Leaning back in the passenger seat, Marlena stared out at the night sky while the hum of the radio nearly lulled her to sleep. As the evening had grown colder, snow had resumed falling, and Marlena couldn't help but smile while watching the fluffy snowflakes hit the windshield. She couldn't help but wonder if Peggy was watching the snow from her bedroom window, as well.

Steve and Marlena had spent the whole day with Peggy, and all had been well until Peggy began repeating questions that had already been answered. At one point, Peggy had to be reminded of who Marlena was again, and though she knew it was supposed to be frustrating, she was more than happy to talk with Peggy for hours. She'd known from stories that Peggy was a strong woman, but after meeting her and talking with her, Marlena was sure that Peggy was the strongest woman she'd ever met.

"Steve," Marlena said softly, her eyes still focused on the window, "I can't thank you enough for today."

"Peggy really enjoyed your company, Marlena. I haven't seen her that happy in a long, long time." Steve smiled, glancing over at her.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked, finally turning her attention to him.

"Yeah, of course."

"What does it feel like?" she asked, waiting patiently for him to answer.

"What does what feel like?" Steve kept his eyes on the road, but his attention was solely on Marlena.

"Loving someone who. . ." Marlena faltered with her words, ". . .who you can never be happy with. You'll never get to have the life with Peggy that you wanted."

Steve's lips parted as she spoke; he was a little surprised by her words. He knew she hadn't meant to evoke any sadness, but that was exactly what she was doing.

He choked back a tear or two before speaking, "I always will love her, Marlena. She. . .she was—is—an incredible woman. I won't have the life with her that I wanted, but I can be the part of her life that she wants me to be. And that's what means the most to me," he finished, looking over at Marlena who stared back at him, a soft expression on her face as she noticed his watery eyes.

"You know," Marlena shifted in her seat, pulling one leg up and turning her body to face Steve in the driver's seat, "I think you're far more incredible than Captain America."

"What does that mean?" Steve chuckled, though his eyes still held that sadness he felt when remembering the old days.

"What I mean is, the world thinks Captain America is so amazing—which he is—you are. But I think Steve Rogers is the real hero." Marlena smiled gently.

Her words touched his heart, and he pulled his right hand off of the steering wheel to squeeze her hand, "Thank you, Mar. That means a lot to me." He smiled, his eyes fixating on the road ahead. "I don't mean to sound too sentimental, but you really are the sister I never had."

"I love ya, Rogers." Marlena smiled, squeezing his hand back before he took hold of the steering wheel again.

"Yeah, yeah. Love you, too, Claire," he replied, a low chuckle escaping his lips.

Marlena returned her attention to the window, finally realizing that they should have been back at Steve's apartment by now. It hadn't taken nearly this long for them to get to Peggy's, and she was sure that he wasn't taking some long, backroad—not in DC.

"Uh, are we lost?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Me? Lost?" Steve laughed, shaking his head. "No, I'm just taking the long way around."

"Are you sure?" Marlena asked, seriously doubting that's what he was doing.

"Positive. Trust me." He glanced over at her with a cheeky smile.

Marlena merely narrowed her eyes at him, the corner of her lips threatening to turn upwards, despite her curiosity. She did trust Steve, so she simply leaned back in the seat once more, watching the snow hit the windshield while the radio continued to hum in sync with the back-and-forth motion of the windshield wipers.

"Steven Rogers," Marlena piped up about twenty minutes later, leaning forward in her seat to get a better look at the neighborhood they were entering.

"Yes, Mar?" Steve asked with a smirk on his face.

"Are we—is this my neighborhood?" She asked, her voice filling with excitement.

Sure, it had been months since she'd seen the rows of houses that lined her streets—the streets she grew up riding bikes on with Mason—but she could never shake the familiarity that the neighborhood brought her.

"We're going to my house?" she asked again when he didn't answer.

"I thought you could stop in and grab some more of your things. You know, to take back to New York with you." He smiled, glancing over at her. "Besides, I'm getting sick of seeing you wear the same ten outfits over and over again."

Marlena rolled her eyes, too happy to come up with a snarky comeback to his remark. She was going to her home—a place she had missed dearly. The only thing that could make it better would be. . .

"No way," Marlena squinted as Steve's headlights landed on Greyson's car parked in her driveway. "Greyson's here?" She beamed, her eyes flickering between Steve and her house as they pulled onto the side of the street across from the house.

"I may have called him and told him we were in DC," Steve chirped, taking the keys out of the ignition and hopping out of the car.

