Steve drove his family and Bucky back to the house in his big pickup truck, Kayla sitting in the middle of the backseat with the toddlers on either side of her. Bucky's content smile was contagious as he leaned back against the passenger seat, watching the trees as they flew by.
"So, what brings you to our neck of the woods?" Kayla asked slowly, taking note of how interested her children seemed in every word that came out of the Winter Soldier's mouth.
"Work. I took some time off, figured I'd visit this punk for a few weeks. I'm getting a hotel downtown, so you don't have to worry about me-"
"No, you can stay with us. Right, Kay?" Steve asked over his shoulder, but Kayla knew he was informing her, not asking her.
Kayla chuckled as she smoothed back her hair, "Of course you can stay. You're family... So, vacation huh? Any reason why?"
"Long story. Adult stuff, if you know what I mean." Bucky turned and met Kayla's green eyes with his own hazy blue ones, telling the woman that it wasn't something to talk about in front of the children.
"He can't tell you until you're older, Mom," James explained, reaching over and patting Kayla's thigh through her dress.
Bucky burst out laughing at the child, covering his mouth to hold back the noise as Steve tried hard not to join in, knowing he'd never hear the end of it from his wife. "Yeah, I'll explain when you're an adult, Kay."
Steve pulled into the driveway and parked the truck, noticing the large brown van in front of Ryan and Tessa's house. Ryan's younger brother Jack was standing against the driver's door, clearly waiting for somebody to come home. When Steve met his gaze, he tossed his head up in greeting but didn't smile back. Steve helped Kayla unbuckle James and carried his boy into the house with Bucky right on his heels.
Once inside, Steve put down his son and the boy ran toward his action figures, grabbing onto Iron Man and Hulk and bringing them back to show Bucky. "Uncle Bucky, Uncle Bucky, do you want to play with me?"
"Oh, he, he probably wants to rest," Steve warned the boy as he held up the Iron Man figure to Barnes, waiting for the man to take it.
"It's no problem. I'll play with you kid." Bucky answered with a soft smile, sitting cross-legged on the floor as James brought over more toys. Sarah sat down on Bucky's thigh and leaned back against his thick brown jacket, watching her brother with patient eyes.
"This is Iron Man. He's the leader of the Avengers. This is his best friend Hulk. Hulk is in love with the Black Widow and this is Hawkeye, her best friend. And this, this is Thor, he's the God of Thunder. I think they were real once, but I don't really know. I see things on the tv about them sometimes." James rattled off, piling superhero after superhero into Bucky's lap. Bucky carefully picked up each of the heroes with his left hand, still wearing his black glove over the vibranium. The little boy came back with another heap of toys, dropping them on top of Bucky's legs expectantly before sitting down and continuing his introductions. "This is Spiderman. He's the coolest Avenger. And this is Captain Marvel, she can fly! Like on her own! And this is Ant Man, but he can get really big and really small, you never know what he's gonna do. And finally, this is Captain America. He used to be the Falcon, but now he's Captain America."
Bucky looked up to meet Steve's blue eyes, seeing his expression drop at his son's words. Bucky nodded a little, smiling down at the boy, "They are really cool. You have quite the collection."
"Yeah, when I'm good Mommy buys me toys. Dad doesn't like them though. He doesn't like the Avengers." James added, picking up Captain America and Black Widow and positioning them across from each other. "Who do you want to play as?"
"I want to be Captain America," Sarah interjected, leaning forward and grabbing the figure that her brother stood closest to her. "And Captain Marvel."
"I didn't ask you. I asked Uncle Bucky," James barked at his sister, and she leaned back against Bucky's chest, her lower lip quivering as her brother snapped at her.
Bucky placed his right hand protectively around the girl and lifted up the Hulk, gesturing the toy towards James, "Be nice. We're all playing together. Let her pick her's first because she's the youngest. You're second youngest, you pick next."
"I want to be Thor, Iron Man, and Black Widow," James exclaimed loudly, grabbing onto the toys he'd chosen and sitting across from Bucky, situating them in a line. "You can have Hulk, Hawkeye, and Ant-Man."
