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Part 2

Eddie was considering a third shower and wondering how much guilt he could handle regarding the waste of water. He glanced toward Christopher, who was at the kitchen table doing homework, and figured his son would question him since his second shower had happened after he’d picked the kid up.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?” Christopher asked and put down his pencil to stare at him.

“Nothing,” Eddie said and focused on platting the food. “How was school?”

“Cool,” Christopher said with a shrug. “Carla said I could sign up for cupcakes, and she’d make them for the party on Friday. No one is gluten-free, so we get to have good cupcakes instead of kind of awful cupcakes.”

Eddie laughed. “She put the ingredients on the shopping list. I’ll make sure to get them tomorrow so she can have them for Thursday night. I got a new work partner.”

“Are they cool?”

“He’s interesting,” Eddie admitted, omitting all the other adjectives to came to mind for his own sanity. “He’s a Guide and he was on leave because he was given a wish baby.”

“Wow, that’s cool. Did you get pictures?”

“I’ll ask when I know him better,” Eddie said and his son nodded. “How would you feel if I registered with the Burton Foundation and found a Guide?”

“Would they live with us?” Christopher questioned.

“Usually bonded pairs share a home, yes,” Eddie admitted. “Because they most often become intimate partners due to the nature of bonds.”

Christopher nodded slowly as he erased something on his worksheet then started to write again. “Mom says you guys didn’t get married because you were a Sentinel.”

“That’s true,” Eddie said because it was the simple kid-friendly version he and Shannon agreed on.

“Are you lonely?” he asked and Eddie took a deep breath as he brought the plates to the table.

He’d grilled chicken breast for his son and some ribs for himself. Christopher ate only pork in the form of bacon which was fine because Eddie wasn’t all that interested in sharing the ribs since they were a favorite. Christopher closed his folder and set it aside to make room for his plate.

“I’m fine, Mijo. I’m just thinking about how it would be good to get settled as a Sentinel and that would require a Guide.”

“At school that said that Sentinels and Guides are lonely by themselves and that’s why it’s so important to respect the bond,” Christopher said earnestly. “They said the bond fills up the empty place inside you.” He tapped his own chest. “The place made for your partner.”

“I….” Eddie exhaled slowly. He’d personally signed off on the whole Sentinel/Guide lessons for his son at Durand because he knew his son probably had questions about the whole thing that he didn’t want to ask at home. “Sometimes, part of me does feel like it’s searching for my Guide, but things were hard when I first came home so I concentrated on healing.”

Christopher nodded. “That makes sense, Daddy. The book says the right Guide will enrich your life.”

“What did your book say about what the Guide gets from the bond?” Eddie asked curiously because he’d actively avoided all of the homework his son had done on that subject, and he felt like an asshole for it.

His own lessons regarding the subject had been surface level as a child and quite explicit as an adult.

“Psionic stability and empathic shelter, which is important to keep them from going crazy,” Christopher said and stabbed a piece of his chicken. “Which is good because the world is full of awful people and Guides shouldn’t have to go around feeling all that crap.”

Eddie laughed. “Mijo.”

“I’m serious, Daddy. Abuelita says that there are jerks everywhere and we have to be on guard constantly to police our boundaries.” He nodded firmly like he’d handed down a life lesson. “You should find your Guide, Daddy, so they won’t be lonely and sad without you.”

Eddie took in a shaky breath and pressed two fingers briefly against his sternum at the flash of unexpected hurt his son’s words had caused. The whole time he’d been practically wallowing in the safety the conservator cuff had given he’d never once thought about the person on the other side of the bond he was denying himself.

“Daddy.”

He looked at his son even as the boy put one hand on his wrist. The boy’s fingers grazed the cuff leather cuff, and the embedded infused copper runes glinted with magic for a moment before going dull. They both stared for a moment and Eddie cleared his throat.

“Mijo, do you ever have dreams about a blue world?”

