Routine

Eddie turns his alarm clock off, groaning as he sits up. He looks over at the other side of the bed, where Millie had snuck in a few hours ago. It's been weeks since the earthquake, and ever since then, she's been having nightmares every night.

"Millie, wake up," he says, shaking her leg lightly.

"I'm sleepy," Millie mumbled, pulling her blanket over her face.

"I know, bug, but I have work today."

"Noo!" Millie grumbles, glaring at her dad as he snatches the blanket off her.

"Come on, I'll let you wake Chris up."

Millie's eyes light up, and she stands on the bed, waiting until her dad turns around before she jumps on him. "Take me to him!"

Eddie waits in the doorway of Christopher's room as Millie jumps onto his bed. "Chrissy, wake up!" Millie says, shaking his arms.

"Careful, Mija," Eddie says, moving towards her.

"Sorry!" Millie says, sitting back on her heels as Christopher smiles at her.

"Rise and shine, little man." Eddie grins at him.

"Let's do this!" Chris and Millie say together.

"Let's do this." Eddie agrees, kissing both of his kids on their heads.

The next thirty minutes are spent with Eddie and Christopher's morning routine, which they try to do daily. Millie usually sleeps in, so she loves it when she can join them and constantly gets Christopher laughing.

"Keep going, my little Superman," Eddie tells Christopher as they're doing pushups.

"Daddy, I'm tired." Millie groans, giving up.

"Alright, go ahead and shower; we'll be finished soon. " Eddie says.

When Millie is done with her shower, Eddie gets cereal and bowls out. Christopher overfills his bowl as Eddie takes some out and puts it into his bowl. "Whoa, that's a little too much; let's share it," Eddie says, chuckling.

Eddie pours the milk into Christopher's bowl before going to the freezer and pulling out waffles and pancakes. "Which one, bug?" He asks, holding them up for Millie to see.

"Both!" Millie shouts.

"Whatever you say." Eddie shrugs, putting one of each in the toaster.

After breakfast, Eddie and Christopher finish getting ready as Millie watches SpongeBob on mute because her dad doesn't like her watching it. Millie never understood why. (My mom hated it when we would watch it, but never told us no.)

"Amelia, what are you doing?" Eddie calls from the bathroom.

"Watching cartoons." Never be specific, and Eddie never finds out.

"Which one?"

"I don't know, Daddy, it's just on," Millie says.

Eddie shakes his head, grinning at Christopher. He knows Millie watches SpongeBob every morning and doesn't want her to, but he lets her think she hides it well. Watching on mute gives it away because he knows if it's anything else, she'll have it as loud as he'd let her.

"I need you to get your stuff, please; we're running late for Abuelas."

"I don't want to go!" Millie says, lying upside down on the couch.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go to work," Eddie says, walking towards the living room.

Millie quickly turns the T.V. off before he gets to her. Eddie picks her up by her feet, swinging her back and forth as she lets out little giggles. It makes Eddie laugh as he listens to her.

"Alright, bug. Please go get your bag," Eddie says, putting her back on her feet.

+

"Daddy, I want to walk alone," Christopher says once Eddie puts the truck in park.

Millie sits in her seat with her arms crossed. She glares at Eddie as he exits the truck and walks to the other side, opening Christopher's door. He sets him on the ground with his crutches, leaving the door open for Millie to come out.

"Alright, bud, Dad's running a little behind," Eddie says.

Eddie walks to the front door with Christopher's bag and knocks.

"Eddito." Abuela smiles at Eddie.

"Morning, Abuela," Eddie says.

"Eddie, help him out," Abuela says, pointing at Christopher.

"He wants to do it," Eddie says, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Hola, mi angel," Abuela says, bending to Christopher's height.

"Hola." Christopher grins.

"Thank you for taking them."

"Taking them is not a problem; giving them back is hard," Abuela says.

"I know, I know." Eddie sighs.

"Where is Amelia anyway?" Abuela asks.

