Little Secrets, Little Bucky

Painting And Playtime

Soon enough, Y/n had gotten all three of the littles settled in the nursery around a table. Bucky wasn't completely little, but Y/n had a feeling that seeing Tasha and Tony so unapologetically small would end up coaxing him into fully regressing. Even if it didn't, she wouldn't mind. Whatever her baby needed, she wanted him to have.

She set a big piece of white construction paper in front of each of the littles and a variety of finger paints for each of them. They seemed a little hesitant at first, and she felt her heart sink when she realized why. All three of them had spent a long time being punished for making a mess, they must've been scared. She decided not to draw attention to it, and instead grabbed herself a piece of paper and joined the little ones at the table. She stuck her index and middle finger in the green paint and swiped them across the bottom of her paper, sliding up and down to imitate hills.

The littles watched curiously as she continued painting, and finally Tony reached out and stuck his whole hand in the red paint. He slammed it down in his paper, spattering the paint all over his clothes and a little bit even got on the floor. He froze, expecting Y/n to begin yelling, but was shocked to see her laugh fondly.

"It's alright honey, it's washable paint," she explained. "We can clean the floor and change your clothes when we're all done."

"So we can make a mess?" Tasha asked tentatively.

"Go for it!" Y/n laughed. "Whatever you want your art to look like!"

Bucky copied Tony, sticking his entire hand in the blue paint. He giggled at the feeling and Y/n knew that he was letting himself slip all the way. She watched as all three littles began painting, quickly getting carried away with the joy of making a mess and having fun. By the time they had finished, all three toddlers were covered in paint and smiling ear to ear.

"Okay, you know what the last step is?" Y/n asked.

Bucky knew. He had done lots of art with his uncles before and this was the most important step. "Gotta si' it Mama!" He exclaimed, reaching for a marker and clumsily initialing his picture.

"That's right! Such a smart baby!"

"I knew that too!" Tony said quickly, signing his own paper as Tasha rolled her eyes at him. Bucky giggled at that and handed Tasha his marker, knowing she liked the color purple.

"Alright, let's get you guys changed," Y/n said after hanging the pictures up to dry. "Who wants to go first?"

Tony immediately jumped up. He didn't like the feeling of the paint drying on his skin and was eager to get cleaned up. Y/n ushered him towards her suite, but before she left the nursery she heard a little sniffle. Bucky was watching her with big teary eyes, clearly trying not to show how anxious he was about her walking away.

"Oh baby it's alright," Y/n soothed. "Why don't you and Tasha sit in the kitchen while I help Tony clean up?"

Bucky nodded his head and Tasha took his hand to lead him over to his mama's suite. "Wanna watch Mickey Mouse?" She asked excitedly, drawing an excited smile and a nod out of Bucky. "Auntie can we?"

"Of course you can," Y/n agreed. She instructed Jarvis to play the show and made sure that Bucky and Tasha weren't sitting on the carpet before taking Tony into the bathroom to get clean. She helped him out of his dirty clothes and wiped his hands and face with a warm washcloth, making sure to be as gentle as possible. He rambled to her about the things that he wanted to build with Bucky's blocks in her nursery and she listened intently while she helped him get dressed in soft clothes and use the potty, letting him finish his thoughts before carrying him back out to the living room and setting him down to watch cartoons with Tasha while she helped Bucky.