His son’s eyes widened briefly then he shrugged. “Sometimes—once in Texas before we moved because I was worried about coming to California I think. I don’t remember it well. Not much lately, once or twice over the summer. Why?”

His son had the genetics, but the doctors had told them that his CP diagnosis had likely made even latency an impossibility. That hadn’t felt right to Eddie, but Shannon had been outright relieved by the declaration. They’d never had Christopher tested and the mistake of that was slapping Eddie in the face now.

He had zero relationship with the Burton Foundation due to his own behavior and didn’t know how testing would go for a child of Christopher’s age.

“Latents have blue dreams, Mijo,” Eddie said. “It’s a precursor to eventually coming online as a Sentinel or Guide.”

Christoper nodded slowly, ate a potato wedge, and waved his fork a little as if he were weighing his words. A gesture he’d picked up since coming to California and Eddie blamed his abuela. “I’m a Guide.”

The certainty was kind of startling as he hadn’t been sure at all well into his teens regarding his own alignment to the psionic plane.

“Are you sure?”

“Very,” the boy said with a nod. “Sometimes my spirit animal talks me in my dreams—teaches me things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, her lecture on fractions was much easier to understand than Ms. Flores’,” Christopher said. “But let’s not tell Ms. Flores that because she’s kind of sensitive. She got weird when I pointed out a mistake on the board last month, even though I did it in private instead of in front of the whole class so she wouldn’t get embarrassed.”

“What kind of mistake did she make?”

“She wrote the wrong date for the Gettysburg address,” Christopher shrugged. “It wasn’t a big thing since the date wasn’t on the test but not correcting it would’ve been wrong. Right?”

“Right,” Eddie said. “Did she fix the date?”

“Yes before we got back from recess,” he said. “But also, she started asking me more questions than normal from the reading and asked me if was reading extra at home. I told her about the books we borrow from the library and how I have four books on pile to read before the end of the month. She seemed weird about that part.”

“Weird how?”

“Like….” Christopher shrugged. “Like I shouldn’t read books unless she told me to. She said I was too young to read the Narnia books. I told her she could ask you about it.”

“When was this?”

“Last week but you haven’t taken me to school since we talked about my reading.”

Eddie nodded. “Okay, I’ll talk to her.”

He pulled out his phone to text Shannon, which wasn’t something he normally did unless she had their son for visitation.

Eddie: Hey have you had the teacher at his school question his reading level or what he reads at home?

A few moments passed and the message was read.

Shannon: I told her to mind her own business after she tried to give me a weird lecture about helping him manage his expectations and accept limits. She said letting him read above his grade level could lead to disappointment later when he didn’t continue to progress above his peer group.

Shannon: She got a little snide with me when I disagreed and said she’d speak to you instead since you were the primary parent

Their custody situation was none of the teacher’s business. Eddie was immediately put off by the implications. He and Shannon had worked hard to create a situation that was fair and stable for their son. He’d even moved to LA when she got a job opportunity—both to insure Christopher had his mother in his life and also to escape the smothering attention of his own.

Eddie: She’s not going to enjoy the conversation I have with her. Also, Christopher just told me he’s having blue dreams

Shannon: Fuck

Eddie winced.

Shannon: Christ Sorry! I didn’t mean that. We probably need to move into a Burton school for next year at least

Eddie: I’ll have to take him to get an eval with the Foundation. Not disclosing the latent status of a child can be dangerous, especially in an area where getting into natural disasters seem to be a hobby for everyone

Shannon: Right. Okay. Don’t let him think I’m upset about it. I’m just worried

Eddie: I’m worried too. I didn’t have blue dreams until I was much older. I think the first time was fourteen or fifteen. I’ll keep you in the loop. If the teacher is a real asshole he might get moved to a Burton school sooner rather than later

Shannon: If I don’t get a play-by-play of that convo I’m gonna sue you for the FOMO I’m currently experiencing

Fortunately, for his ex-girlfriend, he had a great memory.

