Her brows drew down into a playful frown and Natasha pretended to pout a little. Her lower lip pushed forward as her lips pursed, and she managed a convincing sort of whimper, but it devolved into a smirk as she laughed and kissed her fiance again. "My hand around your cock isn't incentive enough?" she grinned against his mouth. She gave him a sharp little tug, just to emphasize the point.
But if he really wanted to play, well, then...
Natasha slowly but firmly pushed Bucky over to his back, slithering astride his body with sinuous grace. It didn't take her very long to have him peeled out of the simple t-shirt, her hands greedily roaming over his thickly muscled torso. She lowered her head, disheveled red curls trailing over his skin as she licked at him, sliding her tongue over each ridge and hollow as she worked her way down his chest, over his abdomen.
Wiggling lower, she tugged on his waistband with her teeth, flicking a gaze upwards through her lashes. "Wanna go back to work?" An innocent inquiry. "Or wanna stay here with me?"
Just the anticipation of what she's about to do is enough to send a shiver down Bucky's spine and he rocks his hips up toward Natasha's mouth and makes a soft, almost whimpering sound. She's got him well and good and, what's worse, is she knows it. Still, it's no loss. It's win/win, really, because they'll both get what they want out of this.
"You drive a hard bargain," he concedes, sliding one hair into her messy curls to feel them slide silken against his fingers. She's damn good at this and he's more than happy to be the recipient of some affection and attention right now.
"That's not the only thing that's hard around here," she couldn't help but quip with a snarky little laugh. It was true, evidenced when she finally hooked the damn pants down over his hips, briefs included, and shoved them down below Bucky's knees. Natasha thought she might purr in pure feline contentment when his large hand threaded into her curls, and she slowly lowered her head to take him between her lips, engulfing his entire length in one slick swallow. He was her sweet soldier, her beloved, and there was little else she enjoyed more than pleasuring him, worshiping his body as they both liked.
She moaned, a guttural sound, around his cock, taking her time to lift her head and lower it again, picking up a long, slow rhythm she knew would soon drive him completely over the brink, wreck him enough to have him fall apart beneath her tender, sinful efforts. Teasing fingernails slowly slid down the inside of muscled thighs, the sheen of tangled scarlet providing a scintillating background for the work of her talented mouth.
There's a few things about men's anatomy that make it so much easier than women to come and one of them is that there's so much more surface area. Natasha's using that to her full advantage, lips tight around his cock and mouth and throat relaxed enough to take all of him in. God, Bucky doesn't think he's ever had his dick sucked as well as she does it.
He lets out a guttural sound, low, and tightens his hand in her hair. His left he clenches tight to keep from accidentally catching her shoulder or her hair with it; he'd never forgive himself if the cruel instrument HYDRA gave him ended up hurting her again. Never.
She knew what he liked, what worked to make him buck and moan and writhe, and she was absolutely ruthless in how she utilized that knowledge. He was worth it, in her eyes; she loved him so goddamn much, it didn't seem fair at times. So Natasha took her time, letting her head rise and fall in a slow, languid rhythm, gripping his hips to encourage him further into her mouth.
The noises he made thrilled her, only spurred her on to take him even further apart, wanting him to gasp her name in the throes of his passion. He deserved that and so much more; Natasha paused just long enough to coax Bucky's thighs further apart, ease her shoulder beneath one of his knees, and lower her head again, moaning greedily around his cock as she swallowed him down deep.
Bucky has the ability to hold out a little longer now that he's been enhanced by the serum but it's still not much of a match for how good Natasha is with her mouth. She knows just how much pressure to apply with the flat of her tongue, just how much to tease the slit at the head of his cock.
And, of course, there's the fact that she can swallow him deep like she is now and have the length of him fully engulfed in her warm, wet mouth and the head of his cock brushing against the back of her throat. He makes a soft noise, almost a whimper, and bucks his hips up sharply as he tries to keep from coming as fast as a teenager.
It was always a thrill, watching her lover unravel just from the heat of her mouth. He worked to hard to ensure her pleasure, so whenever she had the chance, Natasha always returned the favor. Not too long ago, he'd believed himself unworthy of simple human companionship, and intimate relationships had been a pipe dream. But she'd been determined to prove him wrong about himself, and she was satisfied she'd done her level best, given how he gasped and bucked beneath her wicked ministrations now.
