Chapter 3
Steve wouldn't deny that it was hard to adapt, going from a life as a single, indecent to a man that now had a toddler in his care. He was no longer the priority, instead the priority was the two year old boy he took everywhere with him.
And besides that, Bucky was with him all the time. Apart from when he left for work. They had (finally) both agreed to stay at Howard and Maria's house, since they both had to be there for Tony. Although, Luke would admit to the guilt he felt when the lawyers replaced Howard and Maria's names on the tenancy with Steve and Bucky's.
They hadn't argued yet, although, Steve figured that was just because they hadn't spent any time together without Tony in the room. He was always with them, and when Tony went to bed, they did separate things in separate parts of the house. Steve was often in the (Howard's) office sorting through paperwork for the bakery and Bucky usually watched some sports cahannel that Steve was never interested in.
Which is how Steve ended up in the supermarket, pushing Tony in the kiddie seat while Bucky threw a bunch of junk food into the cart.
"We don't need that many flavors of Oreo's, Bucky," half of them looked disgusting anyways. Steve sighed as he put two packages back on the shelf. Bucky glared back at Steve , although, for the first time in a long time, the annoyance was lighthearted.
"Tony wanted them," Bucky defended. Of course, using the kid as an excuse. Parenting 101. "Didn't you, Tones? Tell Stevie he's being mean."
Tony just giggled at the two adults and Steve found himself smiling between Tony and Bucky.
"I didn't realize I was looking after two kids," Steve teased, pushing the cart further down the aisle. Bucky followed behind, looking longingly to the cookies, "C'mon Bucky, I want to get home in time to be able to actually give Tony a bath before he falls asleep in the high chair-"
Steve cuts himself off as he'd pushed his cart straight into someone else's. Covering a mumbled swear with a cough, he glanced up to meet familiar eyes.
"Steve," Peggy smiled as they both realized that they recognized each other. "I'm starting to think that you like bumping into me in supermarkets,"
"I am so sorry," Steve rubbed at the back f his neck, "I wasn't looking where I was going at all."
Peggy grind, "No, neither was I. So-" She trailed off as Bucky caught up with Steve and Tony.
"Uhm, Peggy, this is Bucky," Steve mumbled, "And this is Tony," He said, voice proud.
"Oh, he's just precious," Peggy cooed, tickling Tony softly, which caused the toddler to break out in laughter. "Aren't you? Yes, just precious."
Steve smiled, Tony liked Peggy, that was as good a sign as any.
"Is he yours?" Peggy asked, looking between Steve and Bucky. Bucky was staring the woman down, eye narrowed and arms crossed over his chest.
"Uh, we're his guardians, yeah." Peggy seemed to understand that this was perhaps a complicated and sensitive subject. She just nodded and turned her attention back to Tony.
Steve looked over to see Bucky frowning at Tony and Peggy laughing together. Peggy lifted one perfect eyebrow when Bucky held his arms out for Tony, and Steve knew how much he loved being held by Bucky, so of course he made grabby hands for him. Bucky smiled widely as he took Tony from the cart and shot a smile to Peggy before turning to Steve, "Meet you at the checkout," Was all he said before he and Tony were gone.
"Is - Sorry, but is he your..?" Peggy had clearly picked up the majorly pissed off vibes that Bucky had been sending out.
"Ah, nah," Steve shuffled awkwardly, "We're not together," the anymore went unspoken.
Peggy suggests meeting up at some point in the future, Steve gives a noncommittal 'maybe' and turns to find where Bucky had taken Tony. He realizes after the fact that maybe he had been a bit too dismissive of Peggy, but he had other things on his mind in the moment.
He found Tony and Bucky at the checkouts where Bucky had said they'd be. Bucky was flipping through the magazines, occasionally stopping to point something out or read to Tony. Tony sat comfortably balanced on his hip and was far more interested in pulling at the chain around Bucky's neck as hard as he could than he was in any of the pictures in Bucky's magazines.
Steve quickly scanned and packed the groceries in the self checkout line before reuniting with the pair. Bucky quirked an eyebrow in Steve's direction as he approached, "Where's your friend?"
Steve frowned, "She's shopping, like people usually do in a grocery store."
"Who is she anyways," Bucky asked, holding Tony in one arm and pushing the cart with the other.
Steve shrugged, "We've only bumped into each other once before, why?"
Bucky pursed his lips. Steve could hear the unspoken words anyways, Yeah right, sure, but he knew better than to push. Instead he caught up to them and handed Tony his bottle, deciding his guardian duties were more important.
"This is awfully domestic," Natasha said later in the day. Steve had invited her and Sam over for dinner, trying to bring some normality into Tony's life. Bucky and Sam were in the lounge area, entertaining Tony with a kiddie show. Sam was drawing with him, which, as Natasha commented, was fuckin' adorable.
"Well, the setting makes it domestic," Steve shrugged, "But it's not domestic in the way you're implying that it is."
Natasha smirked, following the blonde around the kitchen. "You're living with your ex-boyfriend and a toddler. I might call up the local radio station-"
"You're annoying," Steve sighed, although with humor in his voice, "I wish Sam was in here instead of you,"
Natasha grinned up at Steve, "And I wish James was in here instead of you."
Bucky shot up from the bed the second a hand slapped down on his bare chest. A glare forming on his face before he'd even opened his eyes, "What are you doing in here?" He switched from irritated to panicked with one look at a half-naked Steve's face. "What's wrong? Where's Tony?" He was kicking the blankets off, despite being only in his underwear, ready to go find the baby to see what had happened.
