Love Blooms: Love Series 2 (demon!Bucky and pre-serum!Steve omegaverse au)

1

STEVE WAS CRAWLING out of his skin. There were so many people coming in and out of his apartment that he couldn't rest for a second. It was bad enough that so many were praising him for his slender frame, bone structure, hair, and eyes. But it was when they approached a sleeping Mia that got to him the most. Some took out their phones to capture pictures and videos of her. Some had attempted to touch her, thinking of it as being blessed. Thankfully, Natasha was standing guard and escorting them out when they got too close.

"You okay?"

Jumping, Steve found Bucky beside him. Heart racing, Steve held it to his chest to try and calm himself down, "M'fine."

Bucky hummed in acknowledgement but he clearly didn't believe his mate. With his hands in his pockets, Bucky kept to himself as he admitted, "It makes me nervous too."

"Then, why do you let them do this?"

"They're the ones who made it happen."

Hands curling into fists at his sides, Steve quietly snapped, "I didn't realize that they had ownership over my uterus and now my daughter."

The alpha hung his head at that while sorrow and regret covered him through the bond. "Do you wish you hadn't?"

Looking over at their daughter, he knew that he would've done it all over again if it meant they got to have her. She was only a week old and already she had everyone wrapped around her little finger. And even though he loved her so much that it hurt, he knew that this wasn't how he had wanted it to go.

"Why couldn't you have, I don't know, told me?" Steve pleaded, looking up at the brunet.

"Because of what happened to Sharon."

Eyes widening, "You mean..."

"Peggy and Daniel wanted their place in the coven to be elevated permanently. Silvan already solidified their place, but with the younger members who hadn't known the man, the older members were losing their... authority. They figured that their niece would be the best candidate. She, of course, didn't agree and removed herself from the running." Bucky admitted, expanding Steve's dislike for the older couple. "And as it turned out, Arnie would have the better one."

Gritting his teeth, Steve had had enough. He left his quiet little corner and crossed the room to the bassinet. Pushing between two of the outlying members, the older pair began to complain and to tell him to wait his turn until they realized who he was.

"It's the father," an older man said in awe.

"No," someone gasped, equally shocked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," another argued, "It's him!"

A woman said, "He's beautiful. Very good bone structure."

Lifting Mia from the bassinet, he cradled her tiny body to his chest and left for his bedroom. He would've gone to the nursery except people had been viewing it like a museum exhibit. Touching the furniture as though they could soak up some magic. Asking if they could take pieces of the bunny wallpaper for good luck. Some decided with their partners that their own baby's nursery would be the same.

So, Steve resorted to hiding out in the primary bedroom. Where he could lock the doors and spend some quality alone time with his daughter. Sure, he realized that she probably didn't recognize him from anyone else, but he loved her more than any of them.

"I suppose you're the luckiest girl in the world," Steve quietly spoke to her. Her little eyes opened and gazed up at him as he continued, "So many people love you already. You're lucky to have so much love."

With those postpartum hormones still pumping through him, tears silently slid down his face. He ignored them as he placed Mia on the bed between his legs. She was such a perfect little doll. Steve wasn't sure if he had ever seen another baby who was as precious and as beautiful as she was. He understood why Bucky's followers fawned over her.

Looking down at her in her frilly pink dress, he was reminded of expensive porcelain dolls that his dad's mom collected. When he was a kid, he was never allowed to play with them despite desperately wanting to. He had never seen a doll so pretty. Of course, then he got into Goosebumps and other horror franchises that caused that admiration to shift into fear. After that happened, he didn't even want to be in the same room as them.

Softly, Mia started fussing and Steve decided that she had had enough visitors for today, just like he had. So, he lifted her so he could get at the buttons on the back of the pink frilly dress. Managing to knock the matching bonnet off her head, he had to look away so he didn't stare at the nubs where her horns would one day form. It made him sick being reminded of what half of her was. And since he was upset, it made her start to cry.

Pushing the guilt and disgust at the situation away, Steve pulled the dress off of her. Then, he unrolled the tights. She didn't have hooves like he had feared when he bathed her for the first time, but claws just like her fingers. Dark and sharp, but well groomed. But the mittens were necessary, even if she had normal fingernails. He didn't want her to scratch herself, after all. She was still his baby. No matter who sired her, she was still his.

Knock, knock.

Sighing, Steve lifted her up once more so he could climb off the bed and unlock the door. It was Peggy with a large smile on her face and a cup of tea in her hands. The tea, he found out, was mandatory even more so now than it had been during his pregnancy. Or rather, terrigen root was. Peggy had explained it as vitamins to a human baby and how much they needed them. This, as it turned out, was no different. And while she offered to mix it in with formula or to get a wet nurse from inside the coven, Steve wanted to have that moment of just him and Mia as he breastfed her.

"You can set it over there," Steve vaguely gestured, walking over to his dresser for the diaper caddy and a yellow onesie with matching mittens and hat. "We're done for today too. I want everyone out."

"Steven –"

"THIS ISN'T A ZOO!"

For a moment, Peggy was taken aback by his outburst. Mia seemed surprised too as she started crying, outright. Swaying her, Steve tried to soothe his baby, but he wasn't doing all that well considering his own emotions were heightened.

"May I?" Bucky asked, entering the room.

"She's just startled," Steve moved back towards the bed, declining Bucky's offer. Instead, he set the caddy down and then Mia so he could change her diaper. Realizing that she was just wearing a diaper now, he reasoned, "She's just cold."

"Of course," Bucky nodded, keeping to himself out of the way. Steve knew that it wasn't fair to the alpha since he was Mia's father too. But Steve needed time to heal. Almost everyone in his life had lied to him. And he wasn't sure if he could forgive them anytime soon, if at all.

"She's had a long day," Steve continued. Carefully, he dressed her and settled her against himself so he could relax on his bed and drink his tea.

Nodding, Bucky held himself. The longing pulsed through the bond and Steve hated that he was the one causing that. Especially when he still wanted the alpha to be his so bad. Even after everything that had been revealed, he still wanted him. He was afraid that he always would.

"I'll make sure everyone leaves," Bucky said, leaving the room and closing the door on his way out.

Blinking his tears away, Steve gulped his tea as quickly as he could. Then, he gazed down at his baby. He loved her so much that it hurt. He'd do anything for her. And he hated that that meant sharing her with Bucky.