Chapter Text
This was it. Today’s the day…
Hopefully, this would be the last life-changing event he was going to have for at least the next couple weeks. Evan sighed, a worried frown lining his eyes, and not a moment sooner, he felt his husband’s hand sliding in between his shoulder blades, a silent comfort as those fingers worked their magic. “Stop it,” he groaned, not really meaning it.
“You stop it. I don’t want you to be feeling stressed out,” Eddie grumbled from his bedside. “We can do this another day. You don’t need to see him just because—”
Shaking his head, Evan refuted, “The man thought I was dead for almost my whole life. He deserves to be given some amount of grace.” It was for that same reason that he pushed himself to have that talk with Maddie and Daniel (“You’re not calling him Danny, I’ve got the right to that first. Figure out something else.”) yesterday.
Going by the face his husband was making however, the other man disagreed. “It’s not about giving him a little grace, it’s about you. Whenever you get yourself into a situation, you’re the one I care about. I don’t want to see you get hurt, mi amor.”
“Eddie…” he breathed out, turning his head and closing the distance between them. He cupped his husband’s cheek, carding through the short stubble that grew the past couple days. The kiss itself was short and sweet, and Evan was in no rush to pull back, letting their foreheads rest on each other’s. “Sweetheart, I’m okay. I’m fine, see?” He pulled Eddie closer, grabbing his husband’s hand so it could press against his chest. “Still beating strong.”
They took a few minutes to themselves, staying like that, just listening to his heartbeat.
Eddie took in a shuddering breath, pushing forward so he could press their lips together again, before finally pulling back, though their hands stayed clasped together.
The man looked better now, and Evan felt like kicking himself for not noticing how worried the other had been. “We can call Maddie, she could stall her– our, uh, my…” he pressed his lips together, breathing out through his nose in frustration as he stumbled through what to call the man that he shared half his DNA with. “She could keep Philip company for a while,” he offered, meeting his husband’s eyes.
This time, Eddie was the one who sighed, sounding fondly exasperated, “No, no, you’re right. If you’re feeling up for it, then I’m not stopping you. He should get to see you’re alive with his own two eyes. It’s kind.” As if emphasizing those words, he felt a firm squeeze on his hand.
Returning the gesture, he squeezed back, smiling, “Okay.”
Then there was a knock on the door.
“You two decent in there?”
Predictably, Evan could see his husband rolling his eyes as they heard the question. He laughed, a small, raspy variant of his usual boisterous laughter, feeling some normalcy bleeding through the haze of recovery. “You’ve got to come in and find out, Momma!” He urged, face lighting up as his mom’s unimpressed face stepped into the room.
In her hands, Athena had brought two cups with her, and he could tell what they were by the smell alone, enviously looking on as she gave one to his husband. “Don’t you start – you know you’re not supposed to be drinking this when your throat’s messed up,” the reprimand from her came preemptively, raising a brow at him before he even opened his mouth.
“Betrayed by own mother!” he cried out, turning to Eddie for support. Instead, the other man took a long, deliberate sip from the cup, smacked those plump lips of his, and while staring straight into Evan’s eyes, he deadpanned, “Delicious.”
He squawked at him.
It took a while, but they eventually settled down.
Didn’t even bother to ask why his mom was here—he was lucky enough she decided to give him some leeway yesterday, if only because having been previously acquainted with the Buckley siblings before this whole thing—he went ahead and asked about how everyone else was doing while he he had been sleeping off the day. The only thing he knew for sure was that Christopher had been staying at the Grant-Nash house for the time being.
May had even sent him a lot of pictures of Harry and Chris playing together between her own concerned texts to him since he’d been hospitalized.
“I’m sure Eddie already told you about Chris and the kids,” she started, “Michael and Bobby are with them, so is your Uncle Brogan and the family. Rick’s coming by later, and I think Danny is still sleeping off his jet lag – oh, Isabel and Pepa are also there. They arrived just as I was leaving, and by the stuff they brought, they’re probably cooking up a storm with your dads right now while they wait for you to get the all-clear and go home today, so don’t go borrowing more trouble while you’re here. Hen’s with her family picking up supplies for the party.”
“Please tell me there’s not a cake shaped like a building on fire,” Evan buried his face in his hands, already imagining the dreaded monstrosity in his head.
Athena made a considering noise, chuckling, “It’s Hen. I think her cake guy is more into it than she is by now with all the different kinds of things you inspire them to make.” She wasn’t exactly wrong; the last few cakes were, in a word, elaborate. An exaggerated groan left his mouth, deciding to let the matter of ostentatious cakes rest.
