Trying Your Luck - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 74: Epilogue

A/N: I had to write a semi-long, but sweet and smutty epilogue. I'm just not ready to give these two up quite yet. This chapter has quite a bit of exposition, so I'm sorry about that. I also probably wrote Sammy's dialogue a little bit above the way a toddler or a five-year-old would speak. I don't have kids, so I did my best!

Five Years Later

It's 3:00am. Shannon is still awake, trying to watch the same movie she's been trying to watch all night, but her focus keeps getting pulled away every time her phone buzzes and she thinks it's him. She sighs.

Another fucking work email. Shannon locks her phone and tosses it onto the chair across the room, instantly regretting the decision. He could call at any second.

The missions where he's away for more than a few weeks are always the hardest for her to deal with. They send each other a few steamy photos here and there, but mostly it's him asking how Sammy is and FaceTiming if he's able. She tries to stay positive, though. For Sammy. She lets him sleep in his dad's sweatshirts, stealing a few for herself just to feel close to Bucky.

Sammy sleeps soundly, cuddled against her body. She envies him. She can feel the bags forming underneath her eyes. Ace is on the floor and Alpine lays on the back of the couch, occasionally swatting at her hair and trying to eat it. Shannon reaches up to scratch her chin. Her purr is comforting. Shannon thought that she would calm down after a few years, but after Sammy turned two, Alpine began to match his chaotic energy. Sometimes, it felt like they were raising two toddlers. Sammy and Alpine are partners in crime.

She sighs and leans down to kiss her son's forehead.

Bucky was supposed to be home hours ago – as in, around dinner time. Sam too. She's sent him at least ten text messages, all of them unread and unanswered. There are five more missed calls after that. They all go straight to voicemail.

"Hey, it's Buck. Leave a message."

Anxiety courses through her veins as she tries to fight off her worst possible fears. Sarah tells her that she hasn't heard from Sam all night. It only makes Shannon's anxiety worse.

What if something happened? She's always worried that whenever he walks out that door, it'll be the last time she says goodbye, kisses him, or hears the softness in his voice as he says, "I love you, doll." She's afraid for Sammy, too. He loves his dad. They do everything together. Watching that little boy stare at his hero as he steps out the door in his tactical gear rips her heart in half.

Without fail, as soon as he hears Bucky's motorcycle engine rev up and tear out of the driveway, thick tears begin to stream down his face. Shannon is there to pick up the pieces.

Sammy understands what his dad does. They never hid anything from him. He knows that his dad is special, and he knows that he's special too.

Mostly, Sammy just misses the nights when he can curl up with Bucky in his big recliner. They watch TV together and fall asleep while Bucky rocks them back and forth.

Sammy's red hair has turned dark just like Bucky's. Sometimes, when the two of them sit at the breakfast table together, it looks like Sammy is just a much smaller version of his dad. They have the same frown. Sam thinks it's hilarious when they both glare at him after he makes a particularly bad joke.

Sammy is larger than the other kids at school on account of the serum. Sometimes he gets picked on for it, but he's sweet and shy, and smart as a whip. He loves to read and run around with Ace in the backyard until he's laughing so hard that he's almost sick. He follows AJ and Cass around Sarah's house. They teach Sammy how to play video games and race to the corner store to buy candy.