Modern Royalty

A homely time

Chapter 43
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"James", Alexander says, unable to move in his son's grip. Bucky lets go and takes a few steps back to get a safe distance between them. "You wanted to throw it out the window", the prince says. A smile creeps onto Alexander's face and he nods. "It would've been the easiest way to dispose of the ring." Bucky shakes his head in disbelief and turns away. "James, you have to change, if you want to be a good king", Alex says. "Look who's talking", Bucky answers and leaves the room without looking back. He puts the ring deep into his pocket and goes to the living room. "Do you have the ring?", Alice asks.

"Yes, no worries. I'm going to keep it on me from now on", Bucky says and sighs. "Are you feeling better, Rebecca?" "Mhm", the princess hums and leans onto Bucky. "Do you want to go to Liberty later? Steve asked...", James whispers and smiles. "That'd be nice, yes", Rebecca says and nods. "Perfect. I'll tell him", Bucky says. Rebecca dozes off and he holds her carefully. "She always fell asleep on you after you came home from school", Winifred says and watches them happily. "Oh, I remember that. You fell asleep too, sometimes", Alice smiles. "Hmm, sounds about right", James says silently and texts Steve that they'll join in later.

Meanwhile, Steve arrives in Liberty and greets both Clint and Natasha with a hug. "It's good to see you again", Nat says and smiles. "Yeah, you too", the blond nods and they walk towards the cinema. "How's your relationship going? The pictures you sent were adorable", Natasha asks and notices a smile on Steve's face. "Everything's going well. And as far as I can judge, Bucky feels a lot better about being out in the open", he answers. "You gave him a haircut, didn't you?", Clint grins and Steve chuckles in agreement.

"He said he wanted to cut his hair and I was incredibly bored", Steve says and holds the door open for them. "It turned out good though", Natasha says and goes to purchase the movie tickets. They help themselves to some snacks and wait in the lobby. "You know, some people are upset. Others were even angry", Clint says and flicks a popcorn into his mouth. "Yeah, we sort of expected that to happen. It's not everyday that two princes come out", Steve says and shrugs. "I mean, we can't change people's general opinions." "You do you", Natasha nods and smiles at Lehigh's prince. "I only really know that Rumlow was upset for some reason."

Bucky wakes Rebecca a little over an hour later and grins at her confused yawn. "How was your nap?", he asks. "It was lovely", Rebecca answers and stretches. "Get ready. We'll take our time on the way to Liberty", Bucky says and goes to change into a grey button down, and black pants. He puts on the sleeve as well and grabs a thin coat before going to the second floor to wait for his sister. He buries the ring deep in his coat's inside pocket and closes the zipper on it. Bucky knocks on Rebecca's door, not wanting to just stand in the middle of the hall. "Come in", she says and he enters.

He sits down on her bed and waits patiently. "You have the same waiting face as Mom", Rebecca says and grins. "As long as I don't look like I want to murder someone", Bucky shrugs and stands up. "Are you ready?" "Yes, I just need my coat", Rebecca answers and grabs a bright red coat to wear over her black dress. "You look beautiful enough to draw some attention, let's go", James says and waits for her to leave the room. They go to the garage and take Bucky's sports car to drive to Liberty. "Bucky? Can we take the long way? You know, the one that goes around the lake", Rebecca asks sweetly. "Our summer lake?", Bucky says and she nods.

"Sure", James answers and takes a right turn at the next intersection. "Thank you. I haven't seen it in a while", Rebecca smiles. "You could've went with them, Becca", Bucky says and looks at her for a second. "No. I had to stay with you. I didn't want you to be alone. You felt bad, so I stayed", she says and looks out of the window at the powdered landscape. "I didn't leave my room for four of the ten days that we were alone", her brother grins. "But then we stayed in the living room together. All day long", Rebecca answers. "And you did leave your room. I heard you play the piano in the middle of the night."