Avengers/X-Men One Shots - The Blood/White Phoenix Saga

ONE-SHOT LXVIII: The Reception (WinterPhoenix Wedding)

Another wedding one-shot for ya'll!!!

Set during the events of White Phoenix 10

Adelaide Lehnsherr-Barnes

The wedding was great; the reception was even better. I walked onto the dance floor with my newly wedded husband, Bucky Barnes. Hand in hand, we began to dance slowly to the tunes of 'Moon River' by Audrey Hepburn. (thanks @solobarnes for this piece of inspiration, the song came out in 1961 in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I listened to it and it just sounded perfect for my WinterPhoenix ship. I know you have this song in your books, but don't want to steal, I just like the song). When it got to the main part of the song, I raised my eyes to meet his steel blue ones. 

'I love you, James.' 

'I love you too, doll.' He kissed me on the lips tenderly as we swayed to the music, soft and slow. When the song was over, James and I wandered over to the tables, near where the wedding cake was, waiting to be cut. I was still holding his hand, and several members of my family, the Avengers and the X-Men, came up to offer their congratulations. I was nibbling some fruit, as well as plums (courtesy of my husband's love of the fruit) when my father came up to James and I, an older woman holding onto his hand. 

'I came to offer congratulations to the happy newlyweds.' 

'Thanks, Dad.' I gave him a hug. Erik Lehnsherr looked over my shoulder at James. 

'Hello, Bucky. My daughter seems quite happy with you. Just see that she's treated right and that you keep her out of trouble.' 

'Trouble is my defining trait, Dad. I was born with powers, and given more. I can take care of myself.'

'You got me, son?'

'Yes, sir. I'll do my best.' 

'Your best is all I need. She's the most precious thing in the world to me.' He gave me a kiss on the forehead tenderly, then pulled the older woman forward gently. 'Bucky, allow me to introduce you to my fiance, Amelia Pearson. Adelaide's mother.' 

'It's so nice to meet you,' James said, shaking her hand with a gentle grip. 

'You have a strong grip, young man.' He smiled, a little bashfully. 

'Thank you, ma'am. I'm a little curious though - your daughter did tell me you were dead previously.'

'Oh, that's a long story.' I turned with a champagne glass in my hand. 

'Why did you hide this from me, Dad? All those years - the Brotherhood, the experimentations by Trask, Apocalypse... my mother was alive all that time? Why? Why not bring her to see me? Or at least give me some reassurance that she was okay?' 

'Your mother was not safe.' 

'I was seventeen years old! I was a child, who knew nothing of the world but fear and anger and pain. You met me in Geneva and took me under your wing. Boy, oh boy, we're not done here. If I could get drunk, I would. But it's my wedding, so I'm not that stupid.'

'Adelaide, if you won't hear your father out, hear me out.' The sound of my mother's voice came low and soft to my ears, the way it always did when I was younger. It was the same soft voice that came with reprimanding me for something I did wrong, or talking to me about my powers, or asking and helping me with my homework while she made spaghetti, my favorite dinnertime meal. 

'You left, Mom. Why?' I asked with tears in my eyes. 

'Your Aunt Harley, the woman you and I lived with in the twin flat, was the double in my place. One day, while you were at school, Erik came to me; told me I wasn't safe with you. Shaw was coming after you, for your powers. He saw the same potential in you that he did with your father. You remember. He'd already tried to come after you once. Harley was two years younger than me, but she let me go with Erik and stayed to look after you, to provide some kind of lure.'