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Buck had gone out hiking like he usually did on his days off, wanting to spend some time outside, away from the noise and pollution. Well, as much as you could while still in the city of Los Angeles.
He usually went to Elysian Park, did the West Loop Trailhead, and then to his favorite coffee shop before continuing his day but that day, he decided to go to Henninger Flats. It was a little further away but there was very little noise and, on a day week, very few tourists.
It was a new place he was trying, wanted to see if Eddie would like it so Buck kept taking photos to show him later. Research always helped convince his friend to accompany him in his adventures. It was a great trail, very peaceful, the San Gabriel Mountains always breathtaking.
He was returning to his car when he heard a pain filled whine and turned to look for the source of the sound. If someone was hurt, Buck could help them, it was his job and his calling. Looking at the woods, he called out, but no one answered.
Walking in between the trees, he found a sight he never thought was real: a tiny woman, if you could call her that, about 2 feet, with wings and almost shiny skin, under a big boulder. It had obviously pinned her, and she was in a lot of pain, but refused to look at him, trying to hide under the rock.
Buck got close and took the rather big boulder off the creature, not wanting to touch her. He was starting to think he had hit his head and was lying in the trail, having a hallucination.
“Thank you, human” the being said with the voice of a woman, which was rather weird coming from something so small. “I had called for help, but it seemed like no one answered. Well, you did but you were not the one I called. What is your name?”
“Buck… Well, Evan. Evan Buckley, but everyone calls me Buck” he said, thinking there was nothing wrong with talking with his hallucination. “What happened? Are you hurt? Do you need help?”
“No, thanks, I was just stuck. It didn’t hurt me, it just pinned me there. It didn’t even break my wings, see?” she asked, suddenly flying.
Definitely in a coma, Buck thought, but what a weird thing to dream about.
“My name is Alina and, as you saved my life, I will grant you your deepest wish. I am not a hallucination, by the way. Or a coma dream, like the one with your brother.”
“Well, a hallucination would say that or know that, by the way” Buck said. “Wait, what do you mean you will grant me a wish? What wish?” he asked, but Alina was gone.
Weird, simply weird. But turned around, left the trail and went home. He was never telling anyone what happened. And he was definitely never going back to that place.
**************
A few days later, his doorbell woke him up. He had just finished a 24-hour shift and could barely get to his bed to take a nap, passing out without changing as soon as his body touched the mattress. The rings were insisting so Buck had no choice but to get up and see who was interrupting the best sleep he had had in days.
Alina, this time human sized, was at his door and basically pushed him into his apartment. “I’ve come to fulfill my promise” she exclaimed, giving him a bag and a car seat with a baby in it. “There’s some stuff outside for her and the rest should arrive later today. Babies need a lot of things, you know.”
Buck looked at Alina, at the baby and at the bags and boxes full of baby supplies outside his door. “What… how? I don’t understand anything. Where did this baby come from?”
“She was abandoned by her mother, in the woods near where you found me, so I took her, saved her life, and now I’m giving her to you. She is your daughter now, here is the paperwork,” she said, giving Buck a folder, “her name is Olivia Myrene Buckley, but you can change it if you want.”
“Wait, you are giving me a baby… why?” Buck asked but couldn’t stop himself from holding the car seat closer to himself. Olivia looked at him with his same blue eyes, blonde almost white hair and gummy smile. She seemed to be a newborn, less than a month old, and already had his heart.
“It’s your heart’s wish and I did promise to fulfill your wish as repayment for saving my life. You also saved hers because I already had her. I was going to take her to my court, to be raised among the seelie, but this seemed like a better choice. She can have a life this way.” Alina got close to Buck and kissed the baby goodbye, before kissing Buck’s cheek. She was tall in this form, almost as tall as him. “Take good care of her, please.”
“I will,” Buck promised, and Alina was gone.
