Reading Time: 104 Minutes
Title: Some Things Are Meant To Be
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slash
Relationship(s): Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Minor/Background Pairings
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Hate Crimes, Homophobia, Domestic Abuse, Bigotry, Character Bashing, Dark Themes, Permanent Injury, Violence – Canon Level, Stalking, Discussion – Child Abuse, Discussion – Domestic Abuse, Discussion – Rape
Author Note: Thank you to HarleyJQuin, ScarslikeVelvet for all the help you have given. And to those that helped turn a small one-shot scene into a massive monster. Rape discussion is related to Dr. Wells.
Beta: ScarslikeVelvet, HarleyJQuin
Alpha: ScarslikeVelvet, HarleyJQuin
Word Count: 180217
Summary: After it comes to light what the Diaz Parents had done to make sure a mother couldn’t talk or contact her son, Shannon and Eddie finally meet after two years and decide that while they cared about each other, the love they had is gone. Instead they decide to Co-Parent Christopher and Shannon does nothing but tease her Ex-Husband to be on the crush he has on his new co-worker, Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley. But will it all be plain sailing as relationships change and grow?
Artist: Halestrom
Chapter Fifty-One
Valentine’s Day crept up on them all. The sudden appearance of pink and red hearts everywhere, followed by bouquets of flowers and the little bears with red hearts, with an embroidered I Love You on them. Buck and Eddie were working the start of the day, but they only had a half shift that morning, a twelve-hour shift to help cover for two others on B-Shift. They were coming to the end of the shift when they got another call out. Getting into the truck, the B-Shift Captain, Natasha Lewis smiled at them as she gave them a rundown of what they would be facing.
“Young man on the outside of a fifth floor of the sixth story building,” she said, “He’s naked as well, so we’re having all kinds of trouble with watchers filming. His girlfriend called us in, and she is waiting there with him, trying to stop him from falling.”
“Isn’t he able to get back into the building?” Xiaoli asked, looking towards his Captain.
“No, he’s tried, but the window is now stuck, and the other one, if they try and open it they will knock him off,” Lewis said as she looked back at them. “Buckley, Diaz, I want you up with the winch to go down and get him. Choose the way to come down.”
“Okay!” they said, nodding as they reached the scene after a few more minutes of spending through LA.
The two jumped out and got the equipment that they needed and headed up. It didn’t take them long to get the man to safety, his parents quickly berating him but also hugging him tightly. He had scared them after all.
“Well,” Buck said, as he heard the story.
“Not every day that happens,” Eddie nodded, laughing quietly as he turned away. The man turned out to be dating his sister’s flatmate. His sister had brought their parents to her home after breakfast together. Sister didn’t know that her flatmate and brother were dating and he escaped, not thinking about how high up he was when he heard his parents and sister.
“No, at least we never had to sneak around like that,” Buck grinned over at him.
“Yeah,” Eddie laughed as they began to put everything away. “So, Shannon has Christopher tonight, want to go out?” he asked, he had already booked something for them both.
“I’d like that, but you do know everywhere is going to be booked solid, don’t you,” Buck pointed out to him, “We could always just have a night in.”
“I know, I did book a table,” he said, “I booked a while ago when we found out we’d have today off. Wasn’t planning on the half shift though,” he added, as they got back into the truck as soon as the young man was taken care of.
Buck snorted, “Okay,” he smiled, “Then, that’s a yes. I’d love to go out,” he smiled.
“As long as you don’t end up in the ER,” someone said from behind.
Buck rolled his eyes and Eddie looked at him, “When I went on my last Valentine’s date, it was with Abby and well, I ended up in the ER after an emergency tracheotomy,” he told him, giving him a little shrug.
“Ah, well, let’s make sure that you enjoy it this time, and it’s a good date,” Eddie said, with a smile.
“Yeah,” he nodded as they headed back to the station.
XxXxX
After a nap and spending a little time with Christopher before dropping him off at Shannon’s for movie night. The two headed out on their date. “That was wonderful,” Buck said, holding the rose that Eddie had given him at the start of the date.
“I know you said that you didn’t understand the hype when it came to Valentine’s Day. With what happened with Abby, I thought it would be a nice idea to do something that would show you what this day should be about,” Eddie said, as he and Buck held hands as they slowly walked to where Eddie had parked.
“Thanks,” he smiled, “It was… it was nice, really nice. A day that just… it felt special, more than the other dates that we have been on,” he said, frowning a little, “Thought I’m not sure if that makes sense at all,” he said, glancing at him.
Eddie smiled back, turning to face him, “It is special, it’s a day for us, those of us that have someone so special in our lives that we never want to be without them again. I know I don’t. I would love to spend every day of my life with you, and I hope that you feel the same.”
“I do,” he told him, “I love you, Eds, I think I started falling for you the moment I met you. Wasn’t sure what I was feeling that first day. It was just jealousy or fear. It was something else and I couldn’t describe it. I was… still in a sense, hung up on Abby and it took a while for me to see that there was someone so much better in front of me.”
Eddie leaned in and they kissed, “I love you,” Eddie said as he pulled back after a moment.
“Love you too, Eds,” he said as they held each other for a few more minutes before they carried on their walk. “When did you organize all this?” he asked him.
“A few weeks ago,” he answered, “I had an idea in my head, talking to Bobby and he told me that you didn’t have a good time on the last Valentine’s date that you went out on. Didn’t know the whole story and didn’t know it was Abby either,” he said, “But I knew it wasn’t a good time.”
“Thank you,” he said, leaning against him a little as they walked, “Well, it’s been a really good night. Wonder if Shannon and Christopher had a good night?” he wondered.
“Knowing them, they had nothing but junk food and fell asleep in front of the TV,” Eddie snorted, “It’s what they did a lot when I was on tour,” he smiled a little, “Chris would tell me all about them when I was away. He liked doing that with me as well for a while.”
“With both of us, he still loves a good movie night,” he laughed, “Come on, let’s get home. No doubt we’ll be able to sleep in a little, he won’t be home until later.”
“More like we’ll be busy,” Eddie smirked, kissing him again before opening the door of the truck and letting him go inside.
“Damn it, Eddie,” Buck huffed as Eddie went around and got in.
“Fun at home,” he told him, smirking as they headed home.
XxXxX
Two days later everyone was gathered at Buck and Eddie’s and it was chaos. Christopher had invited as many of his friends from school as he was allowed. Those of the 118 were there as well, their children all happy and helping as they played outside.
“Man,” Chimney sighed as he walked over to Eddie and Buck, who were both watching the chaos in front of them.
“It’s a lot,” Buck grinned at him, “But, they are having fun,” he added, smiling as he and Eddie shared a look.
“Yeah,” Chimney said, “He’s popular,” he added, as he looked at Christopher who was organizing another game.
Eddie nodded, “Not like me, I was always the wallflower. Shannon… he takes after her a lot,” he smiled watching him play.
“Well, it’s been fun,” Chimney said, “He’s lively, so energetic, I don’t know where he gets it from. But may everything you believe in help you, because I have a feeling that the twins you three are expecting are going to run you all ragged,” he snorted as he headed to find Maddie, who was inside with Shannon and Niamh.
“Dad! Papa!” Christopher yelled, “You have to join in!” he ordered.
Buck and Eddie shared a look before heading out and joining in the water balloon fight. Buck and Eddie were quickly soaked as Christopher and the others were quick to get together to target the two adults. Some of the other parents watched and laughed as Buck pretended to die. Shannon walked out of the house and into the large garden.
“Buck, Eddie,” she called out, a hand resting on her stomach the other secure holding her crutch. Buck and Eddie were quick to react as they could tell she wasn’t happy with the way that her voice sounded.
“Yeah?” Eddie said as he got up and rushed over, “You okay?” he asked.
“Somewhat. Helena and Ramon are on the front doorstep. I shut the door in their face, but they are demanding once more. Athena is one step away from arresting them,” she warned as she looked at Buck who had reached them.
“Fuck,” Eddie cursed, running a hand through his hair, “Keep things out here and I’ll try and send them away.”
“And if they don’t?” Shannon asked him.
“I let Athena do what she wants and arrest them both. They both have been told that there is No Contact to happen between us all,” he sighed, shaking his head as he began to head inside.
“Looks like it might be time to escalate it to a restraining order. The Judge in the case did say that we could get one if they continue their harassment,” Buck reminded him as they headed to the front door. They passed the others in the living room, each of them looking worried. Athena was near the front door, ready in case she was needed.
“If they don’t leave, you can have them arrested,” Eddie told her, touching her shoulder as he went past.
“Alright,” she nodded, stepping back, “Call me if you need me at all. I’ll contact Sue at Dispatch and get her alerted that we might need some backup here.”
Eddie smiled as he went to the front door and opened it. Stepping outside with Buck he looked at his parents. “What are you doing here?” he asked them both. He could see the present that had been put on the ground, it was large, and knowing Helena and Ramon, it was meant for a child of about two or three and not the nine-year-old that Christopher was. It was what they usually got him when it came to gifts. Something that Christopher would often see donated rather than used.
“What do you think we are doing here!” Helena snapped, “We’re here to see our grandson and to wish him a happy birthday. Now, will you stop this nonsense and let us in.”
Eddie took a breath, “Don’t you remember the hearing? The fact that I told you both that if you went through with it that you wouldn’t be contacting Christopher again until he was old enough to make the decision himself,” he added, shaking his head.
“Of course, he’ll want to see us today,” Ramon blustered, shaking his head at his obstinate son, “Let us inside and stop all this. We were looking out for you and Christopher.”
“No you weren’t,” Buck said, “You were looking out for your own interests,” he stated, shaking his head and looking at the two of them, “You’ve been told not to come here, so please leave.”
“You have no say in this,” Helena hissed at him, “You’ve corrupted our son and turned him and Christopher against us. I see that Shannon is getting further along than she should be at this stage,” she added a little smirk on her face.
“Well, she might look it, but she isn’t. She’s pregnant with twins, and we can’t wait for their arrival as well. Two more little Diaz’s running around,” Buck smiled at the thought.
Eddie looked at him, and seeing the smile, he said nothing. Though he would be talking about it later on. “You both need to leave. I don’t want either of you here,” he stated.
“We will not leave until we see Christopher and give him his gift. Would you really deny Christopher the chance of getting more presents from people that love him,” Helena said, trying to emotionally manipulate her son and Buck.
“No doubt it’s a gift for a two or three-year-old that will get donated in the next day or two. So no, he won’t want it,” Eddie snorted, “None of the gifts you’ve given him in the last four years have been kept at all. He’s not a baby,” he told her, “Now leave, or I will have the cops called to escort you away or arrest you.”
“You would do that to your own parents!” Ramon said, looking at him, “Have you no shame at all?”
“No, I don’t. Why would I be ashamed of doing such a thing to protect my son from grandparents that don’t have his best interest at heart? They only think of themselves and what they want out of life. You said you wanted me to carry on and have more children. I am and Christopher is still with me, he is no burden on me or Buck,” Eddie told them, shrugging when both his parents stared at him.
“We love him so much, I could never see him sent anywhere,” Buck muttered, pouting a little.
“And considering that he’ll be wanting to go to a sleepaway camp at so-” Eddie began, a little smile playing on his face as he knew what Buck was against.
“No, not happening, I don’t want him to go away for two weeks to camp,” Buck protested. Christopher had been slowly letting them know that the school helped run such a thing and he was now of age for it. Buck was very much against it, even if Shannon was for it, and Eddie was on the fence.
“It’s going to, Shannon is all for it and you will cave to Chris, so will I in the-”
“You can’t send him to something like that!” Helena said horrified that they would do so.
“We are, now leave,” Eddie said, Buck nodding along with him.
“We will not,” Ramon said, “We’re here for a reason and we will not leave.”
“Then I hope you enjoy being arrested,” Eddie said as he and Buck reentered the house. Athena was already there waiting for them to come back inside.
“I’ll take care of the rest, a unit is already on route. It’s only a str-” she laughed, “Right here,” she added as she left the house to oversee the arrest.
Buck and Eddie watched from a window as Ramon and Helena were taken away. “Well,” Buck said, “We’ll see about a restraining order tomorrow and make sure that they can’t do that again. For now-”
“Let’s go back to Chris and have some fun,” Eddie finished for him. The two smiled and headed back to the garden. Shannon was there and after getting a quick reassurance from them, she went back inside to hear the latest gossip from Athena about her former In-Laws and just what type of trouble they might be in.
Chapter Fifty-Two
The restraining order was easier to get than they thought. With what the Diaz parents had been doing over the last few months. The Judge was quick to issue it, he saw a problem with them turning up all the way from El Paso and he could see them easily trying to take Christopher by force. Buck and Eddie breathed easier as they headed back to work a week after Christopher’s birthday. The day had been a long one so far. Hard calls each and every time. No rest either, as soon as they got back, they were out again.
“Damn,” Buck said, as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was beginning to tense up and the muscles in his neck and upper back were screaming at him for the abuse they had been going through so far that day.
Eddie reached over and massaged them as best as he could in the back of the truck. “Six hours,” he reminded him.
“Yeah,” Buck said.
“Don’t jinx it!” Chimney yelled out over the headset. He was in the ambulance with Hen as they headed to a three-car pile-up.
“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes. It wasn’t like he believed in such things, no matter what his Abuela would say.
“Really, if we stay late, I’m blaming you!” Chimney added, causing the others in the engine and the ladder to both snort and laugh. Though most of them were thinking the same thing.
They reached the scene and were quick to get out with Bobby assessing the situation and handing out orders. Buck and Eddie worked together as they always did to free passengers and drivers so the paramedics could get to them and fully assess the injuries they had received. Eddie and Buck shared a look as they headed to another car and began to open the doors that were jammed shut. There was a young woman inside, looking fine, but they couldn’t tell her actual situation until they got to her. She was talking at least to them.
“I can’t believe this has happened,” she said, sobbing a little, she was scared and they could both see that.
“It’s going to be okay,” Buck said, reassuring her, “My friends will be here in a minute to check you over as soon as we get you out of there.”
“Can you tell us if anything hurts?” Eddie then asked, “Give us an idea of any problems you might be having.”
The woman glanced over, “Just my head and my leg, they both hurt,” she told them, “and my chest, where my seatbelt is,” she added.
