"Uncle?" Isla screws up her face and frowns at you confused.
You nod as you continue to stare at him in shock.
"Yeah, remember, my brother that I told you about?" You say in a daze.
"Oh you mean the one that you said abandoned you kind of like Nana and Poppa and you had no idea where he was now?"
Couldn't have said it better myself, you think of Isla's comment.
"Yeah. That's the one." You quirk an eyebrow at the man standing before you.
Realising where the conversation is going, he gives you a sheepish grin and stops coming towards you.
"Hey Isla, would you mind preoccupying Theo once we get inside? I just need to chat to your uncle and then maybe you can come meet him properly yourself okay?" You ask.
"Okay. Come on Theo." She shrugs seemingly unphased and takes her brothers hand to lead him inside.
"(Y/N) I-" Eric starts but you cut him off.
"Don't. Not yet. Not while the kids are around. Come inside and give me a minute," you say sternly.
He nods and follows you into the lounge.
"Wait here."
You can tell by the timid look on his face that this is not the cherry family reunion that he was hoping for and probably expecting. But how dare he expect that after casting you out all those years ago?
You go and lay the already sleeping twins down in their cots, in a daze the whole time as you try to process the fact that to your brother who you haven't seen since you were eighteen over twelve years ago now has just now showed up on your front doorstep without warning.
"What are you doing here?" You spit as you charge back out to the living room after deciding that you definitely feel angry now.
It's been long enough that you're over the hurt. You forgave your parents... sort of, but you never heard from your brother meaning that he doesn't get forgiven without a decent explanation.
"Nice to see you too, sis," he says sarcastically.
"Excuse me? It's an honest question! Why are you here? Where have you come from?"
"Wow, fighting like the old days again and it hasn't even been five minutes." He mocks you.
You roll your eyes. "If you don't give me an explanation right now I swear to god I'm going to cause a scene. Where were you? You do realise everything that's happened don't you?"
You can feel the hurt starting to creep back in and hear it too in the way that your voice cracks in that last question. He knows it too because his face softens. He steps towards you again and reaches out to touch your face. You flinch away but when he does it again you let him because you know deep down that you missed your older brother. He was everything to you growing up.
He even leans in and plants a gentle kiss on your forehead, the same way he did that night he was saying goodbye as he left on his travels.
His hands are rough, course and calloused, indicating that he is some kind of axe man or a carpenter of some kind. The weary wrinkles forming around his eyes and on his forehead and the weathered tan of his skin indicate that he works outside as well. He's definitely grown up a lot from that soft skinned, lanky college boy you remember. Now he's broad shouldered and sticky underneath his braces, white shirt and tan trousers that no longer are ill fitting over his shined shoes.
"I do now," he says sincerely. "And I'm so sorry that I wasn't here throughout it all but I didn't know then. I was in England, in a small village where I have a life set up for me now. After my travels, after the war, I stayed over there. It was so much better for me. I wanted to know how everyone was getting on of course. But it's a little hard to hear about what's going on in a different country and I didn't exactly chase it up either because you know how much I hated it here."
It's true, he struggled so much in the big city. It wasn't for him and didn't make him happy.
"You abandoned me when I needed you the most. I thought you out of any of them might have understood, but I didn't hear a thing from you. I kept thinking that maybe when you came back you would come to visit. Instead there was nothing. And next thing I heard you had gone and enlisted without even a simple goodbye. Thank god I had Bucky." You pull away from him and turn up your nose.
He looks at you in disbelief. "I did come back. I did want to come see you and make unsure you were okay and perhaps meet my niece or nephew if he was there yet. But mother and father told me that you never wanted to see any of us again, that you had wanted a completely fresh start. Don't you think that hurt me? My little sister who I had worked so hard to protect was all grown up and had discarded of me? And before you ask, I thought it best not to visit incase that really were the truth because you clearly had bigger things in your life to be worrying about at that point in time."
You falter, cracks starting to form in your cold facade. "Why are you here now then?"
"I saw in the papers that Bucky got a medal of valour from the mayor and there was a photo with you in it. Straight away I knew I had to come visit you. So I booked a plane ticket and came straight here, got in contact with Howard Stark to find out where you lived. He did this whole background check on me before giving me what I wanted, it was kind of odd."
