~Bucky's POV~
Betty and Debbie were the first to arrive, with Freddie in tow. They had boxes full of solar powered fairy lights, and gingerbread men iced with smiling faces.
Freddie beamed at me as I answered the door, his cheeky eyes glinting with the joy of a party. They had left shortly after Matt had arrived, but with the knowledge that it was Jeremy's last night here, they had offered their services to help us enjoy it more.
Our family dinner had doubled in size from the initial invite of Jules and Tom, but we didn't mind, and welcomed them in with open arms.
"How are you doing Bucky?" Betty asked, her hand softly resting on my arm.
I nodded, not sure how to reply. "I'm... good."
She smiled gently, knowing I wasn't sure how I was feeling, and ushered Freddie further down the hall, telling him to quieten down a little as he started excitedly looking for D'Arcy.
Steve, Noelle and Angie were the next to arrive. I had met Noelle several times before, and Angie only a handful of times. She clung to her mothers shoulders, a slight frown on her face as Noelle made our introduction.
"Bucky?" She asked.
I nodded, and smiled a little. "That's me."
"But... who are you?"
Steve stifled a laugh as he stroked her curly hair. "He's my big brother."
The girls brows frowned again. "He looks nothing like you!"
"Angie," Noelle gently put her daughter down, "that doesn't matter."
Her dark eyes shone up at me, her little hands resting on my finger tip. "Are you my Uncle?"
My heart softened into an ache, and I managed to nod slowly. "Yeah, your uncle Bucky."
She grinned, and with that, skipped down the hall.
"Betty and Debbie are in the kitchen with Amelie, and Matt is in the living room discussing housing arrangements with Jeremy. I think David and River are babysitting the kids at the table and if you want a drink please help yourself." I recited.
Noelle nodded, and squeezed my hand on her way to the kitchen, "thank god for this party, I've been dying to go out for days now."
"What happened to your hair?" Steve flicked my cheek as we walked down the hall. "It looks darker than normal."
"Says you." I mumbled, have you dyed yours recently?"
"This is natural!" He spluttered, "I just wash mine."
"So do I!" I protested, pushing his shoulder as Freddie suddenly charged past.
The doorbell rang seconds later, and as I turned to see who it was, Jules and Toms faces appeared around the side of it. "I bring a child." Tom picked Jules up and swung her inside, letting her down next to Freddie. The pair immediately began talking, and they scurried to the kitchen, dancing around Steve and I who were still in the hall.
Tom closed the door, his hand holding a large shopping bag.
"Got us a present?" Steve grinned.
"I've got Amelie the stuff off her list."
"Her list?" I asked, "what list?"
Tom shrugged, "she said it's a surprise." And with that, he walked past me and into the living room to the side.
"This house is chaos." Steve mumbled. "How are you coping after...?"
"No family, then you, then Amelie, then this?" I filled in his trailing sentence. "Er... It feels natural, I guess."
Two pairs of feet thudded rounded the corner, and I held an arm out to scoop up Owen and D'Arcy.
They giggled and wriggled in my arms before I put them down, and signed carefully asking them to be aware of their surroundings and not hurt themselves. Both were panting for breath after their game, but they nodded, wearing matching gleeful expressions.
***
~Third Persons POV~
"And then we tie a knot like this-" River lifted a piece of string from the table. "Jules, can you do that?"
"I'm really good at that." She grinned, "like, amazing!"
"Good." River passed her the ball of string and safety scissors. "You can look after these."
Freddie nudged Jules, "can I help?"
Jules nodded, her cheeks tinting pink, before she grabbed a second ball from the middle of the table, "here you go!"
Tom edged around the sofa from the more open plan side of the room, and plonked a large shopping bag on the floor. "Who am I in charge of?"
River scanned the room, seeing it buzzing with people of all ages, everyone dancing and talking and celebrating. "Jules and Freddie, me and David can watch D'Arcy and Owen."
"What about Angie?"
River blinked, "Who?"
"Me!" A little voice sounded next to Tom, and River carefully leant around the table to see a little girl with dark curly hair and shining eyes. She looked nervously up at her, before smiling at Tom.
"Shall I look after you kiddo?" Tom leant down and picked her up, causing her to shriek and giggle loudly.
"Shall we get moving?" David walked through the back door, bundled in his coat and gloves. "If we go now, we'll be done as the sun sets."
***
Amelie waved goodbye to the younger members of the extended family, including Jeremy, who was walking beside Tom.
Steve stood and watched her, knowing she was a bit uneasy at letting Jeremy go back home with Matt.
"Are you okay?" He put his bottle of beer down on the counter beside her, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, in a brotherly fashion.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Amelie looked up at him. "I mean, Matt is a good-ish guy I guess. I can see he means well, but is meaning well enough to take care of Jeremy?"
Steve sighed, and glanced through the doors to the garden. The loud group were squeezing through the gate at the end, that crossed over a little stream to the woods where Bucky worked.
"I think Jeremy is tough, from what I've heard, and I think he'll come round all the time. Every holiday, the odd weekend... he'll rock up and ask for dinner and company."
"You really think so?"
"All of us do it." Steve pointed out. "How many times have I appeared, just to see you both?"
Amelie laughed, and nodded agreeably. "Point proven."
Bucky strolled into the kitchen, and grinned as he saw his wife and friend laughing together. "Have you seen the others?" He asked, "the house seems quiet."
"They're going on a little walk." Amelie smiled, "I thought the adults could do with some time together, without watching out for the little ones."
Noelle glanced up from where she was nursing a cold glass of lemonade. "That's fine by me." Her hand rested on her belly as she leant back, "quiet is nice."
