A/N: I'm Back!

Hi! First off I am so sorry that I have been away for so long. The Holidays just really kicked my ass.

So, Funny story, I wrote chapter 29 and most of 30 before I wrote 28. I need to keep Steve's side rolling and not just develop Tony's side. So, that's another reason why this had taken so long to get to you. My apologies!

Don't forget to leave me a review at the end of the chapter and let me know what you think. So, without any further ado, on with the show!

Chapter Twenty-Eight: I Think I'm Going To Like It Here

The Other Side~

Steve woke up with the start. For one terrifying moment he had absolutely no idea where or when he was. His mind was a jumbled mess. He took in his surroundings and realized he was in his room with Peggy next to him. The events of the previous day came back to him suddenly and he smiled. He turned so that he could take in Peggy's sleeping form. His eyes trailed down her beautiful frame and landed on her swollen tummy. His smile widened into a grin.

This was just incredible.

Steve was brought out of his reverie by a squeaky floorboard. Moments after, the bedroom door creaked open. His grin became impossibly wider when a head of unruly golden curls peeked through.

This was his life. This was his beautiful family. When the child realized Steve was awake she bounded to him merrily.

"Daddy!" He whispered brightly, still mindful of her mother's slumber.

He held his arms out to her and she dove into them immediately.

"Good morning, Babydoll. Did you sleep well?" He whispered into her hair as he pulled her all the way into the bed with him.

"Ah Huh." She giggled in affirmation.

"That's good." He whispered, kissing her forehead gently.

"I had an amazing dream, Daddy!" She declared excitedly, her volume rising a tad.

"Shh, Babydoll, Mommy's asleep. Why don't you tell me all about it while you help me make breakfast for Mommy?"

She nodded exuberantly as he lifted her from the bed and situated her on his hip as he stealthily left the room. He remained mindful of the squeaky floor boards as he descended the stairs to the kitchen.

"Okay, Babydoll," He said placing her on the counter. "Lay it on me." He said as he began gathering all the ingredients he could find to make pancakes.

"I dreamt that you got me a flying pony!" She squealed happily.

"A flying pony!?" He asked in childlike bewilderment as he began measuring out flower and sifting it into a mixing bowl.

"Ah huh! He was gorgeous and magnificent. His wings had seven different colors!" She began to describe.

"Wow, seven colors!? What were they?" He asked astonished as he began cracking eggs.

"There was purple and orange and blue and pink and yellow and white and gold." She listed.

"Really, even gold?!" He exclaimed as he prepared the eggs and milk in a separate bowl.

"Yep! He was so beautiful and he flew up so high in the clouds! Did you know the clouds are actually made of cotton candy!?"

He stopped stirring for a moment and turned to her and mock disbelief.

"No!"

"Yep! It's true!"

"Wow!" He replied astonished. "Okay, Babydoll, you want to help add the flour to the milk and eggs in this bowl?"

"Sure!"

He kept stirring the liquid mixture as she began to steadily poor the sifted flour into the other mixing bowl.

"That's good, excellent job Sweetie!"

She laughed merrily as she helped add the other ingredients also. She began to go into detail about the grand adventures that she and her pony, Rocky, went on. Steve listened adeptly as he began to cook up some pancakes.

This was how Peggy found them later. Eleanor gesculating wildly as she got into the climax of her adventure and Steve listening engrossed as he tried not to burn their breakfast. Both somehow had gotten flour all over them.

"What kind of mischief are you two getting into now?" Peggy expressed in playful exasperation from the doorway.

Steve flinched slightly as he turned to face her.

"Hi! Good morning!" He greeted a bit awkwardly.

"Mommy!" Ellie shouted as she launched off of the counter into her mother's waiting arms.

Steve turned back to the stove and turned the burners off. He plated up the last of the pancakes and headed to the table. Peggy already had Ellie setting out the plates. After setting the pancakes down Steve pulled Peggy into a hug then pulled out her chair for her. He kissed her temple as she sat down. As they began eating their breakfast Ellie began a retelling of her grand adventure with Rocky, her flying pony, to her mother. Steve smiled wistfully as he realized she repeated the story almost verbatim.

Soon enough they had completely consumed their meal joyfully.

"Steve, darling, I believe you outdid yourself this morning." Peggy said as she handed Steve her plate as he began to clean the table.

"Well," he smiled, "I did have the best little helper in the world." He said as he tickled Ellie's ear before taking up her plate. She giggled delightfully.

"Eleanor, darling, go wash up. It's going to be a lovely day today." Peggy smiled as Steve began to prepare the sink to wash the dishes.

"Okay!" She squealed as she bounded up the stairs.

Peggy turned to Steve and frowned slightly.

"Oh! Darling, let me get those. You did the cooking this morning." She said as she heaved herself on to her feet.

