A week and a half later, Tessa and Ryan knocked on Steve and Katie Carter's door with a wine caddy with four bottles in the woman's hand. Kayla answered the red door and squealed as she leaned forward, giving Tessa a hug before holding open the door for them to enter.
"Hello! You must be Ryan, it's so nice to meet you! I'm Katie." She greeted as she shoved her right hand at the lanky, dark-haired man before her. He wore a nice button-up plaid shirt and black slacks.
He smiled gently and shook her hand, studying the auburn-haired beauty with grey eyes, "Nice to meet you, Katie. Thank you for having us over."
"Of course, come in! Come in! Make yourselves at home! Steve's upstairs putting the kids down for the evening." Kayla explained chipperly, motioning for them to follow her into the kitchen. She'd already taken down the peeling wallpaper and painted the kitchen a deep, homey red that matched the deep wood of the kitchen table they had. She stirred the pot of angel hair pasta on the stove before turning down the temperature on the four-cheese marinara sauce that was simmering nearby. "There are wine glasses above the sink, please help yourself, dinner should be ready shortly."
"It smells delicious Katie." Tessa hummed happily as she opened the cabinet and grabbed four glasses before looking around, "You have a wine opener?"
"Second drawer to the right," Kayla called over her shoulder, her long hair pulled into a side ponytail to stay out of her face as she wiped her hands on the black apron she wore over her light wash jeans and sleeveless black turtleneck.
Tessa found what she needed and began to open up a bottle of red merlot. She poured four glasses and handed one to Ryan as he passed by her. Kayla took the pasta off the stove and poured it through a colander as Steve came barreling down the staircase into the main living area. He wore black thick-framed glasses that shielded his recognizable eyes from the world. "Hello. You must be Tessa and Ryan. I'm Steven." Steve said as he reached out to shake the man's hand. Ryan gulped back his drink of wine and looked up at the massive blonde before him, taking his hand and shaking it firmly.
"Nice to meet you." Ryan said quietly as he studied Katie's husband, and the tall woman leaned up to kiss him on the cheek as he put his left arm around her shoulders. "Wine?" Ryan asked, offering Steve a glass.
"Don't mind if I do." Steve took it and sipped the red liquid slowly as he grinned at his wife's new friend. "So Kay-tie tells me you own the coffee shop downtown? The Brewhouse?"
"I do. It basically breaks even and that's about it, but business is getting better. I got it for a good deal after the vanished returned and the old owners didn't want it anymore when they reappeared. They sold it and moved to Bali." Tessa explained, sipping her wine as she took a seat at the kitchen table. Ryan pushed in her chair and she smiled warmly at him, her dimples appearing on her rosy cheeks.
Kayla and Steve nodded understandingly before Steve cleared his throat, "What about you Ryan? What do you do for a living?"
"Oh I'm a police officer," Ryan answered nonchalantly and luckily didn't notice the way Steve's wine got stuck in his throat and Kayla's face flushed pale at his words.
A cop? And we're literally supposed to both be dead.
"Oh." Kayla finally pushed out as she sat down her glass, pouring more wine into her glass as she continued talking, "That's exciting. I'm sure you've been busy. Things seem very all over the place since everybody came back last year."
"It's actually a lot slower than during the snap. There was so much crime then. There's still a lot of fear though. After everything that happened in New York a few weeks ago, people don't know if they are safe." Ryan explained, leaning against the back of his chair as Kayla doubled back into the kitchen to serve the pasta.
"Dinner's ready!" She called as she brought over a bowl of plain pasta and set it down in the middle of the table before bringing over a gravy boat full of pasta sauce in one hand and a bowl of bread in the other. "Oh, I've got peas in the microwave!"
Tessa squished her face in disgust at the mention of peas but helped herself to a bowl full of pasta, "So Steven, you're in construction now. What did you do before you moved here?"
"I was in the army before the snap." He said honestly, placing a piece of garlic bread onto his white plate before taking a spoonful of the peas Kayla set in front of him. "Served for twelve years before meeting Katie. I want something a little less dangerous now that we have the kids."
"That's understandable. I hate what Ryan does. Like, I'm proud, but I'm always nervous." Tessa pat her boyfriend's arm with her left hand. "But he's really good at what he does. And he's very careful."
"Steven was never careful," Kayla muttered under her breath as she sat beside Steve and he shot her a look. She shrugged under his judgemental glare and Tessa giggled in response.
Ryan spooned up a pile of peas and placed them on Tessa's plate, and she scrunched her nose again, looking unhappy as he dished up his own. "It's an honorable job, even if it's dangerous. But this town is pretty sleepy. I catch people speeding sometimes, that's the extent of my excitement."
"And hopefully it stays that way," Tessa argued, gesturing toward Katie and Steve with her wine glass.
"Cheers to that," Kayla mumbled as she raised her glass for a toast before downing her second glass of wine.
