Reading Time: 126 Minutes

Title: You Got It
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slash
Relationship(s): Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Hate Crimes/Hate Speech, Violence – Graphic, Violence – Domestic and/or Against Children , Discussions of Domestic and Child Abuse, Non Parental Child Abuse, False Accusation of Sexual Abuse towards a Minor, Discussion of Rape, Past Rape, Belief of Adultery, Home Invasion, Suicidal Ideation, Canon Minor Character Death,
Beta: J-Love99, HarleyJQuin
Word Count: 126,634
Summary: Getting the Jeep from Maddie was his ticket to freedom, but when it led to him stopping outside of a Community College in El Paso, he decided that it was a sign from the Universe that he should at least get a degree. When a week later one of his House Share friends dragged him to an Under 21s Bar, he meets Eddie Diaz, home from deployment for the birth of his son. A yell and a push from Shannon in the hopes of her friend getting laid, Evan ends up finding everything he had been looking for. He gains a friend, a confidant, a boyfriend and even a son, but not everyone is happy with the new little family unit coming together.
Artist: Spennig

 

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Chapter One

Evan Buckley sighed as he moved his arm. It was still hurting almost two weeks after he had crashed his motorcycle. Evan let his head fall onto the steering wheel of the jeep. It had only been a week since his world had turned upside down. But he couldn’t regret it. How could he? He was finally free of his parents. Parents that had ignored him for nearly all of his life. The nineteen year old sighed, still wishing he had managed to get Maddie to go with him. Instead it was just him and her jeep. He had slowly driven around the country, only staying a few hours in places to get a bit of sleep and then carry on.

For the first couple of days it had been freeing, just moving across the country and trying to find a place where he could belong. But now, he was at a loss. No one to talk to, to be around. Just alone, no friends, no family. He wanted to find where he belonged and he wondered if he had missed his chance. “Come on, Evan, time to move,” he muttered to himself as he started up the jeep once more and started along the road. He had money in his bank, but it would soon start getting low and he would need work if he wanted to be able to sleep somewhere other than his jeep.

Glancing around, he tried to figure out which city or town he had found himself in this time. He pulled up at a large building. He almost laughed when he saw that it was a college. But it would be something, maybe he could go back to school. Do something he wanted, and not the course that his parents had forced him to take. It was still daylight, a few more hours before the city would stop and the masses would head home for dinner. “Well,” he grinned, “Looks like the universe is screaming at me to do something more with my life,” he got out of the jeep and decided to go inside.

Two hours later he walked back out with a bundle of paperwork in his hand and numbers that he could call to find a place to stay and even help towards tuition costs. It helped that his insurance on the bike had come through. While it hadn’t paid for it all, it would be enough to help him in finding a place to live while looking for work. With a plan in his mind Evan set out to make calls and go around hoping to find a place.

“Thanks,” Evan smiled as he almost sagged in relief in his seat. He had finally secured a room in a shared house. It wasn’t the ideal, but it should be just fine. It was a place to stay. Tomorrow would be a day to search for work, and anything was acceptable as long as it didn’t cut into his timetable for college. Starting up his jeep, he headed for the house he had secured a place in. It was available straight away, so he didn’t see any point in wasting time.

Not even fifteen minutes later he was pulling up outside a large colonial style house. The front door looked large, but that was because it was set between two stone looking pillars. He could see that the place would be large enough for at least four or more to live there, maybe even twice that. Walking up, he was soon knocking on the large oak door of the two story building.The rent and deposit on the place was going to be making a bit of a dent in his savings until he found a job, but it was one of the more reasonably priced places he had found in his search.

The door opened and a young East Asian man stood there looking at him. His dark hair flopped into his eyes, they looked warm, friendly, with a spark of mischief and Evan could tell this man would be a good friend to have. There was something about the slightly smaller man that put Evan at ease.

“Hey,” said a clear voice, there was a slight accent to it.

“Hi, I’m Evan Buckley,” he greeted him.

“I’m Xiaoli Huang, I’m the one you talked to. I’m the main one here,” he grinned, he had a baby face even and a bright and happy smile on his face.

“Right,” Evan nodded, “Well, I… I’m kinda unsure of what I should do,” he said, giving a nervous laugh.

“Don’t worry most are when it comes to these types of situations,” Xiaoli told him, “I’m Chinese, I came here with my parents as a little kid. Most of my friends call me Lee,” he said, pulling a slight face.

“I take it you’re not a fan of a nickname?” Evan asked him.

“It’s not that, Lee is a good Americanization of my name, as it sounds similar to the last part of my name. But, I’m proud of my name, I like it. Even if it does roughly translate into English as meaning Little Plum,” he laughed.

“I take it they call you Little Lee?” he asked.

“Yes, and I’m not little,” he told him, “Come on, I’ll show you your room,” he added as he guided him through. “You can drop your things off there and I’ll show you around.”

“Thanks,” Evan smiled at him, “I’m new in town as well,” he told him, “First day actually.”

“Wow,” Xiaoli looked at him, eyes going a little wide, “First day and you’ve got a place to live.”

“I know, I lucked out I think. Also going to see about taking courses at the college here. I went there first and there are a few things that could help me with tuition. Don’t know if I would qualify for them, but it doesn’t hurt to try,” he said, “And tomorrow, it’s job hunting.”

“Not that hard to do at the moment, there are a number of bars and clubs, and eateries that are always on the lookout for staff,” Xiaoli told him.

“I’ll hit them up tomorrow,” he grinned, as they came to a room on the second floor.

“This is your room. The others are working at the moment, so it’s only me. The landlord of the place is a real nice lady. She’s very helpful, even in the middle of the night and there’s a leak. Her son takes care of a lot of the repairs around here.” Xiaoli told him, opening the door, “Double bed, dresser, wardrobe. You can add what you want to the room, no decorations to it unless it’s posters, they are alright if you use blu-tack. Desk as well, to work or study in your case.”

Evan looked around and nodded to himself, “Thanks for showing me, what are the rules?” he asked, knowing there would be some.

“Pay on time, if there is a problem, report it straight away. That means with other housemates or just general maintenance. Food wise, we share most of the time, but if there is something that you want for yourself that you buy. Put your name on it. There are labels in the kitchen for that. And if you use the last of something, write it down on the list on the fridge. We all put together for the groceries,” Xiaoli told him, “Rules are to behave, be polite and courteous to others. Now, Mrs Lewis, that’s who took your initial call until she handed over to me, she is a worrier, about all of us. She’s lovely, really, so while we do drink, we don’t get drunk often. She will come over and mother the hell out of you if she finds out, and will make you wish you have never drank a drop; because she will make the worst tasting thing.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he laughed.

Xiaoli stopped as Evan put his things down. “Here’s the key for your room, you can keep it locked. But we have an honor system here, we don’t go into each other’s room unless invited in. But we don’t care if you lock up of course. I’ve lived here a year so far, just finishing a few things up before heading somewhere else.”

Evan took the key and nodded. “Right,” he said as he put his things down. He had taken what he could from his parents and stuffed them in his bag. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something. The money that Maddie had given him had been put into his personal account he had opened without his parents knowing the year before.

“Come on, I’ll show you the rest,” Xiaoli said as he then showed Evan where the bathrooms were. “You’ll be sharing this one with me, there are another two, one down stairs and another up here. The one up here is shared by the other three renters,” he explained. “Two large living rooms, a good kitchen to cook in and a dining room attached. This place was all set up for a large family I think.”

“Okay,” Evan said, a little overwhelmed as he was told what was downstairs.

“Come on, let’s have something to eat,” Xiaoli said as he pushed Evan towards the kitchen, “Sit, sit, sit,” he grinned as he made him sit at the island counter. Going over to another he began to cook, “My mother always said that if you can’t cook egg fried rice then you are not a cook. It’s the basic of basics in my family,” he smiled over at Evan, “It’s filling though,” he added as he carried on, heading to the fridge and grabbing a plastic tub. “Are you okay with that?” he then asked, “I didn’t even think to ask if you had any allergies?”

“I’m fine, I’ll eat anything,” he told him, shaking his head, “You really don’t have to cook for me at all. I-”

“Don’t worry about it. I could tell that you haven’t really had anything today. You look a little pale, and I heard your stomach as you walked in,” he told him, “Adding some chicken that I cooked yesterday and a few more veg,” he said as he did just that before he began to serve.

“Thank you,” Evan said, giving Xiaoli a smile.

“Welcome,” he grinned back, the two of them sitting at the island counter and eating. “The others won’t get back till the early hours. So you may as well get yourself settled and sleep while you can. They aren’t noisy, most of us are trying to work and go to college. The only one not in college is Peter, he’s in between places at the moment. So he won’t be here much longer. Juan and Andy both are at college studying. So you’ll fit right in here.”

Evan laughed, “I can hope,” he told him, eating and enjoying the food.

A few hours later Evan was in his room. His own room, not one in his parents house, not one that belonged to Maddie. His own. It was nearing midnight as he pulled an old notebook and pen out of his bag and began to write. Telling Maddie all that he could about what he had done over the last two weeks. Wanting her to see that he was going to do something with his life. He didn’t really know fully what that might be, but he was going back to school to do something that interested him. It was a good place to begin at least.

The next morning he sent off the letter, making sure it went to the hospital and not to Maddie’s home. He didn’t like Doug, really didn’t like him. And he knew that was mutual, and he wouldn’t put it past the man to not let Maddie have his letter. He met the others, they were all quick to warm up to him. With a few friendly bits of advice about the area of El Paso that he was in, Evan headed off to see what he could find on the job market.

When he arrived back, after messaging Xiaoli that he was on the way back, he was greeted by the others and a smaller black woman and what was obviously her son standing beside her. Their smile was the same, as they both came forward to greet him. As he was guided to the kitchen by Mrs Lewis where a feast was laid out.

“Welcome to our little corner,” she told him, “Now sit down and eat, you’re too thin,” she added as she poked him and made him sit down.

Evan sat down as Xiaoli murmured, “Told you, she’s rather motherly. She’s an amazing woman, just enjoy living here while you can.”

Chapter Two

Evan picked up his non alcoholic beer, drinking almost half of it in one go, he glanced around the small club and bar. It was a good place to go for the under twenty one crowd that wanted to party and hook up. Evan had been avoiding them, but Juan wanted to get out and have fun. So Evan had tagged along. It had been almost three months since he had first arrived in El Paso, college was going well. He was making good grades so far, enjoying what he was learning. Those at the house share had been great to get to know. Juan had found his bloke of the night, so Evan was left at the bar. He hadn’t really thought of finding someone himself, but he couldn’t help his eyes getting drawn by a man sitting at the bar a few stools down from him. Brown hair fluttered in brown eyes. The man was talking to the female bartender in front of him, he wasn’t flirting with her, but he was talking, and it seemed like a serious discussion.

The bartender must have spotted him staring occasionally and pointed it out to the man. The man turned, and his eyes weren’t just brown, but warm and welcoming. They looked burdened to Evan and he wondered if he could do something to see them light up with happiness. Evan shook his head, trying to get away from the weird thoughts he was having.

“Hey,” came a smooth voice.

Evan looked up and saw the man was now standing just in front of him, “Oh, erm hi,” he said, grinning a little, nervous.

“You okay?” he asked him.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he nodded rapidly.

“I’m Eddie, nice to meet you,” he told him, “My sister said you were staring, thought I would at least come over and say hi,” he added, “Mind if I join you?”

“Go… ahead,” he hesitated, “I’m Evan.”

“You seem really nervous,” Eddie pointed out.

Evan nodded, “Not… really been one for this. Messing around with friends, yeah, they were around to keep me from ending up face first in a ditch with alcohol poisoning,” he winced at the slip, but didn’t say anything more.

“Well, I promise I won’t let that happen to you, no drinks like that for you,” he told him, seeing the band on his wrist to show he was under twenty one. Eddie didn’t need a wristband this time, since he had turned twenty-one recently. He carried on with, “Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before? My sister would have said something if that was the case.”

“I moved into the area recently. Going to college,” he answered, “My friend wanted to have some fun. So he dragged me along as a wingman. Then left now he found someone,” he snorted, drinking more of his drink. “Sister?”

“Yeah, my older sister, or rather one of them, Soph, she’s been working here for a bit. Trying to find work for her degree, but it’s taking a while. So working here until she finds something,” he shrugged.

“And what about you?” Evan asked, looking him up and down, “With the way you look, I wouldn’t be surprised if you weren’t a model.”

Eddie laughed, “Smooth, needs a better delivery,” he told him and grinned, “Army actually, on leave for a bit.”

Evan laughed as well, and then he caught the glint of metal on his finger, “Ah, you’re married?”

“No, I only wear it there to keep those I have no interest in away from me. There is someone in my life. Somewhat,” he told him, “But… not in the way you’re probably thinking. My friend and I had our fun and we ended up pregnant. Of course we knew the kid was mine. So my dad told me I needed to propose straight away, as soon as he found out Shannon was expecting. Neither of us love the other; we’re… friends with benefits, though more just friends these days. So while I wear it, I really only do so when around family. Sophia knows what’s going on, I just… forget it’s there most of the time. You can always call her,” he said as he pulled out his phone. “She told me to wear that to keep the idiots away and to only go after someone I want to,” he added, opening his phone and clicking on Shannon’s contact details.

“Eddie, you better be having your fun while you can, because tomorrow is my night out and you can watch over Chris, he is upset his daddy isn’t here,” Shannon snapped out, not sounding happy at all.

“Sorry Shan, and I was trying, but they saw the ring,” Eddie grinned, he could hear Christopher crying slightly in the background. “You’re amazing Shan, and I know he’ll be just fine after a bit,” he added.

“Yeah, he will. So, ring, right, and they went, oh your married and fucked off,” Shannon cackled, “I told you to take it off when you find someone that interests you,” she reminded him.

“Yes, yes, I know, but he’s actually here beside me, giving me a chance to explain why I’m wearing it,” he said, glancing over at Evan.

“Right,” Shannon said as she then added, “To the stranger that is standing next to Eddie Diaz,” she began, laughter in her voice, “Will you fuck him and make him happy, or maybe let him fuck you?”

“Shannon!” Eddie said, “Fuck’s sake.”

“That’s what I’m trying to get you to do,” Shannon cackled again as she enjoyed his embarrassment, even though she couldn’t see him, she knew what the man was like. Christopher gave a wail of a cry in the background, “Oh baby,” she murmured, “it’s okay, you’re going to have to get used to me little buddy.”

“My parents think we are married, we’re not,” Eddie said, “We’re just using that for now. Shannon is mostly working from home at the moment, I’m in the army.”

“So Eddie’s allowed to have some fun, because there is no way he is getting near me for a long time to come,” Shannon told them both.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Right, I’ll try and be back later, Shannon.”

“Just use the house, I’m with Adriana for the night, she’s helping me out tonight. You’re sisters are a godsent blessing at times,” Shannon said, the sound of another woman talking entering the background.

“As long as it’s not my parents,” Eddie snorted.

“Exactly,” Shannon agreed with another voice saying the same.

Evan snorted, “You all seem really close,” he said, feeling some sadness as he thought of Maddie.

“Right, I’m going to go, before this turns into another family discussion on how we need to keep our parents away from us for the next three decades,” Eddie said as he disconnected the call. “We are close. My parents are overbearing. They think they are always right on what they are doing. Adri is getting married soon and they don’t like her fiancé at all. Sophia wants to move away and they are already trying to get her to stop, she is looking for work outside of Texas,” he added, “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this,” he snorted, “Hey Soph! Another drink for the both of us!” he called out to his sister who was a few feet away.

Evan smiled at him, “I’m a complete stranger, they always say that talking to a stranger is easier than talking to those you love,” he said.

“Is my brother annoying you, I can kick him out? Seriously, I can,” Sophia walked over, two non alcoholic beers in her hands, she put them down, taking Eddie’s money and ringing them up. Her brother didn’t really drink when out with strangers, “Really,” she said, as she handed over her brother’s change, “I would love an excuse to be able to kick him out,” she grinned at Evan.

“I thank you for the kind offer, but I think he wins,” Evan laughed.

“Damn,” Sophia muttered, rolling her eyes, but laughing as she went off to go and serve someone else.

“You know, I’ll actually miss seeing her when I’m on leave when she finds a new place,” Eddie said, smiling at his sister. Reaching out for his beer he took a sip.

“Instead of… ending up in bed,” Evan said, a little nervous.

Eddie looked at him, “First time with a man then?” he asked, seeing the nervousness.

Evan snorted, “You could tell that then,” he said, taking his own beer and drinking some of it.

“Just a little,” he smiled, “And yeah, how about, instead of falling into bed straight away, I… I think I wouldn’t mind getting to know you a bit better, so how about, in two days. Since tomorrow it’s Shannon’s turn for a night out, we go out for dinner and do a classic date night.”

Looking at him, Evan nodded, “Yeah, I… like that idea,” he said slowly, not really having thought of going on a date with someone. “So, tell me more about Eddie Diaz,” he prompted.

“Only if you tell me more about Evan… and you didn’t give me your last name,” he said, giving Evan a look.

“It’s Buckley, nothing special,” he said, “So, what about you. I know you have a son. Two sisters and you are in the army. A wife that isn’t a wife,” he added.

