Chapter Text
„Rise and shine, honey!“, Bucky was woken up by his lover’s lips on his mouth. He grunted and tried to sneak his head under the blanket, but Steve was faster and pulled the blanket away.
“You’re mean”, Bucky pouted while pulling Steve closer to him.
“I wouldn’t have to wake you at 6am, if you just talked to Tony about moving in here”, Steve winked, got out of bed and started to pull Bucky out as well.
“You know that he doesn’t want me here”, Bucky mumbled, trying really hard to hold on to the bed without accidently breaking it.
“No, I don’t know that because the last time he said something slightly negative about you being here was six months ago.”, Steve rolled his eyes.
He was tired of the negative tension between Tony and Bucky. Why couldn’t those two act like adults and not like kindergarteners? He hated seeing his best friend and his boyfriend not getting along. To be fair, Tony didn’t know that Steve and Bucky were dating. Nobody did. Bucky still wasn’t comfortable with everyone else knowing. Keeping their relationship, a secret for six months was challenging for Steve. Of course, when they dated for years back in the 40s, they couldn’t tell many people either but the circumstances were different now. Steve hoped he wouldn’t have to carry this secret around for much longer.
“I’m not having this conversation at 6am.”, Bucky mumbled while searching the floor for his clothes.
***
The past six months, had been an interesting time for the avengers. First, Clint had told them one day after movie night, that he had an adoptive daughter named Lily, who was the reason why he hadn’t been living in the tower with the others. Of course, Tony had insisted that the two of them moved into the tower immediately. Not long after Clint had moved in, he and Tony had started dating, nobody was surprised by that outcome since there had been flirtatious and sexual tension between those two for ages. This had made it even harder for Steve to keep his and Bucky’s relationship quiet, even though Steve was pretty sure that at least Natasha knew. Natasha always knew things like that, she hadn’t said anything to either of them but the way she looked at Steve and Bucky every time Bucky “officially” visited the tower suggested that she knew. Every time when Bucky “officially” visited, he and Steve first hung out with the other avengers and after a while Steve would pretend to bring Bucky downstairs but in reality, they went into Steve’s quarters. It had taken them a few months to find the perfect time the next morning for Bucky to sneak out without being caught or accidently run into someone. At the beginning, they had almost run into Bruce at 8am, who was doing his morning exercises in the common area, a sight both Steve and Bucky would rather like to forget. The reason they were sneaking in and out of the tower like a couple of high schoolers, wasn’t based on logic of any kind but just Bucky’s pure assumption that no one in the tower would accept their relationship if they ever found out. His main reasoning behind this assumption, was the fact that Clint wouldn’t let him meet Lily yet, which Steve assured him had probably nothing to do with the fact that he used to be a brainwashed killing machine for Hydra, probably.
***
“Are you ready for your 6am pancakes?”, Steve asked while walking to the common kitchen area with Bucky hand in hand.
“You know that I would never turn down 6am pancakes, especially when you make them”, Bucky was now somewhat awake and craving some coffee and Steve’s amazing special pancakes.
In the kitchen, Bucky loved to watch Steve cook. Not only was his boyfriend extra hot when he cooked but he also hoped to figure out the special ingredient for Steve’s special pancakes, but every time he tried to recreate them, they didn’t taste the same as Steve’s and he would almost set his kitchen on fire. While Bucky was busy staring at Steve or more accurate his ass, which he affectionately called “America’s ass” and Steve was busy making sure that Bucky didn’t see that he secretly put some cinnamon into his pancakes, the two didn’t notice that little girl had silently entered the kitchen.
“May I have a pancake too, please?”, she suddenly said, making big puppy eyes.
“Fu--------fudge!”, Steve exclaimed almost dropping his pan. Bucky had almost fallen of his chair at the sound of the little girl’s voice.
“Lily! What are you doing out of bed at this hour?”, Steve asked after he recovered from the initial shock.
“Auntie Tasha said that if I got up early and go to the kitchen, I would get a special pancake.”, Lily grinned.
“Of course, Auntie Tasha said that”, Steve sighed, “Sure thing Lily. I’ll make you pancakes too.”
“Yay!”, Lily clapped her hands and sat down next to Bucky, who still was a bit in shock, “Are you Steve’s boyfriend?”, she asked bluntly, sipping from Bucky’s glass of orange juice.
This time, Steve actually dropped the pan on the floor.
“That was a perfectly good pancake you just dropped on the floor”, Lily frowned.
“Did your Auntie Tasha tell you that I’m his boyfriend, Lily?”, Bucky managed to get out.