"The social worker just texted," Steve spit out, " "She's her way. I forgot about the check up with her today!"
"Fuck, the house is a mess," Bucky grumbles, reaching out for the closest piece of clothing he could find, "She's going to think we're all over the place,"
"You start cleaning, I'll get Tony-" and then they were moving in opposite directions.
Steve put Tony down on the changing table, "We have to be on our best behavior this morning, Tones." He told the baby as he searched for an outfit to impress the social worker. "You have to act so happy, okay? Try to get across that Bucky and I are the perfect guardians and you are having the time of your life with us, yeah?"
Tony just blinked back at him, still sleepy and oblivious to Steve's mini breakdown.
As soon as he had Tony dresses there were headed downstairs to find Bucky, Steve grabbing the laundry basket as they went. Bucky was in the kitchen, the blonde quickly passed the baby to the other man and moved to put the basket in the laundry room.
The knock at the door had both men staring at each other as if a stranger had just stormed into the room pointing a gun at their heads.
"Hi, it's great to see you both, and of course you, Tony." the social worker, Millie, smiled from the other side of the door. She wasn't exactly the terrifying poster that Steve had painted in his mind.
"Uh, come in," Steve forced an answering smile. He didn't want her to think that he and Bucky were doing a bad job at this guardian thing. After all, this was Howard and Maria's kid and he just wanted to look after Tony the best that he could.
"How are you guys adapting to life with a two year old?" is the first thing that Millie asked once they were situated on the couch in the living room. Tony say in Bucky's lap with a coloring book in front of him, Steve sitting just beside them with Millie across from them sipping at a fresh cup of coffee.
"I think we're doing okay," Steve said, knowing Bucky wouldn't answer. Honestly, Steve did think they were doing pretty well for two first-timers who didn't even like each other very much.
Millie went through all the general questions that Steve had mostly expected. Steve answered all of her questions while Bucky was preoccupied drawing pictures on Tony's paper. Tony was captivated with Bucky's passible artistic ability.
"Can I ask a question," Steve blurted suddenly, "I know he's only two but, uhm, I don't want him to forget them. Is he going to forget them?"
Millie smiled sympathetically at them both, "You don't need to worry about that, Steve," She said very softly, "You and Bucky will be reminders of them as he grows up, and when he gets older, you can tell him all about them, I'm sure."
Steve nodded slowly, accepting the answer and reaching out for one of Tony's little slapping hands.
"And how is the relationship between you two," Millie gestures between the adults.
Steve stuttered out, "Uh, it's fine?" unconvincingly.
"I know you have a history," She said, trying to read the men who were starting to get a little defensive. "But if you can make this work, I think that's great. Maybe this is a bit too personal, but what is the relationship looking like right now?"
Both men were silent, looking back and forth between themselves and the social worker.
"I'm going to get right to the point," She said, "You're not in a romantic or sexual relationship with one another right now?"
"What? No!" Bucky said, a little too quickly. Steve has to refrain from rolling his eyes, because, ouch. Was he really that bad?
"That's good," Millie replied with a small smile, "I think that it will be much easier if your relationship remains a friendship. It would only complicate things to change that and right now, Tony is your main priority."
"Don't worry," Steve said, falsely happy, "We won't be going that route."
"So, basically," Bucky complains the second the door closed behind the social worker, "If we fucked right now, we're putting Tony's stability on the line- how stupid."
"She's just looking for what's in Tony's best interest," Steve snapped, defending the woman who, yeah, maybe got a little too personal with the men but it was literally her job, "Besides, it's not like we were going to sleep together anyways, so I don't understand why you're so pissed."
Bucky rolled his eyes, "I don't like being told what to do."
"It was advice, Bucky. Jesus, you're a child."
A few minutes later, as they were sitting down fro breakfast, Bucky thinks to mention, "I have a big job tomorrow, so I'm going to be gone all day."
"I've got to go to the bakery-" Steve tried not to complain, but the bakery really isnt the best place to keep a toddler entertained.
"So? Do you want me to get fired?" Bucky huffed.
Steve rolled his eyes, picking Tony up to clean him off, "Yes, Bucky. Nothing would make me happier than you losing your job."
"You're your own boss." Bucky argued, " I'm not. Therefore, I need go to work more than you do."
Steve stopped turning to look back at Bucky, putting Tony on the ground to play for moment, "Are you saying that your job is more important than mine? Because, I'll have you know-" Bucky held up a hand to silence Steve''s rant. It only served to piss the blond off more.
He took a breath, ready to tell Bucky how rude he was being and that he could go right to-
Steve followed the other man's eye-line to Tony, which was normal, what wasn't normal was Tony standing, holding on but looking like he was going to try to take a step.
"Don't move," Bucky whispered, which would have been funny if Steve wasn't just as desperate to watch Tony take his first steps. They were acting as if he was some kind of ild animal that would startle and run off if they were too loud, which was objectively funny, but, priorities.
Steve was thankful for the slow way that Bucky pulled his iPhone from his pocket to video the way that Tony picked one little foot up and then down, taking a few wobbly steps across the floor on his own for the first time.
When he fell, both men rushed forwards, huge grins on their faces. Bucky picked Tony up and spun him, causing the toddler to giggle. "Oh my god! You're a genius, you're literally the smartest babying the entire world!" Steve gasped out, pressing kisses to tony's face.
"I'm so proud of you!" Bucky turns to Steve, "Oh my god, did you see that!"