Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing related to Marvel, either the comics, movies, TV shows, etc. All of that belongs to the Disney Corporation (though I might try kidnapping Captain America and Hawkeye some day, just for fun).

AN: I'm back, and with a new chapter! There will only be two more after this, and once this story is done, I'm going to be taking a bit of a break while I try and find the right plot-bunny to capture and write off of. So if you don't see a story for a while, don't panic –I'm just out catching plot bunnies.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and please don't forget to review!

Story #3: Parental Visitations and Confessions:

Looking in the mirror of my vanity, I saw how pale I looked and winced.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I confessed as Cap put an arm around me. "I mean, I'm looking forward to this, but now that I have to tell them face-to-face that we're married…"

My head resting against his shoulder, I sighed and closed my eyes as I tried to take a deep, calming breath. "We'll be fine," he whispered to me. "And they really do need to know about us."

He was right, of course. We'd been married for over a month, and I still hadn't told anyone outside our group of friends about it. Even my best friend back home didn't know, and I considered her a sister! 'Of course, she's also a gossip, so telling her would be a bad idea anyway.'

After a quick honeymoon in Vegas, Cap and I had returned to New York and tried to settle in as husband and wife. It was a process that was easier than we thought –after all, we'd already lived together, and were bunking in the same bed, so we already knew each other's routines, likes, dislikes, and habits. The only thing that was different was that our nights together were much more…intimate.

Then, all too soon and completely out of the blue, my dad called to say that Mom and Marcus wanted to visit New York.

I honestly hadn't believed that my mother would visit the Big Apple -she watched way too many TV crime dramas, and thought that New York was a place of crime and murder. When I'd first moved here to be with Cap, she'd honestly thought that I would end up becoming one of those TV episodes. That was not a major vote of confidence in me on her part.

But now my family was here, in New York City. They'd arrived late last night, and since they hadn't wanted to make me stay up late and pick them up, they'd simply gone to the hotel to sleep. I had, however, promised to meet them in the lobby of their hotel, so that Cap and I could take them to lunch.

"This is going to be a disaster," I whispered to my husband, when suddenly the urge to giggle almost overcame my nervousness. Being the new blushing bride that I was, I still occasionally had to fight the desire to squeal or laugh whenever I thought of Cap as my spouse.

He pressed a kiss to my hair. "It'll be fine," he assured me again. "Come on; we're late picking them up."

Sighing, I grabbed my purse and let him lead me out the door and down to the chauffeured car downstairs. After he'd found out about my family's imminent arrival, Director Fury had kindly agreed to provide a larger vehicle for us to get around in. I have no idea why he wanted to be so generous, but I had to admit that even though I'd planned to have my family walk around most of the time, it was nice having a car at our disposal.

When we arrived at the hotel, I took a deep breath. "Prepare for battle, Captain," I said, looking at my left hand, where my engagement and wedding rings sat.

He gave me an amused look. "It won't be that bad," he said, sounding amazingly confident.

Oh, well; he'd learn soon enough.

"Hi, Pumpkin," Dad greeted me as he let us into the suite. "And good afternoon to you, too, Captain Rogers."

Normally, they couldn't afford to stay in a suite, much less in one of the more expensive hotels, which this one was. However, once he'd found out my parents and brother were coming to visit, Tony had interfered by calling the hotel and having my family upgraded from two separate hotel rooms to a suite with two bedrooms and a great view. My folks didn't know how the upgrade had happened, of course –they thought it was complimentary, and were thrilled to get it.

"Dad, you can call him 'Steve,'" I reminded him as I stepped into the sitting area and flopped down onto the couch. "Or 'Cap,' if it makes you feel better." Dad had gone between the two when we'd been visiting, but hadn't decided on what, exactly, to call my then-boyfriend (now husband).

"Cap it is," Dad agreed. "Your mom's been napping on-and-off all morning, because of the time change." He and I both sighed and exchanged looks, knowing that Mom did not travel well.

"How's Marcus?" I asked, looking around. He sometimes didn't travel well, either, and I worried that going from coast-to-coast would be harder on him than Mom.

"Here," my brother called from the smaller of the two bedrooms.

Dad rolled his eyes. "He's been trying to catch a glimpse of Iron Man all morning. I don't think he's left his seat at his window since we got back from breakfast."

Laughing, I reached into my purse and produced a manila envelope. "I guess he'll like what I've got for him, then," I said, loud enough for my brother to hear.

