Ch. 29
Steve looked at himself in the full length mirror and fiddled with his black bow tie. He tried tying it one way and then another, his fingers fumbling to make a neat bow. When he'd finished, he sighed a bit. He was sure it was a bit lop-sided. Why did people even wear such ridiculous things? He felt like it was choking him.
He smoothed out his suit, ridding it of wrinkles, wiping away a bit of sweat from his fingertips on his black pants. He tried to tamp down the surge of nervousness that he felt.
Don't worry, buddy. It's all going to work out fine. You got this. No need to be anxious, he told himself, but his stomach kept doing backflips and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. He'd been on raids in hostile territory and been less apprehensive.
He looked in the mirror and grimaced. He combed his hair once again, not liking the way it was parted. He knew he'd be in dozens of photos that day and he didn't want his hair to stick out.
There was a rapid knock at the door to the small room he was in. He opened it, seeing Josh there, shifting his weight from foot to foot, wearing a tux just like his. He showed him his phone and Steve winced at the time. "C'mon, man. Big day. You don't want to be late," Josh said impatiently.
Steve nodded. It was one of the most important days of his life. He wanted everything to go perfectly.
"I'm coming."
He followed Josh quickly down the corridor to the side entrance of the church sanctuary, past the garlands of flowers and pew bows. Steve took his place up front and looked out at the assembled guests in their finery. He smiled at Pepper and Tony sitting with the rest of the guests and they gave him a quick wave. Tony was wearing a black Armani suit and Pepper was wearing a beautiful light beige cocktail dress. Tony gave him a big thumbs up and Steve did his best not to laugh at his friend's antics.
Soon the music began playing and before long, Stacy was walking down the aisle towards him, carrying a beautiful bouquet of dark blue delphiniums mixed with white roses. Her hair was carefully arranged in an elaborate up-do with a few curls framing her face. His breath caught as she beamed at him as she drew closer and he was struck, once again, at how very beautiful she was.
A few minutes later, the pastor smiled as he addressed the guests. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Erica and Michael in holy matrimony."
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Steve would like to say that he paid attention during the ceremony, that he focused intently on the service when two of his dearest friends got married. But all he could see was Stacy, standing there, shifting a bit uncomfortably on the other side of the altar. She had complained for the last two weeks about having to wear high heels at the wedding and, as he stared at her, he realized that she was suffering a bit.
She gave him a wink when she caught him staring. "Love you," she mouthed and he responded in kind.
"Love you, too."
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Steve walked over to Tony at the reception. He and Stacy were seated at the head table and he hadn't been able to talk to Tony much. He was glad that Tony and Pepper could make it to the wedding. When Steve had told them about the problems with Erica and Michael's caterer, Tony offered up his restaurant for the reception, all expenses paid. Erica and Michael had been overwhelmed by Tony's generosity and, of course, invited both Tony and Pepper to the wedding. Tony was more than excited by their newest findings and had visited them at their lab more than once to go over their work.
"Turned out pretty nice," Tony observed as he looked around the restaurant. There were dark blue delphiniums everywhere, interspersed with white roses. All the tables had been covered with white tablecloths and navy napkins.
"Thank you. Thank you for everything. You really didn't have to. I was just trying to find them a caterer," Steve said earnestly.
Tony waved him off. "It's no problem. It's actually my pleasure. They're a cute couple. And their work is amazing. Not as amazing as mine . . ."
Steve had to chuckle.
"But considering that it's in a completely different field, I'll give them a pass. No, really. They really took me to school when I went down to the lab that one day and they showed me around, let me see how they research was going. It's one thing to read their papers; it's another to have them walk you through it," Tony said with a grin.
"How far along are they?" Steve asked. He had tried to talk to them about it on numerous occasions about their work, but their explanations got very technical, very fast and he ended up just nodding and smiling at the end.
"Well, with anything medical, it takes such a long time for any type of widespread practical applications. There are all the clinical studies and human trials. Getting any kind of FDA approval is a nightmare. But, in the end, it wouldn't surprise me if we saw a huge reduction in the number of cancer cases in our lifetimes," Tony explained.
"Wow," Steve said as he looked over at Erica and Michael, dancing together.
"You know, people are heroes in all different ways. With the work that they're doing, those two are going to end up saving more lives than we'll ever," Tony said, raising his glass in tribute to the newly married couple.
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"Congratulations," Steve said enthusiastically, giving Michael a bear hug when he saw him between dances.
"Thanks, man, thanks. There were times I thought we weren't going to pull it off," Michael said.
"Really?" Steve asked incredulously.
"Yeah, man, I know we come off like the perfect couple," he chuckled, "but we've had our struggles," Michael confessed.
"I had no idea," Steve said.