“Well, I’m the youngest in the family. I’m twenty one, just turned. Joined the army when I was nineteen. I’m an army medic. Surprised to be a dad to be honest. I have two older sisters. Adri, who is getting married and is an accountant. Sophia is dating someone, but hasn’t brought them around yet,” he said, sending said sister a glare, who just smiled at him sweetly and carried on working, “she’s a publicist, and wants to move to New York,” he finished.

“That’s a lot and then again not very,” Evan laughed, “Come on, tell me about you? Hobbies, friends, what you like to watch and read. Music you like. I want to know about you.”

“Well, I like a good action film,” he said, “And don’t let Soph know, but I don’t mind the rom coms she makes me watch. They are… cheesy and amusing,” he added in a lower voice, leaning closer to Buck.

“To be honest with you, I don’t really watch too much TV, movies or shows,” he told him, “I’ve been a little behind on things.”

“Well, you’re missing out, so we’re going to be going to the movies at some point,” Eddie said, plans already beginning to form on what he wanted to do on a date with Evan. The younger man intrigued him. He looked bright and happy. But there was something more there. Something in the others’ eyes that showed that just because he was younger he doesn’t have any life experience at all.

“Yeah,” Evan nodded.

“For Music, I don’t mind most music, it’s nice to listen to,” Eddie gave a shrug, “and for reading, not a fan that much. I don’t mind reading some books, the Clive Cussler, Dirk Pitt books, those I enjoy,” he said.

“Don’t think I’ve read those,” Evan said, frowning as he tried to think if he had.

“Well, I have copies at home, so I can always lend them to you,” he offered.

“I’d like that,” he nodded, “I love to read, I’ve already got myself sorted for the local library,” he laughed lightly, “and music, I can listen to anything.”

“Any more questions?” Eddie asked him, enjoying hearing Evan laugh.

“I’m sure I can come up with something,” Evan smirked over at him, he leaned a little closer. “How about… Give me a random fact about you?” he asked him.

“Random fact,” Eddie frowned, “Hmm,” he thought for a few moments before answering, “I’m actually a good cook, but no one believes me.”

Evan laughed, “Why don’t they believe you?”

“I only ever cook for myself, before that when I tried, I ended up setting fire to the kitchen and got banned by my family. They’ve not let me back in since I was fourteen. So when I got my own place, I cooked for myself. Shannon is the only one that knows that I can cook, and even then she doesn’t believe it’s me half the time,” he answered him, shrugging. “What about you, random fact?”

“About me, there’s nothing interesting about me. Though I do like to gather random facts,” he answered with a shrug.

Eddie smiled, “That sounds like fun, you’re going to have to tell me a few,” he told him.

Evan nodded and did so, spending the rest of the night talking to Eddie and getting to know him. He headed home that night with a new number in his phone and a smile on his lips.

Chapter Three

Eddie looked at his phone. He had just had to cancel a date with Evan. The two were going to meet up and go out for a meal and a movie. It was a classic date and Evan had said he didn’t really watch films that often, so Eddie thought it would be a nice treat for the two of them. The Avengers movie had been released the week before, so he was hoping to catch it with Evan. But Shannon had a work emergency which meant she needed to go into the office and didn’t know how long she would be.

“I’m really sorry Eddie,” Shannon said as she rushed around grabbing the paperwork that was to do with the account she was working on.

“Shan, it’s fine, you work from home for the most part because of Chris, I don’t mind,” he reassured her.

“Why… why don’t you ask him to come here, let him meet Chris as well. The baby was now two weeks old, and loved being cuddled by someone.

“You sure?” he asked, “I know that you’ve turned my parents away a few times when I’ve gone out to get something.”

“The reason I don’t want them here, is the first time they tried to take over and tell me how to handle Chris. That I was feeding him wrong, that I shouldn’t burp him like the nurses told me to. That I should do this and that and they refused to listen to me, that I was quite capable of looking after my own son and that they didn’t need to come in and try and take him from me,” she growled, “I really don’t like them at all. They are trying to take over Eddie, and maybe one day I won’t mind a little help, but for now they can keep their noses out of my business.”

“This, this is why I like you,” Eddie said, “You stand up to them.”

“So do you,” Shannon reminded him, “You wouldn’t be in the Army if you hadn’t. You wanted to do something and you did so,” she added, “Right. I have everything, hopefully this won’t take long and you’ll be able to still go out. But call him over, let him get some Chris cuddles in, he seems the type from what you’ve told me.”

“Well,” he said, standing up to see her out, “He does love looking at all the pictures.”

“Seriously, Eds, get him over here,” she told him, rushing towards her car, “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye!” he waved, pulling up Evan’s contacts and calling him a second time, “Hey.”

“Hey Eds,” Evan said, voice was a little subdued, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, Shannon suggested something, and I think… I think I would like it if you come to mine, we can have dinner, watch a few movies and you could meet Christopher,” Eddie said, smiling as he closed the door and headed back into the living room. Christopher was sleeping soundly in his bassinet.

“Really?” Evan squeaked, sounding excited about the thought.

“Well, yeah. Evan, I’m kind of hoping that you really want to be in a long term relationship here. You… Look, we’ve known each other nine days, nine days and we’ve gone on three dates already. We talk on the phone for hours most of the time when you’re not at college or studying. I think both Chris and even Shannon should meet you. She only spoke to you on the phone a couple of times,” he said, his voice softening as he sat down, reaching over to Christopher and running a finger on his soft cheek, smiling as Christopher reacted and reached up for it, making a little suckling motion with his mouth.

“Alright, I’ll be there in about twenty minutes?” Evan said, and Eddie could hear the smile in his voice.

“Sure, see you soon,” Eddie told him.

“Yeah, bye Eds,” Evan returned as he hung up.

Eddie looked at Christopher, “Well mijo, you’re going to meet someone that means a lot to your daddy, I hope you like him as well,” he said, letting the tiny hand rest on his finger. Eddie remained there for a bit, before he glanced around and eyes went wide when he realized that the place was a bit of a mess. Having a newborn didn’t exactly mean you were awake enough to keep the place like a show home. Eddie, with some reluctance, got up and hurried to try and tidy the room up a little. Stopping in the kitchen for a moment to see what they had in the fridge, that he could make them for dinner. He found what he would need to slap together a stir fry.

Back in the living room, he didn’t even have time to sit down when there was a knock on the front door. Eddie rushed over, smoothing his shirt down and running his hands through his hair to straighten it up more, but only made it look more messy. With a sigh and roll of his eyes at the way he was acting, he opened the front door.

“Hey,” Evan greeted from behind a giant bear.

“What the hell is that Evan?” Eddie said, laughing as Evan swung it around so he could see him.

“Well, I found it and it was a bargain and I thought that this would be something that Chris could play with and have for a very long time,” he grinned.

Eddie smiled and nodded, “I’m sure as he grows he will love it,” he smiled as he let Evan inside, “Come on in, he’s still asleep at the moment, but he should be waking for a feed soon.”

“I can’t wait to meet him, wonder who he is more like, you or Shannon,” he wondered as Evan was led into the living room.

“I’m not sure, I think Shannon, but she says that it’s me,” Eddie said as he stopped by the bassinet.

Evan walked over and stopped, “Oh Eds, he’s beautiful,” he whispered.

“He is the cutest baby I’ve seen,” Eddie agreed, nodding, “Come on, let’s get that bear in Christopher’s room. It can sit in the rocker for now,” he added.

Evan nodded, eyes not leaving Christopher for a while as he followed Eddie. Setting the bear into the rocker, the room was light and airy, a crib to one side along with a changing table. Eddie was about to say something when there was a little cry from the living room.’

“Looks like Chris want’s lunch now,” Eddie said as he headed towards the kitchen, “You know how to hold a baby?” he asked, pausing and turning to Evan.

Evan shook his head, “I’ve… never really been around babies before,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

“Well, you’re now about to get a crash course,” Eddie said, taking a detour to the living room and picking Christopher out of the bassinet. The two week old baby was still crying, but it wasn’t a loud, wake the dead, cry that some newborn’s had. Moving over to Evan, he explained, “Just make sure you are careful with the head. He can’t hold it up yet,” he advised, showing Evan how to hold him. He stepped back and smiled, “There you go.”

Evan gave a joyful huffing laugh, “Wow, he’s got blonde hair,” he said, he could now see a few wisps of hair sticking out of the cap that he was wearing.

“He does, I don’t know where that came from. All my family are brown haired, and so is Shannon’s,” he said, shaking his head, “Now, hold him, while I go make lunch for him. I’ll do something light for now. Stir fry for dinner sound okay to you? Cheese on toast and tomato soup for lunch?” he asked as he started walking towards the kitchen.

Evan looked up from the newborn for a second and answered, “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”

Evan made his way over to the couch and sat down. Letting a tiny hand clasp over his finger, he smiled widely, “Well hello there Christopher. I’m Evan. I think I’m your daddy’s boyfriend. I hope I am, I really like him, he is so kind and wonderful. You have a really good dad there. Even though he told me that he is terrified of messing up. I don’t think he will,” he said as Christopher began to calm a little as someone talked to him. The voice didn’t sound like the other he had heard, but it was still nice. Eye’s opened as he gave a little cry.

Eddie finished making up the bottle and walked towards the living room. He could hear Evan talking to his son and smiled.

“He’s so nice, Chris, really. Though I think you already know that,” Even continued, “Do you think you could like me as well?” he asked, “I know I’m not that much at the moment, but I really really like your dad. And I would like to go out with him more. Though I know he will have to leave soon.”

“I would like to go out more with you as well,” Eddie said as he walked inside and over to him, “Want to feed him, it’s the right temperature,” he told him, holding out the bottle.

“Really?” he asked, “Should I?”

Eddie smiled, “Yes,” he nodded, “it’s not that hard,” he told him, letting him take the bottle, they spent the next half hour sitting close together as Evan fed Christopher and even burped him. “Yeah, he spits up sometimes, all babies do,” he told him as a little sick ran off the cloth and onto Evan’s clothes.

“It’s… fine,” he said, pulling a face.

Eddie took Christopher and stood up, “Come on, let’s clean you up,” he said, reaching a hand out to Evan and pulling him up. “I have some t-shirts that you can use. You should be able to fit in them. You’re only a little bit taller than me, and not that broad.”

Evan nodded and let himself be led to a bedroom. There was a double bed in the room, but he didn’t see any female clothing around, “Your room?”

“Yeah, Shannon’s is the next one,” he answered absently as he found out a t-shirt that Evan could wear. “Here you go,” he said, holding it out. He showed him to the bathroom and let him clean up.

Eddie went back to the living room, “Chris, buddy, you’re supposed to win him over,” he said, laughing lightly as Christopher just yawned. “Sassy already,” he sighed, shaking his head, “That’s all Shannon.” He sat there, just holding Christopher, he was still scared that he was going to mess something up. He reached up to the St Christopher medallion that hung around his neck, and had done so for the last two weeks. He still wasn’t used to it being there, but it sat right next to his tags. “Mijo,” he murmured, “I hope you’ll forgive me for going away so soon. The Army is where I want to be, but I am a little torn. I want to be with you as well. This might be my only tour, we’ll have to see,” he sighed, placing a kiss on Christopher’s forehead.

“You okay Eds?” Evan asked as he walked inside seeing the frown on the older man’s face.

“I’m scared,” he confessed, “Of messing things up for him, and even with you. We have another week before I’m back in Afghanistan. Will you even wait?”

“Yeah, I will,” Evan smiled, “I like you a lot, and I would like to see where things go. I know that you can get around 30 days leave each year. I looked it up,” he said a little embarrassed, “And I know you’ll want to see this one,” he added, reaching out for Christopher, stroking a tiny hand that twitched at the contact.

“Yeah, a month each year, could you handle that, would that… would that be okay?” Eddie asked again.

“It’s more than enough. You can call home, I’ll even ask Shannon if she wouldn’t mind me joining her and Chris on calls,” he said, looking a little embarrassed to even suggest it.

“She might insist,” he smiled, “Now, let’s get this one change,” he said as he had started to smell something coming from his son, and then I’ll clean up and make lunch for us. You can also learn how to change a diaper,” he grinned at Evan.

“I’m ready and willing to learn,” Evan grinned back as Eddie started to do so.

Chapter Four

Evan smiled over at Eddie, they were at the dining table in the kitchen, enjoying their dinner. Christopher was in his bassinet again, sleeping after his evening bottle. The two men were laughing quietly, neither of them wanting to wake the baby up. They heard the front door open. They stopped eating, “I’ll go and see Shannon,” Eddie said.

Evan nodded, “Sure, want me to cook up her food?” he asked, “Won’t take long. I could redo ours enough to keep it warm?” he suggested.

Eddie smiled, “You don’t have to do that,” he told him.

Evan smiled back, “I know I don’t, but it’s fine,” he said, getting up to do so.

“Thanks,” he nodded, “Shannon stresses a lot with her work.” Eddie then walked out of the kitchen, “Hey, are you okay?” he asked her, seeing the annoyed look on her face.

“Idiot at work didn’t file something away properly. Took all this time to find it and enter the data into the account properly,” she huffed, “Sorry, I know he’s still here, saw a jeep in the drive. I’m just going to grab a change of clothes and I’ll get out of your hair for a while longer.”

“It’s fine, he’s actually cooking up the dinner I put aside for you. So you’re welcome to join us. I think he wants to meet you,” he said quietly.

“Okay, I’m… just going to change clothes then, don’t want to meet your… boyfriend, looking like something the cat hacked up,” she grinned at him as she quickly went to clean herself up a little.

Eddie walked into the kitchen, seeing Evan keeping their food warm and cooking Shannon’s. “Here, I’ll take over.”

“It’s fine, I can do this,” he said, concentrating on what he was doing, “It’s not often that I get to cook. Mrs Lewis, at the house, she comes over to teach us once a week. She’s taken to trying to teach me a few things,” he smiled, “Though I think Xiaoli wants to teach me a few dishes as well. Mainly Egg Fried Rice,” he snorted a little.

“Egg Fried Rice sounds like a dream,” came a female voice. “Nice to finally meet the famous Evan Buckley,” she said as the young man turned around.

Evan smiled nervously, “Nice to meet the mother of the most adorable baby to ever exist,” he smiled charmingly at her.

“Oh, he is a keeper,” Shannon smirked, “Thank you, for taking Eddie off my hands, I thought I was going to have to go through with marrying the idiot,” she added as she went over to the table, where Evan was now quickly dishing out her food, while Eddie took care of theirs.

“I wouldn’t give into them Shannon,” Eddie sighed, knowing that this was part of her argument against having his parents around all the time.

“Eddie, seriously, they mention it each time they see me. I swear they are following me to the shops at times. Because I bump into them more than I should be. I thought your mother still worked, because she must either have been fired or retired, because she must have been waiting for me to leave the house to get something,” she grumbled taking a bite of the food, “Oh you have no idea how hungry I am,” she said as she ate some more.

Evan was nervous as he sat back down, eating silently.

“You can talk you know, no one here is going to snap at you,” Shannon said, smiling at him. “Eddie tells me that you’re at college, what are you studying?” she asked him, hoping that would get him talking.

“Well, I decided on psychology, I know it might not help much, but I find it interesting,” he gave a small shrug.

“I did that one,” Shannon said, “And you’re right, it is really interesting. You can learn a lot about how someone is behaving. It’s a good step towards a number of careers as well.”

Evan smiled, “I don’t even know what I’m doing, or what I should do. Just… trying to find what interests me,” he finished off quietly.

“Some of us have something in mind, some of us take years to find what we want to do with our lives. There’s no rush, and I doubt Eddie is going to be going anywhere,” she told him, eating a few bites as she watched the young man. He was cute and she could see why Eddie had gone for him.

“Shannon enjoys numbers, I don’t like sitting around doing nothing, I need something to keep me going. Army was perfect, even if my parents aren’t happy about it,” Eddie muttered, rolling his eyes. “We all have something that we will be good at, something that will call to us,” he told him.

“I hope,” Evan smiled as they went back to eating. Only being disturbed as Christopher gave a little cry in the bassinet. Eddie was quick to react and had him in his arms, eating with one hand.

XxXxX

The last week of Eddie’s leave flew by. The last day and instead of just Shannon and Chris seeing him off, everyone was saying their goodbyes. His sisters were sad to see him go. His parents had tried to talk him into finding a way to leave. Which Eddie had shot down straight away. Shannon had stood there quietly with Evan beside her. Christopher was sleeping peacefully in her arms; he had been in his pram, but after Helena had picked him up and sent him wailing at being disturbed, she had taken him from her and kept hold of him. The only one she was willing to give him to was Eddie when he said goodbye to his son.

“You better come home,” Shannon told him, “You know I can’t do this without you,” she reminded him, “He needs his dad, and I’m not going to let those two try and take him.”

Eddie nodded, his parents had already tried to get them to sign over custody of Christopher to them. It hadn’t worked and only made the two of them sit down and discuss what they would do if something happened to the both of them. In the end they had talked to Evan about it. And the nineteen year old was scared as hell when they had told him that he would be Christopher’s guardian if something happened to the both of them. Eddie didn’t want his son to be with his grandparents. They had put him and his sisters down often enough to know that he didn’t want the same for him.

“Evan,” Eddie said, as he looked at the younger man.

“I… I didn’t think this would be so hard,” he said quietly, “We’ve… we’ve only known each other less than a month but-”

“It already feels like a lifetime,” Eddie smiled as he wrapped his arms around Evan and held him tightly. He knew his parents were watching, but this time, he didn’t care. “Evan,” he said quietly, “I love you. I know it’s soon, but when you know, you know.”

