Interlude
Two weeks in Malibu wasn't enough time away, at least not for him. But he knew that if he didn't make his way back to the tower, Bucky would hijack a quinjet and drag his ass home kicking and screaming. And well, that wouldn't be good for anyone.
He'd stayed in communication with the people at the tower for the most part. Bucky and Sam were constantly texting him. Bucky more so with pictures of Olivia, who was thriving under the care of her new mother and father, Steve had to admit, the baby was growing on him and he missed her terribly. Sam texted him mostly about Natasha's most recent terrifying feats, and a little bit of therapeutic advice.
He and Darcy had exchanged a few texts, mostly about the kids, avoiding the huge elephant that had come between them.
The minute he got to his apartment a text had come from Bucky, because of course he had known he was back, asking if he'd wanted to watch Olivia tonight so he and Jane could have a date night.
Steve wasn't stupid, he knew that Luci would be thrilled to do it. This was just Bucky's way of throwing him back into the swing of things. And also his way of making sure he didn't run off again because he was a fucking idiot who always ran from his problems instead of facing them head on.
Around six the night he arrived back home, he found himself making his way to Bucky and Jane's home. Mentally preparing himself, because while he took care of Darcy's children all the time, they were very self-sufficient. Even four year old Sofia, who was about to be five. He'd never really spent alone time with a toddler, but he'd seen enough movies that the thought terrified him.
Though he would never tell Bucky that. His best friend would use that as leverage against him for the rest of his life. And if Bucky could handle one little baby, he could too. Right?
He knocked on the door quietly and let himself in. Bucky would have heard his knock, but if the baby was sleeping he didn't want to disturb her.
Though the baby wasn't sleeping. She was in her high chair, with Jane in front of her who was sobbing her eyes out, trying to feed the toddler.
He shot a quick look at Bucky who was in a tailored, black suit, obviously he had nicer plans made for his date tonight.
"Why is she crying? Is she alright," Steve was genuinely concerned. He'd never seen Jane so emotional.
"She's pregnant," Bucky shrugged, as if his answer made perfect sense and it was no big deal. That is, until, Jane hit him with a stink eye of epic proportions. "Ok. So I'm a jackass who is taking her away from her child."
"She's a baby," Jane sobbed and looked down at the toddler who was staring at her with wide, unblinking eyes. "She needs her mommy."
Bucky sighed and reached down and pulled her up to stand. Jane was dressed to the nines, the grey dress accentuating her baby bump, that seemed to have gotten bigger since Steve last saw her. But still she glowed in a way.
He guessed that Olivia was very good for the both of them.
"Baby," Bucky was saying. "We need time alone. It's in every damn parenting magazine we've been going through since we found out we were pregnant."
"But she's so little," Jane sobbed. "She needs us."
"She still has us," Bucky soothed and pulled her closer to the door, while motioning at him to continue to feed said baby before the baby started throwing a fit too. "We'll only be gone a few hours, than you can smother her with your motherly devotion. She'll be ok with Steve for a few hours."
He helped Jane into her jacket, as far as he knew they were going to the restaurant on one of the upper terraces. His heart broke a little when Jane looked at him with teary eyes. "Take care of my baby." And then she was out the door.
Bucky sighed and shot him a smile. "Her sippy cup is on the counter, and if she's still hungry there are some rice and beans in the fridge. She loves the stuff. We'll be back. Thanks for doing this buddy," Bucky said and then he was gone.
Steve shook his head and looked back at the little girl. "You want some more," he asked, holding the spoon of chopped spaghetti to her mouth. She opened her mouth and took a bite.
Steve fell in love with the baby. In a way this tiny human depended on him right now for survival. He briefly had a glimpse of the future when the baby would be his, and his sense of fulfillment grew. He kissed the baby on the head and smiled at her. "No wonder your mommy and daddy have a hard time leaving you."
Olivia finished her spaghetti, and reached for him, so he took that for her wanting out. He took her out and she wrapped her tiny, baby arms around his neck leaving him even more smitten. "Let's see what we can find to play with here. Looks like you have even more toys than you did two weeks ago!" He sat the baby down, and she toddled over to what looked to be a toy kitchen set. They made everything these days. She banged a pot against the stove and held it up for him to see.
He grinned at her, "I see that. What are you cooking?"
"Ball!"
"You're cooking a ball," he exclaimed.
She giggled and brought a ball to him and then ran back to get the pan, and brought that to him as well. And for a brief moment, in this torturous past two weeks, he was at ease.
It took Bucky thirty minutes to get Jane to calm down enough to actually look at the menu, and when she wasn't sobbing she was glaring at him.
"Glare at me all you want, sweetheart, but you aren't changing my mind. We haven't had time to ourselves since we got Livy. And I adore our daughter. But we need time alone too. She'll be fine with Steve."
