Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eddie feels a little weird about the whole situation, to be honest.

Abuela isn't able to drive anymore because of her hip, her age, her eyesight, and... okay, in retrospect, Abuela should not have been driving for a while, but nobody has ever been able to tell Isabel Diaz 'no' and not escape unscathed, so can you really blame a guy for wanting to put it off as long as he could?

Christopher's growing up so fast, getting to the age where he wants to do things, be involved in school activities, have sleepovers at a friend's house, perfectly normal things his son should absolutely be allowed to do. But now there's one less driver in the family and about a thousand errands he can't leave Pepa to do by herself every time he has a shift.

Except Eddie just can't find the time to do everything. He can't find the time to do anything. He works fifty, sometimes sixty or more hours a week, he has Christopher to take care of and provide for, a den to keep in order, and when Pepa had gone out of town last week, he'd had to add a hundred things to his to-do list. Which. It's fine, he handled it. He just hadn't slept all week is all.

Apparently adding even one more thing to Eddie's plate is enough to send the delicate house of cards that is his schedule crashing down. He'd managed to get Abuela all the things she needed from the store (only needing to go back three times for things he'd missed), but they'd missed a doctor's appointment when one of his shifts ran over (which he is still trying to reschedule and fight with Abuela's insurance now on top of Christopher's), and by the time Bobby catches him dozing off in the middle of the team dinner (sitting upright, which Chim had gleefully taken pictures of), he pulls Eddie aside for a talk.

So it's Bobby that suggests getting an Omega, but the thought makes Eddie flinch.

"I'm not like that," he says to Bobby carefully. "I can't just use my Alpha status to make someone take care of my house for me. I'm not just gonna go find an Omega and claim them as mine."

Frankly, the way some Alphas brag about having house Omegas has always settled like acid in his stomach. Some Alphas take Omegas even though they already have mates- for mating reasons, sometimes for breeding purposes, or status, or to prove that they have the means to care for so many Omegas on top of their mates. Nowadays that's mostly rich Alphas, but it's not unheard of.

Bobby looks horrified enough to assure Eddie that his captain isn't that kind of Alpha either.

Not that Eddie was really worried about that. No one could have married Athena if they had that kind of thinking, after all.

"Of course not!" Bobby is quick to say. "I wasn't suggesting-... I was thinking an Omega mate."

"I'm not exactly swimming in options, Bobby." Eddie reminds him. "I'm barely able to pick up Chris from daycare right now. I don't have the time to go prowling for mates of any kind."

"No," Bobby agrees with a small smile. "But there are other ways, you know. Omegas apply for arranged mating all the time. I bet you could find a suitable one if you looked- someone to be there to help with Christopher, maybe help out around the house and give you some company."

Huh. Arranged matings are a little old-fashioned for Alphas- something his grandparents did, but it's something he hadn't considered or even really thought about, but most Omegas consider it a safety net. If they can't find a mate on their own to bond to, many will just apply to the mate matching service to have one found for them.

It's not the worst idea, but it's not Eddie's first choice either. Filling out an application to find a mate seems a little impersonal. But then again, so do all those courting apps Chimney's been griping about, and he's not really interested in courting even if he did have the time for it.

But a mate, someone to share a bond with again, who would bond with Christopher as well, who he could trust fully, a partner to be there when he can't be... yeah. That's exactly what he needs.

The trouble is, even as an Alpha, what could he provide as a partner? He'd been a lousy one to Shannon.

Bobby gives him a steady look, one that pierces a little too deep for Eddie's liking when he asks. "Yourself, Eddie. A child to care for, which can be extremely important to Omegas- especially if they can't have one of their own. You own property, so you'd be giving them a den to call their own, and the safety of having an Alpha bonded to them."

"Hmm."

Bobby smiles, sliding a folder across the table. "Up to you,"

If he found a mate in an Omega, the Omega would be protective of Chris based on the mate bond alone. Most Omegas have protective instincts around any child, and a child of an Omega's Alpha would be high on their priority list. So Christopher would be protected by instinct alone, which could be a plus.

But instinct or not, not everyone is good with children. What if he picks an Omega that protects Christopher out of duty and nothing else? Would that do more damage in the long run? He wants someone else to love his son, to see past his CP or whatever status he winds up being. His parents had put far too much stock in how their children presented, and though they love Christopher there had been no hiding that small amount of disappointment when he'd been diagnosed with a physical disability that could potentially hamper an Alpha status.

Not that it mattered, at all. Eddie will love Christopher no matter what.

Is it so wrong that he wishes someone else would too?

So he takes the folder home with him, goes over the application after Christopher's in bed. Some of the questions feel overly personal, but he's mollified when he realizes he'll also be getting these answers from whoever he selects as well. It feels odd to find a picture of himself to send in with his medical records- including his most recent physical, complete with an STD screening. (required, he's relieved to note, which is another worry off his shoulders)

And he has to provide references.

What does that even mean? A list of his past mates? Work references? Personal? Who the hell would even know this stuff about him that he could even ask to do this?

He puts Bobby (because this entire thing is his fault), and after a moment of consideration, Hen, because they'll be the most honest about his shortcomings and accomplishments equally, figuring the professional and personal references from the two Alphas that know him best would be okay.

He doesn't expect much from the application he'd sent out as the weeks pass, despite Bobby and Hen's assurances that they gave him glowing reviews (whatever the hell that means). He's a war vet with PTSD (which he'd mentioned and included documentation about), a demanding job that keeps him away for days on end, a physically disabled son, a dead mate, and just by applying for an arranged mate he's practically admitted to already grasping at straws. No one, Beta or Omega, is going to want to take all that on, he's sure.

"The pile of applications on the table says otherwise." Chimney says, catching sight of the absolute mess that is Eddie's kitchen table when he arrives to watch the game. "Holy crap, dude."

Eddie hasn't been able to stop staring since he came home. He'd expected a response or two to his application, not... this. He can't even see his table under all the papers, files and ads spilling onto the floor. There's even a box under the table full of applications he's yet to go through.

What the hell had Bobby and Hen said?

"This is crazy," he says, running a hand through his hair. "They just started arriving yesterday, and more came today. How the hell am I supposed to go through all of these and pick someone?"

Chimney snaps his gum, considering. "Okay, well, maybe we can at least weed some people out. What do you not want?"

"No Omega women," Eddie blurts out, half panicked and more than a little overwhelmed. "I can't do more kids right now, and birth control for them is barely reliable."

Eddie wouldn't mind another kid per se... in the far future, when he has his feet under him a little more firmly. When he's got Christopher safe and set up and happy, maybe. But not when he's looking at arranged mating and already worn out and second-guessing the whole thing.

Oddly, his parents are pretty happy that he's even considering a new mate. They're a little too thrilled at the idea of an Omega looking after Christopher, citing it as very Alpha of you, son. He almost backs out right then and there, thinking of stereotypical Alphas that can't take care of their own dens, but in the end this is for Christopher.

And anyway, it's a little late to change his mind now.

Chimney crawls under the table to snag the empty box Eddie'd had dumped there earlier. "Omega men are kinda rare," the Beta says, voice muffled. "But they definitely use the service, right?"

"How would I know?"

"Well, I mean, it is the Omega mating service, so surely they do."

"This one's open to the public, not Omega exclusive." Eddie points out as Chim gets to his feet. "Some of these applications are from Betas. I didn't want to exclude them, I just..."

"Any gender preference there, then?"

"I guess so. I mean, Beta women can also get pregnant."

"Yeah, but the birth control methods are a little better." Chim shrugs, scooping the folders into the empty box in hopes of clearing enough space to sit down. "So they could still be an option if you wanted."

True, but better is not fool-proof, which is a lesson he's already learned, thanks. And... he wants someone else to put Christopher first, to be as devoted to the pup as he is, so he's hoping to find an Omega with strong protective instincts.

"Men only, or someone who can't have children," Eddie decides, belatedly realizing he could have specified that before he sent his application in. He hadn't given any thought to preferences beyond no Alphas and a requirement to be good with children. Is it too late to change that now? Is he going to keep getting more applications and files of Omega and Beta people searching for a mate regardless?

Turns out, yes. After his next 24 hour shift, he comes home to find two dozen more applications spilling out of his mailbox. Most are from women, all of whom can have children and openly state that they want to have more, so they go straight into the No pile.

Whether he meant to or not, Chim had made a good point about Omega men being rare. Out of the hundreds (there are hundreds, from all across the country) of applications that have poured in, only about a hundred of them are Omega men. Or maybe less common is the better word, but that's what Eddie wants, what he thinks will work best for him and his son.

Hopefully.

With a sigh, Eddie settles in to go through the options, the 118 pack gathered around him to idly flick through the selections and give him their two cents.

"What about this guy?" Hen shoves the file under his nose. "He's plain looking, but he's got decent references, Omega, helps take care of his little siblings. I think you could do better, but not bad."

"Eh... Maybe pile."

"This man is very handsome, but his STD screening reads like a bingo card."

"Definitely not."

"OH GOD DICKPIC AUGH-!"

"Why would anyone even send that!?"

Chimney takes that particular file outside and burns it, much to Eddie's eternal gratitude.

"Evan Buckley," Bobby says suddenly, turning the file for Eddie to see. "History degree from Penn State, two Alpha parents, Beta sister, certified to scuba dive and in first aid, currently works at a daycare. I'm seeing several references from Alphas and Betas alike that all mention how good he is with the kids beyond an Omega's instincts."

"He's cute," Hen adds, skimming the file over Eddie's shoulder. "And it says here he can cook, too."

Evan is very cute. Cute enough to make something in Eddie stir from the photo alone: bright blue eyes and sporting a birthmark over one of them, a wide smile that seems open and not at all forced. His medical file is extensive, citing almost as many broken bones as Eddie has in his, but he's clean and his references are glowing. He has hobbies, interests in things that aren't just keeping house and having as many kids as he can. He's the first one in the Yes pile.

By the end of the week, Evan is the only one in the Yes pile.

Three days later, Eddie is flying out to Pennsylvania to meet him.

Buck thinks the ad is too good to be true at first. First of all, the guy is an Alpha that's applying for an Omega specifically for a mate. Not as a secondary Omega, or a status symbol, or a baby factory, but for a mate. A partner to help him look after his family, his den, his kid.

It's an Omega's dream, and that's before he registers the guy's looks, which... hello, yes please.

It's a slim chance he knows- this guy is prime mating material, no way he's the only one interested- but he applies anyways. LA sounds nice. Warm. Right by the ocean. Away from his parents. Full of people who won't care about his status and he can just be.

He doesn't think anything of it other than to be unsurprised that he doesn't hear anything back. Eddie Diaz has a Silver Star, a den, a pup, amazing references, a career as a firefighter, is hot as hell, and he wants a mate. He probably got swamped with applications the second his hit the mating service's desk. People like that don't often apply for arranged mates, and when they do they almost never use a public mate matching service, content to let the Alphas or parents of worthy Omega's engage in bidding wars or trade favors to encourage their Omega to be picked.

So he's completely floored when, two weeks later, the service sends him Eddie's full file for review, complete with a request from Eddie for his.

Which is how Buck finds himself at a public park after his shift, leg bouncing uncontrollably with nervous energy as he waits to meet the man himself. He'd grabbed two coffees from the cart on the corner after a brief war with himself before caving and texting Eddie to ask what he drinks (black, splash of cream).

Maybe the caffeine was a bad idea he realizes as he jitters, but he'd just spent six hours with fourteen four year olds and the order is old habit by now. So he's jittery, anxious, and has just spotted the paint handprint on the hem of his shirt that hadn't been there this morning when he sees him.

And Jesus fucking Christ the picture had not done this guy justice, holy shit. Pictures can't capture the warmth in those eyes, the confidence with which Eddie carries himself, or the deep timbre of his voice when he says "Evan? Nice to meet you."

"Buck." he manages in a totally calm voice that doesn't shake at all, nope. "Ev-everyone calls me Buck." He shakes Eddie's hand like a normal person. Offers him the coffee. Takes a seat on the bench again.

He's taller than Eddie. Maybe sitting will make Eddie feel more in control. Some Alphas don't like it when an Omega is their size. Usually Buck finds that funny, but the last thing he wants to do is piss off this Alpha right as the courting process is getting started.

Eddie takes the seat beside him, gives him a smile that looks about as nervous as Buck feels.

This is definitely an Alpha beside him without a doubt, even with the nerves. There's no mistaking the power and control that oozes from Eddie or the way Buck's body wants to react. But he's still just a person, a man on what's essentially a first blind date, and they're not gonna get anywhere if they just sit in silence and drink their coffee all damn day.

"I'm nervous," Buck blurts before he thinks about it, desperate to fill the sudden silence. "I-I've never done a mating service before, and some of the things you hear- not that I think you'd do any- um. Oh god."

Eddie's shoulders ease down an inch. He lets out a gusty sigh that's half a laugh.

"I don't know what the hell I'm doing either," Eddie says, glancing at him. "This was my captain's idea really, but it didn't seem like a bad one. For Christopher- my son, you know?"

"Right, sure"

"We read each other's files, so you know I'm hoping to find a mate to help me with my son, and I can't cook for shit. Or clean, according to both my grandmother and my aunt. But the mating service thinks we'd be a good match."

Buck takes the opening. "I can cook. I like kids." He doesn't touch the good match comment. Eddie would be a good match for anyone. Whoever gets him is going to be the luckiest son of a bitch ever.

Eddie nods slowly. "You work at a daycare, right?"

"Yeah." He can't help the smile, remembering the absolute chaos that was his morning. "It's kind of like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle in the middle of a tornado, but it's fun."

Eddie laughs, turning to face Buck fully. He seems a little more relaxed. "An apt metaphor, though the middle of a tornado is usually the calmest part." His smile slips a little. "I need you know that I'm not gonna expect you to like, have dinner on the table when I come home, or have the house spotless. I meant it when I said I wanted a partner. I'm looking for a mate, not a house Omega."

Buck asks the question that's been burning bright since he came across Eddie's ad. "Then why an Omega specifically? Why not a Beta?"

Eddie takes a minute, considering his answer. He turns to watch the people hurry past, shoulders hunched against the slight wind and takes a slow sip of his coffee.

"I'm doing this for Christopher," he says finally, which is about what Buck is expecting. "My job is dangerous, and he's already lost his mother. My parents mean well and they love him, but if something happened to me... I want more options for him. They'd smother him, take him from his life in LA and they'd shove some old-fashioned bullshit about how certain people are supposed to act down his throat. That's not what I want for him."

"And an Omega will always protect a child," Buck adds. He's not the least bit insulted. It's actually sweet that Eddie is so committed to putting his pup first.

It's just a fact of Buck's biology to always want to protect and be around children to some degree. He's met a few Omegas that don't have those instincts, but are either obsessively clean or cook every bit of food in the house. He considers himself lucky to have mild instincts there- he's even been told he's not neat enough before, that "no one wants a messy Omega, Evan"- but his protective instincts are strong.

This is probably the closest he's ever going to get to having a child of his own, if this works out. Male omegas aren't very common, and are definitely the least desirable out of everyone. Who wants a mate who wants to protect children but can't carry any?

It's the cruelest twist of irony that male Omegas have a hard time getting people pregnant- even other Omegas. Whoever is in charge is having a grand ol' time laughing about that, Buck's sure.

"Only going to be good for one thing, Evan. Might as well get very good at it."

He can guess the rest of Eddie's reasoning, and it makes perfect sense to him. Eddie is 'currently uninterested' in having more children according to his file. With the hours and demands that come from his job, not to mention the danger of it, of course he wouldn't want to add a baby on top of it all.

Poor guy's probably been on his own for a while, unable or unwilling to ask for help until he's in too deep to find his footing.

"I'm not- I wasn't opposed to betas, or women. I didn't think hey, I'm gonna get a guy omega just to scratch an itch or anything." Eddie hurries to add, a pink flush to his cheeks. "But the possibility of adding another kid on everything right now is not something I want, and with anyone who can have kids there's always that chance it could happen. My first mate and I were careful and we still fell pregnant before we were ready."

"Yeah, no, I get it." Eddie looks like he wants to say more, but he also looks vaguely uncomfortable, so Buck gives him an out. "How'd you become a firefighter?"

Grateful, Eddie leans back against the bench, arm stretching out behind him to bump Buck's shoulders as he talks. He talks about the hell of going through the academy while trying to see Christopher and working three jobs at once-

("What are you, Superman?"

"Nah, that title belongs to Chris.")

- how relieved he was to have options about where to go and deciding that LA was a fresh start for them both. He talks about his grandmother, his aunt, his sisters (both betas mated to other betas with beta children, apparently his parents were hoping for better). And then, once the coffee is cold and just as the wind is starting to get a bit too sharp for Buck's tastes, he starts to talk about Christopher.

It's obvious that, more than anything, Eddie loves his son. Christopher is the luckiest kid in the world to have a dad that cares about him so much, who is going through all of this just to makes sure his future is as bright as Eddie can make it.

And then Eddie turns that smile on him again,, asks him about college, about his degree, the scuba diving.

"The water's not so bad with a wetsuit." Buck says, but Eddie looks unconvinced. "I wanted to be a pirate as a kid, you know? Peg leg, hook, bird on my shoulder, the whole nine yards. Went through this big phase where the ocean was all I wanted. Didn't matter what I was doing for a job, as long as it was on the ocean. So I got certified while I was in school. My professor's idea, actually. I got to do a ship dive for extra credit, which was awesome."

"About as close to being a pirate these days as you can be."

Buck just grins because it's true.

"So you want to move to LA for the ocean?" Eddie asks, face open, eyes serious.

The ocean is a big bonus, he's not gonna lie. But, "Mostly, I think it's time for me to get away from my parents," he says honestly. "You talked about your parents being old-fashioned and caring too much about their kids' status. I know what that's like. Mine are both Alphas and they're like, super disappointed that I turned out to be an Omega. They were so sure their daredevil son was going to be a big, strong alpha, or at least as pretty of a beta as my sister."

Eddie makes a show of looking him up and down, and it warms Buck all the way to his toes.

"You are pretty," he says, the tips of his ears red in the spring wind.

It's not vain if it's true, but it's nice to hear all the same. He's good at looking good, and he puts some effort into it. He likes the way people's eyes linger on him, the way a lot of Alphas bristle at a tall Omega who could probably take them in a physical fight if he had to.

But he's not stupid enough to move across the country to a big city without a single bond to protect and ground him, with no Alpha or even a Beta in his corner, no child to share a bond with to keep his hormones steady and even. That way can only end in disaster, with Buck touch starved and weak, sick from being unable to fulfill his duties, and an unbonded, unmated Omega could find themselves at the mercy of whatever Alpha they come across if they aren't careful.

And he'd promised Maddie.

He knows his body is responding to Eddie, the Omega happy to have pleased his potential mate. They're going to have to make sure they're compatible enough for Buck to help Eddie through his ruts, so it's a good sign that the Alpha approves of his looks.

Eddie appears to be thinking along the same lines, gaze dropping to Buck's mouth. He flushes darker, coughs, and changes the subject.

Cute.

And when they part, Eddie stops him with a gentle hand on his wrist, a loose grip that would be nothing for Buck to shake off.

"I'd like you to meet Christopher tomorrow," he says, brown eyes locked with Buck's. "This is his life too, so he has a say. It's not just up to me."

He can't help the grin, can't stop the satisfied feeling flooding his chest knowing that he's doing well, that he's somehow progressing forward in the courting despite his nerves, the way his tongue keeps getting tangled, the obvious way he keeps leaning into Eddie's touch.

"I'd love to. You think he'd be up for a snowball fight?"

He brought Pepa with them to meet Buck. He could have asked one of his sisters, or hell, anyone at the 118 to come along, but he brings his aunt to keep an eye on Chris and give Buck a once-over.

Part of it is because anyone from the crew would give him shit about the entire thing- lovingly of course, and with their full support- but it really came down to the fact that Pepa would give it to him straight. No bullshit, no dancing around the issue or giving him useless platitudes.

If Pepa didn't think this was a good idea, Eddie wouldn't even be here right now.

But here he is, three days into courting a mate and watching Buck chase Christopher around with just as much energy and enthusiasm has he had the previous day, snowballs and laughter flying through the air with blinding speed.

"You like him," Pepa says knowingly.

"I'm not the only one," Eddie says with a grin. Christopher beans Buck right in the face with a snowball, Buck falling backwards with gusto, dramatically clutching his chest as he collapses.

Christopher's laughing so hard he's hiccupping, and it's put the biggest smile on Eddie's face.

Pepa burrows a little deeper into her coat. She's never been one for the cold, but she'd agreed to accompany Eddie with little complaint. He's going to have to weed her garden all summer (possibly every summer), but he's grateful.

He'd wanted Christopher to come meet Buck too. It didn't seem fair to get a mate for the purpose of providing Christopher with another parent and then not get his opinion on the options.

Not that he has many options. His maybe pile keeps getting smaller every time he takes another look through it, even with the applications that Chimney claims are still piling up on his porch (Chim swears he's never sorting Eddie's mail ever again, ever).

And so far, Buck is still the only yes.

Watching him with Christopher now, Eddie's fairly confident of his choice.

"Christopher is a friendly boy." Pepa says. "He likes a lot of people."

This is the other reason he brought Pepa along. She won't just hype Eddie up and encourage him to move forward unless she knows he's sure.

Buck scoops Chris over his shoulder, lets out a whoop, and runs them both face first into a snow drift. They pop out a second later and immediately start trying to shove snow in each other's shirts.

"Not like this."

Pepa watches, lips twitching, as Christopher struggles to right himself. Buck lets him figure it out, standing slightly to the side with a smile, ready to offer a hand if Christopher asks.

He's waiting to see if Christopher asks for help, letting him try and do it on his own first and fuck, not even members of his own family do that.

"No," Pepa agrees, smiling now as Christopher reaches for Buck's hand. "Not so fast before, either. Either of you. You really like him, Eddie."

He's close enough to feel joy zinging through his and Chris's bond when he focuses on it, the unabashed happiness of a child having a great time with someone he likes and trusts, his father and bonded family nearby.

Not for the first time, Eddie thinks that this could actually work out.

"I think," he starts, then stops, swallowing. "I think... yeah."

Now Pepa is really smiling, something bright and impossibly fond in her eyes when Eddie turns to meet her gaze.

"Then I will take Christopher home with me tomorrow and we'll get the house ready. Your new mate will need a nest, no? Someplace safe until he adjusts to the new den and the pack?"

Eddie nods, already running through the plan he'd cobbled together after some in-depth researching. "The spare room should work for now. Chris and I went on a blanket shopping spree before we came out- they're in the hall closet. I'll ask him if he needs anything specific, but everything I read said soft was key, so that's what we went with. Lots of pillows, blankets, new sheets, and I scrubbed every scent I could find out of there."

Hopefully it'll be enough for Buck to feel safe while he learns the new territory, surrounded by the scent of strangers, until he's comfortable enough to share Eddie's room with him- if he wants. Buck might want to stay in the other room permanently, only joining Eddie during ruts, so it needs to be perfect for him.

"Mama has been cooking up a storm." Pepa tells him. "She says your fridge has plenty of food for the three of you."

He should be insulted. It's an Alpha's job to provide for the family after all, his job to show Buck he can take care of him, but he's not going to mate Buck and then immediately turn around and kill him with his cooking.

"Buck eats almost as much as me." Eddie tells her, remembering Buck polishing off two burgers, a full serving of fries, and half of Christopher's dessert (after dotting the tip of the pup's nose with whipped cream, which Eddie has several pictures of) at dinner last night.

Pepa purses her lips. "I'll tell her to keep cooking. You're staying, I assume? To claim him?"

His throat wants to close up at the thought of being in a different state from Chris for two days, which is ridiculous. Not only will Christopher have a blast being spoiled by his grandmother and aunt while he's gone, Eddie's been further away for longer before. But still, the worry and guilt settles into his chest.

Buck glances up suddenly, eyes snapping to Eddie's with a grin. He's red faced and panting, snow melting on the collar of his jacket, long legs filling out his sinfully tight jeans, and Eddie swallows around a very dry throat.

When Buck bends to scoop Christopher up, Eddie's eyes are glued to his ass.

Pepa gives him a look and Eddie tries, he really tries to be good, but holy fuck how can he not look at Buck when he's right there?

"Yeah," he croaks in agreement, coughing into his fist. "Just, uh, two days.... For... You know." He chews on his lip, hoping the sting of his teeth calm him down, otherwise he's going to be the one running headlong into the snow. At least he's not as anxious now.

