#in which eddie and juniper bake cookies for her dads

[loulovingho]

Uncle Eddie (part 4)

Each part of this series can be read individually. If you'd like to start at the beginning, here you go. You can read this installment here or on ao3.

Originally, Juniper had been staying with Maddie. Tommy and Buck needed a couple nights away, and Maddie loved any excuse to have girl time with Jee and Junie.

Then, on the way back home, Tommy came down with a stomach bug. A stomach bug that came with a fever, severe nausea, and vomiting.

So, Juniper stayed another night with Maddie.

And the next day, Buck was just as miserable with the same bug.

So, Juniper stayed another night.

The problem was that Maddie and Chimney had planned a getaway of their own, while Jee stayed with the Lee's.

That's how Juniper ended up at Eddie's place.

It was his own idea. Buck had asked him if he'd pick her up from Maddie's and drop her off. Neither he nor Tommy could risk being away from the bathroom for too long. That's when Eddie suggested he stay with her for a couple nights.

“You know she's gonna get whatever you guys have if she comes home,” he said to Buck on the phone. “And you know she never pukes into the toilet.”

“Oh God, I know, it's always projectile.”

“Couple nights, you guys will be good as new, and Juniper will stay vomit free.”

It wasn't difficult to convince them. They took turns speaking to Juniper over Facetime, and she informed them she she was fine and, “Super-duper-party-pooper excited to stay with Uncle Eddie!”

Apparently that was a good thing.

At least, that's what Buck told him before he had to leave and go throw up again.

*****

Two days later, Eddie got the text that neither of them had a fever anymore, the vomiting had stopped, and their appetites were back to normal. It was already evening, and Eddie knew they'd have laundry and house cleaning to catch up on, so he offered to keep Juniper one more night and he'd bring her home in the morning.

“That okay with you?” Eddie asked Juniper once he'd cleared it with her dads.

She responded by sticking her thumbs up and jumping up and down while shouting, “That's super-duper-party-pooper perfect!”

He'd been hearing that phrase for days now and, while internally it drove him absolutely insane, outwardly he smiled and said, “Great!”

She continued jumping for a few more seconds, then stopped abruptly and gasped.

Eddie startled. “What? What's wrong?”

“Oh, we need to make Daddy and Papa cookies!”

Eddie took a breath, settling back on the couch. “You scared me, kid.”

“I'm serious, Uncle Eddie. So, very, very serious. Daddy always makes me, um, the, um the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies after I was sick. We all love them.” She folded her hands together and brought them to her chest, “Please, Uncle Eddie, please, please, please-”

“Okay! Okay, that's- that'll be fine. We'll have to go get the stuff though.”

She started moving her arms and legs mechanically, becoming a robot as she headed off, “Get-ting rea-dy for gro-cery store to make coo-kies for Pa-pa and Da-ddy.”

That lasted until she got about halfway down the hall, then she was skipping the rest of the way to grab her shoes out of the bedroom and bring them back to the living room to put on.

As she was doing this, Eddie grabbed up his phone and sent a text to Tommy.

I need Buck's peanut butter chocolate chip recipe asap. Also, if a certain 4'1 minion ever asks, I never sent this text.

It only took him a few seconds to get a reply.

Ha! Gotcha! I know Evan has a copy in his recipe box. Give me a sec and I'll send it.

Eddie got his wallet and keys while Juniper finished tying her shoes.

“Go use the bathroom before we go,” he instructed, waving her off down the hall.

“But I don't need-”

“Go use the bathroom before we go.”

“Ugh!” Juniper rolled her eyes ever so dramatically as she marched off to the bathroom. Just as she closed the door, Eddie received the recipe from Tommy.

Thank you! He texted back. Also, this conversation can no longer exist.

Deleting now. Good luck! She's tougher than a drill sergeant when it comes to following a recipe.

Oh, so exactly like Buck. Good to know!

I would argue worse, but she definitely gets it from him. Like I said, good luck.

