and they always help people,” he told her, “So they can help the babies and you,” he added.

“Thanks, Acey,” Taylor answered, ruffling his hair and then pulling him into an awkward hug, “Thanks.”

Christopher smiled and held her back.

“They’ll be fine,” a new voice said as a doctor walked in, “The birth was smooth, but long,” he added, “They are being checked at the moment, so far it’s the youngest one that we’re the most worried about, his weight is a little lower than the others. If we can get him to 4lb, then he should be able to go home. His breathing is just fine, as is everything else, for all three.”

Taylor couldn’t help the choked little sob as she nodded, “Thank you.”

“As soon as they are settled, we’ll take you three down to see them. The two older ones may only have to be in there for a few days. The youngest a little longer,” he added, “We also would like names for them, when you’re ready.”

“We have names,” Taylor said as she whispered in Christopher’s ear.

“I have the names,” he said, looking at Taylor and getting a nod. “The oldest is Liam, the little girl is Lexi and my littlest brother is called Lucas,” he said, looking at his Dad and Papa, both smiling and nodding.

“Wonderful,” he said.

“Last name will be Diaz,” Taylor added, getting a look from Buck and Eddie. Buck was still using Buckley at work, but he was now, legally a Diaz.

“Tay?” Buck began.

“They are Diaz’s, and trust me, it’s a good strong family name,” she added, smiling.

“Okay,” he nodded.

Christopher giggled as he leaned on the bed, “I told you Papa would say something,” he said as he looked at Taylor.

“I know, but I thought I had mentioned before that the babies would all be Daiz’s?” Taylor questions.

Buck shrugged, “If you did I can’t remember,” he said.

“Right,” Eddie said a moment later, after the doctor had left with the information, “Chris, time to go home, you’ll be with Abuela tonight,” he told his son.

“I know, and then I’ll come back tomorrow, will I be able to see them, then?” he asked, wanting to meet his brothers and sister. He had been looking forward to doing so for a while, and now when they had arrived they were ill and needed to be in specialized care for a while.

“We’ll figure something out,” Eddie promised him, Buck and Taylor nodding, they all knew how excited he was.

Patrick hugged his daughter, congratulating the three of them again before Eddie escorted them back. Buck remained with Taylor, at his insistence. Eddie would be remaining for a while as well.

XxXxX

Taylor was in bed in the hospital, four days after giving birth. With no complications, she was free to go, though she remained there mostly for the triplets. The two eldest were free from the NICU already, Lucas was still there, but he was doing better already. His breathing was fine, he was suckling and eating well. The only thing they were really worried about was his weight and which would dip and then go up if he was following his siblings. He had gained weight already, he was at 3lb 13oz.

“Hey,” Buck said as he entered the room.

“Hey,” Taylor smiled, “You alone?” she asked, glancing behind him, expecting to see either Eddie or Christopher.

“Eddie’s at home, finally got him to listen to me and stay home and rest. He pulled the stitches in his side yesterday, so had to get that redone and he lost a little more blood. Christopher… was scared from it all,” he sighed, shaking his head, “So Carla and I tag-teamed him to get him to rest. Christopher has orders to sit on him if he tries to get up.”

“Good,” she smiled, “I’m good to go home, as are these two little ones,” she added, “I… don’t want to leave Lucas,” she said, “he’s still here, and they said that it might be a week, or two before he’s able to go home.”

Buck walked over and hugged her tightly, “It’s going to be okay, he’s doing really well, they are just worried about his weight at the moment,” he reminded her, “His breathing is just fine, so is everything else,” he added.

“I know, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying,” she sighed, “And we still have to get another set of things as well.”

“Already done, Maddie and Patrick went wild and got them,” Buck told her, “So we don’t have to worry about that.”

“That’s good, now come and pick up one of your children,” she demanded of him, a gentle smile on his face.

Buck smiled as he went over, looking at them both, he went to pick up Lexi, as she was beginning to fuss a little. Liam was fast asleep in his bassinet. “Let’s get you ready to go home,” he said softly.

“I’m going to have to wake him,” Taylor said as she looked at Liam.

“Yeah,” Buck nodded, “We’ll get them home and then we can come back and see Lucas when we can. I don’t want to leave him alone,” he added.

