hello!
have some more buddie family fluff, i just need more of buck taking care of chris okay ! daddy buck to the rescue !
takes place pretty soon after the grocery store scene - i play it fast and loose with canon timelines so if there's anything out of place that's on me y'all, i don't watch the show (i can't handle it emotionally alright, my poor beans)
not beta read, not proof read, enjoy my various mistakes!
TW for vomiting! It happens once and then is mentioned a few times.
Buck groaned as the buzzing of his phone woke him up from his ill-advised mid-morning nap. He knows that he shouldn't be taking naps, that it'll only fuck up his sleep schedule but between the nightmares and the sudden leg cramps that wake him up gasping, it's not like he has a healthy sleep schedule to begin with.
Shaking off the drowsiness of his nap, Buck grabbed his one off the coffee table, not even bothering to check the caller ID before swiping to answer the call.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mr. Buckley? My name is Natalie and I'm calling from LA Elementary in regards to Christopher Diaz? You are listed as the secondary parent in the event that primary parent Edmundo Diaz is unavailable," The woman's voice is soft, calm, probably used to making these calls and trying to get her point out before parents start panicking.
And Buck is panicking, because why is Christopher's school calling him? Why isn't Eddie picking up? He's probably on a call, otherwise he would have been able to answer, even if they were technically not supposed to be answering personal calls on shift.
"I, uh, yes— what happened, is Christopher okay?" Buck stammers out, for the sake of getting through this conversation he's going to have to ignore Eddie having listed his as the secondary parent in Christopher's file. He's going to need a minute to process that and now is not the time.
"He's okay but he does have a fever and is complaining of a stomach ache. We would like to send him home," The woman, Natalie, apparently, explains. "Are you able to come pick him up?"
"I, uh, y-yeah, I'll be there as fast as I can, twenty minutes max," He gets out, not waiting for her confirmation before hanging up and leaping up off the couch. He shoves himself into some clean clothes and grabs his wallet, keys, and phone while he hops around trying to get his sneakers on.
In less than two minutes he's flying down the stairs, too anxious to wait for the elevator and booking it to his Jeep.
Reversing out of the parking lot Buck pulls up Eddie's contact and calls him using the bluetooth function in his car.
Like the unanswered calls from Christopher's school, Buck's call goes straight to voicemail. Definitely on a call, then. He waits for the beep so he can leave a message.
"Hey, uh, Eddie. I got a call from Christopher's school and they want me to come pick him up since you're not answering. He's fine just a bit of a stomach ache and a slight fever. I'm going to bring him home— uh, to your place and when I know more I'll text you an update. I, uh, I'm sure you forgot to take me off Christopher's emergency contact list but I hope you're not mad that I'm picking him up. Uh, anyway, I'm almost at his school and I'll talk to you soon. Bye."
Ending the call Buck lets out a breath. He huffs, annoyed that leaving a message on his best friend's voicemail was now awkward.
He knew he'd really fucked everything up with the stupid lawsuit. He would have never predicted that it would get to the point where simply leaving a message for Eddie felt like crossing a line.
God, he missed Eddie. He missed Christopher. He missed the rest of the 118, of course, if he hadn't he wouldn't have filed the stupid lawsuit with the sole intention of getting back to his family. But the feeling of missing his Diaz boys was an almost physical ache in his chest these days.
Buck shook himself out of his thoughts as he arrived at Christopher's school. Now was not the time to contemplate his life choices. Right now he had a sick little boy to take care of.
Exiting the car, Buck jogged to the office, making a beeline for the receptionist.
"Hi, I'm Evan Buckley, here to pick up Christopher Diaz," Buck has barely finished speaking when he hears an excited squeal.
"Bucky!"
Buck whirls around, finding Christopher sitting on one of the couches in the little mock waiting room they have set up near the front desk.
"Hi, buddy!" Buck exclaims, coming to kneel in front of Christopher. "I hear you're not feeling so good, bud."
Christopher nods weakly and Buck takes in the flushed cheeks and the glassy look in his eyes. Definitely a fever.
"I'm sorry, Superman," Buck whispers, carding his fingers through Christopher's curls. "But I'm here now, I'm gonna take you home and get you all better!"
