Chapter Text
"Babies, are we all ready to go?" Steve asked, keys in hand as he looked over the four littles bundled together by the door.
"Yeah Papa, we're all ready." Clint sighed impatiently, one of his hands wrapped around Natasha's, more than eager to get on with their little outing.
The redhead offered up a big smile in response to the question, Clint’s enthusiasm contagious.
Bruce and Tony nodded their agreement as the former helped tie up the shoelaces of Tony’s black boots, and Bucky checked that everyone else had coats and shoes before they headed out to the car.
One time, the kids had been too excited and they’d ended up at the zoo to find that not only was Natasha missing a shoe, but only Bruce had a coat with him. They’d had to drive back home, get ready again before finally getting to go see the animals.
Most of their littles stuff came from online, since there was such a big range of different things there, but sometimes it was nice to go out and find things instead.
Some stores had begun to cater towards their littles and bigs and as such, now had an aisle or sometimes even more than one, of gear; clothes, pacifiers, diapers, bottle, lots of stuff.
There wasn’t as big of a range as there was online, so the kids often scanned the ‘normal’ aisles for stuff like bubble bath and toys, enjoying looking around to find things they wanted.
Steve had made it a bit more exciting by telling the kids they would be going to the nearest dollar store, also their biggest for miles, with a good selection of littles gears, and they could pick anything (within reason) that they wanted.
They all made a reasonable amount of money, but Steve and Bucky had agreed with the kids that a ten dollar limit was fair enough. It was almost like a game in that way and helped the kids learn that they couldn’t always get everything that they wanted, they had to make decisions (though really, with Bucky and Steve around, they were never deprived of anything they wanted, big softies that they were.)
They already had a lot of toys and littles stuff, probably more than they needed but most of them had hidden or pushed down the other side of them for so long and deprived themselves of so much that they couldn’t help with excess after having so little for so long.
They didn’t need anything new, but Steve and Bucky had been trying to teach that need and want weren’t the same thing. If they wanted something, within reason, they should think about treating themselves.
And anyways, even if they didn’t buy anything, the kids always enjoyed looking around and spending time together.
Plus, according to Clint, the dollar store had the best snacks and they could do with grabbing something for dinner.
Phil was thankfully looking after Lucky and Liho, and would be joining them for an early dinner and maybe a movie, before he headed home. They didn’t see a lot of Phil, with how busy he was with work and having his own little to care for, so any time spent with their favourite Uncle was a good time.
The drive to the store was pleasant, but the kids were way too excited for there to be a quiet car ride, amiable chatter going back and forth between them all until they finally pulled up outside.
Before the kids could bolt out, Steve turned around in his seat to address them all.
"Okay Tony, Natasha, remember to not go anywhere without either Bruce or Clint, yeah?" He raised an eyebrow. “We don’t need any of you guys getting lost this time.” He pointedly looked at Clint, who had the grace to look sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yes, papa.”
The rest of the group chirped in with their agreement and everyone clambered out the car.
Natasha held hands with Clint, skipping as Bruce took Tony’s hand, wandering over to the entrance
Steve and Bucky had a shopping cart in front of them, and in no time they were filling up.
They headed straight to the toy section first, since that was where most of the money seemed to go. Bucky and Steve couldn’t find it in them to mind as the kids raced off down the aisle to examine all the new stock in.
It had taken all the littles a long time to adjust to their new life and adjust to the fact that toys were allowed. It didn’t matter how messy they were, how big, how loud, they were allowed it all.
Bruce especially had had a hard time coming to terms with that but now, more than a year later, he was happily crouching down, fingers moving over items as he decided.
Natasha chose quickly, always drawn to the art and craft section. She had a lot of colouring books, most of them filled up and done in a matter of weeks. It calmed her a lot, and was a good grounding technique if she was overwhelmed. She could focus on the shapes, on which colours to pick, of staying inside the lines. She picked up a couple of colouring books; one farm yard animals and the other Disney villains, as well as a sheet of bright assorted stickers. She loved to stick them on almost anything in reach. One time, Clint had woken from a nap to find his face covered in little rainbow stickers. It had been both hilarious and adorable.
