Bucky was a stress baker and a perfectionist. They'd learned this when Steve had been on a two month mission and he'd returned to mountains of sweets, different casserole dishes, and other such things.
Bucky wasn't stress baking but preparing for the up coming avengers Christmas dinner. There had been a lot of 'mistake' batches apparently, though Steve thought they tasted fine.
Steve watches Bucky bake, munching on a scrapped batch of gingerbread cookies. Bucky scowls and drops another pan of cookies down on the stove.
"They're burnt," he scowls and Steve looks at him.
"Come here baby," Steve holds out his arms and after closing the oven Bucky comes over and sits on his lap. Steve wraps his arms around him and Bucky buries his face in the blondes neck. "It's okay if they're not perfect," he assures, rubbing his back. "They taste amazing if that's what you're worried about."
"Thank you," Bucky mumbles, nodding against his shoulder. Steve smiles and hugs him. Bucky smiles at him knowingly before wandering away. He continues to bake for the next two weeks.
Steve sighs and digs through his closet looking for a pair of jeans, he planned on going to visit Peggy and he didn't plan on wearing jogging pants or pajama bottoms like he had been recently. He manages to get into his jeans after several minutes of struggling. He frowns and puts on a shirt.
"I love you baby," he calls, getting ready to go. Bucky gives him a hug and kiss them watches him leave smiling.
Bucky had moved onto the cooking part of the process now and was working on dinners. He had a big meal ready when Steve got home. Bucky ate a lot less then Steve but he usually did. He was lean but constantly seemed to teeter between being underweight as well. Steve leans back and rests a hand on his stomach feeling overly full.
"That was really good," he compliments and Bucky shakes his head.
"It was too salty."
"You don't give yourself enough credit babe," Steve sighs, giving him a hug. Bucky shrugs in response. Steve went to put on his jeans so he could go to the store only to find they wouldn't button up. He takes them off and tries on a different pair, thinking they had shrunk in the dryer. The next pair are even worse and he can barely pull them all the way up. He gives up and wears a pair of jogging pants thinking Tony was pranking him.
He gets the ingredients Bucky wanted then heads home again.
"Hey, who's been doing laundry this week?" He asks, kissing Bucky's cheek gently and passing him the groceries.
"Clint, why?" Bucky asks, putting the ingredients he needed on the counter then putting the rest away.
"I think Tony replaced my pants with a couple sizes smaller," he explains and Bucky goes silent.
"I think that it could be my fault," he offers, looking at him sheepishly.
"What do you mean?" Steve frowns.
"Well uhm... I've been making a lot of food and well.... You've been eating most of it," he explains, a blush creeping across his cheeks.
"What do you mean?" Steve asks.
"You're pants aren't shrinking."
"Oh."
"Yeah," they're both really quiet for a while.
"You don't mind?" Steve asks nervously.
Bucky shakes his head. "You seem happy and if you're happy then I'm happy."
"I'm so lucky to have met someone as amazing as you," he smiles, wrapping his arms around the smaller brunette.
Bucky smiles. "Besides, you don't care about this," he gestures to his shoulder where his left arm ended.
"Alright," Steve nods and kisses him gently.
Over the next few weeks his stomach continues to inch forward and by New Years his stomach has crept forward enough that it rests on his lap when he's seated.
Steve holds Bucky close, worried by the way the brunette's bones stuck out so prominently. Bucky shifts slightly in his sleep before going still again. Steve keeps his arms wrapped around him, protecting him.
Steve watches Bucky bake quietly, munching on left over sugar cookies. February was drawing closer and they still had tons of food left over. Steve had talked to Fury and been given permission to no longer go on missions until Bucky's weight came back up. It had been dropping dramatically recently, several high up professionals were trying to figure out what was going on. Bucky's hand shook as he frosted a batch of old gingerbread men. Steve goes over and hugs him; Bucky leans into him, closing his eyes.
"I love you," Bucky whispers, hanging onto him.
"I love you too," Steve replies into his hair.
The doctors eventually decide to put Bucky on a special type of medication and it helps. His weight slowly comes up to his average and by late spring its evened out. He was still lean but at least he wasn't as bad as he had been.
By summer Steve's stomach covers the majority of his lap and he was happy. Bucky comes running over and Tony throws a bucket of water onto him. Bucky squeals and shoves Tony into the pool. He stands there pouting, looking like a drowned rat. His soaked tee shirt clings to his barely visible rib cage and his upper body. He gets this evil grin suddenly and before Steve can do anything he starts to shake off like a dog. Steve covers his face as the brunette sprays him. He smiles at him happily before taking off. Steve scowls playfully and gets up before lumbering after him. Bucky squeaks and jumps into the pool. Steve jumps in too and the splash soaks Tony who was sitting on the edge drying off after being pushed in by Bucky.
"You both suck!" He shouts. Steve laughs and chases Bucky around the pool for a while before joining Tony on the edge. Bucky makes a point of sitting on his lap and Steve waits for a while before shoving him back into the pool.
"Fine. I'll just go sit with Natasha," the brunette huffs before doing just that. He goes over and sits by Natasha's chair pouting.
"Can't sit here if you're going to pout," she informs him, smiling.
"That's cold," he responds, he goes and sits by Steve who had returned to his chair, he lays on the blonde.
"Did you know I love you," Steve hums, playing with his hair. "I love your personality, I love the way you fit beside me perfectly, and I love your cooking."
"Clearly," Bucky teases, poking his jiggly stomach. "I love you too. I love the way you're always so warm, I love that you like my cooking even when it tastes horrible, and I just love you."
Steve smiles and kisses the top of his head.