Chapter 8
"So let me get this straight," Sam starts, "Hydra did some freaky experimental shit on you that made you able to have kids and you and Steve did the do and now you're knocked up with two super-soldier assassin hybrid babies?"
"To put it simply, yes," Bucky replies from his spot on Steve's lap. The whole team, with the exception of Thor, who was in Asgard, was sitting in the common room and having Steve and Bucky explain their current situation.
"And Bruce, Tony, and Natasha knew?" Clint asks.
"Yes, since Bruce was the one who told us, Tony found me throwing up, and Natasha put two and two together," Bucky replies. "And before anyone else asks, you all are godparents."
"Well, I'm very happy for the two of you," Pepper says, smiling. "If anyone should be parents, it's you two. James, how far along are you?"
"About ten weeks," Bucky replies. "We had wanted to wait a couple more weeks to tell you guys, but I accidentally let it slip."
"Have you been feeling alright?" Pepper asks, brows furrowing in concern. "Any morning sickness or anything?"
"Ugh, it shouldn't even be called morning sickness," Bucky groans. "Shit hits at any time of the day or night and interrupts my sleep. And when I finally do get a full night's sleep, I'm still exhausted." Steve frowns at his language, but says nothing, knowing not to get in the way of these "pregnancy hormones" as Bruce had called them. Last time had involved Bucky yelling and storming off in a huff, with Steve then finding him an hour later sitting in Clint's spot on top of the fridge, crying and eating a pint of ice cream.
"Oh, you poor thing," Pepper says, frowning. "Have you tried drinking some chamomile tea before bed?" Steve and Tony always love to see how Bucky and Pepper interact with each other; they have such a unique and wholesome relationship that has them bring out the tenderness in each other.
"No, but I will," Bucky says, offering Pepper a small smile. "Thanks."
"I'm just so excited that we'll have two little babies around here in a few months," Pepper practically squeals. "Aw, Tony, now I kind of want one."
Tony nearly chokes on the coffee he's been drinking.
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"Damn, Buck," Steve sighs, coming out of the bathroom, "I think that's some of the best sex we've ever had. I've gotta admit I was worried about one or both of us slipping in the shower, but those handlebars and that shower seat sure came in handy."
Bucky licks his lips, which are still a bit swollen from sucking Steve off, and asks, "If you had to name the best time we had sex, what would it be?"
"Oh, that's easy," Steve replies, drying his hair with the towel. "Definitely the first time we did it, on the night before you left for the war."
"Oh, Steve, that was the most awkward thing we've ever done," Bucky says, hiding his face in embarrassment. "It could have been worse, mind you, at least we had lube, but didn't we pop one of the mattress springs?"
"Yeah, I remember that," Steve replies, chuckling. "And remember that I nearly had an asthma attack in the middle of it?"
Bucky howls with laughter, before adding, "And remember our neighbor, the little old lady, what was her name? Mrs. Pinkerton, threatened to call the cops if we didn't 'quit our shenanigans and let her go the hell to sleep?' Ah, good times."
"I remember I was so scared that I would never see you again," Steve says, suddenly becoming serious. "And, I was sad because I loved you and I knew that we wouldn't be able to be together. But I guess, in some weird way, it worked out since we're here now and can be together. But enough of that- what do you think was the best we've had?"
"Hmm," Bucky thinks, "probably, if my calculations are correct, when the babies were conceived. Remember that since no one was here in the tower we just did it everywhere? You were so naughty, Stevie."
"Oh my god," Steve's face goes pink.
"No, really," Bucky continues, voice getting lower. "Remember the whipped cream? What exactly did we do with that whipped cream, Stevie?"
"I had you lick it off of me," Steve squeaks, face getting redder by the minute.
"Why are you blushing so much, that's not even the craziest thing we've done," Bucky laughs. "Remember when we had a threesome with Peggy?"
Steve is practically a tomato now and nearly chokes.
"But, really," Bucky says, finally getting a bit more serious, "I think that was the best sex we've had. Not only was it particularly great, mind-blowing sex , but also look at what we got out of it."
Steve smiles at Bucky and lays down next to him, pulling him close. "Have you thought of any names yet?"
"Not really," Bucky replies, snuggling into Steve's chest. "I kind of wanted to wait until we know if they're boys or girls, but I did think of a few ideas."
"What are they?" Steve asks softly, massaging Bucky's head.
"Well, I like the name Brooklyn as a middle name," Bucky replies softly. "And Carter too, as a middle name. Some first names I like are Natasha, Samuel, Madison, Rebecca, George, and Sarah."
"Those are great names, Buck," Steve replies.
"Thanks," Bucky replies, yawning. "C'mon, Stevie, let's go to sleep."
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He's running. He's running and people are shooting and bombs are going off and shrapnel is flying everywhere. He's breathing hard and running fast, but he's not getting anywhere.
Suddenly, Peggy appears in front of him, crying, "You need to help James!" over and over. Steve looks behind her and sure enough, he sees Bucky lying on the floor, motionless and heavily pregnant.