A light scratch across Bucky's flat stomach, the muscles quivering under her hand, telling him that it was okay to let go. She moaned around his cock, thick flesh filling her mouth and back of her throat, tightening her lips and inhaling a deep breath to suck him slow and long, drawing up her head with exquisite slowness. Her hand on his thigh gripped, digging fingernails into flesh as she encouraged him to lift and lower his hips in time with her mouth.
Her gentle encouragement is enough and Bucky thrusts up one last time before spilling, crying out harshly with it. He hardly ever lets himself let go like this and it's only with Natasha that he does; she's the only person he feels safe enough around to let his walls down for.
When he's finished, he all but collapses, but threads a hand in her hair so he can stroke and pet her and tell her she's done a good job.
Smirking like a devil after casually wiping her mouth with the back of a hand, Natasha slowly crawled back up her lover's replete frame, sinuously nestling into the curve of his left arm as she draped hers over his chest. "You're welcome," she quipped, more than a little cheeky, nuzzling into the curve of his neck. "You know how much I like pleasuring you." Her own blood was still churning beneath her skin; she was slick and wet for him, but she could wait, settle back and enjoy their closeness, their perfect togetherness.
Natasha let her eyes close and all but purred into his praise, soothed in more than one way by his hand threading through her curls. "I think you should stay in bed with me today," she murmured into his skin. "The ladies can do without you for a little while. And your family wants you all to ourselves, because we're greedy bitches like that." She chuckled, catching Bucky's free hand and placing it over her belly.
"It doesn't take a lot of convincing," Bucky admits, laughing softly. He rubs his thumb over the soft skin of her belly, trying to fathom that his child is in there and just not showing yet. It's overwhelming, sure, but it's also mesmerizing.
"You know it's hard for me to be idle. US Army bred that into me, you know. I bet they could even turn Howard Stark into a responsible man."
It's a joke, really, because Stark and his son are cut from the same cloth and that cloth is not taking orders. But he doesn't want to talk about them just now. He wants to think about his best girl and the family they're going to have.
Natasha snorted a small laugh; the thought of Tony Stark taking a break was laughable, really. "I know you have a hard time being still," she told him with another little laugh. "But there's lots for you to do even in here, James." She gently guided his hand on her stomach a little lower, biting her lip on a soft moan when their fingers dipped between her thighs.
"...and I want you," she breathed in the heat between them, shifting to half-drape her body over his, licking a warm, wet path over the column of his thick neck to his mouth, kissing him soundly. "You know I do, baby..."
"Look, I don't need a manual," Bucky says, laughing softly. "Can't a guy
just catch a breath? You're already getting demanding with the cravings."
It's a soft tease, though, considering that what she wants is exactly the
same as what he wants. He catches her mouth in a soft, wet kiss and moves
his hand between them, fingertips brushing against wet folds. It wouldn't
take much.
"I know my way around down here, I promise." That's whispered against her
neck and there's a soft laugh at her ear. "Just in case you thought I got
lost or anything."
A sharp jab was the punishment for his smart remark, and Natasha mock-frowned, baring her teeth in a semi-feral scowl. "Better get used to it," she warned. "'cause you have nine more months of it, soldier." But then he was stroking, kissing, and stimulating her, and any pique she might have felt quickly evaporated, and Natasha kissed him back just as heatedly, even as her hips rolled against his fingers.
"I think you're a goddamn tease, James Barnes," she breathed against his mouth, dark eyes sultry and gleaming. "That's going to get you into a world of trouble one of these days." Although "trouble", in their view, was entirely relative. Then her lip curled. "And what about your famous 'super-stamina'? I thought you were supposed to be able to go forever without stopping."
"Yeah, yeah. I don't think they covered this in super soldier training," Bucky says. It's a grumble, yes, but it's definitely a good natured one. He crooks his fingers within her and rubs his thumb over her clit, trying to give her what she wants even if he's acting like he's going to keep it from her. He's benevolent, after all.
When he kisses her, it's intense. Bucky has always loved kissing and he thinks it's just as important to have that contact during full on sex as it is to have it leading up to sex and he thinks (or hopes, anyway) that Natasha feels the same way about it.