“I… love you too,” he hesitated for a second, his voice hitching, “I never thought I would find someone that would want me. But you do, and Shannon is a great friend. And Chris, he’s so adorable, I can’t- I can’t imagine my life without him in my life, without you and even Shannon.”

“Same here,” he moved back, kissing him lightly, “Take care, and Shannon will have my schedule for my calls home. I’ll try and do so as often as I can. I’ll have a phone out there, but I don’t know how often I’ll be able to call home, or call either of you,” he finished moving back.

Evan kept hold of a hand and nodded, “I’ll miss you,” he murmured.

“Same,” he nodded back.

Eddie kissed Evan one last time, before going over to Shannon and kissing Christopher good boy, “Be good for your mom, she’s amazing and try and keep Evan around for me, alright mijo,” he murmured to the sleeping baby.

“We’ll make sure he sticks around,” Shannon told him, “Now get going,” she added.

Eddie nodded and headed off, giving a last wave to his family. Evan slumped as soon as he disappeared from sight.

“Here,” Shannon said as she went over to him, “Hold Chris,” she told him, “It’ll help knowing you still have some of Eddie’s heart right here. Though he does love you,” she added quietly, “I could tell that from the moment he met you. Never really believed in that love at first sight thing. But damn if that wasn’t what it was for him and you.”

“Neither did I, I don’t think I believed in love at all. Never thought I would find someone either. Just thought I would drift around and maybe one day I’ll find where I belong,” he murmured, as he held Christopher.

“Who is this… this boy!” Ramon glared at Evan.

Evan did his best not to rear back at the man. Instead, he stood his ground, “My name is Evan.”

“He is Eddie’s boyfriend,” Shannon said, smiling at Evan, “I don’t think he could have chosen better.”

“You let your husband step out on you, have you no shame,” Helena gasped, glaring at her supposed daughter in law.

Shannon laughed, “Eddie and I never married. We only pretended because you two were pushy as hell. But, we do have a custody agreement in place. So that Eddie had equal rights. And we even have something in place should the worst happen. And no, you won’t be getting Christopher.” She glared at them before looking at Evan, “Come on, let’s go home, have some Christopher cuddles before you have classes,” she told him as she guided him around, careful of the baby in his arms.

“You are not going anywhere with that gringo,” Ramon snapped, “We don’t know him at all, he could harm you or Christopher.”

“He would not harm Christopher, the only ones I worry about doing that is you and Helena. Each of you, over the last month, have made it clear that you don’t think that I can be a mother, that Eddie can’t be a father. You have no idea what is going on in our family. Because we don’t want you to know,” she told them, glaring at the two. “Now leave me and Evan alone, no doubt Chris will soon be realizing that his daddy isn’t going to be home and is going to be inconsolable. He adores his dad. and he adores Evan as well,” she added.

Evan walked with her. Eddie’s two sisters followed them, against their parents’ wishes. As they called out to their daughters.

“You know you two don’t have to follow us,” Shannon told the two women.

“Both of us are sick of the way that our parents are acting. We love them, just like Eddie does. But that doesn’t mean that we like what they are saying and doing,” Adriana said softly, “They keep talking about how Eddie isn’t going to be a good dad. Since he’s in the Army.”

“You don’t have to tell me what they think is wrong with me being a mother,” Shannon snorted, “I hear enough.”

“Yeah,” Sophia sighed, “Look, we’re sorry that they are acting like this. They, for some reason, don’t think anyone could raise a child as well as they could.”

“And they were crap at that the first time. With Eddie they pushed him so much, never letting him have five seconds to himself. I thought he would break, but instead he joined up. One way to get as far away from them as possible,” Adriana snorted.

“You are both welcome to come over and see Chris, but I don’t want your parents there at all. I’m sorry, but I really don’t trust them,” Shannon admitted.

“I don’t blame you,” Sophia said, “Now, Evan,” she said, moving closer to him, “How’s things going with our little brother?” she asked.

Evan blushed, “Things are… really good, I’m going to miss him like hell though,” he added as an afterthought.

“Yeah, he grows on you,” Sophia agreed.

Evan laughed a little as they made their way out of the airport, all of them decided to meet at Shannon’s for lunch.

Chapter Five

Shannon rocked Christopher in her arms as he cried. The month old baby was hungry and Shannon had stopped expressing the day before. It was becoming too painful for her to do it so often. Now in the kitchen she was making up a bottle, she settled down to start feeding him when there was a rapid knock at the front door. She cursed, there was only one person who knocked like that. She ignored it for a few more moments, finishing Christopher’s feed before going to answer the door. There stood Helena and Ramon Diaz, glaring as she had dared take the time to answer.

“What?” she asked them, glaring, “I am having a quiet day with Christopher and you are not welcome today,” she told them, though in reality, Evan was asleep in Eddie’s room. He had watched Christopher last night, letting her spend a little time out of the house. It had been the first time she had done so since Eddie had left.

“We wish to see our grandson, you have no right to keep him from us,” Helena said as she pushed Shannon back so the two of them could enter her home.

“I haven’t said that you can enter my home. You have no rights whatsoever. I am looking after my son, I have company as well. And I do not need the meddling parents of my son’s father around. Two people who have done nothing but try and make everything about them,” Shannon said, as she glared at them, “Leave my home.”

“I will not,” Helena said, standing tall. “I want to spend time with Christopher, you can hand him over.”

“Not going to happen,” Shannon said, brushing past the two and heading to Eddie’s room, “Evan,” she called out as she knocked and entered.

Evan was slowly waking up as Shannon walked in, “Ever-” he yawned, “Everything okay?” he asked.

“No, here, look after him for a bit. Lock the door behind me,” she added, handing Christopher over to him, “Helena and Ramon are here, I will get rid of them and I won’t be afraid to call the damn cops either,” she growled.

Evan took Christopher in his arms, “Hey buddy,” he grinned down at him.

“He’s just finished feeding, I burped him a little, but he may need to again,” she told him. “Try and stay in here for a bit, if you need anything, well, not much I can do.”

“We’ll be just fine,” he said, taking the burping cloth from Shannon and turning all his attention to the month old that was now in his arms.

Shannon smiled for a moment before she steeled herself and walked back out. She heard Evan get up and lock the door behind her. “What?” she asked them as they stood, blocking her way.

“You would hand our grandchild over to some strange man?!” Helena yelled.

“I handed over my son to his papa,” Shannon answered, rolling her eyes. “Because that is who Evan is, Christopher’s papa. He has a mom, a dad in Eddie and a papa in Evan,” she said, pushing past them, “Now, I want you to leave my home. I told you that I am not going to be letting you in all the time. I don’t mind if you want to see Christopher at all, but I am not changing the way our day goes if you stop by unannounced as you do.”

“We can stop by when we wish, all we want to do is to make sure that Christopher is being raised right. And with the way you let that gringo stay here, we know that isn’t happening. We want to make sure that Eddie will still have a son to come home to,” Ramon snapped at her, glaring.

Shannon ignored them and walked towards the living room. She may as well stay up. It wasn’t even six in the morning. She had only been awake to feed Christopher and was planning on going back to bed. Shannon heard them banging on one of the doors. With a growl she went back, “Leave them alone, Christopher needs to go back to sleep, it’s not even six in the morning So leave. Maybe tomorrow if you want to see him, you may come and visit, but not today,” she seethed as she stalked towards them, getting in their way enough that they had to back away from the door.

“I do not want my grandson near that man,” Helena said, going to try and push past her to get to the door again.

“And that man is someone that your son trusts. And someone that I trust. You have no say in what I do in my own home. I am going to be raising my son as I see fit, according to what Eddie and I agreed and to what Evan has even suggested. I will not let my son be around two people that will try and poison him to believe in the bigoted thinking that you two seem to hold,” she told them, “Now I want you to leave my home. I want to go back to bed, as I am fucking tired.”

“How dare you swear, you have a chi-”

“That child is a baby and isn’t even in the room with me. He isn’t going to understand anything at the moment. So I want you both to leave. If you don’t do so now I will call the police and have you arrested for trespassing; I don’t care who the fuck you think you are. You might be Eddie’s parents but you’re not mine. You might be Christopher grandparents, but that doesn’t give you the god damn right to barge into my home whenever the fuck you please to try and tell me what I should and shouldn’t be doing,” she told them, making sure she remained in the way to stop them from moving again.

“You can’t do that, we have rights,” Helena protested, “And I have the right to see my grandson whenever I wish. And if I wish it to be at half five in the morning then it will be half five in the morning.”

“No you don’t. A grandparent doesn’t have rights like that,” Shannon informed her, “You have nothing unless I say so. And at the moment, I want sleep, Christopher wants to go back to sleep and I’ve no doubt Evan does as well, since he has a few assignments to get done later. Now,” she added, pulling out her phone. She had tucked it away when she had gone into the living room. “I will call the police if you don’t leave my property, and this is my property; it’s in my name, not Eddie’s,” she warned them.

“You wouldn’t,” Ramon sneered at her, “You’re just a stupid girl pretending to be a mother. You won’t be able to rai-” he stopped as she began to dial and waited.

“My son’s grandparents have barged into my home, could I have the police in attendance please. I do not trust them to be around myself or my son with the language they are using,” she said quickly.

“Stupid girl, why the hell would you do something like that. We are wanting to see our grandson, we have a right to do so. You won’t push our Eddie from behind his father,” Helena yelled out, horrified that Shannon had actually called the police.

“I asked you to leave. We are trying to sleep. It’s too damn early in the morning for you to come by, and I already told you, we are busy. If you want to see him, choose a goddamn better time to come,” she snapped at her before turning her attention back to the phone, “Yes, I do want them to come here, no matter what.”

Ramon wasn’t happy with the woman in front of him. “I can’t believe you have done this to us.”

“Maybe if you could be more reasonable and less bigoted about the fact that your son is gay and in love with Evan and that me and Eddie won’t marry, then maybe, maybe I wouldn’t have done this. Instead you can’t even be decent people and care about those around you. Instead you are selfish, trying to push your beliefs onto others. Eddie and I are friends, we have been for the last three years. You don’t like me, and I really don’t care about that. I don’t like either of you, you’re rude, bigoted, full of yourselves, and think you can’t do wrong. And you are so stupid if you think I would give in to your demands of doing things on your terms. I am my own person, not a sheep.”

Shannon remained there, since neither Helena or Ramon was going to be moving at all. She did so until there was a knock at the front door. She had remained on the line with 9-1-1 as she waited for someone to come. Letting Helena and Ramon keep making snide remarks at her at how much of a terrible mother she was. Shannon looked at the two and then headed to the front door, two police officers were standing there. “Good morning,” she sighed, as she let them in.

“Wha-” the officer didn’t even get the chance to say anything more before Ramon and Helena were there.

“She is stopping us from seeing our grandson. Our son is away in Afghanistan, and she will not let us be anywhere near him,” Helena said straight away.

“Ma’am,” the officer said to Helena, “Are you the house owner?” he asked her.

“No, as I said, I’m here to visit with my grandson,” she answered him, frowning.

“Then you need to leave. It is very early in the morning, and I know of no parent that will want to be awake at this hour to entertain visitors,” the other said as he stepped into the home. Seeing that the younger of the two women was still dressed in what looked like sleepwear and looked rather tired and not put together for visitors.

“I want to see my grandson,” Ramon stated, “I will not be moved from doing so. She is a terrible mother and has given our grandson to a complete stranger.”

“I’ve put Christopher in with Eddie’s boyfriend Eddie is Christopher’s father. He is, as Helena said, in Afghanistan, they aren’t happy that their son is bi and won’t marry me. They aren’t happy that their son has found someone to love, or that he is happy to share his life with Evan,” Shannon rolled her eyes, “Please, get them out of here, I will make a statement for the record of course. But I could really do with some sleep, Chris kept me awake most of last night. Even if Evan did take over one of the early morning feeds.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the younger looking of the two officers said, “Please, leave the premises,” he gestured to the two, “The homeowner has the right to ask you to leave. Even if they have your grandson; you don’t have any rights to be here at all. They don’t have to let you into the home.”

“My-”

“I will arrest the two of you for trespassing and disturbing the peace if you continue,” the older of the two spoke up.

Helena and Ramon seethed and glared at Shannon, “I will make sure that Christopher is taken from you. You don’t deserve to have children at all, you’re a horrible mother, not even caring what happens to that poor child.”

“I care more than you,” Shannon said, “He’s my son, not yours,” she added as they were finally escorted from her home. Sighing she sat down with the two officers. Evan finally coming out of the room with Christopher so they could tell them what was going on. It would go on record of what Helena and Ramon had done, but no further action would be taken at this time.

Chapter Six

Evan looked at Shannon as he took Christopher into his arms, “Are you sure I should be doing this?” he asked, feeling nervous.

Shannon nodded, “Evan, really, you’ll be absolutely fine. I wish I could let you just stay at ours where everything is, but Helena and Ramon keep coming around to see him. It’s been two months since Eddie left and they are determined to talk me into marrying him for real and to keep you away from Chris. I am not going to do that at all. And I think they know that, but don’t want to admit defeat,” she sighed, “I’m sorry for doing this. I wish I could get out of this, but money has gone missing on one of my accounts, and while I am supposed to be on maternity leave still, I’m going to have to go and sort this out. I’d rather not be out of a job before I even get the chance to go back full time.”

“Okay, I’ll do my best,” Evan nodded, “You’ve given me so much,” he said as he saw everything now out of Shannon’s car.

“It might not be everything that you need. So, here is a spare key. You can go over and get what you need from there. There should be enough of anything that you need. If you need to buy any more diapers and that, money in the diaper bag for them. And thank you Evan, for doing this,” she smiled, “Bye Christopher, Mommy loves you,” she said, as she walked over and kissed him. “I should only be two days; the client is LA based, so I’ll fly out now, fly back later,” she reminded him, “You have all the numbers and all the information for Christopher. Guardianship is with you and the paperwork to say that as well.”

“I have it all,” he nodded, the bag now on his shoulder containing all the paperwork. Shannon had been quick to file all the paperwork for Evan to be able to look after Christopher for extended periods of time. And Evan had a feeling she was working up to something. “Take care of yourself Shannon,” he told her, getting a nod as she headed to her car.

Xiaoli Huang stood at the door, he had been warned about what was going on as soon as Evan had been asked. “I’ll help you get this to your room,” he smiled as he walked over and began to help. He saw the three month old baby in Evan’s arms. Wide awake and kicking, making a gurgling noise as he moved around. “He’s cute,” he said as he glanced over and saw Shannon watching for a moment before she drove away.

“Thanks, Xiaoli,” he smiled, he had taken the time to learn how to properly pronounce Xiaoli’s name and stick to using it.

“Welcome, and Mrs Lewis has found out that we have a baby visiting us, so she is insisting on coming by to make sure you are doing well and to join us in cooking,” he warned him. “Juan isn’t that happy about it, but he’s on the other side of the house, so it should be fine. Neither Peter or Andy really care.”

“I am sorry about bringing him here. But Eddie’s parents are trying to say that Shannon is unfit and they are trying to drive me away as well. They don’t like that their son is off doing what he’s doing or anything,” he sighed, having heard Helena and Ramon Diaz arguing with Shannon a few times over the last two months.

“It’s fine,” he smiled, “I’ve not really been around a baby before.”

“Neither had I until this little one, but I have to say, I can’t imagine life without knowing him. He’s so adorable,” he smiled down at Christopher who gave little jerky kicks.

“You seem like a natural,” he commented as they made their way to his room. Xiaoli set down the three bags that had been packed for Christopher. Evan had his arms full with Christopher, who he was quick to set down in the middle of his large bed, bunching blankets around him so he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. Though he wasn’t rolling over yet.

“I’ve had practice over the last couple of months,” Evan smiled at him, as he then grabbed the small travel cot that had been brought and set it up.

“I’ll get the rest,” Xiaoli said smiling at him and nodding as he headed back down stairs.

“Well, kiddo,” Evan said as he looked at the wiggling baby, “You’re stuck with me for the next two days,” he murmured, placing a kiss on his forehead, “You going to be good for me?” he asked him, letting Christopher find his fingers and curl around them. “You are, that’s wonderful news. And I am going to do my very best to look after you,” he laughed lightly as a little baby noise came from him.

Xiaoli walked back in with the last bag and the baby bouncer that had been dropped off as well, “here you go.”

“Thanks, really,” Evan smiled at him, “ You’re welcome to stay in here for a bit, just going to get things set up. I’ll end up preparing a few more bottles for him as well. He does cry but it’s rather quiet from what I’ve heard.”

“He is a cute baby,” Xiaoli said once more as he went over to the bed and stood by it, looking down.

“You can play with him,” Evan said as he grabbed something, “Here, he likes this, wave it in front of him. It makes a noise and he tries to reach out for it. He’ll get a little huffy if you don’t let him get it every now and then.”

“Okay,” Xiaoli said, sounding a little unsure, but took the toy from Evan’s hand, it made a little noise as he moved it. He could already see that the sound had drawn Christopher’s attention to it. He could help the little laugh as Christopher’s arms started to wave around a little more.

Evan looked up from what he was doing and smiled as he watched Xiaoli play with him. He moved around his room, putting things away and into a spot that he could easily get them from. “She really did pack so much,” he said as he finally finished.

“I can see,” Xiaoli snorted as he looked at the three large empty bags that were set aside.