“Neither do I,” Taylor nodded, slowly picking up Liam and getting him ready. By the time the two of them were ready, the doctor had come in to do a last check of all three before letting them go home. Buck left Taylor alone, wanting to see Lucas before they left. Taylor didn’t mind as she was left alone with two of her children.

Buck walked to the NICU, showing his ID before he was allowed inside. He was taken to where Lucas was and smiled as he saw his son. He was so tiny, he could fit in the palm of his hand, “Hey Luc,” he murmured as the nurse came over.

“Want to hold him for a moment?” she asked.

“Will that be okay?” he asked her.

“Of course, it’s good for him,” she smiled, “Get yourself seated and I’ll bring him over. We only have monitors on him at the moment, so it’s easy for you to hold him,” she added as Buck went to sit down. He’d only been able to hold him briefly before.

He waited for a moment before the tiny baby was settled in his arms. “Hey, Luc,” he said, “Look at you,” he added as he saw eyes open and looked around a little before closing again. “I’m your Papa,” he introduced himself, “You saw me a while ago, but you have a Mommy and a Daddy as well. You also have two big brothers and a big sister,” he added, explaining to him about the family that he had been born into, “I love you so much,” he said softly, Buck stayed there a little longer before Lucas had to be put back into the Incubator.

“Thank you,” Buck said as he got up, looking at his son for a moment before glancing at the nurse that was taking care of him.

“You’re welcome, I know how hard this can be,” she told him, “My own daughter had ended up in NICU for almost two months. The thought of leaving them hurts so much. Though do know that we’ll take good care of them.”

“Thanks, it does help,” he nodded, leaving to go and get Taylor so they could go home.

Taylor smiled as she saw him, “I take it you were able to hold him?” she asked, seeing the nod, “Good, make sure he knows that we love him and adore him,” she nodded, “You take Liam and I have Lexi,” she said as she pointed to the car seats. The two strapped in and covered them with a blanket to keep them warm. “Let’s go home.”

Buck nodded and took Liam’s car seat and the two of them left the hospital. Finally being about to take two out of their three children home. After getting the car seats into the Jeep. Buck paused before getting in, he looked back at the building, “I’ll be back soon Luc, don’t you worry,” he murmured before getting in and taking them all home.

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Athena stared at her front door, her newborn son in her arms. It had been four days since she had been kidnapped and given birth. There were no complications, but they kept her in because of the stress-induced labor. Thankfully, her baby boy was just fine. Nothing was wrong and he was a damn good weight. She glanced at Bobby and smiled.

“Well,” Bobby said, “Ready to bring him home?” he asked her.

“I am, but I think you should carry him inside,” she smiled, letting him take him.

“Hey, Colin,” he murmured to his son, “Well, are you excited to be home? I know everyone else is,” he told him, settling him in his arms and then taking Athena’s hand with his free hand. “Let’s go inside,” he smiled.

The two of them walked inside, the door being flung open before they could get near it. Harry standing there with a large grin on his face. “Hey,” he grinned as he looked from his Mother to Bobby.

“Welcome home,” May said as she walked up behind her brother. “We have someone else here as well, well, two someones,” she grinned.

“Oh?” Athena said, knowing that their friends had all promised to make sure to leave them be while they got settled into a rhythm with all the children.

“Yeah,” May said, “And Bobby, don’t worry about dinner tonight, they are cooking,” she laughed as she saw the pout appearing on Bobby’s face.

“Let’s go and greet our guests, I supposed,” Athena said, glancing at her husband.

“Yeah,” he nodded, adjusting Colin a little before walking into the house.

“Congratulations,” came a familiar voice that hadn’t really been heard in a long time.

“Michael, David,” Athena smiled, as she went over to them, hugging them both in turn, “What are you doing home?”

“Well, we promised to come home when it was time. I thought I had another week,” Michael smiled, “But, I forgot that babies come when they want, and never on time,” he laughed, “We’re only back for a week and then we’re going back to Haiti, but, we’re only there for two more months before returning for good,” he told her.

“I’ll be glad to have you both back,” Bobby said, as he greeted the two men.

“Congratulations,” David said, smiling as he got a look at Colin, his skin was the same tone as May’s, his head already full of curly hair. “He’s beautiful,” he added, smiling even more as he looked up at Bobby.

“Yeah,” Bobby grinned happily as he glanced down at his son, “He really is,” he murmured.

