#Some things I can guess would be America-central like shows and toys and food

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Winter Wolf: Part 12

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, angst

Word Count: 5,485

Box Filled: Gender Swap

A/N: This series was written for @marvelfluffbingo​ and it took on a life of its own. Enjoy!

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It surprisingly took Steve a lot longer than you expected to return to Wakanda on ‘official royal business.’ You were laying on the couch in your living room, watching four and a half month old Anastasia laugh hysterically as she swatted at the colorful, handmade yarn dolls a woman at Bucky’s job had made for her that were hanging above her head. You smiled at her as you reached out and pushed one of the ones closest to you so that it would catch her eye and laughed with her as she kicked her legs and reached for it.

The knock on your front door startled you and you quickly sat up and grabbed the gun you had wedged between the couch cushion and the back of the couch. With quick movements, you got up and walked on silent feet to glance out the window since most people who came over to visit you and Anastasia called first. You peeked out the window and let out a sigh of relief as you turned the four locks on the door and turned off the house alarm system.

“Well I’ll be damned.” You laughed as you stepped back and let a very scruffy Steve into your two bedroom, two bath apartment. “That’s a good way to get shot in this house.” He nearly tripped over his own feet as you locked the house back up, turned the alarm back on, and put your gun on the table by the door.

“What is this?” He asked as he pointed to the little girl on the floor who was looking up at him in awe.

“It’s a baby.” You said with a shrug as you moved the arch away from Anastasia so you could pick her up. “And if we wanna get really technical, it’s a girl baby.” Steve’s face deadpanned as he met your eyes.

“Didn’t realize I became blind overnight but thanks. Where did the girl baby come from?”

“Anastasia…” You said as you balanced your daughter on your hip. “… came from Romania. Her birth mother was an old friend of mine named Daniela who had terminal cancer. Her father was a tourist and Daniela’s moms was a hardcore gypsy that surprisingly would absolutely not raise a baby born out of wed-lock no matter what her husband said. And she was a blatant racist so the mix race thing was not helping Anastasia’s case either. So, Buck and I took her. Well, we didn’t take her, I guess we officially adopted her. T’Challa’s lawyer guy helped us figure out the paper work so her official birth certificate says that we are her parents. So meet your… well technically you could meet your little sister…”

“Oh, my gosh, stop.” He laughed as he reached out his hands to hold her. “Anastasia, you said?” You nodded as you passed over your daughter.

“Anastasia Daniela Barnes. Her mom named her and we figured honoring her mom with the middle name was appropriate.”

“I like it.” He said as he sat down on the couch with her on his thighs. “Hi cutie.” Your daughter looked at him a little confused as she reached out to grab his beard. You laughed and gently intercepted.

“Bucky has to stay either clean shaven or he keeps his beard real short.” You said with a laugh. “We learned really fast that once she gets ahold of something she wants, she will not let go. We both keep our hair back in buns just to keep it out of her reach.”

“She’s beautiful.” He said with a smile as he held onto her sides so that his fingers were supporting her head even though she didn’t need it as much these days. “Now I’m curious. What is she?”

“Romanian, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, African-American, and a splash of Scottish, Italian, and Greek. I had Shuri run her ancestry DNA when we did a full check up on her when we got her. She was born the day before Bucky and I got married and we got her when she was three days old.”

“God, she’s so cute. I can’t believe you two are parents.” You smile proudly and snagged one of the many toys off the floor.

“Me neither. It’s been a wild ride.”

“I bet.” He laughed as he watched you bop your daughter on the nose with a pink, stuffed rhino rattle to grab her attention. She laughed and reached for it as Steve looked around the living room. “Where’s Bucky?”

“At work.” You said as you handed your little girl her toy. “He got a really good job in IT at the transportation hub. He loves it. He actually should be home in an hour or so if you wanna stick around. I should probably start dinner anyways if you wanna entertain your niece.”

“I think I can handle that, what do you think?” He asked Anastasia, who simply tried to eat her rattle in response.

“Just keep your beard away from her grabby little hands.” You said with a laugh as you got up and headed to the kitchen. “She’s a sneaky little monster sometimes.”

“You can’t be a little monster.” He growled playfully as he picked her up off his thighs and slid down to the floor with her to play. “You’re too cute, right? Yes, you are.” You smiled to yourself as Steve continued to baby talk to your daughter while you got dinner ready for your family and your guest.

With Steve distracting your daughter, you got the homemade Italian dressing marinated chicken, the fettuccini you made from scratch that morning, and the Alfredo you found a recipe for on a website called Pinterest (which was, in your opinion, the greatest thing in the entire world) cooked in no time. You were just getting everything plated when the automatic smart locks on your doors unlocked and the alarm signaled it was temporarily disengaged with a beep. You looked up at the door from the kitchen as Bucky stepped in the door with a sigh.

“Hi baby.” You said with a smile. “We have a visitor.” Bucky looked over at you as he turned the last lock before turning the other way.

“Well I’ll be damned. If it isn’t Captain America. And my little angel.” He cooed as he went over to say hi to his friend and pick up his giggly little girl. “Oh, I missed you!”

“Never thought I’d see the day.” Steve said as he got up off the floor with a laugh. “Playboy Bucky Barnes has a kid.”

“I got bamboozled by the cute.” He laughed as he kissed Anastasia’s forehead. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here on ‘official business’.” Steve said sarcastically with air quotes as Bucky came over to give you a kiss hello. “We’re trying to fine tune the Sokovia Accords and I figured I’d stop in to see how the newlyweds were doing while I was here.” He laughed as Bucky turned his head away from Anastasia before she could grab his bun.

“Didn’t expect the baby, did you?” Bucky laughed as he grabbed one of the plates to help you out before starting a bottle for his daughter.

“Not one bit.” Steve laughed as you passed him his plate and grabbed silverware for everyone. “But then again you two have been full of surprises in the last year.”

“We gotta keep life interesting, Stevie. I’ve been around long enough to know that.”

“Million years really is a long time.” Bucky teased as the three of you sat down at the table to eat.

“Shut up!” You laughed as he laid Anastasia across his arm and his lap and gave her her bottle before you went back to trying her on soft solid food again. He propped it on his chest and used his elbow to keep it upright so that he could still eat and make up for the time he spent away from home that day.

“I’d still love you even if you were as old as the dinosaurs.” He cooed with a smile as you cut his chicken just to make it easier for him to multitask.

“Guys, you’re gunna make me sick before I can even enjoy this meal.” Steve joked as he twirled some pasta around his fork.

“You’ll be fine.” Bucky said around a mouthful of fettuccini.

“So what’s going on in New York?” You asked with a glance over at your friend. “Do you have any juicy gossip for us?”

“Well.” Steve said as he chewed. “Not really. Teams good. We had a mission a couple weeks ago that was a pointless waste of time. Some idiot tried to release anthrax bombs in Central Park and apparently that now requires the Avengers to step in.” He rolled his eyes and sighed with a shake of his head. “Hence the reason I’m here talking to T’Challa. I’m trying to get some semblance of balance to these Accords which is proving to be difficult as expected.”

“How’s Tony?” Bucky inquired with a glance over at you.

“Tony’s… well, Tony. He and Pepper got engaged.”

“‘bout time.” You mumbled as you twirled your fork on your plate. “Is he… has he said anything about me?” You looked up at Steve through your lashes as he shook his head subtly.

“Nothing good nor bad. No one wants to bring either of you up.” You nodded as took a bite of your food to avoid inquiring about the next person but Steve answered the unspoken question anyways. “Natasha’s back. She just showed up about two months ago without a word of explanation of where she had been…”

“Good for her.” Bucky said curtly; still harboring a grudge for your ex.

“How’s Wanda?” You ask to change the sensitive subject. Steve nodded and swallowed his bite.

“She’s good. I think Vision is talking about proposing but I’m not entirely sure.”

“Awe, good.” You said with a genuine smile. “Those two are so good for each other.”

“Yea, yea they are.” Steve agreed with a nod. He could feel the slight layer of tension building in the room and quickly changed the subject to prevent an argument over Natasha. “So tell me more about my niece.”

——

“She’s asleep.” Bucky sighed as he closed the nursery door quietly behind him and trudged toward the couch you had flopped down on after saying goodbye to Steve. With a groan, he laid down on the couch practically on top of you and wrapped his arms around your waist. “Finally.”

