Chapter 4
“Where did Captain America go, Mommy?” Brian whined as climbed into a chair on the kitchen table.
Bucky adjusted Alice so she would be on one hip as he continued to make breakfast. “I don’t know, pumpkin. He must have left early this morning.”
“But I wanna see Captain America,” Brian whined.
“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Bucky leaned over and kissed the top of Brian’s head as he placed the plate of food in front of him.
Just then, the front door opened and Steve walked in. He was a little sweaty and slightly red faced. “Smells good in here,” he said as he toed off his sneakers. “Did you make breakfast?”
Bucky swallowed hard. “I, well, the kids were hungry so I went ahead and made something. I’m sorry. I was going to ask you but you were gone and-“
“Hey,” Steve smiled and pressed a hand against Bucky’s lower back. “I don’t mind. Hope you made a little extra. I’m starving.”
Bucky gave him a shy smile. “Yeah, I made enough for you too.”
“You look wide awake,” Steve smiled to Alice and touched her tiny hand. She curled her hand around his large finger and stared at him.
“Mmhmm,” Bucky nodded. “She is always very perky in the early morning. She’ll be down for a nap in a few hours though.”
“She is really cute,” Steve shook his finger a little and she excitedly clung to it. “She looks a lot like you.”
“You think?” Bucky blushed. “Everyone tells me they think the kids look like Brock.”
“Where did you go, Captain America?” Brian asked as he stared up at Steve with wide eyes.
“I just went on a run, buddy,” Steve answered.
“Brian, please eat. Do not bother him,” Bucky scolded. He placed a few more plates down on the table before sitting down.
“He’s not bothering me,” Steve shrugged and sat down at the table. He took a bite of the eggs on his plate. “This is really good. Thank you for making it.”
Bucky blushed. “It’s, uh, it’s nothing. Thanks for letting us eat your food.”
“It’s nothing,” Steve smiled. “So, what are you guys doing today?”
“We are going to head back to the apartment,” Bucky sighed. “Brock should have cooled off by then.”
Steve frowned. “You can’t go back to him.”
“He’s the father of my children,” Bucky pushed the food around on his plate. “The kids and I, we, uh, we belong to him.”
“You don’t have to,” Steve shook his head. “You don’t have to go back to him. You don’t have to belong to him.”
Bucky sighed. “You don’t understand because you are an alpha. I birthed his children. He won’t mate with me, but I belong to him. The kids belong to him. It’s not like I have alphas lining up to fight Brock for me.”
“I’ll fight him,” Steve said firmly.
Bucky rolled his eyes. “You haven’t even known me for 24 hours. Give it some time and you will feel the same way toward me as Brock does.”
“I don’t know you, but I like what I see so far. And I can’t allow you and the kids to go back to that,” Steve said.
“You aren’t listening. I legally belong to him,” Bucky shook his head. “The only way I won’t be bound to him is if an alpha mates me or if I bare another alpha a child.”
Steve thinned his lips and looked down at his plate. “At least stay with me for the rest of the week.”
“Steve,” Bucky sighed and put his hand over Steve’s. “I appreciate what you are doing, but you don’t have to. I’ll be fine. The kids will be fine.”
Brian went to grab his glass of water but managed to accidently drop it on the floor. He immediately burst into tears. “I didn’t mean to!”
Bucky shot out of his seat and moved in front of Brian in a protective stance. “I will clean it up. I will buy a new one. I am so sorry. He didn’t mean it.” He would not allow his child to be hurt for this. He was ready to take whatever Steve was going to give him. He would rather take any hit then watch his child be harmed.
Steve stared at them with utter bewilderment in his eyes. “What? It’s fine. Why are you… Oh my god. I’m not going to, I would never hurt a child, especially over a glass.” He got out of his seat and knelt in front of Brian to where the glass shards were. “It’s okay,” he said calmly to Brian. “It’s okay. You just had an accident.”
Brian was sobbing hard and reached for Bucky. Bucky pulled him in his arms and rubbed his back.
“That is not normal,” Steve frowned. “That is not normal. You can’t go back to him. You can’t.” He carefully picked up the glass shards and cleaned up the mess. “I’m not going to allow this. For your son’s sake, please stay here.”
Bucky kissed the top of Brian’s head and rocked him gently. “Mommy’s here, sweetheart. Mommy’s here,” he soothed. His stomach sank at the total and utter fear that his son felt. This shouldn’t be normal.
“Bucky, please,” Steve said softly. “Stay here.”
“A few more days couldn’t hurt,” Bucky whispered.
Steve gave him a soft smile. “You guys are welcome to stay as long as you want. I promise I will take care of you guys. No one will hurt any of you.”
Bucky gave him a weak smile. “Just, let me figure things out, okay?”
Steve nodded and knelt down in front of Brian. “Everything’s okay, buddy,” he said softly. “Do you like baseball?” He smiled when he got a little nod from Brian. “You know, I love baseball. Would you like to play?”
Bucky swallowed hard as he watched the exchange. Brock never did this. Brock never did any of this. He would have totally lost it over the broken glass. He definitely wouldn’t be kneeling in front of Brian and wanting to play with him after something like this happened.
What is Bucky supposed to do?