Moral of the Story

Chapter Ten

"It sounds strange when you say it like that, and considering how much your father and I are with each other, I can see where this is weird," Bucky chuckled uncomfortably. "Listen, I don't mean to make it like that, it's just-"

"It's fine," she stopped him. "I-I mean, it's weird, but..." she paused. Was it fine? I mean, it wasn't causing any harm; it was just strange that she hadn't known about it all this time. "I guess I'm just surprised no one told me."

"Are you really that surprised, though?" he asked genuinely.

She didn't answer right away as she watched everyone move around them. Sherri and Thomas shared a quick glance their way as if checking to make sure that a nuclear bomb wasn't about to explode. Even Chloe on the sideline was taking note of their behavior here and there.

"I guess not," Y/N replied softly.

Jesus, she really had scared her whole family into not speaking a drop of what Bucky was doing with his life in the chance it would set her off. And because of it, she had missed out on so many things and little parts of their life.

"Well, I feel like a bitch," she mumbled, and though she tried to keep it quiet for Bucky not to hear, he did and felt bad for her some.

He wasn't sure if he should apologize or bring up boundaries he felt he was now breaking all these years, but he was saved by Thomas calling him into the kitchen to help move things over to the table.

He looked at Y/N to check if it was alright, and though he shouldn't have needed to, considering everything, he wanted to make her feel like she had some kind of control over her family and him. Not in a dictator way, but a boundaries kind of way.

She waved him on and moved to help the kids get washed up and situated at the island where Chloe would monitor them since the table wasn't big enough for the giant family. The only kid at the adult table was Bennett as he sat in a booster seat with scraps of fruit and cut-up pancakes being fed to him by his dad.

Surprisingly, the conversation wasn't awkward and tense like everyone expected. Everyone was curious about Y/N's time across the states and was catching up with her on her adventures in her business and time spent with Nat at the women's shelter.

"So she's about six years into it?" Denise asked before taking a bite of food.

"Close to seven now. She worked there for the lady who owned it for a few years and became her right-hand kind of assistant. She was an older lady, and it was becoming a lot for her with her health and whatnot," Y/N explained as she scooped some fresh fruit on her plate. "She didn't have any family or anything either, so she left the place to Nat in her will. She retired and eventually passed away, so Nats has been keeping it thriving, and it's now her own little business. She's worked with a lot of organizations to keep the place updated and one of the nicer ones in our area."

"How many people would you say they house?" Bucky asked from across the table.

"It's a pretty big place. I'd say over 150 to 200 every week," Y/N answered.

"And they have all the supplies and equipment for that?" Thomas asked.

"Like I said, it was already an established place before Nat took it in. So she had the resources and people to supply food, clothes, space, and everything else those women needed. If anything, she's grown in her assets," Y/N smiled before popping a grape in her mouth.

"And what about you? How are you associated with it?" Sherri asked.

Bucky looked over at her, curious of the answer as well. He knew she was a co-founder of the place now but didn't actually know to what extent.