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The station is all dressed up in Christmas decorations, garlands and tinsel and mistletoes hanging everywhere. Ornaments are placed strategically and beautifully, simple but shiny gold or silver. The bit of the wall where they usually put up their kids’ art work is adorned with adorable pieces—Eddie can make out Harry’s, Denny’s, and Christopher’s easily. Harry’s has several stick figures dressed in red; the one he thinks is supposed to be Michael is wearing a Santa costume. Denny’s is more abstract, with Hen driving an ambulance sleigh around while the drawing versions of Karen and Denny stand below and watch.
Christopher’s is his favorite, but of course it is. It’s a scene set in snow, which Christopher has been desperate to experience lately. Before they put it up on the wall, Christopher told him that the drawing version of himself is wearing such a big coat because drawing-Eddie gave it to him. “I got cold,” Christopher explained reasonably, obviously proud of his artwork. He was smiling so big as Eddie pinned it on the board. “So you let me wear it. It’s really warm so that means I get to be in the snow for longer.”
Eddie had to bite the inside of his cheek to not have a minor, sappy meltdown over how sincere his son was as he said it. Hen, who’d been standing nearby, had caught him out and smiled sympathetically. Then she came over to tell Christopher where the other kids were playing, and Eddie was able to take a moment to compose himself. Ever since, Christopher has been playing with Harry, Denny, and other kids belonging to the station while Eddie’s either talked to his few friends or sat back against the walls like he’s holding them up.
This is their first holiday season in LA after Shannon passed, and also Christopher’s first without seeing Eddie’s parents. Things have just been… a lot, lately. He’s barely had a moment to breathe between the grief, his job, all the appointments they both have, and his family, especially his parents who’ve begun asking him when he’s going to move on. As if that’s even a thought in his head, as if he has the time for that.
But he doesn’t want to spend the holidays season sad, and more than that, he doesn’t want Christopher to miss out on any fun just because Eddie’s struggling a bit. So even though he’s tired from his last shift still and distantly wishes he was home, he gave the babysitter the night off and brought Christopher to the station for their annual holiday party.
He doesn’t regret it, seeing the smile on his son’s face, hearing his laugh from halfway across the room. Anything that makes him this happy is worth it.
Which is maybe why Eddie also decided to invite Maddie and her niece, Mara Buckley to the party, too.
Mara is Christopher’s best friend from school; on their first day, she saw his crutches were the same shade of red as her hearing aids and decided to ask if he got to pick what color they were when he got them. They ended up discussing why red is obviously the best color, or so Christopher told him that afternoon, and thus began their epic friendship. Which worked out well for them both, since she has a love for dinosaurs that nearly rivals Christopher’s own.
They’ve spent many a playdate pouring over big books discussing which dino is cooler, which could win in a fight, and which would be easiest to ride like a horse. Which is apparently a very big deal, when discussing dinosaurs.
Beyond that, they have other things they do together, like drawing competitions and swimming and telling each other knock knock jokes until they’re both hysterically laughing. They learn more sign words and practice what they know with each other. Christopher and Eddie know some from when he was a toddler and couldn’t form many words yet. And though Mara knows more than they do, she struggles with retaining some words and is always looking for new ones to incorporate into her vocabulary.
They also have something of a book club, which Eddie has had the privilege of overseeing a few times. There’s something so funny but so endearing about seeing two eight year olds seriously talk about plot points in their Goosebump novels.
Eddie can admit that when he first heard about her, he was a little unsure—kids back in Christopher’s school in Texas had not been very kind—but now, he’s so grateful they met. Having her as a friend, Eddie’s seen his son blossom and become more outgoing, and branch out into things he wouldn’t have before. He’s seen Christopher learn how to keep moving after losing his mom, how to keep smiling.
It means—not just a lot to him, but everything . And when he’s spoken to Maddie about this, she’s smiled a little sadly and told him it’s the same for Mara. She’s a sweet little girl who never appears like she’s down, but with her mom gone (where, Maddie doesn’t know) and her dad overseas, she’d struggled with making friends before she met Christopher. With bullying, too, and feeling isolated that almost no one around her could speak ASL other than a few teachers, Maddie and a friend of hers from work named Josh.
