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Bucky was having a walk in Brooklyn's Botanic Garden. The sun was shining in winter air and snow was cracking underneath each footstep Bucky took. It was freezing cold. He hid his hands in his black woolen coat and his face almost disappeared in a thick, grey, scarf. He took a seat on a bench and looked at all the people walking around in the park. Some kids were throwing snowballs at each other, young adults were making a snowman. Dogs were chasing each other and there was a line at a hot dog truck. Bucky smiled at this peaceful scene.
Bucky was happy the world got normal again after the snap and Mysterio’s actions. It was a crazy time, that’s for sure and everything still needs to settle in his mind. But now his favorite time of the year is coming his way, Christmas.
A smile came on his lips as he remembered when his father came home with a large Christmas tree. As one family they decorated it and his little sister Becca always placed the star on top of it. Sure he missed this kind of activity as his life dramatically changed after his family died in an accident. Steve and his mother tried to continue his tradition by decorating the tree in the Rogers’ residence until Bucky got into war and was caught by HYDRA.
Suddenly a snowball hit his head, waking him up from his daydream.
“Oops. Sorry Sir!” Bucky heard in the background.
He looked in the direction of a boy’s voice and raised up his thumb with a smile, gesturing he’s okay. The boy also raised up his thumb and ran back to his friends. A sigh of relief escaped Bucky’s lips. He finds himself lucky the kid didn’t recognize him as The Winter Soldier. Maybe because his hat hid most of his long hair.
Then in a distance he saw a flower stall with little Christmas decorated trees. Deep in his mind he remembered he usually bought a little tree and placed it at the family grave around this time of year. He started wondering if the graves of his parents and his sister are still intact after all those years. Last time he visited them was when he had to go to England to fight in The Second World War.
Bucky stood up and went to the little stall. He chose a small Christmas tree with golden decoration, his mother’s favorite color. If the family grave doesn’t exist anymore, he at least had a little gift for Sam when he gets there for Christmas dinner with some other Avengers.
Bucky arrived at the Cypress Hills Cemetery. He noticed the cemetery has grown the past decades and more graves had been placed. Because of that he couldn’t remember exactly the place where his family is buried, so he decided just to wander around. While walking deeper into the cemetery, his heart started pounding in his chest and tears welled up in his eyes. His body automatically directed him towards a coniferous tree with a dark stoned cross underneath it. He dropped on his knees as he read the name on the cross, Barnes. When his knees hit the ground, he felt something hard. He removed the snow and three stoned tiles appeared in the ground. George M. Barnes. Rebecca P. Barnes. Winnifred C. Barnes. He found his family.
“My God, they are still here,” he whispered amazed to himself.
He placed the tiny Christmas tree between the tile of his mother and sister. His fingers trailed over the dark letters as he felt his heart breaking. Green moss was on the stones and he scratched it off with his gloved left hand.
“Don’t worry, mom. Dad. Sis. I’ll come back and clean,” he promised them. He smiled. “And I’ll visit you more regularly.”
Sam shoved his own made chocolate Christmas cookies into the oven. Christmas songs filled his small apartment. He started dancing and singing along as José Feliciano’s ‘Feliz Navidad’ came out of the speakers. A moment later, somebody knocked on his apartment door. While still dancing, Sam went to the door and opened.
“Hey Bucks!” he exclaimed and hugged his friend.
“Hey Sam,” Bucky replied and released from the embrace. “Here. A little gift for you. Happy Holidays.”
Bucky gave Sam a square box wrapped in brown paper with a red bow. Sam took the present over from him, doubtful. With slight hesitation he opened it.
“Oh my god! How did you know?” Sam exclaimed happy as he saw what kind of gift he got. “It’s my favorite holiday coffee!”
“I don’t know. Something inside me told me it’s a perfect gift for you,” Bucky explained after he shrugged his shoulder.
With a smile on his face, Sam went back into the kitchen as he opened the package of Starbucks Holiday Blend coffee pods. He placed a pod into his cup pod coffee maker and turned it on.
“Would you like to try it?” he asked his friend.
“Yeah sure.”
Sam gave the first mug to Bucky. After Sam got his, they toasted with their mug and took a sip. Sam rolled his eyes in delight.
“The best coffee. You know I wanted to buy this but it was so awfully busy!”
The kitchen timer went off and Sam went back into the kitchen. In the meantime, the doorbell rang.
“Could you open the door for me, please?” Sam asked Bucky, from the kitchen.
“Sure!”
Bucky went to the front door and opened it. He froze at the spot as he saw the next visitor.
“Hello,” a friendly smiling redhead greeted.
Bucky’s mind went into malfunction and couldn’t speak.
“Hey Pepper! Come in,” Sam came to the rescue.
Bucky stepped aside as Pepper entered the apartment with a little black haired shy girl behind her. Little Morgan was hiding behind her mother. Sam knelt in front of her.
“Hey there. How are you doing, princess?”
“Good,” Morgan answered softly and shy, as she was still hiding.
“Wow it’s so cozy and warm in here,” Pepper complimented as she looked around the living room, after she took off her jacket. “I really like your place.”
Pepper took a seat on the couch. Morgan crawled on her mother’s lap and sat there, sucking on her thumb.
“Thank you,” Sam said.
Then Sam saw Bucky still standing in the hallway. The mug in the former Winter Soldiers hand was trembling. His eyes filled with anxiety. Sam went over to him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.