“Wanna carry him?” Evan asked, “I need to make up some bottles for him,” he added. Shannon had expressed milk for the first two months, but hadn’t wished to carry on after that; she had found it too painful to keep doing so. Christopher had taken to formula well, not minding the switch at all.

“No, thanks,” Xiaoli was quick to say as he got up from the bed, letting Evan take Christopher into his arms, “You do that so easily,” he muttered, “I’ll take the bag,” he was quick to say when he saw Evan reaching for it.

“Thanks man,” he grinned and led the way down to the kitchen. Evan set Xiaoli on a stool and made him hold Christopher while he prepared the bottles. He had taken a couple of pictures, especially of the first shocked and terrified face he had pulled the first moment that Christopher had been in his arms.

Peter walked into the kitchen just as Evan was finishing. Seeing a grizzling Christopher in Xiaoli’s arms he stopped for a moment before shaking his head, “I forgot that you would be looking after him for a bit.”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry,” Evan said as he turned. “Shannon’s had to go to LA to sort out an account. And she doesn’t trust Eddie’s parents at all. They… they have something either against Shannon or that they aren’t happy that her son hasn’t married her. I don’t think they can make up their mind on what they want,” he pulled a face.

“Mrs Lewis will be here soon,” Peter then said as he walked over, “And don’t worry about it. It does make me miss my niece a bit,” he smiled.

“Didn’t know you had a niece,” Xiaoli said as he looked up from Christopher.

“I haven’t seen her in a while. She should be three now,” he sighed, “My sister and her husband moved to the UK for work. One of the reasons I’m house sharing is so that I can save money to go over as well,” he added, sitting down at the counter.

“Sounds like a good plan at least,” Evan said as he finished off the last bottle and put it away. He’d only done a couple up and one for now. Since that was the reason why Christopher had started to grizzle a little.

Evan took Christopher from Xiaoli, “I’m going back to my room, so we don’t disturb you at all.”

“You won’t be doing so by being here,” Peter told him, “Bring him into the living room and we’ll put something on the TV, we’ll make sure it’s not too loud either,” he added.

“You sure, I don’t mind being in my room, and this one won’t care as long as he is fed, clean and entertained enough,” Evan told the two of them.

“It’s fine, we’re not going to make you hide away in your room for two days while you look after him,” Xiaoli agreed with Peter, “Andy doesn’t mind either. And Juan will be fine with it. He just likes his peace too much and thinks all kids are noisy and messy.”

“To be honest Xiaoli, most of them are,” Evan was quick to tell them.

“But sometimes you can get a total sweetheart,” Peter told them, “My mom would tell us that my younger brother was one,” he said, giving them a sad smile.

“Yeah?” Evan said, looking at him.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “Always wanted to help, always keeping things tidy. Didn’t really like mess at all. Even as he got old,” he told them as they made their way into the living room. The TV ending up on a random show.

“You, don’t really talk about your family, you’ve been here just as long as I have,” Xiaoli said quietly, looking at the slightly older man.

“My brother passed away just before I moved here. It’s been… hard,” he admitted, “I’ve only just started wanting to talk about him again,” he gave a little shrug.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Evan said as he began to feed Christopher.

“As am I,” Xiaoli said quietly.

Peter smiled slightly, “Thank you. He was… fun, he was never sure of what he wanted to do at all.”

“I know that feeling,” Evan said, smiling at him.

“Yeah,” Peter laughed a little, “He didn’t know what, but then he would turn around and want to do everything,” he told them.

Peter told them a little more of his younger brother. Only stopping when Juan came in. He looked at them in the living room. He looked a little uncomfortable when he saw Christopher now sleeping in the bouncer that Xiaoli had brought down for him to sit in.

“Where is he?” Mrs Lewis said as she opened the front door and walked in. Following her was Andy and her son Theo.

“In here,” Xiaoli called out.

Mrs Lewis walked in and then stopped when she saw Christopher, “Oh isn’t he adorable,” she cooed as she knelt down, “Hello there,” she smiled at them, “Oh what a blessing,” she said, “You tell this one’s parents that he is so.”

“I will,” Evan smiled at her as he got up and helped her back to her feet.

“Now, I’ll cook, Juan, you’re helping me this time, I want you to improve a little, since you will be leaving soon,” she told him, grabbing his arm and directing him into the kitchen.

“We can all help,” Peter offered.

“Mama is pretty sure she just wants Juan to help her,” Theo told him, “may as well let her have her way,” he smiled as he joined them. watching Christopher bounce his bouncer by moving his legs. Over the next hour they all got hungry as the smells of dinner filled the house.

Chapter Seven

Evan finished drying Christopher off and dressing him. It was getting late, Shannon was out with a friend for the night and Evan was at her home watching Christopher. She would be home soon. She had just needed a little time away from the house, since she had been watching Christopher so much on her own. Evan smiled, “You’re such a good boy, aren’t you,” he said, tickling the five month old’s tummy. Causing him to wiggle and giggle.

“Now, what say you about listening to this essay of mine. I think I have it right, but you never know. You may just be able to help with the idea of it,” Evan said as he settled Christopher in his arms for a bit, his paper’s to one side, out of the baby’s reach. His phone beeped with a small message, smiling, he saw that Shannon was going to be heading back as soon as her friend was ready. Evan was also happy as he and Chris had spent a little time talking with Eddie as well before he had bathed Christopher.

Evan was working through his essay as he heard the front door slam open. “What the hell,” he murmured as he held Christopher to him tightly and grabbed his phone. He knew that wouldn’t be Shannon, she always came into the home quietly. Christopher was whimpering at the loud noise. It had scared him, “It’s okay little buddy,” Evan did his best to soothe the baby boy as he saw Helena and Ramon enter the living room. The two rushed towards him, about to take Christopher out of his arms.

“Give him here, you have no idea what you are doing!” Helena yelled as she didn’t care that she was scaring Christopher even more and causing him to start crying.

“It’s you that doesn’t have a clue, since you don’t know any better than to yell while a baby is around. You scared him,” Evan said, having been told several times by Shannon not to let the two of them try and walk over him if they were around. They had tried that when he had gone for a walk with Christopher a few days before. He had Xiaoli with him that time, and the other man had almost ended up calling the police when Helena and Ramon had tried to stop them from walking anywhere.

“Give him here, he is ours,” Ramon demanded as he then tried to grab the child from Evan’s arms, “Stupid bastard, you’re just a deviant, disgusting. You’ve done something to our son, twisted him, I can’t wait until he sees that you are nothing but a pile of shit that should be killed.”

Evan moved back, the two followed him, but he went in such a way he was able to head down the hallway quickly and into his room, locking the door behind him. He didn’t know how the two had gotten into the house. As the only spare key that Shannon had was with him. He sent a message to Shannon about what was going on. His phone buzzed with a message to call 9-1-1. With a sigh as Ramon and Helena started to bang on his door, causing Christopher to cry even louder at the noise.

“Hello, 9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” came the voice of the dispatcher.

“My name’s Evan Buckley, I’m at my friend’s home watching her son,” he began, giving them the address, before continuing, “She is on the way back but her son’s grandparents, on his fathers side have just burst into her home. I’m their son’s boyfriend. They keep trying to take Christopher away. I don’t know how they have gotten into the house. It’s late and they are scaring Christopher with all the noise they are making,” he said quickly as he tried to soothe Christopher.

“I’ve dispatched the police to your address,” he told him, “Are you somewhere safe?” he asked.

“I am, I’ve locked myself into my room,” Evan said.

“Do you live at the property?” he asked, sending information to the officers that were on the way.

“Partially, I stay here a lot looking after Christopher for Shannon, his mother. We’re close, she is a really good friend, considering I am Christopher’s fathers, boyfriend. It’s kind of complicated,” he added when he heard a slight snort.

“Sounds like it, so you are safe at the moment?” he asked, hearing the banging getting louder.

“I am, I think, as long as Ramon doesn’t try and break the door down,” Evan said, rocking Christopher in his arms, who was still crying his eyes out, “They are really scaring Chris, I don’t know if I’ll be able to calm him down with them still here,” he sighed, he was doing his best to keep a calm façade as well. He felt like panicking. The two outside were actually related to Christopher, he wasn’t. He was just Eddie’s boyfriend.

“It will be fine. I’ll have the officers heading to you use their siren when they pull up. So you know that they are there,” he said, “Their names are Officer Jack Stone and Officer Diego Garcia,” he added.

“Thank you, Chris’ mother is on the way home as well. She might get here around the same time. A friend of hers is in town from LA,” he babbled, the only way he could keep himself calm, “She hasn’t really seen her since she got to El Paso. So they went for a meal, had a little fun. No drinking, Shannon doesn’t like to drink.”

“Right, sounds like she was having a good night with her friend then,” he said.

“Yeah,” Evan jumped slightly as he heard a siren, “They are here, thank you so much for staying on the line with me. I know you’re probably busy.”

“It’s fine, and you’re very welcome,” he smiled as the call cut.

Evan could hear some talking going on outside and then some yelling from Ramon and Helena. He remained in the room, until there was a knock on the door. “Yes?” he called out, Christopher still crying but starting to calm now that the banging on the door had stopped.

“I’m Officer Garcia, may I enter and talk to you?” the male voice came through the door.

Evan nodded and then realized that he couldn’t see him do that, “Yeah, I’ll unlock, but please know that I would like to lock it back up when you enter, nothing to harm you. I just don’t feel safe with Ramon and Helena in the house.”

“That’s okay,” the officer said, though Evan could tell that it really wasn’t.

Evan kept Christopher in his arms as he went over to the door. Rocking him, and trying to sooth him as much as he could. Opening the door slowly, the officer that was standing outside of it was a little taller than him. “Sir,” he greeted the uniformed man. Evan let him in. He saw Helena and Ramon making a rush for the door and quickly closed it behind the officer and locked it. “I’m really sorry,” Evan said to the man, “They have just done a lot to put me on edge. They’ve called me several names and have tried to take Chris from my arms. Ramon, he even said that I should be killed because I’m gay and so is his son,” he shuddered. He began to rock Christopher again as he started crying. The two were now banging on the door, demanding that he hand over their grandson. “It’s okay Chris buddy,” he murmured.

The officer watched the young man, “You deal with him well,” he observed, seeing how at ease Evan was when trying to calm the baby down.

Evan looked over at him, “Of course I am,” he said softly, feeling a little confident in himself as a parent. Considering that Shannon kept insisting that he was Christopher’s papa. “I’ve been a part of his life since he was a week old. We’ve best buds aren’t we Chris,” he said as he looked down at him. Christopher’s cries were now only soft whimpers.

“They are his grandparents,” Officer Garcia said, hearing his fellow officer now talking to the couple outside the room.

“They are,” Evan agreed, “But they are also homophobic and won’t listen to their son when he has called home and told them again and again that he isn’t going to marry Shannon, that’s this ones mother. Neither of them love each other, they are however, best friends that are happy and content to co-parent. Eddie and I are together and they hate that. They…” he sighed, shaking his head as he headed over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. “They are against it, I’m not what they want for their son. They want him to step in line with what they want and he isn’t. So they are taking it out on me, and even on Shannon, calling her a bad mother, saying that she’ll only get Chris hurt or killed. They are horrible.”

Officer Garcia nodded as he looked around the room. He could see a few pictures on the dresser. One of the young man in front of him, and another man, along with the baby. “I take it, that this is Eddie?” he asked, gesturing to the middle picture.

Evan looked over, “Yeah,” he said, sighing sadly, “We speak as much as we can, don’t we Chris,” he said as he laid the baby on the bed. “With him being half a world away, it can be hard if he’s out on mission. But if he’s on base he’ll try and call when he can and that.”

Officer Garcia was about to say something when his radio crackled. “Garcia, bring him out, the mother has just arrived.”

The man nodded, “Ready to leave the room now?” he asked.

“As long as you keep Ramon and Helena away from me, I’ll come out, and sorry again for locking the door,” he said as he let the officer take the lead and followed.

“I understand,” he said quietly as he could hear a harsh yell from the living area.

“How dare you enter my home, without my permission. You try and take my son from Evan, from his papa,” Shannon was pacing as she hissed at the two of them. “I don’t want either of you in my home. I don’t trust you to remain here and not kidnap my son as soon as I turn my back for a second.”

“We have a right to be able to take our grandson when ever we wish,” Helena snapped at her, “We-”

“Ma’am, Sir, neither of you have any rights to take a child, even your grandson, from a loving home. He is well loved and cared for here,” Officer Stone said as he had done a look around the property.

“Then explain why that gringo has our grandson,” Ramon snapped at him, pointing at Evan as he walked into the room.

Evan stood there, almost wanting to sigh, as Christopher started to scream at the yell. “Oh, buddy,” he said as he held him so that he could cry into his neck. Patting his back as he began to walk around, keeping well away from Ramon and Helena Diaz, both of whom tried to take a step towards him.

“That man is Christopher’s papa,” Shannon told them, “now keep your damn voices down. You are scaring Christopher,” she seethed.

Evan watched the two, he wanted to be out of the room. They had yelled at him so much. He had thought his parents were bad, they ignored him, but these two were something else. They wanted to control their children, stop them from doing what they wanted. Adriana was getting married and the man was great, those two didn’t think so. Sophia wanted a job in New York, but they were against it. Eddie loved Evan, and they were against that as well. They were the worst. He couldn’t understand why, as all three of their children were brilliant, loving and caring to those around them. They were nothing like their parents.

Chapter Eight

Officer Stone looked at the older couple. “Sir, Ma’am, you have been asked to leave this property, I suggest that you do so,” he said as he looked at them.

“How can we leave here when our grandson is crying out for love and care. He isn’t getting it in this home. He is being taken from his own family,” Helena lied as she looked heartbroken towards a screaming Christopher.

“He’s screaming because you two have scared him. He was fine and calm all day. Loved and happy. Then you two decided to enter the home, without an invitation, without even knocking, you burst into this home,” Evan began sending them a glare, “You tried to take him from me, you shouted and yelled. You banged the door so much that he’s red in the face from his screams because you keep upsetting him as soon as I’ve calmed him down again.”

Shannon looked at Evan and could see that he was starting to stress badly. “Evan,” she said as she walked over, patting Christopher’s back, “Hand him here and gather some things for yourself and Chris, take him to your place. He should be fine and safe there for the night. I have these two to deal with,” she added, sending a glare at Helena and Ramon.

“You are not taking my grandson anywhere,” Ramon said as he took a step towards Evan as though to stop him.

“You have no say in where I let my son go. At this moment in time, I don’t want him around either of you. Since neither of you have cared for the harm that you are causing him,” she said.

“You sure?” Evan asked, glancing at the two officers.

“I think it might be a better idea,” Officer Garcia agreed, as Officer Stone nodded as well.

“Don’t forget to pack away your guardianship papers,” Shannon said, glad that she had thought to make sure they had something that said legally, Evan could have Christopher whenever he wished. That he would be able to make any decisions about the baby if it was needed.

“He… guardianship?!” Ramon yelled out, causing Christopher to wail again.

Shannon and even the officers glared at the two, “really, after we just said that you have scared him. You do it again you really don’t care at all do you, except about yourselves.” She began to try and calm her son as Evan started to grab things to take with him. Making sure to grab what he would need. “You love your papa,” she murmured as Christopher was refusing to calm down in her arms. “Evan,” she called to him as he walked in from the kitchen, “Take him, he’s not going to calm for me I don’t think,” she smiled as she handed her son back to Evan.

Evan looked down, “Hey buddy,” he said as he tucked him into his arms and walked around, gathering things with arm. Murmuring constantly and rocking him when he could.

Shannon smiled as he watched him. She turned her attention back to Helena and Ramon, she could see that they wanted to yell something and were about to. “Shut up, both of you,” she hissed, “You will not upset Christopher again. I want him out of here, because there are some things that I need to speak to you about. And I think these two officers will be needed here for when I am done,” she added, “I hope that you are okay with that. I know it’s not exactly normal. But I don’t trust those two to not try and follow Evan when he leaves. At the moment, where he lives isn’t known to them. And I would like it to stay that way.”

“Ho-”

“I said shut up,” she hissed quietly at Helena, “You can speak when they are gone.”

Evan looked at Shannon as he packed the last of his things. He had sent a message to Xiaoli quickly, warning him that he was going to turn up. “I’ll see you in the morning, Shannon,” he said as he let the woman say good bye to her son before Officer Stone escorted him from the house.

“Are you sure you should be taking him?” Officer Stone asked him.

Evan nodded, “Shannon’s right. They always come in and yell and scream at the two of us. They don’t care if they are scaring Christopher. With them there, he won’t settle at all. I have a safe place that I can go to; and they don’t know about it. They don’t even know my last name, because neither of them care enough to learn it.”

“Right,” Stone snorted, “Do take care of yourself.”

“I will, I’ll be texting Shannon when I arrive as well, to let her know that we’re safe. I don’t want her to worry that something happened to us,” he added as he tucked Christopher into the car seat in the front of his jeep. “There you go little man,” he said, tapping Christopher on the nose. His wails now soft hiccups as he calmed, now that he wasn’t in the same room as his grandparents. “I wish they would actually listen to those around them. They would have been able to spend so much time with him if they did. All they can see is their own noses, not caring that they are alienating Shannon, myself and Eddie. He complains about how they are on calls with him. Trying to force him to return home to marry Shannon. To organize it so that custody of Christopher is given to them. If something happens to Eddie and Shannon, they won’t get him even then. I’m his guardian, he is my son as much as theirs. And Shannon and Eddie love him so much they want the best for him. And neither of them think that it will be Helena or Ramon.” Sighing he moved away and closed the door. Settling into the driver’s seat he nodded at the officer and headed off.

