Chapter 3:
Uncle Bucky!
You're Invited To:
MoRgan'S 6th Birthday!
Meet us on August 6th at the Stark Residence for an afternoon of fun!
Bucky flipped the card over in his hands, Angel's head in his lap. Bucky didn't get much mail, so he didn't check his mailbox often. But a text from Sam asked him to, so he did. He was expecting a package from Sam or a letter from AJ or Cass. The thing he was expecting the least was an invitation to Morgan Stark's birthday party.
He had only meet the girl once, during Stark's funeral. He didn't even speak to her. He had no idea that Morgan even knew of him. He knew that it was most likely Pepper who had sent the invitation, but it was still a shock to hear that she would even want him near her child. Morgan must have had a part in sending the invitations, seeing as it was a child's handwriting on the card.
Bucky scratched Angel's head. His mind went back to his list. He may have completed the written one, but there was still one person he had to apologize to.
Tony Stark.
The only problem? He was dead.
On the back of the invitation was a Yes or No box. Bucky figured that the least he could do was apologize to Pepper, so he checked the Yes box. He resealed the envelope, put on his jacket and gloves, and went to the closest post office to resend the invitation.
Bucky knew that written forms of communication weren't as popular in the 21st century (he wasn't an idiot), so it touched him that Pepper had chosen to send the invitations by mail.
It was currently September 27th. Bucky figured that he had some time before he even had to think about the party.
—
September 30th came and Bucky started getting nervous. What did a six year-old even do on her birthday? He figured that it was different than what his sister's did back in the 30's. What did a six year-old even like? He assumed that, since it was a birthday party, he would have to get Morgan a gift.
The realization that Bucky knew nothing about Morgan's interests or even a six-year-old's interests set in. He didn't even know what he liked half the time. How was he supposed to know what to get Morgan?
Angel nuzzled her head into Bucky's lap. He pet her head.
"Take it one step at a time," he said, "That's a great idea."
Bucky got up off the couch to retrieve his notebook and pens from his room. He sent his therapist Steve's notebook, thinking that he wasn't going to miss it. He was wrong. Bucky had to go to the nearest convenience store in the middle of the night to grab a notebook and pencils. He filled up the little notebook he got pretty quickly, so he went to a craft store, looking for one of those "bullet journals" that he saw on the news that one time. That brought him down the rabbit hole of bullet journaling, which he quickly found out that he liked.
He flipped to page 12, which is the start of his "list" section of the journal. He wrote the title Morgan Stark's Birthday on a clean section of the page and put bullet points under it.
"Ok," he said to Angel, "The first thing I need to do is find out what interests Morgan may like."
He wrote that down and frowned. That was a big task. He did have Pepper's phone number, though, so he could easily text her if he wanted. Pepper had given him her phone number after Stark's funeral. She played a big part in getting Bucky's pardon and setting him up with his apartment and bank account.
Under that task, he put in parentheses Text Pepper.
Next, he would have to choose one of Morgan's favorite things. He wrote that down. After that, he would have to go to the store to find the thing. He wrote that next. Finally, he would have to wrap the present and give it to Morgan. Only four steps, that should be easy.
If only Bucky could see the future.
—
It was August 2nd when Bucky finally worked up the courage to text Pepper. He sat down on his bed, with Angel next to him. He took a deep breathe.
"I can do this," he whispered.
Bucky flipped open his phone and pressed the contact Pepper Stark. He opened up a new message and wrote:
Bucky: Hello , it's Bucky. I was wondering what Morgan would like for her birthday?
Bucky was proud of what he wrote. It had taken him three hours to come up with it. He wanted to be polite, but straight and to the point. All he had to do now was wait for a response. He knew that Pepper was a busy woman, he wasn't expecting her to respond straight away.
His phone dinged.
Pepper: You don't have to get her anything Bucky. Just being there will make her happy.
Well shit. Out of all the responses Bucky was expecting, that was not the one. The responses he had pre-written now didn't matter. Angel nudged his hand and Bucky shook his head.
