Chapter Ten
Buck and Tommy finished moving out of the loft on a Tuesday, since they both had it off, but that meant I was working and couldn't help at all with it. Something I felt bad about, since they were both planning on helping me move in, but both of them brushed me off. "You were at work," Buck laughed at me when I apologized (for possibly the fifteenth time) that night when I was finally able to join them at Tomm- at their place. "It's not like you were just choosing to not come."
"Yeah, it's not like you were just staying at home and watching TV or anything," Tommy agreed. But he took the pizzas I brought in with a big grin. "But we'll still help you on Saturday. Which gives us just enough time to get the cleaners in there and a new coat of paint."
"You seriously don't have to do that," I said, like I had every other time they'd mentioned it.
"Yes, we do. It's the responsible thing to do between tenants," Buck replied, just like he had every other time.
"Well, at least I picked up the food for you. At least I could help somehow."
"Slacker!" Chris teased me, coming into the kitchen probably because he smelled the pizza. Harry and Denny were right behind him, and all three boys eagerly reached for the boxes on the table.
"Be nice," Eddie scolded, but I just laughed. Especially since I noticed he was gravitating towards the pizza, too.
"I'll let it slide this time, as long as all three boys help me get the rest of the food from my car."
All three groaned overly dramatically, but they helped, anyway. The promise of ice cream was rather encouraging, or rather, the threat of the ice cream melting if left in my car was the real motivation, I think.
The whole 118 family was there, along with a few other burly guys who Tommy introduced me to as members of his team. "I'm still pretty sure it's a requirement to be hot to be a firefighter," I joked again, making my friends all blush and splutter.
"Is being absolutely gorgeous a requirement for being a lawyer?" One of Tommy's teammates, Marco, grinned at me and gave me a ridiculously over the top once-over.
"Oh, absolutely," I shot back, grinning a little at the flirt. It's nice to be admired, okay? "You have to send in a headshot with your application to law school."
He laughed. "Well, if that's the case, then you should have been a shoe-in."
"Of course I was."
Marco stuck pretty close to me the rest of the night, and it was fun flirting and exchanging ridiculous quips back and forth. And then just before he left, he asked me if I wanted to get dinner with him in a couple of weeks. "Since I know you're moving in this weekend, and it takes a little bit to get settled," he added with a very appealing grin.
"Depends," I said, maybe just a bit coy, simply because I could.
"On what?"
"On where you plan on taking me to dinner. A girl's gotta know what she's getting herself into."
His grin only grew. "Tommy told me about a cute little Italian place he took Buck to on their first date. It sounded pretty nice."
"Hmm, I do like Italian. I suppose that's acceptable."
We exchanged numbers, and he left with the rest of their teammates. And then I got to endure Maddie, Chim, and Karen teasing me about my new crush for the rest of the night. "I just met the guy today, I don't think you need to be planning my wedding just yet," I laughed at them.
"Think he'll wear his dress blues for it?" Chim asked, a faux-thoughtful look on his face. He even stroked his chin like some wise sage.
"He's got the shoulders for it," Karen replied thoughtfully, even going so far as to stare off into the distance as if imagining what he'd look like.
Buck came to my rescue. "Seriously, she just met the dude, hasn't even gone on a date with him yet. He could turn out to be a huge jerk."
Nearly as one, Karen, Maddie, and Chim turned to Tommy. "You know Marco, is he a huge jerk?" Maddie demanded of him.
Poor Tommy looked like a deer in headlights. "Uh, I've only- I mean, he only joined the station about a month ago, he's a floater while Jameson is out on paternity leave. I don't really know him all that well."
"So you just let poor Carmen accept a date from some potential crazy person?" Chim pushed.
And that was about the point I decided was enough. "Poor Carmen is a fully grown woman who can make decisions on who she wants to date on her own, thank you very much. And it's one dinner. It's not like I'm swearing my eternal devotion after one date."
"That's the second date," May piped up from across the room. "Though, Marco's pretty hot, so he might just make it by the end of the first date."