*******************
At first, Buck was unsure of what to do but ended up putting the car seat in the kitchen island, bringing all the boxes in and started organizing everything. Babies did need a lot of stuff. The crib was the hardest thing to build, but in the end, Olivia didn’t make a sound until he had finished. For some reason, Buck accepted this gift without a second thought.
I mean, he had doubts, but fairies were not to be wronged and a gift from them was treasured, especially if it was a child as precious as this baby that was dropped in his lap. What he would tell his family, he wasn’t sure. Maybe that the mother was a one-night stand, who had signed the rights away and he took the child after a DNA test. Yes, that was a good story.
After feeding and changing Olivia, Buck decided to rip off the band-aid and go to Cap’s BBQ with her the next day. He hadn’t planned to go, a bit sad after Tommy broke off their burgeoning relationship, telling Buck that he still wasn’t ready.
“I like you, but I don’t think I’m whose attention you actually want” he had said, and Buck was still both pissed and sad. Another love interest that left him high and dry. At least they had only had three full on dates (not counting the disastrous first interrupted date and the coffee date and the wedding that didn’t happen). But everything kept going wrong, every time they tried to go out.
Their first official date after everybody in his life knew after the kiss at the wedding, they had run into Natalia and her new boyfriend, an emo like guy, who had not understood they were on a date, sat with them at the rather empty restaurant and interrogated both about their near-death experiences.
The second one, they had taken the helicopter for a flight around LA, very romantic, and ended up almost crashing when the engine had malfunctioned. Not romantic at all.
The third, and last one, they were in the middle of a dinner at Buck’s place, his four-cheese lasagna almost ready, when Chris had called him to ask for help. Eddie had an extra shift, and he had been allowed to stay alone for a few hours after school.
Chris was feeling very poorly, with a stomach and headache, so Buck gave Tommy the lasagna and told him they would have to reschedule. When he arrived at Eddie’s place, he discovered Chris had a fever and took him to the emergency room, where they discovered he had appendicitis, and it was lucky Buck hadn’t ignored the symptoms.
“You’re a great dad” a nurse had said and neither had corrected her.
****************
Buck was nervous the day of the BBQ. He had never been so nervous to go to Cap’s place, not even the night he told him about the lawsuit. He had his daughter in the car seat, her diaper bag full of diapers, formula, a change of clothes and a playpen, but he couldn’t make himself ring the doorbell.
Athena took the choice from him by opening the door and looking a bit surprised to see him there, with a baby. “Did you steal that child, Evan Buckley? Do I have to arrest you?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No, she is mine” Buck answered, proud and showed Olivia off. They went inside, not a word from anyone in the house who had heard his announcement. “Everyone, I want you to meet Olivia Myrene Buckley, my daughter. Before you ask, I have DNA evidence and a birth certificate that say she is mine.”
“Oh my God, Buck” Maddie exclaimed and almost run to hug him. “What… when… how?”
“Yesterday, I got her yesterday. I’ve known for a few days, but I officially have her since Alina brought her after my last shift. I’ve been busy with all of the things I needed to buy for her, the crib and playpen and well, you know. And I thought it was best to introduce her to everyone at the same time.”
“Evan Buckley, give me that baby right now” Maddie said, and he lost his daughter for an hour while everyone took turns holding her. The only missing at the party was Eddie and Chris, Buck noticed. Even Tommy had been invited and gave him a look with raised eyebrows and inquisitive eyes.
“I guess I did not expect you to show up with a baby, of all things. When Eddie wasn’t here, I thought I was gonna have to see you two walk in together” Tommy joked and Buck blushed. “But I have to admit, seeing you with a baby was kinda hot.”
“Well, you were right. I wasn’t ready for a relationship. Even less now. Olivia is my number one priority. Then Chris. And third, me,” Buck answered, a little miffed Tommy had said that about Eddie out loud where everyone heard. Although no one bat an eye at that. Curious.
