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Come Back To Me

Chapter 37: Gestures

Notes:

This chapter is an hour late, but I really wanted to get this chapter published because it"s the final one! Several months later and this story is officially finished! I hope you all like this ending!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Buck had to make several trips from the kitchen to the bedroom to deliver the breakfast Christopher helped him make on the eve before their favorite holiday. Buck eventually had everything ready to serve Eddie as he looked at it all on the table outside the room. There were fresh croissants, a warm cup of coffee, and French toast cut into the shape of Christmas trees. 

Because he only had one hand, Buck had to move everything onto the bedside table next to his sleeping husband one by one. After placing the plates of food next to Eddie, Buck juggled the cup of coffee in his hand as he used his feet to close the door. 

Buck had underestimated how strong his kick was because the door had closed way too loudly. Buck then gritted his teeth when he realized he had woken Eddie up in this unpleasant way. Buck felt slightly guilty as he ducked his head as an apology while making his way towards the bed and sitting down next to Eddie. 

“Sorry. I had a better way of waking you up,” Buck said softly. 

Eddie snickered as he rubbed his eyes awake. “I’m going to assume you meant it in a more innocent way.” 

“Then you’re an ass...” Buck cheekily winked. 

Eddie was beginning to sit up on the bed when Buck handed him his coffee. After hearing what could have happened if Buck wasn"t injured, this was the second-best way Eddie could have woken up. This domesticated feeling of having his loving and caring husband beside him reminded Eddie why this was one of his favorite ways of getting up in the morning. 

“This all looks so good. Did Christopher wake you up again?” Eddie asked knowingly. 

“In a way,” Buck shrugged. “I’m still not taking the blame for his antics. Christopher is his own mind, body, and soul. And he decided to mess with us this week because he’s excited about tomorrow.” 

This week before Christmas, Christopher had decided to joke with Buck and Eddie as the days counted down. The young child had thought about messing with his parents by coming into their bedroom every morning and shout out loud the number of days left until Christmas. He still respected the rule of never waking them up before 7:15 am, but this time he would do it on the dot and make a scene of how excited they all should be in different ways. Needless to say, it wasn’t fun for the parents that had to clean up.  

“Sorry, how is this not your fault?” Eddie questioned. He knew that Christopher was most likely to be more playfully devilish from mimicking one of them, and Eddie felt obligated to point out which one of them it was. “Christopher gets all these practical jokes from you. First, we had the shredded paper that he made look like snow. Then, we had the baubles thrown at us. And then we had the Christmas jingles blasting out loud.” 

Buck tried to hide the guilty sly smile he had after hearing Eddie list out everything Christopher did. He was never going to admit to Eddie that he had potentially given Christopher those ideas when Christopher had innocently asked about the pranks he used to do as a kid. 

“Be grateful that I took away the silly string I found him about to use this morning...” Buck hinted.  

Buck quickly moved past his indirect part in the pranks by lifting the base of the mug to Eddie’s lips and making him drink. “Anyway... I got up first and bribed him not to do his morning ritual - extra chocolate sauce with his toast. I figured that everyone wins this way, especially you. You came in late last night, and you have your shift starting soon. You needed the rest.” 

Eddie warmly smiled at Buck as he softly kissed him as a token of his appreciation for the extra thought he put into this morning. “You’re the best.” 

“Eddie, Eddie, Eddie...” Buck playfully warned. “You’re boosting my inflated ego way too much. My big head can’t handle all of these compliments,” Buck smirked. 

“You got one compliment!” Eddie laughed. 

“But you called me the best ...” Buck teased, leaning closer and closer to mock Eddie with his grin before giving him a quick affectionate kiss. 

Soon enough, a gentle knock alerted them both towards the door. Buck quickly invited Christopher to come in since the bribe didn"t cover the entire morning. Buck and Eddie knew Christopher was just excited and cheerful for the day ahead of them because there was a big gathering at the station. So not only was Christopher happy to spend the day with the 118 family but Christopher was also excited for everything else that was happening too. 

“What time are we leaving?” Christopher asked. 

“We still need to make the desserts since we’re in charge of them. I was thinking iced cookies because it’s quick, easy, and better than Christmas pudding,” Buck explained. 

“That’s because no one likes it except Bobby,” Eddie chuckled. “But it is tradition after all.” 

