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The host smiles charmingly at the camera. "Thank you, Josh. Now," her smile widens, "I believe we have the most wonderful news regarding our most beloved Captain, am I right, Stephanie?"
The camera focuses on a petit blonde woman sat beside the host, a comically large smile on her face. "Yes, you are, Kat," she giggles, "So, we all know that Mr Steve Rogers lives a very secluded life," she continues, and Kat adds lowly from her right: "a sweetheart, he is."
"Yes," Stephanie confirms, "and it's been very tough for the press to get ahold of him lately. But now that we've finally found out why, Kat," her grin turns sugary, faking a frown that makes her look like she's about to cry. "America will be very surprised but we have enough reason and evidence to believe that our Captain is soon going to become a dad."
Kat gasps. Stephanie nods, looking like the cat that got the cream. "I believe inumerous hearts must've broken right now all over America, but we all know that Captain America has always been very fond of his friend Bucky Barnes. But apparently, Kat, their relationship goes deeper than we had originally estimated and yesterday the Captain was spotted in Brooklyn, walking alongside his, well," Kat giggles, "his very important friend who was sporting a very telling bump. Would you like to take a look?" The images fills the screen: a tall blond man wearing a cap and sunglasses, busily speaking on his phone with his arm slung around his companion's waist. The couple walked down the sidewalk casually and truth be told, Bucky's belly is visibly bulging his sweater in a very telling place. "Awn, they look absolutely lovely!"
"Jarvis."
The large television turns mute. Tony finishes readjusting his armor's kneecap and spares a look at Bucky, whose forehead is creased as he dabs a cotton ball at the cut on Steve's forehead concernedly. "Don't care about them, sweetheart," Steve mumbles, noticing Bucky's distress. He then winces when Bucky presses the cotton with a bit more force than necessary.
"I don't," Bucky answers.
Tony sighs, "Yeah, don't worry," he says, and Steve sends him a dark look, probably already knowing he isn't going to say anything that will make Bucky feel better. "They like to jump to conclusions. You could just as well be getting fat."
Bucky scowls. "Fuck off, Tony."
Steve sighs. They'd just gotten back from a fight and Steve was looking forward to snuggling a little bit with Bucky without having his boyfriend scolding him for being so careless and getting a shallow cut on his face. The thing with Bucky was that he was having mood swings and his reactions became unpredictable. He had cried when Steve arrived at Stark Tower and then slapped him with his metal arm, which was painful.
Steve hadn't been expecting the press to recognize them yesterday nor take their pictures and even less so to scrutinize Bucky's clothes, speculate and actually get to the right conclusion for once.
Tony smirks at them. "They're doing pools on the internet," he says. Steve gives him a blank look, and Tony rolls his eyes. "89% are sure Bucky is pregnant, 57% believe it's a girl and that Sarah would be a good name."
Bucky snorts, flinging the cotton ball away and turning to the bedroom.
"Bucky, hey!" Steve calls, sliding down the counter and glaring at Tony.
Tony shrugs, completely unapologetic, "Maybe he's gone to throw up."
Steve huffs and shakes his head, striding past him to follow on Bucky's footsteps. He finds his boyfriend at the hallway though, standing with his arms crossed and looking down at the city. His baby bump looks way more evident in the crisp white shirt he's wearing, and Steve's heart soars when seeing it. He still can't believe Bucky is giving him a child, that he's finally going to be a dad. For the past five months Steve's been stuck in this paradox, not knowing if he should feel scared for embracing such a huge responsibility or just over the moon for making a dream he didn't even know he had come true.
"Tony's a jerk," Steve says, still standing there in Captain America's clothes, the cut on his forehead drizzling another drop of blood that slides down his temple. Bucky's pout slides away for a moment when he takes a look at Chris.
"I didn't want them finding out," Bucky says, not one to hold his cards for long when Steve is nearby. "I knew they would someday, don't get me wrong. But I wanted it to be less... unexpected."
"Well," Steve shrugs one shoulder. "It was unexpected for us as well. The baby." It's true. They hadn't planned for Bucky to conceive. "But do you regret it?"
"No," Bucky frowns, turning an affronted face at Steve. "Do you?" he asks, a bit more fearfully.
"Of course not."
Bucky gulps, watching him for a moment before turning his gaze back to the city, uncrossing his arms to support his metal hand on the glass.
"I didn't expect I'd get you back," Steve continues, "but then I did. And I'm glad." He takes one step closer, and though Bucky's shoulders tense for a moment he lets Steve's hand rest on his belly. "What I'm trying to say is that," Steve sighs, "we don't always get what we want, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't accept it," he cups the gentle curve of Bucky's middle, "or maybe even grow to love it."
Bucky's blue eyes shift over Steve's face, and he doesn't say anything for a while but slowly comes to rest his head on Steve's shoulder. "Let's go home, okay?" Steve asks, and Bucky nods. He turns to give Steve a smile. "I liked the name Sarah by the way."