Bucky's Hope (A Bucky Barnes Love Story)

Chapter 3

The team had been up in the air for over 3 hours when FRIDAY came on.

FRIDAY: Boss, we are 30 minutes away from our destination.

"Excellent, FRIDAY, please let her know that we will be there shortly and ask her where she wants to meet us.

FRIDAY: Right away boss.

A few minutes later FRIDAY came back on.

FRIDAY: Boss, she said for you to land on the far-field that is south of the ranch and that she will be there waiting for you.

"Thank you again FRIDAY."

30 minutes later everyone looked out the window from the jet as they started to descend, all they could see were miles of fields and hills.

"Where on earth did you bring us, Tony?" Bruce asked

Tony grinned, "welcome to Kansas, home of the Flint Hills and prairie lands."

As the jet landed, they could see several people standing next to a black horse and a truck. Everyone walked out of the jet and immediately recognized Pepper and Morgan that were there waiting with the young woman and man, the moment Morgan saw Tony she ran to him.

"Daddy, your finally here."

"Hey sweetie, how have you been."

"Good, I've been helping sissy with the horses."

When everyone heard Morgan say sissy, they had shocked expressions aimed at Tony.

"SISSY!!"

Tony rolled his eyes and ignored them as he went over to Pepper and the young woman.

"Hey honey, how was the trip over here?" he asked Pepper

"It was good, Morgan was beyond excited when I told her where we were going," Pepper said.

He then turned to the young woman as he gave her a warm smile and hugged her.

"Hi, Hope."

"Hi, Dad, did you guys have a good flight?"

"Eh, could have been better without the nagging and questions from everyone here," Tony said, Pepper and Hope, both just gave him a look.

"You didn't tell them about her did you?" Pepper asked.

"What, gotta have a little entertainment somewhere," he said.

By now the entire team was standing behind them watching until Hope saw Peter, she smiled and walked over to him wrapping him in a hug.

"Oh my God, Peter, I didn't know you were coming too."

Peter smiled, "yeah, I didn't even that it was here that we coming to, it has been a while."

Everyone but Tony, Pepper, and Morgan were shocked again, Hope noticed and laughed but went to introduce herself.

"Sorry for my dad being so cryptic with you all, my name is Hope Maria Stark, and welcome to Stark Ranch," she said as she held out her hand, everyone had wry smiles but shook her hand nonetheless.

"Well I'm sure you are all tired from the flight, this is Matt my main ranch hand and he will be driving you back to the ranch so you can go ahead and load your bags in the back, also the truck has room for 6 people inside so some of you will need to ride in the bed and Morgan and I have enough room for one more to join us on Midnight."

"Oh Hope, can I ride back with you?" Peter asked enthusiastically, Hope giggled.

"Sure thing Peter, but first go get your bag on the truck," Hope told him, Peter said nothing and just ran back to the jet and grabbed his bag, running back he chucked it into the bed of the truck.

"Okay, I'm set," Hope shook her head.

"Hold your horses, no pun intended, let's go Morgan."

"Coming sissy," Morgan ran to Hope and took her hand as they walked back to the horse with Peter right next to them.

She got Morgan on first and then climbed up next, once she was situated she helped Peter up as he sat right behind her.

"Alright, well we're ready when you guys are," Hope called out.

Steve, Bucky, and Sam grabbed all the bags and got them loaded in the truck, Pepper and Tony joined Matt up front, and Bruce, Wanda, and Natasha climbed in the back. Steve, Bucky, and Sam got settled in the bed of the truck and Vision said he would be okay with flying to the ranch. Hope walked over to the driver's side and Matt rolled the window down.

"Okay Matt, let's head back to the house."

"You got it, boss."

Hope waited for them to get going and then she followed along as they made their way to the house. Now that they were there everyone started to bombard Tony with their questions again, Tony shook his head while Pepper looked at him.

"Tony they were going to find out about her eventually and I know you did it to protect her, so I'm sure they will understand that," Pepper said.

"Tony, since when did you have another daughter?" Nat asked.

"For the last 21 years, and before you ask, no she is not Pepper's daughter, though they are close with each other. Pepper has known Hope for basically half her life and they are attached at the hip."

Tony has a smile as he looked at Pepper who also smiled at him. He didn't want to explain the teen pregnancy that led to Hope coming into his life, mostly because that story is very heartbreaking for him. He looked up and everyone was giving him the same look, only Pepper looked at him with love and understanding as she nodded at him letting him know it was okay and she was there for him.

"As she told you earlier, her name is Hope Maria Stark, and is the light of my world. She was the result of a teen pregnancy, though unplanned, her mother and I loved her very much and could not wait to meet her."

As Tony spoke, everyone could hear the sadness in his voice.

"Our parents of course wanted us to get married, but we had convinced them to wait until the baby was born. Unfortunately, the wedding never happened because shortly after Hope was born, Katherine, her mother suffered a postpartum hemorrhage not long after she gave birth and passed away. Her parents were so heartbroken they blamed myself and Hope for losing their only daughter and child, and since then they have never been a part of Hope's life."

Everyone was silent and said nothing, Tony had tears in his eyes, Pepper quickly wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Honey it's not your fault nor is it Hope's fault, and Katherine would not want you to blame yourself."

Tony composed himself.

"Having Hope in my life brought a new meaning into my life as well as my parents. They loved her so much and were a big help in raising that little girl. After they passed and I took over the company Pepper came into our lives and became that mother figure that Hope needed."

Tony laughs, "and like I said those two became inseparable and it was thanks to Hope that Pep and I got together and even married, she basically parent trapped us."

Everyone chuckled.

"She must be a chip off the old block," Bruce said.

"You can say that, but once you meet her and get to know her you will see that she makes those around her much better people," Pepper said with a smile.

"Tony, you said something earlier about competitions, what does she compete in," Wanda asked.

"Showjumping and mounted archery, if Barton were here she would give him a run for his money."

"What is mounted archery?" Nat asked.

"It's better if she shows you instead of me explaining," Tony said.