Oh my goodness, guys. We are almost done!
The week James spent at home was one of the best Rosemarie had in forever. The two months he was gone had Rosemarie pacing with worry and stressed with raising J.J. while she loved her little boy to pieces, it seemed he had entered his terrible two's a few months early.
Rosemarie had also been concerned about her unborn baby. She wasn't even four months pregnant and the baby was already making herself known. Yes, just like with J.J., Rosemarie knew this child would be a girl. And this time, she had James convinced as well.
"I get to name her, right?" he had asked one night at the dinner table.
Rosemarie glanced over at him from attempting to feed J.J. his mashed carrots. "Pardon?"
"Before J.J. was born, we agreed if we had a girl, I could name her." James shrugged, shoveling mashed potatoes in his mouth.
"I guess we did agree to that." Rosemarie grinned, going back to feeding J.J. "What did you have in mind?"
"It's a surprise." James smiled innocently.
"As long as it's not something awful, I'll go along with it."
"I promise not to do to our daughter what you did to J.J." James promised solemnly, hand over his heart.
At the sound of his name, J.J. turned and smiled at his father. "Dada." He squealed, making grabby hands.
"That's right, Junior." James bopped him on the nose, causing his son to squeal in delight. "I won't let your sister have a terrible name, will I?"
Rosemarie could only shake her head and laugh.
X-X-X
Life went on and Rosie's pregnancy progressed with only mild discomfort. Peggy had managed to use the strike teams to corner Hydra and Bucky was able to be there when the final head was cut. Once Hydra was officially gone for good, a strange sense of peace rested on Bucky. This is what Steve had died for and it was finally done. He avenged Steve's death and they could all finally move on.
Once the threat had been neutralized, Bucky went back to training new recruits. It wasn't as exciting as actual field duty, but it kept him safe and he was able to go home to his family every night.
About six months into her pregnancy, Rosie had decided that their little two-bedroom apartment was not going to hold their growing family for much longer, so they decided to move. The move itself was insane. Both Bucky's folks and Rosie's had come to help and Howard had even bought a semi-truck masquerading as a simple moving truck.
Having both their families over at once was crazy all in itself. Rebecca immediately started crushing on Patrick and took to following him around when she wasn't fawning over her nephew. Patrick, for is part stuttered awkwardly around Becca and had no earthly idea of how to interact with J.J. At least both sets of parents got along.
Winifred and Mrs. Jones had gotten right to work preparing the nursery for the new baby. J.J. seemed confused about all the new changes, but was happy to "help" his grandmas decorate. Soon enough, the Barnes family was fully moved and settled into their new home. J.J.'s second birthday came and went and both their extended families returned to New York.
Rosie was again put on maternity leave under Peggy's orders and spent her days playing with her son and talking to her unborn daughter. In the later stages of her pregnancy, her belly had grown and her daughter became increasingly more active. Rosie found it challenging to even get out of bed some days.
It was almost one in the morning and Rosemarie could not get to sleep. She was either too hot or too cold and her baby would not settle down. James had long sense fallen asleep and Rosemarie didn't want to disturb him, but she was uncomfortable. That was when the oh so familiar cramps started, followed by the wetness of her water breaking.
"James." She gasped, shaking her husband awake. "James, wake up."
Years of light sleeping had Bucky jolting awake instantly. "Wha's wrong?"
"My water broke."
X-X-X
Twelve achingly long hours of labor later, Rosie was right again and their little daughter was brought into the world. Bucky gazed down at her in wonder as Rosie watched. She was absolutely exhausted, but it had been worth it.
"What do you want to name her?" Rosie yawned. "It's your turn to pick as long as its not awful."
Bucky smiled and stroked his daughter's dark hair. "Stephanie Margaret. But I'm calling her Stevie."
"I think he would have liked that." Rosie agreed.
Aww. What do you think of Stevie?
Only one more chapter left!