*Screaming Internally*

Like the minute Eddie turns his back on him, and then turns back around, and suddenly Buck is on top of the island in the kitchen trying to wipe the dust on the light fixtures hanging over them.

"Buck, mi sol, get the fuck down from there," Eddie hisses while making grabbing motions with his hands and fingers.

"Just--I'm fine, Eddie. The dust on this had been annoying me forever, and I want to get them cleaned and done and over with," Buck says as he still stands on the island countertop.

"If you don't get down from there, I'm going to tear Razzy the raspberry bear's head off," Eddie threatens. He raises his eyebrow and crosses his arms, tapping his foot as well.

Buck pouts, sniffling as he gingerly climbs down and into the waiting arms of his Alpha.

It gets worse throughout the pregnancy. From Buck suddenly climbing the countertops, to hauling heavy things his doctor had forbidden him to do, to trying to weed the garden, to scrubbing the trash cans on a blistering hot day, to killing a wasp nest as he stands on a ladder with a cup of gasoline, Eddie's blood pressure increases.

The last straw had been Buck trying to get under his truck to change out his oil. The minute he saw the jack in Buck's arm, Eddie threw Theo on the couch, eliciting a gleeful giggle from the boy, as he yanked the front door open and carefully dragged Buck back into the house, everything in the driveway be damned.

Buck had yelped from surprise as he was carefully deposited onto the couch.

"What-"

"Please don't turn me into those knotheads that chain their omega up, because I'm one step away from doing just that," Eddie pleads as he starts to stress nest the omega onto the couch. Eddie brings out the big guns--Chris's clothes he sent home from college, Theo's clothes, his own hoodies and blankets. Maddie and Chim's donated articles of clothing, including their three kids, Jee, Nash, and Daniella. It had been a very sudden request, and Eddie had been glad Maddie picked up as quick as possible.

He would call Hen, Karen, Bobby, Athena, Harry, Ravi, and May, but he feels that would induce the curly-headed omega into a sleep coma. He'd have to move Buck back into their bedroom. This right here would be a temporary nest.

Eddie could tell it's working. His omega's eyes start to glaze over, his pupils dilating as he sinks into the blankets. His hands automatically start sorting things out and shaping his nest.

Buck shakes his head, snapping out of it. "Eddie, I'm fine--"

Eddie's eyes flash red, but the alpha begs. "Please, Carino?"

Buck sighs, but snuggles right into the temporary nest. "Fine. My feet are sore anyway."

Eddie, realizing he doesn't have to watch what he eats, burns so many calories naturally that he always maintains his figure.

Eddie happily munching on whatever Buck makes. Literally everything. Eddie's enjoying delicious food, and Buck enjoys cooking and feeding, judging by the gleeful look on his face when Eddie is scarfing down food. The smile goes from ear to ear, and his face turns a little pink.

"Where the hell did you get a donut the size of your head?" Hen asks incredulously as she watches Eddie eat his donut.

"And where's mine?" Chim asks, slightly jealous.

"Last one--mmm-" Eddie moans. "So good."

Imagine Eddie also letting himself ask for things he wants. So he often asks Buck if he could make food he sees on TikTok. Or when Eddie, Chris, and Theo see a dish they want to eat. Eddie gets Chris and Theo to stare at Buck with pleading eyes, lips pouting, until Buck laughs and ducks his head down bashfully.

"Well, we're definitely going to need to stop by the store. How about Chris and I go grab a few more things from the store--"

"And me and Teddy can clean!" Theo hops on the couch.

Chim, watching in horror: "What in the world happened to you?!"

Hen hisses as she takes in Buck's injuries: "You look like you went a few rounds in the ring."

Buck: "The bed attacked me."

Chim: "What."

Buck, sighing: "Chris grew out of his old bed, and since we were moving things into my house, I got a new bed for him. A queen-sized bed."

Eddie, rubbing his face and sighing: "Except he ordered one online. I assumed we would go into town and pick one up. So as he was unboxing-"

Harry, smirking: "I think I know where this is going."

Eddie: "I was trying to read directions, but smart guy over here said, 'It's a bed in a bag; it doesn't need reading,' and takes a knife and opens the bag. It launches into his face and nearly catapults him across the room."