“What about Chim?” Evan inquired.
“Chimney is with Maddie and Daniel. He went with them to pick up your…” His mom blinked, a familiar scrunch entered her expression as she paused, looking hesitant. There was little doubt as to where her thoughts had gone to. He understood the feeling better than anyone, after all, and he still wasn’t sure what was the right call.
Trying to sound reassuring, he said, “Let’s stick with Philip for now.”
Beside him, Eddie muttered, “Speak of the devil…”
Tilting his head, he raised an eyebrow questioningly, and his husband raised his phone in answer. “Daniel just texted. He’s asking if you’re still okay with the visit, just in case you changed your mind about being ready. They understand if you want to wait,” he elaborated, pursing his lips right after he was done explaining. Evan drew a long breath, his eyes flashing to where the door was as if his gaze could summon the Buckleys.
Lacing his fingers with Eddie’s, he exhaled—slowly, carefully, feeling the physical sensation of where his throat was still healing before turning to look back at his husband.
“Let’s do this,” he quietly whispered his assent.
Soon after that, it wasn’t a long wait until the door opened again.
Daniel walked in first; a tired, but pleasant smile was on his face, eyes still a bit swollen. His breath hitched, recalling their conversation and in particular, the part where the man standing in front him, his actual, biological, blood-related older brother, had been crying non-stop as they talked, not that he had a leg to stand on—Evan had had his fair share of tears as he remembered bits and pieces of their memories from the ‘before’. His brother looked settled here, in this moment, contented in a way that was hard to describe.
Next was Maddie, and while their brother looked tired, she was practically radiant, even though her eyes looked puffier than both of theirs combined. She was stronger than him, he realized, mentally speaking. When they had first met each other, he could see the grief that she carried with every step, like she was living with it, even when he couldn’t put a name to it. Now, it was as if a new life was breathed into her, readily embracing the change.
Then there was him.
Evan could easily tell who that last man was.
Not because he already knew who was coming, but because of the startling familiarity that was present in those features. It was like he was looking at an older version of Daniel, down to the tip of his nose. Even their expressions were the same, recognizing the grim disbelief on Philip’s face as it broke into one that was on the verge of tears as soon as those eyes saw him.
Huh, so we’re all crybabies, his mind supplied. Rude.
Stuck in his head, he barely noticed when his mom chimed in softly, her eyes losing the edge they had back when they had been waiting for the Buckleys to arrive. “I think, maybe it’s a good idea for the two of you to catch up first,” she got to her feet, kissing the top of his head before excusing herself. He blinked slowly, watching from the corner of his eye at how Athena basically corralled his older siblings back through the door.
Both Maddie and Daniel shot him encouraging smiles as they headed out.
“I’ll be right outside, call me if you need anything,” Eddie promised him, bringing up their joined hands so he could place an affectionate kiss.
And then before Evan knew it, he was alone in the room with only Philip for company. As for the man himself, he had been sputtering back and forth as the others left one after the other, unsure of whether he should have stopped them or not. In the end, there was nothing left to do but to stare at one another, their gazes filled with differing, yet similarly intense emotions.
Fingers clenched tightly around the hospital sheets, Evan forced himself to be patient, swallowing the instinctive need to comfort the older man. He didn’t have the right words to help reconcile the grief they had felt the past twenty years with reality.
A happy end can’t erase that.
There was a moment when he thought that maybe Philip wasn’t breathing from how long he spent just staring at his face. That was before the man came closer, reaching towards him with a trembling hand. “C-can, can I…?” He stammered, hand hovering over the birthmark on his eye, like he was fixated by the bright spot.
“Yeah,” Evan breathed out. “Here, let me…”
Guiding the Philip’s hand, he shivered the moment their thumb brushed against the skin.
Then he blinked, suddenly aware of something wet on his face.
“It really, it really is you,” Philip was sobbing now, something that was obvious to see even when he tried to cover his face his other hand, apologizing to him over and over. “God, I’m sorry, Evan. I’m so sorry…” The sight made Evan’s heart ache, and inadvertently, he pulled the older man down, tugging at his father’s shirt until he collapsed into his arms.
Letting himself do this, he felt the conflict he held over the situation fade away.
Maybe it was true that he didn’t really need the Buckleys—he already had a family, and he knew exactly who he was, the kind of person he strived to be—but maybe, it wasn’t really about choosing one or the other. Maybe the Buckleys could be part of the family that he chose to have.
At the very least, it couldn’t hurt to try.