#Roger's demeanor and just the way he is on stage is just very attractive to me he's just sooooooooooooooooo dreamy *sighs*

[hellogoodbyegirl]

Roger Hodgson of Supertramp performing 'Asylum' in Paris '79

[louhooo]

Hello My Old Heart | Chap. 15

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader [AU]

Warnings: FLUFF!!!!!

A/N: The end is finally here!! I’ve loved this story and I love that others have loved it just as much!!! IT MAKES ME SO 😭🥺😭 Feedback is always loved and appreciated 💘

Three years later...

“Miss Y/N?” You hummed, glancing up from the worksheet in front of MJ and looking at her. “That guy over there is staring at you.” You followed her eyes to the other side of the lunch room, where a tall, blue-eyed brunet stood, his eyes already locked on you. 

You grinned and pushed yourself up from the table.

“Thanks, MJ—”

“It’s kinda creepy. Do ya want me to take care of him? I just got my yellow belt in karate.” You laughed softly and shook your head. 

“That’s alright,” you winked, “I know his weak spots.”

“Okay…” she murmured, unconvinced by your dismissal of her offer. You left the table of kids to finish coloring their pictures and walked over to him.

“I just saved you from an eight-year-old with her yellow belt, ya know?”

“You didn’t wake me up this morning before you left.” You grinned and sighed softly, placing your hand on his forearm.

“You got home late and you needed to sleep.” Bucky gave you another unimpressed look. “Don’t give me that look. And uncross your arms. I know you’re not really mad.” Bucky’s demeanor shifted, and he sighed, his arms dropping to his sides.

“I didn’t get a kiss this morning…” He whined quietly, a pout on his face. You rolled your eyes good naturedly and grabbed his hand.

“C’mon…” You glanced around the lunch room, making sure that the other adults had the second-graders covered, and dragged Bucky down the hall towards the break room. You turned the handle and walked into the empty room that still smelled faintly of coffee from this morning, and pulled Bucky in, shutting the door behind him. You smiled at him. “You get one kiss.” 

He smiled back, wrapping his hands around your hips and pulling you closer to him as he captured your lips. His scruff scratched against your hands wonderfully, and you leaned more into him, realizing that, maybe, you needed a kiss this morning, too. You hummed and placed a final chaste kiss on his lips, “Better?” He gave you a dopey grin and nodded.

“Mm-hmm. I’m not mad anymore.” You snorted and dropped your hands to his forearms. His hands moved to your round stomach and he rubbed his hand over the fabric of your shirt. “How’re you feelin’?”

You hummed and looked down at your belly. “He’s very comfortable on my bladder today. I’ve hadta pee about ten times since I got here.” Bucky sighed and you looked at him, but he kept his eyes on your stomach.

“Dude… I thought we talked about this.” You laughed, attracting Bucky’s attention, who looked back at you with a grin. “Do you want me to have another father-son talk with him tonight?” 

It took Bucky a long time to get to this point; the point where he could enjoy the pregnancy and not worry over everything that happened to you. Truthfully, it took you a while, too, but you knew two stressed out parents wasn’t going to help, especially when your doctor had assured you that everything about your pregnancy was normal. 

Healthy and normal.

Once you found out you were having a boy, and were further along than your last pregnancy, Bucky started to relax. 

If only a little.

He still rushed to call the doctor each time you had any type of discomfort, even if you assured him it was just indigestion, and you still found him Googling every doubt he had, late at night when he couldn’t sleep.

The only thing that hadn’t changed since you found out you were pregnant, were the talks he’d have with your stomach every night (and some mornings when he’d spent too much time reading about all the terrible things that could happen and couldn’t fall back asleep).

The mornings when you pretended to still be asleep were your favorite talks. Bucky opened his heart, letting all of his fears and worries seep out as he whispered his love for your unborn baby in your belly.

“Would you?” Bucky grinned and rubbed his thumb over your belly. He slid his hands back around you, settling on your lower back, and leaned in and kissed your lips just as the door burst open. You both jumped and looked over at MJ, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. Bucky quickly dropped his hands from your ass and you walked over to her.

“Were you kis—”

“Okay, let’s go see if everything’s set up for the presentation!” You ushered her out and back towards the lunch room. The kids were starting to get situated in rows on the floor near the small stage at the front of the room. “Oh, you better find a spot!” She eyed you skeptically, but did as she was told, choosing to sit next to Peter in the last row. 

Steve, Clint, and now Bucky, were off the side of the room, pulling their gear from their bags. 