Bucky: ok thanks
He set his phone down. No matter the occasion, his Ma always made him bring something when they were invited to a party, no matter who's it was. Bucky was going to get Morgan something, even if it was the death of him.
He owed Stark that much at least.
—
The next day, Bucky had found himself at the toy store. He was sure that he looked very out of place. A grown man wearing dark jeans and jacket, leather gloves, and hair tied up in a ponytail certainly looked suspicious in a place that kids were supposed to go. It probably didn't help that he had spent the last few minutes staring at the toys in the "Girls" aisle of the store.
Angel was the only thing keeping him grounded at that point.
People kept giving him disapproving looks and one even steered their kid away from him. Bucky figured that he needed to pick something and quickly.
But the brightly colored packaging and several, several options for the same toy had him stuck.
He remember that his youngest sister, Rebecca, had liked paper dolls, so he decided that starting with the doll section would be a good idea.
It was not.
There were dolls that spoke, dolls that ate, dolls that could go to the bathroom, dolls that came with ten different accessories, surprise dolls, tall dolls, short dolls. Panic started rising in Bucky's chest. He decided to leave the doll aisle before a full blown panic attack occurred.
Maybe since Morgan was Tony Stark's daughter she would like something related to science. That brought him to the science section of the store.
But the same problem occurred. Too many options. Bucky didn't even know what area of science he wanted to get for Morgan. So he moved onto the LEGO selection.
Bucky spent a lot of time staring at the Captain America LEGO sets. Sam would be proud to know that a few of them included him as Captain America, not just Steve.
Bucky felt that it would be weird to get Morgan something related to superheroes, so he looked instead at the LEGO City sets. The 3-in-1 sets caught his eye. The dinosaur one looked especially cool. It reminded Bucky of Sam, who constantly called Bucky a "Grandpa" or a "Dinosaur" just because he was "so old". Bucky put it in his basket just because he wanted to. Something that he was learning he was allowed to do.
He couldn't find a set that looked like it was kid-friendly. He noticed that there was LEGO advertised as kid friendly, but they looked like they were for toddlers, and he felt like Morgan (being the daughter of Tony and Pepper Stark) could handle something a bit more advanced. But the rest of the sets had such tiny pieces, that he worried about giving them to a six-year-old.
Bucky found himself wandering around the store, poking his head into any aisle that looked interesting. He passed the video game section of the store and the Nerf section. Something about fake guns just set him off.
He ended up in front of the action figure aisle. He still didn't want to get Morgan anything related to superheroes, but the Steve Rodgers figurine made him stop. They didn't get his face right. The smile wasn't right, his eyebrows weren't right, his eyes were the wrong shade of blue and didn't reflect the smile on his face. Bucky found that they had a Sam Wilson figurine as well. After a while of searching, he couldn't find one of himself.
This made him weirdly upset.
His past as the Winter Solider may have been enough to earn him the right of not having an action figure, but he has saved the world twice now. That has to count for something. Besides, he wasn't the Winter Solider anymore. Why didn't people understand that?
He placed the Steve Rodgers figurine into his basket and moved on.
Bucky had finally looked in every corner of the store and still couldn't find something suitable for Morgan. The store announced that it was closing soon. Bucky sighed. Mission failed. He payed for the action figure and LEGO set and left.
Maybe tomorrow.
—
The next day (August 3rd), Bucky set out on a mission. He failed it last time, he wasn't going to fail one this time. Failing meant punishment and correction from his handlers. The Winter Solider never failed.
Angel nudged her head into Bucky's hand. Right. He was no longer the Winter Solider. Bucky shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his mind. For the amount of time HYDRA has supposedly been out of his head, he still had those thoughts. Sam called them "intrusive thoughts" but Bucky called them "HYDRA thoughts". He was getting better at snapping out of them, especially thanks to Angel now being here. But when he was on his own after the battle with Thanos, he could get stuck in the mindset of the Winter Solider for hours.
He was lucky enough to have never hurt anyone during those times.
