Switching the Deck – Chapter Ten – emersli1

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So the first thing Buck had to do was let Moorpark know he was accepting the internship with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.  His advisor was thrilled since this would finish out his degree requirements.  And since the degree he’d taken was a 90 hour degree he could finish his bachelor’s in just one additional year.

While Buck worked on that, Eddie bit the bullet and attended his first group therapy session.  Maybe it was having sat in on Buck’s first session, but this didn’t seem like such an insurmountable hurdle anymore.  And it wasn’t.  It was actually  relieving to some part of him to sit in a room full of men all sharing the same struggle.  Though everyone’s details differed, all of them were trying to unlearn years of shoving down all their emotions except anger.

Afterwards, feeling a little raw but not unable to cope, Eddie stopped by Headquarters for the LAFD.  He actually had two missions here today.

The first was easily accomplished, stopping by the Fire Marshal’s offices to turn in a copy of Buck’s resignation letter.  He handed it off to Buck’s manager, who seemed surprised to get it.

“I thought Buckley was all fired up to get back in the field eventually…when he can handle it.”  The man was fairly sure this wasn’t going to end well for the LAFD.  If Buckley decided to get aggressive about things he could have the whole organization on their knees for the safety failures around the situation that left him pinned under that truck.

Eddie just smiled and shook his head.  “Oh, I think he got tired of waiting for the LAFD to let him work.  Since he’d been cleared by his doctors and all.  And a desk job isn’t really indicated for a clotting condition anyway.  Have a good day.”  Leaving the man behind him looking like a stunned bird after crashing into a plate glass window…Eddie had other things to do.

Walking into HR took a huge amount of courage.  Remembering the way Bobby brushed off his questions about Buck’s return, the look on Chris’s face when he talked about the lies…yeah, there wasn’t anything else he could do.

“Hello, I need to drop this letter off.  I’ve already given a copy to the Fire Marshal’s office.  And I need a transfer request form.”  By doing his transfer through the main office, he could avoid having to get Bobby’s signature and hopefully avoid the drama that would come with it.

“Do you have an opening you want to apply to?”  The woman in the office had pulled up the list of openings across the department and was looking at him quizzically.  Fortunately, he and Buck had spent some time over the past four days studying the posted list.  

“I’m interested in the postings at the 133, the 226, and the 89.  If none of those are available, I’d like to shift into paramedic training.”  They had discussed his career goals and while paramedic wasn’t his first choice, he thought he had enough distance now from the sandbox and his service to handle it.

“I’ll submit the form and the requests.  You should hear from any of the captains who might be interested soon.  I see you’re about to do a 24.  If you don’t hear back from anyone in the next week, come on in and we’ll slot you into the paramedic training classes.  But you have a good record, and I think you’ll hear back from at least one of these stations.”  The woman was encouraging, and Eddie appreciated that.

He’d actually worked overtime at all three of those stations, so the captains did at least have some familiarity with him.  Captain Martin at the 89 had actually told him to apply if he wanted to transfer at the end of his probie year.  And it would be closer to home as well, which was where he was headed now.

Buck wondered how Eddie had fared at therapy.

He had been willing to go along for support, just like Eddie had gone for him.  But with everything that had to be done, Eddie had said he could handle it.  And HR.  What he really needed was to know Chris was taken care of, so Buck of course agreed to that.  Not like spending time with his little friend was a hardship.

The two of them were actually at his loft, going through his clothes and packing as they sorted… what was going with him, what would be in long-term storage, and what to donate.  Chris suddenly pulled one of the dress shirts aside from where Buck was folding things carefully into a box to store.

“What’s wrong with that one, Buddy?”  Chris had already found a couple of shirts he said needed to be thrown away because of stains or small holes.

“Nothing Bucky, but you’ll need it to wear when you go out on a date with Daddy.”  Wait, what?

“Um, what date?  Did we plan something?  And I FORGOT?”  Buck was horrified.  He knew yesterday had been rough, but surely he hadn’t forgotten Eddie asking him out on a date!

“Nope.  But you’re gonna.  Before you leave.  I’m awesome and all, but you two need a little alone time to be just you.  And when you get to visit, we’re all gonna do stuff together.  So this is your chance.  You’ve gotta wear this shirt, ‘cause it makes your eyes look really blue and pretty.”  Buck had worn the shirt once to an award presentation at Headquarters, and Eddie had glared so hard at the people who came up to him that Buck had wondered what was going on.  

Oh.  Buck sighed.  He guessed this was why Chris had been so done with them.  How long had they been together without being together?

“Thanks, Chris.  I’ll get right on that.  Probably not tonight, because your dad’s gonna have a kind of rough afternoon.  Maybe day after tomorrow?  I’ll get reservations at that new Thai place he liked so much.  And then…hmmm…”

“The Observatory is doing nighttime sky tours.  I bet that would be super interesting!”  Chris was eager to help plan something nice for his dads.

“Yeah!  That would be awesome.  Man, Chris, you’re gonna be so good at this when it’s your turn to start…nope…never mind.  Forget I said anything.  You’re not going to be dating anytime this century.  Maybe next century.”  No way was his little buddy getting old enough to date.

Chris snickered.  Grown-ups were so funny sometimes.

