Call It What You Want: Home Series 1 (Trans!Steve and Pan!Bucky Summer AU)

Ten

"Where do you think you're going?" Aunt Winifred questioned, removing the wok from the hot burner.

Tibby stood in the doorway, clearly on her way out of the house, and explained, "They haven't seen the goats."

"Well, it's dinner time," Winifred reminded. Transferring the stir-fry into a large bowl, she told Tibby, "Go sit down."

"But Mom!" Tibby whined, dramatically stomping her little foot. Steve could see then that it wasn't just a Natasha thing, but that it ran in the family.

"Tabitha," Winifred warned, and even Natasha straightened up at that tone. As she brought the bowl of stir-fry over to the table, she spotted Natasha and Steve still standing off to the side, and smiled at them, "Ya hungry? Don't be shy."

So, as everyone took a seat in one of the mismatched chairs, Natasha and Steve headed over too. With the only seating left being the bench, Natasha gestured for Steve to slide in first, and that's exactly what he did. Steve gave Natasha enough room, but he also made sure not to sit too close to Tibby.

As everyone at the table started helping themselves to the food, Steve and Natasha patiently waited. Winifred sat across from Natasha at the end of the table and when she smiled at the pair, a rainbow hoop above her top row of teeth was visible as she asked, "How was your flight?"

"Fine," Natasha breezily answered. While Steve mutely nodded his agreement beside her while he discreetly ran his tongue over the small, thin flap of skin that connect his upper lip to his gums.

"That's good," Winifred nodded, encouragingly. Then, she admitted, "I'm always a bit nervous whenever I have to travel. Darlene gets so fed up with me that I swear she's always this close to divorcing me."

"How is Aunt D?" Natasha asked, glancing over at Steve who was helping himself to the stir-fry before passing it on to her.

"She's fine," Winifred sweetly smiled. Then, she chuckled, "I'm surprised that you remember her considering--"

"Considering my dad is a racist, homophobe, transphobe piece of shit?" Natasha bluntly supplied.

Steve's jaw dropped. Sure, everything that Natasha said was true, but still. The way that she delivered the truth however, hit Steve just a bit differently. Possibly because he was well aware that a child was sitting beside him and Natasha's swearing was always an issue for Steve.

Winifred simply laughed though. A lilting, musical tone that was instantly comforting. Her giggles dying out as she clarified, "I was going to say since you were a kid."

"Still true though," Natasha smirked, reaching forward to take a drink of her lemonade.

Easing in his seat, Steve picked up his fork and started gathering some of the noodles and spearing a snow pea pod on the end. Shoving it into his mouth, Steve's gaze landed on Bucky across from him. As soon as Bucky realized that Steve had caught him, he dropped his gaze, a blush forming on his high cheekbones.

"Do you like the stir-fry?" Tibby questioned from beside him.

Silently, Steve nodded his confirmation. Attempting to chew as quickly as possible, Steve swallowed the only half-ready food. Wincing slightly, Steve told Tibby, "It's delicious."

Tibby beamed and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Steve reassured. Playfully, Steve leaned in a little more to teasingly admit, "I'm just a slow eater."

Tibby giggled at that before stating, "I'm glad you like it! Especially since it doesn't have the special sauce since you're allergic to nuts."

Steve was touched at that. It wasn't very often where an entire dish was made so Steve could eat it. Typically when he was at Natasha's house, Ivan often forgot to even leave a small portion out for Steve. Which wasn't out of the norm with Ivan. So, it was really nice to have people be considerate of him.

"Well," Steve started, a little choked up about someone being so kind. Swallowing thickly, Steve told Tibby, "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Smiling, Tibby wiggled in her seat and got back to eating. And since Tibby was content with Steve's answer, Steve turned back to get back to eating. Turning to face the front, Steve peeked up at Bucky to see that he had been watching Tibby and Steve while a small smile tugged at Bucky's red lips.

A curious grin tugged at Steve's lips as Bucky tucked his head, and Steve looked down at his own plate. Conversationally, Winifred asked, "So, Steve, do you have any siblings?"

"Uh, yeah," Steve cleared his throat and continued, "I have a younger brother, Eddie. He's six."

"They're always fun at that age," Winifred smiled and winked over at Tibby. She admitted, "I've always had a soft spot for kids."

"Obviously," Natasha muttered.

"My parents do too," Steve stated, trying to cover up Natasha's sass. Steve shifted in his seat and clarified, "My mom is a RN in the children's wing and my dad is a history professor."

Winifred smiled, "Sounds like they're good parents. Good people."

"They are," Natasha clarified, answering before Steve could.

Steve gave Natasha's hand a comforting squeeze. Silently reminding his best friend that she was always welcomed in his family. In reply, Natasha returned the squeeze, silently letting Steve know that she understood.