The Family We Choose

Chapter 1

As Emelia stumbled through her front door, she dropped her bag at her feet and called out to see if anyone was home. No answer told her that she was in fact home alone. Meaning Christopher was still at Abuela's and Eddie had to be on shift.

He promised to be more clear about his shifts once they got to their new place but with the stress of the move and the never ending adjustment that followed, she couldn't really blame him for slacking. Plus it was his first shift as a firefighter which was crazy enough on it's own.

So instead she rolled her shoulders and took in the blissful quiet for as long as she could before chaos would inevitably erupt when both her boys came home.

That was the only downside to this whole move, besides missing Eddie's parents so much and the whole thing with her own mother abandoning her, it was good for them. The constant go go go could be very overwhelming but she was starting to feel like she had a family again. Something that she had been missing for a while now.

Despite the heavy weights that were sitting at the door in the form of hours of homework, Emelia sat down on the couch and pulled out her phone. Spending the next few hours scrolling through the phone and falling down a very deep fanfiction rabbit hole until the door swung open and in came that family she was so desperate to hold onto.

Smiling from her spot on the couch, Chris rounded the couch to lay a big hug to her leg.

"Hey Chris." She ruffled his hair and lifted him onto the couch beside her. Eddie passed by her quickly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before rushing to the kitchen.

Emelia looked at him questioningly but was easily distracted by Chris' daily rundown of his day. His school situation was still a little hazy as they looked for a school that offered him the extra supports he needed. Leaving him at Abuela's every day while Eddie figured that out.

From his new show he was watching to cooking with Abuela, a series of stories exploded from his lips that she was sure Eddie already had the pleasure of hearing. It wasn't long before he tired himself out and was occupying himself with a colouring book.

She followed the sound of clanging pots and pans to the kitchen to find a frazzled Eddie, shuffling through all the dishes.

"Need any help?" She asked softly, seeing clearly that this wasn't just about misplaced kitchen items.

"I could have sworn I bought a bigger pan than this." He groaned, holding up the little egg pan like it had offended him.

"Dishwasher." Emelia smiled, pointing to the machine in question.

"Thank you," he held up his hands in praise and turned to grab the item.

"So how was your first shift?"

Eddie groaned in response, busying himself with whatever he was trying to cook. Something that involved chicken and tortillas.

"That bad?" She pressed, circling the counter to lend a hand.

"No, it was good actually. But there's just this one guy. Buck." He paused his hands to look at Emelia, using that smile of hers to ground himself.

"Want me to rough him up?" She teased, elbowing him in the stomach.

"Maybe." Emelia raised an eyebrow at his response.

"Is he bothering you or something?" Concerned laced her words. Nervous that this would mean another move or Eddie going to a job that he hated everyday.

"No, he's just a little harder to... connect with. It's going to take a while for him to come around on me."

"Look how long it took for me to like you." She teased with a bright smile. And if not for that bright smile, Emelia would have wound up on the ground in laughter.

"How was your first day at school?" The topic changed and so did the speed of her heart beat. Being the new kid sucks in itself but being the new kid in LA from Texas of all places was worse.

"Fine." She lied, smile fading in a way that Eddie caught. "It's school Eddie, it's the same with Buck. They just need some time getting used to me."

She brushed it off easily, something she learned from her mom.

"Need me to rough anyone up?" He laid a hand on her shoulder, doing his best to lighten the mood.

"Maybe." She winked. The topic seemingly buried deep between all her other issues. Making her graceful exit, Emelia left Eddie to destroy the kitchen and finally get to that homework that's been taunting her all evening.

—

Eddie was late coming home from his next shift too, something else he promised he would work on but low and behold. Here Emelia was crashing on the couch with Chris fast asleep in the next room.

Abuela went home hours ago and Emelia got comfortable on the couch waiting for Eddie to get home.

Ever since she heard about the new job at the fire station, she had been on edge. Nervous that he wouldn't make it home at night and she would be all alone again.

But that wasn't the case.

At least that's what she was working on drilling into the brain when she dozed off waiting for him to come through the door.

It was weird having the sporadic shift, none of which seemed to line up where they needed to be. She knew it would get easier with time.

Just more of that adjusting she had been doing for so long now.

Nonetheless, Eddie quietly opened the door around 1 am that Friday night. Welcomed by the small snores coming from Emelia's sleeping form.

He couldn't help but smile at her, he cursed himself for missing out on so much of her life. The promise he made to Chris was being held right next to his heart for her too. The biological may not see it but his heart does. He contemplated carrying her bed, like he did all those times when she was much much littler. But his stare drilling a hole into the side of her head caused Emelia to groan as her eyes fluttered open.

"Mom?" She muttered, wiping the sleep from her eyes before her heart stopped as she realized the word that had just left her mouth.

She shot up, terrified of her own voice. Eddie took a seat next to her. Resting a hand on her knee, she let her body calm down.

"Are you..." she cut him off, not wanting to get into this at 1 am. "How's Buck?"

Eddie chuckled, laying back to relax on the cushions. Letting this little mix up go for a minute.

"He came around," he closed his eyes, his head lolling back over the back of the couch. "After we almost blew up."

"What?" Panic laced her word, eyes darting to meet his equally startled gaze.

"Nothing," he promised and something in the tone of his voice made her believe him. "All that matters is that everyone made it out alive."

She nodded her head slowly, letting her own body melt back into the couch. There was a certain sparkle in the way his eyes lit up at the mention of this Buck. Part of her was grateful that that side of him was slowly coming back, the other was hell bent on protecting him.

"You hungry?" He asked after a moment of silence and a growl of her stomach.

"Not for your cooking," she bit back, a little revenge for the whole blowing up scare.

"Are you a comedian now?" He flicked her ear and got up to make her some food anyway, even though it was 1 am and she had supper hours ago.

Eddie tucked away the whole mom comment for another time, understanding that she too needed some time to process that information.

They envied Chris, wishing that they could be less hurt and more oblivious to the reason why she left. Sure Eddie left too but he came back. And he wasn't her mom. It was becoming harder and harder to let her feelings out about her mother. The more she thought the more it hurt and the more she felt like her life was spinning out of control at an alarming rate.

Even when she was only a few miles away, it didn't make it any less easier that they were currently chasing her.

Timing is everything, she guessed.