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"Probably going to wish she looked more like her Mom when she gets older," Bucky jokes. They're probably only getting this one chance at a biological child and he hopes that as Rebecca gets older, more of Natasha shows in her. Right now, though, she's Barnes through and through.

Feeling her hand close around his thumb makes his heart stop a bit and when he looks at Natasha, his eyes are soft and shining a bit with unshed tears. All the emotion he'd kept locked in while Natasha was ill and Rebecca was in the incubator seems to be coming out now and he's glad he's alone with his family for the moment.

"I never get emotional like this," Bucky admits. "But this is too much for me, I think. I don't think I've ever felt this many things at once - fear, joy, panic, love. It's all crashing around in my brain and I don't know what to do with it all."

Natasha laughed softly, not even looking up when both Steve and Shuri drifted out, the door closing quietly behind them. "You're entitled to be emotional, James," she told him with a fond smile, cradling the tiny girl's head to her to kiss her small forehead. "She's your daughter. Come here, lie down with me."

She inched over to give Bucky more room, carefully situating the baby between them, cushioned on one of their arms each. Natasha settled against Bucky's chest, watching with her own small yawn as Rebecca yawned just then, and gurgled quietly to herself, tiny hands and small socked feet waving back and forth.

"I think it's normal to feel all of that right now," the redhead mused, admitting, "I'm sort of feeling the exact same way, so at least you're not alone, da?"

"No, not alone, though there was a little while there that I thought I was going to be a single dad and I didn't know how that was going to pan out. I'm pretty terrified I'm going to be a bad father but at least with you to help, I'm a little less scared. If it was just me alone? I'd be helpless."

The light weight of Rebecca against him is a tangible reminder that he is a father and they have a miracle on their hands. He gives Natasha the kind of smile that should only be seen behind closed doors and he hopes no one else is around to catch him looking like this.

"You did pretty good, Nat. I couldn't imagine a better gift than this baby girl and I know you're going to be a damn good mother. You couldn't be anything but because you're tough as nails but you're all soft underneath."

Natasha rolled her eyes in amusement; Bucky always tended to babble whenever he felt out of his depth, or off balance. A defense mechanism, she supposed, from the days when he wasn't allowed to express anything at all. But it was endearingly cute, most of the time, but this time, she placed a finger over his lips with a glance down at their child, who was yawning again and settling down in her blanket and her father's strong arm for a nap.

"I'm not going anywhere, soldier," she assured him, placing a gentle kiss to his clean-shaven cheek. "So just hold us while we nap, da?" She nestled down closer, craving his warmth and closeness. "'cause I'm tired all of a sudden..."

Natasha kissed her daughter's smooth cheek and rested her head against Bucky's chest, closing her eyes. For the moment, all was well in the world; her husband held her and her child, they were safe, and more importantly, together. She could rest, and rest easy.

"Fine, fine. I guess I could use the sleep too," Bucky says good-naturedly. He'd had a decent amount of sleep the night before but the pull of Natasha and Rebecca's warmth lulls him to sleep soon enough. There's a contentment there that Bucky doesn't think he's felt in a long time and possibly ever.

When he wakes up, it's because Rebecca's starting to fuss a little. She's squirming against his chest and there's little noises that sound like they're going to segue into a full-blown cry any time now. He eases himself out of bed with Rebecca in his arms and carries her a bit, bouncing her in his arms to try and soothe her.

He sticks his head out the door to find a nurse and tells her that he thinks Rebecca's hungry. "I don't know if Natasha can breast feed or if she wants to but my kid's hungry...I think, anyway...and I want to do something about it before she wakes Nat up." The nurse checks the chart and indicates that because of her weight, Rebecca's on a supplemental formula and that they can bring him a bottle to feed her.

"Here that baby girl? Daddy's going to take care of it, all right? Don't you worry."

Natasha woke to a truly amazing sight: her husband was feeding their daughter a bottle, and shuffling around the small room while he did so, humming a little off-key under his breath. Rather than interrupt, she simply shifted about so that she could watch the world's most feared assassin care for his daughter, and Natasha's heart melted all over again.

She just smiled when he turned around and caught her watching, and she gave a little shrug and indicated he continue. Natasha knew right then and there that Bucky Barnes was going to be the best father in the whole world, and that their daughter was no doubt going to end up being one of the most spoiled kids in the history of all mankind.

Oddly enough, that didn't bother her in the slightest.

