you know that bit in gilmore girls where lorelai wakes rory up at the exact time she was born every year on her birthday to recount the ordeal of bringing her into the world? anyways buck retelling theo time and again about how he was in a bridge collapse earlier that day and your mom was at my place when her water broke and you were eager to get out into the world, kid, like you gave us zero time at all to prepare because you just couldn't wait to be a part of things, huh? and i was the first one to see you, you know. i was right there, front row, and i got to catch you when you were still all slimy and squirmy and pink and it all happened so fast but all of a sudden you were in my arms and I knew, I just knew, that you were perfect
and when theo's a kid he relishes in hearing about it and as he grows older he starts having questions about why his dad wasn't there and as they become their own family unit it becomes this thing that is as messy and complicated as the day he was born, as they day theo and buck became each other's all those years down the line, because it's a celebration of theo being around to love and it's a mourning for the parents who don't get to be there to love him and it's a connection between buck and the boy who becomes his son rather than is born it and once when theo's ten he cries so hard he almost pukes and once when he's fifteen he screams at buck asking if you were there then why'd you leave until they were already dead?! and in between he laughs and he quotes buck's own repetitive storytelling back at him-- and you were soooo exhausted from saving your whooooole team-- and it's theirs
the first thing that's their own, from the first time they met
