Disclaimer: I don't own Captain America and co, they belong to Marvel. I own my OCs.

After that first encounter, the two have become inseparable in the following weeks of January. When Steve finishes his day at SHIELD his first instinct is to head back to the apartment and catch up with Jackie. They spend every waking minute together as friends.

Arthur is liking Steve more and more as the man spends more time with him and his mother. One day, Arthur didn't want to leave Steve's arms. When Jackie tried to pry him away from Steve the boy would begin to cry. Again his mother was flabbergasted at how her son is behaving around Steve. The man can't seem to stop smiling.

"It's fine Jack. I don't mind holding him."

"And he doesn't mind too. Damn, I've never seen him so comfortable with anyone before" she smiles. Every babysitter I've hired quit within five minutes.

"I've been meaning to ask." Steve took a deep breath "What happened to the father?"

"Don't know, don't care. If I ever see his face again I'm giving him a piece of my mind."

"So he just abandons you and Arthur?"

Jackie wrings her hands "Actually, I broke up with him after I learned that he cheated on me. It was only a few weeks later when I learned I was pregnant with Arthur. No one else knew about Arthur. Not even my parents."

"Why keep him a secret?"

The young woman frowns at him. She's always hated that pity look whenever someone asks that question. I can't stand the sight of it. Steve notes her frown and sudden silence.

"Jack, is something wrong?"

"Nope. Why would something be wrong?" she walks away from him.

Jackie heads for her work desk. Her sketching hand began working its magic as ideas began to flow for a new comic. She does her best to ignore his burning gaze.

"Jack?"

"What?" her tone being sharper than she intended it to be.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I hate it" she mumbles.

"Hate what?"

"That look." Steve blinks. Thank god Arthur's fast asleep or else he would start to cry because of Jackie's tone. "It's always that look whenever someone talks about keeping my son a secret. A look of pity. I don't need any more pity. I'm fine with the way I live and my son is healthy and alive. There's nothing I would do to change this and I won't have you or anyone else telling me how to live my own damn life!"

Jackie had spoken so fast, she had to catch her breath. Her chest rising and falling fast as she breathes in and out deeply. Steve frowns a little.

"Jack, I didn't mean to-"

"Just drop it. Please."

The super soldier nods. They fall into an awkward silence. The first one they've ever had. Steve takes a seat on the futon couch with Arthur still sleeping. His head resting on Steve's chest. The sound of Jackie scribbling at her desk soon became a lullaby to Steve's ears. His eyes were becoming heavier and heavier until he could no longer keep them open.

Jackie notices how quiet it's become. She looks up to see her little man sleeping peacefully with Steve who's knocked out cold on the futon couch. I was too hard on him. The young woman stands up from her desk and walks over to them. She gently picks up Arthur then places him in his crib. After doing so, Jackie grabs a blanket and covers the sleeping super soldier. Her lips gently kiss his forehead.

She whispers "I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

Jackie began to leave. Before she was out of reach, a hand grabs her wrist. Snapping her head around she saw Steve waking up. His eyes still sleepy.

"You don't need to ask for forgiveness Jack."

"Yes, I do. I had no right to act out like that to you."

"Come here."

Steve shuffles over to make some room on the futon couch. He sits up. His hand pulling her in to sit next to him. She caves. Jackie sits next to him. She faces him while her legs laid on top of his lap. Her eyes looking down at her lap.

"Jack, look at me." She glances up to see a soft smile on his face. "You don't have to be sorry. You're allowed to keep secrets."

*sighs* "I really am sorry though. It's just the talk about my pregnancy is a little…touchy."

"Jack…"

"I want to" she takes in a deep breath "The reason why my parents didn't know about Arty was because they kicked me out for not going to the college they wanted me to go. They wanted me to be a doctor or something to earn a lot of money, I just wanted to draw. I had enough money to go to art school back home but my parents used a huge portion of it for meaningless things they never really needed.

Luckily, I managed to empty my account, bought the first bus ticket to D.C. and never looked back. I sent out my sketches to every newspaper in town until I got an interview. The editor loved it and I've been employed there ever since. When Arthur was born, I couldn't work for a while and was close to being fired until I explained to him what happened. He understood since his oldest daughter just gave birth to his first granddaughter. He's helped me out a bit but afterwards, I was on my own."

Steve gently rubs her legs in comfort "Who drove you home from the hospital?"

"Heh. I took a cab. Luckily, the cabbie was kind enough to help me get my stuff in the cab. His sister had a baby so he knows how it is. Hell, he didn't even charge me for the trip. Since I didn't want him to get in trouble, I gave him a $20 bill and told him to keep it."

"So…no one's actually helped you take care of Arthur this whole time."

She shrugs "That just shows me what kind of people there are out there. Besides, I didn't need people then and I don't need them now."

A curtain of silence covers the couple. Jackie absentmindedly stares at her hands. Steve, on the other hand, couldn't believe how much she's been through. She's tough like Peggy. I need to visit her again. He watches the young strong woman next to him with pride and fondness shining in his eyes.

"Jacqueline, if you'll allow it, I want to be the one you can depend on. I want to be there when you need me."

Black eyes connect with blue eyes. The former has stars appearing in them from the ever growing tears. The latter's twinkles with happiness. She rests her head on his shoulder as tears ran down her cheeks. Her body shakes while she silently cries. Steve wraps an arm around her frame and pulls her in closer.

"I'll take that as a yes then" he jokes a little to relax the moment.

She laughs while crying "Shut up Steve."

He laughs too. His lips give a quick kiss to her head. They laugh together.