Love that Lasts Forever

epilogue

A/N: words: 1364. fuck. ITS DONE. ITS OVER. HOLY SHIT. jesus christ. this series took my a year to post and write, which is kinda insane for me. everyone who has commented, SPECIFICALLY the people who write paragraphs, and have been with this series since the very beginning. i love yall, i see yall, i thank yall for putting up with me. anyway, enjoy!

The lock clicked as A New Hope finished, followed by Sam, who was still in his suit, Yelena, and Joaquin shuffling into the house. The 5 month old Riley stirred in her sleep for a moment at the noise, before settling back down on Bucky's chest. Riley Natasha Wilson-Barnes, to be specific. Who was heartbreaking born on the 24th of July, at 7:03 in the morning. Sam wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. He opted on staring at the crystal blue eyes, her fair skin, and how she felt stupidly, beautifully, heavenly like his daughter in his arms.

Bucky retired 7 months ago, spending his first two months of retirement preparing for Riley. Sam had never seen him so content, so truly elated. That man was never made for war, not now, not ever.

"Welcome back." Bucky murmured, gathering the sleeping child in his arms before he stood. Sam smiled softly, the hushed voices of Yelena and Joaquin fussing over Riley filling the creaking house. Bucky handed her over to Yelena, who looked as if she had touched gold, and turned to Sam.

"Hello." Sam muttered, letting Bucky bring him into his arms, smiling softly.

"Hi." Bucky responded, his arms falling to Sam's lower back, pulling him closer. "You comin' to bed?"

"In a minute." Sam said through a yawn, kissing Bucky softly before turning out of his arms.

"Let me see my child, Belova." Sam said, reaching out for Riley as a begrudging Yelena handed her over.

"Whatever." She muttered, rolling her eyes as Sam cooed at the infant, who had since woken up sleepy eyed and frowning, probably on the verge of a crying fit.

"You know, she was asleep a second ago, Yelena." Bucky told her, pursing his lips.

"She actually likes me, she doesn't like Joaquin." Yelena retorted. Joaquin scoffed, slapping Yelena in the arm. Bucky ignored their bickering, moving towards Sam to their now whimpering child.

"I'm gonna kill them." Bucky muttered, resting his chin on Sam's shoulder as Sam tried to calm Riley back to sleep.

"I know." Sam acknowledge. As the bickering stretched on, Sam decided he was done with hearing it, and told Bucky he was going to bed. Bucky followed suit, debating whether he should flip Yelena or Joaquin off. He did. They paid no attention to him.

~~~~~~~~

Sam pushed open their bedroom door, unclipping his wing pack, and flopped down onto their bed, Riley asleep in the other room. Bucky shut the door behind, lying down next to Sam.

"I'm going to sleep." Sam announced, curling into Bucky's left arm like a koala would to a tree branch.

"Sam. May I remind you that you're still in your suit."

"Ain't my problem." Sam grumbled against Bucky's shoulder. Bucky smiled, sitting up despite Sam's protest.

"It is your problem, actually." Bucky told him, standing up fully to start the process of removing Sam's suit.

"Sweetheart-"

"No." Bucky interrupted, starting on Sam's boots.

Sam has felt Bucky's touch a thousand times, and he'll feel a thousand times more, but each time, it always feels like something new. Something real. It feels like a midnight rain, the surreal feeling of living in a small moment in time that feels invincible to the naked eye. It feels like the climax of a book, where the ink words come off the page and bleed into your mind. It feels like feeling of the ocean under your feet. It feels like everything and nothing.

Sam fell into a daze, fading in and out of sleep as Bucky continued, his eyes feeling heavy with the mission, his bones heavy in his body.

And then Riley was crying in the other room. Sam's eyes opened slowly to see Bucky already halfway out the room in a light jog. He found the strength to smile, listening to the sound of Bucky's voice through the baby monitor.

"Hey, sweetheart." Came Bucky's smooth voice coated in static. "What's wrong, kid, what's wrong?" A few more whimpers followed as Bucky spoke. "I know, Riles, I know. You're okay, you're okay." Bucky said, his breathing sounding as if he was rocking Riley to calm her down. If the small bubble of infant laughter coming from the monitor is anything to go by, he succeeded, "Yeah, we're happy, we're happy."

The pattern of Bucky's steps replaced the sound of his voice as he returned to their room, setting Riley down on the beside next to Sam, smiley with eyes that looked wide awake. Lovely.

"She just wanted attention, apparently." Bucky told him as he continued the process of removing Sam's suit piece by piece.

"Sounds familiar." Sam muttered, earning a light slap in the arm from Bucky. "Rude."

Bucky unclipped the cowl, setting it beside everything else on the other side of the bed. Adjusting Sam slightly, he undid the top of Sam's suit, peeling it off of Sam delicately as Sam weakly lifted his torso to be some sort of help.

"I coulda done this myself, you know." Sam said drowsily, letting his eyes flutter close again.

"Yeah, well, you don't have to." Bucky argued, finally having Sam stripped down to shorts and a tank top. Sam rolled his eyes.

"You are incredibly annoying." Sam muttered. He turned to face his daughter, who was aimlessly shuffling around, her movements showing no sign of being tired. Sam sighed. "I'm taking a shower."

"That'll wake you up."

"So will the 15 pound child crawling around on our duvet, so." Sam countered, getting up from the bed, grabbing a pair of sweatpants from their shared dresser. Bucky rolled his eyes, putting Sam's suit away.

~~~~~~~~

Sam returned from his shower to see Bucky entertaining their 5 month old, who had the occasional bubble of laughter sputter out of smiling lips. Sam leaned against the door frame for a moment, drinking in both Riley's and Bucky's smile as the world stopped for a moment.

When Bucky looked over, so did Riley, who started doing her grabby hands, signalling to Sam she wanted him. Bucky smiled softly, that stupidly in love look stretched across his face. Sam smiled back, making his way over to the bed, picking Riley up with a dramatized groan, making Bucky huff out a laugh.

"Hello." Sam murmured, sitting down on the bed beside Bucky. "You gonna keep us awake, little miss? Pure petty Wilson fashion, of course." He told her, causing Bucky to grin. Sam leaned against his husbands chest, letting Riley find her own spot, which was pressed snug between them, her little head leaned against Bucky's left arm. She reached for Sam's hand to grip, her little fingers wrapping around Sam's pinky.

"I believe you were saying something about this angel keeping us awake?"

"Shut up, Buck." Sam scoffed, making Bucky smile.

The story wasn't over. When the pen lifts off the paper, and the credits roll, the princess and the prince have their happy ending, the villain lays forgotten, the heros go home. The story isn't necessarily over, not in the slightless, but the show, the flashing lights, the fame, that all falls. The story is only glamorous to the eyes of the viewer. But, but what about the characters? The puppet, with strings made from ink? What is their definition of the beauty of the story? The story, that is truly their pain, their love, their growth, and their tears glamorized for the sake of entertainment. For the sake of the drama, the climax. For the sake and awe of the viewer. The character finds beauty where beauty is hidden. While the viewers find beauty in the sunsets, the characters find the beauty in the midnight sky. The characters finds beauty in the growth, in the tears, in the blood. The characters find pain in the love. In the fact that they can love so strong they lose it. In the fact that they can love so strong it hurts, it pains their mind and body. But they keep loving. They keep loving for the sake of themselves, for their sanity. They love as long as forever is willing to last. Because, this is a love story, is it not?