-----♕-----
CHRISTMAS MORNING CAME round quickly following the arrival of Cyndie. Gemini rubbed her eyes as she woke up. She groaned slightly as she went to get up. The weight of Bucky's arm around her stopped her from advancing. Her wriggling woke him up.
Snuggling his head into the back of her neck, he trailed light kisses along the back of neck and down her shoulder. She groaned slightly, shifting in his arm to turn and face him.
"Merry Christmas." Bucky's sleep was evident in his voice, making it very deep. He looked up to Gemini's disgruntled face. "You okay, doll?" She nodded, her hand brushing the hair out of his eyes. Nodding her head.
"I'm fine, just...sore." He nodded his head understandingly, kissing her head and apologising. "Don't be." She kissed him lightly. "Merry Christmas."
Bucky sighed, looking up to the ceiling in Gemini's room, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into her chest. "Is your sister working today?" He asked her, Gemini shook her head. "That's an upside, especially with her job."
"Normally she is working. It's shit when it happens." She replied, drawing on Bucky's chest. He looked down to her, smirking at her absentminded doodling. She realised something, quickly looking up. "This is, one, my first Christmas with Cyndie in over five years." She commented. "And two, this is my first Christmas with the Compound with all of you."
Bucky smiled, kissing her head. "You pout when I call you cute, but you say shit that makes you fucking adorable." Gemini laughed lightly into his chest. He sighed out, going to get up but being stopped my Gemini. "We've got to get up, you know that."
She nodded, still lying under the sheets. "Can we get up in a bit? I wanna stay in here for a little while." Bucky raised an eyebrow to her, specifically her little smirk.
"Oh really?" He asked her, leaning over her on his arms. "Is that so?" She nodded her head, not breaking eye contact with him. He connected his lips to her, moving the covers away from her body. "We can do that then."
|/\|/\|/\|
Gemini leaned on the counter in the kitchen as everyone gathered in the living room. She was waiting for her family to arrive while eating an apple. She watched as Pietro and Wanda argued over their presents they'd given each other. Steve and Sam discussed something she couldn't hear from the distance. Thor was eating one of his pop tarts happily as Bruce picked up the wrapping paper from the floor.
Bucky was watching Gemini, she seemed tired from the last few days. He couldn't explain most of the time. She seemed drained. He'd realised she hadn't been as excited for Christmas as everyone else. He was concerned about her.
"Merry Christmas you dumasses!" Theo announced the presence of Gemini's family as they entered immediately going and hugging Gemini.
"How are we dumbasses?" Sam asked him confused.
"Do you need us to start listing?" Taury fired back at him, going over to the Christmas tree. Sam shook his head along with the others.
Gemini turned her attention back to Theo. "Hello Zodiac." She waved at him. "Are you ready?" She nodded slightly, causing his confusion. "Are you okay?"
She nodded again. "Yeah, I'm fine, Theo don't worry about it." He looked to her with a look of unsureness. "I am okay. I'm just tired."
"Bucky been keeping you up too late?" Theo joked with her making her laugh. "Okay, I now know you're okay cause of that lovely little laugh of yours." Gemini smiled at him before handing him his present. "Is it a journal cause I asked nicely."
Gemini nodded but stopped him for a moment. "That and a bottle of whiskey." Theo thanked her, kissing her head protectively. "Love you, Theo."
"Love you too, Zodiac." He replied, handing her his present. "Let's just say your musical side will love it."
Tilting her head, she pulled out the vinyl and smiled as she read it. Thanking the man she admired the new vinyl for her player. "Is that a vinyl?" Rhodey asked the younger woman.
Gemini looked to him, nodding her head. "Yeah, I collect and listen to them."
"Why the hell do you collect vinyls?" Pietro asked, baffled. Gemini shrugged.
"Cause I like retro and vintage things. I still have my old N64." She explained.
"I mean you do wear tie dyes." Toni replied, hugging her little sister and kissing her head. "Merry Christmas, Gem."
"That's cause they're comfy." She defended her decision for wearing the colourful t-shirts. Bucky watched the exchange between the two sisters before walking over.
"This is my girlfriend." He muttered jokingly, kissing her head. He stood behind her and placed his hands on her hips. "So what do you guys do for Christmas?" He asked the others.
"Not much." Taury commented.
"Gemini and Joe act like children." The pair looked to each other, nodding at Nate's answer. "More than usual."
"They also drink too much." Toni chastised, looking to Gemini with a warning glare.
