Oh, My Soldier

8

The doctor gave us a sorry glance. "She is very ill. I am so sorry. There is no way of saying this." the doctor choked out. "If it is what I think it is, I estimate she only has about a year or two to live." he frowned.

It felt as if my chest had caved in and my knees went weak. My throat closed up and I bit the inside of my cheek to try to hold in my sobs as my vision turned blurry from a sudden swell of tears. I gripped onto Bucky's shirt fabric to steady myself and he curled his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "Dont panic quite yet, however. I will go back to my office and analyze the samples I took. I will come by once I have the official records." the doctor said. My tongue pressed into the roof of my mouth and I buried my face into Bucky's shoulder. The doctors soft paces trailed to the front door and he let himself out.

"I will stay here for the night." Bucky said softly to the heartbroken Steve and I. He planted a warm kiss on top of my head and let Steve and I go. "Lets let her rest. You two have a seat and I will go get something for us to eat." Bucky suggested. I wiped the tear stains off my cheeks and nodded, hooking my arms around a trembling Steve and leading him to the couch.  I sat still, holding back my tears and hugging Steve as he wailed into my shoulder, his tears staining my shirt. I wrapped my hands tightly around his tiny body and hugged him tightly, rubbing circles into his back. I looked up at Bucky through tearful eyes and he held my gaze for a moment before turning to leave.

So there I sat, with tiny Steve as he let out his emotions until his years ran dry and his cries turned to sniffles. Slowly, he sat up straighter and wiped the tears off of his face. "Thank you. For eveything." he sadly smiled at me.

"Don't worry about it, pal." I patted his back. "Im just glad Bucky is here to help too." I said.

Steve nodded, staring at his hands. "He cares about you, you know?" he said, his blue eyes shifting up to mine.
"I care about him too. I care about both of you." I smiled.

"No, not like that. I have never seen him look at any other girl the way he looks at you. He usually doesnt spend so much time with one girl. Its usually a few days and thats it but... He really cares about you." Steve said seriously. I pondered seriously. "He seems to really like you. Maybe... Maybe it would be good for you, and him, if you gave him a chance." Steve shrugged.

I raised a brow and held in a small laugh. "I thought you said he liked to flirt with girls?" I asked, thinking back to the conversation Bucky and I had in the car on the way to the park.

"Yeah." Steve looked back at his hands and furrowed his brow. "But maybe you're different." he shrugged. I smiled and messed his hair with my hand. He scoffed and pushed my hand away, straightening his hair out on his head. The front door opened and Bucky waltzed inside carrying doggy bags of warm food. He smiled slightly when he saw that Steve and I were feeling quite a bit better already.

"I got us dinner. I hope you like pasta, Mags." he said, setting the bags down in the kitchen.

"Yeah. Pasta is good." I smirked, giving Steve a glance. He smirked at me and looked toward Bucky as he entered the living room with us.

"Alright. Lets get this party started." Bucky smiled. I rolled my eyes and stood up, trailing into the kitchen and getting three plates and three forks out. Bucky and Steve sat down around the table and I passed them their dishes, opening up the box of steaming spaghetti and meatballs and setting it in the center of the table. "I brought some soup for Sara. Its on the counter over there." Bucky said. I glanced to where he pointed and looked at the dish with a lid.

"I will take it to her when we finish eating." I said, sitting down across from Steve and Bucky. We dished up our own food and dug in, slurping up the noodles and sauce.

"So what did you guys talk about while I was gone?" Bucky looked back and fourth between Steve and I. I thought about what Steve had said and smirked.

"We just were chatting. Nothing important." Steve answered before I could. Bucky pursed his lips and nodded, looking over to me and making eye contact. I could feel my cheeks heat up so I turned my attention to my delightful meal. When we finished eating I rinsed off the plates and left them in the sink to wash later while Steve and Bucky went to the living room. I grabbed the soup and a spoon and went into Sara's room. She was fast asleep and breathing shallow. I frowned at her pale face and left the soup on her beside table with the spoon and exited, not wanting to disturb my adoptive mother. When I went back out into the living room, Steve and Bucky had the couch cushions layed out on the floor and a sheet was draped over the couch, making a small tent shape with the boys inside of it. I shook my head with a playful grin and crawled under the sheets to join them as they talked.

The three of us sat under the sheet and talked, distracting our minds from our problems and having a great time together until all hours of the night, bonding and our relationship growing stronger.