Who: Bucky Barnes jbuchananbarnes & Aramis amongthebravest What: Visiting Viv When: Early October Where: Bucky & Sharon's Home Rating: General Audiences Warnings: None. Unless two dudes cooing over a baby girl causes someone to go into a sugar coma and then sorry. Status: Complete Upon Posting
~*~
Babies learned new tricks faster than dogs. Bucky knew from prior experience with his sisters and their children, but watching Viv learn things was totally different. She was his little girl. Every new discovery was almost as exciting for him as if he were learning the same things all over again. He'd spent the last hour on the floor with her on an activity mat playing with all its various parts from the rattles to the flaps which opened to show surprises or sounds ready to be let out with a press on the right spot.
Viv gave her happiest sound when she pulled on the tail of the piggie to hear it make the 'Oink Oink Oink' sound; Bucky thought it might have something to do with the fact he would wiggle his nose and make the sound with it, but he knew he was probably taking a little too much credit there. She was a fast learner. Eager. It made him want to take her out jogging again even though they'd already been out earlier in the day. California had great weather for jogging so he tried to take her every day. She threw her hands up most of the time, excited by the speed.
They both looked up at the same time as the doorbell rang out and Bucky laughed as he scooped Viv up with his good arm, getting up with her easily thanks to weeks worth of practice.
He recognized Aramis as he looked through the keyhole, scooting Viv up on his chest so she'd wrap her arms around his neck to hold tightly to him while he used his hand to unlock the door, nodding Aramis in, "Come on in!"
Bucky liked seeing Viv's other parents taking an interest in her. The worst thing in the world to him were parents who didn't love their children. A child could be abused from a lack of love as easily as from the application of a belt. He knew from experience how much it meant to have parents who cared versus the ones who didn't give a crap if their kids lived or died. His mother had sacrificed for their family. His father had died for his country, protecting the values he believed in to make sure the world was a better place for his family. As far as Bucky was concerned, no child could have too many people who loved them.
"Good to see you. Viv and I have been exploring her barnyard mat. We are particularly fond of the piggie. I was thinking of taking her out for another run since it's such a nice day out, but if you wanted to take her for a while, I'm sure Sharon wouldn't mind."
It went without saying Bucky wouldn't protest if Aramis wanted some alone time with his daughter.
~*~
The most painful thing of all about being across the country was the distance Aramis had felt between him and Viv. It was a hole in his heart that couldn’t be mended, not by any amount of facetiming or telephone calls or pictures sent to his phone. He’d wanted nothing more in his life than to be a father, and while he did his best to do it from out east, it wasn’t the same. Everyone was watching his daughter grow up but him.
So it made sense that he’d go to see her whenever he had the time. Being unemployed and currently alone at home meant he had a lot of time, and Sharon had told him to stop by whenever. Normally, Aramis would have waited for Sharon to be home, but another part of him had somewhat ulterior motives. He’d not really spent much time with the new man in Sharon’s life. Aramis was, of course, beyond happy for her. She deserved to be with someone who knew her worth. Aramis was just protective of the people he loved, and, well, Bucky was around his daughter all the time. Sharon was a good judge of character. Aramis just had to get rid of his own worries.
He’d baked up some cookies and brought them along. Everyone liked cookies, right? Whatever lingering insecurities Aramis might have had went away pretty quickly once that door was opened.
“Hola, cariño,” Aramis said to the little baby. He cooed at her something in Spanish and tickled at her, causing a bubble of laughter to rise out of her. Then he figured he ought to say hello to Bucky, so he looked at the man with a moderately apologetic smile. “Hi. Sorry to just stop by unannounced. I wasn’t really doing much else and thought I’d come say hello.” Aramis wiggled his fingers at Viv. “And I brought gifts.”
~*~
"Presents are always welcome. Vivi can't be spoiled. I've determined she's got too much Sharon in her. Good genes lead to good character."
Bucky had intended to hand over the baby to her biological father at the door, but he stepped back to let the man precede him into the living room area of the apartment. They were on the top floor of their complex. He liked the view and the balcony was safe enough to let Viv go out on her own. Heights had never bothered him. They were reassuring in fact, probably owing to the fact he'd grown up poor in a city determined to stretch its concrete wings as high to the sky as possible.
Some babies fussed when they were put down and there were people in the room. Viv wasn't one of those. She was an independent little thing; Bucky didn't hesitate to put her back on her barnyard playmat while he took a seat on the couch again. Aramis could take his choice of seats. There was plenty of room on the couch, Viv loved having someone sit with her on the floor, and they had an armchair catty-corner the couch in case the man wanted his space. Sometimes it was more comfortable to be seated alone while in someone else's home and an armchair was like being held.
Babies weren't the only ones who wanted to be held. Adults had the same needs.
