Almost exactly four and a half months into her pregnancy, Summer awoke fairly early one morning to something absolutely incredible. She had the day off of work and could have slept in if she had wanted to - which she always did these days - but for once, she opened her eyes and felt legitimately rested.
Blinking back the surprise of such a radical concept as waking up non-exhausted for once, Summer slowly sat up in bed and glanced over to find Bucky still sleeping soundly next to her. He would have to get up soon to get to a training exercise he had to get to at the facility that morning, but she let him sleep and quietly slipped out of the bed.
She expected the semi-good feeling to fade into the usual pure crap that she was accustomed to, but after brushing her teeth and even brushing her hair - which was nothing short of an event - she still felt okay. In fact, she was starving, and the thought of chocolate chip pancakes with enough syrup to put an elephant in a coma sounded like the greatest thing in the world. And she didn't even like chocolate chip pancakes.
The kitchen was empty and surprisingly clean when she made her way out to it after a quick shower, and she spent the next thirty minutes cooking for the first time since the constant nausea had set in. She chugged orange juice as she cheerfully flipped the pancakes, then started eating them before she had even finished making them all. By the time she was finished, she had eaten no less than five, and she was stuffed and she felt great.
It had been like this with David, she recalled, where one day during her early second trimester, she had awoken in the morning suddenly feeling mostly human again. The thought that it was happening again and that the miserable stage of the pregnancy was finally over was the single most exciting thing possibly ever, and after finishing her breakfast and not feeling the least bit gross, she skipped off to tell Bucky the news.
She checked the time on her phone, knowing that Bucky would have to leave within the next fifteen minutes to get to work on time, so she wasn't surprised to enter his room and find the bed empty and messy with sheets that were clearly well slept in. She glanced at the bathroom door and crept towards it with a small grin when she heard the sound of water running. It was to soft to be the shower, so when she got to the door and tapped on it lightly before pushing it open, it was no surprise to find him standing there in just a towel and in the process of shaving his face.
He paused and glanced at her as soon as the door cracked open, and she stopped breathing for a moment when a sudden wave of heat overcame her at the sight of him still wet from his own shower and very close to being naked. That wave of heat was almost even more of a relief than the lack of nausea, because it had been so long since she had felt anything resembling even a smidgen of real desire that she had started to get a bit terrified.
"Hey," he said with a small smile, watching her ogle him as if she was seeing something brand new. She snapped her eyes up and smiled back as he cleaned his face off with a hand towel, and she finally remembered why she was there to begin with.
"Hey," she grinned, leaning against the doorframe. "So guess what?"
"What?" he asked curiously, putting the towel down and then running his hands through his wet hair to flatten it down on his head. It was getting way too long and she needed to cut it, but she had other things to worry about at the moment.
"This is going to be shocking, but I got up today and actually felt good for once, and then I freaking made pancakes, and I ate a lot. And I feel fantastic."
His eyebrows shot up his forehead and he started walking towards her, genuinely happy to hear this. "Wow. Really?
She nodded and felt her smile widen as he got closer, reaching out and touching her face as he observed, "You do look better today. Got some of that color back in your cheeks."
"Well, that might not be from the food," she admitted, glancing down at his chest and feeling her blush grow hotter as she lifted her eyes to his again.
He tilted his head slightly and gave her a look, one brow arching as he grinned, "You must be feeling better."
"Only one way to find to find out for sure," she noted cheekily before stepping up and closing her eyes, kissing him softly and gently winding her arms around his neck. She sighed quietly at those first little touches, feeling instantly like she was drowning in his scent and his arms that cautiously but sweetly wrapped around to embrace her back. Her gag reflex behaved this time, unlike all of the times before during the last few months, but Bucky still held her and kissed her like she might suddenly throw up at any moment, and she couldn't blame him.
The kiss was soft and sweet and it ended with both of them smiling, though Bucky looked concerned still as he drew away an inch or two and asked as his fingers threaded softly into her hair, "Still okay?"
"Oh yeah," she all but purred, tightening her arms around him and pulling him back for another kiss. She tried to deepen that one herself, but Bucky still wasn't fully convinced that she was really okay.
"We shouldn't push it," he groaned after very reluctantly breaking away. "If you're having a good day, I don't want to ruin it."
"But you're not," she whined slightly, refusing to let him go. "I feel really good. I've missed being able to kiss you like this so much."
"You know I have to," he assured her, taking her hands and pulling them away from his hair, where they had been. "But I'm also gonna be late for work if we keep this up." Summer then pouted, literally, and Bucky's eyes dropped to her bottom lip before he groaned again and muttered, "Aw, not the lip..."
She smiled and giggled, then dropped her arms with a slight huff when he tore himself away from her to head back into his room. "This sucks. The one day I feel good and you have stupid training."
Summer following him closely as he walked to his closet, he glanced over his shoulder and said, "I know. But I'll be home tonight."
"That's forever away," she pointed out as he grabbed a few things from his closet and then tossed them on the bed. She crossed her arms and decided that she would at least have the pleasure of watching him drop the towel and get dressed, but then something suddenly occurred to her that changed everything.
The last few months had been difficult, but they certainly hadn't changed the fact that they were madly in love and that Bucky in particular couldn't say no to Summer when it came to things like what was currently on her mind. She held a sort of power over him that she didn't necessarily feel like she was in possession of very often, but she knew that it was true and that this case would be no exception, if she so chose.
She watched him toss his pair of boots on the floor and contemplated her options. He did have to leave soon, but he was kind of an Avenger and it wasn't like the sky was falling or aliens were currently rampaging through Manhattan again. It was just a training thing. He had those all the time. Would it really be so bad to be late once?
She made her decision when his right hand went to where the towel was gathered at his waist. She stepped forward and put her hand over his, drawing it away and making his eyes flash to hers in confusion as she smiled and walked around him so that she stood in front of him.
"I know you need to leave, but..." She drew her fingertips up the back of his hand and slowly up his forearm as she looked up and met his gaze. "Maybe you could get away with being a little late?"
He blinked at her in surprise, and she could see the conflict in his eyes as he seemed to vacillate between disbelief, sudden excitement, and then dread as if she might start gagging and the whole thing would be ruined. She dragged her fingers back down his arm, then closed the last distance between them as her hands went to the towel and easily slipped it off of him.
She glanced down only to grin faintly at how he was already half excited from just a few looks, words, and tiny brushes of her fingers on his arm. Then she looked back up and pressed herself against him, both hands sliding up his chest as she asked in what she hoped was a low, breathy voice, "Is that a yes?"
His hands went to her pajama-covered hips, then trailed up her sides under her unremarkable baggy sleep t-shirt as she kissed along his jaw, trying her best to convince him to be bad and stay for a bit. She knew what would really do it, so after a few more seconds she drew back and then pulled the shirt over her head. She dropped it on top of his towel, and his eyes glued themselves to her braless form as he lost all hope of resisting.
Being 18 weeks along now, her belly was no longer flat and was instead distinctly round-shaped and firm to the touch, protruding just enough to prove that she was truly pregnant rather than merely recovering from a hardcore junk food binge. It was the first place that Bucky's hands went, both of them running softly over the little baby bump like it was one of the most incredible things he had ever seen. Every week, his wonder for her and the life that she was carrying within her only grew, and it was as evident in his eyes as it was in his touch.
