The Winter Soldier and the Waitress

Chapter 2

Two months later

"Trey! Hurry up, we're going to be late!"

Grace rushed out of her bedroom trying to pull her curly hair back into a pony tail, but it just kept slipping and she just gave up. She headed into the kitchen, grabbing her mug and taking another sip of coffee before she heard knocking at the door. She just rolled her eyes.

"Trey!"

"Ma, I'm coming!" Trey came running out of his room, pulling on his backpack. "You don't have to yell."

"Well if I didn't yell, you wouldn't move as quickly as you do." she said before there was more knocking. "That man is so annoying." she put down her mug and walked from the kitchen down the short hall to the door. She pulled open the door to see their permanent third wheel, an apple in his mouth and sunglasses covering his eyes.

"What took so long? We're going to be late." Bucky looked down to his watch before looking back over to the woman.

"Good Morning Sergeant." Grace made sure her annoyance was clear in her tone before taking a step to the side and letting him in. He walked inside, his eyes on her with a shake of his head. "We still have time, lazy bones over there didn't want to get out of bed." Bucky headed into the kitchen where he found Trey grabbing his lunch bag and putting it in his backpack. "I mean someone thought it was a good idea to watch scary movies last night and he couldn't go to sleep." Bucky glanced from her to Trey who just shook his head.

"I wasn't scared, I just wasn't tired."

"You also didn't want me to turn the light out."

"Ma!" Trey embarrassed looked over to her and she just shrugged. He turned back to Bucky and shook his head. "I wasn't scared."

"Yeah, because you know if you were, then I won the bet." he walked over to the boy. "And then you would have to give me back that twenty bucks." Trey just laughed before moving around the man.

"What twenty bucks?" Grace asked and they both turned to her, but neither said a word. She looked between them and just shook her head. "Trey, go make sure you've turned off everything in your room." he gave a nod before rushing off. Grace turned to Bucky who looked over to her.

"What?"

"Gambling with my child."

"It's not gambling, it's harmless." Bucky said reaching over and grabbing one of her curls.

He did that often. Grace wasn't sure if he just liked messing with her hair or annoying her. She was tempted to believe it was both. She just swat his hand away before heading into the kitchen, and he followed behind her.

Bucky watched as she grabbed her mug and took one final sip before taking it to the sink and rinsing it out. He couldn't help but to stare. It's what he always did when she wasn't looking and he couldn't help it. After all these months, he still couldn't stop himself from watching this woman wondering how the hell he found himself in her orbit. It blew his mind sometimes. He quickly shifted his gaze when she turned around, glad to see Trey running toward him to avoid him being caught. "Ready?" the boy gave a nod and Bucky turned to Grace who walked over, but stopped with a hiss as she grabbed the counter. Bucky frowned and quickly went over to her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"She sprang her ankle." Trey said and Bucky glanced from him back to the woman.

"I'm fine. I tripped over this guy's backpack last night." Grace looked over to Trey who just gave an innocent smile. She shook her head before turning back to Bucky. "But it's fine."

"Maybe you shouldn't go to work. Can you call in or something?"

"I'm not calling in for a twisted ankle." she said limping around the man out of the kitchen to grab her jacket and bag. "I don't get many sick days and so I use them for when Trey gets sick or needs to go to the doctor." she slipped on her jacket and pulled her bag around her shoulder. She let out a deep breath before turning to them. "Let's go."