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Everyone knew that Sam cooked in their house. All the great food was his doing. Cooking was one of his hobbies since he was young and helped his mother or grandma in the kitchen. The food he made was amazing and better than any five star restaurant could make. Even the food that was simple was delicious when made by him.
Bucky especially loved his cooking. If he did actually hate him, he would pretend to like him just so he could stay for the food. Thank goodness it was the other way around. He loved his boyfriend, though he might just love his food more. They joked about it many times, but they knew Bucky didn’t actually love his food more than him.
On days that Sam couldn’t cook, Bucky tried to make something edible for them to eat. He knew how to cook, he cooked for Steve and himself because Steve could set water on fire, but he was average at best. He would try to cook something nice for Sam. It would never be as good as his, but Sam didn’t care. Sam would take the food Bucky cooked and eat it with a smile. To him, it was the thought that counted, and that he didn’t get food poisoning.
But to Bucky that wasn’t enough. He wanted to do something special for Sam. And there was one thing Bucky was really good at.
************
Sam had a long day. Short solo mission, paperwork and dealing with idiots. Bucky, the lucky bastard, had a day off today. And Bucky was also awfully weird today, like he was hiding something. Sam knew it wasn’t his birthday, nor Bucky’s, nor was it their anniversary, since that had been last month. So, why? Sam parked the car in front of the house and sighed. Honestly, he’d only find out when he got into the house. So, he got out of the car and locked it. He made his way to the front door and was about to open it, when Bucky did it for him. The man stood there grinning, face different ever since he got his hair cut.
“Hey,” said Bucky as he gave him a kiss. Sam hummed into the kiss and smiled when they pulled away.
“Hi to you, too,” he said. Then he noticed the apron he wore. He snickered a bit. “ ‘Kiss the cook’? So, I’m assuming you made dinner.” Bucky chuckled.
“Yeah. But I couldn’t find the other apron we have, so this one!” Sam laughed and they went in.
“So, what’s for dinner?” asked Sam as he toed his shoes off and removed his jacket. Bucky was already going towards the kitchen.
“Well, it’s spaghetti for the main course,” said Bucky, and then got a bit shy, “and I made dessert.”
“Dessert? What is it?” asked Sam. This was new. Bucky did cook, but he never baked or made a sweet.
“Plum pie. It’s gonna be a few more minutes. The table is set, so you can just go and freshen up a bit,” said Bucky. He then went back into the kitchen. Sam went and did as Bucky told him. He took a quick shower and put on an old T-Shirt and sweatpants. Bucky hadn’t been wearing anything fancy, so he assumed it was okay to go like that.
“Get your ass down or you’ll go to bed without food!” He heard Bucky call for him and laughed.
“I’m coming, don’t short circuit!” he yelled back. He heard his boyfriend laugh. He walked into the kitchen. The table was set, plates on opposite sides and a scary pumpkin shaped candle in the middle. Sam looked up at Bucky. Said man stood there in his old hoodie and sweatpants. Sam raised his eyebrow and looked at the candle and back to Bucky.
“The store didn’t have any other kind,” said Bucky sheepishly. “Besides, it’s weird like us!” Sam laughed. He came up to Bucky and kissed him.
“Yeah, fits us perfectly,” he smiled after pulling away. Bucky smiled back before telling him to sit down. Sam sat down and watched as Bucky put the food on the plates. They ate happily, from time to time having small conversations on how the other’s day was. Sam laughed when Bucky told him about the ‘total Karen’ at the grocery store. Bucky patiently listened when Sam ranted about the idiots he was surrounded with that afternoon. Sam complimented Bucky on his cooking, even if Bucky knew it was average compared to what Sam made.
Bucky put the used plates away and took a deep breath. The pie had smelled fantastic when he last checked it. He just hoped it would also taste good, too. He pulled it out of the oven where he had left it. He didn’t notice Sam coming to him. He put the nicely decorated pie on the counter when he felt two arms wrapping around his middle.
