Chapter 4
Eddie started Bell in daycare almost immediately. The man didn’t want to, he wanted to continue to get to know his daughter, spend time with her. But he had to if he wanted to make sure his kids had what they wanted and what they needed.
It was Wednesday, Bell’s first day of daycare and Eddie was nervous. He was nervous to send her, not knowing if she would have a good day and he was nervous to see Buck, Bell’s teacher, the man he couldn’t stop thinking about since he met him.
Eddie shook the thoughts out of his head as he pulled into the parking lot of the daycare and parked, not getting out of the truck immediately. He took a deep breath and turned his body to look at Bell who was sitting in her car seat in the back. “Are you ready for your first day?”
The toddler pouted and shook her head. “No. Wanna see mommy.” She grumbled, folding her arms across her chest and all Eddie could do was smile at that. She had quite the personality and he loved it even though he’d only known her for a few days.
Eddie sighed softly and nodded his head. “I know sweetheart, we’ll talk to her tonight to see when she’s coming home.” He tells her and she just nods, her signature pout on her lips. “Now, come on. Let’s go inside and you can make some new friends.”
Isabel sighs heavily and nods her head, giving Eddie the Diaz sass, it warmed his heart.
Opening the driver’s side door, he slips out of the truck and opens the back door, unbuckling the toddler and holding her on his hip as he grabbed a backpack filled with her lunch and a few snacks for her to have throughout the day, along with one of the blankets that Ana had brought for her.
Eddie walks up to the door of the center and punches in his code and the door unlocks. He opens it, stepping in and was greeted with Athena and Buck both sporting wide grins. “Good morning, Mister Diaz.” Athena greets.
“And you must be Isabel, my new friend.” Buck says softly to the toddler, who hides her face in Eddie’s shoulder, suddenly being shy.
Eddie laughs softly and shakes his head. “I guess she’s shy.” He tells them, again avoiding eye contact with his daughter’s teacher. “Here’s her bag, it’s got her lunch and snacks and a blanket for naptime. And please don’t let her sleep for longer than 2 hours, she’ll be up half the night. I learned that the hard way.” The man rambles.
Buck takes the backpack from Eddie’s hand, their fingers brushing against each other’s ever so softly and Eddie felt a jolt of electricity through his body, making him jump back slightly. Neither of the other adults commented on it though.
“Alright sweetie, daddy has to go to work.” Eddie murmurs into Isabel’s hair, kissing the top of her head before setting her down on her feet, making her whine. “I’ll come and get you as soon as I can.” He lifts his head to look up at Athena and Buck, still avoiding eye contact. “I’ll be here to pick her up around four thirty.”
“No problem mister Diaz.” Buck smiles and kneels so that he was level with the toddler, whispering something to her that Eddie couldn’t hear.
“Eddie is fine.” The man hums and steps back, raising an eyebrow when Isabel doesn’t cling to his leg. “I’ll see you later princess.”
And that’s when she nods at her teacher and hugs her dad’s legs tightly. “Bye daddy, love you.” She said and then she was following Buck into his classroom for the day.
Athena gives Eddie a knowing look. “She’s in good hands, I promise.”
Eddie nods at that and sighs softly. “Thank you for everything Miss Nash, I appreciate you getting me in on short notice and the friends and family discount.”
“Athena is fine.” She grins. “And it’s no problem. You go on now, have a great day.” And with that Eddie leaves the building and he’s on his way to work, worrying about whether his daughter was going to have a good day or not.
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It was two o’clock when he got the call. He was in between clients at the shop, he excused himself from his conversation with Hen and stepped outside before answering. “Hello?” Eddie asks, furrowing his brows as he didn’t recognize the number at all.
There was rustling on the other side of the phone along with a string of curses. “Hi, I’m trying to get in touch with an Edmundo Diaz.” A female’s voice rang out.
“This is he.” Eddie says. “What’s this about, I’m at work and my next appointment is about to walk through the door at any minute.” He says in annoyance; he really didn’t have the time for spam calls today.
“My name is Alexandria; I’m calling on behalf of Ana Flores.” The woman starts and before Eddie could say anything else she continued to speak. “She wanted me to speak to you, to let you know that she’s signing all parental rights of Isbael Daisy Diaz over to you.”
Eddie is speechless. Why would she do that? “Did something happen to Ana?”
“No. She’s just made the decision to relinquish her parental rights.” She easily told him, and the man found it hard to breathe for a moment. Ana was planning this the whole time, planning to leave their daughter.
“I- Thank you for telling me.” He says before hanging up and rushing back into the shop. “Hen, when my next appointment shows up tell them I’ll have to reschedule, that I had an emergency. Thank you, I’ll tell you everything later.” And with that he was out of the door and into his truck already on the way to the daycare to pick up his daughter.
When the man entered the building, he walked to Isabel’s classroom, opening the door. He must have looked exactly how he felt, frazzled, because Buck had a concerned look on his face when he looked towards the door. “Everything okay Mister Diaz?”
Eddie just shakes his head and looks around for his daughter, letting out a breath when he spots her playing with a few of the other kids. “Fine, everything is just fine.” He tells him, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, I should have called to let you know I’d be here early. Something came up.”
Buck nodded his head in understanding, calling over to the group of kids. “Isabel, your dad is here.”
The toddler looked up and grinned widely when she saw the man. She stood up and ran to him, crashing into his legs. “Daddy!” She exclaims, making the man give a small smile. “Missed you.” She grumbles.
“Missed you too. Now, let’s go pick up Chris and head home. Maybe we’ll even stop at Auntie Hen’s on the way.” He murmurs to her, making her nod her head in agreement. “How was her day?” Eddie lifted his head up to look at Buck and oh, that was a mistake. He almost forgot how gorgeous the other man was, it nearly took his breath away.
“She had a great day.” Buck smiles. “Got along with the other kids great, she’s got such a bright personality, a great addition to the classroom.” And Eddie’s heart filled with warmth at that. “It makes me sad that she’s only going to be here for a month.” He pouts and Eddie’s heart nearly explodes at that.
“About that, I have to talk to Athena, but she might be here full time.” Eddie sighs.
Buck raises his eyebrow and Eddie waves it off, figuring that he’d tell Buck and Athena at the same time what was going on when there weren’t any little ears listening. “Gotcha.” The man took the hint. “Well, it’s nice having her. And it was nice seeing you again.”
Eddie blushes at that and nearly stumbles over Isabel. Was Buck flirting with him? He couldn’t be. Eddie can’t be that lucky. “Y-yeah, you too.” He leans down and picks up the toddler, settling her on his hip again before leaving the room.
There was a firm hand placed on his shoulder before he could get far. “Here’s her bag.” Buck hums softly, handing over the bag before removing his hand from Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie mumbles a thank you before finally leaving the classroom and bolting out of the daycare. He couldn’t believe that he was blushing over his daughter’s daycare teacher being nice to him. Boy was he down bad.