Marlena practically threw the passenger door open and flung herself from the car; she was so eager to see Greyson. She had been rather disappointed to see that he hadn't flown to New York with her mother and brother for the holidays, but she was more than happy that Steve had arranged for a visit while they were in the city.

"I can't believe this, Steve. You're a lot sneakier than I thought." She laughed, the cold snow tickling her face.

Steve just chuckled as he followed her up the path to her house, her boots hitting the frozen front steps as she practically bounded to the door. Her fingers wrapped around the handle, a simple, but comforting feeling of home washing over her.

Marlena twisted the knob open and stepped inside, the smell of cinnamon and pot roast causing her stomach to growl. However, the fact that the living room lights were off caused her to turn to Steve, the only light illuminating the doorway coming from the lamp post outside. Before she could even part her lips to say anything, the lights cut on and her voices rung through the air.

"Surprise, Marlena!"

Marlena brought her hands to cup her face in shock, tears welling up in her hazel eyes. Her smile was growing even wider—if that was humanly possible—and she felt Steve's hand push the small of her back gently. She walked further into the living room as he shut the front door behind him, the cold air leaving the room almost immediately as he did so.

There they stood—her family. Miranda, Mason, Greyson, Tony and who she identified as Pepper by his side, Natasha, Sam, and of course, Bucky. Though she noted that Clint, Bruce, and Thor weren't present—because they each had their own family (and girlfriends) to celebrate with—she was still overflowing with joy.

"We decided you deserved to celebrate Christmas at home, doll." Bucky smiled, his eyes lighting up because of the smile on her face.

Steve pulled Marlena into a side hug as he pecked her on the forehead, "Hope you like part two of your present." He grinned, releasing her from his grip.

Marlena nodded, unable to think of the right words. She was completely whole. Her heart was full. Nothing could beat that feeling; that, she was sure of.

"I-I don't know what to say," she stuttered, a few stray tears of joy escaping her pretty eyes, causing Bucky to approach her. "This is amazing," she said softly, almost not believing her eyes.

Bucky used the pad of his thumb to wipe away her happy tears, his lips pressing to her cheek as he took her hand in his and pulled her towards everyone. After hugging her mom she came to Mason and Greyson, a smirk already plastered across his face.

"Mason and Greyson," she smiled, hugging each of them.

"Dr. Seuss," Greyson replied, letting out a cackle at his own joke.

"There's that sense of humor I missed so much," Marlena giggled, squeezing him tightly.

"I sure did miss you, Kiddo." Greyson ruffled her hair before releasing her petite body.

"I hear you're taking good care of Mom," she smiled up at him.

"You don't know the half of it," he winked, receiving a smack on the arm from Marlena.

"Leave it to you to make an inappropriate joke." Marlena shook her head, laughing.

She was then whisked away by Tony, a content smile on his face.

"Pepper," he spoke to the strawberry blonde before turning his eyes to Marlena, "meet my little sunbeam, Marlena."

"Marlena," Pepper repeated her name, taking her hand gingerly, "it's so nice to finally meet the girl Tony won't shut up about on the phone," she teased him, "Now I see why he dotes on you more than himself now." She laughed, squeezing her hand softly.

"Tony bragged about someone other than himself?" Marlena mocked surprised, poking fun at Tony.

"Very funny, you know, you never did get me that Shawarma you promised me, Cupcake," Tony said seriously, though Marlena knew it was all part of the fun.

"Tony, you had Shawarma for lunch. Leave the poor girl alone and let her mingle," Pepper joked, releasing Marlena's hand.

"I'm so glad you're here, Tony. It's nice to have someone so old and wise present." Marlena hugged him briefly, hearing Sam and Natasha's laughs coming from the right.

"Watch it, Pigeon, let's not forget that Rogers and Barnes are the only grandpa's here." Tony glared over at Sam, who was now rolling his eyes at the unfortunate nickname he'd received.

"Hey, Stark, you better watch it. He's a lot younger and stronger than you are; you better be nice to him." Natasha grinned, pulling Marlena away from Tony to hug her.

"Nat," Marlena exhaled into her friend's shoulder, hugging her tightly. "Thank you for this."

"I'd say 'you're welcome,' but it wasn't my idea. It was Steve's and Bucky's." The redhead smiled, pulling away from the hug.

"Is there anything those two can't do?" Sam added from the side, waiting to hug Marlena next.