"Yeah well there are some things that have happened around here that you wouldn't understand that have led to those kind of procedures," you explain coldly.
"Please don't be mad." He begs. "I honestly didn't know where you were or what had happened with you. I wonder about you all the time, if you're okay. I just didn't know how to get in contact with you. You have to understand, I didn't even know that you and Bucky had ended up together until I saw that article and it called you Mrs Barnes... or that you've ended up with four kids."
"Five." You interrupt. "That nephew that you wanted to meet all those years ago is off with some friends right now."
"Oh," he says quietly. "You've been... busy then I see."
"What about when dad died? And then mum huh?" You ask accusingly, igniting his last comment.
"Don't you understand? By the time I got word of that, the funerals were already two weeks gone. Coming back would cause more of a stir than bring peace."
You look him up and down. "They told me you were too embarrassed to come see me. That you didn't want to be associated with me." You whimper, crossing your arms defensively.
"What?" He gasps in shock. "(Y/N) no. No way. That is not how I felt. I wanted to come back. I really did. But then they were enlisting and I knew that I had to go help. I'm so sorry that you've spent all these years thinking this way of me. But please forgive me."
You hesitate for a second, thinking things over before walking up to him and wrapping him up in a hug.
"At least you're here now. I really did miss you." You sigh as he wraps his arms around you.
"I missed you too little sis." He mumbles as he kisses the top of your head.
You feel a strange warmth swarm inside of you. For so long now you've felt like you've had no blood relatives left. But now your brother's back, and it really is nice.
"Sit down. Did you want a coffee or tea or anything?" You offer him, motioning to the couch.
"A tea would be lovely thanks." He smiles and grunts as he lowers himself onto the couch.
You make up a tea for him and a coffee for you before handing it over and taking a seat beside him.
"So, why don't you tell me a little bit about this life you've made for yourself over in England then? It must be pretty damn good to keep you away all these years aye?"
"It is." He smiles and nods, his unruly dusty blonde hair flopping onto his forehead as he leans back in the couch relaxing a little as he thinks about it. "It's just a small town, everyone knows everyone y'know? I'm the blacksmith there and doing quite well for myself, not to toot my own horn."
You giggle. "And? Is there a lady in your life?"
He nods and smiles. "Her name is Melanie and she's an absolute stunner. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty, helps me out at the blacksmith's. We met... oh geez, I'd have to say five years ago now one day when she was coming to get her horse's shoes replaced. I took one look at her and knew I wanted to take her out on a date and get to know her more. I don't regret it now either. Only thing is, I can't say we've had as much luck as you have with children."
"Oh Eric, that's great. I'm really happy for you. And the kids will come when they're meant to, if they're meant to at all. You just have to keep trying. Bucky and I thought that we weren't going to be able to have any after trying for what felt like forever, and then all of a sudden Isla came along. We got lucky after that with Bucky's enhancements making things a little easier I guess you could say."
He smiles bittersweetly. "Thanks but conceiving isn't really the problem... we'll, sort of. We did struggle with that to begin with, but we saved up enough to get help. We had a son. But he got sick when he wasn't even six months old, died within the week and there was nothing we could do about it. It came on too fast." He explains hoarsely.
"Oh, I see." Your heart sinks. "Wow, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry. That must've been awful."
You lean in to give him a hug and he hugs you right back.
"I can't even imagine how that must've felt. We nearly lost Blue, one of the twins you know. He was only a few weeks old. It's a long story... too long and too dark for right now, but he was poisoned. The feeling that I couldn't protect him just about killed me but we were lucky enough to get him back okay. I don't want to think about what would've happened if he hadn't made it." You mumble into his shirt and breath in the musky scent he bares.
He's so different to what you remember. He was popular at school, but so worried about everything. Now he seems a lot more mellowed out and carefree. He's built completely differently too.
"We've both had a rough run of it haven't we?" He sighs sadly. "It might be a long story but it's one that I want to hear eventually. Tell me, I trust him to be a good man from what I knew of him, but does James treat you well?"
"Better than anyone else ever has in my life." You look him in the eyes sincerely. "He goes through so much but always puts me first still. And he's taken Luke in as his own without any hesitation."
