Six months later
Life was going by entirely too quickly, but Summer couldn't complain when all in all, everything was going pretty darn well. In fact, she was so happy that she couldn't even complain about being more sleep deprived than she'd ever been in her life.
When Adelaide was two months old, Summer went back to work. Five days a week, either she or Bucky (but usually she) shuttled David to school, and then it was on to the tower for her job coordinating events for Stark Industries. If Bucky wasn't working, she would leave Adelaide and a fridge full of her milk at home with him. But if he was needed at the Avengers facility, and more often than not he was, then she simply brought Adelaide to work with her. Her office became littered with toys, baby seats and blankets and other things, but she actually worked better and faster when she didn't have to worry about Adelaide being unhappy with someone else watching her. She made it work, much to the admiration of all of her colleagues and, most of all, her husband.
Then at the end of the day, she'd pick David up, go home, wrangle up dinner, spend a few hours with her family, put the kids to bed, and then pass out face-first in bed before midnight before waking up the next day to do it all over again. Bucky helped with cleaning and the kids and whatever else was needed - other than food, because he hadn't figured that out yet - and then he'd be passed out right next to her.
In the middle of all of that, Summer also happened to lose all but eight pounds of her baby weight thanks to her strenuous and very successful exercise regimen that Natasha kept her on track with. Those eight pounds stayed, predictably, in her chest and her hips, and there was no getting rid of it. She didn't mind it though, because it only exaggerated her hourglass shape more and she was so happy to finally have something resembling her body back that a measly eight pounds wouldn't get to her. And Bucky in particular seemed rather fond of those extra pounds.
Not that he hardly ever got the chance to show it. Between their schedules and the kids and life in general, sex was even rarer than sleep. Even when they would take showers together, it was literally to save time rather than do anything scandalous. That part of things was a little sad, but... when one was sleep deprived and exhausted, there wasn't much time left over to dwell on such matters.
More important was David, who was excelling at school and had fully adjusted to having a little sister, and Adelaide, who hit all of her milestones early and was astonishingly healthy. She giggled first at two and a half months old, when David dropping a relatively heavy book on his foot made him react in a highly overdramatic fashion, which the baby apparently found hilarious. After that, she became a literal ball of giggles, and she was the smiliest and cheeriest baby Summer had ever seen. She also didn't get sick when David brought a stomach virus home from school that Summer caught almost immediately. Bucky didn't get it either, thanks to his built-in immunity, and by all accounts, Summer was fairly sure that Adelaide had benefited from his serum as well. She wasn't inhumanly bright or strong, but she was at the very peak of growth and cognitive and motor development.
She was also incredibly affectionate. She gave big baby kisses freely - even to Steve, whose face she tried to eat more than once - and aside from playing and eating, some of her favorite pastimes were listening to her daddy or her brother play piano, staring at the awesome Asgardian mobile that Thor had gifted her with, and making everyone she met fall in love with her. It was no exaggeration - nobody was immune. Even Nick Fury had cracked a smile for her when she gave him a big giant smile from Bucky's arms one day that Summer had picked him up from the facility.
Really, those seven months were some of the most stable of Summer's life. The routine was good and reliable, and with all of the work that both she and Bucky were doing, they managed to save up a fair sum of money even with their rent, car, and David's school payments. Summer's book was still in the editing process, but it was nearing its estimated publishing date quickly. Her blog gained new followers every week, and most of them were fantastic. People seemed to love hearing about the seemingly mundane details of her every day life and about the family that she gave superhero codenames to. Bucky and David were still Batman & Robin, and Adelaide was Batgirl. Summer liked to joke and call herself Alfred from time to time.
It was hectic, but it was good. It was very good. Summer's house was never quiet, and she liked it that way. She often had quite a few visitors when she was home, and one of those days came when Adelaide was seven and a half months old and Summer was on the phone with Bucky, who was busy at work.
It was a rainy day, and thunder rolled quietly in the distance outside of the house as Paul sat on Summer's couch, holding Adelaide on his lap and staring at her with the utmost seriousness as she chewed on a toy butterfly. David sat nearby, watching his uncle's antics with amusement.
"Uncle. Paul."
Adelaide blinked at him, still gnawing away.
"Uncle. Paul. Paul. Paul. Paul." He paused and added even more seriously, "Paul."
She smiled and babbled, "Ba ba!"
"Yes, ba ba. Awesome. Now, listen to me, okay, because it's very important to me that your first word is either Uncle or Paul. So, let's go over it again. Uncle Paul. Paul. Paul. Pa-ullll..."
"Okay, that's enough," the woman sitting next to him said, reaching and snatching the baby from his hands and setting her on her lap instead. She then smiled and said very sweetly, "Was your uncle getting on your nerves? Yeah, I bet he was... besides, we all know what your first words are really going to be. Auntie Nat."
Adelaide smiled and then dropped her toy, exclaiming "Ba ba ba!" as she flapped her hands excitedly and giggled, even bouncing a little. Natasha ate it up, of course, kissing her cheeks and cooing, "Oh yeah, there you go, Auntie Nat it is..."
Paul rolled his eyes and waved her off dismissively, and then the man sitting at Natasha's other side sat forward and shook his head. "Nope. Uh uh. It's bad enough that you got to hold this kid first. Hand her over. I'll show you how it's done."
Natasha rolled her eyes but handed the baby over anyway, and this time Adelaide sobered up a little and eyed the man a bit warily. He held her carefully on his lap and then brought his face to her level. "All right, Addie. That's right, I'm calling you Addie. One day you're gonna say your first word. Most babies have boring first words. Mama, Dada, puppy, poop... eh. We've all heard it before. You want to stand out? You want to be unique, make your mark on the world of first baby words? Then here's what you say: Clint."
Adelaide continued to look at him suspiciously, and Natasha protested, "Clint?! What baby's gonna be able to say that before mama?"
Clint waved her off. "I'm working here, Nat. You listening, Addie? Clint. Clint. Clint. I'll settle for Hawkeye."
For some reason, as soon as he said Hawkeye, Adelaide burst out laughing again and erupted into a new string of ba ba's that put all the others to shame. Clint laughed and then stood up, holding her tightly and saying, "All right, I win. Let's go tell your mama who your new favorite is."
"I'm her favorite!" Paul protested from the couch.
"We settled this months ago. I'm obviously her favorite," Natasha pointed out, crossing her arms. David then handed her a controller after having watched everyone try to individually brainwash his sister into saying their names, and Natasha accepted her fate of wandering around Minecraft's creative mode as Clint carried Adelaide into the kitchen where Summer was.
