Chapter 2
Buck dropped Eddie off at the airport with a kiss and watched as the man walked away, going through security and then he was gone, he couldn’t see him anymore. It broke his heart to watch him leave but Buck knew he had to do it; hell, he wanted him to do it. He wanted Eddie to fix things with Christopher. The two were literally half of his heart and it hurt knowing that Chris was so mad at Eddie that he wouldn’t talk to either of them.
So, Buck watched as a piece of him left, going to El Paso.
---
When he got to El Paso, Christopher was pissed. He didn’t want to see Eddie, telling him to leave but Eddie wouldn’t budge, not until Chris let him explain himself. He knew it wasn’t an excuse, but he had to try to explain what happened, why his son had seen what he did.
It took a couple of weeks for Christopher to warm up to the idea of his dad being in El Paso, finally agreeing to have dinner with him over the weekend. “Why did you rent a house here?” Christopher asks over pizza that night.
“Because I needed to be near you Chris. I can’t miss any more of you growing up. I’ve missed enough.” Eddie sighs, setting his piece of pizza down on his plate, he wasn’t hungry anymore.
Chris nods his head and sighs heavily. “You should’ve stayed in LA. I was going to come home eventually.”
“Were you?” Eddie asks, raising an eyebrow. “Because you weren’t talking to me, so I got the feeling that you were staying there for quite some time.” He tells him. “You weren’t even talking to Buck.”
“Because I knew he’d tell you what we talked about.” Christopher grumbles. “And yes, I wanted to come home eventually, when I wasn’t mad at you anymore! I’m still mad, but I missed you.” He whispers the last part.
“I missed you too kid. That’s why I couldn’t stay in LA without you anymore.” Eddie tells him, picking at his piece of pizza.
Chris furrows his eyebrows before he speaks again. “Did you sell the house?” He asks, worry lacing his tone.
“I didn’t sell it.” Eddie shakes his head. “It’s being used as an air bnb right now, gives me extra cash.” He shrugs, looking at his son.
“Okay good. I didn’t want you to sell the house. I want to come home, just not yet.” The teenager says before standing up from the kitchen table, getting rid of his plate. “Can you take me back to Abuela’s?” He asks and Eddie just nods, standing from the table and grabbing his keys. This dinner was a step in the right direction.
---
A few more weeks had passed, about six weeks since he left for El Paso and things between him and Chris were slowly getting better, not completely fixed but they were getting there.
“Are you sure you’re, okay?” Buck’s concerned voice rang through the phone as Eddie told him he wasn’t feeling the greatest the past couple of days. “Maybe you should go see a doctor, you don’t ever get sick.” He hums.
“I’m pretty sure it’s just the flu Buck. I’ll probably be fine tomorrow.” He tells him. Buck gives him a look like he doesn’t believe him but doesn’t say it. They talk a bit longer, Eddie telling Buck how things with Chris were going, Buck telling Eddie about some of the calls they’ve had at the fire station. But neither of them talks about what happened between them before Eddie left for El Paso.
---
Eddie was indeed not fine the next day. He woke up nauseous, much like he had the last couple of days. It would subside a few hours after he woke up but then it came back around dinner time, Eddie had no idea what the hell it was. Maybe he should listen to Buck and go to the doctor.
As the days went on, Eddie still felt like shit. After a week and a half of not feeling well he finally decided to go to the doctor. He couldn’t help but feel nervous as he waited for the doctor to go over his test results. The nurse was drawing blood nearly as soon as he sat down in the room. He couldn’t shake the thought that he was dying out of his head.
“Well Mr. Diaz, I have some news.” The doctor said as she walked in, sitting on the stool next to the examination bed.
Eddie raises an eyebrow, the doctor not helping his nerves. “And? Is it the flu? Am I dying?” He asks and the doctor chuckles softly.
“No, you’re not dying and it’s not the flu.” She tells him, looking down at his paperwork. “You’re pregnant Mr. Diaz.” And Eddie felt like he stopped breathing right there. Pregnant? That wasn’t possible! He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“That’s not possible.” He laughs nervously and shakes his head. He knew logically it was possible, there were male carriers out there, but he wasn’t one of them, he would’ve known that years ago. “I’m not a carrier.”
“It is possible.” The doctor says, sympathetically. “And you are.”
“This is crazy.” Eddie breathes, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t believe you.”
“And that’s okay. How about you come back tomorrow for an ultrasound and that’ll give you a final answer. Would you believe it then?” She asks and he just nods.
The rest of the night Eddie couldn’t stop thinking about it. Was he actually pregnant? He couldn’t be. He thought he’d know if he was a carrier, and he definitely didn’t know. His mind was going a thousand miles per minute as he thought about it.