Chapter Text
Eddie has grown accustomed to many things in the years he’s been friends with Buck. Random phone calls at 2 am, Buck knowing fun facts for seemingly every situation, and having to stop Buck from doing stupid and reckless things. Nothing about Buck phases Eddie anymore.
Until a random Thursday in July. It’s one of the rare days when Eddie has the day off and Buck doesn’t, so Eddie takes the day to get things done around the house. He fixes the lightbulb on the porch that’s been flickering for weeks. He mows the little bit of lawn that they have. He pulls out the storage tubs of Chris’s school clothes to go through and see what he can still fit before school starts back, which isn’t a lot.
Overall, it was a very productive day. Eddie rewarded himself with a nap on the couch after a ham and cheese sandwich. Only, his nap didn’t last very long before there was a knock at the door. Eddie sighs and gets up off the couch, walking over to the front door and checking the peephole. He doesn’t see anyone, so he assumes Buck probably ordered something and they left the package on the porch.
“Buck can handle that later,” He grumbles, walking back towards the couch.
Only…a small cry stops him in his tracks.
“I’ve got to be losing my mind.”
He starts walking and hears it again.
Eddie furrows his eyebrows and opens the door, stopping in his tracks when he sees what’s sitting on the porch.
“Hey there little guy,” Eddie says, squatting down in front of the car seat, looking around to see who could have left the baby behind. “What are you doing out here?”
Eddie picks the car seat up and brings the baby inside, not wanting him to overheat in the July sun. Attached to the back of the car seat is a large envelope addressed to Buck, and Eddie starts to understand what’s going on. He pulls out his phone and sends a text to Buck.
Eddie: quick question, how long has it been since you broke up with Natalia?
If Eddie remembers correctly, it was only a few weeks before Buck started dating Tommy. That relationship lasted six months, and was over five months ago. Meaning, the baby in the car seat couldn’t be older than a month or two.
Buck: it was september
Buck: why?
Eddie glances at the clock and realizes that Buck still has a few hours on his shift. He should tell him, right? Bobby would let him go home early. Eddie sighs and hits call on Buck’s contact. He picks up on the second ring.
“ Eddie, what’s with the weird questions?”
“Uh,” How does Eddie even begin to explain this? “So, funny thing happened to me while I was trying to take a nap.”
“Dude, what does that have to do with Natalia?”
“So it seems that when you broke up with her, you left something behind.”
“I left something behind? What, did she find one of my sweaters and bring it by or something?”
“Or something?”
“Eddie, dude, what is going on?”
“Someone left a little Buckley on our doorstep.”
The other side of the line goes silent.
“Buck?”
No answer.
“Buck, you still there?”
“What the hell did you say to him to make him freeze like this?” It’s Ravi who answers.
“I can’t tell you yet. Will you tell Bobby that Buck has a family emergency and that I’ll be there in 20 minutes to pick him up?”
“Oh shit, yeah. Is everything okay?”
Eddie glances down at the baby, fast asleep in the car seat on his coffee table, and sighs.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Getting the baby loaded into the Prius was a lot harder than Eddie thought it would be. He was stationed overseas when Chris was this small and he never had to figure out how to use one. He drives more carefully than he thinks he’s ever driven in his life, avoiding all the potholes so that the baby will stay asleep. When he pulls up to the firehouse, Buck is already waiting outside. Eddie puts the car in park but leaves it running as he gets out of the car and walks over to Buck.
“Hey,” Eddie says softly. “You okay?”
“I have a kid?”
“I think so,” Eddie nods. “There’s an envelope with your name on it, but I didn’t open it.”
“Is-is the baby okay?” Buck looks towards the car.
“He was asleep, so I didn’t want to bother him. Do you want to take him inside and let Hen check him out?”
“Him? It’s a boy?”
Eddie smiles softly and nods. “Yeah, Buck, it’s a boy.”
Buck looks between Eddie and the car and nods once. “Yeah, let’s take him into Hen.”
Eddie nods and walks back over to the car, turning it off and unbuckling the car seat. “You want to carry him?”
Buck shakes his head. “I-I don’t want to get attached… just in case.”
Just in case that baby isn’t his, Eddie fills in the blanks in his head. Eddie nods and walks through the open bay door, straight into Bobby’s office.
“Eddie?” Bobby asks as he walks through the door. “Is that a baby?”
Eddie looks down at the baby and then back up at Bobby. “Uh, yeah. I guess it is.”
“Is it your baby?”
“No,” Buck says, stepping into the office behind Eddie. “We think he’s mine.”
“Did you tell Hen to come in here?” Eddie asks, turning around to look at Buck. He nods and then takes a seat in one of the chairs up against the wall in the office.
“Okay, I’m a little lost,” Bobby says, sliding off his reading glasses. “Eddie, why do you have Buck’s maybe baby?”
