Chapter 3
The next day is a slow- and easy-going day. Bruce has made a lovely breakfast and Y/N had insisted on sharing her strawberries with Steve and Bucky even if they didn’t want any. Then Nat and Clint had taken Y/N out into town and brought her a pair of dashing sunglasses in star form which she insists on wearing all day before they took her back to the beach where the others are already all set up. Y/N ignores Steve and Bucky completely as they compliment her about her glasses. Instead, she drags Nat to the shore pointing and laughing all the way. Nat quickly grabs the rubber ring Bucky had brought and sets it up. “So, you want to swim, Y/N?”
“Uh-hu.” Y/N nods and bounces a little as net takes her hand and walks into the water. Y/N screams in delight and a little at the cold water and giggles until the water hits her belly. Nat then lifts her up and places her into the ring to float with every wave. Then she walks a little further out so the water is at her midsection. Y/N giggles and splashes water, kicking her legs and grabbing for Nat who swims up and down in front of her. “Come here. You can do it.” Nat claps her hand and hold them out for Y/N. She kicks her leg uncoordinated and doesn’t come an inch forward but Nat slowly walks over to her and it looks like Y/N manages to come forward. Nat just reaches her as another pair of arms snakes around Y/N. “No!” She screams and giggles as Buck blows a raspberry on her cheek. “Hey, baby doll. Having fun?”
“Swim!”
“Yeah, you’re swimming, I see.” He kisses her cheek again and Y/N smiles until she sees the ball. “Mine!” She points at it and Bucky laughs. “Yes. Do you want to play with us?”
“Yes!” Y/N claps her hands in delight and takes the ball from Bucky to press it under the water again like she did with Steve the day earlier.
IT takes a while but Bucky and Nat notice that Y/N slowly gets tired. Her eyes blink slower and stay closed for longer moments. Bucky quickly takes her out of the ring and presses her to his chest while Nat grabs the ring and ball. “Hey, doll. Tired?”
“No.” She’s silent and snuggles into Bucky’s warm chest. He chuckles and kisses her damp hair, slowly waking back to the shore and the others. The moment he reaches Steve, she’s fast asleep. “You tired her out, huh?”
“Well, she did swim pretty long.” Bucky nods and passes her to Steve who lies her down in the shadow of the sunshade. Then he lies down next to her. “What are you doing, punk?”
“Napping with my girl.” Steve smirks up at Bucky and the brunette just shakes his head. He looks over to the others. Bruce is deep in his book, while Clint and Nat have gone to fetch some ice cream. Tony is on his tablet, what else, and doing who-knows-what. “Fine. I’ll join in.” He quickly settles himself behind Steve and slings his arm around his torso so his hand can rest on Y/N’s tummy.
* * *
Steve wakes up after a pleasantly uninterrupted nap. He feels Bucky’s board chest still against his back, clammy and sweaty skin glued against his. Warm puffs of air hit his skin and pleasantly snuggles into his embrace. Slowly he opens is eyes and looks at the spot in front of him where Y/N sleeps. Only that the space is empty. “Y/N!”
“Calm down, spangles.” Tony smiles at him and Nat leans forward from the space, magazine lying down on her lap. “She’s fine, Steve. She’s down on the shore.” Steve’s eyes snap back to the water. “Alone?!” he sees her play at the edge of the water with her bucket and shovel. Alone. “We have our eyes on her. Besides Clint is out in the water and sees her the whole time.” Steve instantly panics, though, and sits up, hitting Bucky with his elbow. “Ow!” He hold his hand to his nose and stares at Steve but he already scrambles up and runs down to the water only to fall on his knees beside her. “Steeb.” She looks up at him and smiles, holing up the shovel with muddy sand on it for him to take. “Hey.” He takes a shaky breath before he smiles shyly at the little girl. Y/N holds the shovel a little higher. “Cake.”
“Oh. For me?” Y/N nods and Steve smiles at her, taking the shovel. “Mhhhh, that tastes good. Did you make it all alone?”