He's still a little anxious. Just for... different reasons.

He's never reacted this strongly to anybody before. At least, not this fast. It's barely been a few days and the urge to pin Buck to the nearest flat surface and make him his, to latch onto that smiling mouth and find every taste hidden inside is only getting stronger the more he's around him. Whether it's biology or simple lust, he's unsure.

Finds he doesn't care much, really. It's nice, wanting someone like this again, having someone to laugh with and talk to that's not over fifty or under ten.

Watching Christopher interact with Buck, already enamored and fully trusting simply seals the deal.

Unsurprisingly, Christopher is not thrilled with the news that Eddie gets his new best friend Buck all to himself for two whole days before they come home.

"Can't I stay too?" he pleads, shooting the biggest puppy eyes at his father while clutching Buck's leg. "I wanna play in the snow some more."

"I know, but Buck and I have grownup stuff to do, and you have school."

Christopher's pout grows. "I can help," he insists. "I'm almost eight now!"

"You're practically an old man." Buck agrees, smoothing a hand over Christopher's curls in a such a fond motion that it makes Eddie's chest clench. "But tell you what, when I get all settled at the house, you can take me to the beach and we'll play in the sand together. How's that sound?"

The pout starts to vanish.

"We should build sandcastles," Christopher says thoughtfully. "And go surfing."

"Absolutely. You're going to have to teach me how to surf."

"Only if you're good for Pepa." Eddie adds.

"Oh-kay." Christopher sighs, horribly put out. Eddie and Buck exchange quick grins over his head and hug him and Pepa (who gives a surprised Buck a brief squeeze) before letting them board the flight.

Eddie doesn't realize until they arrive back at the motel that he's had Buck's hand in his the entire time. Did he take Buck's hand at the airport? The back of the Lyft? Had Buck taken his?

Why does the simple act of having Buck's hand in his, hearing Buck chattering away beside him soothe the anxiety lingering in his chest?

"So you have like, the coolest kid in the world," Buck gushes as he follows Eddie into the motel room. "I hope you know that. He's the best, and I'm definitely letting him teach me how to surf."

"He really likes you." Eddie tells him, that feeling of want coiling in his gut again.

Buck looks so fucking happy to hear that. His whole face lights up, splitting open with a grin. Eddie wants to keep that look on his face forever.

"And... and his dad?" he asks, looking almost bashful now, peeking up at Eddie from under his lashes.

And what else can Eddie do in response to that other than kiss him?

Out of all the feelings swirling through him, the guilt of sending Christopher off, the nerves about a new mate, the faint doubt that Buck could even want him, the relief that swamps him when Buck clutches him and kisses him back enthusiastically is the strongest of them all.

Buck certainly knows how to kiss. Eddie feels it all the day down to his toes.

God, it feels good, so good to have someone else's hands on him. To feel desire and lust, to want and be wanted. It's been so long since he's had the time, the energy, the opportunity to touch, to hold. To taste.

Buck tastes fucking amazing, the salty musk of his skin against Eddie's tongue driving him to yank offending clothes out of his way, rip cloth aside to give himself more access.

Head thrown back, chest heaving, Buck lets out a breathless laugh that tapers off into a whimper when Eddie sucks a huge bruise on his neck.

"Eddie," he whines, hips rolling, desperate for some friction. "Please-"

Eddie physically hauls Buck up and all but throws him onto the bed.

He deserves better. Better than a mid-range motel and god-knows-who in the next room, cheap sheets on a creaky bed, better than Eddie. Surely Buck knows that, is aware of the setting, but he still reaches for Eddie, still arches his hips to help Eddie wrestle his pants down and off.

Eddie's never been so hard in his fucking life. He needs to be inside Buck, now.

He barely remembers to get his own stifling clothes off throwing them unceremoniously across the room before crawling up Buck's body. He presses his mouth to those mile long legs, up muscular thighs, mouthing at his hip to suck another mark into that pale skin.

He wants to drape completely against Buck, every inch of them pressed together, wants to take Buck apart and find out every sound he can make, he wants-

"Tell me if you want to stop," he says, wrenching himself away from the temptation of Buck's skin long enough to speak. His tongue feels heavy and thick, lips swollen from Buck's own attack to his mouth. "No matter what, tell me."

Eyes dark with desire, Buck blinks up at him. Drags him back down for another searing kiss. Groans when Eddie all but collapses on top of him, arms bracketing Buck's head.

"Okay?" Eddie says, because if Buck doesn't want this, want him-

All thought leaves when Buck reaches between them to take Eddie's cock in hand, long fingers wrapping around him to stroke and tease. It takes every ounce of self-control Eddie possesses not to rock into Buck's hand, to chase his release right here and now.

He has no control over the moan that escapes him.

Mate, something deep inside Eddie howls. Claim, mate, want.

"Very okay," Buck says against his mouth. He's smiling. "I want, Eddie. I- I want- please, please, I want you."

Eddie shakes with the effort of holding himself back. Mate.

Very carefully, he removes Buck's hand from around his weeping dick, very nearly whining at the loss of the Omega's touch. He threads their fingers together instead, pins Buck's hands on either side of his head before dropping down to tease the seam of his lips with his tongue. Buck opens for him eagerly, a whine escaping from his chest that Eddie instantly tries to recreate, desperate to hear that needy, wanting sound again.

Buck startles slightly when Eddie slides a hand down to stroke him, mouth falling open on a gasp. Whatever he starts to say is lost in the moan that climbs out of his throat.

"E-Eddie," he manages, voice shaky, eyes glazed over. He arches up into Eddie's touch, nails digging into Eddie's shoulders and it's good, it's so good. "Let me- ah- I should- you, you, I need to-."

"Shh, I've got you, baby." He kisses Buck softly now, gently. He slows his hand slightly, stroking and teasing but never letting up. "Let me take care of you first."

Watching Buck fall apart under him, hearing him reach his peak, the cries of pleasure echoing in his ears, feeling the sting of Buck's nails dragging down his back is almost a religious experience. Almost enough to pull him over the edge right there without so much as a hand on his dick. He can't believe he's allowed to witness it, that it's all because of him.

Mine. Mate. Mine.

When he nuzzles Buck's throat in question- because this is Buck's choice, this will always be Buck's choice no matter what he wants, want he feels- he's relieved to get an affirmative hum, to feel Buck tilt his head to allow Eddie to bite down and claim him.

Chapter Text

He starts getting overwhelmed right before they land in LAX. Even with Eddie's arm around him the anxiety starts to overtake Buck just as the fasten seatbelt sign clicks on.

He shouldn't be so anxious. Nervous, sure. He is moving across the country to move in with his brand new mate, join his pack, take care of the coolest kid ever, live in a new den...

Okay fine he's got every reason to be anxious.

But it's not fucking fair that his Omega biology is freaking out.

"Easy does it," Eddie murmurs into his ear. He rubs a soothing hand up and down Buck's arm, draped as much across Buck's shoulders as he can be in the tiny airplane seats. "We're almost there."

But Buck doesn't even know where there is yet. He's seen the pictures of Eddie's house, he's got the address, but it- it's not his den. He doesn't have a den anymore, the den his Alphas had let him have, because he's moved away, he's moving away from everything and everyone he's ever known and there are so many new things and smells and bonds and it's so much, it's all just so much.

"Buck? Buck, hey, focus on my voice."

A hand on his neck. A thumb resting gently on his mate mark.

Mate... Safe... Calm...

"That's it. Hey did Christopher tell you about the story he's writing for class? Some creative writing thing their doing. He won't let me read it yet but he said its about pirates."

"Pirates.," Buck croaks. He sounds like he's spent the last few hours of the flight chewing glass.

"Mmm-hmm, and I know you and your pirates. He named the captain Buck after his new best friend. He's so excited to have you home with us."

Buck almost smiles hearing that.

He's thirsty but he drank all his water already. There's no more and it might not be okay to ask, what if he's not allowed to ask? His throat is so dry, tongue thick and sticking to the roof of his mouth. He wants some water, a drink, something to ease the dry burning happening at the top of his throat. Will Alpha be mad if he asks?

He doesn't know the rules. How is he supposed to be a good mate if he doesn't know the rules yet?

Eddie frowns. Buck can feel the frown against his temple and he shudders. He's making his Alpha unhappy. His mate is going to be upset if he doesn't calm down and then he's going to undo the bond and send Buck away because he's too much trouble.

"Here, think you can drink?" Eddie produces a mini bottle of water from somewhere, unscrews it one handed. "Go slow. Small sips."

The arm that's still around Buck's shoulder shifts, Eddie's hand moving more firmly to rest on the mark on his neck.

Safe, he thinks.

The water is a little warm, but it's wet. He almost downs half of it at once before Eddie gently tips the bottle back down.

"Slow," he reminds Buck, pressing a little harder on his neck. "You're okay- we're going straight home, I promise."

Home. Home? But he... he doesn't have a home. He left it behind just a few hours ago, his parents somehow happy that he was going but upset with him at the same time. Mad, always mad. They're always mad at Buck, stupid useless Omega, not allowed to take anything from Alphas house just go, we don't want you here anyway.

"Always a disappointment, Evan."

Buck's whimper is hidden under the screech of the plane hitting the tarmac, the way he jumps disguised by the jolt of the plane leveling off.

Safe.

"I've got you," Alpha says, over and over, coaxing him to stand. He doesn't ever remove his arm, merely slides it down to wrap around Buck's waist. "You're safe, I've got you."

His parents aren't his Alphas anymore. Eddie is his Alpha now. He's safe with Eddie.

He's safe.

"Safe," Buck says into Eddie's neck. He must look so stupid right now, face pressed right against Eddie's mark to breathe him in, one hand fisted awkwardly in Eddie's shirt so he can cling but he just can't let go.

Eddie simply presses a kiss to the top of Buck's head and guides him to the baggage claim. Somehow he gets their bags and maneuvers Buck out the door without ever letting go of him.

It's so much noise.

He can feel it all, feel Eddie's pack now that they're in the same city. It's just because it's all so new, it'll fade, it will pass, but right now he's slammed with so many different emotions, feelings that aren't his. They belong to people he doesn't know, people he's never even seen and they're all crammed into Buck's chest and trying to claw their way out.

"Focus on our bond. Just us, you and me. Can you feel it?" Eddie's arm tightens around his waist, dropping the suitcase onto the sidewalk to press his other hand on Buck's mark and rub. "Right here. You and me, Buck. You're safe, I swear, I promise you're safe."

Safe Buck tries to think, tries to feel.

Alpha is here. Alpha is right here.

Slowly, he's able to focus. With Eddie right up against him, his scent filling Buck's nose, he's able to push the other bonds down for now. There will be time to focus on them later, when the bond isn't so new and loud. Eventually, it will fade to a distant hum he'll need to concentrate on to really feel and he can't wait because right now it hurts.

"What hurts?" Eddie sounds mildly alarmed.

Buck gestures around his ears vaguely. Drops a hand to rub at his chest.

"Okay." Eddie drops his forehead against Buck's and breathes deep. "It's gonna be okay. We'll be home soon, and you can nest all you need to."

It nearly makes him cry. He doesn't have a nest anymore. They'd taken it as soon as they'd realized what Buck had done. They'd gone into his den and destroyed his nest and packed his bags and they were so angry.

"I can't." He practically whimpers. "It's gone."

"Hey no. No, Buck, Chris and I, we- we got you stuff. There's a nest waiting for you and your things, I promise."

And that does make him cry, a few errant tears slipping past his lashes. Eddie had made him a nest. Eddie had cared enough about him to know he needed a nest and made sure there's one waiting on him, a safe place for him to hide and adjust and be safe and calm the hell down.

It won't be the nest he lost, but it'll be his.

And Eddie had made it for him.

"You tell me if you need anything for it, okay?" Eddie removes one hand from Buck to hand the taxi driver their bags. The driver is careful to stay in Buck's line of sight and keep his movements slow, easing the trunk shut so he won't startle him. Another time, Buck would be grateful, but now even that little kindness hurts.

"Christopher... helped?" He can barely speak, barely move, barely function. He's not a good mate, a bad Omega who can't adjust and Eddie...

...isn't mad.

He smiles. "Yeah. He's been very careful not to stay in the room too long, but he says... he says that if you want, you can take one of his stuffed animals in with you. To help make you feel better."

It would smell like Christopher, the sharp fruit scent of son mixed with the spicy wood scent of his mate. It could help. Is that allowed? Eddie wouldn't suggest something if it wasn't allowed. Eddie isn't like that.

"Thank you," he says into Eddie's chest. He barely flinches with the door is shut behind him a little too sharply.

"Sorry," the driver says quietly. "He okay?"

Eddie nods. Through their bond, he feels the calm Eddie is projecting, the soft, careful thoughts he's keeping himself to so Buck isn't overwhelmed again.

"I'm safe." Buck says, and feels Eddie's heart beating steady and strong against his ear.

Eddie knows there's going to be an adjustment period. When he'd first moved to LA a few years ago he spent two days obsessively prowling around the yard and touching everything until he was satisfied that his territory had been successfully marked. He almost hadn't let one of the movers in, bristling at another Alpha in his den even though it was literally the guy's job and he had just been trying to get the couch through the door.

Luckily the mover hadn't been offended, but Eddie felt like a complete asshole once he calmed down a bit (which took him a minute). He'd made sure to tip the movers well in apology.

Everything he's read says that an Omega moving into a new den requires time for adjustment. Namely time alone in a nest, especially if the Omega is newly bonded into a new pack. So before flying out to meet Buck, Eddie had taken Christopher to a bedding store and told him to find the fuzziest, softest, biggest blankets he could. Some of them look like shag carpeting and were the strangest colors, but even he has to admit they're soft and cozy.

It should take a few days, a week on the outside, for Buck to feel comfortable enough to leave the spare room- Buck's den, Eddie corrects himself- if the move is smooth and as stress free as possible.

So naturally it had not been.

"His parents flipped out," Eddie bites, hidden in a far corner of the backyard in hopes that his call to Bobby goes unheard by certain children who've developed eavesdropping habits recently. "It wasn't good."

Bobby hums over the line. "Well most parents would. Wouldn't you, if Christopher came home with a mate suddenly? I know he's a grown man, but he's still their son. I'm sure they'll come around eventually."

Yeah. Eddie had thought so too. Thought maybe the Alphas were just reacting to losing one of their pack to another Alpha at first. Thought maybe the parents were simply sizing up the man who arrived with their son.

"I don't think so." Throwing a cautious look over his shoulder to ensure that Christopher is still at the kitchen table, frowning over his math homework, Eddie steps further into the shade. "They destroyed his nest Bobby."

Bobby's reaction is instant and full of disbelieving fury. "They did what?"

"The second they felt their pack bond to him change they just went in and took it all down. Had two suitcases packed by the door and ready for him before we even got there. They didn't let him talk, just told him to leave and wouldn't even let him in the door. He left with next to nothing."

"Jesus." His captain, his Alpha prime sighs. "That's- I can't even begin to say how awful that is. Is he okay?"

"He's in the nest we made him now." Where he's been for the last two days, buried as deeply into the blankets as he can get and curled into a small, tiny ball. "He cracked the door open last night, and Christopher is allowed to sit in the doorway and talk to him, but he won't come out yet."

Whenever Eddie pauses by the door, Buck will peek his head out slightly to silently acknowledge him, blue eyes watching him with caution before slowly retreating back into the nest without saying a word.

It's breaking Eddie's heart.

The journey home had been hard. Not because Buck had been rightfully distraught over his parents- his parents- destroying his nest and kicking him to the curb, but because Eddie had to keep an iron-clad grip on his anger the entire time to keep Buck from feeling it through their new (and loud even for him that first day) bond. He doesn't know how he pulled it off but he'd managed to keep Buck from having a full fledged panic attack right up until they arrived home.

Which is actually pretty normal for Omegas changing dens he's learned. The new bonds are louder at first for everyone but it takes Omegas a few days to really push the noise to the back, and it's more than a little overwhelming to suddenly feel all that on top of moving across the country.

Feeling Buck clutching him, gasping desperately to catch his breath, seeing tears and shock in his eyes had almost been enough to get Eddie back on a plane to Pennsylvania and give the Buckleys a piece of his mind. But Buck had needed him, so he'd didn't.

He's not too happy about it though.

"That poor kid," Bobby says quietly. "I can't imagine."

Eddie pinches the bridge of his nose, unsure if he wants to scream or cry more. "It was awful. How could they do that to their own son?" he demands even though he already knows the answer.

He may have only seen Phillip and Margaret Buckley for less than five minutes, but it had been more than enough to tell him everything he needs to know about them and what kind of Alphas they were to Buck. What kind of parents.

Buck hasn't even been in his life for two weeks yet and Eddie knows that he deserves much better than they ever gave him.

"He has you now," Bobby reminds him. "And when he's feeling better, he'll have us too."

"If I ever see his parents again..." Eddie starts, the rage threatening to choke him.

Even children know not to touch an Omega's nest without permission, and they certainly know to never dismantle it. Buck's parents had done it for no reason other than to be cruel. If someone ever does that to Christopher's safe space (his required, necessary space should he be an Omega), Eddie would kill them with his bare hands.

But murdering your inlaws isn't a great first impression on your new mate and getting Buck away from them had taken top priority.

Eddie takes a deep breath and lets the anger course through him, pulsing hot and heavy before letting it drain out of him little by little. He's never going to get the image of Buck's face out of his mind, the shock and devastation playing out before he'd crumpled into Eddie's arms.

He's not too sorry about the dent he'd kicked into their fancy front door when they left. He hopes it costs them a fortune to fix.

"I understand your rage but you should focus on Buck right now. He needs you."

"I don't want to overwhelm him with all I'm feeling," Eddie says quietly, something tender and sore taking residence in his chest. "His bonds are still kinda loud if we're too close right now, and I'm still so pissed off about his parents- what the fuck Bobby."

"It's unforgivable." Bobby tells him firmly. "No parent should ever treat their child that way. But he's safe now. They can't hurt him anymore. Show him that you're here for him, that he's safe and cared for and he'll come around."

"How!?" Eddie asks, desperate to make it right, to protect and provide for his mate.

"Trust your instincts."

His instincts. Right. He's got those. Buried under the sorrow and anger and the need to punch something he's got other instincts waiting to be noticed. He just needs to calm the hell down first. Agitated, he paces a few laps around the backyard, glancing in the kitchen door every time he passes. Christopher has abandoned his homework and is now watching his father prowl, making funny faces at him each time he goes by. Eddie sticks his tongue out at him on his next pass.

What are his instincts telling him?

Protect Buck.

Provide for mate and provide for pup.

Maybe beat the shit out of the Buckley Alphas, but he can't do that (damn).

He stops dead on his fifth lap around the yard, phone still pressed to his ear. He has an idea.

"Hey Bobby... can I ask a favor?"

"Need some more time off?" Bobby asks immediately. "Chimney offered to take some shifts if you need."

"I... maybe..." Leaving Buck to go to work might knock him back a few pegs if he's still a little unsteady tomorrow. "Let's see how this works first... Do you know how to make Philly cheesesteak?"

When he comes inside from the emergency sandwich drop off, he finds Christopher leaning against the wall, chatting animatedly to Buck.

Buck, who is leaning against the doorjamb, eyes tired, but sitting upright and out of his nest.

"Hey." Happy to see Buck semi-human, relieved that he feels safe enough to leave his nest at all, he smiles at him. "You hungry?"

Buck perks up slightly at the food. Christopher does as well, straightening up as much as he can without leaving the floor.

"Did Abuela bring this?"

"No, these are from Bobby." He hesitates briefly, worried that Bobby's scent might spook Buck more, but his mate is merely eyeing the bag with interest. It's the first time he's been interested in food in two days, so Eddie joins them on the floor, sprawling out awkwardly next to Chris to dole it out.

"Cap's a great cook. I know it's not the stuff you're used to, but I thought a taste of home couldn't hurt."

In all his life Eddie's never seen someone so baffled by a sandwich before. He unwraps it slowly, watching Eddie and Chris like he's waiting to see if it's allowed. Knowing the Omega won't want to eat unless he does first, Eddie takes a pointedly large bite of his sandwich before ducking into the kitchen to snag some water.

He's relieved and pleased in equal measure to see Buck chewing when he gets back. Even more so when Buck accepts the water and begins to drink.

Satisfied that his mate isn't going hungry, that he's providing, Eddie sets two more sandwiches within Buck's reach before turning back to his own.

"This is good," comes Buck's quiet voice. He can't quite make eye contact with Eddie yet, too focused on demolishing the sandwich as fast as possible, but he's talking now. Another good sign.

Buck relaxes more as they eat. He even smiles at Christopher and laughs when he points out the boy has cheese sauce on his chin, which barely pauses Christopher's animated walk-through of his creative writing story.

"...and then the first mate Edmundo falls into the crocodile pit!"

"Hey woah, I would never do such a thing," Eddie protests. "I'm way too cool to be eaten by crocodiles."

Christopher smirks, his own devilish grin reflected back at him. "Captain Buck saves you, Dad, don't worry."

"Oh well as long as Buck saves me I guess I can fall into the crocodile pit." He picks up the last sandwich, sliding half over to Buck with a wink. "What kind of pirate has crocodiles locked up on his ship anyways?"

"Bad pirates," Chris informs him. "But you and Buck take them to a swamp island where they can live happily ever after and set them free."

"Does the bad pirate have to walk the plank?" Buck wants to know.

"Uh-huh... He sinks all the way to the bottom of the ocean to stay forever in bad pirate jail."

"Good." Eddie says, reaching over to tickle his clever child. "He was a menace to society. He belongs in bad pirate jail."

"Only place for him, really," Buck agrees. He looks better, skin less gaunt, eyes a little brighter after some food. Eddie eyes the half full bottle of water, wishing Buck would drink more but knowing better than to push him.

It takes a little coaxing, Eddie's arm around him the entire time and a blanket from his nest draped over his shoulders, but Buck even agrees to join them in the living room for a movie.

"We have to watch Toy Story," Christopher insists. "Buck's never seen it!"

Eddie blinks. "Really?" he asks the man tucked against his side. "It's a classic. My sisters and I watched it as kids constantly."

"I... missed out on a lot of movies," is all Buck says, ducking to rest his head on Eddie's shoulder. "I know newer Disney better. From the daycare."

Eddie pats his thigh reassuringly. "Oh don't worry, we'll definitely catch you up. Disney is big in this house."

He's done this hundreds of times before, snuggled up with Chris to watch a movie after a long shift, or a long day, or just because he wants the excuse to hold Christopher close. A movie is the perfect way to unwind, something for them to do together that doesn't involve too much energy when he's tired or Christopher's legs are bothering him.

And now it's different. Somehow better. He has his son under one arm, his mate under the other, and they both settle against his chest with happy sighs. Buck burrows deeper into Eddie as the movie goes on, practically nuzzling against his chest and all but purring contentedly when Eddie runs his hands through Buck's curls.

"Thank you," Buck whispers.

"We've got you," Eddie murmurs. "Feeling okay now?"

Buck lets out a happy hum, arm slipping out from under the blanket to wrap around Eddie's middle and squeeze. Christopher wastes no time in reaching out to take Buck's hand, digging his elbow into Eddie's hip to do so. When the blanket slips from Buck's shoulders, Buck leaves it, reaching up with his free hand to thread his fingers through Eddie's and wrap Eddie's arm more firmly around himself instead.

Overwhelmed at the trust Buck is putting in him, stunned that he feels so safe with them, Eddie can only bury in face in Buck's hair, unsure if the emotions he's feeling are his or Buck's or both.

He can't remember the last time he felt this settled, this content, this... at peace.

When they shuffle off to bed, Christopher muttering sleepy protests against Eddie's neck as he's carried down the hall, Buck leaves his door open.

Chapter Text

As much as Buck hates to admit it, he does fit into some of the stereotypical Omega behaviors. On top of feeling soothed and the most balanced when he's around a large group of kids that he's protecting in some way, he also loves to cook- and he's pretty good at it if he does say so himself.

Perks of having rich, snooty Alphas, he supposes: they spare no expense when training their Omega. Buck's parents might not have liked having him around all that much, but they sure did love to force Buck into doing things they thought would make him a good Omega for an Alpha. He's got a degree so he's considered educated, he's certified in first aid so he's considered useful, he likes kids and used to work with them so he knows how to handle children like a good little Omega.

