Shattered Thoughts/One-Shots (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier)

Merry Christmas!

    Bucky knew Willow's favorite Holiday was Halloween, but his was Christmas. Willow and Bucky had a fairly small house, it was only one story, because Willow's wheelchair couldn't go up stairs. But it did have a massive basement that Bucky had fixed up until it was a suitable space for Warren to stay with his family when Willow's brother came to visit. 

  Warren, his wife Claire, and their three kids had come over for Christmas. Bucky could hear Claire scolding Alex from the basement. It was 6 o'clock in the morning, and the kids were already awake and excited to see what gifts "santa" had left for them underneath the tree. Claire and Warren had formed a human barricade in front of the stairs, so none of their kids could rush upstairs before Bucky and Willow had shoved the last gift under the tree.

"Alright guys! Let's do this thing!" Willow called. Willow was still in her pajamas, and she hadn't bothered brushing out her hair, it was in two long braids and was sticking up in the back. Her black and white plaid pajama pants matched her black t-shirt that had a quote from her favorite book. It said 'My heart has joined the thousand, for my friend stopped running today.' 

 Alex, Annie, and Adam all sprinted up the stairs and past Bucky, Alex bumping into Willow's wheelchair as they went. Claire and Warren came up the stairs, both looked tired but happy. 

"Willow, where's Lulu?"

"Hungover, in her room. I'll bring her some food later."

   Willow began rolling her wheelchair toward the living room, where Annie and her siblings were opening the presents from their parents and Willow. 

  Willow handed Bucky a package wrapped in Harry Potter themed wrapping paper, "Happy Christmas weirdo."

 "Thanks Willow," Bucky grinned, opening the box. Inside was a single bright orange glove. It was the most obnoxious thing he had ever seen, with several shades of orange yarn, he loved it. Since Bucky had to wear a glove on his metal hand whenever he went out, Lulu and Willow had a running contest to see who could find him the most colorful and ridiculous glove. 

  "Now you don't have to wear the bright pink one Auntie Lulu got you. Pinks for girls," Alex commented chewing thoughtfully on his finger.

 "Pink can be a good color for anyone," Annie argued, trying to smother her brother with a piece of wrapping paper.  

 "I agree with Annie," Willow pulled the wrapping paper away from Annie and threw it into the trash before her niece could finish her homicide. 

  "I love it Willow," Bucky ruffled Willow's hair. 

"Glad you like it. By the way, we are going to have a very serious conversation later about the fact that you keep rubbing my head like I'm a dog."

 "Here you go," Bucky handed Willow her gift. It had taken him a while to find out the perfect thing, but he hoped she'd like it.

  She tore off the wrapping paper in a slow, methodical, OCD induced way. Inside the box was a small charm bracelet, with a stone from each of the places she and Bucky had visited over the past year. Willow always talked about how she'd rather get rocks than flowers, because flowers would wither and die, but rocks would last forever. So Bucky had been discreetly collecting tiny, tiny rocks, and had given them to Lulu so she could twist them into a bracelet for Willow.

  "What do you think?"

"I love it Bucky," Willow said, smiling at him. "And you remembered how much I love rocks!"

 "Wow, I'm glad you understand her rock obsession Bucky, because I don't," Claire commented from her position restraining Annie so she couldn't kill her brother.

 "It represents something, I think," Lulu added. "Hey Willow, did we end up buying Steve life alert?"

 "No, Natasha took care of that."

"Sweet."

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    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my lovely readers! Thank you all so much for reading my story and for your support.