bingo

At some point in S10 (or further seasons), Buck adopts Theo, and then he starts to think about the possibilities.

One day at the station, it's a slow day, everyone's just minding their businesses. Buck's at the kitchen making something, and Eddie is sitting at the bar stool, the two of them just chatting.

Then Buck suddenly asks Eddie if it's okey he adds Eddie to his will (cuz I think he would ask first, not like a certain someone who just did it and didn't tell the other until a year later), to take care of Theo in case something happened to him, the way he's going to do if something happened to Eddie, and Eddie just like "Yeah, sure. I always have your back, remember?"

So she and Eddie mostly only chat casually in passing; they've never really had a chance to build any kind of distinctive relationship. And Maddie's only really seen Eddie and Buck together with Christopher at those big get-togethers where Chris is often more interested in hanging out with Denny and Harry, and sometimes Buck's in the mix with them, but it's always seemed like just Buck helping to entertain the kids.

So Maddie's only really ever heard about Buck's relationship with Christopher secondhand, and Chim likes to tease and exaggerate, while Buck loves kids and gets overexcited sometimes in a way that causes him to maybe embellish a bit.

So Maddie's always kind of assumed Buck's just a glorified babysitter helping out a friend when it comes to his relationship to Christopher.

Until one day, while Eddie's working dispatch and he and Maddie happen to be on the same shift, Buck agrees to take Chris and Jee both for the day, and they all decide it would be easiest for Buck to meet them at dispatch right before the shift starts, so he can get both kids at once. (And Maddie's maybe a little bit nervous about her childless little brother watching Jee and Christopher at the same time, but she figures Chris is eleven, so he'll probably be fine).

So they all meet in the dispatch parking lot, and Maddie hands over Jee, but not without first handing Buck an overly stocked diaper bag complete with a list of emergency phone numbers she's sure to draw attention to and giving him a five minute rundown of Jee's favorite toys and games and what to do when she's cranky and everything else Maddie can think of to make sure Buck knows how to keep Jee happy and comfortable, even though Buck has watched Jee on his own dozens of times.

Only to then watch Eddie tell Chris he loves him and that he'll be home for dinner before just. handing him over to Buck.

No instructions. No fretting. Not even a bag to go with him.

And Maddie's heard the stories of Eddie and his thorough emails and his concerns over summer camp and his general parental protectiveness that she can absolutely relate to.

But with Buck? With Buck, Eddie just. gives him Christopher.

And that's when Maddie suddenly realizes that everything she thought she knew about her brother's relationship with Eddie and Christopher is wrong.

Because there's only one person in the world she would ever hand Jee over to like that, and that person is her child's father.