“Well... If anyone complains about the cookies we’re bringing to the pot luck dinner, then we can blame it on how I’ve only got one functioning arm,” Buck half-joked. 

“Will you let me know what time you think you’ll be done in advance? I need to pick you both up since you can’t drive. And I have to make plans for you guys in case I’m on a call,” Eddie explained.  

Buck was urgent to decline Eddie’s offer because they already had plans for that. “Maddie said she’ll take us. I need to pick something up from the mall anyway.” 

Eddie’s eyes became slightly wider after hearing they were going to the mall for last-minute shopping. “Seriously? Christmas shopping on the day before Christmas? Good luck with fighting the parents off...” 

"You talk too much,” Buck nervously laughed. “I... I can explain later.” 

Eddie became curious because Buck’s response sounded ominous to him. He was being nosey as Eddie felt obligated to ask why Buck was turning a faint shade of pink. “Can I know  now ?” 

“Keep asking, and you’ll never know...” Buck warned. 

“I’ve only asked once!” Eddie defended. He was eager to learn about this secrecy because it was making Buck antsy, and Eddie knew he couldn"t let Buck get away with whatever he was doing without teasing him as much as possible. “Come on, please?”  

Buck knew he had to say strong and stop Eddie from digging. “Christopher, feed your dad something so he stops talking.” 

Christopher followed direct orders as he shoved a strawberry into Eddie’s mouth. While Eddie was momentarily stunned, Buck had quickly hopped off the bed and began to run away to stop himself from blabbing.  

Buck had stopped at the door when he realized he left his co-conspirator behind. So Buck avoided Eddie’s astonished gaze and picked Christopher up from the bed with one hand. He then put Christopher on the ground as they fled the room together, laughing at something Eddie didn"t understand. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

“You ran away from him?” Maddie asked, astounded.  

Buck was closing the lids of the boxes with the iced cookies to distract himself from the embarrassment he was experiencing. “Maybe. Eddie knew something was off.” 

Maddie rolled her eyes as she poked fun at her brother. “And running away like a couple of children is inconspicuous...” 

“It’s not a stupid plan if it worked,” Buck pointed out; feeling accomplished that he didn’t ruin his surprise for Eddie. 

When Maddie arrived on time to be their driver, Buck had sent Christopher to his room to get changed. The pair of them were busy packing all of the cookies into the container, but Maddie was more occupied with interrogating her blushing brother. She was enjoying seeing her brother squirm like this because she thought everything was tooth-rottenly sweet, and she was a sucker for romance. 

Buck was tapping the lid of the container at the pace of his racing heart. It was meant to be a simple, sweet gesture, yet Buck became increasingly anxious the more the clock ticked down. “Why do I feel so nervous?”  

Maddie’s heart grew bigger while her eyes turned softer. “Because..." Maddie pinched Buck"s cheeks as she lovingly teased, "You’re a big, soppy romantic at heart. This is one of the cutest things I’ve seen you plan, and I know it’s going to work out just as you hoped.” 

Buck wanted everything to go perfect, just like how he saw his family with Eddie and Christopher. And with such hope for high expectations, Buck was worried things might go wrong. “How do you know? What if he hates it?” 

“Eddie’s not going to hate it,” Maddie assured Buck. She softly laughed because she thought Buck was being ridiculous. “Eddie"s love language is a mix between acts of service and giving gifts. He’ll love the same thing back.” 

“Eddie’s actually a bit of everything,” Buck decided to correct her. He knew Eddie’s love language was a mix of all 5 because he receives them all so often. It made Eddie a perfect husband because of how expressive he was towards him, and Buck wanted to give back what he got from Eddie. “I hope I’m not wrong.” 

Christopher had to point out the obvious because he was also confused when he overheard their conversation. He was dressed ready in his Christmas clothes when he giggled at Buck’s overthinking. “But you’re already married...” 

Exactly.  And happily too,” Maddie agreed.  

Buck knew they were both right. They were staring at him as they waited for Buck to understand he was just being unnecessarily anxious over nothing. Buck knew he loved Eddie, and he knew Eddie loved him. So Buck knew that their love should have been enough to solidify their commitment towards each other. 

“All I’m doing is getting my ring back,” Buck whispered, convincing himself it was something that easy and simple. “He’s got me a ring before – twice. Third time’s the charm?” 

Exactly,” Maddie emphasized, even more so by enunciating every syllable. “But you can’t get your ring back if you’re late to pick it up. The store closes in an hour, and it still takes you ages to get changed.” 

