Lost and Found || Buddie

Chapter 23

Eddie was still shocked that Shannon had gotten on the same flight and flew to El Paso with him, to talk about things and see Christopher. He almost told her no, to get lost, that she was the one who left but she was Christopher's mom, he wouldn't have been doing anyone any favors by keeping her from him if she wanted to be in his life again. Of course, his parents had everything to say about that, but he wasn't listening to them, too busy getting last minute packing done for their move.

"I still think you should leave Christopher with us." Ramon tells his son, lifting a box and following Eddie out of the apartment to load the U-Haul trailer that he had attached to the back of his Truck. He and Chris didn't have too much to take with them so he figured it would all fit in the trailer and in the bed of the truck. "He's too young to have his life uprooted Edmundo."

Eddie just groans, setting his box down a little too hard before looking at his father. "Absolutely not. Chris is coming with me, and he'll be able to be with Shannon every other weekend. Christopher deserves to have his mother around; I don't care what you and mom think." And before Ramon could protest Eddie speaks again. "Actually, you can just leave. I'll come pick Christopher up from yours when I'm finished. I'm not going to have the same argument with you over and over again."

Ramon places his hands on his hips and shakes his head looking at his son. Eddie hated the way his father looked at him, like he was a huge disappointment. "You're doing the wrong thing Edmundo; all of this is just going to damage the child. Shannon's just going to leave you again."

"She's not going to leave me; we're not getting back together. She's not going to leave Chris again either. You know what? I'm not explaining any of this to you, you just don't understand." Eddie sighs heavily and runs a hand through his hair. He was more than stressed out at the moment and he wished Buck was here to calm him down. "Chris and I will come visit and you and mom are more than welcome to call and talk to him whenever you want, I won't be keeping him from you. But if you'll excuse me, I have to finish packing up the U-Haul so Chris and I can leave tomorrow morning."

Ramon sighs and just nods his head before walking away from his son, doing as he was told and leaving.

Eddie lets out a breath and thinks about calling Buck but decided against it. Buck had no idea Eddie and Christopher were heading out in the morning, the younger man thought it was going to be another couple of days at least. But Eddie wanted to surprise him, knowing he wouldn't be expecting it at all. So instead of calling, the man continued to work hard at packing up the U-Haul before he had to go get Chris from his day at his grandparents.

---

The trip was only supposed to take about twelve hours but instead it took a bit longer than that, having to stop so Christopher could stretch his legs or use the bathroom, so they could grab something to eat. Eddie even stopped at a hotel so they could get some sleep before finishing the drive to LA. He regretted not taking his moms suggestion, leaving Christopher in El Paso while he drove to LA and then flew back to El Paso to fly with Chris, but he wouldn't ever tell his parents that.

"Are we almost there?" Eddie hears Christopher whine in the backseat. "I want to see Buck and Maddie."

The man laughs softly and glances at his son before looking back at the road. "We're actually here buddy. Buck has a shift today so we're surprising him at work. Dad pulled some strings." He says as they pull into a lot of the station that Buck worked at.

Christopher squealed in delight. "He doesn't know we're coming?" He questioned and Eddie just shook his head as he turned the truck off and climbed out, getting his son out of the backseat of the truck. He's not sure how he did it, but he had timed it perfectly, arriving close to the time that Buck's shift was about to end so he could leave with them.

"Now we've got to be quiet." Eddie whispers as he leads his son into the firehouse, immediately spotting Chimney who he had been keeping in touch with the last couple of days. "Is he upstairs?" He asks and the man just nods, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, he's moping because he hasn't heard from you yet today." Chimney laughs and shakes his head. Buck had complained all day that Eddie hadn't texted him and that he hadn't picked up his phone when he had called, but the others couldn't be annoyed as they all knew why Eddie wasn't picking up. "Go on up, Christopher and I will meet you up there." He says as the boy was enamored with the trucks once again.

"Thank you Chim. I was told you were horrible at keeping secrets, but I guess you're not." Eddie says.

"I'm not. Don't tell me anything ever again." And Eddie laughs at that as he slowly makes his way up the steps to the loft. As he made it to the top he looked around and noticed Buck had his back towards the table, it looked like he was pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Bobby spotted him first, giving a knowing look before gesturing for him to sit down. "Hey Buck, could you bring another cup of coffee over to the table?" He says as Eddie sits down, just watching the man as he let out a disgruntled noise, almost like it was a bother to make another cup of coffee.

"Sure can cap." Buck answers and pulls out a mug from the cupboard and poured another cup. He picks up both, one in each hand and carefully carries them to the table, looking down the whole time so he didn't spill either one of them. He sets them down on the table before finally lifting his head, his eyes meeting brown ones instantly. Eddie was grateful Buck had set down the mugs before he spotted him, knowing there probably would have been a mess. "Eddie?" He asks, almost not believing that the man was in front of him.

Eddie stood up quickly and rounded the table, wrapping his arms around Buck, pulling him into a tight hug. "Surprise." He whispers into his ear, grinning when he feels Buck wrapping his arms around him in response.

And before Buck could ask where Christopher was, he heard a voice call from the steps. "Buck! Me and daddy came to surprise you. we moved early!" Everyone chuckled at that, Eddie letting Buck go so the man could pick Chris up, hugging him tightly.

"Good to see you kiddo!" Hen called from where she was sitting on the couch, a game controller in her hand. "You too Eddie. Your boy here won't shut up about you. Now that you're here, maybe he will." She teases and Buck just blushes, setting Christopher down so the boy can go greet Hen and steal the controller off of her.

Buck stood there, taking in the fact that Eddie and Christopher were here, and he was beyond excited. "Hey Buck, there's a couple of minutes left of the shift." Bobby starts saying. "If you want, you can go ahead and leave, go help Eddie get things unpacked."

"And I'll take Christopher!" Maddie calls out as she walks up the steps. "We're going to go meet Shannon for dinner tonight, gives you two enough time to hopefully get the trailer unloaded and some alone time." She wiggles her eyebrows, laughing at herself.

Buck just rolls his eyes. "Thanks for that. I want to know how all of this was arranged without me knowing." He states. "But for right now, I'm just happy you're here." He looks at Eddie, almost whispering, reaching over to grab the other man's hand, not caring that the others were watching. He could finally breathe knowing that the last two people he loved the most in this world were right here, his family was complete. He couldn't help but be thankful.