Words On My Skin

Chapter 16

"Alright, kid. Work with me, here." You huffed out, for the third time, trying to wrangle the squirming baby – Farida's son, Ilyas – into a good position to burp him. The burp cloth covered the whole left side of your shirt and shoulder, since you'd made the rookie mistake of not wearing it, once before. "You're going to start getting pretty pissed off, if that burp doesn't come out, soon."

The little guy squirmed in response, a little whine squeaking out as he tried to burrow is face into the burp cloth.

You were tasked with the job of babysitting Ilyas, while Farida and her husband went to some work party on the Upper East Side, since Farida had texted you – freaking out that the party was last-minute, and they didn't have anyone to watch him. She'd begged you to babysit, remembering how good you were with children when you'd met her family back in college, and you'd agreed with the condition that it was in the compound – since you were still technically working, and had mountains of paperwork to do.

She'd been so thankful that she'd brought you a succulent to put on your desk – the cactus with the red ball on top that you had to Google how to take care of – and a giant container of her mom's recipe of a fish curry. She'd even gone as far as wearing the silky, floral scarf you'd sent her from when you'd shopped with Wanda at some name brand store – claiming it was so nice, she was going to wear it with her black dress to the work party.

"Knock, knock." You heard from the doorway, just as Ilyas let out a large belch from your consistent patting on his back.

Perfect timing!

Glancing up, you grinned at Bucky – who was coming in with a large bag of take-out and a drink tray, "You're my savior, right now. I'm starving."

He startled, glancing down at the little boy who was currently spitting up on the burp rag placed over your chest. You picked a bad day to wear a white blouse. "Who's this?"

"Farida's son, Ilyas." You laughed, wiping the baby's mouth and turning him around so he could stare at Bucky and bang his slobbery hands on your desk. "She asked me to watch him while her and her husband go to some party for his work, or something. You missed Claire, by the way. Caleb brought her in and she played with the baby, while I finished typing up some forms for the new recruits."

"Thank god I missed the two of you, together." He snorted, plopping down in the chair and unpacking the food. "Last time, you both ganged up on me and stuck a bunch of magnets on my arm." He passed you your container of French fries, stealing one from the open container and popping it in his mouth as he opened more containers. When he was done chewing, he continued, "Also, I had to take a dish scrubber to my hand, because the slime you guys were making got stuck between the plates of my fingers."

"Poor you." You giggled, shifting the food away from Ilyas's reach, and opening the container that housed your sandwich. "You had fun, don't even whine."

"Maybe so," He pointed his fork at you, leaning back in the chair and running his free hand through his tangled hair, "but you and Claire like to scheme when you're together. It's dangerous."

You rolled your eyes, remembering when you and Claire kept sneaking up on Bucky – who probably knew exactly what you were up to, due to his insane hearing – and sticking magnets on him. Until, finally, he'd just grumbled and stuck out his arm for you and Claire to mess around with. Claire had a lot of questions, while playing with some letter magnets and spelling out names.

Anyways, he'd gotten you back on the mats, later...

Okay, that sounds dirty.

He made you do a lot of cardio.