***Book 1 is complete; Book 2 picks up right where Book 1 ends!***
Réa, a half-human, half-Seraph, has spent her entire life locked in a tower, haunted by visions of a man in pain. Unbeknownst to her, this tortured soul is Bucky Barnes, the former W...
A few minutes before I'm about to head to Tony and Pepper's with Steve, Nat, Bruce, Wanda, and Vision, my phone buzzes. Removing it from my pocket, I see a text from Tony. I open the message, and my breath catches in my throat.
It's a photo of Réa, holding Morgan to her shoulder; her gorgeous face is in profile and partially covered with a swoop of hair that's beginning to come loose from her ponytail...and all I can think is that it's Réa, with a baby.
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I stare at the photo until there's a knock on my door. I open it to find Steve in the hall.
"Ready to go up?"
"Yeah," I say, and we make our way to the elevator, where Nat is holding the door open.
When the six of us reach Tony and Pepper's suite, Wanda pushes open the door without knocking, and we follow her inside. As we enter the room where Pepper and Tony are, I see Réa still holding Morgan, and I stop in my tracks.
'That photo was something...but this...this is...' my thought trails off as my mind pictures Réa holding our child.
She lifts her head and gives me a soft smile, and I swear I can see the future.
"Gotta marry her first, Barnes," Nat says as she steps past me.
"I'm going to," I reply.
I watch as Réa hands Morgan off to Wanda, and settles onto the window seat; I go over and join her.
"Hey, doll," I say.
"Hi, Bucky," she replies, scooting close and laying her head on my shoulder.
"Tired?"
She nods.
"Yeah, but I feel bad for even saying that. Pepper's the one who did all the work."
"Well, you've been up since three this morning."
"Pepper was up even longer...F.R.I.D.A.Y. only notified me once she was in active labor." She pauses. "She really was incredible."
'You will be, too,' I can't help thinking, imagining her pregnant with my—our—baby. 'Jeez, Bucky, get it together. You're putting the cart before the horse here.'
Réa and I sit quietly, watching the others hold Morgan and visit with Tony and Pepper. Eventually, Tony comes over to us, cradling Morgan in his arms.
"Hey, Robocop, your turn!" he says, holding his sleeping daughter out to me.
"N-no, To-Tony, I...I can't...I-I-I..." I stammer.
Tony doesn't respond; he just places Morgan into my arms, her head on my right arm, then walks back to Pepper, leaving me staring at the blanket-swaddled newborn.
