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The thing about falling in love was that it happened out of nowhere. It either happened so sudden it knocked a guy back on his ass or it was just a light click into place, like two puzzle pieces being connected after being misplaced for centuries.
The latter’s what happened for him.
It had been a normal day, Sarah leaning against the counter as she talked on the phone with her brother. The boys were off running around in the yard in Bucky’s direct eyesight as he washed dishes. The radio was on low, playing oldies from the sixties (“ the golden age ” the radio host claimed even though Bucky was pretty that was all rose-colored glasses considering everything) that curled about the room and made Bucky smile. Everything was light and safe and he breathed easy as his whole world was right in front of him.
Sarah laughed over something her brother said, moving towards the dish rack to grab herself a glass. As she did, she set her hand onto Bucky’s back, rubbing softly as she passed by him, and it clicked.
He loved her.
Honestly and truly.
If he could spend the rest of his life with Sarah Wilson and her boys, then he would be the luckiest damned guy to ever live.
And, now he was. Sarah grinned at Bucky as he slid the ring he had bought onto her finger. It was an elegant ring made of gold with lines of small diamonds on either side of the stunning opal. He stood up, cupping Sarah’s face with his right hand. Her dark eyes were shining with tears as he pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’m gonna marry you,” Sarah whispered against his lips as she brought her hands up to tug at the hair at the back of his neck.
“Yeah,” Bucky mumbled as he gave her another kiss, long and sweet as they relished in their joy. He loved her so much it made his chest feel warm and his fingers tingle. He felt like a kid again, head over heels, but unlike the kid he’d once been—awkward and unsteady around women even when he acted otherwise—he found nothing but comfort while in Sarah’s presence. “I’m gonna be your husband.”
A laugh escaped her, loud and beautiful, as she pulled back. Her expression was so bright and jubilant it took all of Bucky’s willpower not to lurch forward and kiss her again and again just so they could bathe in their happiness. “You are, huh? Mister and missus James Barnes. I like that.”
“Hmmm. Sweet,” Bucky muttered as he set his forehead to hers. She was wearing heels, which made her just a bit taller than himself. The sudden height advantage she had made his heart race like always. “Though, I kind of like the thought of missus and mister Sarah Wilson.”
“Hun, you are gonna be the death of me!” Sarah laughed as she shook her head, dropping her head down to muffle her laugh into his shoulder. After a few moments of laughing together, she kissed his clavicle and glanced up at him. “You’d really want my name?”
“Hmmm… I’m open to it.” Bucky said as he set his hand on her waist and gave her a light squeeze.
“You’d have to change that mantra of yours, you know that right?” She bit her lip as she met his eyes.
“James Buchanan Wilson. James Buchanan Barnes-Wilson.”
“ Stop ,” Sarah laughed as she covered her face with her hands. “Hun, you’ll just about kill me with that. Not to mention Sam! He’ll hate it if you have his name. How about we settle for Missus Sarah Wilson-Barnes, hm?”
And, oh, was that true. It would set Sam’s teeth on edge if Bucky shared a name with him. It would most likely annoy him less if his sister shared Bucky’s name. But, honestly, the asshole part of Bucky that somehow seemed to live on since the forties couldn’t exactly figure out which one was the better deal for him—annoying the hell out of his brother-in-law or sharing his name with Sarah.
“We’ll figure it out.” Bucky said with a wicked grin as he brought her left hand to his lips and kissed right under where her new ring sat.
There was a lot they needed to figure out.
The guest list had been the first of their worries. Both of them knew they didn’t want to make too big of an ordeal out of their wedding and there wasn’t exactly that many people they wanted to invite. The suggestion of having a court wedding, fast and simple, had been entertained before they had both decided to veto it—the boys had gotten it stuck in their heads that they would be the ring bearers and having a quick-and-easy court wedding wouldn’t give them the opportunity to shine. That settled in their mind, they wrote out a list of who they wanted to invite, who was a possibility, and who they would get into a fight with if they even saw in their general vicinity on the wedding day.
“I’m just saying hun, if I see that Juliana Baptiste at our wedding our colors will go from white and blue to red, white, and blue.” Sarah said with a smirk and Bucky laughed, genuine and loud for a moment like he always did with his Sarah.
