Upping the Ante – Chapter Eleven – emersli1

Reading Time:
11 Minutes

After the drama of the previous three days, it was wonderful to just be a family.

One of Eddie’s cousins had replaced the broken window in Christopher’s bedroom while they were dealing with other things, so the three of them were able to sleep in their own home that night.

The next morning Buck made pancakes while telling Chris about the day they had planned.  The Museum of Discovery was someplace they had never gone before, and they were excited and in some ways relieved to have the time together, just the three of them.  The Museum was a virtual reality showcase, allowing kids to explore various places in the world without racking up the frequent flyer miles.  They also had a Career Exploration wing with everything from surgery to diesel mechanics.

Eddie was on his second cup of coffee and Chris was on his second pancake.  Buck was in his happy place sitting here with his Diaz boys.

“Papa, do you think Daddy and I could drive you back tomorrow?”  Chris had been thinking about this for a few days.  “It’s summer break and I’m out of camp this week.  I’d really like to see your house and meet Mateo, and the other guys you work with.”

Buck considered the matter, looking across the table at Eddie.  It was obvious Chris hadn’t asked him first, but he smiled and shrugged, deferring the answer to Evan.  “Well, I don’t suppose there’d be a problem with that, if your dad doesn’t mind.  And you realize that’s a really long trip, right?  And you’ll have to drive it both ways, ‘cause your dad has to be back at work the day after tomorrow.  It’d be awfully tight.”

Eddie broke in with a possible compromise.  “Chris, why don’t we make plans to drive up in a couple of weeks?  Buck will have another four day break.  I only have a two-day break, but I could take a day of personal time or swap shifts with someone so we have three days to work with.  That would give us a day in between trips to rest.  Or we could fly up there.”

Chris gave the matter a little more thought, and finally nodded.  “OK, that sounds better than spending all that time getting there just to turn around and go home.  And you could introduce me to the guys and show me the labs and everything.  Maybe we could even go climbing!”

Ever since Chris had heard about Mateo and his climbing he’d been conducting a campaign to get his dads to find him a class.  Marshall’s suggestion of Equine Therapy ranked higher on Texas boy Eddie’s list of priorities, and he’d already made arrangements to take Chris out to visit a program that Marshall thought highly of.  If Chris liked it, Eddie thought it might be something to strive for after this upcoming surgery.

“I don’t know about climbing, mijo.  Buck may not have time to look into places for that before then.  But we can come up with something fun to do, I’m sure.”  

“Yeah Superman, I haven’t really had the chance to explore Old Town yet.  And there are a couple of hikes I think you’d really like.  Give me a little time to research good climbing options.”  Buck wasn’t sure how much climbing Chris could really do at this point, with his muscles growing tighter and tighter.  That surgery couldn’t come soon enough.

Chris frowned a bit, but then his smile returned.  “I don’t really care Papa.  As long as we’re together, we’ll have fun.”  He swirled his last bite of pancake through the syrup pooled at the side of his plate.

Buck grinned at the little boy, determined to get the last bit of sugar he possibly could.  “Come on Eds.  Finish your coffee, so we can get going.  We’ve got places to go, things to see!  Chris needs inspiration if he’s going to become the next Josh Gates!”

Eddie looked at his love dubiously.  Chris wasn’t the only one who loved his sugar.  Sighing he looked over at the coffee pot, then back at his family.  Draining the last of his blessed brew, figuring he’d need the energy, he put down his cup.  

“Well, let’s get the table cleared and get on the road then.  Times a’wastin.”

The Museum of Discovery was turning out to be an absolute blast!

Chris and Buck had gone from the Mammoth Dig Site to the Marianas Trench to the Great Barrier Reef to Mars.  They were currently exploring Antarctica, and penguin enthusiast Chris was having the time of his young life.

Eddie had gotten lost in Nepal.  He found it difficult to navigate his headset and glove at first, and once he figured it out he was turned around in the middle of the mountain forest.  As he worked his way back, he grew more and more interested in the beautiful and unique landscapes, wildlife, and cultural displays of the high mountain country.

