Christmas came rolling around, and the time leading up to it was not in any way full of cheer for Bucky.

There were many things that Christmas time brought on. For starters, ever Christmas was another one without Derek. Christmas had always just been something special for the Barnes'. Their first one without Derek had been very hard, and ever since then it had gotten a little better every year, but it would still never be the same. Winifred would always try to bring up the mood, but even she was breaking inside. That was her son.

Along with that, Bucky had had to formally come out to his parents.

It wasn't something that he could just avoid forever, as much as he wanted to. Not acknowledging the fact would only leave George to assume that Bucky was gay. And Bucky sort of hoped that maybe him being bi would be okay, because then at least that way he still liked girls. Bucky hoped, as he assumed George would also, that in due time he could forget about Steve and maybe find himself a girl. Then the two of them could just push the whole bisexuality thing aside and pretend it didn't even exist.

Still, when Bucky cleared his throat while they were all eating dinner his hopes were not high.

Immediately, he met George's eyes from the other side of the table. And George— no. That could have been am encouraging smile. But it almost seemed like—

"Yes, Bucky?" George said. And Rebecca, who had previously been stuffing her face with food, swallowed and nodded at Bucky in support. She knew exactly what was going to happen, and she would be there for Bucky if things went south. Bucky loved her for that.

Winifred knew what was up, too. Bucky could see it from the look in her eyes. The way that she held her head up high showed that she was ready to take Bucky's side.

Yet Bucky was still terrified, and his voice shook when he spoke.

"I need to tell you guys something," Bucky said. He stared directly at George as he said it, because really, he needed to tell George something.

George just nodded for him to continue, but Bucky suddenly felt as if he couldn't speak at all. There was a huge lump in his throat that he could seem to swallow, and every time he tried to open his mouth no sound would come out.

Bucky had known it would be difficult, he had just hoped that he'd get the words out before the real trouble started.

"Take your time, son." And George. Oh, he knew too. Yet there was hope on his face, like he thought maybe Bucky would say that they were all wrong and he really was just straight.

But that made Bucky angry, and it gave him that little push he needed to continue.

"I'm not gay," Bucky said. From across the table, George visibly relaxed. Rebecca sent a worried look Bucky's way, and Winifred a knowing one. "I'm bi."

George's relieved look quickly changed to one of confusion. "Bi?"

"Bi," Bucky repeated. "As in 'bisexual'. I like girls, but I also like boys too."

"Oh. . ." As George processed this information, he looked neither proud or disappointed. Bucky wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not.

"We're proud of you," Winifred said. "Aren't we, George?"

That tone would have anyone agreeing. Though when George slowly nodded, it almost seemed genuine. Still, Bucky didn't think that his father agreed with it, nor would he ever. Bucky didn't care much. All he really wanted was for his own father not to hate him as much he he hated himself.

"Yes," George said after a long pause. "I'm sorry about the other night. I still don't agree with it, but I don't ever want my son to feel like he isn't loved."

A pause. The scraping of a fork that Bucky could hardly hear. Rebecca taking another big bite out a her burger.

"But. . ." Bucky started, not really sure what he even was trying to say. "What if one day I bring home a boy instead of a girl? You can't tell me that you'll suddenly be okay with that. Us 'abominations'."

George averted his eyes. "I didn't mean that." Bucky found that hard to believe. "And I just want to say, I don't want you to ever feel like you have to have a girlfriend just because I don't agree with it. You. . ." Bucky could just tell that he was struggling to say every world. It was obvious that none of his words were really honest, but somewhere down there, he was at least trying. Bucky had to give him that.

"You should always follow your heart," George finished.

A part of Bucky was saying that he would do what he wanted, no matter what his father said. But most of him knew that wasn't at all true.

"Thank you," Bucky said. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Winifred's shoulders sag in relief. "Thanks for. . .trying to be there."

His father gave him a strained smile.

