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David Hale didn’t have much experience dating men with children, but he had some, and he was at an age now where hearing that his date had them wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Michael made it obvious straight away that he adored his children, played a large part in their lives, and expected a future partner to make that same amount of space for them.
That didn’t necessarily mean that David would be that partner, but the first date went well enough that he found himself cataloguing information about the children over their next few subsequent dates to assuage his growing anxiety about a future potential meeting.
(May and Harry, 17 and 9, May’s about to graduate, Michael likes taking Harry camping).
What was more of a surprise was Michael’s relationship with his ex-wife. It wasn’t the fact that there was an ex-wife – David had dated his fair share of bisexual men – but the fact that they were still so close. They’d been dating about a month when Michael shared his story about coming to terms with his sexuality, and how difficult it had been on Athena, and how hard they had worked together to build a positive parenting relationship both for their childrens’ sake but also for their own.
“Athena is still one of my best friends, and so is Bobby for that matter,” Michael had said to him earnestly. “I know a lot of other men don’t get it, especially gay men who have been on the same journey as me and came out after years of marriage. But we chose to make it work even when it was tough and there were so many hurt feelings, and when Bobby came along, we chose to all work together to make sure our family was what we wanted it to be. Do you get it?”
David didn’t think he did get it, actually. He was glad for Michael that it clearly worked for him though, that he was so comfortable in his relationship with the mother of his children, and that he’d even become best friends with his ex-wife’s new husband (even though that thought had really tripped him up.)
What he did grasp pretty quickly though, was that clearly Athena’s approval was vital to any future David might see with Michael. And he was slowly falling head over heels for the other man, so that meant he had to give it a shot to gain that approval, and also start thinking about how to put in the work to also develop a relationship with his hopefully-future-partner’s children.
—---
Michael and David started dating not long before news started filtering through about a new virus. They managed to get about 3 months of ‘normal’ dating before the pandemic reached California in earnest, and it was at the tail end of those 3 months that David met Athena and Bobby for the first time.
They met without the children of course, although Michael had told David that May and Harry had been told about him and they were also looking forward to meeting him. David couldn’t help but note that nothing was said about Athena looking forward to meeting him (Bobby apparently couldn’t wait to share his latest recipe with someone that wasn’t a hungry firefighter willing to eat anything so David was taking that as a win).
They had originally intended to go out to a nice restaurant for dinner, but Athena had instead insisted on having them over to her house, saying that it felt safer. Michael had asked David whether he was okay with the change in plans, but David had no intention of annoying Athena before he’d even met her. While it was nerve-wracking to lose the neutral ground of a restaurant, quite frankly a quieter night in actually did sound like a nice break from the stress of all the contingency planning happening at his hospital.
Definitely worth it, thought David when they walked into the house to the most heavenly smells. Michael had told him that both Bobby and Athena loved to cook, and the smell wafting through the kitchen and dining area proved he hadn’t been exaggerating (and also that Bobby’s firefighters must be incredibly spoiled if he actually did feed them that sort of food).
They were both also clearly consummate hosts, warmly greeting them, immediately pouring wine and drinks. When they settled at the table with their drinks while the food finished though, Athena’s gaze settled on David and he couldn’t help but feel intimidated. She was a very put-together woman, and the sling she wore for her arm didn’t change the confident way she carried herself. He could see why she made for a good police sergeant (“not an officer, don’t call her an officer,” Michael had advised firmly in the car), her demeanour firm and unwavering but also clearly loving and caring towards Michael and Bobby.
Bobby, clearly sensing David’s apprehensiveness, jumped straight in to stop any awkward silence from brewing. “So, did Harry end up enjoying himself yesterday even though the after-party was cancelled?”
Harry was the younger child, the soon-to-be 10 year old, David recalled. The only thing he really knew about Harry was that he enjoyed the camping trips Michael took him on and that he liked video games. There had been a console all set out the last time he’d dropped by Michael’s place, who had explained that his son had been home with a stomach ache and spent the day killing zombies.
“Oh, he loved it,” Michael said before turning to David to explain. “Harry’s baseball team was meant to have a celebratory pizza party after their game yesterday, but the coaches agreed that it might not be the best idea given everything.”
Okay, Harry is also sporty, David catalogued.
Turning back to the others, Michael continued, “But one of the parents baked up a storm of cupcakes that the kids all got to gorge on so I think that lessened the sting a bit. And didn’t you say Buck was planning on doing some pizza-making with the boys today?”
Buck – David had heard Michael mention the name before, but he couldn’t quite remember the context. Given this discussion, perhaps as a babysitter?
“Mm, Eddie’s apparently gotten quite paranoid about letting Christopher out and about, so I think Buck has been trying to keep things fun at home. Christopher has cerebral palsy,” Athena added to David. He resisted the urge to straighten his posture when her gaze returned to him. “Buck and Eddie have been extremely cautious since it sounds like this whole virus would be particularly nasty for him. We’ve kept Harry home from school this week, so they felt safe having him over and letting the boys spend some time together.”
So, Christopher is clearly Harry’s friend – so Buck and Eddie must be another set of queer parents? From Harry’s school? Clearly good friends with Michael and Athena, so not just acquaintances through the children.
“Good on them for being cautious, given what we’ve been hearing at the hospital,” David told them.
“Ah, let's not get into that discussion,” Michael cut in, reaching to sip at his glass of wine. “This is meant to be a relaxing evening, not one where we have to think about this damn virus.”
“I’m all for that,” Bobby agreed. “Buck has been bombarding us with facts about it for a couple of weeks now. You know he wouldn’t even let us do the shopping for this?” He sounded indignant as he waved at his stovetop.
Alright, good friends with Michael, Athena and Bobby. That would still make sense since Bobby is just as involved with the kids though.
“What do you mean he didn’t let you shop?” Michael asked, sounding both taken aback and mildly amused.