“Okay,” Eddie nodded, not seeing anything to really cause him to worry. “We’ll have you out soon, but you remain in there until you’ve been seen to properly.”
“Okay,” she said, waiting patiently. She still looked scared as she talked a little about herself and why she was driving at that moment in time.
“There we go,” Buck said, as Hen and Chimney were called over, “These two are some of the best in the business of saving lives,” he told her, “You take care, alright, Maria,” he smiled as he then went to put away the jaws that he had just finished using. Maria’s car was the last one that had someone inside of it. Now it was time to let the scene investigators get to work before they could clean and then reopen that portion of the street.
Buck was back and forth as they finally got the go-ahead to clear the scene. He was working on one section when he heard a yell of his name. Buck looked up just in time to see a car speeding towards him, ignoring the signs that said that the section was closed still. Buck dived out of the way, only to feel something clip him on the leg. He winced as he landed. He was about to get back up when he felt a hand on his chest stopping him.
“I’m fine,” he said, looking up at Eddie, who was looking down in worry.
“Let us be the judge of that, Buck,” Bobby was the one to speak as he radioed in what had happened. Hen and Chimney had already left with the ambulance to take Maria to the hospital. they would have to wait for a second unit to head their way.
“Really, I’m okay, a little achy with my leg, as it was hit. And maybe a bit winded,” he admitted, knowing better than to not tell them what was going on. He could see the horrified panic in their eyes as they both looked down at him. They weren’t going to be letting him up, he could see it.
“Don’t care, Buck,” Eddie said, keeping a hand on his chest, as he began to check his boyfriend over, “You could have a hidden injury from it, and don’t worry no one else was hurt,” he added as he saw Buck about to ask something.
“I’ll stay still and thank you for telling me,” Buck said, refraining from nodding as he knew he would be glared at should he do so.
“Athena is already arresting the guy,” Bobby added as he looked into the distance, “She does not look happy, so expect her to come and check on you as soon as she is freed,” he warned Buck.
A few minutes later they heard a familiar siren heading towards them as another paramedic unit rolled up to them. The paramedics from the 112 were out and heading over to see to Buck. Eddie stepped back, knowing better than to get in the way as they worked. They got him on the gurney and into the ambulance quickly, though both of them said that it looked as though he mostly had bruising only, after the truck bombing, they would feel more comfortable with him going to the hospital to get his leg checked out.
Over an hour later after arriving at the hospital and Eddie was finally able to go and see him, “You okay?” he asked, walking over to the bed where Buck was sitting up already, looking fine.
“Bruising mainly, a light sprain of my ankle. Need to rest it for a few days and it should be fine,” Buck answered him, “I’ll be achy for a couple of days as well,” he added, “I told you I was fine,” he said, taking Eddie’s hand and holding it tightly.
“I know, but after all that has happened, I just didn’t want to take that chance,” Eddie said as he leaned down and kissed him, “What about release?”
“As soon as they come back with the forms, I can go home. Nothing much else to do but that,” he shrugged, “So, home!” he laughed, smiling brightly as Bobby walked into the room.
“You doing okay, Kid?” he asked him, Athena walking in behind him.
“Yeah,” he answered, telling him what he had just told Eddie, “So I can now go home, a few days and I’ll be back.”
“So miss one shift, then we have our four days, so you should be okay by then?” Bobby asked him.
Buck nodded, “Yeah, I’ll get checked out the day before we have a shift, just in case, but he said that I should be all healed up in four or five days.”
“Alright,” Bobby nodded, “I’ll make the note in the schedule, so we can get someone to cover for your next shift,” he said as he glanced over at Athena, she was still in uniform so he knew that she was there more in an official capacity than just checking up on him.
“‘Thena,” he smiled, “What is it?”
“I need a statement from you about what happened. I got everyone else’s,” she told him, “Just let me record it, I doubt there will be much difference from everyone else’s,” she added, pulling out a recorder to do so.
“Sure,” Buck nodded, Athena setting up the recorder before stating their names, time, and locations. Athena gave a case number that had been assigned to it and then Buck gave his statement. “I was cleaning up and looked up when I heard my name being called. I saw a red Toyota heading straight towards me in the second lane of the road that had been closed from the accident. I tried to jump out the way, but it clipped me on the leg as I did so,” he said, quickly finishing off his statement and smiling as Athena shut things down.
“Thanks, Buck,” she smiled, “Now you get some rest when you get home.”
“I will,” he nodded, smiling. The doctor returned as Bobby and Athena left the room.
“Well, Mr Buckley,” he said as he smiled at the young man, “let’s get you released from here so you can go home,” he added, making sure to check him over one last time before letting him take the paperwork and head out.
“Thanks,” Buck called out as he was wheeled out of the room, though he had only protested a little bit as he had been told to keep off his leg a little to give it some time to heal.
“You really feel fine?” Eddie asked again as they got into the Uber that he had ordered.
“Yeah,” Buck smiled, “as I said, a little achy, but really, I’ll be fine.”
Eddie nodded and was a little quiet as they headed for home. The Uber driver did try and start a conversation with them, but he quickly became quiet when their replies were a little short. Helping Buck out of the car and to the house. The two of them were greeted by Carla.
“Well, what are you boys doing home so early?” she asked them both, she hadn’t expected them back for another four hours.
“Accident,” Buck said, “Got clipped by a car going through the closed-off section of the road while we were cleaning it,” he added, sitting down and closing his eyes and he rested his head against the back of the couch.
“Right,” she nodded, looking him over, “You don’t look that bad, but looks can be deceiving,” she added.
“He’s okay,” Eddie was the one to answer, “Where’s Christopher?” he asked, expecting the nine-year-old to already be upon them.
“He’s working through one of his workbooks in his room,” she answered, “he should be done soon.”
“Thanks, Carla,” Eddie smiled at her.
“I’ve already prepared dinner, all it needs is to be put in the oven and let it bake. Lasagna, it’s what Christopher asked for. Howard gave me his recipe finally,” she smirked, she had been after her husband to hand that one over since before they had even married.
“A treat then from what you’ve told us,” Buck grinned, she had gone on about it often enough that Buck had wanted to try it.
“Exactly that,” she nodded, “This is only the second time I’ve cooked it, so hoping it turned out right,” she added, “Do give me a good review,” she laughed as she began to get her things together. “Isabel will be here soon as well,” she then reminded them as she grabbed her jacket.
“Right,” Eddie nodded, remembering that his Abuela was going to be visiting, mainly to see Christopher.
Carla went and said goodbye to Christopher, causing the child to come out of his room and see his dad and papa sitting there, smiling as he went and hugged them after they saw Carla out the door. getting questions answered, Eddie, set about starting dinner, knowing his Abuela would be by soon. Josephina would be dropping her off before heading to her own meal at her son’s home.
Eddie was quick to answer the door as soon as the bell rang. Christopher left his bedroom to greet Isabel as she walked into the home. Eddie smiled at the two as they headed into the living room, joining Buck who was resting on the couch, much to his annoyance as he wanted to help out in the kitchen with dinner.
“So,” Isabel said as she looked at the three, “How excited are you for the bebes?” she asked.
“Very,” Christopher grinned, “I’ve been preparing with Denny just in case they are both girls,” he said, telling her all about his research spiral into tea parties and all the things that a lot of little girls liked.
“Have you thought of names?” she then asked as Christopher finished, glancing at the two men.
“We’ve been talking about it, come up with a few suggestions that we all agree on,” Buck answered her, smiling, “But there is one thing that we can agree on,” he added.
“Semi-agreed,” Eddie interjected with a smile, “Only a bit do I agree, and that’s more because of your reasons.”
Buck nodded, “The babies’ last name will be Diaz,” he added, “If we get married, I know that I want to be a Diaz.”
“When,” Christopher said, “When you get married.”
“Okay,” Buck smiled.
Eddie laughed and nodded, “Alright, when we get married” he conceded to his son.
Christopher grinned happily at the two of them, “I want their names to begin with C, like mine does,” he said as he looked at Isabel, “I’m really excited, I can’t wait,” he said, almost vibrating where he was sitting next to his Great Grandmother, leaning against her.
“We all are,” Buck agreed, “We’re looking at the nursery now, and what we want to do with it. We have a few things already, and I know most want to throw a baby shower, but none of us really want that. We’ve had a few gifts, and got a few things ourselves,” he said, beginning to babble a little bit as he tried to think of what they had done so far.
“I chose the colors,” Christopher interrupted proudly as he puffed up his chest a little bit, much like his dad did when he did something he felt he should be proud of.
“Yeah, Lilac and a pastel yellow, they look really nice together. So we’re planning to try and get some paint soon for that. Eddie and I have been preparing the bedroom for the change,” Buck smiled, reaching over and ruffling Chrisotpher’s hair.
“That sounds wonderful, and maybe we can all work on some names, there are many beautiful names out there for children,” Isabel smiled as she looked from her great-grandson to her grandson and his boyfriend.
“Right,” Eddie said as he heard the alarm go off on the oven, “That would be dinner, so Christopher go and clean up,” he told his son, helping him off Isabel’s lap.
Christopher gave a put-upon sigh as he then headed to the bathroom to do so. Eddie helped Buck up, with Isabel asking what had happened and getting a quick recap as they headed to the dining room to sit down. Christopher was seated between Buck and Isabel when he brought in the food, serving everyone before himself. They talked over dinner about names and the meaning behind them that Isabel and Buck could remember for them.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Michael sighed as he walked over to where Bobby was standing in the loft of the 118. It was unusual that the man would stop by the station, usually when he had Harry with him, he would stop by. Though since Christmas the man would come by more often, just for a little chatter with Bobby, the two were quickly becoming fast friends.
“Michael,” Bobby smiled at him, though it didn’t last that long as he saw the weariness on the man’s face. He had told his family about the tumor just after the new year. Now nearing the end of February, he was receiving treatment, May and Harry had been upset to learn what was going on. Both of them had stood by their father, doing what they could to keep his morale up and support him. Athena had been just as upset to find out what was going on. Their divorce at the beginning had been hard on her, but it didn’t take long for her to find her footing again. She and Michael had been able to make their peace with everything and come into their own when it came to co-parenting their children.
“Bobby,” he said, giving him a weak and tired smile, “Can we talk?” he asked, gesturing to where he knew Bobby’s office was. They had many talks in there over the last couple of weeks.
“Of course,” he nodded, leading the way down the stairs and to his office. Those on A-Shift were all doing their chores. It had been a calmish morning and now they seemed to be having a small break from calls. “You okay?” he asked the man as soon as the door closed behind them.
Michael sighed and shook his head, sitting down in the chair and resting his head on his hands, “No, not really.”
“What’s going on?” Bobby asked, frowning as he sat down near him instead of behind his desk.
Michael looked up at him, “The radiation therapy doesn’t seem to be working at all,” he told him, “It hasn’t done anything,” he finished quietly.
Bobby was quiet, “Does Athena know?” he asked him, reaching out and putting a hand on his arm.
“No, I don’t know how to tell them. I have another couple of weeks left, but they aren’t sure that it’s going to work now after the last two months of it,” he told him, “I…” he trailed off, closing his eyes, “I’m tired, Bobby, already, it’s been two months and I just want this over with.”
“I wish there was something that I could say or do that would help you. But I know that there is nothing in this situation that could change things. I just hope that given some more time, something happens to change that,” Bobby told him, hopeful that would be the outcome in the end. He didn’t want May or Harry to lose their father at all. They needed him still.
“I know, I can hope, but I’m not holding out much of it. They are talking about other options, and I’m going to look into things, but I’m making no solid plans at all for now,” he added.
“I understand, but make sure you talk with Athena, we’re with you, don’t forget that,” he reminded him, giving him a tight smile.
Michael snorted and nodded, “I know, she’ll be kicking my ass here and there to make sure I get better, but some things… well, you just can’t always fight like that,” he said, smiling as he thought of his ex-wife. She had always been a force to be reckoned with.
Bobby couldn’t help but lang and nod in agreement, “Yes, she would,” he smiled, “Want to join us for an early lunch?”
Michael shook his head, “No, I just needed to talk to someone for a few moments and get that off my chest. It’s hard to think with that plaguing me.”
“I understand, well, as best as I can,” he added.
“Yeah,” he smiled a little more brightly as he got up, “Thanks, for always being willing to listen to me talk about things.”
“I would like to think that we are actually friends now,” Bobby told him, hoping that the man felt the same.
Michael nodded, “We are,” he agreed.
“Then what are friends for but to be there for each other when we’re needed,” he said, getting another small laugh before showing Michael out. Bobby headed back up to the loft, now finding Hen and Chimney on the couch, the TV off, but settled side by side.
“So,” Hen said, “What’s going on?” she asked her best friend, “You’ve been moping around for a while now and I’m getting a little sick of it.”
“Not exactly moping,” Chimney replied, rolling his eyes, “more like unsure of what I should do. I should talk with Buck maybe, he’ll be able to help me more.”
“Hey,” Hen said, grabbing his arm before he could even think about sitting up properly. “Tell me what’s going on, and we’ll see if we can’t do something without asking Buck first. I can see that you don’t really want to talk to Buck about this, especially with the face you just pulled.”
Chimney huffed but sat back, “Yeah, okay,” he told her, “So, Maddie, her parents came by a while ago. Trying to get her to move back with them and date someone that they approved of.”
“Yeah, I remember you and Buck talking about the disaster of a dinner,” she nodded, “Are you worried that she might leave you?” she asked, frowning, she didn’t think Maddie would go back, not with the way that Buck had spoken about the dinner and the Buckley Parents.
“No, I’m not scared of that at all. I think I might have said something that has her on edge,” he added, “I said… I said that I loved her. I know she’s not ready to say that. I wouldn’t have said it for a while longer, but her parents were just dismissive of what we felt for each other. Like it was nothing, you know,” he sighed, “staring at the ceiling for a moment before adding, “I just told them twice that I loved Maddie, she heard it, and I reminded her that I know she’s not ready for that, I know that. I might be but she isn’t. She was hurt badly by Doug, and she’s hurt even more because his parents and brother tried to cause trouble. I love her, Hen, and I think by saying it I’ve scared her.”
“Okay, we can work with that. She knows that you know that she isn’t ready to say something like that about a relationship?” she asked, trying to clarify what Chimney was saying.
“Yes,” he nodded.