"Make yourself comfortable. Our home is your home. You're always welcome. No announcements required. Especially when you're bringing cookies."
~*~
The cookies were set on the coffee table and Aramis took his seat on the floor, where could sit near Viv and help her play if she showed him something, but let her do her own thing. She seemed pretty content with that.
“I still feel like I ought to call ahead or something. But thank you.”
Aramis glanced up, looking over the other man. He seemed decent enough. He had a nice demeanor about him and a genuine kindness that Aramis liked. Maybe there was a little something unknown lurking there, but everyone had their secrets. Aramis knew that better than most. “So. Tell me a bit about yourself?” He laughed and shrugged. “I mean, despite it all, we don’t know one another very well, do we?”
~*~
Some guys liked talking about themselves. Bucky Barnes was not one of those guys anymore. He'd grown up well-liked, charming, and had been more than a little successful with the ladies. Serving his country had taken away most of the easy charm he'd grown up with to replace it with a sense of hyper-realism which highlighted the worst aspects of humanity: himself included. It felt a lot more as if Aramis were asking him to do a Meet-the-Parents interview than a Let's-Get-to-Know-Each-Other talk.
Bucky chalked that up to his own insecurities.
"I likely know more about you than you do about me. I'll give you that. Sharon let's me get away with a lot of questions. I've got---trust issues."
How much would he trust a man with his vulnerable daughter once he found out that man had night terrors from war?
There was no way to get any answers to his own questions about Aramis other than to take a chance on him. Sometimes faith was necessary in life. Hope was humanity's best defense against any evil. Bucky couldn't remember where he'd heard that, but he figured it was likely from Steve. His best pal had been born with a double optimism chromosome as far as Bucky could tell. The guy could find the silver lining in any cloud whereas Bucky was the one who always carried an umbrella in expectation of rain.
"Basics: James Buchanan Barnes, 32, never married, Catholic, three sisters, a lot of nieces and nephews, father died in combat, mother who is happily watching her grandkids grow up while living with my oldest sister, and I'm on the permanently disabled list courtesy of the US Army. Officially speaking? I'm a retiree as a Wounded Warrior. I think that covers most of the questions I can imagine you asking. Anything in particular you want to know? I'm an open book. So long as you ask me a question I remember the answer to that is to say."
~*~
“We’re practically kindred spirits.” Well. To an extent. “I’m as devoutly Catholic as I can be, all things considered. You know, in my dreams I even went on to become a bishop. Then a Jesuit leader and, for a brief moment, I think I rather almost became a Cardinal but you know what they say about best laid plans.” Aramis just shrugged, shaking around a rattling giraffe for Viv and tickling at her nose with it. “My father is a priest out in DC, and my mother is more or less a one woman charity organization. She’s recruited a few of my sisters to help along. I have five sisters and two brothers, so I absolutely understand what it means to have a horde of nieces and nephews. Family gatherings are never quiet at the D’Herblay household.”
It wasn’t hard to sense Bucky’s discomfort at talking about himself. Aramis didn’t hold it against him. And he would never hold anything like night terrors against him either, all things considered, between Porthos being a veteran and Aramis having had his share of CIA missions which left him not himself. They all had skeletons in their closets. It wasn’t worth bringing up. So Aramis was certainly more than fine with taking on the brunt of speaking, if needed. Maybe he could prompt Bucky into a touch of openness over time. They were basically family, after all.
“Are you just a recreational runner, or do you marathons and all that? I took up fencing last time I was here. Always wanted to join a football club -” Aramis paused - “sorry, soccer club, but never had the time. Maybe now I’ll look into it.”
~*~
How a man had gone from almost becoming a Cardinal to being married to another man was out of Bucky's depth, but he believed Aramis on every word from the man's mouth. There was a particular tone unique to lies which he could pick up from a thousand yards away. Bucky hadn't grown up surrounded by devious younger sisters without learning a few tricks. He smiled at the fact Aramis had even more siblings than he did. Large families got a lot of attention on reality television these days, but they weren't so unusual for a devoutly Catholic household. Bucky knew he'd have wound up with more siblings if his old man had made it home from the service.
"Your mother sounds like a lot of fun and I'm impressed you've got more siblings than me. Usually I'm the odd man out with the big family. It's nice to know Viv has the Church as an option for her to lean on in the future. I can't imagine a kid growing up without any faith, you know? It's just too much a part of my life. Sounds as if it was even more a part of yours. I'm taking it your family is the open-minded kind of Catholic? I don't know any married priests myself, but I know it's an option for some men of the cloth."
Bucky had been an altar boy growing up. He'd learned his catechism. All the ritual and pomp and circumstance of the Mass had comforted him when reality crashed down on his head to tell him he was going to be the man of the house thanks to his father's passing.