It's probably a good thing that the cooking classes they'd forced him into at fifteen were actually a lot of fun. If he hadn't enjoyed them he wouldn't have gone and that would have been bad. There would have been a whole fight about it, and his Alphas would have made him go, and he would have done the bare minimum and hated every single second of it and he probably wouldn't have any idea how to so much as make pasta (like his parents, who've never cooked a day in their lives).

But he likes cooking.

Baking's a lot of fun too, and now it comes with the bonus of having Christopher (who is a bonus all by himself) nearby to lick the spoons.

"I like this one," the pup declares, happily chasing drops of batter down the spoon handle. Buck sneaks a few pictures to show Eddie later.

"You think the rest of the pack will too?"

"Definitely." Absorbed in the task of getting every bit of caramel off the spoon as possible (and already eyeing the frosting bowl), Christopher gives Buck a gap-toothed grin. "The pack is really nice," he promises.

"I'm sure they are buddy, but I still need to make a good first impression."

Baking comes in handy when meeting your new pack. He's already been sending treats into work with Eddie- who's been coming home with empty containers missing even the crumbs, so he assumes his cooking is being met with satisfaction. Buck wants to impress them, to show he's got enough value to be worth being in the pack, so he's adding another treat onto the things-that-need-to-be-made list- which is already pretty massive.

"Can you make muffins too? I like muffins."

"I'm gonna need to do some dishes before we bake anything else." Plus, Buck's not sure Eddie even owns a muffin tin. Maybe Pepa or Abuela have one he can borrow- they've already given approval for Buck, so he's at least got that going for him.

It's the rest of the pack he's worried about. Eddie's coworkers slash family that spend upwards of fifty hours a week with him who are all close enough to not only be part of the pack, but part of Eddie's family as well.

"I think we should make more cheesecake bites," Christopher says, licking his fingers clean. "The school always sells out of those first."

Christopher's school is having a bake sale. It's been on the docket for a few weeks and Eddie has been slightly panicking about it. He's managed to clear the afternoon so he can go to the bake sale, but so far there hasn't been time for Eddie to prepare for it.

Eddie cannot cook. He tries. Bless him, he tries to cook and make things but he just... shouldn't. But Buck can create edible things and as soon as Christopher had realized it, he'd turned big puppy eyes onto him and all but begged Buck to make something to take to the sale.

So Buck is in the kitchen this Sunday afternoon, cooling racks spread all across the counters and presenting the treats. He's not about to let Christopher be the kid who shows up with store-bought cookies again. While he's in this house, Christopher will be king of the bake sales.

"Wow." Eddie stops in the kitchen doorway, hair damp from the shower, eyes wide. "Holy- Buck this is too much."

"Nonsense."

Deep in the bowl of leftover frosting, Christopher hums his agreement. "Yeah, Dad. Nonsense."

Eddie fumbles for his phone, laughing and snaps several pictures of his son with chocolate and buttercream smears across his forehead, flour in his hair and a bowl practically upside down over his head while he tries to chase the sugar leftovers.

Buck is like... eighty percent sure he's doing this mate thing well.

The first few days had been hard- the bonds too loud and overwhelming, the shock of losing his old nest before he was ready, not to mention adjusting to the move and learning his place in the new pack. But now the bonds are quiet (unless he concentrates on them) and the pack is eager to meet him formally.

He's met a few of them one-on-one (Eddie's idea) and today... today he meets the rest of the pack all at once.

Bobby is nice, and one of the calmest Alphas Buck has ever met in his life (not that he's met a lot of calm Alphas before moving to LA- Eddie tends to pace around when agitated and still ranks as "more calm than my parents" in Buck's mind), and he knows how to make decent cheesesteak sandwiches. If nothing else, Buck has already been accepted by both Eddie and the Alpha Prime of the pack, as well as Abuela and Pepa.

And now he's going to meet everyone else. All at once.

He's like... seventy-five percent sure he's doing this mate thing well.

If he's not, well he assumes he'll find out pretty quickly after meeting everyone else.

The house is pretty clean, the current mess in the kitchen and all over Chris notwithstanding. Buck's pretty proud of the amount of cleaning he's managed to get done in the past few days- and Eddie had been thrilled (and surprised, for some reason) to come home after a twenty-four hour shift to a clean house with a fed and happy pup ready for bed and eager for a hug from his dad before he'd agree to go to sleep.

"You didn't have to-" Eddie had started to say after reading Chris his requested story.

"Pretty sure this is like, my job," Buck responded, not stopping folding the laundry.

"No, it's not Buck... I appreciate it, but this is supposed to be a mutually beneficial thing. I don't expect you to keep up the house-"

"I know," he'd been quick to cut in, because he did know, he does know. Eddie's not like the Alphas Buck's dealt with before. Eddie not expecting Buck to clean the house is part of why Buck has no issues cleaning. (Plus he's not above some stress cleaning, sometimes Omega instincts are hard to shake) "But you picked me because you thought I could help you. Right now, this is how I can help."

So Buck keeps it up, when Eddie will let him. He's usually up before Eddie's alarm sounds in his room so he makes breakfast for everyone while the Diaz boys do their morning stretches. Eddie and Christopher are always grateful to see Buck manning the stove, but Eddie refuses to let Buck do the dishes no matter how long he's worked that day or how many dishes are spilling out of the sink (he hadn't let Buck finish the laundry by himself either, plopping down on the couch to help fold and put away).

"You cooked," he always says, steering Buck away from the kitchen before he can get more than a few things washed. "Sit down. I've got this."

So he needs to get better at doing dishes to Eddie's liking, obviously, but Eddie will not let Buck anywhere near the kitchen after meals. He even wipes the counters down and takes out the trash when he leaves for work. Eddie is also the one who takes care of the gutters and lawn, the one who does the budgeting for the house, and he likes to bring home dinner on occasion so Buck's not stuck in the kitchen all the time.

An Alpha doing house chores. His parents would have a fit if they saw.

Eddie sniffs the air. "I thought you were making cookies. What is the rest of this?"

Buck dusts his hands on his jeans, small flour clouds drifting up from his knees. "For the bakesale tomorrow we have chocolate chip cookies, brownies, gluten-free brownies, lemon bars, a sheet cake, and oreo cheesecake bites," he says, pointing at each treat. He smoothly relieves Christopher of the icing bowl as he passes.

"Aw," Christopher cries, frowning.

"Save some for your dad."

Eddie grabs the bowl eagerly and immediately sticks his own head in for a taste.

"God this is good," his mate sighs, licking his lips, a smear of frosting across his cheek. Buck flushes and turns away, wishing he had the guts to take his own picture. "What's the other stuff?"

"Oh, uh. Salted caramel brownies and nutella cookies. For the pack."

Eddie gives him an all-too-knowing look that's irritatingly attractive. "Nervous?"

Caught, Buck hunches his shoulders. "Well, I mean... yeah, obviously. I'm meeting your pack today, Eddie. What if I screw it up somehow, or they don't like me?"

"I like you," Christopher pipes up. His face is covered in chocolate.

Buck gives him a fond look, bending to press a kiss to his hair. He misses the sound of Eddie's camera shutter. "I like you too, Superman. You really need to wash your face."

With a sigh, Christopher accepts his crutches from Buck and clicks his way down the hallway to deal with the frosting all over his face and shirt.

"Better get changed too, mijo. We leave in half an hour. And you," Eddie says, turning back to Buck, "have nothing to be nervous about. The pack is going to love you."

"You don't know that."

"Chimney has already declared that if I'm 'dumb enough to chase off the man who made us doughnuts' then I'm out as a pack member. Trust me, you'll be fine."

He's not so sure.

Because he's good at some of the Omega things. He's good at doing the stuff Eddie can't seem to find the time to do: the cooking, the cleaning, the hundreds of little things that never seem to stop needing to be done that come with having a child and a den and a career. Eddie has not been stingy with the praise and the heartfelt 'thank you's every time Buck makes dinner or gets Christopher to school on time, and Buck knows he means every single one.

But he won't touch Buck.

Oh, he touches Buck. Sometimes. A hand on his back, a squeeze of the shoulder, maybe a playful hipcheck in the kitchen. Eddie even presses quick kisses to his cheek when he leaves for a long shift. When they settle on the couch to continue his classic Disney education, Eddie's arm usually finds its way across Buck's shoulders. Eddie never seems to mind when Buck caves and adjusts to rest his head on his mate's shoulder, but he won't touch Buck.

Not to brag or anything, but Buck's pretty good at sex. Eddie certainly had seemed to enjoy himself when they mated, moaning his release into Buck's shoulder and clutching him tight afterwards.

But Eddie hasn't invited Buck into his room yet.

Buck probably shot himself in the foot with his week-long Omega freakout about moving. Or maybe Eddie isn't all that interested in sex. Maybe Buck isn't as good as he thought. Maybe Eddie hadn't enjoyed it after all and now just doesn't want Buck like that. Eddie might be interested in sex, just not with Buck.

It's just that... sometimes, Buck thinks he might.

Sometimes, Eddie's eyes go dark when he's watching Buck. Sometimes his hand strokes Buck's back or arm in a way that hints at heat, a tease of something more, sometimes Eddie presses a kiss that lingers a bit too long to the corner of Buck's mouth, but Eddie always releases him with a soft goodnight and goes to his own room.

In Hershey Eddie was the one to kiss Buck, the one to make the first move. He even got Buck off first in a move that still makes Buck's head spin when he thinks about it. Eddie's hands on him, his mouth hot against his ear, let me take care of you first, no Alpha has ever...

Maybe that was his mistake, letting Eddie take care of him first. Maybe he needs to be the one to make a move here and prove that he's good at this. Show Eddie he can give as good as he gets. Maybe he'd been selfish. No one likes a selfish Omega-

No, no. Stop. That voice sounds way too much like...

Eddie is nothing like his parents. He's funny, and grumbly, and kind. He loves his son more than anything in the world, hates mornings but gets up every day without fail to face them (and is useless until he's had at least two cups of coffee). He works hard, works himself down to the bone, and he deserves a good mate. He deserves to feel good.

But if he won't touch Buck, how is Buck supposed to make him feel good? How can he prove he's a good mate if he can't show Eddie? What if Eddie doesn't actually want him and he's just being pathetic and too needy like always?

Buck is startled out of his mini-spiral by Eddie's hand on his wrist.

"There's no reason to be worried," Eddie tells him, brown eyes warm and right on Buck's. "They all already like you-"

"They've never met me!"

"-and I'm going to be with you the whole time."

That... that helps. Knowing that his Alpha, his mate is going to be within arm's reach the entire time helps ease the nerves and anxiety currently warring in his brain.

Bobby runs his pack much differently than Phillip had. For starters, there are several other Alphas in the pack who all apparently get along without issue. Which is great, honestly. It's nice to know there are packs out there that don't rely on money and power to exude some kind of control over others. But since the pack dynamics are different, Buck has no idea how he's supposed to fit in.

"Just... just don't let me wander off on my own. I'll probably manage to ruin things if you aren't watching me."

Eddie's mouth pulls into a frown. "No more than I will when Chim and I start arguing about football again. Hen's threatened to put us in time out if we get as heated as we did last time." His fingers thread through Buck's, pulling him closer. "You're not going to ruin anything, Buck. You're family. You belong here, and everyone is going to love you- especially when you present those brownies. Salted caramel?"

Despite the nerves, Buck grins. Eddie's got a thing about caramel. Buck might be showing off a bit to get Eddie's attention. He's aware, but it's working, so...

"You have to wait until we get to the party."

"Not even one? Cruel, Buckley." Eddie squeezes his hand. His gaze drops quickly to Buck's mouth and Buck thinks that maybe- but Eddie blinks, jolting slightly and pulls back. "Come on, we should get ready. I don't trust Chris to not come sneak another cookie. Who knows how many he's had already."

"He is extremely sneaky. I wouldn't put it past him."

Eddie raises a brow. "And how many cookies did you give him?" he wants to know.

Buck sniffs haughtily. "Only two, I'll have you know."

"Uh-huh. You're worse than Abuela. I never should have let you two meet- you're both going to spoil Chris rotten."

"Abuela and I are in agreement about how much we spoil Christopher: the exact right amount."

"I told you."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." Buck scratches at his neck absently, looking vaguely uncomfortable but mostly bemused. "Your pack is very easy-going."

That's very true so Eddie merely grins and hands Buck the second bottle of beer before dropping into the space beside him.

"Most of them are first responders. Not much phases them."

Buck had been welcomed, eagerly and openly into the Grant-Nash household as well as the pack. For some reason Buck is still surprised by this, even after spending hours in the house and happily chatting with everyone.

"I knew they'd like you," he says smugly, tapping his bottle against Buck's.

"I mean... the brownies didn't hurt."

"Maybe not you. I had to fight Chim off to get the last one. Literally," he adds when Buck starts to chuckle. "He tackled me, Buck. He growled. I thought I was actually going to have to fight him for it."

Buck is still laughing. "Honestly, that was pretty great. I'll make some more next week and you can take them to the station."

"Friends who tackle friends don't get their mate's home-made salted caramel brownies," Eddie declares. "But Athena and Bobby both want the recipe."

"I can send it to them, but the caramel is tricky to get right." Buck eyes him, taking a pull from his bottle. "I am supposed to be afraid of Athena, right?" he asks.

"Smart people are usually terrified of her," Eddie says immediately. "I've never met anyone with any kind of braincells who isn't afraid, and I'm pretty sure you've got braincells." He pauses, reaching over to poke at Buck's temple. "Somewhere in there."

Buck flips him off, swatting his hand away with a laugh. "Buried deep there are a few that haven't been lost to the ages." Eddie's hand lands on Buck's shoulder, fingertips just touching Buck's mate mark. He doesn't realize he's tracing the shape of the mark until Buck shudders and tilts his head to the side.

It's not an opportunity Eddie's about to pass up. He scoots closer, hand pressing more firmly on Buck's skin.

God, he wants Buck. He's wanted him since he saw him, but the last month has been an adjustment for them all. Christopher absolutely loves Buck but the pup had still had to get used to having a new adult around all the time that he's expected to listen to. And though his son is a fantastic child, there had been a bit of a learning curve while Christopher- as any child would- figures out where the new lines are.

That's not to say that Buck and Christopher don't get along amazingly well. They're two peas in a pod, often ganging up on Eddie for one crazy scheme or another... and usually he caves and spends the entire time chasing one or both of them around (and enjoying every minute of it).

And though he hates to admit it, having Buck around to take care of the house has really eased the pressure on Eddie. Instead of realizing when he gets home at 2am that he doesn't have any clean clothes to change into and Christopher needs his lunch packed for school the next day, he's greeted by the site of leftovers waiting for him, the laundry done, and Christopher's needs are met by someone he and Eddie both trust.

He's a little worried about how fast Buck has slotted right into their lives, how easy it is to just be a family with Buck here.

It's the whole point of the mate matching service: to find someone that would be a suitable mate for you quickly, and sure once you meet a compatible mate you just know but...

God, he'd really hit the fucking lottery with Buck. Buck who is funny, smart, sassy, full of random trivia, who genuinely loves to be with Christopher and makes Eddie laugh no matter how rough his day's been.

Eddie feels like he's not holding up his end of the bargain here. What is he offering Buck in return for all that he's getting? Is Buck happy? Does he like being with Eddie? Does he even want to stay with them?

He strokes his thumb over Buck's pulse point before draping an arm over his shoulder to pull his mate close. He leans into Eddie's touch every time, happily accepting the arm around his waist, the hand in his, the brief cheek kisses Eddie's allowing himself. He doesn't want to pressure Buck into anything he doesn't want. He's not about to make Buck think Eddie wants to-

Okay, well, being honest with himself, Eddie really wants to get Buck into bed again. But he's Buck's Alpha. If he asks, if he suggests it, would Buck agree even if the Omega doesn't want Eddie? Would it be biology and pheromones agreeing? Eddie wants to get Buck into bed, but only if Buck wants it, not his biology.

He wants Buck to want him, want Eddie, not his Alpha.

"Meeting Michael surprised me," Buck says quietly, pulling Eddie out of his own head.

"Why, because he used to be Athena's mate?" Buck nods. "Yeah... I can see that being weird after your last pack. I'm guessing your parents wouldn't have agreed to let your dad's old girlfriend into the pack."

"God no. My mom is... They were matched like we were," he says, surprising Eddie. "Not through a service, but through their parents. They went along with it because... that's what you did back then. I'm really not sure how Maddie and I survived as kids. They really don't like each other all that much."

Eddie's trying not to push Buck, but he wants to know more about his mate, and he's just been given an opening.

"You don't talk about your sister much," he says casually, and feels Buck freeze against him. "You two not close?"

He feels Buck swallow. "We used to be," Buck says quietly. He keeps his gaze on the threads of Eddie's shirt, picking absentmindedly at the hem. "Our parents matched her to some rich Alpha when she was younger and she left to join his pack, but... was this not in my file? I would think Maddie would be in there."

Feeling a small prickle of anxiety through their bond, Eddie begins to stroke his hand up and down Buck's back.

"I didn't really pay attention to the family stuff," Eddie tells him. "I wasn't going to be mating your family so... I don't know, I felt like it didn't matter all that much? I know you have a sister, but that's about it. Digging into anything about her felt gross and I figured I'd just ask you if I wanted to know anything."

Buck meets his gaze then. And just stares at him.

"You... you mated an Omega without knowing their lineage?"

"I mated you, Buck. I don't care about lineage." He tightens his grip on Buck when he feels the other man move to pull away. "Hey, what's-"

"My sister killed her Alpha," Buck says in a rush, like he's trying to get the words all out at once. "He... I don't know the full story, but he didn't treat her well. She tried to leave once, to come home to us and undo the bond. Mom and Dad turned her away, told her to go home to her Alpha. She was covered in bruises and they sent her back to the man that gave them to her."

And here he thought he couldn't hate the Buckley parents any more.

"What the actual fuck."

Buck lets out a breath, scrubbing at his face. "It got worse after that, I think. I was just a teenager and I'd just presented as an Omega so I wasn't exactly included in anything but I overheard enough. Maddie didn't come around a lot after that. I don't blame her," Buck adds quickly. "She came to them for help and they told her to go home, be a good Beta to her Alpha because he'd paid a lot of money for her."

Everything in Eddie's chest turns to ice. "He paid for her." Buck nods. "Did she have any say in this?"

The downturn of Buck's mouth is enough of an answer for Eddie. "That's not how things are done in the Buckley pack. You listen to the Alphas and do what they say, no matter what. I think that's why they were so pissed I did the mate matching- they couldn't sell me off after I'd mated. Doug paid a nice little sum for Maddie, but they knew they wouldn't be able to get much for me."

Eddie has to take a minute at that, physically pushing the anger down. He doesn't even know where to start.

Selling off your own children for financial gain and then ignoring them when they come to you for help, telling them to go back to a bad situation for any reason- he literally can't picture it. He tries, tries to think of any scenario where Christopher would say help me and Eddie would tell him no and he can't, can't even imagine it.

And there's not enough money in the world to make him even consider selling his son to the highest bidder. If some Alpha ever came sniffing around Christopher and offered to pay to take him home despite Christopher's reluctance, not even Athena would be able to find the body.

"I think that's why they pushed me into certain things," Buck continues. He reaches up to gently rub at Eddie's mark, eyes thoughtful and far away. The feeling of Buck's fingers tracing his mark assures Eddie that Buck is here and safe and he leans into it. "They were probably going to try and bid me off anyways, so I got cooking classes and they sent me to college. I had a gym membership, nice clothes, and was taken to the doctor every time I so much as got the sniffles. An educated, healthy, attractive Omega is worth a lot more than one that's not."

"Jesus," Eddie breathes, drawing Buck in so he can get both arms around him. "God, I'm so fucking sorry. You deserve better than that."

Buck's here now. He's here as long as he wants to be here and his parents will never touch him ever again. For now, that has to be enough.

"What happened to Maddie after her Alpha died?" he pulls back enough to ask, refusing to let Buck out of the circle of his arms.

"I don't know. All I know is Doug died, Maddie was declared not at fault and then she wasn't around anymore." Buck shrugs like it's not weighing on him and Eddie sees right through it. "She needed to get out. I'm glad she did."

"How long ago was this?"

"I haven't seen her in almost four years. It's been nearly three since we managed to talk- she wasn't allowed to call the house and any letters she sent would be intercepted, and my folks went through my phone all the time. I don't even know where she is right now but she's nowhere near our parents and that's good enough for me."

Eddie knows him better than that and hauls Buck back in for another hug. "You must miss her."

Buck's next breath stutters. He buries his face in Eddie's neck.

"I always thought she was so cool," he says, voice slightly muffled. "She got her license when I was eight and she started driving me everywhere. We'd spend hours in her jeep, singing along to the radio, just driving around so we didn't have to go home."

It's a good, fond memory if Buck's face is anything to go by, but all Eddie can focus on is that two kids were so desperate to not be home they'd do anything to not be there.

"She protected me when she could from Mom and Dad. They weren't... when I was younger and jumping out of trees or skateboarding behind a car, they thought I'd be an Alpha and they weren't so bad." Buck leans back, wiping his eyes but keeping a hand in Eddie's. "And then when I wasn't... Maddie was the one to do the research, to help me build my first nest. She even gave me her favorite coat for the scent. It wasn't the same, but it was like she was still with me."

"I'm going to go on record here: I fucking hate your parents and they are not allowed anywhere near you or Christopher. Ever."

Buck laughs a little wetly at that. "I am so in agreement on that." He squeezes Eddie's hand, mouth tipped up in a smile. "We used to talk about the ocean, me and Maddie, how we'd escape to it one day, maybe sail away on a pirate ship."

It makes Eddie smile slightly. "You and your pirates."

"Yeah. We made these big plans about how we'd run away together, go someplace warm where we could swim in the ocean every day if we wanted and just be happy."

Eddie can't help himself. He leans in to press a quick kiss to Buck's mouth.

"I hope I can make you happy," he murmurs. "I want you to be happy here, Buck."

Buck chases him when he pulls away, pressing his mouth more firmly against Eddie's. He groans softly when Eddie angles his head, tongue teasing his.

"I am. You and Christopher are more than I could have hoped for, more than I dared to even dream I could get." Resting his forehead against Eddie's, Buck smiles. "I don't know how I got so lucky."

Eddie's next kiss is full of heat, his hands restlessly roaming Buck's back. "I ask myself that every day. Every time I see you with Christopher, or hear you sharing your random facts, I'm amazed that somehow you picked me. I think I'm the lucky one here, Buck."

"You're just saying that because you like my cooking," Buck jokes, arching into the touch.

"Buck..." Eddie starts, trying to make Buck understand but unsure what to say, how to say it. "I'm really, really happy you're here."

It's not enough, not nearly enough to cover all he's been feeling since Buck arrived, but Buck seems to understand all the same.

"Yeah," he says, kissing Eddie around a smile and wrapping his arms around his neck to pull him in. "Me too."

Chapter Text

Of course, having Buck doesn't magically fix all of Eddie's problems with his mere presence. Another driver in the family is great, especially considering the amount of errands that always seem to need to be done but there are still only so many cars they have access to.

They sold Abuela's junker when she gave up her license, used the money to build her savings a bit (Eddie had been absolutely horrified when he inspected the car, how could he have let his grandmother drive this lemon for so long!?), so Buck doesn't have a car of his own. Meaning that for the most part, Eddie either gets a ride to and from work or Buck takes him so he can have the truck.

He likes it when Buck drives him to work. Sometimes the stars align enough that Eddie is due at work around the time Christopher is due at school and he's able to kiss his son goodbye at the gates and then race to work to get there a few minutes late (he gets to kiss Buck goodbye too on those days and sometimes that makes him more than a few minutes late).

The Diaz family schedule is something to behold for sure. Even with alerts on his phone and Buck's, there are a number of things that sometimes just slip through the cracks. Buck's taken to writing things out on a calendar that lives in the kitchen, his messy scrawl taking up nearly every square on the paper (Abuela has a doctor's appointment that he forgot about, damn it, and it's only going to get more hectic once school is out).

So today Buck is driving Eddie to work and taking the truck home with him- once he gets back from running Abuela's errands. For once Eddie is not only on time, he's even a little bit early.

He takes full advantage of the time by kissing Buck goodbye slow and sweet.

"Okay," Buck sighs, smiling with his eyes still closed, mouth barely any distance from Eddie's. "You have to go."

"Yeah," Eddie agrees, kissing him again.

Buck laughs against his mouth but returns the kiss, hand coming up to gently brush Eddie's cheek before sliding back into his hair.

