Timeless

Chapter 5: Eddie

Eddie sat in a folding chair in the courtyard of the fire academy with Chris on his lap. He watched Evan stand with his class and be honored by their instructors. He met Evan's eyes, smiling at him. He was so proud of his boyfriend. Evan had been working so hard and he was ready to be the hero that he wanted to be.

After the ceremony, the class was able to come down and be with their families and socialize. Evan came running up to Eddie, bringing him and Chris into a hug. Eddie could hear Chris giggling, happy that his Papa was with him again.

That was something that started recently. When the paperwork was signed and Evan was Christopher's legal guardian, they had the conversation about what Chris would grow up calling Evan. Evan was insistent that Chris could call him Buck but Eddie refused.

"You are just as much his father as I am, Ev. You have stepped up in ways that I genuinely cannot thank you enough for. You have loved him from day one. You are his father. One day we'll make that official."

Evan had cried at that, falling into Eddie's chest. Eddie knew Evan never got told how much he mattered growing up. He knew that his boyfriend had tried time and time again for validation and love from his parents all to come up short. He wanted to give that to him. He wanted Evan to know how much he meant to both him and Chris, how much he mattered to them.

"I'm so proud of you, my love. You are absolutely amazing," Eddie said, kissing Evan on the cheek.

"Thank you, Eds. I'm so glad you're here," Evan said, blushing.

"Buck, aren't you gonna introduce me?" Eddie heard a voice coming from behind them. He didn't think he would ever get used to Evan's nickname

A man from Evan's class approached them. Eddie recognized him from pictures that Evan had shown him.

"Carter," Evan smiled, his arm staying around Eddie's shoulders. "This is Eddie and Chris. Guys this is Carter, the one that made this place a little more bearable."

"Oh shut up," Carter laughed, holding out a hand to Eddie. "It's so nice to finally meet you. Buck never stops talking about you guys."

"It's nice to meet you too," Eddie said, shaking Carter's hand.

"And you are even cuter in person," Carter gushed at Christopher.

"Isn't he?" Evan smiled, holding Christopher's little hand in his.

They sat down at the table, Evan sitting so close to Eddie that he was basically on top of him, not that Eddie minded at all. They talked for a while. Eddie and Carter got to know each other, they talked about the move that Evan was about to make, and about Eddie getting deployed.

"So when do you ship out?" Carter asked.

"Tomorrow night," Eddie said. He didn't really want to think about leaving. He knew that Evan didn't either. He knew Evan was trying to hide what he was feeling, trying to be strong for both Eddie and Chris, but Eddie didn't want him to hide from him. He wanted Evan to let out everything that he was feeling. If he held it in until Eddie left, he was going to completely break. And Eddie couldn't handle that.

Eddie guessed that Carter could see how Evan was feeling too and decided to change the topic.

"You better keep in touch, Buckley. I expect updates on all the crazy shit you get up to in California."

"You know I will," Evan laughed, his smile finally appearing on his face again. "You may hear from the news before you hear from me."

Eddie just shook his head. He knew that Evan would be careful. He promised that he would be when they found out Eddie was getting deployed. He knew that he had to be there for Chris. But Eddie knew that there was no stopping Evan from helping people, no matter how dangerous of a situation it may be.