"I think I'm beyond the level of the 'recreational' runner, but I'm not a guy who enters into marathons or anything. I don't need someone else to clock my distance for me. I know how many miles I can manage before I give out. I like long runs. I like the feeling of running, I guess, since it's something that hasn't changed for me. Nothing wrong with my legs, you know? I've never come close to anything as classy as fencing and soccer wasn't a big sport in New York. I can play a mean defensive lineman for American football and I'm great at baseball even now with the bad arm. I hadn't thought about doing a sport or anything as an adult. It just didn't come to me as an option. I think if you want to do it? You absolutely should. I'm pretty sure all of us need all the socialization we can get."
~*~
That got a laugh out of Aramis. “Fencing is a bit fancy, isn’t it? I wanted to learn it on account of the dreams, but it turned out that I had more skills bleed over than I thought. Soccer is my life blood,” he said, with a face full of teasing seriousness. “Porthos puts up with it, but I know it exasperates him. And of course I plan on doing all I can to raise this one to be a proper soccer hooligan.”
He reached over to give Viv’s belly a little tickle, grinning as she laughed. Bucky had no doubt seen the team Barcelona baby onesie Aramis had gotten her once or twice. “Until I find a new job, it will at least give me something to do, playing soccer. I don’t do well sitting around with nothing to do. Too restless. It would lead to disastrous results, I’m sure.”
~*~
"I know that feeling better than I'd like to admit. There's nothing worse than having too much time on your hands. I think it just lends itself to making trouble for people. Viv might be pretty good at soccer. Now, if you try to teach her fencing? Please warn me in advance so I can buy protective gear. She already tries to beat me up with her toys and none of them have sharp, pointy ends."
Bucky was only halfway joking on that point. He wanted Viv to spend as much time with her fathers as possible. The idea of her being taught something he couldn't teach her was great. There were so many more opportunities available to Viv than he'd had himself growing up in New York; Bucky was alternately grateful she was so blessed and ashamed he couldn't offer her more. A few bruises had come up on both himself and Sharon while playing with Viv already though so the last thing he wanted was to imagine her running with a sword.
Wait. Was it called a sword in fencing?
"Is it a sword in fencing? I just realized I don't know if that's the right word. I was thinking of how I could just imagine myself yelling at her not to run with her sword out instead of no running with scissors except I don't know if fencing uses swords. I'm afraid PS321 didn't offer anything close to that in terms of recreational activities."
~*~
“I promise I will absolutely forewarn you,” Aramis said, pressing a hand to his heart. “I suspect it would take some finagling with Sharon to convince her that fencing was an adequate hobby.” His lips quirked up. “It is a sword, yes. There are three kinds, I think. Foils are the most popular but being a musketeer and all, I’m rather finessed with the épee. I’d still pick a pistol any day, that’s my shtick, in our group of three. Porthos hits things, Athos is incredible with a sword, and I shoot. No small feat in the early seventeenth century, let me tell you.”
Actually, Aramis was good at pretty much every discipline, because he made himself be. He didn’t settle for mediocrity. But he realized he was rambling so he offered Bucky an apologetic sort of look. “If it’s any consolation, most beginners use foils and they’re balled at the end to avoid incidental stabbing.” Aramis’s smile turned to a grin.
~*~
"Early seventeenth century? You've actually got me beat. You're even more of an antique than me."
Bucky didn't want to go into detail about that so he chose to change the subject back to Aramis who was more interesting than his own past anyway. There was something fascinating in talking to the man who'd fathered the child he thought of as his own. Viv was loved, so very loved. It wasn't about possession or ownership where she was concerned. All the many people in her life wanted only her happiness. He didn't want to change that or jeopardize her peace in any way; he did want to know Aramis.
It was important to know family.
"I like the idea of learning something where I can't accidentally stab myself or others. Maybe you can teach me sometime or go on a run with me and Viv or just---I'm up for anything. We're family as far as I'm concerned. Family is worth trying new things, stretching, reaching out, whatever it takes? Family is worth it. She's our family," Bucky nodded at Viv, "She's reason enough to try to figure out how to make what we have seem normal because it's her normal and that's all any of us needs to accept."
~*~
“My friend,” Aramis said, and there was a tone to his voice that just seemed wholly reminiscent of what a musketeer must have sounded like, “it would be an honour to teach you how to use a sword. In this place, you never know when an obscure talent might be useful.” His eyebrows raised as his lips curled up into a light amusement. “But until then, I’d love to go for runs.”
Because Bucky was right. They owed it to Viv to all get along, and Aramis was never one to shirk away from his responsibilities. He and Sharon had discussed this all way back when she first got pregnant, and, at the end of the day, Aramis liked Bucky. He kept to himself maybe, but he meant well. More importantly, he loved Sharon and he loved this baby girl, so that alone put him in Aramis’s good books.
They were all figuring this out pretty well, all things considered. Aramis wasn’t concerned.