“You’re worried that by saying it before she was ready to hear it, that you’re going to scare her away?” she asked another question.
“Yes,” he replied again, glancing over at his best friend.
“She’s still with you, Chim,” Hen reminded him, shaking her head, “If it had scared her away then she would have left right then, right after. She hasn’t. She is still going out on dates with you, enjoying spending time with you. She might not be ready to say it, but it might be that she was ready to hear it.”
“Yeah,” he sighed, shaking his head, “I just… I think I’m just worried. Dad called me, for the first time in about eight years, he called me. He’s not happy either, he’s found out that I’m dating. He’s not happy about a few other things as well,” he rolled his eyes.
“Chim,” Hen said, shaking her head at him again, “you know better than to listen to your Dad about what you should do with your life. If you had, you would be back in Korea and we wouldn’t be friends anymore. Or we may be long-distance friends at the most,” she finished.
Chimney snorted, “Yeah, I would be doing a business degree and working in the family business as he calls it. He is never going to be happy with me, and I know that Min-Jae isn’t happy with our Dad,” he said, thinking of the younger brother he had never had the chance to meet. He’s only ever spoken to him once when the kid had been about seven and he had come onto the call he was having with their father.
“Min-Jae, that’s your brother?” she asked, getting a nod, “Huh, never really thought of your brother having a Korean name while you don’t.”
“I do, I changed it legally when I was eighteen to Howard. But my full name is Howard Min-Chul Han, now, Min-Chul is my Korean name. It’s what my Dad calls me. John calls me that occasionally, as does Anne. Min-Jae does have an English name, Dad gave him one for when he does business over here, it’s Albert,” he said with a little smile.
“Min-Chul,” Hen said, sounding it out, “I don’t know why I thought it wasn’t weird that you didn’t have a Korean name, considering you were born in Seoul,” she added, looking at him.
Chimney laughed, “It’s… not unusual that when we move over here, we adopt an English name, to better settle in. My Mom did the same as well. Her name was Jee-Yun, she never really learned how to speak English, but she did take on the English name of Jean. Anne and John helped her with that. She enjoyed having one,” he said, “She loved the culture over here, how different things were from Korea,” he added.
“I’m glad she enjoyed her time here,” Hen said, knowing that Jee-Yun had died when Chimney had been young.
“She did,” he smiled, “she didn’t want to leave when Dad went back to Korea. She remained here, and he… well he was never happy about anything. After she died, he married within a year. Myung was younger than my Mom had been, pretty and driven. She ruled the house a lot more than my own did. I know that Min-Jae had a bit of trouble with that. I got told that he was a bit rebellious. Though Dad called him Albert and not Min-Jae a lot back then,” he frowned.
“Think your brother prefers Albert to Min-Jae?” she asked him.
“Maybe,” he shrugged, “I’ve never met him apart from that time when he was six, and he was using mainly Min-Jae back then,” he told her, “Though. I met Maddie’s parents,” he said, as he thought back to what part of his problem was.
“Yeah,” she nodded, giving him a small smile at the change of subject. Chimney rarely talked about his family, she knew that he had a half-brother and that his Father still lived in Korea, but that was mainly it for that side of things.
“Anne and John,” he said, “They… took me in when Mom died, they were parents to me. More so than my own Dad was,” he snorted, “I was thinking about talking to them and seeing if they would like to meet Maddie.”
“Ah, so basically it might be time for her to meet the parents,” she nodded, “I can see it going well. You both love each other and while she might not be ready to say so, she does love you.”
“Yeah,” he nodded, “I know that. In my heart, I know that, but I have a head and a brain that doesn’t want to believe it all. Therapy is helping with a few things.”
“All the Therapy,” Hen laughed, “I know Bobby had some after the truck bombing,” she said, “I do couples counseling with Karen. I made the worst mistake in my life and I will be paying it for the rest of it,” she sighed, thinking of her ex Eva. “In one way or another, I think we’ve all needed it at some point, or we all will at some point,” she nodded.
Chimney snorted, “It started with Buck, this lot did. He talked Maddie about doing so, who then talked to me about it. I decided that maybe it would be something I should do. I never got any after the rebar incident,” he said, shaking his head, “I should have done. I drove while angry, and maybe I wasn’t the direct cause of it, I really didn’t help,” he sighed, “But, I was cleared in the end, and I know I should have gone and gotten some help for what I was going through. Tatiana was only the tip of the iceberg,” he snorted as he looked at his friend, “But I decided that maybe it was something that I could do. I did what I can to make sure that I’m the best person I can be for Maddie. And yes, for myself as well.”
Hen smiled at him, “Well, I’m happy for you, I’m glad that you’ve taken the steps for yourself. I know they are hard ones. I’m finding that out,” she told him.
“How can I not, if Buck’s doing it, even after what happened with Wells, then… well,” he shrugged, “Oh, and I was out of line about the jokes I made about that situation. Got called out by my therapist for that.”
“Yeah, I had the same,” Hen nodded, “I didn’t realize at the time that it… it was that bad of a thing. I just thought, well, Buck being Buck. He wasn’t in the right mind for that, not after the rollercoaster,” she added, feeling bad that she had been laughing along with Chimney about the situation. The only one that didn’t when he found out was Bobby. He had raked them both over the coals, even though it was Chimney that had brought it to his attention in the end.
“When I mentioned it to mine, well, he hit the roof, and Wells has been dealt with, no longer is able to practice, and found more people that were in the same situation as Buck,” he said, biting his lip, “I’ve not told him that either. That she’s been dealt with, I don’t know how he’ll react to it.”
“How who will react?” Buck asked as he and Eddie walked over to the snacks in hand as well as drinks for them all.
“Oh, thanks,” Chimney smiled, “Erm,” he paused, getting a nod from Hen. “Wells,” was all he said as he quickly saw Buck pale a little.
“Oh, erm, yeah what… What about her?” Buck said as he grabbed Eddie’s hand.
“She was found out to be doing things with other patients as well,” Chimney said, trying not to just come out and say something. He didn’t know what Eddie knew of the situation. “She’ll never be able to work again, and others have come forward. I don’t know about anything else, but she’s gone.”
Buck nodded, “Th… thanks for telling me. Who?”
“Me, I… made light of what happened and was told exactly how wrong I was. I realized that… Bobby needed to know, he helped to bring it to light and others came forward as soon as it was known. I didn’t… I didn’t want you to worry about it. And I’m sorry for what I said about it all when it happened. I know better, I’m the damn Lieutenant on the shift and I never act like it.”
“I… thanks,” Buck said, “Let’s… let’s just play something for a bit, I don’t want to think about it.”
“Okay,” Chiney nodded, agreeing with him. The four of them settled down, with Hen quietly informing Eddie a little more about what had happened.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Buck was heading towards the stairs of the 118 when he froze at a voice calling his birth name. “Evan!” It wasn’t long after that, that someone wrapped their arms around him.
“Let go,” Buck demanded as he shook the woman off and turned to face and see who it was. “Claire Anderson,” he sighed, shaking his head, “What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be back in Hershey?” he asked her, wondering if his parents had gone through with their threat of sending Claire to him.
“What do you think I’m doing here!” she exclaimed, looking hurt and taking a step back as though she had been hit.
“Stop with the dramatics, you were the same at school,” he told her, “And no I have no idea what you’re doing here. The last time I saw you, you were being escorted from my home by the police after you tried to break into my bedroom for the seventh time that week,” he reminded her.
“Buck,” Eddie said as he walked over, seeing the woman standing there and looking at Buck like she would like to eat him.
“Hey,” Buck smiled at him, reaching out, he needed that comforting touch from his boyfriend. He didn’t want to deal with Claire on his own at all. He remembered how she was when they were in school. Neither of their parents really did anything to dissuade her from what she was doing.
“Everything okay?” he asked, taking the offered hand.
“Ye-” Buck began only to be interrupted by Claire.
“I’m talking to my fiance,” she snapped at him, “I would thank you to get away from him and refrain from touching him,” she added, glaring at Eddie.
Buck rolled his eyes, “You’re not my fiance at all. What you are is a stalker,” he told her bluntly, “Or did you forget what you got in trouble for when we were at school and college?” he smirked as she huffed at him.
“Buck, Eddie,” Bobby said as he walked over, some of the others hearing the words were curious as to what was going on.
“Oh, is this the Claire that they threatened you with?” Chimney asked, hearing the name when he was in the loft.
“Yeah,” Buck said, “She was obsessed back then, I was a skinny runt for most of my mid-teens,” he snorted, thinking of how he looked back then.
“Well, they do say that those that were weedy always grow up just right,” Claire said as she took a step towards them.
Buck turned to glare at her, “I want nothing to do with you. Whatever Margaret and Phillip told you, you are not my fiance, you are not my friend or anything. I don’t want to know you. I don’t like you,” he snapped at her, moving closer to Eddie, “Now, please leave, you’re disrupting my workspace,” he told her, turning away from her.
“Don’t you dare turn away from me Evan Christopher Buckley!” she yelled at him, “You are going to be marrying me and I will not have you here in California, you will be coming back to Hershey with me tonight!”
Buck growled as he turned around and glared at her, “You are nothing but a delusional little girl still,” he snapped at her, “I will never be doing anything with you. I would rather die than have to marry a psycho bitch like you. You made my life hell when I was at school. Watching me all the time, turning up in my home. Breaking into my home to get to my room and parking yourself in there naked!” he told her, “I hated you, you were the damn bitch that made everyone in high school bully me because you weren’t getting your way. Well, tough shit, I still don’t like you. You won’t be able to change my mind about everything. You will leave, and you will not come back. Because seriously, I will call the damn cops and press charges this time. There will be consequences to what you do this time.”
“In other words, I believe that you should leave my boyfriend alone,” Eddie said, looking at her.
“Boyfriend!” she screamed, eyes wide, “How… how dare you try and corrupt my sweet Evan!”
“He is definitely sweet,” Eddie said, “But he really isn’t yours. You can’t own someone. They are free to do what they want.”
“And I am choosing Eddie, and our children, over a bitch like you,” Buck seethed, normally he wouldn’t be swearing while he was working, but there was something about Claire Anderson that set him on edge.
“I will make your life a living hell,” she said, glaring at Eddie, “you will leave my sweet Evan alone. I will bring the entirety of the law on your head for what you have done.”
“Lady,” came a voice from behind Claire, “I don’t think you have the authority to say anything of the sort.”
“Athena,” Buck smiled, “This is the bitch… the woman that my parents are trying to force me to marry. She is also a stalker and made life a living hell when I was a teenager. She was obsessed with dating me. She turned people against me when I refused to go along with her insane wishes. In college, I got kicked out so that I could escape her. There was no way she would have dropped out unless I did.”
“I see,” she said, looking at the woman, “And why is she here now?”
“Because she thin-”
“Because I am here to take Evan back to Hershey, we are to marry soon and I will not have him here in LA, it’s a cesspit of deviancy, you would know since you are the law around here,” Clarie said, a little smirk on her face, “My father is a well off DA over in Hershey, he knows the law well enough,” she added.
“She’s homophobic,” Buck said, “Doesn’t like the fact that I’m dating Eddie,” he added.
“I see,” Athena said again, nodding, “Ma’am, if I was you, I would go back to Hershey and forget about getting anything here. Eddie and Buck aren’t going to be splitting up anytime soon. They have children they need to take care of and I’ve no doubt that a certain nine-year-old would be throwing a fit if he ever thought his Papa would be away from him at any time,” she added.
“I will have my way,” Claire said as she turned and flounced out of the station.
Buck sighed as he leaned against Eddie, “I can’t believe they actually told her where I was. I made sure each time I went somewhere, that she never found out. It’s one of the reasons why I moved around a lot for a while. She found out where I was. It took a while to find out that she was still going to my parents and breaking in. I stopped letting them know and sending things to them after that. I didn’t tell them I was in LA, the only reason they know now is that Maddie was here and found out from her that I was,” he said.
“She’ll be upset to know that she’s the one that caused this by telling them that,” Chimney winced.
Buck shook his head, “No, no, it’s not her fault at all. I forgot to tell her that. She… It took a while for her to know about Claire and what she was doing all the time. I knew she would find me eventually, but I’m… better prepared now than I was back then. My parents didn’t care and hers always gave her what she wanted. She managed to convince them that she was dating me. It took her breaking into the house when I wasn’t there and being in my room and my Mother finding out that things took a different tone. Her Father tried to make sure that she kept away from me. Didn’t really work, she did everything she could still to get in my way. People found out about what happened, but she was able to turn it around that she was a victim of something I had done and that was it, my life went to shit,” he told them, shaking his head, “Now I’m just hoping she’ll get the message and fuck off right back to Hershey.”
“Record everything that she does, if she does anything,” Athena suggested as she went over to Bobby who had been standing there, about to intervene with what was going on.
“Let’s go and have a little lunch,” Bobby said, “I’ve got it all set out and ready,” he smiled a little as he patted Buck’s shoulder in reassurance that he had no trouble from him. “I’ll be informing Chief Alonzo about what is going on.”
“I would,” Buck nodded, “She’ll try and take things to them and get them on her side. She is right that her Dad is well-connected. He’s a DA and a good one. He’s done a lot of good work over there. But as I said, he and his wife have always let her do what she wants. She’s a spoiled entitled little brat that has never really had the word No used against her except by me.”
“It’ll be fine,” Chimney told him, “We’ll be on the lookout for her.”
Buck smiled and nodded, “Thanks,” he replied gratefully as he and the others headed up, Eddie still holding his hand. He hadn’t really spoken much, he knew a lot more about the situation that had happened between Buck and Claire, including a number of incidents that made his blood boil in the way that they ignored what was going on.
XxXxX
Buck rolled his shoulders as he walked to the front door. He felt like there was someone watching him. He glanced over his shoulder, not able to see someone. Though he already had a feeling he knew who it was, or who was causing it. The place was clear, he could see nearly all around him and there wasn’t any place for Claire to hide. It wouldn’t be the first time that he had to warn her away when she did something like this. He unlocked the front door and walked in. Christopher was with Eddie at Isabel’s and he would be joining them shortly. He had just seen Shannon for one of their little Wednesday Rants, as he called them. A quick lunch during school hours usually or afterward at a small cafe if Buck was free, but since the school was closed for the day thanks to some flooding after a burst pipe, they had met for lunch.