"See, she gets it," I cried with a grin at my sister. "The hotter the guy, the sooner the declaration of love."
"Where did I ever go wrong with you girls?" Mom moaned, making all of us laugh.
…
I woke up so early on Saturday, but with everything I had to do, and in just two days at the most, I knew I couldn't afford to sleep in. But even with getting up at stupid o'clock, when I stumbled out of my room and into the kitchen to get some coffee started, Bobby was already up and prepping veggies for his omelet casserole(s). "Hey, sweetheart," he said with a sunny smile. "Everyone should be here in about an hour or so, and what time was your pod going to be delivered?"
I may have stared at him for a long moment. "Why are you up so early?" was finally what found its way out of my mouth, without much input from my brain.
Bobby just laughed and kept chopping those onions. "I know you like sleeping in on the weekend, but I'm used to being awake and functioning at any time of day. Coffee will be ready in just a minute."
"You're awesome," I sighed happily and headed to the cupboard for a mug, pausing to give him a quick hug. "And I'm really glad we have you in our family."
I turned back to look at him once I had my mug in hand, ready for the moment the coffee finished. Just in time to see him wipe his eyes. "The onions are getting to me," he said thickly. "They're pretty potent today."
"Ah, you've made Bobby cry already this morning?" May teased, joining us to lean on the island. She was dressed, but her hair was still a sleepy disaster, so I knew she hadn't been up for too long yet. "Harry's going to be so disappointed he missed it."
"My kids are great, and I refuse to be shamed for loving them," Bobby defended, nose high in the air. But I could see the twinkle in his eyes that said he was loving every moment.
Mom joined us, pressing kisses to everyone's cheeks. "We do have pretty great kids. Even if they do insist on leaving us."
May and I groaned in sync. "Mama, you know we have to leave the nest sometime, right?" I asked. Then happily noticed that the coffee was done. May gave me sad grabby hands until I poured her a cup, too.
"Yes, but you just got back. You could stay longer, there's no need to spend your hard-earned money on rent when there's a perfectly comfortable bedroom here for you."
"Mom, we're both tired of walking in on you and Bobby," May reminded. "At least after today, you'll only have to worry about Harry interrupting your… couple time," she finished with an impressive grimace. And a full body shudder.
"Yeah, I'm glad you two really love each other, but I don't need to see any more evidence to support that claim," I added, feeling my nose crinkle at the thought.
"They do have a point," Bobby said mildly. "After all, they don't need to see the sexy firefighter."
May and I drowned out Mom's reply with our loud protests. Bobby just grinned unapologetically, making Mom cackle.
The rest of the family showed up over the next hour or so, ready to eat the feast that Bobby prepared for us all. And then to help me move what little I had at the house over to the loft, which really only amounted to most of my clothes, toiletries, and a few other personal items. Chim grabbed the last box out of my well-loved RAV4 right as the truck with my storage pod pulled into the parking lot. "Perfect timing," he huffed happily.
With everyone helping, we were done unloading by lunchtime. Mom had ducked out for just a few minutes, and when she came back, she brought three crock pots full of her famous pulled pork. "I was about to order some pizzas," I said slowly, looking at the food filling the back of her car.
"Not on my watch," she scoffed. "Sorry I couldn't do this for you and Tommy, baby, but I'd had to fill someone else's shift last minute on Monday and couldn't get anything started like I had planned," she added to Buck.
He just grinned, pressed a kiss to her cheek, and took a load of mac salads. "I appreciate the thought anyway, especially after you Venmoed me money to cover the pizzas," he told her. "And I promise, I don't feel like I'm any less your kid."
She beamed. "Good, because you are mine, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise."
Buck pretty much floated all the way back inside at that.
