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After the babysitting incident a few days ago, Bucky has contacted Natasha out of headspace to apologize for the tantrums and whining- which Natasha said was completely fine and was to be expected, especially with how young Bucky regressed (even more so when he was away from Steve). Bucky, Steve, and Natasha all sat down to eat and discuss things over just 2 nights ago, talking about possible ways to prevent tantrums and outbursts when Bucky is little, and how to get Little Bucky to sleep, all of the things that they really should have discussed the first time Nat watched Bucky while he was little. But they were all learning. Bucky was still nervous about his headspace when he was around other people, he only just recently opened up to Steve while he was little, and he was especially nervous and shy around the other Avengers- even though Natasha has always been a good comfort, even before Steve and Bucky started their age regression "relationship" again.
Steve brought up the idea of Natasha coming over while Bucky was little one day, just to see how he acted and how to care for him- just in case there was ever another time where Steve had to go out while Bucky was little. Natasha was quick to agree, also thinking it was a good idea and a smart thing to do so Bucky can grow more comfortable about being little in front of other people. Bucky was hesitant to agree, but after Steve had given good points and arguments, he agreed. So, tomorrow Natasha is coming to the house at 12pm to spend some time with the couple, and because Steve also said they could use that time to watch movies- something little Bucky loves doing, especially Disney movies.
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*The next day*
It's been a normal morning for the couple. Bucky fell asleep big last night but woke up little, so Steve took care of him just like he always did when Bucky was little: He cuddled with Bucky for a few minutes, got him changed and fed, and let the little play and let out some energy in the backyard for about an hour.
Now, Bucky sat on the floor of the living room playing with his toys while Steve worked on picking the place up the best he could. There were a few dishes in the sink that Steve was working on cleaning, along with some laundry that needed to be folded and some that needed to be washed. A lot going on. Bucky has been quiet, but playful, all day and it's honestly been a blessing. Usually when Bucky is little he will be clingy and just want to be around Steve, not that Steve is complaining- he absolutely loves holding and cuddling Bucky, but some things Steve can't do one handed, that includes activities such as cleaning the house.
"Alright bubba, you need a change? Nat is going to be here soon."
Bucky had honestly forgotten that company was supposed to be coming over soon, way too interested in his toy blocks to remember Natasha was coming over until Steve had mentioned it. The reminder that Bucky still had to get his diaper changed and his clothes changed made him whine slightly, a small pout on his face as he slowly crawled over to where Steve was leaning against one of the chairs, a pleased smile on his face when Bucky didn't fight him over a diaper change. Bucky knew Steve wasn't really asking him if he needed a change, he was just letting Bucky know he would have to be changed some time within 10 minutes.
"I see we're finally getting somewhere with the diapers, hm?" Steve teased slightly, bending down to scoop Bucky into his arms with an exaggerated grunt that made Bucky giggle quietly. As if Bucky's light weight could affect Steve in any way.
The diaper change went smooth for once, Bucky laid there quietly, playing with the end of his oversized t-shirt while Steve changed him into a clean diaper and a new change of clothes: a soft pair of black sweatpants and one of Steve's hoodies that reached to Bucky's mid-thigh. The comforting scent of Steve made Bucky sigh quietly and settle even more as he allowed himself to sink down just a bit more. Over the course of almost 6 months, Bucky has been able to tell when he needs to regress (for the most part) and he can even make himself go down a bit younger if he gets really comfortable and happy. It was truly one of Steve's favorite things to see happen.
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Shortly after Bucky got changed into a clean outfit, there were 2 quick knocks on the front door and a muffled "Here" from the other side of the door. Steve was quick to scoop Bucky into his arms and discard the dirty diaper before making his way over to the front door. Bucky had his head resting on Steve's shoulders as he mindlessly played with the collar of Steve's shirt; it was pretty obvious he was feeling a bit younger than he typically does, but Steve didn't mind.
