Chapter Sixty
Bucky sat at his desk in the office he and Steve shared, staring down at the piece of stationary on the surface of the blotter in front of him.
“Still trying to figure out how to break the news to your parents?” Steve asked sympathetically from his desk, where he was going over ranch accounts. He did the numbers first, and then Bucky would check them. Their desks were identical, arranged so that they were facing one another beneath a window, so that all they had to do was look to the side to see the view of their little orchard through the window. Runa’s desk was positioned so that she faced the window, her desk giving a bit of room between Steve and Bucky’s so they had a walkway. She wasn’t in the office, however, she was downstairs, working on her sewing in the sitting room.
“I’m also still trying to figure out how to invite them out to the ranch. ‘Ma, Pa, I think you work too hard, so come and live on the ranch with us.’ would put them both up in arms.”
“Pa likes to think he’s invincible.” Steve agreed.
“Maybe I should wait to invite them out to the ranch until I see how they feel about the three of us married to each other.”
“Maybe.” Steve agreed. “Don’t do anything until you’re sure, Buck.”
Bucky frowned. “I’m sure I want them here. Pa is working too hard, and it’s going to kill him if he doesn’t get a change.” He looked back down at the paper. “I told them about the fire, but not that it was arson. I should probably explain that.”
“I told Ma it was arson. I kept her up to date on the trial.” Steve confessed.
“That’s good to know.” Bucky felt relief at that. “I’m surprised she didn’t call me out about not telling her it was arson.”
“Probably thought you were trying to keep her from worrying.”
“Which I was.”
“Which you were.” Steve looked up at Bucky again. “Would you like me to be the one to write the letter explaining things?”
“No. This is something I need to do. I just… I wish it was easier. I wish I knew how she was going to react, so I could calm her down. It’s something better told in person, not through a letter.”
“It is not something better told in person in this case, unless you want to take a trip to go visit your parents and explain everything, which we would rather you not do in the dead of winter, and have you get snowed in someplace.”
“Yeah. You’re right. And if I put this off any longer she’s going to be upset that I didn’t tell her sooner.” Bucky agreed with a sigh, picking up his pen once more and beginning to scratch out a missive. “I’ll ask them to come live in Texas after I see how they react to this letter explaining the marriage.”
“Describe the wedding a bit, some of what Reverend Fury said. She’ll like that, and it might help, having the words of a Reverend blessing the union. Knowing that people see this is a proper relationship in the eyes of God, even if it isn’t what most people consider normal.”
“Yeah. That… That’s a good idea.”
“And maybe we can convince Runa to write a letter to them, introducing herself.”
“That might be a bit too much until we know how they react.”
“Good point.”
~*~
It took Bucky three days to finally scratch out a letter that he thought was acceptable, that might make his parents approve of the situation. He took it to town on his next trip, which was primarily meant to pick up supplies for the Thanksgiving party that would be taking place on Bluestone Ranch. Bruce had been invited and had accepted, as long as no one needed his services. He planned on leaving a note on his office door directing anyone who looked for him to Bluestone, just in case, and he was assured that everyone would understand completely if he was called away during the festivities.
The Maximoff family had been invited as well and were more than happy to accept. Pietro had proved adept with the horses and was hired on permanently, while Wanda had been one of the three people to respond to Steve and Bucky’s ad for a housekeeper. She had delivered her response in person, and told them that she was the best choice, as she already knew how they liked things done, and was one of the few people able to talk Runa into taking things easy. So, Wanda had been hired on as housekeeper and the replies to the other two applicants were given with regrets that the position had been filled.
Runa had talked things over with the twins, and between them they had decided that they would invite Erik and Magda to Bluestone for Thanksgiving, while the twins would go home to spend Christmas with their parents.
The day before Thanksgiving, the house was filled with delicious smells, Runa and Iris baking pies, cakes, and breads for the meal, getting as much of the prep work done before the day of Thanksgiving as possible.
On Thanksgiving Erik and Magda arrived early for the dinner, which would be held two hours late that day. Magda and Wanda joined Iris and Runa in the kitchen, while Erik and Pietro joined Bucky and Steve in the sitting room, along with most of the other men, all of them crammed inside, all sharing stories and tales of holidays gone by.
When the women called everyone in to dinner, the table was practically groaning under the bounty of food. Three turkeys, a ham, and a large beef roast accompanied by homemade bread dressing, yeast rolls, cornbread, Yorkshire pudding, creamed spinach, roasted carrots, boiled green beans, cranberry chutney, cucumber pickles, spiced peaches, pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate cake, spice cake and plenty of fresh cream and butter.
Everyone ate until they were fit to burst, and once the meal had been cleared away the games began, packs of cards brought out. Magda and Wanda sat down with Runa and Bucky, teaching them how to play bridge, while Bruce and Steve played cribbage, Titus played backgammon with Dum Dum, Iris led a game of hearts, and games of rummy and pinochle were started around the dining room table.
It was a pleasant evening, and when Runa went up to bed with Steve and Bucky, she felt perfectly content. There were only a few things that could make the night better, and while the three of them had an even more pleasant time before finally drifting off to sleep, Runa still hungered for the words, worried about saying them too soon, worried about popping the bubble of joy that encapsulated them.
Soon, she told herself as she drifted off. I’ll tell them soon.