The Nature of the Emergency (Evan 'Buck' Buckley X OC)

Parenthood

"You went hardcore with the party design," I observe.

"It's my job. Literally. I run a mummy blog. I spent months planning this thing, trying to make it perfect and my kid hates me for it," The victim complains as Buck finally joins us.

"He doesn't hate you. He's just twelve. He will get over it," Bobby reassures our victim. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem convinced.

"It feels like no matter what I do it's wrong," She counters. I can't blame her as I was a twelve-year-old once. It was my chaos year.

"You did a good job at constructing the shed," Buck offers with a flourish of optimism.

"It was from a kit. A sponsor sent it," The woman is not understanding what Buck is trying to say. Oh well, there is not much that I can do as I know Eddie and I have done everything that we can do. With a joke from Eddie Buck gets to work on cutting the door down. After a few minutes, the door is finally down but there is a catch.

"Phase one is a success but there is no way the barn door is going to fit through the ambulance door," Eddie reads my mind. After some back and forth we reach an interesting conclusion. We are going to use the engine to transport her.

"Eddie, Ella you two are going up first. Make sure she remains stable," Bobby orders. With our orders, we climb to the top of the engine. After a few minutes of making sure our victim is still stable. Luckily for us, nothing changed while the others were getting her on board. After what can only be described as an interesting ride we finally made it to the hospital. After an eternity the handover is complete. Thankfully it doesn't take long for us to return to the firehouse. After a couple of quiet hours, I am pulled out of my thoughts by a familiar voice.

"Umm...Ella, do you mind if we talk in private please?" Gavin asks.

"Sure. Follow me," I responded as I took him to the bunkroom.

"What's wrong?" I get to work on checking on him. After all, it is unusual for him to come to the firehouse unannounced.

"Well I spoke to Grandpa and they told me that they can't make it to the wedding. He never gave me a real reason," Gavin explains as he starts fidgeting.

"They can't come to LA because the Australian government is being strict. It's annoying but the owner of the venue told us that we could stream it for them. Besides I already promised Grandma that Buck and I that she'd call us when the celebrations died down," I fill in the gaps for Gavin.

"But it's not fair," Gavin complains. Of course, it isn't fair but the pandemic threw the world into chaos.

"I know Gavin, they are our only biological family left but there is not much that we can do. Besides you are a part of the 118 family anyway," I counter. After a few minutes, Gavin is finally calm enough to rejoin the others.

It has been a couple of days since then and Howie is back. He is currently showing us photos of his daughter Jee-Yun. She is the most adorable baby I have ever seen.

"This is the first time she smiled," Howie proudly displays the photo. I don't think she is smiling. Still, she is cute.

"You sure that's a smile? That's the same face Buck makes when he is gassy," Eddie teases Buck.

"I will take that as a compliment 'cause that means she looks like her uncle Buck," Buck retorts. He is matching Howie's pride. The thing is Buck has always been good with kids.

"God, I love her so much. I don't even feel like the same person anymore. Is that weird?" Howie asks.

"What's that saying? Having a kid is like walking around with your heart on the outside of your body," Bobby chimes in as he passes a couple of cups of coffee around. Of course, Bobby would know what he is talking about.