"Fuck, now I really have to go," Eddie says breathlessly a few minutes later. He can get dressed in under thirty seconds (thank you LAFD and the Army), but he'd rather not be halfway out of his uniform when the first call comes in.

"Then you better go." Buck leans back like he's done, but fuck that smile on him makes Eddie weak and he follows his mate to haul him in for another kiss, wishing there was time to mark him up properly, douse him in Eddie's scent so it'll linger all day.

They're startled apart by a sharp rap on the window and Hen's smirking face. Buck squeaks, flailing, before ducking down in the seat.

"Hi Hen," Buck manages from behind his hands. The back of his neck is bright red. Eddie wants to see the rest of his face, wants to see how far down that blush goes. He grabs his bag from the backseat to stop himself.

"Boys." Hen looks entirely too pleased with herself. "Nice day for a tardy write-up, Eddie. Might wanna hustle."

"I'm going, I'm going," Eddie grumbles.

He's unable to resist and leans over to kiss Buck one last time, basking in the feeling of happiness he feels from his bond with Buck.

"See you tomorrow."

He's halfway out the door before a hand on his collar yanks him back around. Buck throws himself into Eddie's space and kisses him hard before pulling away abruptly, looking pleased with himself.

"Be careful."

Dazed, Eddie nearly trips over his go bag on the pavement when he tries to clamber out of his truck.

"Oh, Buck, you should give Karen a call," Hen says, obviously trying not to laugh. "Denny is making noises about a group sleepover next weekend. Christopher is invited."

Eddie frowns down at his calendar app while Buck does the same from inside the truck. Abuela's doctor's appointment is next weekend. Eddie has some time off and was hoping to get the errands taken care of fairly quickly, but Pepa is having car issues and had dropped it off at the mechanic's. How are they going to get Christopher, Abuela, and Pepa where they need to go with only one working car between them?

"We'll figure it out," Buck decides, turning the key. "Get inside, you're late!"

Eddie catches sight of the time and swears, running inside. They'll have to figure it all out later.

"How are we already out of milk? I just got some!"

"You think the milk situation is bad, you should see the eggs."

Buck glances back over his shoulder, brows furrowed. "What's wrong with the eggs?" he demands, still trying to add to the grocery list.

"We don't have any."

Throwing his hands up, Buck asks the heavens "how!?" before bending over the counter again to dutifully add eggs to the shopping list.

Eddie is also baffled. "Didn't we just buy eggs?" he wants to know. "Like, two, three days ago?"

He knows they eat a lot. Eddie goes through a massive amount of food by himself and Christopher has definitely inherited the Diaz family appetite. Buck is powered by a black hole and Eddie refuses to entertain any other explanations- it's the only thing that makes sense. How else could one man put away an entire meat lover's extra-large pizza by himself?

Buck nods without looking over, still focused on the shopping list. "Yeah but that was three days ago. We've used eggs since then."

"A dozen of them? In three days?"

"For the panko chicken."

Okay, that's fair. The panko chicken had been amazing but Eddie had tried to help make the food and wound up dropping two eggs, then he got shell in the egg wash (somehow) and just made more rather than digging all the pieces out.

He still maintains that no one would have noticed because panko is crunchy anyway but Buck had given him such a scandalized look that he'd laughed and gotten another bowl.

"Plus we made those cupcakes for Karen's birthday," Buck adds.

"We?" Eddie asks, knowing full well that he is not only completely useless in the kitchen, he'd also somehow stained both his clothes and himself blue from the food coloring. It hasn't fully washed off- the edges of his nails and a spot on his wrist are still colored no matter how hard he scrubs.

Now Buck does look up, throwing Eddie a smile. "I mean... you helped," he tries, laughing halfway through.

Eddie flips him off with a blue tinged finger, causing Buck to dissolve fully into laughter.

"Pretty generous to call what I did helping," Eddie grumbles. But he's smiling.

"Hey, you cleaned up. That counts for something." He leans back against Eddie's chest, holding the list up for him to read. "Did I forget anything?"

He hooks his chin over Buck's shoulder, drapes an arm over his waist. It's second nature to reach for Buck now, to cling to him and drape himself all over the Omega. He finds himself reaching for Buck in the strangest places now, exchanging wide eyes and wiggling brows when other couples have public arguments, miming jokes over Christopher's head during the latest animated movie marathon.

Reaching for Buck to pull him into his lap for a more PG-13 kiss when Christopher goes to bed.

Buck always goes, crawling over to accept Eddie's kisses and pepper the Alpha's face with his own. They fit against each other so easily, find each other automatically across crowded rooms to share inside jokes with just their eyes, a quirk of their mouths.

Even now, reading the grocery list and reminding Buck that Christopher has randomly decided he doesn't like kiwis this week (last week it was apples), Eddie turns his head to press his face against Buck's neck and inhale his scent, his lips just grazing his mate's mark.

Buck shivers. Drops the list.

Eddie's backed against the kitchen counter before he can blink and holy fuck why is that so hot? He doesn't have time to parse out the answer, too busy with Buck's tongue in his mouth, Buck's hands sliding up his back and fisting in his hair.

Buck has a thing about Eddie's hair.

Eddie, for completely unrelated reasons, hasn't had a haircut in a while.

Buck kissing him is new. They've kissed before- and will again if Eddie has anything to say about it- but Buck initiating the kissing, taking charge, is a recent and very welcome change. So Eddie is happy to have the counter digging into his hip if it means Buck's mouth against his.

But he wouldn't be Eddie if he didn't flip them, getting Buck off-balance enough to twist and back him against the counter. The smell of Buck's arousal hits him like a kick in the gut, heat pooling and rushing south. He growls deep in his chest, crowding the Omega against the counter, slotting his leg between Buck's.

"Holy fuck," Buck gasps, hips rolling, head back, pupils blown wide.

"So fucking pretty," Eddie mumbles, the words jumbled against the juncture of Buck's neck.

Mine.

He's too busy sucking a dark bruise into Buck's delightfully pale skin to notice Buck's hands slipping under his shirt. Doesn't register the touch until the shirt flutters over his head and down to the floor, until Buck is sinking his teeth into Eddie's shoulder.

Eddie spares a second to be eternally grateful for his son's extraverted tendencies because he's currently safely tucked away at Bobby's house for a School's Out! sleepover (the first of many over summer break he's sure and soon it'll be their turn to host).

He's a patient man. He has to be. Good things come to those who wait and all those other platitudes his mother had tried to raise him on. He knows the value of waiting, knows when to pull back and give some space, knows that if he lets the answers come to him they'll be much more clear than if he'd forced them out of the universe.

But Buck's shirt is in his way and he's not having any of that.

Buck laughs, leaning back. Eddie nearly growls, his grip on Buck tightening for a second to hold him in place.

"If you want me to take my shirt off," Buck starts to say, chest heaving, not stopping the slow dirty roll of his hips against Eddie's, "you're going to have to let go-"

Eddie rips the shirt right off him.

"That... that works." Buck's voice is strangled. It might have something to do with Eddie pressing his thigh right against the lump in Buck's pants. "Why was that so hot, what the fuck-" and then he's kissing Eddie hard, lips and teeth and tongue moving desperately against his. Eddie gives as good as he gets, fingers pressing in to hopefully leave bruises right on Buck's skin. Right there, right where everyone can see and will know.

Mine.

This close, so close he can just make out the faint ring of blue surrounding Buck's blown-out pupil, that he's bathing in the scent of their want, their bond is front and center. Buck has to be feeling what Eddie is, surely he can sense the possessiveness, the want, the lust coursing through Eddie with their bond.

And he kisses Eddie anyway. Touches him. Slides a hand down to Eddie's waist to toy with his belt.

The thought of Buck's hands around him makes him groan, hips jerking forward in an aborted thrust. He wants-

"Eddie," Buck gasps, shuddering when Eddie's teeth graze over his mark.

The leather slides through the buckle, Buck's nimble fingers working until they can get at his zipper.

He needs to focus, needs to pull himself together enough to- Buck shouldn't do this just because Eddie wants-

Eddie drops his forehead to Buck's mark. Inhales deeply.

Buck feels... with their bond, Eddie can feel the lust, surely that's his own lust bouncing back at him. Is he so out of control that Buck is reacting to his want? His rut can't be hitting this soon, he has a few weeks there surely.

Buck had kissed him. Buck is still kissing him. Buck is the one undressing Eddie. He's smiling, he laughs when Eddie accidentally digs into the ticklish spot under his ribs. He meets Eddie kiss for kiss and arches into Eddie's touch. Eddie can smell the scent coming from Buck, can practically taste how much Buck wants him and he's dizzy with it.

"Buck..." Christ, how is he supposed to string together a coherent sentence with Buck mouthing along his chest like that? With Buck's leg moving to press against his straining erection and rub it- holy shit- just right?

Mine. Mate. My mate.

Not to be outdone, Eddie makes quick work of Buck's own fly, nearly ripping the button clean off the waistband. Buck snickers, then gasps when Eddie gets a hand inside to grip Buck through his briefs.

"Fuck," Buck swears, throwing his head back. Eddie wastes no time in biting at the newly accessible area. He bites hard, sucking viciously, knowing it'll bruise so pretty.

"Come to bed with me," Eddie all but begs. He wants to spread Buck out across his sheets, wants to take him apart inch by inch, wants to cover every god damn inch of him, leave him with marks from his teeth, his fingertips. "Buck, I want- do you-"

"Yes," Buck gasps, working his own hand down Eddie's pants. "Yes, yes, Eddie- I-"

They don't make it to the bed.

First they stagger out of the kitchen to be caught by the wall. Then they try to cross the hall without letting go of each other, banging into the end table behind the couch in the process. Somewhere between the kitchen and living room Buck loses his pants and Eddie loses all control over his motor functions, pressing Buck urgently to the wall to sink his teeth into his mark and soothe it with his tongue.

While Eddie is distracted Buck frees him from his own pants, and then he makes this absolutely wrecked noise when Eddie twists the hand he's got on Buck's dick and all thoughts of the bed go right out the window. Eddie presses Buck onto the nearest flat surface- the floor, the floor is close and it's flat- rips the remaining cloth off them both and covers him with his own body. Whatever noise comes out of whoever it was only adds to the insanity.

Mine. Mine mine mine mine-

"Yes," Buck purrs, arching clean up off the floor. "Please, please, Eddie, please-"

"Not on the floor," Eddie starts to say, but then Buck whimpers, arching his neck in a clear invitation, rolling his hips until he's slotted right up against him and the last thread of Eddie's control snaps. "Fuck," he bites out, slamming his mouth back down to Buck's, grinding his hips down.

Buck is eager beneath him, wiggling and arching into him. Eddie fits so beautifully between his thighs, Buck's legs more than long enough to wrap around his waist and pull him in.

Eddie's too far gone to properly fuck Buck. He doesn't have the patience to work him open, he's too drunk on the lust coursing through him to do it right and he refuses to hurt his mate. But that doesn't mean they're about to stop.

He dips a finger between Buck's cheeks, eyes nearly rolling back into his head at the slick that's gathered there where the scent is the strongest.

"Baby," he breathes against Buck's mouth. "Did you get all wet just for me?"

Buck can't answer, too busy worrying his lip with his teeth to try and keep his noises inside. Eddie bites playfully at the abused bottom lip, tugging it into his mouth. He feels the sounds Buck makes when he takes them both in his now slick hand and begins to stroke them together, quick and dirty.

"Oh fuck- Jesus shit, Eddie, Eddie please, ah ah-!"

The fucking noises Buck makes...

One day, Eddie is going to fuck him long and hard and find out all the delicious sounds Buck can make, until Buck smells like him for days and everyone who comes across him will know that Buck is his.

Buck comes with a startled cry, body going tense before he spills over Eddie's hand. It's amazing, it's perfect and gross and Eddie adds to the mess less than a second later, his own release striping Buck's chest.

He collapses onto the floor, barely remembering to aim to the side so he doesn't crush Buck underneath him.

For a minute they just lay there, gasping and trying to catch their breath.

"One of these days," Eddie eventually says, "I'm going to get you into my actual bed."

Buck grins, his breath whooshing out in great gasps. "What's wrong with today?"

"Unless you plan on making that carbonara without any eggs, we do need to go to the store." Feeling everything drying between them, making their bodies tacky and more than a little gross in the heat despite the A/C going full blast, Eddie sits up. "Plus now we need to shower."

The pout that crosses Buck's face should not be as attractive as it is.

"Fine, let's go be responsible adults."

Eddie helps him up, feeling slightly off-kilter. He doesn't normally jump people while they're making grocery lists and he's certainly never fucked his mate on the living room floor before. Not that he has any complaints about what just happened, but he's usually more of a keep-it-in-the-den kinda guy. Maybe his rut is coming sooner than he thinks.

Maybe Buck is just that irresistible.

Maybe a hint of both he realizes as his cock begins to stir again.

Buck smells like them, like Eddie, like his Alpha and sex. Eddie inhales deeply, something primal in his chest oozing satisfaction. He wants Buck to smell like this all the time.

Yeah, he doesn't have a couple of weeks. His rut, fuck, it could hit tomorrow with the way he's feeling, the way Buck is responding to him.

He catches sight of the bruises around Buck's hips when they flip on the bathroom light. He all but purrs (mine), tracing them lightly.

"Did I hurt you?" he can't help but ask.

"Not in any way I didn't really, really want," Buck assures him. He doesn't hesitate to kiss Eddie, lips curving up when he feels Eddie's arms come up to circle him. "It was amazing, Eddie."

Eddie backs Buck up until he has to step into the tub and doesn't hesitate to follow him in. "You'd tell me if I do something you don't want, right?"

Buck pauses then, head tilting as he studies Eddie. He looks like he's just figured something out, a missing puzzle piece finally sliding into place.

"You know... I thought it was me," he says casually, reaching over to turn the water on. "I thought you weren't touching me because you didn't want me, but you were... waiting on permission weren't you?"

"You... you thought I didn't want you?" he asks, incredulous. It's the most ridiculous thing Eddie's ever heard in his life. "Who the fuck would ever look at you and not want you?"

Buck laughs, going pink with pleasure, tipping his head back to rinse himself off. "Okay, that reaction is helping my ego. Please go on."

"Of course I was waiting for permission, I wasn't going to- Buck of course I want you, I just didn't- wouldn't- I couldn't touch you unless I knew you felt the same-!"

Even mid-rut he would never touch anyone without their express permission, he could never put his hands on Buck without knowing the touch was welcome.

He's cut off by a slippery wet Buck launching himself into his arms and hauling him down for a sloppy kiss. Eddie jerks away, nearly yelping when he's tugged under the not warm enough spray. Buck's laughter fills the space around them, bouncing oddly off the running water.

He's half hard again already, feeling Buck warm and wet against him. He can feel his knot wanting to form and he wants inside Buck, wants to fill him and fuck him and claim him.

"Oh, I want you," Buck breathes into his mouth. "I want you to touch me, please. I think about it all the time." He bites at Eddie's jaw, kisses his way to nibble at his earlobe. "And I think you need... you've smelled so good all day. I always want you to touch me, Alpha, my Alpha, please-"

Eddie groans, dipping back in for another kiss.

Buck's ass is right there, right within his reach, and Buck is asking him, giving him permission so he grabs it, uses the leverage to haul Buck against him fully, kiss him hard. Buck wraps a hand around Eddie's now fully hard cock and strokes it slowly before dropping to his knees.

They really don't have time. The store will close soon. Dinner needs to be made. He forgot to mow the yard yesterday. Pepa needs a ride home from work. He needs to make arrangements for Christopher- this rut's taken him by surprise but he needs a day at least.

A day of Buck in his bed. Of touching Buck, claiming him, marking him, hearing Buck beg and whimper and moan. Making him smell like him, like them-

He might need two days.

Buck sighs happily around him, swallowing him down with ease and sucking, his tongue fluttering on the underside as he works Eddie deeper. Eddie slams a hand on the wall to keep himself upright when his knees threaten to give out. He crams the other hand in his mouth and bites down, feeling the head of his cock nudging the back of Buck's throat with every bob of his head.

Jesus fucking goddamn Christ it's good. His spine is melting, his knees are made of water. The heat around Eddie's cock, the slick warmth of Buck's mouth, the way his tongue flutters against the head before teasing Eddie's knot, how Buck now has his fingers leaving bruises on Eddie's hips... it's almost too much, almost too good when he comes.

He gets his hand in Buck's hair, pulls until Buck stands up and he can chase the taste of himself in Buck's mouth.

They can get eggs tomorrow.

Across town, Bobby's phone beeps. He frowns at the screen, brow furrowing. Buck's texts are usually rambling, but they aren't normally this incomprehensible.

Athena throws him a questioning look from under his arm. He offers her the phone silently, brain still trying to translate.

"We might need to extend the sleepover," he explains to his mate as she reads the garbled message. "Looks like Eddie was caught off-guard."

Athena snorts in disbelief. "He didn't think that a new mate- a new mate that looks like that and is the sweetest damn thing, who's good with Christopher, with all the kids, that fit right into the pack... he didn't think that would set his rut off early?" Her eye roll has the weight of a cop who's seen just about everything behind it. "I don't even have ruts and I could have told him it would happen."

Bobby pats her knee. "Ah, they're both young still. Buck's good for him."

"Oh, don't I know it. Eddie's been a lot more at ease lately." Sensing her mate's worry dying down, the Beta stretches up to kiss him. "Buckaroo's a sweetie, and they seem good for each other. I'm happy for them."

Bobby gives her a fond smile and sends a quick return text, a simple of course in answer to the jumbled bobbby eds rude hit e arly can chris stay th eweekndxcd, tucks his mate under his arm and basks in the sense of contentment that only comes to an Alpha Prime when everyone in his pack is healthy and cared for.

He'd been worried about Eddie, before Buck. Worried that he was tired. Worn out.

Lonely.

And now, Buck. A mate isn't a fix-all, not even a band-aid for life's problems, but a good partner, someone that's always at your side, always there in the small ways can change everything. Eddie had needed a partner, a friend, a co-parent.

Eddie's been more open at work lately, the stiff line of his shoulders dropping as the months go on. The dark circles that have been blooming under his eyes are easing back, the tight line of his mouth has softened. He's more settled. He hasn't had to pace around the firehouse in weeks. He's been laughing more.

Yeah. Bobby thinks that his packmate has found exactly what, exactly who he needs. He couldn't be more thrilled. Anyone who makes one of his pack so happy, anyone that kind and caring is more than welcome in the family, and Buck is that and more. He's a little damaged, a little anxious, and he has a heart made of absolute gold.

And if Bobby ever meets Buck's old Alphas (not his parents, anyone who treats their child like they did doesn't deserve the title of parent), oh, he's going to have some words with them. Right after he points Athena in their direction and lets her at them.

Chapter Text

Eddie waking up to face the day is the funniest thing. Now that Buck spends his nights in his bed (it's not theirs, it's only Eddie's no matter how many nights Buck spends in it... right? Buck's just... indulging in some wishful thinking, has to be) he gets to witness it firsthand.

The alarm likes to blare right as Buck is fully waking up, still aimlessly scrolling on his phone, startling him- which, rude- and Eddie's arm detangles itself from around Buck to slap at the annoyingly loud beeping box. Once Eddie forgot to turn the alarm off on his day off and he'd thrown the clock at the wall, smashing it into hundreds of pieces before wrapping himself back around Buck with a grumble.

The newer alarm is much more sturdy.

Eddie's shoulders come up first, his torso lifting up off the bed before he opens his eyes or raises his head like he's still trying to cling to as much sleep as possible before actually waking up. He sits up, eyes still closed, and yawns massively, tilting his head this way and that to crack it. Eventually, he does open his eyes a crack.

He promptly scowls.

"Good morning," Buck chirps from his side of the bed. He's still sprawled out on the mattress, phone in hand. He has to take a picture of Eddie frowning at the day, hair all over the place.

"Nng," is Eddie's bleary response.

"It's a beautiful day," Buck tries, because it is. The sun is shining high and bright. Birds are singing. Someone in the neighborhood is mowing their lawn.

"Hmm."

"It's even going to be under one hundred today."

Eddie yawns.

"Want breakfast?"

He gets a grunt, another yawn, and then Eddie stumbles out of bed to shuffle zombie-like down the hall, eyes still only about halfway open.

With a grin, Buck leaps up and heads into the kitchen. Eddie's going to be half asleep until he gets that first cup of coffee... and mostly entirely useless unless he gets started on a second cup before they leave the house.

Christopher is about the same actually, minus the coffee drinking. Buck appears to be the only morning person in the house. God help them once Chris is a teenager: he's going to be a nightmare to get out of bed in the mornings.

He hits the coffee maker, pausing long enough to make sure it's filled and the coffee is brewing before detouring to Chris's room.

"Hey Superman," Buck calls through the cracked door. He knocks, waiting to hear the long, agony filled groan of a small child being woken up early (to his mind, anyway) before poking his head in.

"No," Christopher says, rolling over.

"Aw, but Superman-"

"Tired," the pup insists.

Then, in a move that is all his father and twice as adorable, Christopher pulls his pillow over his head and burrows deeper into the bed. Buck chokes back a laugh, stepping fully into the room. He promptly gets a Lego stuck to his foot.

"It's time to get up," Buck announces, reaching to rub Christopher's exposed arm where it clutches his pillow over his face.

The pillow groans, then is tossed aside.

Chris frowns up at him, squinting slightly. Buck hands him his glasses, which he accepts with a pout.

"Why does morning come so early," Chris demands to know, shuffling over to stand.

Buck laughs. "You're so your father's son."

"Kid's got a point," a groggy voice says from the doorway. Eddie leans against the doorjamb tiredly, hair askew and still sticking up everywhere and looking way too fucking good before eight am. "Mornings are too damn early."

"Maybe certain people should go to bed earlier."

"Maybe certain people should be less smug about how early they wake up when they fall asleep at the same time every night," Eddie counters.

"I can't help that my natural bedtime is apparently eleven-thirty," Buck sniffs.

Eddie shakes his head, smiling fondly. "You're such an old man. Who falls asleep that early?"

"Can I stay up until eleven-thirty?" Chris asks Eddie.

"That's a little late for you buddy," Eddie says, bending to press a kiss to his hair.

"But you just said eleven-thirty is early," comes the protest. "So-"

"Nope," Eddie cuts him off, scooping his son over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carting him down the hall. Christopher shrieks in laughter and protest. Buck's heart is so full he thinks it could burst, the bonds of mate and son so warm and happy they practically glow. "It's too early to be discussing time. Dad hasn't had his coffee yet."

"If you're talking about how it's too early then aren't we still discussing-"

Eddie deposits Chris on his feet to grab Buck around his hips and nuzzle into his neck. The warmth in Buck's chest increases, the smile on his face grows. "Quiet, you."

Once breakfast is served, everyone's teeth are brushed and the coffee has been doctored and consumed, Christopher appears to remember what today is.

"We're going to the beach!" he exclaims, fully awake now. "Buck and I are going surfing, and we'll build sandcastles, and we're gonna bury Dad in the sand, and the whole pack is coming-!"

Cup halfway to his mouth, Eddie frowns. "What about burying Dad in the sand?" he asks, looking between the two of them. "Are you two plotting something?"

"No," they answer in unison, much too quickly.

Eddie narrows his eyes but lets them have their plans. Under the table, Buck subtly holds his hand out to Chris for a high-five.

"Can you teach me to scuba dive?" Christopher asks Buck halfway through packing their beach gear. Somehow five towels feels like too many and not enough.

He actually hasn't gone diving in a while, and with the ocean right there it's a prime opportunity. All that open water to explore, so many things he could discover and see. He hasn't going diving in the warm Pacific yet. He yearns for it a little, he's not gonna lie. He pushes the thoughts of Maddie down, the ache in his chest very familiar. Being near the ocean in warm weather makes him think of Maddie and all those plans they made together.

But today's not the day to be sad. Today he's going to hang out with his pack, his family, all those friendly family bonds up close and together.

"Maybe when you're older we can take some classes together," Buck says, catching Eddie's eye. "They do have some children's classes, but there's an age limit."

"But I'm eight," is the outraged cry.

"A few more years buddy, then we'll be able to go."

Christopher pouts for all of five minutes before getting distracted by all the food going into the picnic basket. More specifically, the chocolate-glazed butterscotch cookies Buck had baked just last night.

"Can I have a cookie?" he asks, already reaching.

"After we get to the beach," Eddie says.

