Broken: A Bucky Daughter Story

Chapter 14

"Go get her," Steve had said. So as soon as the orphanage was open he raced to it. He went to reception. He had no idea how these things worked, so he went up and said, "Hi. I'm Bucky and I want to adopt Isabelle Miles." The receptionist looked at him through her glasses. "Isabelle Miles is a hard case. Her father raped her, and he just got sentenced to jail a little while ago. So she might not warm up to you, you're a male," she stated. "I know all of that, I was the one who rescued her," he replied. The receptionist showed no surprise on her face. "Well sit down and I'll go and get her," the receptionist said, then left. Bucky took a seat, eyes trained on the door she went through. After a little while she came back with Isabelle and another person. As soon as Isabelle laid eyes on Bucky, she squealed then launched herself into Bucky's arms. Bucky returned the hug, trying to keep the tears contained. Isabelle had no restraint, she let the tears flow. It had only been a week, but it felt much longer for the both of them. "Why are you here?" Isabelle asked, still hugging Bucky. "To get you, Iz" he answered. She smiled at the nickname. "Really?" Isabelle asked, her voice not able to contain her hope. "Yep," Bucky said. The receptionist coughed loudly, breaking them out of their reunion. "This is David, he will sort out the adoption," she said, guesting to the person standing beside her then moved to the reception desk. Isabelle looked at Bucky. Adoption? "Yep," Bucky said. Isabelle looked confused. "I said that out loud?" she asked. Bucky nodded. David was already moving towards another room, and the pair hurried to catch up.

Bucky and Isabelle walked out of the courtroom happy as can be. "Come on, let's go out for celebratory ice cream," Bucky said. "Yes!" Isabelle exclaimed, then shyly added, "Dad." Isabelle didn't think Bucky's smile could get any bigger. She was wrong.

They made their way to the old fashioned ice cream parlour. It reminded Bucky of the 1940s. "What do you want doll?" Bucky asked, looking at Isabelle. Isabelle surveyed the choices before coming up with an idea. "We'll pick each other's flavours!" she exclaimed. "Ok then," Bucky agreed. They looked at the flavours again, luckily no one was behind them, so they could take their time. "Ok I've got it. Rocky road for Isabelle," Bucky decided. Isabelle covered her ears just in time. "What was that for?" Bucky asked her. "We have to guess the flavour. We can't know what each other got," Isabelle said in a duh tone. "Oh ok. I didn't know that part," Bucky said, surprised. He didn't really do anything like this back in the 1900s. "Ok now you cover your ears while I tell her your flavour," Isabelle said, nodding towards the server. The server smiled at the pair, it was clear that they cared for each other, and it was cute to see. "He'll have butterscotch please," Isabelle said, keeping her voice low. "Sure," the server said, while getting the ice cream. "Here you go," she said. "Thank you!" Isabelle said, then went off to find a table. Isabelle hid the ice cream, between her and the wall, and looked at Bucky, who had the sense to hide his ice cream behind him. Bucky sat down and asked, "Who's going first? You or me?" "You. Now close your eyes," Isabelle instructed. Bucky obeyed and Isabelle scooped up some ice cream onto the spoon. "Here you go," Isabelle said, handing him the spoon. Bucky almost dropped it, but he managed to put the spoon in his mouth. He sat there concentrating. "Caramel?" he said hesitatingly. "Nope," Isabelle replied, "Guess again." Bucky screwed his face up in concentration. Finally he shook his head and said, "I give up." He opened his eyes and looked down at the ice cream. "It was butterscotch. Now my turn," Isabelle said. She closed her eyes and Bucky gave her the spoon. She put it in her mouth and it took her all of two seconds to say, "Rocky road." "Seriously? You guessed it that quickly?" Bucky groaned. Isabelle smiled and opened her eyes. "I know my ice cream flavours, what can I say?" she said, grinning. Bucky smiled back and they continued to eat and talk.