"She's in the truck. I'm going to get her right now." Eddie says, already heading back.

Millie had closed the truck's doors, locking them so Eddie couldn't get back in.

"Millie, unlock the door, please," Eddie says, smacking his hand on the window.

Millie shook her head, glaring at him again. She thinks that Eddie doesn't understand her. She doesn't like spending every day with the same people; she wants to be with her dad.

"Amelia, open the damn door," Eddie says, his voice raised.

"No!" Millie shouts.

"Amelia Everly. I'm going to be late for work. I need you to open the door."

"Now." Eddie's face was getting red. He was getting mad. It made it worse in Millie's head because if she opened the door now, he'd still be angry at her and punish her.

"NO!" Millie screamed, her face red from crying.

Abuela and Christopher watched from the door. "Is Dad mad?" Christopher asked, looking up at her.

"I think he might be," Abuela says, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

"Amelia, you have until three to unlock this door, or I'm sending you back to Texas to live with your grandparents." Eddie resulted in the one thing he knew would work.

"Edmundo, don't tell her that," Abuela says, shaking her head at her grandson.

"Daddy, no, please," Millie screamed, her hands shaking as she tried to unlock the door quickly.

Eddie has the doors open as soon as they are unlocked. "Get out of the truck. I'm already late enough."

Millie gets out, still crying, and stands in the driveway. Eddie closes the back door and goes to get in.

"Edmundo, where's the fire?" Abuela asks.

Eddie runs back to them, giving both Abuela and Christopher a kiss. "Later, buddy." He says to Christopher.

"Adios Mija," Eddie says, trying to kiss Millie's cheek as well, but she pushes him away.

"I hate you!" She mumbles as he backs out of the driveway.

Millie watches him drive away as she listens to Christopher and Abuela speaking and laughing behind her.

"Come on, sweetheart. I have sweets inside." Abuela says, calling for Millie.

With that, Millie finally turns and goes to Abuela, letting her hug and kiss her face. Once inside, she sits on the couch and doesn't move for the first two hours. Not even when Christopher asks her to play with him or when Abuela offers something sweet.

"Mija, how about you and Chris play outside?" Millie shakes her head.

"I'm going to start lunch," Abuela says.

"I want my dad to come back," Millie mumbled, her eyes filling with tears again.

"He'll be back tonight. But until then, I need someone to help keep Chris entertained; he's an active kid." Abuela says, nudging Millie's shoulder.

Reluctantly, Millie agrees to play with Christopher outside. They enter the backyard, and Millie gets the chalk from the hallway closet. They draw a picture together for a little while before she moves away and starts drawing the squares for hopscotch. Millie goes through three times before Abuela comes to call them in.

"Millie, Christopher, come on in th- AHH."

Millie's eyes widen as she watches Abuela misstep and fall. "Abuela!" Millie shouts, running over to her.

"Are you okay?" she asks, kneeling next to her.

"I don't think so, mi amor. Can you get the phone in the house, call nine-one-one?" Abuela mumbles.

She didn't want to scare either of the kids, so she didn't move or make another sound until the paramedics arrived.

"Hello, gentlemen. I may have broken something." Abuela says.

"What happened?" The paramedic checking her breathing asks.

"I was calling the kids inside and just misstepped. Where are they anyway? I don't want them to be scared." She asks as they get her onto a stretcher.

"One of our guys is with them. Do you have someone who could stay with them?"

"No, not someone right away."

"That's alright. They can ride with us to the hospital."

+

Millie loved riding in the ambulance; they let her play with the sirens before they started driving. At the hospital, Aunt Pepa is called to sit with the kids. She finds Christopher and Millie in the waiting room with someone from children's services. "Thank you for staying with them. I got it from here." She says.

She makes sure that both kids are okay before she asks about Abuela. After talking to the doctor, she finally calls Eddie.

