Fatherhood part 2

After talking to Logan, I was determined to meet with Reed and Sue. I decided to drop-by the next evening. I learned very quickly that Logan wasn't mistaken. Franklin did exist...I happened to be starring down the barrels of his toy pistols the moment I walked out of the elevator.
"Reach for the sky!" the boy shouted as I stood outside elevator. I did what any sensible person would do-comply.
"What's your business stranger?" He asked tilted his head to the side. I raised my hands to show no weapon in sight.
"Well son, I stopped by to talk with your parents." He cocked his pistol.
"You came to talk about me," he lowered his guns. "You're Captain America and I'm the sheriff in these parts." He seemed to be practicing a slow, Texan drawl, as he glared at me through squinting eyes. Suddenly he holstered the guns and pulled his hat off so that it hung by a rope around his neck.
"Hey, you're not dressed like Captain America...how come? I wanted to play with your shield!"
"My shield isn't a toy. Did you know I was coming?" He starred down at the floor.
"Umm, bye!" He ran off leaving the door ajar. My manners prevented me from following, until I heard a voice call out to me.
"It's okay, mom and dad said you can come in!" Hesitating, I entered the main room. No one appeared to be there. I heard the shuffle of shoes and noticed that Franklin had returned this time with his own shield.
"Here," he handed me the miniature version. "Just in case. You shouldn't go anywhere without it."
"Good point Franklin. Now where are your parents?" The blonde boy gazed off for a moment. His face broke into a toothy smile.
"Mom's coming," his face contorted into confusion. "Dad said he'll come up in a bit. Hey! Do you want to be my deputy? You can have your a badge and..."he leaned in, looked to both sides and whispered. "You can have your own bottle of root beer..." He puffed up his chest.
"But that's all you're getting outta me until we catch those robbers. Deal?" This little boy was a card!
"Frankie," we both turned to see that Sue had indeed joined us, with hands on hips. "Do you want to tell me what happened to uncle Johnny's video games?"
"Dog-gone robbers stole uncle Johnny's games?!" His jaw dropped in mortification. "Those varmints will pay!" He took out his pistol and ran out of the room.
"It's good to see you Captain," Sue gestured to a nearby chair.
"It's wonderful seeing you again. I don't suppose Logan told you that I'd be stopping by."
"Logan," she said shaking her head. "That explains a lot. No, we didn't know you were coming, but we figured that you might one day and Franklin kept going on about how Captain America was visiting us today."
"He's quite the kid," I commented. "I was actually surprised that I hadn't met him before today. We fought Dr. Doom together last week."
"Yes. We don't usually introduce him to anyone outside of the tower," she explained. "I guess Logan has told you that Frankie is an omega level mutant?"
"He did, but to be honest I'm not entirely sure what that means."
"An omega level mutant has a great deal of power. Not only does he have a significant mutation, but the cosmic energy that makes me the Invisible Woman, also enhanced his abilities. He's a telepath who can change the very fabric of reality if his powers weren't in check."
"That's how he knew I was coming."
"Exactly," she replied. "Even though we have limited the full use of his powers, the mutant registration act would expose his full capabilities to the public. He would be hunted."
"I thought the registration act had been shelved several years ago?" I asked.
"Shelved, but not forgotten. Even without it, there are too many out there who would use him and his powers to their advantage."
"That's why you've kept him a secret," I concluded.
"We wanted to give our son a fighting chance-he has to spend the rest of his life with the consequences of his actions and the public's reactions, we just wanted to give him a childhood free of those worries."
"I understand," I said leaning forward. "Your secret will be safe with me."
"From Shield?"
"From Shield as well," I reassured her. At that moment Mister Fantastic entered the room holding a flour covered Frankie to his side.
"Captain," Reed addressed me. "I'll join you in a moment, I just have to clean up this rapscallion."
"But dad!" Frankie whined. "I was chasing robbers! They were in the kitchen!" I watched father and son struggle off to the washroom.
"Has he asked for a red-rider bee bee gun?" I asked quirking a smile.
"Thank heavens no. If we can keep him away from the 24 hour Christmas special for one more year, we just might survive the 'cowboy' phase."
"I keep hoping a similar thing about Evy's obsession with toucans." Sue nodded in agreement. Mister Fantastic strolled in and took a seat next to his wife.
"I have to hand it to you, captain," said Reed. "You're doing a fine job with Evy."
"I appreciate that, but honestly I came here today because I am at my wits' end," I explained. "How do you two do it? How can you be both parents and Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman?"
"First thing you need to accept is that you're never going to be perfect, especially when you're trying to juggle your duty to your country and the duty to your child," he told me. "There are a lot of sacrifices we make, but we make them as a family. You have to take each situation separately and judge them accordingly." Reed droned on for awhile longer; I meant no disrespect, but he was saying everything that I already knew. I was getting nowhere fast.
"Steve," Sue leaned forward. "Do you want to know what really keeps us going?" I nodded ferociously. "Each other."
"Frankie is not just our child, he is Johnny's and Hank's as well. Reed is right. We can't always be there for our son, even though we dearly want to. When we can't be there, we know our team can. It takes a village to raise a child, and we're lucky that they happen to love him as much as we do." Suddenly Frankie burst into the room, riding the back of his Uncle Johnny.
"This way! They're getting away, you have to be faster than that!"
"Geez kiddo, give me a break. Even Silver has to have a hay break every now and then!"
I left, promising Frankie that I would bring my shield the next time I visited. I can't say that I am entirely relieved about the visit I had. I still wasn't sure of how I was going to improve my daughter's life. At least there were others trying, and from what I can tell succeeding at raising a child while being a superhero. Frankie was a lucky boy to have all these wonderful people-true heroes-in his life, but I'm not sure I could ever hide Evy as they hide Franklin. I can only pray that she will never have to face the trials that little boy will surely see in his time.

I returned to the apartment to see that Clint had once again, despite it being part of his regular babysitting duties, neglected to wash the dinner dishes. Groaning, I approached Evy's door where I could hear his voice reciting some sort of bedtime story.
"And that, my little chickadee," he told her "is what happened in Budapest. Now you're going to have to promise to keep it a secret. Deal?"
"Dee!" she squealed squeezing his fingers. What kind of story was he telling her?!