Back To Brookes // back to barnes bk2

20: the end

Bucky looked to me. "Meaning that we don't have to worry about Hydra anymore. We can wash our hands of it, Maisie Jo. Let the guys who started the Accords shit worry about it. I'm okay with that now."

"Yeah," I laughed in defiance with him. "Let them worry about it."

"It's settled then: let them worry about it. My palace and my kingdom is your refuge for as long as you would like, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes'." T'Challa's smooth voice reminded us.

"And we can't thank you enough, your Highness. You've saved our lives." I responded. I dropped my hand, not wanting to draw suspcision. I needed to find the right way to tell Bucky.

T'Challa just nodded in acknowledgment. "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Shuri chimed in as she ran back over. "Would you like to stay forever?" She muttered, referencing Mulan and annoying her brother. "Anyways! Here we go."

She lifted the arm from the case and lined it up to Buckys shoulder. It immediately attached with a small whirring of the inner mechanics. Bucky flexed it with a chuckle.

"It's perfect." He mumbled. "Thank you."

"It gets better! There's a button over here and if you press it ... " She leaned over and touched the arm. Before our eyes, his metal arm was a flesh one. Or at least, it looked like it. "We don't have a real arm for you, so this cloaking mechanism allows you to have the next best thing. I'd say 'patent-pending' or whatever but no colonizer is smart enough to even come close to this genius."

"Holy shit ... " Bucky's smile got bigger as he moved it around and wiggled his fingers. "Holy shit that's amazing. Maisie, look."

I breathed in deeply to fight tears of gratitude and joy. Bucky stretched out his right arm and compared it to the new one. "Again," I glanced between Shuri and T'Challa. "We are so grateful."

"Please, this is just Shuri showing off." T'Challa chuckled, not taking credit for his kindness and generosity.

Bucky looked at me like a child in a candy store. "Look at this!"

I laughed. Disregard the fact that he had a metal (Vibranium) arm with the world's most advanced technology within it, he looked like any other man you'd pick off the NYC streets. He looked normal - all he'd wanted for decade after excruciating decade.

_____

Later that evening, Bucky and I were back in our usual spot on our huge bed. A cool breeze blew over our faces, our hands fumbled with each other in awe of their existence. We had been in silence for quite some time, just enjoying the peace. Peace was a dangerous commodity for my love and I, it rarely lasted. But there, then, we were at peace. At long last, for as long as it would last, we would luxuriate in it.

The calm quiet was also welcomed because I was feeling nauseous. When they say "morning" sickness, they really meant "all the fucking time" sickness - at least in my case. You would think that an enhanced human such as myself would be immune to the nonsense that comes with pregnancy, but apparently not.

My hand halted in his for a second as I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing a bout of pukey-ness down. I didn't want to tell him yet, I wanted it to be special. Our wedding was nothing special, if you would call getting tattooed in the middle of nowhere a wedding at all. My love, the man beside me who had wanted children his entire life, who would be a wonderful father with a child who loved him achingly so, deserved a little fanfare for this announcement. But my body had other plans.

I launched off of the bed and made the split decision that I would not be able to make it to the bathroom. I ran toward the balcony. Running like an idiot, I must have looked deranged as I broke the silence with gagging noises. Just in time, I braced myself against the railing and hurled onto a nearby tree. Merciful relief, I felt better immediately after, but Bucky didn't know that. He was by my side in an instant, shirtless gleaming body smelling just okay enough to not make me want to repeat my previous actions all over him.

"Are you okay?" He asked, brushing the hair out of my face while also pressing his cold hands to my hot arms and bending his knees to be face-to-face with me. "Baby girl, what's wrong?"

I laughed lightly, eyes pinching shut to push away the vomit-tears. I somehow simultaneously nodded and shook my head, giving into his arms pulling me against his chest. The breeze and his body made me feel a lot better. He rocked back and forth slightly, my body trapped tightly into him.

"Are you sick? What's wrong, doll? I told you not to eat all that ice cream, you're lactose intolerant." The paced concern was evident in his voice. I laughed a little louder. I bet I smelled bad. What a man for putting up with that.

Before my brain could catch up, my mouth hailed down on the gas peddle. "I'm not sick, I'm pregnant. It must just be morning sickness, though I'm not sure why it's called that because I'm like not even that pregnant but you'd think maybe it would be over by now but also it's almost eight at night and that's certainly not morning an-"

I hadn't noticed that he'd stopped rocking. He pulled away from me, just enough to see my face fully. I looked up at him, heart racing as I tried to read his face.

"What?" He asked, voice breaking. His head tilted to the side like a sweet, curious dog. "You're pregnant?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. Shuri told me this morning."

He stared at me a little longer. He took a deep breath like he hadn't breathed in days. His eyes watered up until tears flowed freely. "Are you shitting me? You're pregnant?"

I nodded. "And it's a girl." My voice was weak. He stood still for another few seconds.

In a burst of joy, he pulled me back in and lifted me off my feet, spinning around while busting with laughter. "Holy shit she's pregnant!" He set me down and pushed more of my dark hair back so he could kiss me, tenderly yet way too excited to be accurate on the placement of his lips. Laughter bubbled up from my gut as he continued to kiss my cheeks and mumble "holy shit, holy shit, holy shit" over and over again.

He took a step back, wiping his teary eyes with one hand and reaching out to wipe mine. He just kept laughing, his face about to crack under the pressure of his beaming smile. "You're pregnant! And it's a girl! I have a baby girl! I have two baby girls because you're also my baby girl! Holy shit my baby girls! What the fuck!" He basically yelled, his mouth running faster than he could catch it. I threw my head back laughing as he got to his knees and placed his hands - both of them - gingerly against where she was growing. He sang sweet nothings to her while placing little kisses where my shirt had ridden up.

Suddenly he stopped, went to stand up but corrected himself and brought only one leg up until he was on one knee. He hectically smacked his pockets, then fished into the left one and pulled out a box. A ring box. He opened it just like he'd seen people do his whole life, brandishing a shining emerald ring.

I instinctively clasped my hands over my mouth, surprised like we hadn't been married for a while and I wasn't pregnant with his baby girl. "Are you kidding me?" My voice came out strangled. More joyous tears fell from my eyes. The setting sun was the perfect backdrop to this beautiful man on his knee, you almost couldn't smell the vomit.

Bucky cleared his throat, almost like he'd forgotten he had to say some words. "I didn't get to do this properly the first time, Mrs. Detrych. I wanted to make it right. I was gonna wait for the right time, whatever that is ... but I think you found one right here, didn't you? Maisie Johannah Barnes, would you do me the honor for the second time of being your husband? Will you marry me? Again? Properly?"

I nodded furiously. "Yes, of course, you stupid man. I would marry you a hundred times over."

His laugh boomed at my sentiment as he placed the ring gently onto my finger over the tattoo I'd gotten last time. He stood up and swooped me into a tight hug. His face buried in my neck, my chin resting on his shoulder. He took a deep breath, a sigh of relief came after. "I love you. I will love you forever, dear girl."

"I love you too, Bucky Barnes."