"That's for different reasons." Joe answered back, shrugging his shoulders. This earned him an exasperated look from the oldest Braddock girl and a warning finger.
Cyndie came over to her cousin and Bucky, knocking the young woman on the arm. Turning to her, Bucky removed his hands from her waist so she could hug her family. Wishing each other a Merry Christmas, Becky quickly ran over, hugging Gemini before surprising Bucky with one also.
"Hi Auntie Gem, hi Bucky. Merry Christmas." She smiled up to him. This warmed his heart at the small interaction with the young girl.
"Merry Christmas, Becky." He smiled back to her. He soon returned to resting his head on Gemini's shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist. Gemini smirked at his action as Cyndie hopped up onto the counter with Becky.
"Why do I feel like we're not gonna do much?" Cyndie asked Gemini, earning a shrug.
"We probably won't to be honest. Just enjoy everyone's company." Cyndie nodded, liking the idea of that. She watched the exchange of loving actions between Gemini and Bucky. She could tell that her cousin was truly happy with the former soldier/assassin and Cyndie couldn't be happier to see her smile like that again. It had been too long.
"Jesus Christ, Barnes can you go five minutes without touching Gemini?" Sam asked from across the room.
Bucky raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah, but no." He answered in a confused tone.
"Why not?" He asked him again.
Looking down to Gemini, he asked her silently if he could say what he wanted to. She nodded her head. "Cause my girlfriend is hot, and I love her. Leave me be." He kissed the back of her head.
Natasha walked to the fridge to grab herself a drink as Gemini turned herself around. "Is it bad, that one of the only reasons I would like to be able to talk is just so I could cuss out Sam in the Russian that Nat taught me?" She asked the two fluent Russian speakers.
Natasha being slightly dramatic, became misty eyed, wiping away her fake tears. "I'm so proud."
Bucky tightened his hug slightly, kissing her cheek. "That's my girl." He pulled away from her. "I'm gonna go wish Joe a Merry Christmas, I'll be back in a bit." She nodded her head, turning to speak to Nat.
Bucky sat beside Joe, Nate sat there also. "Merry Christmas, Bucky." Joe replied kindly.
"Hey Joe, Nate, Merry Christmas." He smirked. "I was just wondering this quickly. Gem's not as excited for today as everyone else, does she not like Christmas?"
Joe shook his head frantically. "Hell no, she loves Christmas."
"She's like that cause of how many Christmases we've had without our parents. It upsets her a lot. She'll cheer up soon when we watch Disney movies." Nate explained. Bucky thanked him for explaining. "No need. Thanks for having the decency to look out for my sister and see that she isn't her self." Bucky nodded to him, right before getting something thrown at his head.
"Okay, who threw that?" Wanda instantly pointed her finger at Pietro. Bucky threw it back at him, hitting him in the chest.
"Can we watch Disney movies now?" Becky asked politely. Gemini however knew she was growing impatient by the tapping on her leg. Tony nodded as Becky jumped down, running to the drawer of Disney.
Gemini watched as Becky pulled out a few films to watch, a smile etched on her face happily. She wasn't paying attention as she walked backwards, nearly walking into Pepper. She apologised quickly to Tony's partner, smirking nervously. Pepper smiled at Gemini greeting her and letting it go before joining the others at the couch.
She disappeared for a moment to place the vinyl in her rack. Looking at her appearance in the mirror, she smirked at the fact that part of her wardrobe had become Bucky's shirts.
Returning into the room to see Princess and the Frog on the screen she realised there were no seats on the couch. Going to sit on the floor in front of Bucky, he stopped her, picking her up and placing her in his lap. She lay her head on his shoulder. Bucky could feel how cold her arms were, nudging Becky from beside him for the blanket she had. She gladly shared it with the couple and covered Gemini's arms with it.
She smiled into his neck, adjusting her sight towards the screen to watch the film.
|/\|/\|/\|
The group of adults had decided to play a game after watching four Disney films, leaving the kids to argue over the next one. Gemini would be lying if she said she didn't want to join the kids in watching Disney but decided against it. She also couldn't be bothered playing the game of friendships ruining that was Monopoly. She decided to sit, facing Bucky in his lap, with her arms wrapped around his body.
He didn't mind the affection from the young woman, stroking her hair with his hand. He wasn't overly paying attention to the game, resting his chin on her shoulder. Monopoly was one of the only games Bucky knew how to play but he had never liked it. When he used to play it with Steve, he would normally lose.