Eddie chose that moment to walk in with Chris trailing behind him. He was still recuperating but refused to stay home, bored out of his mind. The moment Eddie saw Buck and Tommy, his smile vanished, and he looked confused. Then he noticed the baby and approached Hen and Karen, who were holding little Olivia and refused to give her up.
“Where did that baby come from? I thought the agency said…” Eddie started but Karen interrupted him with a raised hand.
“Ask Buckaroo, seems he’s been keeping secrets from all of us” Hen said and pointed at Buck. “Why don’t you explain again whose baby this is, eh?”
“Well, she is mine” Buck said with a smile, but Eddie didn’t smile back.
“Congratulations, you both” he said, the smile not reaching his eyes, and Tommy took a step to the side, hands up in surrender.
“Not it, dude. Nothing to do with me. We broke up and are not back together. And thank God ‘cause I do not like babies. Once they can speak, no problem, but babies? No, thanks. See you around, Buck, and congrats” Tommy said and went to the grill, where Bobby was finishing the food.
“Can we talk? Outside?” Buck asked and pointed to the front of the house. Eddie nodded and followed him to where the Jeep was parked. “I received the news, like a week ago, that a one-night stand was pregnant. It was before Natalia, when I was still not completely OK after I died… I didn’t know for sure if it was mine so DNA test, and she showed up the same day we received the positive to drop her off at my place. I’ve been all over mentally. Really need to go back to therapy, but happy at the same time, you know? It’s my dream to have a family of my own, to be a dad and not just an uncle, or brother or… I don’t know, I’m just happy.”
“Well, like I said, congratulations, Buck. Do you need help? To build the crib or things for her?” Eddie offered, still distant. He had been distant since the wedding and Buck still didn’t know why. He thought Eddie had been busy with Chris and Marisol, but they had broken up right before she was supposed to meet his parents.
“Thanks. Not with that, really, but I was looking for a bigger place to live in. Right now, I have her stuff downstairs, and her crib next to my bed upstairs. It’s complicated, she has no space but all of the space at the same time. I was thinking maybe buy a house. No longer renting sounds nice.”
“I don’t know your budget, but I saw a nice one between my place and here, it seemed nice and not too big. Maybe we can go see it tomorrow. You have off, right?” Eddie offered, a big gesture after the last few weeks.
“Yeah, great, do you know where? Maybe I can get the listing” Buck took out his cellphone from his pocket and started searching for local realtors. Eddie shook his head and followed Buck inside. He had a baby to meet and monopolize.
***********************
Buck, Eddie, Chris and Olivia ended up seeing several houses over their next few days off. But the one Eddie had seen was the winner. It was a white Spanish style ranch, similar to Eddie’s, with 4 bedrooms, 2 with their own en-suite bathrooms and a full one on the hallway, a chef’s kitchen, two-car garage and a back porch with a nice garden.
“I’m starting to regret telling you about this place, I could see myself buying it and living in it” Eddie said, looking at the second master bedroom that had a sliding door and its own porch.
“Well, I was actually thinking about it. This place is too big for just Olivia and me, so why don’t you and Chris move in? It would help with sharing expenses, we would all get our own bedrooms, and you could start saving for the very expensive college Christopher will end up going to, you know?” Buck said, smiling but not really joking.
Chris said yes, please and Olivia gurgled from Eddie’s arms. She loved Eddie at first sight. Olivia was a calm baby, no tantrums just yet, loved everyone that picked her up from her crib or car seat, but with Eddie, she was all gummy smiles and happy gurgles.
“Well, I have to think about it. My house will be easy to sell but I don’t know if I can put half of the cost of this place. Or even half of the mortgage…” Eddie said, distracted by the baby in his arms. Buck couldn’t stop looking at them and tried to keep the sighing to himself. “What is it, Buck? You seem… weird, lately.”
“Nothing, just thinking about… well, Olivia’s mom. Where she is? Why did she leave? I would never do that, you know, leave my child behind.” Buck said, trying to get away from dangerous territory, like his feelings or wishes. No use thinking about what ifs.
