Chapter 8-

Liam pulled his Ford Fusion over to the side of the road in front of Bake Away Bakery in Long Island, New York. Maggie was talking his ear off about how excited she was when she heard that they would be moving to America. She never got to travel much and since her father was always gone on business in New York, he decided that it would be better for them to move to the Big Apple as she called it. Shaking his head being a real New Yorker, he told her that no one who actually lived in the city ever called it that.

"Well this is a very cute bakery." Maggie said as she looked around at the decorations of the bakery. Not paying attention that Liam went behind the counter to get them some baked good. "Liam! What are you doing?"

"Uh getting you a what do you call them? Oh yeah a biscuit." He said pulling out a chocolate chip cookie. "Here."

Shaking her head, Maggie began digging for money in her purse. "I can't eat it if its stolen."

"Trust me the owner of the place won't mind." Liam said waving the cookie under her nose. "It's fresh out of the oven."

Glaring at her new friend, she rested her hands on her hips not noticing the two new people walking into the main room. "How do you know?"

"Because my mom is the owner. Right mom? You won't care if my new friend has a biscuit?" He asked as Emerson wrapped an arm around her son as Maggie took the cookie.

"Of course not." Turning her attention to the pretty brunette that her son brought home. "Hi I'm Emerson Rogers."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Rogers. I'm Maggie Carter." Maggie said nodding her head towards the women in front of her before taking a bite out of the cookie. "Oh my goodness this is the best cookie I have ever had."

"Why thank you Maggie. And you can just call me Emerson." Emerson said smiling before looking back at a confused looking Steve. "You okay there babe?"

"He's just probably in shock that we have a Peggy Carter look a like standing in the bakery." Liam said moving over to stand next to Maggie.

Shaking his head, Steve walked over to the two teenagers. "No it was more of being terrified. The last time I saw that look I got shot at. I'm Steve Rogers. Are you in anyway related to Peggy Carter?"

"She's my Great Aunt, sir." Maggie said shaking the super soldier's hand. "Did she shoot at you or something?"

"Yeah she did. I was more terrified of her than I was of the Nazi's I was fighting against." Steve said winking over at Liam. "So don't piss her off Liam, if she's anything like Peggy."

Smiling softly, she nodded her head. "She most certainly had that affect on people. I was named after her."

"An amazing person to be named after." Emerson said looking at the two. "Now you two go do teenager things. Just be home by 9 Liam."

Smirking over at his mom, Liam nodded his head. "You would think that a women who got pregnant at 18 wouldn't want her 17 year old son to go do teenager things."

"Go before I change my mind." Emerson said raising her eyebrow at her son.

Steve was sitting on the couch when Liam walked into the house right at 9 o'clock. The super soldier didn't expect to ever see, let alone meet, a member of Peggy's family. And he definitely didn't expect for his step son to befriend Peggy's grand niece.

"Hey dad." Liam said tossing his backpack on the ground to start working on his homework. Sitting down on the ground facing his step dad, he looked up at him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Steve sighed leaning against his elbow. "A lot has been on my mind lately."

Nodding his head, Liam understood where he was coming from. "I know. I met Maggie's family, they want to meet you whenever you are ready. They understand that this is something you never expected to happen."

"Meeting the family that I could have had?" Rolling his eyes, he stood up from his spot on the couch. "No Liam I never planned on meeting her children. I remember avoiding them at the funeral. I thought I was done with this what if."

Watching Steve with an understanding look on his face, Liam sighed. "Yeah I get that. I told them that it will probably be awhile until you could meet them. I mean it would have been your nephew right?"

"Yeah I guess it would have." Steve said sitting on the floor next to Liam, picking up the flyer on the table. "Anyway lets not talk about what ifs. Is this for your class trip next semester?"

"Yes it is. For my German class." Liam whispered as he started his math homework.

"So you will be going to Germany? Does your mom know?" Steve asked setting the paper down on the table. "Do you plan on going?"

"Yeah I do plan on going and if I see the name Josh Young anywhere I am going to go in the other direction." The brunette boy fell onto the floor homework forgotten. "I really hope he was a failure at his job just like he was as being a dad."

Patting his son's knee, Steve smiled softly. "You need to tell your mom that you are going to Germany in the Spring."