“She still misses my brother a lot, of course,” Maddie told him once, looking away to hide the shine in her eyes. Eddie had had to swallow down the feelings that bloomed in him, seeing the yearning family has for their deployed loved ones from the other side. He always tried not to think about it when he was overseas, himself. “But having Christopher around has really helped her a lot. She plays outside more, and I mean, you’ve seen how curious she is. Having Chris there to bounce off her thoughts about bugs or rabbits or whatever they’re into this week has been… it’s meant a lot more than I think any of us know.”
Eddie doesn’t really believe in fate, but he can’t deny the obvious: Christopher and Mara were meant to become friends.
The fact that he’s made a new of his own through it all is just a bonus. He hadn’t expected to like Maddie, if he’s being honest, figuring they’d just be civil while their kids played in the other room. But that first day, she’d offered him cookies saying she and Mara had baked them before he and Christopher came over, trying to expel their nerves for her first ever playdate. “I don’t know if it worked, but at least they taste good?” Maddie joked.
They’d sat together, eating the (admittedly, pretty yummy) cookies and making awkward small talk until they realized their similar work fields—Maddie’s a 911 dispatcher—and started trading stories. At the end of the day, when the kids begged to have another afternoon together soon, Eddie’d been surprised by how readily he said yes.
In the months since, the kids have hung out a lot, though most of the time, either Eddie or Maddie have had to work so it wasn’t all four of them. Sometimes they text, but more often, their phones are used to let Christopher and Mara chat over video calls.
(And yes, when Hen and Chimney caught onto him having a new friend, they’d teased him endlessly about it, albeit lightheartedly. All it took was meeting her once—and seeing how, while he and Maddie are just friends, she and Chimney have a... markedly different dynamic—for the teasing to stop. Well, that’s not true. Now Eddie and Hen poke fun at Chim, who rolls his eyes goodnaturedly even as he denies everything.)
It’s honestly kind of a miracle that she had the night off and is able to come, though he hasn’t spotted either Buckley yet.
Of course, as soon as he thinks that, they appear like they’ve been summoned, walking in through the big open garage doors hand in hand. He stands up straight and waves, signing hello, which Mara signs back happily. Her blonde curls are pulled up into a windswept ponytail, her cheeks red from the cold. She isn’t wearing her hearing aids, but he’s not surprised—crowded areas often bother her, and this late in the day is usually around when she likes to take them off. They head for the stairs, and he meets them there, easily accepting their hugs.
Mara doesn’t linger around, though. As soon as she’s spotted the other kids playing near the bunk room, she signs, “Aunt Maddie, can I go play?”
“Go ahead,” Maddie replies, smiles indulgently.
They watch her run off, laughing together at the way Christopher screeches in delight at having his best friend there. Harry and Denny have met her before, only twice but they welcome her into their game easily.
Eddie’s just about to tell her about the various dishes and desserts when Maddie pushes her hair back and exhales like she’s trying to calm herself down from something.
“You okay?” He asks, worried.
“What? Oh, no, I’m fine,” she shakes her head. “We were just running a little late and my plans for— something got kind of mixed up, but it’s okay. Um, Eddie, I’m so sorry to ask you this right away, but could you watch her for a few minutes? There’s a really big surprise present coming for her and I just need to finish getting it all together.”
“Uh, yeah, sure, no problem. How long do you think it’ll take?”
She checks the time on her phone. “Hopefully less than fifteen minutes? Thank you, I’ll be back soon. If she asks where I am—“
“I’ll make something up,” he nods. “Go ahead, just text me if you need to, okay?”
“Thank you again,” she says before hurrying back down the steps. He makes sure she makes it out okay before he goes to stand over by the kids, half listening to their conversation and half wondering what kind of present Mara is going to get.
He knows she really only asked for one thing—for her dad to be home for Christmas—but Maddie had told him her brother, who went by Buck, couldn’t get the time off. Honestly, Eddie’s been trying not to think about it, remembering all the holidays he missed spending with Shannon and Christopher while he was still deployed.
Whatever it is, he hopes she’ll like it at least.
He doesn’t have time to ponder on it any more than that before Bobby and Athena approach him. They’re wearing matching smiles, obviously enjoying playing host and seeing everyone together. Probably also pretty happy to see how much everyone is chowing down on the dishes they prepared for this party.
