Taking Back Control Of My Lfe

LA - Part IV

"Abuela... what is all of this?" Eddie was stunned by what his grandmother had prepared for him and Christopher.

"Well, this is dinner," his abuela chuckled.

"No, to start of, this is a feast," Eddie corrected her. "But I mean all of this!" He pointed out to the stack of papers, which had all the answers for him and his son. "This must have costed a fortune!"

"Not at all, I did not spend a single penny or asked for any loan," Isabel assured her grandson with a smile. "A year ago I met this wonderful young man, he is a firefighter lieutenant in the LAFD! He had just moved into the city to take his position as a Fire House Lieutenant and was touring the city he was going to live in. He was such a good boy that I invited him to your Tía Pepa's barbeque! He was a big hit and everyone loved him!"

"You adopted him into the family, didn't you?" Eddie deadpanned, knowing his grandmother too well.

"I... did," Isabel admitted and they both laughed. "He has a lot of contacts and friends. So, I asked him to ask him around and if they could find a house for you... he went above and beyond."

"Abuela, this house is perfect and under my budget! They are even offering me a 30% discount because of my service!" Eddie exclaimed in amazement. "And this nursing aid Carla, she is perfect! She went through all the red tape and got me all the medical aid I need for Chris! Not to mention this school! It is incredible! All I could ask and want for Chris!"

"That's the academy that Buck's, the lieutenant firefighter, pseudo-mother opened! Not only is it a STEM school but has a the oportunity to have student exchanged to Europe when they enter high school!" Isabela informed him excitedly. "They are well equipped to deal with every kind of student deaf, mute, CP, Down Syndrom! Kids with anger management issues, ADHD! Everything! Their policy is to include them with the other students and not to exclude them."

"This is so good... but it must be very expensive," Eddie sighed in frustration. "I won't be able to afford this."

"They have scholarships for military kids, police kids, and firefighter kids, not to mention, kids with disabilities," his abuela was quick to assure him. "I've already have the ok from the principal, all Christopher needs to to is take a class to prove that he is capable of keeping up with the class. Buck even agreed to help him study and prepare for it, while you deal with everything else and focus on settling down."

"R-really?" Eddie stuttered shocked. "T-this is real?"

"It is," Isabel smiled softly at him. "You don't only have family here, Eddito. You have a friend too."

"I... I will need to get to know him first, before I allow him to stay with Chris alone," Eddie coughed, trying to get a hold of his emotions.

"Good thing I invited him to dinner then," Isabel smiled mischieviously.

"Wait... what?!" Eddie exclaimed surprised.

The door's bell rang then. "Oh! He is already here, I better you and let him in."

"Abuela!" Eddue shouted as his grandmother walked away. He followed her and saw the most beautiful man he has ever seen standing by his abuela's porch. The man then smiled at his grandmother and held a cake in his hands. "Of course, he also had to be a blond adonis," Eddie muttered under his breath.

"Eddito come! Meet Buck!" Isabel had a sneaky smile playing on her lips.

"Matchmaking abuelas," Eddie groaned under his breath with a small glare directed at the old lady, before turning to the blond and smiling. "Hi, I'm Eddie Diaz. Nice to meet you."

"It's good to finally meet the famous Edmundo Diaz," Buck smirked mischievously at the army medic, making him blush slightly- Buck looked so good smirking. "I've heard a lot about you from abuela and tía Pepa."

"Well, you've got me beat, I've only just heard about you," Eddie coughed. This guy was already calling his family, family, he was very handsome and helped Chris before he even knew him. How more perfect can he be? "Here, let me help you with that."

"Thanks," Buck smiled as he handed the cake to Eddie. "It's a red velvet cake, I've heard it's your favorite. I made it out of a recipe I've got from NYC."

"You made this?" Eddie was in disbelief, as Buck simply nodded his head. "From scratch?" Another nod. "Marry me."

"Hahaha, first take me for dinner," Buck laughed good naturedly, as he followed abuela to the living room. "Then, we can discuss our wedding."

Eddie blushed at that and silently followed them to the dinning-room, where the three of them had dinner and a very good time.

"Wow, you've been to so many!" Eddie was impressed by the stories, culture, and knowledge Buck had accomulated through the years. "And this red velvet cake is the best I've had!"

"Thank you," Buck blushed at the praise, making Eddie smirk.

I still have it, Eddie thought in pride.

"Did you organize what I asked you for?" Isabel cut in th e conversation.

"Oh! Yes! Steph was delighted to hep, even assured me it will be pro bono," Buck exclaimed, taking out some papers from his jacket and handed them to a confused Eddie.

"Avery and Buckley?" Eddie read confused. "Wasn't that some upcoming real state sompany in the East Coast that was on the rise?"

"That's another, this is a firm. Evanito here owns them," Isabel informed her grandson with pride.

"No, I don't... well, kind of," Buck stumbled with his words as Eddie turned to look at him stunned. "A few years ago, I got an inheritance from my grandparents. I never cared much for money and was happy to just let it lay in the bank. However, a couple of my friends from high school, Stephanie and Luke Avery, decided to use their own trust fund to open a firm and a real estate business. Instead of letting them empty their trust funds in one go, I invested a third of my inheritance on each business. Which got me 50% of the shares of the business and firm."

"That must have been a lot," Eddie commented shocked. "You must have really trusted and believed in your friends."

"I do, but their idea was also wonderful," Buck told him with a sigh and a smile. "They are set for life, so they decided to do some good in their lives. The firm hadnles a lot of pro bono work for those that cannot afford good lawyers. Last year they represented various first responders that were raped by their therapist."

"I heard of that! The state lost millions for that case!" Eddie exclaimed. "She coerced people for sex, so she would allow them to go back to work. Did she..."

"No! I have my own therapist, all I know about that case came from the news and Steph," Buck assured him. "The firm began to be really known after that and the real state business got a lot of deals last year... mostly thanks to the Waters family. Many companies also signed with the firm because of them. I doubled what I've invested."

"Waters? As in Senator Waters?!" Eddie's voice reached new heights.

"Yes, Evanito saved his granddaughters!" Isabel sang Buck praises. "The real state business is the one selling you your new house. They have discounts for soldiers, first responders, single parents, making it easy for people in need to find homes."

"That does not sound like a profitable business," Eddie commented, but was pleased that there were so many good people out there, just wanting to help.

"They made due, their objective was ro aid people and pay salaries, not create even more rich people," Buck chuckled. "The Waters simply aided us to balance things out. The rich clientel they presented us with, aided to pay for the discounts for those in need. But they are not the main focus of Avery and Buckley. No matter how good they pay."

"Good," Eddie smiled at Buck, really liking the blond. "But why are you giving me your friend's contact and booked me a meeting with her? Is it to get the medical aid for Chris?"

"That too, but mostly for your divorce and custody procedures," Buck smiled at Eddie, though his smile slipped when Eddie's face bleached. "That's what abuela told me... did you not know?!"

Eddie and Buck were staring at Isabel in complete horror and shock. Isabel, in return, simply shrugged and said: "I did what needed to be done."