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Maddie Buckley was a woman on a mission.
A mission of most importance, one that was inevitable. A job deemed warranted as a protective older sister. It was her duty to give Eddie Diaz the talk.
She wasn’t unreasonable of course, she given the man a month first. A whole month to gather their footing, to enjoy their blissful honeymoon phase before she pounced. She was overjoyed when Buck told her they were finally together, they all were; it had taken them long enough to get their act together after all. Watching them pine for each other like idiots went from entertaining to borderline pathetic to flat out exhausting awfully quick. And it's not that she didn’t know how much Eddie loved her brother… she was fully aware. One needed to only spend one minute in their vacancy to notice the way Eddie looked at Buck, all love and adoration in his eyes as he leered after him was a little pitiful. (Not that Buck was any better.)
And despite knowing all that, despite knowing Eddie would never hurt Buck on purpose, she still felt obligated to do it.
There was no stopping it, once she put her mind to something, she will follow through till it's done. And while some people will call it 'stubborn to a fault' she preferred to see it as brute determination. Hopefully, this one will carry out smother than any other crazy plans she set in motions in the past. The gist of it was pretty simple.
She was going to put the fear of god in her future brother in-law even if it's the last thing she does.
So she put the plan in motion, the first step was to find the opportunity to catch Eddie alone, without Buck around to sniff out her intentions. Which proved to be a challenge – because ever since they got together, they've been attached at the hip even more so than usual, and Maddie honestly didn’t think that was a possibility.
The opportunity came on knocking earlier that day though, and she jumped at it. Now all she needed was to get her boyfriend on board. She purposely waited till they went to bed that night to bring it up, knowing a sleepy, tuckered out form the day, Chimney was much easier to subdue.
"Hey Chim?" Maddie turned to look at him lying in bed beside her; he was nose deep in his book, but her voice made him glance at her with a smile.
"Yeah? He hummed in reply before going back to his book, but she could see that his eyes weren’t moving over the page, she had his full attention.
"Howie…" she started, sinking deeper into the bed and turning fully so she could face him. She prompted her head up on the pillow, waiting for him to look at her.
Chimney paused for a moment before he then folded the corner of the page and slowly placed the book on the nightstand with a sigh.
"You do realize you only call me that when you want something, right? Or when you're about to do something crazy."
Maddie shoved him lightly, laughing. "It's nothing crazy, don’t worry."
"Okay." Chimney squinted his eyes nonetheless. "What is it then?"
"I might have told Eddie we'd babysit Christopher tomorrow so he and Buck can go on a proper date."
"Oh." Chimney blinked, clearly whatever he expected this wasn’t it. "That's it?"
"Yeah..." it wasn't a flat out lie, after all that was all she needed from him. To help watch Christopher. The part where she will drag his father aside to terrorise him like any good sister would she could and should do on her own
"Right…" Chimney shook his head with a laugh. "Fine, don’t tell me what this really about. I don’t mind spending the day with Chris anyway, I love the kid."
Maddie felt her heart swell with love for the man, he never pushed her to talk, always patient till she's ready and she appreciated it more then she could ever voice aloud. It made her wish she could have met him sooner, save the both of them some pain and heartbreak from past relationships. Sometimes she felt guilty for not being able to say as freely how much she loved him, which only made her go into a full swirl of emotions about Doug, and how he continued to take pieces of her even from beyond the grave. She wished she could tell Chimney she loved him as often as he did, and the fact he understood and accept her inability to do so only made it more antagonizing – because it only made her love him more.
And it's not like she couldn’t tell him what exactly she had planned for tomorrow; but she figured he wouldn’t be able to hold back his amusement the moment he saw Eddie and blow the whole plan up. Either way, she knew her boyfriend would find the situation entertaining enough to not mind being kept out of the loop. She was just about to open her mouth to say something about it when he beat her to it.
"By the way, you and Buck have the weirdest relationship I know." Chimney noted with a chuckle.
"What do you mean?" Maddie frowned in confusion.
"I don't know anyone else who goes to this much trouble to get their brother laid."
She made a face at that. "Who says I'm trying to get him laid?"
"Oh, c'mon!" Chimney wiggled his eyebrow suggestively. "You're giving them an empty house, all to themselves. Do you really believe they will actually go on that date and not take advantage of it? I mean no offence, but your brother is a horndog…"
"Urgg… you just had to put that image in my head, didn’t you?" Maddie groaned, pressing her face into the pillow.