That instantly got him racing into the room –he loved getting stuff. "What've you got?" he asked, snatching the envelope from me as I offered it to him.

Carefully opening it, he pulled out the autographed photo of Tony Stark, and gaped. "You did it! You got his autograph!" he cried, tackling me on the couch to give me a huge hug. "Thanks, sis! I'll frame it and put it on my wall. My friends are going to be so jealous!"

As he pulled away, Marcus caught sight of my left hand and grabbed at it. "No way; you're engaged?" he asked, amazed.

Dad stepped closer and took my hand, his eyes closely scanning the diamond ring and the gold bands that supported and surrounded it. "I think it goes one step beyond engagement," he said, his voice going sarcastic and slightly cold.

"Who's engaged?" Mom asked, coming into the room. I immediately winced when I saw her eyes go to my hand. "Oh, my God!" she cried as Dad turned towards Cap.

"Explain," he said firmly as Mom began cooing and exclaiming over my rings.

"…and so we got married in Vegas, because I didn't want to freak him out by gathering the entire family together and introducing him to them," I said, finishing up the story of our brief engagement and wedding ceremony.

Mom and Dad didn't look convinced, but Marcus was sitting there, nodding his head in understanding. "I totally get that," he said, giving his new brother-in-law a sympathetic look. "Dad's family in particular can be pretty intimidating, if only because there are so many of them. But they're all great people, and very warm."

Cap smiled at him in return. "Well, given how warm you and your parents have been, I can only agree with you."

"I still can't believe my baby is married," Mom said, getting teary-eyed. "And without me there to help plan it!"

I sighed. "Mom, I promise that I'll get you photos," I said, trying to placate her. "I'll mail a bunch to you as soon as you get home. If you want, we can have our own celebration while you're here; there are tons of fabulous restaurants in this part of the city."

"I think your mother and I both agree that it's very unlike you to do something like this without telling us," Dad said, eying me closely. "Are you pregnant?"

"Dad!" I cried as Cap's face turned red. "No, I'm not! And even if I was, we wouldn't get married just because of that. This isn't the 1800's; people don't do that kind of thing these days." I paused. "Well, some do, but not us. Cap and I love each other, we were in Vegas, and we decided to just go through with it. I know you're hurt and upset, but that's how we wanted to do it."

"Well, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission," Marcus said, his smile turning into a grin. "And I think we should celebrate!"

At that point, our stomachs all simultaneously growled, signaling it was absolutely time for lunch. We all shared a small laugh at our shared need for food and got to our feet. "Okay, let's go eat," Dad agreed. "But we want to hear every detail of the wedding while we eat, do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy," I agreed, though Cap and I both knew we'd be giving a severely edited edition to them. "Should we ask for a private area at the restaurant downstairs? It might be a long meal."

It wasn't until lunch was almost over that I realized that all of my photos of the wedding were on JT, who sat in my purse. I hadn't brought him out of my purse when we'd visited my parents for fear of weird questions about it, and because I didn't want them to know I was friends with Tony Stark. I'd thought ahead that time, and had JT forward all my calls to a burner phone I'd bought for that trip.

Today I wasn't so lucky. My spare phone was at the apartment, and I didn't want to take my family there, because it was a SHIELD-owned building. The last thing I wanted my parents to know was that I was associated with a secret government agency, and have them figure out that Cap was Captain America! Director Fury would kill me –metaphorically or literally.

'Maybe I'll pretend that I left my phone at home,' I pondered. I could get away with that, right?

"Uh, Adena?" Marcus said from my right side, his eyes on my purse, which sat to his left. "I think your phone is going off. Your purse keeps buzzing."

'Shit,' I thought to myself. Out loud, I said, "Don't worry; I'll get it later."

"Well, if you've got wedding photos on it, you might as well answer it before showing us the pictures," Dad said. "Go ahead; we don't mind."

Biting back a groan, I reluctantly reached in and pulled out JT. As soon as Marcus caught sight of my computer-phone, his eyes went wide.

"That's so cool!" he exclaimed. "What kind of phone is that? I don't recognize the make and model." Since he was a specialist on cell phones, Marcus knew just about everything that was out there.

"No, you wouldn't," I replied, flipping JT open so that I could see who was calling. It was Tony. Shit, again. Pressing a button, I answered. "Hello?"

"So, how goes the day with the family?" Tony asked. I could almost hear him grinning through the phone. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Actually, yes, you are interrupting, and it's going well," I retorted. "Can I call you back later?"

