A classroom full of 7 year olds
As always his alarm went off at 5 A.M, sharp. For the first time Steve hadn’t been awake before it rang. For once he actually struggled to get out of bed and get ready for his run. He did it anyway.
15 minutes later he was ready to leave, he had written his kids the usual ‘Am out running’ note, one that none of them had ever read, because he was back before they were awake. Force of habit, I guess.
Surprisingly enough, an hour later, when he got back his kids, all 5 of them, were seated at the kitchen table.
“Hey dad! We thought we’d have breakfast together today” Peggy said, smiling proudly. This was obviously all her idea. The table was filled with everything but the kitchen sink. Pancakes, eggs, waffles, bread, cornflakes any possible thing one could possibly want to eat this early in the morning.
Steve felt a knot in his stomach, back when Angela was alive they had breakfast together every day. When his wife passed away, Steve just couldn’t get himself to do it anymore. It just wasn’t functional. Took up way to much time.
-
Steve stood in doorway of the second grade classroom, watching Luke run to what he could only assume were his friends. He felt shitty for having to assume, a good dad should know. Or even better a good dad would know. Steve didn’t.
“Hey, I haven’t seem you around before, I am Y/N or miss Barnes I guess” A woman said, the sudden talking startled Steve, who jumped back.
It took him a moment to call down, a few deep breaths.
“I am Steve, Luke’s dad,” Steve said, holding out his hand. This was the first time he got a good look at the woman in front of him. She couldn’t be more than 25 years old, maybe 30, but that’d be a stretch.
“Wow”
Y/N chuckled, “Wow? Yeah wow right back at ya. At this point I was honestly questioning if Luke’s dad even exists. I mean with the whole forgetting to pick him up, kinda thought Peggy was taking care of the kids all alone and you were some kind of deadbeat, no offense.”
The comment stung, something Steve was trying really hard not to show. Yet as soon as he opened his mouth….
“I uhm- I- It’s, yeah no offense taken.”
“I didn’t mean it to sound like an attack on your parenting” Y/N said, an apologetic look on her face. “It’s just I get that parenting isn’t easy, especially not when you’ve lost your partner.”
Something about the way she spoke made Steve believe that she wasn’t just saying this because it was the decent thing. That she was speaking from experience. Steve wasn’t going to ask about it, he just couldn’t. He knew nothing about this woman, it would be disrespectful.
Yes, she did just do it to him, but what happened with Angela wasn’t a secret. So he just stayed silent and nodded, opting to awkwardly stare at his shoes.
One thing he was sure of however, this Y/N Barnes wasn’t married to Bucky. She couldn’t be, she was way to young. Bucky wouldn’t be with someone that young. Right?
“Well Mister Rogers, It’s been a real pleasure meeting you. I hope you find the time to drop the kid off more often. He seems to like it.” Y/N said, looking at Luke who was happily playing with his friends.
Steve wanted to say something about how he is probably always like that, but what did he know, this is the first time in 2 years he’s dropping the kid off to class.
“Yeah I’ll try” He said, before turning around and getting out of there as quickly as he could.
-
3 P.M, school pick up time. Usually Steve would be doing god knows what, but today he found himself waiting outside of Luke’s classroom. It was weird, he had planned on running some errands, maybe take Natasha up on her offer to grab a coffee, yet here he was. For once he remembered to pick up his kid.
Of course there are other parents here, but because of his, well, really awkward conversation with miss Barnes that morning, Steve couldn’t help but feel as though he was stupid for showing up again.
Not even 2 seconds after the thought entered Steve’s mind the bell rang and a bunch of happy, loud 7 year old’s came running out of the classroom.
“Daddy you really came to pick me up!” Luke said, immediately wrapping his little arms around his dad. Someone was clearly excited to see their parent is actually there for pick up.
Steve saw the judgmental looks the other parents were giving me, so he tried to play it off by saying, “Of course I picked you up kiddo.” No one seemed to buy it, but hey, at least he tried.
When he looked around he saw Y/N standing in the doorway, talking to a handsome black man. Steve was a little surprised when suddenly the both of them were looking back at him.
“Steve, come here for a moment,” Sanne said, signaling with her hand.
Steve told Luke to go play outside and went over there. He felt a little nervous, usually when people called Steve over it was some kind of pity thing. He hated it, it was like losing his way was all people saw of him. Which was actually a pretty clear description of the sad widow!vibe he was giving off.
Y/N was fidgeting a piece of paper in her hand, “Steve, meet Sam,” She said, pointing at the man standing next to her, “My friend.” She hesitated a moment before saying friend, which made Steve wonder, was he more than just a friend?
Steve shook the mans hand, “So Y/N what did you and Sam want to talk about?”
“Okay so I didn’t want to bother you with it this morning, but I have this picture,” Y/N took a deep breath and continued. “I think you might be on it.”
Steve took a good look at the picture it was definitely him. Back when he was just a scrawny little kid, getting in fights in Brooklyn back allies. It was him and….
“Bucky” Steve gasped.