Chapter IV

Like every Sunday Steve was with Wanda at this mother's house. Bucky had joined them today because he couldn't resist Ma's famous lasagna. Steve wanted to see Natasha again but he didn't have her number and he couldn't just show up at her door. He was pretty sure that Natasha wanted something between them to happen too. She'd admitted that she'd hoped for a kiss after Tony's party and they'd made out (almost had sex) before Wanda had interrupted them. And Natasha had stayed the night and then for breakfast the next morning with Wanda pretty much demanding all of her attention. And Wanda'd acted like it was the most normal thing that all three of them had slept in one bed. Like Natasha spent every night at their place.

Did the fact that Natasha hadn't mind to share the bed with him and Wanda mean that she was serious about him? That she could see a future with him and his daughter? God, was he already thinking about a future with Natasha? But no woman who just wanted fun would be that kind and amazing to his daughter, right?

He needed Natasha's number. He couldn't wait til next Wednesday for Wanda's class to see her again. He suspected that his mother had Natasha's number but he didn't want to ask her. He didn't want her to know yet that something was going between him and her. He wanted to keep it a secret for a little while so his mother couldn't meddle again. He knew she meant well but he didn't want to overwhelm Natasha.

"Steve?" He looked up from his plate not realizing that his mother had been talking to him. "You still with us? I was asking you how the book is doing?"

"Uh, good. It's in print, Ma. It will be published soon."

His mother smiled. "That's great. I'm so proud that my son is a published illustrator."

"Thanks."

"I hope it was okay that Natasha took Wanda home? Dorothy is still in the hospital. The poor dear."

Bucky shoved another piece of lasagna on his plate and looked at him with raised eyebrows. He hadn't told him that Natasha had been at his home. He hadn't really told him much about her. "Natasha was at your place?" He asked before taking a sip from his water.

"Daddy slept with her!" Wanda exclaimed happily. His mother dropped her fork and Bucky choked on his water. Wanda patted his back with her tiny hand. "Buckybear, are you okay?"

"You what?" Ma shrieked.

"I didn't sleep with her!" Like he would ever tell his daughter about that! And Wanda had no clue about the bees and the birds. Thank God!

"Of course you did! We all slept in your bed, daddy! Why are you lying?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "I had a nightmare and daddy comforted me and Miss Natasha was there and then we all slept in your bed, daddy! Don't you remember?" His mother looked visibly relieved and Buck was hiding his laughter with a cough. "Then after breakfast Miss Natasha braided my hair before she left! When is our next sleepover, daddy?"

Three pairs of eyes were looking at him and he really wished he was anywhere but here. "I don't know. We'll see. Does anyone need more iced tea? I get some." He stood up and walked into the kitchen. Oh God, how embarrassing! Great, now Ma and Bucky knew! Well, they didn't know about the making out that had occurred before Wanda had woken up.

"Punk?" He turned around to see Bucky standing in the doorway. "Your mom and Wanda went over to her neighbor's house to feed her cat. So you're into threesomes now, huh?"

"God, shut up! Wanda just had a nightmare, saw Natasha and didn't want her to leave and asked her to stay."

"Aha, and why was she still there when Wanda had already been asleep?"

"She'd never seen Mulan before." That wasn't a lie!

"What? That doesn't make any sense!"

"Yes, it does."

"So you two were watching Mulan and then Wanda woke up?"

Steve looked at his shoes. "Yep. That's what happened."

"You know that you're a terrible liar, right?" Bucky commented with a smirk on his face. "So what really happened?"

"She spilled some wine on her shirt."

"Oh, you guys drank wine! And then?"

And then we almost had sex. "We tried to get it out. Jesus Bucky, what is this? An interrogation?"

Bucky held his hands up. "I don't mean to pry! I'm just happy that a woman slept in your bed. Even if your kid was present as well. And she just agreed to staying the night with you two?"

Steve smiled. "Yeah, she really likes Wanda. You should see them together. I mean Wanda was so distraught from her nightmare but then she saw Natasha and all was forgotten. It's amazing. The way she treats Wanda and when she smiles..."