The taste of his mouth and the work of those thick, skilled fingers was too much for the redhead to tolerate for very long. She loved kissing him, cherished the feel of his lips on hers, anytime, anywhere, and to have his tongue in her mouth even as his fingers worked deep inside her was more than enough to have Natasha shuddering apart beneath him, shivering and moaning as her hips involuntarily bucked against his hand. She couldn't help squeezing around those invasive digits, needing him more than she needed her next breath.
"...baby," she managed to gasp out between their locked lips, a low, needful whine pulling out of her throat. "God, you're gonna kill me," Natasha murmured at Bucky's cheek, still trying to catch her breath. Then her smirk appeared, and she nuzzled him with a wrinkled nose. "But what a way to go, right?"
"I might have some mercy if you beg," Bucky agrees, still working her with his fingers even as he plants a messy kiss against her cheek and works his mouth down along her jaw and neck. It feels good to do this, to do something that solely brings pleasure to Natasha and works her up so much that she doesn't know which end is up.
"You're not the begging type though, are you? You've never seemed like it, anyway." The words are hot against her ear and his fingers don't slow; he doesn't want to undo all the work he's done so far.
time skip because it can't all be fluffy and happy
Two days before their four-month anniversary, Natasha began having abdominal pains, which at first she took upon herself to deal with as she always had, but by the time the sun broke over the Wakandan horizon, she was stumbling out of bed and giving her husband breathless instructions to procure a transport to the palace and wake Shuri, now.
Less than two hours later, the former Black Widow - now legally known as Mrs. James Barnes - was undergoing emergency surgery in a valiant effort to save not only her own life, but also the tiny life she carried inside her. Perhaps five hours after her mother was brought hurriedly into Princess Shuri's operating room, Rebecca Aliana Barnes was brought into the world, pale, small, and barely breathing.
T'Challa stood with Bucky and Steve in the long hallway, the latter keeping a hand on the former's shoulder, just in case. The former Captain America had only just managed to convince his friend to cease his restless pacing back and forth, and Wakanda's king had brought both of them coffee and sandwiches, to help ease a bit of the tension.
All three men looked up quickly as one of Shuri's techs came out of the lab, looking tired and tense. She came immediately to Bucky, bowed slightly, and reported, "White Wolf, you have a daughter. She is in the recovery ward now, and will be moving into incubation very soon. She was not breathing at birth, but we have stabilized her and the Princess believes she will be fine." The nurse paused, took a breath, and continued, her face grave.
"Your wife...is still in surgery. She sustained a vast hemorrhage during the procedure, and the outlook..." She shook her head. "It is grave, White Wolf. We are doing our absolute best, but..." T'Challa stepped in, nodding at her. "Thank you, Lindie." She bowed to her king, then faded back into the laboratory.
None of this is going according to plan. Bucky knows the odds of him having a natural child with Natasha were 0% before Shuri worked her magic and maybe he got a little fast and loose with thinking they were the lucky ones. The first few months of pregnancy were a dream and Bucky had enjoyed doting on Natasha and playing house. It's not the life he thought he'd get after his life but it's the one he's always kind of wanted.
Everything came crashing in on him when Natasha woke up in pain. Bucky knew something was genuinely wrong, different than the other times he'd worried, and now he's spent most of the last day white knuckled and frightened to death. When Shuri's tech comes out and tells him that he has a daughter, he's torn between being terrified that Natasha is still in surgery and thrilled that their child is finally here. He barely processes that she needs to be put in an incubator and the words are out before he can control himself.
"I need to hold her," he says, hand trembling a bit. "I need to hold my daughter." Natasha can't hold her right now and he can't hold Natasha through this surgery but he can hold the child they've made together. He asks the nurse again if he can hold Rebecca and gets the yes he wants, getting led down to the incubator to do just that.
"Not for very long, White Wolf. She needs the incubator to help her breathe and keep warm," the nurse warns him. Bucky can't focus on anything but the tiny child with the softest skin and downy brown hair. She yawns a bit when he shifts her into the crook of his arm and he doesn't think he's ever seen anything so beautiful.
"Look at you," he coos softly. "It's hard work getting born, isn't it? Daddy's got you right now and then you can have a nice, long sleep."
