Chapter Text
It’s some of the worst rain the LA area has seen all year. October had been an incredibly dry month with record breaking temperatures. Sometime overnight, without warning it seemed, a storm had moved in from off the coast. And it just so happened to start on the morning of Maddie and Chimney’s wedding.
-
Buck was in Isla’s bedroom, changing her diaper and singing to her softly. No one else in the house was awake yet, with Christopher and Eddie still dead to the world. Isla had woken up in a fuss, prompting Buck to get up and pluck her out of bed. Her diaper had desperately needed a change, along with the pajama pants she was wearing. The sun was starting to rise finally, and Buck could see the world starting to lighten outside of Isla’s bedroom window.
He’s tugging her new pants on when the sky lights up for no more than a second, followed by a monstrous rumble as thunder cracks through the early morning dawn. It surprises Buck just as much as it surprises his daughter, who begins to tear up. Buck tucks her into his chest, immediately starting to bounce her. She cries into his t-shirt.
“Shhh love, come on. You’re okay.” Lightning flashes outside again and about 5 seconds later, the thunder follows. Isla cries louder, and Buck sighs, taking her back into his room. When he arrives, Eddie is already sitting up in bed, his hair mussed and eyes tired.
“I heard her crying. Is that thunder?”
“Yeah, she’s scared. I didn’t even know it was supposed to rain.”
“Me neither,” says Eddie as he reaches into the bedside table next to him. They’ve dealt with storms before, and they’ve found that the best way to get their daughter to go back to sleep is by distracting her with just about anything else. Eddie pulls the laptop out of the drawer as Buck sinks into the bed, still bouncing Isla in his arms. He leans his back against the headboard, allowing himself to sit upright so Isla can lean against his stomach.
It’s only about two minutes into the Peppa Pig DVD that never left the computer disc drive for the infant to fall back asleep. The laptop is nestled on top of Eddie and Buck’s legs, Eddie resting his head on Buck’s shoulder. The thunder rumbles again outside, but Peppa Pig does her job of keeping Isla at rest. Buck glances at the clock next to him, seeing that it’s only 5:10 and groans. Eddie chuckles softly, threading his fingers with Bucks.
“I wish Peppa Pig did the same thing for me as it does for her.”
“I know. Why can’t we see the soothing properties of British cartoons?” Eddie just shrugs and burrows deeper into the crook of his husbands neck. Buck glances over at the closet door on the other side of the room, admiring the suits that are hanging there. His and Eddie’s, along with Christopher’s that Carla had so kindly ironed the other day. Isla’s dress was hanging in her room.
“God, I really hope this storm lets up. It couldn’t have come at a worse time.”
“It’ll be fine babe. Your sister and Chim have nothing but good karma coming their way. I’m sure this will let up before the ceremony.” For some reason, Buck didn’t have the same amount of faith his husband did. The original weather prediction for the day had been mild and sunny. He knew these exact parameters because Maddie had been watching the weather all week like a hawk, and he heard about it every chance she got. He didn’t blame her for doing so, LA weather was known to be unpredictable. Lighting flashed again outside, bright white and hot.
The door to their bedroom slowly started to creak open, and a small voice cut through the dark.
“Daddy? Buck?” The door opens another inch, revealing a tired looking Christopher on the other side. Eddie smiles, waving his son into the room.
“Come on little man, we’re awake. The storm wake you up?” Christopher comes in, pushing the door shut as best as he can once he’s inside.
“Y-yeah. And I heard sissy crying.” Both men glance at the child in question, checking to make sure she’s still deep in sleep. She doesn’t stir at the sound of her older brother, which ensures that she’s well and truly tuckered out. Eddie scoots over closer to Buck, leaving room for Christopher to join them in bed. He didn’t do it often anymore, only if he had a particularly scary dream or if he was sick. Storms had always bothered him though, and Eddie knew his son well enough to know that he wouldn’t be able to sleep through it without them.
Eddie offers him a hand, helping him climb up onto the bed. Eddie asks if he got scared by the storm, and Chris nods.
“I thought I could sleep through it, b-but it’s too loud.” Buck agrees, nodding his head.
“That’s okay bud. Your sister’s in her too, so it’s just one big sleepover.” Christopher settles in, tucking himself into Eddie’s side. He notices the laptop and cranes his neck, trying to get a better view.
“Can I watch Peppa Pig?”
“No pal, the show is just so sissy doesn’t get bothered by the storm. You need to sleep, we’ve got a long day ahead of us.” Christopher opens his mouth to argue, but instead yawns loud and long. Buck and Eddie share a knowing look as Eddie pulls the covers over his son.
It doesn’t take long for Chris to be asleep again, his head resting on Eddie’s chest. Eddie’s head had returned to the crook of Buck’s shoulder as he fell asleep, his breathing slow and even. The comfort of all four of them in bed made Buck’s heart swell. It made him feel like he was protecting the things he loved most, with Isla in his lap and Eddie and Chris in his side. The thunder rumbled again, this time even louder than before. No one in bed even flinched and Buck couldn’t help but smile. He’s glad they had all fallen asleep, the day ahead was going to be long.
Weddings were incredible and fun and full of love, but incredibly exhausting. Buck was thankful that Maddie and Chim wanted something very informal and small. All they really wanted was to be with each other and the people they cared about. Maddie hadn’t gotten any of that when she was with Doug. She deserved to have a nice day, a day worth celebrating.
Buck could feel his eyes getting heavier and heavier as he started to drift off to sleep.
He had promised Maddie ages ago that he would do anything to make sure her special day went off without a hitch. Rain or shine, he was going to make that happen.
-
Maddie stretched languidly as she woke up, relishing in the fact she beat her alarm to the punch. She still had about 2 hours before she had to get up, and told herself she deserved to get some more rest. She glanced at her fiancé next to her, who was still sound asleep. Chimney tossed and turned like nobody else, and Maddie could only tell he was still even in bed by the tuft of hair that was poking out from his blanket nest he had created in the middle of the night. She pulled her covers around her tightly, wriggling over to get closer to him. She felt surprisingly calm for what day it was.
She had been in a panic all week, silently going back and forth from ‘absolutely delighted’ to get married, to ‘absolutely horrified’. She knew she wanted to marry Chimney, that was a no brainer. She also knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, which scared the shit out of her in ways she couldn’t describe. But this morning, Maddie felt calm. Everything felt right. She realized that she hadn’t felt so right about anything in a long time.
Maddie drifted back to sleep as the rain slowly started to trickle down the windows outside, thunder rumbling far in the distance, too soft to notice.