**

Christmas came, and it was a little bit of a distraction from the whole coming out thing.

Winifred and George were determined to make this Christmas the best one yet for their children. At least, the best one since Derek. Despite the obvious tension between George and Bucky, George did his best to make sure that Bucky was happy. Maybe, in the back of his mind, George still hoped that this whole bisexual thing was just a phase. He tried to keep this in mind, and it was really all he could do to not think poorly of his own son.

However, one day when Steve came over, George became certain that it wasn't just a phase. Not only did he catch his son stealing glances at his old friend, but Steve also looked at Bucky in a way that friends didn't look at each other. Normally George didn't care to be so observant, but along with how obvious Steve was being, his curiosity got the best of him. It was also apparent that the two were oblivious of each other's feelings.

The thing was, George was almost certain that Steve had a girlfriend. Things just weren't adding up.

And then it was Christmas Day.

And maybe the Barnes' gave their children far too many gifts, but it proved to be worth it when all morning they were actually smiling. Even Rebecca, who George had hardly caught smiling as of late. And because Bucky and Rebecca were smiling, so were Winifred and George. They ate dinner and they thought of Derek, though this time they smiled, thinking of the happy memories.

The family was just getting ready to watch a movie – Christmas Vacation – when there was a sudden knock on the door. George didn't know who could possibly be interrupting at this time on Christmas Day, but he got up to get the door nevertheless.

When George saw who it was, he wasn't surprised in the least. It was none other than Steve Rogers, of course.

"I hate to bother you at this time," Steve said apologetically. "But I have this gift for Bucky and I just have to give it to him now."

With the way that Steve was rocking back and forth on his heels in anticipation, George just couldn't say no. He stepped aside and let the blond boy in, who immediately headed to where he must've seen Bucky in the living room, shoes and all. Only a few seconds later he was turning back, apologizing profusely to George and kicking off his shoes.

And George couldn't help but watch the two boys as they headed to the kitchen. Bucky looked slightly bewildered, yet excited at the same time. He hurried off for a moment, returning back down the stairs with his own gift for Steve. George knew that it was a jersey with the name of Steve's favourite soccer player, and it had caused a damn fortune. George also knew for a fact that Bucky hadn't spent nearly as much on anyone else.

When Steve opened his gift, he first looked ecstatic, but his smile quickly faded.

"Oh Bucky. . ." The kitchen isn't very far, so George knew that he'd catch their every word, even if he was trying to ignore them. Which, clearly he wasn't. "I can't have this. It must have cost a fortune."

Bucky shrugged, a slight smirk on his face. "I can't take it back now. And I bought it for a reason. I wanted you to have it."

With the way that Steve was looking at Bucky, George thought sure that the blond was about to kiss him. He had seen enough romance movies to know, courtesy of his wife. George couldn't help the disgusted feeling that festered in his chest. Part of him didn't even want to feel this way about his own son, but he had been conditioned to feel a certain way about homosexuality growing up, and it was just hard to break away from.

"George," Winifred said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Let them have their privacy."

"If they wanted privacy they should have went upstairs," George whispered back.

"I can't get the TV to work," Rebecca said, saving her father from whatever wrath he was about to receive from his wife.

Winifred and Rebecca work together to get the movie to play, leaving George free to observe his son once more.  Maybe it was wrong, which George very well knew, but he just couldn't help it. He hoped that there was at least a chance that he was wrong about this whole thing, and they really were just friends.

"A photo album?" Bucky said, confused.

George had an internal battle, his mind fighting itself on whether he should turn away or not. In the end, George did tears his eyes away from the two boys and went to help the two girls.

But he didn't miss what Steve said, regardless of whether or not he had blocked the two from his ears.

"Pictures of us when we were kids. And, empty spaces for pictures of us now."

**

A/n: eewwwwww this chapter was gross. But hey, I updated. I thought it would be kind of cool to write from George's POV. What did you guys think?