Shannon had been ranting about how she felt like a whale most of the time, and how it was getting harder to do things. She was now thirty weeks and they were getting really close to the due date. Since she was expecting twins it would be around the 37th week. Seven weeks and Buck and Eddie would be down for paternity leave. Eight weeks to spend with their children, and they still didn’t know their gender. Durand was going to be covering for Shannon and her time off. Though Shannon already had plans to only be out for three weeks before going back to work. She didn’t want to miss the end of the term.
Buck had taken his time filling her in about Claire and the fact that she had been watching him, and turning up in odd places where he would be alone. So far he had been able to get around her and leave before she really started anything. Shannon had been commiserating the fact that he had someone stalking him, and she was worried about his, Eddie’s, and Christopher’s safety. Buck had reassured her that he had started installing a lot of security, to tell him if anything was amiss.
“Hey,” he answered as his phone buzzed in his hand.
“You will marry me,” came Claire’s voice.
Buck ended the call quickly, blocking the number straight away. He had no idea how she had been able to receive it. He always used the burner phone when he called his parents. They didn’t have his number, and he knew that no one would give it out at all. He dumped his things and grabbed the cake that he had made for the dinner at Isabel’s, and rushed out of the house. He didn’t want to stay there alone any longer. He wasn’t feeling safe. He got into his jeep, glancing around, hoping he would find out where she was hiding. He still couldn’t see her and started up the jeep, and headed away. Using the hands-free, he called Eddie.
“Hey Buck,” Eddie said, and Buck could hear the smile on his face. He could feel himself relaxing a little as he heard him.
“Eds,” he said, and his voice cracked a little.
“Buck?” Eddie said, this time his voice was a little more on edge, “What’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked. Buck could hear movement and knew Eddie was finding a quiet place to talk to him.
“She’s found my number, Eds, she just called me. I…” he took a breath as he stopped at a set of lights. “I feel like she’s always watching me. I don’t know what I’m to do,” he admitted quietly.
“It’s going to be okay, we’ll get you a new number,” he said, hoping to reassure his boyfriend that things would be okay. He could hear the slight panic in Buck’s voice and it really didn’t sit right with him.
“Yeah, yeah,” Buck shuddered and then headed towards them, “just stay on the line with me. I want to make sure that cameras are all installed around the house. I don’t want to take any chances. I know Chimney is going to be helping us with that.”
“It’ll be fine, and I don’t mind the extra security,” Eddie replied. He remained on the line until he saw Buck part the jeep in the driveway at his Abuelas and rushed over to greet him.
Buck practically fell into Eddie’s arms, he felt like he was back in school again. Having to hide from Claire and those that had taken her side. He was feeling like he was being hunted. He held Eddie tightly as he let himself calm down a little. He didn’t want to upset Christopher if he walked in just yet.
“Feeling better?” Eddie asked a few moments later as they slowly pulled apart.
“Yes,” Buck nodded, smiling at him, this time a little brighter, but still not as bright as usual.
“Abuela has cooked and I didn’t even get a chance to help,” he pouted, he had been trying to learn a few of his grandmother’s recipes, but every now and then she would tell him he isn’t ready, and shoo him out the kitchen so she can cook in peace.
“Maybe next time,” Buck laughed, causing Eddie to smile as they went in. Christopher greeted them with a hug as he told Buck all about his surprise day off from school.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Eddie opened the letter that had his name on it. It had been a week since Claire had turned up at the station. Only seven little days and it felt like a month already. She had been making herself known to the two men a number of times over the last week as well. It was another death threat, the third one in the last two days. Each of them was hand-delivered. He had one that he got Athena to take for evidence, just in case it was needed. It was getting more and more likely that it would be. Claire was being relentless in her pursuit. She had been warned twice by the cops about getting too close to Buck.
“Another?” Buck asked as he walked over to Eddie.
Eddie nodded, “Yeah,” he sighed. “I’m glad that we asked Shannon if she could have Christopher with her for a while. I don’t like the thought of him being here. Something could happen and I know that neither of us would forgive ourselves for it,” he added, reaching out and taking Buck in his arms. He needed some reassurance that Buck was there and that vile woman was nowhere near him.
“Same,” Buck agreed with him, wrapping his arms around Eddie and holding him tightly. “I’m going to be getting in contact with her parents. I’m hoping that they can do something. Because I will have her arrested if she carries on. We have 6 weeks before the twins are here, and I don’t want her still here to spoil things. I love the fact that Bobby is going to have to have three people off shift for the eight weeks,” he then said, trying to change the subject and let Eddie lose a little. They were both getting wound up over what was going on.
“Yeah,” Eddie snorted, sighing and smiling as he leaned back, “Thanks.”
“I’ve got your back, Eds.”
“As I’ve got yours,” Eddie replied, kissing him before they then carried on getting ready. They were going to be heading out to get some paint. They had four days off and they were going to be using it to finally paint the nursery. Everything else was ready but that. Though they still have to move the furniture into it. It had been kept to one side for now. The four days off were going to be them getting it all ready.
“Right, as Christopher said, we are getting lilac and pineapple delights,” Buck frowned, shaking his head.
Eddie snorted at the name of the yellow that Christopher said was best. “He likes pineapples a little too much,” he said.
“Maybe,” Buck grinned, “but it is a nice color,” he added, “I’ve been looking at them all, and he’s pointed out the one that goes best with the lilac that we chose.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, as he grabbed the keys for his truck, and the two of them headed out. Buck could feel eyes on him again and Eddie could feel the same. The two shared a look before they got in Eddie’s truck. They had no choice but to ignore it and carry on with their day. They had kept putting things off, hoping to find out the gender of the babies before they decorated, but Shannon had told them, and warned them that babies came on their own time and they might even have less time than they think.
“Okay,” Buck said as he got out of the truck, looking at the DIY store that they had chosen to get the paint from. “Right, we’ll get that, we have everything else that we need from when we decorated the bedrooms,” he added as he led the way down to where the paints were.
“Oh, Christopher asked that we look into getting another bookcase for his room, he’s running out of space and he wants to keep the books for when the babies are older he’ll be able to give them to them and read to them,” Eddie said, smiling softly at how his son was taking the news of the new siblings. Though it was a wish that he’d had for a long time.
“He’s such a good kid, he’s already making a great big brother for the twins,” Buck smiled, “I can’t wait for them to arrive. I wonder if they are going to look like me at all,” he said, raising a hand to his birthmark. He had gone into a research spiral not long after finding out, just before the tsunami, about birthmarks and how they can be passed down to a person’s children.
“I’m kind of hoping so,” Eddie moved closer and kissed him right on his mark, “I think it would be rather cute.”
“I got bullied a little for it when I was young. If it wasn’t that, then someone would think that I was punched and had gotten into a fight,” he snorted at some of the things that he had been called over the years because of it. It was only when he was an adult did a lot of it stop. It never fully went away, one of the questions Chimney had asked when first meeting him properly and talking to him was asking if he needed to be checked over for his injury. He ended up explaining about the birthmark a few times during that first shift.
“I bet,” he said, taking his hand as they carried on towards the paints.
“Okay,” Buck said as they reached it and he began to head to the yellows, “Pineapple Delights,” he muttered as he tried to find the exact one that Christopher wanted.
“Here!” Eddie called out from a little further down, “This one,” he said, picking out two tins.
“Great,” Buck said, grabbing one of them and the two of them began to head to the end of the aisle, holding hands.
“How could you!” came a scream.
The two men looked up and saw Claire standing there. “Really!” Buck yelled, “You really followed me here when I’m trying to get paint to paint my children’s nursery!” he yelled back, he had quickly gathered what she was planning on doing since there were a number of people around already watching the drama that was unfolding in front of them.
“You’re cheating on me! With a man!” she was yelling, pretending to sob. “You’re engaged to me, Evan, and you’re… you’re trying to-”
“Will you shut up,” Eddie was the one to speak, “You’ve been following us around for the last week. You’ve been sending me death threats as well.”
“You keep saying that you’re engaged to me. I haven’t seen you since I was nineteen when I was telling the cops to talk to you about your stalking behavior,” Buck said, glaring at her, “Now, Eddie, I think we should call the cops.”
“Yeah, and I’ll be handing over the third death threat that I got this morning from you. We’ve made sure that one of them wasn’t even handled by us either,” Eddie said as he stared at the woman. “Let’s get these and head home, the nursery isn’t going to paint itself, and the twins are due any day now,” he said, smiling at Buck.
“I can’t wait,” he added as they then carried on walking. He could hear Claire yelling for them, trying to make herself seem like she had been abandoned by her childhood sweetheart and fiance. Eddie and Buck didn’t really care what people thought, they knew the truth and Buck and Eddie now had surveillance around the house, a number of them hidden away, enough that they should be able to find out who it was that delivered the letter that morning.
XxXxX
Buck walked into the Cafe the next day. Eddie had found the video of Claire delivering the letter. They had plans to go to the cops later on in the day. Then Maddie had called, begging to meet with him for a while. She needed someone to talk to and the only one she wanted was her brother. He walked over to her and she stood up and hugged him tightly as they greeted each other.
“Buck,” she said, letting him go and sitting back down, “I got you that caramel latte you like,” she said, pointing to the drink that was all ready for Buck.
“Thanks, sis,” he smiled, “No, what’s going on? When you called this morning you sounded…. flustered about something,” he said.
“Well,” Maddie began, sighing and grabbing the napkin she had picked up and twisting it around a little, needing to do something with her hands.
“Maddie, you know that you can tell me anything,” he reminded her.
Maddie looked up at him, “I know that. It’s Howie,” she said, “When our parents were in town, he told me he loved me, remember?” she asked.
“Yeah, I remember,” he smiled, “He does love you, he stood up to our parents, and so did Eddie. I’m… happy about that.”
“Of course,” Maddie laughed a little, though it sounded more nervous than joyful. “I’ve been thinking really hard about that, about him. I… I think I do as well. I just… don’t know if I can say it yet,” she sighed.
“Maddie,” Buck said softly as he paused to take a sip of his latte, “He loves you, and he knows that you’re not ready to say it back. We all know that you love him, you show that in each action that the two of you take together. You both work so hard to make sure your relationship works and that both of you are on the same page. You have your therapy session separately and then you also have one together. You… you’re both putting so much into this and are taking out just as much. You and Chimney have a true partnership now, because of the work you’ve put into making sure that you’re both ready for each step. He is, you’re not, he knows that. He even said it during the dinner, he’s still willing to wait for you.”
Maddie listened to her brother’s words and smiled, “Yeah, he’s… been talking about bringing Anne and John to come and see me. To meet with me, they are the closest thing that Howie has to parents. His own Father is in Seoul, and he doesn’t really talk to him if he can help it.”
“Oh?” Buck frowned, sitting up, “Meeting the parents.”
“Yeah, I know that he met Mom and Dad, but that was unplanned, they just demanded and-”
“And he came to join us, even though he and Eddie didn’t have to,” Buck nodded, “I get it, Maddie,” he agreed, “This sounds like something he wants to do. It’ll be fine, meet them and see for yourself.”
“He talks about them a lot, to me anyway. I don’t know if anyone else knows about them,” she smiled, finally picking up her coffee and drinking some of it, “I feel a little silly just calling you out when I know you have the nursery to do,” she admitted.
“It’s fine, really,” he laughed, “Eddie will put me straight to work when I get back. Though we were actually going to be doing something else than just painting today,” he admitted, “Claire has been harassing us again. Has been since she arrived. I’ve tried sending her back, ignoring her. She’s sent death threats to Eddie. We’ve even sent Chris to go and live with Shannon for a while. I know it’s not ideal either,” he told her.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Maddie frowned, “I could have helped, maybe talk to Athena as well.”
“I plan to, we’re going to put in a complaint about her harassment, at the moment we don’t have enough to get a restraining order against her, I looked into it when she first appeared. We’re going to be going for it as soon as we do though, I want her dealt with,” Buck growled lightly as he thought of the woman that was making things difficult.
“What about… what about trying to talk to her parents?” Maddie suggested, “If I remember right, they were not happy when she tried something when you were what… sixteen?” she asked him, trying to remember.
“That… might be something,” Buck said after he thought about it for a moment.
“There you go, it might not be the cops and a restraining order, but her father is a DA, he knows what she is doing could lead to some charges against her,” she pointed out, smirking a little as Buck grinned.
“Good idea,” he told her, “Thanks, and don’t worry so much about things,” he reminded her.
Maddie nodded and talk turned to what they were doing with the nursery. In the end, she went with him to help out, since she had taken him away from the house for a bit. She knew that things were getting a little too close to the birth and they had waited a long time than they should have to get things ready. Hen and Karen had already decorated theirs, Chimney had helped them.
XxXxX
Maddie was nervous as she stood in the middle of Chimney’s living room. Chimney had gone to answer the door. Behind it would be Ann and John Lee, the two people that had taken Chimney in after his mother had died and his father refused to help him. Chimney walked back, an older couple following him. She smiled as Chimney introduced them.
“Hello,” Anne said as she walked over, hugging her, “Thank you, for bringing a spark back into Howard’s eyes, it has been a long time since we have seen him so happy.”
“He makes me happy as well,” Maddie said, she still hadn’t said I love you, to Chimney, but she knew that it would happen soon. She did love him, and yes, Doug had scared her away from a lot of what she wanted in life, but she was getting better, stronger than ever before. She was taking back her life and those three little words were going to be hers once again. To give them out when she actually meant it, and not to do so when she feared for her very life.
“I’m Anne,” she said, as she let her go, “It’s wonderful to meet you at last. Howard has told us a lot about you.”
“I’m John,” the man said as he walked over, “It’s good to meet you.”
Chimney stood watching, a smile on his face as he then reached out a hand to Maddie. She reached back and took it, smiling happily as she talked a little with the couple. Maddie and Anne walked over to the couch and sat down as John and Chimney stayed back for a moment.
“I’m… happy you like her,” Chimney said, sounding a little nervous.
“We do, she is a nice young woman from what we’ve heard from you, and what we can see. I know you told us a little about her past. She’s strong,” John said, “Take care of each other, and make sure you talk to each other,” he advised him, “Be truthful.”