Then his hands stilled before one slid behind her back and the other went to her hair to pull her to him as he whispered roughly, "Come here."
Then they were kissing, really kissing for the first time in forever, and Summer moaned shamelessly in both relief and pleasure at having this be fully enjoyable again. She couldn't get close enough to him and he couldn't kiss her or touch her enough, his hands getting the rest of her clothes off in record time as they devoured each other like two starving people who had just stumbled across a feast.
She got herself as close to him as she could, her belly still small enough to not really get in the way, and her breasts didn't hurt as they pressed tightly to his chest and dragged up and down slightly with their movements. They were still incredibly sensitive, but at that moment, it felt good instead of hideously painful.
"Lay down," Bucky groaned after hastily tearing his lips away from hers, urging her back towards his bed. "Fuck, you caught me by surprise."
"I caught myself by surprise," she smiled as she got on the bed, scooting back on it and watching as he crawled on top of her, all thoughts of work abandoned for the time being. "But I need this."
"I need it too," he replied, dropping his head down and kissing her again as her legs opened and welcomed him to lay between them. He kept his weight off of her belly but otherwise touched her exactly as how she remembered it, with one obvious exception.
"You can touch them," she told him between kisses, when his hands had nearly grazed her breasts before cautiously moving elsewhere. He looked down at her hesitantly but she nodded insistently. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt right now."
"It doesn't?" he asked, and after she shook her head and arched a little to encourage him, he brought his right hand up to cup one very swollen breast and touch it like he hadn't been able to in some time. She closed her eyes and exhaled, hissing and squirming a little with each little touch and then gasping when he placed his mouth on the other breast. He watched her carefully for her reactions, in case it began to hurt, but it felt amazing - too amazing, in fact.
His name was a broken, shaky plea on her lips within mere minutes, and he didn't stop what he was doing or let up one bit, undoubtedly savoring getting to touch her like he was. But it had been so long and he didn't want to tease her or string her along, so he slipped his left hand between them and, after a particularly needy moan, let the vibration in the metal limb purr to life. Neither of them expected the way that she fell apart within only seconds of the touch.
It felt like it lasted forever for as quickly and unexpectedly as it had happened, and Summer was dazed and confused and in pure bliss in the aftermath of the sudden and very easy release. She opened her eyes and breathed heavily through her mouth as Bucky gazed down at her with a knowing grin.
"You're even more sensitive now, aren't you?"
She nodded, nowhere near satisfied yet and feeling like she could go again and again even though she was still recovering. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."
He gazed at her in wonder, his lips turning up at the corners in a dirty little smirk before he started slowly kissing down her neck. "Wonder how many more times I can make you do that before Steve calls asking where the hell I am."
"... I don't know, but if you want to find out... I know you're gonna be really late, but..."
He peeked up at her and gave her that same filthy grin as before. "Nowhere I'd rather be than where I'm going next, kitten."
She melted even more at just the pet name before his meaning even caught up with her, and by the time it did, his mouth was already hard at work on her and she was trying not to scream again.
They wasted the entire hour like that, making up for lost time and both of them thoroughly enjoying the changes that Summer's hormones had caused. Bucky worshipped her breasts like it was his purpose in life, and she made sure that he didn't leave the encounter any less mind-blown than she did. By the time Bucky's phone rang next to their heads, they were both spent and kissing softly as they laid tangled up and exquisitely content following the unexpected and perfect morning romp.
Summer giggled quietly when Bucky answered his phone and gave Steve a lame excuse that they both knew he wouldn't buy. Steve, it turned out, could tell by the quality of Bucky's voice what the real reason for his tardiness was, and Summer couldn't tell if that was creepy or not.
Regardless, Bucky hung up with a smile on his face and continued to hold her and kiss her until he damn well pleased. Summer ate it up, perfectly content and incredibly happy with the way that the day was going, and it only got better from there.
Bucky had been playfully nibbling on her ear when she felt a sudden jolt inside and froze, her eyes popping open and hand flying to her belly. Bucky noticed and also froze, thinking something was wrong at first.
"What? What's wrong?" he asked, staring at her in concern and worry that grew the longer she took to answer him. But she just held up her free hand to tell him to wait, her gaze focusing on nothing and the room quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Then she felt it again. A swift, distinct, undeniable little kick.
She smiled and looked at Bucky in pure excitement. "I just felt a kick! It kicked me!"
His eyes widened and his mouth fell open in a way that was as innocent as it was sweet. "It did?!"
She nodded rapidly and then laughed, her eyes swelling with tears immediately. "I mean, I've been feeling little flutters for a few weeks, but that was a kick. Two kicks, actually."
Bucky was just as excited as she was, though it was still too early for him to be able to feel the kicking for himself. "That's... wow. Wow."
"I know!" she sniffled happily. "I thought it would take a little longer, but I guess he or she's a tough little thing." Then her smile suddenly faded and she muttered, "... Or the crapload of hormones from what we just... did... made it really happy."
Bucky paused and stared at her. "... That's... not weird at all."
She cringed and shrugged. "It's true. I read it on the Internet a few weeks ago."
He clenched his jaw and forced a smile. "Kinda wish you hadn't shared that."
She shrugged, smiling at him in embarrassment until she realized she just didn't care. "Oh, who cares what caused it? Our baby just kicked me for the first time!"
He laughed, his expression once again just as joyful as hers, and it was the most perfect, sweet end to their morning together that Summer could have imagined. She felt great, their baby was healthy and kicking away, and Bucky was nearly two hours late for training by the time he finally got to the facility. But he regretted nothing and neither did she, because they had needed that morning together and nothing short of a dire emergency could have stolen them away from each other.
If the rest of the pregnancy was like this, Summer was suddenly convinced that it would be nothing less than a piece of cake. Really, really good, sexy cake.
Later that day, following one of the more major purchases Summer had ever made in her life thus far, she was somewhat nervously driving to the Avengers facility to surprise Bucky by picking him up and dropping not one but two surprises on him. She didn't think he'd have too much of an issue with the first, but when it came to the second, it was enough to give her full-fledged nervous flutters in her belly.
With David in the backseat happily playing his usual games on his tablet, Summer drove through the first security gate after showing the man stationed her special little low-clearance badge that Bucky had gotten for her back when the place had first been built, and then she was pulling into the facility and was suddenly more nervous than ever.
She parked, texting Bucky that surprise, she was here to pick him up, and after she sent it, she sat back and shoved a handful of curly fries into her face before mentally pacing back and forth. She was fairly sure that this was a bad idea, that springing this on both Bucky and David - two people who found great comfort in familiarity and routine - with little preamble would end up being an enormous failure on her part, but to be fair, she was also quite pregnant and had a habit as of late of being a bit hyperbolic.
And so, she decided to just eat her cheap but delicious fast food and wait for Bucky to emerge from the building. When he did about ten minutes later, he walked out looking highly confused and stared at all the cars parked before she grinned and rolled down her window, then stuck out her head and chirped, "Over here!"