The smile Christopher gives him is subdued, not his usual level of excited, but still happy and loving and Buck can't resist pressing a kiss to his forehead.
Buck stands up and Christopher lifts his arms, indicating he wants to be carried. And who is Buck to say no to that. He sits him on his hip so he can rest comfortably and shoulders on his backpack with his other side. He grabs Christopher's crutches from where they were sitting beside him on the couch and walks back over to the desk to sign Christopher out.
As he gets them settled into the Jeep, Buck looks thoughtful for a second. "Hey, buddy, are you feeling up to a quick visit to the grocery store? I promise it'll be quick, I just want to get some medicine and the ingredients to make you some homemade soup!"
Christopher thinks for a minute. "Will you carry me?" He asks shyly, as if Buck might actually say no.
"Of course, superman," Buck replies softly, pressing another kiss to Christopher's forehead. "Alright, let's go."
Buck drives them to the supermarket, making sure to drive extra smooth so as to not jostle Christopher anymore than he has to. He doesn't want to stop at the store but he has a feeling that Eddie doesn't have a lot of fresh vegetables and the proper ingredients to make soup.
Buck gets Christopher out of the car and settled on his hip again, pausing to lock the car before making his way to the entrance of the store. He grabs a cart and while it's not easy he manages as he manoeuvres it through the doorway with one hand.
"We'll be quick, I promise, buddy," Buck whispers to Chris, who just nods and tucks his face into Buck's neck. "Sleep if you need to, bud."
Christopher dozes while Buck efficiently makes his way through the grocery store, getting everything they need to make the soup as well as any supplies a sick kid might need. After he's stocked up on Gatorade, children's Tylenol, soda crackers, and a loaf of bread to make toast, he makes his way to the checkout.
Christopher barely rouses as Buck loads the groceries onto the conveyer-belt so the cashier can ring them up.
After he's paid and he's tucking his wallet back into his pocket, Buck notices the cashier give him a soft smile.
"I hope your son feels better," She says quietly, obviously not wanting to wake the poor boy who's practically passed out against him right now.
A part of Buck wants to correct her, feels like he should correct her, tell her that as much as he desperately wishes Christopher was his son, that he wasn't. But another part of him selfishly wants to let himself have this moment. Pretend that Christopher really is his son, his and Eddie's. So he just gives her an equally soft smile and leaves with a quiet, "Thanks. Me too."
Buck gets both Christopher and the groceries loaded up in the Jeep. As he slides into the drivers seat he figures he should probably text Eddie an update.
Picked up Chris. He's doing okay, definitely has a fever but I got him some medicine. Taking him home now.
The drive home is quiet, with Chris dozing against the window and Buck lost in thought.
In no time, Buck's pulling into the driveway of the Diaz household, a place he used to visit so frequently he had long since stopped feeling like a guest. Now, though, he feels like he's overstepping just by being in the driveway. He sighs but forcibly shoves the feeling away.
Buck circles around the car, opening the door to Christopher's seat. He shakes Christopher's shoulder softly, not wanting to startle him.
"Wake up, buddy, we're home," Buck whispers, running his knuckles down Christopher's cheek.
Christopher whines, a pitiful sound that makes Buck's heart clench.
"I know it hurts, baby, but we gotta get inside," Buck says, unbuckling Christopher from his seat and wrapping him up in his arms. He holds him close as he grabs Christopher's backpack and the bag of groceries before bumping the door closed with his hip.
He's got them inside and the groceries on the kitchen counter when Christopher suddenly goes still against him.
"Bucky, I don't feel so good," Is all the warning he gets before Christopher throws up all over himself and Buck.
Christopher feels tears well up in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Buck, I didn't mean—"
"Shhhh, babe, don't worry, it happens, let's get you cleaned up, okay? It's going to be okay," Buck soothes him as he changes course from the living room the bathroom.
He gets Christopher into the bath relatively easily. He gets rid of the soiled clothes, getting rid of his own soiled shirt, he'll borrow one of Eddie's when he's finished, and gets Christopher cleaned up in no time.