“Yes.” She nods again, takes the shove and sloppily fills the bucket with sand and water, filling the shovel wit it and passes it back to Steve. “More cake?” She nods again and laughs as Steve mimics eating the sand cake again.
Twenty minutes later Y/n is tired of making cakes and gets up. She pulls on Steve’s hand and he quickly picks up all her stuff and walks with her on his hand back to the others. Y/N instantly makes a beeline for Bucky and flops against his chest. “Hey doll. Did you have fun with Stevie?” he waits for the child to nod before he presses some soft kisses against her hair. “What did you do?”
“Cake.” Bucky gasps at Y/N’s words. “You made cake and I didn’t get one? Mean.” He pouts and starts tickling Y/N merciless. Y/N squeals and trashes a little until Bucky settles with her on his chest. He kisses her head and she hums in pleasure. At first no one notices anything but then Bucky suddenly curses. “Fuck! Steve, get me a blanket or big towel.”
“What? Why?”
“Just do it!” Bucky is tense and Steve seems to catch on. He quickly grabs a big towel and throw it over Y/n while Bucky works on the swimsuit and diaper. “She’s dropping?”
“Yeah. Do we have her clothes here?”
“No. I’ll go and grab some. Be right back.” Steve scramble up and runs away. At the same time the others get up and try to shield Bucky and Y/N from passing people who might catch on what’s happening. It’s all a matter of fifteen minutes and luckily it seems like no one really seems to notice what’s happening here. Steve returns with clothes just as Y/N looks up at Bucky and around them and blushes hard. She quickly hides her face back in Bucky’s chest. “Oh wow. That was close.” Tony looks around before he leans back. “That can’t happen again.” Bruce nods at his word while the others only frown. Nat is Quick to grab the second blanket she used to cover herself after swimming and wraps it around Y/N, steering her away a bit and helps her into the bikini Steve has brought. “Thanks nat.”
“No problem. You’re okay? This was probably awkward.”
“Yeah well. I did lie naked in front of you all.” Y/N feels herself blush again. “Don’t worry. Nobody saw anything and if they did, they won’t mention it.”
“I hope so.” Y/N looks around but her gaze stops at Steve and Bucky who gaze at her a bit worriedly but also pretty relieved. She smiles at them, thanks Nat Fr her help and walks back to them. She settle down beside them. She cuddles up against Bucky. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Bucky slings his arms around her waist and kisses her shoulder while Steve slips in front of Y/N. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fi- Dear god, Steve!” Y/N stares in shock and insanity bursts out laughing. “What?” The blonde looks confused to her and then to Bucky as the brunette joins in and burst out laughing too. “You- You have the w-worst case of sunburn.” Y/N gasps while laughing and pats Steve’s hand as he looks around and tries to asses hi body. “Where?”
“Here!” She lifts her hand from his and points at his shoulders, chest and back. The skin doesn’t look that bad, just a bit flushed but it’s not difficult to guess how it might look when they get out o the sun and the skin gets some time to heal and adjust. “Oh.” A faint blush rises up on his cheekbones and Y/N snickers at his burned shoulders while leaning further back into Bucky’s chest. “Turn around, please.” She smiles at him and looks though the beach bag Bucky had brought to the beach. She finds a small tube of cream and smears some of it on Steve’s back. He issues a little at the cold and this time it’s Bucky who snickers at him. Steve jus pouts but Let’s Y/N tend to his back. After that Y/N pulls him in again the chest and kisses his shoulder. They watch the waves break and Nat and Clint swim for a while until Bucky speaks up. “How are you holding up, doll?”