“Go and sit down, from what I heard from May, it wasn’t an easy time of things,” Michael said, smiling as he was able to see Colin for a moment, before ushering the two adults to sit down.

“Athena had all the hard work,” Bobby said.

“You had the emotional worry as well,” Athena reminded him, “You didn’t know what was going on,” she said.

May nodded, “I was so scared when I found out you had been kidnapped.”

“I knew I should have stayed working until I had Colin,” Athena muttered as she reached out for her two oldest children and drew them into her arms, “I’m just fine and so is Colin, you don’t have anything to worry about,” she reassured them.

Harry and May held her just as tightly. Michael and David stayed for a couple of hours, making sure the family was well-fed before heading to a hotel where they would be staying. They had sold their apartment when they moved to Haiti, they would find something else when it was time for them to return.

XxXxX

The next few days were able to settle into a rhythm for the Diaz and Kelly family. One of the adults would be at the hospital spending time with Lucas, the other two remaining home with their three other children. Christopher took to being a big brother with ease. He would often run and hide when it was time to change a diaper or two.

“Those butts are lethal, Snakes,” Christopher said as he glanced at Taylor as she changed Liam.

“Don’t I know, never knew they were so stinky,” she smiled as she tickled a bare tummy before diapering him up.

“Dad with Luc?” he asked, noting that his Dad wasn’t at home, “And where’s Papa?” he frowned.

“Buck went to see Luc and Eddie is meeting your grandparents to bring them here for a couple of hours,” she answered as she began to snap closed the onesie that Liam was wearing. “There we go, little stinky butt, all clean,” she said, kissing his cheek and then looking at Christopher, “Want to watch them while I wash up?” she asked.

“Yeah okay,” he grinned, happy that he was being trusted to do so. Taylor put Liam with his sister in the pack-n-play, knowing that Christopher would be able to watch them easily like that.

She got up and left the room, smiling and humming to herself. Washing her hands she looked up at the mirror and saw her reflection, “Once upon a time, this was never in your cards,” she told herself. “It’s my life now, and you know, I wouldn’t change it,” she smiled even more before rejoining Christopher in the living room.

“Lexi wants food,” Christopher said, “She’s doing that sucky thing with her mouth again.”

“Ah,” Taylor said, nodding, “Would you like to feed her, that means I’ll be able to feed Liam since when one wants food so does the other?” she asked him.

“Please,” Christopher grinned as he got up from the floor and made his way to the couch, grabbing the pillow that he would use when he was allowed to feed them, he settled himself down while Taylor got the bottles ready.

XxXxX

Two weeks to the day that the babies were all born. Lucas was finally allowed to go home as well. Buck had been the one to get him, Eddie, and Taylor remaining home with Christopher, Liam, and Lexi. Arriving home with Lucas was a happy moment for the family, finally being able to have all three of the babies home at last. It would be another few days before anyone else descended on their home.

Patrick walked into the house first, Maddie was with him. The two had wanted to stop by for a bit a few days after Lucas arrived home. “Well,” he said as he saw his daughter feeding her own daughter.

“Hey, Dad,” she smiled, “Come and join us, Lexi is almost done, and she’s the last one to be fed. Liam’s being changed, he had a blowout that set Christopher heaving, so he threw up,” she said, shaking her head. “So Buck’s dealing with Liam and Eddie with Chris, poor kid, he’s feeling really embarrassed about it.”

“You should have seen me when you and your sister were babies. I was always heaving. Nancy would tell me off all the time about it,” he laughed, “It happens,” he smiled as he saw Christopher coming back into the room.

“I’m sorry, Taylor,” Christopher said as he went over, and sat beside her.

“It’s fine,” she told him smiling, “It happens.”

“Hey, Chris,” Maddie smiled at her nephew, “I threw up so many times, Buck’s butt was the worst!” she exclaimed, “No one wanted to go near him when he had a blowout,” she laughed as Christopher began to smile.

“You did?” he asked her.

“Yep, I did,” Maddie grinned, “He was a true stinky butt,” she joked.

“So was Taylor when she was a baby,” Patrick smiled softly in remembrance.

“And you were as well, Chris, I remember you and Shannon being on a call with me and you had a blowout. Shannon wasn’t happy as it was all over her, she wasn’t happy with me, because I couldn’t smell it,” Eddie laughed as he walked over.