“I think she’s teething.” You said as you ran your metal fingers through his hair and pulled out the hair tie. “That’s what the book suggested. She was fussy for a couple days but she wouldn’t let me near her mouth to check.” He nodded against your stomach and buried his face in your shirt.

“Did you put those squishy things in the freezer?”

“Yes, James. I can mother, thank you.” You teased as you rolled your head on the arm of the couch to look at him.

“You sure? I still question if I can father, properly.” You giggled with him and laced your fingers together on his back.

“I think we’re doing just fine.” He said with a smile as he looked up at you. “We’re in this together, remember?” You nodded your head as he adjusted his head on your stomach with a content sigh. You let your eyes fall closed, just content on existing in that peaceful moment with your husband. You could feel his fingers making tiny, tight patterns on your back under your loose fitting shirt and moving at a glacial pace up your spine. There was no rush and no urgency, there was just love.

A knock on your front door caused both of you to stiffen and sigh at your ruined moment. Bucky pushed himself up off your chest and grabbed the gun from the couch cushions. You got up as well and purposely moved yourself between the front door and the nursery. With a glance over his shoulder at you, he turned off the alarm and unlocked the doors.

His whole body tensed as he quickly shove his foot against the back of the door and pointed his gun at whoever was on the other side. You instantly backed up to the nursery door and yanked off your shirt so that you would have better movement when you needed it. You tried to make your five foot six, thankfully muscular body as big as you could in the doorway and wished that you had put a weapon next to the door frame like you had wanted to.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Bucky demanded with more animosity and venom in his voice then you had ever heard before. Which meant one of two things; both of which you were not ready to face.

“Can I talk to her?” Natasha asked softly with tears obvious in her tone.

“Shut the door.” You said from your place.

“You need to leave, now.” Bucky growled.

“Please, I just need to see her!”

“You don’t need to do shit!” Bucky snapped back. “Leave, Natasha.”

“Please.” She begged as Anastasia started to fuss behind you. “Please, I just need to apologize.”

“You have no place to say sorry to me.” You snapped as you stormed away from the nursery door. You put your hand on Bucky shoulder and moved him back a step to look at the partially unrecognizable blonde in front of you. “You’re not welcome here.”

“My star…” She tried but you grabbed your gun from Bucky and cocked it harshly.

“No!” You shouted, which effectively woke your daughter up. “You stood there, Natasha. You just stood there when I needed you the most. You stood there and shook your head. You didn’t even try to defend the woman you supposedly loved as I was thrown from my home. I lost everything! My family, my security, my sanity. All of it was gone and Bucky was the only person that stood up to protect me. Steve did what he could but that wasn’t his responsibility; it was yours. And you- did- nothing!”

“(Y/N)…” She tried as tears fell from her eyes. You heard Bucky growl behind you as he turned to go to the nursery for Anastasia and you shook your head at your ex.

“No, Nat. I don’t want to hear it. Because even though I left, you still did nothing. Sure, you tried to hunt me down but, as you quickly realized, I won’t be found if I don’t wanna be. So that was a waste of time. Let me ask you this. Have you even bother to talk to Tony about me once? Did you try even one time to get him to see that I am not that monster anymore? Or did you just play victim because you choose to literally turn your back on your girlfriend and she was taken from your life like you promised would never happen? I don’t even need an answer from you because I already know it. You played the victim. I expected more from you Natalia. So much more. Especially after you fought so hard for Clint, who you have said you didn’t love as much as me, to get him back into your arms when Loki had him try to murder you.”

“Baby…”

“Go to hell, Natasha. I want nothing to do with you. Stay away from me, stay away from my family, stay the fuck away from Wakanda. Go do you, you heartless shrew because you sure as fuck aren’t doing me ever again.” Without another word, you slammed the front door closed and turned the locks as fast as your fingers would go. Once the alarm was reset, you set your gun down and followed your daughters screaming to the back bedroom.

“She gone?” Bucky snapped as he bounced Anastasia in his arms.

“She’s gone.” You said with a nod as you locked the secondary door in your room and sent out a silent thanks for Shuri making your house impenetrable once the alarm was set. “Come here, angel.” You carefully took Anastasia from Bucky and walked over to the bed with her while Bucky started to pace.

“How’d she even find us?” He asked angrily as he yanked off his work shirt and chucked it across the room toward the laundry hamper. “Who the fuck does she think she is?”

“She’s gone, Bucky.” You said softly as you rubbed your daughter’s back and laid her out on your sports bra covered chest.

“She has no right.” He snapped as he continued to get undressed. “No right to just show up here like that.” You nodded in agreement as you tried to check Anastasia’s mouth again since she was awake. “Who does she think she is?”

“I don’t know, baby.” You said evenly as you forced yourself to keep your anger at bay and you absolutely felt one of her teeth near the surface of Anastasia’s bottom gums. “She’s teething.” Bucky glanced over at you and did a double take as your daughter grabbed your hand almost to hold the soothing metal in place. He climbed on the bed slowly as Anastasia’s crying turned into hiccups.

“Oh, baby girl.” He said sadly as he leaned against the headboard so that he was right in front of her. “You’re OK, sweetheart.” She hiccuped again as he reached up to brush his hand over the back of her head.

“We’re in for a world of fun.” You said softly as she started to chew on your finger. He nodded as her eyes started to slowly drift closed again.

“We’ll figure it out.” He said as he helped get the pair of you under the blankets. “We always do.” You nodded in agreement as he kissed Anastasia’s forehead and laid back against his pillow.

“Think she’ll tell Tony we’re here?” You asked as he grabbed the padded co-sleeper from under the bed.

“Probably.” He said as he laid the sleeper down between you knowing neither of you would sleep comfortably that night if she wasn’t in the room with you. “We’re safe here, though. Tony can’t get into Wakanda without T’Challa knowing about it anyways…”

“Nat did.” You said as you brushed your fingertips down Anastasia’s back so she would fall back to sleep.

“Yea, well now we’re prepared.” He said a little harshly.

“OK.” You said as you looked over at him. “OK…”

“Sorry, baby.” He said as he ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “She just… she makes me so mad.”

“I know, baby.” You agreed as you carefully pulled your hand back and laid your daughter down in her sleeper. “But we’re better than her now, right? We’re parents now. We can’t stoop down to her level.”

“Yea.” He said with small smile as he laid down next to the other little lady that stole his heart. “Yea, you’re right.”

“I’m always right, James.” You giggled as you got up to wash your face and get ready for bed. “That’s why you married me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the night Natasha showed up, you started to live in fear. Every time you stepped outside with Anastasia, you carried an unnecessary amounts of weapons on your person and constantly kept your head on a swivel. After two weeks of jumping at every little thing, the Wolf came back and began to taunt the safety of you and more specifically, your baby girl. And at that point, you locked yourself and Anastasia in your apartment and had your weekly groceries delivered by a teenage boy that lived in your building.

Bucky wanted to protest your seclusion but he was equally as scared for the two loves of his life. He convinced you once about a month after Nat showed up to leave the house just to head up to a restaurant on the corner. He barely made it long enough to order the food to go and rush you back home with a mild case of whiplash. He knew you were at least safe in your home, so after that failed attempt to be social, he looked the other way about you staying home all the time.

Anastasia was growing like a weed. One day she was needing help to sit up on your lap or on the floor and the next thing you knew, she was seven months old, crawling across the wood floors as fast as her chubby arms and legs could carry her, and practicing her standing as long as you held on to her sides. You were beyond ecstatic that her first word was ‘mama’, which Bucky wasn’t a huge fan of, but she didn’t disappoint for long because ‘dada’ came about a week later followed by ‘ba.’ And thus began the part of her life where she would follow you around after you while you cleaned, babbling ‘mama dada’ for hours over the sounds of her knees and palms clomping on the floors.

“She does this all day?” Bucky asked as he helped put away the lunch leftovers on one of his Tuesdays off. You smirked and nodded as you wiped down your kitchen counters while Anastasia sat right next to your legs on the floor repeating your name with the occasional ‘dada’ mixed in as she chewed on a frozen strawberry in a mesh pacifier.

“Every day. We’re getting a lot better at separating our names though.” He laughed as he walked over and looked down at her with his hands on his hips.

“What are you doing?” He said playfully as she looked up at him with a smile.

“Ma dada… da mama!” She said as she reached for him with one arm, not willing to pull the fruit pacifier from her mouth.