+

Eddie still feels horrible about telling Millie he'd send her back to Texas. He knew it was a low blow, even though Millie had never mentioned it, and Eddie knew she had never stayed with Shannon and Christopher when he was gone. Eddie knew that his parents had raised Millie for most of her life, and he hated that. It's a wonder they didn't fight harder for her to stay with them in Texas. 

He'd never be able to make it up to Millie. It was too late.

+

Eddie's phone rings as he talks to Buck, smirking at him as he answers.

"Hello? What? Which one?" Eddie listens as Aunt Pepa explains that Abuela is in the hospital and that she has fallen.

He walks away from Buck, needing to figure out what he will do. He tells Pepa to give him twenty minutes, and he'll be there.

"Eddie! What's going on?" Buck says, following behind him.

"My Abuela's in the hospital. I need to go. My kids were with her today," Eddie mutters, looking for Bobby.

"Alright, we'll take the engine. I'm sure Cap won't mind."

"I can't ask you to leave work, Buck. You need to stay." Eddie says.

"It's fine, I swear I don't mind," Buck says,

"Cap!" He shouts, waving him over.

"What's going on?" Bobby asks, looking between the two of them.

"I need to get to the hospital. My grandmother went in. She had my kids, and I need to see all of them face-to-face." Eddie sighs, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Okay, you guys go. We'll be all right with one truck for a while," Bobby says, nodding toward the engine.

"Thank you, Cap. I owe you." Eddie says, jogging over and opening the passenger door.

"You just make sure everyone is alright and let me know."

Eddie and Buck don't speak other than Eddie telling him which hospital. They park in front of the hospital doors; Buck barely makes it to the Elevator before it closes. "Jesus, Eddie." Buck sighs.

"Sorry," Eddie mumbles.

The elevator doors open, and Buck stays slightly behind as Eddie searches for his aunt. "My aunt." He says, pointing to her when he spots her.

"Tia? Que paso?" Eddie asks, hugging her.

"Is Christopher okay?"

"Yes. You mean Prince Charming, hmm? He's peachy, " his aunt says, pointing at Christopher, who is standing with two nurses, all three laughing.

"Where is Amelia?" Eddie asks, looking around the waiting room. Millie is nowhere in sight.

"She's fine too; she's in the restroom."

"It's your Abuela. She broke her hip."

"What? How?" Eddie asks.

"She was out back, calling the kids to come inside, and she lost her balance. The kids had to call nine-one-one."

"I want to see her," Eddie says, hands on his hips.

"No, she's sleeping now." Aunt Pepa says.

"Who is this?" She adds, looking at Buck.

"This is Buck. We work together." Eddie mutters, his eyes drifting to Millie, walking toward them, her head down.

"Hmm, I just thought you dressed alike."

Eddie gives her a funny look before introducing her to Buck. "This is my aunt Josefina."

"Pepa," He adds.

"Hi," Buck says. + 

Millie stops a few feet from Aunt Pepa and her father. She was not expecting him to show up, and not with Buck. She backs away, still angry at Eddie from earlier that morning.

"You can't keep doing this, Eddie. You cannot keep leaving them with her. She's not up to it." Pepa says.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm trying to find permanent help, but there are too many forms to fill out." Eddie says, glancing at Millie.

"It's worse than the V.A.," He adds.

"I can't believe your gringa ex stuck you with all this."

Eddie looks at Millie, who he knows listens to everything they say. "I'm not stuck, Tia."

"Do you have to go back to work?" She asks, giving him a knowing look. Eddie stares at her, "Ah, and you're not stuck."

"He wants to send me back to Texas. Maybe it's easier with just Chris." Millie says, scaring Buck, who doesn't know she is behind him.

"Amelia, I'm not sending you there. I was just mad." Eddie sighs, running his hand through his hair.

"At least they want me," Millie says, crossing her arms.

"Amelia!" Pepa says, glaring at the girl.

Millie drops her shoulders and sits in the seat behind Pepa. She doesn't give her dad another look.

"I'll keep them tonight, but you need to get this figured out," Pepa says.

"Daddy!" Christopher says, still laughing.