Tony paused, obviously pretending to think about it. "Well, okay; but only if you promise lots of details later," he said. "Pepper will be curious about it."

I rather doubted that it was Pepper who wanted all the messy details of my day. "I'll talk to you later," I promised, trying to end the conversation before it was too late.

"Who is it?" Marcus asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Friend of yours?"

I nodded. "Listen, I've got to go," I stressed into the phone.

"Hey, is that your brother?" Tony asked, "The one I signed an autograph for?"

"Yes," I ground out, trying to keep my voice cheerful. "So, we'll chat later?"

"No, no, I want to talk to the kid," Tony insisted. "Come on, put him on the phone."

Nope, that was not going to happen. "Sorry, I can't right now," I insisted right back.

"Adena, if you don't let me talk to him, I'll hack into JT and talk to them anyway. I just want to chat with the guy, so put him on, will you? Or put me on speaker. If he's half as wonderful as you are, I'm sure it'll be a great conversation."

"You just want to speak to a fan of yours," I retorted before I could stop myself, and instantly getting confused looks from those around me, including Cap. "Fine, but only because I know you won't leave it alone until you do."

"JT, speaker phone, please," I said, setting him on the table. "And keep the volume low." We might be in a private eating room in the corner, but that didn't mean I wanted the whole thing heard by the entire restaurant.

"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. "Speaker on and ready. I will adjust the volume levels as needed during the conversation, for privacy purposes."

"That's fine," I replied, trying not to acknowledge my family members' astonished looks while my brain tried to figure out ways to explain this to Director Fury later.

"Wow, that is so cool," Marcus said. "I've never seen a phone or computer like that before. Where can I get one?"

I managed a half smile, but just barely. "You can't get it anywhere. It was specially made for me, and only because I'd asked very nicely."

"Not that nicely," Tony replied over the speaker. "But nice enough for me to make it for you." He paused for a second. "Greetings, Philips Family. This is Tony Stark, by the way."

Marcus stared at the computer. "Tony Stark? Adena, how the hell do you know Tony Stark?" He eyed JT closely. "Is this a joke? Am I being Punked?"

"No, you're not, though I could work out a nice prank to play on you," Tony replied in his usual cheerful fashion. "So you must be Marcus?"

I swear my brother looked as though he were going to faint from excitement. "Tony Stark knows my name!" he breathed, looking at my phone.

Sighing and rolling my eyes, I replied, "Well, I did tell him to sign a photo for you."

"Adena, how do you know Tony Stark, of all people?" Dad asked, staring at JT. "And why didn't you tell us?"

"I can answer that," Tony replied before I could even get my brain to think of an excuse. "See, I saved the poor girl during the fight in New York, and told her to take shelter in my building. When the fight was over, I wanted to make sure she was okay, and checked in on her. She said she was fine, and I let her go, though I made sure to get her name and number first, just so my assistant could check up on her."

"So you know Pepper Potts, too?" Mom asked excitedly. She thought Pepper was the embodiment of class, brains, and beauty, and loved reading articles on her. If she thought she could get away with it, she'd probably try and copy Pepper's makeup and sense of style.

"Of course," Tony said. "When my assistant called her up, she and Miss Philips got to chatting, and before I knew it, they were friends, and we were meeting up together with her and Captain Rogers for drinks every once in a while."

Again, I could almost hear him grinning. "And just to ease the mind of the good Captain, I put together this handy little computer, so that she had some way of getting help if she ever got into a tight spot. The poor guy tends to worry a whole lot about her, for some reason."

Dad glanced over at me. "I can guess why," he replied. "People tend to worry a lot about the people they love, and it makes them do crazy things."

Looking back at JT, I felt my cheeks turning red, as though I'd been caught doing something naughty. "Well, I think that's enough of that," I rushed. "I'll call Pepper later and let her know how things are going, Tony. Thanks for calling!"

"Sure," he replied, the humor evident in his voice. "Have a good time, everyone!"

When the call ended, I tossed JT back into my bag, immediately feeling the intense stares of my family as Cap reached over and put a comforting hand on my arm.

"You know Tony Stark, and you never said anything?" Marcus asked in disbelief. "And Pepper Potts! You could have asked for a job at Stark Industries, and you didn't do it?"

