Chapter Text
James makes it to his third day, and then the fourth, and then in a blink of an eye, he’s already a little over a week old.
“Morning, buddy. We’re going back home today,” Steve says as he changes James’ diaper, grabbing a onesie from the baby bag and he grins when he notices that his son wasn’t fully swimming in his newborn sized clothes anymore.
“Look, Nat,” Steve beckons Natasha over to where he was dressing James up on the bed. “It’s still pretty loose but it fits better now.”
“It does,” Natasha beams. “I hope it keeps up.”
“Next thing we know, he’ll be growing right out of this size and into the next,” Steve says. “He’s still pretty tiny, though.”
“We always seem to end up with ridiculously tiny children,” Natasha chuckles, leaning down to kiss James’ cheek and he stares up at her, his thin limbs moving about. “I’m not complaining, though. Just means I can carry you for longer, isn’t that right, James?”
James turns his head to the side and meets her eyes for a brief moment.
“Are the girls ready to go?” Steve asks, and Natasha hums in acknowledgement as she takes over tending to James, taking the wrap carrier and securing him against her front, his head cradled against her chest.
“They’re waiting downstairs, Clint’s has the jet ready,” Natasha says, surveying the room one last time in case they’ve forgotten anything. When she moves to grab the baby bag, Steve swiftly takes it before she could, slinging it over his shoulder.
“Won’t let you carry a damn thing, just like I told you,” Steve smiles, and Natasha rolls her eyes and smacks his butt when he turns around to get the suitcases, earning a playful glare back.
They make their way downstairs and say their goodbyes to the Barton children, promising to return as soon as they can. When Natasha meets Laura out by the front porch, she gives her a side hug, mindful of James snuggled against her.
“How’d you think the team’s going to react to him?” Laura asks.
“After Sarah, I’m sure they wouldn’t be too surprised about us bringing home another one,” Natasha only smirks. “Me giving birth to him, though…”
“Oh, they’ll lose their minds,” Laura laughs. “You sure that happened just last week? I gotta say, you’re in great shape.”
Natasha gently shoves her, but Laura doesn’t miss a beat. “Send pictures, alright? I wanna see him grow.”
“Of course. I couldn’t thank you enough,” Natasha says warmly. “Take care, alright? We’ll make sure to visit again soon.”
“The guest room is now fully yours after what happened,” Laura smiles, leaning over to kiss her cheek before caressing the back of James’ head through the fabric sling. “Don’t give your Mama a hard time, okay, Jamie?”
“He’s not fussy at all,” Natasha says. “He’s been a really easy baby.”
“Wait for the colic then tell me that again without lying through your teeth,” Laura retorts, but Natasha only furrows her eyebrows.
“Colic?”
“They cry for no apparent reason, and it’ll be for hours at a time,” Laura explains. “I’m assuming Sarah never went through it.”
“Not really,” Natasha says tightly.
“Lucky—,”
“She was too afraid to cry for us at all for the first few months,” Natasha interjects, and Laura’s expression falls. “RAD and all that.”
“Jesus, Nat. I’m sorry,” Laura breathes out. “I didn’t know—,”
“It’s not something we like to share casually. She’s much better now, loudest of all our kids,” Natasha shakes her head. “Anyway. Colic?”
“A lot, if not most babies go through it, but make sure that you bring him to a doctor if he seizes or has a hard time breathing—,”
“Why would that happen?” Natasha unconsciously presses her hand tighter against the infant attached to her.
“I’m not trying to scare you—,”
Natasha looks at her earnestly, her free hand circling around her wrist.
“It’s just a precaution,” Laura says, her teasing tone completely gone at how seriously Natasha was taking in the information. “It just might be something serious if those side effects appear, but for the most part, crying his little heart out is very normal.”
“You said he’s healthy,” Natasha frowns, her throat suddenly tight.
“He is. He’s healthy, Nat, I would never lie about that,” Laura reassures immediately.
“What else do I need to look after?” Natasha asks, her tone dropping down to a whisper. Before Laura could open her mouth to speak, Steve comes up to her side while holding a still sleeping Sarah in her pajamas against him.
“Time to go,” Steve says, freeing up an arm to bring Laura into a one armed embrace. “Thanks for having us again, Laura.”
“Anytime,” Laura says, forcing a smile onto her face after the heavy turn of their conversation. “Get home safe.”
“Tell that to Clint, he’s the one flying the plane,” Steve chuckles. “C’mon, Nat, Rosie and Wanda’s waiting for us.”
“Call me if you need anything,” Laura catches Natasha’s hand when she turns to follow him, and Natasha gives her a genuine smile and squeezes it tightly before letting go.
“I will.”
The flight back home was rather uneventful, with Sarah rousing for a brief moment on Wanda’s lap before lolling back to sleep again. James also wakes up once to eat, and Rose was perched contentedly on Steve’s lap on the co-pilot’s seat, letting her press buttons and steering the control wheel, not knowing that it wasn’t functional with Clint having full command over the flight.
“Buckle up, guys, landing’s gonna be a bit bumpy,” Clint calls out, and Natasha takes Rose’s hand and helps her put on her seatbelt next to Wanda.
“Wanna help land, Mama,” Rose pouts, but Natasha only smiles.