"Good. Im glad someone cares about you that much. I always knew that there was something not right about that bastard Jake. It sounds awful but I'm not surprised what he did to you. He's a coward," he says coldly.
You nod. "Wish I saw that when everyone else did. There's more to that story too you know."
You go on to tell him pretty much your entire life story ever since you haven't seen each other. From what happened to Bucky, to all of the children, to the drama with Jake and everything else with Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D, Steve and Peggy and all of that. You can't think of anything that you could've left out by the time you've finished your story and needless to say that you leave Eric gobsmacked.
You ask him about the war and learn about how that went down for him and how he ended up in England.
It's late evening by the time you start to feel like you're running out of things to say to each other. Having your brother back is actually really enjoyable. You've completely warmed up to him by the time you realise what the time is.
"Oh shit! I need to get some dinner ready!" You exclaim as you jump up and rush to the kitchen.
Luckily you have some leftover pasta in the freezer so you decide to just pull that out and reheat that so that it's nice and quick.
"How long are you here for? Do you have a place to stay?" You ask Eric as you boil the water over the stove.
"Ah, I haven't booked a return flight yet, nor do I have a place to stay. I kind of thought I'd just shoot my shot and come over and see what happens... sorry," he says sheepishly.
"That's okay. Our spare bedroom is yours if you want it." You shrug.
"Really? Are you sure? I don't mean to come in and bombard you all at once. I'd hate to step on your toes."
"Honestly I'm used to this house being busy. It might be nice to have another body in the house while Bucky is away." You sigh.
"When is he back?"
"Don't know."
"Is it always this way?" He asks concerned, coming over to the kitchen to help you.
"Yep." You nod, popping the p.
"Wow."
"It's okay, we're used to it."
You get dinner ready and go get the kids. They spend dinner and supper getting to know their uncle and they all really like him by the time it's ready to go to bed. Turns out he's good with kids. Luke shows up towards the end of the night and introduces himself but is rather standoffish before rather quickly disappearing to his room.
Eric looks at you and raises his eyebrows in concern.
"Don't ask." You roll your eyes. "We're having real problems with him at the moment."
~~~~
"I'm going to go check on Peggy and Sarah this morning if you would like to come meet them? I might spend a few hours there." You tell Eric over breakfast.
He ponders it for a second. "I'd be happy to just stay here and watch the kids if you'd like? I can come meet her at some other point. I gotta pay my dues somehow right?"
"Actually, that would be really handy if you don't mind. I'm going to be spending a lot of time with her while the boys are gone, for obvious reasons at the moment you know. So you'll have a chance for me to introduce you one day when the kids are at school or something." You ponder his offer.
"Absolutely." He grins and nods.
You get the feeling that after everything, and knowing that he's hurt you even though now you understand his side of the story more, he's just happy to be pleasing you.
So you head off and go visit Peggy yourself, picking up some pastries from the bakery on your way as a treat. She's fine, just a little down in the dumps, but you sit and chat with her for a few hours before going home, telling her about your unexpected house guest that arrived last night.
"Well, at least he's here to show support now." She shrugs.
"Exactly, and it was clearly all a big misunderstanding so there's no point of holding a grudge over something like it." You sigh.
That's pretty much all you do over the next week or so; take the kids to school and then go spend the day with Peggy. Eric helps around the house and tags along with you to meet Peggy a few times, while others he goes and looks around town which sometimes you join him in doing as well.
You don't hear anything of Bucky, Steve, Sam and Natasha except from Howard telling you a few days after they left that they had arrived at their destination and set up camp. Sam and Nat has made contact with the weapon cartel leader pretending to be potential buyers and because their faces are still unknown unlike your husband's and Captain America's who's are plastered on just about every billboard in America.
It's not until this morning, nine days after they left - meaning that it obviously did turn into a long mission - that the phone rings. Immediately you rush to grab it. It's likely to be one of two people. Bucky who you miss dearly and are worried about, or Peggy who is all by herself with a toddler and may have gone into labour by now.
"Hello?" You ask anxiously, picking up the phone.
"Hi (Y/N)," Peggy's voice says rather seriously.
"Peggy? Is everything alright? Do you need me to come over?" You blurt out frantically, literally grabbing your coat while your still on the phone.
