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

7

THE HOUSE WAS in a tizzy. More maids than usual had arrived early to clean all of the nooks and crannies. Making sure to get all the places that Steve couldn't reach. Practically making everything seem brand new despite the brownstone being over a century old. Steve wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to maintain this level of cleanliness once his family left to return to Arkansas. And while Steve did appreciate the work that Bucky's employees were achieving, he felt useless for not helping them in some way. Even post-partum, Steve's nesting hormones were still present. Perhaps more so now than when he was preparing for Mia's arrival.

"It's alright, sir," one of the maids assured, "This is what we're hired to do. This is what we do to show our appreciation for the King and all that He does for us."

After trying to wipe the counter down once more – and being stopped by an annoyed blonde – Steve sighed and caved. Returning to the living room so he could – at least – pick up Mia's toys and carry them up to the nursery. Sure, she hadn't really played with any of her toys since she was only approaching her seventh week of life, but whenever she looked at their soft, colorful bodies, her steel-blue eyes would light up.

"There, there, dear," Steve heard come from the baby monitor clipped to his hip. Brows furrowing, Steve turned the volume up to see if Mia was fussing. From what he could hear, she wasn't. Which made him wonder why someone was in her nursery. No one was supposed to be in there, and the staff knew that. Especially the regulars.

Arms full of wearable rattles and soft blocks, Steve rushed up the stairs to the second level of the house. His heart was beating nearly out of his chest and his breath was getting close to hyperventilating, but he didn't stop. He didn't stop running until he reached the unguarded nursery.

In the dimly lit room, a brunette was holding Mia. Cradling her tiny frame close to her bosom as she caressed the side of Mia's face. Instantly, fear shot up and down his spine as he asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Removing her gaze from his baby, she simply said, "I decided that it was about time I met my niece."

"Niece?"

Steve's gaze ran over the strange woman. Tall, lean, and malignant. Her soft voice and curves reminded Steve of animals that distracted and disguised themselves to appear non-threatening so their prey wouldn't know any better. He felt trapped as she leaned down to kiss Mia's head, right where her horn nubs usually resided but were now hiding beneath.

"Put her down," Steve demanded, his entire body shaking with his fear and determination, "Now."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the woman clicked her tongue while she shook her head. "That's no way to address a Queen."

"You're not my queen," Steve argued, standing his ground.

At that, the brunette narrowed her eyes at Steve. Clearly offended, she menacingly crossed the room to him. "How dare you, you insignificant pest beneath my feet. You are nothing. You might have grown my niece in your human womb, but I could easily end you right now. I should end your miserable existence since you're only good for one thing: as an incubator. And even then there are stronger, more desirable humans that my brother could have chosen instead of you, a weak, broken omega. One of these days I'm going to devour your soul just so I can shit it back out and put you in your correct place."

Tears were blurring his vision, but he wasn't hurt by Bucky's sister's words. Oh no, he was frightened for his daughter. Clearly, Mia's aunt wasn't stable. Not even for a Hell Queen. Correction: Maveth Queen. Correction, correction: Who the fuck cares about what dark dimension she ruled?!

"Give me my daughter."

Her snake-like eyes flitted along his features. As they changed to the same stormy eyes that Bucky had and that Mia had, Steve held his breath. For a moment, he expected her to hiss like a snake's warning.

"Give her to him, Re'beck."

Deep, like the depths of Hell, an unfamiliar silky voice instructed. The woman, Re'beck, Queen of Maveth, listened to the man. As though Mia was fragile, precious, she handed the baby to Steve. Once she was in his arms, Steve cradled her tightly to himself and backed up to the wall, so he could keep his eyes on the strangers.

"It's alright, Steven. You have nothing to fear here," the man said, stepping into the office-turned-nursery.

Almost as soon as his eyes took in the man, Steve involuntarily gasped. He had never given Bucky's sole parent much thought, but whenever he did, the man was a grotesque caricature of what a man was supposed to look like. Always looking like a monster rather than an actual person. And, boy, was he hit over the head with those imaginings. Especially since the man standing there was really just an older version of Bucky. Handsome, devastatingly so. Strong, obviously. Older, yes. Dapper, debonair, and dazzling. Just like Bucky. Not that Steve was going to tell his alpha that though.

"Please," the man continued, "Don't take offense to my daughter. She's a sensitive soul, even though she denies it, and lashes out when her feelings get hurt."

For a moment, he just watched Steve. All Steve could do was stare at him with his mouth hanging open as he gazed upon the deity. Then, the man reached his hand out towards him and Steve flinched away from him. He couldn't do much more than flinch though as his legs were now numb like dead weight. The man wiped at Steve's face, coming back with wet fingertips.

Brows furrowed, the man, the devil, the whoever-the-fuck looked down at his hand as though he had never seen tears before. But surely he had. Right? There must be plenty of followers who had expressed one's emotions in such a way befo–

"What's going on here?"

A grin stretched at the older man's lips as he turned to face the doorway. Greeting Bucky, "Son!"

"Father," Bucky's gaze went from his dad to his sister to Steve and then back. He repeated, "What's going on here?"

"Just meeting the in-laws," Re'beck teased.

"I'm not sure that's wise," Bucky took a step closer to Steve and Mia.

"And why isn't it?" Re'beck asked, giving Steve A Look that only struck deeper fear inside of the petite omega and brought more tears to his eyes.

"They're not devotees," Bucky clarified. "And when's the last time you were around humans for any significant amount of time?"

"Oh, please," Re'beck scoffed. "It can't be that hard since you've been here."

Not taking her bait, Bucky instead wrapped Steve in his embrace, leading the omega to the primary bedroom. Once there, Bucky turned to face Steve. The omega was still silently crying. Worriedly, Bucky looked over Steve's face, clearly trying to find something.

Despite his shock and confusion and fear, Steve weakly assured, "I'm okay."

"No," Bucky shook his head, "You're not."

Steve didn't argue.

"Maybe you should lay down," Bucky suggested, crossing the bedroom to the king bed so he could start turning it down.

Steve did argue then. "I can't just take a nap."

"You can take a moment to yourself," Bucky attempted to appease him.

Shaking his head, Steve remained where Bucky had put him. Mia was starting to get fussy, so Steve started swaying her. Not that it did much of anything. Sighing, Steve took a seat on the bed and unbuttoned his shirt and pushed aside the supporter.

"So, that's your family?" Steve asked as Mia fed.

"Yes."

Steve nodded, caressing Mia's cheek. Bucky added, "I didn't know they were coming."

"That makes two of us," Steve joked.

Then, the doorbell rang throughout the brownstone.