Chapter Text
For Steve tonight couldn’t have been more perfect. It had been Bucky’s idea to walk home from the movie theater. Earlier that night they’d gone out for dinner at a cute little restaurant not far from the movie theater. The weather was warm giving them the perfect excuse to walk where they’d need to go. By the time they’d left the restaurant and had gone to the theater the temperature had stayed about the same. It was nearing the beginning of fall so the two of them wanted to get as much as they could out of the warm days before autumn brought the temperatures down. They strolled down the street hand in hand as they neared the apartment.
“So, was tonight better than working on that project till three am?” Bucky asked.
Steve saw the smirk on his boyfriend’s face. He rolled his eyes. “Yes of course.” He had been a little reluctant to go out tonight due to the fact that he did have a project he should have been working on. But Bucky’ had finally persuaded him to go. Besides, he had plenty of time before he’d need to finish it. He could let himself have one night to spend time with his boyfriend and relax.
They continued to walk back to the apartment in silence until Steve heard the faintest sound. A meow? Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, he frowned.
“What?” Bucky said.
“Did you hear that?” Steve asked.
He shook his head. “Hear what?”
Turning towards the alley, he heard another little meow, followed by a few others. “That,” Steve whispered. Letting go of Bucky’s hand Steve approached the rather dark alley. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he turned the flashlight app on his phone and let the light shine to the end of the short alley. It was empty except for a few trash cans. He moved deeper into the passageway and spotted a small wiggling pile of fur. “Kittens,” he said in a gentle voice, crouching down beside them.
He reached a finger out, stroking impossibly soft fur of the nearest kitten. He counted three; a dark gray one, a lighter gray one with darker stripes, and the smallest one a sandy colored kitten. Their ears weren’t curled like newborns but they weren’t fully uncurled yet.
“These guys are young.” Their eyes were open, but still blue.
Bucky crouched beside him looking down at them. “Where do you think their mom is?” he asked.
“Not sure. Should we check around? Make sure she didn’t get hit by a car or something?” Steve asked. There was no way he could leave this little ones here if he wasn’t certain that their mother was alive. The kittens were too young to have possibly wandered off from home. They seemed wobbly on their feet when they did try to stand.
“I’ll go look around,” Bucky said. “You keep an eye on them.” He pressed a kiss to Steve’s cheek before standing to go check around by the street.
It wasn’t like the kittens were going to disappear they just needed to make sure that nothing would happen to them in the time it would take them to check around. If there were stray cats in the city there were stray dogs too.
Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching he turned around hoping that Bucky hadn’t seen the mother because that would mean the mom was probably dead. He’d love to take home, but if the mother was alive and just out hunting, he couldn’t steal from her. When he caught a glimpse of the grim look on his face Steve frowned and looked down his heart practically breaking.
“We can’t leave them out here,” Bucky said returning to his boyfriend’s side looking down at the little ones. “And the animal shelters are all closed right now,” he added.
Steve offered a smile to Bucky, “Let’s bring them back to the apartment.” They could look up how to care for kittens, besides it would probably only be for the night.
“You don’t even have to ask,” Bucky said, taking off his flannel shirt, which was paired with a nice white t-shirt.
Steve tentatively picked up the first one, the small sandy kitten and placed it on the flannel. It let out a tiny mewl of protest at being separated from it’s siblings. Scooping up the next kitten which was quieter than it’s sibling but seemed happy when it was returned to it’s sibling. Finally grabbing the third kitten placing it on the flannel. It wasn’t as good as a blanket but it was what they had on hand.
“Should we name them?” Bucky asked as they exited the alley looking down at the bundle of kittens in his arms. “We can’t just call them kitten’s one,two, and three.”
“We can figure out names once we get them fed and safely home,” Steve said. He knew they shouldn’t. Naming them would mean they would get attached.
Their pace home quickened and Steve held the door open for Bucky as they entered their apartment. Steve flicked on the lights and went over to the computer. “I’ll look up what to feed them and you keep them warm.”
Upon some quick research it seemed he’d need to run out to the nearest CVS to pick up what was basically the equivalent of baby formula for kittens. They didn’t exactly have a bottle to feed the kittens with and he doubted CVS would have some for kittens specifically so an eyedropper would have to do.
Closing the computer he stood and went over to Bucky who he found stretched out on the couch with the kittens. They were snugly wrapped in a fluffy towel he balanced on his chest. It was cute. That was the only way to describe it, Steve smiled and cleared his throat to let Bucky know he was standing there.
“What did you find out?” Bucky asked.
“Well, I’m going to have to run out and pick up some formula for them,” he explained. “We’ll need to feed them every 3 hours.”
Bucky didn’t even seemed phased by this, “I’ll keep an eye on them and brainstorm names and then when you get back we’ll start feeding them.”