Toni watched her younger sister, shuffle in Bucky's lap, trying to get comfortable. She saw him pick her sister up and position her in a more comfortable place before resting his chin on her shoulder. She smiled as she watched him kiss the side of her neck, Gemini's head moving further into his crook. She was happy for her little sister.
Her mood faltered when she landed on one of her brother's properties. "Suck a dick Nathaniel." She ordered him, throwing her money at him angrily. She could see Gemini's shoulders shaking with laughter. "It's not funny Gemini."
She nodded her head in disagreement. "She thinks it is." Bucky replied, glancing at the figure of his girlfriend. Toni rolled her eyes, slumping in her chair grumpily.
A sudden commotion from the couches caught Gemini's attention. "Ow, Cooper!" She looked over, seeing Lila hold onto her arm, glaring at her older brother. "Dad, Cooper punched me!"
"I did not!" He denied, loudly. Gemini looked to Clint before getting off of Bucky. "I didn't!" He continued yelling.
Gemini gave him a look of disbelief. "Cooper, if you didn't do you wouldn't still be yelling." She pointed out as Cooper narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Lila, show me your arm." Lifting up the sleeve of her dress, Gemini noticed the red mark. She sighed. "Cooper. Why did you do it?"
The boy looked down, ashamed that he'd been caught. "You snitch." He sneered to his younger sister, lunging for her. Gemini stood between them stopping him from reaching her. "She was annoying me."
Running her hand through her hair. "Apologise." She told him. Cooper began to complain. "Cooper, it's no reason to punch her. Apologise." He looked down, apologising for hurting her before apologising to Gemini for yelling at her. Gemini kissed both of them on the head before Cooper hugged Lila, allowing Gemini to go back to the others. "You're welcome Clint, Laura." They thanked her.
Bucky wrapped his arm around Gemini's waist, kissing her cheek after she became comfortable. She smiled into his shoulder. Whilst she'd been over there, Toni, Theo, Joe, Thor and Rhodey had gone out, running out of money. Toni was sulking along Theo, Thor remained confused and Joe and Rhodey seemed fine, Joe looking tired even.
He hit his thighs and stood up, telling everyone he was going to join the kids in watching Disney films. He ruffled Gemini's hair as he passed her, making her and Bucky laugh, Bucky being unable to see. Fixing her hair, Gemini leaned away from Bucky, smirking at him. He admired her messy hair, kissing her quickly, catching her off guard so she nearly fell off. He supported her, placing his hands on her lower back and pulling her back into him. She returned to her comfy position.
"Gemini just goes full koala bear and latches herself onto Bucky." Taury pointed out. Gemini tilted her head to the side in agreement. Looking to her watch, she pried herself off of Bucky before going towards the kitchen quietly. Pulling out a whiskey glass, she poured herself one out.
She leaned on the back of Bucky's chair, her whiskey glass in hand. "And you didn't get me one?" Theo asked her, slightly offended. Pulling another glass from behind her back, she held it out to the man. "Nevermind, love you Gem." She nodded, accepting his statement.
Bucky looked up to her, smirking at her just before getting kicked by Sam, cursing under his breath at the sharp impact to his shin. He looked to the board, noticing he had landed on one of Steve's properties, losing the remainder of his money. He shrugged, handing it to him before standing up and leaving the game, picking up Gemini as he moved, cautious not to spill her drink.
Gemini squealed at the sudden lack of ground beneath her feet before being carried into the living room where the children and Joe were. Everyone had agreed that Christmas would just be casual this year, no extravagant parties, no huge dinner. Just a simple family day between all of them. Bucky dropped Gemini onto the couch, allowing her to finally sit on a seat.
The pair noticed that Joe had fallen asleep, Becky in her lap. Cyndie was scrolling through something on her phone, not focused on the film but Cooper and Lila were watching with full attention, Nathaniel asleep in front of them in a curled up ball. Bucky sat beside Gemini, not minding when she lay herself down against him. His hand fell onto his lap, absentmindedly stroking Gemini's hair, twisting it around his fingers.
Gemini sighed, content with the sensation in her head. Turning her body to face the screen, she smiled as Koda began singing On My Way. She bobbed her head to the tune. Bucky laughed at her reaction to the film. He didn't speak to Gemini, he placed his eyes on the screen and began watching Brother Bear with the children, the others now arguing in the background.
|/\|/\|/\|
Gemini shifted on the couch as Taury lifted her legs to sit down. All the children, apart from Cyndie, were asleep. The game of Monopoly had finally ended, Tony taking all the money in the end, and the others joined them in the living room, Joe was still asleep, holding his sleepy daughter in his arms.