“Nope”, the ten-year-old said in a sing-song-y voice, continuing to sip Bucky’s orange juice.
“Who told you then?”, now Steve was curious. He could have sworn that Nat had told Lily, but if it wasn’t her who else knew?
“No one”, Lily grinned, still sipping Bucky’s orange juice.
“What do you mean no one?”, Bucky regained his posture.
“Well”, Lily said still sipping the juice, “Auntie Tasha taught me that if you want to question somebody you first have to pretend you already know the answer. If they react like you just did, the thing you pretended to know is true. If not, you should use light to medium torture. Can I have more orange juice, please?”
“Sure kid”, Steve sighed and went over to the cupboard and pulled out a glass for Lily, “This time you can use your own glass, please. Does your dad know about the stuff Nat teaches you?”
Lily grabbed the glass, while Bucky poured her and himself some more juice.
“Nope, he doesn’t”, she smiled at Bucky, “Thank you! You have pretty hair!” She grabbed Bucky’s shoulder length hair and started playing with it.
“Thanks, I guess”, Bucky blushed while Steve couldn’t help himself but grin. Bucky and Lily seemed to have great chemistry and the child didn’t seem to be scared of Bucky’s metal arm at all. Well, she hardly seemed to be afraid of anything, considering that Nat was already teaching her about torture. Steve made a mental note to talk to Clint about the things Natasha was teaching Lily.
“You should come to my next princess party! You look like you’d be a pretty princess!”, Lily exclaimed excitedly.
“Uhm, sure kid”, Bucky smiled, “What is a princess party?”, he whispered in Steve’s direction, who was handing out the pancakes.
“Rumour has it, that her last princess party is the reason Thor cut his hair off”, Steve winked.
“Oh crap”, Bucky mumbled into his pancake.
***
For the rest of the breakfast, Lily didn’t leave Bucky’s side. She was fascinated by everything he told her. Bucky tried to make his stories as child friendly as possible and Steve just sat next to them and listened. Suddenly, an unusually cheerful Natasha entered the room.
“I see you two are still well enough to enjoy your breakfast, so I’m guessing Lily didn’t have to torture you”, the spy grinned.
“Auntie Tasha!”, Lily screamed, jumped out of her chair and through her arms around the spy, “Everything you taught me worked! I didn’t even have to break their pinkies!”
“You taught a ten-year-old how to break pinkies?!”, Steve glanced at Nat, looking slightly alarmed.
“No word to Clint, or I’ll break something bigger than a pinkie”, Nat smirked, “Oh and Steve why don’t you be a dear and make some more pancakes? I’m sure the others will be up soon. And you Barnes! Don’t even think about leaving! Lily seems to like you and if Lily likes you, you stay.”
Bucky quietly sat back down. A few minutes later, Tony, Clint and Bruce joined the pancake party. Clint scanned the room for his daughter, only to find her sitting on Bucky’s lap and braiding his hair.
“Daddy! Tony! I made a new friend! He’s coming to my princess party!”, Lily squealed after spotting her father and Tony.
“What is he still doing here? I thought he left after movie night?”, Tony didn’t seem to pleased with finding Bucky sitting in “his” kitchen. Everyone in the room suddenly went quiet.
“He can come and go whenever he wants, Tony”, Steve had jumped right next to Bucky, being the overprotective boyfriend he was, but still managing to stay calm.
“And why is that? Would you please enlighten me Capsicle?” Clint was trying to hold Tony back and giving him looks of warning.
“I don’t have to justify why my boyfriend of over 80 years is staying with me overnight!”, Steve said calmly, “I’m sorry”, he mouthed to Bucky who just nodded to let him know that it was ok.
“Eighty- what did you just say?”, the shock was written all over Tony’s face, “You gotta be kidding me.”
“We got together in 1939. We never actually broke up when we enlisted in the army. We promised each other we’d find each other again after the war and we did.”, Steve smiled at Bucky.
“But- Peggy? 80- so many questions. And why him? Why tell me now? Why the secrecy?“, Tony looked like he needed a drink or better: two.
“Tony, let it go!”, Clint said sharply, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m sure Steve will tell you everything sometime. For now, if Lily trusts him, I think we should trust him too. Sometimes children can judge people better then us adults could ever do.”
“But- but are just gonna ignore the fact that Steve-“
“Do you want pancakes, Tony?”, Steve interrupted Tony’s rambles, trying to lighten the mood again.
“Of course, I want pancakes. But seriously are we just going to ignore-“
“Let it go, dear”, Clint softly pushed Tony to the nearest chair and kissed him on the cheek.