Bucky decided that since the toy store was out of the question, he would walk around Brooklyn and window shop. It was getting cold enough that he could wear his jacket and gloves without looking like a crazy person, which, arguably, he was. He put Angel's vest on and clipped her leash to it. Then, he set out on his mission.
Bucky had walked around Brooklyn for a while before he stumbled upon an antique store. His curiosity got the best of him and he entered the store. The little bell above the door rang when he opened it.
The man at the counter greeted Bucky and asked what he was looking for. Bucky just said that he was looking around. It felt weird to tell the man that he was looking for a birthday present for a six-year-old. What six-year-old would want an antique?
The store was small, so it didn't take Bucky long to have explored the whole thing. Nothing really caught his eye. The wind chimes in the window were cute. There were several old chests and cabinets that looked like they could be haunted, so Bucky avoided those. Several spoons were on display. Bucky ignored those. He passed several other knick-knacks before deciding that the store was a bust and went to leave. That was when something caught his eye.
It was an old gramophone. It looked exactly like the one Bucky and Steve used to have back before the war. Bucky carefully picked up the gramophone. He brought it over to the counter.
"Does it still work?" he asked the man. The man looked at it.
"It should," he said in a very thick Brooklyn accent, "I might have some records to play on it if ya want to find out?"
Bucky took the records from the man and put one into the gramophone.
It worked.
Bucky smiled. He remembered how popular these were and knew that listening to music was still a popular past time. He hoped that Morgan would like it.
"How much?" he asked.
The man gave him the amount. Bucky knew that inflation was a thing, and costs had changed, but he wasn't expecting the gramophone to be so expensive. He tried to not show his surprise and payed for the gramophone and records, as well as blank records so Morgan could record her own things. The man wrapped the gift in brown paper and put them in a bag for Bucky.
He left the store with a smile on his face.
His next stop was Target. He needed wrapping paper. The brown paper that was on the gift now wouldn't do.
At Target, Bucky choose pink wrapping paper with the words "Happy Birthday" all over it. He payed for it and left for his apartment.
Mission success.
—
At his apartment, Bucky placed the gifts and paper on the floor. He unwrapped the brown paper off of the gramophone. The gramophone was dirty and not the prettiest looking thing. Bucky looked up how to clean an antique. He was not gifting an ugly gift. Even if it was the thought that counts, which, honestly, that might be the case even if the gramophone looked clean.
He found a spare toothbrush and got to cleaning out the gramophone. Within 30 minutes, it was sparkling clean and looked almost brand new. Now to wrap the gift.
Bucky found an empty box from when he moved in and a roll of scotch tape in the depth of his kitchen drawers.
He had a new problem now.
He had no idea on how to wrap a gift.
It was now that he realized that he should of just gotten a bag at Target.
Taking a deep breath and Angel's head in his lap, he opened his phone and looked up how to wrap a gift. It didn't seem so hard.
Bucky discovered that wrapping a gift was hard. He couldn't get the corners right, sometimes he cut the wrapping paper too short or too long, other times he ripped the paper before he could tape it.
After an hour of frustrating attempts at gift wrapping, Bucky took a break. Angel guided him away from the gift and brought him to the kitchen. Bucky looked at the clock. It was lunch time.
"Right, sorry girl," he patted her head, "let's take a break and eat some lunch."
Bucky has gotten better at cooking and last night he had made some spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs. All from scratch.
He took the leftovers from the fridge and heated them up in the microwave. Bucky put some kibble in Angel's bowl. She sat down and waited for Bucky to start eating. Bucky wasn't sure when that habit started. He didn't train her to do that, but she did it anyway.
Once lunch was over, Bucky went back to gift wrapping.
After another hour, he was pleased with what he had achieved. The corners were still a little crooked, but the gift was wrapped all around and there were no rips or tears in the paper. He placed the pre-made card he had bought at Target on top of the gift.