“I was taking a nap when he was dropped off on the porch.”
“And why do you think he’s Buck’s?”
“The envelope on the back of the car seat has Buck’s name on it.”
“Did you look in the envelope?”
“No,” Eddie shakes his head.
Bobby holds out his hand and Eddie hands him the envelope after looking to Buck for permission. Bobby slides his glasses back on and reads over the paperwork in the envelope.
“Buck,” Bobby says, laying the papers down. “You need to get a DNA test to be sure, but from what I’m looking at here, you’re the father.”
Buck lets out a shallow gasp. “Y-you’re sure?”
“Like I said, DNA test to confirm, but yeah, I’m sure.”
It’s then that Hen walks into the room. “I’ve got my kit, what's going o-who’s baby is that?”
“Mine,” Buck says, “We think,”
“You think?”
“Can we not get into that right now?” Eddie asks. “Can you just check the baby-”
“Leo,” Bobby interjects. “His name is Leo.”
“Can you just check Leo out and we’ll fill you in later?” Eddie asks, taking the seat beside Buck, a silent offer of comfort if he needs it.
“Yeah,” Hen says, shaking her head and walking into the office. “Of course.”
She bends down and unsnaps him from the car seat. “Hi there, handsome, I’m going to check you out really quickly. Make sure everything is okay. How’s that sound?”
Leo looks like he peeks his left eye open and grins in response. “Now, this might be cold little man, please try not to scream too loud. I think it might spook your daddy.”
“Don’t,” Buck says, gripping the arm of the chair tighter. “Don’t call me that. Not until we know for sure.”
Hen glances at Eddie, who just shakes his head. “Okay, will do.”
Hen finishes with what she needs to do and stands up, Leo still in her arms. “From what I can tell, he’s healthy. He’s not malnourished and he doesn’t show any signs of abuse.”
“Good,” Buck says, staring at the baby. “That’s good.”
“Buck,” Hen says softly. “Do you want to hold him?”
For a split second, it looks like Buck is about to say yes, but then he shakes his head no.
“Athena should be here in a few minutes with a rapid DNA test,” Bobby adds. “She’ll also be able to give you advice on what your next steps should be.”
Buck just nods.
“I don’t recommend putting him back in the car seat. It’s not good for babies this small to be in the car seat for long amounts of time.” Hen says, standing up, still cradling Leo in her arms.
Eddie looks to Buck, who is still shaking his head no, and sighs. “I’ll take the little dude.”
Hen passes Leo over gently and Eddie moves him into a comfortable position in his left arm, getting a good look at the baby. He’s got Natalia’s complexion, a little bit of light brown curly hair on top of his head. He’s also got Buck’s nose, and his ears, and Eddie’s willing to bet that his eyes are going to be blue when he opens them.
“He looks like you,” Eddie says, looking over at Buck with a grin.
“You think?” Buck asks, his entire body screaming with insecurity.
“Oh yeah,” Eddie says. “You have the same face.”
“Poor kid,” Buck jokes, but it doesn’t have any heat behind it.
“Poor me,” Eddie says. “It’s hard enough saying no to one of you.”
“Oh,” Bobby says, standing up from his desk and walking around to look at Leo. “He’s going to have all of us wrapped around his finger.”
“We don’t even know he’s mine,” Buck says, looking anywhere but at the baby.
“Somebody call for a DNA test?” Athena asks, knocking on the office door.
“Hey ‘thena.” Buck says, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Who do we have here?” She asks, walking over to Eddie and staring down at Leo.
“This is Leo,” Eddie grins, bouncing just slightly.
“And also a waste of my time,” Athena says, turning around and looking at Buck. “This kid looks just like you.”
Buck opens his mouth like he’s going to say something but then shakes his head.
“Please just do the DNA test,” Eddie says, lowering his voice. “He’s not going to let himself believe it until he has solid proof.”
“Okay,” Athena nods. “I just need mouth swabs from both of them.”
Eddie sits down in the chair beside Buck and holds Leo while Athena uses a Q-tip to get a swab of his mouth. Like a champ, he stays asleep the whole time.
“Alright Buck,” Athena says, standing in front of him. “You’re turn. Open wide.”
“I can do it myself,” Buck says, holding his hand out for the stick. Eddie watches as he swabs both of his cheeks and hands it back to Athena.
“Alright,” Athena says, sealing both sticks in their containers. “I’ll get this down to the station and we should have the results back in an hour.”
“Thank you,” Buck says.
“Okay,” Eddie says, switching Leo to the other arm. “What now?”
“Now you take Buck and Leo home, and wait for the results,” Bobby says.
“What?” Buck looks up at him. “My shift isn’t over.”
“It is now,” Bobby says sternly. “This is a big thing that’s happened to you, Buck. And that little guy is going to need his dad. He was just left on a porch, abandoned, Buck. That’s your son. Go home and bond with him.”