“You thought hard about that one, didn’t you?” Bucky said with a grin.
Sarah’s grin widened as she shrugged her shoulders, suddenly playing at being coy. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.” They laughed again, Bucky pressing his head to her shoulder. It was a bit off since they were sitting at the kitchen table and no matter how close they scooted their chairs together there was always an inch of space between them. “I wouldn’t actually try to hurt her. Though, I wouldn’t exactly object to someone giving her a good smack after how she tried to seduce my first husband before our wedding.”
“She’s definitely on the no-go list.” Bucky frowned as he took the piece of scratch paper and wrote ‘ Juliana Baptiste. ’ He did it in cursive, because Sarah always liked how he had such ‘old fashioned’ handwriting. It was why he would write her love letters, the kind he never wrote as that relatively happy-go-lucky kid he had been back in the war. They were sappy and emotional and he would catch Sarah opening them up while sitting at her vanity, grinning like a schoolgirl.
“Don’t worry, Juliana Baptiste would not be interested in you, white-boy wonder. She’s still a no-go though,” Sarah said with a laugh as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Most of the people they settled on inviting were Sarah’s friends and family—who, after the past few years had become Bucky’s as well. The few exceptions were James Rhodes (who Bucky got along with pretty good out of the Avengers lineup), Joaquín Torres (who was basically family now that he came to visit whenever he could and was now sporting Sam’s old wings), and Scott Lang (who wasn’t an Avenger and would definitely give a retelling about the time he kicked Sam’s ass, which gave him points in Bucky’s books).
Once their guest list was settled and the date was chosen—a spring wedding had been decided—they had gone on to choosing the location and catering. The boys helped out with choosing their cake. AJ had been the one to take the role of helper the most seriously, arguing pros and cons of certain cake flavors and combinations with his mother.
“I’m just sayin’ Mom,” AJ had said with a frown as he scooped up a forkful of frosting and shoved it into his mouth, “pretzel and chocolate seems a bit too adventurous. Especially for an old man like Bucky.” He pushed up his glasses on his nose and gave a triumphant grin as Bucky bit his lip and hung his head down.
Sarah laughed, in that soft way of hers that made Bucky’s heart tighten as her face lit up. “Is that right?”
AJ shrugged his shoulders. “Well, does he like it?”
The two turned to Bucky, with serious faces as they waited for his answer. Bucky paused for a moment before sighing out, “It was a bit out of my comfort zone.” That got AJ to give a little huff of excitement as he turned towards the vanilla cake, bragging about its timeless appeal and the moistness it had compared to the other cake. Half the words he used were clumsy in his mouth, the kid just a tad too young to clearly understand and grasp what he was saying, but he was used to being around adults enough to still use them anyways. Bucky shared a grin with his wife-to-be and, without a word said, they were in agreement on getting a vanilla cake.
The months passed quickly and, before Bucky knew it, he was standing in front of a full length mirror with a grin on his face as he adjusted the pale blue suspenders on his shoulders. Sam was leaning against the wall, texting Sarah as he laughed quietly to himself. A part of Bucky wanted to ask what they were talking about, but he instead continued to get dressed, shrugging on his jacket. He adjusted his hair and kippah, making sure it was secure on his head. As he moved, he met Sam’s eyes in the mirror.
“So is this how you used to get ready to dance back in the forties? Slicked back hair, trying to look all suave.” Sam said with a shit-eating grin.
Bucky rolled his eyes, not saying a word.
A few moments later the boys rushed into the room, asking for help with their ties. Bucky helped Cass, slowly showing his the movements, as Sam quickly helped AJ. When they were all set, they took a few photos together before Bucky sent the boys back to the room their mom was getting ready in as he and Sam ventured towards where the ceremony was going to be held. Most of their friends and family were seated and Bucky went to shake hands and make light conversation to help pass the time.
“Nervous?” He was asked, again and again.
“No,” he replied each time. How could he be nervous? Sarah was the woman of his dreams—beautiful and strong and soft.