Marlena hadn't realized until now, but thanks to Bucky, she had all of these incredible people in her life now that she may have never even met if it weren't for him. These people were her family, and she wouldn't let that go unappreciated.

"Sammy!" Marlena smirked, knowing how much he despised being called that—unless it was by her, of course.

"E'Claire Cake," Sam pulled her into a bear hug, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"Good to see you, buddy," Marlena chirped, pulling back to smile up at him.

She then turned to Bucky again, who was now standing a few inches away from her, holding a mistletoe high above his head with his metal arm.

"You," Marlena poked him in the abdomen, "you and Steve did this?"

"That's right, sweetheart. Now, pay up." Bucky smirked, his flesh arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her flush against him.

He dipped low to catch her soft lips in a kiss, her own arms wrapping around his torso to hug him. Of course, everyone in the room couldn't pass up the opportunity to crack a few jokes.

"Get a room," Sam chuckled.

"You gotta stop kissing your great grandfather's friends, Marlena," her mother joked, reminding Marlena of the first time Miranda ever caught her and Bucky kissing in the middle of the night while watching Transformers.

"Shut up," Marlena laughed once Bucky had let her go.

Bucky could only gaze at her, studying the smile on her face. It made him even more mesmerized to know that he was part of the reason why she was smiling. He never felt worthy of her, but in that moment, he didn't really care. All that mattered was that he had her—out of all the people in the world, Bucky Barnes was in love with Marlena Claire, and she was the only girl that mattered.

After a couple hours of talking, small gift exchanges, and drinking wine—those who were of age, of course—Miranda stood up from her seat on the couch. She'd actually been the only one who had willingly declined wine that evening, which somewhat surprised Marlena. However, she was fine with it, because her mother's sense of judgement was quite deteriorated after a few glasses, anyways.

"I would just like so say a few things," Miranda said, tears already welling up in her eyes.

Everyone stopped talking and turned their full attention to the brunette, listening intently.

"These past few years have been difficult for my family—Marlena especially." Miranda swallowed, trying to ward off the tears, "She lost her dad, which to this day, we still miss so, so much. For a while, I thought. . .'Will my baby girl ever smile the same way she did when her father was here?'"

Marlena could feel a pit forming in her stomach and tears dripping from her eyes, though Bucky tightened his arm around her where they sat on the couch.

"And tonight," Miranda continued, smoothing out the creases in her dress, "I saw that smile—and it is because of you all. You have done so much for Marlena, and I cannot thank you enough. I know how much Marlena cares about you all, and I know she wishes that everyone could be here tonight, like Mr. Barton, Dr. Banner, and the one with the sexy hair." She let out a chuckle, though a few tears had already escaped. "And most of all, I know she wishes her father could be here. But," she looked over at Greyson, "I know she's happy to have Greyson here."

Greyson smiled at Marlena from across the room. Marlena did really miss her dad, but she couldn't imagine how different her life would be if he were still here. She knew that even though he wasn't there physically, he was still there in her heart, where it mattered.

"So, since this is a time to celebrate," Miranda smiled, pulling Greyson up off of the couch, "Greyson and I would like to announce that we're going to be having a baby."

Marlena's eyes widened, a smile spreading across her face as she wiped her tears away, "Mom!"

Bucky released his hold of her waist as she jumped up from the couch. Everyone else was already clapping by the time Marlena had wrapped her arms around her mother.

"I'm so happy for you guys!" she beamed, the pit in her stomach now gone.

"I'm surprised you two have found the time to keep busy," Natasha pointed out in reference to the fact that Miranda had been in New York off and on since Marlena had been there.

"If Miranda is anything like her daughter, then I'm sure she makes the time," Tony said, causing Marlena's face to flush red.

"Ew, you guys are so old, though." Mason scrunched his face up.

"Who are you callin' old, buddy?" Greyson narrowed his eyes.

"Bucky's ninety some years old and he still rocks your sister's world," Tony said seriously.

"You've got no idea." Bucky smirked, causing Marlena to elbow him in the ribs.

"Okay, that's enough. There are innocent ears in the room," Miranda piped up, referring to Mason.

"Oh, right!" Tony said, sipping his wine, "Sorry to corrupt your virgin ears, Rogers!"

"Roasted!" Sam cackled, nearly choking on his wine.

"More like frozen—in ice for seventy years," Natasha muttered, letting out a hoarse laugh.

"Can we stop talking about this?" Marlena laughed nervously, taking her seat down on the couch again.

"Yeah, bring out the pot roast. That's all I've been thinking about," Mason said as Bucky ruffled his hair.

