Brooklyn, New York, May 1928
Ever since she could remember, Josephine loved her birthday. She looked forward to it every year and everyone she encountered had to hear about how excited she was for it. In 1923, the first birthday that she had celebrated in Brooklyn, they had started a tradition of inviting the Rogers and Barnes families to come celebrate. That made her even more excited if that was even possible because it meant that she got to celebrate with two of her closest friends.
Josephine was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard her father calling for her.
"Josephine!" Milton called out from the foyer. "Bucky is here for ya!"
Josephine's brows furrowed together in confusion. Bucky was early, his and Steve's families weren't supposed to arrive for another 45 minutes at least. She shrugged it off and made her way to the front door, a smile forming on her face when she saw Bucky.
Bucky had just turned 11 years old in March and was growing like a weed. He already had a few inches on Josephine. He walked into the apartment and used one hand to close the door while keeping the other one behind his back.
"Hi Josie," Bucky greeted with a smile. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you, James," Josephine replied sincerely before grabbing his free hand. "C'mon, let's go play in my room before everyone gets here."
Josephine tugged Bucky into her room and looked around for a game that they could play. "What do ya wanna play, James?"
"Actually, u-um…" Bucky cleared his throat nervously.
Josephine turned to face him, her brows furrowing in confusion. Bucky was nervous. Why was he so nervous? Josephine tried to rack her brain for any reason that would justify his strange behavior. That's when she noticed that one hand was still behind his back.
"James, what's going on?" Josephine questioned. "What are you hiding? Why are you so nervous?"
Bucky swallowed nervously and brought his hand in front of him. In his hand was a brand-new-looking teddy bear.
"James… what—who…" Josephine trailed off.
"It's for you, Josie." Bucky smiled, almost shyly. "I've, uh, been savin' up my allowance for it. And I know how excited you were to turn 10, so… Happy birthday, Josie."
Josie gently took the bear from Bucky, and she studied it closely. She couldn't believe that Bucky had gone out and gotten this for her. She felt tears well up in her eyes and she sniffled slightly.
Bucky's eyes widened at the sight of her tears, and he felt himself internally freak out. "Oh, God… you don't like it. That's okay, Josie! We can, I can return it and—
"James, stop." Josephine interrupted him with a grateful smile on her face. "They're happy tears. I love this teddy bear. Thank you so much, James."
Bucky immediately relaxed and felt a sense of pride burst through him. She loved it. Josephine set the bear gently on her bed against her pillow. She walked toward Bucky and hugged him tightly. Bucky stilled slightly in shock before he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head.
"Thank you so much, James," Josephine whispered against him. "It's the best birthday gift ever."
"Better than your Raggedy Ann doll?" Bucky teased.
"Much better than my Raggedy Ann doll." Josephine giggled as she pulled away from him. "It was really sweet of ya to get that for me."
"Well, hey," Bucky shrugged. "You only turn 10 once, ya gotta make it special."
Josephine smiled and then a thought popped into her head. "I have to name my new teddy bear, James!"
"Mm, thought of any good names?" Bucky asked.
Josephine thought for a moment before she smirked slightly. "Buchanan. That's gonna be his name."
Bucky let out a laugh, throwing his head back and all. "You're gonna name your new teddy bear Buchanan?"
"Yeah," Josephine nodded with a smile. "After my best friend who got him for me."
Bucky's eyes softened a bit as he looked at her. "That's real sweet, Josie. Thank you."
Josephine and Bucky's moment was interrupted when Anna knocked on the doorframe.
"Hi sweetheart, hi Bucky," Anna smiled. "Why don't you both come out to the main room? Everyone else has just arrived."
"Okay, Mama," Josephine replied.
Anna's eyes zeroed in on the teddy bear on Josephine's bed. "Sweetheart, is that bear new? Where'd you get it?"
"James got it for me for my birthday," Josephine answered happily.
"Bucky, that's so sweet of you," Anna practically cooed.
Bucky felt the blush spread across his face. "I told Josie, ya only turn 10 once. It should be special, right?"
"Well, that's very thoughtful of you, Bucky." Anna smiled. "Now come on, you two. Let's celebrate with everyone."
~/~\~
Anna, Sarah, and Winnifred watched as Steve, Bucky, Josephine, and Bucky's younger sisters all played together.
"You know," Anna started in a hushed voice. "Bucky came by early just to give Josephine this new teddy bear that he had been saving up for."
Winnifred's brows shot up. "What? That's why he came up here earlier than everyone else?"
Anna blinked at her friend in confusion. "Well, I assume you had known…"
"He just told me he wanted to be the first to wish her a happy birthday." Winnifred shrugged. "I knew he had been saving up for a birthday gift for her, but… wow."
"Hm," Sarah hummed knowingly. "That's sweet of him."
"He said he got it for her because he knew how excited she was to turn 10," Anna added as she watched Bucky explain the card game to Josephine. "You sure raised him well, Winnie."
"I'll take credit for that," Winnifred chuckled. "But I think that was all him. Sometimes I think she's the only one he sees."
"First crushes, they sure are something," Sarah murmured.
"James, I still don't understand it!" Josephine pouted.
"Josie, here, you can be my partner then," Bucky suggested. "You can watch and help me play. You'll get the hang of it."
The three mothers looked at each other, knowing smiles on their faces. They watched as Bucky showed her how to play the game while Josephine listened intently.
~/~\~
Later that night, Anna was tucking Josephine into bed. Josephine hugged her teddy bear to her chest and Anna sat on the edge of the bed.
"Did you have a good birthday, sweetheart?" Anna whispered.
"The best birthday," Josephine answered with a tired smile. "I love my teddy bear."
"That was really sweet of Bucky to get that for you." Anna nodded. She watched as her daughter chewed on her lip nervously. "Penny for your thoughts?"
Josephine looked up at her mother with her brows pulled together. "How do you know when you have a crush on someone, Mama? I hear girls in class talking about their crushes."
Anna tilted her head slightly. "Do you have a crush on a boy, Josephine?"
Josephine pursed her lips, deep in thought. "I don't know…"
"Well, that's okay, sweetheart." Anna kissed her daughter's forehead before she stood up. "Happy 10th birthday, Josephine. We love you so much."