"That's a good sight to wake up to," she told him softly when he and little Rebecca drifted close. "Come kiss me, papa, before I get jealous of my own daughter."

"How do you think I felt when pregnancy hormones had you pushing me off you after we got to the home stretch?" Bucky teases. He leans down and kisses Natasha though before straightening again. Rebecca is still in his arms but she's drowsy now after being fed and her eyes are sleepily blinking at him. It's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

"Do you want me to put her in the crib or get back in bed with her?" Bucky asks, a shrug indicating he was fine with either choice. He's pretty sure his daughter's feet won't touch the ground until she's five regardless, considering the number of aunts and uncles she'll have.

"I hate being away from her for too long. I miss her and it burns in a way that's so painful. I didn't know that it'd be like this to be a dad."

Natasha gave him a Look for his teasing, but rolled her eyes in amusement nevertheless. She took his kiss with sweet interest, giving their daughter a gentle hug before Bucky pulled away. "The crib should be fine. We don't want her to be spoiled even before we make it back home, do we?"

The new mother shifted around in her bed, wincing as her surgical wounds protested. "We can snuggle with her a little later. Let her get some good sleep." Then she held out one hand and crooked a finger. "But you come back here and lie with me. Feels like forever since I've had you close, moya zvezda."

Bucky wants to argue that a child can't be spoiled by love and affection but Natasha's invitation is too good and he lays Rebecca in the crib before getting back in bed alongside his wife. He hates that she's still in pain but having her awake is such a relief and he thinks his heart can start beating again.

When he shifts into bed alongside her, he keeps his right arm free so he can stroke her hair. It's tangled from being in bed for so long and he'll ask her if he can brush it later but for now, he's content with these simple touches.

"It has been forever. I was here the whole time, though. Shuri had to practically lock me out so I'd go shower and eat and sleep."

Natasha settled against him with a contented sigh, resting her head on his left arm in catlike contentment. She loved his hands in her hair - it was one of her indulgent pleasures. And although she knew it would be far better to wait for Shuri to release her, she nevertheless couldn't wait to get home and begin raising their family together.

"I know you were," she told her husband, kissing his rough cheek softly. She placed a pale hand on his chest. "I could hear your heartbeat." Green eyes smiled up at him. "I always know where you are, James." Then she pulled him down for a more serious kiss, letting her fingers drift from his cheek into his hair, holding him close.

"You and Rebecca are all that matter to me," Natasha told him when they finally parted for air. "I don't know where I'd be without you, James."

"Probably not living in the middle of nowhere in Wakanda hiding from SHIELD, I'm guessing, but I'm glad you came out here to find me. I needed you even though I was denying it at the time."

Since the war, Bucky has gone from a person who relies on a team and trusts his friends to someone who doesn't trust anyone but himself. The fact that he's let Natasha and now Steve in is monumental and he doesn't know if he'll ever be that man he was before the war, before the Winter Soldier. He doesn't know how to be that man again.

"I need my family. Without you, I'm only half of myself. I thought I was going to lose you, kotyonok and it was something that scared me shitless."

"You won't lose me," she promised, gripping him gently by the front of his shirt. "You're stuck with me now, Sergeant, so tough luck." Though she smiled up at him, the gesture was still a little tired and wan. Everything was exhausting, right now. And she hated it. But she couldn't break down in front of her husband. He tried so hard, did so much to make her happy that she didn't want to cause him distress in any way at all. She couldn't.

"Will you stay beside me tonight?" Natasha knew she didn't have to ask, but she did anyway. To let him know that she needed him; she needed his warmth, his comfort. "Hopefully our girl will sleep okay, or should we let the nurses put her back in the incubator for a while?" Their daughter's health and safety was priority one.

"Probably need to keep her in the incubator. It seems like she got some of my healing factor," Bucky says, pondering it for a moment, "But I would rather be safe than sorry. She's our child and we have to take the best care of her we can. I'm not taking any chances with that when we've got the most advanced medicine in the world at our disposal."

Bucky thanks god again that this baby had been born in Wakanda under Shuri's care and not somewhere else where Natasha and Rebecca might have died. Most places he's hidden over the years haven't had the luxuries that Wakanda does and it's a little crazy to him that T'Challa and his family managed to keep it hidden away for so long.

"When we get home, though, all the family bonding we can stand. I don't ever want to be away from her for a second because I'm afraid I'll miss something."