“I can’t answer those questions, Buck, because I don’t know her. But I can tell you this: she made the right choice by giving away her rights and leaving her with you, because I know you will be the greatest dad to that little girl.” Eddie said, looking at him directly. Buck felt he was looking at his soul and try to keep his recently discovered feelings for his best friend hidden. “You will look after her and give her everything she needs; you will spoil her rotten and you will love her like no one else will. Understood? No more wondering or what ifs about disappearing people, OK?”
Buck nodded and smiled at Eddie, then looked at the baby in his arms. Yes, no more what ifs.
*************************
Moving with a three-month-old was hard, so Buck decided to leave his daughter with his sister. Maddie time with Olivia was very important, as it was explained several times, and both Jee and Maddie had a great time looking after the growing baby.
The rest of their family decided to help Buck with the actual move, so there was no need to rent a moving truck. The loft was empty, and his new home was full of his belongings soon. Well, not full, as the second part of the move was the next day.
Eddie had taken Buck’s offer and they had put down a big enough downpayment to lower the mortgage monthly costs enough so they could both live comfortably and save money for Christopher’s college. He was almost fourteen years old now, and university was more expensive each year. Chris was smart enough to get scholarships but may need a health aid and accommodations.
The house was already sold, and the new owners would be moving in soon, but Eddie preferred Buck to move in first with Olivia, so she would have time to get used to their new place. The first night, Buck almost called Eddie because it felt weird being alone in their house, with only Olivia. But ended up in the kitchen at 2 AM making himself some tea to relax his nerves.
“Evan Buckley” said a voice from behind him and he turned around, scared. Alina was there, in human form, holding Olivia. Buck was suddenly scared out of his mind.
“No, you can’t take her, she’s mine” Buck said and tried to take the baby from the fairy. She avoided him and practically danced with the baby, away from his searching hands. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to take her, just wanted to check in with you both. I saw you moved to this bigger place. Is the hot guy moving with you? The one with the adorable kid?” she asked, making faces to Olivia, who seemed to like the woman.
“Yes, they are moving tomorrow. We are saving money this way” Buck explained and started preparing a bottle for his daughter, who would soon be hungry.
“Right, saving money, of course” she said, mockingly. “Remember I know your heart wishes, Buckley. I know what you really want. I may not have been able to give it to you, but I will help you achieve your goal.”
“Wait, what do you mean you were not able to give it to me? You did, Olivia is my biggest wish, to be a father” Buck answered, puzzled.
“Please, Evan, we both know you first thought of Eddie, but I can’t force human’s hearts. So, I went with being a father. It helped me too, because I didn’t want Olivia in court. The seelie are assholes” she said, covering the baby’s ears. “But I may be able to push you by making you unable to keep avoiding telling him about your feelings.”
“No, don’t do that, please. He is straight, it will make everything uncomfortable, and we are living together for the foreseeable future. We bought a house; we have a 30-year mortgage. Believe me, I do not want him to know about my feelings when he doesn’t feel the same way” Buck moped, sitting in the sectional they bought for the living room. It was big enough to seat all of them, even when Chris and Olivia grew up. They were going to have the best movie nights in that living room, he just knew it.
Alina put Olivia in Buck’s arms so he could feed her and sat next to them, to continue their conversation. “Look, I haven’t met him, so I have not read him like I read you. Yes, it is a power I have, don’t ask how, I just do” Alina said, waving her arms around while Buck’s baby was happily drinking from her bottle and Buck was trying to keep up with the woman’s (fairy’s?) words.
“But I do know you are a very good person, Buck, very lovable, and he did sell his house, bought one with you and you are both basically co-parenting your children. I'm just saying.”
