Come Back With Me

Our Home

After Lizzie purchased the land, they went into immediate planning mode. They all sat down to look at the designs and decided what features they did and didn't want in the house.

They decided that they were each going to have 4 rooms and 2 bathrooms in each house. They wanted wrap around porches and a large kitchen. The layouts of the two houses were going to be nearly identical but Lizzie had one more addition to her and Bucky's house that Bucky was adamantly against.

"I won't allow it," Bucky says.

Bucky and Lizzie don't fight that often but today was an exception.

"You won't allow it?!" Lizzie yells in anger.

"Yes, I won't allow it because you'll end up killing yourself!" Bucky yells back.

She thinks that he is exaggerating. She just wanted to put in a lab so she can work on some of her designs. She sometimes gets ideas when she's at home and with a lab, she could work out the idea then and there. Howard already said he'd be more than happy to provide Lizzie with the equipment she needs.

"I'm not going to kill myself, I just want the ability to create when I'm not at work," Lizzie says.

"I can barely get you to let go of work when you get home normally, how am I supposed to get you to take a break from work when you bring it home with you?" Bucky says.

"I never asked you to do that!" Lizzie responds.

"Yeah, well I promised to take care of you and protect you when we got married. I vowed to protect you for everything even protect you from yourself. Ellie, I am so proud of you for all you've done. I've always known you'd do great things and you are helping so many people but if you keep up like this, you are going to burn out. I love you so much, doll, that it kills me to see you working yourself into the ground that you don't even see it," Bucky says sadly.

Lizzie knows that Bucky is only fighting her on this because he cares about her. Maybe she does work a little too much but she doesn't think it's as big of a problem as he says.

"I'm fine, love. I eat and I sleep and I'm happy," she says.

Bucky knows that she doesn't think about her poor habits because she doesn't think they are problems.

"Honey, you stay up late sketching designs and get up early to go to work. Between that and your nightmares, you probably only get a few hours of sleep a night. You trained for years to be a doctor. What would you tell a patient if they told you that they were only getting a few hours of sleep a night?" Bucky asks.

He got her there. She knows that if she saw a patient that told her that they didn't sleep enough, she would immediately prescribe that they sleep more no matter if they felt fine with that little amount of sleep.

Lizzie feels the fight drain out of her and she collapses down on the couch.

Bucky sighs because he knows that she didn't think about how what she was doing was unhealthy. She is the most selfless person he knows and it is in her nature to think of herself last.

He kneels in front of her on the couch and grabs both her hands in his.

"El, I can't live without you and if you keep going like this, I might lose you earlier than I'd be able to handle. I promised to be by your side in sickness and in health but I desperately want you healthy. I'm not asking you to stop doing your all at work but I'm begging you, please leave your work at the office. I need my wife," he says.

As much as she loves work, her husband will always be a priority. If he's this concerned about her than she will cut back. She also knows his panic attacks are directly linked to her and she doesn't want to put him through any more of those than she has to.

"I'm sorry, I'll take a step back. I just want to help people," Lizzie says.

"And you do help people, but you won't be able to if you can't function properly," Bucky responds.

"Alright, I don't need a lab in the new house," Lizzie says.

Bucky stands and presses a kiss to Lizzie's forehead.

"Don't mistake this conversation as me condemning your work because I am so damn proud of you," Bucky says.

They have no more disagreements on the house after that so construction starts quite quickly. They get a crew out to build the foundations and then Steve and Bucky spend their days working on it. They put their absolute all into it and with Howard's help with the electrical and plumbing, they finish quite quickly. They decide to play down how fast they are finishing to the girls so they will be surprised.

They manage to complete the houses just six months after construction first started. The girls have yet to see it since the foundations were set at the behest of the men.

Everyday when the boys come home, the women immediately send them upstairs for a shower but when they come home, they actually look clean and remarkably put together.

"Would you guys be interested in coming to check the progress on the houses? We have a few questions we'd like your input on before we continue," Steve says.

The girls consent and they drive down to the new houses.

When they arrive and get out of the car, they can't believe what they were seeing. They actually finished the houses.

It was like they took Lizzie's sketches and brought them to life.

Steve and Peggy soon walk to their house to take a look at the inside, leaving Bucky and Lizzie on the lawn.

"You guys made our home," Lizzie says in awe.

Bucky wraps an arm around her shoulder and Lizzie links her hand with his.

"Do you want to go in?" Bucky asks.

"No, give me a minute," Lizzie says.

She stands there for a moment and takes in the reality of this moment. This is the house that her and Bucky will live in for the rest of their loves. They will raise their children in this house. They will laugh and cry in this house. They will have so many memories in this house. But most of all, they will love in this house.

Bucky and Lizzie stand on the front lawn for a long time, taking in the dream that they had never thought they'd get to have.