Chosen Family (Buddie)

Chapter 2

Maddie is now holding baby Quinton since Jee-Yen are with Phillip and Margaret, who are in town until after Maddie and Chim get married. Chim is flipping through the channels, trying not to interrupt Maddie and Buck. Buck might be that annoying little brother, but Chim still sees him as a brother, and he knows his brother needs Maddie.

"Why did they even ask you to donate if they didn't want to be parents?" Maddie asks.

"They did..." Buck shrugs. "Or they thought they did. Then he was born. On my couch. Oh, my God, I haven't called Natalia to tell her. She almost didn't come back when Kameron came over after fighting with Conor, pregnant."

"She can't even handle you and your life, Evan," Maddie says firmly. "I will tell you now and multiple times: I do not like Natalia Dollenmeyer for you."

"What's his name?" Chim asks.

"Quinton Davian Buckley," Buck replies. "Kameron and Conor choice Quinton Davian. I gave him my last name. He's... he's mine."

"He looks just like you when you were born," Maddie says. "Birthmark, the eyes, blonde hair." She looks at Buck. "Does Eddie know?"

"He's been busy with Marisol lately," Buck says. "I haven't really heard from him. I'll talk to Chris during online gaming. He says that Marisol is better than Ana, but he's not 100-% Marisol like Eddie seems to be." He smiles as Maddie passes him the baby back. "I'll be fine. I'll call Bobby in two weeks and tell him about Quinton, see if I can get some time off."

"That's a good idea," Maddie says. "Mom and Dad are still at the house."

"I'm just gonna go home and see if I can baby proof or if I have to move," Buck says. "Heal up, Chim."

"Hey, thanks for getting me out of there, Buckley," Chim says to him. He's going to be eternally grateful.

"Someone had to take over with Ravi's help," Buck says. "Everyone else was down."

"You really stepped up, Buck," Chim says. "You did good. Cap noticed that. Remember, he noticed how good you did when you had to step up."

Buck blushes at the compliment and he leaves.
******

Natalia is stunned. Buck comes back home the next day with a baby. She watches as he feeds Quinton a bottle on the new couch that the couple bought after Kameron gave birth to Quinton.

"Buck..." Kameron sighs. "I can handle a lot, but I don't think I can handle this. I don't want children."

"If you don't want Quinton, Nat, then you can leave," Buck says and Natalia's eyes widen. "He's not going anywhere."

"I'm not choosing this life, Buck, so I'm sorry, we're over," Natalia says. She grabs her purse and she leaves without even a second glance.

"We don't need her, do we?" Buck mewls. He tries Eddie again on the phone but he doesn't answer.
*******

"You know, you can answer him, right?" Marisol asks Eddie as she falls beside him, panting.

"And interrupt what we were doing?" Eddie smirks. "No way. I'll call him back."

"You always say that, but you never do," Marisol replies. "Christopher says they play online video games together still."

"Of course he does," Eddie muses, smiling fondly. "Buck and Christopher love each other."

Marisol smiles a little. "Then don't keep them apart just because you and I are getting along good," she says. "Let Christopher keep his bond with Buck. I'm not looking to replace him or his mom."

Eddie huffs. "I don't think anyone could replace Buck in Christopher's mind," he muses. "That's how much Buck means to him."
******

"This is home, little man," Buck says to Quinton. "We'll have to find something safer when you start crawling, but we have a few months to find something if I start the search now." Buck sighs in realization as he thinks. "We'll co-sleep until I can get you a crib. We'll make it."

Buck carries Quinton to the kitchen and bathes him.