"She needs her mommy. She's going to think we abandoned her," Jane started to sob again so Bucky moved his chair over to wrap his arms around her. He silently sent up a prayer of thanks that they had a table near the wall. Onlookers would always snoop, but what they didn't need were tabloid headlines saying that they were in an argument or that their relationship was in trouble.
"Sweetheart," he pushed a piece of hair that had fallen in her face. "Olivia adores you. There isn't a doubt in my mind about that. But she will be ok without you for a few hours. It will do her good and you as well," Jane sobbed harder. "Baby what's been going on with you lately?"
"I don't know," she cried into her. "I just can't stop crying lately."
He rocked her gently and kissed the top of her head. "I mean we know it's normal, right? To be emotional during pregnancy. You know you can always talk to me, ok?"
"I know," Jane sobbed. "You've been so wooooonderfuuuuuulllll."
Bucky sighed. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to go out tonight.
There was a pile of toys by the front door when Darcy let herself into Jane's apartment several hours later. The apartment was dimly lit and the tv was on in the livingroom. She made her way in quietly.
Jane had to be taken to the medical bay at the tower after supper because she had started to feel funny. They were going to keep her for a few more hours, but Steve wasn't answering Bucky's texts and the parents were worried about their little girl.
Darcy's sense of trepidation only heightened as she made her way further into the apartment. She'd barely talked to Steve since that morning a few weeks ago. And those minimal conversations were only more awkward as they were only about the kids.
Steve had taken on a father role it seemed Nick had never wanted. The kids were heartbroken that he hadn't told them goodbye, but he'd talked to them individually over the last few weeks, even more than he had talked to her.
But the fact that he hadn't stopped by today, said as much as the last two weeks. She wasn't the only one feeling out of sorts because of their drunken night.
Olivia was asleep on her tummy, laying on Steve's chest. And Steve looked as peaceful as she had ever seen him. He seemed to have it all under control and she hated to wake him, but she needed to.
Steeling her resolve she shook him gently. She didn't want to wake the baby. "Hey," she said quietly and cleared her throat. "Steve."
The baby opened her eyes and Darcy groaned quietly. "Sleep sweetheart," she rubbed her back and Steve groaned.
"What time is it," he asked.
"Only ten," she said, thankful that it was dark. She didn't want him to see her blush. "Bucky has been trying to get ahold of you. Jane needed some medical attention and he wanted to make sure you were ok."
He was doing everything he could to avoid her gaze, and Darcy really couldn't blame him. "Yeah we're fine." He shifted and the baby laid her head down again on his chest, and Darcy had to stifle a surprising amount of jealousy towards her little niece.
"Of course," she cleared her throat and stood. "If you need anything. You have my number." She walked to the door, careful to avoid several toys that looked like them made a lot of noise. Her emotions switching between needing to get far away from him as fast as possible, and the need for him to call her back.
But that was something she'd have to mull through another day.
Jane groaned as Bruce looked over another set of tests they took what seemed like hours ago. "I just want to go home. I miss my baby. I miss my bed."
"They're just making sure that everything is ok with you and the kids," Bucky said. "Better safe than sorry."
Bruce smiled in a way that most doctors did when they were trying to reassure you that everything would be okay, when secretly they had no fucking clue what was going on. "You had some minor contractions, Jane. But they've stopped now."
Jane sighed in relief but then winced. "If those were only minor, I don't want to know what actual, full on contractions feel like."
Bucky chuckled and kissed her head. "You are the strongest woman I know."
"Pfft. You know Natasha."
"Doesn't change a thing," he said.
Bruce grinned at them and cleared his throat. "I think I do want you on bed rest though, Jane until you deliver."
"That could be over six weeks away," Jane gasped and looked at Bucky. Bucky had the grace to wince in sympathy.
"I know," Bruce was saying. "But we want to try and keep these kiddos in there as long as possible."
Jane sighed and sat back. "I have a toddler that I have to chase after. How do you expect me to just sit around all day."
Bucky grabbed one of her hands and smiled at her. "Lucky for her, she has a daddy who has more than enough energy to chase her all day."
Jane started to cry again, the emotions of the day and Bucky's obvious love for her catching up to her.
Bruce cleared his throat clearly uncomfortable. Let's do weekly checkups. I'll come to your apartment to make it easy. But other than bed rest, I think everything will be fine. If you have any issues, don't hesitate to reach out."
Jane absolutely refused letting Bucky carry her all the way to their apartment. So they got a wheelchair.
The journey was quick and when they turned the corner down the hall, they saw Darcy leaving and returning to her own apartment. The way she was walking, quickly and with her head down, told them that they probably shouldn't call out to her.
They were surprised though, to find Steve asleep on the couch, their own little baby asleep on his chest. Obviously there was little or no conversation between Darcy and Steve while she was here.
Bucky gently helped her into some night clothes then into their bed. He went back in the livingroom presumably to get their baby but came back empty handed.