Shannon watched at the window as Evan left. Sighing in relief that her son would be somewhere safe she turned to her son’s grandparents, “You two have a lot to answer for” she hissed, glaring at the two of them.

“We don’t have to answer to you at all,” Helena said, “Now if you will leave us be, we will be going to find our grandson, since you let him go with a complete stranger.”

“I let him go with his papa because his grandparents were scaring him so much that he had been non-stop crying and screaming since you arrived. Bursting into my home without my permission,” Shannon snapped at her, looking between Helena and Ramon. “Now, you can answer how you got in?” she demanded to know.

“We have a key,” Ramon answered, “Why should we not have a key,” he scoffed.

“You what?” Shannon seethed as she held out her hand, “You will hand that over straight away. I don’t want you to have a key to my home at all. You don’t have permission to have one. This is my home, and mine alone. Eddie isn’t even on the documents for it,” she added, “hand it over.”

“No I will not, this is the only way that we can keep an eye on you and see our grandson,” Ramon said.

“I didn’t give permission for you to have a key, and how the hell did you even get it. I only have two. One for me and one for Evan,” she said, her hand still out waiting for it to be handed over.

“I wil-”

“Sir,” Officer Garcia said, stopping the man’s words, “Do you have permission to have a key?” he asked him.

“No, and why should I need it, my grandson lives here. I wish to see him,” Ramon was the one to answer.

“How did you get a key?” Officer Stone then asked as he stood at the edge of the room, entering only moments before.

“We took that Gringos key, copied it when we were last here. Returned it before he even noticed,” Ramon sneered, “Like we would let him have access to our son all the time.”

“The day he misplaced his keys. He had looked for them, and had to stay the night when he couldn’t find them. You were there that day,” Shannon said, “You know what. I am going to check something.” With that she headed towards the small office she had, grabbing her laptop and coming back. She started it up and began to look through things. “Got it. Officers, you can both look at this,” she said as she let them crowd her. On the screen was the living room. Evan’s keys were sat on the end table. Helena was the one that picked them up as they were leaving.

“You stole someone else’s property,” Officer Stone said as he looked up, “You need to hand the key back.”

“I want to take out a restraining order against them. That they are not allowed near any of us,” Shannon said, “I can’t trust them at all. They have stolen, they break into my home, scare my son. Spread their bigoted hate around so much that Evan is upset as well. I can’t have them here at all. At the moment, we have Eddie’s sisters coming every couple of days. Spending time with their nephew. But those two show no support at all.”

“We have it on record,” Garcia said.

Office Stone was waiting and after a few more minutes Ramon handed over the key. He gave it to Shannon to check. “Is it?”

“It is the same as mine,” she said, comparing the two. “Though I am going to be changing the locks I think. I don’t think I want to take the chance that they made more than one copy,” she sighed, tucking it away.

“You will regret stopping us from seeing our grandson, you are stopping us from teaching him about Eddie, to make sure that he doesn’t forget his father, because that man that left, he is nothing but a deviant,” Helena hissed.

“No, you just don’t like the fact that your son has chosen to love Evan. And Christopher sees his dad all the time. Evan and I make sure of that with every single call Eddie makes home. He will never not know his father; Eddie adores his son,” Shannon told them.

“And how would we know that you are telling the truth about anything. You could be lying to us. You could even be selling our grandson to that man,” Helena added, looking afraid and tearful.

“Get over yourselves,” Shannon snapped, “Evan and Eddie are together. You saw that when we had to say goodbye to Eddie when his leave was over. It’s not my problem, or even Eddie or Evan’s, that you can’t see what is in front of you. It’s not our problem that you are both homophobic,” she added, sneering at the two of them. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and knew it was Evan, he was already home. “Officers, I would like these two out of my home. And I will start the proceedings to get a restraining order against them,” she added, turning to the two men.

“You will regret doing this,” Ramon warned her, “You will, I will not let my son lose his child because you are no mother. You will drag that child down with you and we’ll be waiting to take him from you. To raise him properly.”

Shannon snorted, shaking her head as she watched the two officers take them away. She would have to start things off quickly before they could try anything again. She didn’t want her son so upset that he couldn’t calm down. She messaged Evan to find out how Christopher was doing, happy to know that he was calm and sleeping peacefully now. The officers returned and she made a statement once more about how the two were acting towards her and Evan. She would be taking out the restraining order tomorrow, or at least start the ball rolling on it. Now, she was exhausted and after seeing the officers out, she called to talk to Evan for a bit before bed.

Chapter Nine

Evan smiled as he played with Christopher, though there was a little frown on his face. Christopher was now eight months old, almost nine and he still wasn’t sitting up without a little help. Rolling over had only just happened as well. There just didn’t seem to be enough strength in his legs. He wasn’t crawling either.

“Christopher,” Evan called to him, enjoying the little giggle as Christopher kicked out, his eyes darting around him as though trying to find the source of the noise. “Christopher,” he sang out as he tapped the baby boy on his tummy.

“You are so good with him,” Shannon said as she walked into the room.

Evan startled a little as he looked around, “Oh, hey,” he smiled, “I’m okay,” he shrugged.

“No, you’re so good with him,” she told him.

Evan just nodded and turned his attention back to Christopher, “Shannon, I’m a little worried about him. He’s not really hitting his milestones, is he,” he said as he glanced over at her.

“I’ve noticed. His pediatrician said that it happens, some delays happen,” she said, though she didn’t sound convinced of that at all.

“I have exams coming up,” he then said, when he realized that she had already tried to talk to Christopher’s doctor about him.

“I know,” she said, sitting down putting a mug of coffee for him on the end table and keeping hold of her own, “I’m going to make sure that I’m here during your exams. I may have to leave for a bit, but I’m trying to get out of that. The account is a good one, but it’s an easy one to deal with most of the time. So I should be able to postpone the meeting.”

“Thanks,” Evan smiled, he knew that she had been spending a lot more time away from Christopher and he was getting concerned as to why.

Shannon was quiet as Evan spent some time with Christopher on the floor for tummy time. He was pushing himself up on his arms, but he just didn’t seem to be able to do the same with his legs. They often jerked when he tried. When that happened, Christopher would give a cry, and he sounded frustrated.

“He’s trying,” Evan smiled at Christopher.

“He is,” she nodded, “Evan,” she began softly, “I know you’ve been taking care of Christopher a lot.”

“Is everything alright?” he glanced over at her, worried, “I’ve noticed that you’ve been working away from home a lot. Spending as much time away,” he added, biting his lip and worrying if he had overstepped.

Shannon smiled at him sadly, “I have. To be honest, and Eddie knows this, I never really wanted children. Everything failed, everything,” she snorted, “I love Christopher, don’t get me wrong, I do.”

“But?” Evan asked, as she went quiet.

She sighed heavily, “I don’t want to resent him, I know that I’m just not mom material, I’ve always known that. I love Chrisotpher, I adore him so much.”

“But you see him as someone that is starting to chain you down?” Evan guessed, looking at her. He could see that she was about ready to cry.

Shannon nodded, “Yes, and I don’t want to; I really don’t.”

Evan got up, picking Christopher up as well, and settled him in his little walker set. Going over to Shannon he sat beside her, “It’s okay,” he told her, worried about her.

“How can it be, when I’m starting to resent Christopher being here. I hate that. I hate that sometimes when I look at him that I wish I had…” she shuddered, “I hate it.”

“Maybe… maybe see someone,” Evan suggested, “It might be postpartum, I know Eddie told me that the pregnancy wasn’t exactly easy, and the birth was traumatic as well,” he said quietly.

“I… I’m thinking about it. I wrote to Eddie about what I’m going to say now, he was able to send something back. But I’m going to wait until Christopher is a little older before I do so,” she said. “And I will, see about talking to someone.”

“Good, I don’t want your mind telling you all the time to hate Chris, I know you love him,” Evan said, “And you know that I’ll be here when you need me. No matter the time or day,” he added, smiling as he leaned a little closer to her.

“You are a good friend, Evan. Eddie lucked out when he found you,” she laughed lightly.

“I’m the lucky one, I have you, Eddie and Chris in my life. More than I thought I would ever have,” he told her, “Now, what is this that you want to do?”

“Eddie knows that I don’t do well around children,” she began again, “You, even though he hasn’t been here since you met, you write to him, talk to him each time he can. You’re here for Christopher and you love him so much. You worry about him as a parent does. You’ve noticed that something isn’t right, just like I did. So, when Chris gets a little older, I’m going to be making it so you will be his full time guardian. I’m not giving up my parental rights, just in case you think that. I still, I still want to be his mother. I just know that I can’t be that all the time for him. It wouldn’t be fair to him. But you, I know that you adore him and love him enough to be a dad to him, a papa to him.” She looked at Evan and saw the wide eyes as he stared at Christopher.

“Why-”

“Because with the way that I’m feeling I wouldn’t be the mother, the parent he needs. Evan, you’ve been with him more than what I have in the last few months. Since my maternity leave ended, you spend hours with him each day. You let him stay with you in the shared house. Hell, he even spends more time with your friend Xiaoli than with me some weeks,” she scoffed, shaking her head.

“You’re busy, you have a lot of work to catch up on,” Evan made an excuse for her.

“No, I’m not just a busy mother, I’m an absent mother, I know that. But I have made my peace with that. I will speak to someone, to make sure that I don’t grow to resent Christopher, as I really don’t want that. But for now, I will be here, but in several months, when I hand over custody to you, I will be getting an apartment. I’m going to transfer this place into Eddie’s name, and he said that you can move in any time. You’ll have his room, you stayed a couple of times while he was here, so you should be fine.”

“It seems so strange that you would trust me. You’ve not known me that long,” Evan said as he heard Christopher give a little cry, knowing it was time for dinner for the baby. He stood up.

“To anyone it would be. But,” she hesitated for a moment, “And don’t hate me for doing this, but this place is full of cameras. I have gone back sometimes and watched some of the footage, not all. I watched you take care of him, sing to him, read to him, love him. I’ve seen you as you study with him on your lap, and a pen in hand, a book on one knee and Christopher on the other. You’ve read the parent books that are on the bookcase several times as well. You even check things online. I know you’re on a new parent chat room as well. Since I’m on the same ones as well.”

Evan blushed, “I didn’t… I just…” he tried to find words.

“Look, I know this is a lot, you’re just about to turn twenty, and no one is ever ready to be a parent. You don’t even have to do anything that you have done. But you stepped up and helped. Not many that have dated a guy for less than three weeks would have done that. Evan, you come here almost every single day that you are free to play and watch him as I work. And even when I’m not you are still coming. You love him and you love Eddie. You write and talk to him whenever you get the chance, I think he talks more to you than he had done with me before he met you,” she snorted, not feeling slighted or jealous at all. They had been friends, and she wanted that friendship to carry on. She knew they weren’t really meant to be partners in every sense of the word, just as friends. Being husband and wife was thrown out quickly, as soon as Helena and Ramon Diaz had suggested it.

“I do, I feel settled, at home, and welcomed. My parents were absent. I don’t think they ever wanted me. They love my sister, and still try and talk to her. I haven’t heard a thing from my parents at all. I’m just one big disappointment to them. And only one message from Maddie,” he sighed as he hovered over Christopher who was beginning to get cranky with how long it was taking his food to come, “Sorry buddy,” he said as he picked him up, “Right, so what will it be for dinner today,” he said as he walked into the kitchen to see what baby foods were on offer.

Shannon shook her head, “How someone could ignore him I don’t know,” she muttered, getting up to follow.

XxXxX

Evan walked into the shared house. It wasn’t too late, and he was thinking about heading over to Shannon’s and spending some time with her and Christopher.

“Well, a certain stranger approaches our door,” Xiaoli laughed, as he saw Evan jump and drop his bag.

Evan curse, “Fucking hell Xiaoli, really?” he said as he picked his bag back up, glad that it hadn’t spilled anything.

“Sorry,” Xiaoli said as he walked over. “Just been a while since you’ve actually been here for more than a second. Are you staying?” he asked.

Evan looked at him, and then nodded, “I was going to see if I could stop by. But, Shannon’s not expecting me today, since I had an exam today and I have another one tomorrow,” he sighed as the two walked upstairs to his room.

“Take a little break, no studying for a bit, watch a film with us. I got a few films we could watch,” Xiaoli tried to coax him into joining him and the other housemates. Evan wasn’t very close with Juan. Peter was almost ready to move out and he would be doing so in another month. Andy was absent more often than not, studying and partying. Evan didn’t know if he missed the days that he had done that. He had a feeling he wouldn’t have really stopped if he hadn’t met Eddie and Christopher, as well as Shannon.

“Yeah, fine,” he sighed, shaking his head as he tossed his bag onto his bed and followed Xiaoli to the living room.

“Good, we missed you around here,” Xiaoli said as he then got a look from Evan, “Fine I missed you around here. It’s nice spending time with Chris, don’t get me wrong, he is a little angel, but sometimes you need to have a free night.”

Evan nodded, but didn’t like the thought of not being with Christopher, he felt like it each time he spent a night away from the eight month old baby. Like he was going to miss something. As they settled in the living room, before Xiaoli started the film, he finally told him about what Shannon had been asking. If he had wanted to move in and live with them full time. Evan was still in two minds and wanted to talk to Eddie alone, which he would be able to do at the end of the week.

Chapter Ten

Evan was excited, he was finally going to be able to speak with Eddie again. This time he would be alone. He was at the house and Shannon was watching Christopher in the living room while he talked to Eddie. He had to admit that home to him was with Christopher. Part of him wished that Eddie would be there as well, but the Army was where he wanted to be. Evan would not take something that Eddie felt worthwhile away from him. The call came in and Evan was greeted at the sight of Eddie.

“Ev,” Eddie smiled, there was some static on the line, but they could still see each other.

“I’ve missed you Eds,” Evan said, giving a little choked laugh.

“Missing you as well. I’m going to be using only a little of my leave to see you, Chris and Shannon,” he told him, “For his first birthday,” he added. If things go well, I should arrive two days before. I’ll have a week with you before I have to head back.”

Evan smiled, “A week is better than nothing,” he told him, “I look forward to it,” he smiled, now not knowing what he could say. “Chris is doing well, he’s still missing a few milestones and I’m getting worried about them, he’s got what, a month to his first birthday and he’s not even tried to stand. He’s still not crawling either. Though he does know how to drag himself around by his arms, but he can’t do it for long.”

“It’s okay Evan, Shannon mentioned the same thing when I talked to her a few days ago. Just keep taking him to the pediatrician, they should at least test things out to make sure he’s okay,” Eddie said, “I wish I was there with you to help.”

“I know Eddie, I wish you were as well, but you just make sure you keep your wits about you. I don’t ever want to get a message that you’ve been hurt or…” he trailed off, not wanting to think of the worst thing imaginable.

“I will, always, you know that,” he smiled at him, “Now, how were your exams, did you pass?”

“I did, passed them all, some of the credits I had from my other college were able to transfer over a little. So I only have next year to do and I’ll have my degree in psychology,” he grinned, “I’m thinking about looking for other work. I don’t want to be at a bar all the time. I’m looking at maybe teaching, so I think I might find an assistant’s job at one of the schools and work on getting a teaching qualification,” he said, he had been thinking of it for the last few weeks, but this was the first time he had said it aloud. Something that he could do, something that might be what he was meant to do.

“Sounds like a good plan, you know that I’ll be standing by you, no matter what you choose,” Eddie reassured him.

“I know,” Evan smiled, “I know. Reminds me something is going on with Shannon, she’s angry about something, but she hasn’t said about what yet,” he told him.

Eddie sighed, “My parents are being difficult about things. I’ve done what I can to make sure things don’t go wrong over there, but there might not be much I can do until I’m Stateside again.”

Evan nodded, “Okay,” he paused a moment before caring on, “How are you doing? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, the usual out here,” Eddie said, not really talking about what was going on, “I read your letter again last night. I miss the hell out of you all. I feel like I’m missing so much. I don’t know if I’m going to reup after this one is over. I-”

“Eddie,” Evan stopped him, “You do what you want to do. Chris and I, and even Shannon will still be here whenever you come home. As long as you remember that we are here, and if you ever get hurt, fight, fight as much as you can to get back to us. Promise me that,” he told him, staring at the screen and wishing he could reach out and touch him.

Eddie nodded, “I promise, that I will do everything that I can to come home to you, and to Christopher and to Shannon. I will fight as hard as I can, always.”

Evan nodded, “Thank you, thank you,” he said, “I’m so scared sometimes when you’re not able to make your usual call, I always fear the worst,” he said, shaking his head.

“I know and I wish I could stop you thinking that. But-”

“It’s just the way it is, I know Eds,” he smiled, “I do, but I don’t think there is anything that will stop me worrying about you.”

Eddie looked away, “I have to go, I’m needed in the medical tent,” he sighed, “I love you Evan.”

“Love you too Eddie,” Evan said, not even a second later the call ended. Evan stayed there for a moment and closed the laptop down.

There was a knock on the bedroom door, as he had spoken to Eddie in his room. “Evan,” Shannon’s voice came through the door.

Evan put the laptop aside and stood up. “Yeah?” he called out as he walked out of the room. He could see that Shannon was furious about something.