Bucky wasn't sure what he wanted to write in the card when he bought it. In fact, it took him a long time to even choose a card. If he thought that the toy store had a large selection of toys, well, that was nothing compared to the cards. He eventually choose one that said: Happy 6th Birthday on the front on a cupcake and inside it said something along the lines of "You're growing up so fast. I hope this birthday is the best!" Bucky hoped that Morgan liked it. If she was anything like him back when he was six, she probably wouldn't read it.
Underneath the message he signed his name. Then, because he felt weird not writing something, he wrote, "Happy Birthday Kiddo."
He placed the card in the envelope and taped it to the wrapped gift.
Bucky brought out his bullet journal and put a check mark next to every task except the give it to Morgan task. That would have to wait for another three days.
—
The morning of August 6th had Bucky in a panic. Angel was desperately trying to calm him down, but Bucky wasn't paying attention to her.
Why the fuck did he get a six-year-old a fucking gramophone? If he wanted to get her something that played music, why didn't he get her one of those iPods or something? And why did he get her those old records? Why would she want to listen to old music from Bucky's childhood?
Bucky paced back and forth, his metal arm whirling, thoughts running through his brain at 90mph.
Angel started pushing him towards the couch. The back of his knees hit the couch and he sat down. Angel jumped up onto the couch and placed her whole upper body onto Bucky's lap. Bucky started rubbing her ears, the panic thoughts in his head started winding down. He was able to catch his breath after a few minutes.
"Thank you," he told Angel and gave her a peanut butter treat, which she happily ate.
It was too late to find a new gift, so the gramophone would have to do.
Pepper's words came to him.
You don't have to get her anything Bucky.
"Yeah, well, I already went through the trouble of getting her a gift, it would be a waste to not give it to her," Bucky told himself. Finding a gift for a six-year-old was a lot tougher than Bucky thought it would be. The past week has been agonizing for him, trying to find something that he wanted to give. He wasn't going to back down now. He was James Bucky Barnes, and he did not back away from a challenge.
Even if that challenge was getting a child a birthday present.
He petted Angel's head and pulled out his phone. Last night, he came upon the dilemma of that he didn't have any way to actually get to the party. It was way too far of a walk, and even then, he didn't like the subway. It was too loud, too noisy, and it way too close to being a train for his comfort.
So, with the help of Angel, he composed a list of texts he could text to Sam, asking for a ride.
He pressed Sam's contact.
Bucky: hey, you going to the party later today?
Pigeon: yeah, u?
Bucky: yeah
Bucky consulted his list. He past the first obstacle of his mission (no, not mission, just a conversation). The next task was to ask for a ride. He was figuring out which phrase to use when Sam texted him again.
Pigeon: u need a ride? i know you don't have a car Grandpa
Bucky chuckled when he saw the word "Grandpa". He still hadn't opened that dinosaur set from the toy store. He consulted his list. Unlike last time with Pepper, he was prepared for this situation. He decided on a phrase
Bucky: as long as you're not in you bird suit, that would be great.
Pigeon: it is NOT a bird suit
I'll be there in 20
Bucky: thanks
Bucky put his phone down. That went about as well as he could have hoped. He patted Angel on the head, a command for getting up when her head was on his lap. She moved out of the way. Bucky went to his closet. Not only had he prepared the conversation with Sam, but he had scoured his closet last night to find the perfect thing to wear.
Bucky picked out a regular blue T-shirt, a leather jacket, and black jeans. He then moved onto his hair.
In the bathroom, he had collected an assortment of hair products. Sam had yet to say anything about Bucky's now chin length hair, which he was grateful for. He still didn't know how to explain to Sam that his long hair made him more comfortable and confident.
He took a small section of hair from either side of his head and braided them, one at a time. He secured the braids with small plastic hair ties and brushed his hair into a pony tail. He then added the two small side braids into the ponytail. He secured it with a bigger hair tie.
Bucky had become a master at that hairstyle. When he first started growing out his hair, he found that the little pieces of hair in the front of his face bothered him to no end. So he found this hairstyle that would put the little hairs into a braid so that they would be out of his face.
