Two Years Later
Two years. It had been almost two years since the Civil War, and almost one year since the twins had been born. Everyday they did something new that made Steve's heart burst. They were starting to figure out how to walk. Both could stand up for a few seconds and sometimes they'd be able to take one step before falling down. James could say 'Dada' while Maria was still content to make gurgling sounds and clap her hands when she wanted Steve's attention. And they were the perfect blend between Tony and himself. Maria had blonde curls on top of her head and big brown eyes. She had also gotten Tony's mischievous smile, that even at almost a year old she had mastered perfectly. She would be a little terror when she got older Steve could already tell, not that she wasn't one already. James had brown hair that liked to stick up most of the time and clear blue eyes. He had Steve's look of innocence, and Steve knew Maria would drag him into trouble, and James would always follow. The curse of being a James. Maria preferred to make messes with some home made baby paint, and James preferred to make things with his building blocks. The two of them were the perfect mix of Tony and Steve. They were simply perfect.
"Did you make dada another pretty picture?" Steve cooed at Maria who proudly sat in a mess of yellow paint. There was more paint on her then on the paper, but still Steve would keep it on the fridge like he did with all her others. Thankfully the paint was easy to clean off the wooden floors. Even if it wasn't Steve would still let her paint on the floors. Both kids have Steve wrapped around their little fingers.
They had moved into the cabin T'Challa had built for them and Steve loved it. It was secluded from the rest of the kingdom, but not hard to get to if people wanted to visit. Bucky, Sam, Nat, and Wanda all had rooms in the house but they weren't always there. Steve had taken a break from missions, but the others hadn't. They were still hunting down Hydra bases all over the world and reporting in to Steve. That's currently where they all were. Steve still went out sometimes if they were desperate or had a huge lead. Shuri or Adia were always up for babysitting which helped out a lot.
The thing that sucked about missions now was that he wasn't Captain America. He didn't have his blonde hair, clean face, and blue, red, and white costume. He wasn't the perfect American apple pie dream anymore. No, now he was Nomad and Nomad had dirty blonde almost brown hair, and a beard like Thor's. He wore dark grey's and had no shield. That's who he was now. When he wasn't with his kids. With them he was still Steve Rogers, and that's who he would always be.
Maria clapped her hands as Steve took the picture, before crawling away to bother James who was very concentrated on his castle. Sensing what was about to happen Steve instantly scooped up Maria knowing that the little devil would find it more fun to knock the blocks over.
"You are a little monster" Steve told her bopping her nose as she pout at him for ruining her fun. The look reminded him of one that Tony would give when he would drag him out of the lab and force him to sleep. Two years had gone by and still he missed his ex husband. Not a day passed where he didn't think about the man. To many nights did he lay in bed with their kids, cell phone in hand ready to dial his number. But he never did.
Putting Maria down Steve decided to make some lunch. He turned on the tv, and Dora came on the screen. It was an older show but both kids were fascinated with it. Steve hated it. Seeing both kids content he went into the kitchen. When T'Challa designed the house he made it so that there was a window between the kitchen and living room so while Steve was at the stove he could still keep an eye on them. Deciding to just cut up some fruits and veggies for the kids he went about the kitchen getting plenty for them to eat. Steve hadn't noticed if they had inherited anything from the serum, like fast metabolism but they did eat a lot. When they were older maybe he would have some tests run to see if they had anything else.
It was a scary thought, thinking about if his babies could have gotten some parts of the serum. Before Steve was in Wakanda he was constantly being tracked down by people who all wanted the serum for themselves. The thought of anyone trying to hurt his babies because of the serum sent a thing of rage through him. Over his dead body would anything ever happen to Maria or James.
"Tony Stark, aka Iron Man seems to be up to his old ways. The billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist hasn't been the same since his husband, Steve Rogers aka Captain America, became a wanted criminal. It is said from an inside source, that Tony Stark spends his days in the lab, and only sleeping when he's drunk himself into it" Steve looked up from where he was cutting up a banana. James was holding the remote in hand, pushing buttons and the channel had changed to the news. Putting down the knife Steve went into the living room and grabbed the remote from his son, who seemed to now be trying to take it apart. Maria started to cry over the loss of her precious Dora.
"I know baby girl, Daddy's changing the channel back" Steve assured her, but couldn't find himself to do it. He needed to hear what else the lady had to say.
"Tony Stark hasn't been seen leaving his tower in months. Iron Man hasn't made an appearance since the incident in Queens, but New York has been on it's own since that day. Will Tony Stark find it in him to move on? Or has the world lost another precious superhero?" Maria's crying got louder and it brought Steve out of his daze.
"Sorry baby girl, here you go" Steve hit a button and Dora was back on the screen singing with that stupid monkey. Putting the remote up high so James couldn't grab it Steve went back into the kitchen. Tony hadn't left the tower in months? He's drinking again? No Iron Man?
"Oh god" Steve breathed tears welling in his eyes as he realized. He had caused this. He had broken Tony down, something he swore he would never do. That was literally something in his wedding vows, when they were starring at each other. They both wrote their own, and one of Steve's lines were 'I know you've been hurt by so many people, and it's hard for you to let others in. But I swear, I will never be one of those people. I won't ever hurt you like they did. I can't promise we won't fight, but I can promise you've got me for forever'
"Oh god" Steve said louder as he continued to think and let the memories continue to overflow. Steve thought his life sucked, having to hide and being a wanted criminal, and it did, but what did Tony have? Sure Tony was a free man but he was alone. He had Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy but no one else. Steve had taken all of them with him. Steve's life had gone up once he had the kids, but Tony's had only gone down.
The kids
Tony didn't have the kids because Steve had never told him about them. So scared of Tony trying to take them away he hadn't really thought about it. He knew Tony, Tony would never do something like that. He let his fears take over him, and it hid him from the truth. Tony was a good man.
But there was still the accords problem. They would never agree on the accords. Steve would never sign them, and no matter how much he loved Tony, Tony would never change his mind on it. How would he tell Tony about the kids? If anyone ever found out that Tony had one year old kids it would be very obvious on who's kids they were. Everyone knew Tony loved Steve and would never have cheated. If anyone ever found out about the kids, it was only a matter of time before General Ross caught wind of it, and then they'd probably be able to find him and everyone else. Bucky. No matter what happened the government would never let Bucky be a free man. Was it really worth everything to tell Tony?
"Only sleeping when he's drunk himself into it. Not leaving the tower. No Iron Man" looking at his kids Steve knew everything was about to change for all of them, because his mind was made up. Grabbing the cell phone from the kitchen drawer with nothing else in it, he dialed the only number on the phone hoping Tony would answer.
"This better be good, Rogers"