"Wow, you really are Marlena's brother," Sam added.

"I'll go get it, Mase," Marlena laughed, standing up from the couch and heading towards the kitchen, Bucky close behind.

"Marlena," Bucky caught her attention as they walked into the kitchen. "So, you're going to be a big sister to two now." He smiled, tucking a piece of wavy hair behind her ear.

"Guess so," Marlena smiled warmly, leaning back against the counter. "This was the best Christmas present I ever could've dreamed of."

Bucky raised an eyebrow, the hint of a smirk on his face, "Oh, sweetheart," he shook his head, "this actually is only half of your Christmas present from me."

Marlena narrowed her eyes at him as she blushed, making him realize how his statement had sounded.

"Oh, no," he chuckled, shaking his head, "not what I meant." He smiled, reaching into his back pocket and pulled out a little white box with a silver bow.

Bucky placed it in her shaky hand gently, waiting for her to open it.

"What is it?" she asked, her smile growing.

"Open it and find out, baby," he said with a smile, though he was a little nervous; he had taken ages on deciding what to get her, so he hoped she would love it as much as he loved her.

Marlena brushed a few stray hairs out of her face before tugging on the silver ribbon, the satin material falling loosely from the box. Inside was a circular, silver necklace, her initials carved in elegant, vintage cursive on it.

"Buck," she looked up at him and back at the pendant, her breath shaky, "it's beautiful."

"It's a locket," Bucky picked it up out of the box, holding it out to her, "open it."

Marlena bit her lip as she took the locket in her hands and opened the tiny latch, revealing a small, aging photograph of Bucky from the 1940's inside on the right. He was in uniform, his hair slicked back; he must have been holding his hat when the photo was taken. He was the most handsome man in the world in Marlena's eyes, and she couldn't help but stare at the picture. She then moved her gaze to the left side, small words engraved in the metal. She brought it closer to her face, her hazel eyes reading the line carefully.

"I'll be with you," Bucky whispered the words as she read them, causing her to look up at him with adoring eyes.

"'Whatever happens, I'll be with you,'" Marlena repeated the full line—something she had said to him many months ago, when they'd first started falling for each other.

"I mean it, Marlena Claire." Bucky wrapped his arms around her, pressing his forehead to hers. "No matter what happens, no matter how bad things might get. . .I will never leave you."

"I love you, James," she said softly, squeezing the locket in her hand as he pulled back.

"You're my world, Mar. I mean it. I couldn't imagine my life without you," he said, carefully opening her hand and taking the locket out of her palm to clasp it around her neck.

"Hey, you won't have to," Marlena said, catching his gaze.

He leaned forward, pressing his lips against her's. He kissed her deeply, but gently, lovingly, but lustfully. The chatter from the living room dissolved away, and they were the only two people in the world. Everything Marlena was, was exactly what he needed. He loved everything about her, inside and out, flaws and all. She had brought him back; she was his hero. She was his strength. She was his weakness. She was his everything.

Bucky only let her pull away when her lungs were desperate for air, and he resumed putting the locket on her.

"Hurry up in there!" Natasha called from the living room.

"Yeah, we're starving!" Mason added.

Marlena chuckled as she started getting plates out of the cabinet, Bucky still trying to hook the back of the locket around her neck. Once it was hooked, he took the plates from her hands and set them down on the counter.

"Listen," he started, looking down at her seriously, "as long as you wear this, I'll be with you. I promise."

Marlena nodded, "Thank you, Buck." She smiled, giving his hand a squeeze before she resumed readying the plates and food for everyone.

Her mind wandered to the thoughts of everyone in the living room. Every one of them was happy—which made her heart feel whole. Miranda and Greyson were happy together and expecting, Mason was happy, Tony, Pepper, Nat, and Sam were happy. . .and Steve and Bucky were happy.

Marlena smiled to herself, thinking. This was what mattered most to her—everyone else's happiness. She wanted nothing more than for her family and friends to be happy and safe, and together. And though she knew she could never repay them for all they had done for her, she knew she could try her best to always protect them—to keep them both safe and happy. She promised herself that she would not let the people she loved be in danger, either physically or mentally, ever. They were everything to her—and Bucky was everything to her. And all of this—all of the good that had come from the bad—was because of everyone sitting in her living room that night, in addition to those who weren't there. Despite everyone she had lost in her life, she still had them. She always had people to come home to, no matter where they were. She now knew that home wasn't a place; it was a feeling—one that she hoped she'd never lose.