Chimney flushed a little, “I know I lied a lot with previous partners, but I haven’t with Maddie. I don’t want to do that again. Therapy is helping me to see what I need to do and how I can be a better me. I want to be that for her, and for myself.”
“Good to hear, now, how about we go over there and then see about going out for lunch together? Get to know the woman that you love, and welcome her into the family,” John suggested
Chimney nodded and they headed over, sitting down and joining Anne and Maddie as they talked.
Chapter Fifty-Six
It was a couple of days before Chimney’s birthday when he got a surprise that he wasn’t sure he was going to like. A knock at his front door had him grumblings as he got up from the movie he was watching. Normally Maddie would be with him since he had a day off, but she was working a shift that day. Helping out Josh as he had an appointment. Opening the door he saw a man standing there.
“Min-Chul… Howard?” he asked.
Chimney stood there, frowning, he had never met this man before. Didn’t recognize him for a moment until he saw a familiar frown. “Min-Jae?” he asked.
The man nodded, “Yeah, though, I prefer Albert, these days,” he told him, “I’m… sorry for just coming by without calling or even talking to you first. I just… I didn’t know where else to go.”
“What do you mean?” he asked the nineteen-year-old that was now standing on his doorstep when he should be in Korea.
“Well, I had nowhere else to go,” he told him, “I don’t have any friends, just people that wanted to use me for money,” he added quietly.
Chimney gave a little sigh and let him inside. “Come on in,” he told him, “You’re going to tell me everything,” he warned him, “I’m your brother, and from what Maddie tells me, we older siblings need to help our younger ones. It’s one of the things she has been telling me lately when it comes to her brother Buck,” he said, letting the man inside his home and getting him settled on the couch with a coffee.
“Thank you, for even letting me in. I know that Father… well, you don’t get along with him. Mother-” he cut himself off, looking down at the mug in his hands.
Chimney observed him, the young man looked lost and he wondered if he looked the same at that age. He never really thought about what he was like when he was that young. Barely an adult and forced to make life-changing decisions on a daily basis. He had moved into a small flat at nineteen, not wanting to burden Anne and John any more than he already had. He loved them, they were parents to him, but they weren’t his parents. His father had cut him off when he refused to go back to Korea when he was sixteen.
“So,” Chimney said as he sat down, “What happened?” he asked, normally he would have let it all slide, but therapy and Maddie, who talked a lot about how it had been for her to be a big sister to Buck. To look after him and take care of him. It had changed him, and he hoped that it was all for the better.
Albert was quiet for a little longer before he said, “Mother and Father were expecting me to marry one of Mother’s friends’ daughters. She was a friend, I thought. She is all for us getting married, but I can’t, Howard, I really can’t,” he said, looking up at him. “Mother and Father kicked me out, I have some savings, enough to last me a little while, at least until I can find work here,” he added, “I don’t know if Father has cut me off.”
Chimney sighed, and rubbed his face, “Okay,” he said, “I don’t have a spare bedroom here, but you can crash on the couch. Word of warning, you do not bring women home here.”
Albert nodded, “Okay,” he said, biting his lip, “I just want to be normal,” he murmured, more to himself than to Chimney.
Chimney frowned at the words he had barely heard, “What’s normal to you?” he asked him, wondering what was going on.
“Liking women, wanting to date them, marry them. Having… sex with them,” Albert said in a rush.
“Okay, and why is it that is what you want to be?” he asked, hoping to get an answer and maybe a reason why Albert ran so quickly about getting married.
“Because… that’s what Mother and Father expect, me to love and be with a woman. They chose someone I was friends with to marry and I can’t. I just… I want to be normal, make myself-” Albert said quietly.
“Okay, stop,” Chimney told him, “There is no such thing as normal, just what we perceive as normal. I have several very good friends, which don’t fit your idea of normal already. Buck and Eddie are two men that are in a relationship. They are as close to being married as you can get without the wedding. Though I doubt it will be long before that happens,” he smiled, “Then there are Hen and Karen, two women that have been married and together for around eleven years now,” he told him, shaking his head, “That goes against what our Father and your Mother would expect of you. I know. Is… the reason you left because you don’t want to be with a woman but think you have to?” he asked.
Albert was quiet, not answering for a good few moments before he nodded. “Yes, Father expects me to fix myself. Since you’re in a relationship with a woman, I was hoping you would be able to fix me.”
Chimney shook his head, “Albert, you don’t need fixing at all,” he told him, “Look, I think you need to see someone, professionally. Father isn’t someone that will support anything you do that is your decision. He never has been. When my Mother decided that she wanted to stay here in the US, he abandoned her here. When she got sick, he didn’t care and didn’t even help us. When she passed away, I got one chance to go back to his side and do what he wanted. I refused. I barely talk to him, I think the last time I contacted him was about three months ago. To tell him I was seeing someone and that I’m serious about her. That one day, I hope that she might even be ready to marry me. He told me I should leave her and go back, that he knew someone better, that I could marry. Hell, even Maddie’s parents were trying to do the same thing to her and her brother. Both of them said now, and have cut contact with their parents. I’m slowly building up to that with Father.”
“Cut… contact?” Albert said, looking wide-eyed at the thought.
“I know, it doesn’t… seem right. We can’t live our lives the way they want us to,” Chimney said, “Therapy has been really good for me, and with what you were saying about trying to fix yourself to the image they want. It just… screams wrong to me. Maybe… maybe it will help you come to terms with who you are as a person,” he smiled a little, “I know it took me a lot of work to get where I am, be willing to put in the time and effort.”
Albert was quiet, not saying a word as he slowly drank the coffee he had been given. It was already going cold, but he still drank it, needing something to do while he thought about what Chimney was saying. Chimney got up and left his brother alone. He could see that the young man needed some time to think about what he had said. Albert got up almost half an hour later and walked over to where Chimney was making them some lunch.
“Howard,” he called out, putting his mug near the sink, ready to wash up.
“Yeah?” he answered, glancing up.
“I want to try therapy,” he said, “I know… I don’t like girls. Father and Mother were always adamant that I didn’t, and I… I’m so confused,” he said.
Chimney thought for a moment about what Maddie would do. It was easy to know what his girlfriend would do. He put down the knife he was using and went around the counter and hugged his brother, “I’m here to help. I think I should introduce you to John and Anne as well. They took me in after my Mother died. They helped me a lot, and so does Maddie.”
Albert was stiff in his arms, and Chimney did not doubt that their Father had never hugged Albert at all. He wondered if his mother had done so. Slowly arms went around him as Albert sunk into him, shaking as he tried to suppress what he was feeling. “Mother and Father never hugged me, not since I was young. Well, Father never hugged me. Mother stopped when I was seven.”
“Maddie loves to hug people that she likes. No doubt you’ll be on the receiving end of that a dozen times or more when she meets you later,” Chimney laughed as they slowly let each other go. “Have to say that if you had come to me a year ago, I barely would have spoken to you, let alone got the reason of why you were here from you,” he told him honestly, “That’s how much I’ve grown as a person since then, all with the help of my friends, Maddie, and therapy.”
“Then I’ll do it, if you say that it helped you, then maybe it can help me,” Albert smiled.
Chimney smiled, “Okay,” he told him, “come help me with lunch,” he said. Albert nodded and joined him around the other side of the counter to help make themselves lunch.
XxXxX
Maddie walked towards her car, heading home after a long shift. She had gotten a message from Chimney, telling her that his brother had turned up that morning. He would be staying with Chimney for a while, at least. She wondered what had happened to bring him to his brother’s doorstep. Maddie knew that they hadn’t talked at all they had only done so once to her knowledge.
“Maddie!” came a shout from across the parking lot.
Maddie turned and saw a young woman rushing over to her. “Claire,” she huffed, “You’ve been told to leave,” she remained her.
“I will not leave, surely you can understand not wanting to give up on someone you love, no matter what,” she said, “You stayed with Doug, didn’t-”
“You have no idea about what was going on with me. Do not compare the two. Though you are bringing up all the red flags that Doug did when we were together. He was controlling, and abusive. He made sure to know where I was going and who I was going to be with. If he didn’t like it, I wouldn’t be allowed to do anything. I was beaten even more because of things I had no control over. Or just because he was in a bad mood. What you are doing is called stalking. I listen to victims of such acts nearly every time I go to work. Leave and go back to Hershey, you’ll be getting just one chance. I know that Buck is ready to call the cops on you and report your behavior. Think long and hard if you want to have a criminal record. Because I will be pushing him to make sure that charges are fully filed,” she snapped at her. She had seen and heard of what the woman was doing towards Buck and Eddie and she hated that her brother was feeling like that again. She hadn’t been there the first time, so wrapped up in Doug and the beginnings of their relationship that she had failed to see him.
“I will not, your parents have already given their blessing on our wedding. I have things all planned out, I just need to make the last of the calls. With their permission, I have nearly everything booked. He just needs to be there and have the suit tailored for him,” she smiled.
“You’re fucking crazy,” Maddie said, wide-eyed. She got in her car and quickly locked the door behind her. She didn’t want to take any chances. She was quickly proven to be right to do so when Claire tried to open the door of the car on the other side. As though she was going to get in. Maddie pulled out her phone, “Sue,” she said, as soon as the call connected.
“Maddie, I’ve only just seen you,” she told her, “What can I do for you?” she asked.
“I’m in the parking lot, someone that is stalking my brother has just appeared. She is trying to get in the car with me,” she added, seeing that Claire was now banging on the window calling to be let in.
“Okay, I’ll see about routing a patrol car your way. Stay on the line with me,” Sue advised, “you should have gone through 9-1-1,” she told her.
“I know, I just speed dialed you,” Maddie said, “I know my brother is reluctant to bring in the police. This woman’s father does good work where he is, and I don’t mean just as the DA in the area, he’s a bleeding heart some would call him,” she snorted, “That reputation could be badly damaged because of this.”
“You know what stalking can lead to, Maddie,” Sue reminded her, “We see it a lot in our work. No doubt your brother has as well. Tell him to take steps now rather than when someone has been hurt.”
“Yeah, this might be enough now to get the restraining order,” Maddie said, “I know that they were going to try two days ago, but they had been told they didn’t have enough to get it,” she murmured. She was doing her best to ignore the woman at her window.
“Alright, but do so quickly,” Sue told her, “Okay they should be right nearby,” she said.
Maddie was smiling as she heard the siren. “They are here,” she added, looking out the window and seeing Claire still there. She didn’t even notice as the cop car pulled up a little closer. Maddie unlocked the door and got out. “Officers,” she said as she greeted the man and a woman that had walked over to them.
“You Maddie Buckley?” the young woman police officer asked.
“I am, this is Claire Anderson, she has been stalking my brother for the last nine days at least. She has also decided that I’m now a target as well. I’m trying to leave work,” Maddie said, explaining the situation as the woman officer then went over to Claire and talked with her. Warning her off.
“We won’t arrest you at this moment in time, but I would advise that you change your behavior,” she told Claire.
“My finance is her brother, and he abandoned me.”
“They were never engaged,” Maddie huffed rolling her eyes, “She has a fantasy in her head and my parents played a role in it, considering myself and my brother are both No Contact with them,” she added, “My brother is awaiting the birth of his twins at the moment.”
“Buckley…” the male said, “Oh, the one under the fire truck,” he said, getting a wincing nod from Maddie, “Sorry,” he said, “Give me a quick statement and I’ll let you get on your way.”
Maddie nodded and did so. Soon enough she was able to leave, and Claire was escorted to her car. She would have to tell Buck what had happened and to sort something out soon, she was beginning to get worse.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Buck and Eddie put on their badges as they walked into Chrisotpher’s school. Christopher was with Carla for a few hours while they attended the parent-teacher night. The two had been warned about the bad jokes that the teachers usually told before they got on with telling someone about their child. “So where first?” Buck asked as he glanced around. They had gotten there early, not knowing what to expect or how long they might be there.
“It would be best to start with the classes you know Chris struggles with,” Shannon said as she walked up to them.
“Hmm, so we get all that he is struggling with, which is… I don’t know what he struggles with,” Buck frowned as he looked at her.
“He has a little trouble with math,” Shannon reminded him, “Even with me tutoring him at home.”
“Yeah, I think he said that he was still struggling,” Eddie said.
“Thanks, Shannon,” Buck grinned at her.
“Welcome Buck, Eddie,” she smiled back, “I’ll see you two later,” she added.
“That is highly inappropriate,” someone said from behind them.
Buck, Eddie, and Shannon turned to face the woman that had spoken, “What do you mean?” Buck asked, frowning at her.
“Using their first names,” she sniped at her, “Not only that, but you are clearly pregnant and are flirting with two men, who are parents of one of the children at this school. You are acting too familiar with them.”
“Ma’am,” Buck began, “You are talking about things that you have no understanding of.”
“I know what I’m talking about,” she snapped at him, “She is flirting with you and that partner of yours. Both of you have stopped others from doing the same. I’ve seen you ignoring the women that throw themselves at you. Such shameful behavior.”
“Ma’am, Shannon is my ex-wife, we share a son. She is also carrying my partner’s children,” Eddie told her, “As we said, you have no idea about what you are talking about.”
“Eddie and I were married for seven years, we have a nine-year-old son. Normally I would be doing what Eddie and Buck are, going around listening to the reports on Christopher, our son,” Shannon said, looking at the woman and shaking her head, “Mrs Henderson,” she added, “I will not defend myself and my actions when it comes to my family. Principal Summers knows of the situation and the relationship that I have with my Ex and his partner.”
Buck nodded, “Right, thanks for the information on where we should start, Shannon,” he told her, “When will you be finishing here?” he asked.
“Later than you,” she snorted, “I’ll call when I’m done and see if Christopher is still awake so I can say goodnight. If I’m not, tell him, Mom loves him and I’ll see him tomorrow for our day out.”
“I will,” Eddie promised her, smiling, “Right, Buck, math first,” he said, as he then added, “It’s a Mr Greame.”
Buck nodded and they headed to the first of many teachers that they needed to talk to. They were almost done when they came across Mrs Henderson again as she was heading to the art teachers that Buck and Eddie had just finished talking to.
“Mr Diaz,” she said, her tone snippy as she looked at him.
“Mrs Henderson,” Eddie said, “What is it you want?”