The nurse came in not long after to take Baby Barnes back to her incubator, but not before goodnight kisses from both her mother and her father. Another smiling Wakandan nurse came in to take Natasha's vitals, inquire as to any pain, and report that all looked well, and her recovery was progressing right on schedule.

The redhead sighed, and once more relaxed in her husband's arms, gently slipping hers around his thick torso. "You're going to be a wonderful father," she predicted, kissing his cheek softly. Then she smirked, eyes crinkling lightly. "But you'll have to let her learn to walk before she's twenty, moya zvezda."

"She doesn't need to walk. I'm strong enough to carry her in one arm and you in the other," Bucky scoffs. Being curled up against Natasha makes it feel like something falling back into place that had been broken for a little while. He drifts his hand through her hair and since it's his left, he tries to be careful so the joints in his prosthetic don't pull.

"You gave me the most precious gift I could ever receive," he murmurs. "And I don't know if I can ever repay you for that or even if I have to but I want to spend the rest of my life trying to. I want to be the best husband and the best father I can possibly be."

She had to laugh at that one, but some deep part of her actually worried that he might serious. Well, once they were home together, Natasha knew things would get easier. Eventually. They were both Soviet-trained assassins, surely they could handle parenthood. Her eyes closed as Bucky stroked her hair, and she settled more comfortably into his grasp, relishing his warmth and familiar scent. It always comforted her.

"James, you will be." She touched his cheek and kissed his lips. "Try not to worry so much, malyutka, okay? We're going to be fine. Rebecca's going to be fine." Natasha tucked her head beneath Bucky's chin and sighed softly. "We got this, you and me." Her arms wound gently around his torso and she held him tight. "Get some sleep, baby." A soft nuzzle. "I wanna wake up in your arms tomorrow morning."

"Telling me not to worry is practically useless, you know," Bucky admits, laughing hollowly. Sure, they're both trained assassins but how can he protect Natasha if her health fails? How can he protect an innocent child? He'd been designed to kill, not protect, and it still feels foreign to flip that orientation.

"My whole world is the two of you. I couldn't be me without you," he murmurs against her hair. "And if I lose you, I'm afraid I'll regress back into what I was before they deprogrammed me. As many times as they wiped me, you were always in there, though. I always wanted redheads. When I saw you in Odessa, I was so stunned by you that I almost fucked the mission. I almost broke out of programming and that's how I shot you. I never would have - I would have gotten a clean shot - but you jarred me. I'm sorry."

Natasha placed a hand over Bucky's mouth. "Enough," she told him quietly, but firmly. "That's enough. All of that is in the past. This is our future, you, me, and that little girl in there." She slipped her fingers from his lips to his cheek, making him look down at her.

"That's all that really matters, James. Hear me?" She pulled him close again, hand at the back of his head to soothe his worry and his fears. "I'm okay, Rebecca's okay. In a few days we'll be home, and all of this will be just another memory. Now, get some sleep, da?" She pulled away to smirk at him, lips tilting. "Or do I need to get Shuri to give you something to knock you out?"

"I'm going, I'm going."

Bucky did go to sleep that night, curled around his wife, and true to all the assurances he'd gotten from Shuri, from medical staff and from Natasha herself, the entire family was back home in a few days.

Seeing Natasha with the baby is something that pulls at his heartstrings every time he sees it. There's nothing more beautiful than his daughter resting in Natasha's arms or seeing those big blue eyes looking up at green ones. He knows he spoils the baby too and right now he's rocking her, shushing her little cries.

"C'mon pretty girl. It's gonna be all right. You know it is."

Despite all the reading and research she'd done on the subject, no one had bothered to tell her how exhausting motherhood was going to be. But despite her postpartum fatigue, Natasha diligently endeavored to be up and around as soon as she could, a plan that was, of course, thwarted by her doting, overly concerned husband. Not only did Bucky handle all of the household chores, the animals and their care, and everything else, he also insisted that she rest, and made sure that both she and little Rebecca were waited upon at all hours, hand and foot.

It was endearing, but Natasha didn't want him to wear himself out, and it was only grudgingly that Bucky allowed himself any respite, regardless of how brief. She woke up from a nap one afternoon not long after they'd returned home to hear Rebecca fussing and spied Bucky walking up and down their bedroom with the little girl cradled in his arms, cooing at her in his low, soothing voice.

