Work Text:
Buck groaned as he double checked the time. Why was his phone ringing before 6 am on his day off? When he saw Eddie’s name flashed on his screen, Buck sprang up in his bed. ”Eddie? Is everything okay?”
”Everything’s fine. Chris just feels a bit warm. I know it’s your day off, but Carla’s on a leave and I can’t take him to the before school care like this, but my shift starts at six and I-”
Eddie kept talking, but Buck was already up, trying to locate his sweats. Buck knew his best friend couldn’t really afford to skip work, especially this close to Christmas, and like he had told Eddie, he didn’t mind staying with Chris one bit. At least he had an excuse not to spend the day in bed because he was lonely. ”Eds, I’ll be there in 20, okay. I can see if it’ll pass and take Chris to school later or stay with him if it turns out to be a cold. You know I don’t mind.”
”I owe you, really. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Eddie’s voice had a teasing tint to it but Buck knew he really meant it.
”You don’t owe me anything, I love spending time with my favorite Diaz,” he teased back. ”I don’t know what I’d do without you two either.”
”See you in 20?”
”See you,” Eddie confirmed.
After another moment of searching, Buck found his sweats, pulled Eddie’s old Army hoodie on and went to brush his teeth. The drive to Eddie’s only took him 10 minutes, maybe even less today since it was so early, but he wanted to get there as quickly as possible.
leaving now.
Eddie didn’t reply to his text, but it did indicate he had seen it, so Buck threw his phone on the passenger seat to concentrate on his driving. After a moment, his Spotify connected to the radio, blasting “Let It Go” from Frozen. Eddie absolutely despised the song, going so far as to have it banned from his car, so Buck kept it on repeat in his Jeep. It’s not like Buck minded, it was a catchy song and it made Christopher happy, which in turn made Buck extremely happy.
Buck could honestly say that spending a day with a sick 10-year-old was the most exciting thing he had done in weeks. If Eddie hadn’t called, he would’ve spent the day in bed, watching stupid rom-coms and eating take-out.
It was 5:40 am when Buck pulled into Eddie’s driveway. He could see his best friend pacing around in the living room, so he grabbed his phone and keys and jogged to the front door.
”Thanks, man. I really do owe you but I need to -”
”Eds, go to work,” Buck insists. “Chris and I will be fine, we’ll see you when you get back. And like I said, you owe me nothing.”
Buck almost had to push Eddie out of the door if it weren’t for Buck reminding him of the breakfast he would be missing at the station if he didn’t hurry.
”Bucky?” Christopher’s quiet call came from the living room where he was on the couch, wrapped in his Star Wars blanket like a burrito.
”Hey superman, I’m here,” he whispered, sitting on the couch next to Chris, offering cuddles. ”I hear you’re sick.”
Cuddled to Buck’s side, Christopher nodded with a sniffle. His cheeks were flushed and eyes a bit glassy when he blinked them open, accompanied by a yawn. Buck pressed a gentle kiss on top of the curls, so similar to his own, and hugged the kid closer, closing his eyes and just pretending for a while. Pretending it was his home, his sick kid and maybe he even dared to wish it was his husband leaving for work earlier.
———
Buck awoke to find it was 8:48 am. He and Christopher had been asleep for three hours. That certainly explained the pain in his leg and neck, as well as the rumbling of his stomach. The lights on the Christmas tree were shining in the dim room.
”Buddy? Wanna wake up?” Buck whispered, shaking Chris carefully.
”No,” Chris murmured tiredly.
”Maybe we could eat something? How about chicken noodles?” Buck asked, knowing it was one of Chris’ favorites and also easy to make..
Chris opened his eyes, stifling a yawn as he sat up. Staring between his crutches and the kitchen, he gave Buck the puppy eyes even though they both knew he would’ve carried Chris to the ends of the earth without anyone having to ask.
”So, what are we gonna do after breakfast, buddy?” Buck asked, reaching for the package of noodles.
”Movie.” Chris’ mumble was so quiet, Buck could barely hear it under the sound of boiling water, but he knew the answer already.
”Frozen?”