“I’ve been practicing!” Buck shouted out as he ran towards the bedroom to get dressed. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Buck kept the ring in the glove compartment of Maddie"s car the entire time they were at the 118 station. He was waiting for the big reveal of wearing his wedding ring again until after dessert. It was around the same time Buck remembered Eddie proposed to him, and so Buck wanted Eddie to see him wear his ring again at the same time too.  

It was still terrifying for Buck because this was a significant milestone for them both. Thankfully, Buck didn’t think too much about the ring because he had always been kept busy: from exchanging gifts and talking to everyone"s families, to attempting to help Bobby prepare the Christmas feast with one arm, to spending the day right beside Eddie and Christopher, Buck was enjoying the entire night. 

Soon enough, dinner was being served at the two large tables in the kitchen. Everyone began finding their seat as they all separated to the adults" table and the children’s table. After checking that Christopher was settled next to Denny and May, Buck sat down in the reserved seat between Eddie and Maddie. 

Buck looked down at his placemat when he noticed his knife was missing. He curiously looked across the table to see Hen and Karen have their plates and utensils ready. After seeing everyone else have theirs, Buck turned towards Eddie to check – only to see a massive grin on his face. 

“What?” Buck chuckled. 

Eddie had kindly taken Buck’s knife away from him because he couldn’t use it. He playfully teased Buck as he leaned in and whispered, “You want to sit with Jee-Yun since neither of you can use a knife and fork properly?” 

Buck snickered as he laughed at the way Eddie continued to tease him like he had been doing all week for not being able to do the basics. Buck had prided on his independence, but he had too much as he spent days being embarrassed over not being able to cut a piece of steak by himself.  

“That’s just cruel,” Buck laughed. “How dare you try to send me to the kids" table...” 

“Do you need me to feed you tonight?” Eddie taunted. “Chimney says the choo-choo train works with Jee-Yun...” 

“I asked you to feed me once!” Buck softly scoffed. "Never again you jerk." 

Eddie was laughing with Buck as he put Buck’s knife back down between their plates. “Just tap my leg twice to ask me to cut your food for you.” 

Buck knew Eddie was half-joking and half-serious. He appreciated Eddie taking care of him and trying to make him laugh – successfully. This was the man he had fallen in love with, someone that looked out for him in these smallest ways that also made him feel so happy. There wasn’t a better word to describe how he felt with Eddie other than simply happy. 

Bobby was about to make his head of the table speech when he stood up from his seat with his glass of water in his hands. He picked up his knife as he gently tapped the glass and waited for silence to fill the room. All eyes were drawn on the 118 captain as he cleared his throat before starting speaking to everyone. 

“Evening, everyone. First of all, I just want to say thank you all for coming again this year. I personally see each and everyone one of you like family, and it makes me so thrilled to see our big family under the same roof again." 

Athena had initiated the clapping as everyone immediately joined in afterward. Bobby had a smile on his face as he waved his hands for them to all settle down. His speech took a slightly sadder tone as things that happened this year couldn’t be ignored and deserved to be acknowledged. 

“I know this year hasn’t been the easiest for a lot of us. Some years look worse than the others because sometimes the unimaginable comes out of nowhere..." Bobby anxiously tapped his fingers against his glass before continuing his speech. "We’ve all had some personal struggles along the way to make it here. And from time to time, I don’t doubt we"ve all had uncertainty about our future. We’ve lost people on our job. We’ve lost people we’re close to. And some days we’ve almost lost each other.” 

Everyone looked solemn as they respected everything Bobby was saying. Buck ducked his head more than anyone else as he swallowed down the lump of emotions caught in his throat. Buck knew that a lot of what was just said applied to him, and it made Buck think about his experiences this past year that changed his life so much. 

Buck looked down at his lap when he saw Eddie’s hand on his leg. It was stretched open with his palm facing upward as Eddie had silently shown Buck solidarity and support. Almost as quickly as Eddie had thought about Buck at this moment, Buck fit his hand with Eddie’s and entwined their fingers together.  

Buck felt Eddie’s ring embedded into his hand as Eddie squeezed Buck’s hand just as tightly as Buck did. He continued to look at their joined hands as he watched Eddie delicately brush the top of his hand with his thumb. Buck then heard Eddie scoot his chair closer to him as he felt even more loved and comforted at this very moment. He managed to look up and meet Eddie’s warm eyes and had felt the same love he felt for Eddie when he knew Eddie Diaz was the one. 