He finally spotted her then, and she watched him chuckle as he took in the new family-friendly SUV that she had just drove off of a lot back in the city. He ran a hand through his slightly unruly hair and strolled her way, checking out the new car as he headed for the passenger side door.
Once he got there, he opened it and then glanced inside before remarking, "Well, at least it isn't a minivan."
She smiled as he hopped in. "Right? And see, I got it in black, since I know you like black. It's actually pretty speedy for an SUV, and oh yeah, it's got satellite radio so you can listen to your super old oldies!"
He chuckled and glanced back at David and told him hi before leaning across the console and hushing her with a small but sweet kiss. After, she smiled at him a little uneasily and asked, "Do you hate it?"
He shook his head, looking over the interior of the vehicle and replying, "No, I don't. I told you I trusted you with picking something good for a family."
"I know, but I felt really weird buying something big like this without you there," she said. "But it has really good crash safety ratings, and lots of room for kids, so..."
"It's fine," he assured her sincerely, looking at her a bit curiously. "It's just a car. Were you really this nervous about it?"
She hesitated, biting her lip before admitting, "No, there's kind of... something else I wanted to talk to you about."
He clicked his seatbelt on, and as she began backing up and out of the parking lot, he replied with sudden mild concern, "Okay."
"Well," she began, belly fluttering again and not because of the baby inside of it, "after I got this car I stopped at my brother's house, since it's on the way out here. He was at work but I talked to Sarah for awhile, and she fed me cake and we talked about pregnancy stuff, but anyway. So we got to talking about different things, like life at the tower and stuff, and she asked me if we were going to stay there with the new baby and how we would make it work."
"... Okay," Bucky replied, watching her as she drove them away from the facility.
"And I got to thinking about it, and... I don't know how you would feel about this because we haven't talked about this at all, but..."
"What?"
She took a breath and then spit it out. "I think maybe we should get our own house. And there's a really nice looking house for rent that's only one street over from my brother's house, and I was hoping we could look at it." She paused. "Today. Like, now. Well, in half an hour."
Summer looked over at Bucky as she stopped at a stop sign, waiting on the edge of her seat for a reaction. He blinked in surprise a few times, and then said, "Oh."
Since she couldn't tell if that indicated a negative or positive reaction, she went with a very logical course of action and began babbling. "The thing is, I do love the tower and everything and I know that you like it there too, and you have Steve and Nat and Sam and everybody there all the time, and David loves it too, but the thing is, the walls are really thin and it's never quiet there. And we kind of have our own space but not really. Like you have your room and I have mine, although I really just share yours now and David has my room, but still, and we need to start buying stuff like a baby bed and a changing table and furniture and other stuff and we don't have anywhere to really put any of it, and -"
"Yeah, yeah," Bucky nodded. "I know. Slow down."
She smiled at that, glancing over to find a similar smile on his face that she found to be a great relief. He wasn't totally against the idea, then. "I just really want the baby to have a good, quiet place to sleep. And, I mean... we've never really had our own space, but I've always wished we did. I love everyone and I'd miss the crap out of them, but at the same time..."
"No, I understand," he replied quietly, glancing out at the highway as she drove them down it just under the speed limit. Driving fast was for people not carting around the people they loved most in the world.
"Really?" she asked with relief. "You're not just saying that?"
"No," he chuckled, looking over at her again. "I see what you're saying. Honestly I've been expecting this to come up. I knew it would sooner or later."
She let out a heavy breath. "Oh man, I was so nervous. I thought you would freak out, or... I don't even know. But are you sure that you're okay with the idea? You've been living there for so long and you've got so much support there, and..."
"Summer," he said gently, smiling at he kept his eyes on her, "relax. Yeah, I like it there, but I can't really imagine having a baby there. I can barely imagine having a baby at all, but..."
"Yeah," she nodded quietly. "Well, and that's another thing. This is going to be so new for both of us, and I think we need to really do it right, you know? And if we have our own place, Steve and everyone can still come over and we can come over too, but we won't be in their face all the time. And they won't be in our faces all the time. It'll just be... better, I think. And the baby can have its own room. We can finally have our own room. One that's actually ours."
That made Bucky grin a bit. "Yeah. I'll definitely like that."
She glanced away from the road to grin back at him. "I thought so. Okay... so, do you want to see this house, then? It's pretty big, not too far out of the city. You know Paul's neighborhood. It's nice, and I think I'd really like living that close to him."
Bucky nodded. "Sure. Let's see it."
She sighed in immense relief and refocused on the road. "Awesome." Of course, there was still David to convince, but he was napping in the backseat now, and he might warm up to the idea only after a decent amount of bribing.
The drive to the house in question felt shorter than it actually was, thanks to Summer's steady and now-happy babbling about such things like how weird it would be to have her own kitchen again and what kind of colors they should decorate their bedroom with. By the time they got there, the real estate agent Summer had made the appointment with was already there, waiting in their car as Summer pulled into the driveway next to them.
The neighborhood was quiet and very well maintained, the houses on the street not overly close to each other, which helped give the homes a sense of privacy. The one that was for rent was already fenced in, two stories high and painted with white and light brown. There was a two car garage, a fenced in backyard, and a chimney on the roof, and without even stepping a single foot inside, it felt to Summer sort of like the sort of home one would expect to see on a cute family sitcom. It was hard to imagine her family in such a place, as unconventional as they were, but she was pretty sure they could make it work.
The first thing Bucky did after they parked was double check that his arm was disguised, then put on the hat that Summer had thoughtfully brought with her, though she still felt that it wasn't much of a disguise. Then they got out of the car, Bucky taking care of waking David up and getting him out of the car as Summer met the real estate agent, who turned out to be a nice older fellow who had no idea he was showing the house to the most wanted fugitive in the country and his wife and son.
Summer did all of the talking as they stepped inside and began the grand tour of the house. First they saw the entire downstairs area, complete with a nice open living room that included a pretty little fireplace, as well as a kitchen that obviously wasn't as huge or cutting edge as the one in the tower, but it was also open and already furnished with most of the needed appliances. Then they saw the backyard, which was nice and shaded and perfect for little kids to play and run around in, and after that, they went upstairs to check out the bedrooms.
There were three bedrooms and one office along the upper floor, and the master bedroom was almost double the size of Bucky's room back at the tower. It also had a connected bathroom which contained a rather attractive bathtub with jacuzzi jets, and that alone had Summer nearly sold on the house without having to even discuss anything else. Bucky seemed fine with it all, not overly picky about anything, really, and the one who really needed the most convincing with regard to the house was David.
When they got to the room that would be his if they took the house, David stood there and looked around at the empty room rather stonily, holding Bucky's hand. Summer walked around, checked out the closet space and how many electrical outlets there were, and with a cautious smile, she turned to David and asked, "What do you think? Do you like this place?"
The agent gave them some space and waited in the hallway as Summer knelt down in front of David, who glared at her before signing home. She frowned and said, "I know, sweetie. This is different and you don't like different. But you're gonna have a baby brother or sister soon, and we need to have our own home now, like we used to. Remember that? When we had our own house and a backyard and lots of room to ourselves?"
