Chapter Text
Two months had passed since Buck’s life had taken a completely unexpected 180-degree turn with the official adoption of his son, Theo. After Theo’s parents, Buck’s old friends, died in a car accident and no other family stepped up, Buck took him in. At four years old, Theo brought new responsibilities, new adventures, and a LOT of chaos. The 118, as always, had Buck’s back.
Especially Eddie Díaz, his best friend, who, along with his son Christopher, were there every free afternoon they had, sometimes even in school and or work days, ready to assist with whatever Buck needed. Buck couldn’t have been happier about it. The Díazes’ company and help was always welcome and appreciated.
“I think we need more Magic Erasers” Eddie said, scrubbing the kitchen’s wall with a bit of force.
What was left of the eraser was barely a third of its original size, mostly shredded and filthy. Theo was in his artist phase and any surface was the perfect canvas to him, even the ceiling. No one had figured out yet how Theo managed to get red paint up there.
“I’ll put it on the shopping list” Buck replied, carefully pulling a huge, delicious lasagna out of the oven. Bobby’s special recipe.
It was almost 5:00 PM, day one of their 48 off. Buck was in the kitchen, prepping dinner like he was working for a restaurant with a critic on the way, while Eddie cleaned up the aftermath of a super-energetic Theo who’d discovered Buck’s secret candy stash.
“And chocolate ice cream” Chris added casually from the living room, where he and Theo were sitting and watching a kids’ documentary about dogs, Theo’s biggest obsession at the moment.
“Ice cream!” Theo shouted, excitedly lifting his small stuffed dog, Lucas, in the air.
“Alright, alright, added to the list” Buck said with a laugh, setting the lasagna on the stove to cool.
Eddie rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. The kind of soft, unguarded smile he only got around Buck and their kids.
“I’m putting cookies in the oven. The timer will go off when they’re ready. I’m going to take a shower before dinner. Please don’t burn the house down,” Buck said, taking off his oven mitts to start prepping the cookie tray.
“No promises” Eddie smirked.
The doorbell rang right as Buck opened the tub of cookie dough they had all made earlier that day.
“I got it” Eddie called, already moving. He cut through the living room, flashed the kids a quick smile and headed for the entryway.
Eddie opened the door expecting a delivery or maybe a neighbor. Instead, there was an unfamiliar yet somehow familiar-looking girl.
A very young woman, maybe in her early twenties. Her blue eyes looked extremely sad and tired. Her skin was pale and her light brown hair was pulled into a messy bun. Her clothes looked a little too big on her. And to top it off, she had a baby with her. A toddler, really. Maybe just a little younger than Theo, and he looked almost like Theo but with ginger hair.
“Oh.” She looked at Eddie and his LAFD shirt, and her whole face crumpled with relief. “Thank God. Evan… Buckley?” she asked, biting her lower lip nervously.
“I…I’m n-” Eddie’s brain short-circuited. “Mierda” he mumbled to himself, his hand gripping the door handle tightly. Was that…?
“I’m… uh…Samantha Hale. It’s been a long time since… you know… I get it if you definitely don’t remember. I can understand that completely and I know this is really unexpected, but I really need help. I don’t know who else to turn to. You’re the only family I have left” she explained, tears forming in her eyes. “I don’t really want to bother you. I heard that you have a beautiful family and I don’t want to cause any harm or trouble, but I promise I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t an emergency. I’m your…” She swallowed hard, looking down at the toddler pressed against her leg. “I’m your daughter. And this is Gio. He’s your…uh grandson. God, I’m sorry.” She apologized as tears slid down her cheeks.
Eddie’s mouth actually dropped open. It was almost comical. Now that he was paying full attention to the girl in front of him, he couldn’t stop noticing how similar she looked to a younger version of Maddie, which was honestly kinda crazy.
The world went quiet for what felt like an eternity. It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, but his brain wasn’t keeping time anymore.
“Who is it, Eds?” Buck interrupted, his footsteps getting closer. “I left the cookies in the oven, please don’t…”
Buck rounded the corner into the entryway and completely froze, instantly feeling the tension in the air. For a solid five seconds, nobody breathed. Buck’s eyes went from Samantha, to Gio, to Eddie’s face, which was still doing a very convincing dying goldfish impression.
“Uh… hey” Buck said slowly, like he was approaching a really wounded animal. “What’s going on?”.
