Bucky sat down next to Steve, he put the cup of coffee in Steve's hand then kissed his cheek. Steve shifted his eyes towards Bucky as he slowly re-emerged out of his trance.

"Sorry, when did you go get coffee?"

"About five minutes ago." Buck chuckled, Steve tried to smile back but he felt too out of it.

"That was so...draining," Steve mumbled, he brought the coffee to his lips and took a long sip. He ignored the near scorching heat. Bucky took his hand and wiggled the cup out of it. He took off the lid and began gently blowing on the coffee.

"Sorry, I probably should have let you sleep more last night. I should have known years of bottling things up would..."

"No no, don't blame yourself one bit." Steve scooched closer to Bucky, he could feel his warmth despite the chill in the air. "I just wasn't prepared...I didn't actually think she could get anything out of me." He looked towards the ground, they had left about forty minutes ago but Steve could still remember every word.

"At least she was nice, she knew you didn't want to share much. That's why she didn't ask you as many questions as me." Bucky put the lid back on the coffee and handed it back to Steve. "The only thing that was weird, is that she gave us homework. I feel like a little kid," He chuckled.

"I can at least understand the homework. We really do need hobbies."

"Can't my hobby be loving my boyfriend?" Bucky put an arm around Steve's waist, he pressed his lips to the sides of Steve's cheek lingering there for an excess amount of time. Steve was close to giggles by the time Bucky decided to bring his lips away.

"Wasn't that one of our problems? Something about we only navigate the world through each other, and how too much of each other can lead to stressors..." Steve looked at Bucky with raised eyebrows, and Bucky looked back a smile on his face.

"It sounds like you just quoted her, did you?" Steve shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, it was much cooler the perfect temperature.

"Maybe, maybe not." He said coyly, he rested his head on Bucky's shoulder and let out a sigh. "The way she explained it I can understand why you got so snappy with me. You wanted to focus on work, and other things and all I wanted was to take up your time. And I wanted to constantly talk to you, I asked you all the questions I had, you always came out with me when I went places, I barely gave you a break." Steve's voice and tone declined as his list went on, the same guilt he felt when the therapist explained it had resurfaced.

"Hey hey now, don't make it sound that I didn't love every second of that time spent with you. I was the asshole okay? I didn't communicate with you enough and upset you constantly, I held it in, I tried to handle it on my own, and took it out on you."

"Don't put all the blame on yourself, Buck, I should have picked up on social cues. I got caught up in...me, and...the lack of work. And...the shield. I ignored what was good for us because I was obsessed with being a hero." Bucky used his metal hand to lift Steve's chin, he pecked his lips and looked into his eyes.

"We both fucked up somehow right? But I always knew I could be an ass, but this is the first time that you've actually admitted that being Captain America, really was becoming an obsession. You know what that's called?"

"What?" Steve asked he felt heat pulsing from his cheeks. He was so close to Bucky that his lips felt like they were being pulled towards him.

"Progress." He reached in front of Steve and snatched his coffee. He moved away from Steve's face and took a long sip. Steve scoffed and reached for it.

"What was that for jerk?" Bucky laughed and held it out of his reach.

"Nothing, I just wanted some of your coffee." Steve narrowed his eyes teasingly and tried to reach the cup.

"Why didn't you get your own then?" Bucky smiled and stood up with the cup, he took one more long sip and handed it back to Steve. Steve snatched the cup out of his hands, holding it closer to himself wearily.

"Don't know what it is, but coffee tastes so much better when you've already drunk from it." Steve stood up and weighed the cup in his hands.

"It's half empty, what sort of whale-sized swallows you take?" Bucky shrugged teasingly and pulled Steve closer to him again. Steve almost pulled away, but Bucky's warmth alone kept him glued to his side.

"Big mouth, big tongue, big swallows," He said simply, he had a smirk on his face.

"Your mouth isn't that big, that's not excused."

"Oh Steven, we both know that's a lie. Especially with the places my tongue reached la-"

"Ugh hush up jerk!" Steve's face was bright red and he was avoiding looking anywhere near Bucky. He heard Bucky's hearty laugh, then felt a kiss press against his neck.

"You love me,"

"Uh huh, sure I do."

"Maybe you're just jealous because your mouth is smaller." Bucky's finger poked Steve's bottom lip. Steve still didn't turn in his direction, he couldn't even see where he was going but he trusted Bucky enough to not walk them off an edge. "Don't be too down, we both know that tiny mouth can hold some big things."

"Oh my gosh I'm taking a long way home!" Steve's face was incredibly hot, he pulled away from Bucky. He stepped over the snow mound on the side of the sidewalk to the other side of the street.