Bucky smiled shyly when the door opened and Natasha stood in front of him, she held one small plastic bag in her hand and her phone in the other hand, a comforting smile was plastered on her face when she made eye contact with Bucky.
"Hey Nat, come on in," Steve seemed pleased to see her, a bright smile on his face as he moved out of the doorframe and let her walk into the, now clean, house. At least Steve was in a better mood, compared to last time Natasha had to stop by- that was a rough day for everyone.
As soon as Natasha stepped foot into the house and the front door closed, Bucky hid his face in the crook of Steve's neck with a tiny cooing noise. He was embarrassed now that he had accidentally regressed younger than he was used to. Natasha didn't mention the shyness, only smiled in adoration when she saw Bucky hide himself from her. She was used to Bucky's shyness by now, even when they were at the tower Bucky still acted like this.
"He's feeling a bit younger this morning so that's why he's so shy. But, I made some lunch for us if you're hungry." Steve explained, gently bouncing Bucky on his hip as he nodded his head towards the dining room table that had 3 empty plates on the surface. There was a small, but healthy, portion of Mac and Cheese for Bucky sitting on the far edge of the table to cool down, and a few other containers of food that Natasha couldn't quite make out because she was standing so far away.
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"I've been trying to figure out some activities for Bucky to do while he's little, he's usually too young to do much without me supervising, but I was thinking maybe drawing or maybe finding a park," Steve told, taking short breaks in between every few words so he could feed Bucky a spoonful of Mac and cheese, sometimes wiping cheese off the corner of his mouth. Natasha sat right in front of Steve, eating the chicken and rice Steve prepared while also listening to the stories Steve was sharing. Bucky sat on the chair right beside Steve, not really paying much mind to anything and only opening his mouth when Steve held up a spoonful of noodles or rice. He was definitely in a younger headspace, probably the youngest Natasha has ever seen him go.
"There's a park I passed on the way here, only about 10 minutes away. It looked pretty empty but it had a beautiful pond nearby, maybe he would enjoy that. And there's all different sorts of children's coloring books at almost every store in existence." Nat offered, giving the baby a smile when he looked her way, a mischievous smile on his face as he quickly looked down after being caught staring.
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The rest of lunch went by easy. Bucky finished 3/4 of his meal and just leaned against Steve while Steve finished eating, listening to his daddy and Nat talk about whatever was on their minds. He didn't really care, though, his nap time was getting close and he could definitely feel his eyelids droop slightly the longer he sat pressed up against Steve's side.
It only took another 10 minutes for everyone to finish eating, Steve standing to collect all the plates while Nat went around the table to sit next to Bucky for a moment while Steve cleaned everything up.
"Hey, bub, getting sleepy?" Natasha cooed, sinking down in the seat Steve was previously sitting in, reaching her hand out to run gently through Bucky's long hair and smiling when the little let out a soft pur of content. Steve had informed her that Bucky often got grumpy around bedtime and naptime, especially if he was having a rough night or got woken up by a nightmare, but the little didn't seem too grumpy at the moment. Maybe just a bit overtired. Bucky slowly turned his body so he was about halfway in Natasha's lap, his small body fitting right in her hold- even if she was about an inch shorter than Bucky and a bit more petite than him, he still managed to fit perfectly in her hold. Maybe Bucky got a little less shy when he was little and sleepy, because toddler Bucky would never climb into anyone's lap besides Steve's, except for the first time he was little around Natasha (but that was because he was upset and seeking comfort from basically anyone with parental instincts, so it was understandable).
"Like I said before, he's very cuddly when little, especially if he's sleepy," Steve's hushed voice appeared beside Natasha, one hand coming to rest on Nat's shoulder and the other hand resting on the small of Bucky's back. Bucky wasn't paying attention to really anything at the moment, small sighs leaving his mouth as he found warmth in Nat's hold.
"He's adorable, though. Surprised he hasn't fallen asleep yet..." Nat whispered back, looking up at Steve with a slight smirk as he helped her stand from the seat. He offered to take Bucky from her as he knows that, although Bucky is pretty small and doesn't weigh that much, the boy's weight can get tiring after a while, but Natasha refused to put the sleepy babe down.
