When Ms. Coleman left the house, tensions eased and the men returned inside. By the time everything was said and done, it was time to prepare dinner.
Bucky and Sam argued lightly over who was going to cut the onions and who was going to wash the dishes. Steve intervened and had Bucky single handily wash dishes while Sam's tears were a tell-tale sign of his job. Bucky snickered as he heard Sam sniffing grow louder and more frequent, "Are those tears, Sam?"
"Shut up, Barnes," Sam muttered bitterly.
Elliot helped with the salad preparation while Angie and Steve set the table and Marge extracted the swollen spaghetti noodles from the pot. As Sam poured the cut onion in the large pan and set the meat in along with it, he turned his attention to Marge while occasionally glancing back to check its progress. "So what happened?"
Marge heaved a wearisome sigh as she cracked open a can of spaghetti sauce, "Miss Ramsay wants Angie and I to go visit her next weekend. From what I understand, she wants to connect with her only niece in hopes of taking her in." At the mention of her name, Angie paused from setting the forks and cups she was handed by Steve to listen in on what they were talking about. Angie realized that someone special wanted to meet her, but she had yet to find out who it would be. From the sound of it, she would be flying away to meet the person.
"Are you gonna go?" Sam asked as he stirred the meat and onion around. Marge snorted. "I don't think I have a choice. Which leads me to this question. If you three don't mind, or if you're alright with leaving Sammy here for a while, could you stay until next weekend to watch the house?" Marge asked as she poured the sauce into the pan with the meat and onions, causing a sizzle and a heavenly aroma to fill the kitchen and dining room.
"I know you would like to leave by next week but if I go, some authority would have to come and care for the rest of the kids while I'm gone. I would be leaving next Friday and come back Monday evening with Angie unless you plan to leave by Wednesday," she proposed as she looked at each refugee uncertainly.
The men looked at each other. Steve and Sam had barely purchased a more recent map to get a better idea of the surrounding area and decided it would be best to leave on Sunday. However, it was slowly becoming a decision they reluctant on taking. In a sense, they were somewhat reluctant to leave this safe haven they found, so Sam and Steve silently agreed to head back home so they wouldn't cause trouble to come to this home.
But with this new dilemma in mind, it was debatable on whether or not they could really leave. Memorial Day was this coming weekend and travel was sure to spike as well as security everywhere, street and sky. Perhaps it was best that they wait for the frenzy to be over.
"It's up to you, Sam and Buck. I'll stay if I have to but we have to leave by the end of the month or we stay here in California." Steve informed the two. Sam and Bucky looked at each other only to have Bucky shrug his response.
Sam turned to Marge, "We can stay. How do we keep officials from coming?"
"Don't let the kids get in trouble. They meet their social worker at school now, so you don't have to worry about that," Marge waved her hand in the air as she transferred the cooked noodles into the sauce.
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From that Friday to the next Friday, life moved on. Angie returned to school earning a small reputation for herself with her classmates-especially one boy in particular- and coming back with loads of homework.
As the week dragged on, the idea of going away to meet someone was in the back of Angie's mind. Until Friday came around.
In the wee hours of the morning as Angie slowly walked back upstairs from yet another restless night, Marge's light turned on from the room downstairs. Yawning and stretching the tiredness away, Marge began to get herself and Angie ready to head to the airport.
In about three hours - thanks to the pre-packing the day before- both the woman and child were in Marge's old Volkswagen and headed away.
Back home, Steve, Sam, and Bucky all went for a run in the morning before coming back to the house evading the bustling bodies of the children and their morning routines. However, Morgan, Captian America's little fangirl, asked everyone she could to her help tie a ribbon in her hair. The other girl Qui'zia, were busy getting herself ready and the boys were busy bussing and hustling their younger foster siblings around, including a reluctant and sleepy Dustin. Eventually, Morgan approached Cap and asked her to tie a pretty blue ribbon at the bottom of her braid.
After Steve successfully did so, Morgan spun around, eyes glimmering in happiness, "Thank you, Mr. Rogers!" She said and leaned up to kiss his cheek. Steve chuckled and shook his head as the little girl dashed off into the kitchen.
Elliot and small Louie were in the kitchen putting out bowls and milk, then pulled out at least four kinds of cereal. Loud chatter and the clinging of spoons against ceramic bowls filled the dining room as the children had quick bites to eat before heading off to school. When the time came close, Andre ordered everyone to get their bags by the door, one by one to not cause a great mess, and wait outside.
All this havoc was done in little under two hours, leaving the men with the dishes and cleaning. Somehow, in all the bossing Andre did, Louie had dutifully collected all the bowls he could hold at a time and put them by the sink.
"Rogers, can you do the dishes?" Sam requested. Bucky wasted no time in clearing the rest of table from utensils and what not as Steve went to do the dishes.
It felt odd for the men out of time. This was the quiet and stability Bucky would've enjoyed had he not fallen from the dreadful train. If he and Steve would've both stayed home like every other surviving soldier of World War II, Bucky often wondered what it would've been like.
Steve Rogers, ever so spunky Steve would've finally gotten his taste of action he got as Captain America during those missions and finally settle down. Bucky had a feeling he wouldn't have a hard time finding a girl to spend the rest of his life with, maybe have a kid or two of his own.
James Barnes?
What would the former James Barnes really want? Bucky recalled the dream he had in the hotel about a faceless family but, was that really what that James Barnes thought of?
As Bucky balanced the bowls on his one arm and placed them in the sink as Steve washed away, something tickled the back of his mind. Before he could let it come to the forefront of his thoughts, Sam paused for drying the bowl in his hand.
"We got a bogie," he announced as he stared ominously out the window. The other two men paused and also looked out the window in time to see an unfamiliar car make a turn into the wide front of the house.
It parked a few yards away from the entrance and a familiar head of red hair stepped out from the driver's side.
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So, it felt right to split it up into two parts. Edited.
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Safe Haven | B. Barnes
Fanfiction(Post CW) Bucky Barnes never dared to dream that he could be loved again, especially after what he did for the last near century. Angeline Ramsey was painstakingly quiet and guarded for a girl her age. But that didn't stop her from dreaming of the p...
