A/N: Hi all,

This one's a bit shorter than usual, but I didn't want to drag it out.

Also, forgive me for any errors – once again, I banged this one out in a hurry. I have an early start in the morning, but somehow couldn't resist getting this one down.

I hope it's okay. :)

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"You know you can pick him up if you want to…"

Jumping slightly at the sound, he quickly turned to look at Grace in her new position behind the couch. She had been in the kitchen preparing dinner for the baby, and had somehow managed to return to the living room without his notice.

He didn't like to admit it, but it was clear that this baby was consuming him a lot more than he'd thought it would.

"No, that's okay. He seems pretty happy where he is."

She gave him a knowing glance, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "Fine then. If you won't, then I will."

He watched her as she walked to the baby – Aaron, his name was. Aaron. He watched as she stopped next to the play-crib that had become the centre of their living room. And he watched as she plucked the 10 month old from his spot on the floor and took him lovingly into her arms.

Grace was going to make a fantastic mother.

He had seen it from the instant she'd walked back through the door with an infant in her arms.

She wasn't the type to use baby-talk or to fuss over his every sound though. She wasn't… what was the word?

…Clucky.

No, she wasn't like that.

Instead, she just seemed to have this inherent skill at handling babies. Maybe it was something all women had – he wasn't sure.

But it was obvious.

It was there in the way she would talk to the baby, the way she seemed to know exactly what he needed… even in the way she swayed slightly as she carted him around on her hip.

All signs were pointing to one fact: she would make an amazing mother.

"He looks good on you, you know." He said without thinking.

Looking up from the baby, she met his eyes; her wide smile suddenly becoming very shy.

"Thanks." She replied softly.

Silence descended for a few moments, neither of them really knowing what to say.

"You know, he'd look good on you too." She finally said.

"I doubt that" he practically snorted.

"Well, you won't know until you try…" and with that, she made a beeline towards him.

"Grace-" he started as she came to stand in front him.

"Stand up." She ignored him.

"Grace-" he tried again – though, it came out a lot whinier this time.

"Up!" she said sternly, shooting him a stern look that told him it wasn't a request.

Sighing, he slowly rose from the couch; being sure to make it clear that he was not happy about being bullied into the baby-handling business.

"So," she began once he was in a standing position. "It's easy, you just take him under the arms and prop him on your hip. You won't even know he's there."

He looked at her as she began removing the infant from her hip, and instantly took a step back.

"No" he said firmly, shaking his head at her.

"What? Come on, you're being ridiculous. He's not going to hurt you, you know" she replied, taking a step towards him.

He could see she was about to try and hand him the baby again, and he wouldn't have it. He couldn't.

Before he could stop himself, he suddenly blurted out exactly what he'd been thinking –

"I'm not the one you need to worry about!"

Instantly, he winced. His words had come out much louder and much harsher than he had meant them to; and he could see the confusion and hurt in Grace's eyes as she recoiled from him.

It may have only been a few inches, but it felt like miles. Which made everything worse.

He needed to fix this.

"Hey, no." he said gently, closing the gap between them until he was right in front of her. "Grace, I didn't… I'm sorry."

"I don't understand"

Her voice was soft as she spoke – timid, even. It was very un-Grace. He hated it. But even more, he hated that he was the cause.

Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for what was to come. He had never lied to Grace; when he couldn't tell her the truth, he told her nothing. But this, this would be the most honest thing he'd ever said to her. The most vulnerable she had ever seen him.

In short, he was terrified.

"I'm afraid." He said simply, his eyes fixed on the ground – too nervous to look anywhere else. "For the past 70 years, all I've ever done is hurt things. People. I hurt people. And… I just, I couldn't handle it if I hurt him."

Hesitantly, he looked up to meet her eyes and was met only with understanding. No trace of pity or sympathy to be found anywhere – two of the things he had been dreading the most.

Gently, she shook her head at him. "But you won't hurt him. Do you think I would have agreed to babysit him here if I thought for a second he'd be in danger?"

He opened his mouth to say something in response. Only, he had nothing.

Not waiting for him to answer her, she continued.

"Look, I know you've only been living here for, what? 2 weeks. Or almost 2 weeks. But, I know you, James. Maybe I don't know everything that you've done, or everything that you're capable of. But I know what counts. I know that you would never hurt me, and I know that you're not going to hurt this baby – no matter how much he scares you. Okay?

I trust you. Now, you just need to trust me," she finished.

"I do trust you."

"Then hold out your hands…" she said gently, her tone indicating that he didn't have to if he didn't want to.

This was his choice to make.

Looking into her eyes, he saw the trust she had spoken of. It ran deep and was completely unassuming. One could almost call it 'blind'. He didn't deserve such trust, and yet she gave it to him without question.

Suddenly, his mind was made up and he held out his hands the way that she had showed him before and took the baby into his arms.

He looked down at the infant on his hip as the little boy cooed softly to himself from his new position.

"Look at that," Grace said, the teasing tone back in her voice. "3 whole seconds and he didn't explode…"

"Yeah, yeah" he shot back.

Once again, he found himself becoming consumed by the small creature. He couldn't remember how his former self – or rather, how Bucky – had felt about babies. But he, James, was very quickly coming to like them.

Here in this one little human being was complete acceptance. There was no fear, no judgement. Just contentment. He knew nothing of loss, or grief, or guilt. He was pure innocence.

Smiling softly at the baby, he couldn't help the sway that entered his stance. He had no idea what started it – perhaps, he was just subconsciously mirroring what he'd seen Grace do. Either way, it felt right.

"Turns out I was right…" he looked back up to see Grace smiling across at him.

"What?"

"He does look good on you."