You walked over to them and smiled. “Hey, guys! Thanks again for doing this! I know the kids are excited.” Clint chuckled and looked over at you.

“Yeah, kinda hard to say ‘no’ when your husband threatened us if we didn’t do it.” Your raised your brows and you glanced at Bucky, whose eyes were wide as he shot a look to Clint.

“I didn’t do anything!” You hummed and Bucky looked back at you. “I didn’t!” You hummed again, a small grin on your face that convinced Bucky you didn’t believe him in the slightest. Steve chuckled and pulled out a reel of reflective stickers for after the presentation.

“We’re happy to do it, Sunshine.” You grinned at Steve and laid your hand over your stomach. “But Buck definitely threatened us.” Bucky scoffed disbelievingly at his so called “friend”. You giggled as Bucky stared down the blond. “Oh, and don’t let me forget: I’ve got the swing in the back of my truck, so I’ll load it into your car before we leave.”

“Oh, good! I might have you put in Buck’s truck, though. My trunk is still full of the baby clothes you guys gave us.” You grimaced as Steve chuckled at you. “It’s okay. We gave ya a lot.”

“And Bucky won’t even let me carry the clothes in by myself.” Bucky gave you a faux-offended look that slowly turned into a grin. 

“Uh-huh. Sure.” You giggled and rubbed his back.

“I’m gonna go introduce you guys, so we can get started.” Bucky nodded and watched you as you made your way up on the small platform. You held up your hand, signaling for everyone to quiet down and listen to you. You waited until all the kids were quiet, each holding up a hand to show they were watching you. You smiled and put your hand down. “I know you’re all excited to hear from our guests today, so I’ll be quick,” you waved the guys up on stage. “Let’s all welcome my friends, and I’ll let Captain Rogers take it from here!” You smiled at Steve and stepped off the stage, moving to the side with the other teachers and aides.

Steve smiled at the kids, “Hi, everyone! So, I’m Captain Steve Rogers and I help run the fire department here in Esterwind,” he looked over at Bucky.

“And I’m Lieutenant James Barnes.”

“And I’m Lieutenant Clint Barton.”

Steve gave a passionate presentation on fire safety (Sharon had warned you that you may have to cut him off if he went on for too long) and Bucky and Clint acted as perfect assistants, who helped demonstrate what they needed to do when there was a fire, and how quickly they could put on their gear when there was a call.

After thirty minutes of Steve talking, you caught his attention and signaled for him to start wrapping up.

“Oh, looks like I’ve gotta stop talking. Okay, real quick before we do any questions, I want you guys to tell me what you do if there’s a fire?”

“Get down low, and go, go, go!” The kids bellowed back to Steve. He smiled and gave two big thumbs up and you came back to the stage to direct questions.

“Okay, we can do a few questions before they have to leave.” Almost every hand shot up. The guys chuckled and you started selecting kids for questions. Most of the questions were “what would’s” and “what-ifs”, but the guys handled them with ease. 

You noticed MJ kept her hand up the entire time, so you decided she could be the last question.

“This is for Lieutenant Barnes.” Bucky’s ears perked at the sound of his name, and he quickly found the source of the question. “Why were you kissing Miss Y/N?” The other kids all squealed and laughed as your cheeks started to burn. Bucky’s eyes went wide and he quickly looked at you as Steve and Clint bit back laughs.

“Oh, uh, I, uh, I…” You groaned softly to yourself, accepting that MJ hadn’t bought your distraction earlier, and cleared your throat.

“MJ, Lieutenant Barnes and I are married.” The kids “ooo’d” and you cringed internally. “Alright, let’s thank our guests for coming today!” You quickly rushed through, hoping that the kids would stop squealing over the fact that MJ had seen you and Bucky kiss. The teachers rounded up the kids in their classes’ and the commotion subtlety shifted as the kids walked back to their homerooms to hand out the stickers that Steve brought. 

Hopefully, the excitement of Miss Y/N kissing someone at school wouldn’t last through the end of the day.

You pulled into the drive, and Bucky’s truck was already parked. You turned off your car and slowly pushed yourself out and waddled up the steps into the house. You expected to see Bucky half-asleep on the couch, but he wasn’t. You heard music upstairs and slowly made your ascent, setting your bag on the bench near the door.

You walked down the hall to find the nursery door open, with Bucky sitting on the floor, putting together the crib. You leaned against the doorframe and watched with a warm grin. He let out a long sigh and scratched his head as he looked at the pieces in front of him. Now, where did that piece go? 

