Chapter 3
With his hands on his waist and a scowl on his face he watches the dumb robot place the glass on the table and does something to it to fix it in place.
Max and Lana are sitting on the couch, a piece of pizza in both their hands as they eat while watching. Sam sits on the adjacent couch with both his 5 year old twin son and daughter on each of their father’s leg, sipping from their tetra pack juice Steve had got for them.
“I want a Robo” Ryan whispers
“Me too!” Rachel shoots up and Sam winches as she bounces on his leg before climbing down and running towards the thing, her brother right behind her
Steve smirks as he turns to Sam who sighs
“Ask Papa, this is Uncle Tony’s, Papa will know where to get you the same one” Sam says as Steve raises his eyebrows at him and Sam whispers so only Steve can hear “He doesn’t cook dinner and then runs away, he sure is getting to deal with this robo thing”
“Good” Steve nods smirking “I’m completely on board”
“Dad, when is Papa gonna be home?” The children are now on Sam’s feet
“Soon” he says but before he can add anything the robot makes an announcement
“Mr. Rogers, the work here is done, Mr. Stark asks me to tell you that there is no need for a spare piece of glass now. His inventions are better than you in this regard”
Steve grits his teeth and Sam barks out a laugh just as Steve picks up a pillow and throws it at the leaving robot. The pillow hits its back, having no effect as the machine goes out of the front door.
“Where did he go?” Rachel asks as she looks at the main entrance of the house from where the machine leaves
“I have no idea” Sam says, looking the same way “Shouldn’t you like make sure it gets to Tony?”
“Its great enough to permanently fix the table, its great enough to get where ever its going on its own”
Sam raises his hands in surrender before he looks over at the table just as Max and Lana hop off the couch to get a look themselves.
“Wow” Max runs his hand over the glass “it looks exactly like the old one”
“I know right” Lana squeaks “Uncle Tony is the best”
Steve scowls from his place behind the children, his arms crossed as Sam looks at him, amused
“Tony always has the solution for everything doesn’t he?”
Both the kids nod their heads excitedly, looking over at the table as Rachel and Ryan join them. The irritation and anger bubbling inside Steve grows. There was a time when he had just started his family with you and Tony had helped him retire and settle in this house when he had wondered why did he even disliked Tony to begin with. The thought was simple, accompanying the smile on his face as he watched Tony interact with his children.
Right now? with the blood in his vessels boiling and the rest of his body doing everything thing to calm it down, he knows exactly why he did not like the Iron Man to being with and if there was a chance, he would really like to have a “talk” with his past self for even thinking something like this.
“Yup, Dad drives you all the way to the city and Uncle Tony is the one that gets things done”
Steve mumbles to himself and shakes his head when Max looks back and asks him what he said
“Nothing”
Max shrugs and turns back to the table before Lana sighs and turns to Steve
“Its better than our old one. Its got this beautiful shine to it”
Steve reluctantly gives his daughter a small nod as Max takes in a breath
“Its better than the old one” Max stands up and runs closer to Steve.
“What?” Steve knits his eyebrows together trying to move a little bit back to put some distance between himself and his son. Said son seems to not understand this as he comes closer and takes hold of Steve’s shoulders and shakes him vigorously
“The table is better than the last one dad!”
Steve places his hands on both of Max’ shoulders and shakes him vigorously too
“I know son”
Max is shooting him a look and Steve finds himself not having anymore power to deal with all this. His anger was morphing itself into irritation and it was getting really hard to not take that irritation out on anyone in the room and so he takes a deep breath but before he can ask for more clarity on the subject Sam whispers
“Holy shit”
“Sam!”
“Sorry I mean Holy shirt” Sam looks down at his children who thankfully are invested in the design on the table to have noticed and decided to copy his mess up “Your original glass was not perfect”
“Yeah yeah” Steve growls “I know, Tony is the best. He got the perfect glass. Are we done?”