”Frozen.”
They both sat at the table, eating their noodles quietly with the occasional slurp . It didn’t take long before Chris was reaching out for Buck, silently asking to be carried back to the couch. This wasn’t the first time Buck was staying with Chris while he was sick, but somehow this felt different. He was quieter, a bit too quiet in Buck’s opinion, which led him to think there might be something else in the boy’s mind. Buck made a mental note to ask Christopher about it later if he didn’t say anything himself before that.
”I’m gonna put on the movie,” Buck said quietly after wrapping Chris back into a blanket burrito.
Having seen the movie a hundred times before, Buck couldn’t seem to concentrate on it at all and from the looks of it, Christopher was about to pass out any second. Slowly, with ’Let It Go’ as background noise, Buck could feel his eyes droop and everything went dark.
———
“What a man, what a man, what a man
What a mighty good man
He's a mighty mighty good man
What a man, what a man, what a man
What a mighty good man…”
With little consciousness, Buck’s eyes snapped open, his hand lunging for his phone. Eddie would be worried and spiral with thoughts of worst cases possible if he didn’t answer.
”Hi Eds,” Buck murmured, voice still rough from sleep.
”Did I wake you up?” Eddie’s concerned voice came from the other side.
”Kinda. Chris is still asleep though,” Buck muttered through a yawn.
”Sorry,” Eddie whispered. ”Have you been sleeping since I left?”
”Nah, we woke up around nine and ate some noodles. Started watching Frozen but apparently we both fell asleep pretty quickly.” Buck laughed as Eddie made an affronted noise at the mention of Frozen.
”I hate Frozen,” Eddie muttered. ”How’s he been?”
”A bit warm, sniffles a lot too. I think there’s something else bothering him. I’ll ask about it if he doesn’t say anything,” Buck reassured before the other man would drop everything and come home.
”I noticed he was uncharacteristically quiet but I figured it was him being sick,” Eddie sighed, guiltiness creeping into his voice.
”Hey, it might just be that too. I’ll have a talk with him later, please don’t worry too much.”
Buck knew that Eddie not worrying was never going to happen, but he hoped his best friend wouldn’t make himself sick with worry again. Christopher knew he could always talk to either of them, so Buck was sure it could be taken care of, whatever it ended up being or not being.
”I know, I trust you Buck. I just -”
”I know, Eds, I know,” Buck whispered.
Before either of them could say anything more, Chris let out a whine, tugging the blanket open. His cheeks had a darker red tint. The good side of that was that if he had a fever, it was probably down now.
”Chris just woke up, wanna talk to him?” Buck asked Eddie, knowing the answer.
”Of course. I’ll be home after six,” Eddie added as an afterthought.
”Hey buddy, it’s your dad,” Buck said as he gave the phone to Chris, smiling at the excited look on his face.
Buck decided to move to the kitchen, leaving Christopher to chat with his dad while he whipped up some lunch for them. Since Eddie would be home in about five hours, Buck decided he’d do something simple for him and Chris now. He had just the thing in mind.
Buck prepared the ingredients: Butter, all-purpose flour, tomato juice, half a cup of water, sugar, salt and some wide egg noodles. It was Bobby’s tomato soup recipe, easy and fast to make and Christopher liked it too.
”Buck?” Christopher called out from the living room.
”Yeah, buddy? Wanna come sit on the counter while I make lunch?” Buck asked, peeking in the living room where Chris was already waiting for him.
”Dad said to tell you that he’s bringing Bobby’s lasagne when he comes home,” Chris said with a broad smile. Bobby’s lasagne was their favorite.
”That’s good,” Buck smiled back, lifting Chris up. ”I’m making tomato soup with Bobby’s recipe for you and I.”
”Can I help?” Chris asked, seeming a bit better already.
”You can add the sugar and salt, okay, bud? And you can set the table if you want.”
”Okay, Buck.” Chris nodded.
Buck started on the soup while Chris began telling him all about what he had learned about planets in the science club yesterday. It all felt so familiar, like this was where Buck belonged, with Christopher and Eddie .