“Maybe next time, when your siblings aren’t onboard,” Natasha says, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Secure?”
“Yeah.”
“Good,” Natasha murmurs, kissing Rose’s head before moving over to Wanda and Sarah. She cups the little girl’s cheek and she flutters her eyes open, letting out a small yawn. “Gotta wake up, baby. Almost home.”
“Mama?”
“Mmhmm,” Natasha nods. “Sit tight against Wanda, okay?”
She waits for Sarah to nod before sitting across them, both arms curled protectively around James.
Steve and Natasha have constantly been putting off moving away to a place of their own, given the amount of changes that had happened in just the past year alone and they didn’t want their girls apart from their extended family just yet. They’ve added in a room for Wanda a little after the incident, but with the surprise addition to the brood, they know that even though they could have James stay in their room for the first few months, they’ll have to begin serious house hunting sooner rather than later.
Clint manages to land after about fifteen minutes and as soon as he parks in the hangar, the back ramp opens down and were met with the smiling faces of the team.
“What’s with the welcome party?” Clint asks, but moves to greet them with pats on the back and one armed hugs anyway.
“We had nothing else to do,” Sam shrugs, then smiles when he sees Wanda, Rose, and Sarah appear at the top of the ramp. “There they are!”
“Who do you think they’ll come to first?” Bucky asks, elbowing his rib. Before Sam could respond, he opens his arms out and Rose squeals, rushing over to them but was disheartened when she jumps up into Tony’s arms instead. “C’mon, Ro, you didn’t have to do me dirty like that.”
“Sorry, Uncle Bucky,” Rose giggles, and Tony only looks smug as he squeezes her against him.
“I am clearly the favorite,” Tony shrugs before turning his attention back to Rose. “You’ve been away for a long time, bambina! You’ve grown like half a foot. Seriously, like, you just shot up.”
Bucky doesn’t have time to feel upset when he hears a tiny voice yelling his name. He turns his head and laughs at how fast Sarah toddles towards him, a frantic Wanda chasing after her.
“Bucky, Bucky, Bucky,” Sarah chants, and Bucky kneels down and catches her before she could trip over her own feet. “Hi! Hi, Bucky!”
“Hey, kid,” Bucky grins, gathering her up in his arms when he stands and chuckles when Wanda catches up to them, slightly out of breath. “And bigger kid.”
“Welcome back,” Sam grins, moving to hug Wanda. At the sound of his voice, Sarah turns her head and nearly shrieks, kicking her feet and bouncing slightly in his hold. “Sammy!”
“Sarah!” Sam returns just as enthusiastically, plucking the almost two year old from his arms and kissing the top of her head. “We sure missed that laugh around here.”
Bucky shakes his head, but as he watches his nieces be completely enamored with the rest of the team, he feels a hand clap over his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Buck,” Steve’s voice makes him turn around. “We’ve got another one for you to welcome.”
“What do you—,” Bucky’s eyes widen when Natasha steps out from behind Steve and sees the small baby nestled in the sling. “Where the hell are you picking these kids up?”
Natasha chuckles as she shakes her head, carefully taking James out from his sling and murmurs near his ear when he squirms a bit. “Bucky, we want you to meet James.”
Bucky can barely keep his mouth from dropping open in shock, but Steve squeezes his shoulder and his arms immediately come up when Natasha transfers the infant into his hold. He looks ridiculously small against him, and he barely breathes or moves a muscle—he’s so afraid that he might break him if he does.
“Oh, wow—hey. Hi, James,” Bucky’s voice is gruff with emotion, and the team slowly gathers around them to meet the newest member of the family. “Named him after me?”
”I don’t know any other James,” Steve smiles warmly. “And Nat chose it.”
”I don’t deserve it—,”
”Sorry, it’s in his birth certificate and everything,” Natasha leans her head on Steve’s shoulder. “He looks like a James too, don’t you think?”
“Don’t know about James, but he does look like you, Cap,” Tony says, his tone uncharacteristically soft.
“Yeah, he does,” Bruce affirms. “Same hair, same nose and everything.”
“That’s because he is mine,” Steve says, almost nonchalant as he takes James back into his arms. He gives Natasha a side glance and she can barely hold in her smile, burying her face into his bicep. “Mine and Nat’s. She gave birth to him last week.”
A few beats of silence pass.
They watch as every single one of them turn to look down at Natasha’s stomach.
And then, as Laura predicted, they collectively lose their minds as they loudly express their disbelief.
“No way.”
“That’s—how the hell could—,”
“You didn’t leave looking pregnant. Holy shi—,”
Natasha erupts into giggles, Wanda slowly following suit, and Steve simply wraps his free arm around his wife’s back. “Quiet down, you’ll wake him up.”
They all fall silent at the warning, but Natasha places her hand over James’ knee before turning to look at the team.
“Details for another time,” Natasha smiles softly. “But he really is ours, and that’s all you need to know for now.”
Sam’s the first to speak up, hiking Sarah higher up on his hip and she keeps herself occupied with rubbing her hands over his buzzcut. “Congratulations, guys.”
“Yeah, congrats,” Bruce says sincerely, and they all mumble out their well wishes, taking a turn with holding James.
As soon as he reaches Tony’s arms, he looks down at him before looking back up.
“His middle name’s Anthony, right?”