Bucky was looking a little worse-for-wear but he'd put in some effort. His hair was getting long so he'd tied it back in a little bun at the back of his head, and he'd shaved last night, wore freshly cleaned clothes and even took the time to put a little bow in Stephanie's (currently purple) hair. He had her against his hip, her little fist wrapped around the leather cord around his neck. It made the rings dangling from it jingle as he walked but he tried not to think about them too much.
He knew Steve wouldn't want him to be depressed. He'd been through the steps; he'd wanted it all to be a nightmare, he'd been angry, he'd cried until there was nothing left and he'd fallen asleep in his tub. And he wasn't okay now. But he would function. He would do what needed to be done and work as hard as he could at getting better. Because he'd known this would come eventually and Steve had made him promise not to let it consume him. This wasn't how or when either of them had thought it would happen, but he couldn't break the promise.
He walked in to the park and toward the fenced in garden. It was part of their routine now. One of the ways he coped. Every day he woke up, changed Stephanie, they both ate breakfast, then they went to the park. They played, or walked around the paths for a while, and then they picked a flower (or sometimes a weed) and left at the wall for Steve on the way home for lunch. Routine made him get up. Made him keep moving.
He stepped through the gate and set the baby down on the grass. Her birthday was next week. He wasn't sure what to do. She was only one, she wouldn't remember it, and her family wasn't here to celebrate. Maybe it'd just be easier to stay at home and let her make a mess with a cupcake. He'd been distracted thinking and the baby had crawled a few feet away from him, but she paused now, looking back. They both seemed to be dealing with a little bit of separation anxiety and she never liked to go too far away from him.
"I'm here kiddo." he smiled down to her and closed the distance between them before she started to crawl off again. He followed closely behind until she get to the little bookshelf and Stephanie pulled herself to stand, holding on to it. "Story-time then?" he asked and knelt on to the ground next to her, one hand hovering near her back in case she fell backward. He let her grab at a few books until she seemed intent on pulling one out. He helped her get it off the shelf and then sat on the grass nearby. There were a few chairs but she seemed to prefer curling up together in the grass, so he indulged her. She climbed into his lap and settled, her hand back around his necklace, holding on to the rings this time.
"Little Nutbrown Hare, who was going to bed, held on tight to Big Nutbrown Hare's very long ears." he started, letting her poke at the pictures a little. He heard someone else enter the garden but Stephanie hadn't seemed to notice so he just turned the page and kept reading. "He wanted to be sure that Big Nutbrown Hare was listening..."