Bucky Barnes Imagines

Lost Years (Epilogue)

A/N: After three months... I'm finally posting the epilogue for Lost Years. I wrote a couple of different versions, this one seemed better than the rest. I feel like this story is very repetitive but, what Bucky and the reader discuss in this part is still very important. Avengers and Tanner are briefly mentioned, but that's about it for the other characters. In this part you'll get a glimpse of the Barnes family's life a couple of years into the future. Hope you like it! I loved writing this story, though it was hard and frustrating at times. I'm glad it's over, but I'm also kinda sad. I don't know if I'm going to publish the little extra parts I talked about. If any of you still want to read them, let me know. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this epilogue.

Warning: some angst. It's not Lost Years without angst. And... I guess there's a little surprise pretty early on.

Waking up to hearing cries coming from the baby monitor on a near bedside table, Bucky groaned while turning on his side.

"Your turn," he grumbled, voice still raspy and deep from just waking up. He threw an arm across the bed to nudge your shoulder but found his arm hitting the mattress instead. He opened his eyes, eyebrows furrowing. He was used to you being in bed beside him when he woke up whether it was to the sound of an alarm clock or the sound of your daughter crying.

He sat up, rubbing his sleepy eyes while yawning. He called out to you, waiting a couple of seconds for you to reply.

You didn't.

He huffed, throwing the covers off of his body before getting up from the bed. He put on some sweatpants, grabbed a shirt on his way out of the room and headed to the nursery.

He opened the door, the cries becoming much louder. "Alright, alright," Bucky said calmly while putting the shirt on. He walked up to the crib, pushing his hair back away from his eyes and looked down at the crying child. "What's the problem?"

After hearing her father's soothing voice, the child looked up, tear-filled eyes staring into another set of eyes, though the latter had a very fond look in them. After seeing Bucky leaning over the crib, the cries stopped. Bucky chuckled, bringing his metal hand to his daughter's face, running the back of his knuckles over the soft, chubby cheeks. "Just feeling a bit lonely? Is that it?"

Small hands reached up, latching onto Bucky's hand.

Although it was no rare occurrence, it still made Bucky's heart skip a beat and his breath hitch in his throat. The feeling he got from his child wrapping her hands around his fingers never got old.

"Good morning."

Bucky heard a soft, quiet voice coming from the doorway.  Bucky turned his head, smile widening as he saw you peeking your head from behind the door.

"Good morning," he replied, motioning for you to come hither. You did, slipping through the doorway and waltzing over to your husband. You threw your arms around him as his arm wrapped around your shoulders. He leaned down to capture your lips in a tender kiss, smiling widely after pulling away.

"Oh, she woke up from her morning nap," you sighed, looking down at the crib. "She managed to wake you up, huh?"

"Pretty much."

"I left the house for two seconds," you muttered to yourself, smiling and petting your daughter's cheek.

"Maybe she missed you?" Bucky suggested, still smiling. "I sure did. Where'd you go?"

"To get the mail," you answered, not taking your eyes off of your daughter. "And also to thank our neighbors for babysitting while we were having a date night. They were on the porch, just drinking some morning coffee."