Chapter 7

"Mommy, why are you and Uncle Steve going out to dinner?" Audrey asked as she watched her mother finish getting ready. She was lying across her mother's bed, while Emma stood in front of her mirror.

"Because sometimes adults need a night away from children," Emma said as she pinned back half her hair behind her head while the rest lay around her shoulders. "Besides, you and Kaleigh are going to have that movie marathon that the two of you have been plotting for several weeks aren't you?"

"Yeah, but I wanted you to watch with us!"

"How about I finish the movies with you tomorrow?" Emma suggested as she turned away from her mirror and faced her daughter. Audrey stood up on the bed and launched herself into her mother's arms, who easily caught her.

"Promise mommy?"

"I promise."

Audrey quickly kissed her mother's cheek before sliding out of her arms and scampering out of her room to go finish dragging in all the blankets from around the house into the living room for the blanket fort that she and Kaleigh were going to build and watch movies in later that night. Emma smiled to herself before checking her outfit one last time in the mirror.

Everything looked fine.

Her outfit was cute – a loose fitting top with a pair of wide leg pants

Her makeup was done.

Her hair wasn't just pulled back in a ponytail. Instead it was half pulled up and the rest hung around her shoulders.

So why was she so nervous?

The hardest part about admitting her feelings about Steve was already in the past – that had been done several days ago while they had been at Tony and Pepper's weeding. And much to her shock and pleasure, the feelings were mutual from Steve. Yet the fact still remained - she was nervous.

Running her hands over her top one last time to smooth it out, she took a deep breath before leaving her bedroom. She knew that Steve was waiting in the living room for her – she had heard him talking to Audrey a few minutes ago while she was finishing getting ready. Now she could hear Audrey telling him about the blanket fort that she and Kaleigh were going to build that night. Emma couldn't help but chuckle a bit to herself about her daughter.

Finally Audrey was back to her old self.

Good.

As she entered the living room, she saw that Kaleigh had arrived and Audrey already had her busy stacking up all the blankets that had been gathered so far. Standing to the side, observing what was going on, Steve was watching them with a smile. Within seconds of Emma entering the living room, Steve noticed her. He quickly turned his smile towards her instead.

"Ready?" he asked moving towards her.

"Yup," she said briefly taking in what he was wearing – a pair of khakis and a nice button up shirt, a greenish blue color, that happened to bring out his eyes. She quickly adverted her eyes and turned her attention to Audrey and Kaleigh for a moment. "We shouldn't be too late. If you need anything call my cell."

"Sounds good," Kaleigh said with a smile.

"Bye mommy!" Audrey said running up to Emma and giving her a goodbye hug. Emma hugged her back and placed a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Be good for Kaleigh."

"I will mommy! Bye Uncle Steve!"

Steve told Audrey bye as well just as Emma turned to leave the room. Steve followed behind her. Halfway to the front door, Emma abruptly stopped and turned back to look at the living room. "Don't forget to walk Elvis!" she called out.

In unison, Kaleigh and Audrey both answered "ok!" with Elvis barking along with them.

And with a smile on her face, Emma left to go on her first date in several years. Hopefully it would be a good night.

Steve had not been sure where he should take Emma out to dinner for their first official date. So he had done the next best thing – asked Emma where they should go. Not wanting to stay out too late, Emma suggested a pub that was not far from her house. Anywhere was fine with Steve as long as Emma was with him. Ever since he had finally been able to say his feelings out loud, he had discovered just how much happier he was when he was with her.

And that was all that mattered to him – simply being able to spend time with Emma.

Dinner was a relaxed affair. They talked about things that neither had ever talked about with the other before – ranging from stories from World War 2 that Steve had never told anyone about to why exactly Emma joined S.H.E.I.L.D.

Eventually Emma's curiosity got the better of her during their walk back home. "You had said that you had wanted to kiss me for several months," she asked as they left the pub and ventured out into the night. "What made you come to that conclusion?"

Steve took ahold of her hand as they walked while he contemplated his response. "It was a few months ago when I came back for that weekend visit. As I was walking towards your bookshop, I realized that out of all those that I know, it's you that I worry and wonder about the most. But I think that my feelings for you actually started the first time I met you in the bookshop – even before I knew who you were. It was the fact that you came across as genuine."

Emma couldn't help but blush as she squeezed Steve's hand tighter. All of these feelings she had been experiencing since the first kiss that she and Steve had shared were worrying her. Was this normal after loosing someone she had loved so much? Was it fair? While she didn't know if it was normal or not, she did know that it was fair.

She had to live her life. And that meant sharing it with others. A question from Steve brought her out of her train of thought.

"Now why did you agree to this date?" Steve asked. "Was it my old fashion good looks?"

"You've been hanging round Tony too much," she said with a small laugh. "But yes, your old fashioned good looks helped, yet that isn't the only reason why."

While she would not yet admit it out loud, she had actually grown up in love with Captain Steve Rogers from all the stories that her Aunt Peggy had told her. Yet she found that the real Steve Rogers was much better then the stories – especially his heart.

"Then what was it?" he asked, suddenly curious.

She turned her face up towards him and was about to answer him, when her cell phone began to vibrate in her purse. She stopped walking and dropped Steve's hand as she dug in her purse looking for her phone. Once she had found her phone and looked at the screen, a sense of confusion spread across her face before she answered the call.

Steve stood by and watched as confusion then horror spread across Emma's face as she took the phone call. Without saying a word to him once that phone call ended, Emma turned towards the busy street and held out a hand to hail a taxi.

"What's wrong," he asked as a taxi pulled up within seconds.

"Audrey was taken to the ER. She fell and hit her head on the porch steps," she said fighting back tears as she climbed into the taxi.