Athena snorted and responded with laughter in her voice. “Apparently he read that older males are considered particularly vulnerable to the virus so he told Bobby to text him anything he needed and that he wasn’t allowed to go to the grocery store until further notice.”
“That’s very thoughtful,” David said, unable to stop his grin while Michael just guffawed in laughter. Seems like more than just friends, to be comfortable enough to decree something like that.
“Thoughtful for an impertinent kid,” Bobby grouched. “Meanwhile, I just tell him to carry a spare mask and try to get him stocked up with some extra sanitiser and I get called a mother hen!”
“I’d say he’s had good reason to grouch at your overprotectiveness after the last year,” Athena patted Bobby’s shoulder with a smile and a raised eyebrow, earning a betrayed look from her husband. “And he took the sanitiser in the end, didn’t he? Anyway, shall we serve and eat?”
Ohhh, David realises as he got handed a plate. Okay, I got it. He was surprised that Bobby’s son hadn’t come up when Michael first mentioned his children given how much emphasis he put on the positive co-parenting relationship his family unit strived to maintain. But then again – Buck was obviously much older than Michael and Athena’s two children if he had a child the same age as Harry. The step/co-parenting dynamic would clearly be completely different than it was with May and Harry.
It must have felt at least a little odd for them when Bobby came to the relationship with a grandchild the same age as Athena’s son though, David thought. Yet another reason to admire them for the clear effort they had made to successfully blend their families.
When Michael started talking about organising a potential opportunity to meet May and Harry a couple of days later, David realised that he must have somehow gained some sort of approval from Athena. He was relieved, because he hadn’t felt it when they had left the house, but also nervous because that meant a meeting with the kids was now imminent.
—---
The thing was, while David had some experience dating men with children, there hadn’t been many of those experiences where the relationship lasted long enough that he was deemed worthy of meeting said children.
To be specific, there had only been two of these experiences.
The first child-of-a-partner he’d met was 4-year-old Bacardi (he blames being 20 and naïve for why that particular red flag hadn’t registered).
Bacardi had sized him up for all of ten seconds before deciding to bite him right in the thigh. He’d jerked his knee in shock, which caused her to lose balance and topple over, hitting her head on the coffee table in the process. The whole incident ultimately involved three hours in an emergency room, stitches and tears for Bacardi, laughter from his boyfriend, mortification for him, and a truly epic screaming fit from Bacardi’s mother which lasted 37 minutes and included at least two security guards being punched.
David knew that it had lasted precisely 37 minutes because five years later, he had interned at that same hospital and was told the whole story as a precautionary tale of what awaits when working in the ER. He was just thankful that five years had been long enough for him to lose his baby face and grow enough facial hair that none of the nurses that had been around back then would recognize him.
(That didn’t stop him from spending the first six months of his internship ducking into a storage closet whenever he saw a nurse he thought seemed vaguely familiar though.)
While that disastrous meeting with Bacardi technically hadn’t been the reason for their breakup (Jack had found the whole thing hilarious, right down to his ex-girlfriend socking a man twice her size in the middle of a crowded ER) the relationship had still fizzled very quickly as David found Jack’s amusement at the whole thing to be a red flag he did not want to ignore.
Experience number two was the complete opposite. David was older by then, and more cautious, and also the child was a surly 11-year-old pre-teen rather than a rambunctious kindergartener.
There also felt like there was more at stake – Victor refused to even entertain the thought of introducing David to Dylan until after the 6-month mark, and even then it had taken another 3 months of strict discussions about boundaries before they had eventually organised a meeting.
David had come prepared with questions to ask about Dylan’s school, and friends, and to respond to any concerns Dylan might have about David interfering in the amicable co-parenting his dads had going on since their divorce.
Dylan had answered David’s questions in as few words as possible (a few times even resorting to monosyllabic grunts) and had simply rolled his eyes and muttered mockingly under his breath when David had attempted to broach the topics of concern.
The whole time, Victor’s disapproving frown haunted David at the edge of his peripheral vision.
Still, in comparison to what had happened with Bacardi, meeting Dylan had been positively boring in comparison. David had left the meeting feeling reasonably optimistic if a bit out of his depth at having to deal with teenage moodiness.
But the moodiness never dissipated, Dylan kept rolling his eyes and grunting whenever they all had dinner together, and Victor eventually decided that maybe it wasn’t the right time for him to be looking for a long-term relationship after all.
“I have to choose my son,” Victor had told him. “You understand, don’t you?”
David had, sort of, but that hadn’t stopped him from buying three tubs of his favourite ice-cream on his way home that night. It was the end of his first really serious relationship, and it left him feeling decidedly inadequate.
Recalling those two experiences as he thought about meeting the Grant-Nash children for the first time didn’t fill him with confidence. It filled home with cold dread, but he couldn’t let Michael see that – Michael had to see that David was willing to put in the work to get his children to accept him.
—--
Of course, before any plans could be put into action, the pandemic well and truly hit and stay-at-home orders were put in place.
When he heard the news, David was almost surprised at just how devastated he was at the thought of not being able to see Michael for months (they said weeks, but David knew enough about the virus by that point to be doubtful of that timeframe).
Michael clearly felt the same, because when they spoke on the phone he had paused for about ten seconds, taken an audibly deep breath, and blurted out, “Move in with me.”
David had also only paused for about ten seconds before breathing out a yes. His shoulders, that he hadn’t even realised were tense for their entire conversation so far, relaxed and he felt better than he had since listening to the news a few hours earlier.
Living with Michael wasn’t even as much of an adjustment as he had expected, given he hadn’t shared a home with anyone since his first year of medical school. Perhaps it was all the pandemic precautions that made everything else seem normal, but the two of them easily navigated through cooking, takeout disagreements, cleaning, even the discussion of finances went a lot more smoothly than he expected.
