One Last Time

1

Bobby

"It'll be fun, Bobby," Athena reassured him, rubbing her hands against his shoulders. Bobby took a deep breath, staring into his wife's optimistic eyes.

    "Right," he said, more confidently. 

    The couple walked into the 118 firehouse, practically a second home to Bobby, clasping their hands together. Bobby smiled gently at Chimney who wiped down the side of the fire engine.

    "Heya, Cap," Chimney greeted with his familiar smile. Athena urged Chimney to follow them with a quick hand signal.

    Buck loped down the firehouse stairs, wearing jeans and –expectedly– running around shirtless. Bobby closed his eyes. He was constantly cutting a little slack for the young, reckless firefighter. Yet, this firefighter wasn't as "young" now, however, the reckless part hadn't changed much.

    Buck smiled brightly, "Oh hey Bobby!" He chimed so innocently. He squeezed past Bobby, towards the changing rooms. Bobby couldn't get the image of a full-grown, playful, golden retriever out of his head.

    Before Buck escaped, Bobby cleared his throat. "Could everyone come here for a sec?" Athena nodded with encouragement. Chimney's glances bounced between Athena and him.

    Eddie and Hen sauntered in, dressed in full uniform. Buck quickly spun around to join the rest of them. Bobby noticed Eddie's eyes quickly flutter to the ground. He'd always suspected they had something deeper than this unbreakable brother bond. God, maybe he was just imagining it. He needed a vacation.

"Um... so what's going on? Cap?" Hen asked politely. Athena was trying to hide the load of excitement trapped in her chest.

Bobby shifted his weight from his left foot to his right. "As you all know, Athena and I's last vacation wasn't very... relaxing." He turned to Chimney who snickered in the background. "And, Chimney, I mean you got married!" A little round of applause echoed throughout the firehouse. "So that is why I'm thinking all of us could use a little getaway."

Everyone murmured in agreement.

Buck's eyebrows furrowed with excitement. His face lit up, again, like a golden retriever hearing the word "walk".

"No way! We're going on a cruise?" he announced loudly.

Bobby gently slapped his forehead.

Athena gracefully interrupted, "Oh I think I've had my fair share of cruise experiences." Buck tilted his head to one side. "We're going on a road trip!" she exclaimed loudly.

Concerned, Eddie uttered, "Wait, who's going to watch the firehouse while we are all gone?"

"Don't worry about that, I've talked to Ravi and some other guys at some other houses. They and the next shift have an agreement worked out," Bobby assured.

Hen smiled gently, "This is going to be great! Where are we headed?"

Athena linked arms with Hen and smiled incredulously. "That, my friend, is a surprise. Bring your winter gear though." Athena turned to Chimney, "And Maddie is more than welcome to come."

Chimney nods, "Great, I'll have to find a babysitter for Jee though."

Eddie opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself before the words flew out of his mouth. His expression dropped and he looked at the ground once again. Bobby felt guilt in his chest like he should do something to comfort Eddie after his pre-teen son, Christopher, left to live with Eddie's grandparents. It was a dramatic situation involving a mishap with some girls Eddie had been seeing, yet Bobby knew that Eddie craved the thought of his son returning home.

"This will be good for all of us," Bobby confirmed. Everyone nodded in agreement, with even Eddie giving a sanguine nod of approval.