The Family We Choose

Chapter 41

"Remind me to never have children." Emelia says as she slumps down the kitchen counter, her head falls back as she closes her eyes. Taking care of 6 nine-year-olds hell bent on causing as much trouble as possible was a task not meant for a clueless dad and teenage sister.

They needed an entire army to keep track of them all.

Eddie chuckled before following suit, hoping that a movie and sugarless treats would keep the monsters occupied enough to catch a breath.

"They looked so innocent when they all first got here." she mumbles, closing her eyes for a split second before a smile erupts across her face. Chris looks so happy despite momentarily being possessed.

"Now that they are distracted," Eddie says after a moment of silence. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Emelia hums, not fully paying attention to his words.

"I've been talking to some lawyers about my will." he says bluntly, Emelia seems to wake up at his words. She turned to him, head tilted.

"Did I miss something?" She asks hesitantly, unsure if she should be scared of his answer.

"No," he shakes his head with a fond smile. A silent promise to her. "The past few weeks just got me thinking about a lot of things."

"Like?" She prompts.

"I never realized just how much I have to lose," he says slowly. "And even if I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, I don't have as much control over that as I thought I did and making sure you and Chris are taken care of is all I can think about."

"I thought that's where your parents came in." She ducks her head like they would suddenly appear.

"It always made sense that you two would do to your grandparents, they've always wanted you guys all to themselves." Eddie does his best not to think about all the times they tried to take Chris away or many times they failed to fight for Emelia.

"You mean Chris." Emelia says truthfully and Eddie feels completely confident in his choice.

He's not the only one who remembers all the things they said when she was little. How forgotten she was. How hard they would fight for Chris and how little they would fight for her.

Every time they threw her suicide in Eddie's face or blamed him for that choice, she knew it wasn't because they cared about her. It was because they wanted to make it seem like he wasn't enough. Like it was some grand proof that he was a terrible father. That Chris would end up the same as her. Like she didn't fight like hell every day to make sure that never happened.

And that wasn't something Eddie could live with anymore. He never wanted to think about the day they would lose him for good but to think Emelia would be alone through it all made his stomach ache. Almost dying, having to fight so hard to come back to his family, made him realize that this will was far from up to date.

Eddie needed to know that she would be taken care of, even if she is 19 and living at home. She needed someone to be there for her and there was only one person that came to mind. And he needed someone that knew how to take care of Christopher and not coddle him.

"That's exactly why I made the appointment with my lawyer." He knows it would make more sense to have them go to Bobby or maybe even Hen but it wasn't them who saved his children from a tsunami and it wasn't them who stayed the night while he was trapped in the hospital to recover.

"If something ever happens to me and I can't make it home, Buck is the one who will take care of you guys."

There is a small smile on her lips and she feels weirdly safe. She never wants to think about the day where she won't get to see her dad everyday. That is not the life she wants to live but to have that security blanket to fall into anytime she needs, means everything to her.

"I know you're almost 18 and you may even move out in the next few years, but I know Buck will be there for you no matter what." Every second he was down in that well, he thought about what would happen to Chris and Emelia.

What would happen to them when he was gone? Would they be happy with his parents? Would they be taken care of? He thought of their life back in El Paso, all the pain and hurt that they had left behind there. He also remembers all the good that has come out from being in LA.

His kids are happy, truly and fully happy. Even if they had to fight hard to make it to where they are now, they have people in LA who love them. Carla, everyone at the 118, Buck.

Especially Buck.

As he swam out of that well and fought his way back to his family he could only think about them. When Buck first met Chris and Emelia, their first Christmas here with Shannan and Buck. All that they accomplished in school. Getting to see Emelia back on that stage. All these beautiful memories.

It wasn't just that, when he was fighting his way to the hospital he didn't even have to ask Buck to go stay with his kids.

All Buck said was, "I've got them."

And he felt safe again.

"Buck you don't have to." Hen looked at the pair, eyes going back and forth between them quickly. Taking a personal bet on who would win. Eddie needed the hospital but he was also dead stubborn.

"No, but I'm going to. Emelia is probably still awake and Chris likes my pancakes more than yours." It was true. Rude but true. Eddie slowly nodded his head and let Buck push his back into the gurney. They would be okay.

"Me too." Emelia says. Buck would always be there for her. Even if it took almost dying in a fire to help her come to terms with it. It was true. "But that doesn't mean you can die. Chris still needs you. I need you.

"I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon." He says, patting her leg as a small reassurance. This isn't a usual conversation to have with your daughter.

"Good,." She leans her head onto his shoulder, closing her eyes again. Taking in the brief moment of silence.

"So you're okay with this then?" He asks, resting his head on top of hers.

"Dad," she rolls her eyes, hoping he misses that fact. Buck was practically co-parenting with Eddie by now. "Did you ask him to come over the night you got trapped in the well?"

"No," Eddie says and Emelia nudges him gently to make him go on. Eddie smiles shyly, cheeks heating up. "But he came anyway."

"Exactly. Does he know yet?"

"How do you tell your best friend you baby trapped him?" Eddie chuckles.

"Best friend huh." She hums with a teasing smile.

"You've been spending too much time with Carla." he pushes her shoulder away before Chris is calling them both into the living room.