However, when David’s whole body had relaxed at the thought of not being separated from Michael, he realised just how invested he truly was in the relationship now… and that meant realising that absolutely everything hinged on Michael’s children accepting him. He did not want another Dylan and Victor deeming him unworthy of their family. He wanted to do what Bobby had managed to do – become an important adult figure in their lives. He wanted Harry, and May, and even Buck, to see that he understood their dynamics, and that he had every desire to smoothly add himself to the blended, functional unit they had managed to create.
—---
The stay-at-home orders made it tough: Harry was the only one that moved relatively freely between his parents’ homes, since he was learning virtually and the orders had exceptions in place for standing custody arrangements.
Over breakfast on the morning that Michael was going to be driving across to pick up Harry for his first period at Michael’s home since David had moved in, he peppered his boyfriend with questions. What was going to be acceptable for Harry? Should they avoid any sort of PDA around him until he got more used to them? Should he avoid any particular topics? What was Harry’s favourite food? Favourite topics? Favourite subjects at school? Should he just try and spend as much time as possible in their bedroom while Harry spent time with his dad?
Michael just looked at him wide-eyed, barely able to get a word in to actually answer a question before David thought of his next one. Eventually he covered David’s hand with his own and firmly said, “Babe.”
David stopped, looking at him beseechingly. “Look, this wasn’t how I expected to meet one of your kids for the first time. I just don’t want him to think I’ve taken your attention away from him or anything.”
“He won’t,” Michael said. “Don’t forget, we’ve gone through this with Bobby when he and Athena first got together. We just have to make it clear to him that this is just our family expanding that little bit more again. I’ll talk to him about it the first few nights, make sure he feels comfortable with everything and that he knows he can still let me know if he needs me. You just act naturally, we don’t have to hide anything and you definitely don’t need to go hiding yourself in our room! If anything, that would make things worse if he thought you didn’t want to get to know him.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” David admitted sheepishly, slightly horrified that he’d suggested it now that he thought through the ramifications of it. It also made him feel a little better that Michael clearly wasn’t about to throw him to the wolves and would make sure Harry was able to talk through any feelings about the new dynamics at his father’s home.
“Just be nice to him, maybe sneak him an extra cookie or two,” Michael advised, smiling at his boyfriend. “Just be wary though – Bobby had the tough experience of having to move from being the fun adult to having to transition to the more parental role and I don’t think he enjoyed that transition period much!”
David ducked his head with a smile at the realisation that Michael fully expected him to be around to take on that parental role in Harry’s life. But if Bobby had struggled with that transition… Well, David couldn’t be blamed for spending the entire time that Michael was gone on google trying to find tips about how to find that balance to make building a parental relationship easier later on.
His worry was unnecessary in the end; Harry was such an easy-going child. There was an awkward first couple of minutes, as David wasn’t sure whether to go in for a hug or a wave or a handshake, but Harry had actually looked kind of smug at the handshake (and at least it had made Michael laugh).
Then Harry had suggested video games, David lost absolutely spectacularly at their first game, and Harry seemed perfectly comfortable as he crowed about his decisive victory.
No monosyllabic grunts were involved during their dinner conversation that first night. Harry was perfectly willing to ask questions, and answer them in return. He was particularly interested in hearing about David’s experience at the hospital - thankfully the pre-COVID experience.
“Do you really use, like, drills to get into people’s heads?” Harry asked with wide eyes.
“Sometimes,” David acknowledged. “Skulls are pretty tough, you know.”
“That’s so cool,” Harry declared. “I’ve never even had any surgery.”
“Which we are all very grateful for, thank you very much,” Micheal cut in with a raised eyebrow at his son.
“It’s not a very fun experience – for anyone involved,” David agreed. “Do you know other people who have had surgery?”
“Dad almost had surgery on his brain,” Harry recalled, enthusiasm dimming for a moment. David nodded, because he had known that and he kicked himself a little for not thinking his question through. He couldn’t help but glance towards Michael, expecting to see a frown, but Michael was focused on listening to his son and didn’t look displeased at all.
“Chris has had three surgeries, I think,” Harry continued. “But that was before he came to California.”
“Oh, where did he live before?” David asked, surprised. He remembered the name – Bobby’s grandchild, who had cerebral palsy and his parents were being very cautious with their pandemic response. He assumed that was why he hadn’t heard much about Buck during Michael and Athena’s discussions over the last couple of weeks.
“Texas,” Michael supplied when Harry just shrugged. “Eddie moved here from El Paso when Christopher was five or six I think?”
“Ah, so another blended family, then,” David responded, shifting his understanding of Bobby’s family. He blinked, a little taken aback when Michael snorted at that.
“You could say that,” Michael said, waving him away.
David was stopped from following up by Harry continuing to answer his question from before.
“And Buck had three surgeries in, like, four months,” he said, awe apparent in his voice.
“Three? In four months?” David asked, mouth agape. He looked at Michael for confirmation.
Michael’s mirth had disappeared at that example. “Do you remember the news of a firefighter being crushed by a firetruck, about a year and a half back?”
“Yeah,” David responded cautiously.
“Well, that was our Buckaroo.”
“You’re kidding!” David hadn’t even realised that Buck had followed in his father’s footsteps and was also a firefighter. No wonder he and his partner were so paranoid about COVID precautions given Buck had no choice but to stay on the front lines as a first responder.
Harry nodded enthusiastically, “He was amazing, he got really hurt but he just kept fighting and fighting to get better. Bobby said it was ‘incredible resilience’.”
“I believe Bobby also said he wished Buck had taken it a lot easier,” Michael added pointedly, turning to David to explain. “Buck did not have an easy recovery – he actually ended up having a pulmonary embolism right when we all thought he was finally done. Threw up a good few pints of blood all over Bobby, and Athena’s petunias.”
“That sounds horrifying,” David breathed, a little overwhelmed by the sudden mood shift of the conversation.
