Work Text:
"What are you making Uncle Sam?" E had gotten up from his chalk drawing to see what Sam was creating over a large area of the pavement at the Compound.
"Just setting up a little chalk obstacle course. If you kids want to check it out when I'm done, that would be awesome." Sam smiled at E before glancing over at Darcy. He'd mentioned the idea to her as the kids got going with the chalk and Darcy thought it was a great idea.
"Can I?" E looked from Sam to Darcy and back again when Darcy gave him a nod.
"It looks like fun. If I weren't so big and pregnant on such a warm day I'd try it too." E giggled at what Darcy said and started to follow alongside watching Sam draw out the course. At the moment the kids were largely gathered around Steve, watching their Dad create some fantastic drawings. Darcy was always wowed by Steve's talent. Ellie, Sammy, and Livy were doing their best to copy their father's drawings. Livy at just three was a bit less successful than her older siblings. The other kids were watching, and drawing, but drawing their own things. Except Sarah. She was on the grass playing with her baby sisters and helping Bucky wrangle the triplets as they crawled and waddled about. Darcy was mostly observing from under an umbrella shade set up on the edge of the grass. She was about seven months pregnant so sitting was very nice.
Sarah looked up at what was going on. She didn't say anything, but she clearly looked curious.
AJ was the next to actually get up and begin following Sam as he looped around the available concrete with different colors of chalk making curly lines to follow and bubbles with letters to follow in alphabetical order, places for jumping jacks, places to run from one spot to another, and circles to dance or clap in, among other things that Darcy couldn't quite make out from where she sat.
"You can go check out what's going on if you want, Sweetie. I can handle your sisters." Bucky had clearly noticed Sarah taking an interest in the chalk obstacle course as well.
Sarah seemed to ponder it a moment. "Sure?"
Bucky smiled and chuckled softly. "Sure." He leaned and kissed Sarah's head before she stood up.
"Thanks, Papa." Sarah skipped over as three year old Nicky also got up from his chalk scribbling to see what Sam was making.
As Bucky was playing with two of the triplets, one with each hand, the third, Penny, crawled toward Darcy and started to pull as if to climb up, so Darcy hoisted her daughter into her lap.
"How do you draw so nice, Dada?" Becca had been trying to make her drawing look nice like her father's, but there was only so much a six year old could manage.
"Lots of practice, Baby. I like your picture, it's very nice. You're doing a good job. I can see you've got a rainbow and butterflies." It really was very good for someone so young. Steve knew all his kids had talents and skills that with practice could be very powerful. They'd gotten a heavy dose of super genes from himself and Bucky and by six, it was becoming very clear to see. None of the kids had gotten so much as the sniffles, and they were all walking and talking and doing everything at an accelerated pace.
The sound of baby giggles made nearly everyone glance over and smile as Bucky was pausing then ticking then pausing then ticking two of the triplets. The year and a half year old girls wiggled and giggled, but didn't try to roll away. Little Penny in her lap seemed to look over at her sisters, curious about their laughter. "Music to my ears. Do you want a tickle too?" Darcy tickled at Penny's belly and the baby giggled, but seemed to want to go, so Darcy let her.
Penny waddled straight at Bucky, who scooped her off her feet and laid her between her sisters and managed to tickle all three with two hands.
"Mama! I try?" Little Ruby was standing near the chalk course Sam had drawn out as her older siblings watched Sam demonstrate the course.
Darcy smiled. "You can try, Ru. It looks simple enough."
"You can do it with me, Ruby." Sarah stepped in as soon as Darcy approved Ruby trying it to help her sister. The littler girl smiled and bounced over to her sister. The boys waited and let the girls go first. It took a little longer for them to do than it had for Sam, but even Ruby managed without much struggle. She knew what each spot was for, and even at three was at least familiar enough with the alphabet to follow the letters in the right order. Her jumping jacks were possibly not as precise as Sarah's, but they were still clearly identifiable as jumping jacks.
Everyone cheered when Ruby finished and the girl jumped up and down. Sam leaned to high five her and Sarah before the boys took their turns and the kids who were still gathered around Steve and the drawings started getting up one by one to try the course. Except for Livy, she stayed with her chalk and just watched, climbing into Steve's lap part way through as her siblings started repeating the course. The glances Darcy exchanged with Bucky and Steve and they with each other said everything about how this crazy family made them feel. It was a warmth and completeness that none of them ever expected.