"Mostly at the beginning, things were tough. Little things, but sometimes that can almost derail you. I grew up in a small family, just me and my parents. Erica's got five brothers and sisters. Her grandparents only speak Tagalog, so family get-togethers were awkward for me at first. Her family is hyper-involved; they get together every Sunday evening for dinner and I only call my parents once a week, if that."
"Oh," Steve said. He thought briefly at the differences between him and Stacy. He had no real family and Stacy was devoted to hers.
"Now, they love me. I'm part of the family. And my parents love Erica. It just took some time," Michael said with a grin. "So, how are you and Stacy doing?"
"Good, amazing really. I mean, last month was rough. I thought maybe we'd . . . . . . . but now things are great."
Steve couldn't believe the turnaround in their relationship. He and Stacy had spent the last couple of weeks up nearly every night talking until midnight. All pretense was gone. They had talked about their hopes and fears. They had both been honest and open about what they wanted in life. It felt as though they were finally getting to know all the messy, ugly parts about each other and Steve had never felt closer to Stacy.
His favorite talks were about the future. If they did get married, where would they live? How many kids would they want? Would Stacy be alright with Steve risking his life working for S.H.I.E.L.D. for the foreseeable future?
Once Steve came back from their Christmas trip, he had made an appointment with Director Fury. They had talked for an hour and made a series of compromises. Steve would continue to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., but he would be taking regular vacation and leave time. Fury would provide round the clock security for Stacy whenever Steve wasn't with her under such time as it was determined that Hydra was no longer a threat. Steve felt satisfied that he could continue working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Director Fury had even apologized for not informing him earlier about Hydra's intel about his personal life.
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Later on that evening, Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" began and Erica took the center of the dance floor.
"Okay, ladies, if you're eligible, come on down!"
Dozens of friends and family members crowded around Erica. She turned her back to the group, but peeked back and gave Stacy a wink. A few seconds later, the bouquet landed easily in Stacy's hand.
"Now, it's my turn," Michael said as he took the center stage, waving a garter over his head. "All the bachelors, gather round!"
Steve took his place near the front of the crowd of young men. He was determined to get that garter. He noticed Josh walking around and whispering in all the men's ears. Then, Michael tossed the garter and Steve noticed that all the men around him took five steps back, making Steve the only possible person to catch the garter. When he turned around to see Josh, he gave Steve a thumbs up.
"It seems we've been set up," Stacy said as she walked over to dance with Steve.
"I guess we have. Do you mind?"
"Not at all," Stacy said as she laid her head against his chest and they swayed to the music together.
Once the song ended, Steve took Stacy by the hand and led her off the dance floor. "Where are we going?" she asked, glancing at him inquisitively.
"You'll see," as they walked down a corridor and Steve opened the door to Tony's back office.
The small room was covered in dozens of bouquets of Gerber daisies, of every hue. There were a riot of colors and Stacy's eyes widened when she saw them.
"Steve . . ." she began, but couldn't continue, at a complete loss for words as she looked around the room.
Steve stood in front of Stacy, looking her in the eyes, both of her hands in his.
"For the longest time, after I woke up in the future, I could only focus on what I'd lost. The familiarity. The sense of understanding. The sense of knowing my place in the world The people that I knew. For the longest time, I thought ditching that plane in the ice was the worst decision I'd ever made. I'd go back and forth, always wondering if I could have done something different, when I could have made a different call."
"When I first met you, I was completely and utterly lost and so alone. I felt like I couldn't breathe, like I was drowning. I was constantly on edge, constantly felt out of place."
"And then, there you were. And, for the first time, I didn't feel so lonely, so isolated. You were a friend when I felt like I had no one else. Before long, all I could think about was you. You were in every thought. You were the reason behind every action."
"I wanted to ask you to marry me, that day when our world fell apart. I had the ring; I had it all planned out. The reason I was so hurt and angry was because I let myself believe that what we had together was all an illusion. That it was all a deception. Because, maybe, deep down, I never thought I'd ever be with a girl as wonderful as you are. Maybe it was because I couldn't allow myself to believe that someone could love me that way that you do."
Steve took a shuddering breath. "But, it doesn't matter that Tony set us up. That he played matchmaker. 'Cause he was right. He was so very right. There is no more perfect girl for me. You are this incredible, unexpected blessing in my life that I never thought I would ever have. You are amazing in every single sense of the word. I love you in a way I didn't know I could love someone. I can't imagine my life without you. And, I don't ever want to again."
Steve sank down on one knee, taking the smooth, wooden ringbox out of his pocket and opening it up for her. "Stacy, will you make me the happiest man in the world and do me the very great honor of marrying me?"
Stacy had begun to shake throughout his speech. "Yes," she said firmly, as he slipped the ring on her finger.
"Yes, yes, yes!" she repeated fervently as she crouched down to kiss him.
Author's Note- Shout-out to Salkri Kachemench for guessing that Steve was going to admit to Stacy that he was planning to propose on the day that they had their huge meltdown.
Still have a few more chapters to go!
