#gave jaylin a “new” face card

[kazuaru]

SHE'S BACK!!!

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻🗻 (the adoptions! ❤️ love that for them! I really love this whole journey that they’ve been on - they really are the best dads and are doing so right by Artie and it’s just lovely to see!)

🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼 (as always with the Daniel reveals my heart is just broken for Buck and Maddie. There’s just no way to get through this without them hurting. Very excited to see Buck continue to be supported by his partners and for them to help him fight his self-destructive tendencies! Also Chris making Buck a card to make him happier! Love that child with my whole heart!)

- PCA <3

102 for 🗻 (YAY! Thank you!)

---

“What does that mean?” Artie asks. His face is doing this little scrunchy thing it does when he’s upset or confused. Usually, Eddie finds it insufferably cute. Right now, it’s a little heartbreaking. 

“It means…” Buck sighs. “Uh…”

“Being a parent is a hard job,” Eddie cuts in. “Sometimes, really hard. Especially with babies, because babies need you all the time.” 

“But it’s the best job,” Buck adds. “And we are really lucky to have it.”

“We are,” Eddie agrees. “But you know how not everyone can be a teacher or a doctor or… Or a computer scientist like your brother?”

Artie nods.

“Well, not everyone is cut out to be a mom or dad, either,” Eddie says. “And Jaylin, your mother, she just wasn’t.”

“Oh,” Artie says. 

“So you came to us,” Buck says. “And we were very, very happy that you did.”

Artie thinks. “Did you get married to my mom?”

Eddie holds back a gag. 

“Uh, no,” Buck says. “She and I never got married.”

Artie turns to Eddie. “But you and Christopher’s mom were married.”

Eddie nods. “Yeah. We were. But you don’t have to be married to have a baby. Sometimes it’s easier if you are. Not always, though.”

“So how did I even get born?” Artie demands. 

“How were you born?” Buck rephrases the question. “Well… Uh, you were a really, really good surprise.”

Safest way to phrase that, for sure. 

“Oh,” Artie says. 

“But guess what?” Eddie asks him. 

“What?” Artie complies.

“Even though you were a surprise, when we knew you were going to live with us, it was the best news in the whole world,” Eddie tells him. “Because you made our family complete. You made Chris a big brother. And we are so, so happy you’re ours.”

Artie smiles. “I’m happy, too.”

“C’mere,” Buck says. 

Artie rolls over to hug Buck. Buck wraps his big arms around him in a bear hug. 

“You’re the greatest kid in the whole world,” he tells Artie.

“Do I have to see her again?” Artie asks.

“Not if you don’t want to,” Buck promises. 

But Eddie wonders if, with Jaylin living nearby, that’s a promise he can keep. 

ii.

Eddie was right to worry. 

Jaylin shows up a few days later. Right around the after school hour. Luckily, Artie is at Maddie and Chim’s. He and Daniel have swimming lessons on Tuesdays, and Maddie always picks them up and brings them back for dinner. 

It’s just Eddie and Buck this evening, freshly home from their respective shifts. Which are no longer together. Eddie is still at the 118, under Hen’s leadership. Buck got his own station last spring. Captain Buckley. Kind of a turn on, actually. 

“You can’t just show up here,” Buck tells Jaylin. Sounding very captainly indeed. 

“You just showed up at my house,” she retorts.

“We were trick-or-treating. We had no clue,” he says. “Believe me, if we did, we would have avoided you.”

Her lips purse. “Was he okay?”

“You don’t get to ask me about him,” Buck says. “It’s been five years, Jaylin.”

“I’m still his mother,” she says.

“No!” Buck snaps. “Don’t you get it? You’re not. You lost your rights to that title when you sailed out of his life. When you came back and didn’t tell us. Now go. You’re not welcome here.”

And that’s that. 

Gone is the Buck that tried with her. That gave her more grace than she deserved. Captain Buckley? He’s not playing around. He doesn’t even want to hear her out. 

And honestly? Eddie’s with him on this one. He hopes they never have to see her again, though he doubts they’re that lucky.

---

90 for 🔼 (Happier chapter to come <3):

---

Not terribly. Not so bad it’s not worth buying. The inspection said it doesn’t have any major structural issues or flaws. It’s just kind of a dump. But Eddie can fix a dump. Actually, he’s kind of excited about it. Because once it’s one proper unit again, the place is pretty spacious. It even has a little yard and patio, so they can transplant Christopher’s veggie garden. Everyone could have their own room. Though, Eddie imagines he and Buck will choose to share, regardless. He’s starting to realize they’re a little clingy.

