Like every other time in her life, Mariana moved on. She didn't want to deal with the sad eyes Eddie sent her or the pangs of sadness that echoed and reverberated through her chest. So instead she threw herself into projects around the house. That meant Eddie was a frequent visitor at local garden shops, the grocery store, and even the craft store. Anything his wife and kids needed, he would get it.
"Goooood morning, Diazes," Buck announced as he let himself into the house. Mari poked her head out of the kitchen and grinned.
"Good morning," she greeted. "Ready to learn how to bake?"
"I know how to bake."
"Not well," she teased. "C'mon. Eddie and the boys are at the park to get some energy out so you get to be my tester."
"What are we baking today?" Buck asked as he joined her in the kitchen. He looked around the formerly blank space, amazed by how much it has changed in two years. When Eddie had first moved here and joined the 118, the house was barely decorated aside from Christopher's room. Now there were plants in the windows, kid's art hung up on the walls, and actual appliances in the kitchen.
"Muffins. Blueberry and chocolate chip. I've been craving muffins and I have no idea why."
Buck would never tell her but Eddie had let him know what happened. Mari had Eddie to lean on and Eddie needed to tell someone. Buck gladly took on his role as best friend and sat and listened as Eddie told him everything. Eddie had convinced Mari to schedule a doctor's appointment to figure out what the hell her symptoms were then, but the earliest she could get was next week.
So he would gladly be her kitchen helper if it kept her mind off of the negative test. He could see a hint of sadness clinging to the edges of her smile. Buck took that as a sign to throw a blueberry at her. Mariana glared at him and he merely shrugged.
"Brat," she muttered before flicking a chocolate chip at him. Buck neatly caught it in his mouth and she rolled her eyes. "Pass me the flour and the measuring cups."
"Aye aye, captain."
Mariana turned on some classic rock and the two got to work on the muffins. Twenty minutes later and they slid the two trays into the oven. Buck looked around the messy kitchen. "Time to clean?"
"Pfft, we can make Eddie do that. I want to hear all about your date." Mariana poured two glasses of lemonade and gestured for him to follow her out to the backyard. They sat on the edge of the patio, the spring sun beating down on them.
"So, where did you go? Was she nice? What did you wear?" Mariana grilled him. Buck awkwardly laughed and shrugged.
"We went to this Korean place and the food was really good. I wore the same stuff I wear for every date. We're actually planning on going on another date soon."
"Wow, you must like this girl."
"He's really great, yeah."
He ducked his head so he couldn't see her expression. Mari paused and then looked at him with a smile on her face. She reached over and squeezed his hand. "Thank you for telling me. I'm proud of you, no matter who you date. I will be giving him the shovel talk though."
Buck turned quickly, pulling her in for a tight hug. Mariana laughed in surprise and patted his back. "I love you, Buck. Nothing can ever change that. You love who you love."
"I didn't know how to tell anyone. You all know me to date women and now..."
"You're dating someone you find attractive and funny and kind." She pulled back and tapped his chest, right where his heart rested. "All that matters is how you feel here. You know no one on the team would care about who you bring home. We would just be content with you finding someone who treats you right. Does he?"
"He does. He really does. It was one of the best dates I've ever had."
Mari pinched his cheek teasingly. "When do I get to meet him?"
"Geez, let me take him on another date before you scare him off." She shoved his shoulder and he laughed, tugging on her hair. Telling her was a weight off of his chest. The other weight would rest there for a bit until he was able to take him out on another date. She would strangle them both for not telling her.
"Now, what about you? Anything going on in your life?" He knew what he was asking. He just needed to see how she reacted. Mariana's eyes darted towards the ground and she tugged on the grass, a small shrug lifting her shoulders.
"Nothing much. The boys are doing good with online learning but they wish they could be in person. Eddie wants to paint our bedroom because he's getting bored with the yellow."
"Mari." He said it gently, but she understood his meaning underneath his tone. Her dark eyes stared out at the blooming flowers and green grass in front of her. She shook her head and sighed.
"What do you want me to say, Buck? We took a test and it was negative. I didn't even think I was pregnant but Eddie...he had this look in his eyes. And when he saw it was negative...fuck, it hurt."
"You can actively try now," he pointed out.
"We haven't really talked about it since that night," she admitted. "I just don't know what to say. And what's wrong with me then? What if I'm sick or something?"
"You'll be fine," Buck immediately replied. "Don't think like that."
Mariana let out an indignant huff. "It's not that easy, Buck."
