WHERE:Vallo Forest: Barnes-Ulric Home WHEN:October 29th, 2021 (Backdated) WHAT:Bucky and Nyx wake up to being instant parents. WARNINGS:N/A STATUS:Complete
When Lucy had suggested that they have a sleepover in the living room with both of them and their pets, Bucky hadn't given it a second thought. What his daughter wanted, she got. And in the back of his mind, he knew that he would eventually have to let her go because she would be sent back to the future where she belonged.
Yet, even knowing that, he wasn't prepared to wake up that morning in the pillow fort with a baby nestled in a bassinet between him and Nyx. His disorientation at the situation had been great, but, eventually, his sleepy mind caught up with what was going on and he reached over the slumbering baby to give Nyx a gentle shake. For once, the two of them had slept peacefully through the night and it was probably a good thing considering there was a baby between them. The infant slept on, "Lucy" stitched across her chest on her onesie.
"Nyx," he whispered quietly, but urgently. "Sweetheart, wake up."
It had been hard to not notice the amount of people hinting that all this was about to right itself and so when the living room sleepover had been requested it was an easy give. He'd piled every pillow and blanket onto the floor, popped all the popcorn and went for a snack run and put on whatever movie either Lucy or Bucky wanted with no complaints (even if it seemed he was still on his own when it came to questioning the quality of terrible Christmas movies, especially before November). Mostly he just tried to enjoy what he was assuming was their last night all as a family without getting too sad about the impending separation.
The piles of blankets was surprisingly comfortable though, if the fact he didn't immediately bolt up at being jostled was any indication. But the urgency in his husband's voice after the gentle shake was enough to wake Nyx up entirely, eyes alert as he looked at Bucky. "What's wrong?" he asked immediately, brow furrowed with worry and as he glanced to where Lucy had been sleeping did it all start to click into place.
Sort of at least. Because it was still very hard for his barely awake brain to connect the dots between having had a teenager one moment and a very, very, tiny baby the next. "Uhhh… we didn't have a baby last night, right?" he asked, the confusion evident in his tone, voice still rough with sleep.
“We had a teenager last night,” Bucky said slowly, remembering them vaguely falling asleep while watching the second Mighty Ducks movie. A realization dawned on him, as he recalled the little Buck’s post last night and how Lucy had mentioned what today would be. “And today is supposed to be her birthday,” he breathed, looking down on the sleeping infant between them, who couldn’t be more than a couple of hours old now that he was really looking at her.
Lifting his flesh and blood hand to touch the baby’s hand, Bucky said, “Sweetheart, I think Vallo just gave us a baby.”
On the list of crazy things that had happened since he'd shown up in his first world like this, Nyx was sure crazier existed. Which was maybe a good thing because it was easy to lean into this. To take it at the face value of today was Lucy's birthday and they woke up to a newborn baby, so this baby was - Lucy. And as weird as a thought it was, it felt right.
He reached his own hand to touch Lucy's face gently, the skin impossibly soft. The baby stirred a little and started to make noise, noise that quickly turned to indiciation being upset at something. So Nyx reached in and scooped up Lucy, and it had been ages since the last time he'd been handed a baby in the way children were always passed around and handed off in their tight knit community of Galahd but he remembered to support her head and neck and he lifted her out and held her close, quieting the cries that had started.
It was nothing but pure awe and love as he looked down at the little baby in his arms before he looked at Bucky. "Guessing this wasn't on your spreadsheet," he said lightly.
“The spreadsheet went out the door the second Lucy showed up as a teenager,” Bucky admitted, the hint at how he had been ready to move up their timeline from the moment he had met the girl, obvious to them both. He shuffled over, so that he was at Nyx’s side, looking down at the impossibly small infant in his husband’s arms. This was such a good look for him. The love he felt for both of the people in front of him was ridiculously, but no less true.
Pressing his forehead onto Nyx’s shoulder, he breathed out, “This feels right.” He didn’t even have to ask if they were doing this. It was clear that this was their life now, even half asleep and confronted with a surprise!magical Vallo baby.
"This works with the new timeline of right now I know we were both gonna blurt out," Nyx replied. That soft little smile was still on his face, and he wasn't even sure he was really breathing right then. Terrified that one wrong move might break this perfect little moment. But it wasn't all encompassing, it didn't shut out the sheer joy of the moment either. In a way having it all go this way? It was nice. Weird. But nice. Like Lucy belonged to them in some way that would precede everything else. That if they, a thought he hated but was a reality, got sent somewhere else - she'd come with them.
He let his head fall against his husband's. "Yeah. It does." He said quietly, but he meant it more than just about anything he'd ever said before. They had a family of course. His brother, Bucky's sisters. The grown up kids in James and Torunn and more friends than Nyx could have ever dreamed he'd end up finding. But this was a whole new level.
"She's perfect," he said after a moment of just staring.
There was nothing that could break this perfect moment, Bucky was thinking to himself. But then Lucy started to shift and make little noises again. Without warning, there was a small grunt from her and a stench that could only lend to one thing: “Not it,” Bucky immediately said, laughing a little as Lucy relaxed back into a satisfied curl into Nyx’s arm and chest. Pressing a kiss to Nyx’s cheek, he added, “Let me go get the bathroom ready for her and I’ll find some supplies we can make do with until we can go get some baby stuff.”