He put his phone down and focused on his food.

“Daddy.”

“Yeah?” He focused on his son and found Christopher staring pointedly. “What?”

“You’re not gonna take my extra books away, right?”

“No, baby, of course not,” Eddie said. “Your extra books are none of that teacher’s business and I’m going to tell her so.”

“Good. Carla helped me vacuum my backpack yesterday and washed the clothes I was wearing when I came home.”

“Thanks for looking out.”

“Except I must have missed something,” Christopher said with a frown and pointed at his wrist. There was a small rash above the cuff.

Eddie stared at his wrist for a moment. “Nah, it’s not itching. This is just probably stress.” He stood up to retrieve some rash balm that he’d gotten at an apothecary. A brief rummage through the cabinet where he kept medicines yielded good results.

“Daddy.”

“Yeah?”

“How’d you make me if touching Mom makes you itch?”

Eddie laughed a little. “Good question, Mijo. I didn’t start itching around your mom until after I came online. The allergy doctor said I was probably always allergic to her but coming online made it much worse and noticeable.”

“Ah, okay. ‘Cause I know how babies are made.”

Eddie huffed.

“Sort of. I don’t need the details,” his son continued. “But there’s kissing and stuff. Seems like kissing and doing stuff with Mom might put you in the ER.”

Eddie laughed as his face flushed. “Eat your chicken and the green beans.”

“Green beans are the devil,” Christopher muttered and Eddie just stared at him until his kid chomped down on a bean.

* * * *

Buck wrapped his kid up in a towel and Wyatt slobbered against his cheek as he carried him out of the bathroom. He kind of missed the days when he’d used the little tub in the kitchen sink, but his kid was super active and loved water, so they’d graduated to the tub in the master bath after the fifth month.

He left his own room in favor of the nursery which was across the hall and put his son down on the changing table then kept a hand on him even as he used the pump on the bottle on the table to get some lotion. Wyatt tended to have dry skin and needed lotion despite the moisturizing soap he used.

“Pop.” Wyatt kicked his legs and wiggled happily as he got swathed pretty much head to toe in lotion. “Pop!”

“I’m here, kiddo,” Buck murmured. “Yesterday, while you were having an adventure at the crèche, I was meeting my Sentinel. He is, between us, a hot mess. But I’m going to be chill about this whole thing and let him figure it out at his own pace. There’s no need to rush into anything since he’s wearing a conservator cuff and isn’t suffering as he is.”

He dressed his son quickly, retrieved a bottle from the mini-fridge that he’d prepped earlier and settled down in the chair by the crib. Wyatt immediately latched onto the bottle with and slouched against Buck’s chest.

“He came home hurt from the Army,” Buck murmured and pressed down the anxiety that thought caused as his son was sensitive to his emotions. “But he seems to be settled now, and I heard from Hen that he has primary custody of his son—a boy named Christopher. I’ve not met him, of course. I should’ve gone to the barbeques that Bobby invited me earlier in the year, but I didn’t want to deal with questions at that point.

“Everyone on the shift was nice but also very chatty when I came back, but I did avoid them for six months solid while I got used to everything. Well, everyone but Bobby who doesn’t tolerate avoidance. Since he’s a latent Guide, it was different for him, and he didn’t ask me dumb questions about my Sentinel search or you.”

His phone started wringing so he fished it out of a pocket and answered it on speaker since it was his brother. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Daniel said. “How was your first day back?”

“Great,” Buck said. “Easy shift, too, so nothing really stressful to deal with right out of the gate. How are things on your end?”

“Eh.”

“Come on,” Buck said with a laugh.

“Doug’s first parole hearing is soon, so I’ve submitted a victim impact statement. He won’t actually be released but I don’t want anyone to think of a second we aren’t paying attention to that process.”

Buck focused on his son who was still suckling but starting to doze at the same time. Doug Kendall had been in jail for ten years for the assault and battery of their sister, Maddie.