"You know it!" Chimney said, his voice sounding too amused and smug. "Hey, I have to suffer them all the time at work. I thought it will be better once they finally got their heads out of their asses, but all the sexual tension from before just turned into sexual frustration. It's almost worse. Almost." Chimney let out a bitter laugh. "I swear they look like they're about to jump each other every other hour, I am genuinely scared to go into the bunk room or the showers sometimes –"
"Howie –" Maddie tried telling him she got the picture but he kept going, the smirk not leaving his face.
"But I guess they don’t get that much time alone to get all of these months of pining out of the way, maybe after tomorrow they will finally be tolerable –"
"Chim!" she slapped a hand over his mouth, silencing him at once.
"What?" he murmured vaguely under her fingers; she could feel the wide grin under her touch. The grin she loved very much, even if it was annoying the hell out of her right now.
She gave him a look and he slowly peeled her hand off, taking it in his hand and interviewing their fingers. "Hey, it's only fair you share the 'fun' with me." He told her sweetly, brining their joined hands to his lips to kiss her knuckles. "Aren't you the one who always says sharing is caring?"
Maddie tried to wiggle out of his hold, and when that failed, she dropped her head into the pillow with a groan again.
"I hate you." She mumbled as she burred her face deeper into the pillow, yet unable to stop the smile warming up on her face.
The bed dipped gently beside her and then there was a soft hand brushing through her hair. "No, you don’t." Chimney's voice whispered teasingly.
Maddie peered at him with one eye, and the way he smiled at her, all teeth and crinkled eyes, made her heart flutter faster, she reached out her free hand and stroked his cheek fondly.
"No, I really don’t."
--
"Thanks again for doing this."
Maddie waved her hand at Eddie. "Oh, it's no problem." She said before glancing back to the living room where a makeshift arts and crafts station was set up on the table. Chimney was crunched down beside Christopher, the two wearing matching grins as Christopher was grabbing eagerly at the variety of crayons with glee. When she turned back to Eddie, she saw him watching them too, with a smile that probably mirrored her own.
Maddie took a deep breath, it was time.
"Can you come with me to the kitchen for a minute?" she asked, and Eddie's eyebrow rose a little but he nodded nonetheless.
They slowly made their way into the kitchen with Maddie closing the door behind her with a certain finality to it. Eddie raised an eyebrow again, leaning back against the counter, the way he kept shifting on his feet betraying his attempts to come across calm and collected.
"Why does it feel like I'm in trouble?" he let out a nervous chuckle, eyeing her carefully.
Maddie shook her head and leaned against the table across from him, crossing her hands over her chest. "You're not in trouble. I just need to talk to you about something."
"Okay." Eddie nodded, gesturing with his hand, prompting her to continue.
"I need to talk to you about Buck."
Eddie gulped, his hand fidgeting on the edge of the counter, otherwise perfectly composed. He had a certain expression on his face, as if he knew exactly what this conversation will be about. He probably did.
"Yeah I figured you will at one point." Maddie didn’t know if she should be worried or pleased with how anxious he sounded.
"Look I –"
Chimney, of-course, chose that very moment to stumble through the door. He halted by the doorway, eyes darting between them with furrowed brows. The realization slowly drowning on him, Maddie could see the gears turning in his head as his mouth parted in surprise as the puzzle pieces came together.
"Oh, so this is what it's about." Chimney hummed to himself before he began to retract back ungracefully out the door, "I'll leave you to it then, don’t mind me…"
Maddie reached out to grab his arm before he could. "No. Stay." She said. "It's probably better there's a witness, you know. In case he tries to say I didn’t warn him."
The way Eddie swallowed nervously at that did not escape her notice, and perhaps she should feel guilty at the satisfaction she took in it and not pride for making Eddie-poised-and-always-keeps-his-cool-Diaz squirm. Chimney looked like he wanted to argue but instead opted for the wiser choice; he ended up hovering uncomfortably beside her, looking like he never wished to be anywhere else more. And after mentally rolling her eyes Maddie brought her attention back to Eddie.
"Look Eddie, I like you I do. I've always liked you and I like to think we're friends…"
"We are." Eddie nodded in agreement at the words, which warmed her heart.