“Yeah, but Buck recovered from that and then he even saved Christopher from a tsunami,” Harry continued to recount, oblivious to the adults as he concentrated on scooping up the last of his spaghetti.
David just looked at Michael helplessly, not sure how to react to what should be an outlandish tall tale.
“Completely accurate,” Michael told him drily, reaching over to refill David’s wine glass. “Buck was on medical leave after the embolism, decided to take Chris to the pier as a pick-me-up, and then they got caught in the Santa Monica tsunami.”
“Less than a year after he had a fire truck fall on his leg?!”
“Yep. About six months later, to be more specific. I think that year as a whole robbed Bobby of about a decade of his life. Definitely caused more than a few new grey hairs at the very least,” Michael said.
“I bet,” David murmured, still in shock.
“Yeah, but Buck always gets better,” Harry declared confidently.
David and Michael exchanged a look as they started to collect the empty plates - to have the surety of youth again…
Still, despite that mildly horrifying end of the dinner conversation, David was quite pleased with the outcome of his first day with Harry. He got along well with the kid, no one ended up in hospital, and he felt like he developed a deeper understanding of the Grant-Nash family dynamics. Harry clearly worshipped his older step-brother, Buck had clearly learned from the fantastic example of his dad’s blended family, and he now understood why Bobby felt so protective of his adult son.
(A couple of weeks later, just before Harry was due to go back to Bobby and Athena’s, David decided to ask him if he was comfortable with him being there.
“I hope you know that I care about you, and I don’t want this to feel any less like home for you,” David said.
Harry just looked at him strangely. “Obviously. Dad wouldn’t have chosen you if he didn’t think you’d work in our family.”
And, well. For the surety of youth, David thought, unexpectedly touched at the sheer confidence in Harry’s statement.)
—---
Unfortunately, his success with Harry did not lessen his nerves about meeting May. Perhaps it was partially because his experience with meeting a partner’s daughter was so much more outwardly traumatising than the first time he met a boyfriend’s son. Or perhaps it was because May was so much older than Harry, and he was even less confident in navigating the nice-fun-adult-possibly-future-parental-figure dynamic with a freshly minted eighteen year old.
He had tried to probe Michael a couple of times, thinking he should be able to take advantage of the fact that his boyfriend had dealt with an adult child entering his family. But Michael just seemed to get confused with what he was getting at each time.
“How old was Buck when Bobby and Athena first met?” David broached one evening, when they were tidying after a video-call with Athena and Harry.
“Buck?” Michael looked at him in surprise. “I’m not sure - 25, or 26 maybe?”
(They were interrupted by a neighbour knocking at their front door asking if they had any children’s tylenol he could use for his daughter before Michael could ask any follow-up questions about why in the world his boyfriend was so interested in Buck’s age).
“What sort of things did you do when you and Buck first met so he knew he could talk with you, or to show that you respected him?” David asked over coffee one morning, when he’d spent an evening reading stories online by near-adult stepchildren who were scathing about an interloper’s attempts to ingratiate themselves as a parent.
“I mean… I’m not really sure there was anything specific,” Michael answered slowly, trying to work out the purpose behind the question. “Buck is generally pretty easy to get along with anyway – at the firehouse, everyone likes to call him a golden retriever. Why do you ask?”
(That time, it was a frantic phone call from May that interrupted them before David could explain his thinking. Her car had gotten a flat tyre, she had no idea how to fix it, and she was going to be late for her second training shift at her new job. By the time Michael had gotten things sorted for his daughter, the whole conversation with his boyfriend had slipped his mind.
David assumed that Michael not actually being Buck’s stepfather officially was why he was so casual about how their relationship had developed. He guessed Athena would have a better insight about how to navigate the experience of an adult stepchild, but quite frankly she still scared him a little and they certainly weren’t at the point where he felt comfortable reading out to her personally. But either way, he gave up on expecting his boyfriend to provide him with usable help.)
—---
“You could have warned me,” David hissed quietly at Michael when he came into the kitchen while May and Harry set the dinner table.
“Then you would’ve gotten anxious again,” Michael shrugged unrepentantly.
As it turned out, May’s car needed a few extra repairs so Michael had taken it to a mechanic that was still able to operate. May had managed to catch a lift from a colleague that lived relatively close to them, so that meant David was finally going to get to meet her. Which was great. He just kind of wished he’d gotten some warning.
She definitely hadn’t been as amused by the hug-wave-handshake thing as Harry had been, but at least she’d kind of waved back before claiming she needed to douse herself in hand sanitiser.
Thankfully, Harry continued to be a chatterbox through dinner, not even realising he was easing the conversation for David. Harry was intensely curious about his sister’s new job, and how it intersected with Bobby and Buck’s work, and how it would intersect with their mom’s job when she returned to work.
(David hadn’t realised that Bobby and Buck actually worked at the same station, although perhaps he should have after Michael’s ‘golden retriever’ comment. He didn’t think that was something that would be allowed, and it also added a whole new layer of horror to Buck’s accident with the ladder truck, knowing that his father had been there to see it and had to try and keep it together to save his son’s life. If it had just been him and Michael and Harry, he would have asked about it. But since he wanted to get to know May and hear her talk, he shelved that thought for another time).
“It was so weird, Maddie and I had to send the 118 to a fight today, so Bobby was on the radio asking a whole bunch of questions,” May recalled. “So bizarre having him call us ‘dispatch’ all the time instead of using our names.”
“What sort of a fight?” Harry asked eagerly.
“I’m sure May isn’t allowed to discuss those details,” Michael cut in swiftly, sending a pointed look at his daughter.
“Yeah, we’re not really allowed to discuss many specifics,” May agreed. “I mean, it gets a bit difficult in these situations sometimes because obviously I end up talking to Bobby about calls we both get, and Maddie, Josh, Buck and Chim have, like, a whole group chat.”