Steve rushes over to him and sighs in relief when he feels a pulse. He jumps back a bit when Bucky's eyes shoot open and he groans in pain.
"Stevie, why can't you help me?" he cries. "Help me, please, I'm in so much pain!"
Steve feels warm liquid on his legs and looks down, horrified to find him and Bucky in growing pool of blood. Blood that's coming out of Bucky's lower region.
"Help me, Steve!" Bucky sobs, before breaking off into a scream. Steve looks down in alarm and sees a large, gaping, bleeding wound right down the middle of Bucky's baby bump; it looks as if he had been ripped open and his babies and organs had been scooped out, since there was just nothing except an empty abdominal cavity.
"You have his blood on your hands, Captain," Steve turns to see a random soldier with Red Skull's face.
"You have the Asset's blood on your hands," another soldier, with Pierce's face, adds.
"You killed me!" Bucky's pale ghost cries, pointing at his lifeless, beginning-to-rot corpse.
"You can't wipe your Bucky's blood off your hands," a soldier, Rumlow's face, sneers.
"You killed him!"
"There's blood all over you!"
Steve looks down to see the blood rising and rising until it's at his neck, and everyone is yelling at him, and someone is crying, and he's screaming, and-
Steve shoots up in bed, drenched in cold sweat and breathing heavily. He turns and sees Bucky asleep for about a second, until he grabs the knife he has under his pillow and shoots up from the bed. "Steve, what is it? Are we under attack?"
"Sorry, Buck," Steve sighs. "Everything's fine, I just had a nightmare."
Bucky's face softens and he puts down the knife and crawls over to Steve, cupping his face in his hand. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Bucky asks softly, knowing that sometimes it brings more harm than good to have Steve discuss his nightmares.
"I'm not sure," Steve replies, still breathing heavily. "Can I just hold you for a bit?"
Bucky nods and snuggles into Steve's open arms. Steve rubs his hand up and down Bucky's arm and massages his head, and Bucky is starting to doze off, when he suddenly hears Steve sniffle and take a deep breath.
"We were in battle," Steve starts, "and I saw Peggy; she was telling me I needed to help you. And you were really, really pregnant, and then-"
Bucky comforts Steve as he breaks into sobs, screaming about there was blood and how You were bleeding out everywhere and I just stood there! and how I couldn't save you guys, Buck! Bucky just makes little shh shh noises, as if comforting a child, and continues to hold Steve and rub his back as he apologizes over and over.
When Steve finishes, he looks up at Bucky, wiping his eyes, and asks, "Sorry for waking you, Buck. I'm probably not going to be able to go back to sleep, so I'll just go to the living room."
"Nah, Stevie, I'll go with you," Bucky says, getting up from the bed and putting on some of his fuzzy socks. "I won't be able to sleep knowing that you're hurting. We're going to watch a movie together and it's going to be fucking romantic."
"Language, Buck," Steve sighs, running a hand over his face.
"Yeah, yeah, c'mon let's go watch that movie."
They walk out of the room and take the elevator down to the main floor, where their preferred living room is. They walk into the kitchen to get some snacks when they hear "I just can't believe it, Bruce! She said she would never let go, but she fucking lets go and now he's dead!"
Bucky hears Bruce sigh and say, "I know, Tony, you do this overtime we watch this movie." Bucky sends a quick text to Bruce to give him the heads up that he and Steve are going to watch a movie with them, so Bruce can change the movie since his and Steve's ice situations are still a bit delicate. He hears Bruce turn the movie, and takes that as his cue that he and Steve can enter. Bucky nearly laughs at the two scientists- Bruce is reading something on his tablet and Tony, resting his head on Bruce's lap, having his hair stroked, and eyes still a bit puffy from Titanic-induced emotions.
Tony sees the couple enter and smirks before saying, "Brace yourself, Bruce. Winter is coming."
Then, without missing a beat, Steve cups Bucky's ass and stoically says, "Winter came last night, pal."
Tony lets out a yelp as Bruce drops his tablet on the former's face in disbelief at what he just heard Steve say.
Bucky then clears his throat and says, "Goddamnit, Stevie, let's just watch the movie."
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Three hours, a party-sized bag of Doritos, and one morning puke session for Bucky later, the others start waking up and coming into the kitchen and living room for breakfast. Sam chuckles in amusement at how Tony is passed out on Bruce's lap as he eats his oatmeal and snaps a quick picture. Natasha walks over and kisses Bruce before walking over to Bucky and ruffling his hair.
"So, how are you feeling this morning?" she asks, wedging herself between Bucky and Tony's legs.
"I threw up a bit earlier, but that's a hell of a lot better than most mornings, so I can't complain," he replies.
"You should have some breakfast," Clint says, suddenly entering the living room. "Laura told me to make sure you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. She says you need the nutrition for the babies; she's had three kids, so trust her on this. If you want, I can cook you some recipes she sent me."
Bucky smiles at Clint and replies, "Thanks, Clint, I'll take you up on that offer if it's not too much trouble for you."