Little Rebecca was small, petite even, and her breathing was still very shallow - an anxious nurse hovered near Bucky's elbow as he held his daughter - but she yawned and grunted a small mew as her father's voice soothed her tiny ears, and she opened her eyes the slightest bit to gaze up at his face. A small, perfectly formed fist wavered in the air, gently batting against Bucky's chest before she quietly drifted off to sleep again, snug and secure in that protective embrace.
Perhaps an hour later, an exhausted Shuri came through the laboratory doors, shedding her outer layer of scrubs and handing them off to one of the techs before addressing the three waiting men in the corridor. "We have her stable," was the Princess's initial report. "She lost a lot of blood, and her heart stopped twice, but we managed to get her back both times." Shuri rubbed her tired eyes. "I've put her into a stasis coma, to let her body recover, and now we have to wait until she wakes up."
But then she smiled at Bucky, giving his right arm a gentle punch. "And congratulations, White Wolf. Your daughter is beautiful, a stubborn fighter just like both of her parents."
Holding his daughter is both the most wonderful thing he's ever done and the most terrifying thing he's ever done. Rebecca is tiny and perfect, such a comforting weight in his arms even if it's not nearly enough weight and he nearly weeps when a nurse takes her away and puts her back in the incubator. He knows that she needs it to grow stronger but it still takes all he can do to just let her go.
He feels as if a thousand years have passed when Shuri comes and gives him a status report on Natasha. None of it sounds good, at all, and he wishes there was a way to give her the healing factor from the serum, a way to give it to their daughter, a way he can help without uselessly watching from the sidelines.
"When can I see her, Shuri? Can I at least sit with her and hold her hand?"
Shuri smiled, though her eyes were tired. "Of course you can. We are moving her to a more comfortable room now, you may stay with her as long as you wish." The princess glanced at her brother and he nodded. "You know you do not have to ask, White Wolf." She placed a gentle hand on Bucky's arm. "I will arrange to have your daughter nearby, so that you can also see her as often as you can."
In the recovery ward, Natasha lay comatose, breathing steadily despite the tubes and medical tape here and there. Her skin was ashen, eyes shadowed by dark hollows, but her heartbeat was regular and steady, if not exactly as strong as it had been before. Not just yet. A nurse was carefully smoothing loose red curls away from Natasha's face when a shadow fell over the doorway, and the Wakandan glanced up, then nodded invitation.
"Come in, White Wolf." She gestured. "We have brought a chair for you, and a few extra blankets. If you need anything else, do not hesitate to ask."
Bucky is glad they thought to bring blankets because he's not planning on
going anywhere any time soon. He scoots the chair a little closer to the
bed so he can take one of Natasha's pale hands between both of his. It's
cold, too cold, and he tries to fight off the sense of dread that's lurking
in the back of his mind. There's no doctors better than the ones right here
in Wakanda and Natasha has always been a fighter. There's no way she's
going to go out without fighting like hell and it seems like she's stable
for now even if she isn't up and walking around.
"Nat - Natasha," Bucky says, keeping his voice low. "I wish you could have
seen Rebecca the second she was born. She's the prettiest baby I've ever
seen and I've been alive long enough to see my fair share of them. She's
got your nose and your chin and I think she's going to be much better
looking than I am, so you did a good job there. I got to hold her and she's
small, yeah, but she's such a fighter. She fights hard like her mom does."
He avoids saying anything about how she has to get better or how she can't
leave him because Bucky can't let those kinds of thoughts intrude on him
right now. He's got to operate under the assumption that Natasha is going
to pull on through.
Steve came in a while later, knocking gently before entering the room. "Hey, Buck," the former Captain smiled, coming to stand near his friend's chair and place a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "Shuri said everything looks good, so far." Steve gave Bucky's shoulder a light squeeze. "And your little girl's just beautiful."
A nurse came in on silent feet, unobtrusively checking vitals, recording readouts, and once done, she gave the two super-soldiers a polite nod and slipped out again. No change, not yet.
Both hands now in his pockets, Steve stood beside his friend silently for a few minutes, then offered, "Want me to bring you some food or something? Oh, and T'Challa wanted me to tell you not to worry about your farm. The village kids are taking care of your animals, and keeping an eye on the place for you."
"My goats get cranky if they don't get milked on time," Bucky says, laughing a little. It's hard to laugh when Natasha is laying there pale and still but he thinks he has to force good cheer and not dwell on how fucking scared he is right now. Steve being there is a help, though, and he decides he'll take him up on his offer for food.
