Chapter 1
"So," Steve asked "You're sure you want to do this?"
Bucky nodded. It had been a long road, but he was a thousand percent sure he wanted to do this.
The Avengers had found him nearly three years ago now. It had been a long process to undo the rest of his programming, but it was worth it when he finally remembered Steve. It had then taken another year of the two dancing around each other, and Tony locking them in a cupboard with death hreats from Natasha, for them to admit their feelings for each other. They had been together a year and a half now, married within the first year. They still lived at Avengers tower with the others. It was all very adult and domestic.
They were now taking the ultimate leap. Kids.
They knew a super hero lifestyle wasn't the ideal setting for raising children, but there were three things they were sure of;
1. The child would never want for anything, 2. He or she would live in possibly the safest building in the world and 3. The child would be surrounded by love at all times.
All the Avengers were on board, excited to be aunts and uncles. Plus, Steve was Captain freaking America. That had to make him eligable to adopt.
Initially, they wanted a baby.Until they realised how huge the market for babies was. Kids being kidnapped from hospitals, people paying thousands for babies. Not to mention some people had waited up to twenty years for a child.
After hearing the horror stories from Clint about orphanages and the foster system, they decided to adopt an older child. So, there they were. Sitting in the car outside an orphanage in Manhattan called St. Agnes.
Taking a deep breath, Bucky nodded, giving Steve a quick kiss before exiting the car and walking up the steps. They looked at each other briefly before opening the door and walking up to the front desk.
"Hi, I'm Steve Rogers, I have an appointment." Steve informered the secertary who instantly became flustered at Steve's presence. Bucky had a glance around. It was fucking depressing. Little to no natural light, all negative colours. Just being in the room left him drained, how was this a supportive envirement for kids to grow up in?
Before Bucky could think any further, a nun shows up and beckons for them to follow her. "Welcome to St. Agnes Orphange for Children. I'm Sister Sarah" she tells them "we have many children here, but im afraid you may have to wait some time for an infant." "Well, that's the thing, we don't want an infant" Steve told her. She looks suprised for a moment, before a large grin over takes her face.
"That is such wonderful news, there are so many children who simply need homes but are deemed 'too old.' It's horrendous." Sister Sarah led Steve and Bucky into a playroom full of about twenty children or so, ranging from about five to twelve. None of them seemed to notice Steve and Bucky come in. Bucky noticed one girl in particular, squinting hard at an old book, a look of intense concentration on her face. "Who's she?" Bucky asked, discreetly pointing to the girl.
Sister Sarah sighed, her smile lessened. "That's Mary-Sue Poots, one of the sadder cases. She was found in an old gym bag with a recipt in Mandarin in it. No trace of parents, nothing. She's only eight but she's been to fourteen different foster homes, a new record. It's always bad excuses like 'She's just not the right fit' or something awful like that. She's not a bad kid, just been through too much too soon. All she needs is a bit of stability and warmth. We try to give it to her, but we've so many other children to care for and we can't replace parents." She finished her speeach with a heavy sigh.
Steve and Bucky looked at each other. This was exactly why they wanted to adopt an older child. Give someone a home who needed it.
"Can we talk to her?" Steve asked. He was rewarded with a bright smile. "Of course, I'll make the introductions, she doesn't always like strangers, afraid they'll disappoint her and leave." Sister Sarah walked them over to Mary-Sue's reading corner.
She briefly looked up before going back to her reading. "Mary" Sister Sarah called. Mary didn't look up but scowled into her book. "Mary is on your birth certificate and I will not call you anything else." "Wǒ de míngzì shì Skye" was all the girl said.
Bucky recognised the language as Mandarin. He learnt it as the Winter Solider. Her speech was broken but understandable.
"That's a beautiful name" he told her in Mandarin.
Skye instantly brightened up, a massive grin appearing and her face lighting up in wonder. "You speak my language?" she asked.
"I do" Bucky replied "But Steve here doesn't, so is it okay if we speak English instead?"
Skye nodded her acceptance. "Hi" she said to Steve. "I'm Skye" she shot a look to Sister Sarah, as if daring her to correct Skye "You're Captain America."
Steve chuckled at the girl. When people found out who he was, they either became flustered, scared or demanded to know what life was like in the 1940s. The girl was refreshing.
"Yes I am. This is my husband, Bucky." He told her. He was aware of how the church stood on homosexuality, he was waiting to see how an orphan raised by nuns would feel about it.
"Wait, do you mean Bucky Barnes from the comics?" Steve nodded, a soft smile on his face. "That's so cool!" she yelled out.
Bucky was quietly chuckling at the whole thing. He liked this girl. He looked at Steve and found the same reaction. He was almost completely positive that they would eventually adopt her. They agreed to foster first, in case the child didn't fit with them. They were definately going to foster Skye.
Sister Sarah smiled at them all before leaving. Maybe, she thought, just maybe, little Mary's found herself a home.
Bucky took a closer look at Skye's book and found himself impressed. It was in Mandarin as well. The girl was ambitious to attempt to learn it.
"Can I see your book?" Bucky asked Skye. She eyed him for a moment before nodding and handing it over. It was a simple fiction book, meant for younger children. "I can't understand all the symbols yet. but I'm learning" Skye told them.
"What made you want to learn?" Steve asked. He wasn't prepared for the answer.
"Well, you see my eyes? They're Asian. Well that's what Sister Tabitha told me. So I thought, maybe my mommy and daddy are Chinese, so If I learn Chinese, when I finally meet them, they'll understand me." Skye didn't realise the effect of her words and was surprised when Steve and Bucky looked sad.
Bucky however, couldn't grasp how a child could be so accepting of her parents abondenment. He didn't have the heart to tell her that there was little to no chance of her parents wanting her. She wouldn't have been found the way she was if her parents had cared.
"Well" Steve told her "We can't be your mommy, but if you let us, we'd like to be your daddy. Would you like to be fostered by us?"
Skye was astounded. She never got a say in where she went. And usually they didn't want her to begin with.
"You sure?" she asked them. She didn't want to get her hopes up. "It's okay if you don't want to, you wont be the first."
"We're sure darling" Bucky told her.
This was really happening. They actually wanted her. She smiled then, a tear rolling down her face in happiness. Steve and Bucky panicked at the sight of the tear, fearing thay said something wrong. They were stopped mid thought by Skye's tiny arms grabbing them and hugging them fiercely.
"So is that a yes" Bucky asked while laughing after she let them go. Skye just smiled and hugged him again.