"And you're a good guy…" Maddie let out a sigh, pausing to calculate how to proceed since she never actually been in the position before. She never given the shovel talk before, her brother wasn’t exactly known for long lasting relationships. The closet she ever came was Ali; but with her traveling as much as she did for work, Maddie never got the chance to meet her enough without it feeling like an overbearing – if even inappropriate – attack.
"But?" Eddie asked in a small voice, noticing her internal dilemma. He offered her an opening despite his clear nerves at the whole situation, and that was just one of the many reasons she liked him.
"But," Maddie sighed again, "Buck is my baby brother and my favorite person in the whole world."
Eddie eyes glinted, as if he understood exactly what she was saying. That aside from Christopher, Buck was his favorite person too. And Maddie fought hard to keep the stern expression on her face for what she said next.
"So, even though I get the feeling you already know this, I still have to say it." She pushed off the table taking a step closer until she stood in front of Eddie, who simply gave her a nod of silent understanding.
People – mostly Buck and Chimney – had told her she had a scary streak. She often did not quite believe them. Sometimes she could see it, it come out the most when it came to protecting her loved ones, Buck particularly. For so long she had been the only one to do so, she spent so much time protecting him from their parents, from bullies, from himself… And leaving him behind was perhaps one of the hardest things she ever did, and one of her biggest regrets. And then she left him again, under the pretense of protecting him from getting sucked into her horrid life, only to hurt him more. Which is why she felt like she needed to do this, like she owed it to him for not being there when he needed her most. Buck was unlucky when it came to love. And the thought always broke her heart given how much love he never shied away to give without expecting anything in return. But Eddie was different, she knew that. She knew he won't leave. And yet, she also knew the rocky road that led them there and how much hurt and pain was involved, form both sided.
And even though she cared for Eddie too (and Buck would undoubtedly wind up on the wrong side of her wrath if he hurt him) Buck was her brother. And first and foremost, she had a duty to protect him the most. So, she took a deep breath, drawing on the anger towards Buck's scorned lovers for what she said next.
"If you ever hurt my brother on purpose, or break his heart –" her voice drooped a few octaves with each word, she took one more step and Eddie nearly cowered in his spot, making her feel like she towered over him, "–I swear I will break you into so many pieces they will never be able to put your body back together again."
Her words echoed in the kitchen for a drawled-out moment, her voice sounding vicious even to her own ears before eventually, Maddie cleared her throat, patted Eddie on the arm a couple times and turned around. She was met with Chimney, looking torn between amusement and fear, as he glanced from her to Eddie warily.
When she followed his gaze, she saw Eddie, still slumped against the counter, looking utterly petrified. He was staring at her with what could only be described as newfound terror and the thought of him, in all his 6'feet muscle glory, fearing her made Maddie burst into laughter.
"Oh, c'mon Eddie." She breathed out while clutching to her stomach. "The worst is over there's no need for that–" she waved at his face and he frowned "–besides, it's not like I was that scary."
"Uh, honey?" Chimney piped up behind her and she spared him a look over her shoulder. "You are downright terrifying when you want to be." He reminded and the confession filled her with pride, far more than it probably should.
"He's right." Eddie said and Maddie whipped her head back just in time to see the look of awed respect flashing over his face.
Maddie shrugged. "I guess. When it comes to Buck, I might go a little overboard with the whole 'overprotective' sister act." She mused, sending Eddie an apologetic look.
Eddie laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, don't apologize, it's understandable. Besides, I gave enough of these talks to my sister's boyfriends myself. It's all good." he promised, his features soften a little and that put her mind at ease.
Maddie grinned widely as she moved towards the fridge, she pulled out a water bottle and raised an eyebrow at Eddie in question and he shook his head. She took her time closing the door and taking a large sip of water before finally saying, "But in all seriousness though, I am so happy my brother has you. And I am grateful that he has someone who loves him as much as you do."
"I think I'm the one who should be grateful." The way Eddie's nose crinkled as he smiled and dapped his head down shyly was too fucking adorable and Maddie nearly swooned right then and there. It was a rare sight to see Eddie get all vulnerable and raw like that, that it almost felt like an invasion of privacy of some sorts.
Even Chimney stayed quiet in his spot, a look of pure giddiness as he obviously pushed down whatever snarky comments were at the tip of his tongue. And Maddie smiled in pride in the fact she did not even need to glare at him to keep him in check.
"Well how about we just agree you're both lucky and call it even?" she offered, biting her lip to keep the laughter at bay.