David stared at her before rattling off a list of names, or rather, his signs for the people he would miss the most. First was Steve, then Wanda, Vision, and, to Summer's surprise, Natasha. "I know," she nodded. "But you'll still see them all the time, I promise. We'll go over there and see them and I'm sure they'll come over and see us, too. And this house is really close to Uncle Paul. He's right down the street, so you can play with your cousins more often, too."
David still wasn't sold, and Summer couldn't blame him. He was living every kid's dream by residing in the same tower as a bunch of superheroes, and of course he wouldn't want to leave that. Summer looked up at Bucky for help, and after a moment spent in thought, Bucky gave David's hand a tug so that the boy would look up at him. Then he said, "I'll drive you to the tower myself, all the time. At least a couple times a week."
"Yeah," Summer agreed, "and like I said, I'm sure they'll come over all the time. I'll make big dinners and yummy cakes and stuff to bribe them even if they don't feel like it."
David then looked around the room again, frowning and then signing one more word, different. Knowing what that meant, Summer nodded quickly and said, "We'll make it look just like the room you've got now, don't worry. And the routine will stay the same, I promise. What do you say?"
David pouted a little, then glared at her belly before nodding and then pointedly looking away. Summer glanced up at Bucky, a little nervous now that David was blaming this unfortunate event on his unborn little sibling, but... well, it was an adjustment for all of them, and Summer was aware that an older kid used to being an only child would probably inevitably harbor some resentments at a new baby and the changes they brought. She was confident that he'd come around, and once he saw that life really was going to be mostly the same and he'd still see all of his favorite people all the time, surely he'd be all right.
Leaving the boy be for now, Summer straightened up and pulled her slightly too-tight shirt down over her belly, then asked Bucky quietly, "What do you think?"
"I like it," he shrugged. "What do you think?"
"I like it a lot," she smiled. "Price is good too. I know it's only the first house we've looked at, but..."
"I can tell you want it," Bucky grinned slightly. "If you want it, get it."
She gulped a little. Buying a brand new car and renting a brand new house all in one day was quite the leap, and though they both made plenty of money to cover both, her lifetime of living painfully frugally made her incredibly nervous to jump in.
Bucky watched her fidget nervously for a moment, then took matters into his own hands by turning around and telling the real estate guy still waiting in the hallway, "We want it."
Summer contained a sudden inner squeal of glee. They were finally going to have a home of their very own.
When they got back to the tower that night after grabbing dinner out and letting David pick out a new toy to cheer him up, the first person Summer walked up and blurted out the news to was the very first one she saw, which was Natasha.
Setting down an empty wine glass in the kitchen sink, Natasha looked up and blinked at Summer. "What?"
"We just signed a year lease on a house an hour away," Summer repeated, both incredibly excited and yet now also sad now that she knew her days at the tower were numbered. She wasn't sure if it was just the hormones, but when she saw the surprise and clear disappointment on Natasha's face, she was suddenly on the verge of tears.
"Oh," Natasha said, turning off the water and still looking confused as she turned to face her friend. "Wow. Had you been planning on moving, or..."
"I just brought it up to Bucky today," Summer replied, "and there's this house in my brother's neighborhood that I wanted to look at, and we went to look at it and it just kind of... happened?"
"Well... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Natasha smiled a little, leaning against the counter. "This place isn't the best environment for a baby. Very noisy and not always safe, at least not when Stark is testing out his new tech in random places."
Summer smiled back. "Yeah, I mean... I'm gonna miss it a lot and we'll still come over a lot, but... I just think it's time to move on, you know?"
Natasha nodded understandingly, and then Steve came walking up behind her as he asked, "Who's moving on?"
Bucky happened to come and join Summer in the kitchen just a few seconds later, and out in the living room, David was telling Wanda the news with a very unhappy pout on his face. Summer glanced their way before looking at Bucky, then at Steve as she told him, "We're kinda... moving out."
Where Natasha hadn't been particularly happy about the news but was still understanding and not at all truly surprised, Steve's face fell and he looked at both Summer and Bucky with such sad surprise that it made Summer feel genuinely guilty. "What?"
She went through the whole story to Steve, going into a bit more detail than she had with Nat, and by the time she was finished, he didn't look any less distraught than he had when she had first blurted it out.
"Wow," he said quietly. "I guess I should have been expecting this. I'm just so used to how everything's been and you guys always being here. But yeah... I guess you're right, with the baby and all. Tower's not exactly a real home."
Summer nodded. "Yeah. You have to come over though, like a lot. And we'll come here, too."
"Yeah, definitely," Steve nodded. Then he looked at Bucky and smiled and shook his head. "Just... wow. I'll miss the way things are now, but I'm really happy for you both."
Summer smiled brightly, then felt a sudden pang of guilt deep inside for how badly she'd treated the poor guy ever since she had found out she was pregnant. She felt no rage towards her own husband ever, but for whatever odd reason, Steve - Steve, who was basically as close to perfect as it got as far as men were concerned - had ended up being the target of all of her irrational anger. Almost every day he managed to do something to piss her off, and she couldn't help but to let him have it. Now, however, she felt like the lowest of the low, utter scum at the bottom of a gross pond, and to deal with this, she suddenly flew into Steve's arms and gave him a hug as she burst out crying.
"I'm so sorry," she wailed into Steve's shoulder, as he stood there looking at both Natasha and Bucky in sudden confusion. "I've been such a bitch to you, and you haven't deserved it. You've never anything to hurt me ever and I suck. Now I won't get to see you as much and ugh..."
"It's okay," he assured her, still looking at Bucky with eyes that screamed help me, gingerly patting her back. "Really, it's okay."
"No it's not," she sniffed, refusing to let go. "I'm a horrible person."
"No you're not," Steve said. "You're just... you're... you've been... hormonal, that's all." Bucky and Natasha both widened their eyes and gave Steve the universal signal to put a sock in it, but he kept going regardless. "And that's supposed to be normal for a woman in your... you know... condition."
Abruptly, Summer's tears stopped flowing, and she narrowed her eyes and pulled away from Steve. Her guilt gone and replaced swiftly by that familiar prickle of annoyance, she let go of him and repeated, "Hormonal... in my condition?"
Steve's eyes widened and he froze. "I just meant... uh... I meant that it's not your fault."
"What's not my fault?" she demanded.
"The... you know... what you were talking about. When you said you've been being a... a, uh..."
"Steve," Bucky interrupted, "stop digging. Grave's deep enough."
Summer glared at Steve. "If you had any idea what I deal with on a daily basis..."
"No, no," he held up his hands in surrender, "I know. I mean, I don't know, and that's why... oh my God." He cringed and shut up, knowing there was nothing he could say now to save himself.
"If you knew half of what I have to deal with every day," Summer repeated, all the warm and fuzzy feelings replaced by that hormonal stuff Steve had been talking about. "For four months I have thrown up at least twice every single day - every single day, Steve - and I'm not even gonna get into the other stuff, like how I can sleep all day and still be exhausted, or how today was the first day I finally got to have sex for the first time since my fricking honeymoon -"
"Come here, sweetheart," Bucky said gently, taking her by her shoulders and leading her away from Steve before she blew up at him fully. As he passed Steve, Bucky shook his head and muttered, "All this time and you still don't know how to talk to women."