“Daddy!” Christopher exclaimed, though not shouting as loud as he could, he didn’t want to scare a sleeping Lucas and Lexi who were being burped, “How dare you shame me like this! I’m going to ask Abuelo and Grandma about stories of yours now,” he huffed.

“I’ll have to make sure they won’t say a word,” Eddie said.

“Tia Sophia and Tia Adriana will tell me, they love to tell me all the embarrassing things you did when little,” Christopher grinned deviously.

Eddie stared at him, “Just you wait, your first girlfriend, or boyfriend, is going to get all the dirt on one Christopher Alexander Diaz,” he grinned.

“Dad,” Christopher growled in his little warning tone, “Be careful, I still have my teen years to go yet,” he smirked before turning towards Maddie, “You have more stories of Papa when he was little?” he asked her.

“I have so many of them,” Maddie grinned.

“And I have the dirt on Taylor too,” Patrick added as Christopher glanced toward him.

“Wonderful,” he laughed, as he headed over to them.

Buck walked back in with Liam, settling him into the bassinet that was beside Lucas’ one. The two brothers were side by side and now fast asleep. “He went out as soon as I was done.”

“And this one is going as well,” she smiled as Lexi’s eyes were closed, she gave a little burp again, and Taylor settled her down.

“Can’t believe they are three weeks old now,” Buck said as he settled on the floor near the three bassinets, he glanced in, seeing all three happily sleeping.

“Neither can I,” Taylor said, “Oh, Athena called me earlier, she wants to get everyone together. Thinking it will be better to have the gathering here, save us trying to get all three babies over there,” she added, grabbing her phone. “I said I’d talk to the two of you first. It would be nice to welcome everyone into the family.”

“It would,” Eddie nodded in agreement as he added, “Call her back and we’ll get it set up for next week. Wonder how the 118 is doing with the three of us not being there. Hen’s on her own.”

“Chimney is going to go back,” Maddie said quietly. “We’ve been talking and he wants to, he just doesn’t think he should, because of what he’s done. I know the fire chief gave him the go-ahead if he wants to rejoin. He has to do all the qualifications again to get back,” she told them, “He won’t be a lieutenant again, but he’s fine with that.”

“I know he always hated paperwork,” Buck smiled a little, “It’ll be good to have him back. Though I don’t know if they will let him come back to the 118 at all,” he added.

“Don’t know, he doesn’t either, and he’s unsure if he should. Things have happened, Buck,” Maddie said softly.

“I know that we all do, but he’s doing what he can to get better as well. He’s working at it constantly, and he will be for a long time to come. I’m hoping that he will be able to come back. It’s not the same without him there,” Buck pointed out, “Chim and I have talked about what happened a lot, especially when I took Jee to visit him. We would talk as he played with her.”

“Hopefully,” Maddie said quietly, “He’ll be able to go back to the 118. If not, his friend Tommy Kinard has already said that when Howie finishes, he’ll have a place open on his team for a firefighter-paramedic. So he does have a place to land when done, even if it’s not at the 118.”

“That’s good,” Buck nodded, smiling.

“It is,” Eddie agreed, “And we’d welcome him back,” he added.

“We know, and so does he, but he’s still… feeling guilty about what he has done, to me, to you as well,” Maddie explained as Christopher was listening to Patrick as he told stories about a young Taylor.

Taylor smiled at them all before the phone was answered and she and Athena started to try and organize a gathering for the now extended 118 family.

Chapter Seventy

Six months after they had been kidnapped, Athena and Taylor were now seated near each other in the courtroom as they waited for Ali Martin to be sentenced for her crimes. Taylor was seated between her father and Buck. Eddie was on his other side. Athena was behind her with Bobby.

“Miss Martin, please stand,” the Judge said as she waited for her to do so.

Ali stood, a calm look on her face. Though Taylor could see that she was annoyed.

“Miss Martin,” she began, “You have been found guilty of triple homicide, kidnapping, five counts of attempted murder, and several others,” she said, shaking her head. “The first of which you committed as a young teenager of 15 when you murdered your mother in cold blood. Making it look like a suicide and then pinning the blame on your father went the police began to investigate it again. Then five years later you killed Connor Anderson. You killed Michelle Rorke as well, to try and fake your death,” she said, “The crimes you have committed are heinous. The sentence I am handing down is life in prison, without the possibility of parole. I deem you too dangerous to return to the streets. When you failed to get your way, you forced it. Killing those that cared about you, that knew you and loved you. There is nothing more I can say to you.”

