This is a fan made story. I don't own the rights to Captain America, any of its characters or any characters within the MCU… Much to my disappointment. This will have some violent content and possible triggers. Steve/Bucky Established Relationship. Constructive criticism is welcome but if you don't like it simply because you don't like the line of thinking, please don't attack me for it.
Chapter 4: Many Happy Returns
Dr. Bruce Banner dropped his duffle bag in the elevator of Stark Tower as it rose through the building. He had ordered Tony's new AI to bring him to where ever most of the team was which was the medical labs, much to his concern.
When the elevator doors opened, he was confused to hear Natasha yelling, "Tony, you don't just get to name our daughter. She's OUR daughter, not just yours. I get a say too!"
As he actually entered the lab he was surprised to see Natasha balancing a little girl on her hip as if it were natural. Steve and a man Bruce recognized from old pictures as Bucky Barnes were holding a couple of babies and talking softly with a girl who looked to be eight or so years old. Clint in contrast was chasing as squealing little blonde girl around the room.
"Ah… hey guys," Bruce spoke awkwardly to those around him, causing Clint to freeze and the little girl to use him as a hiding place. Steve and Bucky towards him as well. Steve in shock, Bucky in confusion and concern.
"Sarah, come over here please," Bucky called to the little girl without pause. The girl obeying with shocking efficiency for a child of her age.
"Hey Bruce," Tony waved without even looking at him and continued his argument with Natasha.
"No, Natalia is a better name than Maria and besides, she's already taking your last name because of legal bullshit. Maria can be her middle name," Natasha continued with her argument without even acknowledging Bruce.
"Fine, but we have equal custody. And I get to pick her tutors. None of this stupid public school nonsense. It'll just hold her back," Tony relaxed at the offered compromise.
"Done. However, she had to learn at least Russian, Chinese and Spanish. She will need those for the future," Natasha nodded.
"Obviously. Half the people my company works with speak one of those three as a primary language, I'm throwing Japanese in too, though. They are probably the closest to us tech wise. Better for her to know it," Tony and Natasha's argument was clearly over as they agreed on the arrangements.
"Um… Guys?" Bruce was beyond confused. The only thing he had to go on was the curly red hair of the little girl Natasha held and the conversation.
Natasha finally seemed to realized he was present and looked at him only to freeze at his appearance. He knew he definitely looked bedraggled. Director Coulson had found him in Australia with the Aboriginals working on better control of the Hulk. They had told him not to fight the inner beast but rather attempt harmony with it. One of Coulson's agents had contacted him and informed him that they would leave him be if he wanted or they would take him back to Stark Tower if that was his choice. He chose the Avengers but was now wondering if that was the best option.
A beard partly obscured his face and he knew he was a lot thinner too. Steve finally snapped out of his shock and explained in whispers to the eight-year-old and Bucky who he was. Bucky nodded his understanding and took the older of the two girls' hand while Steve did the same for the small blonde 'Sarah' and they approached Bruce.
"Hey, good to know you are alive. We were a little worried about you. Bruce, this is my boyfriend Bucky Barnes. He remembered who he was and came back on his own. Anyways, this is Bucky's daughter Rebecca Barnes, my daughter Sarah, and our sons whom we are still trying to name. If you can't tell, things are a little chaotic right now. When Bucky came back it was with a mission. Hydra had his daughter so we went to get her. Only there were five kids instead of one. The other one is Natasha and Tony's, though they both had no control over it. Hydra stole her eggs in a surgery to save her life and Tony's DNA could've come from any number of sources," Steve was kind enough to explain.
"Oh, I know, George for my dad and Joseph for your, since we have the whole family name thing going anyways. Now, should we go with Rogers or Barnes?" Bucky seemed to be seriously contemplating it.
"No clue. Maybe hyphen? Rogers-Barnes or Barnes-Rogers does that sound weird? Oh, I know George Roger Barnes and Joseph Roger Barnes? You know give them both Roger as a middle name instead?" Steve looked back at Bucky whose mind was clearly on naming their kids.
"I don't know, the same middle name? I guess it could work, if you don't mind them not having your last name," Bucky didn't seem entirely sold on it.
"Ok, how about George Steven Barnes and Joseph Roger Barnes. Last names aren't that important anyways. Plus, less people will focus on a Barnes than a Rogers they would immediately connect that with me where as you aren't as well known a name," Steve was being practical.
Bucky seemed to accept this and nodded, "Alright, I'll go tell Tony so that he can go deal with his lawyer people." With this, Bucky walked away, holding the newly dubbed Joseph, a blonde as much as Steve was.
Steve remained in front of Bruce, with George, "So where have you been?" Steve asked distractedly as the brunet baby began to fuss.
Immediately, Dr. Cho came over with a bottle that was filled with formula. Steve took it gratefully and popped the nipple into his son's mouth and the baby began to suckle. Bruce was amazed by the ease Steve seemed to have with the baby, "Australia. How long have you known you had kids?"
