𝔹𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕋𝕠 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕝𝕪𝕟 | Bucky Barnes⁽¹⁾

06 | Christmas Day

December 1941 - Brooklyn

"Merry Christmas, Steve!" Ella exclaimed, pulling her best friend into a hug as soon as he opened his front door.

He chuckled, a little taken aback by the sudden loudness before returning the hug. "Merry Christmas El. Hey, Buck."

"Hey, buddy," Bucky replied from behind Ella. "Happy Christmas. You ready to go?"

"Yep," Steve nodded. "Just gotta grab my stuff."

Ella finally stepped back from the hug, and Steve disappeared inside for a moment, returning wearing a thick winter coat and carrying a load of giftbags. Ella took a few from him, and they went back to Bucky's car out on the street.

Steve sat in the passenger seat whilst Bucky drove and Ella sat in the back with the bags of presents. She kept trying to subtly peak inside all the bags, and the boys managed to catch her every time. By the time they got to Winnifred Barnes' home, Ella was pouting and folding her arms like a kid after being scolded for trying to see the presents.

Yes, she was a child when it came to Christmas. As all adults should be.

There was no need to knock on the door, as Bucky still had a key. Entering the house, Bucky called out to his mother, which triggered fast footsteps to come barrelling out of the kitchen.

"Buckyyyyy!" Rebecca squealed as she ran to her brother.

Bucky dropped the bags he was holding and crouched down just in time to catch his little sister as she got to him. He wrapped her arms around him and lifted her up. She was nearly seven now, but she weighed nothing, especially to Bucky.

"Hey, Becca," Bucky grinned. "You having a good Christmas so far?"

"Me and mommy are making cookies," Rebecca replied. She looked up at Ella, and her face lit up, wrapping her arms around Ella's legs. "Hi!"

"Hi, honey," Ella laughed, holding the girl's face in her hands and tilting her head. "How ya doing?"

"Good," Rebecca giggled. "Do you want a cookie I made?"

"Hell, yeah," Ella replied. "In fact, if you don't beat me to the kitchen, I might just eat all of them."

Ella started running to the kitchen, and Rebecca gasped and laughed, sprinting after her.

As Bucky watched Ella running of, he couldn't help but smile. She had always been amazing with Rebecca, and it made him think about the future, a family they could have someday. When he thought about what came after the proposal, he imagined having a few children somewhere down the line. When they had talked about family before, they always settled on the idea of two children. But Bucky liked to think they'd have more.

Of course, all that depended on her saying yes to marrying him. He knew how much she loved him; he could never doubt that. But something about having the ring in his pocket made him go over every possible outcome of him finally asking those four important words.

He felt around his pocket for the ring again. He panicked for a second, not being able to feel the bag. He immediately let out a breath when he remembered it was in the other pocket. He took it out a little, peeking into the bag just to check before tucking it away again.

Yeah, he was stressing out.

"Buck, you alright?" Steve asked.

"All good," Bucky half-lied, hanging his coat on the stand.

"Is today the day?" Steve raised an eyebrow, smirking a little.

Bucky had told him about his plan to propose, but at the time, he was still trying to figure out when the perfect time was. The moment he got the letter saying he had to leave for training on Boxing Day, he knew he couldn't wait much longer.