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Buck knelt next to Christopher, shrugged off a backpack and unzipped it. Eddie was pulling an extra shift, which meant he couldn't drop Chris off early for his day-long school trip to the L.A. Zoo. Buck had happily volunteered himself and had spent most of the evening before making sure he'd packed everything correctly, and that it wouldn't be too heavy for him to carry around all day. Chris' teacher had sent home a checklist of everything they'd need, but Buck had added a few things for peace of mind.
"All right, Buddy. You wanna go over the checklist for me?"
With a dutiful nod, Christopher held out a piece of paper as he sat on a stone bench, feet kicking absently. "Two snacks. No nuts!"
Buck held up a container with a sliced orange and a nut free granola bar. "Check!"
"Reusable water bottle."
Buck gave the Spiderman themed water bottle a shake. "Check!"
"A hat and sunscreen."
Buck reached up to give the brim of Christopher's hat a tug. "Check and…" He produced a small bottle of sunscreen. "Check." He'd already applied sunscreen to Christopher before they left, but he reminded Chris again that he should put some more on whenever they took breaks. "I'm expecting to pick up my favorite sixth grader at the end of the day, all right? Not a lobster. It's a zoo, y'know, so they might not let you leave. Especially if you're the coolest lobster in the place."
Giggling, Christopher rocked forward in his seat. "Buuuck!"
Grinning, Buck promised, "Don't worry, I'll break you out if they getcha."
"Me and the other lobsters. We can take them home."
"I don't know if your dad would be cool with a pet lobster." Buck could actually imagine Eddie's exact face if he returned home to find Christopher and Buck had liberated one or many lobsters and were now considering them pets. The mixture of exasperation and reluctant acceptance… Not that he actually planned to do that. He was like 99% sure there weren't even lobsters at the zoo. They didn't exactly draw a crowd. Maybe at the aquarium…
Anyway— "All right. Back to our list. What's left?"
"Ummm…" Christopher read the list through. "A whistle for emergencies and good shoes for walking."
"Shoes were your responsibility, my friend, so if those are missing…"
"I'm wearing them!" He kicked his feet forward and rested his heels on Buck's knees. "See. They're red."
"As red as a firetruck, good choice," Buck praised. "All right. And I got the whistle. Is that it?"
Christopher nodded.
"Great. Now, I added a few things of my own. Just precautions…" He held up a flashcard that he'd tucked inside a sandwich bag to keep it clean and dry. "This is for emergencies. It's got your dad's number, mine, Bobby's, Abuela's, Pepa's, and even Maddie's, just in case. This way, if anything happens—you get lost or hurt or anything, someone will know who to get a hold of, okay?" It also listed Christopher's CP diagnosis, blood type, and the address to the 118, but he didn't want to mention that to Christopher, in case it freaked him out. Buck just wanted to be sure that if anything went sideways, vital information wouldn't be missed. "I also got a mini First Aid kit in here. Just Band Aids, disinfectant, that sort of thing. And oh, a couple extra masks, that way if you get food on yours or you just want to switch it up, you're good to go."
Christopher leaned forward and patted Buck's shoulder. "I'm gonna be okay, Buck. It's just the Zoo."
"Of course you are," he agreed. "But for my own peace of mind, maybe avoid the alpacas, okay?"
Snorting, Christopher said, "If it'll make you feel better, I will."
Zipping the backpack closed, he put it on the bench next to Chris. "Just between me and you, there's some money in there too, so you can get something from the gift shop. Okay?"
Christopher grinned. "You're the best."
There was some noise nearby then as one of the teachers called out, telling parents and guardians to start bringing the kids over to load onto the bus.
Buck stood then and helped Christopher put on the bag. "Not too heavy?"
"It's okay," Christopher reassured. He pushed himself off the bench and got his crunches under him. "Are you sure you can't come with us?"
"Wish I could. But they're full up on volunteers and there's no room for me on the bus. I've got some errands to run today anyway. Your dad's been sending me grumpy selfies all shift, so I think it's a good day for homemade mac n' cheese. What do you think?"
"With garlic bread?" He sent moon eyes up at Buck, his bottom lip out. "Please, Buck!"
"All right, all right. You know, I basically taught you that face. Using it against me should be a crime." He rolled his eyes when Christopher only looked proud of himself. "I'll make garlic toast. And after dinner, I think we all deserve a movie and maybe even some ice cream."