Steve's eyes widened and he hissed under his breath, "Not crazy pregnant ones!"
Summer whipped around in an instant. "What did you just say?!"
Steve paled in terror and Bucky turned her back around, walking her across the kitchen. "Nothing, don't worry about him. But look, I got you something earlier."
"... What?" she asked as he steered her towards a row of cabinets, her rage briefly tempered by curiosity.
"Well, you've been craving cookie dough lately but you can't have it, right?" he said, letting go of her to reach into one of the cabinets. She nodded, groaning a little just at the thought of cookie dough, and then he pulled out a rather large yellow box from the cabinet and presented it to her. "I found these. Chocolate covered cookie dough... things. But it's not real cookie dough. Totally safe."
Her eyes became so wide that she nearly popped a blood vessel or two as she stared first at the box and then at Bucky, who had successfully erased every last bit of her anger with just this very well-timed, very thoughtful, gift. "Holy crap! Are you kidding me?"
He smiled and shook his head as she snatched the box away and examined it like it was something extremely rare and precious. "Nope. Thought you'd like it."
"Like it?" she repeated, ripping the box open and grabbing a few of the little candies and shoving them in her mouth. "I love it! Oh my God, they're good! Like really, really good! Crap, I'm gonna eat this whole box in like five minutes."
"I figured that," Bucky grinned. "Which is why I got these."
He then opened the cabinet to reveal that it was utterly stocked with more boxes of the stuff, which made her squeal as she swallowed the candy and then fling herself happily into his arms. "Oh my God, you are perfect! I love you!"
He chuckled as he hugged her, kissing her cheek as he replied, "I love you too."
She pulled away, still holding the box in one hand as she put the other on his cheek, then leaned in and kissed him under a sudden wave of sheer adoration. Where Steve inexplicably brought out her rage, Bucky seemed to only bring out happy and pleasant feelings, which was very much a good thing as far as she was concerned.
After the first short, sweet kiss, she went in for another, and another after that, and soon she groaned quietly against his lips and muttered, "Can we have sex?"
"Right now?" he asked, eyebrows going up a little as he smiled in amusement.
She nodded. "I need it." Then she popped a few more of the cookie dough pieces into her mouth, chewed them, and said, "Can I eat these while we do it?"
He stared at her for a moment. "I... sure, if you want to, I guess, but we should probably wait until later."
She pouted. "But..."
"You know I want to," he assured her, "but I think David needs you more right now."
She blinked at him in confusion, then turned and looked at David, who hadn't budged once from the spot he'd taken on the couch when they had first come home. He was sitting next to Wanda and looked to be on the verge of crying, and as soon as Summer saw it, her urges for other things went away in a flash.
"Oh," she said quietly, turning back to Bucky. "Okay. I'll talk to him."
"Okay," he replied quietly, kissing her one more time and making her giggle softly. Meanwhile, Steve watched in slight awe, gesturing to them helplessly to Natasha.
"I say one word and she explodes. Then two minutes later, he has her happy and giggling," Steve noted.
"It's okay. You'll catch up one of these days. Maybe," Natasha teased, earning a half-hearted glare from him.
After Bucky left to take a shower or something, she wasn't totally sure, Summer took a breath and headed towards her son in the living room, eating more of the candy along the way. He didn't look up as she approached, and he also didn't even blink when she sat next to him, putting an arm around him and glancing at Wanda who sat on his other side.
"Hey, kiddo," she said gently, as he continued to stare stubbornly at his feet. "I can tell you're not happy."
His frown deepened, but he still refused to look at her. She sighed and settled back against the couch, pulling him to snuggle at her side when she found no resistance. "It's gonna be okay, I promise. You're gonna love the new house, and we'll still come over here all the time. I work here, you know. We've got tons of reasons to come a whole lot."
Her words weren't very comforting, however, and to her surprise, the little boy started crying on her shoulder as he curled up closer to her. She looked at Wanda, who looked just as sympathetic and surprised as she was, and then she was rubbing his back and trying to soothe him as much as she could. She felt awful, however, and pretty soon, she was crying a little bit too. She just couldn't help it, emotions proving as contagious these days as the common cold, and she hadn't thought that David would have taken the news this hard.
She let him cry it out, reminding him periodically that everything would be okay and that this wasn't truly goodbye to the tower. Once he calmed down some, she managed to stop crying herself, and then Wanda's voice drew her attention away from her own guilt.
"When are you leaving?" she asked softly, not looking very happy about the news either.
"I'm not sure," Summer replied as David sniffed sadly against the puddle he'd made on her shirt. "Probably in the next few weeks. I need to start packing tonight."
Wanda nodded. "It won't be the same when you leave."
Summer paused in surprise, smiling a little. "Really?"
Wanda shook her head, glancing at David. "I remember when I first came here. Everyone was suspicious, nobody really trusted me, except maybe for Steve. But you were nice. And you made me food," she smiled. "I will miss you. And your son."
Summer smiled back widely, now about to cry all over again, but for very different reasons. "We will too! But I really mean it, we'll still come here all the time. And you're welcome to come and see us or even stay with us if you ever want to. I'm not just saying that, either. I'd love to have you over as much as you want."
Wanda smiled back and nodded. "Okay. I hope he will be all right," she gestured to David.
"Oh yeah," Summer nodded. "He's a tough little guy. I feel bad, but... it's really the best thing for all of us."
"I'm sure," Wanda agreed, and something popped into Summer's head that she had been meaning to ask the girl.
"Oh, I was wondering... this might be a stupid question but I figured I'd ask anyway. Do you think that maybe, if you tried, that you could kind of... see my baby?"
"See? You mean..."
"Kinda like how you talk to David," Summer nodded.
"Oh. I don't know, but I could try," Wanda shrugged.
"Could you? I mean... if it doesn't work, that's fine, but if it did, it would just be really really amazing, you know?"
"I'll try," Wanda nodded, getting up and then sitting down on Summer's other side. David watched with still-watery eyes as Wanda looked at him first, then carefully reached out and touched Summer's growing belly.
Summer stared at the other woman as she closed her eyes, concentrating and keeping very still for a few moments. She waited on pins and needles as the minutes passed, and when Wanda opened her eyes and looked at her, Summer asked, "Could you see anything?"
"Yes," Wanda smiled, furrowing her brows as if trying to make sense of what she'd just experienced. "It wasn't a lot, but... I've never seen a mind so... innocent and... new."
"Whoa," Summer smiled, and David was also taking notice now. "What was it like? Could you tell if it's a boy or girl?"
"No," Wanda shook her head. "I don't know how to explain it. It just felt... happy. Very peaceful. And safe."
"So it's happy?" Summer asked with a smile that only grew more and more with each new word.
"I think so," Wanda replied, her expression giving away how contagious that innocent happiness was. "I think that maybe as it grows, I might be able to see more."
That made sense, as the baby's mind was growing and developing more with each new week that passed. "Thank you," Summer said softly, giving the woman a grateful smile. "You're amazing."
Wanda smiled back, then glanced behind the couch at something, or someone, that apparently caused her to blush very faintly before she looked away, pretending to focus back on Summer. But Summer only gave her a peculiar look before looking behind the couch herself, and she was unsurprised to find Vision to be the culprit, who smiled and nodded at her before floating off on his way to wherever he was going.