"I don't want to miss her waking up," Bucky says, "but I'm not going to run much longer if I don't eat. I'm a super soldier but you still have to feed me if I'm going to function appropriately. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir on that one, aren't I?"
Bucky's been a POW and a prisoner of HYDRA and his own mind but this is harder, he thinks, because it isn't happening to him, it's happening to someone else and he can't do anything about it.
Steve nodded understanding to both points. "You are, pal, you surely are." He gently clapped Bucky's shoulder again. "Don't worry, I'll have them bring in a buffet. Or two," he added with a wink. "And don't worry," he added after turning to go, "she'll pull through." He nodded at Natasha with a quiet smile. "She loves you too much to quit on you now." Then he was gone, softly closing the door behind him.
As promised, one of the orderlies brought a cart full of delicious Wakandan dishes, all tasty, hot, and plentiful. A nurse also brought baby Rebecca in for short visits periodically, placing the small bundle in Bucky's arms as he dutifully sat at his wife's bedside. The little girl always waved her hands and smiled at her father before yawning and drifting back to sleep, and the nurse seemed fascinated by that.
"It's as if she already recognizes you," she marveled, gently taking the tiny blanketed child from Bucky after one of their visits. "That's almost unheard of, especially for one born so early."
no subject
But if he really wanted to play, well, then...
Natasha slowly but firmly pushed Bucky over to his back, slithering astride his body with sinuous grace. It didn't take her very long to have him peeled out of the simple t-shirt, her hands greedily roaming over his thickly muscled torso. She lowered her head, disheveled red curls trailing over his skin as she licked at him, sliding her tongue over each ridge and hollow as she worked her way down his chest, over his abdomen.
Wiggling lower, she tugged on his waistband with her teeth, flicking a gaze upwards through her lashes. "Wanna go back to work?" An innocent inquiry. "Or wanna stay here with me?"
no subject
"You drive a hard bargain," he concedes, sliding one hair into her messy curls to feel them slide silken against his fingers. She's damn good at this and he's more than happy to be the recipient of some affection and attention right now.
"Go ahead and give me what you've got, then."
no subject
She moaned, a guttural sound, around his cock, taking her time to lift her head and lower it again, picking up a long, slow rhythm she knew would soon drive him completely over the brink, wreck him enough to have him fall apart beneath her tender, sinful efforts. Teasing fingernails slowly slid down the inside of muscled thighs, the sheen of tangled scarlet providing a scintillating background for the work of her talented mouth.
no subject
He lets out a guttural sound, low, and tightens his hand in her hair. His left he clenches tight to keep from accidentally catching her shoulder or her hair with it; he'd never forgive himself if the cruel instrument HYDRA gave him ended up hurting her again. Never.
no subject
The noises he made thrilled her, only spurred her on to take him even further apart, wanting him to gasp her name in the throes of his passion. He deserved that and so much more; Natasha paused just long enough to coax Bucky's thighs further apart, ease her shoulder beneath one of his knees, and lower her head again, moaning greedily around his cock as she swallowed him down deep.
no subject
And, of course, there's the fact that she can swallow him deep like she is now and have the length of him fully engulfed in her warm, wet mouth and the head of his cock brushing against the back of her throat. He makes a soft noise, almost a whimper, and bucks his hips up sharply as he tries to keep from coming as fast as a teenager.
no subject
A light scratch across Bucky's flat stomach, the muscles quivering under her hand, telling him that it was okay to let go. She moaned around his cock, thick flesh filling her mouth and back of her throat, tightening her lips and inhaling a deep breath to suck him slow and long, drawing up her head with exquisite slowness. Her hand on his thigh gripped, digging fingernails into flesh as she encouraged him to lift and lower his hips in time with her mouth.
no subject
When he's finished, he all but collapses, but threads a hand in her hair so he can stroke and pet her and tell her she's done a good job.
"As good as ever, kotyonok."
no subject
Natasha let her eyes close and all but purred into his praise, soothed in more than one way by his hand threading through her curls. "I think you should stay in bed with me today," she murmured into his skin. "The ladies can do without you for a little while. And your family wants you all to ourselves, because we're greedy bitches like that." She chuckled, catching Bucky's free hand and placing it over her belly.
