**A/N: Tomorrow is the night! I get to see Civil War :D Finally! Maybe I'll post the next chapter quicker and add my opinions of the movie.
Chapter 47- Strings Must Create
"These strings must relate to you the sadness that I feel. These strings must create for you a love that is so real. So listen while they sing to you the bluest melody. These strings want to talk to you for me."
~ Strings, Wynn Stewart
Bethany's foot was tapping against the tile floor in a rapid motion as her nerves got the better of her. Javan Ikra looked up at Bethany, giving her a soft smile. "Bethany, relax. He's in perfect health."
Bethany let out a deep breath and stopped her tapping, moving a hand out to smooth Jamie's curls. "I know, sorry. I can't help it sometimes."
The doctor gave Bethany a reassuring grin. "Well, it was good of you to make sure his vaccines are up-to-date. Although, I'm sure Jamie doesn't agree on that."
Jamie's face was still a little red from the intense crying he had participated in a few minutes earlier. "Even if he can't get sick, he's still a carrier. I want to start bringing him to Mommy and Me classes, so he needed to have all of that up-to-date. And then there's my fear that he might lose the healing ability."
"For now, he's in absolute perfect health," Javan promised. "He's long for his age, but he's the perfect weight."
"Even though he eats like a teenage boy," Bethany added with a chuckle, moving to redress Jamie in his onesie. "Is having another check-up next month too soon?"
"Bethany, pop in whenever you need," Javan insisted. "I can always spare a few moments to look him over, but all of his work has come back with flying colours. I think what you really need to worry about is whether or not you'll have another perfect child."
Bethany picked up her son, kissing his temple softly as his fingers intertwined in her hair. "Am I interrupting anything?" Jen asked, popping her head in.
"Not at all," Bethany assured, watching as the blonde came in with a tablet, dressed in her nurse outfit.
"Just some scans for you to look over, Javan," Jen said softly, handing the doctor the tablet before moving over to Bethany and Jamie. "Everything alright?"
"Perfect health," Bethany smiled. "What about you? How has your health been holding up with all the experiments and tests?"
"Good," Jen nodded. "Nothing has been overwhelming. I'm leaning towards keeping the powers just as a safety net, but I want to be able to control them better than I do now. Although they want me to start therapy."
"It's only because of past results with the experiment," Javan reminded Jen. "We don't want you to have a mental breakdown if we can detect it and stop it before it's too late."
"I know, and I appreciate that," Jen said with a soft smile.
"What about Theo? I haven't seen him around much lately. He'd be starting summer vacation soon enough, right?" Bethany questioned.
"It all depends if he finishes his school stuff on time," Jen said with a sigh. "His own therapist, Dr. F, has been insisting on a lot of one-on-one time with Theo, even though Theo hates going."
"We can always find another therapist," Bethany suggested. "Is Jackson staying around for the summer?"
"He'll head back for a little vacation time in August, but he wants to keep Theo learning in fun, creative ways throughout the summer to help him be prepared for next year. I want him to start going to public school."
"And how are things between you and Jackson?" Bethany asked, a smirk on her face. "I couldn't help but notice that you two are close."
Jen looked over her shoulder at Javan, who was busy reading the tablet she had brought in. When she looked back over at Bethany, she was wearing a shy smile. "We're just friends, Bethany. I meant what I said about not focusing on men right now. It's all about Theo and our well-being."
Bethany nodded, a little disappointed because she had to admit that Jen and Jackson would make a cute couple. And while she agreed that Jen shouldn't be focusing on her love life after everything that went down in the past, Jackson would be good for her. Theo loved him, and Jackson loved the kid in return. He was an amazing man and very trustworthy. "Well, if you do start to feel something for him, go for it. I mean, obviously I like the man. I let him take care of both of our sons. If there was ever a man you should have another relationship with, it would be a man like Jackson."
Jen gave Bethany a wary smile, looking back over to Javan before declaring she had to get back to work. When she left, Javan followed, telling Bethany to stay in the room as long as she needed. Considering Bethany technically owned the building, people often let her do whatever the hell she wanted to do and whenever she wanted to do it, but stay in a medical examination room was not something she wanted to do longer than she had to.
"That was weird, wasn't it?" Bethany said to Jamie, kissing the top of his head as they left the room. "What would you like to do? Go out and play, watch a movie, do some drawing? Maybe go see Daddy?"
Jamie's face lit up at the mention of his dad, something that he had been doing more and more lately. Steve was finally feeling like Jamie wanted him around as much, if not more, than he wanted Bethany around. She wasn't jealous at all. She was glad the two boys had developed this strong bond finally. She knew it meant a lot to Steve, and for her own personal gain, it would make his time away from home shorter. Jamie was merely a baby who really just needed someone to do things for him. Before he had wanted Bethany doing those tasks. Now he wanted his mother and father around as often as possible.
"Okay, let's go see Daddy," Bethany replied with a laugh. "You're cute, you know that? You should say 'Daddy' and make his entire year, baby boy."
When they reached the training area, Bethany stood by the door and waited for a good moment to interrupt. Steve had confined in Bethany that the team all had their attributes, but working together was something they desperately needed to improve. Wanda's powers were incredible, but everyone could tell that she was holding back because she was afraid of what she was capable of. Bethany made a mental note that she and Jen should really get to know each other since they were both in the same boat.