She was talking to Bucky on the phone and fixing David a sandwich, giggling softly and speaking deliberately quietly into the phone, and Clint told Adelaide conspiratorially, "There's your mama, talking to your daddy on the phone. She's being quiet, which means they're being disgusting. They do that a lot. See, kid, before you came along, they stayed at the farm with me for a few months. Worst months of my life." He paused and then looked at Adelaide. "I'm kidding. But they sure as hell didn't know how to be quiet then."
Summer heard Clint then, turning around and blushing a little at being caught before smiling. "Hey! Aw, look at her! She likes you."
"Of course she does," Clint said, squeezing the little girl a little bit and making her giggle again. "Everybody loves ol' Uncle Hawkeye, right?"
"Duh!" Summer smiled before saying into the phone, "Yeah, Clint's here. And Natasha and Paul. Now stop trying to change the subject and tell me what you want for your birthday!"
Clint watched as Summer then blushed more, smacked her palm to her forehead, and whisper-yelled, "Are you trying to kill me? Stop saying these things when I'm in front of people!"
Clint shook his head and then told Adelaide, "See? Disgusting. I hope you keep them up all night for at least another two years. Serves them right for defiling my barn twice." Then he paused and asked, "Would you like to see a limited edition action figure of myself?"
Adelaide smiled and exclaimed "Ba!" which Clint took as a yes as he walked away with her. Meanwhile, Summer continued to plead uselessly with Bucky as she cut David's sandwich into four pieces.
"Come on," she half-whined. "You're really hard to shop for. I mean, you already have pretty much everything I would think to get you - fancy knives, weapons, your awesome bike, a watch. I have no clue what to get you!"
"So don't get me anything," he replied from his end of the line. "You could always write me something instead. You know how much I liked that present."
Summer sighed, putting the sandwich stuff away, back into the fridge. "Yeah, but... that takes time and I'm not sure I really have it in me right now. I'm kind of tapped out between the book and the blog and work."
"All right," he replied lightly. "So go with my first suggestion."
She sighed and whispered, "Giving the kids to Steve for the night so you can come home and find me naked and tied to the bed is not a present!"
"How is it not a present?" he countered, grin evident in his voice.
She sighed impatiently. "Because I was already planning on having someone take the kids and going out somewhere nice with you for your birthday, but I need to figure out a legitimate gift for you, too!"
"Look, I'm fine, really," he tried to assure her. "I've got everything I need already."
"I don't care! I'm your wife, I have to get you something."
"And whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it," he replied sincerely. "So don't worry about it. It's a month and a half away, anyway."
"Exactly, which means I've got like no time," she exaggerated. "But fine. I'll worry about it later. When do you get off tonight?"
"I don't know, when am I?" he replied suggestively.
She rolled her eyes. This was what happened when they slept together only roughly three times in seven months. Every other word out of his mouth became one innuendo or another. "Ha ha. Seriously, when?"
"Six," he replied. "Steve invited us to the tower later for dinner, if you want to do that."
"Yeah, that's fine," Summer said, taking the sandwich to David. "We'll just meet you there, then."
"Sounds good," he said. "I'll let you get back to brainstorming now."
She frowned, setting the plate down in front of David and muttering, "I am so screwed."
"Hopefully."
She rolled her eyes again. "Bye."
"Love you."
"Love you too," she smiled before hanging up. Now in the living room, she looked around to find both Paul and Natasha playing Minecraft with David - because that was totally normal now, her doctor brother and ex-assassin best friend building what appeared to be an epic medieval-style castle with her son - and then she saw Clint and Adelaide. He was sitting on the floor with her, showing off an action figure of himself and trying to get her to crawl to it. She did, having mastered crawling a month prior, and then she snatched it out of his hand and started chewing on the action figure's head.
Clint nodded approvingly as she slobbered all over the toy. "I take that as a shining endorsement."
"Are there any pieces of that toy that could come off and choke her?" Summer asked cautiously.
Clint merely eyed her and said, "Yes, I gave her a toy with removable pieces because I'm a complete moron."
Summer smiled and shrugged. "Hey, you know, I have to make sure."
He shrugged back. "I don't blame you."
She then headed to the couch and plopped down next to Natasha. Clint then looked to make sure the coast was clear, quickly took the toy out of Adelaide's hand, removed the bow and arrow that was removable and a choke hazard, and then quickly handed the figure back with a smile.
"We never speak of this, got it?"
Adelaide went back to chewing on his action figure's head with a gummy smile. He smiled and patted her on the head.
Meanwhile, Summer sighed and said to Natasha, "I am so screwed for this birthday thing. It's less than two months away and I have no ideas. Nothing."
"It can't be that hard," Natasha said, eyes on the TV as she killed a spider with an iron sword. "Why do I feel like I just betrayed my people?"
"I just... I can't think of a single thing he needs," Summer shrugged.
"A haircut?" Paul suggested.
"Shut up," Summer quickly snapped. "His hair is beautiful." After Paul muttered something about hippies, Summer went on, "Maybe I really should just tie myself naked to the bed and call that my present."
Paul pretended to throw up in his mouth, and David remained reaction-free thanks to having tuned them all out beforehand. Natasha shrugged, "Can't go wrong there."
Summer half-glared at her and said, "You're paying more attention to Minecraft than to me and I need you! I need your brain!"
Nat turned and looked at her in slight surprise. "Calm down. I'd help if I could, but I can't think of much either."
Summer groaned and made a face, turning to glare at the TV. "Maybe I'll just go and buy a giant red ribbon and tie it in a big bow on my butt and send him a picture of that when he's at work and be like here's your present, an idiot wearing a big bow! Come unwrap me!"
Natasha chuckled at that, paying attention to the game again as Summer fell deeper into despair. She then added in a mutter, "Not that I'd ever have the guts to send him a naked picture anyway."
Natasha was on the verge of agreeing when she suddenly stopped everything that she was doing. She slowly set the controller down and looked at Summer with that look in her eye.
Summer blinked. "What?"
Natasha smirked. It was one of her dangerous smirks. Summer knew that smirk.
"Nat, you're freaking me out..."
"You've worked really hard to get your body back," Natasha observed. "You look better than ever."
"Okay..."
"One of your closest friends is a photographer. A very good photographer who also happens to be very gay."
Summer blinked again. "I'm not following." Then it suddenly dawned on her, and her eyes widened. "Oh God! No!"
"Before you say no and chicken out, listen to me. What I'm suggesting would be very tasteful and pretty."
"But you're suggesting Nicolo taking naked pictures of me!" Summer whisper-squeaked.
Paul shook his head. "You both hate me. Why am I being subjected to this conversation?"
Ignoring him, Natasha replied, "Yes, but tasteful naked pictures. Pictures that only Bucky would see."
Summer gulped, face on fire. "You know, the whole wedding night dancing thing was one thing, but..."