Steve turned to her, matching her frown. He really did not want her to exert herself. He knew she could handle it but it's the principle of the thing. What would his mother say, God rest her soul, if she found out he let his heavily pregnant wife stand there and wash the dishes when he was perfectly capable and she could be resting and taking it easy? His mother would box his ears she would. He shuddered at the thought. What was equally frightening was the fact that if he made even one little protest Peggy would ream him.

But, he had an idea.

"Ah, Peg, you don't gotta," She crossed her arms. "I mean you know how much I just love doing the dishes. You would be doing me a favor by letting me wash them."

She raised one perfect eyebrow at his response.

"Okay Rogers, if that's how you want to play it, then fine, you may do the dishes. And," She smirked. "Since you suddenly love doing them so much you should really do them after every meal." Uh oh… "What kind of wife would I be if I begrudged my dear husband of something he 'loves' so dearly?" She smiled wickedly as she patted his cheeks.

Oh boy did that idea backfire. He detested doing the dishes and logically she probably knows that. He smiled wistfully to himself however, at least she's not standing there doing them.

"I'm going to go get ready. I have some errands to run." She said as she began to waddle away. "Oh!" She turned back to him. "Howard and his new fiancé will be stopping by later today for a late lunch."

This made Steve jolt in surprise.

"Howard? Engaged?!" He nearly shouted in bafflement.

Peggy smirked at him before heading up the stairs to get ready.

Howard Stark engage. Imagine that.

He turned to the dishes in a stupor. Of all the things to throw him through a loop after waking up in this time, Howard Stark's engagement truly takes the cake for being the most unbelievable. He couldn't keep the wry smile from forming on his face as he scrubbed at a plate.

'Well... Good for him!' He thought.

To be honest he was definitely looking forward to meeting the woman that made Howard want to settle.

-0-

After washing the dishes and cleaning the rest of the kitchen and dining area for good measure, Steve headed upstairs to check on Ellie. Peggy had already left an hour ago to run errands which consisted of groceries and a brunch/tea with Angie.

Steve smiled as he began to ascend the stairs and hear Eleanor singing to herself. As he got closer he recognized the song as "You Are My Sunshine." His chest tightened as he listened. Her voice was so melodic and clear, it was enchantingly beautiful.

He walked into her room and was saddened when she stopped singing the moment she realized his presence. His sadness was short-lived, however, when her expression beamed and she squealed in delight as she launched herself at him.

"Daddy!" She giggled as Steve caught her midair.

He pressed her close to his body, smiling deeply when she began to nuzzle his neck. He laughed as he gently set her down. She was wearing a baby blue sundress that made her golden curls stand out beautifully. She straightened out her dress and began to talk animatedly about what she was up to.

"I was trying to draw Rocky!" She proclaimed proudly.

She went back to her little worktable and swept her colored pencils aside and began showing him a few different versions of Rocky she made. Her skill was incredible. She was going to be a very talented artist if she continued to indulge in this hobby.

"This is amazing, Babydoll! Wow, Rocky is rather muscular." Steve noted the pony had been portrayed very masculine. It had very prominent bulging muscles. He did not know what to make of that.

"Ah huh, he is very strong. But I couldn't make his gold feathers stand out right." She said with a pout.

Steve chuckled as he knelt to assess her work. At the very least he could tell which feathers were meant to be gold and not simply yellow without her pointing them out. That's a plus. But he could tell what she meant. They still didn't quite read "gold." Steve almost wanted to tell her that it was fine the way it was. For a seven-year-old the drawing was excellent. However, he also knows the value of constructive criticism. Ellie wasn't fishing for compliments right now, she needed guidance.

"Well," Steve began, grabbing a deep midnight shade pencil. "For a gold, which is metallic, you want to bring out its shadows and make them bolder. Light catches on metals differently than other materials." He began explaining. He showed her the way the light bounced off of his gold wedding band. "May I?" He gestured to her drawing, asking permission to alter her work.

"Mmhm." She nodded enthusiastically.

He began to deepen the shadows on the gold feathers making them really pop. He was proud that she had gotten as far as she did on her own. The color of the gold itself was almost perfect. It was the bright Royal gold that looked freshly polished. She watched him work completely absorbed in his movements.

"Do you see why I deepened the shadow here?" He asked making a few more markings.

"Is it because of the way the light shines from here?" She pointed at the paper.

"Very good Babydoll. It is. And also because of this shape here." he explained pointing to another element on the page.

"Oh, I get it!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Steve smiled broadly, his heart melting into a warm fluffy pile of goo.

"Okay now," He began. He set the midnight blue down and grabbed the white and a pale rose pink. "I imagine Rocky is definitely the kind of pony who always keeps his golden feathers polished and shiny. So, let's give him some highlights on his feathers here…" He said as he started to create white lines to bring out the shine of the gold. "… And here."

"Oh! I see it, I get it!" She exclaimed astonished.

He smiled and nodded. Then he began to add small touches of the pink to bring out the light.

"Wow, Daddy, I wish I were this good." She sighed almost forlornly.