“We have some visitors,” she said, giving him a serious look.

Evan nodded, “Okay,” he said as he followed her to the living room, a middle aged woman was seated on the sofa. In his walker Christopher was happily playing with a few toys. As soon as the baby saw Evan he reached out, making small grabby fists that waved around. He smiled at the baby and went over and picked him up, “Hey Christopher, I just spoke to daddy,” he said, ignoring the woman for a second. “He misses us all, you know,” he said to him as he tapped Christopher on the nose a little, causing the baby to giggle and reach out.

“Miss McKinley,” the woman said as she looked pointedly at Shannon.

“Sorry, but Evan was speaking with Eddie,” she said, “Since this is a bit of a surprise visit, I was unaware that you did so.”

“Most of the time we don’t unless there is a need to catch the parents unaware,” she said, “I’m Marissa, I’m a Social Worker, here in El Paso,” she told them, handing Shannon a card, “We’ve had reports that you’ve been having a number of strange men in and out of the property, which means that little Christopher here is in danger,” she told them.

“The only men in my home have been Evan here and Xiaoli. Evan is Christopher’s other father, you could say. Since he is dating Christopher’s biological father, Edmundo Diaz. Xiaoli occasionally stops by to spend a little time with Evan and Christopher, he is Evan’s best friend,” Shannon was the one to answer as Evan went a little pale, he sat down on one of the chairs.

Marissa wrote a few things down. “Do you mind if I have a look around, I would like to check the property, to make sure that things are in order.”

“Go ahead,” Shannon said, “Evan, you stay here with Chris, I’ll go with her,” she added as she got up and went around the house with the woman.

“Well Chris,” Evan said as he settled Christopher on his lap, grabbing one of his toys from the end table to play with him. “So what say for your breakfast this morning, some cereal, or maybe some banana?” he asked him, “So many possibilities,” he grinned. Christopher grabbed the toy and squealed when he got it only to let it go and try again to grab it. Evan got up, taking Christopher with him to begin making him a little breakfast. He was sat at the table in the kitchen half way through feeding Christopher when Marissa and Shannon returned.

“I am just asking now, does he see any more of his family?” Marissa asked, looking from her notes and heading to the table to sit down.

“He gets to see his dad a lot when he calls home. Shannon and I each have one day every other week when we can speak with Eddie alone. The rest of the time we’re together with Chris so Eddie can talk with him and Chris can see his daddy,” Evan was the one to answer.

“What about other biological family?” she asked again.

“If you are on about Eddie’s side of the family. Then Christopher sees his aunts every week, sometimes twice. They stop by to say hello and spend some time with him,” Shannon answered.

“Grandparents?” she questioned, staring at Shannon.

“No,” Shannon answered, “And there is a good reason for that. They don’t like the fact that Eddie and I are not married, or that Eddie and Evan are together. They also don’t like that when they tried to take Christopher from me, that I stopped them from coming around. I can no longer trust them with my son, with our son. Because I know that if I turn my back for a second they would be gone and so would my son.”

“They are not pleasant,” Evan said slowly, feeding Christopher the last of his mushy cereal.

“In what way?” Marissa asked him, looking over at the young man.

“They have called me several derogatory names because I’m dating their son. They don’t believe that Eddie could care about me, let alone want me in his life. They have made that very clear. They don’t like me and they are trying to drive me away. I love Eddie and Christopher, and Shannon is an amazing and supportive friend as well as mother to Christopher,” he replied as he got up to start cleaning up the mess that had been made around Christopher.

“They have been given rights to be able to visit their grandson now,” Marissa said carefully, “I was able to gather quite a bit of information about them.”

“Yes, I found out this morning. I still need to inform Eddie of what has happened. He knows that they were trying, but not that they won. I have been able to get it so that they have to go to a visitation center. That they aren’t allowed to take him out of the center. And that they can visit him for four hours a week,” Shannon said, not happy about the outcome, but she hadn’t been able to fight it, since Eddie wasn’t there, the court had decided that his parents should be there to make sure that Eddie’s interests were taken into account.

“Well, from what I have seen Christopher is doing well here, he is a happy baby. Not scared at all,” she smiled at Evan and Shannon.

“And why would he be, he’s loved here, and he always will be. Evan adores him,” Shannon told her.

Marissa talked a little more, and that she was going to say that no follow up was needed.

“I’m going to take Chris out for a walk around,” Evan said as soon as she was gone.

“Okay, I’m going to see if I can get word to Eddie about what his parents have done. And if you see them, report them. They aren’t allowed to see Christopher outside of the contact center,” she reminded him, after having gone through the rules that the judge had set out after Shannon had been able to present some evidence of their verbal abuse towards Shannon and Evan.

“Okay,” Evan nodded, he had been ambushed twice by Helena and Ramon over the last couple of months. But with a court order visit they could no longer just show up or even talk to him while he was in the streets with Christopher. Which would be an ease on his mind. Shannon was rather happy as it meant that they couldn’t come to Christopher’s first birthday in a month’s time.

Chapter Eleven

Evan sighed as he felt the arm around him tighten as he started to wake up. He rolled over, curling against Eddie that little bit more. They had ten days, ten days together and Evan was planning to make the most of it. “Missed you,” he sighed, kissing the clean shaven face.

Eddie’s eyes opened, a smile on his lips, “Missed you as well, he moved closer, kissing him, “We need to get up, it’s almost ten,” he said, not really happy about having to get up, but he wasn’t going to spend all his time in bed. Just some of it.

“Yeah, Chris wants to spend time with his daddy. He was so excited to see you,” Evan laughed lightly. Eddie had arrived last night, just before Christopher was settled into bed.

“So much so that he didn’t sleep straight away and was crying until I held him,” Eddie snorted as he got up.

Evan lay there as he watched Eddie walk across the room, he couldn’t help but admire the view and pout when Eddie began to clothe his naked form. “So disappointing,” he murmured.

Eddie looked over at him and smirked, winking, “Later we can have some more fun,” he promised, coming back to the bed and leaning down to kiss Evan, “now, come on, our son waits for us. We’re going out and about to the park,” he grinned.

Evan huffed as he lay on the bed for a second longer, only for the covers to be ripped off. “Really, Eddie,” he grumbled as he got up and started to get ready. Heading out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, Shannon was already there with Christopher in his highchair enjoying his breakfast. Though there was more on him than was in his stomach, but at least he was enjoying himself.

“Morning,” Shannon smiled, “pancakes are ready, grab what you want. And yes they are blueberry ones,” she said as Eddie glanced towards the pile waiting to be eaten.

“Thanks,” Evan said as he went over and dished them out for him and Eddie and took them to the table, where he sent them down. “Right,” he said, “I’m going to message Xiaoli, he wants to see Chris and Eddie, so when we go to the park he’ll be there,” he said as he glanced at Eddie, “Is that okay? He has work a little later, so he won’t be able to stay for long.”

“That’s fine,” Eddie smiled at him. He had only met Xiaoli once before he had left. He knew that Evan talked about him sometimes, and that he had become a really good friend to him. Helping with Christopher occasionally as well when both Shannon and Evan had something to do. Which hadn’t happened much.

“Great,” Evan grinned as he ate his breakfast, helping Christopher to occasionally eat a little something.

Breakfast was soon over and Shannon had taken to cleaning Christopher up ready for his day out with his two dads. Tomorrow he would be at the center for Helena and Ramon to spend a little time with him. Two days later was going to be Christopher’s first birthday and a little party was happening. That night Isabel and Josephina were landing and staying with them. Their families were coming to celebrate the day and Eddie was happy to see some of them. Shannon’s mother was also going to be coming by. But she had already made plans to stay at a hotel for a few days.

XxXxX

Eddie was the one to take his son to the center, it was also a chance to see his parents for a few moments. He loved them, he really did, but he just didn’t understand why they were being so difficult when it came to Christopher. Yes, he was their first grandchild, but they weren’t his parents and they had been trying to take over. Now they had tried to take Christopher, the courts had said no; which had been a relief for all three of them. He was in the playroom, Christopher sitting up and playing with the toys in the room.

“Edmundo,” came the sharp cry of his mother as she entered the room, “Oh my boy, are you finally able to see your son, isn’t it just terrible that we can’t even see him when we wish. Those two are so horrible. You need to make sure that you can get full custody of him. We can look after him while you are away of course.”

Eddie snorted, “I agreed with them in making sure you don’t go near them or my son. I’m only here to drop him off so you can see him for your four hours,” he told her, looking at his father. He was so disappointed in them both.

“How can you say that, why wouldn’t you want us around our own grandson,” Helena said, looking at her son in horror.

Eddie looked at her, “You grandson, is our son. Shannon doesn’t need to put up with you walking into her home whenever you feel like it. Would you have accepted your own parents just showing up, taking your child from your arms and walking off with him or her?” he asked them, standing up and letting Christopher continue to play on the play mat. “You tried to take someone else’s child. And yes, Evan is Chris’ papa, he loves and adores him as I love and adore our son,” he told her, “You seem to have forgotten that Christopher has parents, three of them in fact.”

“That gringo you… like,” Ramon said with a disgusted face, “He doesn’t know how to be a father, a parent; he is nothing but a deviant pretending to be one. Mark my words Edmundo, he will harm Christopher in the end.”

“No he won’t. The only ones that are going to end up harming Christopher, are you two. Because of your need to try and control Shannon and Evan, and even Christopher. You’re losing myself, and the rest of us. Sophia has a job starting in New York, which you’ve tried to sabotage a few times already. Not going to work. Adriana is going to be moving to Florida for a while as soon as she is married. And me, I’m in Afghanistan most of the year. And I know that soon enough, we’ll be moving from El Paso as well. Not one of us wishes to be around you. You tried and failed to control us, and now you are trying with Christopher. It won’t work, not this time,” he told them, shaking his head at them, “I will be back in four hours to pick up my son.”

“Eddie,” Helena said making her way towards him, “We… We will see you on his birthday.”

“No, you won’t. You’re not allowed to go. Not allowed in Shannon’s home, or near Shannon or Evan. Not allowed to be around Christopher without being here, or did you forget that you have a court order against you both,” Eddie reminded them.

“But you’re here, that can stop now. We j-”

“I might be here, but I won’t put them through having to listen to the vile words that you both keep yelling at them. And each time you have been around Shannon and Evan you have been derogatory towards them both. Calling them disgusting things and saying they are bad parents. It’s not them that are the bad parents, but you both. I don’t want you around Christopher at all, so be grateful that the court has let you have this, because if I had my way, neither of you would be going near my son,” he told them, heading out of the room and leaving them to have their four hours with their grandson.

Eddie sighed, they just didn’t seem to grasp that he wasn’t just their grandson. That was all they saw him as, theirs. And he wasn’t. He had parents who loved him and were going to be releasing him. But it was obvious that Helena and Ramon Diaz didn’t think anyone was capable of doing so.

XxXxX

“Eddie,” Evan said as he laughed. He was curled against his boyfriend. Christopher happily sat on his lap as he was opening the present.

“What he does, he loves the paper. We should have just got him a load of empty boxes and wrapped them. He doesn’t care for the toys,” Eddie said, getting a nod from Shannon. She was on the floor keeping the gift steady as Christopher squealed and ripped into it.

“Every baby loves ripping things to shreds, including their parents’ sanity,” Shannon joked looking up at the two of them.

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded, “I can see with you two,” he said, giving them a look. Though there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. “I’m missing so much,” he sighed.

“Can’t be helped. But you have a year left before your deployment is over, and then you can come home, decide if you want to re-up or not,” Evan said as he nudged him slightly, a hand on Christopher to keep him steady.

“I know, I think I’m not going to re-up” Eddie said, nodding, happy that he had only signed up for four years, he may not miss all of Christopher’s childhood when he returns home permanently.

“No moping, it’s your son’s first birthday,” Shannon warned quietly. as they were getting some looks from their guests.

“Eddito,” Isabel called to him, “Smile, it’s is Christopher’s birthday. Welcome this day brightly,” she told him, getting up and moving to her grandson.

“Abuela,” Eddie smiled at her, “I will,” he nodded

Christopher squealed loudly as the paper ripped from the gift that Adriana and her fiancé, Antonio, had gotten for him. The two were standing nearby, leaning against each other as they watched. The gift was left unseen as Christopher just waved the paper around and looked at Eddie and Evan, “a, a, a, a” he giggled and yelled.

“Having fun?” Evan asked, gently pinching a chubby cheek.

“Ah! Da!” Christopher yelled again, laughing brightly.

“Da?” Eddie said, freezing.

“Dada, dada, dada,” Christopher repeated over and over waving his wrapping paper at Eddie.

“Finally, I wondered if he was going to say that to you since you’re actually here,” Evan said rightly as he saw the look in Eddie’s eyes.

“He’s really saying dada?” he repeated, looking from Evan to Shannon and back again.

“He started saying it just before you came back. We’ve been trying to coax him to say it while you’re here,” Shannon told him, smiling. Glad that she had cameras around so she could record whatever was on in the living room.

“He can already say Mama and Papa,” Evan said, “Since Shannon makes sure to use those words all the time.”

“He needs to know his family,” Shannon said.

“It is so nice to hear him speaking,” Isabel said from beside her daughter.

“It is,” Josephine nodded. Both of them had noted the absence of Ramon and Helena. They had asked and had quickly been given a run down of what the two had been up to since Christopher’s birth. Isabel had gone to see her son and daughter in law, and had come back not wishing to speak to either of them again.

“Evan’s been getting him to practice dada each time he has him for more than five minutes,” Xiaoli grinned. He and one of Shannon’s friends from LA had stopped by to celebrate Christopher’s first birthday.

Sophia handed over her gift, “Well, he’ll like the paper at least,” she said as Christopher saw the bright colors and began to tear into it.

The rest of the gathering goes well. Laughing and catching up. Isabel missed having her grandchildren close. She may have Josephine’s family close, but she still misses Eddie, Sophia and Adriana. Cake was brought out and with some help from his daddy, Christopher was able to blow out his candle, and then promptly stuck his hand in the cake and smeared it over Evan’s face. The guests left, Isabel turned in for the night with Josephine doing the same.

Eddie tucked his son into bed, sighing as he only had another four days before he would have to leave again. He didn’t particularly want to leave, but he had no choice.

Chapter Twelve

Evan watched as Christopher crawled a little before flopping onto his stomach and screaming out ‘papa’. With a heavy sigh Evan went over and picked him up. It had been a few months since Eddie had gone back. Evan was missing him like crazy, though he did have Christopher to watch over. The fifteen month old was only just starting to crawl a little now. He had recorded one of his attempts and sent it to Eddie. Though Evan would watch as after a few moments he would just flop down and scream. “Hey buddy,” he said soothingly as he cuddled him, “You okay.”

“Papa,” he cried, lower lip wobbling as he looked at Evan.

“You’ll get there, it might take a while, but you will,” he reassured him, patting him on the back as he let Christopher hide away in his neck.

Christopher wasn’t standing at all. He would sometimes try, but would just fall onto his bottom and cry. Evan didn’t think it was pain or anything that caused the tears but the frustration that he couldn’t do something. Evan had already talked to Christopher’s doctor about it, but he had just brushed him aside and said that Christopher may just be delayed slightly. Evan and Shannon both believed that wasn’t the case, that there was something else wrong with the baby boy.

Evan got him changed, as they would be going out for a walk around soon. Xiaoli was going to come over. Evan was moving out of the shared house in another month. Thought a few months after that Xiaoli would be heading out to California. “There we go,” he smiled at Christopher who was now in a better mood, wiggling around and giggling as Evan tickled his tummy. “We going to have some fun with Uncle Li?” he asked him, Shannon had been the one to call Xiaoli uncle during one of his visits.

“LiLiLi!” Christopher yelled out, laughing brightly as he was picked up, the door ringing at just the right time.

“Hey,” Xiaoli greeted as the door opened and the young man walked in, “How’s my little Zhizi,” he said, tickling Christopher’s cheek as the fifteen month old reached out towards him. Xiaoli took him into his arms, settling him on his hip. He had gotten better at being around Christopher over the last year. He had been planning on leaving several months ago, but had decided to wait a little longer to save up enough for the move to LA. Xiaoli was glad that he had, as he looked at Christopher, he would have missed out on getting to know the little boy in his arms.

“Thinking of going to the park. He loves the swings there, and the slide,” Evan said as he got himself ready.

“Sounds good to me,” Xiaoli nodded.

“Right,” Evan said as he quickly packed the last of the things he would need. It was October, but the weather was still warm enough to be out for a while and enjoy the falling leaves. “Okay, that’s the food and drinks sorted,” he added as he walked back to Xiaoli, “Ready?”

“Of course,” Xiaoli smiled at him. Evan moved with confidence as he set up the stroller and took Christopher from his arms. He was so different from who he was when he had first arrived at the shared house. Gone was the unsure young man that had walked through the door. Now in front of him was a more confident twenty year old.

Xiaoli started to tell Evan what he was planning on doing when he reached LA. They hadn’t even made it half way down the street before two very unwanted people were standing in front of them.

“The deviant,” Helena snapped at him before looking at Christopher.

“Why are you even out, you should be taking care of Christopher inside; he is just a baby,” Ramon said as he went to step forward.

Xiaoli stood in the way, “No child needs to be cooped up inside all the time,” he said, making sure that Evan and Christopher were behind him enough that they wouldn’t be able to get to them. He had heard a lot about the two in front of him, even had to listen to them hurl homophobic slurs at his best friend.