"I didn't want a job at Stark Industries," I calmly replied. "He did offer me one, but I refused. If I had accepted, Cap and I wouldn't have fallen in love, and I wouldn't be married to my husband right now. So think about that, before you condemn my life choices."

That effectively stopped Marcus from going any further, but from the looks on their faces, Mom and Dad obviously wanted me to march right up to Stark Tower and ask Tony for a good job, either for me or for Cap –or both.

"And there is no way I'm going to exploit my friendship with Pepper and Tony by asking for a job," I told my parents. "I'm happy with what I do for a living, and Cap and I both get paid enough by the government to live comfortably off of, so we're doing well."

The tone of my voice told them not to push it, but both looked ready to deliver a sound lecture. "And no, I won't change my mind, so don't even try to pressure me to. If you try, you can forget about seeing me for the rest of your trip, because I don't want to spend our time together arguing."

That shut them all up, and after a few minutes of awkward silence, we signaled for a waitress to bring us the dessert menu. After we ordered and received our sweet finishes to our meal, Marcus leaned over and whispered, "Can you ask Tony if I can fly around in his suit? Because I totally think I could fit into it."

I almost spat my ice cream out and instead ended up choking it down while Mom lectured him on table manners. When I was calm again, Dad asked what was on the agenda for today.

"I was thinking Central Park, and if we have time, we can take you guys to 5th Avenue for some shopping," I suggested, trying to keep the tone light as we finished dessert.

Mom instantly perked up, while my brother rolled his eyes -like most men, he hated shopping. But since this was New York, I hoped that he'd like it better here than at home.

"Sounds good," Dad replied, stealing a large spoonful of Mom's tiramisu and earning a smack on the shoulder for his efforts. "You lead, we'll follow."

And so began my two week-long job of playing tour guide and part-time hostess.

"It's a bit strange, having family again," Steve said, the night after his new in-laws had flown back home. "Mine died when I was young, so it's hard to remember what it was like."

Snuggling closer to him in their bed, Adena squeezed him in a hug. "Why didn't you say anything before?" she whispered. "I mean, while we were lugging my parents to Broadway, to the museums and the Empire State Building, why didn't you tell me you were uncomfortable?"

"Because it wasn't really that bad of a feeling," he replied, pulling her close. "It's nice having parents to fuss over me again. And I never had siblings, so having a brother-in-law is a new experience for me. I kind of liked having them around."

And he had. Marcus was fun to talk with, and since the two of them had never had brothers of any kind, they had quickly become close. Even Mr. Philips had become a bit for a father figure -he'd told Steve to call him if he needed advice about anything and everything.

"After all, we're family now," the other man had said, slapping him on the back. "Anything you need, you call, and don't you be afraid to visit us."

"It really will be wonderful to have you both over for a long visit," Mrs. Philips said enthusiastically. "Maybe for Thanksgiving or Christmas -or both?"

Before they'd left, Adena had promised to visit for the holidays, if the weather permitted. And since they had SHIELD resources, as well as Tony on their side, Steve was fairly sure they'd have a reunion together sooner rather than later.

Beside him, his wife laughed. "Well, it's still nice to be on our own again. You can only stand to have family around for so long, and having peace and quiet is just what we need after so much excitement."

He couldn't argue with that. For all their friendliness, it had been irritating that his new in-laws were still upset about Adena hadn't told them she was getting married. Their anger had faded quickly, but not completely, even after she had given them a carefully tailored story about their wedding ceremony, and provided a few photos from the event. Most of the pictures had the other Avengers in them, and were safely tucked and locked away; the ones of only him and Adena were the ones that sat framed and scattered around their apartment, and which had been given to her family.

As his eyes began to drift shut, Steve felt her poke him gently in the side. "Uh, Cap?" she whispered, getting his attention. "I need to tell you something." She paused. "Do you remember when Mom and Dad asked to talk to me privately a few days ago?"

He did. That had been three days ago, while he and Marcus had been watching a football game on television in their suite at the hotel. Adena had been gone for a good twenty minutes, and come back looking resigned and tired while her parents looked slightly satisfied. Steve had instantly become suspicious, and had asked about it, but Adena told him not to worry and that she'd tell him 'later.'

It seemed that 'later' had finally come.

"Mom and Dad said that they'd be willing to forgive us for eloping if we did two things."

Steve waited for the other shoe to drop.

"We have to tell both sides of the family, and go and visit them, in person, to get their well-wishes."

Wonderful -it looked like he would be having nightmares for a while.

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