"Whaddaya say, Sarge?"
no subject
"You know it's hard for me to be idle. US Army bred that into me, you know. I bet they could even turn Howard Stark into a responsible man."
It's a joke, really, because Stark and his son are cut from the same cloth and that cloth is not taking orders. But he doesn't want to talk about them just now. He wants to think about his best girl and the family they're going to have.
no subject
"...and I want you," she breathed in the heat between them, shifting to half-drape her body over his, licking a warm, wet path over the column of his thick neck to his mouth, kissing him soundly. "You know I do, baby..."
no subject
"Look, I don't need a manual," Bucky says, laughing softly. "Can't a guy just catch a breath? You're already getting demanding with the cravings." It's a soft tease, though, considering that what she wants is exactly the same as what he wants. He catches her mouth in a soft, wet kiss and moves his hand between them, fingertips brushing against wet folds. It wouldn't take much.
"I know my way around down here, I promise." That's whispered against her neck and there's a soft laugh at her ear. "Just in case you thought I got lost or anything."
no subject
"I think you're a goddamn tease, James Barnes," she breathed against his mouth, dark eyes sultry and gleaming. "That's going to get you into a world of trouble one of these days." Although "trouble", in their view, was entirely relative. Then her lip curled. "And what about your famous 'super-stamina'? I thought you were supposed to be able to go forever without stopping."
no subject
When he kisses her, it's intense. Bucky has always loved kissing and he thinks it's just as important to have that contact during full on sex as it is to have it leading up to sex and he thinks (or hopes, anyway) that Natasha feels the same way about it.
no subject
"...baby," she managed to gasp out between their locked lips, a low, needful whine pulling out of her throat. "God, you're gonna kill me," Natasha murmured at Bucky's cheek, still trying to catch her breath. Then her smirk appeared, and she nuzzled him with a wrinkled nose. "But what a way to go, right?"
no subject
"You're not the begging type though, are you? You've never seemed like it, anyway." The words are hot against her ear and his fingers don't slow; he doesn't want to undo all the work he's done so far.
time skip because it can't all be fluffy and happy
Two days before their four-month anniversary, Natasha began having abdominal pains, which at first she took upon herself to deal with as she always had, but by the time the sun broke over the Wakandan horizon, she was stumbling out of bed and giving her husband breathless instructions to procure a transport to the palace and wake Shuri, now.
Less than two hours later, the former Black Widow - now legally known as Mrs. James Barnes - was undergoing emergency surgery in a valiant effort to save not only her own life, but also the tiny life she carried inside her. Perhaps five hours after her mother was brought hurriedly into Princess Shuri's operating room, Rebecca Aliana Barnes was brought into the world, pale, small, and barely breathing.
T'Challa stood with Bucky and Steve in the long hallway, the latter keeping a hand on the former's shoulder, just in case. The former Captain America had only just managed to convince his friend to cease his restless pacing back and forth, and Wakanda's king had brought both of them coffee and sandwiches, to help ease a bit of the tension.
All three men looked up quickly as one of Shuri's techs came out of the lab, looking tired and tense. She came immediately to Bucky, bowed slightly, and reported, "White Wolf, you have a daughter. She is in the recovery ward now, and will be moving into incubation very soon. She was not breathing at birth, but we have stabilized her and the Princess believes she will be fine." The nurse paused, took a breath, and continued, her face grave.
"Your wife...is still in surgery. She sustained a vast hemorrhage during the procedure, and the outlook..." She shook her head. "It is grave, White Wolf. We are doing our absolute best, but..." T'Challa stepped in, nodding at her. "Thank you, Lindie." She bowed to her king, then faded back into the laboratory.
first of all how dare you
Everything came crashing in on him when Natasha woke up in pain. Bucky knew something was genuinely wrong, different than the other times he'd worried, and now he's spent most of the last day white knuckled and frightened to death. When Shuri's tech comes out and tells him that he has a daughter, he's torn between being terrified that Natasha is still in surgery and thrilled that their child is finally here. He barely processes that she needs to be put in an incubator and the words are out before he can control himself.
"I need to hold her," he says, hand trembling a bit. "I need to hold my daughter." Natasha can't hold her right now and he can't hold Natasha through this surgery but he can hold the child they've made together. He asks the nurse again if he can hold Rebecca and gets the yes he wants, getting led down to the incubator to do just that.