“Like you said, you don’t know Eddie, haven’t met him so you can’t really emit an opinion. Thanks, but... I’m sure we’ll be happy this way. At least until he starts dating again and I have to see him be happy with some woman.” Buck got up to put Olivia to her bed and when he returned to the living room, Alina was gone. Also gone was his favorite mug with the warm chamomile tea he had just prepared for himself.
*******************
The rest of the move was uneventful, Chris was happy with his room (the one with the ensuite bathroom they had outfitted before the move with rails), and Eddie had the smaller room, but the only one with a small private patio.
Buck and Olivia were on the other side of the house, Buck in the master bedroom and Olivia in the one next to his, right by the kitchen for faster access to her bottles and formula.
Eddie seemed tired and happy that night, laying on the sofa with Olivia, while Buck cooked their dinner and Chris played an online game with his friends. Buck kept stealing glances at his best friend playing with his daughter, heart eyes all around, when the doorbell rang.
“Who can it be at this time?” Eddie wondered and put Olivia in her playpen to open the door. “Hello, can I help you?” he asked and Buck almost fainted when he heard Alina’s voice from the other side.
“Yes, I’m Alina, Olivia’s mother. Can I talk to Buck?” she declared, and Eddie almost closed the door on her face.
“Alina, what are you doing here?” Buck almost screamed, pushing Eddie out of the way and pointing at Olivia, with a ‘take her out of here’ look of desperation.
“Hey, Evan, I just wanted to talk, can I come in?” she asked, innocently, but Buck knew she wanted to get close to Eddie. This woman (fairy) was going to kill him.
“Mmmm...” Buck started but Eddie interrupted him by asking very aggressively “What do you think you are doing here? You signed away your rights, didn’t you? Didn’t she, Buck?”
Buck could only nod, not sure what to really say. Alina was not really Olivia’s mother, she wasn’t even human, Buck thought hysterically. Eddie kept glaring at Alina and she kept looking right at him, as if she was trying to get into his brain.
“I’m not here for Olivia, don’t worry. I just wanted to talk about Evan about something I’ve discovered” she explained, smiling at both men as if she had a devious secret she wanted to share.
“Alina, I told you not to just show up, you have to call before coming over. Eddie, let me introduce you to Alina, Olivia’s... mother” he ended, poorly. The baby was in her playpen, completely unaware of the tension, lucky her.
“I would say nice to meet you but...” Eddie said, turning around to check on the food Buck had abandoned in his haste to keep Alina from being too close to his best friend.
“What do you want, Alina?” Buck said, pushing her out and closing the door behind him. He was nervous of either Eddie or Chris overhearing them, looking into the house for curious faces behind the window. Eddie denied it but he was as ‘chismosa’ as he accused Chimney of being.
“I wanted to meet him, to see if he was as good as you think he is” Alina whispered, giggling at Buck’s attitude. “He is, by the way, that good. He is also...”
Buck put his hand over her mouth to stop her from saying anything else. “Look, thanks for coming to check on him, but you are really making my day hard but just showing up. Please, can you come back when he isn’t here?” he begged.
She smiled and nodded. Only then Buck took his hand off her mouth and let her speak. “Sure, but I wanted to meet him, why would I come when he wasn’t here? Also, did you see his reaction to me telling him I’m Olivia’s mother? He was so jealous!” she squealed and clapped her hands obnoxiously.
“He wasn’t jealous, I told him Olivia’s mother had abandoned her and, after Shannon, he is a bit overzealous about mothers leaving children behind” Buck explained, not wanting to get his hopes up.
“Fine, but I still believe he was jealous of me. I’ll come back but I will look different, when he is here, to be Olivia’s new babysitter. Free, of course, because she is my responsibility still” she declared and disappeared into thin air. Buck was starting to get tired of the vanishing act.
********************
“So, that was Olivia’s mother...” Eddie said later, after dinner and with both children in their respective bedrooms, one asleep, the other playing games. It was not a school night and he had been really good during the moving day, looking after the baby while the whole squad brought furniture and boxes into the house.