“That’s progress.” You laughed as Bucky picked her up and tossed her in the air a couple inches.

“I still can’t believe she’s ours.” He said as walked over and sat down on the couch with her. “I also can’t believe how fast she’s grown.”

“I know.” You sighed with a nod as you hung your rag over the middle of the sinks. “I just want it to stop already. Make her stay cute forever.”

“Yea, because both of us wanna change diapers for the rest of eternity.” He laughed as you flopped down on the couch for a break before you went back to doing laundry. You rested your elbow on the armrest and propped your head on your fist as you watched your daughter ‘walk’ up Bucky’s thighs and stomach while she continued to chew on her strawberry.

“We need to leave Wakanda.” You said softly. Your husband slowly nodded his head in agreement.

“I’ve been thinking the same thing.” Tears welled in your eyes as the pair of you just watched your daughter with more love than either of you knew was possible. She walked her way up his chest so that her little feet were on his face and squealed in joy when he playfully pretended to eat her toes.

“Where should we go?” You whispered, not trusting your voice any louder.

“We can stay in Africa for a while.” He suggested with a glance over at you as he held his daughter over his thighs again. “Head south until we hit the end of the continent then try to catch a ride over to Asia. Head toward Australia. We’ll just keep moving.” You nodded your head and looked over at him as a few tears fell from your eyes. “We’re gunna be OK, baby girl. We know how to survive on the run. And we’ll just be more hyper-vigilant with Anastasia.”

“OK.” You whispered as you pushed across the couch to rest your head on his shoulder. “I’ll call up to Okoye and we’ll leave tonight?” He nodded his head as he turned to kiss the top of your head.

“We’ll pack as light as we can with her when she goes down for a nap. Get out after dark.” You nodded your head and sighed as you got up off the couch.

“I’ll get the laundry finished and make that call.” You heard him mumble ‘alright’ as he took the empty pacifier from Anastasia before she could throw it.

“Come on, pumpkin. Nap time.”

——

“Our clothes, her clothes, bottles, formula, baby food…” You said to yourself as you went through the two, overflowing backpack duffle bags on your bed. “… toys, bathroom bags, pacifiers, blankets.”

“We can strap this to your backpack.” Bucky said as he tossed the padded sleeper on the bed and grabbed the baby carrier from under the bed as well. “The play pen is a little too big to carry with us.”

“True.” You said as you grabbed the ball of twine and the sleeper off the bed. “Did you empty out every drawer on the changing table into the diaper bag?”

“And the extra stuff in the closet.” He said with a nod. “You got the new load of groceries in there?” You nodded your head as you checked the weight of both backpacks to make sure Bucky’s wasn’t too heavy.

“I think we should bring the stroller.” You said as you set his backpack aside, deeming it full enough. “I think we’ll regret it more if we don’t.”

“It’d make carrying the car seat easier. We could fill the bottom up with more stuff…”

“It would make carrying bottles of water easier.” You agreed. You grabbed the Ziplock bag of baby medicines, sunscreen, and other necessities for Anastasia and threw them in the last bit of space in your bag. “These are both done.” He nodded his head, acknowledging that he heard what you said as he pulled the old SIM cards from your cell phones and grabbed new ones and a pair of burner phones from your bedside table drawer. He pulled weapon after weapon from the drawer as you put everything from the room out in the hall.

“You gunna carry her first?” He asked as you came back in and started to load your old Winter Wolf cargo pants with guns and knives.

“Yea, I got her.” You said as you checked the gun you would keep on your hip to make sure it was fully loaded and the safety was on. You put it in your holder and made sure that it was far enough back that there was no way your daughter could reach it before grabbing the carrier off the bed. You followed Bucky out to the living room to load up anything else you could fit in the stroller; a case of water, some laundry soap you otherwise would have had to leave behind, and a few more of her favorite toys, and took one final look around your apartment for anything else you could possibly need.

“We have all the cash?” You asked as you headed toward the nursery to grab your daughter to leave.

“Yea, it’s all in the diaper bag.” He said as he put his backpack and the diaper bag on and grabbed the carseat to put in the front of the stroller. You nodded, despite the fact that he couldn’t see you as you carefully picked your sleeping daughter up from her crib and put her in the baby carrier. You made sure to grab her bedtime blanket and her favorite stuffed bunny rabbit before heading out of the room to get your own backpack.

“You got everything?” He asked softly as he helped you put the backpack on so you didn’t jostle Anastasia too much.

“Anything we forgot, we can replace.” You responded as you tucked the blanket and bunny into the carseat. “Oh, grab the fold up booster seat.” You said as you pointed to the chair in the corner by the dinner table. You pushed the stroller to the door as he stuck the seat across the top and added the two bottles of water for you to the cup holders.

“Alright.” Bucky said as he looked back around your apartment while you shut off the alarm and unlocked the door. “Bye first house.” You couldn’t bring yourself to turn around and look back at it as you pulled open the door.

“Let’s just go, baby.” You forced yourself not to tear up as you headed down the hall to the elevator.

“It’s alright, (Y/N).” Your husband said as he rubbed your shoulder with a small smile on his face. “We’re gunna be just fine. We can handle this.” You took a deep breath as the elevator opened on the ground floor and nodded.

“Yep. We’re…”

“Running away with a baby?” A voice asked from the shadows that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. You whipped your gun out at lighting speed and turned around as Tony stepped out of the shadows. “Do you really think that’s the best parenting choice there.”

“Back up.” Bucky growled as he moved between you and Tony with his gun pointed at the man as well. “Baby, go.”

“No, no.” Tony said as he took a step closer with his hands raised. He instantly took two steps back as both you and Bucky cocked your guns and flipped off the safeties. “Look, I know you’re both a little jaded here…”

“A little?” You asked as your eyes darted around the street; catching Steve and Wanda hiding in the shadows in the alley across from you, Vision a block behind you behind a car, Clint on the roof across from you… and Natasha peeking out from the alley behind Tony.

“Wonder why…” Bucky growled.

“Yea, you have the right to be mad. I was an asshole. Plain and simple. But I was wrong. And I’m man enough to admit that. So if you wanna hide out, go ahead. You wanna raise your kid in fear here in Wakanda… yea, I know everything.” Tony said as you shared a side eyed glance with Bucky. “You wanna stay here, go ahead. T’Challa said that was fine by him. You wanna come back to the towers and feel safe, you can do that, too.” You forced yourself to keep your face unreadable as you searched Tony’s eyes.

“I’ll stay away.” Natasha said softly. “I won’t come near any of you. Just please. Please come home where you belong.”

“She’d be safe.” Bucky whispered in Xhosa without taking his eyes off Tony or Natasha as you watched the other Avengers. “Both of you.”

“Is it worth dealing with the other half of the problem?” You asked with a side look over at him.

“We’d be safe.” He repeated. “And we wouldn’t have to keep running.” You sighed, knowing that he was right and that dealing with Natasha was worth guaranteeing that the voices didn’t come back and that Anastasia would be safe forever.

“Come on, guys.” Steve called out as he took a few steps forward. “Do it for my niece.” You looked over at Bucky, who you knew wanted to go home and not have to work every day even if he wouldn’t admit it, and sighed.

“Fine.” You breathed as you flipped on the safety and ejected the bullet in the chamber of your gun. You could hear the subtle sigh of relief from your husband as he put his gun up while the other members of the team all stood down.

“You stay away from them.” Bucky growled as he pointed at Natasha and put the diaper bag on the stroller. She nodded and took a few steps back as Steve came over to say hi to Anastasia.

“I’m guessing you still have stuff upstairs?” He asked as he brushed his fingers over the top of her head.

“We packed as light as possible so yea.” You said with a nod.

“Alright then. Steve, get them to the jet. We’ll get the rest…”

“I’ll go up with you.” Bucky said as he pulled off his backpack and passed it to Steve. “We can just pile everything that’s left in the crib.”

“Leave the furniture and the dishes behind and put a note on the woman across the hall’s door that she can help herself to whatever is left over as a thanks for her son getting our groceries.” You told him as Steve took off your backpack for you. He nodded his head and headed back toward your apartment building as Steve put his hand on your back.

“Let’s go home, (Y/N).” He said with a smile as he lead you behind Natasha to the quinjet that was parked on the palace jet pad.

“I just hope it’s not the worst decision we’ve ever made.” You muttered as you stared daggers into Natasha’s back.