"You could do this, too," Natasha assured her. "I could be there to help make sure you're comfortable. Nicolo and Esteban would be the last people on earth to make you feel uncomfortable. You know they wouldn't be ogling you. Even Bucky wouldn't have a problem with them seeing you naked."
"I don't know if Nic would even want to do this," Summer said, grasping for any excuses she possibly could reach.
"I'd bet you anything that he would," Nat replied. "And look at it this way. You worked very hard to get back into shape. I know better than anyone because I helped you every step of the way. You should be proud of yourself."
"I am," Summer nodded.
Natasha nodded back. "So think of the photo shoot as a celebration. You've earned it. And I don't need to tell you how much your husband would love it."
Summer's eyes widened a little. Bucky would die if she ever handed him a book of nude photos of herself. He would simply stop breathing and cease to exist, possibly imploding and destroying the entire structure of the universe on his way out.
"Imagine a really classy boudoir shoot," Natasha said. "You start out in a great dress with great hair, great makeup. You're in a room somewhere, maybe an old fashioned hotel in town with antique furniture, a vintage stand mirror, big bed with silky sheets..."
Paul mimed wrapping a rope around his neck and hanging himself from it.
"And then after awhile, you lose the dress. You're in a full, sexy lingerie set, and piece by piece, you take it off and..."
Summer gulped. "Yeah, I got the... uh... I got the idea."
Natasha then smirked again and sat back. "Just an idea. It would be one hell of a present." She then paused and added, "You could order a book of the photos to give him, and he could take it with him when he has to travel for missions and then..."
"Little ears!" Paul exclaimed, pointing to David, who was oblivious to it all. Then he pointed to his own head. "My ears!"
Natasha shrugged. "You know where I was going with that."
Summer nodded a little too quickly, slightly resembling a bobble head. "Yeah. I do. But I can't."
Natasha gave her a look. "How many times have you told me that?"
"A lot," Summer admitted.
"You always say you can't. But you can. And you know it."
Dammit. She was right. Summer bit her lip, knowing deep down inside already that she was going to end up doing it after all. It was too good of an idea to ignore just because her inner shyness was trying to make a comeback. Bucky would absolutely adore a gift like that, and, well... maybe Natasha was right and Summer's hard work in getting her body back was worth a bit of celebrating.
And so, after a bit more quiet mental anguish, Summer finally relented and said, "Okay fine. But you're going to be there the entire time."
Natasha nodded, a little smile on her lips. "Of course."
"And I'm going to need to be a little drunk when it happens."
"Not a problem," Natasha nodded again. "I'll bring all the wine you need."
"And to save me the awkwardness of trying to put all of this into words, I need you to ask Nicolo for his help, because if I try I might chicken out."
Natasha smiled. "Of course. Leave it all to me."
Summer nodded, then leaned back against the couch cushion behind her and groaned, "What the hell have I gotten myself into?"
Natasha chuckled and patted her shoulder. "Just imagine his face when he sees it."
"He's going to die," Summer replied.
"I'm going to die," Paul said, "but nobody cares about me. Nope. Just keep talking."
And they did. Natasha called Nicolo and made plans for the shoot to happen following week, giving her time to take Summer shopping for a dress and lingerie, and to find a location for the shoot. Summer laughed and turned bright red when she heard Nicolo's excited screech of "YES oh my God!" over Nat's phone when she asked him first if he would be willing to do the shoot.
Suddenly, Summer knew exactly what she was getting for Bucky on his next birthday. The thing was, she didn't think he'd believe her even if she told him.
Summer giggled and blushed her way through the rest of the day, thanks to Natasha searching the Internet for examples of boudoir shoots, dresses, and sexy lingerie sets to show Summer as examples of what they would need to shop for over the next week. Summer couldn't believe what she had gotten herself into, and later on that night when she and the others headed to the tower for dinner, Natasha was still showing her things and killing her.
"I'm thinking corset, for sure... so no backless dress," Natasha said as they stepped off the private elevator on the floor that Summer used to call home. Then, as Summer adjusted her hold on Adelaide, who was squirming in her arms wanting to get down, she showed Summer her phone and said, "What do you think of this pose?"
Summer glanced at the photo and then widened her eyes before shielding David's with her hand, just in case. "Oh my God, Nat, she's -"
"Naked," Natasha smirked, "I know. Which is what you'll be."
Summer groaned and removed her hand from David's eyes. "You know, sometimes I really hate..."
She suddenly came to a stop and stared in disbelief at what - or rather who - she saw standing near the kitchen, talking to Tony, Bucky and Steve. "... Thor!"
This was the very last thing she'd been expecting, but it was a very happy surprise for both her and David. David ran to him first as Thor turned and saw them, flashing his familiar bright smile and bellowing, "Ah, there you are! I was starting to think I would not see the rest of you tonight."
"Oh my God!" Summer half gasped as David flung himself at Thor in a big hug. "I didn't even know you were here!"
"I was trying to surprise you," Bucky grinned, taking a drink of what looked like whiskey as he leaned against the counter.
After Thor hugged David back and mussed his hair, he turned to Summer and then focused on the little tiny girl in her arms. Adelaide was dressed in a frilly but awesome black and hot pink dress with a matching - and enormous - bow on top of her already chin length dark brown hair, and she eyed Thor very seriously as they got closer to him. "Is this the little one I've been listening to her father boast so much about?"
"Yup," Summer said proudly, grinning at the baby. "She's seven and a half months old now. Already crawling, probably gonna start running soon."
Thor bent down a little to place himself at Adelaide's level, and he grinned as he said, "Hello there, Adelaide! I've been waiting for the day that I would finally get to meet you."
He gently touched her shoulder, and Adelaide quickly hid her face and clung to Summer tightly. Summer chuckled and explained, "She just hit the stranger anxiety phase. But she usually gets over it if you keep talking to her."
"Ah, I see," Thor nodded. He tickled her shoulder again and told Summer, "I received your message following her birth. I was very glad to hear that all went well."
Summer smiled brightly. "You got that?"
"Of course! I always receive the messages you yell to the sky. I only wish at times that I could yell back, but sadly it only works one way."
"That's okay," she assured him as Adelaide lifted her head enough to sneak another peek at Thor. "I'm so glad you're here! We've really missed you."
"I have missed all of you as well," Thor said, nodding down to David who was still stuck to him and probably would be for the rest of the night. Then he looked at Adelaide, who was staring at him very intently all of a sudden.
"She's looking at your hair," Summer smiled, following Adelaide's gaze straight to Thor's glorious blonde locks.