"Is someone falling in love?" Bucky asked and looked pretty happy.

"I...It's too soon. But she's really special." He thought back to the way she'd smelled and felt underneath him. The soft noises she'd made when he'd kissed her. God, he wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to kiss her for hours. He didn't think he'd had it that bad for anyone ever before.

"That's good." Bucky only replied and they heard his mother and Wanda coming back. "I hope she knows what a great guy you are."

Bucky came with them after they'd spent the afternoon with his mother to help him fix Wanda's bike. With Bucky's help the bike was fixed in no time and they all decided to get some cake pops as a treat. Wanda was really excited since Steve didn't give her lots of sweets and he had to make sure that she wouldn't eat too much or she would get a sugar rush. And a seven year old high on sugar was no joke!

Wanda was sitting on Bucky's shoulders on their way to the bakery when she started hitting his head. "Hey!" He groaned. "That hurts!"

She ignored him. "Look!" She pointed at the window at the bakery and there was Natasha! With a toddler on her lap. What? She didn't secretly have a child, right? Not that it would bother him. Natasha looked through the window in that moment and waved when she saw them. Wanda waved so eagerly back that Bucky had problems to keep her on his shoulders. He let her down and she was already running into the bakery. He and Bucky followed her.

"Natasha!" Wanda yelled and almost ran her over but managed to stop in time. "Hi!"

Natasha laughed. "Hey, Wanda!" She held the toddler's hand up and waved it. "This is Nate." She nodded over to a woman who was sitting with them at the table. "And this is his mom Laura."

"Hi!"

Steve was finally at the table. "Um, hi. Sorry that she barged in on you like that."

Natasha's friend laughed. "Don't worry. I have a girl with the same energy. I'm Laura Barton. Natasha's best friend. And you are?"

He offered her his hand. "Steve Rogers. This little powerhouse is Wanda and that's my friend Bucky Barnes."

Laura's whole face lit up. "So you're Steve! It is so nice to meet you!" Did Natasha tell her best friend about him? That was good right?

"I'm just your friend?!" Bucky complained. "I'm your best friend, punk!" He turned to Natasha and put on his million watt smile. "And you must be Natasha! I heard so much about you!"

"Really?" Natasha's cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Yeah, Wanda talks about you all the time."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed.

"Don't worry, Steve never talks about important stuff like that. He's pretty private." He told Natasha and she looked at Steve. He couldn't help but blush a little when she smiled happily at him. Bucky took Wanda's hand. "Come on, kiddo. Let's buy some cake pops."

"But I-" Wanda started but Bucky was already walking off with her.

Natasha handed her friend the toddler back. "Can we go outside for a minute?"

"Yeah, of course."

She smiled and he followed her out of the bakery. They stopped in front of the window but then she grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him with her away from the window. They stopped in front of the bookstore next to the bakery. "Here's better. No audience." She laughed. "Gimme your phone!"

"Huh?"

She held her hand out. "Gimme your phone. You don't have my number!"

"Right!" He got his phone out of his jacket and handed it to her. She saved her number in his contacts and gave the phone back to him. "Thanks!"

"And you better call me, Steve!"

"I will, I promise! I should have asked for your number but I forgot. And I didn't want to ask my mother."

Natasha looked highly amused by that. "Are you gonna call me to ask me out?"

"That was the plan."

"Good!" She grabbed the collar of his leather jacket again. "You think Wanda is still looking for cake pops?"

"Definitely. Bucky is probably bankrupt by the time she's done."

"So..." Her hands moved up to his neck.

"So..." He echoed and feeling a little bold he wrapped his hands around her waist.

"So you better kiss me now." She grinned and closed her eyes. He laughed softly and leaned forward to press his lips against hers. Natasha smiled into the kiss and he pulled her closer against him. They kissed and kissed until they were both out of breath. God, it was even better than last time.

"Call me tonight." She whispered and he kissed her forehead.

"I will." This made her smile and she pecked his lips before leaving his embrace. They walked back into the bakery where Wanda and Bucky were talking to Laura. Wanda didn't seem to notice that anything had happened between him and Natasha but of course Bucky did.