Bucky didn't care about the stares that he might get about his hair. People usually just stared at him because he used to be the Winter Solider, or on the rare occasion that he forgot his gloves and his metal arm was showing. He was just used to it now.
Maybe that's why he stared back at people so much. His Ma taught him that it was rude to stare, so he figured that he would give people a taste of their own medicine. It was petty, but now a habit that he was struggling to break. The habit started when he was the Winter Solider. The Winter Solider was also a master at staring and that was because it was not allowed to speak, nor even show emotion. So part of his training was to look as menacing as possible, and that consisted of a lot of staring.
Last night he also washed Angel. He had bought a scented dog shampoo that smelled like an assortment of flowers. He found that the smell helped calm him down when he was upset. When he had a particularly bad panic attack or flashback, Angel would apply pressure to help ground him. Sometimes, she would lick his hand, or bring him one of her toys to help snap him out of it. After the panic attack or flashback, he would hug Angel and bury his face in her fur. The smell of the shampoo seemed to help ground him faster and calm him down.
Bucky was just finishing putting Angels vest on when his phone dinged.
Pigeon: I'm in front of your building
Bucky pocketed his phone and put on his gloves. After much debating on whether or not to wear them, he decided on wearing them. There was no need to scare Morgan with his metal arm. He put Angel's leash on her harness, picked up the present, took one final look at his apartment and left.
—
After letting Angel into the backseat of Sam's car, Bucky slide into the passenger seat with the gift on his lap. There was no way that he was letting the antique slide around in the backseat. Sam noticed the gift.
"You really got Stark's kid something?" he asked, nodding towards the gift.
"Yeah," Bucky grumbled, "You get her anything?"
"Just some pocket change. What you'd get?"
"A gramophone," Bucky said after a moment of silence.
"I'm sorry a what?" Sam exclaimed.
"You heard me. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"I'm sorry, you got a six-year-old a gramophone?"
"Yeah, well, you got her money."
"Kids love money."
"She's Tony Starks daughter. He was a billionaire. She doesn't need money."
"I bet she doesn't need a gramophone either, but you still got her one Grandpa."
"Shut up and drive, Pigeon."
Sam laughed and put the car in gear, "Sure, sure, whatever."
—
The Stark Residence was completely different than when Bucky was last there. Last time, it was decked in black and the mood was solum. Hardly anyone spoke a word and there was a lot of crying. Now, there was color. White tents surrounded the cabin, with rainbow streamers hanging around them. Balloons could be seen everywhere. On the tables in the tents were snacks and more rainbow confetti.
Sam pulled up with the rest of the cars. Bucky spotted the Spider-kid (Peter?) helping set up one last tent. Morgan was running around him in a pink and purple dress with a Birthday Girl party hat on.
Sam and Bucky got out of the car. Bucky opened the back seat to let out Angel. Pepper came up to them.
"Hello Sam, Bucky. I'm glad you could make it," she said with a smile on her face. She noticed the present in Bucky's hands, "You can put that on the table over there."
Bucky went ahead and put the present on the table Pepper had pointed to. There were several other presents on the table, all ranging in sizes and colors. Sam placed his card on top of Bucky's present.
Bucky turned around only to run into Morgan.
"Hi!" she said, excitedly, "I'm Morgan!"
Bucky squated down to be eye-level with her, "Hey kiddo—"
"You can't call me that!" Morgan exclaimed.
"Wha—why?" Bucky stammered.
"Cause that's Peter's name! Peter!"
Peter (Spider-kid) came over. He looked better than he looked at Stark's funeral. His eyes looked brighter and he seemed all around happier. Of course, Bucky knew that Peter was close to Stark and putting on a fake smile is easier than people make it out to be.
"Hi, I'm Peter," he said, extending his hand.
"He's my big brother!" Morgan said. Bucky knew that the kid was close to Stark from what Steve told him, but he didn't think that Stark was this kid's father.