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The three sat on the couch, Nat leaning back with a lapful of a sleepy Bucky on top of her while she slowly rubbed his back to soothe him to sleep, and Steve sitting right beside her trying to pick a movie out, glancing over every few seconds to check and see how Bucky was reacting to everything going on. The poor thing must be really sleepy, because Steve knows if it was a normal day for Little Bucky, Bucky would've freaked out at the thought of someone besides Steve holding him, but the little doesn't even look like he knows what's happening at the moment.
Bucky had his head resting on Nat's shoulder, where he was still facing Steve and his eyes were still barely open, so he was just sleepily staring at his daddy while he was being slowly rocked to sleep by someone else. Bucky absolutely loved being held and rocked, especially by Steve, but he didn't seem to mind Nat doing it. Even if she didn't have the same comforting smell as his daddy did.
"You can go to sleep, baby, it's alright. Nat's got you, we'll be right here when you wake up." Steve cooed once he realized Bucky was staring at him, a dopey smile on his face as he maneuvered his hand to grasp Steve's free hand. He could feel Natasha chuckle underneath him, which made Bucky blush slightly, but with permission from his daddy to fall asleep, Bucky slowly closed his eyes and felt his body grow still in Nat's arms. Maybe having someone new to help him when he was in headspace wasn't so bad.
"He's starting to warm up to you. I'm actually surprised he let you hold him for so long without freaking out." Steve teased, turning on a random documentary that he knew nobody would pay attention to, but instead kept his eyes glued to his boy and Nat. Bucky looked so peaceful when he slept, the anxiety and tension he still carried even when little disappeared, and he looked at peace for once. He deserved the absolute world and Steve would do anything to make sure he got it.
"Must be my charming personality then," both snorted quietly at that, they both knew Bucky had trouble opening up to people and it was actually a very large step for him to let Nat hold him and rock him to sleep- definitely a goal that should be celebrated, Steve thought. Bucky's hand was still resting in Steve's hand, his smaller fingers gripping onto Steve's index finger tightly, just like a newborn baby would with their grasp reflex.
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While Bucky slept, Nat and Steve spent the time talking and catching up. They talked about the Avengers, and what new missions they were working on, and what Tony was planning on inventing next, they also talked about Bucky and how things were going with him and especially his headspace. It was nice. The last time Nat came over to see the couple it wasn't on the best terms, but things were better now. Bucky was growing more comfortable with her and didn't mind her company; Steve knew he made the right decision to let Nat into this side of their relationship, and he could always use an extra hand when it comes to taking care of and trying to understand Bucky- big or little.
Bucky slept for about 2 hours, only waking up when Steve started whispering sweet things to him and rubbing his back.
"Bucky, baby boy, time to start waking up."
He was no longer laying on Natasha, instead he was now curled up in the familiar arms of his daddy, with his head pressed against Steve's chest. He could hear something whining in the distance, and it took him a few minutes to realize he was the one making the noises, but his head was still too fuzzy to really notice much. He was still feeling quite young and didn't feel like coming up yet.
'Oh, I know, I know, but you're not gonna sleep tonight if you go back to bed now. And we have a movie night planned, doesn't that sound fun?!" It took Bucky a few seconds to realize Steve was trying to distract him by asking questions so he could maneuver Bucky onto his back. Only then did Bucky wake up enough to realize he was not in the living room and was instead laying on the bed, a towel underneath him as Steve worked on getting Bucky changed into a clean diaper.
Bucky nodded slowly, a loud yawn leaving his mouth as he slowly woke up some more. Catching a slight glimpse of Doc on the bed, Bucky reached up to quickly grab the bear from it's previous spot on the bed, bringing the stuffed bear close to his chest while he waited for Steve to finish changing him. The diaper changes were getting easier, it was mainly when Bucky was in an older headspace he really had trouble with the idea of using them. The younger Bucky regressed, the more pliant he was with almost everything.
