It's only been a short time since Lacey Williams grandfather died, leaving her his ramshackle home in a remote rural area. The last thing she expected to find was an injured fugitive hiding in the garage. His soft spoken manner conflicts with ever...
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10 years later, Thanksgiving 2036
Putting the duvet on and fluffing the pillows up on the bed was the last thing Lacey needed to do to prepare Tom's room for him and his girlfriend, Raina. When he made his weekly video call several weeks before to say that she was coming for Thanksgiving weekend and that he planned to propose he also asked Lacey to redo his room into something more adult. Gone were the motorcycle posters, model airplanes and cars, and the skin magazines that she found still in the bottom drawer of his night stand. He never did find a new place for them after she first found them when he was a teenager. All he asked was that it show he was a grown up, stable, and ready for commitment.
"Are you sure she's the one you want to commit to?" Bucky had asked during that same call. "Twenty-one is awfully young. I was definitely not looking for marriage when I was that age."
"Dad, I don't even look at anyone else," replied Tom. "They don't interest me. When I was playing the field, and you know I was as soon as I got to college, most were interested in me because of my package. Raina and I talked all night about so many different things when we first met at the junior year mixer. We didn't even sleep together until our fifth date."
Bucky recalled a similar video call the previous year when Tom had told them about meeting this amazing girl. This conversation sounded even more sure than that one.
"That's when you told her you're a super soldier?"
"Yeah, on the fifth date," smiled Tom. "I jumped off a three story building to prove it, scared the shit out of her, and then we had incredible sex. Best I ever had. If that doesn't say she's the one ... then what does?"
Lacey looked at Bucky in her pragmatic way. "He's got a point," she said. "Didn't Bruce say the serum locks in on the mate when it recognizes the best emotional, physical, and sexual fit?"
"Okay, I'll repaint your room," said Bucky. "What colours are you looking at?"
"Masculine, like navy blue and light grey trim. But something that will appeal to a woman. Make it look grown up. I just want her to believe that I'm ready to commit because I am."
Since Tom's very first time telling them about Raina, they talked with her on subsequent video calls. She recognized Lacey on the first call, turning to Tom and asking why he hadn't told her that his mother was L.C. Chapman. He handled it well, saying that he kept much of his home life hidden, wanting people to like him for his own qualities. When she squeezed his hand in response Lacey smiled at the gesture. Raina was the oldest of three daughters and her father, Edward Harrison, was a huge Howling Commandos fan. At the time she told them Bucky had inwardly groaned. Some of those fans were over the top with their fascination with the minutiae of the various missions. It must have shown on Bucky's face because she assured him her dad wasn't like that. As a veteran himself he knew that Bucky just did his duty. He was a fan of those old missions in the same way other veterans were fans of D-Day, or the Battle of the Bulge. As she rolled off the names of other campaigns, he grasped Lacey's hand and turned to her with a brief smile. Raina knew her history.