Buck got on his phone to inquire about the schedule at the Observatory, and Chris kept sorting clothes.  By the time Eddie got there to pick them up, all Buck’s clothes were boxed up and most of his linens were too.

It had been a productive afternoon all around.  And now it was time to go home.

The next morning Eddie left for his shift and for the first time, kissed Buck good-bye along with Chris.  He was still half-asleep and didn’t even realize he’d done it until he was half-way to work and the coffee kicked in.  It gave him a warm, gooey feeling walking in to what was going to be a difficult twenty-four hours.  But he was going to get through it and go home at the end to his family.

Putting his things in his locker, Eddie realized that he still had a lot of Buck’s stuff in there.  Grabbing a stray bag he quickly loaded it with most of that stuff and put it in the bottom of the locker so he could take it home without people commenting tomorrow.  Then he moved on up the stairs just in time for breakfast.

Sitting at the table with Bobby proved to be difficult, but Eddie practiced a couple of the techniques that had been discussed in his group therapy session.  They seemed to be working pretty well, until Bobby addressed him directly.

“Hey, uh, Eddie?  Have you talked to Buck recently?”  Bobby didn’t look at him as he asked, which was probably his saving grace.

Eddie breathed carefully…and took the time to swallow, and let the first surge of anger pass, before he answered him.  “Yeah, sure.  He’s babysitting Chris right now.  Oh, pardon me.  Kidsitting.  I have been corrected on that.  Chris is not a baby anymore, ergo the correct term is now kidsitting.”

Hen smiled at him over the table.  “Yeah, I remember Denny’s lecture when he felt like he didn’t need a babysitter anymore.  We finally compromised on ‘supervisor’ when Karen pointed out that even adults had supervisors.   I wish they didn’t grow up so fast, and I am NOT looking forward to the teen years.”

Chim swallowed quickly and chimed in.  “Hey, you got to get through the teen years to reach the joy of the empty nest.  Too bad kids can’t just go straight from thinking you’re awesome to moving out.”

Bobby had relaxed at Eddie’s calm response.  Surely if Buck had talked to Eddie about their argument, he would have said something.  “Yeah, we’re pretty lucky May is even-tempered most of the time.  And Harry’s still mostly content with kid status.  It’s not going to be long before he’s officially a pre-teen though.  And I’m not really looking forward to that.”

The conversation moved on around the table, and Eddie took advantage of everyone’s distraction to calm down and unclench his fists.  He was going to make it through this if it was the last thing he did.

Bosko nudged him with her shoulder, angling her head down the stairs.

Eddie nodded, got up and cleared his place.  “I’m on engine maintenance today, so I’m gonna go ahead and get started, if that’s ok Cap?”

Bobby nodded and continued the conversation he was having with Hen about teen hobbies and interests.

Heading on down the stairs with Bosko right behind him, Eddie grabbed one of the magnetized clipboards and headed for the triple.  It was probably too much to hope for that Lena would leave him alone to his tasks, and sure enough, she followed him out into the bay.

“What was up with that upstairs?”  She crouched down to check the tire pressure and looked up at Eddie curiously.  “Usually, you’d jump on any chance to ask about Buckley and when he’s coming back.”

Eddie breathed for a moment, and reminded himself that Lena was trying to be a friend.  Her coping mechanisms just weren’t ones he could allow himself.  “Tired of getting the same answer that doesn’t really answer anything.”

He popped the hood and began checking fluid levels.  After a few minutes, Bosko moved off to her own tasks and Eddie relaxed into the routine of engine maintenance tasks.  

It was going to be a long twenty-four hours, but … just then the alarms rang.

Maybe not so long, then.

Buck took Chris with him to Moorpark to sign the paperwork for his internship.

Chris was fascinated and wanted to see everything, so Buck took him out to the teaching zoo and showed him around.  Many of the animals were ones that hadn’t done well in public zoos, or were injured in some way.  Some of them were only on-site for a brief time while others were permanent residents.

Chris wanted to see them all.

As Buck was showing him around, several of his fellow students were moving around working on classwork or projects.  

Dr. Meecham, one of Buck’s favorite professors, stopped them as they were moving towards the nursery building.  “And who might this fine, future student be?”  Grinning at Chris, and appreciating his wide-eyed enthusiasm.

“I’m Chris.  My papa brought me with him today to show me everything before he signs his paperwork.  Do you have babies?  That’s where he said we’re going next?”  Chris beamed up at the professor.

Buck’s breath had caught at the ‘papa’ so casually dropped in the conversation, and he had to fight back tears.  His professor caught his expression and smiled sympathetically.

“First time?  I remember that.  Congratulations.  And to you, young Chris…yes, we have several different kinds of babies in our nursery building.  Your papa can take you inside as long as you don’t make loud noises or touch anything.  I’m sure you understand that could frighten the babies.”

Dr. Meecham smiled at Buck again.  “I was so glad to hear you took the CWS internship.  I really think you’ll be an asset to the study, and it plays into many of your strengths.  Make sure to show him the baby otters.  They’re in the play area right now.”  Clapping him on the shoulder, the professor moved on off towards the faculty offices.

“Baby otters?!?  Come on, Papa, we gotta get there before they move ‘em.”  Chris turned and started moving as quickly as he could managed to the nursery building.

Buck laughed a little wetly, and hustled along.  Who wouldn’t want to see baby otters playing?