“It would definitely be good to have someone you can talk to,” David said, wondering if it was too soon to offer May a lending ear. Definitely too soon, don’t be over-eager, he lectured himself.
“Yeah,” May said, eyes flicking over to him unsurely. “I mean, I have people to talk to obviously.”
“Maybe you can see if you can get in on this group chat,” Michael teased. “I don’t know Josh, but I feel like any group with Maddie, Buck, and Chimney has got to be a mood lifter!”
“Buck and Chim made a group chat for all of the 118 kids, and it's always really funny when they send us memes and stuff that they found, or when they get really confused at the tik toks we put in the chat,” Harry agreed, grinning.
David desperately searched his memories for a mention of Maddie and Chimney, but all he could remember was that Maddie was May’s training officer at the 9-1-1 call centre. He was sure he would have recalled hearing about someone named Chimney.
“Is their actual name Chimney?” he couldn’t help but ask, hoping to get a little more information about people that the Grants clearly knew and cared about.
May took pity on him. “No, it's a nickname. His name is Howard, but I think Maddie’s the only one I know who calls him Howie. Bobby says it's a firehouse thing for people to go by nicknames all the time.”
“I didn’t realise that about firefighters,” David said. So Howard/Chimney is also a firefighter alongside Buck and Bobby, and the connection with Maddie is that she and Chimney are dating? “How in the world did he end up with the nickname Chimney though?”
“No one will tell us,” Harry grumbled, his sister nodding in agreement.
“That’s because it's not a story for young ears,” Michael laughed, smirking at them all. “And nope, I’m not telling you either,” he directed at David. “It's so much more amusing when Chim has to tell the story himself.”
“Well, that’s not fair,” David complained, his curiosity well and truly piqued. He was at least mollified by the fact that he got a commiserating look from May.
“Are there any other good nicknames at your step-dad's firehouse?” he asked.
May and Harry shrugged. “Bobby goes by Cap,” Harry offered. “And Buck’s obviously Buck.”
“Short for Captain of course, although I feel like that’s a bit of a cheating nickname since he only would have gotten it when he became Captain,” David said, grinning internally when that earned him a laugh from the siblings. “I didn’t realise Buck was a nickname though. What’s his real name?” Admittedly, he had thought Buck was an unusual name and not one he would have expected a man like Bobby to choose for his son.
“Evan,” May answered.
“He always goes by Buck though,” Michael added. “Not even Athena has broken out the real name when she’s annoyed with him about some stunt of his!” He winked at his children when they broke out into laughter.
David nodded thoughtfully, adding this information to his repository of knowledge about the Grant-Nash family. Evan Nash did sound more like a name he’d expect from a practical, down-to-earth man like Bobby, but he also clearly didn’t seem to mind that his son had basically rejected it in favour of his own choice of nickname. Maybe it had helped separate him at the firehouse, helped establish him as his own person and not as the captain’s son.
David couldn’t help but wonder where the name ‘Buck’ had come from though, but decided not to broach that topic with the children around - if the name Chimney got that reaction from Michael, surely a name like ‘Buck’ would have a similar type of story behind it.
—---
While David wasn’t as sure of his success with May after their first dinner as he had been with Harry, he was still pleased that there weren’t any active disasters (and still no monosyllabic grunts! In hindsight, maybe he was just as traumatised by the Dylan experience as he had been by Bacardi…)
The next morning, as they waited for Bobby to pick her up on his way home from his shift, David wasn’t even too terrified that he’d been left alone in the kitchen with her while Michael and Harry wrestled with internet issues to get him connected to his school.
“I think being even more reliant on a stable internet connection and having to learn how to quickly troubleshoot WiFi problems has been one of the mundanely worst parts of this whole thing,” David lamented to May. He had never been a particularly tech-savvy person.
“Definitely,” May agreed, giving him a small but genuine smile. “Mom and Bobby are so bad at it too. Last month, Mom was trying to call her parents in Florida but the internet just kept dropping out as soon as she tried to switch to video. Bobby ended up calling Buck to ask if he had any ideas but he said that turning it off and on again seemed to be working when him and Eddie had issues video-calling Chris.”
“Wait, why were they facetiming Chris?” David asked, surprised.
May shook her head. “Buck, Eddie, Hen and Chim have all been quarantining together for the last few months since all their families could work or do school from home, and they’re obviously at high risk of exposure,” she explained.
“Ah, that makes more sense,” David agreed. “That must be really tough for them all though.”
“For sure. Maddie hasn’t said much, but I think it's really tough that Chim can’t help much with her pregnancy. And Hen obviously really misses Denny and Karen, and Eddie and Buck with Chris as well. The whole thing really sucks,” May said, a little plaintively.
“I think ‘sucks’ pretty much sums it up,” David commiserated, impressed at her maturity and understanding of the situation her older step-brother and his friends had found themselves in.
A little later, when Bobby agreed to a quick cup of coffee while May went to collect the things Micahel had taken out of her car for her, David found himself copying the same saying when he saw the stress evident in the captain’s face.
“This whole situation still seriously sucks, huh,” he said, nudging over the muffins he and Michael had picked up yesterday on their socially distanced walk.
Bobby huffed a tense laugh, but he took a muffin. “Sucks is the least of it, although I’m sure I’ve got nothing on you right now.”
“Plenty of misery to go around, I think,” David said, “I hope you guys are all doing what you can to look after yourselves though. We’re all even more screwed if you first responders go down.” He was relieved when his teasing was rewarded with a small smile, even though it didn’t do much to the stress lines on Bobby’s face.
“Tough at the moment,” Bobby admitted. “We’ve got Buck and Eddie down with COVID now, and the state of the firehouse means I’m not sure if we can afford to let Hen and Chim go through the full recommended quarantine period. We’re stretching what we can, and they switched to a hotel as soon as they got the news. They were at least somewhat separated from the boys – we’re not sure if Buck or Eddie got it first but since they’ve been sharing a bed it was inevitable for the other to get sick as soon as one did.”