***
Peter and Wade raced each other down the Barnes' garden, and hurtled over the gate. They rolled onto the leaves-covered carpet of the woods, and picked themselves up, laughing and joking over who the triumphant winner was.
They carried on their whooping war cries until they reached the group in the middle of the woods. Bickering children and the two tired adults in charge of them were climbing onto each other's backs to tie ropes and stringed lights to the trees.
Without needing to talk, say anything out loud or confirm a plan, Peter dove forwards, scooping young Angie into his arms. She screamed with laughter, gripping onto his shoulders as Spider-Man swung higher up the tree to help her pin streamers up.
They settled back down, and began separating colours into piles as Tom yawned.
Peter glanced at him, "you okay?"
He blinked, a little taken aback that Peter had noticed him. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Peter narrowed his eyes slightly, knowing there was more to the story.
Tom glanced back, and resigned himself to admitting the truth. "I think... I think I might have met my soulmate-" before Peter could react, Tom began shushing him. "I'm not 100% sure, and I'm not really ready to test the theory, but... it's keeping me up at night."
"Sounds like a soulmate to me." Peter sounded almost wise. "But maybe wait a bit."
Jules was hidden, watching her brother from the side of a tree. She hesitantly peeled her sock lower down her foot. The cold air made her shiver, but she watched the small sun shine just underneath her ankle.
She hadn't told anybody. She didn't want to.
Her own soulmate sign was slowly growing. She was 10, and she wasn't foolish enough to mistake the mark for anything else. But she was terrified to admit it, especially to the young boy she thought it could be. After all, she could be humiliated if he didn't have a matching mark.
And she daren't imagine the pain of that rejection.
It was at that moment that Freddie bounced into her shoulder, as he unravelled the ball of string in his hands. He caught her playing with her sock, and frowned inquisitively. "What are you doing?"
She jumped back. "Nothing." She stuck her tongue out jokingly, "just being a better decorator than you are!"
Wade, meanwhile, was balancing Owen on his shoulders. "Are you alright up there buddy?" He called, before taking a moment to remember Owen wouldn't be able to reply.
"Tap my head once for yes and twice for no... are you alright?"
One small tap landed on the top of Wades head.
He grinned.
He held one hand up to help swing the boy higher, until two little feet were standing on his shoulders. He could hear the small boys breathing hasten with excitement, but David - Who was watching from a short distance - couldn't see his brothers expression, only hear the uneven breaths.
He had been keeping an eye on his little brother whilst everyone was decorating, but had looked away to talk to River. When he looked up, he saw his brother balancing precariously on the top of Wades shoulders - a man he hadn't met very often.
He lunged forwards, and Wade caught the action in his peripheral vision. He ducked forward out of instinct, and Owen wobbled back, slipping.
Wade managed to grab his leg, and the boy swung upside down for a split second, before David grabbed him.
"What's going on?" River screeched, as she ran forwards to help. Anxious silence settled around the group, and both David and Wade just stared, worried, at each other.
And then Owen laughed. A strange noise falling from his lips, but he clapped his hands with a slight giggle, and pointed back at Wade.
A sigh of relief fell, and everyone began to pack the bags to move closer to the visitors centre.
***
~Bucky's POV~
"It's getting late," I glanced at the clock hanging by the back door, frowning a little. "Do they know to come back soon?"
Amelie rounded the corner and smiled softly. "I thought we could meet them out there." She passed me my coat, and one of my attempts of a knitted scarf. "Make the night special."
Matt and Steve walked into the kitchen next, and soon all of us adults were stood around the door bundled in our thickest coats and shrugging on hats and gloves. Rosy cheeks and laughter filled the room as I opened the door, and we began slipping down the slightly muddy garden to the gate at the back of the house.
"What's the plan?" Steve asked, "how do we know where they got to?"
"You might be 100, but I thought you mastered the art of using a mobile." I poked him playfully, and began digging around my pockets for the one Amelie helped me choose.
"Or you could just look up?" Betty was staring at the skies when I turned back, only to see everyone else smiling up at the trees too.
I turned around, and looked up.
The trees were covered in lights and strips of colour, the shades flickering behind leaves and thin branches.
The group slowly moved forward, a hum of joy slowly spreading out.
"Was this your surprise?" I squeezed Amelie's hand as her fingers found mine.
"Maybe," she grinned, "it's Jeremy's last night, I thought we would make it special!"
"This..." Debbie whistled loudly as she nudged my shoulder, her hand reaching out to hold a little decoration that hung from a nearby tree. It was a small star, shining in the lights that shone down from above.
We paused, the entire group drawing to a standstill as we watched it spin slowly.
A rupture of giggles and shrieks of joy broke our group daze, and we continued to follow the trail to the centre lodged near the edge of the woods.
The doors were covered in paper snowflakes, little lights hung around the trees nearby, and our group of children were swinging themselves around, covered in sparkling tinsel, as they sung wildly.
One of them caught us looking, then a second, and then a third. Soon, they were running outside, grabbing our hands and twirling us around them to bring us into their world.
Jeremy moved to Amelie and I, his head bowed as he held his cane in one hand and Owens hand in the other.
Owen let go to wrap his arm around Amelies, but Jeremy stayed standing in front of us.
"Thank you," He murmured, "for giving me a home. I really appreciate it."
"No thanks needed-"
"Really." He cut Amelie short, "Please, accept my thanks... at the moment it's all I can offer."
Tears pricked the edges of my eyes as I nodded slowly, and I silently lifted an arm, pulling him into my side and wrapped him in a hug.