Eddie peered up, the tip of his lip crawling to a grin. "Works for me." He chuckled, he shuffled for a moment, recouping back to his earlier stance of confidence, even his shoulders seemed to ease from their previous tension.
"So…" he then started cautiously, "Was that all of it? Or are there any more threats you need to get out of the way?"
Maddie raised an eyebrow, she toyed with the bottle in her hand before finally asking, "Do I need to threat you some more? Cause I can –"
"No!" Eddie cut her off quickly, face flushing a little at the outburst, she swore she heard Chimney choke with laughter behind them, "No, I'm good."
"Okay then." Maddie smirked, her brows furrowed for a second before adding, "As long as you treat my brother well, you and I don't have a problem."
Eddie relaxed and nodded, almost in approval. "Deal."
And then, just because it felt like the right thing to let him know, she said, "Oh and don’t worry, If Buck does something stupid to hurt you I am fully inclined to give him a good smack down too."
At that Eddie laughed heftily, shaking his head in amusement. "Duly noted," he smiled brightly at her, "And appreciated."
Before she could say anything else, he frowned as if a sudden realization hit him smack across the face. "Wait, is that why you offered to watch Chris today? To get me alone?"
Maddie pursed her lips, her hand waving subconsciously towards Chimney who was probably prepared with an unflattering view on the manner. "Maybe." she shrugged coly, biting back a snort at Eddie's very vocal gasp. "But I love Chris, so in all honestly, getting to threaten you is just a bonus."
Eddie brought a hand to his face, rubbing over his mouth – whether in amusement or incredulity unclear. Eventually he seemed to settle for a headshake of disapproval, if only for dragging Christopher into her plans. "Well, I'm getting a night out for it, so who am I to complain?"
"That's the spirt!" Chimney chortled in mock glee, "If it makes you feel any better, she didn’t tell me about this–" he gestured to between them "–either."
Maddie will never know if that indeed made Eddie feel better because his phone chimed, and it only took one look at his dopey smile to know who the text was from.
"Your boo's getting all antsy without you?" Chimney teased before she could and Eddie glared at him with a growl.
"No, he's just letting me know he just left to the restaurant."
"Wait, restaurant?" Chimney voiced back, like it is the most unthinkable notion in the world.
Eddie eyebrows creased in confusion, "Yeah." He nodded, pocketing his phone in his jeans and giving Chimney a dubious glance. "We're going to try out that sushi place Karen keeps talking about. You know this." the implication in his tone left no room to miss on the fact that they spoke to Chimney on the subject, probably more than once.
"Yeah but…" Chimney started, only to shut his mouth and reopen it a few times, obviously thinking better than to say his initial thoughts. "It's just… you and Buck are actually going out." He mumbled, as if silent observation to himself.
Eddie only frowned deeper at that. "Of-course, what did you think we'll be doing?"
"Huh…" Chimney scratched the back of his head nervously, shooting her a hopeful glance. And Maddie rolled her eyes.
"Ignore him." She advised Eddie wisely, "And you better get going before you get derailed by traffic."
"Crap." Eddie cursed after peeking at the clock on the wall, he scrambled to his feet and patted on his pocket as he rushed out of the kitchen.
Maddie gave her boyfriend an unimpressed stare down before following Eddie to the living room, feeling as he trailed after her as well. She got there just in time to see Eddie shower Christopher's head with obnoxious kisses much to the boy's protests.
"Dad, stop!" she heard him whine with a pout when Eddie only laughed and kissed him some more for good measure. "Go kiss Buck! His kisses are better anyway."
The look of pure shock and hurt on Eddie's face was too comical not to laugh at, and his wounded gasp only added fuel to the fire. Maddie was quite sure Chimney would have fall over laughing if he didn't grasp into her shoulder from behind.
"Oh, that how it is?" Eddie's voice called out, the hurt vaporized completely and instead left the softest of fond smile as he rose back from his crunched position by the table.
Christopher simply shrugged. "You told me I should always be honest, Dad." He stated thoughtfully and resumed back to his coloring. "And Buck's kisses are better. But I still like your hugs the most." He pointed out; the comment came off like a consolation price but Eddie eat it up anyways and went right ahead for a hug.
Though judging by Christopher's struggles to breath he seemed to regret saying anything in the first place.
"Can't…breath – Dad!"