Buck: "And as it chucks me across the room, I accidentally stabbed Eddie in the process. Chris and Theo were laughing the entire time Eddie and I were on the ground in pain."

Ravi: "Wow. Stabbed twice."

"Hey man, you still going around gettin jobs everywhere? There's this cruise ship hiring right now I'm heading to. Good money, and you get to see the world!"

A cruise ship? Of all the jobs he had gotten, he had never even thought of that route.

But Abby did leave the country to travel and find herself--as much as it hurts him, she did eventually find that.

"How long?" Buck asks.

"This one is about six months. One of the requirements is that you gotta know how to swim."

Makes sense.

"It's crazy hours too, but you're used to that."

And Buck really doesn't have anything left for him. His sister will always be here for him, but his found family at the 118 seemed to have moved on without him. Eddie doesn't look at him, sneers in his direction, and gives him a cold stare if Buck dares to bring up Chris.

Bobby's warm affection is nonexistent.

Chim has a strained look, as does Hen.

Buck wonders if he did transfer, it would only be a matter of time til he gets iced out again.

Maybe Buck's time in California is up. Pack things up and move on again. He wants to take a note out of Abby's book, leave the country entirely, and hopefully Buck would find his reason and a chance at love.

"How about it, Ev?"

"Count me in, man. I don't have a lot going on for me here anymore," Buck says with a small smile.

------------

Five months in, Buck's limits are tested when the cruise ship starts to capsize at 2 in the morning.

They got a couple of bartenders around the area cause they know a lot of people, especially Buck, who had traveled a lot of places and sent invites to people he kept in touch with.

At some point, when the kids are all sent home with a responsible babysitter, the party gets REALLY crazy. Bobby is sitting there recording everything the best he can and trying his best to not let his wife down too many jello shots with Hen and Karen.

Eddie has ripped off Buck's shirt, and now he's doing body shots. Karen is making so much noise along with Maddie. Chim and Ravi are at the DJ booth, letting the actual DJ take a bathroom break and grab some food.

There's so many people that Buck drags to Bobby. Buck is all smiley and happy, introducing everyone like, "T-tthiis is m-mmmy dad!" with a blinding smile. Bobby shakes hands and listens to stories about Buck from other people's perspectives.

May is one of the few who decided not to drink. Instead, she pleads with Buck and Eddie to let her make a TikTok.

"Hi, I'm Buck. I'm the groom, and this is my first drink," Buck says with a smile.

So once he's in therapy, he gets told that he needs to stop denying himself happiness. Do what he's always wanted to do--invest in hobbies HE would enjoy, not what is expected of him to enjoy.

Queue Buck being dragged to a pottery workshop because Eddie had always wanted to go in and paint here growing up, but his parents would never let him.

Says painting is too 'girly'.

But he doesn't want to go alone. So he drags Buck, of course. He's a good sport, sits and paints a mug while Eddie paints a bowl. He paints the bowl to look like a watermelon. He's really precise and has always watched videos of others doing it. So he's really concentrating, and Buck can't help but snap a photo of Eddie with his tongue sticking out a little as he's hunched over and painting a watermelon bowl.

"I'm surprised you haven't gone to the Sip and Stroke nights," Buck says as he paints a frog on the bottom of his mug. He adds a little mole underneath one of the frog's eyes.

"Th-the what?"

Buck chuckles. "Weird, I know. Like Paint and Sip? Where you paint and drink wine-"

"We're definitely going!" Eddie says, determined.

Buck blinks when Eddie finds more and more workshops and couples-like classes to do together. Buck finds that Eddie is very...artsy.

He doesn't complain, though. He's never seen Eddie so happy.

On a separate weekend, Eddie and Buck are in his yard doing yard work, of all things. Pulling weeds out, digging a god-forsaken rock that had been bugging Eddie the entire time he's had this house cause no grass grew there.

Eddie plants the prettiest vanilla strawberry hydrangea tree he found at Home Depot. He has an assortment of flowers and plants, as well as an array of frog lawn ornaments.

"Okay," Eddie says one night during their shift. "So there's this cooking class happening in a couple of days.

Buck raises an eyebrow. "Cooking?" he grins.