“Dad! Mom will know. She calls us crazy children because we destroy every nice thing she buys,if the table is perfect she will know something is wrong”
“So let me get this straight” Steve takes in a deep breath “You made me drive to the city, face a scary lady, deal with Tony and his big head, all for this glass and now you want to destroy it?”
“Yes!” Max nods his head just as Steve closes his eyes
“I don’t think so”
“No you don’t get it” Lana says as she turns to Rachel who now sits on the sofa along with her brother, watching the scene. Lana lovingly pulls out the tetra pack out of the little girl’s hand. “Can I have that Sweety, I promise to buy you two new ones tomorrow”
Rachel nods her head always wanting to do whatever her cousin sister asked of her. Lana gives her a small smile before turning towards the table
“Lana what are you-” a finger is raised to stop Steve from saying further and he finds himself out of words. What the heck?
She runs her hand through the smooth table one last time before squeezing the tetra pack to shoot out the drink on the table
Steve watches, his mouth completely open as Max claps his hands together excitedly before running towards the pizza box on the side table and picking up a piece and throwing its toppings on the table
Ryan has climbed down from his place on the couch and is copying Lana in the tetra pack emptying as Rachel runs her hands through the mess
“Wow” Sam whispers from besides Steve and Steve feels something akin to jealousy when unlike him Sam at least still has his words
“Well, might as well help” His friend smiles evily before himself sprinting towards the party
Sam picks up his daughter from the floor and stands her up on the table, holding her hands to help her balance on the slippery thing as Steve watches in shock
“Come on dad” Max calls out to his father and Steve looks at him and the others who have found other things to throw at the glass and rub on it. Lana is hitting a pillow on the thing as Max is rubbing his shoe on it, Sam holds tight to both his children as they sit on the messy thing and laugh.
A smile curves his lips as he shakes his head. If you told Steve Rogers when he woke up from ice that there would be a day where his heart won’t hurt like a needle is sieving its way through, that his eyes won’t shine from memories of time he belonged, that pain was something that he would seldom see. Steve would have given you an irritated look before deciding to never talk to you.
Yet here Steve Rogers was. In his house, away from the life he had left along with the memories of a different time, with the people that make his days worth waking up and children that make him wanna claw his ears out but who also make him wanna do every single thing he can just to hear the melody of their laughter.
He has a sudden urge to take you in his arms and thank you till the end of time for this heaven that you made possible for him. Maybe he will.
“Where are you going?” They’ve all stopped their craziness to look over at him as he steps towards the door that leads him out of the living room
“Yeah Steve come on its fun”
Steve shakes his head, looking over at all four of their dejected faces
“Gotta bring Aiden and Ana, can’t let them miss on the fun can we now” there is a beat of silence after his words followed by a series of excited howls as Sam brings his phone and plays the music
When Steve is back with his other two children, the music blaring, all he can think of is how his family is crazy, how they challenge every strict resolve he tries to build up, how he would have to eventually clean this mess up himself and how he would never have it any other way.
And so he brings the tomatoes to join in on the Mission: Destroy the table again.
———-
There is a ring on the door before the jingling of keys sounds and the door is thrust open. Steve takes a defensive stance but quickly withdraws a mop of dark hair comes to his sight.
“Hey Stevie” Bucky waves as you close the door behind him and Steve scrunches his eyebrows, hesitantly waving back
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him” you say, shaking your head as Steve makes his way towards you, ignoring Bucky who tries to discreetly check the table out
“He’s an idiot” Steve says as he wraps his arms around your waist, taking your lips in a quick kiss “How was your night Honey?”
You sigh as you pull away from Steve, sitting down on the couch to remove your high heels
“It was good. We had fun” you remove the heal off your foot by the strap and drop it down on the floor before sighing and leaning back to relax against the sofa.
“Yup, it was really fun” Bucky whistles and you turn to him in annoyance
“Correction. It was fun until he showed up. I have no idea why?”