Buck helps him into some clean pyjamas and it's a testament to just how bad Christopher is feeling that he doesn't protest once, doesn't say anything about how he can do it, he doesn't need any help. He just lets Buck take care of him, leaning heavily against him as his eyes slip closed on their own account.
"There you go, buddy," Buck whispers, when Christopher is finally clean, warm, and tucked in bed. He grabs a bucket from under the sink in the bathroom and sets it beside Christopher's bed, within reaching distance. "Try to get some sleep, okay? I'm going to make you some soup and if you're feeling up to it when you wake up we can watch a movie. How does that sound?"
Christopher nods sleepily. "Sounds good, thanks, Bucky. Love you."
"I love you too, kid," Buck says back, even though Christopher's already asleep. "More than you'll ever know."
Buck stands up, wincing as his bad leg throbs and exits Christopher's room. He hesitates in the doorway, his gaze lingering on the adorable lump in the middle of the bed, the lump he cares more about than anything else in this world, the only other ones coming close being Eddie and Maddie.
Buck sighs, closing Christopher's door almost all the way but leaving a crack so he can still hear him if Chris calls for him.
Looking down at himself he realizes he's still not wearing a shirt and upon closer inspection a bit of vomit actually got on his jeans too. He figures he's already crossed a bunch of boundaries today, might as well cross one more and borrow some clothes from Eddie.
Making his way into Eddie's room feels wrong in a way it never has before. He's never doubted his presence at the Diaz house, not until now. Until he made a choice that took him away from the two people he had sworn to always be there for.
When he gets to the dresser that Buck knows Eddie keeps all his lounging clothes, he pauses, taking in the messy room around him. Eddie's room has never been messy before. He'd always figured it was the soldier in him. All the times he'd been in Eddie's bedroom the place had been spotless, bed made, no overflowing laundry, everything in its place.
But now, the sheets were rumbled and twisted on his bed, like they'd been thrown off in the morning and not given a second thought. There was laundry spilling out of the basket near the door and Buck only hesitated for a minute before he was striding over to the closet, grabbing the laundry basket and filling it up. Might as well throw in his vomit stained clothes while he's at it.
Buck changes into a pair of comfortable sweats and an old Army t-shirt of Eddie's that he pretends he doesn't know has the name 'Diaz' emblazoned on the back.
He gets a load of laundry going and walks back to Eddie's room. He shakes out the duvet and remakes the bed the way he knows Eddie likes it.
He passes the next couple hours like that. After he's finished with Eddie's room, he makes his way into the living room, dusting and fluffing pillows, picking up scattered toys of Christopher's.
He starts on the dishes after the first load of laundry is done and in the dryer, a second load in the washer.
There's not too many dishes but there is an overabundance of takeout containers in the trash which makes Buck huff. He had been getting the Diaz boys to eat better before all this started and now they were back to eating takeout most days of the week.
He cleans out the fridge, throwing away expired items and making a mental list of what he needs to get to restock it.
By the time the kitchen is sparkling it's just after 2pm and Buck decides to check on Christopher before he starts on the soup. He wants it to be ready for Eddie to eat when he gets home but he doesn't want it to sit for too long, lest the vegetables get mushy and he has to hear Eddie playfully complain.
Buck knocks softly on Christopher's door as he opens it, letting out a relieved breath when he sees the bucket next to Chris is still empty. Good, so he hasn't thrown up again.
He sits down carefully on the bed and runs his knuckles down Christopher's cheek again, just like he did in the car.
"Hey, Superman," Buck whispers when Christopher's eyes flutter open. "How you feeling?"
"A bit better," Christopher mumbles back, reaching up to rub his eyes. "Still hurts."
"I know, buddy, I'm sorry. Being sick really sucks," Buck says, and presses the back of his hand against Christopher's forehead. "I think your fever is coming down a bit. I'll get you some more medicine, that should help bring it down the rest of the way."
Buck leaves quickly to retrieve the children's Tylenol from where he put it in Eddie's bathroom and comes back with a glass of water and a bottle of Gatorade.
"Here, baby, small sips," He says, passing Christopher the glass of water after he helps him sit up. Christopher sips the water and then takes the pills, his face scrunching up at the taste making Buck want to laugh.