"Just a quick question." Cyndie asked them suddenly, holding her phone up to signal were the answer was needed. "Does anyone know what hell is?"
"High school." Gemini didn't miss a beat. "Kids are assholes that don't like anything different to what their normal is." Cyndie thanked her typing into her phone.
"Fuck, Gem. Not a good experience?" Sam asked her, slightly concerned at the suddenness of her answer.
"Hell no. Nobody could understand what the hell I was saying, I was bullied for being mute and one of mine and Taury's only friends died in our Junior year." She explained, slightly ranting about how bad her experience in high school was. "The only reason I didn't get beaten up was because I knew how to defend myself and I spent most of my time in the art rooms with Taury."
The others were shocked by the loss of Gemini's friend, Taury looking down to Gemini, pain evident in her eyes. She grabbed the woman's hand, pulling a face of sadness.
"You lost a friend in Junior year?" Bruce asked her, shocked.
Gemini nodded. "Lyra. She was in a car accident." Nate went to interrupt but she stopped him, quickly adding. "I was in the crash with her."
Taury grasped Gemini's hand, holding it as tight as she could. She pulled herself up, Bucky's hand reaching for the lower part of her back, stroking it with his thumb. She smirked at him as he nodded. She looked back to the others. "Please don't look at me with pity eyes, it was thirteen years ago and though it messed me up when I was younger, I've gotten better at coping with it. Please don't give me those looks of pity." She begged them all. Bucky moved his arm from her lower back to wrap around her shoulders and kissing the back of her head.
Everyone agreed, deciding not to push Gemini's temper or - more importantly - Taury's. Gemini stood up, grabbing her glass from the table to get herself a drink again. She came back with two, though.
She handed the bottle of beer to Bucky, him kissing her lips in thanks as she sat back down with her whiskey. Everyone now had a drink in their hands. Cyndie still wasn't looking up from her phone.
Gemini nudged her. "What's got you so fascinated?" Cyndie didn't reply, so Gemini nudged her again, this time with her foot. She pried her eyes from the screen. "What's so fascinating on the screen that you have to be so antisocial?"
Cyndie sighed, showing the photo to her cousin. It was of a girl around Cyndie's age with a group of friends. Gemini looked to Cyndie for an explanation, confused by it. "It's a girl in my school that keeps giving me shit for my hair and my family. They say we're all freaks."
Gemini scoffed, removing the phone from her hands, and going onto the filters and picking one. Ushering Cyndie's face into the frame, she took the photo. Writing out the caption she showed it to the younger girl before uploading it on her story.
Cyndie smiled at the young woman. "Thank you, Gem." Hugging her.
"Anytime Cyn." Bucky looked to the pair as he was knocked by the impact of the hug.
"What's going on?" He asked them curiously.
"Gemini's just getting some pictures with me, posting it on Snapchat." Bucky raised an eyebrow confused. "He doesn't know what Snapchat is, does he?" Gemini shook her head. "Jesus Christ Bucky, how old are you?"
Bucky scratched the back of his neck. "In looks or genuine?" Cyndie scoffed at the cryo freeze joke. "That's the one with the weird dog filter isn't it?" He asked his girlfriend, earning a nod.
"Just a quick question to throw out to all of you." Theo announced to the adults. "Are we staying here tonight because there ain't no way he's driving me home?" He pointed to Nate, who was drinking his fourth beer. "And I don't trust his road rage." He clarified, pointing to an unconscious Joe.
Tony nodded, quickly asking Vision if he could sort that out. He fazed through the wall, earning an eye roll from everyone that lived in the Compound.
"Use the goddamn door, Vision." Pietro called, not loud enough to wake the children though. "Wait who's gonna carry Joe to bed?"
"Not it." Gemini immediately announced, shortly followed by Taury and Nate. Toni gave a look to Theo of warning.
"You dare Theo." She began to warn him.
Theo shook his head, holding up his hand. "No thanks, I choose life." He said in his best possible Sid the sloth from Ice Age impression.
Gemini snorted, placing her head in her hands. "Fucking A, Theo. You're a tit." He agreed almost instantly, making her laugh.
Vision returned, once more through the wall, earning chastisement from everyone for not using the door, like the rules had implied.
"You guys do realise that a lot of those rules are never followed. Specifically the no cursing one?" Gemini observed. "Especially when this bitch is nearby." She directed to Taury who held up a peace sign.