“Hey guys,” he greets, leaning into a hug with Bobby and clapping him on the back. With Athena, they just smile at each other, friends but not the kind who hug very often if at all.
“Hey, Eddie. We didn’t want to miss you.”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere yet,” he says, a little confused.
Athena shakes her head. “We didn’t think so, but you know how these parties go, if you don’t find someone and talk when you get the chance, you’ll run out of time. We saw you over here and just wanted to say hi.”
Bobby asks, “How are you enjoying the night so far?” He’s sincere, if obviously a little concerned. Eddie has told him more about his issues recently than he has anyone else, which… isn’t saying much, honestly, because he doesn’t like speaking about it at all. But with Bobby it’s different. He’s not Eddie’s dad, but he is a dad, and he knows how to listen to Eddie without making him feel too vulnerable.
Eddie knows that if he told Bobby here and now that he was uncomfortable and wanted to go home, Bobby would let him leave. He wouldn’t be mad, he’d just be worried.
But Eddie’s not having a bad time tonight even if he has been a huge wallflower, and he tells them so. Maybe he focuses more on how Christopher’s having fun than his own enjoyment, but that’s okay. It’s nice being surrounded by good cheer and people he likes, even if he’s not participating much.
As they talk, he checks on the kids periodically, making sure Mara and Christopher are still good. When he looks over, they’re showing Harry and Denny a few signs that Eddie recognizes as the alphabet.
Bobby and Athena catch him looking, and so they talk about the kids for a moment, especially their drawings. “I loved Christopher’s,” Athena tells him. “He’s an amazing artist.”
“Thank you,” Eddie says warmly. “You should see some of the stuff he has at home.”
“Actually, Eddie—speaking of Christopher,” Bobby starts, “I’m sure you’ll have plans already, but we wanted to offer anyway. I know you’ve been having a bit of a rough time lately, so if you want to come over for supper, we can make some room at our table for you and Chris on Christmas day. If you need somewhere to be, or just… if you want to,” he says again.
Touched, Eddie says, “Thank you, guys. We should be spending the day with my Abuela and Tia Pepa but maybe we could all get together before New Years Eve? I know Christopher has a lot of fun seeing Harry, and you know I’ll never turn down your cooking.”
They both nod, anticipating his answer. “We can figure out a time,” Athena says. “And if your plans change, you boys can just come on over.”
He’s just about to thank them again when Chimney is suddenly there beside him. He slips his arm over Eddie’s shoulders, jostling him a little into a really sideways half-hug. “Hey, man,” he greets warmly, more open than he normally would be here at the station.
Eddie tilts his head and raises his eyebrows. “Hi, Chim. You good?”
He waves his hand through the air exaggeratedly. “Oh, yeah, I’m great.”
“Had a few drinks?” He asks, amused.
“I’m offended by that, you know. But…,” he lowers his voice, glancing at Bobby and Athena, who are standing there watching their antics with fond smiles. “Yeah. Maybe a few. Don’t tell Bobby. Or Hen.”
Eddie meets Bobby’s eyes and can’t help but laugh; he clearly heard that and cough to cover a chuckle of his own. Clearing his throat, he suggests to Chimney, “Or Maddie?”
“Actually, she’s why I came over here! She asked me to ask you if you could get Mara ready for her surprise. I think she needs you to take her downstairs?”
“Uh, okay? Now?”
He nods. “Yeah, c’mon, I’ll help.”
Usually, Chimney is great with the station’s kids, so even though he’s a little leery about it, he says okay. Eddie stands and they both say their goodbyes to Bobby and Athena before making their way over to the corner the kids have hunkered down in.
“Hi Dad,” Christopher greets. “Hey Chim!”
The other kids chorus, “Hi Eddie! Hi Chimney!”
“Hey kiddos,” Chimney waves.
Eddie smiles at the boys, lifting his chin in a hello nod, then crouches down in front of Mara. When he does, she turns so she’s facing him, her hair swinging slightly. She's close enough that she won't have to rely on just lip-reading—she usually gets distracted from focusing too hard, and prefers to sign most of the time. “Hey, guess what? Your Aunt Maddie’s got a surprise for you coming and she wants you downstairs so she can give it to you.”
