Chapter Text
Chapter 29
Bucky comes in from a meeting at the newest gallery. To date, there are six galleries in New York run by Bucky and he’s having a wonderful time doing what he loves. When they have a new show, he always invites Becca and Ellie, and they always show up. Becca has turned the business into something that their dad never could have imagined, but their mother would have loved. She may be a mob boss, but Becca is a force of nature and has moved the Barnes Family into free healthcare clinics, donations and free surgeries to veterans, foster homes that truly take care of the kids. Bucky so damn proud of what she’s doing that some days he just has to go see her and hug her. Inevitably she calls him a softy, but returns the hug with just as much affection.
The elevator dings and Bucky’s immediately greeted by his and Steve’s four-legged child. Leaning down, he smushes Iqa’s face between his hands, rubbing until she groans with pleasure. “How’s my girl doin? Did you keep daddy on his toes today?”
Hanging his coat, Bucky heads further into the apartment. It’s getting cold outside, so Steve started a fire in the fireplace, but besides that, all the lights are off. The odd thing about that is, Bucky can smell that Steve’s cooking. What he finds, never ceases to amaze him. Steve’s in the kitchen, chopping herbs. His hands are moving faster than Bucky ever could and the pan on the stove is simmering with something that smells like heaven. Scooping the herbs up with the knife, into his hand, Steve turns to put them in the pot.
Picking up the spoon, Steve stirs them in. He tilts his head, just a fraction, letting Bucky know he’s aware that he has an audience. “You just gonna stand there or get over here and kiss me?”
Bucky starts to chuckle, walking over to Steve, placing a kiss on his cheek. When Steve turns into Bucky, he gets a better kiss. “You cooking in the dark is still weird.”
Steve snorts. “What good are lights going to do me?”
“I get that, but it’s strange, but in a way that I like.” That gets another kiss, then Bucky heads to change. After dinner, Steve sits on the sofa, petting Iqa and listening to Bucky in the kitchen, cleaning up. “How are you so neat when you cook?”
Calling over the back of the sofa, Steve laughs out, “I don’t understand why you think cooking means using every pot we own.”
Sliding off the sofa, Steve takes a pillow with him, lying on the floor, facing the fire. He rarely wears his dark glasses at home anymore. A few minutes later, Bucky comes in with two glasses of wine, looking down at Steve. Remembering a night like this so many years ago, Bucky asks a question that he wanted to ask then. “What’s got you so deep in thought?”
Rolling onto his back, Steve’s stares at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. “Do you remember...”
Before he can finish, Bucky answers. “Yeah, I remember. It’s the first night you slept here.”
“That night, I was laying on your living room floor, thinking that I wanted something like this. I wanted a simple life with you. I knew then that loving you was just going to be a way of life. I was in too deep and didn’t want to think about the job I was sent here to do.” Sitting the glasses aside, just like he did that night, Bucky lays down on top of Steve, kissing him with everything that’s happened over the years.
Lifting his head, Bucky brushes Steve’s hair back, kissing his forehead. “When I saw you that night, I knew that this is what I wanted. You’re what I wanted. When you were gone, I was just goin through the motions.”
“No matter what else happens, Bucky, this is our bubble. We need to protect our little world.” Bucky kisses him again, then lays down next to Steve, putting his arms around the smaller man that’s bigger than life.
“I promise.” He kisses Steve’s cheek. “But we still have to deal with my family for Thanksgiving.”
“Our family.”