"Yes, she's doing this whole series of cooking classes on asian cuisine, and that's something you or Bobby have yet to cook on your own, and I really want to try incorporating more fish sauce in cooking cause that's amazing, you should try it--"

"-uh-huh-" Buck says.

"So I signed us up for it," Eddie damn near chirps.

"Shouldn't you have asked Buck first before signing both of you up?" Ravi asks. "What happens if he's got plans?"

Eddie scrunches his face. He looks at Buck, betrayed.

"I have no plans," Buck raises his hands up. "I'm excited."

"See?" Eddie huffs.

"What's next, you taking Buck to go pet otters?" Chim teases.

But Eddie is quiet, and Buck knows exactly what his best friend is thinking. Not embarrassment, or fear of being rejected.

Buck turns and sees Eddie's excited look. "You can pet otters?!"

"Uh-"

"Probably not around here. You'd have to look that up. That's gonna have to be a few-hour drive," Hen says.

Eddie waves that off. "That would be a fun family weekend trip with Christopher," he says gleefully as he pulls his phone out. "We can totally take turns driving too," Eddie mumbles as he forms plans. He walks away humming.

Immediately, Buck whines.

"Eddie, noooo don't move. I'm not done mapping out everything you did without me today."

Eddie laughs. "Or you can just ask me?"

"It's not the same," Buck pouts. His ears flop down sadly and ugh.

Eddie's weakness.

"Fine, fine," the man says as he settles back in where he had been before.

*Everyone blinks and stares in shock*

Chim, opening his mouth: "W-"

Buck: "Don't laugh."

Hen: "Promise we aren't going to laugh."

Ravi: "Wow, a mullet. Nice, man. Eyebrow slit looks killer."

Eddie, smirking as he claps Buck on the shoulders: "See?"

Harry, blinking as he sees Buck's new haircut: "So, what happened?"

Buck, sighing: "Theo got his hands on some scissors. Started going for my eyebrows. Eddie managed to save the rest of it, though, but the damage was done to the side of my hair."

Eddie: "Buck crashed on the couch while Chris and I came over. We were in the backyard when Chris said, 'Dad, Theo's holding scissors,' and I never ran across the house so fast."

Theo waves goodbye to Bobby's ghost as the two turn to leave.

"Bye Mr. Grandpoop!" Theo says before grabbing onto Buck's finger and walking back to the car.

"Can we take a picture for Mommy and Daddy?" Theo asks.

"Picture?" Buck asks as he buckles Theo into his car seat.

"Yeah! Aunt Maddie showed me pictures of you going everywhere," Theo says. "I want Mommy and Daddy to see me have fun."

And damn does that bring tears to Buck's eyes.

Eddie: Not really? There was that one person that threw up everywhere but nothing exciting.

Buck: Wait for it.

Eddie: I remember my last one was this really old nice lady, she asked me if I could take her to the graveyard.

Chim: Oh no.

Eddie: It was late at night, but she said she was visiting someone and it was on her way home. When I got there and parked, I turned to make sure she was ok, but she disappeared. Took off quick, I didn't even hear her close the door.

Hen, staring at Chim: Did you see her, uh, get in your car?

Eddie, giving her a look: Yes, I saw her get in. Greeted her, made small talk. Just didn't see her get out.

Chim, staring at Eddie in horror: You went to a graveyard in the middle of the night-

Eddie, rolling his eyes: It was not--

Chim: took a lady who said she lived nearby and had friends there,

Eddie: Chim, it was not-

Chim: and then she disappeared and made no noise at all.

Eddie: It's not a ghost.

Buck, throwing his hands in the air: hopeless. What happens if you get taken by ghost ladies, Eddie?

Eddie, shivering

Buck: See, you're getting creeped out by the very thought.

Eddie: No I just hate the thought of ladies taking me. No thanks.

Buck freezes and glances away from the cooling rack to see Eddie cradling his cheek. He's bent over slightly, seemingly in pain. The cookie is now dropped onto the counter as Eddie is frozen in his spot.

Hen and Chim glance over, while Ravi and Harry smirk.

"Eddie?" Buck says curiously. "You, uh, okay?"

Eddie doesn't respond at all.

"Chew too fast, you bit yourself?" Ravi says with a smirk.