"Okay, okay." Eddie laughed as he let go of his son, planting one last kiss to his head before moving to the direction of the front door. "Be good to Aunt Maddie and Uncle Chim, alright?"
"I'll be fine dad." Maddie swore Christopher was rolling his eyes behind his glasses, and she was even surprised he hadn't carried it out with a wave of the hand. "Go be gross with Buck."
Eddie, who was halfway out, nearly tumbled over as he seemed to choke on air. She felt Chimney shake violently behind her – a strangled squealing noise escaping – and Maddie held her breath and huffed her cheeks forcefully to stop her own laughter when Eddie turned to stare at Christopher with bulging eyes.
To his credit, Eddie seemed to recuperate fast enough, simply shaking his head as he mumbled something in Spanish under his breath. He threw one more goodbye and an "I love you" to Christopher all while firmly avoiding Maddie or Chimney's eye.
And Maddie, in a true Buckley fashion, decided to indulge in some more teasing. She managed to grab Eddie's arm just as he opened the door.
"Oh, just one more thing Eddie…"
"Yeah?" Eddie paused, his shoulders tensing much alike they had in the kitchen earlier, he was positioned right at the doorway, ready to bolt at a moment's notice.
"Don't think that just because you have it, you won't still have to ask."
"Ask? Ask what?" Eddie uttered confused and Maddie smirked, ignoring Chimney's snort beside her.
"For my blessing." She explained slowly, relishing the way Eddie flushed when the realization struck. "You know, for when you decide to become my brother-in-law." She added after a moment for good measure. She shoved Eddie out the door playfully, fully aware he's too dumbstruck to respond. "I mean like I said, you already have it, but's it's still polite to ask."
"I – " Eddie started, face burning redder than Maddie ever thought was possible. He half turned to stare at her, mouth gaping and Maddie laughed, taking pity on him.
"Anyways, have fun tonight." Maddie winked, already on the move to close the door in Eddie's stunned face when Chimney decided to toss in one last comment that had Eddie's scowling face be the last thing she saw before the door slammed shut.
"Just make sure you practice it safely, you hear! Rubber is your friend Eddie!"
--
Overall, the next few hours went by relatively quick and without a hitch. Maddie helped Christopher finish his homework while Chimney hid away in the living room, cranking up the tv's volume after making a loud proclamation that he cant not miss the game (and Maddie highly doubted if he even knew which teams were playing.) A little while later Chimney excused herself to the kitchen to make dinner while she sat down with Christopher to watch some kids series she barely paid attention to, finding Christopher's comntery much more interesting.
After dinner she stepped aside to clear out the dishes and clean up the kitchen, and not ten-minutes later she returned to find the table had returned to it's previous glory of crayons and glitter and stickers. Only now there was a bright verity of colorful cards spread all over while Chimney helped Christopher to pick from the pile.
"What is all this?" she asked amused as she sat down to Christopher's right, a part of her wondering where the hell did her boyfriend got all these cards from, or where he stashed all this stuff cause it was her first time seeing it.
"Uncle Chim is helping me." Christopher giggled before plucking a sea-blue card from the table, adding it to the red one he had laid out in front of him.
"Helping with what?"
"Father's day."
Oh. That's right, Maddie remembered, father's day was coming up soon. she watched fondly as Christopher handed Chimney the red card and then urged the glitter and stickers towards him. Chimney responded with a laugh before doing as told and Maddie suddenly realized that Christopher had picked out two cards.
"Uh, Chris?"
He only hummed n reply, without looking up from where he was scribbling over the blue card and Maddie fought the urge to raffle his hair. "Why two cards buddy?"
She had a feeling she already knew the answer, but a conformation wouldn’t hurt. And judging by the shit-eating grin on Chimney's face as he squirted glitter all over the card unevenly, he knew too.
"One's for dad." Christopher said, pointing at the red card under Chimney's mercy before proudly lifting the blue card in the air, "And this one's for Buck!"
Despite the lack of surprise by the declaration, she still wounded up choking on her own spit for a second. She found herself staring at him with a slack jaw and marvel, wondering if there will ever come a day that boy will seize to amaze them all.
"You want to give Buck a father's day card?" she asked, fighting hard to control her less than steady voice.
"Yeah," Christopher shrugged and Maddie now noticed him scrawling out 'To My Buck' over the front of the card, tongue poking out his lips – a habit he undoubtedly picked up from said man. "Buck's my other dad," he then said, with such pure incoent certainty only a child could master, "He should get a card too."
