Love at First Grade

11

January

To say that Winnifred Barnes was excited to hear the news that you and Bucky were dating was an understatement. The woman was ecstatic. Bucky swore she was going to take an ad out in the newspaper with how excited she was. Even though you and Bucky assured her that it was still fairly new and that the two of you were interested to see where it would lead. Winnie just brushed the two of you off as she pulled you into a tight hug, kissing you both on the cheek and leaving her signature red lipstick stain in its place. She had even told Avery that she could call her Nana and not Mrs. Winnie if she wanted, that seemed to bring tears to both your eyes. Of course Avery had started calling Winnie 'Nana' that very second.

You and Bucky didn't have to necessarily hide on your dates anymore, especially not from your family and friends, but you wanted to keep it away from the press for just a little longer. Tony had a gala he was hosting for all of Stark Industries' investors and partners coming up in February and he had invited you and Bucky. That's where you planned to officially tell the world about the two of you. You both knew it would be a high-coverage event and it would allow you to be more in control of the story. It also gave the two of you a little more private time to just bask in that new relationship glow.

Avery and Becca LOVED that the two of you were dating. They'd graduated from calling the two of you Mr. Bucky and Ms. Y/N, to just Bucky and Y/N, obviously Bucky was still Mr. Barnes while Avery was in his class. What excited the girls most was the number of sleepovers they got to have. When the two of you were sneaking around you each hosted a sleepover or two that led to more than a few longing gazes as the other came to pick up their daughter but now all of you got to have a sleepover. The first time that Becca and Avery found out that Bucky would be staying at your place too? The squeals erupted as they told him he could play horsey with them, and they'd have a tea party, and he could be the King and you could be the Queen. That night after the girls had gone to bed, the two of you laid awake for hours. Occasionally making out, never going so far as to actually have sex, you weren't quite ready to risk that with two nosey girls just down the hall, but the pillow talk led to some interesting reveals.

For example, you told Bucky that your favorite color was blue like his eyes, he'd blushed at that. He told you his was green, like the color of the sweater you wore at Avery's birthday dinner, you blushed at that. You revealed your birthdays to each other, after realizing you hadn't talked about it before, and Bucky was pleasantly surprised to find out yours would be easy to remember. August 3rd was a special day after all, seeing as it was Becca's birthday too. You both knew the six year old would get a kick out of that when she found out. You shamed him for not telling you that his birthday was in just a couple months and told him that the two of you would definitely celebrate it, a wicked wink, a promise of another raunchy night to come, thrown in his direction.

It wasn't until the girls went back to school after winter break that some drama made its way back into your lives. You received a call one day from Bucky that Avery had been involved in a tussle alongside Becca and that you'd have to come in for a parent-teacher conference with the other parent. It was also your first time learning about the incident with Ethan back on the first day of school, Becca, Avery and Bucky stuck to a strict "snitches get stitches code" apparently. When you finally huffed your way into Bucky's class at the end of the day he could tell that you'd had a long day at work and that you were hoping he'd been joking about the conference. Bucky frowned at the look on your face, he'd have to help you get rid of it later, especially since he wasn't truly upset with Becca or Avery.

Your eyes caught on Avery and Becca sitting close to each other, Steve sitting at the head of the circle, and Ethan and his mother, the woman who'd put on the fake breathy voice that first day of school.