He gets him to take a few sips of Gatorade before he helps Chris lie back down. "Alright, try to take another little nap and I'm going to make you some soup."
"Okay, daddy, thank you," Christopher mumbles, promptly falling back asleep.
Buck, meanwhile, is looking at Christopher with his jaw dropped. He figures it's just the fever talking, the boy is half asleep he probably just assumes it's Eddie here taking care of him. Still, he can't help the way his heart skips a beat. He wants to be Christopher's dad, his other dad. He wants to be part of the Diaz family in every way. Wants to be Christopher's father and Eddie's husband.
He wants this. Taking care of his family when they're sick, cleaning up the house, and making sure they have a good meal in their bellies. He wants to be able to pick up Chris from school, not just when he's sick but when he's happy and healthy and they can sneak ice cream on the way home. He wants to greet Eddie when he comes home from a long day at work, giving him a kiss and rubbing his shoulders.
He wants a family, he wants this family. He wants all the things his younger self used to scoff at. Domesticity, love, growing old with the love of his life and taking care of the best thing in his life, his son.
As Buck makes his way into the kitchen and starts to get everything ready to make the famous Buckley Cure-All Soup he lets himself pretend. Pretend that he has the life he wants, that he has who he wants. It's not enough, won't ever be enough just to fantasize. But he lets himself have this, for now. It's all he's going to get, so he might as well enjoy it.
oOoOoOo
By the time Buck hears Eddie's key in the door he's got the soup simmering away on the stove and Christopher settled happily on his lap in the living room, Finding Nemo playing in the background.
Buck isn't paying that much attention to the movie, focusing instead on the soft feeling of Christopher's hair as he runs his fingers through it, trying to soothe the boy of the headache he'd woken up with after his second nap.
Buck looks up when Eddie sits on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Hey."
"Hi," Buck whispers back and it's hard not to try and read into the look Eddie is giving him. It's soft but intense and Buck can't tell what it means.
"How's he doing?" Eddie asks, turning his attention to Christopher's sprawled form. He's got his head in Buck's lap as he dozes. He's starting to get colour back in his cheeks and the second dose of medicine really seemed to help, his fever having gone way down.
"Better," Buck murmurs, looking down at the sleepy boy in his lap. "He threw up once but not since. His fever is coming down too. I got him to eat a bit of soup and he's kept it down so far."
Eddie nods, distracted when Christopher's eyes flutter open.
"Daddy?" He croaks out, reaching towards Eddie.
"I'm here, buddy," Eddie says, grasping the hand Chris is holding out to him and using his other one to gently touch his cheek. "How are you feeling, mijo?"
"Not good," Christopher whimpered softly. "Better than before but my tummy still hurts," He pouts. "But don't worry, Bucky made me feel better! My Buck always makes me feel better." The last part is mumbled against Buck's thigh that he's currently using as a pillow.
"I'm glad your Buck was here then, mi amor. Let's get you back to bed."
Christopher nods weakly, already three quarters of the way back to sleep. He lets himself be picked up, laying his cheek against Eddie's shoulder.
"I, uh, I should get out of your hair. I hope you feel better soon, Superman," Buck says awkwardly, standing up and making a move towards the front door.
"No!" Christopher whines, suddenly awake. "Please stay, Bucky!" and Buck can't take looking at his boy's sweet face twisted in disappointment but he hesitates, looking to Eddie for guidance and sees the other man looking at him with such a soft look, softer than he's looked Buck in weeks.
"Stay," Eddie agrees. "I think we need to talk."
Buck nods and goes to sit back down but now that he doesn't have Christopher to focus on he can feel his stomach clenching with anxiety. Maybe now he's going to be the one throwing up.
Is Eddie mad at him? Should he have not picked up Chris? Should he have called Carla or Abuela or Tia Pepa when they got back? Someone, anyone, who wasn't Buck.
Eddie probably didn't want him taking care of Christopher anymore. He had said Christopher missed him but that doesn't mean that Eddie still trusted him. Oh god, Eddie was going to yell at him again.