And Maddie wanted to cry with happiness at the simplicity of the statement. Her brother had searched for this kind of unconditional love for so long, only to find it not only in Eddie, but with Christopher as well. He loved that boy so much and she knew that the card would launch him to an active snot-fest and wailing fit she would kill to witness.
"You are something else kiddo." Chimney's voice startle back from her thoughts and when she locked eyes with him, he sent her a knowing look, clearly thinking same as her. He let out a laugh and put down the glitter, eyes scanning over his messy hands for a second before turning to Chris again.
"Can you do me a favor though?"
"What favor?" Christopher wondered carefully, brows knitting together and eyes squinting under his glasses. The action brought such a striking resemblance to his father it was uncanny.
Chimney smirked, brushing his finger over Christopher's nose thus daunting it with sparkling glitter. "Make sure to ask your dad to film it when you give Buck your card, okay?"
Christopher giggled as he rubbed his nose, causing the glitter to only spread out more. Then, in a blink of an eyes, his face turned serious and he seemed to contemplate over the request for a long minute. Until eventually deeming it worthy enough and supplying Chimney with a nod as an answer.
Maddie wasn’t sure if she laughed more at Christopher's enthusiasm as he continued to draw on the cards, or at her boyfriend's antics as he eagerly helped coat them with glitter and stickers – in the end he ended up covered in them more than the cards. Whichever it was, she had it all recorded on her phone since she spent a few good minutes filming them work together (she will pay for it later when Chimney finds out she sent the video to Hen who in return sent it to everyone on the group chain.)
"Aunt Maddie?" Christopher asked once they were done making the cards and Chimney stepped aside to wash up in the bathroom.
She turned to him, placing the last of the glitter into the box and saw him glancing up warily at her as he held the two cards in his hands, the one for Buck clutched a little tighter.
"Yeah buddy?"
"Do you…" Christopher bit his lip, looking down to his hands. "Do you think Buck will like it?"
"Oh, of-course he will Chris." Maddie grinned, she leaned In closer to ruffle Christopher's hair fondly. "He will love it."
"You promise?"
And Maddie's heart nearly burst right there. The way Christopher peered up, all curls and pout, brought back memories of Buck doing the same when he was his age. Every time Buck would ask if she'll be there for his games or school functions their parents wouldn’t bother to show up for, learning far too young to never except them too. it always broke her heart, how little their parents cared or even loved them, that despite her best efforts she still couldn't shield Buck from all of it.
And here she was now, sitting in front of a boy who was nothing less than a son to her little brother. A boy who feared Buck wouldn’t want to receive a father's day card from, when its probably all he ever wanted and more - a family. She knew it wasn’t easy for Buck, to love so freely when their own parents never showed what an ounce of love looked like, and yet he was the most loving, caring and open person she knew. She admired that. The way opened his heart up to Chris and Eddie, never expecting anything in return, stepping into a parenting rule while fully prepared to get his heart broken one day…
Deep down, he was probably still stuck in that mindset. Still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for them to leave like everyone else eventually. And while any other person would have run and hide long ago, close off their heart and swear off love – Buck stayed. He always stayed. Laying everything out in the open and ready for the inevitable heartbreak. Maddie always thought people underestimated how strong Buck was, just for that alone. Because it took special kind of strength to not only be so emotionally vulnerable but to also not let the past dim it away.
And damn if she wasn’t so proud of her brother.
"I promise." Maddie nodded, blinking through the tears as she raised her hand, pinky sticking out. "I'll even pinky swear it to you if you want."
Christopher's grin was blinding as he nearly flew out of his seat in the rush to clasp their pinkies together. And that's how Chimney found them a few seconds later, laughing like fools while swinging their joined fingers together.
--
It didn’t take long after that to finish cleaning the table and put everything away. And once the cards were safely tucked away in Christopher's school bag, they put on some Disney movie for him to watch, and not half an hour later he was out like a light on the couch. Maddie had just come back form the kitchen with two beers in hand only to stumble upon Chimney draping a blanket over Christopher, turning off the TV and lacing a soft kiss to the kid's head before joining her.
The sight made her heart leap to her throat.
"God, I love that kid." Chimney sighed as he plumped down next to her at the table, gratefully accepting the beer she offered.