Chris turns hopeful, pleading eyes to Buck, who is suddenly very busy digging through their bags. He's a sucker for those puppy eyes and Christopher knows it. Eddie takes pity on him and removes the pup from the kitchen to get dressed before he caves.

"Might not be a bad idea," Eddie says to him lowly. "The scuba diving. Exercising in the water is really good for him."

Buck nods, already filtering through the memories of his beginner courses. The children's classes are a little different than regular classes but for most part the same. He'd taken classes as a legal adult, but he knows there are special classes out there. Surely they'll be able to find one in LA.

"One of the biggest lessons you learn- before you even get in the water- is how to listen to your body. You have to know when you're too tired, or pay attention to something that might be a warning sign. And there are PADI classes. He's not gonna jump right into Open Water right away or anything like that, and I'll be able to go with him." A thought occurring to him, Buck tilts his head. "Might not be a bad idea for you to get certified too."

Eddie appears to be thinking along the same lines. "I'd have to get certified if I wanna do underwater rescues anyway," he says thoughtfully. "Plus we can all go in the water together."

"I'll find a PADI class, see if there's an age limit on that. Did you know the program was started by wheelchair user? It's so cool. I bet if he already has a certified buddy he'll be able to start in a little while. We can talk to his physical therapist about it at the appointment next week. I could do with a refresher course anyway."

He feels another spike of happiness through their bond, barely has time to turn to face Eddie before the Alpha is pulling him in to kiss him, his hand right on Buck's mark. Their bond lights up with joy and something deeper he can't quite name.

"Mmm," Buck hums, returning the kiss. "Good morning."

"Ugh, you guys are gross." Christopher declares. He's already dressed in his swim trunks and shirt, practically vibrating with excitement on the spot. "We gotta go to the beach, come on! Harry and Denny will be waiting!"

Harry is already in the water when they arrive. Christopher promptly abandons them to join him, his dinosaur floatie firmly around his waist.

"Hen and Karen will be here soon," Athena says, still arranging their things on the blanket. Beside her, Bobby struggles to figure out the beach umbrella while Chimney snickers and offers deliberately unhelpful advice, May filming the entire thing. "Denny's barking mad that everyone got here before him."

"You'd think they've never been to the beach a day in their lives."

Bobby chuckles, having finally figured out the umbrella. "I barely got any sunscreen on Harry before he ran off. I'm sure most of it's washed off by now."

Buck abruptly remembers they didn't put any sunscreen on Chris other than his face. Eddie shares a look with him, then frowns at the boys.

"I don't think we're going to be able to get him out of the water until food time," Eddie admits. "And he's definitely not going to sit still enough for us to dry him off or wait to get back into the water while it dries."

"Let's hope he doesn't burn before lunch."

He's not about to let himself burn to a crisp however and slathers himself liberally, handing the bottle to Eddie so he can rub the lotion into Buck's shoulders and back just as Denny steaks past them to cannonball into the waves.

Hen and Karen follow at a much more sedate pace, hands linked and swinging between them.

Buck is actively resisting the urge to run into the water with the boys. He wants to be closer to the kids. Something could happen and he's too far away for his own liking. A riptide. A too-strong current. A shark. Jellyfish. Are there jellyfish here? He pulls out his phone to check.

Box jellyfish and, of course, the Portuguese Man-of-War are native to the areas and they're particularly painful-

His phone is plucked out of his hands.

"Hey," he protests.

Eddie stuffs his phone in their picnic basket. He threads his fingers through Buck's in its place.

"I could see you freaking out," is all his mate says. He squeezes Buck's hand. "The kids are fine. Relax, Buck, please. Just sit here and enjoy the day."

"Would you feel better if I went into the water with them?" Chim asks. "They love dunking adults under the water and seeing if they can climb all over us."

Buck hesitates, feeling shame creeping up his spine. He's not the father of any of the kids- not even Christopher, not really... no matter how much he wants to be. He's Eddie's mate, sure, but that only gets him so far.

Even knowing that it's his Omega brain, his instincts and anxiety, he can't shake the feeling that he should be in the water. Next to the kids. Ready in case something happens. Anything could happen and he should be in the water with them just in case. He should be watching the kids so the pack can relax and have fun.

Except that's... not his job. It's what his parents trained him to do.

Eddie's hand squeezes his. His gaze is warm and open. No one is annoyed at him, or angry. The faint annoyance he can feel filtering through a bond is coming from Hen, who just discovered that her lotion spilled in her bag. It's not directed at him at all.

"I... yeah," he admits. "Thanks Chim."

Chimney nods, tosses them his sunglasses, and charges into the water. He's promptly tackled by Denny, both of them sinking under the waves with a laugh. Hen accepts a wad of tissues from Athena and sets about cleaning up.

Eddie kisses him before he even opens his mouth. "Don't be sorry," he says when he pulls back.

"Can't help it. I just... I feel weird not being with them. Sorry."

Bobby aims a kind smile at him, his calm nature coming through their bond soothing Buck a small bit. No one is even the slightest bit annoyed with him. "Wanting kids to be safe is nothing to be sorry for," he says. "In fact, I think I might go join them too."

Athena levels her mate with a look. "You're gonna go play chicken with them in the water," she accuses, tone all too knowing. "With your back hurting the way it's been, you have no business putting Harry on your shoulders right now so you sit down."

Bobby- in all his Alpha Prime glory- simply sighs and settles down on the sand beside them per his mate's orders without complaint.

"You know I'm right."

Bobby grins up at the Beta, clearly angling for a kiss, which he gets- with an eyeroll thrown in for good measure. "I know, I know. I'll stay here and help guard the food from the seagulls. You're right as always, my dear."

Satisfied, Athena hands her mate her sunglasses and heads into the water herself, much to the delight of her son who tries to climb up her and is thrown into the surf for his troubles. May joins them a minute later and easily tosses her brother as well, then goes shrieking into the water when Denny and Chris gang up on her.

Buck smiles, the tense line of his shoulders easing.

"I think I'm going to try and drown Chimney," Hen declares, bag finally clean. "He ate my helping of Buck's pastries last week so he needs to die."

"You have fun with that darling." Karen adjusts her wide brimmed hat and settles into her chair, pulling out a thick book. "I'm going to sit here and eat my weight in whatever food Bobby and Buck have brought for us."

Some of the floaty feeling in his head eases as more of the pack jumps into the water, Christopher and the other children surrounded on all sides. It also helps that Eddie is right beside him, his hand in Buck's, fingers moving soothingly over his skin.

"I brought some homemade cookies. You can have his share," Buck offers but Hen shakes her head, a determined look on her face.

"It's the principle of the thing," she tells him, and wades in to drown her partner with extreme prejudice.

Bobby, Eddie, and Karen all have their heads in the picnic basket when he turns back around, digging through it with some scary intensity. Eddie already has a cookie in his mouth, which Buck promptly steals.

"Hey!"

"You already had one at the house," he says around his mouthful. "And another when you thought I wasn't looking. Honestly, you're worse than Chris."

Eddie is straight up pouting, looking so much like Chris it makes Buck's chest ache. He has a smear of chocolate near his lip and Buck leans in to kiss it away, a huff of laughter escaping him when Eddie gets a hand on the back of his neck and deepens the kiss.

"Aw," Karen coos, happily munching on her own cookie. "You guys are... ugh, just adorable."

"I keep him around for the cooking," Eddie says, and is promptly pushed into the sand. "I'm kidding, help, help," he laughs when Buck follows him and attempts to stuff sand down his shorts. "Mate abuse! Bobby!"

"I don't see anything," Bobby says, entirely unconcerned and reaching for another cookie. "Do you see anything Karen?"

Phone raised and happily snapping pictures of the two grown men currently wrestling in the sand and laughing like loons, Karen bites into her own cookie. "Not a thing."

The mail situation is getting a little out of hand.

Even though he and Buck are mated- happily, thank you very much- the matching service still sends over applications, pictures, even files of people who've requested to see Eddie's info or be his secondary Omega. He tosses all of them, every time. He's got no interest in another mate, another person, in anyone who isn't Buck.

When he gets home and sees more files crammed into the mailbox, he sighs. This is starting to piss him off. He told the service he's happy and not interested in anyone else. He's called them twice to tell them just that and gotten assurances each time that the files will stop any day now.

And yeah, sure, some people have more than one mate, some Alphas gather a bunch of Omegas to help them care for large dens but he's not like that. He wants his family, his pack, his mate (single, just one mate), his son and that's all.

Not every Alpha is like Buck's parents (or even his own mother, when it comes down to it). In fact, there are plenty of Omega who are treated well and are perfectly happy in their large pack, content being a secondary or a rut mate or the one who takes care of the pups. More power to them, but he's happy with the way things are.

He likes to think Buck is too.

Because Buck tells him that he is. Buck smiles at him, kisses him, laughs at him, teases him about his inability to cook and his hatred of waking up. He sleeps in Eddie's bed, his clothes and things gradually making their way into Eddie's den as time goes on. He's a brat, he gives Eddie shit all the time and Eddie is so ridiculously happy with everything he can't even imagine how it could be better.

Well. That's not true. There is one thing he'd like to do, one thing he wants to change. For Buck.

He just needs Athena's help to do it.

Until then, he takes every piece of clothing in their closet, every small scent item from Buck's safe space that comes to live in their room, every morning he wakes with Buck beside him in their bed as a personal victory.

Eddie juggles his work bag, keys, and the pizzas. Manages to drop his bag on the porch so he can scoop up the mail. He's going to start leaving a bin on the porch with a note for the mailman leave all matching files here please. It probably won't stop the files from coming but at least he won't have to deal with them anymore. He almost wants to mark them Return To Sender, make the service think they've moved or something.

Buck watches him struggle to get everything inside, snickering.

"If it isn't Mr. Popular."

"Shut up." Eddie kicks the door shut and scowls down at the pile in his hand. "I told them-" he starts.

"I know," Buck says immediately, standing to cross to him. "I know you did, it's okay."

"It's not okay- how is this okay? I told them I was happy, that I didn't want anyone but you and they still keep sending more files 'for my consideration'. What the fuck does that even mean? I'm not considering anyone!"

Annoyed, Eddie drops the files onto the floor, stepping uncaringly over them to shove his face into Buck's neck. He feels calmer with his mate's scent surrounding him, the smell of Christopher and his friends wafting up to mix with in with Buck's.

Buck doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around him. Eddie relaxes into the embrace, inhaling deeply. They sway on the spot, Eddie sighing happily when Buck runs a hand through his hair, nails scratching at the scalp.

"I don't want anyone else," Eddie says into Buck's shoulder. "Just you."

And through their bond, he feels Buck's relief. Feels the way Buck relaxes minutely under his hands. Of course he was worried, of course he thought- well, with how his parents raised him it's no wonder his self-esteem is less than nothing.

"I had hundreds of applications come in," he says, lifting his head to press a kiss to the corner of Buck's mouth. "When I first applied it was worse than this."

"Oh?"

"Hundreds. I'm not kidding- ask Chim." Remembering, Eddie shudders. "They came in from everywhere and didn't stop. It was a mess. The mailman had to start leaving everything in boxes on the porch."

"Alphas don't typically use matching services. I'm not surprised you got a lot." Buck raises a brow at him. "Plus you're a catch, Eddie. Of course people were applying to be your mate. I bet they get harassed daily to see if you're in the market for-"

Eddie stops him right there. "Well I'm not. Not sorry to disappoint them." He takes a deliberate step closer, until there's no space between them. Buck's eyes are wide and warm on his and Eddie smiles, tipping his head forward until he can rest his forehead on Buck's. "Out of all those applications, you were the only one I wanted to meet. I'm not interested in them. Besides, I already got the best mate out of the bunch. I already have you."

Buck's breath shudders through him, fingers digging into Eddie's back where he's holding him.

He didn't just get lucky with Buck, he hit the mega millions lottery, the absolute jackpot. He couldn't have found a better match if he'd made one in a computer.

It was for Christopher at first, just to enhance Christopher's life in any way that he could, and the pup is definitely benefiting. They both are. He met Buck in the beginning of spring, had no idea who he was or how this was going to work. Now at the end of summer... it's crazy but he can't imagine his or Christopher's life without Buck in it.

He kisses Buck softly, a gentle hand on Buck's mark. Buck melts into him, his own hand coming up to brush the mark mirrored on Eddie's neck.

"I couldn't believe you picked me," Buck whispers, eyes bright and shiny. "I still can't. You're... you're incredible, Eddie. You could have had anyone-"

"You," Eddie murmurs, kissing him lightly. "Only you."

"I'm yours," Buck promises him.

The relief that swamps him now is his own. Buck is happy here with them, they are making this work and neither of them want anyone else. Eddie's actually doing this right. He's providing for his mate, his son. His Alpha side is steady and calm and Buck is smiling at him, kissing him, their bond radiating content and something warmer, deeper that he can't examine quite yet.

Buck deals with the applications on the floor, scooping them up to drop them in the trash before Christopher comes charging out of his room, Denny and Harry trailing behind him, and disappears with one of the pizzas.

"You told him they could eat in his room, didn't you."

Buck gives him a sheepish smile. Eddie just laughs. "You're on cleanup detail. Oh, and something in this pile is yours."

Most of the rest of the mail is the usual stuff: bills, a sales ad, credit card offers, bills, a postcard from his parents, bills. But two things stick out- the welcome packet for Christopher's new private school and an official looking letter with a return address in Pennsylvania.

"Here it is," he says, handing the letter over to Buck and tearing into the school packet.

He has no idea how Buck managed to charm the school enough to get them on the short list (and it was definitely Buck's charm, not Eddie's lack thereof that did it), but he's grateful. Smaller class sizes, a smaller building, more teachers, and plenty of alternative solutions for a wide range of kids. The price tag of the tuition stings, but they can swing it if they're careful.

Buck's considering getting a part-time job now that he's more settled. He's said he doesn't want to do anything with his degree but he's thinking about going back into childcare-though Chimney and Hen are trying very hard to convince Buck to open a bakery- or something he can do during school hours. Trouble is, not a lot of daycares are hiring right now and Buck's not interested in a nanny gig. He's open to other options, but childcare utilizes his protective instincts, makes him feel useful.

He could probably make a small fortune selling his baked goods and have the best time doing it, Eddie muses. If they had the money he'd absolutely be encouraging Buck to go for the bakery option.

He's lost in thought, skimming the PTA obligations- a required amount of chaperone time on field trips, bake sales, carpools, pickup times and a list of parent numbers- when Buck sits down hard.

"Buck?"

Silent, Buck doesn't take his eyes off the letter in his hand, mouth dropping open slightly as he reads. Wordlessly, he hands Eddie a small square of paper. His fingers are shaking.

The paper is a check. A check for three-quarters of a million dollars. It has Buck's name on it.

Eddie has to grip Buck's shoulder to stay upright.

"Holy shit," he gasps. It's so many zeros. "Wh- I... Buck, what?"

Buck shakes his head, mouth open in disbelief. "Apparently," he says, voice hollow and quiet, "I had a trust fund set up by one of my grandparents. Now that... now that I'm mated, the money's been released."

Stunned, still trying to wrap his head around it, Eddie carefully hands the check back and digs his hands into Buck's tense shoulders. "Breathe," he advises Buck, who wheezes. "We'll get this put into your account first thing in the morning."

Buck's breath leaves him in one big whoosh. His laugh sounds a bit strangled. "At least we can pay for Christopher's school now."

"I- you want to..." Of course he does. Buck who always puts others first of course he thinks of Christopher when handed a large sum of money. "Sure but that's your money, Buck. You can spend it on whatever you want-"

"I want to spend it on Chris." A set, stubborn look crosses Buck's face when he stands to face Eddie. "If- if this is real then..." he trails off, a little lost. "I don't remember Nonna all that well. She died when I was four or five. What I do remember is my parents being pissed that they didn't get her estate. We moved a little after she died... they said it was because Nonna didn't give us her house so we had to. That's all they said. I don't even think we went to the funeral."

Everything he hears about Buck's parents makes him seethe in anger.

As lucky as Eddie is to have Buck in his life, he knows Buck is even more lucky just to be away from those shitty, controlling, bigoted Alphas he had to live with until he broke free. More than anything, he's grateful he was able to offer Buck a life away from them.

"Your parents are just-"

Buck plasters a smile on his face right as the boys careen around the corner, tucking the check safely into his pocket. Eddie schools his own features. Offers them a smile that feels as shaky as Buck's looks.

"Can we play Mario Kart?" Christopher asks, tugging on Buck's shirt. "Please?"

A more genuine smile melts onto Buck's face. "You bet, Superman."

"Christopher said you're best at rainbow road," Denny accuses Eddie with narrowed eyes. "I bet I'm better. I can beat Mom even."

"Oh really," Eddie laughs, reaching over to pinch Denny's side like Hen does whenever he's being goofy. "Let's see about that."

They don't get a chance to sit down and talk for a few days. Eddie's got a twenty-four hour shift after the sleepover, Buck's up to his neck in school and bank forms and at the end of the day they barely have time to wrap their arms around each other before they fall into bed already asleep.

But eventually things settle enough that they meet over the kitchen table to butt heads over who's going to pay the tuition fee (Buck wins that), who's going to take care of the mortgage and truck payments (Eddie claims victory there), and then there's Christopher's doctor bills (that they're going to split but Buck reserves the right to pay for specialists). It's a hard fought battle that spans nearly three days and often ends with one of them glaring at the other and muttering about stubbornness, but eventually they're both satisfied.

And then there's a knock on the door.

"Maybe I should get a car," Buck muses thoughtfully, frowning down at his bank account. Eddie had also won the argument about joint bank accounts. Both their accounts are linked for ease, but Eddie outright refuses to put his name on Buck's. Especially now that Buck's has the extra padding.

"Honestly I kind of hope you do," Eddie admits, standing. "When school starts up again, having another vehicle is really going to come in handy."

"Yeah but then what will you blame your tardiness on if I don't drive you to work anymore?"

"Traffic?" Eddie guesses, opening the door.

He has no idea who the short woman on his doorstep is, but she looks harmless enough so he greets her with a polite smile.

"Can I help you?"

Brown eyes blink at him, taking him in. Eddie can sense that she's a Beta, probably sizing him up as much as he is her. Shorter than him by several inches, brown hair that waves to her shoulders. He doesn't recognize her or her scent but... he swears there's something familiar about her.

"I really hope so," she says. Does he know her? Something niggles the back of his brain. "I- I'm looking for Buck? My name is-"

"Maddie!"

Buck is on his feet and out the door before Eddie can even register the name. He scoops the woman up in a desperate hug, lifting her clean off her feet.

"Maddie, Maddie, oh my god." Buck is shaking, trembling, his arms wrapped nearly double around his sister.

"Buck," she sobs, burying her face in his shoulder. She's laughing and crying all at once and can't seem to let go of him but Buck isn't complaining. He grips her just as hard, hands still fisted in her shirt even as he sets her back on her feet.

"You're here- how are you-"

"Sergeant Grant came to the dispatch center- she said she's part of your pack- that you have a mate-"

"Athena- Athena did this!?"

"Dispatch center?" Eddie can't help but ask. He'd asked Athena for help with getting Maddie's phone number, maybe figure out where she landed after Pennsylvania and put her back in contact with Buck. He never dreamed she'd come knocking on their door less than a week later.

Maddie nods, still gripping Buck. "I'm a 9-1-1 dispatcher," she tells him and of course, now he knows why he knows her. He's heard her voice over the radio a time or two, he's sure of it. No wonder Athena tracked her down so quickly.

"Here?" Buck picks her up again in a hard hug when Maddie nods, a sound that could be a sob, could be a laugh escaping her. He can't seem to let go of her either. "No way. No way. We both live in LA!?"

Even if they weren't bonded, Eddie would be able to feel the absolute pure joy pouring off of Buck right now. He swallows thickly and blinks hard to clear his vision. "Come in," he offers Maddie, unable to keep the grin off his face and seeing it mirrored on Buck's. "God, please, come in. It's so good to meet you."

"Sorry, sorry, hi." Maddie briefly gets one arm free and offers it to Eddie to shake. "Hi, who are- wow, are you the mate?"

"This is Eddie," Buck says, eyes bright, bond all but glowing with elation. "He's my mate, he's great Maddie-"

"God, look at you- you have a mate and a den, oh, oh Buck."

"And a son," Eddie says, wiping at his eyes. Buck whips his head around. "We have a son."

Fresh tears spill from Maddie's eyes even as her face breaks open in a smile. She tackles her brother in another hug, still laughing, still crying as they spill into the house in a messy, wet tangle of Buckley sibling limbs.

"I knew," she tells Buck, her smile wide and wet. "I always knew that I'd find you somewhere by the ocean."

Buck buries his face against her shoulder, gathers Eddie close and promptly bursts into tears.

Chapter Text

"You smell weird," Christopher declares the second Eddie walks in the door.

Eddie winces. He'd been hoping Chris would already be in bed and wouldn't smell him- or, well, the lack of his scent. He's clearly on the way: he's wearing his PJs, glasses off, and is heading down the hall, Buck trailing behind him. But he stops and tilts his head at his father, nose wrinkled.

Buck sniffs the air cautiously. His brow furrows "You have to take some suppressants?"

"Yeah, structure fire downtown. I'm gonna hop in the shower." It won't help and he had one before he left the station, but the suppressants are completely blocking his own scent and it's messing with his head a little. Alphas can always pick up another person's scent, always, but even standing in front of Buck and Chris he can't smell them and he knows they can't smell him either.

Right now he doesn't smell like anything. Just the station, maybe the faint hint of smoke. He's not even carrying the lingering scents of the pack since they had to take suppressants as well. He'll use Buck's body wash, Chris's shampoo. It'll help him feel a little more normal... hopefully.

Sometimes the calls are big enough or bad enough that first responders take suppressants. Every first responder has a few in their bag just in case no matter their status. Eddie doesn't like them or the way the muffle his world but he understands the necessity. If he's about to walk into a multi-station fire or there's a natural disaster he'll take a suppressant to block out the smell of panic, to muffle the pack's bonds in order to keep himself from being distracted so he can do his job. The fire downtown was big enough that they all took some before arriving at the scene.

It works. It's not perfect, but it works. Eddie usually needs a day after a suppressant to get back to normal: his scent alone will take until tomorrow afternoon to really come back, but by the morning he should be able to at least smell Buck and Chris again and start feel their bonds. It'll take about forty-eight hours for it to get completely out of his system and he already can't wait.

He hates it, absolutely hates it, when he can't feel Chris's bond. It means Christopher can't feel his either, can't reach out to his father if he needs him. Normally he'd be on edge, unable to relax or sleep until the meds wear off and the world is back to normal, but his mate is in the den, safe and with their pup. Buck had locked all the doors and he and Christopher were safe inside when Eddie came home.

Everyone's okay.

The shower is warm on his aching muscles and Eddie lets in just run over him, braced against the wall.

Six hours of overtime. He spent so long on the hose he's not sure he can even lift his arms over his head right now. He's not sure if he's shaking from hunger or overexertion. Two buildings completely destroyed by the flames, two more damaged. Eighteen people wounded.

Five dead.

He missed school pickup, missed the homework session, missed dinner and the follow up video game or movie. Missed bedtime.

He's so tired.

He's tired, hungry, his muscles ache and weep with the simple act of scrubbing himself clean and rinsing off. He wants to kiss his kid, kiss his mate, eat his weight in whatever he can find in the fridge, then fall into bed and sleep for a week.

But first he has to muster the energy to get out of the shower and dry himself off.

The suppressants make him cranky. He can't smell anything, can't feel the bonds with his pack. Even being in the same house as his mate and pup he still can't feel them. He doesn't like it. If he can't feel them through the bonds, how does Eddie know they're safe? How can he protect them if he can't feel when they're scared?

Buck meets him in the hall. Gathers him up for a hard squeeze.

"You do smell weird," he says, pressing a kiss to the top of Eddie's head. "Kinda like me."

"Used your body wash," Eddie says around a yawn. Just leaning against Buck is enough to make him nearly fall asleep on his feet. "Chris?"

"Waiting for a goodnight from Dad."

Christopher greets him with a sleepy grin when Eddie peers in.

"You smell like Buck," the pup tells him, snuggling in for a hug.

"My scent should come back tomorrow, mijo. I just had to take some suppressants for work."

Christopher gives him an extra hard hug, rubbing his cheek into Eddie's shoulder with vigor before moving to the other one. "Now you smell like me and Buck."

