Chapter Text
Bucky had no idea why he agreed to let the team throw him a baby shower, but he was definitely starting to regret entertaining the idea.
A few weeks after Christmas and Sam’s sudden, yet much appreciated, proposal, Yelena and the rest of the team had called him complaining about how he agreed to let them plan a baby shower weeks ago and they still hadn’t been able to do it.
Bucky had no idea why they were so invested in it–or more specifically, why Yelena was so invested in it–but he figured he might as well just go along with it. He and Sam were planning to move back into their Brooklyn apartment anyway, so they might as well stop by at the tower.
The decision to stay in Brooklyn was one that Bucky made, figuring that the closer he got to his due date the closer they should be to his doctors. Bucky didn’t want to risk going into labour whilst in Washington because that would mean either having to go to a regular hospital where all the doctors would no doubt be very confused, or having to have Sam help him deliver the baby. Bucky loved Sam more than anything but he would do anything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen.
Sam seemed pretty happy to be staying in their Brooklyn apartment for a few months, joyfully agreeing to it when Bucky suggested it. Neither of them had been back to the apartment since they’d broken up, so going back would be a strange thing for the both of them.
Bucky hadn’t thought much about exactly how his labour and delivery would go–the concept of pushing something that large out of his body sending shivers down his spine. Something that was more terrifying to Bucky was having people cutting his body open and once again rummaging around in his insides to get the baby out.
Of course, if it was better for the baby, Bucky would agree to having a c-section–but it wouldn’t be his first choice. Bucky knew from the way his mother had screamed every time she gave birth that it was one of the worst pains anyone could feel, but he’d take that pain over accidentally inducing a flashback and harming his baby any day.
It only took Sam and Bucky a few days to pack up everything they’d needed to bring to New York, leaving Washington only a week after Bucky had brought it up.
It felt strange, being in New York again after so long–but when Bucky walked through the door to his and Sam’s old apartment, it felt like coming home. Bucky assumed that Sam felt that way too, if the way he wouldn’t let go of Bucky’s hand for an hour after they arrived was anything to go by.
It only took a day before Yelena was calling him again, telling him that if he didn’t get his ass to the tower within a week she was going to bring the baby shower to him.
“I shouldn't have agreed to this.” Bucky groaned, glaring at Sam who was laughing at him from the other side of the kitchen island.
“It’ll be fun, Buck,” Sam said, stirring the eggs he was making for breakfast. “It’s a nice thing that the team wants to do this for you.”
“I just wish you could come.” Bucky frowned, watching Sam’s apologetic smile as he handed him a plate of eggs.
“I do too, Baby–but duty calls.” Sam replied, placing a kiss against Bucky’s hair.
Sam left shortly after that, promising Bucky that he’d be back as soon as possible. Bucky wasn’t happy about being left alone, anxious about having to make his way to the tower by himself–afraid of running the risk of someone seeing him–but he’d power through for the sake of the team.
It didn’t take too long for Bucky to pull himself together and drive to the tower, attempting to keep himself calm enough to make it there without turning around. Bucky wouldn’t say he was paranoid, more that he was just…cautious.
He just wanted his girl to be as safe as possible, and if people knew about her there was a chance that she wouldn’t be. Bucky was terrified every day that Hydra would somehow find out about her and take her away from him. No one knew whether she’d inherit the serum or not; Steve’s children didn’t (or at least to Bucky’s knowledge they didn’t) but it was different in Bucky's situation, given the fact that he was the one carrying the baby and all.
Bucky hoped that she wouldn’t have the serum, she didn’t need to have that type of pressure on her that Bucky had to use his enhancements to benefit others. If she wanted to help people in the way that he and Sam did, then Bucky would support her the whole way; even if he’d probably spend the whole of it worrying himself sick over the thought that she could get hurt.
He just didn’t want her to feel different. Having not only two dads but two dads who were very publicly known people (with one of them being a known murder) would make her feel different enough as is, let alone having super human abilities.
Bucky cleared his head of the thoughts once he arrived at the tower, refusing to think about all of the enduring possibilities of horrible things that could happen to his daughter.
The second that Bucky stepped out of the elevator and into the towers common room he was immediately ambushed by Yelena.
“What took you so long? We’ve been waiting for hours,” Yelena complained, looking down at Bucky's abdomen and gasping. “You are huge!”
“Thank you, Yelena,” Bucky hissed, pushing past her to join the rest of the team on the couch. “I didn’t notice.”