"Who's gonna be Spiderman?" Kayla called as she leaned against the back of the couch, watching how excited her son was to have someone new to play with.
"Me. I'm gonna be Spiderman. I almost forgot him." James yelled, thrusting the red-clad hero into the air. "Mom, mom you want to play? Mom!"
"I'm fine, I'm going to watch you guys play. Your father might play though." Kayla gestured toward Steve, who still stood just inside the front door, watching his best friend sitting on the floor with his children. Something gave him pause about playing with his son's Avengers toys. It felt too real with Bucky sitting in his house with his family, playing with action figures of all of their friends.
"I... I'll be back." Steve darted away to the kitchen, and Bucky looked hurt at his best friend's departure. Kayla pushed herself away from the couch to follow her husband as James poked indecently at Bucky's metal arm, not realizing that it was harder than it should have been.
"Uncle Bucky! Uncle Bucky play with us!" James insisted loudly as Kayla rounded the corner into the kitchen, meeting her husband's eyes. Steve grabbed an apple from the fridge and took a huge bite out of it. Kayla saw right through his distraction though.
"Come play with your children. Bucky's being a good sport, you should be too." Kayla ordered, and Steve chewed through his feelings until he was ready to face his wife.
He looked at her with helpless blue eyes, and Kayla could see how conflicted he was about Bucky. She piqued her brow, waiting for an explanation from the usually well-spoken soldier. "I want him here. But he's here because of Schmidt. It makes me nervous. Buck can be dangerous. With the kids, I just don't know..." Steve trailed off under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as his eyes shifted to the family room where Bucky was playing with James and Sarah, the latter laughing as she made Captain Marvel fly through the sky. "He killed somebody, Kay."
"He's killed a lot of people, but so have you. None of our hands are clean. I for one feel safer knowing he's here with Schmidt out there. Between you and Bucky, I know our family will be safe." Kayla replied softly, the corners of her mouth raising into a grin, "He's so good with the kids. James loves him. He's his godfather. He should know them."
Steve shook his head, planting one hand firmly on the counter by his red apple and the other on his hip, "Every person from our past who knows the kids increases the chances of them being put in danger, Kay. I want them in our lives as much as you do, you know I do. But it's not that easy. Soon I don't even think we'll be able to go see Tony, they'll realize who he is. Morgan knows who her father is. They can't know theirs."
"See, that's the real problem here. It's not about Bucky or Tony, it's about your children not knowing who you are." Kayla bantered, tilting her head and gesturing toward the family room as she lowered her voice again, "Your son thinks Sam is Captain America. That is hard for you. But it's okay. It's okay Steve- because someday they'll understand. Someday just isn't today." Kayla pressed her palm against Steve's jaw, and he lowered his head shamefully into her hand but didn't respond, so she continued, "Go be with Bucky and the kids. These moments don't come along very often. You don't see him nearly enough and he's here now. No mission. No fight. Your best friend is here to spend time with you, so get your ass out there and play Avengers with your kids."
Steve nodded, planting a kiss on Kayla's lips before heading back into the family room to sit across from Bucky, grabbing onto Hawkeye and Ant-Man to play with his family.
Kayla watched them for a moment before feeling a vibrating coming from the pocket of her blue dress. She pulled out her cell and opened up a message from Tessa.
Ryan's going away till Monday with Jack and Philip. Because of course he is.
Kayla blew air out through her mouth, looking up to see if anyone was paying attention to her. Once she saw the men were fully engaged in playing with the kids, she typed back.
They do boy's trips a lot. I wouldn't be too worried about it.
The little dots that immediately appeared showed Kayla Tessa was wasting no time in responding. Tessa didn't make a habit of texting while she ran the shop, so she was clearly frustrated with this development.
I know. They are going camping out by the lakes. I'm just bummed.
It'll happen, Tess. Be patient. Ryan is clearly infatuated with you.
Kayla looked up as Sarah shrieked loudly, seeing James quickly stealing Captain America from her hand and Steve plucking it out of his to give it back, causing James to yell back defensively.
"You boys got this under control?" Kayla called serenely from the kitchen, not too worried about the squabbles of her small children.
"He took my toy!"