“How is she?”

“As well as she ever will be,” Daniel said roughly. “Which you know isn’t…I asked her doctor if she’d be fine to live in assisted living instead of the institution and he’s willing to have her evaluated for it because her recovery has gone well. But he’s worried about contact with our parents. He had to have them trespassed last month because they showed up and tried to remove her despite the fact I’m her legal conservator.”

His sister had been a latent Guide, and her husband had tried to beat her death when she’d told him she’d started to have blue dreams—the betrayal and trauma had resulted in a psychotic break and dormancy. Because she survived, and hadn’t been online, he’d been at the mercy of the state of Massachusetts and had been sentenced in twenty years for assault and battery when he should’ve been charged with attempted murder.

The whole prosecution had been galling because if his sister had been online Doug would’ve spent the rest of his life in a federal prison.

“I’m surprised that Doug was able to behave long enough to qualify for a parole hearing,” Buck said.

“I think, when he’s denied, he’ll act out. Men like him often do when they realize that they’re going to have to serve their full sentence, and I’ll certainly make sure he does. Even if he gets out, he’ll be paying restitution until he’s a very old man.”

Ursa appeared in that moment, perched on the arm of the chair and stared at him. “Don’t worry about that jerk. He’ll never get anywhere near any of you again—my magic won’t allow it. I’ll file a letter with the court, too, about the parole situation. Violent offenders aren’t allowed to be anywhere near a wish baby.”

“I’ll be sure to submit another statement regarding that situation as it hadn’t crossed my mind. He did threaten both Buck and me during the sentencing phase,” Daniel said. “I mentioned the Sentinel stuff already as I figured it would have weight.”

Ursa made a face at the phone and disappeared with a flash of magic.

“I think she’s still mad that I came online and ruined her retirement day,” Buck admitted and Daniel laughed. “Also, she thinks our technology is gross. Literally gross. She’s dating this ker, who didn’t even knock on the door when he came to get her, and she complained about all of the human tech he had.”

“Second date in the works?”

Buck huffed. “She said he threw down so I guess so.”

Daniel laughed, which was fine. His brother didn’t have much to laugh about on a regular basis.

“If we can get Maddie into a residential situation, I’d like to do it in LA and move out there,” Daniel said.

Buck took a deep breath. “I would love for you to move here.”

“But not Maddie.”

“She’s not someone I could allow to be in Wyatt’s life, Daniel. Her mental instability makes her an unsafe person. I don’t blame her for the way she is, and I never will but the last time I was in the same room with her she slapped me in the face and screamed at me. She blamed me, in her delusional state, for not noticing that Doug is a fucking monster. The Burton Foundation might not want her in the same area with me due to my online status. At least not in assisted living or outside of a certain level of confinement.”

“You don’t think it would be safe for her,” Daniel said quietly.

“No, and I know you’re just trying to fix her and the situation so you can move on with your own plans and life. I get it and I understand the sacrifice you’ve been making for the last ten years. We can’t trust our parents with Maddie.” He paused. “But we can trust the Burton Foundation with her.”

“You think I should give the Foundation her conservatorship?”

“You have a right to have a life, Daniel,” Buck said quietly and pulled the empty bottle away, set aside, then sat Wyatt up. The change in position prompted a very hardy burp which made his brother laugh.

“I wish I’d FaceTimed. Send me some new pictures.”

“I will. I took some at the park on Saturday,” Buck said. “You’ve given Maddie’s situation ten years of your life, and she doesn’t appreciate it. She resents you as much as she does our parents and me. Your career has suffered, and two different relationships that you were clearly invested in fell apart under the weight of it.

“Confinement and treatment saved her life, but she’s so fragile mentally that I don’t believe she could safely function outside of an institution. We can’t save her, Danny.”