"Oh, Ellie Sweetie, you will be better than me one day. I'm certain of it." He said pulling her into a hug. "I don't know if I ever told you but for most of my life I couldn't even see colors right. It wasn't until after the procedure that I could even see reds and greens."

"That must have been awful." Ellie commented sadly.

"Yeah. It was one of the reasons I couldn't go any further in art school. I could only really do charcoal and ink drawings. No teacher back then wanted to deal with a colorblind kid. They thought I was a joke. What business did someone who couldn't even see colors properly have with painting and art." He said with lament. He was not quite sure why he was even telling her all this.

"I'm sorry Daddy, but your eyes are all better now right? You can see all the colors!" She smiled.

"Yes, I can Ellie. Heck, I could probably paint anything I wanted now."

For a fraction of a moment the image of a half painted portrait of Coney Island came to him. It left as quickly as it came but he was sure he had seen his own hands work the paint. He shook his head. He could have very well have painted something like that recently and just not remember it.

Oh well.

He'll figure it out eventually.

"Yeah! You should draw with me Daddy!" She exclaimed. "I'm going to draw Rocky again and do it the way you taught me!"

She began pulling out more blank pages and the rest of her colors. She handed him the paper with a grin.

"Thank you, Babydoll. What should I draw?" He asked.

He would draw damn near anything she desired in a heartbeat.

"Draw your dream too!" She replied instantly.

His eyebrows rose. He wasn't even sure he dreamt of anything at all. All he knew was that it wasn't a nightmare.

Good thing too.

As Ellie got back into drawing Rocky, Steve thought about what he dreamt. Now that he was really thinking about it he did dream of something. The longer he thought the more of the dream came back to him. When he got a clearer picture in his head he couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it.

Ellie looked up from her drawing, her tongue still was sticking out from concentration, and looked up at Steve questioningly.

"What is it, Daddy?" Her curiosity piqued.

"Oh Ellie, this is silly but I think I dreamt of a flying suit of armor." He said shaking his head.

"Like a knight?"

He chuckled again. "More like some science fiction spacesuit." He replied.

"Like something Mr. Stark would make?" She asked wonderingly.

Steve doesn't know why her question sent such a jolt through his system. That statement was utterly accurate, he felt like. But not in the way she meant it. He shook his head again.

"Well, how about you be the judge of that after I draw it." He suggested with a smirk.

"Okay!"

They got down to working. Ellie looked up every so often getting distracted as he began a rough sketch of the armor in his dreams. Soon enough he descended into the zone. He was completely immersed in the work. The more he drew the more the image became clearer and clearer. It was intoxicating, the kind of mindset he was in. Just the essence of creating and infusing a piece of himself into the page.

As he worked an odd sense of euphoric nostalgia overcame him. It's like his hands knew exactly how to draw the armor. Every curve of the platings were so familiar. Almost like he had drawn this image hundreds of times before. It was coming out more defined and detailed on the page then it ever hoped to be in his own mind. He couldn't understand how that was even possible but he kept working.

Eventually he began to add color, grabbing the reds and yellows then filling in shadows and highlights. He paid extra close attention to the strange light in the chest plate. He made sure to be certain it was the correct hue of blue.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he placed the last little flick of highlight on the face plate. He was finished.

He looked up to find Ellie staring at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed. After she realized she now held his attention she took a deep breath and squealed, "That was amazing!" At the other top of her lungs.

Steve flinched back not expecting that kind of response.

"Babydoll, inside voice." He admonished.

"Oops!" She said as she smacked her hands over her mouth.

"It's all right, Sweetie." He chuckled. "How did Rocky turn out?" He looked over at her work.

The pony seemed to be half drawn at that point.

"Oh!" She exclaimed suddenly. "I-I forgot!" She said turning back to her work abruptly.

She began drawing again. "I got distracted..." She muttered embarrassed.

Her face began to redden a little.

Steve couldn't help but to think that that was the most adorable thing ever. He began to watch her intently as she worked much like the way she had watched him. He delighted in watching her process. He also analyzed her movements and saw how she worked very similarly to how he did. He even got a kick out of the way she differed from him also.

Even as she predominantly held his attention as she worked extra hard on the pony's feathers, his eyes kept flickering down to his own drawing of the odd suit of armor from his dreams. The more he tried to understand and identify the torrent of emotions he felt upon viewing the image the more it all became foggy and slipped through his fingers like fine sand. But there was one thing that he somehow knew for sure.

It was important.

End Chapter Twenty-Eight

A/N: Woot! Yes, this one is a bit short but chapter 29 is definitely a bit bigger. And if I don't end up breaking up chapter 30 it will likely be the largest one yet. But it depends. I may need to break it up and if I do it may end up broken into 3 to 6 pieces inadvertently making them my shortest chapters yet. We shall see. I'll start typing up chapter 29 tonight and hopefully I'll get that to you within the next week.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think. All theories and comments welcome.