“A surprise? For me ?” Mara lights up in excitement, climbing to her feet. She almost trips over her shoelaces, and Eddie reaches out quickly, stopping her fall before it can even really begin.
“Whoa, careful.”
She rests her fingers on her mouth, then pulls her hand down and forward—”thanks”—and steps over to Chimney, he reaches down and takes her hand. Eddie just smiles, used to her being a little clumsy, and is about to stand up when Christopher asks, “Can I come see too?”
Before Eddie can answer, Mara twists back around. “Wait, what did Chris ask?”
"If I can come with you," Christopher signs in response.
That's all it takes to have two little kids hitting him with pleading puppy eyes. “Can he, can he?”
Eddie shares a look with Chimney, who shrugs. “Sure, why not,” he says. “But we gotta go or we’ll be late for the present.”
“Alright, come on,” Eddie says to Christopher, hoping Maddie won’t be upset he’s there with them. He figures she won’t, if she’s okay with Eddie being there for whatever this is.
All the way down the steps, she interrogates them, asking if they know anything. Eddie tries not to laugh as Chimney, who clearly does know something , mimes zipping his lips and throwing away the key.
“Tell me!” Mara begs, giggling.
“I can’t,” he says, shaking his head sadly. “I lost the key to my mouth. That secret is stuck up in here.” He knocks on his forehead, and Eddie thinks he’s about to keep up the bit, but then they spot Maddie in the doorway. She checks that Mara’s there, then gives a thumbs up. Chimney drops some of the joking and tells Mara, “Okay sweetie, your present’s here! Cover your eyes, we’ll tap you to let you know when you can look.”
She does, letting Chimney gently turn her to face the big double doors. Christopher follows her lead, both of them giggling excitedly and saying, “Tell us when, tell us when!”
Maddie steps back in, her phone up and filming. She walks backwards a few steps trying to get a good angle, and then once she finds it, calls out, “Come on in!”
A tall, blonde man appears in the doorway. The first thing Eddie notices about him is that he’s beautiful, with a strong jaw, slightly curling hair, and blue eyes that sweep around the room before landing on Mara and staying there.
(And he’s not just tall, he’s tall , as muscled as Eddie and the rest of the firefighters here are. Actually, probably a lot more than some.)
The second thing Eddie notices is his dress blues, which are adorned with medals and pins. Then there’s his posture, the kind of stiff back that everyone in the military learns. Eddie’s never been able to shake it off, himself.
This must be Buck, he realizes. Mara’s father. The only thing she asked for as a gift this year.
Eddie swallows back his emotions, not letting himself think about his own reunion a few years back, exhausted and in pain but desperate to see his family. Or how Christopher clung to him for days, scared to hurt his injured side but entirely unwilling to let go.
“Ready?” Maddie asks. Buck just nods, probably not wanting to ruin the surprise, though he’s far enough away she likely wouldn’t be able to hear him. “Okay, Chim, we’re ready!”
Chimney taps her shoulder since Maddie is just a bit out of range for her to hear, too. She drops her hands as soon as he does, and Christopher follows suit.
For a moment, there’s silence. Mara’s mouth drops open, her eyes welling up. Then Buck signs “hello”, and like a spell has been broken, Mara screams and runs at him. He crouches just in time to catch her, falling back from the force. “ Daddy ,” she cries, hugging him so tightly Eddie can see her fingers digging into the fabric of his suit.
He holds her close, rocking them gently. “I missed you so much,” he says into her hair, and Eddie has to blink hard, pulling Christopher into his side.
She pulls back just far enough to see his face. Eddie’s heart thumps seeing the tears on her cheeks; Buck wipes them away so softly. “Hi baby.”
She signs, “I told Aunt Maddie I wanted you here for Christmas but she said you couldn’t make it!”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, you did a good job!” She says, and though she’s obviously happy, she also sounds somewhat betrayed. All of the adults laugh. Mara whines and slumps over to hide her face in his chest.
Buck rubs her back soothingly, looking up and sharing an emotional smile with Maddie, who’s still filming everything and has to keep wiping away her own tears.
After a few moments, Buck shifts her so she can see his face again. “I wasn’t going to miss another Christmas with you,” he says, inserting some cheer into his voice. “We still have time to decorate the tree together, and your Aunt Maddie said she has stuff ready for a gingerbread competition in the morning.”