Once Bucky was changed into a clean diaper, Steve blew some raspberries on the boy's exposed stomach, laughing loudly when Bucky giggled and tried squirming away from the ticklish sensation. Steve knew how to make Bucky laugh, and he knew if he made Bucky laugh after he woke up then it would usually prevent the little from being grumpy.
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*4:37pm*
Bucky woke up about an hour ago and had spent about 45 minutes playing with Steve and Natasha on the living room floor, mumbling random nonsense to the two as he pushed around some of his toy cars- Natasha and Steve would gasp in faux excitement everytime Bucky would look at them and babble random phrases, making it seem like they had a clue what he was saying- but after 45 minutes, Bucky grew bored of his toys and started pointing to the TV, trying to signal he wanted movie night to start. Steve caught on pretty quickly to what he was asking for and agreed to find a movie they could all watch.
In the end, the first movie to kick off their movie night happened to be Toy Story. Steve had seen it just a few years after he joined the Avengers, when Clint found out he hadn't seen any Disney movies, so Steve ended up getting sucked into a Disney/Pixar movie night that night. Natasha had seen it plenty of times, but this would actually be Bucky's first time seeing it. When Bucky was big, he preferred reading, but his usual go-to movie genre was romance or mystery, so it wasn't really a surprise that Bucky hadn't seen it yet.
Bucky ended up absolutely loving the movie. The beginning was slow, especially for someone who was currently in the headspace of an 8 month old, but about halfway through the movie Bucky began to pay more attention. Steve and Natasha weren't really paying attention to the movie, both of them took turns glancing down at Bucky to see how he was enjoying the movie. Bucky was seated right between the two, with his feet resting in Steve's lap and his head resting on Nat's shoulder. Sometimes he would point out random things in the movie, pointing at the screen and whispering something excitedly. Steve just nodded along with a bright smile on his face, it was hard to understand what the little was saying when he was so deep into headspace. Natasha didn't mind, though. She was gently tracing small shapes onto Bucky's flesh arm, smiling when Bucky would giggle at how ticklish it felt.
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After the first movie was finished, Steve ordered pizza for dinner while Natasha worked on picking out another movie for them to watch. Bucky sat beside her, shaking his head when she asked if he wanted a certain movie, or shrugging when she asked him if he had seen a specific movie.
And, of course, the second movie was another Disney movie; Hercules. Bucky has actually seen Hercules before, he just doesn't remember much about it because he fell asleep about halfway through, drooling right on Steve's chest just as the movie got interesting. But he was down to watch it again, and stay awake for the full movie.
Half way through Hercules, the pizza arrived, and while the movie played everyone ate their food. Bucky wasn't too interested in the food, instead he paid close attention to all the colors on the screen, only looking away when Steve brought a bite of pizza up to his mouth every few minutes. It didn't take long before Bucky had finished 2 whole slices of cheese pizza, whining slightly when Steve tried getting him to have one more slice. Steve may or may not have forgotten that Bucky didn't have the same metabolism as him.
Bucky definitely preferred Toy Story over Hercules, but he did end up enjoying Hercules almost as much. Steve knew there was going to many more Disney movie nights in the future- especially with how happy it seemed to make Bucky.
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"Alright boys, I think it's getting close to someone's bedtime." Natasha reminded once the end credits rolled, glancing down at Bucky with a knowing look on her face when the little let out an annoyed whine at being reminded of bedtime.
"I think Nat's right, why don't we clean everything up and we can say bye, yeah?" Bucky was pouting slightly at that, but he did agree. There wasn't much Bucky could do, really, so he watched as Natasha gathered her things and helped Steve clean up some of the paper plates and pizza boxes that sat on the coffee table.
Bucky didn't think he would feel upset that Natasha had to leave until she actually had to leave.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Bucky didn't realize his bottom lip was wobbling until Natasha was kneeling right in front of where he was seated on the couch. She was already packed and ready to leave, but she was still staying back to make sure Bucky was alright. Steve sat down to the left of Bucky's body, gently rubbing his back to comfort the obviously upset little.