Daniel exhaled slowly and cleared his throat. “I know.” His breath caught and there was a ragged little sound that made Buck close his eyes briefly. “I’ll speak to someone at the Foundation about it. But I’d want her moved to California.”

“It’s best if she’s as far as possible from our parents,” Buck said by way of agreement. “But my stance on her meeting Wyatt won’t change.”

“I’ve not disagreed with that choice, Buck. We both know he wouldn’t be safe in the same room with her unless she was…heavily medicated.” He exhaled slowly. “I’ll call after the conversation with the rep at the Foundation or send a text depending how much it takes out of me.”

“Try to get some sleep tonight and have a whole meal before you tackle any of this,” Buck suggested.

“I’ll try,” Daniel said roughly. “Self-care has never been easy—not after—well. Our parents made it clear that I didn’t deserve their care because I got sick, manifested magic as a result, and ruined their plans.”

“Do you think perhaps they resented us all because not a single one of us were their brand of normal? I think that’s what I was, you know. Their lost shot for a normal child.”

“They always claimed the IVF was because of fertility issues, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they did it try to create that every day American dream they wanted through you and had been denied because of my magic and Maddie’s latency. Then there you were—a tiny little bundle of potential with a manifested spirit animal right there in the delivery room.”

Buck knew, now, that his spirit animal had manifested as a warning of sorts on behalf of the psionic plane. His parents had basically been put on notice that they’d be judged harshly and punished for any overt mistreatment. So, he’d grown up in a quiet house bereft of approval but full of everything required to keep a child safe and fed.

Leto, his spirit animal, took that moment to appear and sprawled easily on the floor next to the crib as she often did. As it was his preference, she’d spent the day with Wyatt at the Psionic Center’s crèche and had come home with when Everstar Bartlett, the nanny he’d hired, brought him home for the night.

“Get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay,” Daniel said. “Goodnight.”

“Good night,” Buck returned and ended the call with a frown.

“You’re right, you know,” Ursa said as she reappeared. “You can’t save her—her fate was sealed the moment she revealed herself genuinely to Doug Kendall and his own ferocious insanity bombarded her just as much as everything else did that day. It can’t be proven in any single way, due to her dormancy, but she probably did come online at least briefly during those first horrible and violent moments. Had they not be in an isolated cabin on vacation, I imagine some Sentinel would’ve responded to her distress and killed him.”

Buck nodded. “I know. I just wish it was different.”

Ursa nodded. “The crèche is a good place. I watched for a few hours today before I met my youngest daughter in New York for some shopping. She has terrible taste in fashion, by the way. I blame her father. I never should’ve had that affair with that wretchedly-dressed djinn.”

Buck laughed.

She rolled her eyes and left again.

He stayed where he was, letting his son doze on his chest despite his best intentions. Early on, it had been a source of comfort for them both because he’d dedicated himself to skin-to-skin time in an effort to create a really strong bond with the baby. He’d allowed his world to get very narrow, and he’d put Wyatt right in the middle of that small space. Buck knew that wasn’t sustainable nor was it healthy for either of them.

Since he didn’t want to stifle his son, he’d worked hard to broaden his perspective and had participated fully in the searches done for him. He’d met plenty of talented, and genuinely lovely Sentinels—all partial matches. Not a single one of them had tempted him at all and it was clear the feeling was mutual.

After another ten minutes, he slid out of the chair, put Wyatt in his crib, and after lingering for a few moments staring at his son he made himself leave the room with a brief stop to snag the mobile half of the baby monitor which he tucked into the pocket of his pajama pants.

He went into the kitchen and checked the fridge and cabinets before sitting down to work on his grocery list. Maintaining his muscle mass and energy levels required meal planning, and he was also determined to make sure his kid had good eating habits which meant demonstrating it. Also, he made all of Wyatt’s food as commercial baby foot smelled weird to him. The crèche stocked an all-natural, organic line of baby foods that he’d reviewed and approved of for when his son was there, but he wasn’t going to buy it for home. It was very expensive and he could make better himself.

