MISSING ||Bucky Barnes||

49

[time skip: 5 years]
[I'm changing up the time frame so we aren't up to infinity war/ endgame YET]
- - -

Five years sounds like a long time, but for the Barnes family, it felt like nothing. A good amount of exciting things have happened during that time frame too.

For instance, Sandra and Bucky had another baby. Jackson James, more commonly referred to as Jack, just turned three years old.

And on top of baby number two, the little family was able to get a nice house to live in just outside of the city on Long Island. Sure, it was quite the distance from the compound, but it was the safest option for now.

With Gracie just turning five and Jack being three, Sandra and Bucky are having the time of their lives.

"Daddy!" Gracie yelled from her room, her little footsteps approaching the top of the staircase. "Daddy! There's a bug in my room!"

Bucky laughed, turning his head from the living room couch ti face the stairs. "Don't worry peanut." He said, standing up and going upstairs.

Scooping Gracie into his arms, he carried her back to her room and looked around for the bug. "Where was it peanut?" He asked.

"Over there!" She pointed at the top corner of her wall. Bucky nodded, putting down Gracie and grabbing a napkin. The little girl clung to his leg, petrified of the bug. "Daddy get it!" She cried.

It wasn't long until Bucky got the bug, bringing the napkin that held it to the toilet. "Alright, let's go find mommy and Jack so we can hit the road." Bucky said to Gracie, seeing her backpack was stuffed with random clothes. "Grab your bag so mommy can check it."

Gracie giggled, taking her backpack and following Bucky to his and Sandra's room. "Mommy! I'm all done!" Gracie said, proudly holding her bag up to show Sandra.

Sandra smiled, kneeling down and taking the bag. "My little girls so big, packing her own bag." She said, dumping the bag out on the bed so she could see what was inside. "Gracie Jane, did you fill this with toys and cover it with a shirt?"

Gracie giggled again, which gave away her answer. "Mommy I can't just pick one! Then the others would be sad I left without them." She said.

"Someone's been watching too much Toy Story." Bucky said, ruffling her hair and walking around to what was his side of the bed. But, it was occupied by a sleepy Jack. "And what about you mr sleepy, you all ready?"

Jack nodded, pointing to Sandra. "Mommy help me." He said. He still wasn't very well with forming complete sentences.

"Well I fixed up Gracie's bag, and the iPads are at a full charge, so I think we are all set to go." Sandra said, handing Gracie her bag back. "And don't bring too many toys, you always forget one there." She said to Gracie.

Bucky laughed, picking up jack and his little bag so they could get out faster. "I don't want to hear any fighting between you two either, are we clear?" He said to the kids as they got buckled into the car.

Gracie nodded. "Ok daddy." She said, reaching for her blanket. "Daddy I cant reach it!" She complained.

Bucky handed Gracie her blanket, waiting for Sandra to come out so he could go lock up the house without leaving the kids.

Then, within the next ten minutes, they were on the road.

- - -

"Uncle Steve!" Gracie giggled as she ran to hug Steve, the Barnes family visiting the compound for the weekend. "Uncle Steve! We saw like a hundred deer on our way here!"

Steve laughed and picked up Gracie, giving her a hug. "A hundred?" He asked, trying to act shocked for her even though he doubted there were a hundred deer. "That's a lot of deer."

Gracie giggled again, letting Steve set her down. "Look! A rainbow!" She said, pointing to the grass where a familiar mark appeared.

"Thor?" Sandra asked, seeing the blonde god walking back towards the compound. "What are you doing here?"

Thor smiled and scooped up both kids in each arm. "I heard it was visiting weekend." He said, "besides, my little midgards are much more fun than being in the war of the realms."

"What's realm?" Jack asked as he let out a small giggle. He was the more quiet sibling, so he didn't really speak too often.

Thor smirked at jack. "I think that is a story for another time." He said, messing up the boys hair.

The group all walked inside, Steve carrying in Sandra's bag since the kids refused to let theirs go.

"You didn't think I'd miss my two favorite pests coming to visit, did you?" A familiar voice said as the elevator doors opened.

Standing outside the elevator in the living room was Tony, along with Natasha, Wanda, and Sam.

Gracie giggled, happy to see her "family" was here. For the Barnes family, they all considered the avengers family whether they were blood related or not, especially since they technically only had Steve as a blood relation.

"What? No hugs?" Wanda teased, crossing her arms playfully. Gracie was the first to run over and begin hugging Wanda, a wide smile on both of their faces. "You too jack!" She said, holding her arms out again and smiling at Jack.

Sandra smiled as the kids had their small interactions with each of the avengers, but began to grow very tired. She didn't want to leave the room to sleep just yet since they just got there, so she resorted to leaning against Bucky.

Obviously he held her up by putting his arm around her, but it didn't take him long to notice the pure exhaustion in her facial expression.

Apparently Steve must've taken notice too, knowing that traveling almost three hours plus traffic jams and packing for kids must've been hard for her to do in a day.

"Alright you two, I think it's bed time." Steve said to the kids. "First one to your room gets-"

He didn't have to finish his sentence, the kids darting off down the hallway to what used to be Gracie's nursery, but is now their shared room for when they visit. "You two get some sleep too, you both look sleep deprived." He added.

"You have no idea." Sandra said fighting the heaviness of her eyelids just until she could get to hers and Bucky's bed.

Bucky laid down next to Sandra in the bed, hugging her close like he always did. "Get some sleep doll." He whispered, kissing the top of her head. "I'll handle the kids in the morning."

Sandra was hardly awake as Bucky spoke to her, simply nodding her head before dozing off to sleep.