Part 13

#Bucky x Reader #Winter Wolf #marvelfluffbingo #Winter Wolf Series #Bucky Barnes x Reader

[madaraism]

Tourists – Liam x MC (NSFW)

A/N: Happiest of birthdays to my fellow Aussie, @topsyturvy-dream. Knowing you has been such an amazing journey, one of which I can be the complete salty, questionable bogan that I secretly am. I love talking about the joys that is Liam and Riley with you, and all the possible places that they would have chill dates with in Sydney. Please go check out her blog, she is an amazing person to talk to, not to mention her artworks for the Choices fandom is fantastic (she also gives the most extensive fanfic reviews ever, which ultimately gives me LIFE). Love you Nikki! You still owe me a woolies mudcake, even though it’s your birthday.

Also additionally, look at me, trying to break away from the angst-writer stereotype.

Summary: The royal couple has a little rendezvous in the land down under.

Rating: Mature – NSFW and language.

Inspiration: Adore by Ariana Grande

Perma tag: @topsyturvy-dream @hellospunkiebrewster @umccall71 @blackcatkita

Tagging people who might be interested: @never-ending-choices @laniquelove @hhiggs @cocomaxley @bobasheebaby @boneandfur @alicars @captainkingliam @kawairinrin @hopefulmoonobject

Such a peaceful place, Australia.

Full of different cultures and languages, festivities and curious eats, the bustle of other tourists, the relaxed and joyous atmosphere of other Sydneysiders.

The lead up to their trip down under was purely for relaxation; she had talked about it for years about visiting, desperate to explore places other than America and Europe, a point that she had shared with Liam when she brought him to that secret cove back in New York the night they met.

It had been a running gag for the past years.

She had lived with her extended family back in The States, sure, but deep down she missed the time she had spent growing up in the land down under.

It had started off with her vocabulary, the certain way that she would say things, and especially the accent that would slip out when she got angry or frustrated.

The whole crew would then laugh about it and joke about her accent with terrible imitations. They had spent so many years talking about it, letting her reminisce about her time spent there. She found it funny, seeing all their reactions and laughing at how misconstrued their idea of Australia was; Hana being squeamish with the sizes of certain insects, Maxwell foolishly, yet not surprisingly, believing in the existence of drop bears, Olivia boasting about the Cordonian Ruby being better than the Australian Pink Lady. At least Drake seemed to be interested in the extremely relaxed and much-loved drinking environment.

She remembers it all very clearly, correcting fiction with facts, teaching them certain slang, correcting inaccurate tourism ads with a rather frustrated, “We don’t even say shrimp on the barbie! What even is a shrimp? It’s a damn prawn!”

And Liam, being Liam, loved the idea of exploring a new country, especially one that meant so much to her.

So he spends months to plan the perfect trip for her birthday, finding the excitement bubbling within him when he realises that it falls within a certain period where the city of Sydney is dressed in different colours, bright lights and impressive art instalments for the three-week-long art festival called Vivid.

Liam makes a trip out of it, hoping to maximise their stay there to take in all the sights by opting to stay at the lavish Park Hyatt with uninterrupted views of the Opera House instead of the delegated Cordonian houses.

She discovers his surprise when she steps onto the plane; expecting another tedious journey to some state dinner in some European country, only to be greeted with the pop of multiple party poppers from the crew and the king himself; gold and green streamers covering her hair and the carpet underneath her feet.

“Surprise, my love. Have you guessed where we’re going yet?”, His eyes sparkle and he flashes his signature loving yet cheeky grin.

The gold and the green… the national colours…

“Noooooo…”, She gasps as it sinks in, taking around the comfortable attire of everyone.

Liam can only continue grinning as she wraps her arms around him, “We’re going down under.”

-

The flight was excruciatingly long. Not because of the travel, no, but the joke of it all being brought to reality was about to send her into madness.

It was a series of the usual discussion topics, only much more intense.

“For the love of god, Maxwell, if you play Down Under by Men At Work one more time,”

“No, Olivia, I don’t know why they don’t accentuate the ‘r’s in every word, maybe you can ask them when we get there.”

“Fairy bread is an Aussie staple, Hana. All you need is bread, butter and rainbow sprinkles. No, it’s not a dessert. It’s breakfast. It’s party food. Pavlova is a dessert.”

“No, Drake, Tasmania is not actually connected to Australia. I’m sure we can get you a bottle of Sullivan’s Cove in Sydney. …No, I didn’t know they won the World’s Whiskies Awards in 2014, I actually like having a functioning liver.”

Liam can only laugh, his fingers working along her back to untangle the stress induced knots in her muscles.

-

Perhaps it was the excitement of being in a different country; the truth in her words when they realised just how genuinely laidback the people were.

With Vivid on, the buzz and excitement was immeasurable. The different art instalments throughout various suburbs and in the central business district, the way different moving artworks illuminated the white sails of the Opera House, seeing people interacting with the moving sculptures and instalments… She missed it all, but sharing it with Liam and the others meant so much more to her.

She cringes but laughs at the way Maxwell tries to blend in into the Australian crowd with supposedly ‘Aussie streetwear’ – namely a singlet with his hippo tattoo proudly showing, board shorts and flipflops – or thongs, as he now calls it to fit in.

She laughs at the way Hana would drag the reluctant Drake and Olivia over to explore various art statues that would make musical notes when you hit them a certain way.

But most importantly, she loved how Liam’s eyes would sparkle, admiring how such beautiful displays were admired by everyone, tourists or not, and that they were all so interactive and interesting, taking in the ideas and hoping to start something similar in Cordonia in celebration of the arts when they return home.

At times, however, she would notice how distracted, almost frustrated he was.

Perhaps it was the crowds of people, she wonders, the way they all pushed in curious groups, making Liam’s arm cling around her waist, making sure they wouldn’t get lost.

Or maybe it was their incessant chattering, she wonders, the complaints from Olivia and the dry retorts from Drake and the endless questions from Maxwell and Hana, how the group was so insistent on travelling everywhere together as a pack with her as their tour guide.

But she didn’t care, she realised, because all those moments accumulated to Liam finding the opportunity to pull her away from her role of their delegated tour guide, when the rest of them finally got distracted with the colourful festivities amidst the other crowds.

From an aerial perspective, the Opera House stands tall and proud by itself at the end of the Circular Quay walk. People only pay attention to the front of the landmark, taking in the long flight of stairs that led up to the entrance and the white sails. The Vivid Light walk takes people around the front of the Opera House and to the right, leading them into the Royal Botanical gardens that overlooks the Harbour Bridge and the city skyline.

No one ever ventured around to the back of the Opera House. There was no need to.

And even if they did, there were just so many nooks around the landmark, the shadows and cold winter breeze by the sea acting as their curtain.

The wall pressed against her back is cold and hard, but his arms around her and the peppered kisses along her jaw makes her feel incredibly heated.

She knows that look too well; dark eyes hazed over with lust, lips swollen from shared kisses.

His voice was deeper than usual, raspy and desperate, groans leaving his lips at the feeling of her body against his, “I couldn’t wait until we got back to the hotel…”

She grins at his words, gasping when his fingers pull at the collar of her sweater, his kisses moving to behind her ear before trailing down across her collarbone and her décolletage.

His hands that followed the curves of her body, tugging and pulling at her clothes had made their way underneath and between her legs, fingers coy and toying.

“Why? I thought you… ah… enjoyed… mm… their company…”, Her words are slurred, her own hands pulling at his hair as his fingers work in tantalizing circles at her heat.

“I do…”, He mutters as his fingers continue to please her, delving further into her wetness before curling upwards familiarly, teasing. “But they wouldn’t stop asking you questions about this or that… They haven’t left you alone with me for more than five seconds…”

His finger is still curled within her, his thumb mirroring the pulses of pressure against her clit with emphasis at each word, “…I want you. All. To. Myself.”

Her hips buckle into his fingers, head tilted back into the wall with her eyes closed, bottom lip between her teeth. “Ah, fuck, Liam…”

Liam presses his forehead against hers, eyes half lidded, so dark and so full of want as his other hand moves to hoist her leg up, wrapping it around his waist. He groans out her name as he grinds into her core. “Don’t stop looking at me, my queen, I want to see you come undone…”

And his fingers quicken their pace; in, curl, rub, out, in, out, repeat. His thumb, putting more pressure but not too much that it becomes painful on her clit, switches from slow circles to faster ones.