David hissed, surprised Michael hadn’t mentioned anything about his sort-of stepson coming down with the virus. “I hadn’t heard about Buck and Eddie. I suppose their precautions around keeping away from Chris have come in handy at least, but I’m sure that’s only a small comfort.”
“Well, it might be a larger one after they get through this,” Bobby said. “Apparently, our Buckaroo went into a full research spiral as soon as they both tested positive, trying to work out what their chances are of carrying it or catching it again and he seems to think it should be a lot safer for them to be around Christopher once they have that natural immunity.”
“That must be a huge relief,” David said. “Just have to get through the illness itself first. Neither of them would have any risk factors though surely?”
“Well, Buck’s pulmonary embolism last year has got me a bit worried,” Bobby admitted. “Although Buck keeps telling me I’m still being a mother hen and he just feels like he’s got a particularly nasty cold.”
“He does seem to like calling you a mother hen,” David commented, amused, recalling the conversation from their first meeting.
“It’s a long story, but there was a period after his injuries where I was probably too protective – but like I said, long story,” Bobby said, shaking his head and physically waving his hand distractedly as though he was sending away bad memories.
“I think you have every right to be worried. We’re talking about an extremely unpredictable virus,” David said quietly. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, chances are very good that they’ll be fine, but that doesn’t mean you can’t mother hen a little. Buck can deal with it.”
David was quite proud of himself when he saw Bobby relax a little at his reassurance. From what he’d heard and seen about the older man’s relationship with both Buck and his stepchildren, Bobby seemed like an absolutely natural father. To know that he was able to step in and provide some advice that alleviated his stress made him feel a little better about his future prospects eventually stepping into that parental role.
“Well, today’s plans are some solid sleeping and then whipping up a big batch of soup to take over to the boys,” Bobby said, draining the last of his coffee when he saw May coming back into the room. “And if I happen to have to drive past a pharmacy where I can find other supplies to help get them through this, well, like you said, they’ll deal with it.”
“Buck will so tell you off for going into a pharmacy,” May told him.
“Oh, don’t tell me he’s gotten to you too about that,” Bobby complained good naturedly.
“He sent me that article about risk factors, and he is right that you’re in the at-risk group,” she said to him matter-of-factly. “You’re already exposed enough at work, you shouldn’t keep pushing your luck.”
“Maybe May could help you put in an online order?” David interrupted, hoping he wasn’t overstepping by volunteering her. He was buoyed by her grin and emphatic ‘done!’
There was certainly still work to be done to build his relationship with May and Harry, he reflected later. But he felt like he was in a pretty good place with them, and obviously they were Michael’s actual children. But he was still determined to prove that he was just as supportive of the whole blended unit as the other adults in it, so that meant he still had to win over Buck.
(It took about two months for David to feel comfortable enough to tell May that he hoped she knew he was more than willing to lend a listening ear if she ever needed to talk about work or life stress.
“Thanks,” she said, with the small smile he had gotten used to seeing. “It’s nice to have another person I can choose to talk to when I need it.”
It wasn’t the same confidence he’d gotten from Harry, but somehow, he felt just as touched.)
—---
It wasn’t until after the main stay-at-home orders were done and Los Angeles was slowly opening up again that he actually met Buck for the first time.
He hadn’t even realised he was about to meet him. Michael had asked if he could drive over to pick up Harry from a park playdate because he was already running late and his zoom conference just wasn’t wrapping up and Athena didn’t have time to drop him off before needing to be at the station for her shift.
David had agreed, still feeling proud whenever his boyfriend showed his trust in the relationship he was slowly building with Harry and May. He’d been getting along well with them both and Harry in particular now seemed just as willing to tease him as he was his father.
He spotted Athena at the park before he found Harry – she was sitting at a bench with a black woman and a blond-haired man. He headed over, waving when she called out to him.
“Hey, Athena,” he greeted – he’d finally gotten used to not offering a physical greeting. Either that, or he was still intimidated enough by Athena that he couldn’t fathom the thought of offering her a hug just like that. Either or.
“Hi David,” she nodded, her two companions looking at him curiously.
“Ah, Michael’s new boyfriend, right?” the woman asked, giving him a once over.
“That would be me,” he said, tensing a little and wondering if he should have prepared for an interrogation.
“Not so new anymore,” Athena said before making introductions. “This is Hen. An old friend of mine, although she also works with Bobby and she’s one of Denny’s moms.” Athena gestured to the side, where David finally spotted Harry playing with two other boys.
One of the boys was using a pair of crutches. David’s breath caught when he realised…
“And this is Buck,” she continued, patting the man’s shoulder affectionately. Buck was tall and very muscular. He was absolutely the type of man that David would have been intimidated by when he was in his twenties, except his smile was instant and wide and that instantly made him feel approachable.
“It’s great to finally meet you,” David said enthusiastically, and realised that he was not, in fact, used to the lack of physical greetings. His first instinct was once again to go for the hug-or-handshake. Buck stared at him in response, utterly bemused.
Three for three on the awkward greetings, he sighed internally. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Well, both of you, I guess,” he added, panicking when he realised it might look like he was ignoring Hen. “But particularly you, Buck.”
Now that he’d made the connection, he could see the resemblance: while Buck didn’t have his father’s brown eyes and he was a bit lankier than Bobby’s wide, solid build, he had the light blonde hair and a similar open expression and way of carrying himself that reminded David of the fire captain.
“Okay…” Buck said slowly, trailing off. It was apparent he wasn’t quite sure how to respond to his stepmother’s ex-husband’s new boyfriend’s enthusiasm at meeting him. Hen and Athena were also looking at him with raised brows.
David froze as he desperately tried to work out how to salvage this interaction. Thankfully, this time he was saved by Harry.
