Necessary Good, Unnecessary Evil | No rest For Wounded Souls [Bucky Barnes]

Epilogue

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars."
-Khalil Gibran

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Nova's POV

The smell of fresh coffee fills the living room, and it alone is enough to make me feel more energetic.
"So, as I was telling you-" yelling interrupts Matt.
I turn to the window, trying to see if Daniel and Veronika are ok. "Just a second." 
They are playing outside, using this warm afternoon to go swimming in the pool.
"Hey, guys? Is everything ok?" I call, making sure they aren't fighting.
I don't get an answer back. "Bucky? Can you go check on them?" I shout from the couch, knowing he can hear me from the garage.
Once again, nothing back. 
Concern spikes in my chest as I stand and walk to the garage "That's weird."
I notice the garage door is open, but there's no one inside. "Bucky?" I call, heading to the deck and finding it empty.

My heart starts beating faster, and when I see them jumping in front of me my breath hitches, and I step back.
"Shit!" My heels peek over the edge of the pool, and I swing my arms around, trying not to lose my balance.
"We got you, huh?" Bucky chuckles, grabbing my arm.
My eyes widen, and I want to smack myself for not seeing this coming. "You son of- No!" 
Bucky lets go of my arm, and I fall into the pool, water filling my nose.
I resurface, gasping for air and hearing them laugh. "James Buchanan Barnes." I shriek, the cold water covers my skin in goosebumps.
Bucky squats down, laughing, and stretches his hand out to help me. 
"I'm sorry, doll." I grab his hand, climbing out, and an instant before getting out, I pull him towards me, straight into the pool while I quickly leave the water and roll on the grass.
I burst out laughing, holding my stomach. "Yeah, you got me." I scoff, noticing Matt walking towards us.

"I'm sorry, Matt. I'll be right back." I groan, taking off my shoes.
"Matt is here?" Bucky asks, his clothes completely drenched.
"Is Frank also here?" Daniel asks with a big smile, running towards me.
"No, darling." I respond, wringing my shirt out.
Daniel adores Frank, but we have no idea how this actually started.
Probably during his first Christmas with us, when Frank got him an electric guitar.
"You said they were coming today." He counters, tilting his head.
"I said Matt was coming, not the whole team. The others have to work." I try to explain, noticing Bucky and Veronika sitting on the grass.
She's swinging a string, watching Alpine trying to catch it with her paw.
"Hey, you're always welcome to say hi. Plus, Foggy always hides some snacks from Frank, so they will find some." Matt hints, smiling.
I sense some energy around us, and I glance at the black-haired girl, catching her staring at Matt. "Veronika, we talked about this. No reading people's minds without their consent."
She blinks a few times, moving her attention to me, a guilty smile trying to play it off. "They got a dog. Can we go see the dog, mom?" 

My heart skips a beat, and I glance at Bucky, his face just as surprised as mine. "I- yeah, sure. We can go say hi later." I stutter, still shocked.
She has never referred to me as mom.
Both of them have been calling us by our names, and neither Bucky nor I ever made a big deal out of it.
They know we are not their real parents, but our idea of family doesn't stop there.
Matt clears his throat, fixing the glasses on his nose. "I need to be in court in a couple of hours, so I'll go now. I'm leaving those documents here, so you can check them."
"Oh, yeah, thanks," I say, turning to face him.

After walking him out, I head to our bedroom, picking some dry clothes to change.
I hear Bucky's footsteps coming into the room. "Can you get something for me too, please?" He asks, walking to our bathroom.
I grab a shirt and some sweatpants from his side and head to the bathroom.
"You heard that?" I inquire, closing the door behind me and stripping out of my damp clothes.
Bucky smiles, nodding. "They are getting comfortable." He points out.
I drop the clothes in the laundry basket and lean against the sink, looking at him. "Yeah."
"Do you think we're doing a good job? Like, are we doing this whole parenting thing right?" I ask, frowning.
It's almost a year since they moved in with us, and I can see some obvious differences.
Daniel laughs a lot, lets us help him when he needs, and in general, he trusts us.
Veronika is more talkative, and she's no longer as scared of the dark.