Bring Me Home // Bucky Barnes

Epilogue - A Different Momma

"Dammit, Dugan!" Bucky groaned as he entered the living room to clouds of white coating every surface and every toy.

It was too early for this.

He shuffled forwards, his eyes unfocussed and his mind groggy as he kicked through layers of couch cushion stuffing and mumbled under his breath. He needed coffee and he needed it before the twins descended.

"Shit." Tiny needles. He'd stepped on thousands of tiny needles. Or at least that's what this god forsaken pain suggested. Glancing down, Bucky knew what he'd see and he hated it. He hated it with the fire of a thousand suns: lego.

"Buck?" Lizzie moved down the stairs with her eyes half closed and a waddle, her stance wide as she struggled to move with the weight of her swollen stomach. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Time-Bomb." He smiled up at her as she finally reached the bottom step and her eyes widened.

"Nothing, huh?"

Bucky grimaced. "I was really hoping you would stay in bed a little longer, Doll."

"I would have, but I hear a tiny tornado tore through our living room while we were sleeping again." Lizzie grinned as Bucky glanced around the room and the reality of it all set in again. At four years old Dugan was a terror.

A terror aided by two tricky toddlers.

"Momma! Momma!" The thunderous tell of Peggy's powers echoed through their home as clouds gathered and wind whipped around the exhausted parents now groaning in unison.

"Peggy Antonia Barnes!" Bucky shouted up the stairs as Lizzie's hand fluttered to her shifting bump. "What have I told you about using your gift inside?"

"Daddy?" Little Steven bounded down the stairs with the giant, chaotic, golden mass of energy hurtling down behind him. "Daddy. Peggy took Uncle Captain."

Lizzie giggled as Bucky scooped his son up in his arms and mussed his mane of dark curls. He threw his son over his shoulder and Steven squealed in delight.

"Peggy." Lizzie called up the stairs. "Down here. Now."

Appearing at the top of the stairs in a blinding flash of light was an angelic little face, swirling in a mist of purples and blues as she guided herself down to Lizzie's side without moving her feet.

"What did Daddy say, Peggy?"

"No magic in the house."

Peggy fluttered her eyelashes over the shimmering silver blue eyes that Lizzie loved so dearly and Bucky barked over his shoulder as he walked away.

"And no more taking your brother's toys. Now where did you send his Captain America doll?"

Peggy grinned and Lizzie lowered herself onto the step as she watched Bucky crouch to collect toys, their son still giggling as he hung over his shoulder and grabbed at thin air.

"Not sure." Her voice was sweet as toffee and Lizzie's eyes began to glow a deep cerulean as delicate wisps of blue trailed from her fingertips and over the living room, pushing through bundles and piles of cushion filling and sending it into an abyss of nothingness wherever it fell.

"Peggy. I'm going to see Aunty Nat and Uncle Steve today. We're going to see what the baby is doing." Lizzie glanced to her daughter as purple flickered beneath her irises and tiny flickers of power wrapped around the blue, mixing and melting into Lizzie's own gifts. "But I can't leave without finding Steven's doll. So, do you want to tell Aunty Nat and Uncle Steve they can't see their baby today?"

Peggy's lips fell into a peachy pink pout and Bucky rolled his eyes.

"It's in Wakanda."

At Peggy's admission Bucky barked out a hacking laugh and Lizzie turned to frown at him.

"Bring it back, Little Pea," Bucky chuckled, "or no more play dates with Aunty Wanda and the boys."

With a blink and a click of her fingers, little Peggy summoned the doll - now wrapped in shimmering black material and pinned with a note and Lizzie held her hand out for it.

Thank you for the present, Little Miss Barnes. King T'Challa told me to tell you he wants a hulk next time. Stay powerful. - Love Shuri 

Lizzie unpinned the note and shook her head. Shuri was overdue a trip to their little home in the suburbs after Bucky introduced them just three years ago and Peggy missed her. Lizzie did too.

As Lizzie contemplated the logistics of a Wakandan visit, Peggy moved quickly, bounding over to her mother and leant forwards to push soft kisses into her stomach.

"I love you, baby sister."

Lizzie sighed and ran a hand over the dark waves that hung to her child's shoulders.

"She's not your sister, baby girl. Momma's just looking after her until she's ready to go home to Uncle Steve and Aunty Nat. Remember?"

The patter of tiny feet and the always accompanying paws on the hardwood floor told Lizzie Bucky had put Steven down and when she looked up from her daughters face her little family was staring back at her.

"She's our sissy, Momma. But her Momma's different." Steven pressed his hand on her stomach.

"That's right." Lizzie smiled softly at her children. "She's got a different Momma and Daddy, but we love her very much, don't we?"