Chapter Text
The first time David Kay sets eyes on Evan Buckley, he doesn’t believe the social worker when she says he’s five. The kid’s the size of a four or three-year-old at least. He’s tiny.
“He was malnourished when he came to us,” she tells him and Annie. “He’s making progress, but you know, recovery and healing are slow.”
Boy, does he ever. Deacon knows that better than anyone
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” He agrees.
“He’s a sweet kid,” She tells them eagerly and Deacon wonders why she seems so eager about this one. “He just… he can’t sit still or understand his feelings a lot of the time and many people don’t like that and bring him back.”
“Bring him back?” Deacon echoes, his chest hurting at her words. “So they take him, decide he’s not worth it, that he’s too much, and just bring him back? He’s a child, of course, he can’t sit still, what are you-”
“I-“ The social worker- Selena his mind supplies. “I- would you like to meet him?”
“Yes,” Annie cuts in with a quick squeeze to his arm like she can tell what’s spiraling in his head. “Yes, we would.”
Bright blue eyes stare unblinkingly at them the moment they entire the room, and Deacon’s heartbreak at the amount of distrust he sees glaring back at them. This kid has been burned before, and he curses whoever dared to hurt a child this small and helpless.
His hand reaches out to touch the two pink splotches on the kid's head, trying to determine if it’s a bruise or a simple birthmark, but Evan jerks away from him as if he’s been burned, and Deacon only barely manages to stop himself from cursing out loud at his foolishness. This kid had been hurt before and Deacon shouldn’t make any sudden movements. He probably thought he was going to hit him.
“I’m sorry,” Deacon tells him gently. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to see your forehead. My name’s David. I’m a police officer.”
Evan doesn’t speak, and Deacon doesn’t expect him to, but he does relax slightly at his words, and Deacon takes the win.
“This is my wife, Annie,” Deacon continues quietly. “Is it okay with you if we sit with you? We just want to hang out a little.”
Evan ponders his question, and if Deacon isn’t mistaken, chews the inside of his cheek, something he had to pick up from another adult, before nodding.
Deacon sends him a small smile before he and Annie settle down beside the boy.
Evan doesn't speak much, if at all, choosing to communicate by just little head shakes or nods. He hands Deacon the toys that he wants to play with, and Deacon feels his heart ache a little more in his chest each time. He opens up more as time passes and by the end of the session, he's cuddled up in Annie's lap. Deacon doesn't want to leave but with one look at Annie, he knows they have a lot to talk about.
_____
“How could they do that?” Deacon asks around his toothbrush. He’s angry. “How could they take him home and just bring him back?! How could they abandon him like that?”
“They’re cruel,” Annie says simply, rubbing some flowery lotion into her hands, and Deacon has to agree. They are cruel. They’re so cruel. His wife is way to calm in making that statement in his opinion. “So, we’re doing this?”
Are they doing this? They have to be doing this. They can’t just leave Evan there. He needs them. And if Deacon is being a little honest with himself, he needs him too.
“Yeah,” Deacon says, after rinsing out his mouth. “Yeah, we’re doing this. I’ll call Selena in the morning.”
_____
It takes a week for their paperwork allowing them to take Evan into their home to process, and both he and Annie spend at least every second they can either with Evan or preparing their house and their lives for him to come home.
He doesn't tell the team yet, or Hicks, wanting to not jinx it before Evan's home safe and sound in their arms, but he's bursting with excitement and nervousness and it's impossible to not notice.
“Deac, what’s up with you?” Hondo asks, one morning, leaning against his locker. He’s trying to be subtle, but subtle has never been one of Hondo’s specialties. Deacon has to hand it to him though. Hondo and the rest of the team lasted a lot longer than he thought they would originally. He supposes that’s a downside to the whole found family, you love the way you work thing that they have going on here at 20-squad. They’re all up in each other’s business. Something can’t happen without the others knowing about it, and to be honest, Deacon’s impressed that he’s managed to keep it in this long. The team, they’re everything to him, them, Annie, and now Evan. They tell each other everything. Deacon’s never been able to keep things from them, they know him just as well as Annie knows him if not more.
“Yeah, what’s up? You’re not leaving, or something, are you?” Street teases but Deacon’s heart cracks at the small hint of abandonment he hears in the kid’s voice, the same type he sees written all over Evan’s face. He hates how he notices it now, he hates how sensitive he is to it, and he hates that Street has it. Maybe it is time to tell the team.
“No,” He chuckles softly. “No, I’m not leaving. So you guys know how me and Annie have been trying to get pregnant?”
“Oh my god, you and Annie are having a baby?” Tan exclaims, and Deacon hurries to correct him before cheers and celebrations start going around the room.
“No. No not exactly, I… we- his name is Evan. We met him last week.”
“Wait,” Hondo says. “I don’t understand, his name is Evan?”
“Yeah, we’ve been having issues, so our doctor suggested something like fostering or adopting while we tried. We have all this love to give, and we have no one to give it to at the moment, so we went through with it. We wanted a baby, but we walked in,” Deacon grows quiet at the memory of seeing Evan for the first time, and he blinked rapidly. “He was by himself, he’s five, and he’s tiny, and he doesn’t speak, and I just… I just couldn’t leave him there. So we put in the paperwork. He comes home next week.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’ve been skiving off of group hangouts,” Luca says, and Deacon suddenly knows it's going to be alright judging by the look on Luca's face. “You’re a dad now! We got a mini-Deacon on the team now!”
“Yeah,” Deacon laughs, wetly, his hand coming up to rub frantically at his eyes, and luckily no one says anything or laughs at him. Although he supposes there’s nothing funny when a fellow officer cries. “Yeah, I’m a dad now. His name is Evan. Congratulations team, it’s a boy. He’s 3 feet tall, and two inches, and he’s twenty pounds.”
Congratulations and cheers go around the room, and Deacon loses count of how often he gets clapped on the back. He feels settled back into his skin now, knowing that no matter what happens, at least Evan now has a permanent family in his team.