Eddie glances at Millie before going to Christopher. "Hey, buddy." He says, picking him up.

Millie watches her dad and brother and wishes he would give her the same attention he seems to give her brother. Millie was nine. She knew Christopher needed more attention and supervision than she did, but she'd already missed out on so much of her life with her dad—all thanks to his stupid wife, who ended up leaving him anyway.

"It must be rough," Buck says, bringing Millie's attention to him.

"Raising any child alone is rough, but my nephew is a saint, raising both of them." Tia Pepa says.

Buck nods, watching Eddie and Christopher talk and laughing with the nurses.

"I pray for him anyway." Tia Pepa says.

"Why did Daddy bring you?" Millie asked, looking up at Buck.

"Well, uh, I was available, and he needed a ride here," Buck says, looking at Tia Pepa for help.

"But he has a truck; he can come by himself," Millie mutters.

"We were on a call, Amelia; that's why Buck is here," Eddie says, saving Buck from more awkwardness.

Buck has spent many days and nights at Eddie's since the earthquake, but Millie has yet to warm up to him completely. Although she was learning that he loved Christopher as much as she or her dad did, that gave him some credit.

"Can we go to your house now, Tia?" Millie asked, deciding to ignore her dad.

"Of course we can, sweetheart." Tia Pepa says, wrapping her arm around Millie's shoulders.

They all leave together, Eddie carrying Christopher to Tia's car. "I love you, buddy. I'll see you in the morning."

"Love you, too, Dad," Christopher says, a goofy grin on his face. Eddie smiles back as he walks to Millie's side of the car.

"Goodbye, mija. I l-"

"Leave me alone!" Millie interrupts him, crossing her arms and looking out Christopher's window.

"I love you, Mija. Be good." Eddie says, squeezing her shoulder before shutting the door.

"Just go back to work, mi amor. You can talk to her in the morning." Tia Pepa says, hugging Eddie and saying goodbye to Buck.

+

Eddie arrives at his aunt's house the following day, before the kids wake up, giving him and Pepa time to discuss the day's situation.

"I don't know what to do. I can't miss work without anyone else to help me." Eddie runs his hands through his hair, looking at his aunt.

"If you can, could you take them for a few hours? I will try my best to get out of work early, then I can pick them up." She suggests. 

He thinks it over for several minutes, working out in his head how taking his children to a firehouse would go. In the end, though, he texts Buck about that day's shift. 

"I'll text Buck and tell him I'll bring them. He can help me keep them entertained." Eddie texts Buck, who responds with a thumbs-up.

+

"You guys are finally going to meet everyone. But I need you both to be on your best behavior and listen to everything I say," Eddie explains to the kids as they drive toward the firehouse.

"Can we sit in the firetrucks?" Christopher asks, looking out at the firehouse as Eddie parks the truck. 

"Yeah, bud, you can," Eddie says, approaching Christopher's door. 

"You coming?" Eddie asks, looking at Millie. 

Millie shook her head no. She was still mad at him and had ignored him when she woke up. She was going to sit in the truck, even if it meant dying from heat stroke. 

"Come find us when you want to be nice." Eddie sighs, closing the door. 

+

Buck shows up for work ten minutes after Eddie. He notices Eddie's truck's front windows are down, but thinks nothing of it. He enters the firehouse and immediately hears Christopher laughing in the loft. 

"Buck!" Christopher says, grinning as Eddie helps him walk toward him. 

"Hey, Chris. How are you?" Buck asks, lifting him into his arms. 

"Good. We got to come to work with Dad today." 

"I know! We're all excited you're here." Buck says, setting Chris back on his feet. 

He was ecstatic when Eddie told him he was bringing the kids because he'd wanted to show them the firehouse and trucks for weeks. He knew both Millie and Christopher would love all of it. He'd texted Bobby on his way into work so that he wouldn't be upset when he got to work and found two children sitting in the loft. 

"Where is Millie?" Buck asks, looking around the loft. 

"She's mad at dad," Christopher says. 

