Buck dropped to one knee on the sun-baked driveway, ignoring the way his back protested. Theo’s small fists beat against his chest. “Hey, buddy. Hey. I’m right here. I’m not leaving you.”
“I hate you!” Theo wailed, voice cracking. “You left me and... and he,” The finger stabbed toward Chimney. “He thinks I’m bad too! Everyone thinks I’m bad.” Chim shifted awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Kiddo, I was just trying to get you to eat the goldfish crackers instead of throwing them into the pond.”
“Not helping,” Buck muttered under his breath, too low for Theo to catch. “Theo, Chim likes you. He was helping. But it’s okay to feel mad. Moving day is hard. Daycare is hard. Everything’s new.”
Theo’s screams fractured into hiccupping sobs that shook his whole body. “No one likes me.”
Buck felt his throat tighten painfully. Six months of this, middle-of-the-night terrors where Theo woke screaming for parents who would never come back. Public meltdowns in grocery stores. The constant, gnawing fear that one bad report to social services could undo everything he had fought for. He had spent years, being the dependable one for others, helping Eddie with Chris, sitting with Maddie through panic attacks and postpartum fog, always the reliable babysitter, the guy who’d drop everything to help his people.
And now? Now he was the one drowning, and the help felt polite. Conditional. Wrapped in concern, but threaded with enough judgment to make him wonder if everyone was waiting for him to fail.
He scooped Theo up despite the thrashing limbs, pressing the boy’s sweaty, tear-streaked face to his shoulder. “I like you,” he said fiercely, the words steady even as his voice thickened. “I like you so much. I’m not leaving you. Ever. You’re stuck with me, okay? We’re going to our new house. The one we picked together, near your new school, right by Dr. Miles’ office. The park with the big rocket slide. We’re gonna set up your room exactly how you want it. We can eat dinner in the backyard if you want. We’re gonna make it ours.”
“I love you,” Buck sang softly, the words slipping out on instinct because he didn’t know what else to do. This song almost always worked to soothe Theo's spirals.
Theo sniffed, rubbing his face against Buck’s shoulder, and answered in a small wobbly voice, “You love me.”
Buck swallowed around the ache rising in his throat and kept going. “And we are learning how to be a family. And we’re gonna have uh-ohs and oh no’s and make many mistakes. But that’s okay because…”
Theo’s lips trembled, but he finished their little song. “Because I love you and you love me.”
Buck let out a shaky breath, pressing his cheek against Theo’s damp curls. “Yeah, buddy,” he whispered.
“Can we have dinosaur nuggets for dinner?”
Buck huffed a tired laugh that felt like the first real breath he’d taken all day. “Yeah, buddy. Dinosaur nuggets it is.” He pressed a kiss to Theo’s temple, tasting salt and sunscreen and the faint strawberry shampoo from last night’s bath.
He didn’t look back at Chimney or Maddie as he carried his son toward the truck. He couldn’t quite handle their concerned, slightly helpless expressions right now.
Maddie stepped forward anyway, brushing a hand down his arm. “Evan… you sure you don’t want us to bring some real food by later? Or keep him again tomorrow so you can finish unpacking?”
Buck offered her a tired smile. “We’ll be okay. Thanks though Maddie. I think I need my best lil crocodile to help me tomorrow.”
“Bye, Miss Maddie. Let’s go alligator,” Theo huffed from his car seat once Buck had him buckled in, voice thick with leftover tears. He kicked his little legs against the passenger seat, impatient.
“Call me if you need anything,” she added, voice warm with that older-sister worry that had once meant everything to him.
Buck didn’t miss the way Chimney’s face twisted, just for a second, at his wife’s words. A flicker between exhaustion and protectiveness, the silent conversation of two parents who already had their hands full.
Buck shook his head, offering the pair a tired smile. “We’ve got it from here. Thanks again for today.”
The words were genuine. But they also felt like the end of something.
the way theo looks at liam with so much fondness and adoration in s6 and speaks to him with the softest voice, reserved only for liam mind you. he’s literally SO IN LOVE
im so insane about theo having a family. like. theo having a parental figure. theo having a child. theo and the puppy pack. theo and alec specifically. theo and tara when they were young. theo and the hermit pack. theo finding friends outside of the supernatural world. its so. godd. literally my drug.
I love that it's canon that Eddie is all sweet and soft and silly and then when someone insults Buck he becomes his own personal attack dog in an instant
my favorite thiam headcanon is absolutely after liam finds out that theo is homeless and so theo moves into dunbar-geyer house (which is a given btw, it has to happen) and liam just starts to drag theo around with him to literally everywhere.
like, if liam is going to the supermarket, theo is there. if liam is going to a pack meeting, even though he isn’t a part of them yet, theo is there.
everyone stopped questioning it at some point and accepted that if they see liam somewhere, theo has to be there too.
I don't think Theo and Liam are a marriage kinda couple. Sure, they deeply love each other and are not only committed, but devoted. But they just don't need the grand show of affection.
Theo doesn't believe in marriage beyond the historical implications (although, he does like the idea of being officially tied to Liam and Liam being tied to him). Also I feel like his parents had a bad marriage (at least from little Theo's perspective) and he is afraid marriage will fundamentally change the relationship he has with Liam.
Liam wants to marry at some point - he is a hopeless romantic, but that is just not his focus for a long time. He wants to keep his friends and his town safe, he wants to travel with Theo, he wants himself and his partner to be happy and healthy.
Somewhere in their twenties they do talk about this. (Because they are learning healthy communication)
And Liam does propose at some point. When they are nearly fourty and settled with a bunch of dogs and cats. And their wedding is small and cozy and mostly for the tax and medical benefits.
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