“We can?” Mara asks, eyes sparkling.
“Yeah, baby girl, we can. I’m home for good.”
She jolts, “Really? You are?”
Eddie can see how he tries to hide it from her, straightening his expression out into something meant to be lighthearted. But Eddie’s good at reading people, and he can see Buck’s hiding something under the surface. He can’t quite tell what it is, but he can imagine from his own homecoming.
“I am,” he says like a promise, pulling her back into a hug. Then, Buck stands up, not letting go of her as he does it. She’s holding on so tightly still that he doesn’t even try to set her down; instead, he hitches her up on his hip, unconcerned with his suit. As soon as they’re steady, Maddie swoops in to hug them both, and Eddie’s insides melt at the sight in front of him. He loves Mara and Maddie and it’s so nice to see them so happy, and having some idea of what Buck must be feeling, he knows how special this moment is. How touched he is to be able to witness it firsthand.
From upstairs comes a cheer—apparently, people were watching and now that Buck’s stood up, they shout kind words down to the newly reunited father and daughter. Buck beams, waving, even though Eddie’s pretty sure he doesn’t know anyone here. That doesn’t seem to matter, though, when he’s bouncing on his feet happily, holding Mara close.
Eddie nudges Chimney, teasing, “I’m surprised you managed to keep this secret.”
“It was important,” he explains, falsely imperious. Then he drops the act with a chuckle, “... And she only told me this afternoon.”
Eddie laughs, shaking his head at his friend, who claps him on the back before stepping over towards the three Buckleys.
Beside him, Christopher leans further into his side, tipping his head back against his stomach. “That’s Mara’s dad?”
“Yeah, buddy, it is. His name is Buck.”
Christopher pauses briefly to absorb this. Then he says, “He’s so tall . Is he taller than you?”
“Probably,” Eddie says, pretending to grudgingly admit it to make Christopher giggle. But after a moment, he “Maybe we should go back upstairs for now, okay? Let’s let Mara and Maddie have some time with Buck.”
“But I wanna meet him.”
“I bet we’ll be able to soon. Maybe not tonight, but you and Mara are gonna get to hang out in a few days, so if not today, you can meet him then.”
Christopher pouts a little, but accepts this, and lifts his arms so Eddie can carry him back upstairs. As soon as they are, he wiggles, so Eddie sets him down, watching him run off back to Harry and Denny to make sure he gets there okay. Hen and Karen are sitting nearby, so he goes to join them; once she sees him approaching, Karen lifts a bite of the crackers and cheese snack one of the other firefighters brought in questioningly. He takes it, waving hello as he stuffs it in his mouth, making an exaggerated yum noise.
Karen swats at him playfully. “Don’t be gross!”
He makes sure to swallow before he says, “I’m not!” He settles down on the arm of the couch, turning so he’s pointed more towards them both without actually putting his feet up on the seat.
“So, Eddie,” Hen says, leaning forward.
“Hen.”
“That’s one fine ass man, and you know I don’t say that lightly.”
“I do,” he says mildly, not taking the bait.
Karen pokes his knee a few times in support of her wife as Hen continues, “Did you know about all this?”
“That he was coming home tonight? Nope.” Eddie only manages to keep his face straight for a second as Hen’s expression changes to something of the bitch, please variety. “I didn’t!”
“Uh-huh. But did you know about…,” she waves her hand around, “all that?”
“Maddie has a few pictures of him up but I never really looked at them,” he shrugs.
Hen gives him a look like she doesn’t believe him, but doesn’t press further, though he’s under no illusions this will be the end of the subject. Karen steers the conversation towards how sweet the whole moment was, and Eddie follows gratefully, not wanting to admit that maybe he knows more about Buck than he’s willing to say.
It’s just, Maddie’s told him some things over the past few months. When they first discussed Mara’s father and he told Maddie he used to serve, it became another bonding point for them. Eddie’s reassured her more than once that something Buck had described to her about his time overseas was normal. He and Christopher even pitched in to a care package a while back.
So of course, he ended up hearing some things about the guy. Maddie has always described him as a good person, a great brother, and a wonderful father. Eddie knows he loves trivia and loves to share the things he learns with his sister, and he knows that Buck loves to travel and swim and can tend bar and a hundred other little tidbits.