His phone pinged and he pulled it out to check it. There was a pending text from Eddie. He’d had the man’s number in his phone since he’d gone on paternity leave and Eddie had taken his place. It was Bobby’s policy that they team build both on and off the job. He’d even stayed in the group chat during his leave but had muted it to get some distance while he figured himself out.

Eddie: You know what? You’re a pain in the ass.

Buck grinned and leaned on the counter as he considered what to say.

Buck: Would it help to have my address or not?

Eddie: No.

Eddie: Maybe.

Eddie: Yes.

Buck sent the address even as he shook his head.

Buck: Having issues?

FaceTime pinged and Buck sighed as he answered the call. He might as well get used to dealing with the needy ass Sentinel he’d been given.

“Hey,” he said and raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you naked?” Eddie questioned.

“First, I’m not. Second, I’m at home and can be naked if I want. I managed to get me and the kid through a shower. It’s also time for sleep so I’m dressed for sleep. I try to keep the same sleep schedule for work and home.”

“Yeah, same,” Eddie admitted and exhaled slowly. “My cuff responded magically to my kid.”

“Magically how?” Buck questioned. “Did he alter it by accident?”

“No, nothing like that. He’s not online but I asked him if he was having blue dreams and he said he was. I’ve not registered, obviously, with the Foundation and I have no kind of relationship with them. But I know he needs to be moved into a Burton school probably sooner rather than later.”

“He’ll need an evaluation at the least. You can have one done without registering either of you,” Buck said. “They’ll be chill about it, if you’re concerned. Did you want me to go with you?”

“I….” Eddie flushed and averted his gaze. “Are you lonely?”

Buck exhaled slowly. “Not in the traditional sense,” he admitted and Eddie nodded. “But I’ve got a missing piece just like you do. It’s the nature of things when psionic bonds come into play. The first morning I woke up after coming online—I was overwhelmed by Wyatt and the lack of empathic shielding. But also, in those first moments of waking up….”

“You woke up searching for something,” Eddie said roughly. “Searching for someone.”

“Yeah, I still do,” Buck admitted. “But I’m used to it.”

Eddie made at face at him.

“I mean it,” Buck said firmly and turned out the kitchen lights as he headed toward his bedroom. “And I’m not resentful in the least about any part of my process.”

“I don’t want to do a search,” Eddie blurted out. “I never did want to do it, but I endured one in the Army because they said if my Guide was military then there would be an exception made for my kidney loss. A bonded Sentinel was worth the risk in their opinion, and it was a miserable fucking experience that I never want to do again.”

Buck nodded. “You’ve mixed it all up in your head with the pain of your injuries, right?”

“Maybe,” Eddie admitted and took a deep breath. “But I’ve been about to crawl out of my skin since you left the station. I made myself stay in the locker room until you were gone because I was worried I might sort of stalk you.”

Buck laughed.

“It’s not funny. I’m trying to be civilized.”

“Could be hard for you since you’re an apex predator,” Buck said wryly and Eddie’s eyes went wide. “What’s your spirit animal? I’m assuming a big cat of some sort.”

“Jaguar.”

“Yeah, makes total sense,” Buck agreed. “You’ve got an intense alpha vibe and big cats are the norm for Sentinels in that bracket. Also, I figured you’d last two shifts before you followed me home so don’t stress the urge so much.”

“Yours?”

Buck stopped in the doorway of the nursery and stared at Leto for a moment where she lay sprawled under Wyatt’s crib. “Timber wolf.”

“Wolf.”

He focused on Eddie and found the man staring at him shock. “What?”

“You’re a Wolf Guide and you only hard partial matches in the system? Across two continents?”