"Okay, I'm going to make you these awesome greek yogurt pancakes with blueberries, they're amazing and they have a lot of protein and antioxidants, so they're healthy. Nat, can you help me in the kitchen?" Clint asks, putting on his apron and taking out several things from the fridge. Natasha sighs and gets up, with Sam taking her place.
"Hey, so I need to go run some errands after breakfast," Sam says to Bucky, "do you want to tag along so we can talk? We can stop by that bakery you like if you want. Steve, you don't mind me stealing your boyfriend for a bit?"
"Of course not, I'm just going to be here doing some things, you two go have fun," Steve says, smiling, but looking a bit nervous for some reason. Bucky doesn't really think much of it, since Steve usually gets nervous when they go out, since sometimes Bucky gets overwhelmed with all the people and has gotten a few panic attacks, which is why they never go on the subway, plus also the last time they went out together, Bucky's morning sickness started acting up horribly and he ended up puking in several bushes in Central Park, which the tabloids had a field day with. Thankfully Tony, who hadn't known it was morning sickness and thought Bucky had had some sort of anxiety episode or had eaten something that hadn't agreed with him, created a major diversion by throwing some huge party at the Plaza Hotel.
Bucky is suddenly drawn out of his thoughts by Clint holding a large plate of pancakes in front of him. "Here you go, James. Eat up," Clint says, handing Bucky a fork.
Bucky takes bite of the pancakes and practically moans at how great they taste. "They're amazing, Clint, thanks," Bucky says, taking another huge bite of the pancakes.
"I'm glad you like them," Clint replies, smiling and taking out his phone. "I'll tell Laura to send some more recipes."
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"The lady at the register was really nice, she gave me some little mints for you," Sam says as he open Bucky's door. They had been halfway through running errands when Bucky had started feeling a bit sick to his stomach from driving in the car for so long; Sam had immediately noticed Bucky starting to look a bit green and had parked the car down the block from a bodega, where he got some ginger ale and crackers to help Bucky hopefully settle his stomach a bit.
Bucky turn his head to look at Sam from where he sits hunched over, leaning his head against the dashboard and fighting against the urge to gag and Sam winces in sympathy before saying, "Man, I always thought someone looking green was a metaphor but damn, you're giving Bruce a run for his money."
"Shut up," Bucky hisses, though it sounds more feeble and strangled than threatening. He takes the ginger ale that Sam is offering him and takes a tiny sip as Sam rubs his back. He tries to take a few more sips, but has to stop to close his eyes and take deep breaths as he feels the nausea and dizziness become more overwhelming. He hears Sam mutter shit under his breath and hears some rustling before he feels Sam's hand on his back, guiding him to put his head between his legs before placing the plastic bag from the bodega in his hands.
"It's alright, man, if you gotta do it, you gotta do it," Sam says, rubbing his back. Bucky feels his stomach twist and he lurches forward and retches emptily over the bag. He spits a bit into the bag and thinks he might be okay for now when he suddenly throws up into the bag. He gags a few more times before finally finishing and then ties the bag closed and wipes his mouth with some of the napkins Sam got from the bodega. He tries to get up so he can go throw away the bag, but he's overwhelmed with a shaky, dizzy feeling and has to slump back in his chair and breathe deeply.
"Hey, man, you good?" Sam asks, grabbing Bucky's arm in case he passes out. "Are you going to pass out? Should I bring you to the hospital? Is this a normal thing that happens when you're knocked up? Work with me, man?"
"Ugh, I'm fine, just dizzy and still a bit queasy," Bucky says, rubbing his stomach and trying to offer Sam a small smile. "Thankfully Bruce says that this should end in a week or so. We don't need to go to the hospital, Sam, this happens almost every day."
"Oh okay," Sam sighs, "you really scared me there, man. You got really pale and looked like you were about to faint. Here, this is gross, but let me throw that away for you; I don't want you walking when you look ready to fall over."
Bucky sighs as Sam takes his puke bag and throws it out in the trashcan a few feet away before going back into the bodega for something. Sam gets back in the car, passes Bucky the many plastic bags he just got from the bodega, and squeezes a bunch of hand sanitizer into his hands before driving off.
"Sam, I don't really think all these bags are necessary," Bucky says, after having counted ten plastic bags.
"Hey, I don't need you puking all over my car," Sam replies jokingly. "Seriously, man if you need to use those bags, don't feel embarrassed. You're pregnant, it's fine if you're not feeling too great. God, that was weird to say out loud. How are you getting used to it?"
"It hasn't really fully hit me yet," Bucky confesses, putting on his sunglasses as he starts to get a headache. "It all feels kind of surreal. I'll probably feel it once they start moving around."
"Oh, yeah, that's right, y'all are having twins," Sam says, smiling. "I'm really happy for y'all. Have you thought of any baby things? Like names or nurseries or things like that?"
"Just briefly names, but not really anything else," Bucky replies. Then with a chuckle he adds, "I'm not even really sure where to start."
Bucky sees a smirk creep onto Sam's face before he asks, "Have you ever heard of Pinterest?"