“Hey, David!” he shouted, raising his hand for a high-five. David gave it to him, and promised himself he would take the kid for a giant ice-cream for saving him from this situation.
Denny and Christopher also ambled over, and Hen was the one who introduced both boys to him. They both went for the high-five as well, Buck’s hand automatically settling behind Christopher’s back to steady the boy when he lifted his hand away from his crutch.
“It’s so great to meet you,” David said to them, deciding he could at least try for one good impression today. “I’ll have to sneak you boys out for an ice-cream next time you’re all hanging out, so I can get to know you better.” Although he had every intention of also including Denny, since it was clear Harry was also close with him, he was particularly focused on Christopher.
If he hadn’t already known that Buck’s partner was the boy’s biological father, his first instinct would have been to think the opposite. Chris had similar dark blond hair and blue eyes, and he was clearly comfortable with Buck as he leaned into his side when the three boys cheered at his proclamation. (But then again, it wasn’t a surprise that Buck had managed to build such a trusting relationship with the boy considering the example he had from Bobby and Athena.)
“Going the bribery route, I see,” Athena noted. David still didn’t feel like he knew her well enough to tell whether that was light-hearted teasing or not, but Buck clearly had no such issues understanding his stepmother’s temperament.
“Isn’t food as bribery basically the go-to for the Grant-Nashes,” he said, very clearly teasing with a bright grin.
“Yeah, Bobby certainly knows which recipes to break out when he has to give us bad news,” Hen agreed.
“Oh my god, those white-chocolate macadamia cookies the other week when he told us we had to work through the whole full moon shift almost made the whole thing worth it,” Buck recalled.
“Yeah, almost being the key word there,” Hen grumbled.
“I can’t believe you two still fall for the whole full moon superstition.” Athena rolled her eyes at them both, although she couldn’t stop a fond smile.
“It isn’t superstition, it’s scientific!” Buck said indignantly. “I looked up some articles about it and – ”
“And you’ll have to tell us about it later, baby Buckaroo, because I need to get to work, and I’m sure Michael is waiting for Harry and David to get back,” Athena interrupted smoothly, patting her stepson’s back as she stood from their bench.
“And Dad said he’d be back from Abuela’s and he was meant to bring tamales,” Chris added, looking at Buck beseechingly and tugging at his shirt.
“Ah well, we can’t be forced to wait longer for tamales,” Buck agreed, smiling down at the boy adoringly as he stood up. At his stepson? David realised at that moment that he didn’t actually know if Buck and Eddie were married yet or not – they were clearly committed enough to be raising a child together, but that didn’t necessarily mean marriage. David knew better than to make an assumption like that.
“I guess that’s our queue to head off as well,” Hen said, gesturing to Denny. “It was nice to finally meet you, David.”
“Uh, yeah, nice to meet you,” Buck added, looking a little awkward as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”
“Of course we will,” David said earnestly, hoping to get across some of his commitment to working with their existing family unit. Going by Buck’s wide-eyed look of surprise at his eagerness, he didn’t think he succeeded very well.
Well, I guess the first two times were the charm rather than the third, David thought to himself morosely as he and Harry headed back to the car (thankfully a different parking lot to the others, so they were all spared any further awkward conversations).
There was nothing else for it. He managed to get a relationship going with May without resorting to it, but clearly he wouldn’t stand a chance with Buck without asking Athena for advice.
—---
Michael seemed surprised but grateful when David offered to drop Harry off at Bobby and Athena’s a few weeks later.
“Can we stop for ice-cream on the way?” Harry asked with a cheeky grin, looking at David as he hugged his father goodbye.
“Oh, I see how it is,” Michael said, teasingly affronted.
David laughed at them both but said, “I think Bobby wouldn’t be very impressed with me if we sent you home and you were too full to eat the delicious dinner I’m sure he’s whipping up.”
“I won’t be too full,” Harry insisted, but David basked in the proud smile Michael had instead. He was starting to find making it was coming more naturally to him to not give in to anything Harry asked for, and it was helping him to finally feel more confident about his eventual ability to hold that guiding parental role.
It was just Buck left he had to win over, but Buck didn’t need another guiding parental figure so this was his chance to get some advice on how to navigate that different dynamic.
Thankfully, he didn’t even have to think about how to get himself invited inside for a longer chat at the Grant-Nash home – Athena offered a cup of tea as soon as she opened the door to them, so he followed her inside to the kitchen while Harry ran straight to his room.
“How have you been going, have things at the hospital settled a little now?”
“Somewhat,” he hummed. “Having vaccines for medical and frontline staff has obviously been a huge relief, for you all as well I’m sure.”
Athena nodded, gesturing to a box of tea bags for him to pick one out. He chose chamomile, thinking the relaxing effects would be helpful to get him through this conversation.
“I hope that means you’re going to give yourself a bit of a break at some point soon then,” she said pointedly. “I said the same thing to Bobby about his team as well. Everyone’s been going non-stop for so long, you absolutely need to take some time to recharge.”
David was touched by her concern, and it bolstered his confidence.
“I was actually thinking about taking a few days off next month,” he admitted. “Just a staycation sort of thing, but I was thinking of using the free time to do some things with the kids, maybe…”
She looked at him for a moment, bringing over both their mugs and settling at the table across from him.
“That’s a good idea,” she finally said. “You and Michael have been together a while now, it would be good for you and the kids to get some more time together.”
“Thank you – for being so supportive. I know it must be difficult to trust another adult with your family unit when I can see how hard you and Michael and Bobby have worked to make it work so seamlessly,” David said to her, hoping she could tell how much he meant it. He was so exceptionally grateful that he’d fallen for a man who had such a positive relationship with his family.
“Thank you,” Athena said, expression finally softening. “It certainly wasn’t easy at times, but we chose to build a family that worked for us, and I like to think it’s worked out pretty damn well.”
“It definitely has. Which is one of the reasons – I actually wanted to ask your advice about it. About how you managed to build those relationships,” David said, stumbling a bit over his words.