"She's in the truck. You can try to get her out, but she probably won't leave." Eddie says, setting Christopher on the couch and sitting next to him. 

Buck goes outside to Eddie's truck and opens the passenger door. "Hey, can I sit here?" he asks, nodding at the seat. 

Millie shrugs, and he takes that as a yes. Closing the door behind him, he rubs his hands over his thighs and looks around the truck. He looks back at Millie, "What are you doing out here?" 

"Nothing," 

"Do you want to come inside? You can turn the sirens on." Buck tries, hoping that it will work.

"No, thank you," Millie mumbled. 

"Okay. Do you want to explain why you're mad at your dad?" Buck asks, turning in his seat. 

Millie's eyes filled with tears; she didn't want to talk about it. She wished that her dad would take it back, that he hadn't said it. He'd never threatened her with it before, but she knew he'd send her back if he really wanted to. "He said he'd send me to Texas." 

"Should I beat him up?" Buck asks, hoping for a laugh. 

"I'm sad, and I'm mad," she says as if he never spoke. 

"Does it mean that my Daddy doesn't love me?" She asks when Buck doesn't say anything. 

"Of course, he loves you. He would never send you back there. I wouldn't let him." Buck says. 

Millie climbs over the seats, sitting next to Buck. "Why did he say it?" She mumbled. 

"Honestly, I don't know Millie." Buck shrugs. He has no clue how to answer that; Millie and Christopher are the only kids he's been around. 

"I didn't mean to make him that angry with me. I just wanted to stay with him." 

"I think that we should go inside, and I'll tell him why you're so upset with him. Will that be okay?" Buck asks. 

Millie nods, and he grins. Putting the windows up in the truck, he helps her out of the truck. 

+

Twenty minutes later, everyone, including Millie, was sitting in the loft, and they were all getting Christopher to laugh. 

"I do this too much?" Chimney asks, moving his hand like a puppet, a mouth that won't stop talking. 

"I have to agree." Buck laughs, pushing Chimney's shoulder, making Christopher laugh even more.

"Christopher, I thought we were buddies. What happened?" Chimney acted hurt as Christopher laughed. 

Buck looks over to Millie, who hasn't left his side since he convinced her to leave the truck. 

"What's this? I don't remember asking the chief for reinforcements." Captain Bobby Nash asks, coming up the stairs. 

Millie watches her dad's reaction. Watches, he looks down at Christopher. Eddie was not laughing anymore. 

"Are you any good with a hose, kid?" Captain Nash asks, smiling lightly at Christopher. 

"I can try," Christopher says, still grinning. 

"How about you?" Captain Nash asks, pointing at Millie. 

Millie shakes her head, looking down at her hands. 

Eddie stands, "I'm so sorry, Cap. My aunt's trying to get out of work early. But until then, I didn't know where to take them." 

"Yeah, you did. Right here." Captain Nash says, nodding at Buck.

"Buck gave me a heads-up. I already cleared it with the chief." Eddie silently thanks Buck for talking to Bobby and convincing Millie to come inside. 

The bells start going off, and everyone gets up and heads towards the stairs. Eddie looks at Christopher, and he laughs again. Eddie picks him up and goes to the top of the stairs. "Come on, Millie." 

In the firetruck, Millie sits on the left of her dad while Christopher is on the right. Her dad had put headphones over her ears, and she watched him do the same for Christopher. 

"These are great 'cause we can talk to each other," Chimney says.

"Though sometimes I wish I had a mute button for Buck." The horn was going off as Chimney finished his sentence. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you saying something?" Buck says, turning to look at Chimney. 

For the first time, Millie laughs. Eddie turns his head quickly, a small smile on his face. Millie turns away from him, looking out of the window instead. She takes the headphones off her ears, so she doesn't have to listen to them talk. 

A few minutes later, the truck stopped in the middle of the road. Millie climbed out after her dad, seeing that a car accident had happened. "Here, you guys stand right here," Captain Nash said, lifting both kids onto the side of the truck. Christopher holds onto the bar, and Millie wraps one arm around the captain's shoulders, keeping her in place. 