"It is very interesting, isn't it?" Thor teased, moving in a little closer so Adelaide could see better. She then reached out and grabbed one of the small braids in his hair and pulled it.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Summer said, trying to uncurl Adelaide's little fist and release the braid. "She likes to yank on hair. Just ask Bucky."
"I'm lucky I've got any left," Bucky remarked.
"It is fine," Thor shrugged with a smile when Adelaide utterly refused to let go. The baby then looked up at him and smiled back, and he grinned even wider. "Oh, am I winning you over now?"
"One way to find out," Summer smiled before handing Adelaide over to Thor. Adelaide didn't fight her or try to hang on for dear life, being entirely too fascinated by Thor's hair to be perturbed at all as the Asgardian prince held her and grinned happily.
"Oh man," Summer smiled as she quickly grabbed her phone out of her pocket to take pictures. "She looks so tiny with you!"
Adelaide yanked on his hair and giggled, then did it again and again until she was utterly rolling with laughter. As Summer snapped photo after photo, Bucky came up next to her and grinned as his daughter placed Thor under the same spell that everyone else had been put under months earlier. Tony chuckled as well and then wandered over to Thor, noting, "And yet she still isn't sure about me."
Proving his words, Adelaide immediately stopped laughing and stared at Tony with sudden suspicion and gravity. Tony made a funny face at her, and her expression didn't budge. He then sighed and said, "She's looked at me like that since day one."
"It's the facial hair," Bucky shrugged.
"Oh please, how could it be that?" Tony scoffed.
"Maybe she was born with the ability to sense overgrown egos?" Natasha wondered aloud. Tony stuck his tongue out at her.
"Well," Steve said, moving to Thor's other side and patting the little girl on her back, "at least she's got good taste."
Adelaide then turned her head and, upon seeing Steve, smiled hugely and all but dove out of Thor's arms in an attempt to clobber Steve. He laughed and grabbed her, and Summer smiled warmly as Adelaide went about her usual routine when being held by Steve - grab the beard that he was still sporting these days and treat it like one of the most interesting artifacts she'd ever encountered, then squeal happily and proceed to try her best to eat his face.
Tony shook his head. "Little jerk."
Bucky glared at him. "Hey."
"Well, she is," Tony shrugged. "But it's okay. One day she'll realize Iron Man is the coolest Avenger and my work will be done."
Summer scoffed. "Her Daddy's an Avenger. He'll automatically be the coolest in her mind."
"I mean of us original Avengers," Tony rolled his eyes. "Besides, I can fly."
"Your suit flies," Thor pointed out. "You do not. I, however, can actually fly."
"Can you fly without your hammer?" Tony retorted. When Thor hesitated, Tony grinned and said, "Didn't think so. See? We're even."
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Let's face it, the coolest one of us, original or not, is standing right there."
She gestured towards Steve, who was still holding Adelaide and now had Wanda standing next to him. She'd come off the elevator with Clint a moment earlier, and now she'd been pulled into Adelaide's irresistible orbit and was smiling happily as Adelaide reached out for her.
David nodded at Natasha, enthusiastically agreeing. Summer shrugged and said, "Well, yeah. I think I'd have to agree. Tough to get much cooler than that."
Bucky looked at Summer and said in mock sadness, "I'm hurt."
She shrugged again. "Sorry, honey. You're no Scarlet Witch."
Now in Wanda's arms, Adelaide started grabbing for one of the necklaces that she was wearing, her expression suddenly serious as she did this. Meanwhile, Steve smiled and patted Thor on the shoulder. "Well, it's good to have you back. Staying longer than a day this time?"
"Yes!" Thor smiled. "I can spare a few weeks this time around."
"Yay!" Summer grinned. "Hey, if you stay long enough, you'll be here for Bucky's birthday!"
"Ah!" Thor glanced at Bucky, smiling and teasingly asking, "What does this year make?"
"Technically 101," Bucky replied dryly.
"But in lived years, probably more like... 35-ish," Summer added.
Thor nodded understandingly, and Tony coughed a rather audible geezer into his arm before smiling. Bucky replied by flipping him off with an equally false smile, and Summer couldn't even scold him for using rude gestures in front of their children because, well, a few years ago she never would have believed he'd ever be on such comfortable terms with Tony Stark. They weren't the best of friends, but to be anywhere near genuinely friendly for them was quite a feat. She respected Tony for many reasons, not the least of which was his ability to move beyond what most would not even dream of letting go of.
The evening continued on pleasantly, with dinner ending up being just a massive - literally - amount of pizza, and the tower was loud and full of laughter. It made Summer miss the days that they'd lived there, getting to sit back on a couch with Bucky's right arm slung around her shoulder, a drink in his other hand as he talked to Steve and the others over the commotion. He teased Steve, laughed at Clint, muttered things in Russian to Natasha who would then shoot something back that made him roll his eyes and laugh, all while David soaked it all up and Adelaide zoomed all around the floor like a baby on a mission.
One time, Adelaide got hold of a penny that had been lying somewhere on the floor, and Summer had been just about to spring into action when the penny suddenly left Adelaide's hand and floated up in the air, just in time to stop her from shoving it in her mouth.
Summer looked up to find Wanda, sitting on a different couch, holding her hand out and keeping the penny suspended in midair. "Oh man, thank you!"
"No problem," Wanda replied, smiling at Adelaide as she stared open-mouthed at the penny. She wasn't far away, just on the other end of the coffee table that Wanda was sitting behind, and when she tried to grab the penny again, it moved up and just out of her reach. Her mouth dropped open even more, and Wanda moved down to the floor as Adelaide started to chase the penny excitedly. David wandered over as well, reaching them just as Wanda sat on the floor and decided to really wow Adelaide.
Summer had brought along a good amount of Adelaide's toys, and they were scattered all over the floor now. With just a wave of her hand, the toys all glowed a faint but deep red and then floated between Wanda and Adelaide, gathering there and making the little girl stare in utter awe and reach out to touch one. When she poked it and it remained floating, she looked at Wanda and then let out a whoop of a delighted laugh. David giggled too, looking at Wanda and, as Summer could easily recognize by now, striking up a silent conversation with her. She was the only one in the world that he could "talk" to like that, silently from mind to mind, and Summer was unabashedly just a bit jealous of that. But who wouldn't be?
It was a home away from home, but in some strange way, Summer knew deep down that their house that they were renting didn't feel like their true home. They all liked it there and she didn't regret the move at all, but it just... wasn't home. Neither was the tower, but it was a bit closer.
But that was okay. They'd find their real home eventually.