Bucky laughed hysterically from behind him, in a few seconds he was walking next to him again.

"Oh, you're so cute flushed," Bucky smirked, stealing a quick cheek kiss before Steve quickened his pace again.

"You're a sadist or something, or maybe a pervert, maybe both!"

"Look at you using new words, did Tony teach those to you?"

"No, it was Scott actually." He crossed his arms, carefully making sure the coffee didn't spill on his jacket.

"When did you talk to Scott? Did you get to say hi to Cassidy?"

"That day when you went on a run without me, very jerky move by the way."

"Hey, remember what the good doctor said. We have to do things apart occasionally, but also...you just looked too cute with your little charcoals surrounding you. So I couldn't bring myself to wake you up." Bucky leaned up and kissed his cheek again. Steve couldn't help but smile, he wasn't annoyed before but if he was then that would have melted away.

"He did bring Cassy, I drew her a picture that she took home. She was very happy." Steve had a proud smile on his face, there was something about the look on Cassie's face that made his heart swell.

"You made me very happy when you put that portrait of us on the tree." Bucky kissed Steve's cheek again, this time closer to his chin. "It looks so fucking good."

"I was really happy the way it turned out, I was afraid I would be rusty."

"Why would you think that? You draw all the time at the Orphanage, just because you took a little break doesn't mean you'll be bad." He kissed Steve again, now his lips were brushing Steve's neck making him shiver.

"Bucky you're a flirt, and we are not doing anything frisky in public." Bucky moved his lips away and pouted.

"Not even on the snow banks?" Steve wrinkled his nose and shook his head.

"No of course not, I'm not rolling around in dirty snow with you."

"Then I guess we better get home," Bucky was chuckling, clearly teasing but earning an entrancing glare from Steve.

"You're like a little addict you know that? When we get back I am eating, and will probably be focusing on finding a hobby."

"Isn't drawing enough of a hobby? Why don't you try drawing the human form today?" His voice was extremely suggestive but Steve paid him no mind. They had reached their door and took out his keys.

"She wanted us to find new hobbies, so I was thinking maybe paints." He shrugged and unlocked the door. "Don't forget that you have to find one too." He opened the door, the two of them walked in. Bucky closed the door behind them, and Steve hung the key ring on the door.

"Maybe our new kid can be my hobby." Steve felt his whole body stiffen, he continued to look forward.

"What?" Bucky chuckled from behind him, he put a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"You didn't forget, right? You nearly cried, you did all the work and research. Picked out the company yourself, we already have Christmas presents for it!. Nat's bringing it by pretty soon." Steve felt like he was in full panic mode, he hadn't mentally prepared for a child. Thoughts of being a good father and ending up like his father raced through his mind.

"Of course I didn't, I just...forgot what you meant for a moment." He didn't look at Bucky and escaped to the kitchen. He stuck his head in the fridge hoping to end conversation. He prayed that if he puttered around the kitchen enough, Bucky would leave. That way Steve could have enough room to panic.

"Oh, by the way, I guess I lost the bet. You really did manage to not talk about it until the day it arrives." Bucky walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. "You know, we'd save a ton of energy if you knew what you wanted from the fridge before you opened it for 30 minutes." Bucky was teasing but Steve took that as his cue to close the fridge and move on. Steve grabbed the last package of pudding and closed the fridge.

"I forget what's in there," Steve said in his defense, he opened up the cutlery drawer and took out a spoon.

"Hey hey, what do you have there?" Bucky stepped behind Steve and looked over his shoulder as Steve beginning mixing his pudding.

"It's a pudding cup." Steve tried to sound as aloof as possible as he took a spoon full.

"Sorry to inform you but those are my pudding cups."

"I'm the one who buys them so that means I'm entitled to a couple."

"But...they're mine," Bucky said slowly, Steve rolled his eyes and went to the other side of the counter to sit down.

"You're so whiny, and you eat like 5 pounds of this junk a week. I'm protecting you from yourself, you should be happy." Steve took another spoonful, he made it a show to lick the pudding off of the spoon. Bucky looked scandalized and sat at the other side of him.

"With my luck that was the last one," Bucky grumbled as he sat in the seat next to him. Steve bit his lip holding back a mischievous smile. He began humming as he ate his pudding, intentionally looking away from Bucky. "It wasn't the last one right?" Steve continued humming and looking away, he was wiggling to the tune of his made up song. "Stevie..." He said whined, Steve nearly burst out laughing as he finished his last spoonful.