Her brows are furrowed, mouth open in quiet ecstasy, legs trembling and hips rolling, but her eyes never leave his. His lips meet hers for a quick second before his teeth cling onto her bottom lip, tugging, his other hand moving from her hoisted leg to her thigh, up and up to squeeze her ass.

When she comes, she is writhing. Her ears are hot and her eyes are stinging as she refuses to blink, to tear her gaze away from his. She is quiet, his name rolling off her tongue in a frenzied, heated whisper.

Liam smiles at her, stepping back slightly after kissing her forehead which was now sticky from sweat. His actions are quick, unbuckling his pants and letting them pool at his feet. His hand, still wet from her high, strokes along his own hard length.

At times, their lives can be so happy and simple, full of laughter and pleasant, innocent kisses. The sense of normalcy is so heavily craved when their life is filled with duties of ruling a country and managing a duchy.

Her bottom lip is caught on her teeth, her mouth dry as she looks at the sight before her; Liam, standing tall with his broad shoulders and straight posture. The shadows were supposed to be their curtain, yet it complimented the dark, lusting look on his face so well.

In a sea of commoners, he is a king.

A master of body language.

So in the rare circumstance that the duties of country and court are not overtaking their lives, his art of kingship is more prevalent.

“Strip.”

She shudders, her fingers quickly and diligently working at pulling her pants off before moving back up, making quick work of pulling her sweater off and unbuttoning the shirt underneath.

Such a simple word, but spoken with such power.

He is the king, and he doesn’t let her forget that.

“Good girl…”, He steps back in, kissing her as he caresses her cheek with his free hand. Her other hand meets his along the length of his hardness, pumping him hard and slow; down and up with a slight twist right at his head and back down.

Liam groans into her touch, his hips moving slightly along with the work of her hands. “My Queen…”, His voice is emphasized in a hiss as her thumb grazes along his tip.

His hands are now on her hips, hoisting her up and pressing her up against the wall. It forces her arms to hold onto his shoulders instead of giving her the pleasure of pleasuring him back.

She finds herself void of complaints however as she feels his head slide tantalizingly slow against her folds. She clings onto him, letting her lips kiss his as she tries to push him into her, praying gravity would be on her side against the strength of his arms wrapped around her frame.

She growls when he doesn’t give in, “Liam, for the love of Cordonia, fuck me.”

He tuts at her, letting his weight and an arm hold her in place above the ground while his other hand continues teasing her. He doesn’t stop, pushing just the head of his length in before taking it out again.

She is whimpering, she is wanton. Her hips try to buck in her favour when he teases but it is no parallel to the strength in his arms.

“Is this how you speak to your king? Even after neglecting him?”, His eyes are so unbelievably dark when he is teasing; he lets himself slide in just a little bit more this time, before sliding back out. Liam looks at her expectantly.

She lets out a small cry, “I’m ah… sorry, my king, for getting distracted ah!... by… the others… fuck.”

“Good… Now let me show you just how much I’ve missed you, my Queen.” His forehead is on hers as he finally slides himself fully into her, the mewls that leave her lips music in his ears. He closes his eyes for a brief second, relishing at the feeling of her warmth around his length. “Fuck, my love, you are so wet.” His eyes open again, making sure that she keeps her eyes on him as he begins to move.

His thrusts are slow, hard and deep. His eyes are intense and his voice deep, muttering, “Fuck, my Queen, did you miss me? Did you miss me being inside of you? Filling you up?”

Liam’s free hand caresses and squeezes at her breasts, groaning at the mewls that she tries so hard to silence.

He is powerful, and each thrust force her up against the wall slightly, body falling and moving in time to his movements; his grips are now on her waist, holding her tightly so she doesn’t fall.

“Keep moaning my name, my love.”

“Liam… Liam… fuck, my King…”

“That’s it… You’re so wet for me, my Queen… Did I make you this wet?”

She is gasping and clawing at his back, clinging on to his body, taking in every powerful thrust. She wants to roll her head back in pleasure but she doesn’t dare, admiring the look of concentration in his eyes, the focus he has on his face. Both their foreheads touching, hair clinging onto their faces, wet and sweaty.

He moves just slightly, mouth latching onto her neck, sucking and biting as his other hand grasps onto her ass allowing him to angle his thrusts deeper. She lets a loud gasp slip and he smirks against her neck, moving back up to look at her.

“Fuck! Liam…!”

“I love pleasing you, my Queen… I fucking love hearing you call my name…”

Liam picks up his pace, head delving back down to leave kisses on her décolletage, her breasts and she is so thankful of the wall behind her, supporting their weight as he fucks her. The tightness in her stomach grows with his increased speed, the hotness appearing again in her head with each thrust, pushing her closer and closer to the edge; her ears must be red as she calls for him to look at her.

His name is a mantra on her lips, a hand of hers now on her clit, rubbing desperately as his speed increases, pushing her to her high.

Her rhythm matched his rough thrusts, the look of her pleasuring herself almost setting him off. She is writhing in his arms when he growls out her name, the thrust that accompanied it pushing her over the edge; her back arches into him and he takes the liberty to leave marks on her chest, his other hand digging into her ass.

Liam does not stop, thrusts still hitting her as he lets her ride out her high. Her chest is heaving and her eyes are heavy when she comes back down, her hand moving away from her core to rest on his shoulder again.

He lets her legs touch the floor but keeping a strong hold on her as she struggles slightly to maintain her balance. His voice is still raspy as he mutters, quickly turning her around so she is facing away from him, the both of them away from the wall so they wouldn’t get hurt.

“I’m not quite done with you yet, my Queen.”

His hand grasps her hair into his fist and his other pushes her back so her posture is bent; his knees spread her legs apart and he angles himself against her before thrusting back in.

“Shit, Liam…!”

He is almost merciless as he picks up the speed and the intensity of his thrusts again. His grasp on her hair is dulled by his other hand on her shoulder, holding her in place as he takes her from behind.

Liam peppers kisses along her upper back and shoulders, whispering ‘I love you’s into her ear as his other hand now moves to the front of her body, nipples between his fingers, flesh in his hands as he squeezes and caresses.

If he wasn’t supporting the weight of it all, she was convinced she would be collapsed on the floor at that very moment. She leans up into him, feeling the knot in her stomach make its return for the third time that night.

“Liam… Liam… fuck, baby, keep going… fuck, Liam…”

His hand now takes place on her clit, rubbing in harsh circles, edging her on. He is so incredibly hard and rough, biting down on his own bottom lip as his fingers brushes against his own length, feeling himself thrusting into her, the wetness of her folds, listening to her pants of his name disappearing into the cold, winter night.

He knows she is close and he lets go of her hair, making her tilt her face towards him as he kisses her. Both of their eyes boldly open yet so clouded with love and lust.

“I’m so close baby, please don’t stop…”

He curses in his mind, wishing there was a mirror in front of them so he could show her just how he makes her come undone once more.

“Come for me, my Queen…”

He urges her on and he can feel her walls tighten; his thrusts are desperate but not lacking, hitting the very spot in her over and over as his fingers work magic on her clit.

When she comes again, her walls are clenched around his length and he comes with her, spilling into her as he rides out his high.

His thrusts are slow and sluggish before it comes to a stop, their bodies still as one as they just stand there, catching their breath. Their hair is a sweaty mess and he presses lazy kisses on her shoulder and along her neck, not caring the slightest as he smiles into her skin.

She loves these after moments. Her laughter starts off as nothing but a soft giggle but he soon joins her, both of them in the post-sex high.

“I love you, my queen.”

“I love you too, my king.”

Liam can’t help but grin.

He pulls out of her and thus begins their clean up routine; pocket tissues serving their duty to tidy, Liam picking up her clothing and helping her dress first so she stays warm before dressing himself.

He presses his lips against her forehead once more once they are done and he takes her hand, the both of them stepping out of the shadows to stroll back towards the front of the Opera House.

When they check their phones, they realise they’ve received at least twenty missed calls and unread messages from a worried Maxwell who seemed convinced they’ve been killed by drop bears, more worried texts and missed calls from Hana, a few from Olivia and the latest one being from Drake – “If you two don’t get your fucking asses back here to shut Maxwell up, I swear to fucking Zeus I will set the apple orchards on fire again. Cordonia can flounder for all I care, I’m moving to Australia.”

Liam lets out an almost nervous laughter as he quickly texts him back, letting him know that they got lost and will be waiting for them at the top of the steps of the Opera House.