“You don’t have to cover for Miss McKinley, she is setting a bad example of being a good mother. She has no husband at all. I know that you think you should help her. She is single and pregnant of course-”
“Mrs Henderson,” Eddie began, “I’m not covering for her at all. Shannon is my ex-wife,” he told her again, “I’ve known her for ten years, more than ten years at this point. We have a son together, and we’re about to have two more children with her. She is a loving Mother and a great friend to myself and to Buck.”
“I’ll say, when I was injured, she was there a lot. We had therapy and physio together,” Buck said, remembering the darker days when the two of them were trying to recover from their accidents.
“Now, go and complain to Principal Summers, since she knows everything, and then see for yourself that none of us are lying,” Eddie sighed, rolling his eyes at how adamant and even bigoted she was being.
“I’m on the Parent Association and I really do not like the type of role model she is being to the children. Women like her-” she began again.
“Can you stop with the bigotry,” Buck said, “That is such a toxic thing to say. Shannon is a wonderful woman, who has raised a brilliant son and is going to be there when our twins are born as well in six weeks.”
Mrs Henderson huffed, “I will be talking to the principal and to the rest of the association about her behavior.”
Buck and Eddie watched her as she left, “She is going to try and cause trouble.”
“Yeah,” Eddie muttered, nodding his head. “Thing is I would call her a Karen, but I really don’t want to insult our Karen,” he added.
Buck nodded in agreement. They headed and saw the last two teachers. Popping down to talk with Shannon and tell her what had happened and warn her. She nodded and promised to be talking with Principal Summers before she left for the night. Saying their goodbyes, they headed home to Christopher.
XxXxX
Shannon was on lunch duty, Principal Summers was with her, as they kept an eye on the playground. “Mrs Henderson did come and speak with me yesterday,” Principal Summers said softly, looking out at the yard.
“I had a feeling she would. No doubt she’ll be trying to get the Parent Association on her side to try and get rid of me,” Shannon said, putting a hand on her baby bump, “It’s not going to work, I know that. Buck is part of it, and he’ll be having words, he’s already got a plan to put her in her place and tell her to shut the beep up,” she snorted.
“His words?” Principal Summers laughed quietly.
“No, Eddies,” she answered, frowning as she looked at a group of children that were gathering at one end of the playground, “They are up to something,” she said, as she and Principal Summers headed over.
“What’s going on?” Principal Summers asked as the two of them reached the group.
Shannon saw Christopher standing there, along with some of his friends. “Well?” she asked.
Christopher and the other children parted and saw one of Christopher’s classmates standing there, trying to hide away a skateboard.
“I’m sorry,” the boy said as he held it out when Principal Summers asked for it.
“You know they are not allowed at the school,” she told him, “I will be contacting your parents, and you will have a punishment for disobeying the rules. We know that not everyone can use these, and even those that can still have difficulty.”
“Yes, Principal Summers,” they all said, the boy nodding mutely as he looked down at the ground.
“Right, Peter,” she said, “Come with me, we’re going to call your parents, just to inform them of what is going on. I will be having you put back into your class afterward.”
“Yes, Principal Summers,” he said as he followed her.
“I’m sorry,” Christopher said as he looked at his mother, he bit his lip, “Are you going to tell Dad and Papa?” he asked her
“I am, but Chris,” she said, as the other children left, glad that they weren’t in any actual trouble.
“Yes?” he said, looking sad.
“I understand that you want to try things like that. You think it’ll be fun,” Shannon began.
“But I can’t do it because I’ve got CP,” he huffed.
“No, we just have to find other ways for you to be able to do things,” she told him, “No doubt that Buck and Eddie will be able to think of something. Until then, you talk to us when you want to do something. It’s hard to not be like everyone else. I know it still is for me, I’m not used to needing a crutch to get around with sometimes. Then there are bad days when I can barely walk and need my wheelchair,” she added gently, “I’m still learning how to do a lot of things that I used to do. I’ve had to change how I do so many things. Even driving I’ve had to change a little, learn how to do it all again, and even take my tests again to be able to drive. Before I was having to rely on Carla and your auntie to help me get around.”
Christopher nodded slowly, “Okay,” he agreed, smiling a little bit as he then headed off to play with his friends.
Shannon watched him and then went back to the best vantage point in the playground to watch what goes on.
XxXxX
Two days later Shannon brought Christopher to the park. Buck and Eddie grinned as they had something hidden under a tarp. A skateboard was built so that Christopher could use it. They spent a happy afternoon playing in the park, Eddie and Buck pushing the contraption around so that Christopher could skateboard. Shannon was there, watching and filming them, laughing as she heard Christopher’s yell of excitement as he rushed past her. A few hours later they headed home, as they walked up the path to the house, there were two people standing outside of it. Buck was easily able to recognize the two.
“Mr and Mrs Anderson,” he greeted the two, they were Claire’s parents.
“How about I take Chris back to mine for a little while?” Shannon suggested seeing that Buck had tensed and Eddie had grabbed his hand.
“Sure,” Eddie said, kneeling, “Hey, Mijo, I’m going to see you later alright.”
Christopher looked at the adults, “I know something is going on Dad, but take care of Papa, okay?” he asked him.
“Of course,” he smiled, hugging him tightly, “Be good for your Mom.”
“Always, Dad,” he grinned before going to Buck and hugging him tightly.
Buck hugged him back, “I’ll see you later, Superman,” he murmured, letting him go with Shannon. Buck looked at the two before he asked, “I take it you got my message?” he asked them.
“We did,” the woman said.
“Eddie, these are Claire’s parents, Leon and Ada Anderson,” he introduced them, “Mr and Mrs Anderson, this is Eddie Diaz, my partner,” he said.
“I would say it’s nice to meet you,” Eddie began, “But, I don’t think it is, considering what your daughter is currently doing.”
Leon nodded, “I can understand the sentiment,” he said.
“Come on inside,” Buck said quietly as he unlocked the door and let everyone inside, “Want something to drink?” he asked, being a good host.
“No, it’s fine,” Ada said, “You contacted us about Claire,” she added, “From what I understand from your parents the two of you are engaged,” she frowned, as she looked at Eddie.
“My parents,” Buck huffed, shaking his head, “No, Claire and I have never been engaged, we have never dated and we will never date. I don’t know how much you are both aware of the things that she got up to at all while she was in High School, but she stalked me. I know the Cops had to take her from my home at least twice that I can remember off the top of my head. Also during College, she broke into my home again and went into my room, while I was away for a few days. These are all things that she did back then. When I left, she took to hunting me down and finding out where ever I had gone and stalked me. No one wanted to believe that I was being stalked because I’m male,” he told them, ripping the lid off of what they believed of their daughter.
“There is no way,” Ada said, shaking her head, “There isn’t any way that she would do something like that.”
Eddie got up and grabbed the letters that he had kept and tossed them onto the coffee table, “These are the letters that she hand-delivered to me. At the moment there is one with the police along with some footage of her delivering a letter.”
Leon took one of them, opened it up, and read the letter inside, “A death threat,” he said as he looked up.
“Yeah, I have five of them. We’re scared that something might happen that we’ve had to send our son to live with his mother for a while. We’re also awaiting the birth of our twins in six weeks. We’ve tried to be nice about things. Give her the chance to get lost on her own. She’s not, the next thing we will do will be to have her charged with the threats, the stalking, and everything else that she has been doing. Fuck going with a restraining order. She’s been following Buck around since he was a teenager, and he’s never had any peace from her when she finds out where he is living.”
Ada sat there, now reading the letter that her husband had, “She really did this?” she asked.
“It’s her handwriting,” Leon told her, “the footage?” he asked.
Buck pulled out his phone, “The Cops have another copy of this as well,” he told them as he turned it around so that they could watch their daughter walk to the front door and post the letter into the small post box they had near the front door.
Leon sighed heavily, “I will speak with her, I know where she is staying,” he added.
“As I said, Leon,” Buck began, “I’m done. If you don’t get her away from me and keep her away, I will prosecute, and you know with what I have I have a case against her.”
“You do,” Leon nodded.
“Leon!” Ada said, horrified that her husband would admit that.
“He’s right, Ada, we’ve let her get away with this in the past. There is evidence of what she has done back then, including police reports on her activities. They didn’t charge her, but they are on file,” he reminded her, “They will be because some of the things she did, happened when she was over eighteen.”
Ada sighed and shook her head, “Claire-”
“Claire is an entitled and spoiled brat,” Buck said, causing both parents to glare at him, “Well, she is, she has stalked me and made my life a misery when I refused to date her and go along with the fantasy that she believed. When I came to you at the age of fifteen asking you to reign in your daughter, neither of you did. You told me it was just a phase. Well, it’s fifteen years later and she’s still the same. Get her some damn help. Because I’m done playing nice. You deal with it, or I will.”
“Now, please leave,” Eddie told them both, “We want nothing to do with your daughter or either of you.”
Ada and Leon stood up, they knew they were not welcome anymore. They would have to try and talk to their daughter about giving up on her dream of marrying Evan Buckley, if she didn’t she would be facing charges for what she has been doing. Eddie took Buck into his arms, holding him for a moment before they headed out to go to Shannon’s. They wanted to be around Christopher at the moment while they hoped that the Andersons would finally deal with their daughter’s behavior.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chimney watched as Buck and Albert played pool, the older teaching the younger the finer points of the game. It had been a few days now since he had arrived. He knew that Buck and Eddie needed the day out, they had no choice but to talk with Claire’s parents that afternoon. Christopher was staying with Shannon again, as he had been for most of the last couple of weeks. Maddie had taken a shine to his little brother after meeting him.
“You look deep in thought?” Hen asked as she walked over to her best friend.
Chimney sighed, “I think that he is gay and denying it. He came here hoping that I would fix him so he would be able to comply with what his parents wanted.”
Hen stood up straight, “Damn,” she muttered.
“Exactly, I’m hoping that with him being around us and everyone, he’ll realize that he doesn’t need fixing. Especially with Buck and Eddie around,” he added quietly. “I’ve booked him a session with a therapist that my own found for him. There are some cultural things that need to be taken into account I think, so I asked them for help in finding someone,” he sighed again and rubbed his face.
“At least you’re doing what you can to help,” she pointed out, “There are some that wouldn’t even try that.”
“Well, he came to me for support. I’ve never really talked to him, I just knew he existed,” he told her, shaking his head. “Now, he’s here, and I think… I’m wondering if I thought I hated him, didn’t want to get to know him, because, in my eyes, Dad loved him and wanted him.”
“Maybe, something you’ll have to talk about in therapy,” she said, sighing, she missed having Karen with her. She had opted to stay at home, or rather at Eddie and Buck’s watching the children as they went out for the night.
“If you want to go home, you can,” Chimney said.
“It’s your birthday,” she reminded him, giving him a look.
“It might be my birthday, but I’m a big boy now,” he joked with a smile, “I can handle it if you want to be home with Karen, she’s going to have a baby and then there is Shannon as well, she’s even closer to having her baby,” he added, smiling as he looked at Buck and Eddie who were both surrounding Albert and seemed to be talking to him, a serious look on their face and an almost awestruck look on Alberts.
“I think he might be getting some guidance and advice he needs,” Hen snorted as Bobby and Athena walked over with the next round of drinks for everyone.
“Yeah,” Chimney smiled, “Just… if I can have people look out for him, help him if he goes to you, please do,” he said as he looked at Bobby and Athena.
“You know if you need us we’re here,” Athena confirmed for him.
“Well,” Maddie said as she walked up, “We’ve got the karaoke, let’s go, Howie!” she added as she walked over and grabbed his hand, and pulled him along.
Hen laughed as she watched the two. the three men that had been around the pool table now walking over. “Birthday boy and his girlfriend are about to rendition us with something.”
“Please no Celine Dion, I have had enough of My Heart Will Go On sung by those two,” Buck grumbled with a little smile.
“Too late, Buck,” Eddie laughed as the familiar music started.
“Seriously, they are obsessed with that song,” Buck muttered
“If they ever get married,” Bobby said, knowing that Maddie might not wish to, “They may end up using that as their first dance song.”
“Ugh, I hope not. Maybe I can start working on trying to find a better song for them to dance to, or at least sing,” Buck said as he pulled out his song and started a search on the internet to find a few contenders.
Albert looked at them all, “I am wondering if you could give me any advice on what I should do?” he asked.
“Well, I think, for now, maybe find your footing here. We’re here to help as well. Find a place of your own,” Buck advised him, “try a few different jobs and maybe look into some education at all,” he added.
“There are a lot of things you can do while here,” Athena said, “There is also volunteer work as well.”
Albert listened to what they had to say as Maddie and Chimney sang in the background. Soon enough they had finished and rejoined them. It was a fun night, with Albert heading off home alone since Chimney was heading to Maddie’s to stay the night.
XxXxX
Buck was skeptical as they walked through the police station. Eddie was with him. Leon and Ada had asked to meet before heading back to Hershey. They decided that it would be the best way to try and get through to Claire, as they hadn’t been able to talk her into returning home. This was their last ditch effort before they let Eddie and Buck do what they wanted and press charges against her.
“Right,” Athena said as she walked over to them, “I’ve put them in an interrogation room. I will be in the room with you, and it will be all recorded as well,” she reminded them.
“Ada and Leon know this?” Buck asked her.
“They do,” she replied.
Buck nodded and took a breath as Athena led the way to the interrogation room that had been set up. Walking in, Claire immediately lit up and then scowled when Eddie walked in behind him. Athena walked in and headed to the back of the room, standing as a silent guardian in case she would be needed. Leon had called in a few favors for this to happen. He was just hoping it would work.
“Evan, Eddie,” Leon greeted the two of them.
“Evan,” Claire smiled at him, “I’m so happy that-” she began only to stop when her father put a hand on her shoulder, “Dad?” she queried
“We’ve all told you, over and over, that you and Evan are not engaged, you’re not even dating. That what you are doing is wrong,” he told her, “I’ve asked Evan and Eddie here to remind you of that again, and that they don’t want you in their lives at all.”
“Dad,” she whined, pulling a sad face, “Don’t you love me and want me to be happy.”
“I want you to be happy, but not at the cost of someone else being happy. There is no way for a marriage to be. Your mother and I love each other so much, we want the same for you. But you don’t love Evan at all,” he told her.
“I do,” Clarie insisted, “I know so much about him as well.”