"Don't worry I go shopping in a few days," He laughed out, then stood up turning his back to Bucky.

"Steve! How could you do this to me? You've claimed to love me, then treat me like this!" He said as dramatically as he could. Steve threw out the cup and put his spoon in the sink.

"If you're lucky maybe you can still taste the pudding in my mouth." Bucky looked determined as he walked towards Steve. Steve raised his eyebrow not sure what to expect from Bucky.

"Let's find out." Before Steve could react, Bucky had taken his hand and was trying to kiss him again. Steve laughed and used his free hand to smush Bucky's face out of the way.

"Nope! I get all the wonderful pudding taste to myself."

"Stevie!" Bucky whined, he poked at Steve's hips. Steve stifled a giggle and tried to wiggle away from him. "I'll chase you into the bedroom." He warned with a wolfish smile. Steve smiled and tried to squat and shimmy past him. Bucky caught him by the seat of his pants and pulled.

"Bucky!" Steve laughed, he held one of the back belt loops of his pants. Doing all he could to keep his pants from falling. "Buy your own pudding."

"Well, I don't need pudding, when I've got my Puddin' right here." He turned on the Brooklyn accent thick forcing Steve to stop and listen. Bucky smirked, the smile only taking up half of his face making him look swoon-worthy to Steve. Bucky took the tip of Steve's chin and tilted to the side so that they were looking at each other. He dipped his head, his lips were close to Steve's ear. "Ain't that right darlin'?" He whispered, the huskiness to his voice almost made Steve fall over.

Steve's cheeks were heating up and his lips were being bitten red. Bucky pressed a soft but lingering kiss on the side of Steve's neck. He let go of the seat of Steve's pants and used his flesh hand to guide Steve's face closer to his own.

"Now, let me have a taste." He whispered Steve had already slowly closed his eyes. His body was anticipating a kiss but a part of his brain still wanted to tease Bucky.

The doorbell rang, Steve's eyes fluttered open and he looked towards the door. Bucky blinked and in an instant, he went from ruthless a seducer to an overly excited man.

"It must be here." He smiled wide, he stood up and extended a hand to Steve. Steve blinked once more and took his hand. He was close to freaking out as Bucky pulled him up.

"Our...child?" He was usually better at keeping his emotions under wraps but the thought of having an actual child was enough to send him into a panic attack.

"Hey? What's wrong you don't seem ecstatic." Bucky frowned, the doorbell rang several more times in quick succession. "We're coming!" Bucky yelled over his shoulder, then looked back to Steve concern written on his face.

"I don't think I can do this Buck. I don't think I'll be a good father, I'll mess it up, I'll drink and become just like my father. Or, I'll say something and forever scare our child. I shouldn't have agreed to this, I'm so sorry."

Steve took his hand away from Bucky's and put a hand over his eyes. He didn't want Bucky to see the redness and the moisture in his eyes. He hated letting Bucky, a man who had been through much more than him, see him break down.

"Hey hey," Bucky stepped to him and wrapped his arms tightly around Steve. Steve stifled his cry and closed his eyes letting Bucky's warmth relax him. "The day you become like your father is the day the world comes to an end okay? That's first of all. Second of all, you're psyching yourself out. You've taken care of people before, you'll be able to handle this. You're so amazing, you're warm, you're smiley, you're adorable, you're kind and you smell amazing. You will only improve its life okay?" He cupped Steve's face in his hands. "I should be the one worried, I'm the one who has an asshole-ish tendency."

"N-No you don't." Steve took deep breaths trying to calm himself down. He wiped away any stray tears. He felt like an idiot and could barely meet Bucky's eyes.

"Come on, we're going to walk to the door, open that door, say hi to Nat, and welcome it into our home. Okay?" Bucky pressed a kiss to the top of Steve's head. He let go of his face and put his flesh arm around Steve's shoulder. Steve nodded, he trained his eyes to the ground. Bucky guided them to the front door.

"Let's both take a deep breath," Bucky instructed, he paused for a moment then sucked in a deep breath. Steve copied him, he sucked in air and released it for as long as Bucky did. Bucky reached out and opened the door handle.

A very blonde Natasha stood behind the door. She was wearing surprisingly casual clothing. She only wore brown shorts and a shirt, the only thing off about her was she was holding a large carrier in her right hand. The left one had made itself at home on her hip, her foot was tapping aggressively on their front door step.

"Took you two long enough, what were you doing? Fucking or something?" Steve was too focused on trying to find a child hidden behind her legs to blush.