“Hey!” Bucky looks at you offended “I was there to enhance the fun”
You just roll your eyes and turn to Steve, massaging your forehead
“I would have been home quicker but he kept insisting on proving he could drink as many shots as he likes without getting drunk. Even though no one challenged him and we knew he could. Nat had to produce her knife to stop him from saying any further”
“Then he made me go from one shop to the other in search of caramel flavor ice cream. Mind you not butterscotch. Caramel” You sigh “Because Rachel only likes Caramel even though I told him its Butterscotch”
“Rachel calls it caramel” Bucky defends himself “You have no idea the tantrum I have to face if I being the wrong one home”
“She’s your daughter alright” Steve comments and Bucky glares at him
“We did find caramel though” Bucky says, crossing his arms
“Yes from that fucking hotel in the city” you turn to Steve “We were here, 5 minutes out when he turned the car and went towards the city again even though I begged him to drop me home”
“Hey! I just remembered where we get the caramel ice cream from” Bucky shrugs “I don’t like going home empty handed when I stay away late at night”
“No one asked you to stay away” you grit your teeth and Bucky rolls his eyes
“I had other things to do in the city, just got in the bar for a quick drink when I saw you guys. You are not that important” He says “And you should be thankful to me for driving you home”
“I could have taken a cab” You grit your teeth “Way better than your stupid, stinky car”
Bucky takes a deep breath trying to say something
“Where are my babies?” you interrupt before Bucky can say anything
“Asleep” Steve turns back to you
“I really wanted to kiss them goodnight before they went to bed” you sigh “but someone made me late”
Bucky looks away as you turn to glare at him before going towards the sofa and sitting on it, analyzing the table.
“Wow this is beautiful” Bucky says as he moves his hand over the glass and Steve’s eyes widen in fear. What the hell was Bucky even doing.
“Yeah” you give him a small smile before looking at him suspiciously “Why?”
You move ahead to have a look at said table yourself
“Nothing” Bucky shrugs “Just realized its good, that’s all”
Experience warns there is more to the sudden fascination to a piece of furniture by a man who claims he does not care for this stuff but exhaustion pleads to let it go for now.
And so exhaustion does win as you look around
“Max and Lana in their rooms?”
“Yeah” Steve nods his head “Gone to sleep”
Your eyebrows knit together again in confusion as to turn to Steve
“Its summer” you say and Bucky snorts
“Yes and this couch is black”
You shake your head in annoyance, ignoring the idiot intent on testing every bound of your self control
“The older kids do not sleep so early in summer, its what” you look at the clock “1 am?”
Steve internally groans
“They were tired”
You look at him suspiciously but again exhaustion wins and you nod your head, heading towards the rooms
“I’m just gonna check up on the kids” You say as you exit the room
“Okay honey” Steve waves and watches you leave and when he is sure you are out of range he moves towards Bucky and punches his shoulder.
“What the fuck?” Bucky groans, massaging the injured area
Steve shakes his head deciding not to chastise is friend for the language right now
“What was that?” He asks annoyed “Why did you pull her attention towards the table?”
“The suspense was killing me” Bucky whispers back and Steve is left wondering if Bucky coming back in his life really is a good thing
—————–
The screeching of the door is followed Steve entering the room from the en-suite bathroom after having brushed his teeth. He pulls off his shirt, discarding it into the laundry basket and moving towards his bed.
You already lie there, on top of the blanket, not having made the effort to get inside the covers after having changed into your sleeping shorts and one of Steve’s shirts. Your hand is thrown to cover your eyes from even the dim light that encompasses the room.
Steve smiles as he makes his way to your side of the bed, helping you hoist up and get inside the sheets before he jumps in from above you and you let out a laugh.
“You could have hurt me” you tease
“I will die before I hurt you” He says and you roll your eyes
“Drama queen” you lightly hit his hand “I seem to remember the immense pain I was in when Aiden was born”
“Yeah and your pregnancy pain is my fault” Steve rolls his eyes smiling
“Of course it is” You shift to face him while lying down and he copies your action “Were you not listening when I was telling this to you in the delivery room”
“You mean screaming?”