“But! 80 years! And-“, Tony slowly sat down.
“Here are your pancakes. I put some rum in them, for the shock.”, Steve winked while handing Tony the plate.
“Thanks! He’ll need it!”, Clint laughed while grabbing a pancake and shoving it into Tony’s mouth, “It’s better if you don’t speak for a while, dear.”
Tony tried to mumble something, but nobody was paying any attention to him since everyone was busy swarming Steve and Bucky with questions and requests for more pancakes.
***
“Are you gonna move in with us too? Please say yes!”, Lily excitedly asked, still braiding Bucky’s hair, which currently consisted of ten rather messy braids, Lily had given him over the course of the morning.
“Honestly, I’d like to move in but I’m not sure if Tony would like that too.”, Bucky smiled. The little girl didn’t really understand all the fuss her father’s boyfriend was making about Bucky’s presents or the fact that Steve had kept a secret from him, she liked Bucky and knew that she was going to do everything in her power to make Tony like him too.
“I really think you should move in with me, now. No matter what Tony thinks. He’s going to get over it eventually. We could have a pancake party every morning”, Steve said seductively.
“If you’ll talk to Tony.”, Bucky put his arms around Steve’s waist and started to kiss his neck, “Pretty, please?” he whispered into Steve’s ear.
“Sure, but I don’t think he’s in the mood for reason. He just threw his first hissy fit of the day. He usually needs time to cool off”, Steve replied, “But I think I have a secret weapon to convince him. Right, Lily?”
“Let’s do this!”, Lily squeaked determinedly and jumped off Bucky’s lap.
Steve and Lily walked over to Clint and Tony, Steve staying back a bit. His plan was to let Lily do the talking, since she was probably the only person who could convince Tony to do anything, no matter what. As they neared Tony and Clint’s table, it seemed like Tony still wasn’t ready to let the “betrayal” go and Clint looked like he was going to lose his cool any second.
“If you repeat the same stupid argument for the 100th time, I swear to god, I will---Lily! Hey sweetheart! What’s up?”, Clint immediately switched from annoyed boyfriend to loving father.
“Daddy? Are you and Tony fighting?”, the ten-year-old seemed to be upset about the little bit of the argument she had heard. Steve wasn’t sure if she was just acting or if his plan to let her do all the work had just disintegrated because Lily would need comforting first. Never work with children, he thought to himself.
“No sweetie! Tony is just being very stubborn. He doesn’t like Bucky very much, you see-“, Clint was trying to calm his daughter while glaring at Tony to let him know what he had done.
“But Bucky is my friend!”, Lily interrupted and jumped on Tony’s lap, “He has to live with us! And you’ll see that he is just the best!”
So, it had been part of her plan along, clever girl.
Lily looked at Tony with the big puppy eyes she had perfected, a look that would even melt the heart of the ice queen if necessary, so how could Tony say no to these eyes?
“Lily, sweetheart-“, Tony started, trying to find a way out of the cuteness trap Lily had set for him.
The puppy eyes intensified. After holding them for almost five minutes Tony’s face softened.
“Okay, fine you win!”, Tony finally gave in, “But I’m not coming to your princess party if he’ll be there.”
“Oh, you’ll be there, I know it”, the child grinned and jumped away while giving Steve and Bucky two thumbs up, leaving a baffled Tony Stark behind.
***
A few days later, Bucky had everything in Steve’s old flat packed up and already in the U-Haul. He and Steve stood in the now empty flat arm in arm, saying goodbye, when the elderly Mrs Thomas knocked on the half open door. She wanted to come over one last time to wish Steve and Bucky goodbye. After many hugs and tears, mainly tears from Mrs Thomas, the two men were finally ready to say their final goodbye to the flat and drive back to the Stark Tower.
At the tower everyone, including Tony, had come out to welcome Bucky. Tony was still keeping a bit of a distance but he at least got over his hissy fit just like Steve had said. But he at least managed a civilized “Welcome” followed by a “Just because you live here now, doesn’t make you an avenger” because if Tony Stark wouldn’t make an unnecessary sassy comment, he wouldn’t be Tony Stark.
Lily was the most excited that “Uncle Bucky” was going to be around all the time from now on. She had already made plans of which games he had to play with her almost every day. Clint had privately asked Steve if he would mind keeping an eye on Lily and Bucky when they were hanging, so that Tony wouldn’t annoy him with his worry about the little girl all the time. Steve gladly said yes since he loved the little girl just like everyone else in the tower. Seeing her and Bucky play, made him fantasize about a possible future in which he and Bucky had kids of their own.