Two Ghosts

Chapter 25

Bucky's POV

As soon as her keys sound outside our door, I light up the thin candle on her chocolate cake, and when she enters our home I stand in front of it so she cannot see it.

-Happy birthday!-I shout, making her blush and smile of joy. She laughs as she closes the door and walks in my direction to hug my neck and kiss me softly. She is wearing lipstick, which means that her kisses will not be too energetic so she does not stain my lips.-Close your eyes.-I whisper in her ear. She obeys, so I take her purse and throw it to the sofa as I grab her hand and walk her to the living room, where her cake awaits.
-What's going on, love?-she giggles still with her eyes closed. She trusts me completely, so I know she will not open her eyes in the middle of it.
-Shh.-I smile and place her in front of the cake and her present. I get nervous, I really hope she likes this, I have been planning it for weeks.-Okay, open your eyes.-as soon as she looks at the cake her face lights up and her smile widens. She likes it.
-You didn't.-she chuckles, but I nod and make her laugh harder.
-I baked it myself.
-James!-she steps closer to her surprise, all proud of me.
-Go on, make a wish.-she closes her eyes again, mouths something with her wonderful red lips, and blows the candle.-I'm guessing you won't tell me your wish.-Jade laughs and shakes her head in denial.
-It won't come true if I tell you.-she reminds me as I put on some music. She takes off her coat and leaves it next to her purse.
-Well...-I shrug in surrender as I offer her my hand. She takes it, so I pull her in to dance around slowly.-Was it world peace?-she lets her head hang back for a second as she laughs at me. She is so adorable...
-No.-I smile. She is happy, and that warms my heart immensly.
-Was it to have a pony?-she denies it again.-Good, that's my wish.
-I know.-she giggles. My hand in her lower back hugs her tighter, so our faces are only a couple of inches away.-I would never take your wish.
-Good.-I chuckle at the same time she does.-Was it to be happy?-our foreheads touch as we start dancing slower. We are barely moving in our place during this intimate moment we are sharing.
-You could say that.-she murmurs. She looks up and I steal a kiss from her, making her giggle again.-I wished for a forever with you.-she reveals, and if it is possible, I feel like I love her even more now.
-I'd be more than happy to make that wish come true, mrs. Barnes.-I cannot help but smile at my own words, and Jade laughs.
-We're not married yet.-she says, denying it with her head and brushing my nose with hers. Her voice sounds playful, but also so low and sexy, it sounds like a dirty secret.
-Yet.-I repeat before kissing her lips again.-C'mon, let's open your present.-she wipes my mouth with her thumb because she stained them with lipstick.
-You didn't have to.-I take her hand from my face and raise it above her head to make her turn around.
-Shut up.-I mock her and push her gently towards the present, leaving a quick kiss in her cheek from behind.-Open it.-she takes it in her hands and rips the paper apart to find her favorite book from the library: The Murder at the Vicarage. She always goes to read there and she always picks the same book, so...
-Oh, my God. James, this is...-she looks at the thing from every existent angle, with her jaw almost touching the ground.-I can't...I mean this is...-Jade is speechless. That's good, right? Her eyes find mine and her hands take my face between them.-Thank you.-I earned a kiss. A really, really good kiss.-This is amazing.
-I'm glad you like it.-I smile, and as I lay in this mattress, all alone in this apartment, I wonder if she still has that book. She loved that book.

The moments that we used to share were almost all like that: imtimate, loving, magical. It is crazy to me that before her I had short relationships with other women and non of them felt like this. Non of them made me want to stay in bed longer, or to get home earlier, or to give up air so I could have more of her kisses. Jade turned the world upside down for me, she opened up my eyes. There was nothing on Earth I could do or say to make her understand how much she meant to me, that I would protect her from anything, that I would go to war for her even if I had no chance to win it just so she could be safer. I remember that, and now that she has done everything in her power to keep me alive...