Into the War || A Captain America Love Story

62

I laugh, watching Bucky's expression change from horrified to joyful.

"I think he likes you, Buck," I smile.

"Maybe," he says, still looking down at James.

My son just smirks up at him. Good, they like each other. If they didn't, we'd have a real problem on our hands.

I hear the sheets shift, and I glance over to see my wife waking up. She runs her hand through her hair, most likely trying to remember where she is and what happened. I watch her glance down at her stomach and to James, who still is with Bucky. Tears fill her eyes as she watches our son smile and giggle at his long haired uncle, and a smile tugs as the corners of her lips. I stand from my chair and sit on the edge of her bed, instantly greeting her with a kiss.

"How is he?" she asks me.

"I think he's having a blast," I smile, glancing back over at Bucky and Tony. "How are you holding up?"

She nods, taking in a deep breath. "I couldn't be better. I'm going to let everyone hold him now because I won't want to when I'm woken up at three in the morning next week."

I laugh, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. "That's why I'm here, honey. I'm here with you for it all. He's my son too, and I don't want to miss anything in his life. I want to be the kind of dad that he looks up to."

"I think that's already inevitable because you're Captain America," she smiles. She cups my face in her hand. "But you're also an amazing dad. He already loves you, and I don't think that's ever going to change, honey."

"And he loves you too," I say, pecking a kiss on to her cheek.

Bucky has given Tony James because of my son being too wiggly in his arm, making it difficult for him to hold him. Tony makes weird faces at him, causing him to laugh. He glances over at Tori, giving her a smile.

"Would you like him back?" Tony asks her.

She ponders for a moment, finally nodding as she looks up at me. Tony stands up slowly, walking James over towards us. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tori tilt her head towards me, and Tony grins as he hands me James. I roll my eyes at the siblings, taking my son in my arms. I position myself next to Tori so that she can see him. James grabs my finger like he did before, his mouth forming a small 'o' as he yawns.

There is a soft knock at the door, and I expect it to be one of the nurses to come up and check on James. Instead, after Tori calls for them to come in, it is Sam, Natasha, and Rhodey. Sam helps Rhodey in to sit next to Tony in my original seat, and Sam and Natasha rush to see James.

"He's so cute!" Natasha squeals, looking over him like Bucky and Tony did.

Sam just smirks at me. I raise an eyebrow, scared of what he's going to say.

"You made that," Sam states.

I nod. "Yeah, I know. There's evident proof there too."

Sam just continues to give me a smug look, crossing his arms with a sneer. "All right, lemme see the little squirt."

I bring James closer to Natasha and Sam, who both gawk at him. James blinks awake, revealing those blue orbs that he got from me to the two. He holds my finger tighter once he sees the new people.

"Hi, I'm Auntie Nat," Natasha sweetly smiles at him, giving him a little wave. "You look just like your dad."

"Hey, little dude. I'm your Uncle Sam," Sam greets.

"How patriotic," Tori mumbles.

"Says the person who reproduced with Captain America," Tony mutters.

"Says the person who keeps a poster of Captain America in HQ," Tori shoots back.

Tony smacks his lips, not having a better comeback.

James giggles at his uncle, and makes more cute baby sounds afterwards. Natasha looks like she might burst from excitement, having to clasp her hand to her mouth from overflowing. Tony just gives my son a glare and shoots one at my chuckling wife.

"That's my boy," I whisper to James. "Bully your Uncle Tony and not me."

"Don't encourage him, Steve," Tori scowls.

"You told him the same thing a few weeks ago!" I retort.

"He was in the womb then! Like he even understood what he was doing."

"He doesn't know now either!"

"Stop arguing in front of your child," Tony groans.

Sam stops smiling for a moment, his eyes scanning the room. "Why is he here?" he asks, pointing to Bucky, who sits in the corner laughing his head off.

"Take a guess," I state.

"Yeah. I mean, their kid is kind of named after me, you know," Bucky says in between laughs.

"We said if there just do happen to be any more children, Sam is going to be the first one who has a child named after him," Tori confesses. "We did promise him."

"Uh huh, and I expect it," Sam says.

Tori nudges my arm gently, gesturing to James. He sleeps soundly in my arms in the midst of the chaos the Avengers have created. I shake my head at him, listening to him snore softly.

"Let's go show you off to Uncle Rhodey real quick, buddy," I mumble. I carefully get off the side of the bed without waking him up, and I make my way over to Rhodes. He smiles at me, looking down at James.

"He looks a lot like his mother when his eyes are closed," Rhodes remarks. "He's gonna be a good looking kid."

I nod in agreement. He definitely looks like Tori. From his facial features to his hair, he shows some of the most prominent features I see on her. Then when he opens his eyes, I see nothing except myself.

"Cherish these few hours," Rhodey laughs, "because you're going to wish that he was like this when you're at home."

"Yeah," I scoff. "Everyone keeps telling me that. But that means that I can just hand him off to his several aunts and uncles for a couple of hours."

Rhodes laughs, shaking his head at me.

I head back to Tori, switching off. She takes James and holds him close to her. He refuses to leave me at first, not releasing my finger, and getting a good giggle out of everyone, but he eventually let's go once he feels his mother.

"I'm surprised that he's not wailing," Natasha states. "Barton's kids screamed for hours, and one still does."

"Oh believe me, he did," Tori says, still trying to get him into a comfortable position on her chest. "I think he's just so confused he doesn't know what to do, so he is just chill with everything at the moment."

"He is a Rogers, so he's quite oblivious sometimes," Tony sighs, shaking his head.

Tori and I give him cold glares.

"What?" Tony asks. "It's true."

We're cut off by a nurse coming in to check on James, and the poor woman freaks out once she sees the Avengers here. She almost faints when she sees Tony. He gives her a quick autograph after she tends to James, which makes us laugh afterwards, and he seems to be doing all right. We still have to be here another day, but all is doing well.