Republic

SUMMARY: When she married her husband, Scout accepted that Steve was Captain America and will forever be wowed by his undying patriotism, and that his friends were freaks. But what she didn't accept was being thrown into different dimensions and upchucking breakfast everyday. Being pregnant sucked.

XOXOXO

The Rogers kept a simple routine every day of the week. Steve would be the first to wake up, not needing to be careful not to disturb the heavy sleeper that was his wife; he would go for a jog and then come back to take a shower. He would then shake Scout awake and shove her into the bathroom to wash up. After getting dressed, Scout would come downstairs to find Steve setting breakfast on the table.

It was agreed that Steve would be the official chef in the house, knowing how Scout lived off of prepackaged food and usually sucked when it came to cooking. It was also Steve's job to keep the house clean (Scout was an occasional slob), pay the bills, do the shopping, and do the laundry (it took Steve three months getting used to handling Scout's underwear). After coming home from work, Scout's chores were to take out the trash and wash dishes (but Steve does it with her).

It didn't bother the two how their roles seemed to be swapped, Steve being the housewife and Scout the working husband (although SHIELD and Tony Stark were sporadic sources). Steve would be okay with anything just as long as Scout kept away from the stove.

What wasn't okay with him, however, was the response his wife gave him when he stated, "I want kids."

"No."

Three years of being a married couple and the topic of children hadn't sprung up once. And when Steve brought it to the table, Scout ran it over with a metaphorical road-roller. He was a thirty-three-year-old man, for crying out loud (the number made him feel old). He managed to achieve his dream of marrying the woman who he had come to love and adore (who responded the same way in a quite retarded manner), and lived in a nice quaint house in a quiet neighborhood of Brooklyn (which Scout sometimes complain about still), and was friends with other couples (who all had kids of their own).

They even had a dog, but they had to give him away because of Scout's allergies.

But the one thing he couldn't get was a kid. A kid of his own whom he would read bedtime stories to and feed homemade pancakes to and play catch with. Heck, he'd even take a daughter! Though he preferred a son… Just saying.

Admittedly, it didn't really surprise Steve when Scout said no. As Scout had emphasized this several times, she was no good when it came to kids. But she knew that Steve was, so shouldn't that count as something? It really didn't bother him if he had to go from being a housewife to being a stay-at-home mom (househusband and stay-at-home dad?), and he knew that Scout wouldn't care either.

"Why?" Steve felt compelled to ask.

Scout pinched her face and said, "Pregnancies suck."

And that's that.

Steve also was aware that his wife was a young woman, being twenty-eight and committed to her career (as a librarian), so carrying a child would be hindering (even if she's a librarian). Okay, job aside, Scout was young. Why would she want to be burdened with mother duties when she's got her whole life ahead of her? Breast-feeding and changing diapers were definitely not in her criteria.

But Steve still wanted to be a dad.

Scout, perceptive as always (not really), noticed his despondency, which was probably why she said, "Well, if we did have a kid, it'd look Asian." For some reason, she thought that fact would cheer him up. It didn't; just made him confused as to what she was trying to come across.

"Um."

"Because your European genes are recessive to my Asian genes, so therefore our kid would predominantly look Asian."

Steve frowned. "Scout, are you trying to say that I would be upset how our child would look like?"

She persisted her flat stare. "No, because we aren't going to have a child." Ow. Ow. Ow. "I'm just saying."

"Okay," Steve said sadly. He really wanted to be a dad, though.

XOXOXO

NOTES: Steve and Scout dated for three years before Steve popped out the question of "Will you marry me?"