Two hours later, Ryan and Tessa had gone through two full bottles between the two of them and were thankful to live next door. Tessa sat on the floor in front of the couch at her husband's feet while Steve sat in the reclining chair nearby. He chuckled at the couple as they laughed loudly at each other. Kayla stayed in the kitchen to finish the dishes.
"So, Carter, you must have done sports in high school. Football? Baseball?" Ryan asked as he sipped his current glass of merlot.
Steve bopped his head back and forth thoughtfully, "No, not really. I really wasn't this bulky when I was younger. I started working out when I decided to join the army. I went to art school for a semester before that though."
"No shit! Can you draw?" Ryan blurted out excitedly as he leaned over the armrest to get closer to Steve. The man's grey eyes were hazed over from the alcohol, but he looked genuinely interested.
Steve leaned back in his chair, groaning, "I can. I can draw, but not now, not after this much wine. You'll get nothing but stick figures."
"Well if we ever need a sketch artist down at the station I'll hit you up." Ryan settled, leaning back into the couch as he stared out the window at the quiet suburban street. "I didn't really do sports either, just track and field."
Tessa rolled her eyes and moaned as she looked over her shoulder to the kitchen. "Katie, come join us! Why do I feel like you aren't even tipsy?" Tessa called teasingly as she laid her head against Ryan's knees. She pushed herself to her feet and wandered into the kitchen, leaning against the metal fridge as she watched Kayla closely, studying the woman. "Ryan makes you nervous."
"What? No." Kayla argued back, never stopping her scrubbing.
"It's because he's a cop, right?"
"No, Ryan's great! I promise, it's just... he reminds me of Steve. That worries me... for you. It's hard, you know?" Kayla strained through clenched teeth, trying to get the brunette woman to drop the subject. She didn't want them getting suspicious of her and Steve.
Tessa blew air out through her mouth, the smell of wine reaching Kayla's enhanced sense of smell instantly. "I said he's careful."
"I know, but, things happen. I just don't want you to get hurt." Kayla turned to face the woman, and saw her pupils were large, "I think you've had enough to drink tonight."
"And you haven't had enough." Tessa scolded, nodding toward the men. The sound of grunting came from the living room, and Kayla looked up, scrunching her brows as she leaned around the doorframe, seeing Steve sitting on the couch with Ryan, arm-wrestling the smaller man.
"Oh, this will be good." Tessa teased, meeting Kayla's eyes as she bumped into the opposite doorframe, beaming from ear to ear. "Your husband, he's quite a snack."
"Oh yeah? That's the alcohol talking." Kayla laughed as Steve easily subdued Ryan, causing their guest to laugh loudly and demand a rematch.
"He's like a regular Captain America."
Kayla's blood ran cold, and her joking demeanor died out instantly. "What did you say?"
Tessa's head lulled back a little and smiled weakly at her friend, "He was a soldier wasn't he?"
"Yes. But he's not-"
"Well, obviously. I'm not stupid." Tessa slurred, and Kayla sighed in relief that her new friends didn't know who they really were. Tessa reached up and grabbed her shoulder, squeezing it supportively. "Him being in the service, it really messed you up didn't it?"
Kayla swallowed hard, seeing Steve laughing boisterously with Ryan. Kayla wasn't used to seeing him so open and happy with someone who wasn't apart of the Avengers. It was refreshing. "Yeah. I guess it did."
"I'm thankful you guys moved in next door Katie. It's nice having another couple we can spend time with. Ryan really only spends time with his two brothers." Tessa whined, flipping her thick brown hair over her shoulder. "But it's late, we should get going before your husband breaks Ryan's arm off."
"I won! Take that!" Ryan yelled victoriously as he slammed Steve's arm into the table. Kayla shushed him loudly as the sound of crying echoed from downstairs, the yelling and laughing waking up Sarah. "Sorry!" Ryan apologized as he scrambled to his feet, shaking Steve's hand.
"It's fine, I'll take her. Thank you for coming." Kayla hugged Tessa and smiled gratefully at Ryan before heading up the stairs. She heard Steve telling the couple goodnight and the men laughing as the door closed. Kayla scooped up Sarah and rocked her gently back and forth, pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "I love you, darling. I love you so much. All of this is for you and your brother, so you can grow up safe and secure and have a normal life."
Kayla heard the door lock, and her breath caught in her throat, "I'm happy Sarah. I really am." She whispered, looking out the open bedroom door toward the staircase, "But I don't want to erase who we are. Because we... we were-"
She waited for Steve to turn the corner and meet her glance, knowing he heard everything she told the whimpering infant. He lowered his head, feeling the weight of her sadness, "Kay. We aren't erasing who we are."
"You were Captain America. I was the President's Daughter. Our kids, they should have everything." Kayla whispered, placing Sarah back into her crib.
"They will. We'll give it to them, just the two of us."
Kayla looked up and gently touched Steve's jaw. "I love you, Steve."
"I love you too, Kay."
Steve went into James's room to check on him as Kayla began preparing for bed, brushing out her hair as she stared at Sarah's crib. Her heart was torn. She was beginning a new life- but, she had loved her old one so much.