He wants to have his bond back now. He wants to feel this child-like joy filling him as his son looks up at him with a blinding smile. Still, a smile appears on his own face as he tucks Chris back in.

"What do you and Buck smell like?" he asks, tucking the blanket more firmly around Christopher.

"Buck smells like baking. Like... sugar and-and warm. I smell like chocolate."

"I think you smell like chocolate because Buck gave you some," Eddie says knowingly. Christopher giggles, then yawns. He presses a kiss to the pup's forehead. "Love you, mijo. Get some sleep."

There's a steaming plate of steak and potatoes waiting for him on the table when he emerges, Buck just setting down some silverware and an open beer on the table.

"Ditch your mate and come with me," Eddie offers, shoving half the baked potato in his mouth.

Buck laughs. "Sorry, no can do. I like my mate too much to ditch him, even if you are hot."

Still chewing, Eddie grabs his beer. It's cold and refreshing and tastes like heaven. Eddie can practically feel the life coming back into his body. "I bet I'm hotter than that guy."

"You're hotter than every guy."

Since he's currently shoving potatoes in his mouth at a speed that would cause a lecture if he caught his son doing the same, Eddie seriously doubts that. He can feel the butter around his mouth, the crumbs dotting his chin. He's pretty sure he somehow managed to get a cowlick between the bathroom and the kitchen, his hair drying and sticking up at odd angles because he couldn't be bothered to do more than to rub it with a towel.

"So I'm hotter, but you're still gonna ditch me for this other guy." Eddie puts an exaggeratedly hurt look on his face and clutches at his heart. "Oh, the pain."

Snickering, Buck gets himself a beer and settles down in the chair beside Eddie. "My mate's too awesome to walk out on," he says, taking a pull from the bottle. "He's a firefighter, you know. He walks into danger all the time, and he's ripped like you wouldn't believe. So hot." Buck pauses, snorting, when Eddie flexes his arms. "He's funny-"

"He is not," Eddie protests with his mouth full of steak.

"-and he's brave, kind. Loves his kid. Hates mornings, has no idea how to work social media, lives on coffee. Puts up with me dragging him to museums for date night. He's amazing and I'm really lucky to have him."

So Buck is saying all of this now, when Eddie's bond is muted. When Eddie can't feel what Buck is feeling, doesn't know where Buck's head is. All Eddie can feel is his own heart pounding in his chest, that warm deep feeling taking root in him again.

"He knows how lucky he is to have you, right?" Eddie stabs his fork into the last few scraps of food. "He'd better know. If not, I'll fight him for you."

In answer, Buck leans over to kiss him with a smile.

"He could take you."

Eddie raises a brow at that. "Oh really? Maybe I should meet this mate of yours, make him prove it."

The blinding smile Buck gives him nearly makes his heart stop. "Finish eating first, then you can fight for my honor. After you sleep," he adds, kissing Eddie again. "You look like you're about to fall over."

"I could still take him. You're worth it."

Buck shakes his head, eyes sparkling with laughter and something else, something Eddie wishes he could feel, wishes he could name before cupping Eddie's face in his hands and kissing him slowly, deeply, until Eddie's head spins.

"My mate would eat you alive," Buck murmurs, his mouth still brushing Eddie's with every word. "Finish your dinner."

He goes to pull away and Eddie isn't about to have that. He grips Buck's wrists and pulls him down right onto his lap, burying his face in Buck's neck, right where his scent should be, would be if Eddie could smell it. Something in him sighs in relief when Buck goes willingly, wrapping his arms around Eddie and kissing him back.

He doesn't like not being able to smell his mate. To not have Buck's scent filling him, surrounding him. He knows that Buck will smell like him if he drapes all over him but he can't smell it, can't feel it.

He doesn't smell like anything right now. Just a normal person. Just bodywash and shampoo chemicals. He has no pheromones for Buck to react to, no hormones to set his body off or soothe them, whatever Buck might need right now. An Alpha without a scent is barely an Alpha. He can almost hear the words falling from his mother's mouth and he mouths at Buck's neck to chase them away.

Buck's breath hitches. He arches into Eddie's touch, eyes closing, head tipping back when Eddie's hands slip under his shirt and hold him tight.

Eddie's tired. He's tired, he doesn't smell right, the world doesn't smell right, and he can't feel the bonds with his pack. Buck wouldn't get anything out of it if they slept together tonight. Right now Eddie's body is filtering out the suppressants, getting them through and out of his system, but until they're done, he's just a man. Just regular pheromones and simple lust pumping through his system.

Buck leans in and captures Eddie's mouth with his. Big hands come up to rest on Eddie's shoulders, one sliding up into his still damp hair to fist and pull lightly.

The moan that wants to escape out of Eddie is turned into a strangled breath. His hips jerk up, seeking friction and pressure. Buck grinds down against him, his hips rolling slow and dirty in Eddie's lap.

Eddie's very distracted by Buck's mouth, those perfect pink lips that move against his before trailing across his jaw. Down his neck. He nibbles and bites at Eddie's skin like he's marking him and Eddie is helpless under the assault. He hopes the marks stay, hopes when he wakes the world will smell right and he'll be able to see the impression of Buck's teeth, hickeys and bruises all over him in the mirror.

"Bed?" he asks hopefully, threading his own hand through Buck's hair. He sounds needy and breathless and he doesn't care so long as Buck doesn't stop touching him, kissing him, running his fingers and lips and tongue across every piece of skin he can reach. "Buck- ah- Buck let's go to bed."

He can't smell it, can't smell Buck's want but he can feel it in every kiss, every touch, every slow roll of their hips. He can taste it on Buck's tongue when it tangles with his, can feel it with every moan that rumbles through Buck's chest.

Buck's mouth slams back to his. "Bed," he agrees, teeth catching on Edie's lip.

Buck picks him up. Just fucking picks him up and carries him, like Eddie weighs nothing, like it's not even a problem. Eddie has to bite his own lip, seal his mouth against Buck's to keep himself quiet while Buck carries him down the hall and into their bed.

And when they're tangled together on the sheets, when they're naked and pressed against each other from shoulder to thigh, Eddie rolls them, pulls Buck on top of him. Buck goes willingly. Almost eagerly. He angles and shifts until he's straddling Eddie, looking down at him with that wonderful, beautiful, amazing smile that brings that warm feeling back and stops Eddie's heart in his chest.

The feeling of Buck's erection against his is almost too much, almost enough to send him flying over the edge already. But that's not what he wants, not tonight. Not if Buck is up for what he really wants.

"Fuck me," Eddie moans, low and dirty in his ear.

Buck jerks once, eyes going wide. "Eddie." His voice sounds strangled. "Holy fucking- are... are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Eddie hauls him down, holds him firmly against him. He's never done this with someone else, never trusted anyone enough to even consider it. He has a few things stashed in his closet that he uses when this urge hits him (and the thought of having Buck use a few on him, having Buck fuck him with a toy they pick out together is... something to be explored later, when he has a little more self control).

Buck is definitely on board if the way he surges up and devours Eddie's mouth is any indication.

"Okay," Buck breathes, pupils blown wide. "But you have to... you need to tell me if-"

"I will," Eddie promises, desperate, fingers already clawing in Buck's shoulders when his mate reaches down to press a cautious finger between Eddie's cheeks. "God, please Buck. I want it- I want you."

"Fuck," Buck bites out, a hand on the back of Eddie's neck to haul him up for another kiss. "I'm gonna fuck you, Eds. I'm gonna fuck you right."

Oh hell yes.

They have to release each other to get into position. It takes them a few minutes, both of them unwilling to let go of the other, diving back in for desperate, sloppy kisses. Eddie scoots further up the bed, arranging himself and Buck dives for the nightstand, yanking the drawer open so fast it falls off the rail. He doesn't notice- or if he does, Buck doesn't care as soon as the lube is in his hand.

Eddie might be on suppressants until tomorrow but he's still an Alpha. His body doesn't produce the natural lubricant that Buck's Omega body does. He's going to need a little more prep than his mate, a lot more foreplay if he's going to fit all of Buck inside him.

He really, really wants Buck inside him. Wants Buck to pin him, fuck him, take him. Wants to feel it when Buck comes, feel it all the way down to his bones.

The thought of Buck working him open with his tongue, with his fingers has Eddie's toes curling.

The actual act of Buck licking into him, slowly pumping one finger, then two inside him has him all but melting into the mattress.

"Oh my fucking god, Buck." He pulls the sheet right off the bed, his fingers digging into and nearly ripping the fabric. "T-there," he gasps, body lighting up and arching clean off the bed. "Right there- do it again please- ah-!"

Buck knows exactly what he's doing. He knows every inch of Eddie by now so of course he knows the exact way to crook his fingers to make Eddie see stars, knows the exact spot to press against to make Eddie whimper and moan and beg.

And when Buck presses into him, when he's finally (finally) inside Eddie all the way to the hilt, he knows how to move just right, how to fill his mate and pin him, knows to kiss Eddie everywhere and hold him as Eddie clings to him tight, arms and legs and bodies pressing in until it's unclear where one ends and the other begins.

"You feel so good," Eddie breathes, hips snapping up to meet Buck thrust for thrust. The bed creaks, slamming into the wall and Eddie couldn't stop now if god himself appeared in front of him and demanded it. "Fuck, so good, you're so good Buck. Like that, just like that- yes, yes right... right there- god please don't stop- Buck!"

If watching Buck come apart is a religious experience, feeling it is the creation of a new galaxy. Probably the same one that explodes behind his eyelids when he follows Buck over the edge.

"Amazing," Eddie murmurs against Buck's sweaty forehead.

Buck angles up for a kiss, smiling so wide his lips barely touch Eddie's. "Yeah?"

"Baby, that was incredible and we are definitely doing it again."

Humming with satisfaction, Buck leans down to press a kiss to the corner of Eddie's mouth, his cheek, down to his jaw, laughing when Eddie impatiently flips them, pinning Buck to kiss him thoroughly.

Later, when they've cleaned up and changed the sheets, when they're curled around each other in bed, Buck's head smashed between his pillow and Eddie's shoulder, Buck smiles.

"Well now you just smell like me."

Nearly asleep, Eddie chuckles. "Good," he says, and pulls his mate closer. "I like it when I smell like you."

Buck's quiet me too has Eddie grinning like a fool and burying his face in his mate's hair.

And right then, right as Buck dozes off in Eddie's arms, Eddie realizes with alarming clarity exactly what the warm, deep feeling in his chest means.

Maddie gets panicked phone calls for a living. It's literally her job to handle emergencies for strangers, to keep them calm and talking and alive until help arrives.

Eddie's call has her heart going into overtime, palms damp as she nearly fumbles her phone in her haste to answer it. The only thing he can be calling about is Buck and what are the chances that he's calling with good news?

She arrives per Eddie's request: quickly. Finds the man himself standing at the door when she goes to knock on it, brow furrowed and a faint air of concern around him.

"How's he doing?" she asks, slightly afraid of the answer. She knows how bad male Omega heats can be, and if Eddie's phoning for help Buck must really be miserable this time.

"He fell asleep on the couch right after I called you." Eddie steps aside to let her in, glancing over his shoulder with a frown. "I don't think he slept much last night- he was awake when I got up."

That pulls Maddie up short. "You got him to sleep?" Amazed, she tiptoes into the living room behind him.

Sure enough there's Buck, snoring lightly on the couch. He's sprawled out, one leg up on the back of the couch, the other across the arm. He's wedged between the back and the cushions in a way that cannot be comfortable, a thick green hoodie with faded letters hugging his frame. He's frowning lightly in his sleep.

Wary of her heels on the hardwood, Maddie steps out of her boots.

"I'm amazed he slept at all," she tells Eddie, balancing a hand on his shoulder to step out of her other shoe. "He didn't used to."

"I caught him trying to scrub the rust from around the kitchen sink when I got up. I couldn't get him to come back to bed. I'm such an idiot, I thought we had a little more time before his heat hit."

Maddie glances over. The rest of the kitchen is spotless, the countertops shined to be practically mirrors. Buck's never been the type of Omega to clean obsessively during his heats... at least, not when he was younger. Maddie has no idea what habits he's developed as an adult, what he's like out from under their parents' thumbs.

She suspects this is Buck figuring it out.

"But you got him to stop cleaning?"

"It took a minute," Eddie admits. "I convinced him to make Chris breakfast instead, got him to lay down so I could take Chris to school." He pauses, sighs. "He was in the middle of "straightening up" the living room when I got back."

Which explains the odd piles of assorted things scattered about the living room in very neat and specific-looking arrangements and why half the floor looks like it's been polished within an inch of its life and the other half looks normal.

Maddie nods, calming significantly. Buck's not in any danger, he's just in heat, and a pretty mild one at that.

"How's the pain been?" she asks. "Any spasms?"

She remembers Buck's first heats, the cramps and spasms that kept him curled in a ball for hours at a time, hormones flooding his body with nowhere to go and messing up whatever delicate balance he'd found. Once a year for about three days Buck would go from her happy, go-lucky, friendly little brother to a quiet, withdrawn, anxious mess in so much pain that it often brought him to tears. The few times he'd tried suppressants for the pain his anxiety had skyrocketed, leaving him mute and shaking and unable to sleep for days.

This doesn't look like anything she's seen before. Buck looks unhappy and a little pale but he's not whimpering in pain and trying to claw his own skin off or stealing every pillow, blanket, and towel in the house and nesting in a pile of dirty laundry. He's calm, he's sleeping.

And he has an Alpha who cares, who isn't yelling at him or shoving him in a room and locking the door. Eddie actually looks about ready to tear his hair out, worry lines creasing his brow and honestly that's... that's really, really sweet.

Buck has a nest, Maddie knows he does. She's seen it herself, had cooed over how sweet it was of Eddie to build it (he built her brother a nest, oh my god the man might actually be too perfect) and to have Chris help. And yet not only is Buck sleeping, he's out in the open. He's not nesting at all. He feels safe enough around his Alpha to be out in the open during his most vulnerable time.

"He says not bad but that could mean terrible for all I can tell right now." Eddie frowns. "No spasms that I've seen. He's mostly been kinda anxious and tired."

Maddie takes a second, mulling that over.

"Huh. This might actually be the most mild heat I've ever seen him have," she tells the worried Alpha at her side. Now that she's focusing on him, Eddie does smell a little off.

"That's... awful," Eddie decides.

Maddie winces. "Yeah, it kinda is."

Most people hear an Omega is in heat and they start with the dirty jokes, the wiggling brows and winking. And sure, a lot of Omega do have those kinds of reactions on their heat, but for the most part male Omega do not. Their bodies aren't used to the hormones that slam into them. Any number of things can happen, but anxiety, manic cleaning episodes, cooking everything in the house, insomnia, and pain are pretty common.

"I was at that warehouse fire last night, had to take some suppressants. I can feel our bond but it's still muffled. I don't think he's getting what he needs from me, not while the meds are still in my system," Eddie says, something that sounds like guilt of all things coloring his tone. "My scent is off. He's okay if I'm nearby, if I'm touching him but I need to go get Chris. Can you sit with him? You're not officially in the pack but I thought..."

Maddie's nodding before he even finishes explaining. "Of course. You go, I've got him."

Eddie is visibly relieved but the worry in his eyes doesn't completely fade. "Thank you. Traffic sucks this time of day but I should be back in an hour at the latest. Don't let him clean anything, he already does too much around here."

Eddie keeps surprising her. Not many Alphas would allow a non pack member to care for their mate alone no matter the family connection, especially if the mate is unwell. Or maybe that's just her upbringing telling her what she thinks Alphas are like. God, years of therapy and she still catches herself thinking crap like that.

The kiss Eddie presses to Buck's forehead before he runs out the door, the way Buck's frown melts away the second Eddie touches him eases some of her worries.

Some.

Maddie knows all about Alphas that present a good front, who are nice, upstanding members of society. Maybe even a doctor, a heart surgeon. Maybe even your own parents. How that can all melt away as soon as the door closes. As soon as you're alone with them the mask drops.

She's spent a long time in therapy dealing with everything she's been through: Doug's abuse and death, the way her own family treated her, how her Alphas tossed her aside because she'd been paid for. She knows that not all packs are like the ones she's been in. She can see for herself that Buck's landed in a good one, a pack that treats him like family, that loves him and teases him.

Eddie is good. He's good father, a good person, and he's obviously head over heels for her brother. She doesn't really think that he'd hurt Buck, but she still can't shake that last claw of anxiety just yet. She's only known the man for a few weeks, only just gotten her brother back. There could still be secrets lurking just under the surface.

And so, she worries. She worries that Buck's new pack won't have space for her, even though space has been offered to her. She worries about what could happen if she does join their pack. Does Buck have time for her, space in this new family he's found for himself?

Maddie settles herself on the couch, pulling Buck's feet into her lap. He huffs, his next breath popping on a snort, and rolls over. He feels warm under her hands (not uncommon during heats) but he's not in the danger zone and appears to be pretty comfortable. Her Beta pheromones won't be as good for soothing him as his mate's Alpha scent, but his sister keeping a light grip on his ankle will do for an hour.

Every time Maddie's seen Buck, he's been happy. Every single time she's dropped by unannounced she's been welcomed into the den happily- by both Buck and Eddie. Whenever she swings by the station and finds Buck there, shoulder to shoulder with Bobby in the kitchen, she's greeted and an extra plate is set out- and she always gets sucked into whatever conversation is happening around them, laughing and jeering with everyone else when Hen beats everyone at video games.

Buck took Maddie to the car dealership to pick out his Jeep and spent the entire time grumbling about Eddie making him get out of the house for a day and enjoy it (he did, they both did) while he ran the errands himself. He spent a night wine drunk on her couch a few weeks ago, watching reality tv re-runs until the wee hours of the morning. They were treated to Eddie swinging by with coffee and pastries (declared to be not as good as Buck's) in the morning, his hand diving into Buck's hair when he dipped in for a gentle kiss.

It all feels... safe. Right. She knows Buck is in a good place with good people. People who welcomed her without pause, who are always happy to make room for her.

It makes her wonder and yearn just a little.

The happiest, safest time of Maddie's life she's spent without a pack- a privilege she can enjoy because of Nonna's money and her status as a Beta. If she'd been an Omega like Buck, she wouldn't have had a choice. Hell, if she'd been an Alpha she would have probably needed to create a pack or find and join one like Bobby's. But she's fine on her own. She's safe on her own.

It's just that now... now her brother is here. Buck is here. Buck has a family, a pack, and they've left a seat for her at the table if she wants it. The Alpha Prime is kind and steady, but firm when he needs to be. Buck's mate isn't the least bit aggressive, his son is outright adorable. His friends are funny, kind, strong, smart (and cute her brain supplies unhelpfully, reminding her of the connection she absolutely hadn't felt when she'd met Chim).

She wants to be part of that. She wants to be in a pack again, wants to be part of and have a family again. She's just... not sure she's ready just yet.

But... she's getting there. Slowly, surely. She's getting there.

"Hey," Buck says, blinking awake. "Where's Eddie?"

Of course he asks where his man is first thing. God, these two.

"Went to pick up Chris from school." Maddie grips his ankle a little tighter and gives it a shake. "He didn't wanna leave you alone."

Buck rolls his eyes. "I'm fine," he insists as he sits up. His hoodie clings to him a little too much and he pulls a face, reaching to strip it over his head. "Ugh, okay I'm fine except for the apparent hot flash I had during my nap."

Hot flashes, some mild manic cleaning, a little bit of anxiety. Yeah, this is definitely not the kind of heats she's used to having to coax Buck through. There really is something to be said about having healthy, loving bonds with your pack.

Maddie has to wonder if these are the types of heats Buck was always supposed to have. How much easier would his life have been if their parents hadn't been...

Well. No point in dwelling on it now.

Buck perks up dramatically when Eddie and Christopher come home, the pup dropping his school supplies in a messy pile in order to make it to Buck faster, pull him in for a hug.

"Dad says you're sick and you need a hug," he says, scrambling into Buck's lap.

"Mm, Christopher hugs make everything better," Buck declares, nosing into Christopher's hair and inhaling deeply. "Thanks, buddy. I feel a lot better now."

It's not even an exaggeration. With his mate and his son in the same room, the tense line of his shoulders is easing down a little. He seems more awake, less jittery and anxious, but he still holds out a hand for Eddie, still burrows into his mate's side when Eddie sits beside them.

Eddie doesn't hesitate to wrap an arm around Buck's shoulders, press a kiss to his temple and gently run his fingers along Buck's mate mark.

This... this is what it's supposed to be like. This is what she and Buck should have had: understanding, loving, supportive Alphas who took care of their pack, their family. This is what Buck has now. This is what Maddie could have, if she let herself.

Maybe, she thinks again. Not yet.

When she's invited to stay for dinner ("Takeout," Eddie says before Buck can so much as move, getting his arm more firmly around the Omega. "Your job is to stay here and feel better, so just relax."), she accepts happily, eager to spend more time with her brother and his family.

Christopher is shy around her, disappearing into his room to play instead of dumping his toys in the living room like normal, which baffles Buck.

"I've never seen him like this around anyone," he says worriedly to Eddie. "He barely talks to her."

"He's jealous. He used to only have to share you with me, but now there's the pack and Maddie too." Eddie leans in to kiss Buck's frown away. "He's eight, Buck. He'll be okay. Just give him some time, he'll warm up to her."

Maddie immediately starts plotting to bribe Christopher into friendship with ice cream and Lego. Eddie groans.

"God, there's two of you now. New rule: whoever gives Chris sugar before bed has to be the one to tuck him in."

"I think that rule should apply to Buck, too," Maddie teases. Buck just glares at her over Eddie's arm.

"We'll have a day, just me and him," Buck decides. Maddie wonders if he even realizes that he's nuzzling into Eddie's chest, if Eddie is aware that he's watching Buck with the softest, most open expression she's ever seen on him, a small smile playing around his mouth. "No girls, no Dads, just us two and fun all day."

"Okay, first of all, you are also Dad," Eddie cuts in immediately. Buck's eyes go wide. "Just because he calls you Buck doesn't mean you're not his father too."

"I-"

"And second of all, if you pump him full of sugar you have to be the one to deal with bedtime. You can't always be Fun Dad."

 Buck laughs a little wetly. "Can too. But... deal. We'll do something next week, when he's got that long weekend. You've gotta work anyway, so it's perfect."

 Eddie gives Maddie a look. "Fun Dad," he sighs, pulling Buck closer. "He's determined to be Fun Dad."

 "You can be Hot Dad," Buck offers. "Pretty sure you've already got that title anyway."

 Maddie laughs, nearly snorting her wine up her nose. Eddie rolls his eyes but can't quite hide his smile in time. She wonders if he knows the back of his neck is flushed a dark red that makes the hickey he's sporting stand out more.

 "What are you thinking, movies, science museum? He's been on an aquarium kick lately."

 Buck shrugs, burrowing deeper against Eddie's side and pulling his arm more firmly around himself and it definitely doesn't make a crack in Maddie's heart heal up.

 "Aquarium definitely," Buck decides, eyes drooping closed once more. "He's super into the stingrays right now, but after that, I dunno. Movies, or the observatory. I might take him to the pier."

 "Sounds like fun."

 "It'll be great. Don't doubt Fun Dad."

Chapter Text

For as long as he can remember, Buck's been trained on how to be a good Omega. Or at least, a good Omega according to his old Alphas and it occurs to him, laying in the muck, trying to catch his breath as the water recedes, that his parents didn't know what the hell they were talking about.

He cooks- and cooks well. Cookies and cakes, his famous salted caramel brownies that not even Bobby can get right no matter how many times he attempts it. His cooking is a point of pride for Buck. He's good at it and he enjoys it, but best of all the pack appreciates it- faces and bonds open with gleeful joy whenever Buck cooks.

Apparently, he does clean. It's not something he's always known about himself but after moving out of his parents' den he's learned a few things. He doesn't particularly enjoy cleaning per se, but it needs to be done so he does it. He can't deny that his Omega self is soothed by a clean den around him, that it gives him no small amount of pleasure to see Eddie- his Alpha, his mate- pleased and relaxed in his nice clean den, to give Eddie's strained schedule a break to let him enjoy time with his pup.

Buck wonders how his parents would have been if they'd discovered that he prefers things in order. Would they have stopped the cleaning service that came to their house or just told the cleaners to avoid his room? Would they have made him their in-house maid? He cooked for them all the time, would he have been turned into their housekeeper, a male Omega Cinderella?

Buck can't deny that his parents were training him to be a house Omega. Their Alpha thinking didn't extend beyond teach our Omega to be good so we can foist him off on someone else eventually.