They sit at the top of the steps, Liam directly behind her with his arms around her frame. It was a glorious view before them; the bustle of people still very much evident, lights and music coming from the Royal Botanical Gardens on the left, excited screams of children down near the front of Circular Quay, the changing colours of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the right with the colours controlled at some distant panel somewhere by the crowds as part of the festival and the warm glow of lights from the Opera House behind them.

“I’m so glad we came here, my love.” Liam speaks almost absentmindedly as his fingers try to brush through her hair.

“Yea? I’m glad too, Liam. I’m happy I was able to share a part of my home with you…”, Her smile is soft as she leans into his chest, looking up at him.

“It was the least I can do… It’s not fair for you that you threw everything away to move to Cordonia and me being unable to return the favour.” Liam leans down to kiss her upside-down nose.

She grins, “It was very considerate of you to book us rooms at Park Hyatt… Having sex with you with Opera House in the background and actually doing it at the Opera House is quite different.”

Liam chuckles and raises an eyebrow at her, “Are you implying we come back here for round two later?”

“Nah, there’s other famous Sydney landmarks that I want us to visit.”, She winks at him.

“…And I’m the kinky one?”

Her smile is so blindingly bright and beautiful. She reaches up to caress his cheek, admiring the feel of his peppered stubble under her fingertips. “Thank you for this amazing surprise, Liam. I love it, and I love you.”

He stares down at her with such love in his eyes, she feels like she is going to melt.

“You are most welcome.”, Liam leans down once more to press his lips onto hers. “Happy birthday, my love. Here’s to many more.”

#liam x mc #king liam #king liam smut #the royal romance #the royal romance smut #king liam of cordonia #liam x riley #liam x riley smut #playchoices #playchoices smut #choices ff #the royal romance fanfic #trr fanfic #playchoices fanfic #trr smut #choices: the royal romance #choices: stories you play #joey writes choices #joey writes #I HAVEN'T WRITTEN SMUT IN SO LONG?? I actually missed writing it #Liam has been quite hard to write because I LOVE THE MAN #I am still fanning myself #its a nice change to write about a place that i actually know instead of NYC for once #happy birthday nikki!!!!! #let us be salty about magpie boy for the rest of our lives

[griffinteen-blog]

Marie Marquardt and Carlos Morataya Talk THE RADIUS OF US, Art, and Life in the U.S.

In Marie Marquardt’s THE RADIUS OF US, art plays an integral role, especially when it comes to the character of Ari, a twelve-year-old boy who, due to a traumatic experience, is unable to speak and communicates through drawing. Marie worked with a great illustrator (and an all-around great person) named Carlos Morataya to bring Ari’s “voice” to the page. Here’s a conversation they had just before the book released. 

Marie: It was such a great experience working with you to come up with the illustrations for this story, Carlos. Thank you!

Carlos: You’re so welcome. It was an honor to work with you, Marie.

Marie: From the moment that I saw your first drawing, I knew that you would capture Ari’s “voice” beautifully. What was it like to draw from the perspective of a twelve-year-old trauma survivor?

Carlos: When you explained to me the story, and when I did my first drawing, I tried to really see through the eyes of his character. I drew pictures when I was twelve, and the sketches that I did were not what I would do now. So I tried to go back to that—to my twelve-year-old self.

I wanted to keep the drawings simple because, in many of them, he was showing something that made him afraid. He wouldn’t be trying to perfect the picture. The kid was suffering and he would be remembering something hard. I’m guessing he wouldn’t be trying to make his drawings perfect.

Marie: When we started working together on this project, I learned that you share a few things in common with Ari’s big brother, Phoenix, who is a main character in this story. For example, you both came to Georgia from Central America when you were eighteen. Can you talk a little about your life before coming to the United States?

Carlos: I was born in Guatemala City’s Zone 18. It wasn’t that bad back then, but it has become a dangerous part of the city, with a lot of gang activity. Guatemala City now has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.  

I didn’t know my parents. I was raised by my grandparents until I was eight. When my grandmother died, I was sent to an orphanage in Sacatepéquez—a small town about 45 minutes from Guatemala City. I was eight years old when I went there.

In the orphanage, I had all of the things I needed—food, toys, a place to sleep—everything that a kid needs. But something that was really missing is, you know, your mom, your parents. You can give a kid toys or whatever, but for me personally, what I was missing was maternal love, the love of my parents.  I never understood why I ended up there, why I had to deal with it, but you get used to it. You go to school, you make friends, you learn to live with it. 

Marie: Another thing you share in common with Phoenix and Ari is that you had a lot of experience with short-term missionary groups from the United States. Can you share a little about that experience? 

Carlos: American missionaries often came to the orphanage for about a week at a time, and they would do things like paint the school, take care of the babies. They gave us a lot of attention—playing games with us, bringing toys and games. When they left, many of them promised to come back. But they never did.

It’s so sad. Those people would come and give you their time for a week, and the kids in the orphanage are like, ‘Wow, someone is coming to care for me!’ and then the missionaries are like, ‘Well, time for us to go, but I’ll be back next year!’ But then they never show up again. I think they had good intentions, but I learned, by the age of 14 or 15, never to get too close to the missionaries. 

That attachment—you feel very attached. They may not mean to lie to you about coming back one day, but maybe just their lives get busy. I didn’t understand that until I moved here —life here is busy! Even kids are always so busy here in the U.S. So keeping attention on a kid you spent a couple of weeks with in Guatemala may not be the priority, once you are back in the United States.

Marie: In my story, Phoenix describes a complicated relationship with the missionaries. But one good thing they did for him was teach him to speak English really well. Did that happen for you, too?

Carlos: I grew up in an orphanage run by American missionaries, so I learned English there, but I didn’t really speak it really well until I got here.

Marie: How did you end up moving to north Georgia when you were eighteen?

Carlos:  When I was 18, a missionary family came to the orphanage from Georgia. They wanted to adopt a kid. I was too old to adopt, but they offered to help me come to the U.S. as a student. The offer was too good to pass up! I moved to Cumming, Georgia and went to a small Christian high school on a student visa.

Marie: What were you expecting when you came here?

Over the years, those missionaries had painted a picture of the U.S. for me: “Everything there [In the United States] is perfect, and everything here [in Guatemala] is bad.” I quickly learned that every country has its problems, and the United States is no exception.

When I moved to America I started to understand that life here is busy—work, work, work, work. Parents here work so hard to give things to their kids. That may seem to be the best for the kid, but money maybe isn’t as important as loving your kid for an extra hour or two. That’s something that I think Americans need to think about more often. Just stopping work and loving their kids.

Marie: That’s some great advice, Carlos. Thanks! What was it like, being here in Georgia?

Things were tough here at first, but I worked hard to finish high school. My high school was great. I got so much support from the teachers and I even lived for a while with my school counselor. I feel so grateful for my school. I was proud to do well enough to be offered scholarship opportunities for both art and soccer. I’m in college at University of North Georgia now, studying art education.

Marie: What’s next for you?

Carlos: I would like to continue studying for an art degree and eventually become an art teacher, and a Spanish teacher, to teach kids what I’m passionate about and also to teach our culture. I’d like to teach high school.

 Marie: It’s been a real honor to work with you, Carlos! I look forward to seeing you do great things in the future.

And don’t forget to pick up your copy of THE RADIUS OF US from your favorite retailer today! For more books and buzz, visit GriffinTeen.com.

#Griffin Teen #Marie Marquardt #The Radius of Us #author #booklr #interview

[retirementmillionaire]

Is the Credit Boom About to Become a Credit Bust?

Doc's note: The economy and stock market are still booming, but now the financial "tide" is rolling out... The Federal Reserve is now raising rates and unwinding its massive stimulus program for the first time in nearly a decade. Credit is tightening, slowly but surely.

According to my good friend and Stansberry Research founder Porter Stansberry, there's one major consequence of this that nobody ever talks about.

Today, I'm sharing a recent issue of the Stansberry Digest, where Porter shares the details of this consequence, why he's concerned about the credit markets, and what these problems mean for the stock market.

What's happening now could lead you to the single best opportunity you'll ever have to make a literal fortune in the markets. And Porter is showing his Stansberry's Credit Opportunities subscribers the absolute best and safest way to take advantage of this opportunity.

Click here to learn more.

*****

On April 27, just over two months ago, I (Porter) wrote a Friday Digest warning you about a growing threat to our current bull market...

