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“You ready, Buck?” Steve asked, plopping down on the sofa with a small paper bag in his hands. Bucky already had a reusable shopping bag in his own lap.
“Yup.” Bucky grinned as he shook his bag slightly. “All the wonders of the world, right in here.”
Steve snorted. “Must be like that police box on that show, um...”
“Doctor Who?”
“Yeah, the one that’s bigger on the inside than the outside,” Steve agreed, nodding. “You’d need a bag like that to truly contain all the wonders of the world.”
Bucky rolled his eyes. “After all this time, and still a punk.”
“Well, you’re still a jerk.” Steve leaned forward and kissed Bucky to show how much this really mattered to him.
They’d agreed that this year, their first Christmas together since 1944, they would each buy three things they’d wished they could have given the other one back when they were too dirt poor – or in the middle of a war. To discourage outrageous purchases, a dollar amount had been squabbled over and eventually agreed upon.
Reaching into the paper bag, Steve pulled out a container of black shoe polish. “Even though I hated it when you’d go out dancing with girls, I always wanted you to look your absolute best. But it’s not like we could just throw away extra cash gettin’ our shoes shined back then.”
Bucky’s smile was wistful as he accepted the gift. “You know I only did that to throw people off the scent, right?”
Steve wrinkled his nose. “I know, but I still hated it.”
“Wasn’t my favorite way to spend an evening, either, pal.” Bucky shrugged. “I mean, they were nice and all, but they weren’t you.” He dug into his bag. “My turn.”
Steve burst out laughing at the bag of oranges Bucky produced.
“Hey!” Bucky responded. “I remember how we each looked forward to our Christmas oranges when we were kids. You, especially – they always made you feel better for a bit.”
“You’re right,” Steve replied, chastened.
"Well, I hated that I couldn’t afford to get you more than one once we were on our own. So, here’s a whole bag of them.” He handed them over.
Steve next produced a Cross pen – “I knew you always had it in you to become someone important someday, and I wanted you to have a fancy pen to match.” Bucky held out a blue sweater – “You were always so cold, bein’ so skinny and all, and our apartment was always freezing. Having warmer clothing would’ve helped.”
With his hand already in the paper bag, ready to reveal the final gift, Steve suddenly hesitated. “Now, Bucky,” he said slowly, “I know we agreed to a dollar limit but, uh, I may have gone a little over.”
"How much over?” Bucky asked, eyes narrowed.
Steve bit his lip. “A ... lot?”
Bucky sighed and held out his hand. “Let’s see it, Rogers.”
Steve pulled his closed hand out of the bag, held it out, and opened his fingers.
On his palm lay a plain gold band.
Bucky stared at it, then looked back up, mouth open. “What’s this?”
“You don’t have to wear it,” Steve said in a rush. “We don’t even have to make it official, not if you don’t want to. But ... you know in our day, men couldn’t marry other men. I never thought it would ever be possible, so I never said anything but ... Buck, I really wanted to.” He knelt down at Bucky’s feet, his clear blue eyes boring into Bucky’s. “James Buchanan Barnes, would you be willing to be with me for the rest of our lives?”
There was silence for a long moment, during which Steve felt like he’d aged another hundred years, and then:
“Yes.”
Steve’s face split into a grin. “Yes?”
“I mean,” Bucky added, his face serious, “given the mysterious crap we’ve both got running in our veins now, ‘the rest of our lives’ could be a really long damn time. You do realize that, right?”
“You say that like that’s a bad thing,” Steve retorted. “I love you, you jerk, so spending more time with you is a plus, not a minus.”
Bucky plucked the ring from Steve’s palm and considered it for a moment, his right thumb caressing the gleaming gold. “Do you want to make it official?”
Steve hesitated. “I wouldn’t mind,” he said cautiously. “I’d like being able to legally say you’re my husband. But it’s more important to me that we’re together than for us to have a piece of paper.” He reached out his right hand to clasp Bucky’s metal one. “You were trapped in an obligation for so long, Buck. I never want you to feel trapped like that again.”
“Yeah, well this time I get some say in it,” Bucky replied. “And I say we should get the damn piece of paper.”
If possible, Steve’s smile grew even brighter. “Really?”
His joy was reflected in Bucky’s answering smile. “Yes, really.”