"Nah, not this time but almost. Steve was panicking because he thought he wouldn't be a good doggy dad." Steve frowned and looked at Bucky, there was a high pitched bark that came from the crate Nat was holding. Steve nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Seriously? Steve, you are literally the most prepared human being in the world. I can already smell the puppy treat recipes that you have stuffed somewhere in Bucky's cookbooks."

"Don't worry they're there. I almost made chicken and spinach puppy biscuits instead of cookies the other day." He chuckled and looked at the crate.

"That's a pretty big crate, I thought you said that we'd most likely get a puppy." Nat set down the crate and got on her knees.

"Oh trust me this girl is definitely a puppy. If she wasn't I'm not sure anyone would be able to train her." Nat assured him, she took out a leash from her back pocket. Steve gasped, everything was beginning to click. The fear tightening in his chest was still there but it was now joined by overwhelming excitement.

"She's in there? She's a she! What does she look like? Is she smart? Oh, I don't care if she's smart or not." Steve began gushing, he had always wanted a dog since he had begun feeding strays back in the 40's.

"Oh don't worry she's a genius, you'll love her Steve. She reminds me of a certain too smart trouble maker. She looked up at Bucky knowingly. Bucky scoffed and waved his hand in dismal.

"Just show us our dog before Steve forces it open." Nat complied, she took off the blanket that was covering the crate. She had to move in front of the crate, she made sure to cover every possible exit way. She slowly unlocked the crate. There was a yelp as she stuck her hands inside.

Steve watched anxiously as Nat struggled to leash her. After another 30 seconds, Nat moved away from the front of the crate. As soon as she did a ball of fur shot out from it. It tried to run off but the leash restrained her. Steve gasped as soon as he saw her, he got to his knees to get a better look at her.

She was a dusty looking black. As far as Steve knew she looked more like a wolf than a dog, her limbs were elongated and she had an extremely wolf-like snout. One of her ears was bent adorably down while the other one was perked up. Her fur was going in every which way, it made her look like the most regal fluff ball Steve had ever laid eyes on. He looked closer and could see an almost silver crest on the front of her chest.

Steve watched in soft awe for almost minutes. Once the pup realized she wasn't going anywhere she stopped. Instead of choosing to conserve her energy. She looked at Nat with slight disdain, she looked at Bucky then looked away. Her eyes landed on Steve, to her Steve seemed the most sympathetic. She whined and sat without any prompting.

"So do you like her?"

"She's so perfect, she's so beautiful and...and everything that I could have asked for! Bucky doesn't she look like old Jack?"

"You mean the dog you gave all your food too? Yeah, she actually really does." Bucky squatted down next to Steve, he put a hand on his shoulder. "I was almost happy when he disappeared I thought you were going to starve."

"I thought you said a family adopted him from the streets?" Steve looked genuinely worried, he could remember the despair he felt when Jack didn't come back.

"Oh yeah, it's been awhile I almost forgot." Bucky gave Steve a comforting smile and pat his back. "So, you did say whatever puppy you brought us would be a reject from the military training dog program thing. What's wrong with her?" Steve felt the need to jump to his new pups rescue and inform Bucky that was nothing wrong with her.

"There really isn't anything wrong with her, the little shit just has an attitude problem. And she's way too smart for her own good, at the base we're speculating that she's probably part wolf." Nat rubbed the top of the pups ears, she didn't growl but shifted uncomfortably. Steve wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her immediately.

"Is it a big behavioral problem? Is she violent?" Bucky asked he looked a bit warily at the dog.

"Violent? No, not violent. She just chooses to disregard orders by certain people, me especially. Then intentionally follows the orders of other people. It's really fucking annoying." She handed the leash over to Steve. Steve took it in his hands, he felt a part of his chest swell. It was like he was blessed with a great responsibility.

"She sounds like a real character," Bucky mumbled, he stood up and tilted his head towards the door. Nat nodded and stood up, she left the blanket and crate down.

"You can keep the crate as long as she fits in it, and the blanket was something she came with." Nat began heading to the door, missing the look of gratitude on Steve's face.

"Thanks a billion Nat," Steve said with as much sincerity as he could.

"Oh! She also likes dialing 911 for dumb reasons. Good luck!" She waved to Steve as Bucky opened the door for her. He gave her a brief smile and waved her goodbye. He closed the door behind her, his hands were already running through his hair.

"So Steve, maybe we should keep the leash on her un-"

"Now you're free," Steve announced as he took off the leash on her collar. "Hello, my name is Steve and that's Bucky." He pointed at Bucky who looked baffled. "We want to be your friends for a really long time. We'll clean you, feed you, keep you warm, and especially loved. Welcome to the family!" Steve said with enough genuine bubbly excitement to put a small child to shame.