“Bucky!,” Bob greeted from the couch with a wide smile. “It’s so good to see you, you look great!”
Bucky returned the smile, slowly lowering himself down on the couch. He noticed that the common room was decorated with pink streamers and balloons–with several poorly wrapped gifts laying atop of the coffee table.
It looked…not great, but it made Bucky’s heart flutter with gratitude nonetheless. The team had clearly put a lot of effort into this even if it didn’t look the best–Bucky still appreciated the gesture.
“You guys didn’t have to do this for me,” Bucky murmured, shuffling on her couch to get comfortable–a feat that was impossible recently due to the heavy weight of his stomach. “I appreciate the gifts, but I didn’t need them.”
“They’re not for you, Barnes. They’re for the baby,” Ava chuckled from across the room. “Bob’s right, though–you do look good. Very…round.”
Bucky laughed sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Ava’s words. Bucky had quickly learned that the younger members of the team had a very sarcastic sense of humour, one that Bucky struggled immensely to understand. He’d never really been good at reading when people were joking or not, and it certainly wasn’t a skill that had come along with age–but he’d like to think he was getting better at it, even if Sam insisted that he wasn’t.
Everyone was in the tower except for Alexei, who–when Bucky asked–Yelena said had been sent off on some solo mission so as to not accidentally send Bucky into early labour from annoyance.
It seemed as though the second Bucky relaxed against the couch Yelena shoved a box wrapped in bright pink princess wrapping paper into his hands.
“Open mine first,” Yelena insisted. “I spent good money on this, Barnes, so you better like it.”
Bucky rolled his eyes, carefully tearing the paper off of the box–lifting the lid up to reveal what was inside. Bucky felt his eyes widening at the sight, carefully reaching forward to hold the item in his hands.
It was a small pink tutu and leotard with black leather ballerina slippers to go along with it. It was a beautiful gift, and one that felt so personal as well. Bucky wasn’t the only person in the tower who struggled sleeping, resulting in many late nights spent talking to the other members of the team about anything they could think of–Yelena included.
Bucky hadn’t known Natasha well–actually meaning he hadn’t known her at all, but Sam had told him so many stories about her that Bucky could almost imagine that he had known her, that they’d been friends. One of those stories had been about how she was a dancer, a ballerina to be more specific. Sam had said that all the widows in the red room had been trained in ballet, for what reason–he didn’t know.
Yelena didn’t talk about Natasha a lot, but one of the few things she had told Bucky was how good of a dancer she was. Yelena said she was never a good dancer, always too clumsy and uncoordinated–but she loved it nonetheless; it was one of the very few reliefs from the horrors of the red room.
“You might have to wait until she’s older to use it,” Yelena said, drawing Bucky out of his thoughts. “But I’ll make sure she’s the best dancer the world has ever seen.”
“Thank you, Yelena,” Bucky spoke, smiling at her. “It’s beautiful.”
A smug smile crawled its way onto Yelena's face, like she knew that this was exactly the reaction that Bucky was going to have. Bucky didn’t mind, Yelena could be cocky about it if she wanted–it didn’t make him love the gift any less.
Ava was next, handing Bucky a smaller gift that was, in all honesty, much more well wrapped. She’d probably gotten it professionally wrapped, Ava was always a little bit of a perfectionist–and Bucky couldn’t blame her. She’d spent her entire life in captivity, she deserved to have things perfect if she wanted.
Out of all of the team members, Bucky probably knew Ava the least. They hadn’t spoken much, just briefly in passing–and the only things that Bucky really knew about her were either from the files he’d read or the stuff that she’d shared with the whole team. She was nice though, and Bucky wouldn’t mind getting to know her better–he really hoped he would.
Ava’s gift was some sort of kit that you could use to make clay molds of your baby’s hand and feet. Bucky had seen something similar to it on one of his many Pinterest ventures–and he found it adorable, so he was more than grateful that Ava seemed to as well.
Bucky thanked her with a smile, setting the gift to the side. Ava smiled back at him whilst blushing slightly, which Bucky had to suppress a laugh at. She was a real sweet girl, shy yet overly confident in a way that reminded Bucky of Rebecca–the eldest of his younger sisters.
Bucky felt guilty even thinking about it, but Rebecca was always his favourite sister. Beth and Marie were both so much younger so it was more difficult for Bucky to bond with them, but Rebecca was born just two short years after him. It was just so easy to talk to her, as though she understood everything Bucky had to vent about.
