Falling For the Firefighter - Evan Buckley

Chapter 42: casual day

Kisses

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--Erica's POV--
"So, where's the ring?" Mickey asks as I push Lydia into the stroller. I nudge her side and she laughs as we walk through the park.

"It was a spontaneous thing. He could give me a ring pop and I'd still marry him," I tell her.

"That's wild. Marriage is so final," she says trailing off at the end.

"Do you want to get married?" I ask. She turns to look at me with a big smile.

"I thought you'd never ask," she jokes taking my hand. I pull away laughing and ask again, "I've never really thought about it that much. I don't think that's my kind of thing," she says shrugging her shoulder.

"Any new guys you haven't told me about?" I ask.

"Nope, I've been all work recently. I wish I had something interesting going on in my life," she says with a small smile.

"Come on there has to be something," I point out.

"Ummm not really. Danny and I go to bars when we aren't at work," she tells me, "he misses you by the way," she says. She sees me grow silent and nods her head in understanding.

My phone starts vibrating in my pocket and I quickly grab it seeing it's Buck, "Hey....had a small break from work and thought I would check in," he says making me smile.

"We are taking advantage of this beautiful day and taking a walk in the park," I tell him.

"I wish I was there," he whispers, "maybe I can get off the rest of my shift," he says making me laugh.

"You have a couple of hours left. We will be waiting at home for you," I tell him. He sighs when the alarm goes off in the background and says he loves us before hanging up. I stop pushing the stroller for a second and take a cute picture of Lydia snuggled up with her bunny stuffed animal. I get back a picture back of Bobby and Hen back.

Mickey laughs when she sees the picture before I put the phone away, "I'm so excited to go home and take a nap. I feel like I'm either drunk or working," Mickey says adjusting her glasses on her face.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I'll probably head back to the apartment soon anyways," I tell her. She gives me a skeptical look before giving me a quick hug. I don't think I've ever seen her move so quickly, "Looks like it's just us little girl," I whisper covering the front of the stroller from the sun. As we finish the last lap around the park I hear sirens coming down the street. I watch as another stations fire truck barrels down the street and smile thinking about Buck. I probably look like a psycho smiling at a truck going to fight a fire but it's fine.

I see a toy shop across the street and wait to cross before walking over. I open the door and look around finding a little fire dog wearing a helmet. I immediately place it on top of the stroller and continue walking around seeing the cutest stuffed animals.

"Finding everything okay?" A woman asks as I walk to the front. We make small talk and I put the stuffed animal in the bottom of the crib before starting my walk home.

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"Honey I'm home," Buck yells as he walks in. I tell him to hush and he covers his mouth when he sees Lydia in my arms. He walks over and looks at her sleeping face which has both a smile and a frown, "Hey beautiful," he whispers giving me a quick kiss. I smile as I walk to her room to put her down for bed. I walk back out and see Buck washing his hands at the kitchen sink.

"How come you're back so late?" I ask taking the towel off my shoulder. He looks annoyed and I sit down prepared for a fun story. He starts talking and walks into the bedroom to change and I follow behind him intrigued by his demeanor.

"This woman is famous for trying to collect insurance money. She's been "run over" and all this other shit. I don't know how she keeps escaping jail but today she managed to set her apartment on fire. She was trying to collect money for a necklace that was clearly fake," he tells me. He sees my face and nods his head, "I know, crazy right? But I'm home and I'm ready to go to bed," he says sounding exhausted.

He lays down on the bed with his pants half unzipped and he sees the look on my face, "what?" He asks, "please tell me we don't have plans," he says sounding desperate.

"We had plans to get dinner with Maddie and Chim tonight," I tell him, "we asked Carla to watch Lydia for us," I tell him as he sits up in his spot at the end of the bed. I grab my phone from the dresser and show him the calendar, "I can reschedule if you want. Chimney probably feels the same way," I point out. He pulls me onto his lap and rests his head on my shoulder.

"It's fine. I just need an hour to sleep and I'll be good to go. But be prepared for a lot of questions about the engagement," he says laying down with me on top of him.

"I have to finish the dishes and Maddie has texted me at least 30 times about it," I whisper as I wrap my arms around him.

"You can do them later. Lydia's napping therefore we should take this opportunity to catch up on sleep," he tells me. I nod my head knowing he's right. I think between the late-night feedings and random crying fits at night we are way overdue for some rest. He lets me up for a second to set an alarm and accepts me back with open arms.