Steve glanced at his watch before responding, "Nine hours and seventeen minutes since we found them and suspected at least Sarah was mine. Three hours or so since it was confirmed that Sarah, George and Joseph were all mine. Joseph and George are also Bucky's too which is very confusing. You would have to talk to Dr. Cho or Tony about it. Some sort of experimental process that isn't legal yet. What where you doing in Australia?"
"Trying to find a new way to control the Hulk. How are you going to handle three kids?" Bruce was distracted by Sarah who had wandered off and tugging at Clint's pant legs.
Steve followed his line of sight before shrugging any worry off since Clint knew how to handle children, "Four actually. Bucky's daughter Rebecca will be with us too. Tony offered to house us here for now and hire a nanny for the kids. Bucky and I are going to be very hands on of course but we probably could use what help we can get. Four kids all at once is a bit much, even I can admit that." George seemed to finish his bottle so Steve shifted him to a shoulder and began patting his back as Dr. Cho had instructed him a few hours before.
"Well, to be honest, you seem like you can probably handle it better than most. I know guys who had nine months to prepare and only one baby to care for who were less calm than you," Bruce nodded to the baby that Steve was calmly burping.
"Yeah, actually, I am pretty sure that I am in some sort of shock where reality hasn't really set in yet. Right now, we're waiting for some people that work for Tony to collect everything we need from baby stores and set up a nursery in one of my spare bedrooms on my floor and basics for the girls. We are going to get the more intensive stuff for the girls tomorrow, I think. Bucky is the really calm one right now. He already knew about Rebecca so that made things easier. Sure, the rest is a surprise but he has experience handling his sister when she was a baby so it's simpler for him," Steve looked over with a loving gaze to where Bucky now stood talking to Natasha.
Both were speaking in rapid Russian and Rebecca had joined them and jumped right into the conversation. Bruce followed and felt his heart clench a little at the sight of Natasha holding a child he had been just told was definitively hers, not that he had needed to be told. The little girl was a miniaturized version of Natasha in every way.
"Capt. Rogers. I have been informed that the nursery and Miss Rogers's and Miss Barnes's rooms are ready," FRIDAY announced to the group.
Steve glanced at the baby who was now falling asleep on his shoulder and then at Clint who was holding a nodding off Sarah and sighed his relief, "Just in time. Clint, bring Sarah, we can put these two down for a nap."
Clint nodded and joined him with the little girl who now seemed drained. Bucky quickly followed, Joseph was already asleep on his shoulder too. Natasha joined in for the fun since Natalia was also looking tired and the bedroom on her floor wasn't ready yet.
"You know; I have never been so relieved for Tony's excess of money before. We can all get him to pay for the things these kids need immediately as well as the legal fees for the whole custody thing. I am just grateful that Hydra can't fight us for custody. They would have to admit to breaking at least half a dozen international laws to even make a legal suit, according to Tony. Hell, they didn't even give the kids names. Just code names. Really, Iron Princess? How misogynistic can you get?" Natasha commented as they entered the elevator to be taken to Steve, and now Bucky's, floor. "Hey FRIDAY, can you alert us if any of the kids wake up and we aren't in the room?"
"Certainly, Miss Romanoff. Mr. Stark has already informed me that is a priority protocol now. If Miss Stark wakes and you or Mr. Stark are not present you will be both informed. The same applies to the Rogers and Barnes children and their fathers," The AI responded immediately.
"Good, we don't need baby monitors then. I will probably get one anyways for safety reasons. FRIDAY, please also make a protocol to record all audio in the children's rooms regardless of volume. Also, if someone other than an Avenger or the eventual nannies hired are in any of the children's rooms please notify all Avengers immediately," Natasha nodded satisfied with her thoughts. The AI recognized and confirmed the orders with Tony before responding that those were also being added to primary protocols.
"Good thinking. No need to take any risks for the kids. I dread the idea of some villain thinking they can get to us through them," Steve agreed with her decision as he rubbed his son's back gently.
The elevator opened just then on Steve's floor and they all filed out. Steve and Bucky placed the twins in the best cribs that money could buy. The bed itself was a suspended mesh that if the boys turned their faces into they could still breath through and the closely spaced bars of cribs were wrapped in cushioning around the bars alone to minimize the chance of suffocation there. The room temperature settings were also already set for the optimal temperature for infants at a steady 65o F.
The babies had already been changed into much better clothing than they had been found in and were gently laid down in the cribs on their backs. Each shifted only a little before settling to sleep. Sarah was then the focus in the next room over. She was laid down on a toddler bed that had only just been set up in the room and Natalia, now asleep as well, was placed next to her. The adults all quietly exited the room while Rebecca went back to the nursery to watch over her baby brothers.
"She seems a little overly concerned for their safety," Bruce commented as they all sat in the living room on Steve's floor.
"Dr. Cho thinks it may be a form of mild PTSD. She feels responsible for them since she is the eldest 'subject' in the program that Hydra had running. Rebecca told us that she only had their 'caretaker' to help and the woman didn't seem to be very eager for the job. She is currently in one of the holding cells for Fury to pick up," Steve responded, cuddling into the arm Bucky had draped over his shoulder.
