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Buck has always been a bit forgetful. He’s often missed doctors appointments, shown up late for work more than once. He forgets to go grocery shopping, but it's okay because he occasionally forgets to eat anyway.
Buck also tends to be ‘overly’ emotional at times. He’s cried his way through romance and drama movies, sometimes even comedies and actions if the endings were bittersweet enough. He’s teared up over soldier homecomings, animal-owner reunions, best friends flying across the country after not seeing each other for nearly a decade.
Pregnancy hormones are a whole new ballpark.
Buck will get up to pee, and by the time he’s in the bathroom, he forgets why he’s there, only remembering once he’s lowered himself back on the couch. At least once a week, he goes up to Eddie to ask him to call his phone because he lost it, only for Eddie to point out that he’s holding it. He puts drinks in the freezer so they’ll cool down faster, and finds them hours later as he raids the ice cream tubs in the middle of the night.
One fateful evening, Hen had to come over to administer an IV because Buck became dehydrated after sobbing his eyes out over a butterfly he saw in the backyard. It wasn’t dead or dying, wasn’t injured, didn’t land on him, hell, it wasn’t even near him. Just the blurry sight of a butterfly a good twenty feet away had Buck nearly catatonic, thinking about how it was once a little baby caterpillar, just nibbling away on leaves until it was ready to make its cocoon.
It might have had something to do with the fact that Theo had started first grade the week before, and Chris entering his last year of high school ever—which is its own issue that he doesn't want to even think about right now.
So, Buck is emotional and forgetful as of late, a pretty dangerous combination. It doesn’t help that he’s mostly alone during the day, with Chris and Theo at school and Eddie at work. He still gets to go to the station while Buck was unwillingly put on maternity leave somewhere after the six month mark. So what if he could barely do any light duty tasks without getting incredibly winded?
He keeps himself busy, for the most part. Buck cleans parts of the house he didn’t think he could reach. He had almost cleaned even the ceiling of every room, until Eddie confiscated the ladder because Buck is apparently ‘a fall risk’.
Buck took to baking after that, making so much that even Eddie’s sweet tooth was satisfied. He started giving away cupcakes, cookies, pies, tarts, muffins, to the neighbors after Chimney announced that the station was at max capacity of baked goods.
Buck has found other things to keep himself occupied. He’s managed to read a good couple of Eddie’s Spanish romance novels, only needing to pull out the Spanish-English dictionary every other sentence. He’s knitted a little baby blanket, and has begun to attempt to knit a onesie.
Buck has reorganized Theo’s toy corner, the fridge, the kitchen cabinets and drawers, the hall closet, under the bathroom sink, his and Eddie’s closet.
Today, however, he’s a bit tired, a lot bored. There’s not much left to clean or organize. He’s giving the knitting a break, because if he makes one more mistake he’s burning the entire thing in the front yard. It’s nothing but the last load of laundry and a short nap until Eddie comes home.
But, as Buck pairs Eddie’s socks together, he realizes that he already washed several of the pairs earlier this week. Eddie was the one to put the laundry away last time, so he must be doing it wrong, again.
See, what Eddie does is he stuffs the clean clothes at the front of the drawers, instead of the back. Buck has already given him several lectures about how if he continues to do this, the clothes will never be cycled through properly, and he’ll end up wearing the same five pairs of socks, or underwear, or shirts, forever.
Buck sighs wistfully to himself as he hauls himself to his feet and pulls open Eddie’s sock drawer. As much as he likes to complain, he does actually enjoy doing these sorts of things. Especially for Eddie.
He begins to pull the socks out—deciding that reorganizing by size could also be beneficial—and starts depositing them on the top of the drawer, when his hand nudges something hard and un-sock-like.
Buck frowns and digs his hands through the sock drawer until his fingers catch on the foreign object. He pulls it out and is sort of startled to find it’s a small jewelry box. The type of box a ring might be found in.
“Oh,” he says, oh-so eloquently as his brain goes haywire. Buck sways on his feet as he opens the box and sees a pretty, sparkly, silver ring sitting inside. “Oh,” he repeats.
Buck sits on the edge of the bed, blinking blearily at the ring like it’ll disappear or jump out at him if he looks away for too long. Eddie’s proposing, no big deal. He’s not freaking out at all. With shaky hands, Buck pulls the ring out of the box, making sure to keep a tight grip on it, lest he drop it and it somehow rolls halfway across the room and down an air vent.
He spots an engraving along the inside of the ring. Buck brings it closer to his face to get a better look. The engraving reads: E.D. and E.B. forever. E.D. and E.B.. E.D. and…E.B.?
Buck’s breath catches in his throat, chest getting a bit tight.
The last time he checked, his name was Buck. He shakes his head violently. This isn’t happening, Eddie isn’t cheating on him. Maybe he’s holding onto the ring for someone else. But the only person he knows with the initials E.D. is Eddie, and Buck certainly doesn’t know anyone with the initials E.B..