Even with our lunch break, we had basically the majority of my things unpacked within a few hours, well, at least the most necessary. Hen had wrangled the three boys into helping wash all the dishes, since they'd been sitting in boxes for nearly six months. Buck and Bobby took over putting my bed frame together, and Eddie and Tommy rebuilt the bookshelves. Mom and May followed right behind with all the bedding and books. Ravi got my TV and Wi-fi set up. Karen had Mara and Jee help her hang up all of my clothes. I heard a lot of giggles floating down the stairs; I think they may have been playing a bit of dress-up while they were at it, and that absolutely made my day. Maddie and Chim helped me arrange my kitchen, mostly figuring out how I wanted to fit in all the food Mom and Bobby had brought for me. Giselle even had a heap of cookies delivered, since David and I wouldn't let her come help, and David had had to stay with her to make sure she didn't come. Uncle Lou showed up during his lunch break in time to put my table back together. And within hours, my new place was pretty livable, all because of my awesome family.
Just as most everyone was getting ready to leave, except Buck and Tommy who had promised to stay so they could help me hang the bigger art pieces I had, a buzz sounded. "Car, that's the door!" Buck called over the sound of a dozen people getting ready to leave.
"Ah, thanks, not used to that sound."
I headed over to the camera/intercom that connected to the front door of the building, waving for everyone to quiet down. The boys didn't listen much, but they were all over by the TV checking out the games I had for my Switch, so they weren't too noisy, anyway. Wait, was that- "Marco? What are you doing here?" I asked, after remembering to push the button to reply. He'd texted me a lot all week long, even after finalizing our date for two weeks out, and I couldn't decide if it was flattering or annoying.
He grinned up at the camera. "Hey, Carmen! I was just thinking I would stop by and help out. I mean, I knew you were moving in today, so…"
I gaped at the monitor, very glad that it wasn't also a camera. "Uh, that's very sweet of you," I started slowly, "but it's not really necessary."
"Oh, it's no problem, I'm happy to help," he said smoothly.
"No, what I meant was we're all done. I don't need any more help." And I'm not sure I want any help from you, anyway, I didn't add out loud. "My family and I got it all done, at least all the big stuff I wanted to get done today."
His all-too-smooth smile dipped a bit. "Oh- Yeah, okay, glad you had some help. Could I take you to dinner instead?"
I stared some more at the monitor. Was he trying to be nice, or was he being pushy? "I've been moving all day, so I don't think I'm really in the mood tonight. I'll text you later, though. Thanks for stopping by."
"Yeah, sure! Have a good night!"
Mom didn't even wait until I had disconnected the call to huff. "That boy was pushy."
"Yeah," I agreed slowly. I wasn't super happy he had just shown up at my house like that, but I guess he was trying to be helpful. Right?
"Maybe he was trying to be helpful? And a little romantic?" Maddie tried, as she finally wrangled Jee into her shoes.
"Yeah, probably. It was nice of him to offer, I guess," I agreed.
"Car doesn't need him when she's got us," Buck said, gesturing to Eddie and Tommy. "We've got all the guns needed," he added with an overly dramatic flex of his arms that were, quite frankly, absolutely absurd. I mean, they were the size of my head.
Tommy just shook his head and kissed Buck's forehead. "It's a really good thing I love you," he sighed.
"And what about me?" Chim piped up. "I'm ripped! And so is Hen, Bobby, you're not the only ridiculously strong people here! I can pull a full-grown person out of burning building just fine, thank you! In fact, I pulled that giant of a boyfriend of yours out of an exploding building once! So, you're welcome!"
Buck squawked back, and the two of them began squabbling, with all the kids laughingly chiming in to egg them on. "I'm sorry our best friend is a child," Eddie told me lowly, over the sounds of the silly argument.
I just grinned up at him. "I'm not," I replied just as lowly. "He's pretty great the way he is."
He bumped my shoulder with his, in that way that was becoming rather familiar, and grinned back. "Yeah, he really is."
AN: I'm not entirely sure when I'll post next. I'm moving by the end of the month, and moving sucks horrifically, so I don't know how much I'll be able to write. But I hope you enjoyed the family feels, and a big thanks to those of you who review!