“Damn, Sam. Don’t you remember?” Bucky stuttered softly. “I almost killed her boyfriend. I even killed her parents-in-law she never met.”
With a sigh Sam clasped his hands on his shoulders.
“Buck. Remember what Steve said when we saw him in the past? The past is over. It is now time for you to focus on….?” Sam reminded him as he stopped his sentence, waiting for Bucky to finish it.
Bucky closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“…the present and the future. Okay, got it.”
Suddenly the doorbell went off. In fear, Bucky jumped into Sam’s arms. With the adult man still in his limbs, he opened the door. It was Wanda. She smiled as she saw Bucky jumping out of Sam’s arms. First she greeted Sam and then Bucky.
“I could feel your anxiety through the door,” she admitted in a whisper during the hug. “She’s not angry. Don’t be afraid.”
The three of them walked into the living room.
“Wanda, how nice to see you!” Pepper greeted, but couldn’t stand up for an embrace because Morgan was still on her lap. Sam tried to break her shyness.
“Hey, maybe there is a present for you underneath the tree.”
Morgan glanced between the tree and Sam a few times, while still sucking her thumb. Sam knows how bad it can be for her teeth if she continues like that. He crouched to be on her eye-level.
“Can you make me a promise?”
The girl nodded.
“Stop sucking your thumb or else…”
He bared his teeth and pointed at the gap between his front teeth.
“That’s ugly,” Morgan said as she still had the finger in her mouth.
“Well, if you stop you won’t get this. So promise me to stop?”
With a ‘plop’ Morgan removed the finger out of her mouth.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good,” Sam smiled. “Now let’s see if you got a present from Santa.”
Morgan jumped from Pepper’s lap and rushed to the small Christmas tree. She was searching for hers between some other gifts. She discovered a big box with her name on it. Carefully she shoved it aside.
“Oh my goodness, Sam,” Pepper exclaimed softly.
Sam just had a big smile on his face. Morgan started unwrapping and a blue-white box appeared. The girl stopped and gasped amazed.
“Go on, I want to see what you got,” Pepper encouraged her.
In one movement, Morgan removed all the wrapping and the gift got revealed. A Disney Frozen karaoke machine with a snowflake projector and a microphone.
“Cool!!”
All the adults smiled happily as they saw her being overjoyed with her gift.
“But there’s more gifts. Each adult here got one. Can you give it to us?”
Morgan nodded enthusiastically and crawled back into the tree. She came back with a golden box. She tried to read the name on the sticker.
“Wa…wa…Water?”
“It’s Wanda,” Sam giggled.
She looked around the room to see who it was. Wanda herself helped her by waving at her. Shyly Morgan went to her and gave her the gift. Wanda unwrapped her gift and saw it was a gift set of Dove with a body cream, shower gel and a sponge in coconut scent. Pepper received the same gift but in the scent of cucumber and green tea. There was one small package left. Morgan took it in her hands and read the name.
“Bu…Bu….Bucket?” she tried.
Sam started laughing out loud. Little Morgan started to feel embarrassed. With a smile on his lips Bucky stood up from his seat and went to the little upset girl.
“That’s me. Want to help me unwrap it?”
Morgan nodded. Bucky sat next to her, on the floor and let her unwrap the weird shaped gift. A small Christmas tree with golden decoration appeared out of the wrapping. It was the exact same one Bucky placed at the family grave. He took it in his hands and stared at it.
“It’s for your boring apartment, to bring in some Christmas spirit,” he heard Sam.
Bucky lived in a one-room apartment and didn't feel like decorating it in the Christmas spirit. He was fighting against his tears as he glanced between Sam, his gift and Morgan.
“Thank you, Santa,” he said gratefully.
It was dinnertime. Sam worked his ass off in the kitchen to make a beef tenderloin with roasted vegetables and creamy garlic mashed potatoes. For Morgan he had a tree-shaped hamburger with fries and applesauce. Desert was a Dame Blanche with a Christmas cookie, followed by coffee and tea with various kinds of liquors.
After the feasting meal, Morgan wanted to test out her karaoke machine. It was a musical evening. They sang Christmas carols, songs from the movie Frozen and Bucky sang his favorite song he ever heard, ‘We Built This City’ by Starship.
An hour went by and Morgan got sleepy. Pepper decided it was time to go home. Half an hour later, Wanda went home too.
“Thank you for inviting me, Sam.”
“You’re welcome. Why won’t you stay here for the night?” Sam offered.
“That’s kind but I prefer to go. I have some plans tomorrow,” Bucky declined on a friendly tone.
The two friends hugged each other goodbye.
Bucky stepped into the darkness and walked back to his own place. It was just a half an hour walk. When he got home, he was amazed by what he saw. The whole room was decorated in Christmas spirit. The mattress Bucky slept on was replaced by a single bed. On his pillow was an envelope. Curious Bucky opened it. A card with a cartoon Santa and Rudolph with a message inside.
Welcome to your real home now! Merry Christmas! Sam.
“Jerk,” Bucky mumbled with a big smile.
He placed the little Christmas tree on his new nightstand. He changed himself into his sweatpants and long-sleeved shirt. He went into his new bed.
Damn, it feels like a marshmallow, Bucky thought.
With a satisfied feeling, he fell asleep within seconds.