"Nice lipstick you're wearing!" He commented when they left the bakery. "New color?" Steve immediately wiped over his mouth with his sleeve. "Nah, I was just kidding. But good to know that my suspicion was right."

He couldn't wait until Wanda was finally in her bed so that he could call Natasha. He wanted to wait until his kid was sleeping so she wouldn't snatch the phone out of his hand to talk to Natasha. He was incredibly happy that his daughter adored the woman he was interested in but he still wanted some parts of Natasha just to himself and he knew that Wanda would want to talk to Natasha if she knew that she was on the phone.

He brought Wanda to bed and tucked her in before he read to her another chapter of the book they were currently reading. Wanda was listening to him while cuddling her stuffed Buckybear and reminding him to read in different voices. You have to do the voices, daddy!

He closed the book and kissed Wanda's forehead. "Good night, sweetie."

"Daddy?" She asked sleepily. "You like Miss Natasha right? Like you like her like you wanna kiss her?"

He laughed a little. "I think I do. You wanna know a secret? But you can't tell anyone. Especially not your granny!" She nodded eagerly. "I kissed Natasha today when you bought cake pops with Uncle Bucky."

Her eyes went big and she gasped. "You did? Was it like in the movies? Did she do the leg flip thingy?"

"I don't know if she did, kiddo. But it was a really nice kiss. I think I'll kiss her again the next time I see her."

Wanda beamed. "Yay! I really like her, daddy. Are you gonna marry her? Is she gonna be my mo-"

"Not so fast!" He laughed nervously. He was terrified but also a little bit moved that Wanda wanted Natasha so much in her life."I'm gonna have to ask her to go on a date with me first."

"You should take her to Build-A-Bear to make her a bear! That's very romancic!"

"Romantic." He chuckled. "We'll see. I keep that in mind. Now it's time for you to sleep. Good night, sweetie."

"Good night, daddy! I love you."

He kissed her forehead again. "I love you more."

He cleaned the kitchen and living room before he sat down on the sofa. Wanda should be asleep by now. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Nat. Did that mean she wanted him to call her that? He pressed the green phone button and waited. He didn't have to wait long until he heard her voice.

"Hi, stranger!" She whispered into the phone.

"Um, this is Steve Rogers."

"I know!" She was laughing. She had such a pretty laugh. "I was just waiting for your call all evening."

"Oh! Ha, sorry. I wanted to wait until Wanda was in bed. Otherwise I would have no chance to talk to you."

She chuckled. "In that case you're forgiving. Didn't you want to ask me something?"

"Hm? Right! Will you go out on a date with me, Natasha? Just you and me?"

"I don't mind spending time with Wanda!"

"I know." He said quickly. "I just really liked to have you all to myself for one evening."

"Oh, Steve. You really know what do say to a girl, don't you?"

"Actually, I really don't. So can I take you on a date?"

"Yes! When?"

"Wednesday? I could ask my mom if Wanda could stay the night at her place after she picked her up from your class." Which meant that he had to tell his mom about the date but he didn't think anyone else could watch her on such short notice and he didn't want a stranger to look after his little girl.

"Okay, Wednesday it is. Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"You work in Manhattan right?"

"Yeah, why?" Where was she going with this?

"So do you maybe wanna meet for lunch tomorrow during your break? If you're free and want to, of course!" He didn't understand why she sounded so hesitant, she always seemed so confident. "Am I too eager? I am pushing too hard, aren't I?"

"What, no! I'd love to meet you for lunch. Tell me when and where!"

He heard her sigh in relief. "Oh, okay. Sorry, if I come on too strong. It's just you're such a nice guy and those are rarely interested in me and I just don't want to fuck this up."

"I don't want to fuck this up either."

"Okay. That's a relief!" She laughed. "So tomorrow one pm at Stan's? You liked his burgers, right?"

"I did."

They talked for hours until he had to charge his phone. He couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to her. How much he liked hearing her voice and laughter. Had Bucky been right? Was he falling in love? Already?