Winter Blues

.

Laura Barton stares down at the young boy that had greeted them upon entering the communal room of Avengers Tower.

When she'd agreed to move into the tower for safety reasons with the kids, the last thing she'd been expecting was for there to be another child here.

He was young, about four or five, maybe two years or so younger than Lila. Winter blues stare up at the two of them from under a thick mop of curly black hair, and the boy nervously sucks in his lower lip before offering a shy smile.

He takes a moment to glance back at Thor, who offers him nothing but encouragement, before he turns back to them.

"Hello. I'm James."

A small hand is held out to her, and Laura smiles, bending at the waist to meet the welcoming gesture. She's pleasantly surprised when the boy plants a careful kiss on her knuckles instead of shaking her hand.

How dashing.

"I'm Laura, and this is Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel."

She gestures to each of her children, watching as James takes in the appearance of the two boys, before finally his eyes land on Lila.

And they go slightly round, and much to Laura's amusement, his eyes go wide with surprise and his cheeks pink. Was she witnessing a blooming crush on her only daughter?

"Hi," James repeats, offering his hand to Lila, and the boy smoothly kisses her knuckles too.

How cute.

Who's adorable child was this?

Certainly not Thor's, though he had been entrusted with the boy's care, that much was obvious.

"Lady Laura, it is good to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances. My Jane has many questions for you."

Laura smiles, recalling Clint's gossip on the approaching bundle of thunder. Her dear husband had gotten a good chuckle over the sheer amount of questions Thor had been asking him about parenthood. The God of Thunder is incredibly excited, that much is evident.

"Where's your mum and dad?" Cooper is asking James, who blinks, slightly startled at the question that draws his attention away from Lila.

Oh yeah, that's a crush right there.

Her baby girl seems flattered over it all, that's for sure.

Clint was gonna love this.

Not.

"They're on a date," James says with a sharp nod of his head, before he seems to consider his next course of action, "Thor, can Cooper and Lila come play battlements?"

Laura doesn't have the slightest clue what 'battlements' is, but her children -despite they're own ignorance- turn pleading eyes upon the tall Avenger alongside their new friend.

"Of course! The greatest of friends are made during battle. I shall join young Cooper's side, and mayhap the good Captain will aid Lila and yourself?"

Laura smiles, carefully adjusting her grip on Nathaniel as she follows the four further into the tower.

.

They're greeted by a mess of colour.

Bucky's lips twist at the scene, even as Harry peeks around his broad shoulders to get a better look at what's happening. Battlements seems to have taken place, because there's coloured paint all over the place, from the tops of the castle like structures Harry created in Tony's spare floor, to the little moats that threw physics out the window by just being present.

James has come running up to them, dropping the paint gun and launching himself at his mother. Bucky watches the two of them interact and, when James and Harry both hold one arm out to him, hesitantly steps closer.

It's been a month, and the dates are going well, even if the first had been somewhat awkward.

But now, things are just fitting together, and he's not sure if it's just sheer luck, or if Harry and James and just that amazing, but Bucky's ever so thankful for it.

He scoops James up with one arm, the other wrapping close around Harry and matches James' grin with one of his own.

Harry's looking between the two of them like she can't quite believe what she's seeing, and he hopes its something good. That she's honestly not thinking of leaving.

She'd never stop him from seeing James, but Bucky wants her.

To begin with, he was desperate for a slice of normal.

But now, now that he's gotten to know Harry and her quirks and her story, he's determined to fight to keep her.

To keep her and James in his life forever, because even though they're wonderful and he doesn't deserve them, it doesn't stop him from wanting.

"Mum," James draws Harry's attention with a careful pat to her cheek, the cavity of his missing tooth flashing in his grin, lthis is Laura, Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel."

He gestures to what Bucky understands to be Clint's family, the archer dropping through a vent in the ceiling as James introduced them.

But he's not quite finished there.

"Lila's really pretty and smart and I'm gonna marry her someday!"

And Clint chokes.

decided this is done now, for those interested;

Thor calls his child 'Haldor Orion Thorson'

Bucky and Harry do get married about two years after this, and give James two little siblings; George Regulus Barnes, and Winifred Lily Barnes.

And yeah, after a hell of a lot of wooing years later, James marries Lila.

Tsume

xxx