"I will I promise. I just don't want any what ifs." Liam said as a sigh broke between his lips.

"You and me both buddy. You and me both." Steve mumbled as he stood up from his spot of the floor. "I'm going to bed. Do you want me to send out your mom?"

Shaking his head, Liam looked at his forgotten homework. "No I'm got some homework to do. I'll tell her tomorrow."

"Alright. Night Liam."

"Night dad."

The next morning Liam found himself standing in the kitchen waiting for his mom to come out of her bedroom. Holding a cup of coffee in his hand for Emerson, he stared at the entry way. Last night Liam could barely sleep as he was trying to figure out what to say to his mom the next morning. His real dad and Germany had always been sore subjects for Emerson. And Liam didn't blame her. He didn't like talking much about it either. The only reason he is in German is because there weren't any spots left in Spanish or French. And his friends convinced him it was a good idea. Saying if he ever met Josh and the family he probably has, he could understand what they are talking about when they were speaking their native tongue.

"Good morning Liam." Emerson said as she walked into the kitchen, her blonde hair pulled up into a bun. "Is that coffee for me?"

"Morning mom and yes it is." The only brunette in the house hold said. "I have something important to tell you."

Raising an eyebrow towards her son as she took a sip of her coffee. "And what is that exactly?"

"I'm going to Germany for a class trip in the Spring." Liam blurted out nervously. "But its a big country there is no way I will see Josh and if I do I promise to turn the other way and ignore him."

"Well Germany will be fun. Do you know where your going?" Emerson asked completely ignoring everything Liam said about Josh.

Raising an eyebrow towards his mom. "Um Berlin."

Nodding her head, smiling at her son. "You are so lucky I have always wanted to travel and you get too. You will have so much fun. Do we have to make payments? Or do we have to do it all in full?"

"Mom why are you ignoring the fact I'm going to the same country my father is in?" Liam asked softly.

"Because I don't want to think about Josh." She laughed as she walked closer to her son. "He made his bed. You are going to Germany, if you see him and if he even recognizes you. You can do whatever you see fit. You can yell, scream, hit or turn the other way. You will be 18 when and if you see him. Its up to you."

"I just don't know." Liam said picking up his backpack. "What would you do?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Emerson rested her hand on Liam's cheek. "I don't know what I would do either. It is up to you Liam. You have 4 months to figure out what you want to say to him. But in all honesty he doesn't deserve to see how amazing you turned out to be. My advice will be to, if you see him and he doesn't approach you, leave it be. But if he does approach you, tell him how you feel."

"Okay." Liam said sniffling softly. "I'm going to go to school. I'll see you later."

"Bye sweetie." Emerson said kissing his forehead. "I love you."

"Love you too." He said before waking out the back door to the garage. Emerson watched her son walk out of the house, trying to cover up the tears that were falling. She didn't know what to say to her own son when he brought up his father. Every time the teenager ever mentioned Josh, Emerson would calm up, not knowing what to do or say when it came down to it.

"Em you okay?" Steve asked walking back into the house after he dropped off Eli and Dakota at school. "I saw Liam and he looked upset too. Did he tell you about Germany?"

"Yeah he did and neither of us know how to handle this situation." Emerson said sitting down on one of the barstools. "You would think after 18 years, I would know how to deal with Josh, but I still don't know."

Standing behind her, Steve wrapped his arms around her neck loosely. "I wish I could help but I am the last person you would want advice from. Every time his name is brought up we get into a fight. I think you're still in love with him, you think I'm an idiot for thinking that. Then you yell at me for moving to D.C. I yell about you breaking up with me. It turns into a mess."

"Yeah." Snorting softly as she leans into him. "You can say that again."

"Everything will work out for the best. Berlin is a big city, if Josh is even there, I doubt he will even bump into his sperm donor."

"Sperm donor?" Emerson questioned, before thinking about it. "That is actually a great thing to call him. Ha. I like it."

"Good. Now the kids are gone, you don't have to go to the bakery until later. What should we do with the empty house?"

"I need to shower. Want to join me?" Emerson said dumping her now cold coffee down the sink. "You still have at least 30 years to catch up on."

"Really? I think our honeymoon got me up at at least 20 years to go on." Steve said following his wife to their master bathroom.

"I'll be the judge on that." Emerson laughed as Steve pushed her gently against the wall.