Summer looked at Wanda knowingly but contained her urges to play overly eager matchmaker tell her to just go and make out with him already. Instead, she hugged David a little tighter and offered him her cookie dough candy, which he accepted with a few final sniffles.
Regardless of where she lived, the tower was a part of her life and so were the extraordinary people within it. She couldn't see that ever changing, so surely David would see, in time, that he had nothing to fear.
Later that night in bed, Summer managed to stay up past her usual rather sad 9 o'clock bedtime and get some very important work done on her laptop. She was tapping away, in the "writing zone" as she called it, so focused that she only noticed that Bucky had crawled into bed next to her when she felt his hand creep up her leg beneath the covers.
Pausing in her typing, Summer looked over and grinned at Bucky as he drew closer, sitting next to her and kissing her bare shoulder next to the thin strap of her tank top. "Busy?"
She nodded, letting him steal a kiss on her lips before she replied, "Yep. Just doing a blog thing."
"What blog thing is it tonight?" he asked, not having to feign his curiosity in the least. He glanced at the screen, and Summer promptly pushed his face away playfully.
"I can't type with you watching!" she protested with a smile. He relented, and she explained, "I'm writing an update... thing. Mostly pregnancy centered stuff. Talking about how it was my first good day in forever. How awesome my husband is. And how my sweet little boy might be having a tough time adjusting to change. I'm asking readers if they have experience with these kinds of situations, what they did to help their kids adjust."
Bucky raised his brows and pointed out, "David's already adjusted to more change than probably all your readers combined."
"Probably," she shrugged. "But, it encourages people to comment. And hey, I've got actual readers now! Not a ton, but not bad for only having this thing going a few months."
"And writing about being pregnant is supposed to make people buy your book that's about... two people having sex on a farm?"
"Hey!" she shoved at him playfully, both of them chuckling softly. "First of all, it's totally about more than that, which you know, and second, yes, actually. I've posted a few excerpts and stuff promoting it. If they like me and my writing about other stuff, then chances are they might buy my actual book when it comes out."
"I just still can't believe what you call me on there," Bucky said, his hand still under the covers and trailing mindlessly up and down her leg.
"What? I think it's cute!" she giggled, glancing at the screen. "Mommy blogs always give the husband and kids code names. I thought 'Batman and Robin' were perfect. I mean, you're basically a superhero-slash-vigilante with a secret identity and everything. The readers have no idea how fitting it actually is. And David, he's totally your brave little sidekick. Just without the creepy tights."
"And what's that make you?" Bucky asked curiously, fingers tickling lightly underneath her knee.
She thought for a moment. "Hmm... a younger, female Alfred, since I take care of you guys."
Bucky laughed despite himself, and Summer chuckled with him. "That's ridiculous."
She shrugged and turned back to the computer. "Maybe, but oh well. Now let me finish writing this so I can post it and go to sleep."
"Yes ma'am," he replied obediently, taking his hand off of her and slipping away, grabbing his phone off of the bedside table as she got back to typing.
A few moments later, she was nearly finished when the sound of Bucky cursing softly and jerking every few minutes nabbed her attention. She furrowed her brows and looked over to find him visibly frustrated and jabbing at his phone with his right index finger. "Are you... okay?"
"Stupid damn game," he muttered, still stabbing his finger at the screen.
"What game?" she smiled.
"Tetris," he replied. "Last time I try something Stark suggests."
Summer snickered and then ran a spell check on her post. After that came back fine, she double checked everything one more time before hitting the submit button, and once that was done, she closed the laptop and set it aside, having more pressing things to tend to at the moment.
She snuggled up at her husband's side, laying her head on his shoulder as he continued trying to fit pieces together with increasing difficulty. Watching him, she yawned and then said, "Do the L-shaped one, flip it and put it there."
He tried to do as she said, but the piece moved too fast, and it went to the wrong place. He growled and then angrily exited the game, then tossed the phone back on the table. Summer grinned and patted his cheek as she said, "Aw, don't take it out on the poor phone. It's okay. Old men aren't known for their video game skills."
He half-glared at her and slipped his arm around her, pulling her closer and turning towards her as he grinned, "Oh yeah? You want to talk about skills?"
She shook her head and smiled. "Nope."
He gave her a look but kissed her softly, letting it linger for a moment before he said quietly, "This is the latest you've stayed awake in... months."
"I know," she said, her hand on his chest, playing absently with the fabric of his t-shirt. "I keep thinking I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and feel horrible again, but... I hope not, especially now that we've gotta get started packing and stuff."
He nodded, taking a deep breath just at the mention of moving. "Right. Packing."
She was quiet for a moment, watching her fingertips trace along the collar of his shirt. Then she said in a small, somewhat fearful voice, "Do you think he'll be okay? David? Should we have waited to move, maybe? If the baby and the new house is too much..."
Bucky shook his head. "No. No, he'll be okay."
"But... did you see the way he kinda glared at my belly earlier, when I said we'd have to leave the tower?" she asked, replaying the moment in her head. "I just don't want him to resent the baby and blame it for us moving. I want them to get along and play and have a good relationship, but if he thinks the baby ruined everything, then -"
"Summer," Bucky said quietly, covering her hand with his on top of his chest. "You're getting way ahead of yourself."
"I know, but..."
"Maybe once he sees how nothing's really gonna change, that he'll still see everyone all the time, then he'll calm down," Bucky said, and Summer hoped that was true.
"Yeah... or he'll hate the baby and hate us and think we're trying to replace him or something."
At that outlandish thought, Bucky drew away to give her an incredulous look. "Summer..."
"I'm stupid, I know," she sighed, gesturing uselessly with her hand. "I'm just worried. I can't get that glare out of my head. And the way that he cried on me tonight... ugh."
"He's gonna be fine," Bucky assured her, pulling her in close again and kissing her forehead. "We'll figure it out."
"How are you always so confident?" she asked him, tipping her head back to look at him in a bit of awe. "I mean... how? This is as new for you as it is for me, so..."
He looked at her, fingers carding aimlessly through her hair as he contemplated his answer. Finally, he shrugged lightly and said, "I guess because we've made it through harder things. And he's a tough kid. He gets it from you."
She smiled, and he smiled back before leaning down and placing another light peck on her lips. Her hand went to his jaw to keep him there when he tried to pull away, and a few kisses later, he smiled and admitted after drawing back an inch or two, "I keep expecting you to push me away and say you're gonna puke."
She chuckled and shook her head. "Nope. Not today. I still feel great." Then, winding her leg with his and sliding her fingers to his hair, she suggested with a little grin, "One more time, just in case I wake up feeling all gross again tomorrow?"
His response was a grin that matched hers and his lips on hers, much less chaste and innocent than before, and just that touch made her moan quietly and wind her legs more tightly with his. She really was more sensitive now and even more easily excitable, which was really saying something, and if it was even possible, she also had even less of a filter now.
Within moments she was on top of him and pushing up his shirt, grinding softly but needily down on him already, and it was when a particularly heated kiss of theirs broke that she blurted out mid-gasp, "I had a super horny phase the last time too, in the second trimester."