“Get out of the way, how dare you try and stop us from going near our grandchild,” Ramon said as he took a step towards Xiaoli.

“I will not,” he told them, keeping his voice calm.

“No doubt he is that bastard’s bit on the side. Just because our Edmundo is away, he’s no doubt trying to bed everyone he can. Wouldn’t surprise me if he hasn’t bedded Shannon as well. Not like she is a good and responsible mother,” Helena sneered at them.

“We’ll have to see if we can talk some sense into him, he needs to get his son away from them,” Ramon nodded, holding his wife’s hand and patting it.

“Wow, you really are living in your own little world,” Xiaoli scoffed, “Eddie isn’t going to be taking Chris anywhere, as he wants Chris to stay with Evan. And I know for a fact that your son hasn’t spoken to you since he dropped his son off at the visitation center; he isn’t happy with the way that you are trying to control not only Christopher, but also Shannon and Evan. You can’t always have your way. They are their own person. And the fact that you keep slinging homophobic language at Evan isn’t doing you any favors.”

“How dare you!” Helena stepped towards him, hand raised, about to slap him.

“Do so,” Xiaoli began, “And I will call the police and press charges of assault against you,” he warned her, “And don’t think I won’t. I know that there are a few CCTV cameras on this street and we are in line with at least two of them,” he smirked as she backed down.

“Which reminds me that you’re not allowed near us while we are out. Or have you forgotten that there is a restraining order out against you both,” Evan said, shaking himself a little as he glared at the two, “Stop trying to play the victim. You aren’t. Every time you speak, it’s Your Grandson, Your Grandchild. Christopher doesn’t just have grandparents, he has aunts, uncles, parents. Each time you talk, all you are thinking about is what you want. And it’s not going to happen. You want Christopher, you’ve made that clear ever since I first met you. Even before I did, Shannon and Eddie both mentioned that you had said that Christopher should live with you. He was a newborn at that time, I met you when he was three weeks old, three weeks and you’d already made your mind up that no one would be able to care for Christopher but you.”

“Eddie is away, and Shannon does nothing but work. She needs to be at home looking after her son, not working. Her place is there,” Helena spat, “No mother should be working when her child is so young.”

“Wow, what an old fashioned view that is. A mother can work if they wish, and Shannon does.,” Evan said, shaking his head, “I can’t believe you would think such a thing. I know Eddie said that you forbid him from doing any cooking, but I can see it now with that.”

“A man’s place is to be out working, to make sure that the family is provided for. A woman should be at home, taking care of it and the children,” Helena said, glaring at him.

“Toxic masculinity,” Evan snorted and rolled his eyes, “No wonder,” he muttered under his breath, “that they all want to get away from you. They don’t want to be pushed into the roles you think they should be in.”

“They will understand this when they are older,” Ramon said, “And we shall be there when they realize their mistakes and help them to correct it. We can only hope that they chose their husbands better than how Edmundo has chosen. He’s chosen two people that don’t know their place in life,” he sneered.

“I really do think in the end that you’re going to lose all your children, and any grandchildren that come from their relationships,” Evan shook his head, “Now leave,” he said, reaching for his phone, “I will call the police if you don’t.”

“You-”

“You’re really going to say I wouldn’t dare. We’ve had to call the police on you twice. This will be the first time with the restraining order,” Evan added as he looked at them, “I will call them and you will be arrested for violating it.”

“We should go, this could ruin things,” Helena said as she placed a calming hand on her husband’s arm.

Ramon sneered at the one last time before they turned and walked away.

Evan slumped where he stood, “I’m still going to have to report them aren’t I,” he murmured, though it was more of a statement than a question.

Xiaoli turned around and nodded, “Yeah, you have to. This is… if they are doing this, what’s to say they won’t try and push things more if you don’t call them out on their behavior.”

Evan sighed and nodded, “I’ll do it when we go home. I am determined to spend an hour out with Chris. Let him play a little,” he said as he looked at Xiaoli.

“That’s fine, but make sure you do it. Don’t let them get away with things. Boundaries Evan, boundaries. I had to do this a little with my own parents recently. They were trying to push me to marry someone. Finally I got through to them that I’m happy and finding a career that I want to do,”

“Yeah,” he smiled at him as they headed towards the park. They spent the next hour at the park, letting Christopher enjoy the swings and the slide for a bit before they headed back. Evan did call the police reporting the violation. He didn’t want to press just yet, but to have them warned about breaking it.

“Okay, nap time I think,” Evan said as they got home and Christopher was starting to cry and whine. It took him singing a lullaby he remembered Maddie singing to him occasionally to get him to sleep. Tucking him into his cot he walked into the living room, seeing that Xiaoli had made the two of them some coffee. “Thanks,” he said, taking the mug and sinking down into the couch.

“You messaged Shannon?” he asked him.

“Yeah I have, she’s not happy, but glad that I at least called the police to report the violation of the order,” he sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back.

“Had to be done, so,” Xiaoli said, “Have you thought more of what you want to do yet?” he asked him.

“I’ve been thinking. I know I’m almost done with my degree, but I think… I think I might try teaching. I like the thought of it. Been thinking hard, and I really love kids so,” he shrugged, smiling slightly. “thinking that i should try and get a job as a teaching assistant at one of the schools, and study for a teaching degree part time. I talked to Eddie about this a while ago and he’s all for it. I talked to him before he came home.”

Xiaoli smiled, “Sounds like you have a good idea of what you want to do, and I’m glad that you talked to him about it. I think you should enjoy it if you love children,” he said, “I’ve got the go ahead to start at the LAFD fire Academy in three months,” he told him.

“So, you’re really leaving,” Evan sighed, looking at his best friend.

Xiaoli nodded, “I am, I know, it’s going to be hard. But we will be calling and emailing each other as often as we can. I am not missing out on any of Chris’ achievements and birthdays either. Shannon’s got me in touch with her friend who’s helping me find a good cheap place for me to live for a while.”

“I’ll miss having you around. So are you staying for dinner?” he asked him.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I’ll leave after dinner and you can tell me what you want to be teaching,” he grinned,

Evan laughed, “Maybe science. I love science,” he sighed.

The two friends carried on talking until Christopher woke up and Xiaoli watched over him as Evan started on dinner, getting it ready for when Shannon returned home from work.

Chapter Thirteen

Evan walked into the house. He had moved out of the shared house and into Shannon’s. She had found a small apartment for herself that she stayed at twice a week, and did most of her work from there as well if she hadn’t had to go in. It had been a long day, once more he had gone to the doctor, noticing a lot of bruising appearing on Christopher’s legs. Put that on top of the apparent weakness in them and their jerky movements at times. Evan was worried there was something more going on. But Christopher’s pediatrician had dismissed his fears. That bruising happens to children as they learn how to walk. Even when Evan had told him Christopher wasn’t even able to stand, he still brushed it aside.

Grabbing his phone as soon as Christopher was set up in the playpen, he called Shannon. She should have finished work by now, it was getting late and their appointment at the doctor had taken a lot longer than Evan had wanted. “Hey,” he greeted as soon as the call connected.

“Everything okay?” she asked quickly, “I know you saw his doctor today.”

“I think we might need to find someone else. He’s not taking anything that I’m saying seriously. He just keeps saying it’s normal. Those-” he began only to stop when someone knocked on the door. “Sorry, Shannon, someone’s at the door,” he sighed, “I’ll call back as soon as I’ve got rid of them and tell you.”

“Sure,” Shannon nodded, sounding worried, “I’ll start looking into someone else for Christopher.”

“Thanks,” he smiled as he ended the call and darted for the door. “Hello,” he greeted, frowning when a familiar woman was standing there.

“Mr Buckley,” Marissa greeted him, “I’m sorry to call so late. I didn’t have your number, and it seems Miss McKinley’s number has been changed as well.”

“Yeah, Ramon and Helena kept sending really nasty messages through. Voice mail and everything. So Shannon changed her number. Please come in, is everything okay?” he asked, frowning at the visit from a social worker.

Marissa walked into the house and followed Evan as he walked back to the living room. She saw Christopher sitting in the playpen.

“Papa!” Christopher yelled out, waving his hands, a toy clutched in one of them.

“Hey buddy,” Evan smiled as he went over, “You having fun?” he asked him.

“Ah,” he grinned as he then carried on whatever game he was playing.

“So, erm… would you like a tea or a coffee?” he asked nervously as he then added, “Oh, and please sit down.”

“A coffee would be nice, black, one sugar, thank you,” she answered him. Watching him go she saw how happy Christopher was and when he looked up and didn’t see Evan in the room he started to yell for his papa.

“I’m in the kitchen buddy, I’ll be there soon,” Evan’s voice drifted from the kitchen.

Christopher listened to it and carried on playing, reassured that his papa was nearby.

“Here you go,” Evan said as he walked back in, two coffees in his hand.

“Thank you,” she smiled, taking it and setting it aside for a moment to cool.

Evan sat down on the floor near the playpen, “Sorry, the place is a little messy at the moment. We’ve spent the entire day at the docs. Well, most of the evening anyway. I could only get a late appointment for Chris.”

“Is everything alright?” Marisa asked him.

“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right. He’s not walking yet, it’s like he can’t control his legs properly. He’s only been crawling for the last couple of months as well. And even that he can’t do for very long. Then in the last month, I’ve been noticing some bruising on his legs as well. I just… I was worried, so I made the appointment. But he just brushed it all off and said it was nothing. Wouldn’t even listen to me,” Evan sighed deeply, biting his lip, “Something is wrong, so Shannon is looking into finding someone else for him. Someone who might just listen. Some doctors don’t want to hear anything from first-time parents, because they think we’re overreacting. He’s a year and a half old, and he can’t walk, he has just started crawling more regularly.”

Marissa nodded, grabbing her coffee and blowing on it, taking a tentative sip, she winced as it was still too hot to drink, “That is one of the reasons that I was called in,” she told him.

“Why?” Evan said, sitting up, and glancing at Christopher as he shuffled over to the side of the playpen and pressed against Evan. “Hey,” he smiled, reaching over and behind him to run his hand through curly hair.

“Papa,” Christopher called out happily as he sat against the side of the playpen so he was close to Evan and carried on playing.

“We had reports that there was bruising on Christopher’s legs, that he was being physically harmed,” Marissa said, normally she wouldn’t just say anything. But with the fact that Evan had just come from the doctors about them, and that the report came in four days ago. Something didn’t sit right with her.

Evan paused and stared at her, “The doctor thinks that I’m hurting him?” he asked, voice cracking at the thought that someone would think that about him.

“The report from the doctor wouldn’t have gotten to me just yet. This one is a few days old at the very least,” Marissa told him, “now, about the bruising, what have you noticed about them?” she asked, “And may I see?”

Evan nodded, “Yeah, erm, yeah sure. I should,” he paused and took a breath, “I should have Shannon come here. She should be here for this as well.”

“Is she at work?” Marissa asked him.

Evan shook his head, “No, no. I’ve moved in. The place is still in Shannon’s name for now, but she’s going to be transferring it to Eddie in a couple of months when he comes back on leave, but she is partially moved out. She has a flat nearby. She… she spends two nights there and leaves Chris with me. I have guardianship of Christopher. If you need to see the papers, a custody agreement is also in place. I live with Chris full time. Eddie is still his father, that doesn’t stop at all. It’s just… it just means that I have some say in what happens with Chris as well,” he murmured, not really sure on all the details. Shannon knew it all better than he did.

“I see,” she said, making a quick note, “Do you have court documents? she asked him.

Evan got up and went to retrieve them, “Yeah, I carry a copy on me at all times,” he added, “Helena and Ramon Diaz have caused problems in the past and trying to say that I’ve kidnaped Chris, so I took to, well, having them,” he shrugged as he walked back over and handed a copy over. “I have a few copies, so you can keep those,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she said as she watched as he picked up Christopher and started to show her the bruises that were on his legs. “Hmm,” she nodded.

“I’m going to call Shannon, she should be here for something like this,” he said as he then did so. He watched as Marissa looked through the paperwork she had been given. Making notes in her file. “Shannon,” he said as soon as the call connected, “I think you need to get here as soon as you can, Marissa, the social worker has stopped by again. I think you need to hear what she has to say.”

“Alright, I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes,” she told him. Her new apartment wasn’t that far away. It was within walking distance as well, which made it a good choice. She didn’t want to be too far from her son.

“Okay, see you soon,” he said, ending the call and looking back at Marissa.

“Thank you,” she told him, “I’ll make sure that this paperwork is added to the file as well. If you don’t mind me having a copy,” she added.

“Of course not,” he said as he settled back down, this time Christopher was happily curled on his lap and playing with his hand.

“Papa,” Christopher said as he shuffled around. Hand’s now gripping either side of Evan’s face, “papa, dada,” he pouted.

“I know,” he said, running his hand over Christopher’s head, messing up his curls, “I know you want to see daddy, but we can’t call him tonight,” he told him.

“Call him?” Marissa asked him.

“He’s a soldier in Afghanistan, an Army Medic,” Evan said, “We talk with him online when we can,” he added, “But we can’t do so every night.”

As Shannon predicted, she let herself into the house fifteen minutes after Evan had called her. “Hello again,” she greeted.

“Miss McKinley, sorry to drop by so unannounced. I did try and call you but your number had been disconnected,” Marissa told her, getting up and shaking her hand.

“Yeah, I had to change it. Helena and Ramon Diaz are… relentless in trying to get me to marry their son, or sign over Christopher to them. I won’t do either. I know that I will never see him again if I signed Christopher over to them,” Shannon told them, “And neither would Evan, and I’ve no doubt that they would force Eddie to do what they want if he wanted to see his son. They are all about trying to control their family. So, I changed my number, as I was sick of the harassment. Thankfully they have a restraining order out on them. They aren’t allowed to contact or approach us. The same goes for Christopher. The only time they are allowed to see him is at the contact center,” she finished explaining as she sat down, smiling as Christopher shouted for her. “Okay,” she said as she took him from Evan and held him, kissing his cheeks.

Marissa once more explained why she was there. “We’re trying to find out the cause of the bruising, so do expect more meetings like this one and for us to be asking you to take him to have a proper examination,” she added.

“That’s fine,” Shannon said, “But, I know that Evan was noticing these bruises about a month ago. They would come up on his legs. We’ve kept a note of when they were noticed. Or rather, Evan has, as we’re both rather worried for Christopher’s health and development at the moment.”

“I’ll get the notes I’ve been making,” Evan said as he got up and headed to his bedroom. He returned with a notebook and handed it over. “This is what I’ve been observing from Chris over the last several months. Anything and everything I’ve found, from odd bruising, to how he is like with his crawling and speech.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, taking the book and starting to look through it, going back from the latest entry. “The bruising looks old now, and you found this set of bruises he had four, five days ago?” she asked.

Evan nodded, “Yeah.”

“From what I’m reading they appear once a week, a flurry of three or four new bruises on Wednesday and Thursday,” she noted.

Evan nodded again, “I noticed that as well, he would get some each week around the same time.”

“Evan, I think someone needs a change,” Shannon said as she held Christopher out to him. Evan nodded and took him away.

“You suspect something, Miss McKinley?” she asked her.

“I do,” Shannon sighed, “They always appear after Chris has had to spend time with his grandparents. I would ask that you contact the center to make sure all their visits are now recorded. I suggest not telling them that and watching over them to make sure they aren’t harming him. I have cameras in this house as well, only the bathrooms and bedrooms are spared.”

“I see,” Marissa said, making a note of the suspicion that she will follow up on. “May I take this with me to make a copy. I will return it.”

“Sure, Evan won’t mind. We’re going to be changing pediatricians as soon as I can arrange it. Our current one isn’t listening to us when we say that something is wrong,” she sighed.

Marissa nodded, getting a few more things from Shannon before Evan returned, “Well,” she said as she finished, “I will follow up on a few things, and now that I have both of your contact details, I will be in touch when I need to see you.”

Shannon showed her out, before returning and reassuring Evan that things will be fine before deciding to remain the night.

Chapter Fourteen

Evan was sitting in the waiting room. It had taken almost two months to find another pediatrician that could take Christopher on. This would be the first time that Christopher would be seen by him. He just hoped that he would listen to what Evan was saying, instead of brushing it aside like there was nothing wrong. Christopher was on his lap, having had enough of being in his stroller.

“Papa, home,” Christopher said as he looked at him, “Want play,” he added.

“I know you want to play, but we have to see the doctor first,” Evan smiled at him, “How about, when this is over we stop at the park?” he suggested.

“Swing, slide?” Christopher asked with hope and a large smile.

“Yes, we can go on the swings and the slide,” Evan laughed lightly, rocking him from side to side.

“Good, have fun,” he nodded, sitting properly again and taking hold of Evan’s hand and playing with it.

“Yes, we will,” Evan smiled, kissing the top of Christopher’s head.

“Christopher Diaz,” was called out and Evan got up, holding Christopher on his hip and using a free hand to guide the stroller to the office.

“Mr Diaz,” the pediatrician greeted him, “I’m Doctor Mathews,” he said, holding out a hand for a handshake.

Evan shook it, “It’s actually Mr Buckley, Mr Diaz is in Afghanistan at the moment. Christopher’s mother had an emergency meeting this morning and has left me to come alone,” he told him.

“Unusual, so you are no relation to Christopher,” he said, a cautious tone in his voice.

“In a way no, but I’m his second father,” Evan said, after almost two years of being told such, he finally believed that he was.