“Same thing baby” you shrug and Steve laughs before bringing his hand to your cheek.
“Well that is the only pain I will inflict on you”
You shake your head fondly and give him a small smile before placing a soft kiss on his mouth
“You seem eerily sober for a woman who just had girl’ night”
“I’m tipsy, I guess” you shrug “couldn’t drink too much”
“Why?” Steve asks furrowing his eyebrows
“Because I’m not ready to have a hangover when I have four kids intent on wrecking havoc around our house”
Steve frowns “I would have taken care of them”
“I know” You smile and place a hand on his cheek “How did it go today? Everything gone smoothly”
You ask and Steve feels his heart quicken his pace but he tries his best to keep his face even as he nods at you
“Nothing happened?” You ask and he shakes his head
“If by happened you mean we had so much fun so a lot happened” he says and quickly scolds himself internally. What the hell Steve?
“Nothing at all?” You look at him suspiciously and he shakes his head
“Oh come on” he laughs, a laugh that is so so fake that it could qualify for a cry. His heart beats fast and he is quickly reminded how he is physically incapable of lying to you “What could have possibly happened?”
"I don’t know” You shrug “Maybe the fan was unhinged from the ceiling, maybe the kitchen was flooded”
You list off and Steve just rolls his eyes, internally sighing in relief. For a moment there he really was scared.
“Maybe the window of the living room was broken” Steve feels his eyes widen which he quickly controls but it is enough for your sharp spy eyes.
Steve tries to play it off like he did with your other comments but doesn’t realize how that would not be possible after you say
“Maybe the glass of my beautiful center table was broken”
That had him and he furrows his brows, looking at you intently and the moment he catches the shine in your eyes, he quickly gets up from his position
“Wha-What?”
You sigh before getting up yourself to cross your legs on the bed, facing Steve. You move your hand to run your index finger along his cheeks. His eyes follow the motion
“Maybe the kids spilled water on it and broke the glass while cleaning it off” You smile and Steve suddenly chokes on his own spit
“How-How do you” he stammers and you smile fondly shaking your head
“Oh my Stevie” you move to sit on his lap and straddle your legs on either side of him as you face him “You really thought you could hide it from me?”
“How do you even?” he asks, moving a string of your hair and had fallen on your cheek to behind your ear
“I noticed the window had newspaper covering rather then the glass” you say as you blop his nose affectionately “Then I pieced it together with Bucky crashing my girl’s night. I thought he got there because you were dealing with the broken glass”
He laughs at that and moves his hands around your waist to pull you closer
“God” he shakes his head fondly “That’s why you should never marry a spy”
You playfully punch his shoulder as he laughs but a thought comes to mind which makes him pause his laughter
“Wait a minute” he says, holding out his finger in front of your face “How do you know about the table”
You smile again shaking your head
“Never reveal all your secrets”
“Come on” he whines, tightening his hold on your waist “I thought the new glass really looked like the old one”
“Oh yeah it does” you say “would have never even found out”
“Then how”
“I have little spies around the house”
Steve raises his eye brows at you before laughing out
“I should have known” he shakes his head “Which one?”
“Well when I went to check up on the kids after I got home, Ana was dead asleep and I kissed her forehead and left, I could tell Lana and Max were pretending to sleep but I was not in the mood to confront. Then when I went to Aiden’s room and kissed his forehead he turned to me and started talking about how scared he was after the table broke and how upset his older sister was”
“Of course he did that Mama’s boy” Steve sighs “I forgot to tell him to not say anything to you”
“And you think he would have kept quiet?”
