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It was one of those days, a day where it was unbearably hot. It doesn't help that the A/C goes out and it really doesn't help when a two year old complains every five minutes about it being hot.
"Daddy, hot." Bucky said the hundredth time.
"I know, just hold on a second." Steve made a call to his landlord. Both he and Bucky were down to only wearing their shorts. Bucky was pushing it with his shorts, though. Harley wasn't doing much better either.
"Alright thank you. The A/C guy is working on other buildings, it'll be a while till he gets here. We're going to have a find place to stay to cool off." Bucky groaned and laid out on the floor. Steve sighed, then his phone buzzed.
"If you and the baby aren't busy sweating up a storm, you two are welcome to the pool at the tower." Said Natasha. That was a great idea, swimming would be fun.
"Hey, you wanna go swimming?"
"Harley come?" It would be cruel to leave her by herself while they were out cooling off.
"Yeah of course." Steve sent a quick text to Natasha saying Harley was coming along, she didn't mind.
"Alright pal, let's pack a few things." Steve packed his swim shorts and swim diapers and shorts for Bucky that Tony made for him. He packed a few a snacks then Bucky came in the bedroom holding his Lamby.
"Lamby can't come." Said Steve. Bucky put Lamby on his pillow and sat on the bed.
"Bucky, can you swim?" Bucky looked at him. That worried Steve, the soldier knew how to swim; his old Bucky could swim. He didn't know if his two year old mind could.
"Hopefully you do. Let's go." Steve put Bucky's harness on and Harley's too. They got in the car and drove to the tower.
Once there, Bucky was excited to see the big swimming pool. Steve had to hold him so he wouldn't run in.
"Bucky bear." Said the Widow coming in with Sam and Rumlow. Bucky bounced with excited, his family was together again.
"Papa and momma and uncle swim too?"
"Sure thing kiddo, can you swim?" Asked Sam. Bucky smiled and ran to the pool. Steve grabbed him by the waist and sat him down.
"First of all, we do not run near pools that's dangerous. Second of all, there are stairs right there." Said Steve.
"Yeah, the pool isn't going anywhere, no need to run." Said Nat. Bucky tilted his head, telling a two year old not to run was like telling them to go take a nap willingly. Steve put on Bucky's swim shorts and walked to the pool.
"Is his arm going to be okay?" Asked Sam.
"How do you think he pulled me out of the river?" Said Steve. Bucky really wasn't trying to wait anymore and pulled against Steve.
"Stop." Bucky pulled again and fell in the pool. Steve was frozen for a second then jumped in. Bucky and Steve came up, Bucky had the biggest smile. Steve sat him on the edge and grabbed his chin.
"That is not funny, you could have gotten hurt." Bucky didn't seem to really care and tried to get in. Then Rumlow looked at him.
"Don't do it again." Bucky looked at him then nodded.
"Sowwy."
"Forgiven, now let's try that again." Bucky slowly got in, everyone else got in expect Harley. Rumlow got a ball and threw it in, Harley jumped in. Bucky laughed.
"Wanna throw it?" Said Rumlow. Bucky got the ball and threw it. Apparently, he thought seeing Harley swim was funny. Bucky was a good swimmer and wasn't bothered by his arm. Then he went under.
"Bucky?!" Yelled Rumlow. Bucky came up and laughed. He held up a pool toy, Rumlow looked to the others. They were speechless.
"Stop doing that. You're scaring me."
"I okay, look toy." He held up a pool weight that was a hundred pounds.
"Someone must have left it, put that on the edge." Bucky put the weight on the edge then got himself out. Rumlow was really the only one watching him, everyone else was just talking.
"Papa, I get in?"
"Yeah, I don't know why you got out in the first place." Bucky got in the pool, then he froze.
"Hey you alright?" Bucky started to shake, Rumlow went to him; his eyes were twitching, a seizure. Then Bucky fell foward, Rumlow held him up.
"A little help over here." Said Rumlow. Steve and the others swam towards them. Bucky was still shaking bad, but he could easily go into a tonic clonic.
"Get him on the edge." Commanded Sam. Rumlow jumped out of the water and helped Bucky lay on the edge.
They didn't have enough time to lay him on his side or put anything under him, the seizure got worse fast.
"You're doing good, Buck." Steve suddenly felt sad for not being there when Bucky started seizing. Plus seizures in the water are very dangerous.
The seizure lasted a little over a minute. Bucky was breathing hard and not responding to their voices.
"Bucky, can you hear daddy's voice?" He got a groan as a response. That groan turned into a growl.