The oven timer sounded from the kitchen and Mariana stood up to go check on the muffins. But the second she stood, a shadow passed over her face in confusion. She stumbled slightly and grabbed onto Buck's shoulder.
"I feel really dizzy," she mumbled out. Buck immediately stood up and caught her as she stumbled forward. He lowered her to the ground as her eyes rolled back and she fainted into dead weight in his arms. Laying his sister down on the patio, Buck ran inside and grabbed a pillow from the couch to put under her head and then he checked her pulse. It was steady but not as strong as it usually was. He tipped her chin back and angled her mouth open so she could get better air. Her eyelids were already fluttering with signs of consciousness.
"Mari. Mari, are you with me?" he asked frantically.
"Hmmm, 'm okay," she grunted. "What happened?"
"You fainted. I'm going to go turn off the oven and then I need to call Eddie, okay? Don't try to get up."
She nodded and grimaced as she opened her eyes to the bright glare of the sun. Instead, she just screwed her eyes shut and sent him a thumbs up. Buck ran to the kitchen and pulled the muffins out of the oven and turned it off before he grabbed his phone off of the counter.
"Hey Buck, what's up? I thought you were going to help Mari bake," Eddie answered.
"I am. Are you on your way back yet?"
"Yeah, we're about ten minutes away."
"Okay. Okay good. Hey man, uh don't freak out, but she just fainted. I think you really need to take her to the ER when you get here."
"Shit, yeah, of course. I'll be there as soon as I can."
///
"I hate this," Mariana groaned as she shifted around on the bed. Eddie planted his hands on her shoulders to stop her wiggling around and she rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Eddie. It was just a little faint."
"What if you had been home alone? What if you hit your head? Or you woke up and couldn't get to your phone? Sit down," he ordered. She frowned and he immediately sat on the edge of the bed, checking her pupils. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"
"No, just still a little dizzy."
"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling bad? There was no way we would have left the house if you had said something."
"It came out of nowhere. One minute I was fine and the next, I'm waking up to Buck looking like he had seen a ghost."
Eddie kissed her forehead and casually checked her pulse. She rolled her eyes at his mother henning and rested her head back against the pillows.
"Eds? What if something's wrong with me?" she asked quietly.
"Then we get the best doctors and we figure it out together," he promised. "When I said in sickness and in health, I meant it."
A knock sounded on the door and Dr. Green entered with a chart in her hands. She shut the door behind her and removed her mask, a perk of having three vaccinated people in a room together.
"You must be Mariana's husband. She's one of my best nurses but the worst patient," Erica greeted as she pulled up a monitor and began to type in some information.
"What's the prognosis, Erica? Am I dying?" Mariana asked dryly.
"Quite the opposite. You just need to up your iron intake so I prescribed some supplements but you're also going to want to talk to your OB. Iron deficiency anemia is highly common in pregnancy."
Silence.
Erica looked up to find two very surprised Diazes staring at her. She glanced slowly down at her chart and then back up at them. "What?"
"Pregnant?" The word fell out of Mariana's mouth so quietly, it seemed as if saying the word too loudly would ruin the whole thing.
"Yes, about eight weeks. I figured you already knew."
"Eight weeks?" Mari squeaked out. "But..we took a test and it was negative."
"False negatives happen all the time, especially taken at night. HcG levels can be diminished at night thanks to constant urine output throughout the day. I know for a fact that you put away a lot of water throughout the day."
Eddie turned his head to stare at his wife, a brilliant grin spreading across his lips. Mariana bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes and she leaned against him as the tears began to course down her cheeks. "Yeah, I guess I have been more emotional than usual."
"I'll give you two some privacy while I get the discharge papers setup. Then you can head up to floor fifteen and schedule an appointment with an OB. Congratulations, Mariana. You're going to be an amazing mother."
"She already is," Eddie replied without thought. He was unable to tear his eyes away form the woman in his arms even as the door shut behind them.
"Pregnant," she said finally.
"Pregnant," he parroted back. Mariana smiled so brightly that he could have sworn that he fell in love with her all over again. Eddie kissed her deeply, trying to convey just how much he loved her. The woman who loved him even when he was a mess. The woman who was so strong. The woman who was now carrying their child. His hand drifted down to lay against her flat stomach and she immediately raised her own to cover his. They looked down at their hands and Mariana let out a soft laugh.
"Hi baby, we're your parents."
A/N: not me actually crying writing this thinking about how I started writing Mariana because I was in a really dark place and I wanted to know what it felt like to be strong and now look at her!!! Look at my girl go!!!