Eddie looks over at Buck, watching as tears start to pool in his eyes. “Bobby, I can’t.”
“You can,” Bobby says. “And you will. I know what happened a few years ago was awful. But this is legit, Buck. There’s no denying that this baby is yours; we’re just running the DNA for your peace of mind.”
A few years ago?
Buck looks over at Eddie and sighs.
“Before you got here,” Buck takes a deep breath. “Someone I’d hooked up with lied and said that she was pregnant with my baby. I supported her through the entire pregnancy, and I was even excited about being a dad. But then the baby was born and it was very clear that she had been taking advantage of me the whole time.”
“Buck-” Eddie says softly.
“So, I can’t,” Buck pauses to take a deep breath. “I can’t let myself get attached to the idea of being a dad until I know for sure that the baby is mine.”
Buck gets up out of the chair and stomps out of the office, calling that he’d be in the car waiting.
“I didn’t know,” Eddie says, looking over at Bobby.
“No one else knew either,” Bobby says calmly.
“I’m going to get them home,” Eddie says, standing up to put Leo back in his car seat. “Do we have any spare diapers around here? She didn’t leave a bag with him.”
“Let me go find you something,” Hen says softly, walking out of the office.
“Eddie,” Bobby says as Eddie and Leo are walking out of the office. “Take care of him.”
He’s not talking about the baby.
“I always do.”
***
Buck sits on the couch reading through the paperwork that had been left with Leo. He still hasn’t held him yet, but Eddie gets it. Now that he knows the reason behind his apprehension. It’s fine, Buck’s watched Chris enough times now that Eddie owes him some serious babysitting time. Plus, Leo is adorable, he doesn’t really want to put him down anyway.
“His birthday is May 2nd.” Buck says, looking over at Eddie. “So he’s almost two months old.”
“Does, I mean, does the timeline match up?” Eddie asks, testing the bottle he just made on his wrist before giving it to the baby.
“Yeah,” Buck sighs and lays the paperwork down. “Yeah, it does.”
“Okay,” Eddie nods, staying quiet to let Buck take the lead on this.
“If-if he really is mine, why didn’t she tell me?”
Eddie’s heart hurt for Buck. “I don’t know.”
“I-I would have been there for her-“
“I know you would have,” Eddie nods.
“She should have told me.” Buck looks at the paperwork, like he’s trying to find all the answers.
“Maybe she didn’t know?”
Buck turns to look at Eddie, confused. “What do you mean? Like didn’t know I was the father? Or didn’t know she was pregnant?”
“Either? Both?” Eddie tries to reason. “There’s no telling why she didn’t tell you, but she left him here. With you. Now. And that’s the important thing.”
“That’s another thing,” Buck says, eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Why’d she leave him here?”
“You live here,” Eddie points out, taking the bottle out of Leo’s mouth and putting him up in his shoulder to burp him.
“Yeah, but she doesn’t know that.” Buck points out.
“And right here,” Buck points to the letter that Natalia had left. “ I want him to grow up loved in a two parent home. You’re the best person for that.”
“Okay?”
“A two parent home? But she left him with me and then dipped. Unless I failed kindergarten, that’s still only a one parent house.”
“What am I?” Eddie asks. “Chopped liver?”
“Eddie,” Buck sighs. “I can’t ask you to raise him with me.”
“Good thing you don’t have to ask then,” Eddie hums, moving Leo back down to finish his bottle. “I never asked you to help me with Chris, you just did.”
“This is different.”
“How?”
“Chris was potty trained when I met him.”
Eddie chuckles, “Yeah, well, he was potty trained when I came home for good. So I guess this will be a learning experi-“
“Oh my god,” Buck gasps, staring down at the papers in his hands.
“What?”
“It’s a report from an audiologist, from a week ago.”
Eddie’s stomach drops at the implications. “What’s it say?”
“ Because children have more sensitive hearing, a child is considered to have normal hearing ability if their hearing test indicates they can hear sounds as soft as 0 to 15 dB across the frequency range. In his left ear, Leo’s test indicated that he could hear 60dB, indicating moderate hearing loss. In his right ear, Leo’s test indicated that he could hear 95dB, indicating profound hearing loss in his left ear. Test results matched those of the initial tests run at the time of birth.”
Buck looks over at Eddie, tears pooling in his eyes. “Eddie you don’t think-“
Think that Natalia found out that her kid was going to have a lot of extra needs and dropped him off? Yeah, that’s exactly what Eddie thinks.
“No,” Eddie shakes his head. “I’m sure it was just a coincidence.”
Buck’s phone buzzes on the couch between them and he inhales, picking it up. Eddie watched Buck’s face as he reads the message. Slowly, he puts down his phone and wipes his eyes.
“Eddie,” Buck says softly. “Hand me my son.”