“Yes, that’s Alina for you. I don’t know if I consider her a mother. More like a surrogate, you know. She gave the baby I’ve always wanted, and I didn’t even hate to date her” Buck finished lamely.
“Funny” Eddie replied, taking the dish Buck had just washed and drying it. “I guess she was nice, I didn’t really like her just showing up here, how did she know where we live?”
“Due to her job” Buck lied, “but I couldn’t really tell you what she does. She was very mysterious about it. She can always find me.”
“Like a stalker... I think you should talk to Athena about her” Eddie continued, now seeming worried.
“She’s harmless and only wanted to tell me she’s going away for some time, so I won’t be seeing her around anymore. Just wanted to say goodbye, really.”
“To you only? Not to her daughter?”
“No, Alina does not consider Olivia her daughter. I guess she tried to keep herself in the ‘surrogate’ position so she wouldn’t really get attached.” Buck explained. “Even if she wanted, she couldn’t keep Olivia, told me that my keeping her was for the best.”
Eddie thought about it for a long time, drying and staking the plates, putting them away and going back for the glasses. “I guess I understand, if she felt she couldn’t be Olivia’s mother, leaving her to you was for the best. I do agree with her on that” Eddie said with a smile, a pat in Buck’s back and a goodnight.
*********************
Alina showed up the next morning, right at eight AM, just after Eddie had left to take Chris to school and to pick up an extra shift. She looked different, darker blond hair and green eyes, instead of blue, shorter and curvier. But Buck found himself knowing she was Alina the moment he opened the door.
“Alina, what are you doing here?” Buck asked her, having forgotten she had promised to come back to babysit.
“Well, I am your free babysitter, Evan. And my name is Lyra now, memorize it or you’ll get yourself in problem.” Alina, now Lyra said.
“Ok, Lyra, why are you here? And where is my regular babysitter?”
“Sick, (not my work) she called, and Chris picked up the phone. Must have forgotten to tell you but she sent a replacement: me!”
“Fine, I don’t have a long shift today. Can you drive? You need to pick up Chris from school too, Carla is out for the week, Mayra was supposed to look after both of them.”
“Yes, I have a car and I will be able to pick up Chris, with Olivia in her car seat on the back. I’ll even get you groceries, how does that sound?”
“Why are you being so nice and agreeable?” Buck asked, suspicious.
“Well, I haven’t met Christopher yet” she smiled and pushed into the house.
Sighing, Buck followed her and gave her a tour of the home.
“This is a very beautiful home; I can feel how clean and free of evil intentions it is. You will raise a happy family here. I don’t even need to bless it.” she declared, looking around and smiling. “Oh, look at that little nugget! You are so big already!”
Picking up Olivia from her crib, Lyra took her to the playpen for some tummy time and they sat on the couch together to gossip. Buck trusted Alina/Lyra, especially because she didn’t know anyone from the firehouse (except Eddie) and she couldn’t blab to them what he confessed.
“I think... no, I know I am in love with Eddie. I think it was a mistake moving in together, what am I going to do when he starts dating?” Buck complained, his head in his hands, almost crying, and Lyra was unsure what to do. “I know he will, he wants a mom for Chris, and he deserves someone for himself too, you know.”
“Look, I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to tell him. He deserves to know. I cannot read him, he is so closed off, not even when I shook his hand. So, I can’t tell you for sure, but I know you humans don’t just live together, share your home and children, with just anyone.” Lyra was right, Buck knew it, but he was so scared. “I still think I should just make you tell him, but I won’t. I know you will hate me forever.”
“Thanks, I’ll... think about it. I know this is not a sustainable situation, but I’ll try. Maybe give him clues, like very obvious flirting, I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you tell him you are starting to date again? See how he reacts!”