Taylor slumped against her father, he put an arm around her. Both of them hated the fact that she had been the one that had killed Nancy. A loving mother and wife. Someone who had loved them all so much, including the daughter that had turned around and murdered her.

“It’s over,” Patrick said as he murmured in Taylor’s ear.

“For now,” she said, “But that doesn’t stop Aunt Jenny and some of Mom’s side of the family trying to butter you up and me,” she noted, she had cut most of the family out of her life for how they had treated Patrick and herself after Nancy’s death.

“They didn’t know,” he reminded her.

“Doesn’t matter, they knew you and they knew Mom, and they all turned against me when I wouldn’t say what I believed. I want nothing to do with them,” she repeated. The last of the sentencing was sorted out. They watched as Ali was taken down, both of them looking at her and wondering what had gone so wrong that she had turned to killing to get her way. Outside the courtroom, the reporters were out in force. Taylor knew better than most just what they were trying to do. Her own network was there as well. None of her fellow co-workers wanted to be the one to be there.

“Miss Kelly!” a reporter from a different network called out, “How do you feel knowing that your Father was innocent all this time and that your sister had been the one to kill your mother?”

“I’m heartbroken that my Dad was in prison for so long and no one listened to what he had to say. To what others had to say. It hurts, even more, to know that my sister had been the one to kill our Mother and harm our family in such a way. I only hope that she realizes now, just what she had caused for our family. Not just myself and my Dad, but herself, and our extended family. My children will never have the chance to meet their Grandmother, and will never know their Aunt,” she answered, “Please, let us all come to terms with this in private,” she asked as she got her dad out of there. Eddie and Buck both helped in getting them through the crowd.

Bobby and Athena were stopped for a moment to answer questions, but they did the same thing as Taylor, telling them a little and then asking for privacy. All they wanted was to be left alone, and to carry on with their lives.

XxXxX

Bobby looked at A-Shift, so much had happened in the last year and a half. Bobby had a son, a child he never thought he would have again, even though Athena was still a little pissed that her pregnancy with Colin was the easiest one she had been through. Buck and Eddie were married, with four children they had now. Taylor had moved back to her own home a few weeks before. No longer breastfeeding the babies, but was now needing her own space a little more. Athena had gone back to work a few days ago, and she had been ecstatic about doing so.

“Right,” he said, “We have someone starting today,” he called out to them all, getting their attention.

“Oh!” Buck asked, looking up from where he and Eddie were looking at Buck’s phone. No doubt Carla was sending them pictures of the triplets as she watched over them. Christopher was at school, not that happy about being back at school, since he missed spending time with his siblings. He loved to watch them and read to them. The only time he was away from them when he was home was when he was doing homework, or they needed a diaper change. None of the three adults had been able to get Christopher to change a single diaper yet. He had made a vow he would only change his children’s nappies when he had some.

Eddie had freaked out when Christopher had said it. Taking both Taylor and Buck to calm him down and to stop him from crying his eyes out at the thought of his baby boy growing up and having a family of his own.

“Yes, we have someone starting today, we’ve finally got a permanent Firefighter-Paramedic,” he said, “Come on out!” he called out.

They all turned when they heard footsteps on the stairs.

“Chim!” Buck was the first to yell as they saw him. He rushed over, grabbing the man and hugging him tightly, “You’re back?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m back. I think I needed the time at the 217, to help me get in the swing of things again, getting called up if I start to slide,” he added, hugging Buck tightly, “I’m glad to be back,” he said as he was let go and Hen was quick to hug him tightly.

“Welcome back,” she murmured.

“I thought you would have gone by now,” Chimney said, shaking his head.

“I thought about it, got so far, but… this is where I belong. Yeah, I might help there, but this is where I need to be,” she told him, smiling as she let him go.

“Yeah, it’s what I’m feeling,” Chimney said as he looked around everyone else, and was quickly welcomed back. “It’s good to be back,” he smiled, he was feeling more balanced than he had in a long time, a very long time.