It’s all exciting. It’s all really exciting. It’s going to be a fuck ton of work. But this is going to be their home. All of them. And it’s going to be worth every drop of effort.

ii.

The new year brings a lot for Eddie and everyone.

Shannon starts school in January. Which is sort of chaotic because they also move in January. And, then, on top of that, Maddie is due in January. So Buck is also spread a little thin, helping out where he can. Which is still awkward, because of the whole non communication thing between her and Shannon. 

Essentially, Eddie knows he’s got to spearhead the house effort. He’s the only one with the capacity right now. But Buck is the one with some construction background, so he’ll have to plan around that. Not that Eddie is useless. Firefighting has taught him how to knock things down rather effectively. 

At the price they get the place for, they’re able to bring people in to help remodel. Not the whole house, but the hard parts. Tearing down a few walls that separated units. Ripping out the second kitchen and turning that into a space for the kids. The rest is just paint and finishes and updates to pretty old bathroom and kitchen designs. Which, really, doesn’t need to be done in a rush. Eddie decides to prioritize the bedrooms. Give everyone their own space, starting with Chris. It’ll mean the most to Chris.  

A few days before they’re set to turn over the keys to Eddie’s house - Buck’s tenancy at the loft will finish at the end of the month - they respond to a huge pile up caused by a drunk driver speeding and swerving in the wrong direction on the freeway. It’s one of those extra bad calls. The kind he’ll remember and think about later, despite best efforts. The amount of damage just one person, one choice or mistake, can have? It can be haunting. The death and injury count is sort of staggering. 

And then two things happen.

They learn Maddie is in labor. They learn Albert has been badly injured in the pile up. All at once. New life, potential death. 

To say it’s high stress is an understatement. Eddie is proud of Buck for focusing and doing what needs to be done while his family is experiencing so much. While, somewhere, his niece is being born, and he’s not there. Not that he really could be, with Covid protocols. Numbers are rising again. 

As night turns to morning, Buck stays at the hospital. Eddie goes home. Someone needs to tell Chim about his brother. Someone needs to check on Maddie and the baby. And, Eddie supposes, someone has to update Shannon. Hey, just so you know, your estranged friend is giving birth and her sort of brother-in-law is comatose. Might be a good time to reach out. 

“God,” Shannon says when she hears. “That’s horrible. Poor Chimney.”

“Yeah,” Eddie sighs. “I can’t imagine if I had to worry about Sophia or Adriana dying on the same day Chris or Jane was born.”

“I really hope he pulls through,” she says.

“Me too,” Eddie replies. “Albert’s a good guy.”

Shannon nods. She doesn’t really know him too well, to be fair. 

“We should do something for them,” Eddie says. “Some gift from all of us.”

“Um, well, I did put together a bunch of Jane’s stuff she’s outgrown. Stuff we don’t need again, so… Maybe you and Buck can deliver that to them for the baby.”

Well. Okay. Sure. He could do that.

“Shannon, you could also-”

“No,” Shannon cuts him off. “No way. This isn’t the time. And also, it’s not what she wants.”

“You don’t know that,” Eddie says. “Babies bring people together, right? I bet she wants you in her daughter’s life.” 

“Eddie,” Shannon shakes her head. “I’ve already said no.”

This is getting stale. 

[365footballorg-blog]

Portland Timbers vs. Sporting Kansas City | 2018 MLS Match Preview

June 8, 20181:09PM EDT

Portland Timbers vs. Sporting Kansas City 2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 15 Providence Park – Portland June 9 – 10:30 pm ET WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Two Western Conference powers who haven’t lost since April meet up in a Saturday night showdown at Providence Park, with the host Portland Timbers unbeaten in their last seven, while Sporting Kansas City have gone five games without defeat.

Sporting Kansas City have won four of their seven regular season visits to Portland since the Timbers joined MLS in 2011. Real Salt Lake (three) is the only other club with more than two league wins at Providence Park, per Opta.

Portland Timbers

Their six-game winning streak came to an end, but Diego Valeri made sure the Timbers (6-3-3) wouldn’t suffer their first defeat since April 8 when he leveled from the penalty spot in the 57th minute to secure a 1-1 draw with the LA Galaxy on Saturday.