“Yeah,” Buck said quietly. “My closest match was eighty-two percent, and she was eager for a connection, but it was clear it wouldn’t happen. I closed the search after that and focused on getting settled with my son. There was a little push back on that but nothing super stressful, they were just worried about me going unbonded for a significant period of time. But conservator cuffs exist for a reason, and I saw no need to continue in that process as I was. I put the cuff on, had it customized to work as well as it could for me, and put a minimum rating of ninety-five percent on my records.”

Eddie nodded and stared in silence.

“It’s okay to be…whatever you currently are,” Buck said and Eddie laughed a little. “I mean that. I’m not wallowing in a puddle of resentment over here, because I’m not some asshole who thinks he’s entitled to anything—not even a bond with a Sentinel.”

“Okay,” Eddie said. “I resent myself a little because just looking at you tells me that I’ve been denying myself something amazing.”

“That kind of thing can create problems,” Buck said. “So, it would be a favor if you’d work on letting that go.”

“I think you’re probably more reasonable than I’m used to,” Eddie said. “But I have a weird life. I’m actually allergic to the woman that birthed my child and the conception was natural.”

Buck laughed. “Just be grateful that shit didn’t get bad until you came online.”

Eddie groaned and shifted around in the picture as Buck sat down on his own bed. He shed his socks and scooted up onto the only indulgence he’d personally brought into his uncle’s house—a California king bed—because he didn’t want any part of hanging off the edge of the mattress.

“Something else stressing you out?”

“Yeah, of course, but nothing extreme. Christopher is in the second grade, but he’s reading at a fifth grade level. She quizzed about his reading at home and told Shannon that he should be taught to accept limitations. It’s like she doesn’t think he should be allowed to have expectations due to his cerebral palsy.”

Buck exhaled slowly. “So, getting him out of that school environment should be your priority. He doesn’t deserve to have someone like that trying to hold him back because of his disability. That’s gross as fuck.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said and his jaw clenched briefly. “He asked me if I was going to take away his extra books. We spent a whole hour at the library picking them out last Saturday. He was so excited that the first book in the Narnia series was there, and now it’s like he’s worried he’ll be punished for reading.”

“Are you having a territorial response?” Buck questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Because if you are then you definitely shouldn’t go to the school to meet with that teacher without some kind of support. The Burton Foundation can provide you with a liaison for a conversation—they would help keep you cool headed.”

Eddie made a face. “I avoided all discussion of human conservator in the Army, for a reason.”

“And that reason was?” Buck questioned.

“I didn’t want a stranger in my business trying to manage me or treat me like I wasn’t capable of handling myself. I had to fight like hell to get any sort of independence from my parents growing up, and joining the Army was as much of an escape as it was a career decision. My mother is Defcon 2 helicopter parent, and my father enables the hell out of her. It might as well be his second job.”

Buck laughed. “Right. Again, do you want me to go with you to the school?”

Eddie pressed his lips together, then frowned at him. “I don’t need anyone to hold my hand.”

“I know.” He smiled then. “But would you like someone to hold it anyways?”

“Don’t flirt with me.”

Buck laughed and slouched back on his pillows. “That wasn’t flirting, bud.” He paused. “It’s okay to want support even when you don’t need it. Acknowledging and respecting your own wants is important.”

Eddie frowned and was silent for a moment. “I don’t think I learned the difference between those two things until I was in a war zone. I was heavily indulged as a child, both because I was a wish baby and because I was a latent Sentinel. Both of my parents were so proud and pleased to introduce their son to practically everyone. I’m not even a genuine fuck trophy.”

Buck burst out laughing. “I must have done something awful in a previous life.”

“Shut up,” Eddie said with a huff. “And yeah, I probably need some kind of support tomorrow. I don’t want to…disrupt your routine though.”

“Text me the address and time to show up,” Buck said. “I don’t have any concrete plans for tomorrow. Did you want me to stop by the Foundation office and pick up stuff on the schools in the area?”

“That would be good,” Eddie said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Go to sleep.”

“Night,” Eddie muttered and the FaceTime call ended just like that.

Buck plugged his phone into charge.