Funnily enough, I actually did end up falling asleep halfway through the drive.
The entire time I kept dreaming about what life would be like once the baby was born.
To be honest, I was terrified.
What if Bucky ended up hating me for tying him down? What if we were lousy parents? What if— what if I lost the baby?
Oh god, I needed Bucky here. He would know what to do to calm me down.
Clint and Nat took the kids into the house before he came back and woke me up and helped me make my way into his house.
He must have noticed the panicked look on my face because he quickly stopped me by the door, dropping my bag by the banister before turning to me.
"Alright, what's wrong, small fry?" He asked, turning to look at me.
"Nothing, just— stressing about the upcoming events that are coming in the next few weeks…" I mumbled, pulling off my hat.
"Nah ah ah, don't come to me with that shit. I know you. I know when something is up with you. So either you start flapping those lips and tell me what's going on or I'll keep pestering you until you do… and you know I will." he promised, as he threw his arm over my shoulders, with a smile.
I rolled my eyes as I shrugged his arm off, before shrugging off my vest and throwing it onto the coat rack.
"Come on, I'll get you a drink and you can tell me what's really going on…" he said as he made his way into the kitchen.
I sighed, shaking my head at him before following, nonetheless.
"Do you want some wine, a wine cooler, some beer… sangria?" He asked.
I almost gagged at the thought of drinking sangria, wincing as I remembered the after effects of Sam's sangria.
"No, er, no alcohol. I'm still suffering the consequences of the last time I drank." I grumbled, dropping my head into my hands, tiredly.
He nodded, before pulling out a glass and some lemonade and handing it to me. "It's non alcoholic." He whispered before pulling out a beer.
"Yeah, alright, I'll drink that." I murmured.
"So, what's going on?" He asked, leaning against the counter as he took a sip.
"Well, Bucky and I are together." I finally said. "Officially." I added.
"Yeah, that's kind of obvious, Ari. Something else is going on though. Isn't there?" He asked, raising a brow at me.
Oh, he knew me so well.
My stomach clenched at the thought. "Yes, but I'm not ready to talk about it now though." I replied, looking down at my hands, as I twiddled my fingers.
He nodded with a shrug. "Yeah, okay. If that's it, then fine, just remember we're here for you." He said, with a small smile.
I stared at him for a moment, before becoming glassy-eyed. "I know. I just— I just need time to wrap my head around the situation before mentioning it to everyone." I whispered.
"Everything is going to be alright, sis. You just have to believe it." He promised as he slipped his beer.
I nodded, holding back a yawn. Just as Nat walked into the room looking more tired than before, and my phone began to ring causing both of them to turn and look at me with a raised brow.
"Who is it, shrimpo?" My brother asked.
"It's Bucky. I'll be back..." I mumbled as I picked up my phone and walked down the hall.
Finding the living room empty, I walked over to the bay window, and sat down before answering.
"Hello?"
"Hey, how was the drive?" He asked as I heard a pop in the background.
"Insightful. Did you know everyone was hoping we got together?" I asked, offhandedly.
I heard him inhale sharply, before clearing his throat twice.
"No, I mean, I knew they talked about us behind our backs but not like that." He replied, surprised.
I scoffed, "Well, my brother mentioned that to me earlier…" I grumbled.
"Well, seeing as how, in a roundabout way, we ended up as friends because of them, can you really blame them for being so invested in us, Bunny?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes at them. "We met in Romania. A week before actually being introduced in person..." I pointed out.
"Yes, and we didn't exactly get off to a good start, now did we?" He asked, amused.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault! You were asking for it!" I replied, with an eye roll.
"How am I responsible for you dumping your coffee all over me? How is that my fault, Bunny?" He asked.
"Again. I had already apologized for doing that. I was late to my meeting, and wasn't looking at where I was going. Nobody told you to follow me out of the damn coffee shop. Besides, you stole my muffin! You deserved worse!" I argued.
"First of all, yousmashed your muffin into my chest. Second of all, I was late for a meeting too." He argued back.
"Whatever you say , Bucko." I grumbled, picking at my cuticles.
I heard him sigh, "I honestly thought I'd never see you again after that." He said quietly.
"Me too. If I'm being honest with myself, I was planning to go back the next day to see if I could find you, to offer money for your dry cleaning, I felt bad about leaving you like that. Though Tony nearly killed me for almost causing us to lose the Ardelian account." I murmured.