In the draw, though, Diego Chara was booked in the second half — his fifth yellow card of the season — resulting in a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. How significant is this? According to Jamie Goldberg of The Oregonian, Portland are 0-11-6 with a negative-21 goal differential in 17 games without the defensive midfielder.

On Wednesday, Portland defeated the San Jose Earthquakes, 2-0, in the Fourth Round of the U.S. Open Cup with Jeremy Ebobisse and Dairon Asprilla scoring in each half for the Timbers.

“I was very pleased not only because we were able to score the two goals and win the match, but we showed some maturity with a lot of the young guys,” Giovanni Savarese said. “We kept the ball, we knew when to move it, when to go forward and all around I thought it was a great performance by the guys. I’m very proud of the way they played today.”

Suspended: M – Diego Chara

Suspended after next caution: D – Larrys Mabiala

International duty: M – David Guzman, M – Andy Polo

Injury Report: OUT: D – Roy Miller (left Achilles tendon injury), D – Liam Ridgewell (right quad injury), GK – Jake Gleeson (back injury); QUESTIONABLE: M – Jack Barmby (right lower left injury), D – Alvas Powell (left thigh injury)

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left) GK: Jeff Attinella — Bill Tuiloma, Larrys Mabiala, Julio Cascante, Zarek Valentin — Cristhian Paredes, Lawrence Olum, Andres Flores — Diego Valeri, Sebastian Blanco — Samuel Armenteros

Notes: Samuel Armenteros is averaging a goal every 117.3 minutes this season, the seventh-best ratio of any player with at least 10 appearances. … Dating back to last season, Portland are unbeaten in their last 11 MLS matches at Providence Park (10W-1D), conceding multiple goals just once in that time.

Sporting Kansas City

After consecutive draws, Sporting Kansas City (8-2-4) decisively defeated Minnesota United FC, 4-1, on Sunday. Goals by Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal and Cristian Lobato three minutes apart late in the first half gave Sporting a commanding 3-1 halftime lead and Diego Rubio’s 81st-minute goal was the icing on the cake.

On Wednesday, Sporting opened defense of their U.S. Open Cup title with a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake in an all-MLS Fourth Round matchup. Johnny Russell opened the scoring two minutes into the second half and Kharlton Belmar added a 74th-minute insurance goal.

“I thought that from Belmar’s perspective, his movement off the ball was really, really good,” Peter Vermes said. “He put a lot of pressure on the two central defenders. He put them under a lot of pressure because of his movement. He’s a powerful dude. He’s athletic. He’s strong. But at the same time, I think he’s got good soccer instincts on the field.”

Suspended: None

Suspended after next caution: None

International duty: None

Injury Report: OUT: M – Felipe Gutierrez (sports hernia surgery), D – Jimmy Medranda (knee injury); QUESTIONABLE: D/M – Brad Evans (thigh injury), F – Khiry Shelton (thigh injury), M – Yohan Croizet (hamstring injury), D – Seth Sinovic (undisclosed injury)

Projected Starting XI (4-3-3, right to left) GK: Tim Melia — Graham Zusi, Ike Opara, Matt Besler, Jaylin Lindsey — Roger Espinoza, Ilie Sanchez, Yohan Croizet — Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi, Gerso Fernandes

Notes: Tim Melia has faced Portland five times before in league play. He has averaged 4.4 saves per game (second most against any MLS club) and has three clean sheets (third most against any MLS club) against the Timbers. … Sporting Kansas City opened 2018 by allowing nine goals in their first four games of the season (2W-1L-1D). They have allowed five goals in the 10 matches since (6W-1L-3D).

All-Time Series

Overall: Portland Timbers 3 wins, 10 goals … Sporting Kansas City 6 wins, 12 goals … 3 draws

At Portland: Timbers 2 wins, 5 goals … Sporting Kansas City 4 wins, 5 goals … 1 draw

Last meeting at Portland: Portland Timbers 0, Sporting Kansas City 1 (April 15, 2017)

Officials

Referee: Christopher Penso Assistant Referees: Jeremy Hanson, Jeff Hosking 4th Official: Joseph Dickerson VAR: Alex Chilowicz

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Portland Timbers vs. Sporting Kansas City | 2018 MLS Match Preview was originally published on 365 Football