After the night wound down and the kids started to get tired and Summer did too, she was up and saying her goodbyes to the others while Bucky kept an eye on the kids for her. They were still on the floor, Adelaide sitting up and chewing on her pacifier as David sat in front of her, playing toys with her. They were sitting near a far corner of the room, and Bucky was on the opposite side, closer to the kitchen, chatting with Steve while occasionally turning his head to check and make sure Adelaide wasn't trying to eat more change. He was just distracted enough to almost miss an extraordinary moment take place right under his nose.
David, for all of his almost nine years on the planet, had been surrounded by noise. There was good noise and there was bad noise, some that was comforting and some that made his skin feel weird in a way he would have had a hard time conveying to another person. Noise wasn't inherently good or bad. Neither was talking. He just didn't like doing it.
He used to go to speech therapy, starting from when he was two. He remembered three different speech therapists, all of them perfectly nice and each yielding the exact same results as the last. He could communicate. He found his own ways of doing it that didn't involve talking, and eventually, Summer stopped taking him to speech therapy and told him that if he wanted to talk someday, then that was fine. And if he didn't, that was fine too.
He liked signing, nodding, speaking in ways that didn't involve a voice. It was less noise. It helped keep him at ease. All in all, it made him feel more... balanced. And everyone around him accepted that, even if they didn't entirely understand it, because they loved him.
And now there was his little sister, in the very earliest stages of learning how to talk. She wasn't really talking yet, of course. She was just babbling, mostly saying "Ba ba!" over and over, and now everyone was trying to brainwash her into saying their names when she eventually spoke her first word. David thought it was funny, especially since it was obvious that all of their names were just going over her head.
But, he thought as he sat on the floor of the living room of his old home playing with her, she was extremely cute with her constant babbling. She sounded so girly, so little and precious, and he couldn't help but laugh when he pushed a button on one of her toys that made a song play and she responded by spitting out her pacifier and exclaiming, "Ba ba ba ba!"
David glanced Bucky's way and found him grinning at them, and he smiled back before turning back to Adelaide and continuing to play with her. That was when an idea popped into his head.
He looked over again, then one more time, as many times as it took to make sure that nobody was watching or listening. It was very important to him that nobody was listening, and since everyone was off and having their little grown-up talks at the moment, he was pretty sure that he was safe.
And so, he scooted a little closer to his sister and took one of her tiny hands in his own. She held on to his pointer finger, and then for the first time in a very long time... he spoke.
At first, his voice felt strange, surely from lack of use. He didn't really like the way that it felt in his throat, the vibration of his voice, but he didn't let it stop him from telling his little sister his name for the first time, from his own mouth.
"David."
She looked at him curiously, looking down at his mouth and then back up at his eyes, as if she knew how odd speaking was coming from him. Then again, she was nearly eight months old. She'd had some time to get to know him, and she knew that he didn't speak.
But now he was. After quickly looking over his shoulder again, he turned back to her and said it again, this time a little less shakily and more firmly. "David."
She grinned at him and then started happily shaking his entire hand back and forth. "Ba!"
He smiled, deciding that if she was going to say anyone's name for a first word, it was going to be his and that was that. He said his name again, and again, hoping that somewhere in her little mind, she'd register it and know it the way she probably already knew mama and daddy.
Meanwhile, Steve had taken his leave and Summer had walked up to Bucky, coat in hand, asking him if he was ready to leave. He had been about to answer when a soft sound from the living room made her pause and look in the direction of the kids, and that was when she covered her mouth to stifle a gasp and grabbed Bucky's hand to tug him around the corner with her to hide.
"Bucky!" she whispered urgently, smiling like a moron, "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" he asked, also whispering and clearly confused.
"David! That was David!"
"What was David?"
She sighed and urged him to poke his head around the corner with her and look. "Just listen!"
And so he did. They both listened, making sure that David didn't know they were there and thus felt secure enough to keep going. Summer's heart melted as David taught Adelaide his name in hushed tones, both because she was finally getting to hear his voice after years of waiting, and because he was sharing this very special moment with his baby sister.
She and Bucky both smiled at each other as they watched, both of them knowing how remarkable it was and not taking it lightly. Summer didn't know if it meant that maybe David might consider talking more in the future, perhaps here and there, or maybe only with Adelaide. Then again, maybe this was a one time occurrence and he'd return to his usual silence once the moment was over. Either way, she would support him wholeheartedly.
But oh, she thought, how he must love his baby sister to give her what were, essentially, a few of his very own first words in order to encourage her own. She would have recorded it on her phone had she not suspected that such an action would have greatly offended David when he eventually saw the video someday.
"He really loves her," Bucky said quietly, echoing her thoughts.
Summer's eyes met his and she smiled, nodding softly and turning back to David. "Yeah. He really does."
It was one of those moments that she knew she'd never forget, and she was eternally grateful that she was lucky enough to stumble upon it.
After the following week, which was a week filled with anxiety and enough shopping to make Summer hate it, it was time. The appointed day had come, and there was no stopping it or getting out of it once it arrived.
Summer had picked one of Bucky's days off to book the hotel, and she was vague and transparently jittery when she left the kids at home with him and dashed off. He'd asked where she was going, and she had just blushed and stammered about oh you know, just gonna go do... girl things... with Natasha, and he had clearly known that she was up to something but he didn't press her on it. He just grinned and gave her a kiss goodbye before being left standing in the front doorway of their home with Adelaide in his arms, yanking pieces of his hair out of its bun as Summer hopped in the car and zoomed off.
She picked up Natasha at the tower, humming with nervous energy all the while, and the first words out of her mouth when Natasha opened the passenger door was, "Do you have the alcohol?!"
"Relax," Natasha rolled her eyes, tossing her bag inside and eyeing the backseat. "You have the dress and the lingerie?"
"Yeah, and the makeup and all the hair supplies," Summer nodded. "So, alcohol?"
Natasha just gave her a look and then walked around to the back of the car, opening the hatch and putting an entire small crate of wine in there. One could never be too prepared, and besides, Natasha's own stash was running low, anyway.
Once Nat was in the car and they were heading across town to the hotel in question, Summer tapped the steering wheel anxiously as she drove and Natasha ran down the checklist, just to double check that they were ready.
Once she got through the supplies they needed that day, Natasha asked, "And you went to the salon yesterday, right?"
Summer nodded, slightly cringing. "Got waxed within an inch of my life on my lunch break."
Natasha nodded, mentally checking one more thing off the list. Then she asked, "You got the one I told you to ask for, right?"
"Yes," Summer sighed, fidgeting a little. She'd never had to do that before, not even for her wedding, and she never planned on doing it again because ouch.
"Good. Has he noticed yet?"
Summer scoffed and shook her head. "Nope. Honestly, I'm not sure if he's seen me naked in the last... month?"
Natasha gave her a look and grimaced. "Ouch. You know, if you guys ever need a night to yourselves, all you have to do is ask."