“Alright,” Eddie said, “I’ve been dating Buck for a while. I got to know him as my best friend first. Want to really put your knowledge to the test,” he dared her, he’d had enough of her attitude.
“Fine, Dad, ask questions,” she told her father, smirking as she knew that she would get everything right. “Oh, and no cheating, so Evan has to write down the answers to the questions before we answer,” she added.
Leon sighed and shook his head, “Fine,” he said, “Favorite food?” he asked.
Buck took the offered pen and paper and wrote down his answer.
“That’s easy, he liked pancakes, the ones I make,” Claire said, “He always said he liked them.”
“My Abuela’s, Isabel’s, Enchiladas,” Eddie answered, shaking his head.
“And the answer Buck wrote is Isabel’s Enchiladas,” Leon said, shaking his head. Leon asked a few more questions, including one that had more to do about Buck’s childhood in Hershey. Eddie knew the answer to each and every single one, while Claire knew none.
“It’s not fair!” Claire yelled, “I bet they are just making this up, to fuck with me.”
“No, I’m not making anything up, you’re trying and trying to build up a damn fantasy in your head about me and none of it’s true!” Buck finally yelled, having had enough, “I have better things to do with my time than to pander to a little girl that doesn’t want to grow up and isn’t happy because she isn’t getting her way. Claire Anderson, you’re nothing but a whiny spoiled little bitch that doesn’t like anything that doesn’t go your way. When people don’t agree with you, you try to make their life hell. Well, I’m sorry to say, brat, that the world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“Ma’am,” Athena said from the back, “There is enough evidence that has been collected that you can be charged with stalking. You have followed, harassed, and threatened Buck, Eddie, and their son Christopher. They have even had to send their son to live away from them because of what you have done. There is enough to charge you with it and no doubt convict you of that as well,” she told her.
“And as there is past behavior of this,” Leon began, not looking happy, “You may end up facing felony charges instead of a misdemeanor. Which means, should you be convicted, you can face up to five years in prison,” he told his daughter “I don’t want that to happen.”
“Claire, sweetie,” Ada began, “You need to do what is best for you, not for him. I know you think you want him, but you can do far better.”
“Mother, please, I want Evan, I’ve always wanted him,” Claire said, “I want him, Mama,” she said, changing her voice to sound more like a child than the adult she was.
“Claire, enough,” Ada said, shaking her head, “You will choose what you want to do. Stay and face charges of stalking, or return home with us.”
“Mother!” she yelled.
“Claire Rowena Anderson!” Leon yelled, causing Claire to stop, and blink as she looked at her father. He never raised his voice, he had always talked to her, but to hear him shout stopped her.
“You will listen well, young lady,” he told her, “I don’t want you to go to prison. But if you carry on, even though we have told you not to. Then I will not help you,” he informed her, “I have tried my best to support you and everything in your life. But you are going too far. I tried to protect you when they came for you last time and I was able to do it. I will not be doing it again. Evan doesn’t wish to marry you, if you want to marry, find someone that will love you. You can’t force people to do what you want all the time. I know that is my and your mother’s fault, for letting you get away with things and never letting you suffer the consequences. Well, you will be this time if you don’t listen.”
Claire pouted as she looked at him, “Then go, leave, but I will have my way,” she said as she got up and walked out of the room.
“I’m sorry, Evan,” Leon sighed, “I give you full permission to do what you need to protect yourself and your family. I’ve tried to help her, but she just wants what she wants, all the time and damn anyone else who gets in her way,” he told them.
Athena nodded as she then left the room, saying over her shoulder, “I will be arresting her now. The others know not to let her leave the station.”
Leon and Ada looked at the two men in front of them, “We’re sorry.”
“You should be,” Buck said, he was not going to hold his tongue as he had done as a child. “You knew what she was doing was wrong, even back then. For four, almost five years she harassed, hounded and stalked me and you did nothing. When she started to follow me even after I left Hershey, you still did nothing. I’m twenty-eight now, with one child, and about to have two more children entering my life. She is still there, following me. Coming here as soon as she learned my location,” he sighed, “I tried talking to you several times over those years, and each time you defended her and did your best to let her get away with it, each and every damn time. Now you’re finally done, you should have done something thirteen years ago when she first started her campaign against me,” he told them, getting up as he looked at Eddie.
Eddie nodded and Buck left the room. “He’s right, you could have done something. I know each time Christopher has done something wrong, all three of his parents, Buck included, make sure he knows what he did wrong and give him a punishment. It’s obvious that you did nothing of the sort with her. Since she acts like an entitled brat.”
“We tried our best with her,” Ada said weakly.
“Where was that when she was getting in trouble and you didn’t let her face the consequences of what she was doing?” Eddie asked them both.
“We just wanted her to have some freedom,” she added, looking at him, teary-eyed.
“Everyone has to have boundaries, especially children. It’s how they learn to respect other people’s boundaries. Because you never did, she is facing jail,” he finished, nodding to them as he then left the room and went to find Buck.
“Hey,” Buck said as he watched Claire being arrested. “She will be charged,” he said, “And since there is enough evidence to show that this isn’t the first time she has done this it will be classed as a felony charge instead,” he told him, watching as Claire was taken away.
Eddie wrapped his arms around Buck, he knew that Buck didn’t want this to happen. He just wanted to be left alone. “I know it’s not over yet, but at least this part is,” he told him.
Buck nodded, turning in his arms and holding him. “I’m hoping it goes quickly. I don’t want this hanging over my head for too long,” he told him.
“We can hope,” Eddie said as Athena was now walking towards them.
“Well, she’ll be charged, I’ve told the DA that we need to make sure that she is denied bail, she is a flight risk, and she might even try and harm you and Buck. If she is granted bail, I’m going to recommend a restraining order straight away be put in place, it should be granted if so,” she told Eddie as Buck was turned away from her, not wanting to move from Eddie’s harm. Athena couldn’t blame him either.
“Thank you,” Eddie said, nodding a few times, “I’m going to get this one home, please make sure we’re kept informed on what is going to be happening.”
“Of course,” she gave them a small smile as Buck finally let go of Eddie and hugged her as well, thanking her before the two men left.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Eddie grinned as he sneaked up behind Buck and swiped the brush against the man’s face as he turned.
“Eddie!” he yelled, though there was a glint in his eyes as he did the same back, “Stop it, we’re supposed to be decorating the nursery not each other,” he laughed.
“Well I thought I would do a bit of both,” Eddie grinned, kissing him on his unpainted cheek. “Though we have left this really late,” he added as he looked around the room. Everything that they had brought for it had been tucked away. They had only just started decorating the nursery, even though they had gotten the paint and everything weeks before.
“We’ve been a little busy,” Buck said, “Things going on,” he shrugged, “And now we have some time, Christopher is having a sleepover at Denny’s for the night, so we should be able to get most of this done before the end of the day,” he added, glancing around, the room was only half painted. One lilac wall was done, and only half of one yellow wall was done.
“Yeah, a peaceful night because everyone found out we hadn’t sorted out the nursery,” Eddie rolled his eyes, “We better get it all done by the time Karen and Hen drop him off.”
“Yeah,” Buck snorted, “We’ve been busy though,” he said, “getting things done,” he added with a shrug.
“But not one of the main things. Now we have all those gifts to try and find a place as well,” he said, “Yesterday was fun, except for the berating from Athena and Bobby about leaving it to the last minute,” he snorted, going back to what he had been doing on the wall with the windows.
“It was, I can’t believe that they all organized all that,” Buck agreed, smiling as he recalled some of what had happened.
“Maddie and Chimney getting the fortune that they would be the next to have children,” Eddie laughed, “The horror on their faces as they saw that little prediction,” he grinned.
“I don’t know if Maddie even wants children. She made sure she didn’t get pregnant with Doug, but that’s understandable,” he added, “With Chimney, I know the both of them are working on a lot of things together to make sure that they aren’t going to have their relationship sour because their past traumas come back to bite them in the ass, and that’s Maddie talking for that one.”
“Did you see Albert though?” Eddie asked as he glanced over, “Remember how unsure of himself he was when he first arrived.”
“I know, he’s had a couple of sessions already and they’ve really helped him see what his parents were doing to him. They made him feel so guilty for being himself. I think if he had been able to force himself to be with women while he was here, then he would have gone back to do what they wanted him to,” Buck said, shaking his head, “He’s only young, he needs to have time to figure himself out. He can’t do that if his parents are trying to fit him into a mold.”
“It’s hard to see what they are doing when they’ve been doing it your whole life,” Eddie said, thinking about his own parents and how they had controlled him for so long. He had been breaking away in small pieces since he had joined the army, and it had ended with the way that they had tried to take Christopher from him.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “Right,” he said, stepping back, “This we should add anything else to the walls, they still look kind of bare,” he said, glancing around. When it was finished, it would look rather bare, with just the two colors up on the walls.
“Don’t worry, we have some placks that will be added to the walls, they are going to go up when we have the names sorted,” Eddie said as he then added, “Oh, and Pepa has been painting again, she’s done a few things that can go up as well. I just have to go and get them.”
“Ah,” Buck nodded, “She did that one in Abuela’s living room?” he asked, getting a nod, “She’s really good, Abuela is so happy with that painting,” he grinned.
“She’s done things like that for all the family. She sometimes has commissions for portraits as well, she enjoys it, but she still loves the landscape work she does in her off time, if you know what I mean,” Eddie smiled.
“Right, back to work,” he said as he started painting again, “We’re almost done with all the painting at least,” he added.
“Yeah,” Eddie nodded, getting back to work as well.
XxXxX
Maddie walked into her brother’s home and hugged him. “Hey,” she greeted, looking over at Eddie as he was going through a load of baby clothes that they had finished washing. They had finished painting the room, and just had to wait for it to dry before they could finish things off.
“You okay?” Eddie asked as he saw her upset look.
“Not me, really, but Josh, one of my co-workers,” she said as she sat down, her brother going to get her a drink.
“Oh?” he asked, frowning as he stopped what he was doing.
“He was attacked last night. He was on a date, and the date turned out to be someone that took him to an isolated place and beat him with someone else,” she sighed, “I don’t know why there are so many horrible people in the world, I really don’t,” she muttered, as Buck walked back in, coffees for all of them.
“What happened?” Buck asked, seeing the looks his sister and boyfriend had on their faces.
“Josh was beaten up, tinder date gone really wrong. Gay Bashing,” she muttered as she took the coffee and sipped at it, “Hot,” she hissed.
“Of course it is,” Buck snorted as he then added, “How is he?” he asked her.
“He’s bruised, of course, and will be off work for a couple of days. No broken bones, but he’s going to be feeling things for days,” she sighed, shaking her head, “I was just saying that I can’t believe there are still people out there that would do such a thing.”
“Unfortunately there are,” Eddie nodded.
“We’ve had to go through what was taken from him as well, and cancel everything, send off for a new driver’s license, and even a new ID for dispatch, everything was gone. He’s… upset as you can imagine, but I think this might have broken something in him as well,” she murmured, blowing on her coffee, glaring at it, and hoping it was that little bit cooler so that she could finally have a sip.
“We’ll go and see him when we can,” Buck said, glancing over at Eddie, seeing the man nodding a few times.
“That would be great, he… doesn’t get along with his family, so we’re the only ones in his life. I know Sue has been over as well, to check on him,” Maddie told them, finally taking a sip of the slightly cooler coffee, still burning his tongue, but not enough to stop her from drinking anything.
“How are you doing?” Buck asked his sister.
“I’m doing well, things are… great,” she smiled, “Chimney and I are going to be going on a date again soon, my mind is still going on about Chimney telling me he loves me. I want to say it back, but I am still scared that something will happen, and I… I don’t like the thought of saying it and him turning.”
Buck sighed, “I know what I warned you about when you and he first started this dance of yours,” he reminded her.
“Yeah,” Maddie said, “The lying to women, and such,” she added, nodding her head, “I know. He’s actually talked about that in therapy, in the couples sessions that we do. He wants to leave those… what he calls bad habits, behind. He wants to make a new and fresh start with us. He’s doing all he can to make sure he’s not going to be like that again,” she defended him.
“I know, that’s what I’m saying, the things that I warned you about when you started, his past, and you’re both working on making things better between you both. Understanding each other. Being honest with each other as well,” Buck said, shaking his head, “I see how much he’s changed in that time. He finally looks like he has left that part of him behind and has started to live… better, in a sense. I’m not making much sense.”
“I think what you’re trying to say is that he’s finally grown as a person,” Eddie snorted, and shook his head, “Have to admit when I first met him, he had a really caustic sense of humor that often hurt those he joked with. He’s different now, steady, when he first took over for Bobby, as Captain, he was going about things and rubbing people the wrong way. He settled down after a bit after people talked to him and he talked with his therapist as well,” he added, “He was a good captain in the end.”
“He said he never wanted to do it again,” Buck grinned, “He hated all the paperwork.”
“Yeah,” Eddie laughed, “It’s why I don’t know if I even want to ever take the lieutenant exam,” he said, giving Buck a pointed look.
“So,” Buck shrugged, “I’ve been thinking about it as soon as I get the hours and that, that I need,” he muttered.
“I know,” Eddie said, “If you ever want Captain though, then I’ll see about taking it, not going to let you still go out without me there,” he reminded him.
Buck grinned and nodded, “Okay,” he said.
Maddie laughed at the two of them, shaking her head, “Really, you two,” she muttered.
“What?” they asked at the same time, only to look at each other and laugh.
“That! That is what I mean!” she exclaimed dramatically as she pointed at them.
“We… just know each other well,” Buck shrugged.
“We’re partners,” Eddie added, “Maybe one day you and Chimney will be like that as well.”
“Maybe,” she said, giving a little shrug, “I don’t know if that will happen at all, but maybe.”
Buck smiled, “Right, want to stay for dinner?” he asked her.
“We have no Christopher tonight, either, so we could go out,” Eddie said, glancing over at Buck, getting a nod.
“What about a double date?” Maddie suggested, “I enjoy having those with you two, they’re fun.”
“Sure,” Eddie agreed, “Go and call Chim, and see if he’s up for it.”
Maddie grinned and grabbed her phone from the arm of her chair and began to message Chimney. “I’d need to go home and change,” she said as he looked down at the sweatpants she was wearing. She was in comfortable clothes at the moment. She didn’t feel like really dressing up to see her brother. Though she wanted to when she saw Chimney.
