Bucky wakes up in a bedroom far larger than any he's ever slept in before, not quite ready to be conscious. The bedroom walls are still covered in his son's drawings, but there are fewer beheadings and more smiling faces now. It's a knock at the door that drags Bucky out of his thoughts, the door opening just enough for Darcy to poke her head inside. With her happy smile comes the sound of cartoons and the smell of cooking food.

"It's almost eight, Dad," she says with a tinge of apology. "You'll be late to your first class if you don't get up."

"Roger that," he says. Darcy studies him for a moment, then gives him a sharp nod and shuts the door again. The sound is muffled, but he can still hear the morning routine playing out. No longer is it chaos with different voices demanding others to move it or lose it, now the laughter's back with music playing in the background.

Bucky sighs and forces himself to get out of bed, pulling on a button-down and khakis before shuffling down the stairs to the kitchen. The kids and Clint are already settled around the table and Tony is standing at the stove, artfully flipping a pancake in the air and catching it on a plate.

"Today on Death in LA," Steve says into his recorder," a body was found this morning behind the Dunkin' Donuts." Which reminds Bucky that he owes his kids a trip to Dunkin' Donuts, but he'll make sure to find one without any crime scene tape fluttering around.

"What's with murders at Dunkin' Donuts," Darcy asks, frowning over at her brother. "Why can't there be a murder at Starbucks?"

"Maybe someone's trying to drive that particular Dunkin' Donuts out of business," Clint suggests, nursing a cup of coffee. "Like a badly written Scooby-Doo episode or something."

"Morning, guys," Bucky greets. Clint grunts and hands him the coffee cup, Bucky taking a long drink from it. It's the fancy brand that Natasha used to insist on, a weird little interest she and Tony share.

"Enough with the death talk," Tony says, bringing the plate over to the table. The stack of pancakes is comically tall, but he never drops one as he sets it down and takes his seat beside Bucky. "Everyone dig in." Bucky sits back and watches his family stake a claim on Tony's famous pancakes, it's like watching piranhas descend on a helpless antelope. "You, too, Professor. You gotta keep your strength up if you want to handle a group of sleep-deprived college students."

"Yes, sir." Bucky grins when Tony shivers, but everyone else studiously pretends like Tony and Bucky don't have a sex life. Tony's made it a game to traumatize Darcy as much as possible before she heads to college next Fall. "So, how was everyone's night?"

"Uneventful," Clint shrugs. "No fires or anything." Which is a real treat considering Bucky's become such good friends with the fire chief. The next time Clint accidentally sets a throw pillow on fire, they get a free steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Granted, Bucky's pretty sure that's only because the fire chief (a charming woman named Laura) wants to get in Clint's pants. Still, Bucky will take a free steak where he can get it.

"Darcy, do you have your book report done?"

"Yup," she nods, cheeks puffed out from the sheer amount of pancake she's managed to shove in there.

"Stevie, what about you?"

"Printed and in my homework folder," he says, not a trace of a lie to be found. Bucky smiles and finally allows himself to relax, smearing butter and syrup over his pancakes. Tony drapes an arm over the back of Bucky's chair, running his fingers along the edge just close enough to barely brush Bucky's shoulder. There's no over touching most days, not unless Tony's taken his meds, but Bucky doesn't mind it.

"I think we should go to the park after school," Tony says, smiling over at Steve. "Our young man over there will be announced class president after lunch and he deserves a treat."

"Dang straight I do." Steve puffs out his thin chest with a proud smile, every inch the comic book hero he wants to be. One of these days, Steve's going to fill out and Bucky will be fending off would-be suitors with a broom. Until then, however, he simply wants to enjoy his family while they're still together.

His picture-perfect life is singed at the edges, but Bucky Barnes has the energy to rebuild it from the ground up.