Eddie gingerly stepped down from his truck, waving off Mariana's fretting. She quickly grabbed their bags from the back seat and helped him into the house. Carla must have heard the lock click because despite it being midnight, she was ready to greet them at the door.
"Are you okay?" she asked the second she saw Eddie.
"A little banged up and I think I might have mud in my ears for the next year, but I'll be okay. Is Christopher asleep?"
"Yes. I made sure he didn't see the news at all."
Eddie offered her a quiet thank you before slowly making his way towards Christopher's room. Mariana dropped their bags off next to the door and kicked off her shoes before pulling Carla in for a tight hug.
"Thank you so much. Go home, be with your family. You deserve the world, Carla."
"As do you, honey. You both do."
Mariana made sure the doors were locked and porch lights were off once Carla drove away. She quietly made her way to Christopher's room where she found Eddie seated next to his son's bed. He watched the steady rise and fall of Christopher's chest, only looking up when he heard her come in. Mariana pushed away from the door frame and approached him with her hand outstretched. He squeezed her hand and pressed it to his lips as she sat next to him.
"We can stay as long as you need," she whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder. They stayed like that until one in the morning, tracing shapes along each other's wrists. He shakily stood and she wordlessly held his hand and led him to their bedroom.
"Sit," she soothed. Exhaustion clung to him but he couldn't sleep. He knew he would have nightmares tonight. Mariana stripped him out of his clothes and into his usual boxers and t-shirt before she pulled the covers back and helped him lay down.
Eddie watched as she quickly stripped out of the clothes she had thrown on at the fire station before they left. She purposefully grabbed one of his old high school shirts, slipping it over her head so "DIAZ" settled right in between her shoulder blades. She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder.
"Do you need anything while I'm up?" she asked, her voice soft and light. He shook his head and merely opened his arms which she took as an invitation to stride towards the bed and slide in next to him, curling her arms around his body and pulling him into a tight embrace. He pressed his face into the crook of her neck as she held him, her hand rubbing circles into his back.
"What are you thinking about?" she hummed.
"A lot. Nothing. I don't know," he grunted. "Can we keep the lights on tonight?"
"Of course. Anything you need and we'll do it," she assured him.
He didn't know how long they laid there but he knew he couldn't fall asleep. His mind was running a mile a minute and nothing was slowing it down. Every time he closed his eyes, he was in Afghanistan or he was back in that tunnel and desperately clawing at the mud to get back to his son and his love. As if she could sense his emotions, Mariana switched from rubbing his back to scratching his head, something that usually helps him calm down.
"I know you've been having nightmares," she whispered. "You try to hide them because you think I'm asleep. I share a bed with you, Eddie. I know when you leave and come back. I kept waiting for you to talk to me about it because I understand what you're thinking. I can't keep pretending you're fine. Please talk to me."
His hands clutched at her like she was the last thing tethering him to this world. She pressed a kiss to his forehead and stroked her hand over his head. Like a wave crashing into him, Eddie felt upside down and rightside up all at the same time. He opened his mouth to speak and a strangled gasp instead ripped past his lungs. He shuddered against her and she said nothing as hot tears soaked her shirt.
And he told her everything. The helicopter crash. Pulling everyone out. Being shot. His parents. Cutting the line. The mud crashing down on him. The water rising.
That as the water threatened to claim him as its casualty, he heard her and Christopher's voice. He saw memories of all three of them together and how he knew he needed to get home.
"I'm sorry," he wept. "I never wanted to burden you with my problems. I never want to...fuck, I'm just never good enough. Nothing I do is good enough."
"You silly boy," she tsked, wiping away his tears. "That's what a relationship is based on. It's fifty-fifty here, Eddie. I want you to tell me these things. I want to take on your demons with you. You have always been there for me and the team, Eddie. You have always been enough and you've always done enough. There is literally nothing you can do that would make me love you any less. I love you unconditionally."
The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Eddie's head snapped up so fast she was worried he had whiplash. He stared at her in complete and utter shock, tears shining in his brown eyes. She offered him a gentle smile and he moved up so his head was level with her own.
"Say it again. Please," he murmured, brushing his knuckles against her jaw.
"I love you," she breathed as she pressed her lips against the cut on his chin.
"I love you." A kiss to his nose.
"I love you." Her lips touched his temple.
"Te amo." Her lips ghosted over his own and he captured them in a searing kiss before pulling away.
"I- what changed?" he stammered out.
"I've always loved you," she admitted. "I just could never say it because every time I've said the words out loud, I've lost that person. But then I saw that truck come down today and...I realized that I might lose you regardless and you would never hear me say it. That's not the life I want to live. I've been falling in love with you since the day we met. And I want to be able to say it."
A brilliant smile spread across his lips as she shyly blinked at him, warmth spreading across her cheeks. He ran his thumb along her blush and the smooth skin of her cheeks.
"All I need in life is Chris and you. Everything else is just a bonus."
Mariana continued scratching his head, noticing the sleepy look in his eyes that reminded her an awful lot of Chris when he needed a nap. She pressed her forehead against his and sighed.
"Sleep. We'll be here when you wake up. I promise."
/
"And that is why the Silver Star is one of the highest honors a member of the Armed Forces can receive. Thank you," Christopher recited.
The class broke out into applause. Mariana grinned from the back of the classroom, flashing two thumbs up at her son as he sat next to Eddie.
"Now tell 'em how you got it," Chris said.
"I was in a helicopter...helping a wounded soldier get back home. And there was an accident. Helicopter went down, ended up on fire-" Eddie explained.
"Dad got everyone out! He saved them all," Christopher exclaimed.
"I did my job." Eddie looked to his girlfriend who winked at him. A kid in the class raised his hand for a question and Eddie called on him.
"Do you ever wear it?" he asked.
"I'm not really a jewelry kind of guy. Except for this." Eddie held up a necklace that he pulled out of his pocket. It was the same necklace he wore daily, no matter what. Mariana was used to seeing it and she herself had taken to patting his chest right where the pendant fell before every shift. "My St. Christopher medal."
"So that's your good luck charm?" Ms Flores asked.
"No, he is." He looked down at Christopher who beamed at him. Mariana snapped a quick photo of the two of them and instantly set it as her new lock screen. Eddie helped Christopher off the desk and to his seat before he joined Mariana standing against the back wall. She interlaced their fingers together and squeezed his hand. Ms Flores rattled on about something but Mariana was focused on the comforting, heady scent of the man standing next to her.
"What are you thinking about?" he whispered, craning his head down so he met her height.
"That you really shouldn't be allowed to be that attractive," she replied bluntly. He stood up to his full height and blinked at her with an amused expression. Mariana shrugged and leaned into his side. Ms Flores thanked the parents for coming and Mariana and Eddie waved goodbye to Christopher before heading out into the hall.
"So, what should we do until we have to pick him up?" he asked, sliding an arm around her waist.
The brunette shrugged and glanced both ways for prying ears before she leaned over to whisper directly in his ear. "Remember that thing you were going to show me?"
He halted in his steps and picked her up effortlessly, hauling her over his shoulder in a fireman carry. Mariana burst into laughter, waving at the front desk secretary as he practically speed walked to the truck.