Love at First Grade

20

chapter warning: smut, daddy kink, breeding kink, language, fluff

Bucky's brain had stopped working. Completely frozen. Bucky.exe has stopped working. Error 404 not found. He replayed your words a minimum of a million times, his mouth opening to say something and closing when he couldn't find the words. You stood in front of him, your eyes wide and beginning to well with tears at his reaction, or lack thereof, when Bucky kicked himself into gear and scooped you into the largest hug he could muster without hurting you. You let your tears run free against his shoulder and when he finally pulled you away to verbally respond he was cut off by a big dumb blonde Dorito-shaped man.

"Hey! You two! You can hug each other and celebrate like that later, there's ice cream to be had!" The latter part of Steve's sentence was drowned out by twin squeals chanting "ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!" The realization that the two of you were not, in fact, alone nor were you in an appropriate location to talk more about the potential bomb you dropped pushed the two of you to join Steve, Winnie and the girls to go get ice cream.

Since it was a nice day that wasn't too hot you decided to walk to ice cream, you and Bucky holding the girls' hands as they talked about how much fun they had playing with Uncle Steve and how they were going to get the biggest ice cream scoop ever. Bucky chanced a few looks at you and for a bit you seemed completely engrossed in your phone, firing off a text message to somebody, before rerouting your attention to Becca and Avery. You almost avoided Bucky's gaze and he knew that he should've been more expressive when you said those words but he was in shock. Bucky knew that neither of you had talked about the possibility of truly combining your families or adding more members, besides a pet or two, to it. This was going to have to be a very serious conversation you would have tonight. The six of you arrived at Ellie's and made sure that everyone got the exact treat they wanted. Sitting down outside, Bucky snuck his hand into yours and gave it a brief squeeze that elicited a small, tight smile in his direction when Steve began talking to Avery about her actions on the courthouse steps.

"Standing up for Becca like that was so brave of you, Avery. You reminded me of Bucky when he used to stand up to my bullies. I'm sure your mama and papa are so proud of you," he hinted, a knowing grin playing on his lips as he looked at the two of you.

Bucky nodded his head as he recalled the memory of him and Steve meeting on the playground and the bully who he promptly kicked when he made fun of a tiny Steve Rogers. You opened your mouth to add on to Steve's statement when Avery interrupted.

"Of course I have bravery in me, its got my name in it," the seven year old stated promptly with a "duh" tone in her voice. Her words caused all the adults to laugh and she proudly finished with, "I'll always fight bullies for Becca just like she will always stand up for me. We're sisters, that's what sisters do." Bucky's heart fluttered at the recognition that the two girls saw each other as family already and it gave him hope for the future, a future that he saw you and Avery in for the rest of his days and he hoped you did too.

Ice cream was over faster than any of you anticipated and the girls hugged Winnie and Steve before scrambling to hold onto you and Bucky so they could play together at your place since their place was almost completely packed up. A few more boxes and they'd be ready to start the move into your penthouse. The two of you walked in silence, taking in the sounds of two excited girls who couldn't wait to play Unicorn-Mermaid-Princesses and dress each other up in all the different princess costumes they had.

After arriving at the apartment the girls took off to their playroom on the other side of the penthouse and the two of you took a moment to breathe and take each other in. Bucky looked at your eyes. There was no mask, no front, nothing hiding your feelings. For once you were laying your emotions totally bare and making it easy for him to read you. In your eyes he saw fear, reluctance, and a glimmer of hope. And so, Bucky placed his arm around your back and led the two of you to your bedroom. A plastic bag with a note on the bed garnered Bucky's attention, but you seemed to know all about it because you picked it up and read the note quickly as you walked back to Bucky and offered him a peak inside. The bag was full of at least five different brands of pregnancy tests. A quick glimpse over the note told him that Wanda had picked them up at your request, it made sense to him now why you were furiously texting on the way to Ellie's.