"I know," Summer nodded gratefully. "We're both just so tired all the time now. Seriously, if we could just keep our eyes open past eleven, we could do things. But... yeah. We're like an old couple who can't stay up past the evening news to catch Leno."
"Jimmy Fallon," Natasha corrected Summer.
"Really? When did he take over?"
Natasha gave Summer a long, concerned look and then said, "Boy, you really do work too much." After a pause, she added, "And I can't believe that you've never gotten waxed before."
Summer shrugged. "Well, I mean, I was single forever, and... Bucky's... y'know. He's... old school and doesn't really care, so... or at least I don't think he does. He's never said anything. Seems pretty happy with... um... it."
After Natasha chuckled at her wording, she said, "Yeah, Steve's the same way. But he's come to appreciate modern grooming. Actually, the one that I told you to get is his favorite. Not too much, not too little. You know what they say. You eat with your eyes first."
Summer stopped at a red light and looked at Natasha with slightly wide eyes before bursting into giggles. "Oh my God, Natasha!"
Natasha smirked and said, "It's never not fun making you uncomfortable. I've been pretty conservative with what I've told you, too. I could make it so much worse."
"Well, please don't, especially not today when I'm already freaking out about to puke from being so nervous."
"Fine," Natasha relented with a grin. "Hotel's right up there."
Swallowing down a sudden lump of fear, Summer fell quiet and located said hotel as her fingers tightened on the steering wheel again. She wondered as she began to search for parking just how painfully Natasha would kick her butt if she decided to hit the gas and speed away as far as possible.
Best to not find out, she decided as she found a parking spot and turned off the car. Once the engine was off, she looked at Natasha warily out of the corner of her eye.
"Come on," Nat said, unbuckling her seat belt and opening her door. "The guys are already in the room. Let's get you all dressed up and drunk enough to do this."
"Sounds like a plan," Summer sighed before hopping out of the car herself. This was going to be a rather interesting night.
When Summer and Natasha had decided upon a vintage feel to the photo shoot - which was only natural considering who it was for - Esteban had found the cute little hotel that they were all now gathered at. It had been open since the 1920s and had maintained its old-time charm as part of its modern appeal. A few old movies had even been filmed there, and the room that had been booked for Summer was perfect for a vintage, classy boudoir shoot.
If she could do it without laughing and acting like a complete idiot the whole time, of course.
When they checked in and made their way up a winding, pretty staircase to the very top floor of the hotel, they found the correct door number and found it unlocked. Natasha walked inside first, Summer right behind her as they entered and were greeted with an enthusiastic, "Well, it's about time!"
"What? We're right on time," Natasha replied with a smirk to Esteban, who was fiddling with the curtains on one of the windows while Nicolo snapped test pictures.
"Barely," Esteban teased. Then he grinned at Summer and said, "There's the woman of the hour!"
Summer cringed and hung her dress up on the door, then set down her bag of other supplies. "Oh God, don't start or I will seriously throw up." Then she looked around the room and said, "Holy crap, this place is even prettier than in the pictures online."
"I know!" Nicolo agreed excitedly, rushing over to her and showing her his camera. "I've been testing out the lighting and stuff, and look at these shots. This room is perfect. I've already had a few new ideas for some poses I want to try."
Summer nodded, swallowing nervously and then smiling at Nicolo. "That's awesome. Really, it is, and I can't thank you both enough for doing this and helping me, but -"
"But you need to get drunk before you get so nervous that you pass out," Esteban guessed.
Summer pointed at him. "Yes! Exactly."
He smiled. "I know you pretty well by now, sweetie."
"Yes, well... can you go ahead and get me the world's biggest glass of wine while I try to get dressed?"
"On it," Esteban said, and then Natasha was walking with Summer to the bathroom. And thus began the preparations.
The hair and makeup was tedious and took an hour all on its own. Getting the clothes on, however, was probably the easiest part of the experience. First there was the lingerie, which she had bought from a very high-end shop she normally never would have bothered with due to eternal frugality, but, well... if there had ever been a time where it was completely necessary to spend half a paycheck on lingerie, this was it.
It was a more complicated setup than her wedding had required. Unlike then, she had a corset to squeeze into this time around, and she held her breath as Natasha fastened it very tightly around her. It was worth the pain though, being a gorgeous black piece with lacy and partially sheer sections, and by the time Natasha was done, Summer wasn't sure if it was the oxygen deprivation or if her boobs actually looked that good in the thing.
Aside from the corset, there was then the matching garter and hose to deal with. Those were much less foreign of a concept, and the discomfort of the corset distracted from Summer's general lack of fondness for having to wear a thong. But she wasn't there to feel good in the comfort sense. She was there to look better than she ever had before in her life and document it forever, and nothing else mattered. Including breathing.
Then there was the dress. Finding the right dress had been the most difficult part of shopping, but Natasha had struck gold for her with her pick. It was long and gloriously, richly red, strapless and sweetheart-necklined, and it fit Summer's body from top to bottom perfectly. With the corset on underneath, Summer's eyes nearly popped out of her own head for how good she looked in it.
She was also already tipsy by the time that she was finally ready.
When she and Natasha finally emerged from their preparations, Esteban and Nicolo had been bickering about where to go to dinner later when they looked up and both dropped their jaws in sheer delight.
Her hair was down and rolled in soft, old fashioned curls. Her makeup matched the vintage theme and was perfect, winged eyes and red lips to match the deep color of her dress. And not only was the dress itself a thing to behold, but so were the unbelievably high heels underneath that made her look like a giant next to the petite Natasha.
"Oh my God," Esteban said slowly, staring at her in awe. "Summer. Oh my God."
She giggled at them, gesturing vaguely with one hand and announcing, "I'm drunk!"
"She's not drunk," Natasha rolled her eyes. "Not yet, anyway."
"But I feel good," she said, "So let's do this while I feel good and before I lose my nerve and start crying!"
"Yes," Nicolo nodded, snapping into business mode and grabbing his camera from where it had been sitting on a table. "Let's go. I am so excited. Look - my hands are shaking a little."
He wasn't lying. Summer just giggled again and said, "My entire body's shaking!"
Natasha glanced at Esteban and said, "I think we have our work cut out for us."
"Yes," he agreed, "but in the end, the result will be glorious."
"Glorious," Nat repeated, considering the word. "Yeah, I can work with that."
Esteban then nabbed a wine bottle for himself, because he wasn't driving and he'd never turn down a chance to drink Tony Stark's personal stock. Then the photo shoot officially began.
It started out rather easily and without any undue stress. Summer could handle posing in various positions and places around the room fully dressed, taking direction from all three of her companions and enjoying her slight buzz as she did so. She felt good and she knew that she looked great, quite proud of being able to wear a corset and body-hugging gown only seven and a half months after giving birth and looking awesome while doing it.
