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Hen is having a great time leaning against her beautiful wife and listening to her chat with her best friend, Maddie similarly shiny-eyed and holding a sleeping infant in her arms against him, when Eddie thwumps into the couch next to her, rosy-cheeked and a little bleary-eyed.
“Tired?” Chim breaks away from the conversation to ask, a thread of teasing in his voice. Eddie smiles, tilts his head, shrugs. Hen takes it as a yes.
“Where’s Buck?” is her question, because it’s Eddie.
Eddie points. “He’s feeding the kids,” he says, something awed in the undertones of his words. Hen looks, and watches as Buck chats with the kids, grinning as Mara puts her hand on her hips like she’s in a high-stakes negotiation. Eventually, whatever he says coaxes the children to stop huddling around Harry’s new steam deck and grab at the tray of food in Buck’s hands instead, ripping into them like the beloved little monsters they are.
She smiles at the sight, especially at Buck handing something to Christopher, who wrinkles his nose before heaving a sigh so big she can see his shoulders move from the porch, grabbing it and chewing in the pointed way only a teenager could. Buck laughs, ruffles his hair (to obvious complaints), and beside her, Eddie mumbles something that she can’t quite make out.
“Explode?” Karen repeats, tilting her head adorably, brows furrowed in the beginnings of concern. “Eddie, please don’t throw up on my wife. Or me. Mostly me.”
Hen slaps her shoulder in mock-indignation, but does a little assessment of Eddie. He does look tipsier than he usually gets at their gatherings, but that’s to be expected. It is a ‘Welcome-home-Eddie-and-Chris’ slash ‘Bobby’s-alive!’ party, after all. She had watched Buck dart between the three of them like a bee buzzing between flowers, leaning into a smiling Bobby to help with the grilling, then darting to smack a kiss onto a complaining Christopher’s curls before the kids went off to play, then back, back, always back to Eddie, another drink in hand and glowing so bright that it illuminated everyone around him.
Which is to say: Eddie has had a lot of drinks tonight.
But Eddie is shaking his head, smile tipping even bigger. “No, no-” he flaps a hand. “I mean. Like. I’m gonna explode on the inside.”
Maddie giggles, eyes tracking Eddie’s. “Why do you feel like you’re going to explode on the inside?” she asks, sounding like she already knows the answer.
As if in response, Buck’s eyes dart up again, meets Eddie’s. He waves, beaming, and Eddie waves back.
“Buck,” he says solemnly. “Makes me feel sick. With feelings.”
Hen can’t help bursting into laughter at that, and Eddie glares at her half-heartedly.
“It’s not fair,” he insists, sliding down a little on the sofa, all rumpled and love-lorn. Karen pokes him in the arm, and he flaps a hand at her, making her giggle. Hen smiles, because Karen’s laughter is approximately the most incredible thing in the world, alongside their children and this family that she’s somehow, impossibly found.
“Have you told Buck this?” she asks, and Chim nods vigorously.
“Maybe it’ll make you less sick if you get it out,” he adds. Raises an eyebrow. “You know, like food poisoning.”
Eddie glares at him. “Buck is nothing like food poisoning,” he says, genuine indignation in his voice. “Buck is- is- ‘s like ballroom dancing. And glitter shots. And the sun.” a pause, where Hen looks over and sees Karen looking on the verge of tears. She doesn’t blame her, she’s feeling a little melty herself. But then, Eddie frowns a little. “He did give me actual food poisoning once, though. ‘Cos we didn’t know I couldn’t eat-- um--”
“Avocados,” Hen supplies, because she makes it a point to be aware of every food sensitivity on the team, and because Buck had reminded her about a dozen times the day after he found out. It’d be cute, if it weren’t so annoying. Or maybe it’s the other way around.
“Avocados,” Eddie confirms, grimacing. “Buck’s nothing like avocados.”
Hen nods solemnly. “I know,” she says, half-teasing, half-sincere. “He’s the sun.”
“He’s the sun, and my kid’s other dad, and-- and--” he looks at them intently, voice going all serious. All of them lean in despite themselves, like a gaggle of children crowding around to hear a secret. “-- I’m gonna marry him one day.”
Their shrieks of laughter and delight fill the air, and Hen looks up, catches Buck’s eyes from across the yard. His smile is beaming, bright. She knows, knows, that it’ll get even brighter, with time. That they’ll get there, eventually.
She nudges Eddie, and he looks up too. Buck waves at them again, bigger than the sun behind him, and the two of them wave back.