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 7: Fashion and Food

Steve was ready to scream by the end of the first store. He was horrified by the overly sexualized clothing they made for two and three-year old girls much less eight-year-old girls. The shorts were skimpy, the shirts flimsy and the amount of useless sparkle made him want to cringe. It suddenly made more sense to him why Tony had told the people he had sent out to just go with Avengers paraphilia.

"Ok, I think the cutesy dresses should be enough for formal occasions and then we are going to get them the rest of their clothing from the boys' section, what do you say?" Natasha's tone told Steve that she was equally frustrated.

"I have no problem with that. What about you Bucky?" Steve looked to his significant other. In all honesty, he wanted them to be sharing the responsibility for all the children so they would both have equal say.

"If this is the kind of clothing that they expect little girls to wear, I don't even care if they think ours are boys. Rebecca, you pick what you want from here but just so you know, you can wear the boys stuff if you want," Bucky's about face on his daughter looking masculine would have amused Steve more if he didn't realize it was because Bucky had already seen about a dozen kids, both male and female, wearing all sorts of things.

Rebecca had done just that and it led to an assortment of options. Natasha had started guiding the older girl in towards different types of styles that she could mix and match since Steve and Bucky were virtually hopeless in that department.

At around noon, little stomachs and big alike began to growl. A shared look between the adults had them all walking back to the car. The only available food source in the mall was Starbucks and they could all agree that caffeine and sugar in small children wouldn't be a wise decision, especially since said children had never had any and that meant there was no immunity to its effects.

Fortunately, Natasha knew of a small bistro just down the street where they could get real food. After storing their current purchases in the mini-van, they persuaded Sarah and Natalia into the strollers that had been stored in the back of the vans and headed over to the bistro. Rebecca was particularly subdued by this point. She looked around frequently as they moved along the street and Steve noticed Bucky doing the same.

"Guys, I don't think anyone will attack us in broad daylight in downtown Manhattan. They would have to be insane to do so," Steve pointed out as the entered to place.

"Bucky attacked Director Fury in broad daylight in downtown DC, Steve. I don't think he is going to agree or find that reassuring," Natasha responded before Bucky could.

"He also had a lot of help and the cover of SHIELD. Hydra doesn't have that. It also lacks the current resources necessary to go against the Avengers," Steve shot back as the hostess seated them and a waiter brought out two booster seats for Natalia and Sarah.

"You don't know that. Hydra had a lot more going for it resource wise than you realize. It is always best to be cautious. I'm still confused about why they didn't try to use the trigger words while we were trying to get out," Bucky added before Steve could argue further. He eyed a few people who were taking pictures and pointing to Steve and Natasha in obvious awe of who they were.

"We'll be cautious then, just try not to over react to people approaching us. The Avengers are well known and our faces are well publicized. They may just be fans," Steve commented as he opened a menu after glancing at the child menu and deciding on chicken fingers for Sarah.

Natasha had just started to read the list to Natalia only to realize her daughter had no idea what any of the options were. At this point she decided on grilled cheese for the three-year-old and opened her own menu. Bucky accepted Steve's argument and then focused on attempting to explain to Rebecca what each was like, a difficult task when she hadn't really had more than what constituted as gruel to most people. It took the girl only a few moments to tell him to pick for her and he sighed in resignation.

"You know, it really sucks that our kids have no idea what real food is like," Natasha stated after the waitress took their orders. "I mean really, already processed food is not really that healthy."

"Try to think of it from a different perspective. We now have a chance to ensure that they develop good eating habits. A lot of children have difficult with that problem. They actually have just been eating what we have been putting in front of them meaning they aren't picky," Steve pointed out.

"If we didn't eat what they gave us, they forced us to eat it using a funnel. You tend to stop fighting it if it only makes things worse," Rebecca inserted herself into the conversation to explain.

Steve stood, handed Sarah to Bucky and told them he would be back in a few minutes. His expression caused Bucky to nod instantly as he took the little girl. His lover immediately headed to the bathroom which was fortunately single person. Bucky shook his head and sighed, "Rebecca, it might not be a good idea to tell him how we were all treated while under Hydra's control. Steve may seem friendly but that is only because we're good people. Bad people who do bad things make him very, very angry. We can't upset him while in public or even really in front of Sarah and Natalia because we don't want to scare them. Okay?"

Rebecca nodded and then smiled at the waitress who had brought out drinks for them. The children had all been ordered lemonade rather than soda or another high sugar drink. Bucky ordered what he knew that Steve would have wanted. His eyes had bulged a little over the prices but Steve had already assured him that it was what was now referred to as inflation. He was sure that Steve would want steak though.

"So, Steve said that gays could be open or even marry if they wanted," Bucky spoke quietly and hesitantly to Natasha and she nodded. "How do you think that the world would react if Steve and I were to get married?"

Natasha smirked, "Well, there is a lot of variation of opinions on the subject of homosexuality to be honest. The gay community would crow over one of the most iconic people to come from the U.S. being gay himself, especially given that you two were an item before going into the ice. You marrying would be certainly exciting for them. On the opposing side, extreme religious groups would go insane screaming for your blood for the same reason. Personally, I don't think what anyone says or does should influence your choice on the matter. Marriage is about you, your partner and the family you create, not the world at large."

Bucky nodded, "You think you could take the kids after this? We're pretty much finished shopping anyways."

Natasha's smirk grew, "Sure."

"Sure what?" Steve asked as he joined them just before the waitress returned with their food.

"Bucky was just suggesting that I drop you to your apartment after this so that you could pack your things up. You did mention you have food there and that is a bit time sensitive," Natasha lied smoothly.

"Yeah, she was just agreeing to take the children back to the tower while we pack up," Bucky added once their food was in front of them.

Steve eyed the steak before rolling his eyes at Bucky. He then immediately went about cutting up Sarah's chicken fingers. Natasha did the same for Natalia's grilled cheese. Both smaller girls required Steve and Natasha to take a bite from their food to show that it was safe. Rebecca merely required Bucky to give her a nod to begin eating, though slightly confused still about utensils for her food.

Bucky dug into the food immediately and ate quickly, causing Steve to chuckle. The meal was amusing for most of the adults, despite the small messes made by the smaller girls. Natasha ate slowly to get to Bucky knowing his rush to eat and was amused that Steve also attempted to eat quickly as well. When they all finished, they headed back to the mall for the car.

Steve and Bucky were dropped off on the way back to the Tower and Natasha took the children back to the tower to continue with medical screening. Bucky had pulled Rebecca aside before their separation and explained that they were taking place to ensure that they would be healthy and not as experiments. Rebecca nodded reluctantly but went with Natasha.