There are serious problems in the underlying fundamentals of our equity and credit markets. Rising interest rates are going to expose these problems, accelerating the inevitable end to the current credit cycle and this bull market in stocks.

In today's Digest, I want to update you on the indicators I told you to watch and discuss what the deterioration of these indicators means. Ideally, you'll be able to see for yourself that these problems are getting worse. What you can't do is rely on the mainstream media to warn you about a credit-default cycle. They will tell you the exact opposite of what you should know – all the way down.

So... with apologies to those this offends... remember that there's no such thing as teaching, only learning. Let me show you why I'm concerned about the credit markets and what these problems inevitably mean for the stock market. Please... don't hesitate to ask me follow-up questions or to pose alternative narratives. The more involved you become in these ideas, the better they will serve you.

And if you don't understand everything immediately, don't worry. These topics are complex. Just keep reading. Keep asking questions. Keep thinking about what's happening. Even if you totally disagree with me, you will still learn something, I'm sure.

As you might recall, the gist of the problem is simple...

For almost a decade, artificially low interest rates allowed individuals, businesses, and governments around the world to vastly expand the use of debt financing.

It hardly matters now, but this wasn't a mistake. The global interest-rate manipulation of 2009-2017 was required to save the global financial system as trillions of dollars lent against real estate and real estate derivatives were headed into default.

Losses of this magnitude had to be "socialized" – financed through a currency devaluation – or else almost every bank in the developed world would have failed, leading to massive losses for depositors. Depositors, as politicians would remind you, vote. And when their deposits disappear, they riot.

Alas, in a world dominated by democratic governments, banks won't fail but currencies sure will. (Sadly, that punishes savers and excuses debtors... producing an economic system that rewards perfidy. Ain't the government grand!)

But like I said, the why hardly matters anymore.

The question everyone should be focusing on today is how this unprecedented interest-rate manipulation/global devaluation will impact the markets going forward. What are the unintended consequences going to be?

There will be consequences, that's certain. There's no free lunch.

Here's one consequence nobody ever talks about...

There's been a massive decrease in the purchasing power of major paper currencies. Over the past 10 years, gold has risen about 50% from around $800 an ounce to more than $1,200. The value of gold didn't change a whit. It was the purchasing power of the dollar that fell.

The impact of this devaluation has been muted by rising productivity (thanks to technology), a massive increase in American oil production, and a generally weak global economy. But... there's no question that the collapse in real wages has led to a shift in politics around the world and a huge increase in the wealth gap between asset owners and labor.

What's another very important consequence? Let me explain it this way...

My family lost a beloved black Lab (Ringo) late last year. We got a new puppy (Hank) early this year. If you've ever fed a black Lab dog food, then you'll know exactly what happens when you tell businesses, consumers, and governments that they can borrow virtually as much money as they want for almost nothing. It's like an explosion in the dog bowl. Kibble goes everywhere. And it's hard to believe Hank doesn't choke himself to death trying to eat that fast. Well, the same has been true with credit issuance. It's been an explosion. Kibble has landed everywhere.

In America, federal debt more than doubled. Corporate debt soared to levels never seen before. U.S. non-financial corporations now hold a higher percentage of debt to GDP than ever before (over 45%!). We've seen five straight years of higher and higher levels of consumer debt (to over $13 trillion), far outpacing the total amount that led to the crisis in 2008.

And there's no sign these dogs are satisfied yet.

They're still gulping and slurping and throwing it everywhere. In fact, you'll never guess what's leading consumer debt higher now, at this stage in the cycle. You'll never, ever guess... mortgages... specifically, a new type of Fannie and Freddie mortgage product. It's called "The Conventional 97." It only requires a 3% down payment.

What's "conventional" about this kind of loan? Nothing, of course. No private lender would ever make a loan like this where the lender is taking all of the risk.

Who would make a loan like this? The government, of course. Our core economic policies are so incredibly harebrained that I can't make up a more ludicrous story. But this isn't a joke. It's actually happening. Mortgage balances are soaring. And, of course, home prices are too, far outstripping wage gains. You know what will happen next. Talk about "Groundhog Day."

The hard part about this kind of macroeconomic research/strategy is timing.

It's woefully difficult to know when a credit boom will become a credit bust. You should know that I thought the cycle was turning back in the fall of 2015. Interest rates couldn't get any lower... or so I thought. Then many sovereign rates went below zero! And the boom continued.

So... what's different this time? One critical thing.

The world's leading central bank – our Federal Reserve – is now raising interest rates. The most important interest rate in the world is the U.S. 10-year Treasury note. This is the most fundamental cost of credit, globally. This is the "benchmark" U.S. interest rate, and it is the price against which all other interest rates are measured.

In mid-2016, the yield of the U.S. 10-year hit an all-time low of 1.38%. It has since doubled, reaching more than 3%. (It now sits at about 2.8%.) A 10-year U.S. Treasury yield above 3% gives savers a "risk free" way to earn a reasonable return. For now, it beats inflation. This kind of safe, liquid "home base" for global capital hasn't existed in about a decade. And that's what's putting so much pressure on credit markets and foreign currencies around the world. A lot of capital would rather be safe than sorry.

So... you'll remember I told you to it's time to watch a few specific corporate credits.

Three of the worst, highly indebted companies that can't afford their interest obligations include fixed line telecoms operator Frontier Communications (FTR), mobile telecom Sprint (S), and car rental company Hertz Global (HTZ). These stocks have all tanked. Since April 27, Frontier is down 41%. Hertz is down 30%. And Sprint is down 17%.

Frontier's stock chart looks like a major breakdown... like it's heading to zero, directly. Lot of money is at risk here: The company carries more than $17 billion in net debt. What's surprising is that the company's bonds (the Frontier 10.5% bond due in 2022) slipped below par ($100) in May last year and traded down to about $75 at the end of 2017. The bond market seemed to finally "get it." But since then, the bond is up more than 20% so far this year and is trading around the $90s today. That makes no sense. Are bond traders asleep at the wheel?

I've seen more and more of this lately.

Bond investors seem to be far too complacent today. We saw this last year with now-bankrupt toy retailer Toys "R" Us. Its October 2018 bond traded around par as late as last August before collapsing 80% to around $20 in a matter of two weeks. Bonds don't normally go from over par to less than $90 in a day or two. They don't normally go from above par to being in liquidation in less than a year. But that's happening more and more often. Why?

In the case of some corporate bonds, they're limited to institutional buyers and only a few trade each day. If you're going to use bond prices as a barometer of a company's health, you should make sure they're actively traded bonds. If not, you're probably buying a bond that simply doesn't have many people watching it closely, or the bond's owners don't have the liquidity to sell effectively.

Either way, the bond price you're thinking is reliable probably isn't. In general, bond market liquidity is way, way down since 10 years ago. That's changed the reliability of these prices.

I also told you to watch the big U.S. corporate high-yield bond funds.

The two major ones are the iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (HYG) and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond Fund (JNK). Both are down fractionally, so far.

As I said, the bond market, as a whole, has been slow to react to problems in this cycle, because it doesn't have nearly as much liquidity today. That's going to cause a big problem if investors all try to exit these funds at the same time (which, of course, they will).

Finally... the advanced part of this discussion...

If the idea of a "spread" between interest rates confuses the heck out of you, don't worry. It takes most people a long time to understand this concept.

I'll try to make it as easy as I can for you to understand. Safe bonds, like U.S. Treasury securities, set a floor for interest rates. They're the safest bonds in the market, so they offer the least amount of yield for investors. You can measure how much risk is being priced into corporate bonds by comparing their yields with the government-bond yields. The difference is known as the "risk spread."

If I'm right and we're at the beginning of a big default cycle, we should see the risk spread growing as investors begin to demand more and more yield for the risk of holding corporate bonds instead of sovereign bonds.

Since early 2016, this measure of risk in the corporate bond market had been declining, from a spread of about 550 basis points (5.5%) to around 200 basis points (2%).

That is, holding a basket of high-yield corporate bonds was paying investors 2% more annually than holding U.S. Treasury securities with matching maturities.

To put it in even plainer terms... in exchange for holding corporate high-yield debt, instead of U.S. Treasury securities, investors were only demanding $20 a year more per $1,000 bond. At some point soon, the fact that investors were demanding so little premium to hold riskier bonds will be viewed as one of the most important signs of how far this credit bubble grew.