"Bucky," Bucky replied and shook Peter's hand. The kid had a firm grip. Super strength then. First the kid had webs and now super strength? Sam would never hear the end of it. He was still upset over losing to the Spider-Kid in Germany.
"Can I pet your dog?" Morgan asked. Angel had sat down next to Bucky.
"Sure," he said, "Her name is Angel."
Morgan pet Angel and Sam walked back into the tent.
"Is this the birthday girl?" he asked. Morgan beamed at him.
She introduced herself to Sam, reintroducing Peter who looked almost uncomfortable at being called her "big brother". Bucky frowned. If he was Stark's kid, then why was he upset? Was he even Stark's kid? Morgan turned back to Bucky.
"Is it true that you were Uncle Steve's boyfriend?" she asked. Sam burst out laughing while Bucky stuttered.
"N-no," he managed, "We were just close friends."
"But that's what my daddy said," Morgan pouted. Sam howled with laughter.
"Well, sometimes you find that your dad is wrong," Bucky said. Bringing up Stark was making him uncomfortable. The whole reason why he was here was so he could apologize to Pepper. Angel noticed his discomfort and walked in between him and Morgan. Bucky petted her.
"Not my dad!" Morgan said, "My daddy's always right!"
"Morgan! Come greet Uncle Clint!" Pepper's voice rang through the yard.
Bucky sighed with relief when Morgan ran off to greet "Uncle Clint". He hoped to god that he wasn't going to be addressed as Uncle Bucky. He couldn't live with the fact that he killed this girl's grandparents, and then she still considers him family.
"Uncle Steve's boyfriend," Sam wheezed, patting Bucky on the shoulder, "I thought you two were together?"
Bucky frowned, "No, why does everyone think that?"
He wanted to get the topic off of Steve. If there was one thing worse than talking about Stark, it was talking about Steve. His feelings surrounding Steve have always been complicated. That skinny little punk from Brooklyn may have stolen his heart, but Steve surely didn't feel the same way.
"He went to live with Peggy," Bucky reminded Sam.
"He broke the law for you," Sam countered. Bucky didn't respond. He knew that. It didn't make it hurt any less when Steve went to go live with Peggy though.
—
The rest of the party was spent playing typical party games that Bucky was surprised that he could remember. Morgan insisted that they play hide and seek. Bucky chuckled at this. She was playing with a team of superheroes, most experts in hiding.
He made sure to hid in an easy to find spot.
Then they played musical chairs. It got pretty competitive. Morgan stayed in high sprints despite that.
A few more games were played and Bucky found himself wandering over to the snacks table. There were a lot of people here, and he was getting overwhelmed.
Then it was time for cake. They all sat down at the large plastic table in one of the larger tents and sang happy birthday to Morgan when the cake came out. Sam asked him if he knew the Happy Birthday song. Bucky said yes, who doesn't know the Happy Birthday song?
Morgan got the largest slice of cake. Bucky refused his. There was way too much sugar in modern day treats than Bucky was used to. He preferred the less sugary things, like those all-natural fruit popsicles he found at the grocery store.
After cake it was presents. Bucky started getting nervous the closer Morgan got to opening his present. She got a new dollhouse from Clint's family, as well as dolls to go with it from Scott's (Ant-Man?). Rhodey gave her a My-First-Tool-Kit. She got a giant dog stuffed animal from Peter, which she immediately set down at her side and named it Stitch. A few more gifts were opened before she got to Bucky's gift.
She opened the card first (Pepper made her read all the cards). Bucky saw her smile. Then she unwrapped the gift. Bucky's heart was beating in his chest so loudly, he swore that Sam (who was standing next to him) could hear it. When she saw the gramophone, she squealed.
"Look, Mommy, it's just like the one Uncle Steve used to have!" Morgan said, showing her mom the gift.
"Look at that, it is," Pepper responded, "What do you say?"
Morgan looked at him, "Thank you Uncle Bucky!"
Bucky put on his best fake smile, "You're welcome Morgan."
He then saw Sam exchange money with Rhodey. He pretended that he didn't see them.
