The Wilsons
As usual, he didn't open his eyes right away. He lay still and he listened. The sound of his heartbeats, the birds outside, the weak breeze in the trees - especially the one in the garden, almost leaning on the house - and then the noises indoors, the discreet footsteps, the grilling of the bacon in the pan, the occasional knife on the wooden board. The light humming of a female voice. Bucky opened his eyes.
From where the couch stood in the living-room, he could see the kitchen where Sarah was preparing breakfast. The boys weren't up yet. Bucky put his two feet on the floor and stretched his back. He made his way to the kitchen but stopped at the threshold. Sarah's humming was a wordless song, probably an old lullaby or a hit tube from her parents' time. She was putting plates on the table. As she turned, she finally noticed Bucky and had a little jump.
"Hi! Sorry, didn't know you were already up. Oh, I didn't wake you, I hope?"
Bucky felt his lips curving into a smile in the most natural way.
"Hi to you too. No, don't worry, you... barely make any noises, you know."
The woman had a quick smile.
"Oh. Alright then."
She went back to her cooking. After a few seconds, however, she seemed to realize something and turned back to the brunet.
"You can eat now if you want. No need to wait for the boys."
That sentence, in turn, seemed to prompt Bucky to stand up from the door-frame he had come to lean on.
"Can I help you?" he asked hurriedly.
"Oh, no, no, no! Absolutely not! You're my guest. Please have a seat."
Reluctantly, Bucky grabbed one of the chair and pulled it to him. He sat but didn't took his eyes off Sarah and when she brought the pan with the fried eggs to the table, he seized the plates and presented them to her so she didn't have to bend over to reach them.
"Thanks," she said at the end.
His smile showed up again.
"No problem."
As Sarah was rinsing the pans as a pre-wash, they heard heavy sounds on the upper floor and soon enough, loud noises and louder screams coming down the stairs. AJ and Cass barged inside the kitchen and jumped to hang on their mother's neck. However, they saluted Bucky with more restraint, saying "good morning Mr. Barnes" - to which Bucky responded with a smiling "hi."
Bucky ate quickly, not because he didn't like Sarah's cooking (he did) but because he felt uncomfortable being around at should be a family moment. He thanked Sarah for the breakfast and hurried towards the dock where Sam was already working on the boat.
"Don't you boys want to take a break? At least, take time to digest."
Sarah popped her head out of the kitchen. Bucky was heading for the couch and had grabbed his phone - Joaquín had sent him texts during lunch. Sam was stretching in the middle of the room, probably because that made him the center of attention.
"Sarah, please, we have seen worse," Sam replied.
Bucky dropped on the couch.
"Nah, I'm gonna follow your sister's advice. She is the wisest Wilson."
"What?"
Sam shot him an offended look while Sarah chuckled. In the end, Sam left for the docks while Bucky remained inside. He had sent multiple pictures to Joaquín and the young man appeared to be determined to comment each and every single one of them. Meanwhile, Sarah had settled at the table with a pile of magazines. Bucky couldn't see the cover but the back bore an add for some big red car. The silence was disturbed by the birds, the tic-tac of a clock somewhere and the voices from people outside. Yet, it was a really comfortable calm. They sometimes glanced at each other. Bucky had moved on science news articles between two answers from Joaquín. Suddenly, his friend called him. Bucky frowned and didn't think before refusing the call. Not two seconds later, Joaquín called again. This time, Bucky accepted.
"Hi!" shouted an overly enthusiastic (although no less than usual) Torres, "I've got a little time before-"
Bucky interrupted him.
"Be more quiet, please! I'm not alone!" he said between his teeth, trying to whisper himself.
He lifted his head to see Sarah at the moment she stood up.
"Don't worry," she said, softly enough so Bucky's caller wouldn't hear her, "I'll leave you alone."
And there he was on his feet too.
"Oh, no, please, Sarah! I don't want to bother you in your own house! I er, will go meet Sam now, anyway."
Keeping his phone high enough so Joaquín wouldn't stare at a floor, he headed for the door and waved awkwardly at Sarah. He didn't see the smile she gave him as he closed the door.
The kids were back - which meant the calm of the afternoon was gone and buried. Bucky sat on the couch, his right hand fumbling under his shirt. Sam was playing with his nephews (he was supposed to help them with their homework but those homework seemed strangely to ask for a lot of movements). Bucky had offered his help for cooking dinner but Sarah had refused firmly. Thus he was on the couch, watching the Wilson's family from a distance. It was nice. It reminded him of his old folks and his sisters.
Ah, I think I got it.
He frowned as he shifted his entire focus on his fingers. A few seconds later, he heard a click before an electric shock ran down his metal arm and his left side went completely numb - or rather, devoid of sensations.
Sarah screamed.
In a twinkle of an eye, Sam was inside the kitchen, AJ and Cass closely behind and Bucky was on his feet, his knife on his hands.
"What happened?" Sam asked.
Still chocked, Sarah moved towards Bucky.
"Are you alright? Do we need to take you somewhere?"
The ex-assassin stuttered. Sam followed her sister's gaze and saw the metal arm on the couch. Eventually, Bucky realized what was going on as the two boys ran towards the piece of furniture to look at the wakandan prosthetic.
"Wow, so cool!" said AJ.
"You can detach it at will?" Cass asked, impressed.
Bucky didn't pay attention to them or Sam's wicked smirk and preferred to reassure Sarah.
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine. In fact, I, er, was trying to do exactly that. This is something I've been trying to figure out for a few days now. I'm sorry I scarred you, I didn't mean to."
Sarah took a deep breath.
"As long as you didn't hurt yourself by accident, that's all I need to know. Dinner's ready everyone."
Bucky fell into Sarah's footsteps more than willingly. Sam glared at AJ and Cass who were about to touch the metal arm. They giggled and ran towards their seats at the kitchen's table. As Sam sat down himself, he frowned at his friend.
"Don't you want to take a moment to reattach your arm?"
Bucky shook his head.
"Nah, 'm fine. I went two years without and it wasn't exactly a bad time."
They ate joyfully as they listened to the two smallest persons in the room narrating with great details their day at school.
The sun was long gone behind the horizon and the night came with a fresher temperature. Bucky and Sam sat outside the house, drinking beers. Bucky was on Sam's left and he would oftentimes bump into his shoulder.
"Sorry," he said. "I might be a bit off-balance. The arm's way much lighter than before but it still weighs more than both my flesh arm and leg, you know?"
Sam snorted.
"That wouldn't be the beer that makes you a bit off-balance?"
Bucky was about to respond when Sarah appeared on the threshold. She seemed a bit shy but the brunet immediately felt like smiling at her - and she smiled back.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said, "but I couldn't help but notice your arm seems a bit dirty. You mind if I clean it up?"
For a few moments, Bucky was speechless. Then he answered, blushing.
"I don't... mind. But you don't have to do that. Wait, it is because it's staining the couch?"
He was already half on his feet when she stopped him.
"No it isn't. Please, let me do this, I like to be useful."
She got back inside and Bucky sat back. He turned to Sam.
"Your sister is really amazing."
But Sam shot him a look he didn't understand.