“Well at least you would have found out after like 2-3 days, not the moment you got here. You know how hard it was to get this new glass”
“That is what you get for plotting an elaborate scheme against me”
“Elaborate scheme” he uses his fingers to make the double quotes sigh “The kids didn’t want to hurt your feelings”
“Really?” You tease, moving your dace closer to him and kissing his cheek “It had nothing to do with the fact that I had warned you against putting that table up by yourself”
“I hate you” he mumbles and you place a soft kiss right on the spot on his neck you know would give the desired result. And you are proven right as he groans and takes hold of your hands
“I love you too” You give him a wide, cheeky smile, showing all your teeth
“I have no idea why I put up with you”
“Its because I am awesome” You press a small wet kiss on his chest and he groans “And because I do this”
A small content smile takes over his face as your hands roam his body before your hand that is pulling on the waistband of his sweats pinches hard on his waist and he lets out a scream
“What the fuck?”
“Language Captain”
He stares at you wide eyed, open mouthed and you let out a laugh
“Aiden also told me about the impromptu party you guys had without me” you mock glare at him
“We were re- destroying the table” he massages the area you pinched
“I know that. And you woke up my babies to do it”
“You know I wouldn’t leave any of my children behind”
You sigh, smiling at him
“You are a good father Steve” you pat his chest lightly “Are kids are so lucky to have you”
A little, involuntary curve takes over his lips as he softly kisses his wife. He pretends to ignore the shine of your eyes and the little shakiness in your voice just as you ignore his.
“I just wanted to do something for them” Steve whispers as he pulls you into a hug “So they could trust me to help them when they have other, more significant problems”
You pull away from him and place your hand on his cheek
“I know sometimes it feels like they don’t especially during one of those tantrums but those children love you dearly and it doesn’t even make me feel bad that I know you are the one they are gonna come to if they really are in trouble in life”
Steve gives you a small smile and shakes his head
“But they will always love their mom more” He says, trying to lighten the atmosphere of the room and saying what he knows is the truth
“That is so true” you tease and then giggle and try to move away when he tries to tickle you “Stop stop, I have something to tell you”
He keeps ticking you, now placing you on your back and climbing up on you, continuing his tickle attack
“STOP, SORRY SORRY” You scream and he shakes his head through his laughs
“I like to hear the sound of your laughter” he says and keeps tickling you as you try to squirm away
“I’m pregnant” You scream and suddenly the tickles fade away as Steve stares at you, his eyes wide. Shock paints every inch of his handsome face and you give him a small, hesitant smile
“I went to the hospital today before meeting Nat and Wanda, that is why I did not get drunk” you say hesitantly “I know we did not talk about another one but I-I well I- you know-’
Your lips are stopped from producing any more words as Steve’s mouth claims your in an intense, passionate kiss. His hands roam your body before finally coming to rest behind your neck
“oh my god” he whispers before he pecks your lips again “This for real?” he asks and you nod your head “I love you. Thank you for this”
He sits up and places his hand on your not yet showing stomach and keeps his eyes fixated there
“Thank you” he whispers and you smile as a tear falls down his left eye
‘You should be saying sorry” you tease and he looks at you, his eyebrows knit together “I’m gonna be in pain because of you again”
“Good pain” he laughs and you narrow your eyes at him
“Its definitely not good”
“Then let me make it better” he whispers, his eyes dark as he moves closer to you “Let me thank you properly for this wonderful surprise my baby mama”
You close your eyes as his lips press against yours and moan through the kiss. Your hands roam his bare back, appreciating his sculpture before your hand takes hold of the waist band of his sweats but before you can yank it down, Steve suddenly pulls away, his eyes wide and you look at him with your eyebrows knitted together
“If its a girl, I’m keeping her and Ana away from you and Alanah” Steve says “I don’t think I can handle anymore mini you’s”
You laugh as he looks at you in all seriousness.
———————-
The strong aroma of sugar and eggs and the little smoke coming out of the kitchen causes him to knit his eyebrows in confusion.
Steve had just left your sleeping self in the bed for some much needed extra sleep and had gone down stairs to cook for the children he knew would be awake any second and maybe make you breakfast in bed too.