“So we take these moments we have together, and every moment we have alive, and appreciate what we have. We spend every waking second being our better selves and loving those around us. We don’t forget where we come from because it’s this massive family that supports us and carries each other forward. None of us are ever alone because we have each other, and we always will.” 

Athena stood up from her seat and put her arm around Bobby’s waist. After placing a loving kiss on her husband’s cheek, Athena looked at everyone else on the table and raised her glass. “To each other.” 

Everyone was cheering as they all raised their glasses in the air. “To each other." 

“To each other,” Buck whispered to Eddie, not dropping his gaze as he remained thankful for the man sitting next to him. 

“To each other,” Eddie whispered back just as emotionally. 

After everyone took a sip of the drink, Bobby began carving the turkey as everyone began helping themselves to the sides. Chatter slowly started to fill the room again as everyone began to make conversation with each other. Smiles and laughter were exchanged as the station became alive with each other’s company. 

Buck looked down at their hands and still found Eddie holding on to him. Buck didn’t want to wait any longer to wear his ring as he stared at the one Eddie was so proudly wearing. This was his moment to show Eddie everything he felt for him and everything he ever will feel for him, knowing that he was going to spend every waking minute appreciating the family that made him a stronger and better person. 

So Buck wanted to know the feeling of having his ring clink against Eddie’s and having the safety and security of Eddie being with him bring happiness, comfort, and content to him every single day. 

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Buck whispered to Eddie before leaving the table. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Eddie had given Buck some time to himself when he left the dinner table right as the meal had started. He wanted to give Buck some space because he knew how much Bobby’s speech affected him. Therefore Eddie knew Buck would want to step away from everything and compose himself somewhere more private. 

But Eddie noticed Buck’s lack of presence was more apparent as minutes went by. The seat next to him was still cold, and Buck’s plate was just as empty as it was 10 minutes ago since he had left. Eddie even looked across the room to see if he was messing around at the kid’s table, but he wasn’t there either. 

Thinking it had been long enough, Eddie reached for his phone and was about to send him a text message. But Eddie decided against it when his feet stood up for him and took him the same path he had seen Buck walk. 

Eventually, Eddie was confused when he made it to the bottom of the staircase and had found Buck almost immediately. He looked across the room to see Buck having extreme difficulty in getting changed. Eddie tilted his head to the side slightly and was more even confused when he saw that Buck had been trying to get changed into the same kind of black shirt he himself was wearing for work. 

Buck was too distracted to notice Eddie’s presence as his shirtless back was facing him. Eddie had spent a couple of minutes leaning against the door frame as he watched Buck so determined to change into the shirt. He heard Buck grunt and struggle to fit into an extremely tight shirt for no apparent reason as time went on.  

“This always starts as funny. But the longer it takes you to get changed by yourself, the sadder it gets,” Eddie chuckled, not being able to hide from Buck any longer. 

“I’m not ready yet,” Buck whined. “I was meant to call you down after I changed out of the stupid Christmas sweater!” 

“Uh-huh. And, why are you getting changed into your uniform? Because the last time I checked, you couldn’t even clap your hands properly let alone go out on a call,” Eddie teased. 

“That’s what not this is for,” Buck insisted. He stayed still for a moment and stopped getting dressed when he craned his neck backward slightly to look at Eddie. “Just... Don’t move and stay there. I can do this by myself.” 

Eddie played along to Buck’s strange request. He nodded his head as he gestured for Buck to go back to what he was doing – whatever he was doing. Buck still hadn’t explained why he was doing any of this, and Eddie was as curious as he was amused at Buck flailing his one mobile arm around. 

“You know, I’m just wondering why I’m being tortured into watching you get changed, or at least attempt to,” Eddie snickered. He kept smiling at the way Buck was making a fool out of himself because Eddie didn’t think this was ever going to be possible. “Your shirt is too tight for you anyway. How is your casted arm going to fit through it too?” 

Buck restarted everything again by taking the shirt off around his neck. He put it through the casted arm first and tried his hardest to squeeze it through. “With great determination, motivation, and difficulty.” 