Buck sits on the couch, spiralling, while Eddie tucks Chris back into bed. By the time the older man makes it back into the living room Buck feels like he's on the edge of a full blown panic attack.
"You want something to drink?" Eddie offers but Buck just shakes his head, too nervous to do anything but sit there and wait for Eddie to yell at him. Or, probably not yell, because they don't want to wake up Christopher. But that means he's going to use that intense, I'm disappointed and angry with you but I can't show it right now, voice. Buck hated that voice. It always makes him feel like—
"Thank you," is what he says instead, looking at Buck with that soft, almost-unreadable expression again.
"W-what?" Buck is confused, very confused.
Eddie sighed, coming to sit in front of Buck so he can look him in the eye. "Thank you," He repeats, firmly this time, maintaining eye contact so that Buck can see that he really means it. "Thank you for everything you did for Christopher today. For what you did for me."
"A-anytime, Eds, you know that," Buck says, almost shy, looking down at his hands. "I'll admit I was a bit surprised to get the call. I thought you would have changed me from Christopher's emergency contact."
"Why would I do that?" Eddie asked, brow furrowing.
"Given the things you said the other day, you obviously don't think I'm a very good person. Why would you want someone selfish and exhausting around your son?" The way Buck says it is what hurts the most — like he doesn't disagree, like it's rhetorical, like he thinks Eddie wasn't completely out of line that day.
Eddie flinched. "Buck…I…"
"Don't worry, Eds. It's nothing I haven't heard before," Buck tries to joke with a self-deprecating grin on his face that makes Eddie want to be sick.
Buck should only grin the way he does when he's happy, when he's feeling mischievous, when he's about to lovingly tease someone. Not like this. Not like he's the joke and he's letting everyone know it's okay to laugh. Eddie hates this grin.
"Evan," Eddie says, trying to get Buck's full attention. Buck's head snaps up towards Eddie at the use of his first name, something Eddie doesn't use very often. "You need to know, what I said that day at the grocery store, I was so out of line. You aren't selfish and you certainly aren't exhausting. I…I was angry. At you, at Shannon, at the situation. I was angry at how much I missed you. I didn't think about what you were feeling and for that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I said, for how I made you feel. God, Evan, how could you be selfish? I was horrible to you and you still picked up my sick kid, and brought him home, made him soup and watched movies….and, did you clean my house?" Eddie asked, looking around at the space that definitely wasn't this clean this morning.
"Uh, maybe?" Buck said sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I needed something to do while Chris was napping and I wanted to be useful. I put on a couple loads of laundry too, Chris kind of threw up on me so I figured I might as well do some of yours. I hope that's okay. Also I may have stolen some of your clothes because of the aforementioned vomit incident."
"Jesus, you're something else," Eddie says fondly, eyes tracking over what he now realized were his clothes on Buck. His eyes narrow in on the shirt, he knows that shirt, knows that it has his name on the back and fuck if that doesn't send a bolt of heat rushing through his stomach.
Buck, though, can't help but flinch back. "S-sorry."
"No, Buck, I meant that in a good way," Eddie rushes to reassure him. Fuck, he'd known Buck's self-esteem was a longstanding issue and he can't imagine that his horrible words in the grocery store did anything but make it so much worse.
Buck gave him a half-hearted smile and Eddie sighed. He knew it was going to take more than a few pretty words from him to fix the damage he'd played a part in creating in Buck. But it was work he was willing to do. Anything for Buck, anything to get back to the way things were between them.
"Later we're going to talk, really talk, about all of this. Air everything out so we can get back to being Eddie and Buck, and work out how we're going to get you back to the 118," Eddie paused for a second before giving Buck a small grin. "But for now, c'mon, let's go eat some of the delicious soup you made while I tell you how I yelled at the probie today because they aren't you and I hate working with a partner that's not you."
Eddie held out his hand and it felt like a victory when Buck grabbed it, letting himself be pulled up and into the kitchen. Yeah, they were going to be okay.
hope you liked it! let me know what you thought and if there's anything you'd like me to write! i may not write it but hey my inspiration has been off the charts these past few days so if there ever was a time to drop some prompts, it's now
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