September 4th, 2001...
Margaret ran up to her father smiling proudly. "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy! Guess what I can do!?" She launched herself into Steve's arms and he happily picked his daughter up into his arms.
He smiles at her, "What did you do Peggy?" In answer she stuck out her foot for him to see. Steve stared puzzled at the sight of his daughter's foot. "You put on your shoe?" He asks. Margaret bursts into laughter and shook her head.
"No daddy! Your silly. I tied my shoe laces all by myself!" She says excitedly throwing her arms around her father's neck. "And mommy didn't help me at all!"
Steve's smile grew bigger when he focused on the tied laces staring at him. "You did? That's great news Peggy!" He threw Margaret- Peggy-up in the air and catches her on her fall back down. Peggy begins to laugh uncontrollably. "I'm so proud of you! Did you show mommy?"
"I was there when she did it." Steve looked up at the sound of his wife's, Natasha, voice and smiled. She stood in the entrance of the hallway with a proud/amused smile on her face. "She's growing up fast." Natasha comment makes Steve frown.
His arms tighten around Peggy and he shakes his head. "Don't say such horrible words, she's my baby. She's not growing up and she will stay little and cute forever. Right Peg?"
Peggy smiles at her father, "Whatever you say daddy." Steve nodded contently,
"That's what I like to hear." He places Peggy on the ground after giving her a sweet kiss on her forehead.
Natasha walks up to them, "Sweetie why don't you go get the others? Daddy's leaving soon and he wants to say goodbye to everyone."
Almost instantly Peggy's happy smile vanishes and she looks up at Steve sadly. "Do you have to go daddy?"
"Yes baby," Steve sighs sadly. "We talked about this."
"But New York is far away!" Peggy winces wrapping her arms around Steve's torso. "And I'll miss you too much."
"I'll miss you two Peggy. How could I not miss my two favorite girls?" Steve's hand reaches down to cup the back of her head as he pulls Natasha to his side. "But it's only going to be for a week. Daddy will be back on the 11th, I promise."
Peggy pouts, "That's a long time." She mumbles into Steve's pant leg. Steve chuckles and bends down to be at height level with his daughter. Her eyes are watery and Steve knows she's close to crying soon, so to prevent that he brings up a topic that always makes her smile. "Would you let me go if I promise to bring you back presents?"
It's almost funny how quick Peggy's eyes clear and a smile spreads across her face. "Presents!?" She asks excitedly bouncing.
Natasha and Steve laugh. "Yes, if your a good girl for mommy and are strong while I'm away, I'll bring you back a lot of presents." Steve bribes which earns a disapproving look from Natasha. Peggy already had a lot of things, courtesy of her uncle Tony. She did not need more stuff. Steve shrugged in reply and turned his attention back to his bouncing, excited child. "You hear me Peggy? If you're good, daddy will bring to back A LOT of presents. Okay?"
"Okay daddy!"
"Now come here, give me a BIG hug! I want the biggest hug you've ever given me so I can last through the week." Peggy's smile grew and she reached up to wrap her arms around Steve's neck. In return Steve wraps his around her torso and pulled them closer together. He buried his face in his daughter's shoulder as Peggy laid hers on his chest.
"I'll miss you daddy."
"I'll miss you too sweetie. I love you."
"I love you more." Peggy says looking away smiling.
Steve shakes his head, "Impossible. Give daddy a kiss." Peggy leans in and presses her lips softly onto Steve's cheek. "Okay, I love you." He kisses Peggy's cheek, before standing and looking at Natasha. "And I love you." Instead of a cheek kiss, Natasha gets a long passionate kiss that emits an 'Ewwww!' from Peggy. Her parents break apart laughing. "Okay girls, I'll be back later."
"What about the others?" Natasha asks.
Steve shrugs, "I'll see them on my way down." Steve goes to grab his duffle bag.
"Make sure to take plenty of pictures because I want to see what it looks like on the inside. I've only seen the outside of it." Natasha says as she walks Steve over to the door.
"What, what looks like inside mommy?"
Natasha turned to her daughter and smiles, "Daddy's going to be staying in one of the twin towers in New York."
Peggy's eyes nearly pop out of her head, "You are!? Daddy those are the biggest things I've ever seen. They're taller than uncle Tony's tower!" Steve laughed,
"Yeah they are."