(Apparently, Mara gets a lot of her personality from him, as well as the clumsiness. And the ADHD, which both kids still call “eighty-dee” even though Eddie knows they know how to say it right. Eddie pretends to be annoyed by it just to see them giggle with each other, proud of themselves to be playing a joke on him.)
But if Hen knew that he knows all of this? The teasing would probably never end. So he just listens to Karen coo about how cute Mara is, periodically checking on the boys as he does it.
When the three Buckleys come upstairs, Eddie watches as Buck asks Mara, “Do you want to go play with your friends again?”
“No,” she replies immediately, tightening her hold around him. “I wanna stay with you.”
Right in front of his eyes, Buck melts. He kisses her forehead and doesn’t even try to set her down, though he does take a few steps towards the other kids. Eddie watches as he approaches, giving Hen, Karen and Eddie a friendly smile as he passes them by. When he gets to the circle of boys, he asks, “Which one of you is Chris?”
Surprised, Christopher says, “Me?” at the same time Mara points at him, “That’s Chris!”
Buck sits then, so the kids don’t have to crane their necks quite so far, and Mara squeaks at the movement, her ponytail swinging. Buck readjusts her in his lap, then reaches out a hand to Christopher, who takes it hesitantly and giggles when Buck shakes it seriously. “It’s an honor to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from Mara here.”
Christopher lights up. “You have?”
“Heck yeah I have,” Buck says.
“My best friend,” Mara signs, her index and middle fingers crossed as she pulls her hand down and out from her mouth. Her smile is adorably wide, mirrored in Buck and Christopher’s faces.
Eddie melts at the way his son bounces happily, probably wanting to hug her but also knowing he shouldn’t throw himself in Buck’s, a stranger, lap. Not without asking, at least.
He can’t help but get lost in watching Buck interact with the four kids. He’s clearly great with them, not speaking over or excluding any of them while also treating them like they’re real people, which is something an unfortunate amount of adults don’t bother to do. He sort of tunes out until suddenly, all five of them are looking his way.
Straightening, and ignoring the amused looks Hen and Karen are sending his way, he stands up and waves.
Buck slides Mara off of his lap, signing a reassuring, “I’ll be right back.” She pouts but lets him go.
Without thinking, they approach each other, thankfully not quite in earshot of any of their friends or children if they talk quietly. “Hey, you’re Eddie, right?” Buck asks, leaning back against the wall. “I’m Buck.”
“I am,” Eddie nods, trying not to notice the width of Buck’s shoulders or the blue of his eyes or how damn pretty his eyelashes are. Eyelashes , god, he’s like a teenager with a crush. “Maddie’s told me a little bit about you, it’s good to put a face to the name.”
He cringes, and somehow, even an expression like that is enough to have Eddie’s palms sweating. “Oh god, she probably told you nothing good. You’re lucky, everything she’s told me about you has been like, a glowing recommendation.” Explaining, “I mean, at first you were just Mara’s best friend’s dad but then you guys became friends and she told me about how you had to keep reassuring her about stuff. Thank you for that, by the way.”
He shrugs, telling him sincerely, “You don’t have to thank me. She’s my friend, I’m happy to help however she needs.”
Buck’s smile loosens up into something Eddie would almost call a touch flirty. “I thought you might say that. You know you sound like Superman right?”
“Is that a bad thing?” Eddie asks, leaning in slightly without realizing it.
“Well, I wouldn’t say so,” Buck ponders. His cheeks are pink in the cozy light. “Just makes you seem even more perfect, I guess.”
Eddie inhales softly. It takes him a moment to get his tongue to work to ask, “Maddie’s been trying to matchmake us, hasn’t she?”
“Uh, yeah. I didn’t realize it until like, last month, but I’m pretty sure she has been.”
“Oh. That explains… a lot, actually,” he huffs out a laugh.
“Right?” Buck shakes his head. “Okay, feel free to say no, but… I wanna get to know the dad of my daughter’s best friend a little better. Would you maybe want to go get coffee sometime? It can be a friendly thing or… or not, whatever works.”
Eddie wasn’t sure, before, how he felt about moving on. Things were so messy and have been so confusing in the past nine months but he thinks maybe he is ready to try, at least. His smile is slow but genuine when he says, “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”