Title: father's joy
Disclaimer: only the kids are mine
Warnings: way post-WS
Pairings: Bucky/Steve, OFC/OMC, past surprise pairing
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1000
Point of view: third
Prompt: any, any, one character/couple's child is dating another character/couple's child
The first time Abigail comes home ranting about "that Lewis boy," Jim didn't think much of it. Or the second, or the third.
But the fourth time, she pauses in the door of the kitchen and blushes when Jim looks up, that same blush her daddy has, and Jim thinks, Oh, fuck.
.
This isn't at all the life Jim thought he'd have, back when he was on the run from everybody, blowing the shit out of Hydra, trying to figure out who and what he was. He was playing hide and seek with Steve across the world, half a step ahead of the various governments that wanted him, either to wring him dry or string up him.
He found Abigail in the very last base he blew all to hell, a tiny little baby with Steve's hair and eyes, and he made sure to execute every single Hydra bastard there before carrying her out and triggering the failsafe that wiped it (and all its data) off the map.
Abigail is fifteen, now. Bucky Barnes died in the Alps, and the asset died in DC, and it took all of Captain America's pull and Tony Stark's lawyers and the Black Widow's implicit threats to let Jim have the life he has now, with his daughter. And with Steve.
.
"So, that Lewis boy?" Jim asks, pushing the small plate with the brownie across the table as he sits.
Abigail's blush deepens and she ducks her head.
Steve's at work, teaching his evening class at the community college, and Abigail should be at her marksman course, but –
"So, he a good kisser?" Jim asks with a smirk.
"Pop!" she shouts, blushing so red, the exact same shade Steve did the first time Bucky Barnes kissed him.
Jim laughs. "Tell me about him unless you want me to call Jarvis up," he says, leaning back in the chair, getting comfortable.
.
That Lewis boy's first name is Amund, which Jim just shrugs at. He's got amazing green eyes and he's hilarious (now; before, he was just a jerk) and he's so smart that Abigail's the only one who can keep up with him, and they run rings around every teacher they share.
"What about his parents?" Jim asks. He's still going to talk to Jarvis, of course, because Abigail is the most important person in the whole world (with Steve ibarely/i behind her, but Steve feels the same).
Abigail shrugs. "His mom is one of the scientist wranglers at Uncle Tony's company, and his dad – well, his dad's not around much. But he's a freelance something or other."
"Okay," Jim says. "Don't forget that trick your Auntie Tash taught you, and if he hurts you, I'll kill him." He grins at her nod. "Good. Have fun, kid."
.
Steve is all excited, of course, because it's their baby girl's first love. He seems to have forgotten how his first love went, but if a war starts up and there's mad scientists, Jim is going to be very angry and possibly blow things up again.
Abigail eventually brings the Lewis boy home for a 'study date' (and, yes, he hears the finger quotes). Jim trusts his daughter, but he still wants to make sure Amund Lewis knows exactly who Abigail's fathers are, so he's sure to be home. (He's the tester for whatever crazy shit Stark comes up with because, after Abigail, he refused to fight anymore, unless he absolutely had to. Steve retired a year later, too.)
"Pop, this is Amund," Abigail says, holding hands with a tall, pale boy. "Amund, this is my pop, Jim Grant."
"Good to meet you, sir," Amund says. "Abigail told me you were in special ops?"
"Yes," Jim says with a smile. "I was."
Amund nods. "Noted." He looks down at Abigail. "Where are we studying, then?"
Jim chuckles. He decides, based on this preliminary meeting, he likes the kid.
.
When Steve gets home, he tells Amund to talk to his mother about everyone getting together for dinner. "I will, sir," Amund says seriously. He shakes both Steve and Jim's hands, kisses Abigail on the cheek, and leaves.
"Isn't he amazing?" Abigail sighs.
"He seems alright," Jim says. Steve smiles at him.
.
Amund's mother is a firecracker named Darcy Lewis. Steve knows her, and they spend most of dinner gossiping about Steve's old team.
His father – well, Darcy doesn't mention him at all, and neither does Amund.
.
Amund's father comes to the wedding, though.
"Brother?" Thor gapes, and Steve's eyes widen, hand going for the shield he no longer carries.
"I am here in peace," the stranger – Thor's brother? Loki? – says, hands spread. He nods towards the front, where Amund and his groomsmen are gathering. "I have come to see my son wed. I do not want to ruin the day with a quarrel."
"You're dead," Steve says.
Loki smirks. "Oh, yes, very much so," he agrees. "Everyone knows that." He focuses on Jim and holds out a hand. "Amund's father," he says.
Jim shakes his hand. "Abigail's pop."
Darcy hugs Loki, and Amund, too, and Steve's old team clearly want to fight, but for the kids' sake, they don't. Loki vanishes immediately after the ceremony and everyone but Jim descends on Darcy, demanding answers. Even Steve gets caught up in the craze.
Jim, though, hangs back and visits with the rest of the guests, and makes sure nobody bothers Amund on his big day. Abigail helps with that, too; she's got Steve's fighting spirit and always has, but it's Jim's cold determination that really shines through tonight.
.
Abigail and Amund's first child is named Rikolv James Lewis-Grant and he's got Abigail's blue eyes and Amund's (finally unhidden) talent with magic.
He's a handful, just like his ma and grandparents on both sides.
Jim, of course, adores him. And if Loki sometimes pops by when Jim's watching him, well. That's for no one else to know.
Jim hands Ricky to his other other grandpa and smiles as the aloof man melts at their grandson's babbling.
