"Where did you meet him at again?" Marlena asked Mason as the two of them headed to Marlena's Jeep. They'd just finished eating dinner and Marlena was still more than curious about Mason's friend. It was frustrating for her not being able to read people the way she normally could, and it was even more frustrating that she couldn't read Kellan, though she wasn't sure why that was. He didn't seem like a bad person whatsoever. He was a very outgoing and a very nice boy from what Marlena could gather, but she had a strange feeling about him inside her that she couldn't seem to shake.
"He joined the team earlier this year," Mason answered her. He pulled the passenger's side door open for her and leaned against it. "He was new to the team and very few befriended him, so I stepped up to the plate. He's one of my best friends aside from Peter and Ned."
Marlena nodded in understanding and hopped into the passenger's seat. "He seems nice," she complimented him. Marlena still had yet to tell Mason about what it was going on with her and Wanda and their situation with Kellan. She didn't want Mason to feel as if she was being overly protective of him as she always had been, so the only one who knew about the situation was Bucky.
"He's really nice," Mason chuckled. "He loves everyone."
The sound of squeals and rushed footsteps caught the pair's attention. Marlena and Mason looked away from each other to see Jay and Charlie very hurriedly and excitedly making their way to the Jeep, while Bucky trailed behind them. A breath escaped Marlena as she watched them and she looked down at her watch. It was nearing 10 PM, and considering the fact that the twins had fallen asleep during the game earlier, there was a strong possibility they wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon.
"They're gonna keep me up all night," Marlena murmured to Mason.
Mason chuckled and plucked Jay from the ground, while Charlie climbed onto her mother's lap inside the car. "They're not the only ones who're gonna keep you up tonight, and I do not give you permission to read my mind in order to figure out what that means," Mason told Marlena.
A confused expression fell upon Marlena's face at the sound of his words but the sound of Bucky's voice didn't allow her the chance to respond to her brother.
"Greyson and Wanda said they were going to meet us at the house for this 'afterparty' Greyson keeps talking about," Bucky said tiredly. Personally, all Bucky wanted to do was go home and go to sleep. Sure, he would love to spend time with his friends, but being a full-time father and husband was exhausting, despite how much he loved it.
"Where's Kellan at?" Marlena questioned as she noticed Kellan's absence.
Bucky shrugged and leaned against the side of the car. "Said he had a ride home," he answered.
The fact of it seemed strange to Marlena, but she refrained from speaking up about it.
"Mommy, are we gonna go home?" Charlie asked Marlena.
Marlena looked down at her and nodded. "Are you tired, sweetie?"
Charlie quickly shook her head in response, while Jay gave a verbal response.
"We wanna party with you guys," the young boy exclaimed happily.
Bucky merely groaned and ran a hand through his tousled brown hair, rounding the back of the car and heading to the driver's seat. The moment he got into the car, Marlena looked over at him. She could tell he was tired, but she also knew that he wouldn't do anything about it until later on in the night.
"Can we please go home?" Bucky asked rather grumpily. He let out a sigh and grabbed the keys from Marlena, very quickly starting the vehicle.
Marlena only huffed in response and looked back at Charlie, very gently gesturing her back down to the ground. "Let's get you buckled in so your grumpy father can go home and go to sleep. I don't feel like dealing with him tonight, and I know you guys don't either," the brunette remarked.
The twins giggled while Bucky groaned from his seat. Mason and Marlena buckled the twins in as quickly as they could before hopping in the car themselves, and the moment everyone was situated inside the vehicle, Bucky wasted no time at all in taking off down the road.
The ride back to the house was silent for the most part. The twins were the only two in the vehicle who were even remotely active. They spoke to each other and laughed with each other, much to the despair of Mason, who sat directly between the two of them, so he was more than thrilled when Bucky finally pulled into their driveway.
Mason let out a sigh of relief and unbuckled the two of them, which they happily allowed him to do. Marlena and Bucky opened either door for the two of them and Mason to get out. Wanda's car and Greyson's car was already parked in the driveway, so Bucky and Marlena could only assume that they had made their way inside. This was only confirmed the moment they walked through the door and into the living room, but Greyson and Wanda were far from being the only ones present in the house, much to Bucky's and Marlena's shock.
Wanda sat on the couch with Ned and Sam, while Greyson was chatting it up with Tony on the love seat. Marlena could hear several voices elsewhere, and a quick look into the minds of the owners of those voices revealed that Natasha and Peter Parker were also present.
The twins squealed in excitement and ran as they took notice of the presence of their parents' friends that currently occupied the house.
"What the hell?" Bucky muttered to himself.
"Welcome to the afterparty," Mason exclaimed knowingly. He delivered two claps to the backs of his sister and his brother-in-law before taking off into the kitchen to find Peter. He loved all the Avengers, but Peter was without a doubt his favorite. It just felt good knowing he had a friend on the team his own age.
Sam's eyes lit up when they fell on Marlena and Bucky, and he stood up from his seat on the couch to greet the two of them. It had been almost a year since he had really seen them, or Bucky at least. Everyone was just so busy with their lives and making sure to stay out of trouble that it was nearly impossible to be together the way they used to be. "Two of my favorite people ever," Sam said as he neared the two of them with arms wide open.
"Hey, Sam," Marlena greeted him. She smiled and hugged him, while Bucky watched his old friend with narrowed blue eyes. He was so confused as to why they were all currently in his home. "Not that I'm not happy you're here, but would you mind telling me why you're here in the first place?"
Sam shrugged and pulled away from Marlena, moving to hug Bucky. "Mason told us about tonight being his last game and we saw an opportunity to come celebrate and see our favorite family. Steve wanted to come, but a thing came up."