“Papa,” Christopher said, picking up on the tension around him.

“Chris has three parents. His biological mother and father and myself. I’m dating his father, and have been since he was born. His mother has given full custody to me as she travels for work a lot at the moment,” he told him, handing over the documents to back him up. “Here, so you can see,” he added, he had thought Shannon had explained all this when making the appointment.

Doctor Mathews took the documents and quickly looked them over, he nodded, “Okay, then shall we start and see to this little guy,” he said as he looked at Christopher.

“Okay,” Evan nodded.

“Onto the bed with him and let’s see,” he murmured as Evan did that. Christopher protested through it all, wiggling around to get away. Using his arms to try and pull himself away. Evan did his best to distract him from what was going on. “What have you noticed yourself?” he asked him, looking up from his exam for a moment.

“He’s been crawling for a couple of months. But he can’t do it for very long. Sometimes when he is, his legs will jerk slightly and stop him. He often gets frustrated about that. He’s not standing, we’ve tried, but…” he paused, finding it hard to describe what he was seeing.

“No strength in his legs to hold him up and movement that is odd?” he asked.

“Yes,” Evan nodded, “Just no strength to hold himself up on his feet. He just crumbles each time we try,” Evan sighed as he looked down at Christopher.

“No, no, no like!” he yelled out as he was once more trying to wriggle free.

“I know bud, I know, but you need to let him for now and then we’ll go to the park,” he promised him.

Doctor Mathews finished his exam and let Evan take Christopher into his arms. Sitting down Evan waited for the doctor’s verdict.

“Well,” he began, “I can see why you are worried, it is unusual, so I’m going to ask for a few more tests to be done to determine what is wrong.”

“So, I was right to worry,” Evan breathed, closing his eyes as he held Christopher closer.

“Let’s not borrow trouble, but at the moment, if there is something wrong then we are going to find it,” he reassured him, smiling a little, “Now,” he said, “For everything else, this little man seems very happy and healthy.”

“He is at that,” Evan smiled, “So nothing else wrong with him?”

“His speech is good at the moment, knows a few words. Not always clear and I note he speaks loudly often,” Doctor Mathews said, “He isn’t focusing properly on anything either. His perception of things around him seems a little off. So an eye test is in order as well.”

Evan nodded as he listened to what the doctor had to say and that he would be getting a letter through about the testing that Christopher would need to go through. Evan didn’t know what to feel as he left the doctor’s office and headed home. He needed to call Shannon and tell her what was going on and then all he wanted to do was to curl up somewhere and cuddle Christopher and wish that everything was fine. Instead, he would go to the park, as he had promised, play with Christopher until the almost two-year-old was tired enough for a nap, and then deal with everything.

XxXxX

Evan stood at the airport. Shannon had Christopher while he was going to pick up Eddie. The man was finally on leave. This time he would be there for a month and a half. The last three months had been hard on the small family. Christopher had gone through a number of tests and was finally diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. It had been a blow, and money was going to start becoming tight with all that Christopher needed to help him thrive. In two weeks he was going to have his second birthday. Xiaoli had promised he had gotten the time off from the Fire Academy in LA to come down for a couple of days to help celebrate. And Evan had to admit that he missed his best friend.

“Eddie,” Evan breathed as soon as he saw the man walking towards him. He ran over, tears in his eyes as he greeted the man by throwing his arms around him and holding him as tightly as he could.

Eddie closed his eyes, duffle ending up on the floor as he wrapped his arms around Evan and held him just as tightly back, “Dios, missed you cariño,” he murmured, kissing him a few times, “Missed you so much,” he repeated.

“Same here, love you, miss you,” Evan breathed shakily. It had been almost a full year of only seeing him through a screen and he missed holding him, knowing that he was right beside him.

“How are you? And Chris?” he asked as they finally broke apart. He picked up his duffle again and slung it over his shoulder as they walked towards the exit.

“I’m… fine, stressed, Chris is going to need surgery in about a year. Some of his muscles in his legs are tightening too much,” he began, “He’s always in some form of pain and it frustrates him and I hate seeing it, Eds, I do. He cries and all I want to do is cry as well. Instead, I have to keep it together for him.” His eyes were filling with tears as he thought of his little boy.

“I’m here, I’m here now, and cry if you need to,” he told him, an arm around his waist as they walked.

Evan nodded, tears already falling as he furiously wiped them away. “I know, I know but I… I can’t let it… I want to be happy, you’re home.”

“I am,” Eddie nodded, a tight smile on his face. He had been doing the math as well as what their health insurance covered. And it wasn’t going to be enough. Even with Shannon and now Evan adding into the mix, it just wouldn’t be enough to cover what was needed. Physical Therapy, speech therapy, and now a surgery on top of that. The cost of everything was adding up. With him leaving the army, it would put a heavy strain on them and all three of them knew it wasn’t going to help at all.

“Come on, let’s… let’s enjoy you coming home,” Evan said as they walked out of the hospital and towards his jeep.

XxXxX

Eddie had put Christopher to bed that night. The almost two-year-old had screamed and no one knew if it was because Eddie was almost a stranger to his son, or because he was in pain. Evan and Eddie had worked together in soothing him enough to get him to sleep. Eddie walked into the living room after having a quick shower. He needed to think and it was the best place to do it without everyone around him. He sighed as he looked at Evan and Shannon. The two of them were quietly talking, both of them had been doing as he had, going over the numbers, cutting back on things. Getting ready to take on paying for things that Christopher needed, and to wait for him to be fully discharged from the Army and to find a job.

“I…” he paused, running a hand through slightly wet hair, “I reenlisted,” he told the two of them.

“What?!” Shannon said, as Evan just sat there, eyes wide.

“I know, I know I was to come home, I know I decided to come home. I know that. And if Christopher was okay, I would have done it in a heartbeat,” he told the two of them. “It… I…” he sighed and closed his eyes.

“Why?” Evan whispered.

“Because we can’t take the strain of me leaving just yet. Staying in means that I can continue to support you all. To help with everything. My insurance covers most of what Christopher needs. Without it, we’ll be struggling a lot more,” he added as he looked at them, “I- I want the best for him, I love him so much and he’s in so much pain. He needs this surgery, and I know you said that there is already talk of a second one a few months after the first one. It’s a lot for him, and I know that I should be here. I know that,” he finished, shaking his head.

“Yes, it will be a strain, but we need you here as well. We can’t do it all,” Shannon told him, “We need you.”

Eddie sighed heavily, “I know. I want and need to be here, but the strain it will put on everything… at the moment we can’t. Maybe after Chris’ second surgery would be a better time. Save up money, really save up to make sure that it will last a while. Then I can come home and be here all the time. So I signed up for four more years. Chris… he’ll be six, but by then we should have a lot more saved up,” he said, trying to go over what had been in his head when he had made the snap decision.

Shannon wasn’t happy. “I’m not happy about this, your parents are-”

“My parents are no longer allowed near our son,” Eddie pointed out to them both, “The court took away their visitation rights as soon as they found out they were causing the bruising.”

“Why didn’t you talk to us about this?” Evan asked him.

“Because you were already thinking about stopping looking into becoming a teacher and instead getting jobs to support us. I don’t want you to give up on that. You were going to quit. And I didn’t want that. Shannon has things in hand as well, with her work. I know you’re working some overtime, but even you mention taking on another two clients when you don’t have the time for it, to help. I don’t want you over working yourselves so much, Chris needs all of us. And while It’s not ideal, waiting another four years for me to join you, I think it will help a little. Evan can get his teaching degree in that time, even doing it part-time. Shannon, you can spend a little more time on yourself. I know that you have things set up for Evan to have full custody, so Chris is set as well. We’re… not exactly happy where we are, but at the moment we are working to become that and to become stable. Me leaving now will upset all that.”

Shannon and Evan sighed but knew he had a point. They weren’t financially stable enough to have Eddie retire from the Army just yet. “Fine,” Evan said, “But you come home each year, each year, I know it might not be much time at once, but it’s enough, and we call all the time. Chris needs to spend as much time with you as possible while you are here.”

Eddie agreed easily and kissed him, “I promise. I will come home.”

Chapter Fifteen

Eddie walked towards the park. He knew that meeting his parents wasn’t a bright idea, but he wanted to know what the hell they were thinking when they abused his son. Adriana was getting married in a week as well. And The Court had to be told of Ramon and Helena being around Christopher and the others for that day only. A week after that, Christopher would be turning two. Then Eddie would have a little under two weeks left before he went back. He was dreading leaving. Christopher was getting used to him being there, clinging to him when he saw his daddy.

“Edmundo,” came the calm voice of his father.

Eddie looked at the man, he had been absent for most of Eddie’s younger years, his mother had raised him. But the views she held hurt him more than anything. He had been a child and was forced to conform to her belief that he was the man of the house. He couldn’t show pain or emotions of any kind without being smacked and sent to his room. It hurt to know that his parents had now turned around and hurt Christopher.

“Papa,” he nodded at him, “Mama,” he said, glancing at the woman.

“Are you going to come to-”

“Don’t even start, you have no idea how angry and disgusted I am with the both of you,” he hissed at them both, fists clenched at his sides. Oh, how he wished to lash out at the two of them, to hurt them physically as they had done to Christopher.

“We’re trying to make you see that Shannon is not a good mother, and that boy of yours, that deviant, should be as far away from children as possible. He is going to harm your son,” Ramon stated, shaking his head as he looked his son over.

“They aren’t the ones that physically abused Christopher. Did you really think that I wouldn’t find out what you had done,” he stated, staring at them.

“We’ve done nothing, Eddie,” Helena said as she reached out towards him.

“I watched the videos,” he said, as he slapped her hand away from him, “I watched as you both pinched Christopher hard enough to leave bruises. He was crying and telling you no and you carried on. Evan and Shannon both had to sit on me when I saw the video because all I wanted to do was to come over and beat the fucking shit out of you both. I didn’t even care that you are my parents. As far as I’m concerned you’re not. Not any longer,” he stated, taking a step back, he still wanted to hurt them both. There were tears in his eyes as he stared at the two of them. “You broke that trust, the belief that I had that I could always count on my parents. But I know, I can’t. Not anymore.”

“We just wanted you to see that they would harm him. We just-” Helena began as she started to plead with her son to listen to her.

“You just thought of yourselves, as you always have done,” Eddie interrupted, shaking his head in disgust at the two of them.

“You won’t be able to stop us from seeing Christopher forever. He is our grandson and we wish to have him with us,” Ramon said, shaking his head, “You will see in the end that we have only got your best interests in mind.”

“No you don’t, you only have yours,” he snorted, shaking his head.

“Adriana’s wedding, we’ll see Christopher then, hopefully, you will realize by then that you are making a huge mistake in trusting those two. They are going to make sure that you never see your son again,” Ramon added, looking at his son in disappointment.

“The only reason that you are still going to Adriana’s wedding is that we haven’t told her what you have done. But do you really expect her to be welcoming as soon as she learns? Do you think Sophia will want anything to do with you after she learns either?” he snorted, “Everything will change once they learn. They won’t want you at the wedding. They won’t want you in their lives, and when they have children, they won’t want you near them after what you put Christopher through.”

“As soon as they know, they’ll understand that we’ve thought of you. How those two are going to take your son from you. You won’t see him, we have to interfere now and make sure that they are away from Christopher,” Helena replied, her voice sounding confident and sure.

“Are you sure about that?” Eddie snapped. When he got two nods, he nodded, “Okay, since I will be seeing my sisters tomorrow, I’ll show them the video of what you did to Christopher. Then we’ll see,” he said, turning around, “I don’t ever want to speak to either of you again.”

“Edmundo!” Helena called out after him, rushing to reach for him.

Eddie turned and glared, “I mean it. don’t ever come near me. I… I actually hate you both for what you’ve done. Christopher was a baby, he is still a baby and you hurt him!” he yelled, “I can’t… I can’t see or speak to you again. I want nothing to do with you. So leave me alone Helena.”

Helena froze at the use of her name from her only son, “Edmundo,” she said weakly as he turned and walked away. Ramon calling out to him, but getting the same response of being told to leave him alone and using Ramon’s name.

XxXxX

Eddie sighed as he sat at the table in the kitchen. He had gotten Evan to take Christopher out for a while. Since Shannon also had the day off, the two had taken Christopher to a park for a bit. And would be going to Shannon’s after for a while. Eddie had two sisters to talk to. Sophia had arrived that morning from New York. Adriana had picked her up. Both of them worried when Eddie had called them, voice breaking and asking them to come to his house together. That he had something important to tell them.

The laptop was in front of him, the video was on it, and Eddie still didn’t know if he should tell his sisters what was going on. They knew that things were tense and that his parents hadn’t seen Christopher in a while. But no details other than that. Shannon and Evan hadn’t thought that they needed to be told. Eddie, he believed they did. That they should know exactly what their parents were capable of and guard themselves against it. He believed that they would, in the end, do the same to Adriana and Sophia and he didn’t want them to go through the pain that he, Evan, and Shannon were going through.

Eddie got up as soon as he heard knocking on the front door. He opened it and was hugged tightly by both of his older sisters. He wrapped his arms around them, holding them just as tightly. “Hey,” he greeted, “How are you guys?” he asked them.

“Excited, nervous, and everything in between,” Adriana snorted as she let him go and looked at her baby brother. There was a tenseness around his eyes that was worrying her. “Is everything okay?” she asked him slowly.

Sophia looked from her sister to her brother, quickly spotting what Adriana was seeing, “What she said,” she murmured, pointing at her sister.

“I think…” Eddie trailed off and sighed, “Look, just come inside and I’ll tell you what’s going on,” he said, moving aside so they could enter the house.

“What’s going on?” Adriana asked him again as they made it to the kitchen and sat down with some coffee.

“What isn’t,” Eddie snorted. “Helena and Ramon Diaz are what’s going on,” he said, pulling a face.

Adriana stared at her brother, “Okay, what the fuck is going on and stop stalling,” she demanded, waiting for him, hand on her hips and a glare on her face that reminded Eddie of their grandmother.

Eddie sighed, “I just… I don’t even know where to begin. I know you know a little of what’s been going on with our parents. That they have been making things difficult towards Shannon and Evan. But it’s not only the homophobia that they’ve shown. They harassed both of them to a point that the cops had to be called. They stole the key from this place and broke in during the day to take Christopher. They also disturbed the peace at half five in the morning as well. Evan had to, in the end, lock himself in our room to stop them from taking Chris,” he explained a little of what had happened.

“Okay, so why are you telling us this now?” Sophia asked, eyes narrowing.

“Because it went further than just that. They ended up with a court order to be able to visit, but because of past actions, they were only allowed four hours a week and had to go through a contact center. There’s a restraining order against them to stop them from coming to the house or approaching Evan, Shannon, or Christopher outside of it. I can even change it to have me added to the order as well,” he carried on. “Several weeks ago, CPS was called again, a third time now. They accused Evan of abusing Christopher. There was bruising on his legs. It was investigated. But it turned out to be someone else abusing him,” he told his sisters.

“No, they didn’t,” Adriana said, shaking her head, “They wouldn’t.”

“They did,” Eddie told her. “Helena and Ramon both pinched Christopher, causing him to cry and scream, causing bruising on his legs, and then they reported it as though someone else was doing it. It was only found out to be them because the cameras in the contact center were running and they were caught doing so. They are now no longer allowed to be around Christopher.”

“I… I don’t want to believe it,” Sophia said, voice shaking as tears formed in her eyes.

Eddie turned to the laptop, he hadn’t wanted to believe it either. “Here,” he said as he turned on the video that was keyed up and let it play. Eddie closed his eyes after a moment as he heard his son’s screams, “This is one of five such videos, each time they did this. Because they have been upstanding citizens they got a slap on the fucking wrist and will no longer have visitation rights to Chris. When I found out, when I saw this, Evan and Shannon had to stop me from going over there and beating the fucking shit out of them. They hurt my baby boy. They hurt him. Adri, Soph, I can’t be around them. As far as I’m concerned they are no longer my parents. I want nothing to do with them.”

“I can agree, I don’t,” Adriana sighed heavily, “They are no longer welcome to my wedding. I can’t have them there. I don’t want them in my life or the life of my child,” she said as she put a protective hand on her stomach, “If they would do that to one, what’s to stop them from doing it to others.”

“Adri?” Eddie said, noticing the move, “Are you?”

Adriana nodded, “I am, two months, we found out last week. We were… going to keep quiet, but I think telling you two will be fine. I don’t want… them, to know. I can’t… After that.”

“Agree, I don’t want them around, how could we,” Sophia murmured, eyes tearing up, “They hurt their own grandchild, Christopher is so bubbly and bright and they hurt that, they hurt him,” she wiped at her eyes.

“Evan’s been having a hard time with this, he’s a bit more overprotective of Christopher. Doesn’t go out with him, unless Shannon is there, or someone else,” Eddie sighed, “He’s scared that they might approach him again. They’ve done it before. And with the way they think that we will all fall in line with their thinking, they aren’t scared. They still believe that they will get Christopher if something happens. We have documents that they will never get custody of him, ever, no matter what happens.”

“Good,” Adriana nodded, pulling out her phone, “I need to make some calls, and I want to talk to you and Evan about something when he gets back.”

Eddie looked puzzled, but let his eldest sister do what she needed before the three of them talked a little more about cutting Helena and Ramon out of their lives and making sure the rest of the family knew why.

 

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