Surfacing with his head full of honeymoon plans, Eddie looked around for his nerds … only to be hailed by a vaguely familiar voice.  Turning around he saw long, dark curls pulled up into a high ponytail.  Wondering wildly for a moment if he’d somehow forgotten one of his cousins (hey, he had two girl cousins he hadn’t seen in years) he finally recognized Ana Flores, one of the teachers at Durand, from the pick-up line at the school.

“Mr. Diaz, it’s good to see you here.  Is your son with you?  He’s going to be in my class next year, and I’d love to get to know him a little.”  She smiled at him, while holding out her hand.  “You may not remember me.  Ana Flores, from Durand?”

He shook the hand offered to him briefly, while wishing Buck was here to save him from this.  Eddie found most teachers and strange women intimidating and confusing.  Buck was much better at the social thing.  “Yeah, hello.  Yeah, Chris and Buck are around here somewhere.  Last I heard, they were heading to the Mars tour.”  He smiled sheepishly.  “I kind of got distracted in Nepal.”

Ms. Flores laughed lightly.  “I completely understand.  I had the opportunity to visit Nepal a few years ago on an educational exchange tour.  It’s incredibly beautiful.  And I don’t think I’ve ever breathed anything like the air there.  I expected it to be very thin, but what I remember most about it is the smell.  I’m LA born and bred, so it was very different.”

“Hey Eds.  Run into a friend?”  Buck surfaced out of the crowd in the main hallway, Chris kept protectively close.  The crowds and his small size sometimes made it difficult for him to navigate even accessible places.

Chris sighed.  “You gotta get used to this Papa.  Daddy gets flirted with all the time.  I think you need to buy him a ring to warn people off.”

Eddie looked at Ms. Flores in alarm and her own eyes widened with flustered dismay.  “Oh dear, I hope you don’t think …”  She took a calming breath.  “Christopher, you may not recognize me, but I’m Ms. Flores.  I’m going to be your teacher next year.  It would be very, very wrong of me to flirt with your father, or any student’s parent.  I could lose my job, and my teaching credential.”

Chris looked up at her curiously.  “Why would it be wrong?  I know Daddy’s pretty, and he’s not wearing a ring.”  That said with a pointed look in Buck’s direction.

Buck tried hard not to laugh at Eddie’s expression while answering Christopher’s question.  “People might think she was giving you good grades because she liked your dad instead of because you worked hard and earned them.”

Chris wrinkled his nose at the idea.  “I didn’t know teachers did things like that.  Mine have always made me do my work, even if they liked my Daddy.’

Ms. Flores laughed.  “Well, teachers are human, and your Daddy and Papa are both very pretty.  So we have rules that keep us all safe and make sure no one thinks your grades are worth less than anyone else’s.”

The woman smiled and offered her hand to Buck.  “I’ve seen you picking Chris up a time or two, but I don’t think we’ve met.  Ana Flores.  Chris is going to be in my homeroom and Language Arts classes next year.”

Buck gently shook the woman’s hand.  “Evan Buckley.  I’m glad to meet you.  I’m sure it’s going to be a great year.  Are you scoping out possible field trips today?”

That idea made Chris grin widely in anticipation and start to bounce lightly on crutches and toes.  “We got to see a ginormous penguin colony.  Did you know emperor penguins are almost as tall as me?  And we got to go to Mars!  That would be an awesome field trip!”

Ms. Flores had to chuckle a little at the boy’s enthusiasm.  “Actually no, I’m here today to satisfy my inner geek.  Teachers don’t get paid a lot, so travel is rare … and there are a lot of places I want to see.  This sounded like a great way to do that.  But I think you’re right, Christopher.  A field trip to Mars would be very cool.  I think before I leave I’ll check with the office and see if they offer field trips to classes.”

She smiled again at both men.  “It was nice running into you three.  I hope you really enjoy the rest of the day, and the rest of your summer.  I think I’m off to Antarctica next.  I want to see that penguin colony.  Have fun.”