“I… I’m good, I think. I slept good while being little.” She pointedly avoids Steve’s eyes as he turns a little and buries deeper in Bucky’s embrace. Steve seems to notice her discomfort but he doesn’t give her the pleasure of ignoring it. Instead Y/N quickly finds herself facing him, his hands framing her face and stroking softly over her cheeks. “You know, it’s alright for us if you won’t get rid of the dream just now. We both know how hunting they can be but we hope this vacation has distracted you. If not, that’s alright.” She shrugs and presses a careful kiss on her forehead while bucky kisses her neck. “We’re here, doll, and we aren’t going anywhere.” Bucky murmurs it against her shoulder while one of his hand strokes comfortingly over her stomach. Y/N closes her eyes and tries to relax as best as she can. They still have a few days left of their vacation and Y/N also hopes that they will be enough to get rid of the dream. “I hate this dream. I’m somewhat prepares and expect to lose you while you fight the evil and rescue people. But loosing you because of a car crash… That’s just…” She stops talking, not knowing where she really was going with this. “It’s alright. We won’t go anywhere. And honestly I would be disappointed if I die in a car crash.”
“Bucky!” Steve slaps the brunette on the shoulder but Y/N has to smile at Bucky’s remark. She turns slightly to kiss his cheek before she quickly scrambles up. “Alright, boys. The last one in the water has to do the grilling tonight.”
“We grill?” Steve and Bucky turn to her in surprise and excitement but Y/N already uses the time to tun off to the water. She wins the race but only by milliseconds and gets tackled from Steve to faceplate into the water.
* * *
She eyes the bed warily. She hears bucky rustle around in the bathroom and Steve getting dressed behind her. But the sounds are faint and her only focus is the made bed in front of her. She’s unsure to crawl in, settle down and to sleep, not knowing of the dream that finally didn’t turn up while being little will return. The warm hands on her shoulders get her back to reality, the kiss to her temple gets her senses back to Steve. “You want to cuddle?”
“Yes.” Her voice is low and silent. She know that Steve can her how vulnerable she feels but he seems to pay it no mind. Instead, he climbs into the bed, gest comfortable and smiles a crooked, little smile that Y/N likes so much while spreading his arms out for her. She eyes him and the bed a second longer and then crawls carefully and hesitant up to him. “The bed won’t hurt you, doll.” Steve pulls her closes, presses a few more kisses to her face and then waits for her to gets settled. “I know. It just… I don’t know. I’m just scared.”
“don’t be. You have two handsome and sexy super soldiers on your side.” Bucky crawls in next to her and smirks at her as she raises her eyebrows. “Really, Barnes? That’s disgusting. Get out of my bed.”
“Hey, stop kicking.” Bucky laughs and tries to avoid or catches Y/N’s legs while she playfully tries to kick him back out of the bed. She grins at him but sheakes her head, then kicks with both leds and lets out a surprised squeak as Bucky catches her ankles and in both hands, pspreads her leag and pulls her as close to him as possible before leaning down and kissing her. “Not so bold anymore, are you?”
“Hmm.” Y/N hums inot the kiss and slings her arms and legs around him to seek more comfort from him. “Hey. I was cuddling her first!” Bucky looks up form Y/N and grins at Steve. “I would share, you know?”
“Oh… that’s how it is now?” Steve pouts at Bucky but the brunette just continues grinning. “Yes. Come here, punk.”
An hour later Y/N finds herself sandwiched between two naked men and feeling contend. Her minds is still blown from previous activities and she feels warm and sleepy. Steve is already drifting off behind her, arm slung loosely around her waist and face buried into her neck, small puffs of air hitting her skin and sparking a warmth in her stomach that she knows all to well. “Buck?”
“Hm?” Bucky hums, looks down at her and strokes his thumb over the skin of her arm where his hand rests. Y/N gazes into his grey eyes, loosing herself a bit in them until bucky blinks and a confused, cute look appears on his face. She smiles at him then and buries her face into his chest. “Will you stay awake? Until I’m asleep, I mean?”
