Til Death Do Us Part.

1A.

The warm sunlight flooded in through the windows, encasing the whole bedroom with incandescence. The scent of coffee, and fresh linen wafted in the air, hugging my lungs as I breathed in the serene aromas. 

The city outside was still asleep with not so much as a single honk from an automobile occurring. 

The sky was half teal, and half yellow. The sunrise slowly squelching the last remnants of the night, light taking over the darkness. 

A few pigeons cooed happily, preening through their two-toned grey feathers while perched along the powerlines. Their pink talons gripping tightly onto the thread thin black wires. 

My body was engulfed in warmth from the blankets, enveloping me within a cocoon of coziness. 

Forcing my eyelids to open, my blurred vision became more clear, and adjusted to the light as I looked across the bedroom into the a-joining powder room where I saw Bucky standing in front of the mirror using his electric razor to remove the shadowy stubble from his chin. 

He was getting ready to ship out, and for a few minutes I just watched him. The razors noise the only thing I could hear. He combed through his brunette tresses, taming a few stray pieces with some hair gel, and I just wanted to take in every last detail. Any little gesture, personal quirk, and habit like gold to me, treasures that I had to recite to memory, not wishing to forget a single one. 

Finally I left the inviting warmth of the mattress, and stood up, wrapping my silk robe around myself, covering up the satin undergarments that I was wearing. 

He slipped on his olive tinged dress shirt, and I went over to button it up for him, my hands gingerly touching his bare chest as I buttoned each one. 

"I'll be back." I heard Bucky whisper, his fingers caressing my cheek softly, and I looked up at him. 

Grabbing hold of the silver dog tags around his neck I forcefully yanked him down to my level by the chain. 

"You better," I threatened. "Only til death do us part, remember? And, I am not going to be a damn widow, you hear. No one kills my Buck-Buck, got it?" 

He just smiled, and lifted me up in his arms, kissing me with desperation, and affection like he a dehydrated man, and I his water. 

"I got it. I love you, Rebecca." 

"I love you too, James." 

After Bucky left, and we said our tearful goodbyes to each other at the dock I went to meet up with Steve at Caffe Reggio in Greenwich Village. 

The cafe was acquainted by many who were still gossiping about Franklin D. Roosevelt leaving the country during wartime, the first president to do that ever, and with a heavy heart I located my friend seated by a window. The pale yellow light from outside casting a glow across his porcelain hued face, and I went over to him. 

"Did he leave?" 

I nodded, crossing one leg over the other, sitting at the bistro chair across from him. 

"Yes, but we did have a very nice last night." 

"No details, please." 

I chuckled.

 "As if I'd tell you the details, Steve." 

A waitress came over, a white apron tangled around her waist, various spills from different beverages, and food blotched across the fabric. 

"Hello, welcome to Caffe Reggio! I must say you two look like such a nice couple. A refreshing sight amidst all the sorrow." She commented, the rest of the costumers here either alone, drenched in concern, or carrying around baggage in the form of life's circumstances. 

"What a sweet thing to say, but we're not a couple." I said, making her gasp, and clasp the palm of her hand around her mouth. 

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I have a bad habit of assuming things. I saw your wedding ring, and I'm sorry." 

"That's alright. Coffee, Steve?" 

"Yeah." 

"Two coffees please." I ordered, and in an embarrassed shuffle the waitress scooted off to get our drinks for us. 

"Did you hear that? We look like a nice couple. Should I tell James?" 

"No, he'd beat me up," Steve said, pulling out a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket. "I have something I'd like you to see." 

He slid the paper across the surface of the table, and I picked it up, unfolding it. It was a draft card with Steve's information typed onto it, the box stamped with a 1A instead of the common 4F that he had always received. 

A wide smile graced my red lips, and my eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas day. 

"You got in! How? Why did they suddenly allow you after five failed times?" I asked just as our coffees had arrived. 

I poured a little cream into mine, and skipped the sugar out of respect for rations. 

"Last night at the Expo I met this doctor. Dr. Abraham Erskine, this German man who represents the Strategic Science Reserve. I'm... Going to be a candidate for this study called "Project Rebirth" which is an experiment to create a super soldier." 

I listened, quite intently. Sucking in every word that he was saying. 

"So, this project... You could potentially become the chosen one, and have this, this test, done to you?" 

"Yes." 

I cleared my throat. 

"And, you expect me to allow you to go through with this? Have you even taken any consideration into the possible life altering, or life ending ramifications to all of this? Listen, since James is no longer here to knock some sense into you I have to be the one to do it, so I'm going to be straightforward. This seems undeniably sketchy." 

"I know," Steve agreed. "I know all of that, and I'm sorry. I don't want to upset you, Becky, but I want to do this. This is my one chance, so many men are out there fighting, and I'm tired of just sitting around doing nothing. I'd gladly become someone's test toy to experiment on if it means that I can help. That I'll no longer be a waste of space." 

I exhaled loudly, draining all of the air out of my lungs before taking a sip of my coffee. 

"I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?" 

"No." 

"Alright, then I'm proud of you, Steve. I'm happy that you got your chance, so go give them hell." 

"Thanks, Becky."