Which begs the question, why did they make him stay in their den for so long? It wasn't to protect him, wasn't to make sure that Buck had other bonds to help him navigate the world and be safe doing so. Hell, they barely tolerated their bonds with him. He can't remember when, if ever, he'd focused on his bond with his parents for any other reason than to see how angry they were.

And after a while, they weren't even angry no matter how Buck acted. Not even when Buck tried to recreate the Home Alone sledding down the stairs scene, lost control, and shattered both his collarbone and a fancy, expensive vase. They weren't much of anything except a yawing pit of disappointment, huffy and irritated about the doctor's bill, outright angry about the vase.

But for him? Nothing. Not even concern.

And still, they were so damn mad at Buck when he left their pack for Eddie's.

Buck can't even begin to figure out why. All his life his Alphas were training him, shaping him, teaching him to be a good little Omega for whatever Alpha would have him.

If any would have him.

He's a little messed up because of it. Buck can admit that. He knows that a lifetime of training from his old Alphas isn't going to go away in under a year of being with a new pack. It might never fully go away.

Even if the new pack is literally the best thing ever. Buck's not sure he could have made a more perfect pack for him (and Maddie, despite her hesitance) if he'd tried.

Besides, there are some Omega stereotypes he does adhere to. His love of children, anyone? Everyone can spot that Omega behavior within five minutes of talking to him. He can barely get through a conversation without mentioning Christopher, or any of the other kids in the pack. He lights up around kids, happily throwing himself in whatever game they're playing whenever the pack kids are all together.

The pack teases him about it a little. How he's basically a big kid, or that the kids like him because he's essentially one of them. His parents had said something similar, but the difference is the pack usually says it with a smile, eyes full of laughter, and usually right before they jump into the game themselves.

His parents had never smiled when they'd commented on Buck's natural talent with children.

They'd never even called it a talent.

You're going to be a House Omega, Evan. Of course you need to be good with children. It's your job.

Somehow, Buck doesn't think they were talking about his old daycare gig.

And in a sense, hey, they were right. It is Buck's job to take care of Christopher. But not because he's an Omega, or because he's Eddie's mate or any other backwards, outdated, bigoted thinking his Alphas had tried to force on him. It's because he loves Christopher, because Chris trusts him, depends on him, looks up to him.

It's his job to take care of the pup because Christopher... is his son.

It's Buck's job to find Christopher in the soaking wet remains of the Santa Monica Pier after a tsunami (of all things, a goddamn tsunami) had swept them away, no matter how much his leg screams at him in pain. Pretty sure it's broken, Buck ruthlessly splints it. He can't find Chris if he can't walk, so he needs his leg to shut the hell up and deal with it.

His son is out there.

But he is an Omega, and the amount of panic, of pain, confusion, despair swirling through the air is thick enough to chew on. He can feel it. He can feel the terror of the people in the building at his back, the anxiety and pain of the woman trying to get her useless arm to move.

Everyone is panicking. And because everyone is panicking, everyone can feel it. It doesn't matter if the person next to you isn't in your pack, if you aren't bonded to them: if the terror or fear is strong enough, it can choke you. Even an Alpha couldn't muffle this much fear if they're in the middle of it.

It's overwhelming. He's already in pain, tears leaking out the corners of his eyes when he ties a vicious knot around his makeshift splint and pulls it tight and feeling the pain of others around him isn't helping.

He can taste fear on his tongue. Some of it is even his own. It's threatening to overtake him.

Heart pounding, hands shaking, Buck slumps back against the ruined wall of a crumbling building. Somewhere inside someone is afraid, fear spiking and waning, then going quiet. The building creaks ominously and Buck doesn't want to think too hard about what that might mean.

He needs to find Chris.

Buck can feel their bond but it's so loud, so hard to focus where he is, surrounded by other panicked people, all screaming for help, crying out for a loved one, begging for a hand someone, anyone please-

It's so loud.

He doesn't push it away. Instead, Buck lets it all swamp him, lets all the emotions of these strangers take residence in his chest. If he pushes one out, if he ignores the other emotions...

He can't.

Buck... he can't sit here and pretend that he can't feel the anguish of the man screaming a name only to be met with silence. Everyone around him, every single person including him... they all need help.

His parents taught him to be a well mannered, well trained Omega. How to listen to his instincts and make sure he cooks and looks good. To know how to please people, how to apologize when he's wrong- and he's always wrong according to them. Maybe he should take their advice just this once: he's going to listen to his instincts.

Not the instincts they wanted him to have, but the instincts he actually feels.

Protect.

Son.

Help.

Eddie's at work and Buck very deliberately doesn't think about what that means beyond the fact that the pack will have taken suppressants. He can't feel them, not a single member of the pack and he's trying not to let the fear build in him at that. At the very least, Buck isn't going to get distracted by their bonds with him. He can hone in on Chris.

He can try. He will try.

So he concentrates. Focuses. Lets everything wash over him and fill him and he sifts through it all.

Chris.

Son.

By the time he staggers painfully to his feet, when the wave of pain radiating up from his leg recedes, Buck has him. He can feel worry, anxiety, fear, coming through the bond and knowing that, knowing that Chris is lost out there afraid and without Buck gives him the strength to take one limping step. Then another.

The splint holds- a few pieces of soaked wood and his ruined button down the only thing enabling him to walk. He knows he's broken his leg: he's broken enough bones in his life to know what it feels like. He's also sure that walking on it is going to cause some more damage and aggravate the injury further.

But he's not going to stop or rest until he has Christopher safely back in his arms.

He stops long enough to get the shocky woman's arm in a makeshift sling and drop her off with a small group of survivors before pushing through waist high water to follow the tug of Chris's bond. How could he have let Chris fall off the firetruck? How could he have let go of the pup for even one single second?

Each step brings him closer, every minute that passes the bond gets stronger as Buck gets closer. It's not exact (because that would be way too easy, what gives evolution, you couldn't give pack members a homing beacon to their loved ones?) and he has to backtrack a few times, losing precious time because it took him too long to realize that Chris's bond is fading, meaning that the boy is further away. He gets sidetracked once or twice freeing people pinned under rubble, pausing to set and splint a Beta's arm before moving on.

"Dammit."

Chris is nearby. He's close, but Buck can't climb over the wall of debris in front of him, not with his leg the way it is.

Dizzy (from hunger? thirst? pain? adrenaline crash?), Buck leans heavily against a tipped over car and tries to catch his breath. His leg isn't numb yet, which slows his progress. He can feel the pain with every step, the deep, sharp ache that's working it's way up his calf. On one hand, the pain is keeping him going, giving him something to focus on when the emotions of those around him get too strong.

On the other hand, it really fucking hurts. The pain shield of adrenaline wore off about two hours ago to be replaced with a muted numbness and white hot pain whenever the bones grind.

It's probably a good thing he can still feel his foot. He'd be more worried if he couldn't feel his toes right now.

None of it matters anyway because Christopher isn't with him. He can worry about himself and his achy leg once his pup is safe and sound.

"Okay," Buck gasps out, wiping a hand over his clammy, sweaty forehead. "Come on, man. You can do this. You need to do this. Chris needs you."

He's not going to go home to Eddie, not going to tell his mate that not only did he lose his son but that he gave up looking for him. No, Buck is going to search and dig and claw and tear the world apart. He's not going to stop until he has Christopher back in his arms.

It's his job to protect Chris.

"Christopher!"

There's no response, no little voice calling back. Buck takes a minute, then one more, and painfully levers himself back into an upright position and sloshes through the water.

"Help!" someone screams, fear thick in the air. "Help, help us! Please!"

The bond with Chris fades a little as the emotions from the Alpha trapped in the car ahead slam into him. Buck can't run, even with the splint. His leg is far too damaged for that, but he's able to walk. He's able to move.

He's able to help.

It doesn't even occur to him to not. Buck gets a hand through the shattered window, hand somehow grasping the lock despite the torrent of water rushing into the vehicle. It's trapped on its side, the people inside in danger of drowning in the middle of the street as the water fills the car.

He doesn't notice he's bleeding until he's got the unconscious Alpha on his back and then he doesn't have the time to spare to address it. He does CPR with bloody, torn up hands, the Alpha's ribs cracking under his ministrations, his mate wailing and begging beside them.

"Please," the Alpha's mate sobs. Buck can feel her desperation and instead of pushing it down he lets it fuel him. Lets it fill him and he uses it. "Please, please, don't leave me Alpha. You promised me!"

Two more rescue breaths. Nothing. Buck starts compressions again, counting in his head.

He gets all the way to fifteen before the Alpha chokes, coughs, and takes a breath.

"Oh my god- Tim!? Alpha, can you hear me-!"

The bitter tang of fear is replaced by the warmth of hope, of joy. The Alpha is confused and scared, but he clutches his mate's hand and breathes. He's alive, he's safe, and the joy replaces the fear that Buck's been swimming in since he jumped off the firetruck in search of Chris.

"Have you seen a little boy?" he asks the group that's gathered. "My- my son, Christopher. He's eight years old, curly hair, yellow striped shirt. He has CP, please..."

The silence around him is the answer, so Buck limps off again. He doesn't stay to hear the thanks of the Alpha or his mate, doesn't do more than nod when a child's mother profusely thanks him for gently wrapping the boy's injured arm as best he can to staunch the bleeding.

He can't do anything about the people who aren't moving, the ones who don't feel like anything.

How much death has Christopher seen today? Why did Buck have to bring him to the pier today of all days? Eddie's going to kill him- the one time Buck makes plans without any input from his Alpha and look what happens...

Eddie... god, Eddie, the pack, his family-

Buck can't think about the pack. Even Maddie would have taken some suppressants at the dispatch center- a natural disaster this size will have affected the entire city and then some. All first responders will have taken the medication as soon as they reported for duty, all survivors and any patients at the hospitals will be given some as well to help cull the panic gripping the city.

So the pack is okay. They have to be. Right now Buck needs to focus on Christopher, on their bond that isn't muffled, that burns brighter and stronger with every step Buck takes. He can feel it taking up more space in his chest. He's getting closer, he's got to be, surely Christopher is nearby- the bond is so bright, so warm...

"Buck!"

Buck whips around so fast he nearly loses his balance. The pain in his leg nearly brings him to his knees but that's okay, its all okay because Christopher is here, he's here-

They limp towards each other, Buck barely moving faster than Chris, scrambling down from a kind looking woman who's got a grip on him.

"Christopher!" He's crying, he's sobbing, fat tears rolling down his face, but he has Christopher back in his arms. "Chris, oh, Chris, I'm sorry- I- I'm so so sorry buddy- I lost you-"

Christopher is crying too, his bond a mesh of joy and fear and anxiety and relief. "You found me," Christopher cries, his arms a vice around Buck's neck. "You found me."

"I have you- I've got you." Trembling, Buck presses desperate, joyful kisses all over Christopher's face.

"Buck, you're bleeding..."

"I'm okay buddy. Let- let me- are you hurt? Are you okay?"

There's a scratch on Christopher's chin, a raw patch on his arm. The pup is exhausted and scared, but he's alive and mostly unharmed. No new injuries have happened in the few hours they've been apart.

He's safe. Despite Buck losing him, despite Buck not being there for him, Christopher is safe.

Exhausted, overwhelmed, Buck collapses onto the dirty ground and pulls the pup into his lap. He's pretty sure he's shaking from an adrenaline crash, or the fact that the last thing he ate was cotton candy over six hours ago. Whatever the reason, he doesn't have time for it.

Now that Christopher is back in his arms, he has a job to do. He has to get Chris to Eddie, to someone in the pack. He's gotta get Chris home and dry and if he can't do it then he needs to find someone who can.

Buck hitches Chris onto his hip, making sure the pup's face is resting right against Buck's neck where his scent is the strongest. This would be better with Eddie here, with his strong Alpha pheromones to soothe and calm, but for now Buck's will have to do.

He's too tired for a panic attack, he thinks. He should be able to stay calm enough to get Christopher to safety.

"The VA hospital?" he asks the weary Omega woman beside him. Her eyes are a bit glassy with shock and she's got a shaky hand clenched in Buck's dirty shirt. "Okay," he says when she nods. "Looks like that's where we need to go."

Carrying an eight year old three miles on a broken leg isn't going to do his pain any favors, but he can take it. He hitches Christopher into a more secure position and begins the painful, limping journey forward.

"Who do you keep calling?"

Eddie hits redial again before answering. He knows it's futile but he can't help it. Can't stop calling Buck over and over on the off chance... "My mate."

Lena frowns, wincing as the truck hits another bump and aggravates her ribs. She's a lot more calm now that she has some suppressants in her system but she's still in pretty desperate need of some medical attention. He wonders if the Alpha will fight the pain killers as much as she did the suppressants, only caving when Bobby- Captain, Alpha Prime, at the time Incident Commander- ordered her to take them.

"Does she know you're working?"

Hey you've reached Buck-

"He does." Eddie redials again. He's lost count of the number of times he's called Buck, praying each time to get an answer.

So far, the universe doesn't seem to want to cave to his prayers.

I might take him to the pier.

"Then he knows you're okay," Lena tells him. "I'm sure he's fine too."

The voicemail box you are trying to reach is full.

Eddie nearly tosses his phone in sheer frustration. Only the memory of Maddie promising to call him the second she hears from her brother stops him. Abuela and Pepa have both called him, frantic with the news of the tsunami, but he's assured them he's okay.

He hasn't told them about Buck.

He hasn't told anyone. The pack knows something is up, but he couldn't... he couldn't even find the words to tell them until they'd split into two groups. He'll never forget the look on Bobby's face, the way it completely drained of color when he learned two of his pack might have been caught in the destruction.

But the pack is out there. The pack is looking for them.

Lena is watching him, eyes narrowed and a little unfocused. She'd been on the pier when the wave had hit, tumbling into the water and scrambling to survive long enough to do her job. She was more than a little shocky when they got to her, all the emotions and fear of the survivors chipping away at her.

They've been pushing suppressants on anyone they come across, even those well enough to get themselves to the hospitals. No one is going to be able to do anything until the panic clears. The 118 had taken theirs before they even loaded into the truck, the medication kicking in before they even reached the water.

He can't feel his bonds with Christopher, with Buck. They'd all felt the spike of panic, had rushed to get their suppressants before they even knew what was happening (that happens sometimes with earthquakes... they feel the fear of those caught in it before the alarm goes off). Had some of that fear been Christopher's? Buck's?

"Buck- my mate, he..." Eddie sucks in a deep breath, fingers clutching his phone so tight his knuckles bleach. "He said he might take our son to the pier today."

Lean's face melts into one of horror before she covers it.

"Might," she repeats. "So maybe, right? They might not... Maybe they went somewhere else."

"Yeah," Eddie rasps, tucking his phone away. They've reached the VA hospital and now he has to return to his job. He has to push thoughts of his mate and his son aside so he can get other mates and other children home to their families.

Buck would know to come here, Eddie reasons. He's smart. He would know to go where all the survivors are in the hopes of finding the pack- and given that theirs is almost entirely comprised of first responders, he has a good chance of being found the second he steps foot anywhere near a fire crew.

Eddie can't focus on his fear. He has to push it aside, has to cling to the hope that Buck took Chris to the movies, or to see the stingrays. Maybe they ducked into a bookstore and Buck's phone died while they were reading the entire children's section together.

I might take him to the pier.

They're okay. They have to be. And if not, Eddie's best chance at finding them is to be at the VA hospital. Maddie's monitoring calls, Chim and Hen and Bobby are still on the ground searching- and they all love Buck and Chris too. They won't stop unless they have to... and it will take something bigger than a tsunami to get them to stop searching.

"Come on." Eddie plucks the clipboard from Lena's hands and guides her to the check-in desk while she protests. "Let's get you taken care of."

"I need to find Coop-!"

Lena fights him the entire time the nurse pricks her with a sedative. Her eyes go a bit unfocused, but she keeps trying to argue and fight her way out of the bed, determined to find her Alpha Prime right up until her body realizes it's laying down and knocks Lena out cold.

"Are you a medic?" he's asked, and then he has something to focus on, something to do to keep his mind off how silent his phone is in his pocket.

He throws himself into it. He treats concussions and contusions, lacerations, scrapes, broken bones. He stitches up so many people he loses count. Wipes blood and dirt and grime away from injuries so he can treat them, wrap them, stitch them up and move on to the next person.

He pronounces over twenty people as DOA, covers them with a sheet and ships them off to the black tent.

He refuses to check the black tent. He can't.

I might take him to the pier.

Lena sits up like she's been summoned, nearly ripping the IV out of her arm when she surges forward. "Coop!"

The Alpha with a badly mangled arm rolls his head in the direction of the noise and immediately tries to steer his gurney towards Lena. Great, there's two of them. Eddie sighs and helps Lena get the needle out of her arm because he knows he can't stop her. At least with her Alpha Prime in the hospital himself she won't go charging off and damage her ribs any more.

It takes Eddie a minute to register who's standing beside Coop, blood dripping from her hands.

"Athena!" Oh god, if something happens to Bobby's mate Bobby will lose his damn mind.

"It's not mine," Athena says, much to Eddie's relief. "I found him-" she nods at Cooper "-in a suburb a few miles away from the pier. He said he was on the pier when it happened. Thought I was going to have to cut his damn arm off to get him free, but it was broken enough that we were able to get him out from under the car."

Eddie's stomach rolls. God, Athena having to cut someone's arm off... he doesn't even want to think about it. Cooper's arm is broken six ways to Sunday, but he still has it for now. That might change in the morning, depending on how good the doctors are and how fast Cooper gets back into surgery, but there's a chance he'll leave with both arms and it's almost as good as the chance he'll leave with one less.

"Any news from Buck?"

Athena's voice is soft, but Eddie can read the worry in her eyes clear as day.

"Nothing." His voice breaks on the word.

His gaze drifts to the black tent.

"Now, you listen to me, Eddie Diaz." Fierce and determined, Athena grips Eddie's arm. "Buck is smart. He's not going to let anything happen to your boy, you know that."

"I know." Eddie swallows, eyes tracking the movement of several mail trucks pulling up. "Buck... he- he'd die to protect Chris... and that's what I'm afraid of. I- I can't lose either of them. I can't lose him, Athena."

But he can't think about that.

If Eddie thinks about Chris, about Buck, about his boys afraid and wet and injured, he'll lose it. He needs to stay focused, do his job. As long as he's doing his job, he can stay and search for them. If they don't turn up at the hospital, Eddie will just have to find a way back onto the pier. He'll go against Bobby's orders if he has to.

"Dad!"

Eddie's head snaps up, eyes darting around wildly. He knows that voice. He would know that voice anywhere...

"Christopher!?"

Shoving past Athena, nearly knocking over a nurse (she doesn't even spare Eddie a glance, already rushing towards the group of people piling out of the mail trucks), Eddie bolts across the parking lot.

Melting out of the dark, a large group of people makes its way towards the lights and sounds of the VA hospital. They're dirty, grimy, and several of them have visible injuries that range from limp limbs to bloody streaks and patches all over.

Leading the group is a tall, limping figure with a boy in his arms.

"Chris, Buck!"

Eddie slams into them, arms coming up to gather them both. He's not sure what kind of noise he just made but he knows it was a raw, wounded sob of some kind. Everything inside him trembles when Christopher's arms latch onto his neck, his pup, his son clinging to him and crying.

"Dad, Daddy-!"

"Oh mijo, oh... let me look at you- are you-"

"Dad you have to help Buck-!"

Eddie's heart honest to god stops.

"What do you mean, what's- Buck? Buck!?"

Chris's warning almost comes too late. Only Eddie's arm around Buck's waist, only Bobby and Chim and Hen appearing at his back keeps Buck from hitting the wet, dirty ground when he collapses.

Chapter Text

The first thing Eddie takes from the spare room is the pillows. Buck needs to prop his leg (now sporting a cast all the way up to his thigh) up even in sleep for the time being.

"All of it, Eds," Buck croaks from his position on the bed. He's curled around Christopher as best he can, the pup's head pillowed on Buck's chest, the Omega's arms locked around him. "I... I need... I'm sorry-"

"Don't." Eddie crosses the room in quick strides, ducking down to rest his forehead against Buck's. "Don't you dare apologize. It wasn't your fault, none of this is your fault."

The tears welling in Buck's eyes are shredding what's left of Eddie's abused heart.

"But... I lost him. For hours. I-I didn't know where- I couldn't find him-"

"It was a natural disaster, Buck." A fucking tsunami, waves of water had slammed into the Santa Monica Pier and nearly destroyed everything Eddie holds dear.

One of Buck's arms frees itself from around Christopher, who doesn't stir. The sun is coming up, the sky brightening little by little, and the pup is absolutely exhausted. He'd slipped into sleep at the hospital waiting for news on Buck, only waking long enough to crawl into Buck's bed (which probably wasn't allowed but none of the nurses even tried to get him to move) and pass right back out.

Buck's hand shakes when Eddie tangles their fingers together.

"Listen to me," Eddie says, begs. "Yes, you and Chris were separated for a while, but you never stopped looking for him. Even when you probably should have," he adds with a quick glance at Buck's left leg. "But you... you never gave up."

He'd walked for miles with a shattered leg. He'd splinted it with broken pieces of wood and his own shirt and limped his way through the debris to search for their son. He never stopped looking, didn't stop searching until he had Chris safely in his arms.

"I failed him," Buck says, voice barely a whisper. A few tears leak from the corner of his eye. Eddie reaches up with a gentle hand to wipe them away.

"You didn't," Eddie promises him. He trails his hand across the scratches on Buck's face, down his jaw to grip his chin and force eye contact. "You didn't fail him, Buck, god. You saved him, you didn't fail. And even if you did... that happens. It's part of parenting. What makes you a good parent is that you love him enough to never stop trying. You didn't stop. You never stopped."

It's going to take more than a few words to convince Buck, but Eddie will repeat them as many times as necessary.

He kisses Buck softly, a gentle press of lips, before returning to the task at hand: moving Buck's nest.

Eddie's trying really hard not to get choked up over the fact that Buck not only wants his nest in their room, but that he trusts Eddie enough to move it for him.

He's not very successful, his breath catching in his chest as he carts the blankets and pillows from one room to the other and tucks them around the (finally sleeping) pair. The nest just fits around the bed, leaving enough space for the three of them to lump in together.

Eddie doesn't start shaking until the last load, the tremor starting in his hands and traveling up so fast, so violently he thinks his bones might rattle apart.

His son had been in a tsunami. He'd been swept away from Buck, alone and lost for hours. Buck must have been near frantic with worry, in pain and terrified with all the panic swirling around him from the other survivors.

The survival rate of the people on the pier is very small. Thousands got swept out to sea, drowned, crushed under debris and Christopher and Buck had been there, they'd been on the pier when it happened- Lena even swears she caught sight of them by the games when she'd been on a call.

He'd come so close to losing them both.

Eddie stops to bury his face in the final blanket in his arms and scream into the fabric. He doesn't even realize he's crying until the tears start to soak the cloth but for once he doesn't push them down. His family was in a natural disaster, traumatized and injured and afraid. He's allowed, he's entitled to feel... whatever he's feeling.

Eddie's not entirely sure. Fear? Anger? Sorrow?

He stands in the empty hallway, part of Buck's nest clutched in his arms and just cries, the sobs wracking his body. It's okay to break down like this, he knows that and he's not about to make Chris or Buck think they have to hide whatever they feel but he just... he needs a minute.

A minute to himself to feel useless and hopeless and terrified. A bad Alpha who couldn't protect his family, who knew they were in danger but put it aside for a job, to save other people when his family had needed him the most. He thinks that thought might maybe (possibly) be unfair but he can't help but feel it.

Christopher and Buck had needed him and he hadn't been there.

But they're safe now. They're home. They have scrapes and bruises, cuts that have been bandaged and clean. Buck's cast is a massive thing, covering him from toe to mid thigh, but he's home safe with a patched up leg and the possibility of surgery hanging over his head.

They're all safe.

The urge to prowl around the property is building, but not nearly as fast or as strong as the need to crawl into bed with his family, wrap them up in his arms and just stay there.

He wants the comfort of his pup's scent, wants to smell Chris and Buck's scents tangling together but they all have suppressants in their systems until tomorrow at the earliest. So he settles for using the blanket to complete the nest. He makes do with running his hand through Christopher's hair over and over, pressing his lips to the boy's head and pretending he's not about to fall completely apart.

"I've got you," he promises them both. "You're safe. I love you."