Clint almost always went straight for the brightly coloured, plastic toy section. He chose some toy vehicles; one a police car and one a bright red fire engine. They had a play mat at home, basically a sky view on roads and roundabouts and buildings. Clint got mesmerized as he drove the cars around, just watching them move with his eyes. Another good grounding technique. Sometimes, he would race the cars, either on his own or with one of the family, depending. He also chose some new off brand Legos; they were the big sized bricks of varying colours, coming in a very handy carry case. He loved to build a tower as tall as he could, and see how far it could go without falling.
Bruce’s choices varied; sometimes he would go for the educational toys and activities, sometimes for the arts and crafts or occasionally for the toys. Today, he moved up and down the aisle, biting his lower lip as he went back and forth between items. Slowly, he picked up a maths activity book, smiling and nodding to himself as he held it under his arm for safe keeping. Bruce loved to test his younger self and would sometimes play schools, usually with Tony as the student and him as the teacher. They had a lot of fun and activities that took thinking about were great for distraction. He also chose some new crayons (the brand new metallic ones, daddy!) and a sheet of science themed stickers for grading his activities with.
Tony tended to take a while to choose what section he wanted to go to first and he often knelt down and touched everything in sight to see if it felt right. Anything that kept his hands and mind busy were often chosen, as all the kids used their toys and games to make them feel better, safer and grounded, and Tony was no different. If his hands weren’t busy, he might bite his nails or pick at his skin, so if he was overwhelmed and likely to do either of those things, he would grab something tactile and play. He’d soon he'd chosen a new rattle toy, with different materials and textures on each side of the sphere. He touched the little reflective section before the rougher one, nodding and smiling. He also chose a kids activity book for when he was a little older, full of dot to dots and colour by numbers, as well as a crayon sharpener for the crayons he shared with Bruce.
Once all kids had chosen their toys, they moved to the bath and shower section. Bucky and Steve grabbed some ‘boring adult’ shampoo and body wash for themselves before talking between themselves so the kids could shop.
Natasha loved anything strawberry, borderline obsessed with it; always choosing strawberry flavoured or scented things over any other option. So she obviously had to get shampoo and body wash in that scent. She scanned the shelves, beaming when she came across red bubble bath in a big strawberry shaped bottle, smiling as she skipped over to the cart.
Clint immediately veered towards the bath toys. For a long time, he’d ignored the toys at bath time, since he thought he was too big for them. Bruce hovered at about the same age as him and very much enjoyed playing with them, so slowly Clint had come around to the idea. Now he couldn’t get enough of them. He grabbed a bright blue boat, new bath crayons and coconut body wash, tipping them into the cart.
Bruce liked to choose the same things every time, enjoying the continuity of bath time, so he picked up his usual bottles of green bubble bath and vanilla bean body wash. Not really needing any new toys, he carefully looked around for anything else he might want. Coming across a mesh net for the bath toys, he brought the items over.
"Brucey, we'll get that, you choose something fun." Steve smiled, gesturing at the bath net, putting it in their section when the boy handed it over.
Bruce flushed slightly and nodded, biting his lip as he bent down to scan the racks. Right at the back of one of the shelves, he found a loofah with a yellow duck on the top, smiling at the cute little thing.
Tony had immediately grabbed a robot washcloth, one that came in a little package and would expand when in the water, showing teeth as he smiled at it. Robots were the best. He chose his usual apple shampoo, placing them in the cart before continuing on sown the aisle. He was very determinedly searching for a new toy for bath time that night. After going back and forth between two toys that were similar to ones they already had, Tony came across an octopus toy that floated on top of the water, with multi-colored rings to throw onto the tentacles.
"Okay, kiddos, four dollars left." Bucky smiled, pushing the carts down to the next aisle.
When at the food section, Bucky and Steve discussed what to choose for dinner. With Phil coming, it had to be something everyone would like, and something fairly substantial.
In the end they decided on meatballs with Bucky's mama's sauce recipe. They’d make ‘normal’ meatballs for most of them, with some vegetarian meatballs for Natasha and Bruce. They'd have spaghetti for the adults and shaped pasta for the kids, since it made them all happy to have their own special food, and it really wasn’t much more bother.
