little struggles

It was a nice day, and when there were nice days Steve usually got up early to enjoy it by taking a run. Not today though. Steve was instead enjoying breakfast, which his Bucky made for him. It was his favorite too- sunny side up eggs, bacon, and toast. But instead of eating it himself like a 'big boy', Bucky was happily feeding it to his little guy as the boy swung his feet childishly.

"Is it yummy, sweet boy?"

Bucky loved loved loved making his boy happy, especially with something as simple as breakfast. So when he earned an adorable nod and coo from Steve, his heart swelled with joy. He continued to feed himself and Steve until they both deemed themselves full, Steves being a much more childish turn of his head and a little whine. Still adorable though. The caregiver took quick action to wipe the little ones face before gently ruffling his hair.

"Okay doll, you go find something fun to play with in your toy bin and I'll be right in to play with you. That sound good?"

Steve gave another sweet nod and moved to press a wet, childish kiss to Bucky's cheek before happily saying,

"Mhm! T'anks for 'ekfas, Bubby."

"Aww, you're welcome kiddo. Such a good mannered little boy."

Steve grinned oh so wide at that, him giving a happy squeal in reply before hurrying off to the living room to find some toys to play with, and ask JARVIS to put on some cartoons. The AI kindly complied, putting on Steves favorite at the time- which was Blues Clues. Which...made sense given the boy was now seen in the living room, wide eyes at the screen as he snuggled Blue the puppy from the show. Once it turned to a commercial, Steve scrambled to his toy bin and began to look neatly through his toys. He ended up pulling out a shape sorter, which usually was a good tell tale sign for Bucky that Steve was feeling on the younger side of his age range.

Bucky had been cleaning up the kitchen as his little boy played, wanting to do it now so he didn't have to worry about it later. Doing it now also meant he just got to focus on his baby, and if anyone knows Bucky then they know how much he loves his little guy. He hummed some song from the forties as he cleaned. Once a forties man, always a forties man. He was just drying his hands now, when he took a second to look over at his sweet boy. Though his heart almost shattered when he closely observed his baby.

Poor Stevie was seemingly too little to put the right shapes into the right slots, which caused the boy to start crying quietly out of frustration as he helplessly tried tapping different blocks against the wrong slots. Blues Clues was still playing on the TV, but it seemed the baby was too frustrated to notice now. Bucky glanced up at the TV, and ironically it was an episode about shapes. An idea dawned on him, so he took gently strides towards the regressor and sat down criss cross applesauce in front of him.

"Hey buddy, whats all these tears for hm?"

Bucky asked, knowing full well what they were for. He just needed to capture his baby's attention, which he seemed to have done now that he saw glossy blue eyes staring at him in complete defeat. The soldier gently ran a hand through his hair before scooping up the boy and placing him in between his legs, sideways to him. Bucky gently pointed to the TV screen, which was Blue bow-bow-bowing about the shape of a heart. As Steve watched, Bucky slid in a- you guessed it- a blues clues themed pacifier into the baby's mouth. Steve didn't seem to mind, so Bucky pressed a soft kiss to his head.

"See the heart shape, buddy?"

A little nod and sniffle came from the boy.

"I think you have a heart shape in here too. Wanna help me find it?"

Steve gave another nod, it being a little bit more hesitant this time. Bucky pressed another comforting kiss to Steves head before picking up a triangle block and holding it up next to the screen.

"Hmm...does this match the heart shape? What do you think?"

A little shake of Steves head was given in reply.

Bucky smiled softly and picked up a circle block after placing down the triangle.

"What about this one?"

Another shake of Steves head, this time being a little more confident.

Bucky whispered sweet praise at Steves confidence as he gently set the circle block down, this time picking up a heart shaped block.

"Now how about this one? I like this one."

Steve took a second to reply, but when he did it was absolutely precious. His eyes lit up and he began to nod excitedly, taking the heart block gently from Bucky and holding it up in front of the heart on the screen to prove to Bucky it was the heart shape. He knew it was!

Bucky smiled even more, gently ruffling Steve's hair.

"That's right! You're so smart, Stevie!"

He praised, gently grabbing the shape box and humming as Steve looked at it curiously, before realizing just how much struggle he had with it moments before. He turned away slightly, but Bucky gently turned him back towards the box.

"We're going to do this together, yeah? How does that sound?"

Steve gave a gentle nod, knowing that anything he did with Bucky meant it was going to be better than doing it himself.

"Okay. Can you hold the heart block for me?"

Steve nodded once more, putting a gentle yet firm hold on the block now. Bucky gently held his hand with his metal one, him smiling.

"Im gonna help guide your hand, so we can find the slot together!"

With that, Bucky began to gently guide Steves hand over slots of different shapes, the little boy trying to put the shape in each one they landed on. When it didn't go in Steve whined sadly behind his pacifier, but was quick to cheer up when he got another kiss on his head or cheek. Soon enough, Bucky led him to the heart slot and when Steve pushed it against it, it went in! The little tike let out a surprise gasp and a squeal as the block thunked against the bottom of the shape sorter.

"You did it, Stevie! Look at that!"

Bucky was in awe of Steve's excitement. He looked much happier now, and decided to attempt it with the triangle! Thunk. The circle! Thunk. He continued to place them in, more confident in this toy than ever thanks to Bucky's help. Once all the blocks had landed back into the toy, Steve set the toy aside to give Bucky a big hug and incoherently say some sort of thank you. Bucky knew what he was trying to say, so he happily hugged back and told him he was welcome.

"Bubby's so proud of his little boy, and I promise whenever you're having a little struggle like this, Bubby'll always come to help."