She posed in front of the windows, on one of the old, pretty chairs in the room, and in a doorway with her back to the camera and her hands on either side of the walls. Natasha tossed her a faux fur wrap for a few of the photos, including a few of the more close-up ones showcasing her face and flawless hair, and if Esteban raved any more about how she looked a glamorous old movie star, he might have eventually just passed out under the weight of his own enthusiasm.
That was, of course, the easy part. Though it didn't exactly come naturally, Summer could pose all day for classic, glamorous, fully clothed photos. It was the next part where things started to get a bit dicey.
"Okay, so... what do you think," Natasha asked Nicolo while Summer took a break to down a bit more wine. "Unzip the back of the dress and take a few like that, with her holding it up and eventually taking it off?"
Summer choked on her drink as Nicolo nodded. "Oh no. It's that time, isn't it?"
Natasha smiled and nodded. "Remember, none of us are going to laugh at you or tease you or do anything to make you feel uncomfortable."
"I have done these shoots before," Nicolo nodded. "It's no different from what we've already been doing. Truly, to me it's all the same."
"And if there's anyone you can feel comfortable with being naked in front of, it's us three," Esteban added.
"Yeah, I mean, they're as gay as it gets, and you spent months giving me half naked lap dances," Natasha shrugged. Both men nodded in agreement.
Summer sighed and then threw back the rest of her third glass of wine. "Okay. Let's just... let's..."
"Get you naked?" Natasha finished for her.
"Oh God," Summer muttered, slouching her shoulders slightly as Natasha walked over to her. Esteban followed, helpfully refilling Summer's glass as Natasha walked behind Summer and started pulling down the zipper.
"Stand up straight," Natasha told her. "I'm gonna help you through this."
"How?" Summer asked with disbelief.
"I've got a few ideas," Natasha replied vaguely.
After that - and another sip of wine - the photo shoot started kicking into gear. It didn't take long for the dress to come off, and once it was and Summer got to enjoy the last few photos she got to spend clothed, Natasha came and took the dress away and Summer was left in just her lingerie and heels. Nicolo directed her then to go and sit down in one of the chairs by the windows, and after Summer did, Esteban asked, "How are you doing?"
"Well, my boobs feel like they're gonna pop out any minute and this thong is really on my nerves, but I'm pretty sure that I'm actually drunk now," she shrugged, leaning an arm on the back of the chair.
"Okay, no more wine," Natasha decreed, coming back from hanging the dress up. "We want you relaxed, not unconscious."
Summer gave the thumbs up. "Well, I'm about as relaxed as I'm gonna get, so..."
"Okay. So, how do you want her?" Natasha asked Nicolo.
"Hmm... let's do a few looking out the window, then looking at the camera. Don't be wistful about it."
"No wistfulness, check," Summer said, taking a deep breath and looking out the window. Natasha helped position her, moving her arms and tipping her chin up, then having her cross one leg over the other.
"Actually, imagine that you're waiting here for your husband, all dressed up and waiting to surprise him," Nicolo suggested, and Summer glanced at him and started instantly blushing.
"Oh, uh... okay..."
Natasha then stepped away and added, "Let's try something. Close your eyes."
Summer looked at her strangely and began, "But -"
"Close your eyes," Natasha repeated, and this time Summer did as she said. "And just imagine. You're sitting here waiting for him. He's on his way home from work now, and the kids are with someone else. You're all dressed up and he has no idea what you've got waiting for him. It's been awhile since you had a night to yourselves, so... this is special and you're very impatiently waiting for him to walk through the door."
Dutifully keeping her eyes closed, Summer's fuzzy mind followed Nat's words and imagined such a situation. If only it were true. She was quite deprived and alcohol had a way of making her rather... warm and excited.
"... Now open your eyes."
She did, her gaze still fixed on the world outside of the window, and Nicolo snapped away. He gave the thumbs up to Nat, who grinned at the success of her tactic and then decided to push it a little further.
"Now close your eyes again."
She did, a little bit of her anxiety fluttering away as she listened to Natasha's voice. "Finally his car pulls in the driveway. You hear him walk inside, close the door, call your name, but you don't answer. You've been waiting and thinking about what you want to do to him for so long that you're more than ready, and when he walks through the door he finds you just like this. Your eyes meet and you can see how surprised he is. And how much he wants you."
Normally, Summer would have giggled and begged Nat to stop, but she did nothing of the sort. Instead, she imagined vividly everything Nat was saying, imagined Bucky standing where Nicolo was, walking in and letting his mouth fall open just a little and taking his eyes up and down her body from head to toe...
"Now open your eyes."
She did, this time looking directly at the camera, and it was perfect.
After Nicolo had gotten enough shots of that pose, she stood up to move to a different part of the room for a few others, and Natasha told her, "Just keep in mind that all of these pictures are for his eyes. He's not here now but you want to look at the camera exactly how you would look at him if he was."
"Yeah," Summer smiled. "And hey, if you want to keep telling me... stuff... that seemed to work really well, so..."
"I can do that," Natasha smiled, and Summer grinned back in deep gratitude. She might make it through this after all.
She posed still in her full lingerie for the next round of shots. In some she was standing, others sitting, and she ended up in the bed for a few of them. Natasha and the men were invaluable in their help directing her, telling her when to arch her back or hold her head up higher and how to position her legs or her arms. She got comfortable enough to not need so much of Nat's encouragement after a bit, but of course, that was when it was time to get more naked and make her nervous again.
This time, it was time to say goodbye to the corset. Summer sat on the edge of the bed as Natasha got behind her and started undoing the laces. When Esteban saw the anxiety start to creep back up on her face, he walked by and patted her shoulder as he said, "Don't worry. Thanks to your breastfeeding, we've all seen the girls at least once or twice a week for the last seven months."
"He has a point," Natasha nodded. "Even Steve doesn't flinch anymore when you pop one out."
"You know... yeah, you're right," Summer had to admit. The boobs might have been the least uncomfortable thing to expose at that point.
Still, however, once the corset was undone and she could breathe again, she still automatically covered them with her arms the minute the corset was gone. But then she remembered what they'd said and, with a great inner resolve, let her arms drop. Then she took a deep breath and said, "Okay, what next?"
Surprisingly, rolling around in a bed taking topless and mostly naked photos wasn't so bad. She followed directions well and found the physical posing to be fairly easy, but it was the facial expressions that she had the hardest time with. She was the type to make the stupidest faces possible as soon as a camera was nearby, but now she was being asked to pose like she was a model - all serious-faced with lips slightly parted, and with "bedroom eyes". But she wasn't sure how to make bedroom eyes on purpose.