Having been in the middle of pulling her thin little sleep shorts down from her hips, he looked up at her in slight surprise. "Really?"
She nodded and added, "It was bad, and I was all alone, and it sucked." His hands pulling her lower half down and squeezing her against him, she groaned and muttered, "This is gonna be so much worse, I just know it. Better, I mean, but worse because you're gonna make me even hornier."
"I bet I can keep up," he smirked before carefully turning her over, placing her underneath him as he kissed her deeply once more.
After, she licked her lips and said, "I don't know. I just... went and went and went back then, so..."
His smirk grew even more. "Maybe now you'll finally keep up with me."
She raised her eyebrows at the challenge. "Oh you are so on." They both smiled and laughed very quietly before they kissed again, shedding more clothes and falling into a dance that never got old, especially when nearly five month long periods of celibacy made them appreciate it all the more.
By the time a full two hours had passed, Summer decided that someday, she'd learn to stop being so silly as to doubt a man of his expertise and... vigor. Then she fell asleep in a state of pure bliss, safe, happy and satisfied in the arms of the father of her children, all of her worries put aside, at least for then, for another day.
Two weeks later
If there was one thing David had learned in his young but very eventful life so far, it was when to be suspicious. He had endured being held at gunpoint by evil HYDRA minions, having his first home blown up, then the tower he called home nearly being blown up as well, as well as terrible injuries befalling his mother and forcing her to learn how to walk again. In short, whenever something changed, even if it was good change, he treated it with seasoned skepticism, with the exception of when Bucky had asked for permission to marry his mother, because well, that had just been awesome.
But from where he sat now, which was a small little chair in the office of some doctor lady, or midwife, whatever that was, David eyed his parents and their nervous but happy expressions carefully. It was quite early in the morning, and he just wanted to go home to the tower and go back to sleep, but they had insisted that he needed to be here today. Today they were finding out if the baby was a boy or girl, and they wanted him to share the moment with them.
The problem was, he thought as the midwife came in and cheerfully greeted both of his parents while wheeling in some big contraption with a screen and buttons and other stuff, he just wasn't sure about all of this baby business. Ever since this mysterious, unseen baby had come into things, his mama had been sick and tired all the time and even busier than she had been before, and his daddy spent so much of his time helping her and looking after her that David felt like he was a bit on the sidelines. But that was okay, because they lived at the tower and he had lots of people to see and have fun with.
Except now all their stuff was in boxes and they were moving to some stupid new house in just a couple of days.
David could only imagine that once this baby was out and crying and hungry all the time, like the babies he saw in movies, he'd be all but forgotten about and stuck in some new room with nothing to do but play video games alone while his parents fussed over the new kid. Only now it would suck even more because he wouldn't even have the tower and all the awesome people there.
As the midwife spoke cheerfully to his parents and began getting ready to do whatever it was that she was doing, David sat silently and watched it all with half-disinterest and half-resignation. He wanted to be as happy as they both looked right then, but all he could see as far as what laid ahead was just a bunch of crap.
Everything had been awesome, super awesome, and then along came this mysterious creature and suddenly it was all ruined.
Fully convinced of this, David counted the minutes and waited for this to be over so that he could go home and enjoy the tower for the measly last few days that he'd have it. The midwife lifted his mama's shirt up and squirted some weird, kind of gross stuff on it and then put something in her other hand on it, which was when the monitor started making noise and the image started moving around.
"Watch, sweetie," she said with a smile, and David glanced at her neutrally before obediently staring at the screen. He saw a bunch of nothing so far, and that was fine, because he didn't really want to see anything.
He looked away after a minute, which was when his daddy noticed and put an arm around him, saying, "Keep watching."
David held back a sigh and looked at the screen again, leaning his head tiredly on his father and wondering exactly what he was supposed to see in the images, because he definitely didn't see a baby.
"Okay," the midwife said, "I think I've found the little peanut."
David blinked when his mama gasped quietly and squealed a little bit. This time, he could actually see something, and it really did look like a baby. There was the shape of a head and a little body too, and the outline of a tiny face. The little button nose on the baby's face was unmistakable.
Then the baby moved its hand up and then back down, and David glanced at his mama's belly with suddenly wider eyes. There really was a real baby in there.
...Gross. How did that thing even get there, anyway?
He looked at both parents, finding nothing but joy on both of their faces. His daddy looked especially awed by the pictures, and David couldn't help but feel a little... well, jealous.
He liked having both of them all to himself, and as much as everyone said that being adopted was just the same as having your own baby, David wasn't totally sure. He wasn't convinced that Bucky wouldn't love the new baby a little, or a lot, more than he loved him.
"Ready for the big news?" the midwife asked his mama, and she nodded happily.
"Yeah, but we were wondering if maybe you could tell David first," Summer said, and David looked at her with suddenly big eyes. What? She smiled at him and then explained, "This is your brother or sister. You're gonna be a huge part of its life, and I thought maybe we haven't been including you in stuff enough, so... if you want to, you can find out first."
He blinked a few times, feeling a bit put on the spot and still super confused. Then she added, "You know Uncle Paul? He's my brother, and I don't know where I'd be without him. You're gonna be just as important to this baby."
... He was?
He looked at the midwife, who smiled warmly and gestured for him to get up and stand next to where she was seated next to his mother. He looked around one more time before getting up, walking slowly and unsurely to the weird lady, and once he got there, she shifted the ultrasound wand and then pointed to the screen.
"That's the baby's spine right there, and it's heart. You can really see it working, huh? It's cool stuff," the lady said, and David had to admit, it actually was kind of cool. It was sort of like a moving X-Ray, but with a better overall picture.
"Now, all I have to do is move over here and little bit and take a look..." she trailed off, moving the wand again, and David had no clue what he was looking at now. But that was okay, because soon the midwife was smiling again and leaning down to whisper something conspiratorially to him.
It was only four words, but at it turned out, they were four very important words. "You have a sister."
... A sister?
Dang it.
His one hope had been that the baby would be a boy and thus have some kind of redeeming quality, but instead, it was a girl. That meant the color pink and bows and frills and... oh God... Barbie dolls. The horror!
Carrying the heavy burden of the truth on his little shoulders, David looked up at the screen one more time and then trudged back to his parents. They were both smiling and waiting for the news, looking at him expectantly, so with a deep sigh like he was telling them truly unfortunate news, he signed, "Girl."
And the thing was, between the surprised and happy smile on his daddy's face and the teary laugh that came from his mama, David found it very hard not to start smiling himself. It was awful news, yes, but they were both so happy. And Bucky pulled him in for a little hug almost immediately, which was a pretty sure fire way of cheering him up.
"Oh man, a girl," Summer laughed, squeezing Bucky's hand as a tear rolled down her face. "A girl! What do I even do with a girl?"
"Dress up," the midwife suggested with a smile. "Tea parties. Pink, purple, whatever color she likes."
David made a face. The more he heard, the worse it all sounded.
Summer looked at Bucky, eyes shining and expression just dripping with excitement and happiness. He smiled back, and then Summer said quietly, "Adelaide."
