I Promise.

Merry Freaking Christmas.

Chapter 32
  "You're sure he won't find this weird?" I asked my mom. She was in the middle of cooking us breakfast. It was Steve's first Christmas with us and we wanted to make it special for him.
  "Trust me, the only thing weird is your hair." My mom said, tugging on the now bleach blonde hair. She nearly killed me when I came home. Steve wasn't exactly happy either. He was kind of right; I looked like a complete cunt.
  "Should I wake him up? Is that a thing people do on Christmas?" I asked, while scratching my neck. Scratching my neck has always been my nervous tick, and I definitely was nervous. Steve thought that the car was just his gift from me, but he thought wrong. I wanted to do something else for Steve. It took a lot of thinking, but I finally thought of the perfect gift. Sarah gave me Joseph's ring, and I was never really sure what to do with it. Of course I knew what she meant, but I wasn't sure what to do with it for the time being. Then I finally thought of it. For now, I converted it into a necklace to give to him. I knew how special it was to him, so I didn't want to keep this from him for any longer. I just hope he enjoys it and doesn't find it weird.
  "James Buchanan, it's going to be okay!" She said, yanking my hand away from my neck.
  "Sorry, just nervous." I smiled, my hand was still in her hand.
  "Nervous about what?" I heard Steve groggily say while walking down the staircase. His voice is always really deep when he first wakes up.
  "Nothing!" My mom announced. I mentally thanked her. I didn't want to come off as weird.
  "Alright then," Steve began. "Merry Christmas!" He exclaimed. His favorite part of the year has always been Christmas time. He loves all the lights and all the music. I'm not complaining; I love seeing him all happy. It's a nice change of pace.
  "Right back at you." I responded while walking over to him. I planted a kiss on his lips. He smelled like mint.
  "Not in front of the bacon, kids!" My mom announced.
  "It's dead." I spun around and answered. I heard Steve chuckle next to me. He was practically glowing today. My mom gestured for us to sit down at the table, so we followed her.
  "While we eat, can I at least hand around presents? I don't think I can last any longer!" He asked, practically jumping in his chair.
  "I mean, if you want to!" Mom responded. With that, he practically ran out of his chair, and ran up the stairs. A couple minutes passed, and then he finally returned with two small boxes. He quickly walked back to the table and set both of them down in front of their respective owners.
  "I-It's not a lot, but it's something. I'm sorry I couldn't get more." He stuttered. He looked insanely flustered. I immediately pulled my gift out of my pocket. It was wrapped in blue snowflake wrapping paper.
  "Do you want to open yours first?" I asked. I felt like it would be polite to offer.
  "No thank you. You two can go first." He said while running his hands along his thighs. He was visibly nervous. My mom started to rip her wrapping paper first, revealing a little earring box. She opened it up, and a note fell out. As she was reading it I noticed her eyes tearing up. Something tells me it was a little heartfelt note to her.
  "Steven, these are beautiful!" She exclaimed, bending forwards to offer him a kiss on the cheek. I must've looked curious, because she turned the box towards me. Inside of it was a pair of diamond and pearl earrings. A couple months ago we all went to the mall together, and my mom expressed her love for those earrings. That was back when Sarah was alive. I was surprised he remembered that specific pair.
  "I'm really glad you like them! I was scared that you'd forget about it." He blushed. My mom smiled back at him, and then stared at me.
  "Open yours, Buck." She told me. I did as she said, and started to peel the wrapping paper. It revealed a black box with the words "Michael Kors" across it. I immediately knew what was in it. For the past couple of years, I've always wanted a nice watch. I've specifically wanted a silver Michael Kors watch, but they've always been so expensive. I never wanted to ask anyone for it, so I've been saving up as much money as possible. Even now I still wanted a nice watch. I finally opened up the box, with the help of Steve, and I saw what was inside. It was a silver Michael Kors watch. Sure enough, on top of it was a little note to me written from Steve.
"~Bucky~
This past year has been absolutely insane. In just one year, I've lost almost everything. I lost my mom, my childhood home, and the closest thing I had to a father. I've lost so much, but I still haven't lost one thing. You. Despite all the death surrounding us, I still haven't lost you. This year was absolute trash, but for some reason you make me feel like everything will be okay. You're the only one I imagine a future with, because you are my future. You're my past, present, and future. You're everything I have and more. You're my best friend, my boyfriend, and my whole entire world. I'm not sure what I would do without you, so assure me one thing. If you do something stupid, do it with me. I love you more than anything in this whole entire world, and I can't imagine a world without you. A world without you is a world I don't want to live in, so please don't ever leave me. I'm with you till the end of the line, pal.
   I love you to the moon and back,
   -Stevie♡"
I probably looked pathetic. I was a complete mess after reading the note. Steve leaned over, pulled me into a hug, and started kissing my jawline.
  "God you punk." I choked out.
  "Jerk." He laughed. He sat back and I shifted up to look at the watch again.
  "Stevie, you really shouldn't have. This is really expensive." I said.
  "Don't even talk to me about expensive. You bought me a car." He responded. I mean, he wasn't wrong. I sighed in response. I then turned the watch to my mom who made a surprised noise. I don't think she was expecting how nice it was either.
  "Alright, your turn." I said, shoving the box towards him. He slowly began to open it.
——————————————————
  I began to slowly open the box. I wasn't completely sure what was inside of it. I haven't really asked for anything. As I fully unwrapped it, it revealed a ring box. The box looked familiar, but I couldn't remember seeing it in a store anywhere. I looked up at Bucky in confusion, and he just rolled his eyes.
  "Just open it, punk."
  I began to open it, and then I noticed it. It was my dad's wedding ring, attached to a necklace. It caught me completely off guard, and I immediately felt the tears streaming down my cheeks.
  "H-How did you get this?" I asked surprised. I was wiping my tears with my hands. This was completely unbelievable. I looked through my whole house for this ring, and I couldn't find it anywhere. That's when it hit me. Bucky told me that my mom and him spoke to each other, but he never told me that she actually gave him a ring. He never told me she gave him the ring.
  "Your mom gave it to me when she talked to me. I don't think I have to explain her reasoning." He responded, while scratching his neck. He definitely didn't have to. I pulled the necklace out of the box, and wrapped it around my neck. I clasped it together, and let it hang from my neck. It surprisingly wasn't heavy.
  "Thank you. Thank you so much." I said, crying again. I felt overwhelmed with emotions. I couldn't believe that Bucky was able to hide this from me. Not only that, but I knew what he meant by this, too. He explained what my mom meant when she spoke to him on her deathbed. He knew exactly what this meant, but he still chose to give me the ring. We are insanely young, and maybe a little stupid, but we've always loved each other. We've loved each other for years. We've loved each other even when we thought we hated each other. I couldn't imagine a life without him, and now knew that we were on the same page. I heard him shift in his chair to lean over to my side.
  "I love you to the moon and back." He whispered in my ear, and followed it up with a kiss on my cheek. I was so caught up in my own tears, that I didn't realize that Winnifred and Bucky were also crying.
  The whole rest of the day was a complete mess. Somehow I convinced them to watch The Grinch with me. They both enjoyed it, to my surprise. It wasn't a Christmas like it was with my mom, but it was still really special to me. Even though it was different, it still felt like family, and I promise to keep it this way.