“That looks and smells amazing,” Sam said into his ear causing Bucky to smile and blush. The pie was decorated with a thin wavy lattice pie crust design with small star shapes thrown here and there.
“Thanks, but let’s taste it first to see if it lives up to that,” he said. He turned around and pushed Sam towards the table. “Go sit down. I’ll bring them over.” Sam obeyed and let Bucky cut up two pieces of the pie and put them on two plates. Sam then looked surprised as Bucky got out vanilla ice cream and put a scoop next to each piece. He then took something from the stove, still warm apparently, and drizzled it over the dessert. Lastly, he took a couple of sliced pieces of plums and a few berries and put them on the plate as the finishing touch. He put two forks on the plates and brought them over to the table.
“You know, you didn’t have to go all out, right?” said Sam, still amazed by what Bucky just did. Bucky raised an eyebrow and pulled Sam’s plate away.
“Oh, so you don’t want to eat it?” he said, but Sam knew he was joking.
“Just give it here, weirdo,” he laughed.
“Oh, so now you insult me, too?” Bucky grinned as he put the plate in front of Sam. “I slave in the kitchen all day trying to make you dinner for when you come home from a long day, and this is the thanks I get?!” Bucky complained all the way to his side of the table and set his plate down. Sam kept laughing at him. “Next time, I’ll just let you starve, how about that?”
“You keep complaining like that and your pie will get cold,” he said. Bucky stuck his tongue out at him and dug in. Sam took a look at the dessert. It was beautifully presented and it smelled divine. He took the fork and took a piece of just the pie. And once he tasted it, he was left speechless. The pie tasted amazing. He wasn’t much of a plum fan, but this just might change that. The next bite had some of that syrup that was poured over the dessert and the ice cream and he actually let out a moan. He heard Bucky snickering and came back to the real world.
“That good?” asked Bucky, with an impish look on his face.
“Bucky,” said Sam in a deadly serious tone, making the guy tense. “This is the best dessert I have ever tasted.” He relaxed, but just a bit because Sam was still looking at him seriously. “You have been keeping this a secret for the whole 3 years we have lived together. 3 years. I could have been eating this divine dessert during that time!”
“Well, sorry if I needed some time to remember what I loved to do back in my younger years,” joked Bucky.
“Don’t you pull that card on me! Where did you even learn to bake like this?” asked Sam as he took another bite.
“My mom taught me. She had these desserts she was well known for, one of them being this pie,” he said and looked at it fondly. “It was my favorite. My mom’s desserts were known across the neighborhood. People would often ask her to make something for someone’s birthday or a holiday they celebrated when they were too busy to do so. Sometimes I would help her out because there were so many orders.” Sam was listening closely to what Bucky was saying. “I got really good at what I did. My mom would sometimes just let me bake while she went to do her own thing.”
“You got great at it. I mean, have you tried this?” said Sam. Bucky chuckled.
“Yeah, I know. After I moved in with Steve in Brooklyn, I made a reputation there for being the best baker. When my job wouldn’t pay enough, I’d get money for us through baking goods for the neighbors,” continued Bucky. “I actually wanted to open my own bakery. Thought I would be able to after the war.” He then looked up and gestured around them. “But we all know what happened with that.”
Sam smiled at him and nodded. “Actually a good thing, though. You would have put all other bakeries out of business.” Bucky laughed and so did he. They continued to eat in peace, making a few more conversations here and there. And when Sam had requested for one more slice and complemented Bucky about his baking skills, Bucky had brought a slightly bigger slice, scoop of ice cream and amount of syrup, but Sam wasn’t complaining. He continued to complement Bucky on his pie, causing the man to blush.
Later, when they were doing the dishes, the pie was put in the fridge, Sam commented, “From now on, I expect a baked good every day. I don’t care about any excuses. You have been keeping out on me and I want reparations.” Bucky had laughed, but he didn’t deny him. He just gave him the last plate to dry and waited till Sam had put it away and then kissed him.
“How about you show me what I’ll get in return, first?” suggested Bucky, with a mischievous look in his eyes. Sam grinned and pulled him closer.
“With pleasure.”