"Oh no," Chim tsks. "I know what that cheek cradle means."

"Mmmhmm," Hen agrees. "Alright, open up." Hen asks.

Eddie shakes his head. "Nn-nn."

"Don't make me pull the big guns out," Chim says. "Just open your mouth."

Eddie flips his captain off as he tries to walk away.

"Big guns it is. Buckley!"

"Yup!" is all Eddie hears before he feels big arms around his waist and being hauled to Buck's chest. "Come on, Eds," Buck says as he sits Eddie on top of a table.

"Mm 'ine," Eddie barely says.

"You're clearly not, now open your mouth or I'm never making anything baked for you ever again," Buck threatens. Eddie pouts, a tear in his eye as he blinks hard as he opens his mouth.

Buck looks past the chewed-up cookie and sees the culprit of Eddie's pain.

"Is it a cavity?" Hen asks.

"Nope. Worse, he cracked a tooth, right down the middle."

Ravi and Harry wince. "Ouch," they both said.

"With all the sweets you eat, I'm surprised it's not a cavity," Chim says.

Eddie glares at Chim. "I 'oo' ot."

"It's not a secret you love sweets," Hen says. "You nearly bit Andrew's fingers when he tried to take the last cheesecake cookie."

"I remember when Bobby asked who wanted the leftover Banana pudding, and when he turned around with bowls and aluminum foil, you took off with the entire thing in your truck," Chim says.

"You made a strawberry and Nutella sandwich and told me it's healthy cause it has protein powder in it," Buck says.

"I watched you buy a man out of all of his churros and bought a jar of honey from that one lady from the farmers market and eat it in one sitting," Ravi says.

"You volunteered to help me with extra training, ate a whole chocolate cake, and made me practice my fireman carry and go up the stairs," Harry says. "How you still have an eight pack astounds me."

"So, Buckley, you take Diaz and try to get him in for an emergency appointment," Chim says.

Eddie, sweating: "Oh no."

Hen, confused: "What did you do?"

Eddie: "Nothing-I gotta go."

Chim, grinning: "He's up here!"

Eddie: "Traitor!"

*Buck stomps up to the loft. He stands there in his favorite workout t-shirt that was now cropped. It's a little obscene; only half his chest is covered.*

Hen, gaping: "Oh wow."

Chim, frowning: "Isn't that your-"

Buck, glaring at Eddie: "Favorite shirt, yes. Eddie."

Eddie, holding his hands up: "I-I didn't know! It was inside out in my laundry, and it felt really comfortable!"

Buck: "So you cropped it??"

Eddie, wincing: "I was working out! I couldn't find any of my crop tops."

Buck, making a face: "Those weren't cleaning rags?"

Eddie gasping: "No!"

Bobby, sighing: "We have extra shirts. Grab one or just work out in that, kid."

Like, Chim is coming over for the BBQ, and he freezes all confused when he sees Harry standing there in the kitchen.

He's like, "Who are you????"

Harry's like: "???? I'm Harry??? Are you good??"

Chim: "You're not Harry."

Harry: "I literally am??"

Chim, raising his hand to a certain height: "Harry Grant is ye tall."

Harry: "Puberty literally exists, man."

Buck, popping his head in: "Hey, Harry, where does--"

Chim, pointing at Harry: "That is not Harry."

Bucking blinking, confused: "It-it is?"

Chim: "It's not--aha! Chris!"

Chris: "Yeah?"

Chim: "Who is this?"

Chris, confused: "That's Harry? He got taller."

Like Eddie??? What happens if Buck slept naked and rolled around everywhere???

Imagine he couldn't sleep at all, so he flipped sides. Eddie was expecting to see Buck's head when he ripped those covers off him, except instead of his head, he just got a face full of legs and a cute little round ass.

He's pretty sure he sees a plug before Buck shrieks at the sudden covers ripping off him.

Eddie stands there frozen, his cheeks flushing red because he didn't expect that.

"Dude?!"

"I-uh-wow-" Eddie glances away when Buck sits up.

"Man, what gives?"

Like, imagine she's visiting LA, and she sees Theo run around Maddie's house, and she's in shock cause Theo reminds her so much of Daniel.