Eddie gave up on restraining himself from helping Buck getting changed. Their dinner was getting cold, the party was upstairs, and they were missing out on it all. Eddie had assumed this was just Buck being quirky, and so Eddie decided to help his quirky husband get changed into his uniform. He stood behind Buck and stretched the armhole as wide as he could to fit Buck’s broken arm through. 

“I swear to God if you make your arm worse just to fit into this shirt...” Eddie warned. 

“Stop talking and help me put the rest on,” Buck chuckled, finally giving in and asking Eddie’s help in getting dressed. 

When Buck was dressed in the shirt, he turned around and faced Eddie to show it off. Eddie just smiled along because he didn’t understand why Buck was trying to make a big deal out of it. Nonetheless, Eddie brushed his hands against Buck’s chest and smoothened out the creases. 

“Now that is done, can we go back upstairs?” Eddie asked. 

Buck was shaking his head as he then took a step back from Eddie. He then put his hand down his back pocket and tried to blindly put the ring on his finger, hoping to surprise Eddie when it magically appeared in front of him. “Not yet. I have a surprise for you... Soon.” 

“I do like your surprises,” Eddie said appreciatingly. “What is it?” 

“I got you a surprise. I wanted to show you something,” Buck said enticingly. 

Eddie scrunched his face at Buck when he tried to clarify, “Christmas presents are usually gifts that are given. And is this some sort of magic trick? Because I see you’re acting like you’re holding something behind your back. You didn’t even pick anything up.” 

Buck was visibly relieved when he felt the box open in his back pocket. But because Eddie couldn’t see what was happening, he just saw Buck smiling and being goofy about magic. “I’m not exactly giving you anything. It’s more like I’m showing you something super important and expensive that I picked up earlier today.” 

“And you’re telling me you spent a lot of money on yourself why?” Eddie chuckled. 

Buck’s smile lit up the room when he managed to slip the ring onto his ring finger. He proudly revealed it to Eddie when he swung his hand out and let the ring glisten in front of Eddie. “Look! I"m visibly married!” 

Eddie’s heart was fluttering as he quickly spotted the familiar-looking ring around Buck’s finger. He stepped closer towards Buck and got a closer look at how it was the same one as his own. “You found your ring?” 

Buck laughed hard because that possibility was long gone. “No way in hell did the school find it! I ordered this ring back in the hospital with Maddie and Christopher’s help. We did a lot of digging, and with a lot of photos, I managed to get another replacement made just in time.” 

Eddie reached for Buck’s hand and brushed the ring with his fingertips. It filled Eddie with immense love and fondness towards Buck because of how proud he currently looked right now. Buck"s giant grin was matching the one Eddie was currently wearing, and Eddie was overwhelmingly just as happy as he was. 

“I promise I’m going to try my very hardest not to lost another ring,” Buck joked. 

Eddie chuckled along as his gaze was still fixated on the ring on Buck’s finger. He looked at it up close and brought it to his eyes. He looked at it from every angle and saw how it looked so perfect on Buck"s finger. It was a symbol of the life they were committed to together, and it made everything even more perfect than it already was because they could freely show it to anyone. 

“What do you think? You like it?” Buck nervously asked. 

Eddie’s squeezed Buck’s hand and was ecstatic when he felt his ring touch Buck’s. “I love it. I love  you .” 

Buck kept hold of Eddie’s hand as he then dragged him towards the door. “And I love you too. But we’re not done yet. I need to take you somewhere special first.” 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Eddie was extremely curious as to why Buck had taken them to the station’s workout room. His curiosity had peaked once Buck had stopped them in the middle of the room. “Why are we here?” 

“Because...” Buck had turned around and faced Eddie with the wholehearted smile he had when he took a look around them. “This is where we first met. Or at least, this was where I first saw you.” 

Eddie giggled slightly at the way Buck was being overly cheesy and sentimental tonight. “You’re such a romantic." 

“That’s rich. Didn’t you propose to me here?” Buck quipped back just as amused. 

Eddie shrugged his shoulders because of how proud he was of it. “What can I say? I’m also a big romantic at heart.” 

“You said you proposed to me where we first met. And I  remember  it being right...” Buck then pushed Eddie to stand in the right spot. They shuffled around slightly before Buck proudly declared where it all happened. “Here. We were standing right here.” 

“You remember?” Eddie asked softly. 

Buck was nodding his head as he also couldn’t stop smiling. “Because this is where our lives had changed for the better. You were here on your first day of work as the newest member of the 118. And me? I was insanely jealous of the newest beefcake that was my competition for that firemen calendar.” 