"Everyone choose pasta for dinner, me and papa will get them." Steve grinned, looking over at the four pairs of eyes in front of him.
When Disney Princess (Tony’s, because everyone likes princesses, daddy, they’re not just for girls) , Ninja Turtles (Clint’s) , Minions (Natasha’s) and ‘Alphabetti’ (Bruce’s) pasta were placed in the carts, the kids ran down the aisles for snacks and Bucky and Steve grabbed the rest of what they needed for dinner.
Natasha had to choose her strawberry juice (obviously, because…borderline obsessed) as well as a packet of white chocolate buttons and strawberry laces (again, obsessed).
Clint went straight for the candy, not even looking at the juices as he loaded up his arms. He walked over to the cart and tipped the items in: rainbow Nerds, mini Reese's and Haribo.
Bruce always fluctuated with his snacks, since there was so much choice. But eventually he decided on milk chocolate raisins, a pack of butterfingers and mini assorted Hershey's.
Tony chose his favourite blackcurrant and apple Capri Sun's, fizzy cola bottles, and a Dairy Milk from the English sweets section.
The treats they got were just that; treats. The kids had fresh fruit and vegetables most of the time, as well fruit snacks and cups, jello, yoghurt and other 'healthier' stuff. But everyone had to have a treat if they wanted one, depriving themselves of good, delicious, sugary snacks, was just no fun and wasn't healthy at all.
Steve and Bucky picked up a couple of Snickers packs for themselves, as well as a bag of sweet popcorn and a bag of salty popcorn for movie night. Next, they picked up some ginger ale (since sometimes the kids got poorly stomachs and it seemed to help them), some more packets of powdered flavourings to go into milks of a night time and whilst they were there, more fruit cups since they went through them so quickly (Tony usually ordered massive boxes online).
"One dollar left, kiddos. You don't have to choose anything if you don't want." Bucky hummed, bumping shoulders with Steve as they walked up and down the aisles, waiting to see if anything took the kids fancy, sometimes going up the same aisles a couple of times.
Natasha finally picked up a rattle doll, waving it madly around to check if it’s working, daddy, duh. She giggled as she shook it in her hands before eventually relinquishing it to the cart.
Clint rifled through the reduced bin, digging right to the bottom, coming up triumphantly with a great find: a purple scarf with red ends.
Bruce found a new bottle, with a straw coming out the top, and it was even dishwasher safe. It was green and had a big enough top for him. The kids bottles could get too small.
Tony lit up and ran towards a puppy dog stuffie, picking it up and grinning. It had a mark on the ear and on one of the legs, making it super reduced but Tony didn't seem to mind. He liked toys with character.
They headed to the checkout next, the kids trying their best to help pack up all the bags.
Smiling fondly at their ‘help’, Bucky ushered them outside and to the car as Steve pushed the cart over.
"Did we have a nice day?" Steve asked as he loaded to bags into the trunk.
Bucky was having a little bit of trouble buckling them all up, getting Natasha and Tony in their car seats tended to be just a little difficult.
“Yeah, daddy!” The redhead herself hummed, wriggling and laughing, making it even harder for Bucky to do up the straps.
“Yup!” Clint answered before leaning over to gently tickle Natasha’s side.
She immediately conceded, squealing and batting his hand away, giving Bucky time to get the seatbelt on.
Bruce, who had already strapped himself in, nodded as Steve placed the last bag in the trunk. “Yeah, was fun.” He said softly. “Right, Tone?”
Tony just held up his new stuffie, clearly having not made it into the bag, nodding happily.
Steve chuckled, smiling to himself as he closed the trunk and placed the cart back at the front of the sore.
He got into the driver’s seat, blowing them all a kiss as he instinctively checked that their seat belts were all done up, not that he doubted Bucky’s ability, but gaining kids had taught them that double and triple checking was always a good idea.
"Let's go home and start dinner, Uncle Phil will be there by now." Bucky hummed, squeezing Steve’s hand, an easy smile on his face.
It still amazed both men how such a simple outing could make the family so happy; Bruce and Tony playing with the latter’s new dog stuffie, and Natasha resting her head on Clint’s shoulder, more than ready for a nap when they got home, all smiling.
They’d never get tired of those smiles.