“Make sure they don’t run off,” Steve teased.
“I’ll watch them like a hawk,” Bucky responded with a grin.
Steve walked over to him and leaned down to steal a kiss. “I’ll try to be back as soon as I can.” He was relieved that the local CVS wasn’t too far from home.
The first thing he found in the store were the eyes droppers. That was the easiest to find. Sure, he thought he had at least one at home but they were going to need more than one for the three kittens. For the next item he practically wandered the aisles until he came upon the pet aisle. He scanned the cat foods frowning. He was worried that they might just not have any powdered cat milk replacers. Spotting the canisters, he felt relieved. Grabbing it off the shelf, he hurried to the check out. Steve mumbled a hello to the tired looking cashier as he pulled his wallet out. He tried to patiently wait for her to finish scanning the items. Handing over the money he stuffed his wallet back into his pocket as he thanked her.
***
Stepping into the apartment he found Bucky still in the same position on the couch. “Have you even moved since I left?” he asked as he shut the door, an amused smile on his lips.
“It would have been practically a crime to move and disturb their sleep,” Bucky fired back before laughing. The movement of his chest disturbed one of them from sleep causing it to mewl out declaring its protest with Bucky laughing like that while they were sleeping. “See Steve, now you’ve upset them.”
“I’ll go get the formula ready.” He removed the kitten formula from the bag and found the instructions. First things first was to heat the water. Measuring out the amount he’d need he put it in a measuring cup then stuck it in the microwave to heat up. Once it was warm he measured out how much powder to put in and then began mixing it in. He filled the droppers with formula and carried them out into the living room where Bucky now sat on the couch kittens on his lap.
“I’ll get started on feeding them and while I do that I need you to get a washcloth and wet it with warm water,” Steve instructed, placing the extra eyedroppers on the coffee table before picking up the dark gray kitten. Lightly squeezing the eyedropper on the kitten’s mouth once it tasted the milk it didn’t take much to get the kitten to start to eat. He kept an eye on the little kitten’s stomach. He’d read on a couple different sites that he had to keep watch to make sure that once the kitten’s belly extended some to stop feeding. When it came to that time little kitten’s paws pressed against his hand, it’s tiny nails lightly scraping against his hand. Drops of missed milk trickled off his hand and onto his jeans but he didn’t care.
Looking up from the kitten when Bucky returned with the washcloth. “So what’s the washcloth for?” Bucky asked.
“Well, from what I read at their age, which seems to be about two weeks, they can’t go to the bathroom without assistance and well that means we’re gonna have to massage them till they go,” Steve said .
“I’ll start feeding one of the others,” Bucky said after nodding picking up the sandy kitten. Reaching for an eyedropper he followed Steve’s method.
When Steve finished feeding the first one he rubbed the kittens back alternating from that to lightly tapping till he got the satisfying burp. Looking to Bucky with a wide smile his boyfriend matched that. Once he finished burping the kitten he showed Bucky how they’d need to massage the kittens so they’d go. After kitten number one was done Steve went on to feeding the final kitten.
***
Steve was holding the small sandy kitten in his hands looking down at the little thing. They had finished feeding them for now and Steve had already set a time for when they’d need to feed again.
“I think we should name the one you’re holding Trooper,” Bucky suggested looking over to the small kitten.“It’s so much smaller than its siblings it was good we found them when we did.” It was still going to be a few weeks till they found out whether the kittens were boys or girls.
Steve looked down at the sandy little thing. Trooper really did seem to fit. “I like that,” he said with a grin. “What about those two?” he asked, looking to the bigger kittens in his boyfriend’s arms.
“I’m thinking Captain for this one.” He lifted the pale gray kitten. “It looks like it would be in charge maybe a little bossy, still adorable though.”
“The kitten is barely two weeks old and you’re already calling it bossy,” Steve teased.
“Very funny,” he responded with a dry tone, but a smile on his face. “Now go on you should name the last one,” Bucky said nudging him.
“How about Hope,” he offered.
Bucky grinned at him and nodded, “Hope sounds perfect.” Steve wanted to remind his boyfriend that they’d have to give the three of them to a shelter in the morning. They shouldn’t have named them. But it was too late the three kittens had names and hell Steve had to admit it he was already getting attached.
At this point Bucky looked tired. Once the alarm went off Steve probably would just let Bucky rest and handle the three on his own.
“I’ll go find a shoe box for them to sleep in,” Steve said placing Trooper with its siblings. Standing up he heard Bucky mumbled an okay. He dug through one of their closets and was happy to find a shoe box. He found a small blanket and put it on the bottom. Carrying the box out to the living room, he found Bucky, now asleep and snoring softly while the three kittens slept on his chest.
There was no way he could give them up now. This was too cute.