"Then you gots to take pictures so mommy and I can see." Peggy commanded.
"I will Peg, don't worry. Now I've got to go before I miss my plane."
Natasha catches Steve on his way to the door. She grabs the collar of his shirt and stares into his eyes. "Be safe." She whispers to him. Steve covers Natasha's hand with his own. "I will. I'll come home in a week, I promise. I love you."
Natasha smiles, "I love you too."
They share one more kiss before Steve exits out the door, duffle bag in hand.
The minute the door closes, Peggy's shoulders deflate and she frowns. "I miss daddy already."
"Me too baby, but you know what? Tonight, after dinner we'll give him a call. Okay? That way you can say goodnight to him before bed."
"Okay mommy."
Natasha smiles before reaching a hand out to Peggy. "Now come on love, let's go see uncle Clint and aunt Bobbi." Peggy gives her a weak smile before grabbing her mother's hand and following her out the door.
.
.
September 7th, 2014…
Peggy runs as fast as she can, her destination set in mind. She follows the sound of her mother's voice as it comes from her parents' bedroom. When she reaches the door, she waste no time in yanking it open. And there he is... her father.
Well, technically. He wasn't there in person, but on Natasha's laptop screen. Still he was there, she could see him and her him so he was there.
When the door slammed against the wall, it startled her parents who both jumped, especially Natasha. She whirled around, a curse at the tip of her tongue, but she stopped short at seeing her child's beaming face. Natasha relaxed and smiled at Peggy. Peggy looked at Natasha with hopeful eyes and with a quick nod, Peggy was over by the bed clambering on to talk to Steve. "Hi daddy!" She shouts once she's climbs into Natasha's lap.
Steve smiles, "Hi my love. How are you?"
"I'm good. What about you?" She asks in her high pitched voice. Peggy was smiling like crazy and couldn't find a will to stop.
Steve shrugged, "Okay, but I miss you."
"I miss you too. When are you going to come home?" Peggy asks looking very anxious.
"Soon." Steve replies.
Peggy raises an eyebrow, something she had inherited from her mother, and crossed her arms. "How long is soon?"
"4 days and I'll be on the plane back by morning."
"Good because I need you to come home and read to me. Uncle Tony, Clint, Brucie and Thor are doing a terrible job. I only like the way you and mommy tell stories."
Steve let out a sharp laugh at his daughter's blunt statement. "Yes Peggy, I'm come home to read to you as soon as I can." Steve replies sarcastically. "It's not like I'm used for anything else, except reading to you."
Natasha laughed resting her chin on Peggy's shoulder. "You've been apart of this family for… what? 4 years and now you're barely starting to get it through you're thick skull." She joked laughing.
Steve frowned and pretended to be stern, a smile slowly starting to replace his frown. "Your going to be sorry when I come back home. Both of you." Natasha and Peggy share a laugh as Steve shakes his head at the both of them. "Okay guys, I have to go, but I will talk to you soon. Alright? I love you."
"We love you too." The girls reply on unison.
"Talk to you soon Steve." Natasha says before Steve gives them a nod and the screen turns black.
Peggy huffed a sigh and curled into Natasha's body. "I miss him... so much."
"I know love, I miss him too. Hey you want to have daddy's favorite dinner tonight?"
Peggy made a face, "But I don't like carrots." She winced.
Natasha laughed, "Then you don't have to eat them. You can have the steak."
"Okay mommy." Peggy beams. Natasha turns to get off the bed to make dinner, but Peggy stops her. "Mommy?"
"Yes sweetie?"
"Can I sleep with you tonight? In one of daddy's shirts?" Peggy asks hopefully.
Natasha smiles down at her and cups her chin, "Of course you can. Now come on, you wanna help mommy make dinner?"
"Yeah!"
"Then let's go." Peggy jumps of the bed, grabs a hold of Natasha's hand and pulls her towards the bedroom door.
"Come on mommy, come on!"
Natasha laughs, "I'm coming. I'm coming."
.
.
