chapter 17

Adelaide sat quietly with Bucky and Clint, coloring in a page that they had found for her. Actually, it was a book full of pages for her to draw in, but she wanted to be able to color them in again, so they had copied it for her. They doted on her, it was obvious. Bucky was going under tomorrow morning, so the two were practically inseparable. Adelaide was as talkative as ever, which wasn't much, but she was doing as much as she could with her dad. They watched movies and listened to music with Steve to get caught up on modern culture, went on walks through the city with Wanda, and as they were doing now, coloring with Clint and/or Scott. Wanda pulled Clint away for a moment, and the two were left on their own. Adelaide finished her picture and handed it to her father for inspection. "It's beautiful, Addie," he said with a smile. "Better than I could ever do. Almost better than Stevie too." She blushed and looked down.
"'S not that good," she mumbled.

"Yes it is. You're quite the artist, zvezdnyy svet." She smiled shyly and took the page back, leaving it on the table for Clint to see when he came back. She wrote his name on the back of the page so Clint would know he could keep it. She yawned loudly, and Bucky picked her up. "C'mon, doll, time for bed."
"No," she said pitifully.

"Yes. You can barely keep your eyes open, printsessa."
"Wanna stay up with you," she mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
"Solnechnyy svet, I'm going to bed with you. Nobody's staying up."
"But I don' wanna let you go away," she said into his neck. He halted mid-stride and squeezed her tighter.
"Oh, kulka," he said quietly, "everything will be alright." He started walking again.
"No, it won't," she replied. "You won't be with me. You won't be there to do all the things daddies do. Not for a while."
"But you'll have Steve, Clint, and the others. Aren't they important to you?" he asked as he entered their living area.
"Yes, but they aren't the same, Papa."

"But they love you, katenok. Almost as much as I do. They only want you to be happy."
"But I'm happy with you."
"I know, myshka, I know. You make me the happiest I've been since I can remember. I love you so much, malo solnechnogo sveta, I don't know how to explain it. But I also want to be able to do all the things that daddies are supposed to do without worrying about hurting you or anyone else. Don't you think that'd make things so much better?" Adelaide nodded reluctantly as she let Bucky change her into her nightclothes, which honestly consisted of just one of his shirts and some shorts that T'Challa had provided for her. She climbed up into bed and nestled into Bucky's chest once he had turned off the lights and climbed into bed. (little sunshine)
"I suppose, but only to keep everyone else safe.

I don't think you're dangerous."
"I know, printsessa. Now, go to sleep. I'll make breakfast in the morning."
"Pancakes and bacon?" she asked hopefully, causing Bucky to chuckle.
"Yeah, we can do that. Spokoynoy nochi, moye serdtse." (Goodnight, my heart.)
"Spokoynoy nochi, papa."