Before long, Sam was off to meet up with the maid of honor and the ceremony was about to start. Bucky smiled to himself as he stood at the front, listening to the live music as he waited. Sam and Aaliyah, Sarah’s maid of honor and best friend, walked down together with grins on their faces. Not far behind them were Cass and AJ, arm in arm as they carefully held the rings on top of small heart-shaped pillows. They looked handsome in their suits and when AJ came to stand next to his uncle, Bucky gave him a quick hug and a “good job.”
Then—
The music shifted and Bucky lost his breath. Last time that happened to him was when he had gotten slammed into by a car, yet as Sarah Wilson started her walk down the aisle it was like Bucky couldn’t breathe anymore as he took her in.
She was stunning.
The dress had a loose lace cape around her arms and shoulders that made it look like something Bucky was accustomed to from back in his day, though the deep v-neck showed off a nice bit of skin that wouldn’t exactly have been appropriate back then. Thank god for changing social standards. The dress hugged her hips nicely and splayed out on the bottom. She wore a cluster of blue and white pearl earrings and her hair was adorned with small flower-shaped pins. With each movement Sarah was shining.
As Sarah came up to Bucky, he grinned up at her and moved to press a quick kiss to her cheek. “Hi,” he whispered as he pulled back.
“Hi,” she laughed out and squeezed his right hand.
The ceremony passed in a blur until it was time to present their vows.
Bucky had written pages worth of notes over the past few weeks, trying to find the words to express his love for Sarah. It had been hard to find the right words, until he had found himself writing a love letter. Bucky breathed in, completely lost his ability to remember a word he wrote and cursed himself for thinking his memory would serve him well, and began, “Sarah, the moment I met you I knew that you were my future. I didn’t know what that meant, but you smiled at me—and Sarah, I swear you started to shine—and I knew that was enough for me. To see you smile and to be the person making you smile, that was all I wanted. You accepted me into your home and heart and understood me in a way nobody had in years. I fell in love with you, Sarah, and the boys. I vow to make you smile everyday and to cherish you with everything I got. I vow to be the man you deserve in your life, the man you see me as.”
Sarah kissed his knuckles before beginning her own vows, “I didn’t fall in love with you right away.” She laughed and kissed his fingers again. “But, I saw how you loved my boys and loved my brother and kept on finding excuses to be around or to call me. I fell in love with you, seeing you carrying my boys to bed like you’d done a hundred times before. God—you’re so gentle it makes me cry sometimes, to see how you love us. I didn’t think I could love again, but there you were making it so easy to fall. You cook like it’s still the Great Depression and you smell like my great-grandpa’s old cologne. You tear up watching the ending of How to Train Your Dragon and you can’t shake those hips of yours even if your life depended on it, and I love all that about you Bucky Barnes. I love you, for better or for worse. For it all.”
Later, as they danced together, Bucky held Sarah close and kissed at the juncture between her neck and her ear. “I’m going to live another hundred years to be with you Sarah Wilson-Barnes.” They still hadn’t settled on what to call themselves, and Sarah rolled her eyes at him. A pin in her hair was beginning to fall so he carefully moved to shift it back into place.
“With how old we are? That’s more like sixty years, James Buchanan Wilson.” Sarah’s eyes crinkled as she laughed and she was so beautiful Bucky wanted to marry her all over again. When he voiced that thought, Sarah shook her head. “You’re such a sap.”
“All for you sweetheart.” Bucky placed his head on her shoulder, enjoying the height she had over him with her heels on. He kissed her clothed shoulder. “Have I told you how lovely you look in this dress?”
Sarah grinned and tilted them back and forth with a playful gusto. “Hmmm, possibly. But maybe I should hear you say it again.”
“You’re shining,” Bucky whispered as he glanced into her bright dark eyes. His wife laughed, like he was being ridiculous and she loved every second of it, and Bucky continued to admire her like it was his very first time he had laid his eyes on her. She was as stunning here in her wedding gown as she was on her family’s boat with a clipboard in her hands and a question in her eyes.
“You’re so damned corny.” Sarah sighed out, as though she wasn’t grinning and loving every second of his love. It was easy to see the love in her eyes, in the shape of her mouth as she smiled, and in the soft touches she set on his body as they danced. And Bucky fell harder, if it was even possible, into this . Into her and this little life they were only just beginning.