"Now, her airbags went off, so that protected her." 

"She's gonna be fine?" Millie asked, watching her dad and Buck try to open the lady's door. 

"I believe so," Captain Nash says, watching the scene in front of him. 

"Do you know what happens sometimes?" he asks. 

"People get stuck," Christopher says. 

"That's right, people get stuck. But we have a tool called the Jaws of Life. And that's what your dad's going to use right now. Thanks to him, she will make it home for dinner." Eddie jogs past them, grabbing the tool before sprinting back to Buck. 

+

Back at the firehouse, Millie sat with Buck as Chimney showed Christopher the game machines they had. As he told them to call him, Bobby made grilled cheese that he cut into strips. 

"Are they good?" Bobby asked after both kids had taken their first bite. 

"Better than what daddy makes," Millie says. 

"Hey! I try my best." Eddie says a hand over his heart. 

Millie was still upset about the Texas comment, but started laughing again, and Eddie took notice. Buck was able to tell him about the conversation he'd had with the girl earlier that day, and Eddie had been thinking about it constantly all day. He knew he needed to sit down with her and have a conversation. 

Millie and Buck played Monopoly together before Hen, Chimney, and Eddie stood around the firefighter's pole. She watched as they got Christopher to go down. "I wanna go down!" Millie shouted, running over to them. 

She bumped into Chimney, who caught both Millie and himself before they fell over. 

"Sorry!" Millie says. 

Buck slides down first, standing at the bottom with Eddie. "I'm here, Millie. I'll catch you." He says as Eddie moves Christopher to the side. 

"I'm scared now," Millie whispers, looking at Hen. 

"I was scared, too, the first time I ever went down. It gets easier." Hen says, assuring her that it was safe. 

"You promise you'll catch me?" Millie says, looking down at Buck and her dad. 

"We promise, bug," Eddie says. 

Millie hesitates for another few seconds before Hen and Chimney help her get her arms and legs around the pole. They hold onto her as long as possible, but their hands are instantly replaced with her father's and Buck's. 

Buck quickly puts Millie on his shoulders, making her laugh as she puts her hands under his chin, keeping his head back slightly. 

"All right, fun's over," Eddie says, and Millie looks up and notices Tia Pepa approaching them. 

"Bye, kids," Chimney says from above.

"See you next time." Hen calls down, waving. 

"Daddy, I don't want to go!" Millie says from Buck's shoulders still.

"Sorry, bug, you have to," Eddie says, lifting her off his friend. 

"Good job today, both of you," Bobby says, smiling at them. 

"You too, cap," Christopher says, but Millie's eyes fill with tears. 

"Please, don't make me go," Millie whispers as Eddie walks to Tia Pepa. 

"We'll figure something out, okay?" He whispers. 

"Hola, mi amor," Tia says, grabbing Christopher's other hand. 

"Hola!" Christopher says. 

Eddie pauses before returning to Captain Nash, "Thanks, Cap." He says, hugging him quickly. 

"Hey, it's no problem," Bobby says. 

Eddie carries Millie to Pepa's car, buckling her into the seat next to Christopher. He kisses both kids goodbye before thanking Tia Pepa. 

+ 

Eddie picked Millie up from Tia Pepa's the next day and promised Christopher they'd return soon. Buck needed help moving his sister to a new place, and Eddie thought Millie would enjoy seeing both Buck and Maddie, his sister. 

On the drive to Buck's apartment, Eddie lowered the music and told Millie that he and Bobby had talked after their shift ended. Eddie asked if it'd be possible for Millie to come to work with him for only a couple of days a week. Bobby had agreed, but they also needed the higher-ups' approval. 

"What did they say?" Millie asked, a hopeful smile forming. 

Eddie looked at her in the rearview mirror, "The Chief agreed, as long as you don't go on any crazy calls and you don't get injured while with us." Eddie said. 