That was when Natasha would help, and she seemed to always know just what to say to get the right look from Summer. It was working, and judging by the glee that Nicolo was poorly hiding, it was working very well.
And then, piece by piece, the rest of Summer's lingerie came off until she was left in just the high heels and rather tiny thong that barely covered anything. She wasn't sure that it was any better than being fully naked, really, so if there was a moment where she was going to freak out and chicken out, it would have been then.
But that was when Natasha tossing her something black, shiny, and familiar distracted her from any potentially impending meltdowns. Sitting up on the bed, she touched the thing and began, "Is this -"
"Yup," Natasha smiled. "Found it in your car. I thought it might make for a few good shots."
Summer grinned down at Bucky's leather jacket, then glanced up at Nat and said, "So... you want me to put this on and like, roll around in just this and a thong?"
"And the heels," Natasha nodded, grinning back at her. "I have a feeling he'll like it."
Summer felt herself blush a little as her grin grew a bit wider. Bucky wouldn't like it. He'd love it. He might also have a stroke over it, and every other picture she had taken and was still going to take, but that was another issue entirely.
She put on the jacket and smiled to herself, the leather smelling just like him and making her drunken brain buzz pleasantly. She thought about him, her mind recalling times that she'd impatiently tore the very same jacket from his shoulders and let it fall to the floor in her haste to get him undressed, and it turned out that she apparently photographed pretty well when she was thinking about their previous nights - and some afternoons - together.
After Nicolo had gotten enough shots of her in the jacket, Natasha helped her get it off and then brought something to her attention that she'd started suspecting only moments earlier.
"Okay, so... you've got a few choices," Natasha said, sitting next to her. "We've gotten a lot of really good shots, so we could stop here and still have plenty to fill up a book with. Or... we can keep going like we planned."
Summer sighed, looking around with her slightly heavy eyes and shrugging as she decided, "I'm basically naked already. Might as well go the extra mile and really kill him."
Natasha grinned and nodded. "Good choice."
And then, a few moments later, Summer was fully naked and being photographed in a way that she still couldn't believe she had agreed to. As weird as it was, however, she really did feel completely safe and secure among her friends, and nothing about it felt bad or shameful or anything else. They all went to such lengths to make her comfortable, and it was not the thing of horror that her anxious mind had built it up to be over the previous week.
But that didn't mean that she didn't still have a moment towards the end that almost brought the shoot to a premature end. It came after she'd gotten done posing with a sheer, lacy robe, which had provided her a small sense of comfort in not being technically naked, but then as soon as she had taken that off and got back into bed, her nerves came back very suddenly.
"Um, Nat?" she said in a slightly small tone when Natasha had moved away after helping to pose her.
"Yeah?" she said quietly, moving back her way.
"I, uh... I might be on the verge of freaking out again, so if you could do that thing where you distract me and I get back into the groove of things..."
"Sure," Natasha said, not a trace of judgment or impatience anywhere to be found. She perched on the bed, far enough to be out of Nicolo's shot but close enough to still be a comfort to Summer. "Just breathe. It's okay. You're doing great, and we're almost done."
Summer nodded and took a deep breath. "Thank God."
"We can stop whenever you want, but the thing about these pictures is... they're the ones that are gonna knock him out."
Summer grinned at her. "Think so?"
"You tell me," she replied. "Imagine him out on a mission, away from you for a couple weeks. But he's got a book full of these pictures. And they start out with you in that dress, looking like you just stepped out of a movie. And then with each page he turns, there's less and less clothes and more of you. What do you think would happen once he gets to the end?"
"I uh... I've got a few ideas," Summer replied, still smiling stupidly. "Well. One idea."
"Exactly. So just think about that. Think about how much he loves you. Think about how stunned he's going to be that you did this for him. And how much he's gonna enjoy it."
"He's gonna love it," Summer nodded. "He's just... yeah."
Natasha nodded. "Yeah. And if it helps... think about what he's gonna do to you after he sees the pictures on his birthday."
Summer had to fight not to shiver. She couldn't even imagine...
"Just think about that," Natasha grinned, "and look at the camera."
Summer took a deep breath, then turned her head and looked right at the lens, imagining that it was Bucky she was looking at, straight from the pages of a book in his hands.
Natasha smiled and slipped away. That last little push was all Summer needed to finish the job, and every person in the room could tell that the photos were going to turn out utterly stunning.
When it was over and Natasha had helped Summer into one of the hotel's white bathrobes, Summer was completely ecstatic, bordering on almost euphoric. She was proud of herself and her friends were equally proud of her, and after hugging them all and giggling with such mischief that one might have thought she'd just gotten away with robbing a bank, Summer grabbed the nearest bottle of wine and ended up getting herself officially and rather ragingly drunk for the first time since her honeymoon. But it was so much fun and she was so relieved that she'd done it, faced her insecurities and beat the living crap out of them, and there was nothing to do now but celebrate.
But first, she hugged each of her three irreplaceable friends and thanked them all for being patient and caring enough to be there for her and helping her through it.
"I told you you could do it," Natasha said as they hugged. After they drew apart, she smiled and added, "Just like I told you how you could dance on your wedding night and how you could get back in shape. See? You can do anything you want to."
Summer beamed and couldn't help but hug Natasha again, squeezing the life out of her. "You are seriously the best. I love you."
"I thought you were a horny drunk, not a sappy drunk," Natasha teased.
Summer pulled away and giggled drunkenly, "Hey, don't test me. I've just rolled around naked in a bed thinking about sexy things and I could probably go a little gay right now if I had to."
"Oh boy," Natasha laughed. "Let's go get you ready to go home. I'm sure your husband wouldn't mind taking care of that problem for you."
Summer laughed with her and headed to the bathroom, so they could wash off her makeup and erase all traces of the secret photoshoot from her body. It had been a great night, and while it was likely that she'd change her mind a bit in the coming weeks, drunk Summer very much looked forward to seeing the photos once Nicolo had put all the finishing touches on them.
And the best part was, Bucky would never ever see it coming.
A/N: Hello, all :D this chapter's a week late because I had issues with it for some reason, BUT YAY it's done and now I can move on to the next chapter... which will cover Bucky's birthday :D hopefully you guys will like it. And hopefully you'll all like this chapter too :p I owe a lot to midnightwings96 for helping me get this chapter done and helping A LOT with specifics of the photo shoot and for more that'll be coming up in the next chapter :D I'm excited. I've been looking forward to this next chapter for what feels like forever. I'm also GREATLY looking forward to the one after it, too, but I'm giving no hints as to why :p
Thank you all for reading and reviewing! I love you all SO MUCH and I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing you all this time next week :D