"I covered them up. Didn't want to wake 'em." He waved his phone around. "I got a couple of pictures for my Instagram that Bella can help me post."
"He did good with her," Jane said. "She's out. She didn't need us." Jane could feel the tears coming again.
"Sweetheart," he said. "She will always need us. It's good that she's comfortable with Uncle Steve. He is her godfather. And it's good that he's comfortable with her. Although the house is a mess. I have a feeling that every toy she has is scattered all over the floor."
Jane grinned, "And I can't pick them up."
"You know I am more than happy to clean up after my family, you forget I come from another time," Bucky said.
"That's a good thing."
"A very good thing," he gave her a slow, gentle kiss. "Now get some rest. Livy will be wanting her mommy before you know it."
The next morning, Darcy answered the knock at the door. It was Steve wearing the same clothes as last night, holding Livy on his hip who was just in her diaper.
Darcy smirked and he cleared his throat. "Jane is still asleep, and Bucky said you'd have breakfast. Livy here didn't want to wear clothes this morning. I'm lucky she let me put her in a diaper."
A baby on Steve's hip was doing something to her lady parts, that all she wanted to do was pass the baby off to Bella and pull Steve into her room and have her way with him.
She shook her head at that particular brain-frying thought and pushed it aside. She smiled at the baby and cooed, holding her arms out to her. "That's ok. When you're that little and that cute you can get away without wearing clothes." Olivia slid into her arms as Steve walked through the door. "I think Jane is the only one who can wrangle her into anything anyway."
Steve stuffed his hands in his pocket and stared ahead. "The kids up, yet?"
She nodded. "They are. They're in the livingroom."
He nodded and walked in that direction. She heard all three of her kids exclaim and it was the first she heard Bella talk in two weeks. She sighed and tickled the baby's tummy. "At least you'll talk to me, won't you Livy?"
The baby giggled and put her tiny hands over hers and instantly Darcy's mood brightened. "You are a magic baby, aren't you? Let's go find something to eat."
Breakfast was a quiet affair, for her and Steve at least. The children, mostly Mason spent the whole time filling him in on what he missed. And when Bella wasn't glaring at her she was telling him all about her school project.
Steve was genuinely interested, as he always was. Unfortunately for her it also made it easy to ignore her. Which was a very bad thing, considering he hadn't smiled at her since the night before he left. And she missed it.
She missed it a lot.
Instead he was turning that smile upon her kids and baby niece, who was especially talkative with her baby talk this morning.
And when breakfast was over, much too soon, Steve who normally stayed to see what else needed help with the kids and around the apartment, took a warm wash cloth to the baby, who had managed to get more on her instead of in her, and lifted her from her seat and for the first time made eye contact with her. "I should get her back to Bucky and Jane. Thank you for breakfast," and then left.
Bella stood and started to clear the plates from the table in a huff. "At least Livy gets to go home to a father, and doesn't have a mom who is completely messing things up."
Mason cleared his throat and Sofia looked down. "I beg your pardon," Darcy said. Bella had never, ever taken that tone with her before, and Darcy was not about to let her start now.
Bella looked her in the eyes for the first time in two weeks and said, "Well think about it, mom. It's so obvious that Steve loves you. He loves all of us. The only reason that he's being so awkward right now is because he knows you don't want a relationship or anything."
She stared at her daughter and sat her coffee cup down when Sofia who was still playing with her breakfast said, "I wish Steve was my daddy. He loves me."
Darcy sat back stunned.
Steve let himself into Bucky and Jane's apartment, and then minute he sat Olivia's feet on the ground, she was off.
"No," he yelled quietly. "Sweetheart wait!"
He heard Bucky chuckle from the couch as Olivia stuck the landing. "It's ok, man. We're up." He pulled Olivia onto his lap, and the toddler gave him a kiss before crawling into Jane's arms.
Jane smile up at him, "Thank you for watching her yesterday."
"Anytime," Steve said as he sat down. And he meant it. The baby was a lot of fun. She needed him in a way the bigger kids didn't and kept him on his toes. "So bed rest, huh?"
Jane scowled but then smiled. "Yeah. But now Bucky has to wait on me day and night."
Bucky grinned and looked his way. "She's more thrilled than she's letting on. She's already got plans for me deep cleaning the apartment."
"Well I think you deserve it," Steve said.
Jane put both hands in the air and cheered, "Steve is Team Jane! Sam is Team Jane! Livy are you team mommy?"
The baby clapped and squealed, "Ma!"
The adults all laughed and the room grew quiet again until Jane spoke up. "Seriously though," she looked at him. "Steve are you alright?"
Bucky and Livy looked at him and he wanted to shatter. "I'm fine."
"Don't lie to me," Jane warned.
"I am," he defended.
"Steven Grant Rogers."
He took a deep breath and then let it out. "I'm not," he admitted. "I'm trying, but I'm not fine."