Eddie found his voice. It came out strangled. “Buck, please don’t freak out, but…”
“Too late” Buck said immediately. His eyes were locked on the toddler. The kid’s face was turned into his mom’s leg, but Buck could still see part of him, he looked like….
Buck’s brain, which had been through fires, explosions, a tsunami, shootings, a lightning strike, a coma, almost literal hell, decided to take the worst possible route.
“Does…” His voice went high and tight, nervous laughter bubbling under it. “Is this…Do I have a kid that I didn’t know about?”
Eddie blinked a few times. Then, still processing the whole situation, still staring at Samantha who was now crying silently, he just nodded.
The color drained from Buck’s face. “Oh.” He swayed. “Oh, no. I… Fuck.”
Buck’s knees folded like a cheap plastic chair from a dollar store. He went down hard. Eddie lunged, caught his shoulders before his head could hit the floor, and eased him down.
“Shit. Buckley. Hey, Evan, look at me.” He carefully sat him up, leaning him against the wall to check on him.
“Why is Buck sleeping so early?” Theo appeared on the scene, his stuffed dog clutched to his chest.
“He’s not sleeping, mijo, he just got a little…uh…surprised” Eddie said, one hand on Buck’s neck, checking his pulse. He looked up, and the girl looked two seconds from bolting. The toddler was still hiding against her leg. “Come in. Please. Before the neighbors call our friends at the station.”
Samantha stepped inside slowly, like the floor might swallow her. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to…Is he going to be okay?” She looked beyond scared.
“What’s going on?” Chris asked, watching from a distance, extremely confused and worried.
“The lady killed our Buck” Theo responded with wide eyes, pointing the girl with his little finger.
“WHAT?” Chris yelled, alarmed, walking over as fast as he could without his crutches.
“He’s okay guys, he is just…gonna be confused,” Eddie muttered. Buck was already stirring, eyelashes fluttering.
“Wha-?” Buck’s voice was a little groggy. Then his eyes focused on Eddie, then past him to Samantha, then to Gio and Theo, who were now staring at Buck with extreme curiosity. Buck was five seconds away from throwing up, they almost looked almost identical.
Buck shot up into a standing position so fast he nearly headbutted Eddie. “No, Nop. Nope. I’m definitely hallucinating. I hit my head on the kitchen counter. That’s it. I need to go to the emergency room, call Maddie.” He started pacing around the room, hands grabbing the sides of his head.
“Buck” Eddie said carefully, stopping him with a hand on his arm. “Cariño, you’re not hallucinating. This is totally real.” He nodded softly, his eyes completely focused on Buck’s.
“I have two kids under five” Buck whispered, horrified. “I had one this morning. I went into the kitchen with one and came out to two. They’re reproducing like gremlins. That’s not possible, Eddie. That’s not-”
Eddie’s thumb made its presence known, moving slowly on his shoulder, partially grounding him.
“Evan” Samantha’s voice cracked. “I’m not sure if what I’m going to say is better, but Gio is mine. Not yours. I’m yours. I’m your kid. From…jeez, from when you were probably fifteen or sixteen? I’m twenty, My mom’s name was Amelia Hale, her parents pulled her out of school and sent her away when they found out she was pregnant, she never got a chance to tell you.”
Buck stared at her. And for the first time since she knocked, he really looked. At the shape of her eyes, her mouth, her nose. She was almost like a female version of him, but better, and crazy similar to his sister Maddie when she was around her age.
“Oh” he said, very quietly, almost silently.
“Yeah,” Samantha said, and laughed wetly. “Oh.”
Theo tugged on the hem of Eddie’s shirt. “Why is everyone so sad?” His little brow furrowed. “Is the baby bored? I can share my crayons.” He held out a half crushed green crayon with a small, serious pout.
Eddie’s face softened instantly. He crouched down to Theo’s level, his voice warm and soft. “That’s super nice of you, buddy, but let’s do something even better. Do you wanna show Gio your new animal farm?”
“Yes!” Theo lit up. “I have a brown horse! His names is Marco and he’s awesome! Come on!” He grabbed Gio’s hand with one of his and Christopher’s with the other, already dragging them toward his room.
Gio looked back at Samantha, uncertain. He wasn’t comfortable leaving her side yet, not with strangers, but Theo’s hand was warm and Chris gave him an encouraging smile. After a beat, he let himself be pulled along.
