She had never seen so many emotions on a person's face. Confusion. Sadness. Anger. Joy. Bucky honestly looked like he was going to pass out. His hands balled up in fists.
"I'm going to kill that wizard." He said through gritted teeth.
Catherine's eyes widened. Bucky turned on his heels and ran towards Dr. Strange. She watched as he wrapped his metal hand around his throat, picking him up.
"You bastard! You knew all along I had a son. You allowed five years to go by before you did anything!" He yelled.
"It...was...the...only...way." Steven managed.
"Bucky! Stop!" Catherine yelled. "I know you're upset, believe me I am too, but let him explain."
Bucky glared at Steven for a couple more moments before releasing his grip on him. He reached up to touch the now bruised skin on his throat, trying to catch his breath. Catherine gently placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, attempting to calm him down. He was incredibly tense and she could almost feel his blood boiling.
"It was the only way to beat Thanos. I can predict outcomes. I went through a million outcomes and there was only one where we one. Do you think I wanted families ripped apart? Do you think I wanted Natasha or Tony to die? It had to happen though." Steven explained. "I am sorry. I truly am."
"It's okay. Emotions are just running high right now." Catherine said trying to deescalate the situation. "Come on Bucky."
She held his hand tightly, leading him away from the chaos. He needed to breath. She had just thrown a lot of information at him. He didn't look her in the eye. He felt ashamed for losing control, but he was angry. He had always wanted a family and he had his chance, but it had been taken away from him temporarily.
"I'm sorry Cat." Bucky finally spoke.
Catherine shook her head. "It's okay. I understand. How about we finish up here and then you can meet him?"
"Does he even know who I am?" Bucky asked, his voice cracking.
"He does. I made sure he knew who his father was." Catherine answered. "He looks just like you."
Bucky attempted to smile at her. "What's his name?"
"William James Barnes."
"It's perfect Catherine."
Bucky pressed his lips against her's. He didn't think he could love her more, but after finding out they had a child together deepened that love.
Pepper had left with Tony's body and was going to go back to her house to be with Morgan. Happy was going to bring William back to Catherine's house. Most of the people had dispersed. Several people had asked what the next step would be now that the Avengers Compound had been blown to pieces and Tony was gone. No one really had an answer. The first step was going to be getting all the debris cleared away. She supposed they would rebuild the compound. The world would always need the Avengers. They would need a facility to train, coordinate, research, and even live for some of them. Steve and her coordinated with a construction team for an hour just to schedule a clean up and to level the ground again so they could build. Once they finished up, everyone parted ways for some much needed rest.
"My house is only 10 minutes away. We can walk or see if someone would give us a ride." Catherine told Bucky.
"I can carry you." He teased.
"Careful, I might consider that offer." She said. "We'll walk. It's been a while since we were alone."
"I think that's a great idea." Bucky said, reaching out to hold her hand as they walked.
"I hope you like the house. Well, it's a farm actually. We only have chickens though so I don't know if you can even call it a farm. I-I know we joked about moving away and buying a farm. I realized that after you left, I really wanted to do it." She explained.
"I'm sure I'll love it. When I was a kid I lived in a one bedroom apartment with my mom and three sisters. And did you see my place in Romania? It'll probably look like a mansion to me." Bucky reassured her. "Can you tell me more about William?"
Catherine smiled. "Of course. He's four years old. Like I said, he's your twin. Same dark hair and blue eyes. He's kind, smart and loves sports. He loves anything to do with the Howling Commandos. He wanted to know everything about you. He alway asks to go to the Smithsonian so he can see the Captain America exhibit. It's always the same information but he loves it. Steve would always tell him stories about you."
"Steve was good to you?" Bucky asked.
"Very. I mean, he isn't you, but he really stepped up." She told him.
As they grew closer to the house, Bucky became more nervous. What if William didn't like him? What if he was disappointed in him? What if he liked Steve as a dad better? The house looked perfect on the outside. It wasn't too big or too small. There was plenty of room for them to add more animals if they wanted to.
Happy emerged from the house alone. His eyes were puffy from crying. Catherine instantly wrapped him in a hug.
"He fought hard." Catherine whispered to him.
"He did." Happy agreed.
"Thank you for watching William." She told him.
"Anything for you. Get some rest. You deserve it." Happy said.
After Happy left, Catherine lead them inside. Bucky's nervousness only grew. Inside the house sat a boy on the couch. The first thing we noticed were the dog tags hanging from his neck. His dog tags. He had short, dark hair. Much like the style Bucky had in the 40's. This had to be William. He looked exactly like him when he was younger.
"Mom!" The little boy yelled.
He jumped down from the couch and ran to Catherine. She wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"Did you win?" He asked.
"We won." Catherine told him.
The boys eyes scanned upwards to Bucky. William paused and studied his face carefully. Bucky had never seen anything so precious in his life. He had never felt so protective of anything.
"D-Do you know how I am?" Bucky managed to ask.
William nodded. "You're Bucky. You're my dad. Can I hug you?"
Bucky felt tears form in his eyes. "Yes."
William smiled and ran into his dad's arms. Bucky lost it. Tears fell from his face as he held onto his son tightly. The little boy clung to his dad's arms. He had listened to all of his mother's stories and his Uncle Steve's stories about his father, but having him here was much better.
"Can I show you my room?" William asked Bucky excitedly.
Bucky smiled at his son. "Of course."
They spent the rest of the day showing Bucky around the house and farm. William begged his dad to tell him stories about fighting in WWII. When dinner time rolled around, they were exhausted so they decided to order a pizza. For the first time in Bucky's life he felt normal. He had a wife and son and they were sitting at a table, eating pizza. This is what he had craved for years.
Once nighttime appeared, William asked if his dad could be the one to get him ready, read him his book and lay him down. Bucky happily obliged. After William settled down for the night, Bucky found Catherine in their room, getting ready to shower.
"Hey." He whispered, kissing her shoulder.
"Hey." She said with a smile.
"Thank you."
Catherine turned around to face him. "For what?"
"Everything. Helping me these past years. Loving me. Having our son." Bucky told her.
"Well, I should be thanking you since you took me from my parents' car." She teased.
Bucky ran a hand through his knotted hair. "You know, I regretted that decision for so long. You didn't deserve that life. However, we would have never met."
Catherine presses a kiss softly to his jaw and then neck. "Maybe. I believe in soulmates though. I think we were destined to be together, no matter the circumstances."
"I guess we'll never know." Bucky told her, his hand slipping under her shirt. "Can I join you?"
Catherine shivered under his touch. "Please."