"Could someone explain to me why we turned down the fancy, private view from 30 Rock?" Tony asked as he followed Steve through the crush of people in Rockefeller Plaza.

Eddie, strapped to his chest in the baby carrier, squealed and kicked his legs out. Tony grinned and held his hand in front of his son, letting Eddie grab onto his fingers.

"Because," Bucky supplied from Tony's left, "This is more fun."

"If by fun," Tony rolled his eyes, "You mean insanity. Then yes. This is so much fun."

"Don't be a Grinch, Tony," Pepper laughed, tugging the little knit cap down over Eddie's ears.

Tony scoffed, "Need I remind you who -"

"Donated two million dollars to various charities," Bruce finished his friend's sentence.

"Oh, you heard about that," Tony smirked.

"You might've mentioned it," Rhodey rolled his eyes.

"Once or twice," Carter giggled.

"Or a thousand times," Bucky muttered under his breath, but he was smiling.

The Avengers had been invited to light the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree this year. It had definitely taken some huge amounts of coordination on Maria Hill's part to get everyone in the city at the same time.

Nat and Clint were supposed to be heading an extraction, but instead they were sipping at hot chocolates and wearing heavy sweaters. Ava was strapped to Clint's back, peering at all the lights and people.

The lighting concert was in full swing now, but the large group of superheroes worked their way to the staging platform.

"This is so COOL!" Liam grinned, bouncing from foot to foot. Steve held tightly to his hand and grinned.

"You know, they used to light this tree when I was growing up, too," Steve said, looking more than a little nostalgic. Kit reached for his other hand and squeezed, offering up a bright smile.

"I do not understand why this is an important tradition?" Thor boomed. He crossed his massive arms over his chest and looked up at the tree. "Is this supposed to be a large tree?"

Axl piped up, "Yeah! There are bigger trees outside the All Father's home."

"Your home," Jane gently reminded the boy. Axl sighed and nodded.

"This is like the tree we have in the Tower but on a bigger scale," Steve explained.

Thor nodded, but still didn't look impressed.

The music was filling the area, Christmas tunes playing at top volume.

Mikey and Liam started dancing a little, jumping around and screaming off-key to the wrong lyrics.

Carter stood in between Bucky and Kit as they watched the boys.

"They're hysterical," she laughed.

"They're going to hate us when they're older," Kit laughed, meaning the recordings she and Bucky were making on their phones.

Bucky and Carter hung off to the side of the platform.

"You should be up there," she nudged him in the side, although Carter was sure Bucky couldn't feel it through all the layers of fleece and down.

They were watching Steve make a quick speech, with Bruce, Thor, Tony, Sam, Clint, and Natasha forming a semi circle around him.

The tree lighting was still about forty-five minutes away, but the mayor had invited the group up to speak and introduce a musical act (maybe Taylor Swift, Bucky wasn't sure) before they all hit to switch.

Bucky wrapped his arms around Carter and pulled her close, "I don't need to be up there. I'm happy to be standing with my best girl."

Carter frowned a little. Bucky'd been acting a little weird lately. She was sure it was nothing, but still, she worried.

She leaned into his side and they watched as Tony took the microphone. He made a few sarcastic comments and the crowd laughed and cheered.

Behind Carter and Bucky, Eddie shrieked when he heard Tony's voice, "Dada!"

Pepper smiled happily, "Yeah, that's your dad."

Finally, the group walked off the platform and came to meet up with their spouses and children.

"Can we get closer to the tree?" Mikey asked Betty, craning his neck to look up into the dense branches.

"Yeah!" Liam agreed, tugging at Kit's scarf. She gently untangled his fingers so the scarf stopped hitting Sarah in the face.

"How about we wait until the lights are on?" Natasha suggested. She wanted to see the tree up close too, but there wouldn't be time to get there and back before they had to light the tree.

The boys started to protest, but Clint appeared with two bags of warm doughnuts.

"I brought sugar," he grinned at the large group.

"Where did you even get these?" Jane asked, looking in one of the bags for a cinnamon sugar doughnut.

She handed Axl a chocolate sprinkle one and her son grinned.