In his sleep, Buck frowns, makes a displeased noise. His hand grips Christopher's shirt tightly, pulls him closer. Eddie follows the movement, lets himself stretch out on Chris's other side so he's surrounded: by the blankets, the nest, by his fathers. The pup snuffles but doesn't stir when Eddie reaches across him to grip Buck's arm.

Just to remind himself that they're both there. That they're okay.

"I love you. I'm here. You're safe. I love you," he promises them both again, his hand sliding down to grip Buck's tightly. Maybe too tight but he can't make himself let go.

When he wakes around noon, Buck's fingers are threaded through his so that both are resting against Chris, Christopher's small hand is fisted in his shirt, and Eddie finally stops shaking.

A dozen therapy sessions aren't going to erase the trauma of what happened, but after a few weeks Christopher begins to sleep in his own bed throughout the night. He occasionally still crawls into Eddie and Buck's bed in the early hours of the morning, but for the most part the pup is bouncing back.

He shouldn't have to bounce back. Christopher's been through enough god damn it, but the therapist promises Eddie that Chris is recovering very well. The first few weeks, neither Buck nor Chris could stand to be in the shower without Eddie in the bathroom as well (or Buck sprawled awkwardly on the floor with his cast, singing Disney tunes with Chris in the most off-key voice that has to be deliberate but it gets Chris to laugh). But slowly, they're starting to be okay.

"I'm glad he's doing better," Bobby says, the station alive and noisy around them. Something amazing smelling is wafting up from the pan in front of him. Eddie's stomach growls, upset that he hadn't finished his breakfast before the alarm had sent them running.

"It's a process," Eddie parrots, remembering the shrink telling him and Buck the same thing when Christopher's nightmares started to hit. "It's only been a few weeks, so I know it's... I just want him to be okay, but I know for that to happen he needs to not be okay first."

The rule of the firehouse is that everyone eats together, but Bobby slips him a small plate of garlic chicken before starting on the rolls.

"The therapy's helping?" He asks, not looking up from his task of painting seasoned butter on the top of the bread before putting them back in the oven. Eddie has no idea why he does it, but damn if it isn't tasty (Buck does the same thing, it's so good).

"It seems to be. Chris wasn't too sure about it first, but Buck made a point to talk about going to therapy for it himself- that helped." Eddie can't imagine what his parents would say if they heard Chris was seeing a shrink.

Well, no actually he can. He can practically hear the disapproving silence, the strained oh that's good in a painfully fake cheery voice from his mother, almost see the way his father would just leave the room and refuse to acknowledge anything about the situation. They'd threatened to fly in and "help take care" of Chris since your Omega can't but his sisters had stood by his side and told them to stay put while Eddie all but screamed that Buck is his mate, not his Omega.

The last thing Eddie needs is his parents making Buck feel like he failed in some way. Because he didn't fail, no matter what his own brain is trying to tell him. Buck nearly mangled his own leg trying to get to their son to safety, he got them both off the pier alive. Eddie's told his parents in no uncertain terms that Buck is a hero and that they're recovering together as a family (his mother hadn't liked that but Eddie doesn't particularly care- they're not allowed to call or visit until they call Buck his mate and acknowledge him as such).

Bobby tries for casual and misses. "And how's Buck doing?"

Eddie swallows the last bit of chicken, wondering if he can get away with licking the sauce off the plate. "Better. Mostly annoyed about his leg. He nearly cracked his head open last night because Chris had a nightmare and he forgot he has a cast and tried to run into Chris's room half asleep, got tangled in the sheets."

"That sounds like Buck."

Buck's having nightmares too, but like with Chris the therapy is helping. And Eddie knows Buck. Eventually, he's going to want to get right back into the water. Hell, it's probably going to his leg a world of good once the cast comes off.

And whenever Buck wakes, gasping for breath and reaching for Chris, Eddie snaps awake like he's been summoned, crawling over to his mate to hold him until he stops shaking, murmuring soft words into his hair until Buck dozes back off again, clutching him tightly.

"How much longer will he be in the cast?"

"A few more weeks," Eddie says, washing his plate to hide the evidence before the others can see. "The doctor's pretty confident that the surgery fixed what needs fixing so now it's a waiting game. He's not happy about it, but he says the pain is more manageable now."

Sympathetic, Bobby nods. "He doesn't like being idle."

"No," Eddie laughs. "No he does not. He keeps trying to figure out ways to do stuff around the house... and he's so pissed that he can't manage to stand at the stove to cook right now."

Eddie keeps catching him trying to cook one handed, a crutch under one arm, wobbling on his good leg. They've been eating a lot of takeout, which both Abuela and Bobby had been offended by, prompting them to drop off enough leftovers to feed an army. The freezer is now full of meals that only need to be popped in the oven, step by step instructions that even he can't mess up written neatly on the top of each container.

Eddie will deny it until he's blue in the face because he loves his grandmother's cooking (and he likes living) but he misses Buck's food.

Bobby turns the heat off, gets the rolls arranged on the tray and turns back to Eddie. Something in the Alpha's gaze has Eddie tensing for a moment, wondering if Bobby is about to do that mind reading thing he does. He's never met an Alpha like Bobby, who takes such a vested interest in all of his pack members and actually listens to them when he asks if they're okay.

When Bobby asks if you're doing okay, he wants an actual answer, not the simple I'm fine that his parents always expected.

"And you?" Bobby asks, his gaze warm and inescapable. "How are you doing?"

That's a fair question, Eddie supposes. Still makes him squirm though.

"I'm okay," he says carefully. "I... I worry but. As long as they're okay, as long as they're getting better, then I'm okay."

Bobby watches him for a long moment. Eddie's sure he's gently looking into their bond, trying to make sure he's telling the truth. He is. He's worried about his mate, worried about his son, but at the end of the day they're all okay- or at least getting there.

"Okay," Bobby says eventually. "Help me set the table, then we can eat. Hopefully before-"

The shrill blare of the alarm cuts him off.

"Every time," Chimney wails, casting a longing glance at the spread on the island before running to grab his gear. "Wait, why does Eddie get food early? Unfair."

"Because Eddie is doing the dishes later," Bobby informs them dryly.

"Wait, I'm what?" It's a small price to pay for eating Bobby's food while it's hot and they all know it. "Fine, but if Chimney eats all the rolls he has to wipe the truck down later."

"Hey, wait a minute now..."

"Works for me. Let's roll."

"Would you stop?"

The command is followed by a swift rap across Buck's knuckles, Maddie's smaller hand fast and firm when she swats him and snatches the ruler out of Buck's hand.

"It itches," Buck whines, turning huge puppy eyes onto his sister.

It's not going to work. His puppy eyes haven't worked on Maddie since he was in single digits, but that doesn't stop him from using them at every chance just in case this time is the time she finally caves.

No such luck. Maddie merely rolls her eyes and removes anything long and narrow from his reach.

"You're going to get another pen stuck in your cast if you keep this up."

"Can we just cut my leg off? I feel like that's a better solution."

"After all the work the doctors put into putting it back together?" Maddie snorts. "No chance. You'll be back on your feet soon, little brother. Just have a little patience."

Buck ran out of patience about four weeks ago, when he woke up groggy and with a new cast after his surgery. His leg hadn't healed to the doctor's liking on its own, so a few weeks into lumbering around with a plaster prison around his leg, he'd gone in for a more dramatic fix. Hopefully this one works. He's sick of limping around.

He hasn't even gotten to physical therapy yet, which he knows is also going to suck. He shouldn't complain. He still has both of his legs after all, but he feels like nearly three months of not being able to walk or bathe on his own means he's allowed to be a little bit of a whiny baby.

Eddie and Maddie are putting up with it for now, but he knows better than to push it.

"Honestly I'd rather have you sitting there and whining about it than trying to stand up on your own and do chores," Maddie tells him. "At least when you're crabby and cranky I know you're not moving around when you shouldn't be."

"Crabby?" Playfully outraged, Buck gently whacks his sister with a throw pillow. "I'm crabby?"

"As an apple," Maddie laughs, fending off the soft blows with her arm. "God, you're worse than when you were... eight? nine? You jumped out of our neighbor's treehouse and tried to land on their trampoline."

Buck groans. "Man, it would have looked so cool if I'd managed it." He'd been inspired by a cartoon he'd caught part of, wanted to see if he could bounce that high too.

"I mean... you kind of did. You landed on the trampoline but you bounced right off and onto their brick patio. Broke your arm in two places that time."

"Who puts a trampoline beside a brick patio?" Buck wants to know. "It's like they were inviting injuries!"

"Mom and Dad were pissed about it," Maddie remembers. "I think they threatened to sue for damages or something."

Buck frowns. He didn't know that. "Why would they do that?" he asks, baffled. "It's not like they couldn't afford the hospital bill." Or cared all that much about Buck being the one to be hurt.

"It might have just been the principle of the thing. Plus they always got pissed whenever they had to spend money on things they didn't want to." Maddie rolls her eyes, remembering. "They're happy to drop money on new cars every year, or redecorate the house to show off, but god forbid they have to pay their deductible."

"Or actually parent their kids."

Maddie shudders. "God, can you imagine if they had tried to actually parent us? What kind of crappy advice they'd give us? I don't even want to think about it. You know they once told me that if you're not an Alpha you don't get to speak during pack meetings?"

"Yeah, I got that line too." And so many more that he's working his way through in therapy. "One time they told me that I was going to have to pay them back for all the money they were shelling out for me. Said I would have to repay them for all the doctors and everything."

Money had always been a weapon in their pack. Anyone who made less than the Buckley's were beneath them. They were so embarrassed when Buck got his daycare job, but happy about it at the same time. He'd never understood that, how they were glad he had a job at all so they no longer had to pay for things for him, but nearly inconsolable when they realized he made just barely above minimum wage.

It didn't matter that Buck loved the job, that he was happy and healthy surrounded by so many children it was his job to take care of, that he quickly got promoted and that even the parents were fond of him. Daycare would never make him rich, so his parents hated it.

Not that they would have made him quit, of course not. Then they'd have to go back to spending their hard earned money on him. Plus it was more Omega training that they didn't even have to pay for.

"I don't know why they didn't just mate me off," Buck says, trying to subtly inch his finger into the top of cast to get at the itch just out of his reach. "To hear them talk, I was such a huge burden on them but they never let me even try to go find a mate." And they couldn't be bothered to set him up themselves. Probably too embarrassed that one of their offspring had dared be an Omega.

Actually, not even probably. They're still embarrassed that Buck isn't the Alpha they wanted.

He has no idea why they wanted an Alpha child so badly. Did they not realize that Buck would have fought them on everything if he had been, that after a certain age they wouldn't have been able to even order Buck to do something? If he'd been an Alpha, he would have fought them tooth and nail just because.

Maddie, sharp eyed as ever, snatches the stray pen off the coffee table before Buck can even reach for it.

"Probably because they wanted your share of Nonna's money," she says, tossing the pen across the room.

"How would that work? I thought it was an inheritance of some kind." If Nonna had set the money up to go to him, his parents wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near it legally.

Buck hadn't known about the money until it arrived in the mail, but he definitely isn't about to give any of it to his parents.

Maddie gives him an odd look. "Did you not... There was a clause in the will, that the money wouldn't come to us until we were mated or had dens of our own."

"Yeah, I saw that. Please give me a pen, this itch is killing me."

"No, I'm not sticking another paperclip on a string down your cast and fishing it out for a third time. I refuse."

"What if I promise I'm not going to drop it?"

"Not a chance." Not trusting him, Maddie stands and starts collecting everything off the coffee table (even the things he couldn't even begin to work into his cast) and puts them on the floor well out of his reach.

This is probably why Eddie asked Maddie to come keep an eye on him. He's not a fan of fishing things out of Buck's cast either.

"There was also a clause that said if we hadn't moved out or mated by the time we were 30, Mom would have to go to the bank and sign a form to release the money to us." Satisfied that Buck can't get anything in his hands that could feasibly fit in his cast, Maddie sits and picks up her wine. "I'm pretty sure she was planning on trying to get the money into her bank account instead, but you found yourself a mate."

It makes a terrible kind of sense. And it's exactly the kind of thing his parents would do. Of course they would try and take money from their son- they basically sold their daughter first chance they got because the Alpha who wanted her was willing to pay nearly seven figures for her. Why would taking their son's inheritance be any different?

"So that's why they were so pissed when I turned up with Eddie... in their minds, I stole that money from them because I mated a few years early and the money legally came to me."

Nevermind the fact that the money was always his to begin with, but of course his parents had cooked up some kind of scheme to try and get it.

He's always wondered why they were so mad that he moved out. They'd never been all that happy with him hanging around, but as an Omega he couldn't move out without other bonds to ground him (and now that he knows what healthy bonds are like he has to wonder how the hell he survived all those years alone with his parents). He figured they'd be relieved when he showed up with a mate, not throw him out of the house in a fit of rage.

But he's out of that house now, in a den of his own with the money and a mate and a son that make him so indescribably happy. He's happy, healthy (as healthy as he can be with a surgically repaired leg anyway), and he's got something that they wanted but can't have. He has a life here, a family, he has his sister back and his parents are never going to be able to take that from him.

Maddie jabs a sharp elbow into his side when he attempts to use the remote to get at that goddamn itch and promptly takes that away too.

On second thought, he could probably do without his bossy, meddling (wonderful) big sister watching him like a hawk and refusing to let him scratch this itch that's been plaguing him for hours.

Maybe he can use the fork he stashed in the cushions after lunch. Surely that'll fit under his cast, and if he's sneaky Maddie might not even notice...

Buck hates his cane almost as much as he hated the cast, but Eddie knows he's relieved beyond all belief to be able to stand and do things without too much assistance now.

"I can actually dress myself," he crows in delight, standing triumphantly in a pair of jeans he'd put on himself. "Look, I'm actually wearing jeans instead of sweatpants!"

He looks so pleased, so happy, so fucking cute and proud of himself that Eddie can't not kiss him.

Physical therapy wipes him out, but it's balanced by the fact that Buck can stand up long enough to cook and walk short distances without pain or winding himself. He and Christopher do physical therapy stretches together and it hurts Eddie's heart with how much he loves them when he sees them grinning at each other, sweating and panting through their stretches.

"I have a theory about my parents," Buck declares one random Saturday as they lounge outside in the backyard.

"Me too. I think they're assholes," Eddie says immediately.

"That's not theory, that's fact," Buck replies smartly. "My theory is that they're broke. Or at least, broke according to them."

"I thought they were rich."

Buck nods, stretching out his leg with a wince. Physical therapy kicked his ass today, but he's refusing to do more than prop his leg up and relax (which is a victory, Eddie has to admit). Eddie drops down onto the foot of the lounger and pulls Buck's leg into his lap, gently digging into the tense muscles around his scars.

"Yeah, I always thought so too but Maddie said something that's got me thinking- oh my god that feels so good..." Buck flops backwards, boneless, and goes limp under Eddie's hands. "You might have missed your true calling as a masseuse, holy shit." It takes him a minute to remember what he was saying. "She said they used to buy new cars every year, and redo their house completely every few years, like totally remodel it."

Eddie rolls his eyes so hard he thinks they might get stuck. A brand new car every year, completely remodeling a house just because... he can't even imagine that kind of money. Replacing his old truck had nearly given him heart palpitations when he'd finally traded it in.

"I can't remember them ever remodeling our house," Buck continues. "And when I left home, Mom was driving a five year old car. A nice car, yeah, but she's definitely not the type to go without the newest model where she can. So... I think they're broke."

"Broke according to them. What's that mean, they have a few million in the bank still?"

Buck shrugs, his massive shoulders rolling with the movement. Eddie's hand tightens around his leg when Buck sits up, his fingers trailing up Buck's calf.

"I doubt it. Because I also think they got kicked out of their pack. I didn't realize it until Maddie said something but after she left our pack was literally just us three. Apparently it wasn't always like that- they were in some kind of one percent pack when I was little and then they weren't. I don't think they could afford the dues after Nonna died."

"Dues?" Sincerely baffled, Eddie can only shake his head. "They had to pay to be in a pack? Seriously?" What kind of rich person bullshit is that, paying to have people in your pack?

He can't even wrap his head around it. That's like paying someone to claim to be your family. What kind of support and loyalty does that get you? What kind of relationship? It literally makes no god damn sense to him, but he's not a rich person so what does he know.

He just has a happy, loving family that supports him in whatever way they can. And he didn't even need to get his checkbook out for that. They're just there, always. The 118 had supported him when he'd decided to do the mate matching service, when he needed time off for Buck to adjust. Abuela and Pepa and his sisters, his blood family, were all welcoming and loving to not only Christopher but Buck as well.

"It's sad, right?" Buck winds his hand through Eddie's, squeezing gently. "To think that you have to pay for the right to have a pack. I feel kind of sorry for them."

"I'm too pissed at them to be sorry for them," Eddie admits, his free hand coming up to trace Buck's mate mark gently. "They have no idea what they lost when they kicked you out. No idea at all. You're fucking amazing and they just- well, they're stupid, is the point, so of course they're dumb enough to think the only pack worth having is one that prefers your bank account to anything else."

"I'm not that amazing," Buck starts to say.

Eddie leans forward to kiss him slow and deep, chasing every taste he can find in Buck's mouth.

"Yes," he says breathlessly. "You are. You're... I don't even have the words for how wonderful you are. You're funny, kind. You wear your heart on your sleeve and you give it completely to everyone you love. You love our son with everything you have. I'm so lucky to know you, to have you in my pack, to have you as my mate."

Buck's breath shudders, his forehead dropping to rest against Eddie's.

"Chris asked if I was going to leave," he says, voice cracking and rough.

Eddie physically recoils at that. "What!? When did he-"

"The... that day on the pier." Buck's eyes are wet when he meets Eddie's gaze, but there's no fear in them. When Eddie focuses on their bond he feels something warm and deep, something that echoes the feeling that's been building in his chest since he met Buck.

And he starts to hope.

"He thought I was going to move out and go live with Maddie," Buck says softly. He reaches out to touch Eddie's mate mark, his eyes tracking the movement. "That's why he was quiet around her."

"He thought she was going to take you away."

And Eddie is an asshole, because he hadn't even considered- hadn't even thought about it. Buck... Buck can leave, he could move out now if he wants to. He's got the money for a place of his own, he's got his bond with his sister again, with the rest of the 118. Eddie has no doubt that Buck will always be part of Bobby's pack no matter what.

It hadn't even occurred to him that Buck might want to leave now that he doesn't need his bond with Eddie as much.

"It hadn't even occurred to me to think about that until right then," Buck is saying now, unaware that he's shattered Eddie's heart and glued it back together in the span of five seconds. "I was- am so happy with you that leaving didn't even cross my mind."

"Buck..."

"I told him..." Buck takes a breath, a small tremor going through his hand and now there's a sharp prick of anxiety through their bond, a swirl of uncertainty. "I told him that I wasn't going anywhere. I told him that I love him and that you and him... you guys are home."

Eddie surges forward, mouth crashing into Buck's for a bruising, desperate kiss. His own hands shake from where they frame Buck's face and he does nothing to hide the pure joy that spills from him. He hopes Buck can feel it, that he knows how deliriously, desperately happy this makes him.

"This house, our den- it's nothing without you," Eddie says, barely able to tear his mouth away from his beautiful, wonderful, amazing mate. "Without you, it's just a place. Buck-"

"I love you," Buck blurts, the words all but tumbling out. "I... god please don't let me be ruining this- I love you so much Eddie-"

The warm feeling in his chest expands, spreads to reach his fingers, his toes, to spill out his mouth when he surges forward again, pulls Buck into his arms and kisses him for all he's worth.

"I love you," he says, promises, swears. "I love you, I love you, I love you so fucking much. You're not going anywhere."

Buck laughs even as the tears slide down his face. "No," he promises, kissing Eddie again and again. "No, I'm not."

Buck walks up the stairs to the kitchen without use of any kind of mobility device six months after the tsunami wiped out the pier, without even the hint of a limp. He immediately goes to stand by Bobby, accepting the tongs that Bobby hands him and starts doing something complicated to the amazing smelling food that's been simmering for the past half hour.

Christopher immediately abandons his father for Harry and Denny, already propped on the couch and playing video games with Chim (and kicking his ass going by the way Chimney keeps huffing and mashing the buttons harder and harder).

Hen is settled on a stool, watching Buck and Bobby work their magic with the food. Eddie approaches cautiously, sure that his mere presence is somehow going to ruin the food (he swears it's happened before- Buck assures him that dinner only burned that time because they were so busy making out he forgot to turn the heat off, but Eddie's not so sure).

"I don't know," Buck is saying, half turned to be watching the food and chatting with the pack at the same time. "Now that my leg's better I was thinking about starting up the job hunt again. I'm just not sure what I could be doing."

Across the room, Chimney straightens, opening his mouth.

"I don't think I want to open a bakery, sorry Chim."

Chimney deflates, blowing out a puff of air. "Your loss. You'd be a millionaire overnight."

"No thanks."

Hen cackles, quickly swiping a brownie from the tray Eddie's setting down and cramming it into her mouth before Buck can do more than glare at her. Eddie nabs one before Chimney realizes they're the salted caramel ones and runs off with the entire platter.

He kind of agrees with Chim about the bakery, but he also knows that Buck enjoys cooking as a hobby more than anything. Sure it satisfies a lot of his Omega instincts, helps him feel useful and content, but it's not something he wants to do for a living.

Still chewing, Hen regards Buck thoughtfully. "What about childcare?" she asks. "I know you worked at a daycare before. You liked it, right?"

"Yeah but..." Buck shrugs. "It's not something I want to do forever. I could maybe find something in that field while I look for my... calling? My career? I never thought I'd have much of a choice about what I'd do, you know. Always thought I'd either wind up a house Omega or stick with the daycare gig."

Hen hums thoughtfully, accepting the stack of plates Bobby hands her. She immediately hands half to Eddie. "Help me set the table and we'll see if we can't get Buck's career figured out."

"Can I have a brownie?" Christopher asks, catching sight of the (somehow half empty) platter of goodies on the island.

"There are brownies?" Chimney practically launches himself up and sprints across the floor. "Yes, I love these! Buck, please, you have to teach Maddie how to make them."

Buck laughs. "I tried. She burned the caramel so bad we had to toss that black pot of yours."

"Then teach me," Chim begs. Eddie pretends not to notice his pack mate splitting the brownie and giving Christopher half. "I need more of these brownies in my life, man."

"You mated the wrong Buckley if you wanted a cook," Eddie tells him, pausing to kiss Buck's cheek as he passes. "You can't have him, he's mine." Buck preens, a blush spreading across his face at the praise.

"Where is Maddie?" Athena asks, appearing with a beautiful salad. "Harry, that better not be a brownie in your mouth. We're about to have dinner."

"No," Harry insists, chewing quickly. Beside him, Denny ducks down, cramming something into his mouth.

Athena, not fooled in the least, just shakes her head and sets the salad on the table.

"She's on her way," Chimney tells them, herding the kids towards the table. "Got caught up at work, but she'll be here."

Maddie appears just as the garlic bread finishes, coming hot and fresh out of the oven and they settle in to eat. It's noisy, voices all talking over each other, laughter coming from either side of the table. Christopher settles across from his fathers, his friends on either side and conveniently right next to the plate of brownies.

Hen wisely moves the plate out of the reach of the pups, but not before they grab one more to split between the three of them.

"Buck, do you think I'm big enough to do the scuba class now?" Christopher asks halfway through the meal.

"Maybe," Buck says thoughtfully, shooting Eddie a glance. "I'll look into it tomorrow, I promise. If not, you can give me those surfing lessons you've been promising me, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Can I learn to scuba dive?" Harry asks.

"We'll talk about it," Athena promises him. "Let's see what Buck finds out about the age and size requirements first."

"Maybe you could be a scuba instructor," Hen suggests to Buck. "You do love the water."

"Eh, again I think that would be more a hobby or a side gig than anything." Buck chews his lip, considering. "I want to do something that means something, you know? Something that can make a difference. I'm just not sure what."

Bobby takes the opening. "I've got a few thoughts about that," he tells Buck, sliding a folder across the table just like he did to Eddie all those months ago, changing his life, all their lives for the better. "When you were caught up in the tsunami, you stopped to help dozens of people. You didn't pause, you didn't hesitate, you just did it. You jumped right in." He smiles, watching Buck open the file to stare, stunned at the application to the LAFD academy.

"Have you ever considered becoming a firefighter?"

Fin