“No, maybe, I don’t know. He did hate Tommy after I started dating him, just like he hated Taylor. And Eddie and Tommy were friends before that” Buck reflected, thinking maybe just having dinner with Tommy would be enough to make Eddie show something. “But I don’t want to use Tommy, or anyone else for that matter...”
“OK, maybe not that... How about you tell him you are out on a date, but you are really out with me? We are friends, right? I will look like a sexy redhead, similar to Taylor, and you gauge his reaction? I love a fake dating storyline!”
“Well, in those movies, the fake dating couple end up together and I don’t think either of us is angling for that.”
“No, but there are stories of fairies using humans to make other fairies jealous, why not turn it around?”
******************
It had taken weeks for Buck to finally get the guts to accept Alina’s idea. He ended up telling Eddie he met someone in the supermarket and had asked her out. She seemed nice, was also a mom so she understood what his life was like and his situation with their shared home.
Eddie seemed deep in thought the days before Buck’s date and practically ignored him the day of, but Buck kept going and ended up in a bar with redhead Alina, drinking beer and watching people sing horribly. Meanwhile, Eddie was babysitting both kids. Buck had offered to babysit back if he wanted to start dating and he almost kicked himself for his big mouth.
“Evan, come on, you have to turn that frown around. Let’s sing some songs, dance a bit and let me take you home. No moping, OK?” she said, pushing the sign-up sheet for him to pick a song for them to sing.
“What should I put under your name, red?” Buck asked, putting ‘What I like about you’ as their karaoke song. He loved that one.
“Dasha” she said and finished her drink. “Can you pick something from this century? I hated the eighties, so much hair, so much color, ugh.”
“Ok, how about ‘Born this way’ by Gaga” he offered, and she nodded enthusiastically.
Twenty minutes later, they were singing on the stage, and when they finished, Buck saw Maddie and Chimney looking at them, unimpressed. “Wow, you never want to sing when you come with us but on a date, things change, right?” Chim joked.
“Maddie, Chim, hey. Ummm, this is Dasha, a friend of mine. These are my sister and brother-in-law, the karaoke lovers.” Buck introduced them and took a swig of his beer. More beer, he thought, and left to go to the bar.
“Hi, Dasha, nice to meet you” Maddie said and offered her hand. Buck came back and took it before they could shake hands.
“Let’s dance” he said, dragging Dasha away from his family. “Were you trying to read her?”
“No, she is as open as you are, so sweet and pleasant to be around. Her husband is more spicy, like sweet but with an edge.”
“Wait, what about me?” Buck asked, finishing his fourth beer of the night. Or was it fifth. He had lost count after the tequila shots.
“You are pure sunshine, like a warm spring day, sweet like sugar cane” she said and giggled, dancing around, also a bit drunk.
“And Eddie?” he asked, wanting to know. Buck always wanted to know more about Eddie, everything about him.
“Eddie is like a vault; I can’t read him. But if you are the sun, he is the moon; shiny and mysterious. You can never know all his secrets.”
“But I want to know his secrets!” Buck complained and Dasha/Myra/Alina laughed.
“More tequila and maybe you’ll be able to ask him”
Maddie and Chimney ended up taking Buck home after more shots of tequila, beer and dancing. Dasha had begged off the drinking and left early, claiming the babysitter had to go back home.}
*****************
The worst headache of his life woke Buck up and he thanked his past self for the water and pain med. Noticing he was in Eddie’s bed, he groaned and dropped on the bed again. What had he done the night before?
After a few more minutes of screaming into the pillow, he got up and went to his room. Thankfully it was empty, so he was able to take a shower and get dressed. Feeling a bit more human, he went to the kitchen, where he found his family.
“How are we feeling this morning?” Eddie asked with a smirk and giving him a cup of coffee. Just the way he liked it, Buck thought, taking a sip.
“Like a marching band marched all over my brain last night. I think the tequila beat me up and left me for dead.”