Eddie took in a deep, cleansing breath, readying himself for whatever he was about to get into.

*****

Eddie would have to remember to give all the leftover baking stuff to Buck once they were done. He found it absolutely ridiculous he had to buy entire containers of baking soda and baking powder when all he'd need was a teaspoon.

“Why do we even need both anyway?” he asked Juniper as he set out all the ingredients. “They can't be that important.”

She shot him a death glare. “Every ingredient is im- important when baking.”

He held his hands up in surrender.

So it begins.

“Okay, oven is preheating.” He stared at his phone, studying the recipe. “Apparently we mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and then the wet in another bowl, then combine them.”

“How'd you get my daddy's recipe on your phone?” Juniper asked, heading to the sink to wash her hands.

“Oh, um, your dad gave it to me a long time ago. I was gonna try to make them but I didn't.”

It was a weak lie, but she was seven- well, seven and three quarters if you asked her- so the lie didn't need to be all that great.

After she finished washing her hands, Juniper sat at the table and clapped her hands together. “Let's. Get. Started!”

The mixing of the dry ingredients went well. Juniper, tongue poking out between her teeth, measured out the flour perfectly, along with the baking soda, powder, and salt.

It was when they got to the wet ingredients that things began to fall apart.

There were so many instructions that seemed to need to be done all at once. The butter needed melted, then vigorously stirred with the peanut butter until it was combined. Eggs needed cracked, and one yolk needed separated from the white. You had to make sure the butter was melty and warm enough to cream with the peanut butter but not so hot that it made the eggs scramble. And maybe this wouldn't have been a problem for literally anyone else, but Eddie was not a baker, had never been a baker, and had no desire to be a baker.

So it was a problem.

It didn't help that Juniper was every bit as bad as Tommy warned.

“You don't do it like that.”

“You have to mix slower.”

“That's not how you se- separate the yolk.”

“The butter isn't melty enough.”

“I think the butter is too melty.”

“Oh, this is not looking great,” Juniper shook her head. “Daddy always smushes the brown sugar to make more sugar fit. You need to smush.”

“I'm smushing,” Eddie replied, wiping the back of his hand over his forehead.

My God, he was sweating! He wondered how he ever got to the point in his life where baking was a strenuous task.

“And I- I know we have to do two teaspoons of the vanilla,” she said, picking up the six dollar bottle of pure vanilla extract that they had to get because the two dollar bottle of imitation vanilla was met with a gag by Juniper. “Not three teaspoons. That's too much.”

“Okay, okay.” He grabbed the teaspoon and poured the first one in. On the second teaspoon, his hand shook slightly and half the bottle spilled onto the table.

“Shi- Shoot!” he exclaimed, grabbing up paper towels to wipe the mess.

Juniper grimaced. “Yikes. Daddy says a messy kitchen is not a happy kitchen.”

“You should tell him to follow that rule in the kitchen at work,” Eddie mumbled, tossing the paper towels into the trash.

She scratched at her nose, transferring the flour that was on her hands. “He says that's or- org- organized chaos.”

“I'm sure he does. You can read right?”

She sighed. “Of course I can.”

“Read how many chocolate chips we need.”

She leaned over the table to get a look at the recipe. “Two cups,” she said, letting out a, “Uh-oh,” as she sat back down.

“Uh-oh? What's uh-” he stopped when he looked over and saw her holding her hair, a grimace on her face as the wet ingredients dripped down her curls. “What happened?”

“My hair went in the- the mixture!”

Suddenly, she was on the verge of tears. Her face scrunched up in a mix of panic and sadness. "We cannot let these cookies be musty-dusty-crusty, Uncle Eddie. I- I will just die!”

Eddie made a mental note to tell Tommy that while she may get her need to follow a recipe from Buck, she most definitely got his flair for the dramatic.

“I promise you these cookies will not be musty, dusty, or crusty, Chewy,” he reassured her. He grabbed a towel and wet it in the sink, then lifted her out of the chair and sat her on his lap. “Your dads are gonna love them.”