"Bucky don't." Said Nat. Harley came and laid on his legs, Bucky sat up and stared at the dog. The growling didn't stop, Bucky looked up at everyone. His eyes looked dead.
"God dammit. Bucky, stop." Said Steve. The metal arm plates shifted. This was bad. Rumlow grabbed his chin and made eye contact.
"Quit it, now." The soldier stopped growling and the plates relaxed. He took a deep breath and tried to shake Rumlow's hand away.
"Are you calm?"
"Swim." He pointed to the pool.
"How about a snack first? You need a few moments to relax." Said Steve. Bucky lifted his arms, Steve put a towel around him and picked him up.
"Spoiled." Said Rumlow.
"Like you don't have a hand in spoiling him." Said Nat. They went to the common area, Steve sat Bucky on the couch and got his goldfish. Bucky got his goldfish and spread himself across everyone on the couch. Steve was at his head, Nat at his shoulders, Rumlow was at his stomach and Sam was at his legs.
"Bucky, did you just turn us into a human couch?" Asked Nat. Bucky giggled, he gave a goldfish to Steve and Nat. He sat up and gave one to Rumlow and Sam.
"Thanks, Buck." Said Steve. Then Bucky gasped.
"What's wrong?" Said Steve. Bucky looked at Steve, then he gasped again. It would stop and start. Bucky started to tear up, whatever was going on didn't feel nice.
"Oh honey, you got hiccups. That's all that is." Said Nat rubbing his shoulder. Bucky gasped again, he really didn't like it. Steve rubbed his back, Bucky gasped again and it hurt his throat.
"Hu-*gasp*-rts." Said Bucky.
"I know, I hate those too. I think I know just the way to get rid of them." Said Nat. She tickled his shoulder, Bucky laughed. Rumlow joined in and tickled his stomach. Bucky tried to get away, he rolled onto the floor and caught his breath. After a minute, he realized the weird thing had stopped.
"All gone." Said Bucky. Everyone smiled at him, now that his little crisis is over, he can finish his snack. Steve looked to Nat and Rumlow, now Bucky would probably think if he had hiccups again the only cure would be tickling.
"We swim again?"
"Yeah, we can go swim again." Said Steve. Bucky bounced with joy the entire way to the pool. Bucky got in the pool properly this time and chased Harley around the pool.
"He's getting stronger, I'm proud of him. And you too, Steve." Said Sam.
"Thanks, he's definitely got Bucky's traits. He's so stubborn at times, I forget he's two."
"You argue with a two year old?" Chuckled Nat.
"Well when he refuses to clean up after himself, eat his vegetables and starts to talk back sometimes I have to say stuff back." Said Steve.
"I wonder how funny that must be considering his vocabulary." Said Rumlow.
"It's hilarious. But I have to keep a serious face with him or he won't take me seriously." Bucky started to swim back to them, he went under a few times but managed to get to Steve.
"Are you being funny?" Said Steve. Bucky hugged him and yawned. He was tired, but he wasn't about to let Steve take him away from the pool. But Steve did notice and carried him out the pool.
"Why?"
"Because you're tired." Bucky tilted his head and made his way back in the pool. Sam laughed and played with Bucky.
"You should be grateful that this is wearing him out anyway." Said Nat. Steve rolled his eyes, then his phone rang.
"Hello?" It was their landlord, the A/C was fixed and their apartment was cooler now. Steve smiled but now he had to get Bucky out of the pool.
"Bucky, we can go home now the A/C is fixed. And it's way past your nap time." Bucky shook his head despite the yawn. Rumlow carried Bucky out of the pool and sat on the chair. Bucky started to cry, he really didn't want to leave.
"Hey, Bucky we can't be in the pool all day. I'm ready to go home." Said Steve.
"No, stay here."
"This is why we don't miss nap time, you become irritable. Okay, how about after you have a nap we make cookies?" Bucky wiped his eyes and nodded. He hated to leave fun places with his family, but he was exhausted. Maybe nap time was actually needed today.
Steve put on his shirt and shorts and brushed his hair properly. Steve dried off Harley, she still smelled like wet dog. Now Harley needed a bath. Bucky waved bye to his family and was brought to the car. He had trouble staying awake the whole ride home.
Once they got home, they could feel a big difference in temperature. It was much better. Steve changed Bucky's clothes and got him ready for his nap.
"Did you have fun today?"
"Yeah, again?"
"Maybe pal. Sleep good." Steve kissed his head. Bucky fell asleep quickly, Steve closed the door behind him and sighed. Maybe they could go swimming again, Bucky really did enjoy his day there. So maybe another day they could.