September 10, 2001…
Through the next three days, Peggy made a habit of talking to Steve constantly. Whether it would be on the phone, or face time or texting messaging. Either way, she found a way to contact him. They were always talking. The only time they didn't was when Steve had to go to work or meetings, but immediately after he'd call Peggy or Peggy would call him. Of course Natasha would join in their conversations, but most of it was between Steve and Peggy. Peggy couldn't get enough of her father. And when she woke up the morning of September 10th, she was practically bouncing with excitement.
She literally jumped out of bed and ran to the other side of the bed. She clambered quickly and without a second thought, Peggy flung herself onto where Natasha was. "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" Natasha groaned in response, as her hands clutched her sheets. Peggy giggled when her mother shook her head no like a small child. "Mommy wake up!"
"No. I'm sleeping." Natasha replies with her eyes closed.
"No you're not." Peggy laughs. When she doesn't get a reply, Peggy lays down beside her mother facing her and stares at her face.
Without opening her eyes, Natasha reaches out and snakes an arm around Peggy's torso pulling her closer. Peggy smiles. "Sleep with mommy." Natasha says. "Let's not get up."
Peggy huffs, "But we got to get things ready for daddy's welcome home party! It needs to be perfect, like auntie Pepper said!"
Natasha in mid- moan stopped and with a sigh opens her eyes. "Alright, I'm up. I'm up." With one big push, Natasha hoists herself up to a sitting position and looks down at her daughter who stays laying down. Natasha frowns at her, "You're lucky I love you and you're dad. If your uncle Clint came and woke me up I'd skin him alive."
Peggy smiles, "I know mommy. Now come on. Auntie Pepper, Janie, Darcy, Betty and Bobbi are taking us to the mall to buy things for daddy's party."
Natasha smiles, "Okay, go get ready and I'll meet you in the living room."
"You got it mommy." Peggy says before shooting upright and jumping off the bed. She runs out of the room without another word.
Natasha begins to get out of bed, but as she stood there's a sudden foreign feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was strong enough to force her to sit back down. It was a feeling that she's felt before, it wasn't totally alienated. But she couldn't quite put a name to it. It made her feel nervous and scared. This feeling always accompanied a dangerous mission that she knew was going to go wrong. And she was right every time which was what made her even more scared. Because there was only one Avenger on a mission that day. Everyone else was still at the tower.
Without wasting another second, Natasha throws herself over the bed and reaches to the other beside table where her phone rests. She quickly dials Steve's number in and puts the phone to her ear as she throws her hair out of her face. After the fifth ring, Natasha became even more anxious. "Come on, pick up." She whispers. And he does.
"Hello?"
Natasha sighs in relief, "Steve it's Natasha."
"Hey Nat!" Steve's enthusiastic voice shouts excitedly through the phone. It made Natasha smile. "What's up?"
She felt extremely better instantly, now that she heard Steve's voice. "Um.. n-nothing. I was just calling to make sure you're okay."
She could practically see Steve grinning from the other side of the world, "I'm fine. More then fine. I cant wait till tomorrow so I can come home."
"Neither can we. Especially Peggy. We have a surprise for you when you come home." She informs with a smile.
"A surprise?" Steve questions. "That sounds interesting. Do tell?"
"I cant, it's a surprise!" Natasha says laughing. "You will see it when you come home."
"You're such a tease." Steve says laughing. His laugh sounded like music to her ears.
Natasha sighs in relief, "Alright I just wanted to call and see how you're doing. I miss you."
"You have no idea how much I miss you Nat. It feels weird going to bed and not having you by my side."
Natasha nods, "Tell me about it. Well I at least I had Peggy as substitute for you being missing, but it wasn't the same. She slept in you're shirts for the past couple of days, hope you don't mind."
"Of course not. I cant wait to come home and I sent the presents I bought for Peggy to you guys." Steve says.
Natasha quirks an eyebrow, "Why didn't you just bring them with you on the plane?"
"I couldn't fit them into my suitcase and I'm pretty sure I couldn't take them all on the plane with me so I just sent them."
Natasha rolls her eyes and shakes her head in disapproval. "How much stuff did you get her?"
Steve laughs, "You'll see when it gets there."
Natasha pouts, "Fine, leave me in suspense." Steve laughs again making Natasha smile. "I'll let you go, I'm sure you have some important business to take care of."