The two were clearly working on being comfortable with mild PDA, at least in front of friends. Clint had flopped on one of the chairs, clearly exhausted, "I should probably be heading back home. Laura is going to go nuts over the information that she is an aunty. Nat, you can expect a call from her about five minutes after I get home and she pumps me for information."
"I count myself fully warned, but then I can get a whole bunch of mothering advice from her so I'm not going to complain," Natasha stated, relaxing into her spot on the couch.
"You are handling this surprisingly well. Especially for someone who two months ago told me that she couldn't even have kids," Bruce finally gave a bit of input, having followed them all to Steve's floor.
"Just because I couldn't doesn't mean I didn't want it. I was resigned to the fact. I thought maybe one day, if it worked out between us, we could adopt or something. I'm going to take this in stride because I'm adaptable. I can also take full advantage of Tony on the matter since Natalia is his too. He needs his only child to be his heir. It is covenant for him, and a pleasant surprise for me," Natasha stated, her voice slightly cold toward Bruce.
Bruce looked at her in surprised shock over the idea that she had actually been thinking of their potential future rather than living in the present as he had thought she was. Finally, his response was awkward at best, "Right… well I should probably grab my stuff and go get settled in on my floor. Maybe clean up a little."
Bruce exited quickly, much to Steve's sorrow. He looked at Natasha with disapproval, "You know he is probably in as much shock as the rest of us right now, right? You didn't need to be cold."
"He left. What becomes of the future is on him now, I tried to give him all the incentive that I could. If he wants a relationship with me after leaving, he is going to have to work for it. I have a daughter. He needs to accept that. She is going to be a big priority for me. It's why the Red Room tied new Black Widow's tubes when they graduated. No kids mean no distractions. I have had Natalia for less than half a day and already had one major argument over her and that was just her name. Love is for children, she is my child," Natasha justified herself and left the matter closed.
Steve sighed but knew that it was pointless to continue further. Just then Tony came off the elevator. Clint had already left and Thor and the others who weren't 'new parents' had long since retreated to their respective rooms or to where they lived while not on missions. As such it was only Natasha, Steve and Bucky on Steve's floor.
Tony sat on the chair that Clint had vacated, "The lawyers have managed to get ahold of a family courts judge that owes us a favor and filed the case with her. We'll have our meeting, or trial if you will, the day after tomorrow and have been granted temporary custody of the kids. We should probably get clothing, toys and such for the kids tomorrow. Nat, the techs say Natalia's room is ready on your floor. I'm going to have them set a secondary room for her up on my floor as well and a bed in my lab too. I am also going to have them set up a nursery on the common floor with toddler beds and cribs for nap times so we aren't all trapped on our floors because they are taking naps or whatever."
Steve nodded his thanks as did Bucky, though he had less interest in socializing with the others. He may have once been a gregarious being but Hydra had killed his inclination for being overly interactive with others. He figured the desire might come back eventually but it wasn't going to be quickly or soon. He mainly wanted to focus on Steven and their children.
"On a related note. I put plenty of funds in you accounts so get what the kids need for however long. Steve, I would plan ahead, babies grow fast so have plenty of size options. I only had my people pick up clothing for their current size. Plus, little kids go through clothing like paper. They make constant messes according to Clint," Tony told Steve very seriously.
"Yeah, he told me and Bucky that too, while he was showing us how to change disposable diapers. Not complex but, very messy. Thanks for having people get the immediate stuff like baby food, clothing and beds," Steve offered a tired smile to his friend. It had been a long day. "We should probably try to persuade Rebecca to go to bed and then go to sleep ourselves. From what Clint warns, four-month-old babies do not sleep through the night."
Natasha nodded her understanding and went to collect her sleeping toddler, silently grateful that the girl was likely going to be sleeping through the night. Tony informed them that he would be in his lab working on new security features to accommodate for the kids. Everyone nodded their approval of the idea.
In the nursery, Rebecca had fallen asleep leaning against one of the cribs. Bucky carefully picked her up and carried her to her room. Neither of the men wanted to wake her by changing her and figured that since she was in comfortable clothing anyways, it didn't matter too much. Once the girl was tucked in under a light blanket they quickly but silently checked on the other three children before collapsing into their own.
Bucky half sighed, half laughed, "We are so screwed. How are we going to handle four kids on our own?"
"We aren't. We have the others to help, and they will help. Besides, Natalia is of an age to play with Sarah so that takes away the need for entertainment for her. Rebecca, we should really just shorten that to Becca or Rikki or something, will have to start a formal education. Tony said he would hire tutors after he assesses where she is at and get her to where she needs to be at her age. The twins will really be the most work," Steve tried more to convince himself than Bucky but the brunet took it in stride and opted to strip him instead. Neither went past their boxers but they made out for a little while before curling up in a mess of tangled limbs and falling asleep.