The puppy looked uninterested. She stood back up and began walking around the room. Steve followed, he was still on his knees.

"Steve, I just want to tell you that you look like a crazy person."

"Me?" He looked at him at Bucky. "I'm just following our puppy."

"On all hands and knees, that's weird." Bucky followed behind Steve, this moment was too cute for him to see alone. He took out his simple phone and began recording the scene.

"Where do you think she's going?" Steve asked as they followed the puppy into their room.

"Seeing as she probably had a class or two for sniffing out bombs...she's probably looking for snacks," Bucky deduced. The pup stopped at the closet, she looked it up and down. She put a paw on the door and left it there.

"Is that where the puppy treats are?" Steve asked he hadn't noticed Bucky recording yet.

"Yeah, it is," Bucky chuckled, he leaned over Steve and the dog. He opened the closet door revealing their stash of dog items that Bucky had ordered upon Steve's instruction.

"Woah, that's a lot of stuff." He mumbled, he wondered why none of this had been there the time he had been looking through the closet like a mad man.

"Yeah, you had me order a ton. Some of it came later, but it all arrived." The puppy had been inspecting the different drawers, she stood near one of the drawers close to the secret one that Steve avoided.

She wiggled her nose under the handle and pulled backward. The drawer opened up immediately, inside there were t-bone shaped treats.

"Can I give her one?" Steve asked he reached hesitantly for the bag.

"Go ahead, one treat won't hurt her." Steve smiled and grabbed the bag. He ripped it open and took out a treat. He put the bag next to him and crossed his legs.

"Hey, little girl if you come here I'll give you a yummy snack." The puppy seems to ponder it for an eternity. She walked closer to him and stepped into his laps. Steve held the treat in front of her face open palmed. She ate it from his hand, she chewed thoughtfully. When she finished she climbed out of his lap and laid down on her stomach next to Steve's leg. "Why don't you try Buck?"

"Sure why not," He reached into the treat bag and pulled out the same treat. He held it between his fingers and squatted down so that he was closer to their level. "Come here girlie," He made cute clicking noises hoping to attract her attention. The puppy looked generally uninterested and didn't move.

"Think she's not hungry?" Steve offered, he looked down at the pup who had laid her head between her paws.

"Maybe, maybe she's just difficult." Bucky teased, he got closer. He made sure not to breech her personal space, he offered her the treat again this time open handed. She slowly picked her head up and took the treat from Bucky's hand. She brought it between her paws and gnawed on it. "There we go." Bucky smiled and lightly rubbed the top of her head. She didn't move, just continued to gnaw away. Steve smiled warmly at the two of them.

"We should give her a name." Bucky turned off the video recording on his phone and nodded in agreement. Bucky put his phone next to him and thought for awhile.

"How about Jack?"

"Isn't that a guy name?" Steve asked he looked at her. Bucky shrugged and zipped up the bag of treats.

"Subjective, but who cares. It's our dog."

"You're right, I like it. She looks like a Jack doesn't she?" Steve smiled and lightly scratched her behind the ear. She still didn't move, Steve took that as a good sign.

Bucky scooted to the other side of Steve. He kissed his cheek and put a hand on his thigh.

"Do you feel more confident now?" Steve nodded and rested his head on Bucky's shoulders.

"Yes, yes I do. I don't know why I was so scared."

"Maybe we could talk about it?" Bucky offered and pressed a kiss to Steve's forehead.

"Maybe another time, I don't want to dwell on that stuff."

"You don't like to dwell on anything."

"That's not fair." He paused. "I like dwelling on you."

"I know that wasn't sexual but I'll take it as sexual." Bucky kissed behind Steve's ear, making the blonde squirm.

"You're the worst."

"I think your words last night where you're amazing Bucky oh goo-"

"Hush up you, there are children present." Steve put a finger to Bucky's lip. Bucky chuckled and put the finger down.

"Too pure for your own good."

"Too naughty for your own good." Steve countered huffily, only causing Bucky to chuckle more.

"I love you too damn much."

"I love you, and now Jackie. So I couldn't be happier." Steve smiled and pressed a light sweet kiss to Bucky's cheek.

"Being a good boyfriend pays off," Bucky mumbled and drifted his hand farther up Steve's thigh.

"Yeah...maybe later." Steve blushed and looked away, Bucky mentally fist pumped.

"Later is my favorite word." Bucky chuckled, Jack picked up her head to look at them. Steve smiled and looked at Jack and Bucky. He really couldn't ask for more.