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“What am I supposed to be doing here?” Bucky glanced around the small hospital room, taking in the reclining chair and the empty bed, the curtain that was supposed to protect patient privacy even though it was a private room.
Tony shooed him towards the chair. “Just get comfortable, I’ll be right back.”
“Ok.” He sat down and as Tony left the room he leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling since looking at the hospital bed was making him a bit anxious. About thirteen minutes later he heard the almost silent noise of the door opening so he started to sit up.
“No, no, stay where you are.” Tony said, hand resting on his shoulder. “But close your eyes.”
Puzzled, he obeyed, and froze when he felt a soft, warm weight settle on top of him. His eyes flew open and he looked down in terror at the tiny human sleeping on his chest. Her face was still red and wrinkly, like an old man, and she had on a pink hat that was too large for her head with tiny socks on her tinier hands. There was a small oxygen cannula in her nose and from tip to tail she barely covered Bucky’s sternum. For long minutes Bucky froze, barely breathing, as Tony swanned back out of the room again with no explanation for the baby.
When Tony came back, cradling another sleeping baby against his shoulder, he laughed at the expression on Bucky’s face. “Breathe, Bucky,” he said quietly, smiling. “She’s not a landmine.”
“I’ll break her,” Bucky whispered desperately. He had been breathing so shallowly that he felt a little dizzy, trying not to disturb her.
“No, you won’t. Hey, look at me,” Tony said, and when Bucky looked up he was caught by the sweet warm affection in his brown eyes. “She’s fed, and clean, and she just had her medicine. The only thing she needs from you is the touch of your skin and the sound of your heart. The people here can do a lot, but these little tykes need someone that can just take the time to be with them.” He patted the baby on his shoulder gently; his hand spanned the child’s entire back. “So relax and just…be. Be her whole world for a little while.”
Bucky nodded and exhaled. Knowing that he had a mission now did help him relax. He let the tension drain out of his muscles and closed his eyes, focusing on each little exhalation from the baby on his chest, listening to her hummingbird heart. After a moment he felt fingers card through his hair and Tony murmured, “There you go.”
“Not your first rodeo, I take it?” Bucky said softly after a while, interrupting Tony’s tuneless humming as he rocked the baby on his shoulder.
“No, they definitely know me here.”
“Why?”
Tony made a thoughtful noise as he considered Bucky’s question. “It’s nice to come here and realize how simple love can be sometimes.”
Bucky looked down at the little girl on his chest, her slight wheeze when she breathed, how tiny her little fingers were when she flexed them in her sleep, and knew what Tony meant.