Friend's Daughter (Sebastian Stan Story)

Chapter 86

2029

Sebastian was back home that Monday and he made sure to question Aaliyah about her playdate with James. He didn't love the idea of her being so close to a boy but he seemed like a good kid. He wouldn't fully approve until he met him though. Willow had been in contact with Grace, trying to plan a day for her and James to join them for dinner and they eventually settled on a Sunday evening when she didn't have to work. Willow was excited to have Grace and James over. While she did have a lot of friends, most of them lived far, and the ones that did live close were always traveling for work. She was hoping her and Grace could be friends. She of course had Tyler and Sam who lived close by, but she was in need of a girl friend that she could rely on to be near.

Most of the parents at their kid's school knew who Aaliyah and Athena's dad was. They of course would see him during pick up and drop off, school events, and back to school nights. Since James was new to the school and since Sebastian hadn't been able to take the girls to school because of work, Grace and James didn't know who he was.

Willow and Sebastian were finishing up with dinner while the girls set the table. They prepared a salad, garlic bread, pasta, and brownies. They also pulled out one of their favorite bottles of wine. When a knock sounded the door, Willow went to answer while Sebastian finished setting the food out on the table.

"Hi James! Hi Grace!" Willow said once she opened the door.

"Hi Willow," Grace smiled while James waved at her. "These are for you," she handed her a bouquet of flowers. "James picked them out."

"Well they are beautiful. Thank you James," she smiled. Willow led them to the kitchen where everyone was already seated.

"Hi James!" Aaliyah said as she ran up to hug her friend.

"Hi Lia! Hi Thena!" he said waving to the younger girl.

Sebastian stood from his chair and approached them, "You must be James," he said holding his hand out for the little boy to shake. "Aaliyah has told me so much about you."

James slowly held his hand out, his mouth hanging open at who was in front of him. Being a huge Marvel fan, he instantly recognized who he was. "Yo-you're Bu-Bucky Barnes!"

"Yeah I am, but you can call me Seb," he chuckled.

"O-okay Seb," James stuttered.

"Grace this is my husband, Sebastian," Willow introduced them once James calmed down from the excitement.

"Hi Mr. Stan. It is a pleasure to meet you. My son is a huge fan of yours," she said nervously.

"Oh please call me Sebastian," he smiled.

They all sat down and Willow began serving everyone. "Thank you for inviting us. James has been so excited since I told him," Grace said.

"Oh it's no problem at all! We're happy to have you guys here," Willow said.

They enjoyed their meal together and it was mainly spent with James asking Sebastian all his burning questions about Marvel.

"Bucky is my favorite character!" James said. He was so excited that he had been talking to Sebastian about his favorite movies.

Sebastian lit up. "Wow man. Thanks. That means a lot," he smiled.

"He's always going on and on about how he's a victim, not a villain," Grace chuckled.

"Yes! I always tell him that when we watch the movies," Aaliyah shouted.

"So is he your favorite character too?" Grace asked.

"Oh god no," she chuckled.

"That's my daughter," Sebastian groaned playfully.

"Spider-Man is my favorite. I love Uncle Tommy's movies."

"Uncle Tommy? Oh god that's so cool!" James was fully fan girling now. It was safe to say he was no longer shy around the family.

Once they were done eating, the three kids went to play in Aaliyah's room while the adults stayed in the living room to talk. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Sebastian asked.

"Oh I don't mind at all. I'm twenty-six," she paused. "I was only eighteen when I had James."

"I don't mean to be invasive or anything but is his dad in the picture?" Willow asked cautiously.

"No he isn't. He was my high school boyfriend and I got pregnant towards the end of senior year. When I told him, he broke up with me and once we graduated I never saw him again. I tried to contact him once James was born but he told me he wanted nothing to do with us."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that but you did a fantastic job with him."

"Yeah I've only known him for about an hour and I can already tell he's a great kid."

"Thank you. It's been really tough the last few years but now that we moved hopefully things will get better."

"Is there a reason you moved?"

"Well my mom passed away when James was two so we moved in with my dad. Then he died just last year. It was too hard to stay in their house so I wanted us to start fresh, and now it's just the two of us."

"You are incredibly strong. I can't imagine going through all that, especially at such a young age."

"And now you have us," Willow smiled. "We're always here to help however we can."

"Thank you. It really means a lot. I'm glad James and Aaliyah met. He's always been a really shy kid. He's never had a friend like her and she's really helped open him up more."

"Yeah she'll do that to people," Sebastian chuckled. "She's a big ball of energy."

"I love it," Grace laughed. "She's already invited us over for a pool party."

"Pool party? You tell me when! Our family loves pool parties!" Willow said excitedly.

"Oh we'll get a long just fine," Grace chuckled.