(takes place between sections 4 and 5 of "Fallen")

Bucky

"Shh, baby, please," I beg my daughter. "Can you just tell me what you want? I'll do anything, just please stop crying."

Lena is on a mission right now in London with John and Sam, she's been gone for two days now. I've been here at home taking care of Livy. This isn't my first time being with her alone, and I've never had any problems with her before, but there's something about tonight that keeps setting her off. She hasn't stopped crying in hours. I've tried everything I can think of to calm her down, but still nothing.

It's three in the morning, and I'm pacing around in the living room with my baby in my arms, trying to figure out what she wants, but I'm coming up with blanks. Hearing her continue to cry hour after hour is killing me, in more ways than one. I have a splitting headache and I feel like I've gone made with sleep deprivation, but knowing that my daughter is distressed is the worst part. I hate hearing her cry. I want to make her pain go away.

"Livy, please stop crying. I promise you're okay, whatever is bothering you you'll be alright. Daddy's here, Daddy's got you." I hold her against my bare chest and cup her small head with my flesh hand, rubbing her back soothingly with my metal one.

After another twenty minutes or so of her crying, I decide to call for some backup. It takes another twenty minutes for said backup to finally arrive, and they aren't pleased to be awake at nearly four in the morning.

"I've never wanted to kill you more in my life." This is how Alex greets me as he walks into my house.

I give him a tight smile. "Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep."

Alex flips me off, then Khari makes his way into the house, looking just as exhausted as his husband, but as usual, is much nicer than him.

"Ignore him," Khari tells me, patting me on the shoulder. "We are always happy to help you with whatever you need, especially with Livy."

"Speak for yourself." Alex mutters under his breath.

"What is the problem with her?" Khari asks, ignoring Alex's comment. A regular practice we all share.

"I have no idea," I say desperately, swaying from side to side, patting Livy gently on the back. "I've done everything, she just won't stop crying."

"You fed her?" Alex inquires.

I nod. "Yes."

"Changed her?"

"Yes."

"Burped her?"

"Yes."

"Tried playing with her?"

"What part of 'everything' don't you understand? Yes! I also walked around with her, read her a story, and I've been swaying like this for so long I think I've dislocated a hip."

"Well at your age that's a pretty common injury." Alex replies with a laugh, which is shared by no one.

"Now I've never wanted to kill you more in my life." Is my response.

"The poor darling," Khari coos, placing a kiss on Livy's cheek, caressing the back of her head. "I hate hearing her cry."

"The sound literally makes me feel like my heart is breaking." I confess, leaning my forehead against hers.

"What if we sing to her? We can go full blown 'Three Men and a Baby'."

Khari and I share a confused look before settling our eyes back on Alex. I'm the one to ask: "I'm assuming 'Three Men and a Baby' is a movie, but you're going to have to give us some context."

Alex rolls his eyes, clearly judging us for our lack of extensive knowledge on movie culture. "'Three Men and a Baby' is about these three roommates who raise this baby girl named Mary after she's left at their apartment door. There's a scene in the movie where Mary won't stop crying, so the three men sing 'Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight' and she finally goes to sleep."

I look towards Khari. "Do you know the lyrics to that song?"

"Yes, it's amongst Soroya's music collection. Do you?"

"Well, of course I do. As Alex constantly likes to point out, I'm old."

Alex chuckles to himself. "I do love pointing that out."

I ignore him. "I think anything is worth trying at this point, so let's do it."

I bring Livy upstairs into her bedroom, then into her crib, where I tuck her under her blanket and begin praying to whoever will listen for my daughter to finally stop crying and get some sleep. Alex and Khari appear by my sides, the three of us now peering down at Livy squirming and wailing in her crib.

Alex counts to three, then we all begin singing.

"Good night sweetheart, well it's time to go." The three of us sing.

"Do-do do-do do." Alex adds in a lower voice.

"Good night sweetheart, well it's time to go." We repeat.

"Do-do dah-do." Alex is getting way too much enjoyment out of this.

"I hate to leave you but I really must say, oh, good night sweetheart, good night." We sing together.

"Well it's three o'clock in the morning." I sing alone, glancing at the clock on the wall, seeing that the time is nearing four thirty.

"Baby, I just can't treat you right." Khari now sings.

"Well I hate to leave you baby, I don't mean maybe." Alex sings.

"Because I loved you so." I sing, reaching into the crib and caressing her little cheek.

"Do-do do-do do-do dah-do." Alex adds with a smirk.

Miracles must truly happen, because Livy is starting to calm down. So we continue onto the chorus again.

"Good night sweetheart, well it's time to go." The three of us sing.

"Do-do do-do do." Alex sings.

"Good night sweetheart, well it's time to go." We repeat again.

"Do-do dah-do." Alex lowers his volume, making his voice just above a whisper.

We all decide to do the same with the next line, murmuring the words to her. "I hate to leave you but I really must say, oh, good night sweetheart, good night."

Livy's cries have officially stopped, she's laying there in a peaceful slumber, completely contempt. I can't believe that worked. Who would have known that a movie would be so helpful for a real life situation.

Alex seems to be thinking the same thing, because he whispers to us: "Never underestimate the power of movies."

I never shall again.

"Thank you for helping me get her to sleep." I say as we sneak out of her room, shutting the door gently behind us.

"We're family, there's no need to thank us." Khari assures me with a smile.

"Maybe thank us a little bit, I am pretty tired." Alex grumbles, earning a glare from Khari.

The glare continues as Khari tells me: "We'll stay here for the duration of the night to make sure you and Livy are okay."

"You don't have to do that." I object, but Khari shakes his head firmly.

"We insist. Right, my love?" Khari asks Alex with a very pointed tone.

Alex huffs and nods a few times. "Yeah I guess."

"Your care and affection are so touching," I say with an elbow into his ribs. "You guys can take our bed, I'll take the couch."

"James—" Khari begins to protest, but I stop him by enveloping him in an embrace, patting his back.

"I insist. Lord knows how cranky Alex is when he
doesn't sleep well and he's already in a mood because I dragged him over here. Take the bed."

Khari relents, and when I pull back from him, I notice Alex is no longer in the hallway. Khari and I both peer into my bedroom to find Alex already tucked under the covers, fast asleep.

I don't hold back my sigh. "I feel like I got practice for parenthood by dealing with him all these years."

Khari stifles a laugh. "He has certainly maintained his youthful spirit."

"That's one word for it."

Khari squeezes my shoulder and gives me a thoughtful look. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

I nod. "Yeah, don't worry about me. Go get some sleep. And thanks again for coming here."

Khari gives me one of his signature warm smiles, the one that make the sun cold in comparison. "Of course. As I said before, we're family. That's what family is for."

After another quick embrace, Khari makes his way into my bedroom and collapses onto my bed next to Alex, promptly falling asleep. Once I shut the door, I start towards the stairs, but I halt on the second step, deciding against sleeping on the couch. Instead, I slip back into my daughter's room and approach her crib, finding her still fast asleep.

"Sleep well, baby," I whisper, caressing her cheek again. "I love you so much. More than anything."

She's asleep, and even if she weren't, she still wouldn't understand what I was telling her, but it doesn't matter. Every single day for the rest of my life I will make sure she knows how loved she is, what a precious gift she is to me, even if she can't comprehend it yet.

For ninety years I was all alone, and I thought I would remain so forever. But now I have a wife, a daughter, a real family, friends, a home. It's more than I could have ever asked for. Or hoped for.

Feeling grateful, humble, and more than a little exhausted, I step back from her crib and settle into the rocking chair in the corner of the nursery, finally drifting off into a peaceful sleep.