"Adelaide?" he asked in disbelief. "That's the one I liked. You said it didn't feel right."
"That's what I thought, but..." She looked back at the monitor and smiled even wider. "Look at her. She's just... she's Adelaide. You were right."
Bucky smiled and looked at his tiny daughter's image, tilting his head a little and agreeing wholeheartedly. "Yeah. Adelaide."
David wrinkled his nose a little at the name, but he guessed that it was good enough. He was too busy imagining drowning painfully in pink bows and flowers and fairies and unicorns to care too much about much else.
Then Summer grabbed his attention by letting go of Bucky's hand to take his. He looked at her, and she said, "You know, you're gonna be almost the same age my brother was when I was born. You're gonna be so important to her. She's gonna look up to you and just... you're gonna be her bigbrother. You have no idea how huge that is and how much she's gonna need you."
When David blinked at her, not really following, she went on, "My big brother was always there when nobody else was. He protected me and taught me stuff and played with me. He showed me how to ride a bike and he taught me how to drive. And he teased the crap out of me and still does," she chuckled, squeezing his hand. "But I don't know where I'd be without him. And it's gonna be the same for you and... Adelaide. She's gonna need you. And I know you don't feel this way now, but once she's here and you know her and see how much she's gonna love you... you're gonna need her too."
Expression serious and not so dire any longer, David looked at the monitor and wondered if all of that was true. She'd never lied to him before and he trusted her, but... why would this kid need him?"
"I had a little sister," Bucky told him, and David turned to look at him. He smiled a little sadly, glancing at the midwife, and David had a feeling it was because Bucky couldn't talk about things in public the way he could at home. He was used to that. "She was a brat and got on my nerves. Drew on all my things and never left me alone. But I loved her to death. Some of my favorite memories are of her."
David understood the significance of that, knowing the problems he had with remembering things from his old life. Then he looked at his mama again, and she added, "It's all gonna work out, I promise. Things will change, but it'll be a good change."
He eyed her skeptically, but... maybe she was right. He sure hoped so, anyway, since it seemed like this baby was definitely here to stay no matter what.
When the midwife printed pictures of the baby from the ultrasound machine, she handed them to David first. He looked at the very first one as he held the photos carefully, again staring at the baby's button nose and the tiny hand that was reaching up towards its face, and though he didn't want to admit it, there was no denying the fact that the baby was actually pretty cute. A little alien-like, yes, but in a cute way.
Maybe he could teach her important things like how to fight bad guys and train her on his Wii so that they could take on their parents in epic Mario Kart battles and win handily. He supposed that wouldn't be so bad. As long as she kept quiet and didn't scream all night while he was trying to sleep, maybe this wouldn't be the end of the world.
Maybe.
He handed the pictures to Summer, who smiled at him and then looked down at the baby's image with such love in her eyes that David began to actually feel a little guilty for how he had been feeling. The baby didn't mean to come along and ruin everything, of course. And if what his parents said was true and they held up their promises... then everything wouldn't be ruined after all.
"I say we go to Toys r Us," Summer said brightly, smiling at Bucky first, then David. "We can pick out the baby's first toy, and you can help us. Then you can pick out whatever you want for yourself."
David's eyebrows shot up, and he signed, "Whatever I want?"
She nodded. "Whatever you want."
For the first time that day, David smiled and then hopped to his feet, more than ready to start reaping these sudden, unexpected benefits of having a sibling. He looked at his mama's belly, which had popped out a lot in just the last two weeks, and he tentatively decided that maybe he had judged its little inhabitant a bit too harshly at first. Maybe he'd give her a chance. Maybe she wouldn't be completely awful. And maybe life wasn't totally ruined just yet.
He'd make his final decision once the baby was out in the world and hopefully not taking everybody's attention away from him. Later that day, he picked out one of the most expensive Lego sets in the entire toy store, taking advantage of the whole "buy whatever you want" thing, and he also helped pick out a little pink stuffed bunny that was officially Adelaide's first toy. All in all, it was a pretty good day.
Later on, as they walked out of the toy store and headed back towards the new car to head back to the tower, David looked up at Summer and signed a question to her that had been bugging him more and more as the day had gone on. He didn't understand why she suddenly paled a little and started laughing nervously.
"How did I uh... get a baby in me?" she repeated, looking to Bucky for help, but all he did was widen his eyes and shrug with mild panic. "Um... uh... well, you know... when a... man and a woman, um... are married... well, they don't have to be married, but we are, so... yeah. Um... but when they love each other a whole lot and..."
David furrowed his brows in confusion as she rambled on. What did that have to do with anything?
"Uh... they um... sometimes they... make a baby."
... Make a baby? "How?" he signed, which made Summer groan and look at Bucky with wide eyes as she mouthed, "Help!"
"Uh..." Bucky half-stammered, blinking and trying to answer this apparently very difficult question. "Yeah... it's like she said. When two people love each other and... spend... time... together... they uh..."
David squinted. Why was this question so hard to answer?
Bucky swallowed and blurted, "They kiss and... hug? They hug... a lot. And then..."
"And then God puts a baby in the woman's belly," Summer finished hastily.
... Now David was thoroughly confused. Babies came from hugging?! He'd just hugged Wanda the day before!
"Oh, no no, not that kind of hugging," Summer assured him once he had started to panic a little. "It's uh... grown up hugging. Nothing you need to worry about for a long time. Now get in the car, time to go home!"
David eyed her warily but hopped into the car anyway, clutching his box of Legos and wondering why grown ups were so weird. Summer closed the door, and through the window, he saw her look at Bucky with wide eyes and start whisper-yelling at him. Bucky held up his hands and shrugged, whisper-yelling back with a smile, and then Summer groaned and covered her face with her hands. Bucky laughed and put his arms around her, kissing her cheek as he smiled and said something that made her smack his shoulder but start laughing with him anyway.
What a bunch of weirdos. David shrugged and focused on his new Legos, feeling at ease for the first time in weeks. Time would tell how this latest change would go, but for the moment, he felt okay. And that was one thing that hopefully wouldn't change.
A/N: Soooo yay, we're officially back on my usual Monday updating schedule :D I think I should be fine now to stay on track, so hopefully no more two week breaks :) Also this week I'm going to try to get the epilogue for After Class done, so if you're a reader of that, keep an eye out. But anyway, on to the most important thing this week: EEEEEEEE BABY! :D Now, I know that some of you were rooting for a particular gender and even certain names, but I've had this particular baby planned with midnightwings96 for a looooong time lol and we also picked out the name a long time ago too, so there wasn't a lot of room to really do any of that. But I hope you'll all be happy with the gender and the name anyway, and the middle name and why they chose Adelaide will be fully addressed soon also :) In any case, thank you guys so much for your reviews and for reading! One of the anons asked this week when Bucky and Summer's anniversary of being together would be, and after wracking my brain to try to figure it out because keeping timelines straight is my ultimate weakness lol, I came to the conclusion that I honestly have no idea, so we'll just have to stick to wedding anniversaries in the future :p sorry about that, but it's really the best I can do. So hopefully that's not too important of a detail for anyone :p
Thank you all again, and thank you to midnightwings96 for being amazing as always :D I'll see you all next week!