Christmas Landing on Its Feet

Taylor Puts Her Foot Down, and Eddie Gets a Disappointing Birthday Present

After yet another night of Norman ignoring Buck's rules of not being allowed on the bed, Buck wakes up when his phone goes off.

It takes a moment before he finally opens his eyes, but then he's reaching for it, signing when he sees who's on the caller ID.

"Taylor...hey. What's up?"

"Bucky! Good morning! I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Yes. "No, not at all. My shift isn't till later." Buck lies, and of course Norman has to meow right at that second, a judgemental look on his face.

"Please tell me I didn't just hear that cat. It doesn't sleep with you, does it?"

Buck looks down where the smug little bastard's still laying on the bed, then says with a completely straight face, "Not in a million years."

Then he compromises, "Once or twice."

Then he caves altogether, "Yes."

"Buck! That's completely ridiculous! That's it. Come tomorrow, we're bringing it to my dad's pet supply store, and he'll take it off your hands to adopt it. It's that or a shelter. Your choice."

It's really not, but Buck can overlook that. For now.

"He's not really much of a bother to look after. All I really have to do is feed and look after him."

"And what if you wanna take off for Iceland on a romantic getaway to see the Northern Lights? Or go skiing in Aspen? Who's gonna look after it?"

Buck's taken by surprise at that, "You wanna go on a romantic getaway with me?"

He hears a scoff before she lies, "No...be serious. I don't particularly feel like freezing to death. I was talking hypothetically. And can you really see yourself walking around with a ball and chain?"

"I told my sister and her husband that I'd bring the guy to a charity event so they could meet him!" Eddie fills Hen in the next day, as they walk into class.

"Oh there's ways around that!" Hen's quick to say. "We still have a few weeks to figure something out. We just need to find you a date that's also a firefighter."

She sits in her seat, pulling her laptop open, and at the skeptical look Eddie's giving her, she says, "I'm gonna make you a dating profile for Kiss or Dismiss."

Eddie throws up his hands to try and stop her, "Nononononono, please don't do that."

Hen reminds him, "Do you want Sophie off your back or not?", and when Eddie doesn't argue, she adds, "Then make a profile. Go to a Kiss or Dismiss event. Get a date for the charity event, then shut down the profile after it's over."

Eddie's still not convinced, "I don't know about that..."

Hen's had enough, "Eddie, can you really tell me you'd be okay dying alone surrounded by animals and loneliness?"

Eddie doesn't argue, but he does tilt his head at the description.

Hen backpedals, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's just what my mom told me when I told her I was going to vet school."

Then she narrates, "Okay, easy start. Name: Eddie Diaz. Age: 31."

Eddie corrects her, "I'm 34."

Hen waves him off, "Ed, be serious. The 30s are the age where you can afford to shave a few years off without anyone noticing.", then asks, "Occupation?"

Seeing she's not going to back down, Eddie answers, "Med student and...pet store employee?" he winces at the last part, suddenly aware of how pathetic it sounds.