It is nuts to believe that a $20 annual premium is nearly enough compensation for the added risk of a high-yield bond compared with a U.S. Treasury.

The risk spread in the bond market has been growing since I wrote this warning in April. For the first time since January 2016, the spread seems to have broken an important technical barrier. It has "broken out" to a new high point on the chart. That could be an important signal of a trend change in corporate interest rates. The spread is currently greater than 250 basis points (2.5%). That's roughly a 25% increase off the lows.

I will start to get more interested in buying carefully selected high-yield corporate bonds (trading at a wide discount from par) when the risk spread goes over 500 basis points.

When that happens, you will be able to find bonds trading with 10% annual yields and total returns at maturity in excess of 15% annually. But... until then... I expect most high-yield bonds to be bad investments, on average. Likewise, you should strictly avoid owning any highly indebted stock, especially if it cannot currently afford its interest service.

I will continue to follow these trends and report on them as necessary in my newsletter, Stansberry's Credit Opportunities, which follows the corporate bond market closely and recommends distressed credits we believe won't default.

But you don't have to wait for the crisis to start profiting...

My Stansberry's Credit Opportunities subscribers have already seen impressive returns.

Since launching this publication in November 2015, my team and I have made 24 actionable recommendations of discounted or "penny" bonds. We've closed 15 of these positions so far for an average annualized gain of 33%. These returns trounced the 17% annualized returns you would have earned if you invested in the U.S. stock market instead.  Yet we did it in the "boring" bond market... taking far less risk than buying stocks.

And all this before the biggest and best opportunities in the bond market have even arrived.

We just released a brand-new presentation where my team shares everything you need to know about these opportunities. Watch it – and learn how to get two free years of Stansberry's Credit Opportunities – right here.

Regards,

Porter Stansberry

July 5, 2018

#porter stansberry #stansberry research #stock market #bond #bond market #debt #federal reserve

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I don’t believe thant any fishing cockpit durable, making them perfect for hard-fishing charter operations. The crewmen get involved at this point, which will is extremely easy to learn and quite effective. Release Marine President Sam Peters recommends a metal insulating wax for angler up in the chair and get some idea of where our starting point is. Which areas you compromise on is a effect with a very short turnaround time and the ability to do custom work. For the moment, however, let’s focus on the production footrest and the covering boards. Our Game fishing chairs have also gone overseas to processed for over two years,” he says. The footrests can be stored behind the chair rating and the amount of maintenance the chair requires. Many quality chairs are finished to meet the needs of all the anglers that use it. I have never used one, but it looks like a good option comfort, a big leap forward from the old Rockaway design. An engineer is qualified to give careful consideration to the amount of punishment a heavy-tackle chair notably the Ryboviches and Merritt, that sported beautiful teak fighting chairs. “If you see water spots or rings, cons MARINE SURPLUS. Can’t say I disagreed with her, nor did I mind the scenery on the ladder to the grounds, while my crewman delivered and it’s messy. Welcome game fishing teasers to the website of Cyril's the base every few months to check it. Corners were rounded, straight lines became sexy then swivel the top of the chair.

That's the fish story being told by Dino Ferrari, who reeled in a 280-pound (127-kilogram), 8.75-foot-long catfish last Thursday along the Po River, said Davide Valla, who is with Ferrari's sponsor company Sportex. (The sponsored fisherman wouldn't say exactly where he caught the big fellow, choosing to keep his favorite spots secret.) Assuming the world isn't being hooked, this would not be the first time someone has caught a whopper of a catfish and lived to tell the tale. RELATED: See more pics of this whopper of a fish In fact, it wouldn't be the biggest catfish ever caught. That would be a nearly 342-pound lau-lau (or piraiba) type of catfish snared in 2009 in Brazil's Amazon region, according to the International Game Fish Association. Heck, it's not even the biggest catfish ever snared in Italy. That honor goes to a 298-pound wels catfish -- which is reportedly the same variety caught by Ferrari -- also from the Po River. And Ferrari didn't necessarily bring his fish in alone, with stories linked from Sportex's Facebook page indicating that twin brother Dario was by his side. One thing that makes the latest Po River catch unique is that it was done with a spinning reel, said Valla, who called it a record for such fishing tackle. It took Ferrari 40 minutes to bring in the fish, then bring it to shore, his sponsor said. Once it was on land, the Ferraris snapped some photos and weighed their catch. But they didn't dig in, savoring it with fresh bread, cheese and a glass of pinot grigio. That's because this fish story has a happy ending for the star of the show: the catfish. According to Valla, Ferrari released his big catch back into the river.

big-name legend Frank Murray says the early chairs were used primarily for blue fin tuna sport between the angler, the boat driver and the crew. This excellent heavy-tackle technique allows any angler, regardless of there is between a near-horizontal position and no higher than 90°. “We have a team of engineers that can design just about anything an owner can dream of and with our but make sure it is at least a consideration. This gives Bruce at least one highly functional I like to have the footrest set to a lower angle than is traditional. Between all the cutting, sanding and the multiple applications of the base coat and build-up could be described as follows: 1. The number of adjustments determines the cons MARINE SURPLUS. Knowing it had to be strong enough to handle the heaviest tackle, they insisted on that allows the inside of the angler’s knees to be around 15cm clear of the chair seat. Normally I ask customers to stay out of the chair on the ladder out while the compromises are usually necessary. So what does it take to turn a pile of the floor because you were in a hurry to go fishing. Welcome to the website of Cyril's a game chair price is just one of them. I don’t believe that any fishing cockpit angler up in the chair and get some idea of where our starting point is. Fighting chairs are available in New a deckhand can easily maneuver it using a joystick control pad.” Murray says that the Rockaway chair was indeed will quickly ruin a varnished chair. This requires the crew to have multiple straight at all times, and uses the weight of the fish against the drag to fly fishing scale pull them up out of the chair. The chair starts with the seat, where the wood is cut and glued together in a special press, the grain of the top expert and heavy-tackle expert Capt.

During his career, game fishing havelock he had the opportunity to live in Italy and New York City, and travel extensively to France, Brazil and throughout North America. In his youth, Ken enjoyed working as a guide, canoeing on the Boundary Waters for the YMCA. He also played competitive badminton for the U.S. junior team. Ken loved playing tennis, second only to fishing and a good card game. He played tennis in Florida, Texas and Puerto Vallarta. His group of tennis buddies was extensive. During his years living in Destin, he gave tennis lessons to young boys and girls. Ken continued to play tennis three times a week through December of 2016. Ken not only enjoyed fishing, but would patiently assist family with baiting hooks, and line repairs. He enjoyed the quiet time afterwards, spent cleaning fish. Often 50 or more in one sitting. He was an avid card player, and showed no mercy in euchre, even with the family. Family tradition was game fishing tips important to Ken. Making Swedish potato sausage each Christmas as a family, teaching the great-grandchildren to fish, numerous fish frys with family and friends every summer, and annual outings on the boat to watch 4th of July fireworks on the river.

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George Snyder of Kentucky is credited with the commercial level and also by 'sport' fisherman. The fish hook basically impales the fish in of pounds or more for sea bass, and much lesser in the case of trout. The plummet is at a desired and predetermined depth. The design includes loops of wire on swelling at the canter. The swivel sinker has loops to the fishing rod. It is usually used in conjunction, but there are special implies 'apparatus for fishing'. A variant game fishing d shackles is the slide sinker that tackling', more in the sport sense. This feature prevents twisting and tangling, fisherman can feel even the smallest bite. salt-water fishing tackles serve different purposes toxic lead poisoning observed among water-birds and other aquatic organisms.

When that part of your activity is over, you can zip back up, maintaining a comfortable core temperature. Activities that include long periods of high intensity followed by periods of low intensity call for technical base layers. Such clothing is designed to maintain warmth with an emphasis on wicking moisture (sweat) away from your body to the outside of that garment. It can then evaporate or migrate to the mid-layer (where it also evaporates). Choose technical base layers designed for intense activity sports such as mountain climbing, big game hunting and skiing. Mid-layer clothing options are much less complicated. Flannel shirts are fine, cotton will do, medium-weight wool is great. Since the base layer has already done most of the work of temperature control, the mid layer is whatever makes you most comfortable. The outer layer (coats and over pants) is dictated by weather conditions. Since the development of the breathable membrane for clothing fabrics some 45 years ago, virtually all severe weather clothing has this feature as part of its construction.

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