She rubbed at her eyes, wiping the tears before they could fall. “Are you sure?” she sniffed.

“I'm positive.” He took his time making sure her hair was free of the peanut butter mixture before patting her leg to get her to hop up. “Okay, ready to get back at it?”

“Do we need to start over?”

He lifted the bowl of wet ingredients, searching around for any sight of hair. “Uh, no. Nope, we're fine.”

She eyed him questioningly. “We can't have it messed up.”

“One again, it will not be messed up. Start putting the dry in with the wet, slowly.”

He took another peek at the recipe, then quickly closed out of it before she could read the part that said 'let dough sit for 24 hours'. There were some thing's she simply did not need to know.

“So you and your dad make these a lot, huh?”

“Mostly after I've been sick,” she replied. “He mixes the ingredients though and I help scoop the dough. Papa says it's, um, it's because I- I go mad with power.” She looked up at Eddie. “I do not know what that means.”

Eddie put on a smile. “It means the next time your papa and I do Muay Thai, I'm gonna kick his butt.”

By some miracle, they got the cookie dough finished, scooped out, and put in the oven.

Then Juniper went to play on her tablet while Eddie spent the next fifteen minutes cleaning up the disaster that was his kitchen.

Once the cookies had come out of the oven and cooled, they each tried one. Eddie was a bit on edge, worried about finding a hair somewhere, but luckily he did not.

“These are great, Chewy!” Eddie exclaimed, exaggerating a bit with his bite. They weren't bad, not bad at all, but they were definitely not on Buck's level. He was certain of that.

Juniper nodded, melted chocolate covering her lips. “Mmm,” she hummed, shoving another bite into her mouth. “Yum, yum!”

*****

When Eddie dropped her off the next day, both Buck and Tommy met her at the door.

Buck picked her up first, squeezing her tight. “I missed you, Junie!” he exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Missed you, Daddy!”

She reached out for Tommy next and he took her out of Buck's arms. “I think you grew, Miss Juniper,” he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “At least a foot.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, Papa, I would need new clothes.” She paused, then her eyes widened at the thought. “Can we get me new clothes?!”

“Oh dear.”

They all stepped inside, and Eddie placed all of Juniper's things in the corner near the entryway, except for one container he kept in his hands.

“Thank you so much for keeping her, Eddie,” Tommy said, Juniper still snuggled up in his arms.

“Yes, thank you,” Buck echoed. “You wanna come in for a bit?”

Eddie shook his head. “Nah, I gotta go, but Junie, do you want to give this to your dads before leave?” He held out the container and she gasped, wiggling out of Tommy's arms.

She grabbed the container and handed it to Buck. “This is for both of you,” she said, “for being sick.”

They feigned surprise well, excitedly telling her how delicious they looked and how they'd have to go share them together at the table.

“Let's go get the milk poured,” Tommy said, taking her hand and leading her toward the kitchen. “Thanks again, Eddie.”

“No problem. See ya, Chewy!”

“Bye, Uncle Eddie!”

“So,” Buck started once Juniper was out of earshot, “you baked with Juniper?” There was a smirk on his face that Eddie could only meet with a glare. “How'd that go?”

“Oh, you know, something I can add to my list of things I'll never do again.”

Buck laughed. “Tommy tried cooking with us one time and he, uh, he left halfway through mumbling something about war flashbacks. She's okay with me if we're cooking, but baking is... that's something else.”

“Yes, I'm aware now.” Eddie reached for the door, but stopped and leaned in close to Buck. “Also, if you happen to get a hair, no you didn't.”

“Oh... Um, o- okay? Do I wanna know?”

“Nope. Later, Buck.”

“See ya, Eddie.”

“Did you have fun with Uncle Eddie?” Eddie heard Tommy ask as headed out the door.

“It was super-duper-party-”

Eddie closed the door behind him before he could hear the rest of the sentence. Sometimes, the best part of being an uncle was the ability to walk away.