Morgan opened the rest of her gifts, making sure to thank the person who gave it to her. She looked so happy and innocent that Bucky forgot for a moment why he was here.
Right, he had to apologize.
After presents, people started filtering out of the residence. Morgan still hasn't come down from her sugar high and was running around the yard, Peter chasing her. Pepper made Morgan say good-bye to everyone who left. Bucky had planned to stay late so he could apologize without an audience. He made sure to tell Sam that he was staying late to help take down the tents. With his super strength, it would be easy. Sam nodded and said that he would help too.
—
As they were taking down the tents (Peter helped and Pepper said that they didn't have too), music started playing. Bucky looked over his shoulder to see Morgan laying down next to the gramophone with Angel and Stitch by her side, smiling. Pepper turned to him.
"You know, she's been wanting one of those for a while," she said. Bucky was surprised.
"Really?" he asked, hauling one of the tents over to their garage.
"Yeah. She loved hearing stories from Steve and loved when he brought over 40's stuff. She's been asking for one of those for a bit now. Tony was building her one that looked old, but could play new records."
Bucky didn't know how to respond. He didn't have time to pre-write responses.
"Well, I'm glad she likes it," he decided on saying.
"Thank you," Pepper smiled, "I know this is hard for you."
"No, no, my therapist says that I need to go out more. This is fine."
"I meant being at Tony's house. I know you two had a past together."
Bucky was quiet for a second. He did have pre-written responses for this conversation. He made sure to memorize them so he didn't have to bring a piece of paper and read off of it. That wouldn't be a real apology.
"I know. And I'm sorry for what I did. If I could take it back, I would. It's one of the main nightmares that keeps me up at night. I hope that Tony could forgive me," he said.
"I think he did, after a while," Pepper said, quietly, "He was so tired of being angry at you, at himself, at everyone, that, I think at one point, he just decided to let it go and be there for Morgan."
This was not a response that Bucky was prepared for. He was not good at thinking on the spot, at least when it came to social moments. In a battle, he could made split decisions without a second thought. It was what he was trained to do. When it came to people though, he was at a loss.
"Thank you for helping clean up," Pepper said after a moment of silence, "Some of Morgan's favorite Uncle Steve Stories were of you, so it means a lot to me and her that you came."
"You're welcome," Bucky replied. He didn't know what else to say. He really wanted to get off of the topic of Steve.
They continued to finishes putting away tents and tables and Bucky helped clean up the yard. It was getting dark outside and Morgan was getting tired. Pepper had managed to get her into the house, but she was still refusing to go to sleep. Bucky had super-hearing and it was hard to turn off sometimes.
Eventually Pepper managed to put Morgan to bed and came outside.
"Thank you so much for coming," she told Sam and Bucky.
"Of course," Sam said, "It's the least we can do for causing so much trouble with the Sokovia Accords."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Pepper said, "The past is the past."
Bucky could definitely get on board with that. They exchanged goodbyes, hopped into the car, and left.
—
Just before Bucky was going to bed, his phone dinged. He opened it with a text from Pepper. It was a video of Morgan sleeping with soft music playing from the gramophone on her nightstand. Bucky smiled.
"You've got a good kid, Tony," he whispered, "Even if you told her I was Steve's boyfriend."
As Bucky drifted off to sleep, he could have sworn he heard a voice whisper,
"Thank you Barnes."
—
A/N:
Hello, here's one shot number 3. I like the idea of Bucky having Tony on his list, so this is what I came up with. The relationship between Bucky and Morgan is one that I'm interested in exploring, because I have a personal head cannon that Bucky is good with kids.
This is also first in another series of one shots surrounding Uncle Bucky! because I love that trope.
Dialogue is not my strong suit, and I think that it's the weakest part in this story, so I will apologize for that.
I am also not a six-year-old girl and am not an expert on little girls birthday parties, this is just what I came up with after an afternoon of brainstorming.
Reviews are always welcome, as are prompts.
Thank you for reading and have a fantastic day!