Buck's Baby (By Accident)

Apartments

The relief Buck felt when the cast was finally lifted off his arm was indescribable. His arm felt so light that he thought it might start floating up towards the ceiling and Buck laughed as he watched his arm actually leave the table it had been resting on.

"I forgot that happens" he said with a grin as he made a conscious effort to keep his arm down.

"I'll give you a moment to wash your arm before we got through the proper post-cast care" the nurse offered, gesturing to a sink behind him. Buck walked over to the sink and carefully wetted his arm, enjoying the feeling of water hitting the dirty skin for the first time in 5 weeks. It was also the first time Buck had seen the scar from where his bone had been re-aligned. It was about 2 inches long, running from just below his wrist to midway up his forearm. The incision was healing well, the scab had come off with the cast to reveal a clean, pink line. It felt smooth under Buck's fingers as he scrubbed away at the dead skin around his hand. He thought of it as yet another war wound, joining the one on his knee.

When Buck was finished cleaning himself (and doing his best not to be grossed out by all the skin he'd scraped off), the nurse took him through some exercises he could do to regain movement in his wrist again, urging him to book in with a physiotherapist as soon as possible. Buck had to admit, his wrist did twinge a bit when he moved it, the muscle and tendons getting used to flexing and relaxing again after 5 weeks of not being used.

Eddie looked up at him as he walked back to the waiting room.

"How was that?" he asked, pushing himself off the chair and holding his hand out to see Buck's arm. Buck resting his arm in Eddie's hand, smiling as the older man inspected it with curiosity.

"It was fine. Looks weird now aye".

"I'll say" Eddie said, turning Buck's arm over in his hands. "It's all skinny and hairy".

"Hey!" Buck protested with a laugh, whacking Eddie on the arm with his free hand. Eddie sent him a sheepish grin and ran his thumb over the new scar. Buck shivered slightly at Eddie's gentle touch.

"Looks sore" Eddie said softy, a touch of sympathy in his voice. "If you were Christopher, he'd ask me to kiss it better".

Buck felt his cheeks colour and he laughed shakily. "Don't underestimate the power of kisses better" he said, trying to play off the way Eddie's suggestion made his heart flutter in his chest.

Eddie gently bought Buck's arm up to his face and, looking Buck dead in the eye, pressed his lips to the sensitive skin. His lips lingered there longer than was necessary, brushing gently against the scar. Buck sucked in a breath as he watched, his heart in his mouth.

"There" Eddie said softly against Buck's arm. "All better". He dropped Buck's arm, causing the younger man to wince as his wrist jarred painfully, and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on, lets go home. You've got a very wriggly baby waiting for you who can't wait for his Daddy to hold him". Eddie grabbed Buck's shoulders and directed him towards the car, the young firefighter speechless from the display of affection.

The final week of Buck and Aidan's time at Eddie's house went by in a flash. Buck was quickly become more independent when it came to caring for Aidan now that he was able to lift the baby with both hands and was regaining movement in his wrist. He still had the occasional thing he needed help with, such as bathing the baby, but for the most part he had it all under control. Buck noticed a shift in household's mood the day before him and Aidan were due to leave. Christopher was naturally very upset at Buck's having to leave and didn't hold back on letting him know. It broke Buck's heart to know how much the kid was going to miss him and he was so tempted to ask Eddie if him and Aidan couldn't just move in. He knew better, however. Eddie's house was nowhere near big enough to accommodate another two people.