“Oh God” Buck let out a sound that was half sob, half laugh, and buried his face into his big hands. “I have a grandson at thirty-five” he mumbled.
“You have a twenty year old daughter,” Eddie corrected gently, finally connecting the dots himself. His thumb was still rubbing circles on Buck’s shoulder.
“Math is evil” Buck mumbled again into his palms. Then he dropped his hands and looked at Samantha again, really looked. “I…let’s sit down and talk, okay?”
”Ye…yeah” Samantha managed to say, a knot in her throat, knowing what was coming.
Buck sank into the loveseat before his legs could give out. Eddie sat right beside him, so close that their thighs and knees touched. Samantha sat in the armchair across from them, fingers twisting in her lap.
Her story came out in pieces. She got evicted from her apartment. Her boyfriend, Isaac, walked out when Gio was born. Her mom, Amelia, passed away from leukemia more than a year ago. Amelia never married and she raised Samantha alone. Her grandparents only offered help with the horrible condition of putting Gio up for adoption.
They’d been surviving on food stamps and sleeping in shelters, cheap motels and even in her car for a few weeks.
But then one day Gio got sick.
She was left with only five dollars left in her card. The shelters nearby were at full capacity because of a recent storm. Her food card didn’t renew because of a paperwork issue she couldn’t fix fast enough. She didn’t even had enough gas to make it to Buck’s house and ended up abandoning her car at a random store nearby.
Buck was crying by the end of it, quiet, relentless tears that he kept wiping away with the heel of his hand, while his other hand held Samantha’s in support.
“How long have you known?” Eddie asked. He kept his voice soft and gentle, giving her room to answer.
“Eighteen months,” Samantha said. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Mom passed last year. I found her diary when I was cleaning out our apartment. She wrote a lot about Evan. About Hershey.” Her voice cracked. “Things she never told me growing up. I always knew I had a dad out there, but I never had a face or a name, nothing to look for. She was scared her parents would find out and take me away, so she kept quiet.”
“Why..?” Buck’s voice barely made it out past the big knot in his throat. “Why did you wait so long to find me?”
“When I googled you, I could only find pictures of you, him, and those two little boys. So precious,” Samantha said, her voice barely there. “I reached out to different people and they all told me you had a beautiful family. I… I just didn’t want to ruin it. You looked happy, and I’m just trouble.”
“Trouble?” Buck made a strangled sound, his chest suddenly feeling heavy. “Sam, you are definitely not trouble. And even if you were, take me as an example, I-I spent my whole life being trouble. That doesn’t mean I didn’t deserve a family.” He shook his head. “You could never ruin this. You’re part of this family. You always have been, even if I didn’t know it.”
Eddie met his eyes. And Buck saw it, the same thing he saw the night Theo arrived. No judgment. No panic. Just a big and strong “we’ve got this.”
“So…” Buck said, clearing his throat. “Okay. First, you guys need to eat, shower and get some rest. Then we call Maddie, your aunt, because she’s gonna kill me if she hears this from anyone else. Then… then we figure it out. Together.”
Samantha let out a shaky breath, like she’d been holding it for months. “You… you believe me? I’ll do a DNA test. Anything. I swear, I’m not lying.”
“Kid,” Buck said, and the word felt foreign and right all at once. It cracked a little coming out. “We can do the test, for you, for Gio, for the paperwork. But I believe you.” He swallowed hard, his eyes locked on her face. “You’ve got my eyes and you are almost a carbon copy of my sister when she was your age. And your mom…” His voice went soft. “Amelia was the most beautiful and kindest person I ever met. I only made it through middle school and my first two high school years because of her.” Buck smiled a little, nostalgic. “She moved away summer after sophomore year. I never heard from her again…but I never stopped thinking about her. You’re not doing this alone anymore. Not ever again.”
Samantha nodded, but she didn’t speak. She was staring at the coffee table like she’d never seen one before.
Buck looked at Eddie. Eddie looked at Buck.
And before anyone could say anything else, a small crash echoed from down the hall, followed by three mischievous laughs. Theo’s, obviously, was the loudest.
“Eddie…” Buck said, tuned to the crash down the hall, his eyes doing a quick, involuntary pass over the red smear on the ceiling from three weeks ago before landing on his best friend. “I think we’re going to need a lifetime supply of Magic Erasers.”
“And a better insurance policy” Eddie snorted.