“That’s fine, I can pick a place and see if I can get a reservation,” Buck said, grabbing his own phone and standing up so he could make a call.
Eddie shook his head, but was smiling, “Well, I think I should change as well then,” he got up.
“Chimney’s up for it, he’s at the Lee’s at the moment with Albert,” Maddie said looking up, “I’m going to head home, he’s going to pick me up from there. Message me when you have a place, now, where’s Buck?” she added, getting up from her chair and heading off to find her brother.
Eddie shook his head again as he followed, it wasn’t long until they were saying goodbye to Maddie and Buck finished booking a table for them all. Then it was their time to get ready to meet with them, a surprise night out, it was always nice when it happened, and with Christopher at Denny’s until tomorrow afternoon, they had plenty of time to continue getting the nursery finished up and to enjoy themselves.
XxXxX
Buck’s mouth went wide as he shook his head as he looked over at Chimney, “Really, he really said that to your Dad?” he asked again.
“I’m serious, since Al started therapy, he’s really come out of his shell. He’s been talking a lot, telling me a lot of what was going on in the family while I wasn’t there. My grandparents didn’t even know that I was still alive. They had thought I had died with my Mother. When Albert found that out, he called Dad the worst human that ever walked the earth and that he should never have kids whatsoever. That he should think he doesn’t have any, because he is going to refuse to go anywhere near them,” Chimney repeated, “Really, I… I don’t even think I’ve talked to Dad that way. He’s always been the iron rod if you know what I mean. I could never talk to him about anything, or tell him anything, I was always afraid that something was going to happen to me,” he laughed, “I’m proud of him, I really am, and he’s starting to look for a place of his own as well. Wanting to stand on his own,” he finished.
“That’s good, it’s nice to see him finding his feet, if he needs any help, you know we’re all around,” Buck told him.
“I know, and he knows that,” Chimney nodded, “It’s been nice actually getting to know him. I never really thought about trying to, I always thought him to be like my Dad and I know his Mother is… pushy, she wants him to excel in education and business, and it’s pushed him away. With the notation that he had to be straight, to marry the woman that they had chosen for him. I’m hoping that with Albert and I not talking to them, they take the chance to evaluate what the fuck is going on in their lives for them to basically drive two children away. My Grandparents are… upset, but they are wanting to try and get back in touch, these are my Mother’s parents. Hell, I didn’t even know they were still alive until Albert told me,” he snorted, “Dad… told each side lies about the other, and I don’t even know why.”
“Don’t know, but at least you can now reconnect with your Grandparents,” Eddie said, “It should be nice getting to know them again, and maybe even taking the chance to learn more about your Mother. I know you loved her a lot.”
“Yeah, they plan to try and visit within the year, I’ve told them not to rush,” Chimney smiled as he looked at Maddie, “They talked with Maddie as well.”
“They are very happy for us,” Maddie smiled, “I think we might go over there for a small visit as well.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Buck grinned at his sister, she looked so happy as they continued to talk during their meal.
Chapter Sixty
Michael looked at Bobby as the man moved around the kitchen with ease. A few years ago, the kitchen had been his, he would be the one moving around. Cooking for his family, smiling and laughing with Athena, and teasing May and Harry about so many silly little things. It’s hard for him to think that might be over soon. That he’ll fade from their memories eventually. Bobby was a good man, and he knew he couldn’t have chosen someone better to be there for his kids when he was gone. Athena had lucked out when she met Bobby, the kids liked him a lot as well, which mattered a lot.
“So, are you going to tell me why you’re here?” Bobby asked as he brought over the quick stir fry he had cooked for the two of them.
“It’s just…” he paused for a moment, looking at the food for a moment before, “I’ve been talking to everyone, about things,” he said, “I’ve realized that with the treatment not working, and the risk of surgery really high. I don’t think I’m going to go for it,” he admitted.
Bobby frowned, “Are you sure you don’t want to just take the chance? Maybe it’ll work, there’s always that chance of it,” he said, looking at his friend. “Look, Mike, you’re my friend, not only that, but I know May and Harry will be devastated should something happen to you,” he pointed out.
“I know, and if I go through with the surgery, there is a high chance of death, and the rest of it is more of a case that I may not even remember anything of my life. I just… won’t be me anymore,” he told him, “I just won’t. I don’t want the last thing that Harry and May to remember of me, is me not being myself,” he said. He admitted mostly to himself that he was scared, scared of losing part of himself with an operation. He knew the risks, he had talked it over with several doctors over the last few weeks and all said the same thing, there is a high chance that his personality could change, that he could forget things.
“I see,” Bobby said slowly as they began to eat.
They were quiet for a few moments before Michael spoke again, “Bobby, I’m scared as hell. I don’t want to die, but… I think that’s what is going to happen.”
Bobby was silent for a moment, thinking, “I know you don’t. Those kids are going to miss the hell out of you,” he said, shaking his head, “Spend as much time with them as possible, keep talking with them. Make sure they know that you love them. I know… I know that’s what I wished I had done with Marcy, Brooke, and Robert Jr,” he said softly, “I miss them so much, and it might not have been me dying, but I wish I had done all that. To have some more memories to hold onto,” he murmured at the end, not looking at Michael as he ate a little more.
“Yeah,” Michael said, nodding a few times.
Bobby looked up at him, “It’s hard to think about you being gone, you’ve become one of my closest friends. I don’t have many of those, and yes, I know the others in the firehouse and I are close, but sometimes. I need someone away from work just as much as at work,” he said, giving the man a smile.
Michael laughed, “Yeah, who would have thought we’d become good friends like this.”
“Not many would think it,” Bobby agreed, “Become good friends with the Ex.”
“Bobby,” he said, his voice serious again, “You’re going to be raising my babies, and I know you’ll make me proud in doing so. I hate that I’m not going to watch them grow up. To see them graduate and head off for Uni, or find love, get married, or even have kids.”
“They won’t forget you, Athena and I wouldn’t allow it,” Bobby told him, and Michael felt more reassured knowing that Bobby was speaking the truth.
“I know you won’t. Damn, Bobby, I hate this. I don’t feel like myself most of the time anyway. I feel sick nearly all the time as well,” he sighed, only able to finish half of what he had been given.
Bobby nodded, “Yeah,” he said, “Want me to save that for in a bit? I’ve seen you go back for food sometimes after a while and eat.”
“I’ll put it away myself, you keep eating,” he smiled, “Thanks for cooking,” he added.
“Welcome, you know that,” Bobby said, giving the man a smile as he carried on eating his lunch. Michael joined him once more and talk turned to other things this time, a much lighter subject was needed.
XxXxX
Buck knocked on the door and waited for an answer. He had gotten the address from Maddie, wanting to check on Josh himself.
“Buck?” Josh frowned a little, though the bruising on his face caused him to wince, “I’m really not in the mood to entertain,” he told him, “I’m sorry.”
“I know you’re not,” Buck told him, stopping him from closing the door, “I’m not here to be entertained, I’m here to make sure you’re okay. It’s… horrible,” he said, trying to find the words to use, “To feel like you can’t be yourself.”
Josh sighed as he opened the door, “You’re like your sister, you won’t go away until you’ve done what you’ve come for.”
“Where do you think I learned it from,” Buck snorted as he walked inside, “And thank you. I do want to talk to you, there are things Maddie doesn’t know about me because they happened during the years that I traveled,” he told him as Josh closed the door behind him.
“Oh?” he frowned, leading the way to the living room and gesturing to the couch, “You can sit down,” he said, curling up in a very large and overstuffed armchair. It looked comfortable as Josh sank into it.
“Thanks,” Buck smiled, “I know you don’t really know me that much,” he said, “But I’d like to,” he added, “When I was traveling around, I tended to sleep in the jeep a lot, or in house shares. Not everyone is open to having someone Bi around them. When people found out, a lot of the time I would be kicked out of the house I was in. I’ve been jumped twice, and beaten up bad enough to need a hospital visit once. Maddie doesn’t know, I never mentioned that in the postcards I would send her. When something like that happened I would move on. I never told her the bad things that happened.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Josh asked.
“So you know that you’re not alone. I had to go back to both cities, to testify about the attacks. It wasn’t… pleasant,” he sighed, “But it did help me with closure about each of them. I just wanted you to know that I’m here for you as well,” he said, repeating himself.
“Thank you,” Josh smiled a little bit, “Can you… tell me a little of what happened?” he asked, “I can’t imagine someone trying to attack you,” he added, gesturing to how Buck looked.
“I wasn’t like this back then, I was a… twink,” he snorted, “Really, thinner, not as bulked as I am now. I was going from one place to another place. Following the work as it was. Construction, bar work, and anything legal that you can think of. Looking like I did back then was a draw,” he grinned, pulling out his phone and showing Josh what he looked like back then, “I was young, fresh-faced, and didn’t really know what the world was like. I flirted with men and women,” he told him.
“You look like someone one of my friends would have hit on back then,” Josh laughed, handing the phone back. “He likes them like that,” he smiled, “Me, I prefer them more like your boyfriend, Eddie Diaz, now that is someone I could climb. And yourself,” he added, getting a blush from Buck.
“Well… sorry, taken,” he then grinned.
“Oh I know,” Josh laughed a little, “Maddie has told me all about the two of you and the dancing around that you did. Have to say, it’s nice to hear that you’re together now,” he told him, “Now, what happened?”
“Well, I’d been traveling for around eight months the first time. Found a house share, seemed like nice people, we had background checks, the lot, the landlady wouldn’t settle for less. So I did them, went through them, and got a roof over my head. It was the first time since I had left Maddie that I would have that. I’d been sleeping at campgrounds and in my jeep or on someone’s couch most of the time,” Buck said with a little shrug.
“So you were in an actual home at that time?” Josh asked, before something else registered, “You were homeless before then?”
“You could say that. It was easier to save money doing that than staying in hotels and motels. They cost money. I may have been working, but I was saving as much as I could,” Buck told him honestly, “I wanted to save money.”
“I… I don’t like the thought of someone I know being homeless,” he frowned as he looked at Buck.
“Josh. I never considered myself homeless. I was finally free from my parents and their constant disappointment. I felt that I had found a place to temporarily call home. Things were going great for a while. For the first month. I went to one of the bars where I started flirting with a guy at the bar. It was one of those ‘under21’s’ bars that I enjoyed going to. The guy was great. We hooked up and then I went home. Went to bed, and woke up to the guy I went to the bar with dragging me from my bed. Two other members of the house joined him as they beat me up. In the end, another saw what was going on and called the cops.”
“Fucking hell,” Josh murmured, Looking horrified.
Buck gave him a weak smile, “Yeah. It happened. I recovered from it. And I had to testify about the attack. I wasn’t the only one they had done it to. Though I was the only one to report it. The second time was different. I was attacked when I stepped out of a club. A gang that had taken to attacking those that came out of gay clubs and bars. Me and my friends were just one of four groups attacked. That was when I had a hospital stay. I went back when they were finally caught and I had to testify,” he finished, smiling a little more.
“It’s nice to know I’m not the only one,” he murmured, “I was talking to this guy, over the app, we… hit it off. Or so I thought,” he told him, looking up, “Buck, it’s been a long time since I dated someone, it’s hard at times to find the time with a job like ours. We have long shifts, not as long as you’re obviously, but still long, and at odd times as well. I was doing night shift a lot at one point,” he said, “So I loaded up the app, hoping to find someone that wouldn’t run screaming when they learn of the awkward hours that I sometimes take,” he snorted.
“I remember those days myself, though I didn’t start until I arrived here if I’m honest. I am usually able to hook up when I want out in the bars,” he shrugged, “The apps came in helpful when I started the twenty-four-hour shifts.”
“Exactly,” Josh said, “I… It’s hard to find someone that will understand about the job as well. How it can drain you and invigorated you on and off all day,” he told him, “We never really know what happens to calls after they hang up, if someone lives or dies,” he added, “Sometimes I wanted someone I could talk to, and this guy, this one, I thought was it, he listened to me, and I listened to him.”
“You thought you found someone and went out,” Buck sighed, getting a nod.
“I did, we decided to meet, we’d been talking for at least three weeks by then. I chose the bar, somewhere I know, where people knew me as well,” he told him, “I took as many precautions as I could. The date went well, and we left. We left and the next thing I know, others are there and I’m getting beat up. They take my things and I’m left there.” Josh was shaking when he finished, “I just… I feel betrayed, like there is something wrong with me because of what he did.”
“No, there is nothing wrong with you at all,” Buck told him, “Just… some people are the worst of society,” he said.
Josh looked up and nodded, “I know, we deal with a lot of it in our jobs as well,” he said softly.
“Yeah,” he nodded, agreeing easily, “I wish it wasn’t the case. We see and hear from people during the worst parts of their lives. Listening to them as they tried and get through it. You get the beginning of it, we see the middle, and occasionally the end of it. Those at the hospital tend to see the end of it. That night, you were in the middle of your worst day. You came out of it, and you have your friends all around you that are willing to step up and be there for you if you need someone,” he added, smiling at him.
“I know, and I can’t… I’m grateful, so grateful. They took everything from me, all my IDs, cards, and what little cash I had. I’ve canceled everything. Gone through all my IDs, Maddie made sure of that,” he snorted, “Talking with Sue about my work ID being taken has led to her making sure that the security is tightened since I’m going to be off work for a while, they have something set up if it’s used,” he smiled, “Which is good that they do. I didn’t really know about that until now.”
“Well, Dispatch doesn’t seem like it could be a target, but it can be one in certain circumstances,” Buck nodded after thinking for a few moments.
“Yeah,” Josh smiled, “Thank you, for coming over,” he added, “I wasn’t doing well thinking that I was alone,” he murmured. “Seems, self-centered,” he snorted.
“No, you haven’t seen anyone else in your friends or family attacked like you have been, feeling alone about it all, is natural,” he shrugged, “I think most people forget that I spent almost four years traveling around, experiencing the worst and the best the world has to offer. People think I’m this… frat kid still,” he said, shaking his head, “It’s taken a long time to show people that’s not who I am, though people will occasionally treat me like that,” he told him.
“Well, some of your traveling has done you good, you know the world a lot better than people things, even if most do think of you as a… kid,” Josh laughed lightly as Buck grinned. The two talked a little more before Josh became tired and Buck left him to rest.
