Laying together in our bed, the sunlight creating an almost magical glow around us, Bucky traced patterns on my flat bare abdomen while I massaged his scalp with my fingernails. I knew my smile was a reflection of his - soft and sweet, rested even though we'd hardly napped - being together was relaxing.

"When do you think you'll start showing?" He didn't raise his voice above a tone one would use in a library, yet I could hear the excitement laced through each word - it was tangible and I loved that he was so happy.

I considered what he was asking, but honestly I had no clue. Parenthood wasn't really something I'd yearned for before, and while Mom had been a nurse, I was more interested in taking photos and putting one foot in front of the other than paying attention to the women around me who were glowing with the new lives they were bringing into the world. "I think it depends -"

Propping his chin up so he could see me, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "on what?"

My eyes went to the top of my head, searching for the best way to explain what little I did know. "The size of the mother, for one." I was fairly certain that the tinier the vessel, the faster the passenger would be noticeable. "The father's genetics might have a say in how big the baby is, so our little bean might end up making me HUGE pretty quick." He chuckled and dropped a kiss below my belly button.

"Are you saying I'm thick, Brooke?" Bucky's hands were framing my abdomen and I grinned down at him. "Is that a GOOD thing?" One eyebrow arched and I laughed.

"I'm carrying your mini soldier, Buck," my fingers slid through his hair and I bit my lip when his eyes closed in contentment from the contact. "I'd say everything about you is a GOOD THING."

Humming, his lips quirked into a soft smile and he crawled lightly up the bed so he could kiss me. Rolling onto his side so we could lay face to face, he traced my face with the ghostlike touch of his fingertips. "I never thought I'd hear anyone say that everything about me was good - ever." He was squinting, as if thinking pretty damn far back and I wanted to smack something. "Steve wasn't the only Brooklyn boy who could get into trouble, Brooke." His smile was meant to relax me, but it only half worked. Bucky had been shunted to the sideline for a very long time, then his time as the Winter Soldier was held over his head - it was bullshit. "You are bearing a very strong resemblance to -"

"If Steve Rogers could carry your baby, then holy shit, Buck, Captain America was truly a scientific wonder." That did it, it broke the tense bubble I'd created - not without some reason, but we had happier things to focus on. "You wish you could tell him," I could see it as clearly as Connie had when I'd been wrestling with Bryn's damn car seat in the Mustang. Cupping his cheek, I sighed. "I wish you could too."

"I just can't get this image out of my head," his smile was growing and it was contagious. "Him meeting you and knowing without a doubt that the two of you were on the same damn page - to keep my ass on my toes. And to remind me," his smile was still there, but it was just a little dimmer. "To remind me that I deserve it. You, the baby, this life." He shook his head, breaking the vision and coming back to me. "Steve and you would be a pretty scary duo, Brooke, but I really do wish I could have it."

"Me too," and I did. I wanted Bucky to have everything. Every single thing that he wanted, because he more than earned it.

After a warm bath, shared of course, we sat down and planned a dinner for Connie and Joey. Bryn would be happy with just hanging out with her favorite live-action Disney prince, so I knew that on that particular part we were fine.

"You don't want to make that baked pasta -" my eyes went wide and I shook my head. "What?"

"You're from Brooklyn, Buck. You've met Joey AMORUSO." It seemed to hit him like a brick. "Yeah, I'm NOT fixing an Italian meal for an Italian. Sorry, I'd rather not live through the live critique of my sauce and why I should have made the mozzarella from scratch, but thank you for that offer." He grinned and I rolled my eyes. "We could order in -"

"Doll," he gave me a look that I swear made me wonder if he was channelling my mother. "You can't invite people over for something like this and give them -"

"Food from somewhere not homemade," I sighed. "Yeah, I know, Mom." He grinned. "Let me guess, that's a Brooklyn mother thing?" He nodded. "Good to know that some shit is just naturally ingrained in the locale."

We settled on a roast and the Sunday type sides that both of us knew from our vastly different, yet strangely the same youths. While he made the call to Connie to set the date, making our excuses for the evening - thank you little bean for being a great excuse for being "indisposed" for immediate visits - we did order in for our evening. And I ended up having a cup of Wong's tea before it arrived, just in case.

The bag had a helpful set of instructions, just in case a novice might not know how to brew real tea. Luckily my mom had gone through a weird bagless tea stage in life, so I had some things on hand. I was sniffing the contents when Bucky came into the kitchen after hanging up from Connie.

"Well?" He was staring at me with my nose in the bag and I shrugged. "That's not very helpful, Brooke."

"It's kind of an earthy smell." I sniffed again. "Not unpleasant, but -" I sighed. "How'd Connie take the news that dinner would be in a couple days instead of this evening?"

The tea kettle was on the stove and I was waiting for it to start screaming to let me know it was hot enough, but we had some time. While Bucky assured me that my best friend was more than willing to wait for dinner to be sure I was able to actually eat it, I got down the rest of my tea necessities. He'd also ordered dinner while he was at it, because Bucky Barnes is a man of action, thank you very much.

The kettle howled and I took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." Hot water, tea leaves in the tea infuser, and into the cup to seep until the water turned a murky brownish grey. No sugar, that was part of the instructions, no milk either. Just water and tea leaves. Once the coloring was right, I pulled the infuser free and steadied myself. Bucky stood beside me and gave me a grin. "I really hope this doesn't taste like shit." A tentative sip, and I tried to place the flavor. Nothing. Another sip, still nothing familiar came to mind. So I took another sip, and another, and another. The cup was empty and I was still trying to decide what it tasted like.

"How do you feel?" Bucky asked, taking the cup from me, and dumping the infuser so he could rinse both out.

I considered his question, focusing on my stomach and the urge to vomit that had me rushing to the toilet before. "I feel alright, I think." I was still trying to figure out what the flavor of the tea was - it didn't linger, which meant I couldn't really remember what it tasted like. Damn it. "I guess we'll find out once I eat, right?"

Bucky picked a local diner that had less spicy food. We sat in the kitchen and I felt like he was watching me like he might watch a bomb waiting to see if they cut the right wires to diffuse it. Fair, since I felt like a bomb that had wires cut, but didn't know if they were the right ones to keep from exploding.

Dinner finished, we put away the leftovers and suddenly we were left with loose ends. It struck me that Bucky and I had never - not once since we'd been together - actually just had down time. And if we did - it was filled with UP time.

"Come here," he'd taken the chair that I had immediately begun thinking of as his from the first time he sat in it and he was holding his arms open. When I got close enough for him to reach, he pulled me onto his lap and held me, pressing his face into my neck and just breathing the very scent of me in. "Want to watch a movie?"

"Sure," I murmured, wondering what film Bucky would pick and then laughing when he hit the remote that he'd grabbed before I was perched on his lap. "Beauty and the Beast?"

"Connie might have mentioned you like it," he was smiling at me and I bit my lip. "Our 'mini soldier' as you called them, could just as easily be a 'tiny doll', sweetheart." Nodding, I let my head settle into the crook of his shoulder. "Not that there's a damn thing wrong with either watching fairy tales come to life," I giggled, thinking I'd hate to be anyone who tried to debate the issue with my baby's daddy.

Bucky held me while we watched our first movie together - my favorite Disney movie. Which we followed up with something I thought he might like - the first in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Isn't that what relationships were, after all? Sharing? Plus, while the tea was helping with one problem, I wasn't in a rush to take on the homework that Strange had given me. So if I could put it off for as long as possible -