"Not for very long, White Wolf. She needs the incubator to help her breathe and keep warm," the nurse warns him. Bucky can't focus on anything but the tiny child with the softest skin and downy brown hair. She yawns a bit when he shifts her into the crook of his arm and he doesn't think he's ever seen anything so beautiful.
"Look at you," he coos softly. "It's hard work getting born, isn't it? Daddy's got you right now and then you can have a nice, long sleep."
u noe how i dare <3
Perhaps an hour later, an exhausted Shuri came through the laboratory doors, shedding her outer layer of scrubs and handing them off to one of the techs before addressing the three waiting men in the corridor. "We have her stable," was the Princess's initial report. "She lost a lot of blood, and her heart stopped twice, but we managed to get her back both times." Shuri rubbed her tired eyes. "I've put her into a stasis coma, to let her body recover, and now we have to wait until she wakes up."
But then she smiled at Bucky, giving his right arm a gentle punch. "And congratulations, White Wolf. Your daughter is beautiful, a stubborn fighter just like both of her parents."
no subject
He feels as if a thousand years have passed when Shuri comes and gives him a status report on Natasha. None of it sounds good, at all, and he wishes there was a way to give her the healing factor from the serum, a way to give it to their daughter, a way he can help without uselessly watching from the sidelines.
"When can I see her, Shuri? Can I at least sit with her and hold her hand?"
no subject
In the recovery ward, Natasha lay comatose, breathing steadily despite the tubes and medical tape here and there. Her skin was ashen, eyes shadowed by dark hollows, but her heartbeat was regular and steady, if not exactly as strong as it had been before. Not just yet. A nurse was carefully smoothing loose red curls away from Natasha's face when a shadow fell over the doorway, and the Wakandan glanced up, then nodded invitation.
"Come in, White Wolf." She gestured. "We have brought a chair for you, and a few extra blankets. If you need anything else, do not hesitate to ask."
no subject
Bucky is glad they thought to bring blankets because he's not planning on going anywhere any time soon. He scoots the chair a little closer to the bed so he can take one of Natasha's pale hands between both of his. It's cold, too cold, and he tries to fight off the sense of dread that's lurking in the back of his mind. There's no doctors better than the ones right here in Wakanda and Natasha has always been a fighter. There's no way she's going to go out without fighting like hell and it seems like she's stable for now even if she isn't up and walking around.
"Nat - Natasha," Bucky says, keeping his voice low. "I wish you could have seen Rebecca the second she was born. She's the prettiest baby I've ever seen and I've been alive long enough to see my fair share of them. She's got your nose and your chin and I think she's going to be much better looking than I am, so you did a good job there. I got to hold her and she's small, yeah, but she's such a fighter. She fights hard like her mom does."
He avoids saying anything about how she has to get better or how she can't leave him because Bucky can't let those kinds of thoughts intrude on him right now. He's got to operate under the assumption that Natasha is going to pull on through.
no subject
A nurse came in on silent feet, unobtrusively checking vitals, recording readouts, and once done, she gave the two super-soldiers a polite nod and slipped out again. No change, not yet.
Both hands now in his pockets, Steve stood beside his friend silently for a few minutes, then offered, "Want me to bring you some food or something? Oh, and T'Challa wanted me to tell you not to worry about your farm. The village kids are taking care of your animals, and keeping an eye on the place for you."
no subject
"I don't want to miss her waking up," Bucky says, "but I'm not going to run much longer if I don't eat. I'm a super soldier but you still have to feed me if I'm going to function appropriately. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir on that one, aren't I?"
Bucky's been a POW and a prisoner of HYDRA and his own mind but this is harder, he thinks, because it isn't happening to him, it's happening to someone else and he can't do anything about it.
no subject
As promised, one of the orderlies brought a cart full of delicious Wakandan dishes, all tasty, hot, and plentiful. A nurse also brought baby Rebecca in for short visits periodically, placing the small bundle in Bucky's arms as he dutifully sat at his wife's bedside. The little girl always waved her hands and smiled at her father before yawning and drifting back to sleep, and the nurse seemed fascinated by that.
"It's as if she already recognizes you," she marveled, gently taking the tiny blanketed child from Bucky after one of their visits. "That's almost unheard of, especially for one born so early."
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)