"Alright, we've got them cornered. We just have to flush them out. You got your weapon?"
"Yeah!"
"On my signal, three, two... one... go!"
Bucky rolled out of the way of his hiding place, firing his water rifle toward the opposing team as he hid behind a big tree near the edge of the yard. Steve used himself as a human shield as Sarah shrieked, turning around and taking the hit to his back to protect his little girl from the attack. With Steve distracted, James took this opportunity to nail his father in the side of the arm with a water balloon, effectively soaking Captain America and defeating him.
"I won! I won!" James yelled as he jumped up and down victoriously, waving his fists in the air. Bucky came up behind him and hoisted him onto his shoulders, laughing at Steve as he pulled off his soaked t-shirt and rung out all the excess water. Sarah scuttled off into the house to where Kayla was watching by the glass door.
Kayla opened the door to let Sarah in, and she walked over to the counter and reached up, struggling to reach what she wanted. She looked at Kayla, then pointed up to to a black dishcloth hanging over the edge. Kayla passed the little towel to Sarah, having a pretty good idea of where she was going with it as she scampered back into the backyard. Kayla crossed her arms and leaned against the glass of the door, watching as her daughter handed the tattered dishcloth to her father so he could dry off.
Steve looked down at his daughter, staring up at him with gentle blue eyes and a hopeful smile as she offered him the towel that wouldn't do much to even dry his hair. But the thought warmed his heart, "Thank you, sweetheart." Steve told her as he plopped into the grass, running the towel through his hair as Sarah sat in his lap, hugging him around his torso.
"Thanks for saving me, Daddy." She whispered, pressing her cheek to him as she clung to his bare skin. "You're my hero."
Steve looked up and met Kayla's glance as she wiped underneath her eyes, sniffling back the happy tears that threatened to spill out. It wasn't her daughter's words, but the way Steve glowed from them. It had been a long time since somebody thought of him as a hero.
"Again! Again!" James yelled loudly, pulling against Steve's arm to get him to stand and continue their game. "Water fight! Water fight!"
"Unless you're too tired, old man." Bucky winked at Steve, and Steve rolled his head back, staring up at Bucky with judgemental eyes.
"You're older than me." Steve grunted, turning his attention to Sarah, "You up for another game?"
"Will you still protect me?" She asked quietly, staring at James as he ran around the yard wildly, waving his tiny water gun in his hand while Bucky refilled his water rifle. Steve nodded at his daughter and her smile practically reached her ears. "One more game!"
Kayla laughed to herself, watching as Steve pulled on his soaked blue t-shirt and walked over to the hose next to Bucky, filling up his own water balloons and water gun to fight his old friend and son.
"Katie, I've got wine!" Tessa called as she let herself in the front door. She looked around, seeing the family room was empty, but it looked like a tornado went through with all the toys everywhere. "Katie?"
"Over here!" Kayla answered, signaling that she was in the kitchen by the table. Tessa walked up beside her, holding a wine tote in her right hand as she saw the battle restarting in the back yard.
Tessa's eyes narrowed on Bucky as Sarah threw a water balloon terribly and missed the soldier's leg, but he pretended to get hit anyway. Tessa set the wine tote on the table and snorted as she crossed her arms, "I didn't realize Steve's friend was still here."
"Trust me, he's very preoccupied with Steve and the kids. I need some of that wine. I currently have four children to take care of." Kayla laughed, grabbing the bottle of pinot noir and walking it over to the sink to uncork it. "How was work?" She asked Tessa, creating small talk to gauge where her friend's mood had settled.
"It was fine. Busy. Phillip left right after you guys did. Ryan stopped by to let me know he's going camping with his brothers again. To celebrate his promotion." Tessa put air quotes around the word promotion, which caused Kayla to scrunch up her face in confusion.
"It's still a promotion Tess..."
"It should have been a proposal. It's fine. It'll be fine. I know it's coming soon. I'm sure of it." Tessa assured Kayla as she pulled two wine glasses out of the cupboard for Kayla to fill. She passed the two glasses to Kayla, then turned around, coming face to face with Bucky. "Shit! Ahh, sorry." She caught herself, looking around the man to make sure neither of the kids had heard her swear, "You scared me." She told the massive man as she leaned back, staring up at him. He was dripping wet, and about two feet away, staring at her without speaking. The silence made Tessa feel like she needed to fill it with words. Any words really. "Can I help you with something?"
Bucky smirked coyly at Tessa before raising his head to look right over her, addressing Kayla, "Steve's wondering if you can get a couple of towels. I'm the least soaked of the four of us."
Kayla gave a firm nod, her lips drawn into a tight line, "Yup. Sounds about right. I'll be right back." Kayla shot Tessa a look as the brunette's eyes pleaded her not to go and leave her with this tall, muscular stranger who didn't say anything.
Once Kayla was out of the room, Bucky leaned against the counter and grabbed the wine bottle, pouring it into one of the empty glasses before passing it to Tessa. Her brow quirked inquisitively as she stared at the wine, then grabbed the glass and nodded her thanks. Bucky poured wine into the other glass and began sipping it himself, which caused Tessa to almost spit out her drink, "I didn't realize you were joining our wine evening?"
"I'm sure they have extra glasses. Plus, I don't get drunk."
"Oh, how presumptuous." Tessa blurted, feeling the color in her cheeks enhance under Bucky's stare, "Shouldn't you be going? The kids will miss you."
"I'm waiting on the towels," Bucky answered, throwing out somewhat of a timid, flirty smile. Tessa didn't fall for it.
