Trying Your Luck - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 70: California (Part 1)

Six months after the events of TFATWS

Their house is beautiful. They fill it with art, photographs, records, and a ton of books. It's cozy, rustic, and everything he's ever wanted. Alpine and Ace snooze on the large balcony in the sunshine and the place is so big that they don't have enough furniture to fill it. It's kind of a ridiculous problem, Shannon tells him, but she quickly remedies it by stuffing the couch that Bucky brought from his old place into the corner closest to the kitchen and builds him a small reading nook so that they can chat while she cooks.

She packs his reading nook with his favorite books - mostly old fantasy and science fiction novels - and the pictures of him and Steve that he used to keep in his dresser drawer now cover the walls around him. There are polaroids, too - of Shannon and Bucky, of Sam and Sarah and her sons (mostly of the boys trying to use Bucky as a climbing apparatus or trying to beat him up). There are pictures of Bucky and Sam pretending to fistfight, and a picture of Bucky and Alpine dressed up as Captain America for Halloween while Sam glares at Bucky. It's his favorite picture on the wall. He didn't know he could smile like that.

Their relationship is easy. They squabble at times, but they always make it up to each other. She works during the day now so that they can spend their evenings together, cooking, dancing, and sitting on the porch with Sam, Sarah, and the kids. No more jumping from fight to fight, no more nightmares. He grows out his hair again, and when he looks in the mirror now, he doesn't see the Winter Soldier staring back at him. It's just Bucky Barnes. He's still in therapy, but it's gotten easier. It helps that it's no longer court-mandated and he actually wants to go. He and Shannon have couples therapy once a month. It keeps their relationship healthy and happy. Finally, Bucky feels like he's in control of his life. In his free time, he reads or fixes cars. Shannon keeps telling him that he should open a garage or something. He's considered it. He never thought he would want to be a mechanic, but there's something meditative about figuring out what's wrong with a car, and seeing all of the parts scattered around him makes any problems in his life seem small out of reach.

Bucky loves being engaged to Shannon, and planning their wedding is the most fun he's ever had. Although, he does find it a bit stressful at times. Who knew she would give a shit about tablecloths so much? He writes out invitations. It's a small list. Her friends from her old job at Atlas, Sarah and the boys, Sam (of course), her parents, Shuri, and Yori. That invitation is the hardest one to write out. Bucky considers just throwing it away and never mailing it, but he does. Shannon asks Sarah to be her maid of honor and Carrie to be a bridesmaid. Their wedding is in two months. They're doing it in the backyard. Bucky doesn't want to get married in a church. He hasn't set foot inside of one since he was a kid, and Shannon could care less about where they have the ceremony. She does, however, want the reception at the house. She's been planning it for months with Sarah. They're doing up an entire menu. Bucky told her that she wasn't to cook for her own wedding, so she hired a catering company to work with her.

Shannon sits across from him at the dining room table.

"Have you considered inviting your sister?" She asks.

Bucky chuckles.

"Shan, I haven't seen her in decades. I'm pretty sure getting a wedding invitation from me would give her a heart attack."

"Didn't you say she lives in California?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't we go and visit her?"

He sighs. He hasn't seen Rebecca because he's been too afraid to. He doesn't even know if she would recognize him, or what kind of state she's in mentally or emotionally. Is she married? She never wanted to be. Never wanted kids either. Rebecca was fiercely independent her entire life. Bucky has no doubt that she probably still is. When he left for England, she was twelve years old. He wrote her every day that he could. Once HYDRA got a hold of him, the letters stopped. The family was told that he was dead.