”Okay, buddy, you can put the sugar in first,” Buck said, lifting Chris off the counter before he sneaks more gingerbread cookies. ”Two tablespoons.”
Buck loved seeing the wide smile on the kid’s face. Chris loved cooking with him; he loved helping with whatever he could.
”Nice job! Now an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.” Buck told him, reaching for the salt.
”Now the egg noodles!” Chris cheered.
”You got it right, bud! I’ll put in the noodles. You wanna set the table?” Buck asked, pointing at the plates and cups on the side table.
”Yes!” Chris cheered again, taking the crutches Buck had grabbed from where they’d been leaning against the wall.
They ate in silence, Chris kept yawning in between spoonfuls. Buck felt a bit tired too, even after two naps.
”Wanna nap again, bud?” Buck asked when he noticed Chris put the empty spoon in his mouth for the third time in a row.
Chris frowned. ”The couch is lumpy.”
”You can go nap in your bed too.” Buck said.
”Can we nap in dad’s bed together?” Chris asked, turning the puppy eyes on Buck.
”Sure, superman.” Buck smiled.
Chris wanted to walk to his dad’s bedroom by himself, so Buck took his time loading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen. Buck loved that Chris was so independent. Even though Buck knew the kid could walk to the bedroom by himself, sometimes it was hard not to automatically reach out to help.
Chris was already under the covers, cheek flush against the cold pillow, eyes drooping. Buck positioned himself on top of the covers on Eddie’s side of the bed, cuddling the sleepy kid close to his side. They had four hours before Eddie was off, which gave them plenty of time to sleep. He drifted off with one final thought of family .
———
Buck felt a warm and gentle touch on his hip before he heard the soft whisper. ”Hey, I’m home.”
Buck’s lips curved into a smile before he even opened his eyes. Eddie’s hand on his hip felt almost burning hot, as did the gaze Buck saw first thing after finally opening his eyes. They were both smiling, looking at each other in silence until Chris let out a small whine in his sleep.
”Wanna go to the living room?” Eddie asked quietly.
Buck got up, careful not to wake the sleeping child curled up next to him. He was still sleepy, yawning as shivers went down his spine and Eddie was warm, so Buck did the logical thing, wrapping his arms around the other man’s body, pressing as close as he could get.
”What’s this for?” Eddie laughed before wrapping his arms around Buck.
”Cold,” Buck mumbled against Eddie’s neck.
They stood there in the middle of the living room, the lights from the Christmas tree illuminating them. The smell of lemon and frozen mint from Eddie’s cologne was strong with the undertone of sweat and smoke underneath it. To anyone else, those combinations would be off-putting, but for Buck, it’s anything but. Eddie smells like comfort.
Eddie lifted his hand to caress the side of Buck’s face, making it impossible for Buck to not to look at him. The air around them felt electric, like time had stopped. They stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity before Buck spoke up first, so soft it almost couldn’t be heard: ” Eddie .”
Buck had never been one to believe in the saying that you could feel fireworks explode when you kissed someone you love, but apparently he just hadn’t experienced it before. Eddie’s lips moving against his own was something Buck had dreamed of a lot . It felt exactly as he had imagined and nothing like he had imagined at the same time. He tasted like coffee and home .
”That was…” Buck couldn’t even finish his sentence.
”It was,” Eddie breathed with a smile on his lips.
”Daddy? Buck?” Christopher’s sleepy voice came from the hallway, accompanied by the sound of his crutches hitting the floor.
”Hey mijo, wanna join in on the hug?” Eddie asked, cheeks flushed in mild embarrassment of being caught by his own son.
”Yeah!” Chris cheered, hugging their legs tightly. He didn’t seem to find their position odd.
Eddie scooped Christopher in his arms, wrapping his other arm around Buck while he wrapped his own arms around both his boys. The happiness was crushing, he couldn’t have stopped the smile even if he’d wanted to.
”I love you,” Buck whispered, nose pressed in the crook of Eddie’s neck.
”I love you too.” Eddie whispered back, pressing a kiss into Buck’s curls.
”Love you three!” Chris giggled.
It was family.