“To this day, I still think we were both robbed,” Eddie laughed. 

Buck didn’t care about the calendar anymore because he had something even better than he thought could be possible. “Don’t worry about it. Instead of having a calendar to stare at you, I get to wake up and do all sorts of things with you that I don’t have to imagine...” 

“Just a few more weeks,” Eddie suggestively acknowledged. 

"A few more weeks..." Buck was shaking his head because he had gotten distracted from why they were here in the first place. “Okay. Stop taunting me, Eddie. Now give me your hands.” 

“Okay?” Eddie chuckled. He raised both of his hands cautiously in the air and had the palms face Buck. 

“You’re not a hostage...” Buck mocked. 

After holding his hands out for Buck, Eddie watched Buck approach him and remove the ring on his finger. Buck was holding Eddie’s ring between his fingers as he then slowly went down on one knee. 

“Buck?” Eddie asked softly. 

Buck’s heart was calm and steady as he looked up into Eddie’s eyes. “You proposed to me in my first life. Now I want to have the chance to propose to you.” 

Seeing Buck down on one knee made Eddie feel touched by this incredibly sweet gesture. He didn"t expect any of this as he was deliriously giddy at Buck being an even more sensitive and romantic person. “Buck-” 

“Don’t say anything. Let me do this cheesy, stupid, and embarrassing thing now, and we can laugh about it later,” Buck laughed. 

Eddie gave Buck the floor as he agreed not to interrupt until Buck was finished. “For the record, I don’t think this is anything like that. This is somehow reaching Buck 5.0 levels now. And you already know I’m going to say yes.” 

“That’s why I feel better knowing that I can’t screw this up!” Buck assured himself half-jokingly. “This  is  the first time I’m proposing to my husband...” 

Buck was rubbing his chest as he tried to calm his heart that was suddenly racing at the moment. He kept his grip tight on Eddie’s ring because he knew how important this was going to be for the both of them. 

They were already committed to spending the rest of their lives together. But Buck knew that was before his accident where he was forced to try and remember this old life. And now, Buck wanted to make another commitment towards Eddie that showed him he still felt the same way after all these months. Time had quickly gone by, and Buck felt just as strongly about Eddie as before. 

Buck took a deep breath as he stretched the ring out towards Eddie. He was thinking about all the words he had practiced to say to Eddie because he wanted everything to be perfect. So Buck knew he just needed to be honest and let his heart do the talking since that was how Eddie always made him feel - perfect. 

“As you know, I’ve always loved my job,” Buck proudly grinned. His hand brushed the uniform he was wearing because it gave Buck the courage he had every time he wore it. “Being a firefighter has always given me this sense of worth. The uniform made me feel brave and strong because it showed me how capable I am. And I still love it because of all the good we get to do in helping others and saving people.”  

“But like every risky thing people do, there can sometimes be consequences.” Buck tapped the side of his head when he knew he had to talk about his amnesia. “A couple of months ago, I woke up from an accident that almost cost me everything. I had a brand-new life waiting for me that I thought wasn’t ready for. And so the accident was a curse at first because I had lost my old life and was then thrown into this fast and crazy new one.” 

Buck nervously chuckled to himself because he was overwhelmed with how to feel. He was trying to sum up the last couple of months into something simple and effective. But he couldn’t do that because it was all so complex that it was too hard to pick out which ones affected him the most, and which ones helped him shape the man he currently was. 

“Even though there have been terrifying, scary, and heartbreaking moments along the way... There have been so many great moments too. With every bad thing that has happened to me, I"ve always found a balance to counteract it. These past couple of months, I’ve learned to accept the good things that I get with the bad. And sometimes, these good things can be the best thing ever in my life.” 

Buck smiled softly at Eddie as he reached for Eddie’s hand and squeezed it lovingly. “I feel lucky that I got to fall in love with you twice, Eddie Diaz. You always make me so unbelievably happy. You’re charming, smart, funny, caring, and everything else that makes me so madly in love with you. And just as important, I know you will always have my back because of how supportive you always are - because you are loyal. I somehow got luckier because I ended up marrying you, Eddie  Buckley -Diaz.”  

Buck’s eyes were glistening because of how natural this all felt. Declaring his feelings for Eddie and thinking about how Eddie made him feel made Buck so emotional. It was all beautifully perfect because Buck had everything he needed to be happy. 