After the news he just got, you would be getting a lot of these breakfasts in bed.
A flutter runs down his body at the thought of his unborn baby and a new addition to his already crazy family. The new kid had no idea what’s coming for them.
"Good morning Dad!” Max greets him as he enters the kitchen, flipping his omelette
“What are you doing?” He asks looking around the table to find Lana and Aiden sitting on their respective chairs on the dinning table and Ana sitting on the table itself.
Aiden is eating his pancake and Lana is eating hers and feeding some to Ana.
“Making breakfast” Max shrugs, bringing a plate and emptying the pan in a plate before the bread in the toaster pops up and he places it on the plate
Steve watches dumbfounded as all his children nonchalantly eat their breakfast as if it were a normal occurrence for their older brother to cook for them
“Here dad” Max places the plate of scrambled eggs in front of Steve’s usual chair on the dining table
Steve stares at the thing before looking up at his son in complete bewilderment
Max rolls his eyes as he goes back to cook himself a plate of pancakes
“I can cook you know”
“But why are you?” Steve now picks up his plate and moves towards the stove, standing besides Max and watching his son pour pancake batter on the pan. A swell of pride blooms within himself as he watches the scene
“I just-” Max looks at Steve before looking back down at the stove “I well, I just wanted to say thank you”
Steve feels a little tug at his heart
“What for?”
“You just-” Max flips the pancake on the stove, still not making eye contact “I just- I know how hard it must have been for you and I don’t know I just-. You lied to Mom for us and went to Uncle Tony even though he may have made fun of you and I just- Thank you for being my Dad”
He says at last shrugging his shoulders and trying to blink back the tears that Steve knows are forming in his eyes.
Steve rounds his arm around Max’ shoulder and shakes his head
“Thank you for being my son” Steve whispers so only Max can hear “And I’ve always got your back”
Max turns his head to look over at Steve. Strands of the young boy’s hair fall on his forehead as his eyes shine and his lower lip trembles
“Even when the thing is fixing a broken table that your mother won’t have even been very angry about because I know its important to you”
“I love you Dad”
“I love you more son” he gives Max a small side-ways hug and takes a bite of his eggs “This is amazing”
“Thank you”
“You guys having a party without me?”
“Mamamamam” Ana squeaks bouncing on the table and stretching her arms towards you so you can pick her up. You step in the kitchen and pick your daughter
“Am I not getting any pan cakes?” You ask the little girl, tickling her tummy as you kiss Aiden on the forehead who gives you a teethe smile. Ana lets out loud laughs and you kiss Lana on the forehead too
“Good morning Mom”
“Good morning”
Max places a plate of pan cakes with strawberries in front of you
“Oh wow, You made these honey?”
Max nods his head, smiling and you grin at him
“Don’t” he warns but you still reach him and ruffle his hair as Ana laughs in your arm
“My little boy is growing up so fast, Stevie make it stop”
Steve laughs as Max whines when you pull his cheeks
“Moooooom”
“He has started having facial hair Stevie” you gasp and Max pulls away from you. Running his hand through his chin where few hair have started growing
“Why do you always have to do this?”
“Can’t I even mourn the fact that my baby does not even need me to feed him anymore, now he had decided to cook breakfast for everyone”
Max rolls his eyes “Its a one time thing”
“We’ll see” you tease and take a seat on the table besides Lana and give her a small smile, eating your pancakes yourself and feeding some to your daughter on your lap
When Max is done cooking for himself and has put on his stack of pancakes what seems like all the chocolate syrup in the house, he settles down and starts eating
He shoots Steve a small smile and Steve’s heart is full.
You look over at Steve knowingly and he smiles back at you.
Life cannot get any better. With his family eating breakfast together, laughing, teasing, just just being themselves. He looks over at you and then at your stomach that is cut from his vision because of his younger daughter on your lap and suddenly he just can’t wait for his new child to come along and join their siblings in making Steve question every single resolve in his life.