God, how he missed her–and the rest of his family, too. He missed them all fiercely, in a way that could never be soothed.
Bob’s gift was in a bag rather than wrapped up, probably because it was easier. He seemed to be excited for Bucky to open it, though not as eager as Yelena; though, could anyone be?
The item inside the bag immediately brought a smile to Bucky's face. It was a pacifier with a small cow stuffed toy attached to the handle by string–something that made Bucky want to squeal with delight. It seemed as though everyone had decided to get the most adorable things possible in an attempt to kill Bucky with cuteness.
Bucky giggled, thanking Bob for the gift. Bob flushed in the same way Ava did, which just made Bucky giggle harder. It seemed like everyone on the team was just the same at the end of the day.
Bucky expected the gifts to be over then, so he was shocked when Walker placed a box in his hands. Bucky looked up at him with suspicion, confused on why John would want to be involved with this.
John rolled his eyes, pushing the box towards Bucky. “Relax, it’s just a regular gift. How much of an asshole do you think I am?”
Bucky narrowed his eyes at him, reaching down to open the box. Bucky could help the choked off laugh that spilled from his mouth at the sight of the baby onesie inside. It was a light blue one piece spotted with tiny Captain America shields and floppy silver wings stuck to the back of it.
It was the most adorable thing Bucky had ever seen, he had no idea how he hadn’t known of its existence before.
“Where the hell did you get this, Walker?” Bucky laughed, looking up at John.
John simply shrugged, smirking. “Just found it whilst shopping. Thought you’d like it.”
Bucky thanked him, admiring the adorable piece of clothing in his hands and smiling like an idiot. Even though Bucky felt somewhat guilty for taking gifts from them, he couldn’t deny that he loved receiving them nonetheless.
He thanked the team profusely as Yelena began ranting about some baby shower games they could play. Bucky didn’t particularly want to play any games–but it seemed as if he had no choice.
They managed to keep Bucky hostage in the living room for at least two hours, either asking him countless questions or playing Yelena's strange games–that always seemed to end in a screaming match.
Bucky carefully slipped out of the room as John and Ava were arguing with each other and looking as if they were going to pounce on the other at any second, taking refuge in the kitchen. He reached into his jean pocket, pulling out his phone and immediately dialling Sam’s number.
“Hey, Baby. You doing okay?” Sam greeted once he answered the phone.
“Yeah. You were right, sweetheart,” Bucky chuckled. “Coming here was worth it, the presents I got are adorable.”
“I hate to say I told you so,” Bucky rolled his eyes at Sam’s words. “I can’t wait to see them.”
“I can’t wait to see you,” Bucky replied, sighing. “I wish you could’ve been here.”
Bucky understood why Sam couldn’t be with him at all times, being Captain America was a full time job after all–but he really did wish that Sam could’ve been with him. Sam hadn’t met the team before, except for Walker who he didn’t exactly like, and Bucky hoped that one day he could.
It would be like introducing his fiancé to his sudo–family, which was something that Bucky would want to do desperately. Bucky knew Sam’s family, so it was only fair that Sam knew his as well.
“Me too, Sugar,” Sam replied, apologetic. “I promise, once our girl is born there won’t be any more getting called into the office. I’m not missing anything else.”
“You won’t, Sammy. I’m sure of it,” Bucky spoke calmly.
“Better not,” Sam sighed, sounding frustrated. “I gotta head back now, Baby. I’ll see you in a couple of hours. I love you.”
“Love you too, sweetheart.” Bucky replied with a smile, still keeping the phone by his ear when the line disconnected.
Bucky knew that Sam felt immensely guilty about constantly being called away for Captain America business even when he’d taken leave, but Bucky didn’t blame him at all. Sure, it sucked that Sam couldn’t be around as much as Bucky wanted him to be–but as long as Sam was there at all that was all that mattered.
Bucky felt the baby kick harshly at his abdomen as he winced at the feeling, she was probably upset that Sam wasn’t all the call anymore. The baby always became more aggressive whenever Sam wasn’t around–Bucky could already tell that, despite Bucky being the one who was carrying her, the baby clearly already had a favourite parent. Bucky couldn’t even be mad, Sam was his favourite person too so he couldn’t blame the baby for taking to him also.
Bucky was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of heavy footsteps racing into the kitchen, and when he turned around he caught sight of Walker standing there with a strangely horrified look on his face.
“Barnes,” he spoke, his voice shaky and anxious. “You’re gonna want to see this.”