He laughed, "I know, Tony told me that Thomas was pissed. I probably shouldn't be mentioning this, but I saw him later that night and convinced him to think over his decision." He confessed.
I gasped, "You know Thomas Ardelian?! How?!" I gasped.
"He's an old buddy of mine. Studied at the University as me. We were friends the entire time we attended there. We kept in contact throughout the years." He replied, offhandedly.
"How did he end up in Romania?" I asked, curiously.
That explained why he had practically done a three sixty on us the next morning. Bucky buttered the slime ball up the night before. He saved my ass before he even knew me.
I felt a fluttering in my stomach as my eyes filled with tears again.
That is such a sweet gesture.
I sniffled, before clearing my throat. "So, H-how did you end up coming along to Clint and Nat's wedding?" I asked him.
"Oh, well, Steve asked if I could accompany him, and his then girlfriend, Peggy, to the wedding, only for Peggy to bow at the last minute because her younger sister, Sharon had an accident or some shit like that. So I was basically the stand-in date." He explained dryly, causing me to laugh at his tone. "I remember complaining about having to go until I saw you standing there with your friends. Your face was priceless too." He said back with a laugh.
"It wasn't so funny when Steve smacked you upside the head, was it, now?" I asked, amused.
"That shit hurt, a lot. I bit my tongue because of him." He remarked, clicking his tongue.
"Served you right, jackass." I said, laughing.
"Aw, baby, you wound me." He replied feigning being hurt.
"Wait, why did he hit you in the first place?" I asked.
"Because I made an inappropriate comment about you to him, and he felt I shouldn't act so immature." He replied sheepishly.
"So, Wanda and I were talking about you the entire reception. We thought it was hilarious how Steve kept narrowing his eyes at you from his place next to my brother on the altar." I finally said.
"How did you know about that?" He asked, surprised.
"We were Nat's bride's maids." I stated.
"Wait, if you two were her bride's maids, how come you weren't at the dual bachelor slash bachelorette parties they had in Vegas a week earlier?" He asked, confused.
I frowned, confused. "How did— How did you know about that?" I asked him.
"I was there." He replied, matter-of-factly.
"Y-you were?" I asked, as I felt my blood drain from my face as I heard my suspicions were confirmed.
"Sure was. I didn't get a chance to cut my hair when I got back from a rather long business trip, so it was a bit on the shaggy side, and a semi long beard, but I did cut it before the wedding. Steve invited me to both." He stated.
Oh.My.God.
"How did I not know this?" I asked, frowning.
"Beats me. I don't remember much of it though, just that I arrived at the place and then I woke up the next morning in my room naked, with a new tattoo on my chest." He replied.
Anticipation made my stomach clench as I listened to what he was saying.
"Of what?" I asked.
"Some sort of quote. It says, 'Always On My Mind'." He whispered.
"Funny. I have one too. Mine says, 'Forever In My Heart'," I whispered, biting my lip.
"Wait, when did you—?" He asked.
"My guess is the same night. I was going to cover it up but it's on my side, under my left tit and it hurt so bad the next morning, oh and something else but it didn't make sense so I didn't pay much attention to it until now..." I replied.
"How have I never noticed this? I've seen you naked more than a few times, why haven't I seen this tatt of yours?" He asked me, intrigued.
"I use makeup to cover it up when I use tank tops, so no one will see it." I explained.
"Oh, that is so hot. Don't cover it up again. I want to see it, please Bunny." He begged.
"Maybe." I mumbled, biting my lip.
"Fuck that, I want to see it on Friday when I pick you up. Please, Bunny." he begged.
"I'll think about it." I said, with a laugh.
"That wasn't a 'no'." He replied cheerfully.
I snorted, "It will be if you don't be quiet." I snipped, with a smile.
"Aw. Come on. Please Bunny?" He asked.
"If I tell you yes, will you shut up about it?" I asked with an eye roll.
"I will." He promised. "For now." He added a moment later.
I scoffed. "You're an ass, you know that?" I grumbled, pouting.
"But you love me." He replied, immediately, with a chuckle.
His laughter caused me to smile without wanting to.
"Would I be putting up with you if I didn't?" I asked with a laugh.
"Probably." He answered, dryly, before we both started laughing.