Athena looked surprised. “What do you mean? You certainly seem to have done a good job so far with May and Harry – I think now it's just about that consistency and letting time do the rest.”
“No, I know, I think I’ve done okay with May and Harry. But I just have no idea how to approach Buck.”
“Buck,” Athena said flatly, staring at him.
“I know he’s an adult,” David explained, a little desperately. “But Bobby has done such an amazing job as a stepfather, and I can tell you’ve done just as amazing job accepting his son as your own, and I want to show Michael – and all of you for that matter – that I’m just as committed as you all are at creating a supportive family environment for all your kids, no matter how old they are or what they need at the stage of life they’re at…”
He trailed off as Athena started to laugh, needing to put her mug down as tea sloshed over the side.
“Buck is –” she started, but had to stop as she was overcome by more giggles.
David stared at her, a bit disconcerted by her reaction to his heartfelt declaration.
It took a solid thirty seconds for her to calm down enough to try talking again. “Buck isn’t – Bobby is –”
She stopped again, and took a deep breath, looking at him more seriously now.
“You’re both wrong and right,” she finally settled on thoughtfully, picking her mug back up. Her gaze was steady again, and David found his indignation at being laughed at fading instantly as he sensed the gravity behind what she was about to share.
“Bobby’s had a rough family history, as has Buck for that matter. Bobby isn’t Buck’s father in the ‘normal’ sense.” Her derision for the term ‘normal’ was clear in her tone. “But Buck is the son that he chose, although he may not always be great at admitting it. And Bobby is the father that Buck chose. Does that make sense to you?”
David stopped himself from speaking straight away, recognising that this was a moment that required contemplation.
Athena leaned back and filled in the silence lightly, an approving look in her eye at his taking a moment to give a measured response. “Although Bobby is clearly much better at showing his relationship to Buck then he is at saying it, going by this conversation.”
David nodded silently, still contemplating. But ultimately: this was the crux behind the family unit he had been admiring for months, wasn’t it? They chose to build the family they wanted, and David had every intention of showing May and Harry that he would choose to care for them. Bobby and Buck had clearly done the same thing, and had chosen each other for whatever reasons they had and whatever history it was that bound them, and Athena had also accepted her husband’s pseudo-son into her family.
For the first time since Michael had shared the journey his family had been on, David actually felt like he really did understand.
David nodded decisively, took a deep breath, and said, “You still haven’t answered my question – how do I build a relationship with your chosen stepson?”
Athena smiled at him, and for the first time since they’d met, David no longer felt intimidated by her.
“I recommend starting with dinner – take all the kids.”
—---
By the time David got home, Michael had already talked to his ex-wife. The man couldn’t even get off the couch to greet him, he was laughing so hard. David sighed, settling in on the adjacent couch as he realised this was clearly just going to be a thing for a while.
(Bobby had come home while Athena and David were still talking. Athena had taken great joy at telling her husband what their conversation was about, and Bobby’s sputtered denials were swiftly undercut by her pointed question about why he was so late getting home from his overnight shift.
The answer was that he’d taken Buck for breakfast and then driven him home – “but he’d spent the entire night not sleeping because he was distracted by another one of his research spirals, and then he missed breakfast because we got called out before he could eat,” Bobby had defended fervently. The question of what he’d done for the rest of the team that hadn’t had a chance to eat breakfast was resolutely ignored as Bobby strode away to shower, bearing a decidedly sheepish expression.
It was still sheepish when he returned to the kitchen twenty minutes later and told Athena that he’d invited Buck over for dinner because he didn’t want him focusing on anything other than catching up on sleep. That time, David had joined in with Athena’s laughter.)
—---
David did decide to follow Athena’s advice, and organised a dinner. He let her do the actual inviting though, as with the new context he figured it might be odd for him to reach out to Buck directly just yet.
He told May and Harry about it ahead of time, and suffered through another bout of laughter at his expense.
(Which also set Michael off again: the man had not stopped finding the whole thing hilarious, and made it a point to ask Bobby about how his honorary stepson was doing every time he saw him now. Bobby grumbled at him each time, but always answered. Athena cackled when, the fourth time it happened, Bobby didn’t even register the title and just dove right into a recollection of an impressive rescue that Buck had apparently done that week. The sheepish look when she pointed it out did not dilute the proud grin on his face.)
When the kids settled down, they did express their enthusiasm at the idea at least – not that David was surprised. It had been clear the entire time that the two of them had a good relationship with Buck, and it definitely wasn’t the sort of relationship you have with a stepfather’s coworker. They had chosen him as their family, just as they had Bobby, and just as they were doing with David.
—---
The dinner went well, although Buck was visibly very confused when he arrived and realised it was just him, David, Harry and May. May and Harry were practically bursting at the seams to tell him the story, and David took the good-natured ribbing from the two of them. Buck just looked shell-shocked for a solid ten minutes, but they all ignored his sputtering.
(The sputtering turned into sheepish awe when David told him that Bobby had reacted the exact same way, and quite frankly he refused to believe that he was the only one that had reached this conclusion about their relationship, because they were far too alike).
The shell-shock and sputtering lasted for a lot longer when David asked about his partner and son though. Harry almost fell off his chair laughing, and May instantly snatched up her phone to text what seemed like everyone she knew.
(A few months later, David asked Buck if he could call him ‘Buckaroo’. It had been going around in his head, the nickname-of-a-nickname that for a long time he had only heard Bobby, Athena and Michael use. He had come to consider it a symbol of Buck’s comfort with his chosen parents, although he now knew that others in the extended 118 family used it.
Buck gave him the confused-puppy look he’d gotten used to by now and said, baffled, “Of course you can. You don’t need to ask; you’re family.”
It was different again from Harry’s confidence and May’s quiet but certain assurance, but once again, it made him feel just as touched.)