The woman moved away into the crowd, ponytail bouncing as she went.  Eddie, meanwhile, allowed his boys to drag him along on their next adventure … which appeared to be the Mekong River.  Walking beside Chris, smiling over his head at Buck, Eddie realized that whatever else might be going on in their lives he had everything he’d ever wanted right here.

Who needed Mars?

As he unlocked the front door and moved aside for Eddie, Buck felt a slight ache in his leg.  Not too bad.  The walking boot had ensured that most of the exploration alcove attendants had offered chairs, so while he’d had a lot of walking it was nicely chunked with periods of sitting.  Still, he was looking forward to getting the boot off and elevating his leg for the evening.

Christopher was down for the count, Eddie carrying him in and taking him straight to his bedroom.  Apparently even virtual travel was exhausting.  They had gone to a family-friendly restaurant for dinner before coming home, so Eddie just slipped the boy’s shoes off and laid him down on his bed.

Buck slipped into the bathroom and wet a washcloth, bringing it back and running it gently over Chris’s face and hands.  The little boy wrinkled his nose and squinched his face in displeasure, but he didn’t really wake up.

Eddie pulled the covers up and gestured out into the hallway.  Buck nodded and moved down the hall to the living room, collapsing onto the sofa and reaching to undo the buckles on his boot.  

As he eased the walking boot off Eddie sat facing him on the coffee table and took hold of Buck’s leg to get a good look at it.

“Probably a good idea to redo the bandage.  You wanna do it now or wait until bedtime?”  Eddie looked up at him in query.

“Who says it isn’t bedtime?”  Buck yawned.  “I can’t believe how many different programs the Museum has.  And we only got to see  about half of them.  I am wiped out, man.  You can just throw a blanket over me and call me down for the night.”

Eddie laughed.  “Yeah, keeping up with Chris in full exploration mode is an undertaking, for sure.  I think between the two of us we managed it pretty well though.”  His face softened.  “Chris was so good about everything earlier, I’m glad we had a really good day today.”

Buck nodded in complete agreement.  “Yeah, he really deserved it.  And so did we.  We had all kinds of plans for this break and …”  He trailed off.

“And we still accomplished them.  You made your group meeting and your doctor’s appointment.  We had the barbecue with the family.  And we made it to the Museum.  We even squeezed in a surgery and a family reunion.”  Eddie reassured him.  “The important things happened.  Maybe not quite the way we’d planned…”

Buck laughed ruefully.  “Yeah, no kidding.  But Maddie’s safe, and she’s going to get better.  My sister loves me, and didn’t abandon me.  All the rest is just…”

“No.  We’re not doing that.  You’re not minimizing the hurtful things in your life.  They matter.  They’re important.  Talk to Dr. Wong about them.  Maybe call Jake and talk about them.  Just don’t let them overshadow all the good things.  I’ve heard rumors that there’s something out there called ‘balance’.  Sounds like it may be the next big thing.”  Eddie smiled gently at his fiancé, squeezing the hand that wore his ring.

“Maybe so.  Not sure that’s something I’ve ever really had.  Seems like something’s always been a little out of whack.  But I’m willing to try.  I really am Eds.”

“I know you are, Evan.  And fortunately for you, I specialize in whack.”

Buck sputtered a laugh.  “I thought you were trying to learn not to ‘whack’ people?  No, wait.  That means killing them, right?  I’m so sorry Eddie… I didn’t mean….”

Eddie was about to die laughing.  “Relax querido.  I didn’t take it badly.  I guess I should have said I specialize in wacky.  That covers a lot of things about our relationship.”

Buck agreed completely.  “Oh yeah, totally wacky.”  A huge yawn caught him by surprise.

“Let me get the first aid kit and redress that for you.  Then we can go on to bed.”  Eddie got up and went to fetch what he needed while Buck sank further into the sofa cushions.

He was home, for one more night anyway.  

This was the life he’d always wanted, and finally it was within his grasp.

What more could he ask for?