Maddie. Right, Maddie would probably know what’s going on. Maybe she knows someone with those initials, and Eddie is the one with the ring, for some reason. Yes, that’s it, Eddie has the ring because if Maddie had it, Chimney would find it and ruin the surprise for whoever this E.D. and E.B. is.
Eddie would never cheat on him. What an absurd thing to think. He just has a stranger's ring, hidden in his sock drawer, and never told Buck anything about it.
He should probably call Maddie. He’s going to call Maddie.
Buck pulls his phone out, unlocks it, and stares blankly at the screen. He can’t remember her number. He called her just yesterday, and he can’t remember her number. Buck groans, this damn pregnancy brain. He’s about a good ten seconds away from going into full-on my-life-is-falling-apart panic mode.
So, Buck does the next best thing, and dials 9-1-1. Maddie is probably working today, and on the off chance she isn’t, maybe Buck will get someone they know that can connect her in.
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
“Maddie,” Buck sobs, jolting slightly at the force of it. He hadn’t realized how worked up he was getting, that his emotions would break loose at just the sound of his sister’s voice.
“Buck? Is that you?”
“Mmm,” Buck whines pitifully.
“What’s going on? Are you hurt?”
“Yes!” Buck exclaims. He puts his phone on speaker and rests it on his knee so he can rub his hand over his chest to try and ease the panic. “He— I can’t—”
There’s a bit of frantic typing on Maddie’s end. “Breathe. Just breathe. Is it the baby? Tell me what happened.”
“He’s cheating on me.” Buck’s heart nearly splits in two as he says it. Now it’s real. He can’t deny it anymore, Eddie’s cheating on him.
There’s a long pause. “Buck, Are you hurt?”
“Did you not hear me, Maddie?” Buck asks incredulously. Of course he’s hurt. “Eddie’s cheating on me. Cheating!”
“I know, but are you physically hurt?”
Buck sniffs. “No.”
Like that even matters right now. Buck’s whole entire world is falling out of a sock drawer and crashing apart around him in round, silver pieces.
So what if they’ve both technically cheated on past partners before? Both of those were a kiss, not exactly harmless, but a kiss. Whatever Eddie has going on is clearly serious enough to lead to an entire engagement.
Was Eddie going to get engaged and even married to some other man, while still living with Buck, while still raising their two, soon to be three, children together? Who would be considered the other woman in that scenario? Buck, because he isn’t married to Eddie, or this E.B., because he isn’t living and bearing any kids with Eddie?
“Okay, hold on.” Maddie switches to another line, presumably to call off an ambulance already on route. She might want to hold off on that, considering Buck’s about to have a heart attack any second now. “Alright, Buck, tell me what’s going on. Why do you think Eddie’s cheating on you?”
“I found a ring.”
“A ring,” Maddie repeats, not sounding very impressed. “What kind of a ring?”
“An engagement ring,” Buck cries, his emotions rising fresh to the surface again. He stuffs the ring back in the box then shoves it off to the side so he doesn’t have to look at it anymore. “Which means he’s been cheating for god knows how long. How could he do this to me?”
Buck looks down at his stomach and cradles his bump. How could Eddie do this to them? To their already existing children? Will they be able to recover from this, or will the kids have to pack a backpack and schlep halfway across LA once a week?
“Honey, I don’t see how an engagement ring is evidence of Eddie cheating on you. Are you sure the ring isn’t for you?”
“No! It’s engraved on the inside. E.D. and E.B.. Obviously the E.D. is Eddie, but who the hell is E.B.? How long has he known this E.B.?”
“Evan,” Maddie says slowly. “Are you okay?”
Before Buck has the chance to answer—most likely with a panicked, ‘no!’—he hears the front door opening.
Eddie’s home from work early. If he was even at work. Buck gasps softly. What if Eddie’s been making up shifts? What if his twenty-four hour shifts are actually twelve hours? What if Eddie’s been out galavanting around with his precious E.B. while Buck’s taking care of their family and home?
“Oh god, Maddie, he’s home,” Buck whispers frantically into his phone. “What do I do?”
“Buck?” Eddie calls out.
“Evan,” Maddie hisses.
Buck shakes his head like she can hear him. “I gotta go,” he says, hanging up before she can respond.
He can do this. He can confront the love of his life about his absolute betrayal.
Buck wipes his cheeks and swipes the sleeve of his shirt under his nose. He pulls the ring box into his lap and takes a deep breath to prepare himself as Eddie walks through the doorway of their bedroom.
“Hi, baby,” Eddie says sweetly. He kisses Buck’s cheek then heads over to the dresser, taking off his watch and untying his shoes. That bastard, just throwing affections around like candy. Does E.B. get a kiss on the cheek too? “How was your day?”
“You tell me,” Buck says, his voice surprisingly steady—he’s never been very good at confrontation without threatening to fall apart at the seams—turning the box around so Eddie can see the ring.
