Dandelions

Christopher Diaz

"Tía Pepa!" Christopher exclaimed as he and his dad visited her house for lunch.

"Christopher!" Pepa laughed, hugging her grand-nephew warmly. "How are you, mi niño (my boy)? And what's new?"

"I'm a big brother!" Chris beamed.

His dad and Buck had explained to Chris what had happened, how Elle had lost her mom in a car accident... like Chris had. He had been sad for Elle and worried. Chris had Buck and his dad when his mom had died, but Elle was all alone.

Buck had then explained that Elle would be staying with him, that she would be his daughter. Now Chris worried that Buck wouldn't have time to spend with him now that he had his own daughter.

However, Buck took Chris and his dad to look for a house. Chris had his own bedroom. And he even helped to decorate Elle's nursery! Buck named Chris Elle's big brother! Chris had always wanted siblings, and now he had a little sister just like Bucky. Everything was perfect!

Pepa stared at Chris in shock, before turning to Eddie in disbelief. "¿Marisol está embarazada? (Marisol is pregnant?)"

"What? No!" Eddie exclaimed. "Marisol... we broke up," Eddie carefully corrected, looking at his son carefully. "The baby is Buck's."

"Evanito?" Pepa looked even more surprised at that. Which, ouch! But Eddie found it fair, he did get Shannon pregnant right out of high school. "Is the mother that girl he was seeing? Natasha something?"

"No," Eddie all but growled. "It's Natalia, not Natasha." Eddie sighed before looking at his son with a small smile. "Mijo, why don't you go and sit by the table while I talk with Tía Pepa?"

Chris sighed, knowing that adults wanted to talk about something they did not want him to hear. It was silly, he was almost an adult now! Still, Chris conceded and left them alone.

Chris frowned as he heard their whispering pick up as he walked away. This was one of the reasons Chris liked Buck so much. Buck always answered any question Chris had and explained what he did not understand. Buck always treated Chris as his equal.

They were best friends. While Pepa and his dad were being boring people, Chris was having fun thinking about how to decorate his new bedroom at Buck's home.

Buck and Chris had found the perfect carpet, with the coolest shade of forest green. They had the idea of carpeting the floor so it would look like grass, or the ground of a forest or something similar. The walls will be painted as a mural of a jungle, with many wild animals.

Chris couldn't wait to see it! Buck's art student friend did an amazing job with Elle's nursery mural. Chris was also excited for the gaming/study nook Buck had promised him. A desk, with a gamer's chair, and shelves and storage for games and books.

His new bedroom will be so cool! All Chris had to do now was wait. Buck will be busy being a kickass lieutenant and raising Elle. But Buck had promised that he would create time just for Chris, and Buck did not break his promises.

Chris knew that Buck would most likely leave Elle with his dad, just like Chris' dad's first choice as a babysitter was Buck. They would then go and have a boys' day out like they used to. Because as much as Chris loves being an older brother, he loves his Bucky time just as much.

Just as Chris was daydreaming about his Chris and Bucky day, his dad and aunt came rushing in. The two of them were clutching their phones with a look of panic in their eyes. Before Chris could even open his mouth to ask what's wrong, his dad had already turned on the TV.

A redhead male reporter, wearing a suit appeared on the screen. Chris noted that he wore a grim expression and as he opened his mouth to speak, the young boy soon realized why. "Good evening, and welcome to a special report on today's tragic events. We bring you live coverage of a horrifying incident at sea, as a luxury cruise liner was hijacked and subsequently met its demise in the fury of a hurricane off the Mexican coastline."