Everyone shrugged it off, returning their attentions to the screen where Tony had placed another film in. Meet the Robinsons.
|/\|/\|/\|
It had become the early hours of the morning in Boxing Day when everyone eventually packed up their stuff and retreated to bed. Quite a lot of alcohol was once more consumed and people like Theo were walking into walls, which definitely wouldn't help his hangover later.
Gemini had stopped alcohol after her third glass of whiskey, switching to fizzy drinks. Bucky had only drank the one beer that Gemini had given him, drinking mainly water following it.
He found himself, once again, in Gemini's room. Not undressed, but shirtless and in sweat pants because she'd asked him nicely. She turned around to see them hanging loosely at his hips, as she wore his t-shirt he'd been wearing to sleep. They all reached her mid thigh, making it look more like a dress than a t-shirt.
Bucky stared at her figure. Though the shirt was baggy on her slim frame, it still suited her perfectly. Her long legs were completely bare, making it difficult for Bucky not to pick her up by them and take her over to the bed. He lay beside her though, his hand drawing little shapes on her torso as she did the same to his chest.
"Sorry about Lyra getting brought up. I know it's difficult thinking about her during the holidays." He apologised to her.
She didn't meet his eye, but removed her hands from his chest. "Joe and Nate told you?" He hummed in reply. "It's okay. I at least know she's in a better place now. She's watching over Taury."
"Taury loved her, didn't she?" Bucky asked her suddenly. "She never talks about her, doesn't like thinking about how she's gone. She's watching over Taury because they loved each other, didn't they?" Gemini nodded.
"I don't think Taury ever truly recovered after Ly's death. She never dated after it. She loved that girl with all her heart it shattered the day she died." Gemini explained. Bucky looked down to her. She didn't meet his eyes, staring at the doodles she put on his chest. "She was telling my when we were in Cali, that she was happy that I was still here, she said that she probably would've died with us if we had both died." Bucky kissed her head, comfortingly.
"You know she's watching over you too." He pointed out, his words quiet due to his lips being near her head. "And, I'll tell you this. I'm happy you're still here too." She smiled, finally looking at him. Holding her in his arms, he didn't move. His metal arm, brushed her hair out of her face, taking in all of her features. "You're fucking beautiful." He voiced his thoughts.
She chuckled at him, kissing him. She ran her right hand through his hair, moving it from his eyes. He pulled her into him with his metal arm, hiding his head in her neck. She breathed in his scent, lying with him.
She pulled back from him, catching him off guard. "Did you at least have a good Christmas?" She asked him, smiling kindly at him. He smiled back, nodding his head. "Good, I'm glad. I know you probably haven't celebrated it for, like, seventy years." He chuckled, nodding his head in agreement.
"Yeah, I had a good day. Did you?" She nodded. "Good, you should after being ill the past few weeks." She scrunched up her nose making him smirk. "Were you happy to spend the day with your family and us?" She nodded again.
"You guys are my family." She replied. He looked to her, surprised by her statement. "I've been living with you guys for months, I care for you all though a lot of you annoy the shit out of me, we all argue but at the end of the day we still care for everyone here." She listed the reasons why the Avengers had become family over the last months. "Not to mention, I'm fucking dating you and love you." Her matter of fact face, expressed the tone in speech.
He laughed at her face, nodding his head. "Such aggression in your love." She giggled, shaking her head. "No, I love you too. I'm happy you think of us all as family."
She nodded, checking the watch on her wrist. The hours of the morning were gaining, Gemini widening her eyes as she looked down at them. "It's nearly four in the morning." Bucky laughed, slightly too loud. He covered his mouth immediately after.
"Shit. When did we go to bed? Was it three?" Gemini shrugged, unsure. "Is it bad that I'm not tired?"
She shrugged again. "Kinda, especially with your insomnia and not sleeping lately cause you worry." His eyes widened as he looked down. "Sorry for calling you out on that." She quickly apologised. "But I don't feel tired either and that's just as bad. We need sleep."
Bucky hummed in reply as Gemini shifted around in the bed. Pulling her back into her, he kissed the back of her neck. She brought his hand to her mouth, kissing it before allowing him to wrap her tightly in a hug. He wished her goodnight before the pair slowly drifted away into the night.
-----♔-----
I hope you enjoyed this chapter
A Christmas chapter in August because why not?
If anyone couldn't tell, I made Taury's character a Lesbian. I just thought it would be nice to have a character that was gay because we love representation in this household
I know this chapter wasn't all that festive and exciting but this is basically what my family do every year at Christmas.
That's mainly because my birthday is on Christmas Day.
The next chapter will be out soon
Kayla Lou xxx