“Shit,” Eddie mutters, his face dropping slightly.
“Yeah. ‘Shit.” So, who is he?”
“What?”
“Who is he?” Buck repeats. “How long have you been with him? Before or after I got pregnant with your child?”
“Buck, did you sleep okay? Eat enough?” Eddie presses his palm to Buck’s forehead, like the possibility of Buck having a fever is so much more important than getting caught cheating.
“Don’t touch me,” Buck snaps, pushing Eddie’s hand away. He doesn’t even care about the hurt look that flashes across his face. He doesn’t. “How could you do this to me?”
Eddie crouches so they’re closer to eye level, his hand settling on Buck’s knee. “Do what, sweetheart? I’m a bit lost here.”
“Cheat on me.” It isn’t easier the second time. It might be even harder, in fact, saying it to the perpetrator himself.
Eddie’s eyebrows jump halfway to his hairline. Buck used to think that Eddie was a terrible actor and liar, but then again, he also thought that Eddie would never cheat on him. “I’m not cheating on you. Why would you think I was?”
Buck plucks the ring from the box. “‘E.D. and E.B. forever,’” he reads, voice beginning to crack at the end. “Who is he? Who’s E.B.?”
Eddie’s mouth twitches as he clearly tries to fight off a smile. If Buck had the heart to hurt Eddie, he would probably slap him. “Evan—”
“No,” Buck snaps. “You don’t get to call me that. Evan is— Evan…” Buck looks down at the ring, up at Eddie, back at the ring. E.B.. Evan. The E is for Evan. Buck is Evan. Buck is E.B.. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Eddie says.
“Oh,” Buck repeats.
“‘Oh?’”
Buck laughs, sniffs, then lets out a loud sob.
Eddie rises to his feet, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him. He wraps an arm around Buck’s shoulder and pulls him close, rubbing soothingly up and down his back. “Those pregnancy hormones are getting you bad, huh, bud?”
Buck sniffs again and huffs. “Shut up,” he says weakly.
Eddie kisses the top of his head and laughs.
Buck lets out another violent sob at the action. “I ruined it,” he cries.
He ruined their proposal. Eddie no doubt had something nice, and romantic, and thoughtful planned out, and Buck stomped all over it, all because he had to reorganize a stupid sock drawer.
“You didn’t ruin anything. If we give it a day or two, you’ll probably forget that you even found the ring.”
Buck smacks Eddie in the stomach.
“Alright, alright,” Eddie laughs. He pulls back so he can cradle Buck’s face, wiping away his tears with his thumbs. “Stop crying, honey, you’re breaking my heart.”
“You broke my heart first,” Buck mumbles miserably.
“Mmhmm,” Eddie hums, clearly holding himself back from arguing that he technically didn’t do anything. Like that would undo the absolute electrical fire Buck’s nervous system has been for the past twenty minutes.
“Why would you hide it there? That’s such a stupid place to put it, especially when I’m home alone, all day, doing your laundry.”
“I told you I would—” Eddie shakes his head. “That’s not the point. I’m sorry that you found the ring.”
“Don’t apologize,” Buck says passionately. “Why would you apologize for me finding it? I’m sorry for finding it.”
“Apoloy accepted.”
“But, again, it is sort of your fault, for putting it there.”
Eddie nods. “Again, I’m sorry for that.”
Buck tugs at his hoodie strings. “I’m sorry too, for jumping to conclusions when I found out. I’m also sorry for calling 9-1-1 over it.”
“You called 9-1-1?”
“I was panicked!” Buck rushes to say, attempting to defend his honor and dignity, how little of it he has left. “I needed to talk to Maddie, but because of my stupid pregnancy brain—which, technically, is also your fault, by the way—I couldn’t remember her number.”
“You have her number saved in your phone.”
Huh. Honestly, Buck hadn’t even thought of that. “That doesn’t matter! You were cheating on me, I couldn't think straight.”
“I was never cheating on you, just for the record. And I never will. Never.”
Buck sniffs for the umpteenth time just this afternoon, tears up, but manages to not start crying again. Instead, he wraps his arms around Eddie and stuffs his face into his neck. “I love you,” he mumbles into the warmth of his skin.
“I love you, too,” Eddie whispers into the shell of Buck’s ear. “I’ll assume that’s a ‘yes’, then?”
Buck pulls away to grab the ring box from where it’s been tossed across the bed in the kerfuffle he caused. He stuffs the ring back in, because now would be the absolute best time for Buck to lose it.
“You still want to marry me?” he asks, a bit amazed that Eddie hasn’t run screaming from the house yet.
Eddie smiles. “Of course I do. I never stopped.”
“Even though I’m crazy?”
Eddie takes Buck’s hand into his. “Especially because you're crazy."
Buck smiles back, then he tilts his head to the side and frowns. "You think I'm crazy?"