Lone Star Family Values

Chapter 34

Hello LA

            Bailey woke up the next morning feeling 100% better than she had the night before. She was excited but understandably nervous to meet up with the 118 for lunch. Carlos had gotten up and picked up the rental car relatively early. Now, they were driving through downtown LA with both Carlos and TK looking from the directions on their phones to the various street names around them.

"Are you sure we didn't miss it?" Carlos asked.

"No, it should be the next one," TK said. "Yeah, look it's this one. Turn here."

Fifteen minutes later they were pulling up in the visitor parking lot next to Firehouse 118.

"Hello!" TK called, as they stepped through the front garage doors.

He looked up toward the loft where he saw several heads pop up over the railing.

"Hey TK." Buck called with a smile.

Carlos smiled and waved at the members of the 118. Bailey was standing part way behind her fathers and shyly smiled.

"Come on upstairs guys, lunch is almost ready." Bobby called.

The small family made their way up the steps to the loft and greeted their friends.

"Bailey, it is lovely to meet you." Hen said.

"Hi," Bailey said. "Thanks for helping me last night everybody."

Bobby waved off the statement.

"While you are very welcome it was no problem at all. We were happy to help and are very happy that you are better," He said. "Now let's eat."

The tension visibly left Bailey's shoulders and she relaxed into one of the chairs at the table as the food was passed around.

✵✵✵

TK, Carlos, and Eddie all sat and watched as Buck taught Bailey and Christopher how to beat the arcade game on the loft of the 118 firehouse. TK had seen the connection between the two men back during the San Andreas fire and since then it had only seemed to grow.

"So, when you gonna ask him Diaz?" TK asked taking a sip of his water.

Eddie seemed to snap out of his daze and flicked his eyes over to TK.

"Sorry?" He asked.

Carlos looked over at his boyfriend and chuckled, he'd also caught on rather quickly to the simmering connection between Buck and Eddie, even if had seemed to be placed on the back burner.

"Buck, when are you gonna ask him?" TK prompted again.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Eddie said shaking his head.

"Sure you don't." Carlos said with a nod.

Eddie shook his head again.

"We're really good friends, that's all," He said. "And I may have given him parental rights over Christopher if anything were to ever happen to me but I mean he's so great with him. Christopher doesn't see him as one of his dad's friends he sees him as a father figure and I really appreciate that. I mean how many people are you gonna find that accepts your kid practically as their own so soon after meeting them? And his connection with Chris is undeniable I mean he would do anything for him. You know Buck was so terrified that after the tsunami I wasn't going to let him see Chris anymore but I couldn't do that to him," Eddie took a breath. "To either of them."