"This is the best day," Christopher decided.
Buck grinned as he led Christopher to the bus, where a harried looking woman with a clipboard took a glance at Chris before ticking off a box on her paperwork. Her attention then redirected to Buck. "Mr. Diaz? I don't think we've met. I'm Christopher's Art teacher."
"Mrs. Conrad." Buck pointed at her knowingly. "I'm a fan. Your homework assignments are my favorite. Mostly because I can do them."
She laughed. "Glad to hear it. But I didn't think we'd be seeing you. Chris mentioned his dad would be at work today."
"Oh, that's—"
"Daddy is working," Christopher informed her. "This is Buck. He's my other dad."
"Oh! Sorry, I made an assumption. Buck," Mrs. Conrad corrected herself, "We've heard a lot about you too. In fact, you feature in a lot of Christopher's art."
"He's my superhero," Christopher said simply.
"That's so sweet." Mrs. Conrad smiled. "Well, Christopher, if you want to join the others on the bus and get a good seat, we should be leaving soon. It was nice meeting you, Buck."
"Uh, yeah, you too." As they stepped forward, and Mrs. Conrad moved her attention to the next kid, Buck brought Christopher up to the stairs leading onto the bus. He debated saying anything, especially now, when they would soon be separated, but the urge was too much to ignore. As Christopher climbed that first step onto the school bus and turned to him to say goodbye, he couldn't help but say, "Other dad, huh?"
Christopher grinned. "Yeah!"
A lump-filled Buck's throat. "Okay." He sniffled quickly. "You're gonna have a great day, all right? And I'll be here at 3:30 sharp."
"And then mac n' cheese!"
"Well, not right away. We've still gotta wait on your dad to get home. But you can help me make a salad and pick out the movie in the meantime."
"Okay."
"C'mere, gimme a hug." He reeled Christopher in for a quick squeeze, double checked the straps of the backpack weren't digging in, and then nodded. "Good to go?"
"Good!"
"I'll see you later. Love you!"
"Love you, Buck." Christopher turned and climbed the stairs then and shuffled his way down the aisle.
When Buck was sure he was seated and busy talking to his classmates, he took his leave, waving to Mrs. Conrad and a few other familiar teachers as he went. He climbed into his Jeep and dug out his phone to see if Eddie might have a minute to talk.
It took two rings before Eddie picked up— "Hey. Remind me again why I signed up for this 24-hour shift."
"Bills, mostly. But also because you owed Trahan for taking over that weekend shift so we could take Chris camping."
"Fine. Maybe it's worth it. But I'm not gonna be happy about it. We had a beach call and now I've got sand everywhere," Eddie grumbled. "Anyway, how's Chris? Is he on his way to the zoo?"
"They should be leaving soon." Buck leaned back in his seat. "His art teacher thought I was you… Christopher corrected her by saying I was his other dad." He held his breath then, waiting for some kind of reaction.
"Oh," Eddie said, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
Buck squirmed in his seat. "Is that… a bad 'oh?'"
"What? No. It's… I mean, are you okay with… with that?"
"With a bad 'oh?'"
Eddie sighed. "With being called his other dad."
"Oh." Buck swallowed tightly. "No. Not really."
"Not really?"
"Not at all," he admitted. "It was kind of… I mean, I sort of want to cry, but like happy tears, you know? Like, whoa, this incredible kid actually considers me to be on that level? That's amazing."
"Buck," Eddie said, his voice soft and knowing. "Of course he does. You've been a parent to him for years. He loves you."
"I love him too. I just… It felt big. Being called that."
"It is big."
"And you're really…" His brow furrowed, a faint whisper of insecurity lingering near his ear. "You're okay with that? I'm not stepping on toes here?"
"I'm completely okay with it as long as you're okay with it. I know things are still new and I don't want you to feel pressured—"
"I don't," Buck interrupted. "I mean, yeah, us being together, dating, that's relatively new, but us being a family… That's not. That's…" He shook his head. "You and Chris have been my family from the beginning. This just… solidifies it, in a different way, you know?"
"Yeah, I do."
Buck grinned then. "Hey, does this make me a DILF?"
Eddie groaned. "I'm hanging up."