"Unfortunately, you're right." Steve replies and Natasha could just imagine his lips creating a small pout.
"Okay, bye. I love you Steve."
"I love you too. Bye."
And the call ends, but the feeling in Natasha's stomach only continues to grow stronger.
…
Later that night, after dinner, Natasha couldn't ignore the feeling any longer. It was like it wanted to be known and wouldn't go away. It was constant and throughout the mall trip, it was hard to focus on anything except the feeling. She hated it. She made sure to text Steve every hour and would relax when he'd reply, but still the feeling never went away.
As she was getting Peggy ready for bed, it was then that she realized her daughter was having the exact same feeling as her. Because she voiced it out loud and it made Natasha worry even more. "Mommy?" Peggy whispers softly as Natasha began to dress her daughter after she had taken her shower.
"What baby?"
"… I-Is daddy… okay?"
The question made Natasha halt in her action and she stared down at her daughter confused. Her stomach knotted tightly and she took a deep breath before answering. "Of course he is," She replies, her voice a little shaky. She curses herself mentally and clears her throat before continuing, "Why do you ask?" Peggy looked down at her parent's bedspread and began to trace the designs, opting to stay silent. Becoming concern, Natasha slips Peggy's shirt over her head before sitting on the bed and bringing her daughter into her lap. Resting her chin on Peggy's shoulder, Natasha rocks her back and forth softly. The touch of her mother calms her immensely and Peggy presses her face into Natasha's chest. "Why baby? What's wrong?"
"… I… I just have this um… feeling like something… bad is going to happen." Peggy finally admits after several long minutes of silence.
"To daddy?" Natasha asks to clarify. Peggy nods sheepishly. Natasha pulls away from her daughter to look into her eyes. Placing a finger underneath her chin, she forces her head up. "Where did this come from?"
"I had a dream." Peggy admits getting teary eyed. "About daddy dying. It was awful mommy."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why didn't you wake me up?"
Peggy begin to sob, "Because I didn't want it to be real. If I tolded you, it might've come true."
Natasha turned her daughter around to cradle her to her chest, Peggy pressing her face into Natasha's chest as she cried. "Peggy, daddy is not going to die. He's coming home tomorrow and is going to be with us. Are you listening to me?" Natasha asked looking down and removing the hair concealing Peggy's face from her. Peggy nodded slightly, "It was just a bad dream, and everything is going to be okay."
"But-"
"No buts." Natasha interrupts. She sighs and presses a kiss before laying Peggy down. "Peggy, daddy's coming home tomorrow and we're having a party for him and we're all going to have a great time tomorrow. Alright?" Peggy nods slightly after a long pause. "Alright." Natasha leans down and kisses Peggy's forehead. "Goodnight baby."
Before Natasha could stand up and walk away, Peggy reached up and quickly grabbed onto Natasha's wrist. "Momma… don't leave. Stay."
"Mommy's just going to take a shower sweetie."
Peggy begins to cry, "Please… stay."
Natasha frowns sadly and nods, "Okay. Scoot over so mommy can lie down." Peggy smiles before tugging on Natasha's wrist and moving over. When Natasha lies beside her daughter, her arms encircle her immediately and she breathes in the scent from her daughter's shampoo. The smell makes her relax, but only slightly. She was still worried, because of the feeling she had been feeling all day and her daughter's confession. She debated on calling Steve to assure not only herself, but her daughter that he was alright, but one look at the clock said it was late at night. Natasha really needed to get her daughter on a schedule. It was 11 p.m. Steve would be going to be right now so she wouldn't bother him. But she will wake up extremely earlier tomorrow and call him. He's a soldier so she knows that he goes to bed strictly at 11 p.m. and wakes up bright and early at 5 a.m.
She'll be awake before that. Kissing her daughter's forehead, Natasha forgets her shower and getting into her PJs. She was so damn tired from the day's festivities that she could barely keep her eyes open. Besides why would she? She was full from dinner, everything for the party was set and ready to go, and she had her daughter in her arms. There couldn't be a better time to fall asleep. And so she did.
She cuddled closer to her daughter and closed her eyes. Natasha and Peggy fell into a deep sleep with smiles on their faces. Unbeknownst to them of how tomorrow's events will change their lives forever.