“Sure, Y/N.” He leans down and kisses her hair. “You know we do anything for you. Staying awake isn’t that difficult, gives me the opportunity to watch my fellas sleep. All creepy and so.” Y/N snorts a bit and looks back up to him. “Sometime I wonder if she we shouldn’t get you into a psychiatric ward or something. But then I remember you look to good for being buried behind some walls.”
“You only love my looks? I’m hurt Y/N.” He pouts at her but his eyes tell her that he’s fairly amused. “Sure, I do. With all the other things that come with it.” She smiles at him and Bucky smiles back. “St’p talkin’. ‘M sleepin’.” Y/N and Bucky snort at him but they settle down and Y/N closes her eyes. She inhales deeply. The mix of Bucky’s and Steve’s scents, the soft stroking of Bucky’s hand and the weight of Steve’s arm lulling her softly into sleep with just a little fear of her dreams.
When she opens her eyes, she’s blinded by sunlight. She instantly closes them again, groans softly and turns around to hide form it. “Ah. She lives!” She groans again at Tony’s cheerful voice. “Shh. Tony! She just woke up.” Y/N squints her eyes open at Bruce’s voice. She has to blink a few times but when she manages to clear her vision, she notices the difference. The ground she’s lying on isn’t as soft as the bed was. The pillow is no pillow but a muscular thigh which is connected to a soft body. Y/N notices the hand in her hair that a little colder. Bucky. She looks up to find him grinning down at her. She startles a little as her feet get lifted. Her eyes snap down to them, just as Steve settles them back on his lap and getting comfortable. With a quick look around, she notices that she’s lying on the couch in the living room. “What?” She rubs her eyes confused, yawns and sits up so she’s leaning against Bucky’s chest. Then she looks around, finding the other sitting or lying on the remaining chairs. For a second, she just stares at them and then hits it. She’s in the living room! And yesterday they… she was naked! She’s about to cover herself as she looks down and immediately relief floods her. Thank god! She’s wearing clothes. “Doll.” Steve’s voice draws her eyes back act him and he smirks at her in amusement. You dint think we would carry you around naked, did you?” she opens her mouth to say something but the words get stuck and she blushes deeply. Bucky barks out a laugh before he squeezes her in his arms and presses a kiss to her temple. “You fell asleep pretty soon, yesterday. And you just slept on and on. At some point Steve and I couldn’t lie any longer so we dressed you and carried you out her. Weren’t comfortable with you waking up alone.” Y/N nods numbly at that and shyly looks to the others, but only Tony seems to be watching, though Clint and Natasha are probably just subtle about it and only listening. “How long was I asleep?”
“Well… it’s lunchtime, so about… twelve hours maybe?”
“Lunchtime?! You let me sleep that long?” She sits up straight in shock and stares at Steve who happens to be right in her eyeline. “Doll, you were sleepin’ so deeply and finally without any bad dream. Of course, we let you sleep in then.” He smiles at her and strokes his fingers gently through her hair. “Oh.” He was right. She hadn’t ha a bad dream last night. She actually had a good one of soft skin, warmth, lots of cuddles and feeling safe.
She feels the smile grow on her face and blush again as her stomach rebels against her starving him for at least the last four hours. Steve and bucky snicker a little and Tony actually starts laughing before clapping his hands. “It’s lunchtime kids! Get your hands washed and sat down. Clint! Fingers out of the nose!”
“I haven’t-”
“Hurry up! Rita made the best sourdough bread I ever had and I want to eat it now!” Y/N watches as Tony all but runs out of the room and the others follow him with amused smiles, except of Clint who still grumbles about not having his finger in his nose. Y/n watches them vanish and leans in against Bucky, pulling Steve closer by his arm until he’s leaning awkwardly over her legs. She hums and closes her eyes. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Steve sounds confused but Y/N’s smile just widens. “For taking me out and getting me distracted.” Both men are silent for a second, then their arms tighten around her. “Always, doll.”
Their moment is only distracted by Tony’s shout. “She even made sandwiches! I love that woman!” The three of them look at each other until quickly detangling themselves to get some of the sandwiches.