"don' go," was all Bucky could mumble out, his flesh hand coming out to reach for her hand to hopefully convince her to stay for a while longer.
'Buck, she can always come back sometime this week, but she has to go to bed, too." Steve tried explaining as gently as he could, he knew sometimes when Bucky was little that the boy's emotions could be all over the place and he would get way too overwhelmed in situations like this. Bucky just stared down at his hands, his lip wobbling more at the mention of Natasha leaving and having to go to bed.
"Your daddy's right, bubba. Even superheroes have to go to bed, they even have bedtimes, too."
That got Bucky's attention pretty quickly. His head of curls popped back up at the mention of superheros having bedtimes just like he did.
"Really? daddy doesn't have a bedtime though..." Steve laughed quietly at that, pressing a small kiss to Bucky's temple as he looked back at Natasha for answers. Natasha had a bright smile on her face as she tried thinking of what to say that would, hopefully, make Bucky understand it was getting close to bedtime.
"Well, your daddy is too busy protecting you from all the bad guys, so he doesn't go to bed as early as all of the other superheroes do. Even though he is super old." Natasha whispered that last part to Bucky, laughing when the little bursted into a giggling fit, the meltdown they had just barely managed to avoid, had passed by now and Bucky was starting to understand that it was actually time to say goodbye.
"I have one little surprise before I go, though. Your daddy told me you like having some special friends to play with, and I saw this little fella all alone and thought he needed someone to play with." The plastic bag Natasha came to the house with was suddenly in Bucky's lap now, his hands just a few inches away from the bag, almost like he was scared to open it and see what was inside.
'It's alright bear, it's all yours. It's nothing that will hurt you, I promise." Steve encouraged, watching with a proud smile as Bucky's eyes drifted from the plastic bag, to Natasha, and to Steve. Steve could tell he was getting anxious, he usually did when he got gifts, he had been through a load of trauma and sometimes gifts confused him for something bad.
Bucky slowly opened the plastic bag, hesitating slightly when he saw a patch of grey fur. The fur was so soft and made him smile at the feeling.
He gasped when he fully opened the bag and pulled out a small stuffed wolf, one eye was black and the other was a darkish blue color, just like Bucky's eyes. The wolf was probably one of the softest things Bucky has ever touched, and it may be a weird thought, but the wolf reminded Bucky of himself- more specifically, the Winter Soldier.
"Thank you," Bucky mumbled as he still stared down at the wolf in his lap. Steve was still rubbing his back and whispering gentle words to him- things he knew always calmed Bucky down when his emotions got too much.
"Of course, sweetheart. I know you guys will be best friends."
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Actually saying goodbye was still hard for Bucky, he almost burst into tears again when he realized Natasha actually had to leave, but Steve was there to pull him back and soothe him. Natasha gave Bucky a long and comforting hug, promising to visit as soon as she had the time to.
Bedtime went easier than Steve anticipated it to. Bucky wasn't too upset about Natasha leaving anymore, he just let Steve bathe him and change him into his jammies, even slipping into basically a newborn headspace (around 3 months) when it was time to have his nighttime bottle.
"I'm so proud of you bubba, you did a good job with Nat today."
Steve whispered, placing a small kiss to the baby's nose, pulling back with a smile as he stared down at Bucky in his arms. Bucky was still working on finishing his nighttime bottle, the bedroom filled with soft suckling noises as Bucky slowly grew sleepy again.
Bucky was too deep in headspace to form any coherent words, so he only nodded slightly as he began drifting off for the night, the bottle coming out of his mouth with a quiet 'pop' as he finally succumbed to exhaustion.
"I love you so much baby, you make me so proud."
Steve and Bucky both fell asleep shortly after that intimate moment, both with a small smile on each of their faces as their breath evened out and sleep took over their bodies.