Alina woke up curled into Bucky's side, her back against his ribs, her head pillowed by his arm. She smiled feeling his fingers brush over her shoulder pulling the strap of her nightgown down.
"Morning," she murmured closing her eyes again to enjoy the peace surrounding them. Here, with him now, she could almost forget about the war raging in the outside world that threatened to take the man she loved from her.
Bucky's lips pressed to her shoulder and her smile grew, "Morning, sweetheart." He said his voice still a little gruff from sleep.
Rolling so that she was facing him, the petite redhead watched as he propped his head up on one hand, his elbow putting a dent in the pillow under it. She reached out and traced his perfectly bowed lips that turned up a little at the corners unless he was really angry. "What do you feel like for breakfast?" she asked him softly while he dropped small kisses to the tips of her fingers.
"Mm…pancakes," he kissed her palm, "Bacon," his mouth pressed to her forearm, "Scrambled eggs," he kissed her shoulder, "And black coffee," was his final request before his mouth caught hers in a fiery kiss that sent delicious shivers down her spine.
Their kissing was interrupted by his loudly protesting stomach. Alina giggled and then kissed him once more, pulling away before he could deepen it, "Nap for a while then go shower while I make us some breakfast," she told him slipping from the bed and padding to their bags to pull out underwear, a pink short-sleeve dress with black buttons down the front, black piping at the neckline and cuffs, and a pink belt at the waist, as well as flat black house shoes with flowers embroidered on them. She slipped into the bathroom and showered, before gathering her damp hair into a bun on top of her head and dressing quickly.
She woke Bucky with a soft kiss to the cheek when she left the bathroom, "Shower's free," she told him with a grin sidestepping his hand as he made to grab her hip and pull her down into the bed again. She then left him to get up and ready.
In the kitchen she found a navy apron with a pattern of small light blue flowers scattered over it and light blue accents on the pockets, waist-line and around the bottom of the skirt. She then set to work.
Finishing up the cooking a few minutes later she started on the dishes, she felt strong arms encircle her waist and Bucky step up behind her, his lips finding the side of her neck. Up to her elbows in hot soapy water she could only lean back against him with a small sigh. "I thought you were hungry." She murmured with a smile.
He grunted noncommittally before turning her to face him. With a gasp she held her hands away from his white undershirt clad chest, "My hands are wet." She scolded only to have him grin and move her to the bench next to the sink. He then lifted her up onto it and stepped between her knees.
A pretty blush coloured her cheeks at his intense look, "I love you, Alina." He murmured before sealing his words with a heart-pounding kiss.
"Our food's going to be cold," she panted when he moved to nuzzling her throat and unbuttoning her dress.
"Always enjoyed cold pancakes," he quipped with a sly smirk and before his little wife could comment he covered her mouth with his.
Their first breakfast together as a married couple turned out to be cold pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs with strong but lukewarm coffee on the side, and the both of them couldn't think of a better way to start their life together.
With the war drawing ever closer Bucky made sure he spent as much time with Alina as possible.
And so, on a Saturday two weeks after their wedding, Alina was woken up early by her husband's lips against hers.
"Mm. What's wrong?" she murmured groggily.
Bucky ran his fingers down her sides and she twisted away from him before turning onto her stomach and grabbing his pillow to hug, "Wake up, Lina." He growled playfully in her ear.
She just buried her head deeper into the pillow and whined, "Its Saturday, Serge, don't have to get up early."
Bucky sighed and sat on the bed his back to the headboard, legs crossed at the ankle and hands laced over his stomach, "Huh, I suppose you don't want to go to the beach with me then."
There was about a three second silence before Alina rolled over and squinted up at him, "Really?"
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, "Yup. Thought me and my dame could pack a picnic and go swimming and everything."
Straight faced Alina propped herself up on one elbow and looked up at him, "So who's this dame then?" she asked.
Bucky's blue gaze shot to her before he rolled his eyes and got off the bed, "Get up before I drag you out of bed myself, Lina." He shook his head.
She looked up at him innocently, "What if that's exactly what I want you to do, Serge?"
Bucky leaned in the doorway and smirked, "Too bad, little girl. Get up and get ready. Picnic's packed and I'm leaving in twenty minutes with or without you." With that said he turned and left the bedroom.
Needless to say, Alina was ready in fifteen minutes.
A smile that couldn't be wiped from her face graced Alina's lips as she sat in the car beside Bucky as he drove to Manhattan Beach. Once there the couple parked the car and got out. With Bucky carrying the picnic basket and Alina carrying a blanket, the two walked down the beach to an empty spot of sand. Alina lay the blanket down and then stepped out of the white lace-up shoes she had worn, stripped off the white ruffled sleeveless blouse and loose red shorts she had dressed in before they left, leaving her in her aqua silky two-piece swimsuit with ties at the hip and between the cups of her swimsuit halter top.
Bucky's eyes had followed all her movements from the moment she had stepped out of her shoes. "You trying to give me a heart attack, Lina?" he asked his gaze moving over her appreciatively.
The small redhead laughed, "I wasn't trying to do anything, Serge. You're the one that said I had twenty minutes to get dressed, if you hadn't wanted me to wear this you should have given me more time to dress."
Bucky stood up as she grinned. Shucking his loose shirt he tensed and Alina had only a moment to spin and run away from him down toward the water before he was hot on her heels, racing after her.
Her feet hit the water a moment before Bucky caught her up in his arms and turned, falling backward so that he hit the shallows and went under before her.
They came up laughing and splashing and swam for a while before going back up to their picnic basket and blanket for lunch.
After lunch Bucky lay back soaking up the sun as Alina sketched the beachgoers around them. One in particular caught her eye, a little girl in a yellow and red polka-dot swim suit who looked to be only about two or three years old. Her dark hair was pulled up on either side of her head in little ponytails. She was running around picking shells up off the beach and running back to her father and mother to show them off. But it was something about how she acted that had Alina fantasizing about what she and Bucky's children would look like if they ever had the opportunity to have them.
"We could try for a baby until I leave for duty," Bucky's voice pulled her from her thoughts as he moved to sit behind her, his legs on either side of hers and his lips pressing to her shoulder before he wrapped his arms around her waist.
Alina shook her head, "I want a baby, Bucky. Your baby. But I can't bring a child into this world while their daddy is off fighting a war on the other side of the world." She turned to look at him, "If anything were to happen to you, that little baby wouldn't know its father," she put her hand to his cheek, "And that's the cruellest thing in the world."
Bucky sighed pressing his forehead to hers and closing his eyes, "I'm hurting you, aren't I?" he asked softly.
Alina felt tears building in her eyes at the pain she heard in his voice but she couldn't deny that thinking of him going to war and possibly not coming back didn't hurt. And so she pressed a soft kiss to his lips and then pulled away so that he would look at her, the deep, intense blue of his eyes thrilling her as much as it had the first time she had realised she was falling for him. "Let's go for another swim and then head home, I would like a nap before I start on dinner."
Bucky's eyes searched hers before he nodded, running his fingers through the silky strands of her hair, "I love you, Lina." He murmured softly stealing another kiss.
She smiled at him, "I love you too, James Buchanan Barnes, and I always will."