"I have my ways," Clint laughed, passing the bags around.

"What he means is he paid one of the NBC interns to have them waiting," Natasha rolled her eyes lovingly. Clint pressed a kiss to her cheek, "Like I said, I have my ways."

The show continued and the group watched in companionable silence. Most of the littler ones had fallen asleep, leaving Liam, Mikey, and even Axl to jump around to the music.

Bucky fidgeted anxiously. He was dying to see his plan through. But he had to wait.

Or did he?

An idea came to him and he grinned.

"Come on," he whispered to Carter, grabbing her mittened hand.

"What are you doing?" she whispered back, tripping over her feet a little as she stumbled behind him.

He grinned mischievously and pulled her along. Bucky caught a quick glimpse of Steve's confused face. He winked at his best friend, hoping Steve would know what he planned on doing.

"We're getting a close up look at the tree," Bucky said, slowing his pace a little. There was still time.

Carter frowned, "You're going to miss the lighting! Bucky, what's going on? This isn't a relapse, is it? Distancing yourself from the team?"

"Nope," Bucky stopped abruptly so he could kiss her cheek, "This is not that. But I love you for worrying."

Carter gave a faint smile, "I'll always worry about you, Bucky."

"I'm counting on it," he murmured to himself, picking up the pace towards the backside of the tree.

"Bucky..." Carter said his name a little nervously, she was becoming mildly suspicious. She held onto her knit cap as they blew past large crowds of people.

A uniformed cop stopped them as they approached the barriers for the tree.

"Sorry, sir," he said, "Can't let anyone closer to the tree. Please head behind the barrier."

Bucky nodded, "I'm Bucky Barnes. This is my girlfriend." He gestured to Carter and she gave a little wave. "We just wanted to get a closer look at the tree."

Bucky's status as an Avenger was well known at this point, but so was his reputation as the former Winter Soldier. So, Carter wasn't surprised that the cop frowned and wavered for a bit.

Bucky dropped Carter's hand and stepped forward to muttered under his breath to the cop.

Carter watched as a goofy grin spread across the young cop's face. He nodded and gestured behind him, "Go ahead, Mr. Barnes." He dropped his volume, "Good luck."

Bucky nodded, "Thanks."

He took Carter's hand again and they snuck past the barricade. A few steps forward and they were directly underneath the large branches.

"Oh wow," Carter breathed, looking up through the branches. "This is amazing."

Bucky's gaze remained focused on Carter's face. "Yeah, it is."

His metal hand slipped into the pocket of his jeans and tugged out the small box. As Carter looked away from the tree and back at Bucky, he sunk to one knee.

"Oh my god!" She gasped, her mittened hands flying up to cover her mouth.

"I never thought I'd get this chance," Bucky started. "My time as the Winter Soldier was the worst in my life. But slowly, I came back to myself. I found Steve again, or he found me, but still. I didn't let myself...I couldn't fully let go of the past until I met you."

Carter made a little squeaking sound and tears sprung to her eyes.

Tony's voice came through the speakers; "We're honored to light the Rockefeller Center tree this year."

Bucky continued, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up next to you and have kids with you."

He popped open the box, revealing a gorgeous diamond ring.

The background noise of the light countdown was drowned out by Bucky's question.

"Carter Davis, will you do me the biggest honor and marry me?"

Carter was speechless and could only nod for a few seconds.

Finally, she shouted, "yes!" and flung her arms around Bucky's neck, just as the team hit the switch to turn the tree's lights on.

Bathed in the multi-colored lights, Carter cupped Bucky's jaw and kissed him deeply.

"I love you," she said as they broke apart.

"I love you, too," Bucky grinned and took Carter's hand so he could pull off her mitten and slide the ring on.

It was a perfect fit.

A/N: This is a little short, but it did what I wanted it to do. I'm sorry I haven't been playing in the MCU sandbox as much lately, but life is getting in the way. Also, the timeline is really messed up, I'm aware. But I just didn't have time to read through everything I've written to figure out the right timing. Honestly, I'm lucky I got this up when I did.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this final holiday story from me and have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Drop me a review to let me know what you think :)