New Era

Meeting the Wilson Family

   We flew to Louisiana, where Sam and his family were. We also rented a car to use for our stay there.  It was the first time we had taken a family vacation together in months. After a long drive to the Wilson residence, we finally made it. Sam was out working on the family boat, and we decided to surprise him by helping him work on it. 

              "Hi, you must be friends of Sam's, my name is Sarah," a kind woman greeted me at the door. "Yes, I'm Sadie, and that's my husband, Bucky," I gestured to him on the boat helping Sam. She looked at Bucky, and then back at me and nodded approvingly, "You have to be the luckiest girl on earth!" "I tell myself that every day," I laughed. "And this is our son, Anthony," I patted him on the shoulder as I introduced him. "It's nice to meet you, buddy," Sarah greeted him with a high five. "Nice to meet you too," he answered quietly while giving her a high five. "My kids are going to be so happy to make a new friend," she told me excitedly. "You're going to make new friends!" I told Anthony just as excited. "What if they don't like me?" my son asked nervously. "Sweetheart, they'll love you, just be your nice and hilarious self," I advised him. "Okay," Anthony smiled. "Cass! AJ! Come meet some new friends!" Sarah called to her children. Two boys about ten ran out to see what was going on. "What's up, Mom?" "This is Anthony, he's one of our new friends that came to visit," Sarah told them. "Hey guys," Anthony greeted. "Hi," the two boys said at the same time. "Do you want to come in the backyard and play tag?" Cass asked Anthony. "It's really fun, we play it like the Avengers!" AJ exclaimed. "That's awesome!" Anthony's green eyes lit up with excitement. "Mom, can I go play with them?" he asked me. "Yes, go have fun," I gave him a hug and a kiss on the head. "Aww, Mom!" he giggled. 

       "Come on, Anthony! You can be it first if you want," Cass offered. "Yay!" my son began to run after them pretending he was Iron Man flying. "Thank you for making him feel welcome," I thanked Sarah.  "Of course, we love visitors," she grinned. "So what brings you here?" she asked curiously. "Bucky and I wanted to come to visit you guys, and we wanted to see how Sam was holding up," I replied. We walked along the dock. "That's nice of you guys, I heard about what happened in Latvia," she said grimly. "Yeah, it was scary. I tried to save the guy Walker killed, but I ended up breaking my arm in the process," I gestured to my arm that was in a sling. "I'm sorry, you were brave for trying, though," Sarah replied sympathetically. "Thanks, that's what Bucky tells me when I'm feeling guilty," I could still hear the screams from that fateful day. "Then you must know it's not your fault, you did the right thing by just trying, that's what makes you strong," she said looking me in the eye. "Thanks, Sarah, you're really strong for running this business all by yourself. Sam told us all about it," I told her. "Yeah, I've been trying, but it's been hard, especially when the Blip happened," she recalled. "I can imagine," I replied with sympathy. "It's hard with all the mortgages we've had to place, and that piece of crap boat that keeps breaking down!" she said frustrated. "I get that, while we're here, Bucky and I can help you guys. He's really good at fixing things. We have an old apartment in Brooklyn and Bucky has been able to keep it up and running like it's brand new," I told her. "It must be nice to not have to worry about an electrician or a plumber," she said with a hint of humor. "Yeah, it keeps the bills low," I added with humor. We both laughed. "Thank you, I really appreciate it," Sarah said gratefully. 

           Sarah and I walked to the further side of the dock where Bucky and Sam were working on the boat. "Lookin' good, babe!" I called flirtatiously. That caught him off guard and he stumbled on the boat, which caused me and Sarah to laugh. "Looks like someone doesn't have their sea legs," Sam teased. "I have them, I just missed a step," Bucky said defensively, his face was turning bright red. "Okay, Buck, you just got more adorable," I carefully stepped onto the boat, and kissed him. "See what I've had to deal with?" I heard Sam ask Sarah while Bucky and I were kissing. "Sam, let the happy couple have their moment," she said with a hint of laughter. "They kiss every five minutes," he loudly whispered to his sister. "It's sweet, you have to admit that," she replied. Sam went quiet for a minute, "Okay, it is sweet," "You think we made him uncomfortable enough?" Bucky asked me humorously. "I think so," I laughed and hugged him. "Hey Sarah, this girl right here slapped Walker right across the face, she showed him up!" Sam told her excitedly. "She looked just as beautiful that day," Bucky put his arm around me. "Girl, you are one tough lady," Sarah said admirably. "It was nothing, I just got so mad I wanted to smack that smug smile right off his face," I said bashfully. "And honestly, it felt good," I smiled mischievously. "He deserved what came to him," Bucky added. "What ended up happening?" Sam asked curiously. "They relieved him of his title as Captain America and is put under restrictions until further notice," Bucky said. "Well, that's good news," Sam replied. "Yeah, but he was livid," I shuddered. I still remembered the anger sliding over his face the second they announced the verdict, I thought he was going to punch the news camera lights out. Like I've said before, it worried me that he always went with violence as the solution. 

            That night, we had a game night with the Wilson's, and we played Monopoly and we told stories around the fire pit and roasted marshmallows. Anthony was having the most fun with Cass and AJ, they became inseparable and wanted to keep playing until they were exhausted. It made me and Bucky happy that our son was making new friends. It seemed like our family was getting bigger, the Wilsons were like our extended family. The more I got to know Sarah, the more she became like a big sister to me. We both wanted what was best for our kids, and would do anything to see that they're happy. Sam was like the brother I always wanted, I recall when Bucky and I first started dating, he would always make sure I was being treated the way I deserved to be treated, and he was at our wedding. He became an uncle to Anthony, and he was great in the role. 

Bucky and I slept on the sofabed in the Wilson family's living room, while Anthony slept on the couch across from us, and for the first time in months, neither one of us had nightmares.