“Directions are usually helpful.” Bucky’s head snapped back around as you smiled at him. “Probably why they give ‘em to you.” Bucky huffed and rolled his eyes.

“I think I can handle it, babe.” You hummed and moved into the room, slowly bending to pick up the instructions on the floor before sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the room. You laid the booklet on your belly as you skimmed through it. Bucky turned the music on his phone off and walked on his knees until he was in front of you.

“You sure about that?” Bucky snatched the directions from your hands, his eyes wide and a grin spread across his face.

“Yes, dear, I am.” He tossed the directions back on the floor and sat on his knees in between your legs, tenderly gripping your thighs. You grinned and leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on his lips. “How was the rest of your day?” You hummed and ran your fingers through his hair, staring at the brown locks in between your fingers.

“You need a haircut soon.” You murmured softly, running your fingers through once more before looking at him. “It was good. The kids finally stopped talking about ‘Miss Y/N kissing the firefighter’ by the end of the day, so hopefully no parents’ call tonight.” He laughed as you leaned back in the rocker, smiling warmly at him. “How was yours? Did you get a nap in?”

“Nah, I didn’t have the time. Had to go trim some of the brush up at the Grove, and then I came back here.” Bucky sighed and looked back at the crib, tilting his head. “Does that piece look backwards to you?” You tilted your head, mirroring Bucky, and looked at the rail and headboard he had finished assembling.

“Kinda.” Bucky sighed again, and dropped his shoulders in defeat. “It’s okay! He won’t need a crib for a few months anyways! We’ve got time, honey.” Bucky looked back you to see a warm and patient smile on your face.

“No, I’m gonna get it done before he’s here. I told ya I would, so I will.”

“Can I help you, at least? I don’t want you stressing yourself out over it.”

“Deal.” You grinned at one another until you were interrupted by Bucky’s phone ringing. He groaned and pulled it out of his back pocket. 

“Who is it?”

He glanced at the screen, “Steve.” You nodded in acknowledgment as Bucky answered. “Hey, Steve.” He moved so he was sitting beside your legs. “Oh, uh, yeah, I didn’t ask.” Your brows pinched as you listened in. “’Cause I know she won’t want to.” You nudged your foot against Bucky so that he’d look at you.

“Are you talking about me?” You spoke softly.

“Hold on,” Bucky sighed and held the phone away from his mouth. “Everyone’s going to Peg’s for dinner. I told Steve you wouldn’t wanna go ‘cause you’re tired.”

“I’m not tired. We can go!” Bucky didn’t say anything as he stared at you, his brow slowly arching.

“…You’re sure?” You were getting less and less sleep every night, your stomach too big to get comfortable enough to sleep peacefully. You gave him a soft look.

“Yes, Buck. I’m sure.”

“You’re not tired?”

“I’m 40 weeks pregnant; I’m always tired.” Bucky kept his brow raised, and you sighed. “I’m gonna change. Tell Steve we’ll just hang out with Sharon and Eli. She texted me that she found some more clothes she wants me to look through.” You pushed yourself up and stepped around Bucky and walked down the hall to your bedroom so you could change.

Bucky sighed and put the phone back to his ear.

“She wants to go,” Steve laughed, “I guess Sharon texted her that she found more baby clothes, so we’ll just hang out at your house until dinner.”

“I told you she’d wanna go.”

“I know…. Silly me for thinking she’d wanna rest.” Bucky rubbed his hand over his face.

“James.” He hummed and turned his head over his shoulder to look at you in the doorway. “I don’t think we should go tonight.”

“You don’? Why’dya change your—”

“My water broke.”

Bucky blinked.

Your water broke.

“Hey, Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Change of plans. We’re not goin’ tonight. Uh, Y/N’s water just broke, so I gotta go.” Steve started exclaiming as Bucky ended the call and quickly scrambled to stand and helped you walk down the stairs. He grabbed the go bag in the coat closet as you grabbed your purse. His grip tightened on the straps of the duffle bag as he placed his hand on your lower back and walked with you to your car. He opened the passenger door for you and grabbed his forearm.

“We’re having a baby.” Bucky beamed at you as nervous tears streamed down your face. Bucky dropped the bag on the grass and cradled your face.

“We’re havin’ a baby.” He kissed your lips and wiped away your fears.

You didn’t have a perfect love story. It was full of dark twists and turns and years of hurt that consumed you both….

… but those moments brought you here. Brought you back together.

Just like it was meant to be.

————————————————————————————

Previous // Masterlist