Steve didn't say a word as he climbed in next to her.

"Where to, ma'am?" the driver asked.

"Mount Sinai Emergency Room. It's off Madison Avenue."

The driver nodded and took off into the throng of New York City traffic.

During the ride to the hospital, Emma stared out the window – her mind thinking of the worse possible scenarios: amnesia or a traumatic brain injury or worse: Audrey could never regain consciousness.

"I'm sure that she will be fine," Steve whispered as he reached over and took ahold of Emma's hand. He squeezed it tightly as Emma turned to look at him. A single tear managed to escape and slid down her cheek. Steve quickly brushed it away before caressing the side of her face. Emma nodded against the palm of his hand as a wave of comfort spread through out her body. He leaned towards her and gently kissed her cheek before allowing her to turn back to look out the window as the taxi made its way through the traffic. Yet he did not let go of her hand nor did Emma want him to. She was finding comfort in his warmth.

"I'm so sorry Emma!" Kaleigh blurted out as soon as she saw Emma and Steve enter the ER at Mount Sinai hospital. "I wasn't fast enough to shield her. I could have caught her. It's all my fault!"

Emma wrapped her arms around the frantic young woman. "Shh Kaleigh. It's fine. There have been times that I haven't been fast enough either. Trust me. I'm sure that Audrey will be fine." Emma said as she hugged Kaleigh tightly.

Kaleigh nodded as she pulled out of the hug. "Come on, she's this way."

Emma and Steve followed Kaleigh down the hallway to where Audrey was sitting on a hospital bed. Emma felt that a great deal of worry was lifted off her shoulders when she saw that her daughter was conscious and alert.

"Mommy!" Audrey said holding her arms out to her. That was when Emma noticed that one of her wrists was in a brace of some sort. But she didn't care. She would ask questions later. But for right now, Audrey was safe.

Emma hugged her daughter before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Audrey curled up against her mother. "My wrist hurts mommy."

"I'm sure it does sweetie. But it will all be better soon. I promise." Emma said as she brushed the hair out of Audrey's face before kissing her forehead.

"Elvis made me fall!" Audrey said. "He got wrapped around my legs with his leash and then pulled me down the stairs. He's a bad boy!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean to."

Audrey shrugged her shoulders as Emma smiled at her.

After a few more minutes of waiting one of the ER doctors came over to talk to Emma, while Steve had walked Kaleigh out side to make sure that she was able to safely catch a cab to take her home. The doctor explained to her that upon her arrival at the ER, Audrey had undergone an CT Scan to make sure that there wasn't any swelling around her brain since she had been unconscious upon the arrival of the EMTs after her fall yet was alert by the time she had reached the ER.

"She did display signs of confusion along with sensitivity of light and she was complaining about ringing in her ears," the doctor explained.

"What did the CT show?" Emma asked.

"There was slight swelling. But because of her age, I would like her to stay overnight for observation."

"That is fine," Emma replied. "What about her wrist?"

"A clean break. We will set it and place a cast around it. She should be in that for no more than 6 weeks."

Emma sighed in relief.

Thankfully her daughter was going to be ok.

Emma slumped down on the rather uncomfortable couch that was in Audrey's hospital room. She had no idea what time it was. But it didn't really matter. Audrey had finally fallen asleep after being admitted to the hospital overnight for observation. She had also been given a bright pink cast for her wrist.

Next to her, she felt the couch dip a bit as Steve quietly sat down next to her. He had just returned from getting them both some much needed coffee.

"Thank you," she whispered as she took the warm cup from his hands.

"How long ago did she get to sleep?" he whispered back.

"Not long." Emma replied as she took a sip of the coffee. She sighed then turned to look at Steve in the dimly lit room. "I'm sorry that our date got cut short."

"It's fine. I understand that Audrey comes before anything else."

Here was someone who not only cared for her but also for her daughter. Yet what shocked her was just how much. The most recent example had come when Audrey was admitted to the hospital, she asked if her uncle Steve would stay the night with her along with her mommy and without hesitation, Steve had told her that he would. And that was just one of the many times that Steve had made Audrey smile.

Emma couldn't help but smile as she leaned forward and gently kissed his lips. It wasn't a long drawn out kiss like several of theirs had been, but it just long enough to convey what she was feeling towards him. "It is your heart," she whispered, breaking their kiss.

"What?" he asked a bit confused.

"The reason why I'm falling for you," she said with a smile. "Your heart."

With a smile on his face, Steve leaned forward and captured Emma in another gentle kiss. It was then that he knew that this was the start of something special.

A pain from her wrist caused her to awake. Audrey slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the room. It was then that she remembered that she was in the hospital because of falling and hitting her head. She had also broken her wrist, which was hurting a bit.

But where was her mommy? Uncle Steve? They had both promised not to leave her.

Scanning the darken room, she finally spotted them. Her uncle Steve was sitting in the corner of the couch that was in her room with her mother curled up tightly against him. Audrey also noticed that her uncle had his arm draped protectively around her mommy. She couldn't help but smile. She had seen her daddy do this to her mommy often when they had watched movies together as a family before her daddy died. And it always made her mommy happy.

Hopefully her mommy was happy since uncle Steve was holding her close. Because she hated to see her mommy sad and uncle Steve always seemed to make her mommy smile. And she could tell that her uncle Steve loved her and her mommy a lot.

Maybe now her uncle Steve would come and see them both more often. She would love that!

Audrey yawned then closed her eyes and drifted back off to sleep, dreaming about her mommy smiling and her uncle Steve making her laugh.

AN: I know I am horrible! I feel so bad for ignoring this story. But I hope that you enjoyed the small bit of cuteness in this chapter. I promise good stuff is coming up! Reviews would be appreciated.