Maddie chuckled. "Yeah, me too. He's a treasure."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the quite as they drank their beer before Chimney cleared his throat. "When are they coming to pick him up."
"Huh…" Maddie hummed, glancing down at her phone. "Buck said they should be here soon." she shrugged to which Chimney nodded once, before turning to stare at wall as though deep in thought.
She raised an eyebrow at the brooding expression on his face before nudging him at the shoulder with the tip of her bottle. "What got you all wistful?"
Chimney swallowed roughly, eyes darting all over before he sighed again. "There something I've been meaning to talk to you about…"
Maddie fought back the unreasonable anxiety at the words. "Okay." she hoped she conveyed enough calmness to her voice.
"Well I guess it's more give you something…" Chimney put down his bottle, his hand scrating the back of his head. "Chris helped me actually." He stood up, walking towards the small desk by the front door.
Maddie saw his shuffle around one of the drawers before he pulled out a purple card. She could spot the glitter all the way from the table and when Chimney turned back, each of his steps was filled with clear hesitation, a little jumpy even.
"What is it?" she asked with a smile, trying to rack her brain on whether she forgot an anniversary or something.
"Open it." Chimney reached back to the table, he set the card down and sat back in his chair. She could feel his leg bounce in anticipation and hear him tapping his knuckled on the wood surface while she focused her attention to what's in front of her.
It was obviously a rash job; they must have made it while she was cleaning the dishes. There was a big heart splattered all over the front with various colors of glitter, a huge M + H in the middle done by a black sharpie. She took the card with shaky hands, the tears returning to her eyes as she opened it and a gasp ripped from her throat.
Inside there were two stick figures holding hands with distinguishing characteristics – drawn by Christopher – and a question carefully written down in Chimney's handwriting. (And an added sentence underneath.)
Will you Move in with me? Please?
(Move in with him Aunt Maddie! Please!)
And well, by that point she gave up and allowed a choked sob to escape. Followed by several more.
"Maddie?" Chimney straighten up in his seat, already reaching out to her. "Oh shit – I'm sorry, look we can just forget –"
She shut him up by jumping to her feet as fast and quietly as possible, and practically leaping into his lap, her face buried into his neck and card still in hand. His arms wrapped around her instantly and Maddie pulled back just enough to look him in the eye.
They've been taking things slow, sure. But most of their stuff were spared all over both their apartments for a while now, they slept in the same bed more often than not and Maddie hated nights they didn’t come home to each other. She was ready to take this step. She knew it, and he knew it too or otherwise he wouldn’t have asked. And yes, she was scared but after Doug she probably always will be. So she needed to take a page out of Buck's book and be brave.
"Yes." She croaked out, voice still raw from the tears, she felt the wide grin forming on her face.
"Yes?" Chimney asked, his grin mirroring her own, his grip tightening around her waist and Maddie let her arms lock behind his neck, still refusing to let go of the card. (She will definitely have it framed later and displayed proudly on the wall.)
"Duh!" She drawled out teasingly and Chimney laugh was cut short when she leaned in to kiss him senselessly.
And a few minutes later they nearly tumbled over to the floor when Buck charged in with Eddie on tow – letting himself in with his key, and Maddie supposed it was a fitting payback for the times she barge into his place unannounced in the past.
There was one long moment where they all just started at each other, Buck and Eddie with raised eyebrows and Maddie and Chimney with red faces, before Buck burst into laughter, his boyfriend not far behind. And after a round off merciless teasing, once Maddie managed to get a word in and share the news, it quickly turned into a round of hugs and cheers.
Christopher chose to wake up then, joining with a sleepy and an excited demand to show off the card he helped make – that only led Buck to taunt and mock Chimney more.
So, Maddie did the wise thing, she all but shoved them out the door after a quick goodbye, smiling gratefully to Eddie who picked up on her intention and hurried to push Buck out to the hall.
Her and Eddie make a good team, she mused to herself as she waved to Christopher one last time, they definitely just prevented Buck and Chimney from strangling each other.
"Have I told you your brother is annoying?" Chimney huffed once she shut the door, she felt him press up to her back, hugging her from behind.
Maddie threw her head back, laughing. "Once or twice…"
Chimney groaned something prolonged and unclear to her neck and she laughed again. "You’re gonna need to repeat that, baby." Maddie told him, her hand reaching up to brush his hair fondly.
"I don't care whose apartment we move into, but there's no way Buck keeps his key privileges!"