Chris giggled and Olivia gurgled. Eddie tried not to laugh at Buck, but one glare broke him. The laughter also hurt him but at least Eddie was talking to him. He finished his coffee and got Olivia to her playpen. She was starting to crawl, so no more free range of the house. They had babyproofed everything, but you can never be too careful.
After Chris had left for a friend’s house and Olivia was taking a nap, Eddie sat next to Buck on the couch. “How was your date last night?” he asked, seemingly interested. So different from last week, when he couldn’t wait to get away from him each time he mentioned the date.
“It went well, I guess. We went to that new karaoke place that also has a dance floor, ate nachos and drank beer, talked about a lot of things” Mostly you, Buck thought, “and sang ‘Born this way’. Then we danced, kept drinking. I believe my mortal enemy, tequila, was involved. I don’t know what happened after shot number two, to be honest. Or how I made it back home.” Or how I ended up in your bed, Buck kept to himself.
“Well, Maddie and Chimney sent a video of last night and texted me to let me know they were dropping you off. Your date bailed by shot number two, according to them. But seemed nice.”
“Oh God, I don’t want to see that. Why would they film that?!”
“After your sister dropped you off at the door, having to open it and lock it behind you, you slammed my door, proceeded to crawl on top of me, tell me I look pretty when I was asleep and fell unconscious on top of me. It took me several minutes to push you off to the side.”
“Eddie... I’m so sorry...” Could you die of embarrassment? Buck wondered.
“I stayed in my bed, first because it is my bed, but second because you become an octopus and wouldn’t let go until Olivia woke us both up.”
“I don’t know what to say...” Buck was mortified. Maybe another lightning strike would really finish him off his time.
“While barely awake, when I was getting up you told me to get back in bed so you could kiss me and cuddle me, called me baby and started snoring.” Eddie finished and Buck was going to run from the state of California. Yes, taking his daughter, changing his name and starting over sounded nice.
Eddie laughed and pried Buck’s hand off his face. “Come on, Buck, look at me.”
“No, I can’t, Eddie, I’m so embarrassed. I’m going to kill her.” Alina had either made him drink too much on purpose, charmed him into telling the truth or his own guilt at going on a date had made him overindulge.
“Buck, please” Eddie said and that made Buck look. He was so pretty, Buck thought, and he knew he couldn’t hide how he felt anymore. Not from his best friend, who knew him better than anyone else.
“I love you” Buck said, and Eddie smiled and kissed him.
“I love you, too, by the way” Eddie declared after several minutes (or hours) of making out in the couch.
“Yeah?”
“Yes, Buck. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, but I was scared and then I thought I was too late.”
“Tommy?”
“Natalia. What you said in the cemetery really made me think you would never feel that way about me, so I started dating Marisol. But then you broke up with Natalia and promptly started dating Tommy. I was so confused and angry and sad. Marisol noticed during the wedding, that’s why she didn’t go to the hospital. She broke up with me right then.”
“It’s that why you got so drunk and got me to keep drinking? You were jealous of Tommy?” Buck asked, now understanding so many things.
“Yeah, not my best moment, to be honest. Tommy tried to talk to me about it, but he kept dating you, so I basically ghosted him. I was not in a great place. Then, Tommy dumped you, told me to give you one more chance and I got my hopes up.”
“Then I show up with a baby.”
“No, I showed up at Bobby’s and you were next to him, joking around. I thought you were back together. I wanted to leave but then saw Olivia and I couldn’t. She is the reason why I stayed. She stole my heart the moment I saw her.”
“She is my heart, Eddie, and just like you gave me Christopher years ago, I want you to know that she will be yours if anything happens to me. You are on my will.”
They smiled and kissed, and when their baby woke up, they played with her until Chris came back home.
Home, this was their home. Not the house, but the little family they had made.
*********************
“I win” Alina said to the male fairy next to her.
“Not fair, they were already in love” he complained but paid their bet and promptly disappeared. Smiling, Alina blew a kiss at them and vanished into thin air for the last time.