"She wasn't using it right!"
"You still- still can't- can't take- it." She stammered in response, beginning to turn red from the outburst. She wheezed loudly and slumped against Bucky, dropping the Captain Marvel and America toys to the ground as she tried to catch her breath. "You can't take it."
"No more fighting," Steve said evenly, pointing at Sarah and then James. "Enough. You need to be nice to your little sister. She's younger than you, she doesn't always understand the things you do."
"So she doesn't know when to turn away from a fight?" Bucky mumbled under his breath, trying to hide the smirk that threatened to emerge. Sarah didn't just look like Steve, she had his spirit. Not the government made super soldier, but the little guy from Brooklyn who wanted to do what was right.
Steve shot Bucky a knowing look, narrowing his eyes at his best friend as Bucky chuckled from his belly, causing the little girl to rumble with him as she breathed heavily. Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door, and Kayla looked from her family to the door, moving past the couch quickly to see who was there. Tess was still at work. Nobody else really visited.
She opened the door and saw Ryan on the other side, a hiking backpack strapped onto his back as he beamed at her. "Katie! How are you? Is Steve home?"
"I am." Steve grunted as he pushed himself from his hands to his knees, taking care to not get up too easily. "What's up, Ryan?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to join my brothers and me on a camping trip? Last minute, but I think it'll be fun. Could use a nice, stocky guy like you." Ryan gestured at Steve in a way that would have insulted him if he hadn't known the man in front of him for the past three years. Steve was used to being treated like a piece of meat, but that didn't' mean he liked it.
Steve cleared his throat and moved to the side a little, allowing Ryan a view of Bucky on the floor with the kids, "I'm sorry, I can't this weekend. One of my old war buddies is visiting for the week. He surprised me this morning at the Brewhouse! I'm surprised you didn't hear about it." Steve poked at Ryan, trying to read how he took the jest. Kayla's eyes narrowed at Ryan, feeling protective of her best friend and her feelings.
Ryan's expression fell at the sight of Bucky, disappointment written across his slim, dark face. "Bummer." He stared at Bucky for a moment, then added, "He could always come along? The more the merrier."
"I really appreciate the offer Ryan, but Buck came to see us and the kids. I'd feel bad stealing him away. James is his godson, and they barely know each other. Maybe next time?" Steve rubbed his foot behind his opposite ankle, trying to gently let his friend down.
Ryan shrugged, looking defeated, "We'll probably head to the lake next weekend again. Think about it." Ryan bowed his head a little, his eyes darting from Steve to Kayla to Bucky, who stared up at him with steely blue eyes. Almost menacing eyes. There was a night and day difference between his piercing stare and the soft, cool blue eyes that belonged to Steve Carter.
Once Steve closed the door, Bucky turned his attention to his friend, "Who's that?"
"Neighbor. He's dating Tessa, Kayla's friend from the coffee shop this morning." Steve answered easily, taking back his spot on the floor as Kayla hunkered down on the couch, lying across its length on her side so she could lean over and watch the kids play.
Bucky nodded, taking in the information quietly before speaking again, "What's her story? He seems so nice, and she seems so... angry..."
"Last night Ryan took her out for this nice dinner. She got all dressed up, and was sure he was going to propose." Kayla explained as she grabbed onto the Black Widow figure and stared at it for a moment. "He didn't. Got promoted. Reasonable reason for a nice dinner, but after dating for over four years..." Kayla trailed off, setting the plastic figure back down and meeting Bucky's eyes, "She's not normally so bitter."
"They have no idea who you two are?" Bucky clarified, looking from Kayla to Steve, and the blonde soldier just shook his head before looking down at the kids and back to Bucky, reminding the man that neither did his children.
Bucky nodded, understanding Steve's signal, "She's pretty. Maybe she shouldn't wait so long for someone who's clearly not interested."
"Bucky!" Kayla yelped, her eyes widening at his bold words. "You can't say things like that!"
"Clearly someone had to say it. Who spends time with his brothers when he has a dame like that at home?" Bucky asked quietly, sending a coy smile to Steve, who just shook his head at his friend's teasing. But he wasn't wrong.