Rather than intervene, Natasha simply reclined on her pillow and watched, as always touched by the sight. Rebecca whimpered and pouted, irritable for some reason, and her little hands waved back and forth, but she eventually grew quiet, though she sniffled a few times before settling. Natasha propped her head on one hand, smiling softly.

"You're getting pretty good at that, malyutka."

"Well, little myshka is a good motivator to learn quickly. How are you feeling? Need anything?" Rebecca is calming down a little so he thinks he might be able to soothe her back to sleep and let her finish her nap. He barely sleeps these days but the serum doesn't require it and, granted, it's by choice. He can think of much worse reasons to be up all hours of the day and night than taking care of his infant daughter and his wife.

"I just can't stop holding her or looking at her. I still can't believe I even have her," he goes on to say. "And it's a little crazy that I have this little girl that I never thought I was going to be able to have. Maybe I'm just walking on sunshine or something, I don't know." He flashes Natasha a grin and it's such a stupid one that he can even feel how stupid it is on his face.

"Is it the same for you?"

Natasha laughed quietly, shaking her head in soft amusement. "A little bit, yeah. I sort of believe she's very real, thanks to the aches and pains I'm still getting over." A gentle tease; she'd have gone through a thousand more years of the same to be able to hold the little girl whimpering in Bucky's arms just now. "But you're definitely walking on sunshine," she agreed, "and it's a good thing, believe me."

She'd been exactly right when she'd predicted that James Barnes was going to be a wonderful husband and father. Neither she nor her daughter wanted for anything; the slightest inkling that something was needed, and he was hurrying off to retrieve it. She admittedly felt a bit guilty for relying on him so much, and she knew he'd never voice a word of complaint, but she'd never been one to simply rest about on her laurels.

Speaking of...

"Well, if you're getting her back to sleep, I think I'll get up and do a few stretches while she naps." Natasha slowly pushed back the sheets, grimacing slightly at the stretch and pull of her still-sore lower body. But she was determined to regain all of her former strength; she had a feeling she was going to need it, trying to keep up with this precious miracle they'd both been given.

"I'll get her back down and then I can help you," Bucky says, shushing Rebecca a little more until he's sure he can get her back in the bassinet without her fussing and waking herself up. She's mostly good right now but it's early days and he knows from the parenting books he's read that infants sleep a lot at first. The real test is going to be in a few weeks when Rebecca doesn't want to sleep through the night. Maybe they'll be those lucky parents.

Rebecca laid gently back in the cradle, Bucky comes back into the bedroom to see where Natasha's gotten on the stretching front. He loves to see her body, limber and graceful like a dancer, and he can't help the gleam of want in his eyes in spite of the fact that he's not going to be able to have for a while.

"You want a counterweight to stretch a little more? I'm offering."

There was a small shaded spot behind the house that was perfect for her to do her workouts. It took her a little longer to navigate to it, but she had all the time in the world, at least. Or so she kept telling herself. Natasha gingerly placed her mat on the grass and began with a few knee bends and arm stretches, feeling the pull of her muscles, delicious from so long without any real exertion.

She smiled when Bucky emerged through the back door, and she held out her hands in response. "Sure. Just hold my hands steady so I don't topple over on my nose." Unworried about gripping both of her husband's hands in an equal clasp, the redhead used his arms to lean against as she bent over between them, grunting softly when her back pulled and flexed. She held it for as long as she could, then straightened, face flushed but eyes soft and bright.

"And now," she directed, letting go of his hands and taking a step back to lean against the wall of their house, "here, grab my ankle and slowly pull my leg up, like that." Her abdomen was still a good amount of sore, but she wanted to make sure all the muscles she could use were supple and flexible. "Bring it up to about waist-level...not too fast."

Bucky knows how to do stretches properly, having worked out with both Natasha and Steve before. He grabs her ankle when she asks and slowly pulls her leg up so he can help stretch her legs and lower back. He wants to be careful not to pull anything, yeah, but he trusts Natasha to let him know what's too much.

"I could rub you down if you wanted," Bucky says, dutifully keeping his grip on her so she doesn't fall. "After stretching everything, it might feel nice to get a rubdown and make sure all those muscles get worked out and back into shape. As long as you don't mind both hands, anyway."

He's still self conscious about the left, even if he has the prosthetic and Shuri's work is the best he could get. He can't imagine the metal feels good against skin, at all, and he wants Natasha to feel loved and pampered. Maybe he ought to just get a masseuse out here.

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