✔𝚮𝐞𝐥𝐥𝛐 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 ➳ 𝚩𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝚩𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 42: 𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝚳𝛐𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝛐𝛐𝐧𝐞𝐫 than expected. Always sneaking up on people. The hooting of a bird and creaking of trees was laced in the air. The sun shone bright and clear, but the wind had picked up. Not in a hasty manner, but in a way that made the heat more bearable. Like breaking the thick curtain of warm rays.

Jo was up early as she had to finish the last touches on the portrait. It had come out perfectly. Even better than she had anticipated. She had already showered and gotten dressed, as both Wanda and Bucky probably wanted to use the bathroom as well. With Steve's birthday breakfast, she didn't want it to be crowded.

She kept an eye on the clock, which was Bucky's wristwatch, because the painting needed time to dry, and by 9 am she stopped what she was doing. Bucky was still fast asleep in the bed, looking peaceful as ever, and she climbed back in with him, placing slow kisses on his cheeks. A few seconds went by before the smile spread on his face, and he threw an arm over her.

"Good morning," she purred and kissed his lips, playing with the dog tags. When she pulled back, he tried to follow, and he opened his eyes, smiling at her.

"Morning," he yawned and kissed her cheek. He looked to her bedside table for his watch, but she put up her hand instead.

"9 am," she smiled and got out of bed again.

"Didn't know you could be responsible enough to actually look at the time," he cheekily grinned and folded his arms behind his head, watching her.

"Peggy is worried enough when Steve's birthday is around. No reason to add onto that – not too much at least," she chuckled and walked over to her desk for some of her makeup.

"The paintings come out really nicely," he complimented, glancing over at it, and she hummed, nodding along.

"Thanks," she said and pulled out her mascara. "You should probably get up. If we're not down by 10 she's gonna come up here."

"Yeah, I know," he grumbled and pulled back the sheets, throwing on his clothes from yesterday. He came up and kissed her cheek, watching her with that half-pout of a smirk through the mirror.

"What?"

"You look good," Bucky chuckled and dipped down to kiss her neck.

"I know," she grinned back, "you should take the shower before Wanda has time to steal all the water... and- thanks."

She still wasn't doing good with those sincere and serious compliments, but it was better.

"Yeah, later days, sunshine," Bucky said and swept his tongue across his lips, sending her a wink.

Jo shook her head, rolled her eyes, and finished off her makeup. She never wore a lot during summer because of the heat, but the 4th of July was different – it gave her an occasion to do something more with her appearance. Even if that wasn't much compared to what others did.

She got up from her chair and opened the door on the other side of the hallway. It was cracked open. Wanda always tried to stay in bed for as long as possible. But she had a way of always being up after Bucky was done with his shower and needed to take over the room. It had become a small ritual between them – although Wanda still enjoyed glaring at Bucky on the way.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Peggy was busy as ever, making all sorts of waffles and pancakes with various assortments of eggs and bacon on the side. A few bowls of fruit had already been placed on the kitchen island.

"Need some help?" Bucky grinned and grabbed the bowls.

"God yes, can you put them outside?" Peggy panted and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.