“Well, you know the rules around here,” Bobby said, “Your first shift, you help the Cap with lunch, now come on,” he grinned, as he patted Chimney on the back and guided him to the kitchen area where he could help with lunch.

“Aye, Aye, Cap,” he grinned.

Buck watched and smiled, glancing over at Eddie, “Well, the full team is back together,” he said.

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded, “I know Athena had a BBQ ready for the weekend since we all have the day. We know what the celebration is about now,” he snorted.

“We do,” Buck grinned, it would be great to get everyone together again.

XxXxX

Athena stood to one side, Colin was half asleep in her arms. Bobby walked over, kissing her cheek before placing one on his son’s head, “Hey,” she smiled.

“Hey, yourself,” he grinned, “We’re all together again, Chim’s settling down easily in the 118 again. Though he’s a little cautious with some of his words, thinking twice when he tells a joke,” he added, “But still doing well. He still has therapy sessions, two a week, one with Maddie and one alone.”

“Good that he’s keeping it up, he has changed, he’s settled I think,” Athena said, “I’ve noticed since he started coming back to how he had been when I first really met him. It’s nice. Hen has told me that he’s more like how he was when they had first become friends.”

Buck rocked Lucas in his arms, the little boy was somewhat overwhelmed by all the people around him, wanting to hold him. He was clinging to Buck and crying each time someone tried to take him.

“Doesn’t want to go?” Karen asked as she walked over, seeing that Buck was standing apart from everyone.

“Nope,” he said, as Lucas started to murmur a little as he spotted someone new near him. Though not really new, as Karen had been by a few times since they were born, even looked after the triplets and Christopher when Buck and Eddie needed a night out. Karen and Hen were besotted by the three little ones and Athena’s son, Colin.

“He’s still so tiny, compared to his siblings,” Karen said quietly.

Buck nodded, “He is, but doing well,” he smiled.

“Papa!” Christopher called out as he walked over, “I think Liam and Lexi want Lucas back,” he told him, grinning as Buck rolled his eyes.

“Right,” Buck snorted and followed Christopher to where the other two were having some tummy time on a blanket in the garden. It was a warm evening and one that had everyone outside for the most part. Kneeling Buck placed Lucas between the two as Athena walked over with Colin.

“Here you go, play together nicely,” Athena said as she set Colin down as well.

“Don’t they always?” Buck asked, grinning.

“I don’t know if you call having to pick up a dozen toys in less than a second playing nicely,” she answered, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Fun for them, not for us,” he grinned as Christopher joined him and leaned against him, “Hey, Superman,” he said, wrapping an arm around him.

“Papa,” he grinned.

Eddie was the next one to walk over, grinning at his husband and son before glancing around, “Ah, Taylor is talking with Maddie,” he said.

“She’s trying to grab all the fun stories of me as a kid,” Buck said with a roll of his eyes.

“I know, when my sisters and parents stopped by she did the same to them,” Eddie murmured.

Bobby walked over, holding out a hand for Athena to take. She took it and was helped to her feet. “Everyone,” he said, getting the attention of those in the garden.

“Bobby,” Michael nodded as he wrapped an arm around David’s waist. The two were back permanently again now. Michael easily got work again, and David quickly settled back at the hospital he had been working at previously, now that it was all cleaned up and repaired after the fire.

Maddie and Taylor walked a little closer. Chimney met them with Jee-Yun clinging to his leg as he slowly walked over, a happy smile on his face. Albert and Ravi were with them as well. Isabel was seated with Athena’s mother next to her, Josephina standing nearby with Patrick and Gregory. The Lees were a little further than them, still feeling a little odd at the gathering, but being easily welcomed by everyone. So many were gathered in the backyard of the Grant-Nash house. Bobby was happy to see them all.

“The last eighteen months have been some of the hardest that we have gone through. We have had the start of relationships and the end of some,” he began, looking around the room, “We’ve had a number of shocks, news, and the truth of things coming out. We’ve all gone through a lot, but we’ve done it together, helping each other, being beside each other. Now, we have a lot more to look forward to,” he said, “So I’m proposing a toast,” he added, noting that people were being handed glasses by May and Harry quickly. Even the kids had sparkling juice as he did. “To New Beginnings,” he said, raising a glass.

Everyone else did the same as they repeated, “To New Beginnings.”

 

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