She clenched her jaw, swallowing down the discomfort of being in the man's sights, "Well, I'm sure Katie can take them out to you." Tessa plucked the wine glass from his hand, noticing he hadn't used his left hand at all, and kept it tucked away in the pocket of his jeans.
Bucky saw her gaze shift to his arm and pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing a flesh-colored prosthetic. "Lost my arm overseas while I was in the service. It, uh, kind of freaks people out."
Tessa stared at the arm for a moment before letting her eyes trail up to meet Bucky's. Her expression softened a little, feeling guilty about being so cold. "I'm sorry. Thank you for your service."
Bucky smiled to himself, proud that he'd gotten some friendly words from the brunette. "It's all worth it in the end."
"Here!" Kayla announced as she plopped a pile of towels into Bucky's arms, "Now go get my husband and kids dried off. I'll order a pizza for you four, Tessa and I are taking over the patio for the evening." Kayla noticed Tessa was now holding two wine glasses, one of which was half empty. She eyed Tessa, then Bucky, then the glass, but didn't say anything. Kayla shot Bucky a look that told him to scram back outside and leave her friend alone.
Bucky bowed his head submissively and smiled coyly at the women, backing up into the table and causing it to shake a little. He looked over his shoulder to see what he'd hit, then turned and scurried out the back door.
Tessa turned to Kayla and stared at her with wide eyes, "What is that guy's deal? He's so... so..."
"Tall?" Kayla suggested teasingly and Tessa clenched her fists and took a deep breath, resulting in a hearty laugh from Kayla, "He's really got you wound up, doesn't he? He's harmless, just an old friend of Steve's. He's just trying to push your buttons. He doesn't know anyone here. I think it means he likes you." Kayla chuckled, grabbing the half-drained glass of wine and tossing it back, finishing it quickly before pouring herself another glass. "Steve and Bucky will take care of the kids for the evening, how about you and I make our way outside?"
Tessa looked outside, seeing Steve toweling off James while Sarah walked around the yard slowly, pointing out things to Bucky as he followed her dutifully with Zawadi trailing along beside her. "Yeah, sure I guess. Bring the bottle."
Kayla led Tessa outside just as Steve carried a squirming James past them into the house. "Hey, Tess!"
"Hey, Steve," Tessa answered as she sat her glass down on the patio table, flopping into one of the two chairs and facing away from the door. She stared at the glass of wine that she held in her left hand, but she couldn't help but notice how bare her ring finger was. Tessa didn't notice as Bucky carried Sarah past her, watching her stare at her hand sadly. He didn't speak to her. He had nothing to say.
Once the glass door was closed, Kayla sat down across from Tess, watching her friend intently before speaking, "I'm sorry Tess. I know how disappointed you are."
"It's been so long, Kay. Is it never going to happen? Is Ryan never going to propose? Is it so bad to want what you and Steve have? You two are sickeningly cute, even two kids later." Tessa looked up to Kayla, leaning her cheek against her fist as her elbow sat on the table. "If you were me, what would you do?"
Kayla smiled to herself, letting her history with Steve Rogers run through her mind. She got it into her head the moment she met him that he would be hers, and nothing could stop her from achieving that goal. Not Hydra. Not Ultron. Not Thanos- not Tony Stark. But Kayla didn't exactly consider herself a role model. "I- uh- I guess it depends. I know how much you love him. Are you willing to be with him, even if you never get married? I think that's the real question."
"I really, really want to get married. I feel like I've given so much to this relationship and it's not going anywhere. I just- I don't know." Tessa was exasperated and took a huge drink of her wine before adding, "Ryan's married to his work already. I'm an afterthought."
"I've been through that," Kayla mumbled, sipping her wine as her eyes scanned over the yard. Zawadi rested at her feet, his eyes looking over to Tessa occasionally as she spoke. "Give him an ultimatum. Tell him you want a ring. See what he says. But you have to decide what you want."
"How did you decide?" Tessa prodded, lifting her glass toward the house.
Kayla just shook her head knowingly, "I didn't decide. It was Steve. Come hell or high water, it was always him."
The sliding door interrupted the women, and Kayla turned to see Steve opening the door for Sarah to run out, little tears streaming down her face. Kayla flung herself from her chair, kneeling down as the little girl ran into her arms, "What's wrong honey? Are you okay?"
"I- I- tripped and hurt- m-my knee." She cried into Kayla's collarbone, and Kayla pressed her hand against the back of Sarah's head to cradle her close.
Kayla pulled away for a second to investigate Sarah's knee, finding it already bandaged up, "Did Daddy clean it for you?"
"He said you'd kiss it again to make it extra better."
Kayla looked up and saw Steve standing in the doorway to confirm her story, giving Kayla a simple nod. Kayla leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the child's knee before giving her a beaming smile. "All better."
"All better." Sarah parrotted before turning on her heels and running back into the house past her father.
Kayla stood and met her husband at the glass, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, "You got everything under control in here?"
"She tripped over my foot. She needed Mommy."
"Mmmmhmmm, yeah, I'm sure." Kayla kissed him again before including, "Try not to break our children." She pulled back and drug the door closed, waving at Steve behind the glass. She turned back to Tessa, who was sipping her wine. Her expression told Kayla that she was right: they were sickeningly adorable.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay! I'm back from vacation and I'll be posting a chapter a day for a while to catch up! Enjoy the family fluff while it lasts!
Nikkita Starr- James is such a little turd. And Tessa's a lot more patient than she should be, but she's not ready to let go of her Ryan.
amberhardy- Bucky would like that! Ryan just has a lot on his plate right now, especially with Hydra getting closer and closer to where they are.
Siobhan- Uncle Bucky is clearly the cool uncle. He's going to be really important for the kids growing up. You know, assuming everyone survives that long...