“Our family started here.” Buck looked around the room again as he reminded them both where they were. “We first met each other here because we were risking our lives to save others. But by doing so, we became a team and were able to risk our lives to save each other."

Buck chuckled to himself because he thought about the all 9 lives he had used up, and the many more he has because Eddie would always catch him if he fell. "You’ve saved me so many times, Eddie. Whether it’s been from burning builders, deathly rollercoasters, explosions, accidents, or from a future where I thought I was destined to be alone...” 

“You"ve always been my hero,” Buck whispered affectionately. He wiped away the tear that had fallen and tried to continue because he was so close to getting out everything he needed to say without completely breaking down. “We grew closer together over all these years. We grew to love each other so effortlessly and so much. And we grew into the family we have now that I can’t imagine being without.”  

Buck was proudly beaming because he thought about the little boy the both of them would go towards the end of the earth for. “I never knew I had what it takes to be someone’s dad. But now, I get to be a dad to our amazing son. I never knew I could feel this sense of pride, importance, and responsibility with Christopher because it"s something only the two of you could have given me. Our family is the best thing that has ever happened to me. And because I have the two of you, I can always move past the bad stuff we had because we will always have our family. Coming home to this, us, makes me able to endure any bad thing that comes my way. You. Me. And Christopher. That"s everything I need.” 

Eddie was looking back at Buck with all the same love and admiration he felt Buck had for him. Tears were falling down both of their faces because Buck was expressing why their bond with each other became even more unbreakable. It was the perfect pairing between the two of them because they both knew there was no one else they would think about having by their sides every day and night. 

“I may remember all of my old memories eventually. Or maybe I won’t. But the one thing that hasn’t changed, and will never change, is how I love you so much, Eddie. The family we have together is something I never knew I needed until I had it again. And just like every other day, I promise to appreciate everything I have. I vow to you that I will be the loving husband and best father to you and Christopher. And I swear I will do everything to make you both just as happy as I am with you two. Because that’s what you both deserve.” 

Buck exhaled with relief once he finished his big speech. He had a couple of words left that would be just as impactful, but he felt confident in Eddie’s response because of the way he knew  Eddie more than anyone. And Buck understood Eddie loved him just as much as he loves Eddie. 

Buck lifted the ring to Eddie again when he finally asked him, “Will you, still, be my husband?” 

Eddie knew he will always love the way Buck could always make him laugh. 

Eddie knew he will always love the way Buck was so effortlessly devoted and caring towards him and Christopher like they were the center of his universe. 

Eddie knew he will always love the way Buck could be shameless and boastful, yet just as equally sweet and modest. 

Eddie knew he will always love this sweet-natured and affectionate man that had the biggest heart of gold. 

Eddie finally nodded his head because he knew he would always love Buck. He joined his husband on the ground by going down on both his knees and holding Buck"s hand within his own. “I do.” 

Buck mirrored Eddie’s wholehearted grin as he unexpectedly exhaled with relief. His body was trembling as he shakily slipped Eddie’s ring back on his finger – where it belonged. 

Eddie was his home, and with Christopher with them, Buck knew his life was already complete. 

“I love you,” Buck softly whispered. 

“I love you too,” Eddie said back to his husband. 

Buck entwined his hand with Eddie"s and continued to marvel at how they fit together so perfectly. They listened out to the metal rings clinking against each other, and they both laughed softly at how they both knew it felt so right. Time was extremely slow around them as they then both leaned forward, stared into each other’s warm and loving eyes, and finally kissed. 

Buck and Eddie squeezed each other’s hands as they pulled each other into a comforting and reassuring embrace. The simple piece of jewelry on their entwined fingers expressed the love they will always have for each other. And it was going to continue being a symbol of the eternal love they will always have for each other and the family they would always fight for. No matter what they came their way, they always knew that they had each other to rely on and love forever. 

 

Notes:

The end!

I hope you all enjoyed this final chapter and this story! Thank you all, so so much for supporting me throughout this story. It"s taken such a long time to write it all, it was a LOT longer than I thought it was going to be, but I am happy and proud with it regardless.

I have a new story already being brainstormed, but that won"t start until a week or two. So I hope I get to see a lot of you all there for a generally more lighthearted and fun story because I"m super excited about it!

So for all the love, reads, kudos, comments, and words of encouragement I got during this story... Thank you all! <3 <3 <3