"Really?" Millie shouted, a huge smile now covering her face. 

+

Millie knocks twice on Buck's door before stepping back and waiting. The door opens, and Millie smiles up at Buck. "Who's the kid?" Buck asks, smirking at Eddie. 

"Found her outside, thought she could be helpful." Eddie goes with the jokes. 

"Hey!" Millie shouted, pushing his hands off her shoulders. 

She walks between Buck and the doorframe, entering the apartment. 

"Where's the damn boxes?" Millie questions. 

"Watch it, Amelia," Eddie says, covering his laugh with a cough. 

Buck doesn't do anything to hide his; he laughs loudly.

 "Thought you said we were helping your sister move. Doesn't look like she's packed anything." Eddie adds, also noticing the lack of boxes. 

"Oh, this stuff is Abby's. I lied about the whole moving thing." Buck says, walking towards the kitchen. 

"I mean, my sister is moving; it's just she doesn't really have that much stuff, " he adds, filling a glass with juice and giving it to Millie. 

"What's going on, Buck?" Eddie asks.  

"I asked you here 'cause there's someone I want you to meet," Buck says, and Millie's mouth drops open. 

"Daddy doesn't date." She frowned.

"No, just trust me. This woman is exactly what you need." Buck says, just as someone knocks on the door. 

"She's here." He sings out, opening the door. 

A woman enters the apartment, and she hugs Buck. "Buckaroo!" She laughs. 

"Carla," Buck says, smiling as they enter the apartment. 

"I missed your face!" The woman - Carla - says. 

"I missed you, too," Buck says.

"Uh, Eddie, this is my friend, Carla." 

"Nice to meet you, Eddie," Carla says, the smile never leaving her face. 

"Likewise," Eddie says as they shake hands. 

"And who's this cutie?" Carla asks, noticing Millie hiding behind Eddie. 

"Millie, my daughter," Eddie says, moving to the side so Millie can say hello. 

"Hi there, sweetheart. How are you doing?" Carla asks, bending to Millie's height. 

"Good," Millie mumbles, grabbing her dad's hand again. 

"Carla is L.A.'s finest home health care aid. She has years of experience navigating giant bureaucracies, and I thought she could help you figure out how to get Christopher what he needs." Buck says, bringing the attention to himself instead of the girl. 

"I'm red tape's worst nightmare. I'll get you through this in no time." Carla laughs. 

"Now, let's sit down and see what you're working with. Besides that, perfect bone structure." She adds as she heads toward the kitchen table. 

Eddie doesn't know what to think. He's more than grateful for Buck and for everything he's done the last few days to help with Millie and Christopher. He hopes that Carla can help him with Christopher, maybe even Millie, if needed. 

"Come on, kid. Let's go to"¡ the living room while your dad talks to Carla." Buck says, throwing Millie over his shoulder, making her giggle. 

+

Carla helps Christopher walk towards Abuela's hospital room as Millie holds his other hand. Stopping outside her room, Carla nods for Millie to go ahead. 

"Hola, mis amores!" Abuela grins. 

Eddie sets both kids on his lap as they lean over to kiss Abuela's cheek. Millie turns and smiles at Eddie, happy to be with her family for the night. As Abuela talks to Christopher, Millie leans back and looks up at her dad. 

"I love you, daddy." She mumbled.

"I love you, too, bug," Eddie whispers, kissing the side of her head.  

He squeezed her hand three times, just to say it again. They'd had a talk at Buck's house after Carla helped him through the paperwork, and it felt like things were finally going back to normal. At least as normal as it could be after threatening to send your kid to their grandparents. 

A/N: WOOO HOOOOOOO, chapter two is done! This took me days to complete. This is based on episode four, and the next chapter will be episode six. Episode five doesn't have any points where I could have Millie in there, especially after Eddie tells her in this one that the chief agreed to let her come to work with him. 

Hopefully, the next chapter will be up tomorrow after work!! 

Slight Edits: March 2026