"You could've called," Bucky remarked. "We have kids, y'know?"
Sam raised a brow and pulled away from Bucky. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," he scoffed.
Marlena chuckled and grabbed Bucky's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "He's just tired and grumpy, is all. The twins have him all over the place nowadays."
"How very unfortunate is it that the world's strongest super-soldier can be defeated by two three-year-olds," Tony's very sarcastic voice sounded.
"They're a lot of work," Bucky replied.
Tony sipped nonchalantly at his alcohol; where he got it, neither one of them were sure, but they thought better than to ask him about it. "I'm well aware, I've babysat them before."
"But have you raised them?" Bucky retorted.
Tony only pursed his lips and continued sipping away at his drink.
"That's what I thought."
"I found the twins," Ned's voice then sounded. He strolled over to the group with both of the twins in his arms. "How are they not asleep yet?"
"We wanted to party with mommy and daddy," Jay answered him before Marlena or Bucky could. "But now mommy and daddy don't wanna party."
"You're right, I wanna go to bed," Bucky said as he pulled away from Marlena to reach for the twins. "And I think you two should come with me."
Charlie and Jay protested against their father's wishes, but he would not break. If Bucky was going to stay and mingle with the friends he hadn't seen in what felt like years, he was going to make sure the twins weren't running around causing trouble first. Luckily for Bucky, he knew exactly how to get the two of them to sleep, regardless of how tired they were or weren't. He considered it a perk of sorts.
"I'll be right back," Bucky called out as he rushed up the stairs with the twins in his arms.
Marlena turned back to the three men in front of her and clapped her hands on her thighs. "Well, I'm gonna go find Natasha and say hello since I haven't seen her in two years," Marlena told them before scurrying away.
She followed the sound of voices into the kitchen, and upon arrival, her eyes brightened tremendously and a wide smile pulled onto her face. Not only was Natasha in the kitchen sipping away at a cocktail, but Peter and Mason were as well. The two boys were in the corner of the kitchen making a slight mess of things, but Marlena wasn't worried about them as of the moment.
"Oh my gosh," Marlena squealed excitedly as she ran over to wrap her in a hug.
"Someone's happy to see me," Natasha chuckled. She placed her drink down onto the counter and hugged Marlena back, squeezing her small form tightly in her arms.
"Of course I'm happy to see you," Marlena mused and pulled away from her. "It's been so many years, Natasha."
After the events that took place between the team because of the Accords, Natasha disappeared without a single trace. It was impossible for anyone to get a hold of her and she never once told anyone where it was she was headed to. She appeared for a brief time after learning about Marlena's marriage with Bucky, but then disappeared again. Marlena went a year and a half after that without seeing her until one day Steve had contacted Marlena for the sake of joining him, Sam, Natasha, and Wanda on a secret mission. Two years had passed since that day. All she knew about Natasha was that she was still running secret missions across the globe with Steve, along with Sam and Wanda. She assumed that to be the reason behind Steve's absence.
"Only two," Natasha laughed and looked at her. "I love the fringe, Mar."
"Thanks!"
Natasha looked over Marlena's appearance once more, becoming slightly nostalgic as she took notice of all the differences. Marlena was no longer the twenty-year-old struggling to deal with her powers the way she had been when she first met her. Her hazel eyes no longer held that pain and sadness they once used to. Marlena was no longer conflicted because of her life, and she was no longer in pain because of her life. There was nothing but an aura of happiness around the petite brunette, and that was something Natasha was thrilled to see. Marlena was exactly where she wanted to be in her life, and Natasha could only hope for her sake that it remained that way.
"So," Natasha picked her drink back up, "Where are those cute kids of yours?"
"Bucky is putting them to bed," Marlena answered.
"I was," Bucky's voice sounded behind her. "Who are you talking to?"
Marlena turned her head to look at Bucky, and in doing so this allowed him a glimpse of the redhead-turned-blonde he hadn't seen since his wedding day. He'd been particularly busy with Mason the day she made a brief appearance at the house, so seeing her now made him feel happy. Natasha was one of his good friends.
"Natalia," Bucky greeted her excitedly.
Natasha laughed at his use of her birth name and stepped forward to hug him. "It's nice to see you again, Barnes, especially in this state of mind."
"And what state of mind might that be?" Bucky inquired curiously.
Natasha smiled and pulled away from him. "Well, aside from the intense exhaustion I see in those blue eyes of yours, I see nothing but happiness, Bucky."
Bucky grinned and glanced back at Marlena, grabbing her and pulling her to his side. "Well, I have a lot to be happy about, Nat," he replied, his eyes never leaving Marlena's face.
Marlena only smiled in response and hugged his side, nuzzling her head to his chest. Natasha smiled warmly at the pair. Seeing them happy was all she could want for them—seeing them happy was all anyone could want for them. They deserved it so much and more.
"Marlena," Mason called from the opposite side of the kitchen.
Marlena removed herself from Bucky's side and turned to look at her brother, who was working on pulling a 24 pack of alcohol from the fridge. Once again, she wondered exactly how the alcohol even made it into her house. She figured Greyson had something to do with it.
"Can Mason and I have a bottle?" Peter asked as he ripped the box open.
Marlena raised a brow at the two underage boys. "You're nineteen."
"Okay, and you got married at 22," Mason remarked. "We all make bad decisions."
"That's rude, Mason," Bucky said to him.
Mason only grinned and shrugged his shoulders, grabbing a bottle from the box and opening it up. "It's only the truth, Buck."
Natasha chuckled and looked at Bucky and Marlena. "You two sure did a good job with this one," she teased before taking off into the living room.
Marlena let out a breath and looked up at Bucky. "It's gonna be a long night."
"Yeah, tell me about it."