"No no." She chuckles. "Stay calm, it's nothing urgent. It's just, today is my due date, and I really need a distraction right now. I thought maybe when you were ready you'd like to come over and we could go for a walk? Eric is welcome too of course if he'd like."
"I'll be over soon Peg. But are you sure that going for a walk on your due date is the best idea when you're trying to keep that baby in there for the mean time?" You point out uneasily, trying not to piss a stressed and very, very pregnant lady off.
"Nope. It's fine. I feel perfect at the moment. This baby is not coming until those boys are back here. I'll make sure of it." She states defiantly.
"Alright then." You laugh. "I'm not sure that's how it works but I'll see you soon."
Everyday that the boys have been gone she's grown more and more antsy and anxious about everything, but at the same time she's grown more determined that the baby is not coming out until Steve is home. The only problem is, they don't know how long that's going to take. So if that's her plan he could be a sitting duck for a while, or just have to face that he might not be back in time at all.
"Is she alright?" Eric asks, looking over expectantly from where he does the dishes.
"She's fine." You nod. "But as bad of an idea as I think it is we are going for a walk if you'd like to come? You might be able to help me convince her not to go."
"The poor lady must be so on edge." He huffs, turning around to lean back against the sink with his arms crossed while he thinks. "I remember when Mel was due she was so scared every single time I was out of site. I couldn't even go to the bathroom without her calling out for me just incase something happened."
You let out a laugh. "Well then let's go get Peggy before something does happen.
~~~~
Despite your best attempts, Peggy still dragged you guys out on a walk.
"Well I'm going whether you're guys are or not. I just feel like I need to stretch my legs instead of being all cooped up inside." She had said.
So here you are. You pushing the twin pram along slowly while Peggy waddles along beside you and Eric follows closely behind with Sarah who's now too tired to walk, on his shoulders. Funnily enough he's really grown on her over the last few days. He has just seemed to click so well with all of the children. Thankfully it's a school and daycare day for all of your kids so that you didn't have to drag them along too.
It's actually a nice walk, along the river bank and it's a nice day too meaning that the river is gleaming and just a soft breeze is blowing through the grass on the other side of the bank. Ducks and other birds fly around and paddle in the river along the way.
You've been walking for about twenty minutes when you notice Peggy cringe and blow out a big puff of air, placing her hands on her hips and pinching rather harshly. You stop dead in your tracks and turn to her, causing Eric who's too busy pointing out a bird in a tree to Sarah to nearly walk into you.
"Are you alright?" You ask her.
"Yeah, Fine, it's just a Braxton Hicks." She waves it off, panting.
Regardless of what it is, you don't know why someone so pregnant would want to do any form of exercise. Her back and feet must be killing her.
"You said you felt fine on the phone to me this morning!" You exclaim in panic.
"I am! I just need something to do. Now come on, let's just keep going."
"No, I think it's time to head back. That's a long enough walk because we have to go back now too remember. We can go back to yours and have some afternoon tea and snacks," you say sternly.
Thankfully she agrees to do that, following you back, looking more and more uncomfortable along the way. But you don't think much of it; of course she's going to be uncomfortable.
"Sit down, I'll make you guys some tea," she says when you get back to her house.
"No, you sit down and I'll make you guys some tea. Eric stay with her please and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." You sigh exasperatedly.
He nods and follows her into the lounge while you go make a pot of English tea and put some left over baking that you had brought over the other day on a plate before heading out to the lounge. You put the biscuits and cakes on the coffee table in the middle of the room and Eric who is sitting on the floor playing with the kids reaches over to grab the biggest slice of course, while you hand Peggy her cup of tea where she sits back in one of the arm chairs, looking exhausted as she strokes her baby bump.
"Thanks." She smiles quietly, clearly realising how tired she is now that she's sat down.
Finally you plop down in the chair across from her and start sipping away at your tea and nibbling on the food while also giving little pieces to the twins. No one really talks beside Eric and the kids as they play. Every so often you look over at Peggy because you just have a dreaded feeling in the pit of your stomach that something is going to happen, but she seems fine.
Until sure enough, when your on about your third biscuit she lets out a little gasp and clutches at her belly, rocking forward in her chair.
"Oh god." She whimpers as she looks up at you with terrified eyes. "I take back what I said about this baby staying put for the moment... because it's coming right now."