Jamie started loudly squealing, calling out to Steve in his own little language, his hand outstretched in his direction. Since the room was mostly empty, his loud voice echoed off the walls, catching everyone's attention, stopping their training techniques.
"Uhh, let's take lunch," Steve suggested to the team, jogging over to his family, taking Jamie into his arms. "Hey."
He leaned down to kiss Bethany softly after she replied to his greeting. "Perfect bill of health."
"I had no doubts," Steve said, wrapping an arm around Bethany as they started off towards the living quarters.
"I got a call from Laura Barton today," Bethany spoke up. "She's invited us to go visit them at the end of the week. I told her we'd be there, but I was just going to double check with you."
"Seeing them really means something to you, doesn't it?" Steve asked.
"It's another family," Bethany explained. "We don't have friends with family. Well, except Jen but it's not exactly the same. It's important to me. And I like Laura. I feel like she can adequately prepare me for the future of being a mother and a wife of an Avenger."
"Okay, well then I guess we're going to see the Barton's this weekend," he told her with a smile. "Now, what should we do for lunch?"
Jamie's jealousy of Bethany holding the baby Nathaniel Barton was evident and worried Bethany a little bit. She had only been holding the adorable bundle for five minutes before Jamie aggressively started demanding her attention, no matter how busy Steve tried to keep him. Bethany handed the baby back to his mother and scooped Jamie up into her arms. He immediately fell silent and took an iron grip hold on her. Bethany tried not to let her disappointment show as she kissed Jamie's head and bounced him lightly on her lap, but it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She wanted another baby, and even if it was going to be a year or two from now, she wanted Jamie to be happy about it, not jealous and upset by Bethany having to split her attention.
"How's everything going at the Facility?" Clint asked as he handed Steve a beer and sat down next to Laura.
"So far so good," Steve replied with a nod. "Still have a lot of kinks to work out, but it's nice to have a large group of people to rely on. It's like SHIELD, but I trust the system a lot more."
"Yes, yes, we know," Bethany teased. "You didn't like SHIELD's system."
"I like to know what's going on," Steve explained. "You didn't care but you also knew everything that was going on."
"That is true," Bethany said with a chuckle. "So how's having three kids?"
"Very little sleep," Laura replied honestly. "This little one doesn't like to sleep. But the kids have been helpful most days. It's nice having Clint home too."
"You liking retirement Clint?" Bethany asked, wincing as Jamie accidently pulled her hair.
"I thought it would include more sleeping," Clint admitted. "It's weird. I'm still busy but just in a different way."
"I know what you mean," Bethany promised. "After Jamie was born, I was as busy as I was when I worked for SHIELD, but it was busy by being at home. Home is associated with relaxing and with a baby, it's hard to wrap your head around the fact that your resting place is now your workplace. Although, I bet for Laura, after the third time around, it's not that weird."
"It's like clockwork at this point," Laura agreed.
"How's Nat holding up?" Clint asked suddenly. "I keep in contact with her, but you know Nat. She never wants to burden people."
"She's doing good," Steve replied softly. "She's not the same, but after everything that went down, it's understandable. But she's working, she laughs when things are funny."
"She eats with us for dinner once a week," Bethany added. "She works all day and usually eats dinner with someone, so she's only alone at nighttime. Whenever I try to bring up Bruce, she basically shuts me down, and I have to respect that. She'll talk when she's ready."
"She's welcome here whenever," Laura reminded them. "If you ever feel like she needs to get away from work, just send her to us."
"To be honest, I feel like she's been trying to stay away from us a little bit," Steve admitted. "I think she has a hard time being around a family right now, not knowing if she'll ever get one."
"Is that something that she wants?" Bethany asked truthfully. "I mean, I can't see her being a mother. To be fair, I was her a few years ago, but could you see Natasha adopting children and settling down?"
They all replied 'no' instantly before the room fell silent for a few moments. "But she can if she wants to," Steve spoke up. "If that's something she wants, then she should go for it."
"Agreed," Bethany said lightly. "But she may not want that either. I think, minus missing Bruce, she's happy with the set up right now. I feel like everyone is. It's been going a lot more smoothly than I thought it would."
"Nick still lingering around?" Clint asked, taking a sip of his beer.
"The man is like a ghost," Bethany said with a shake of her head. "He comes and leaves as he pleases. For someone who is supposed to make my life easier at the Facility when it comes to workload, it's like he's never around. And I think I know why," Bethany added, looking at Steve with an eyebrow raised.
"I told him I was fine with him being at the Facility and making decisions, but that this isn't SHIELD and he can't keep secrets whenever he damn well pleases," Steve argued.
Clint laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, I wish I could have seen his face when you told him that. The ex-Director of SHIELD being talked down to. I bet it was priceless."
"I wish you just kept your mouth shut," Bethany told Steve truthfully.
"So you've said," Steve sighed.
"I've been balancing things, but having someone around who thinks similar to the way I do helps keep me happy at the apartment and not obsessing over what's going on at the Facility."
"Dessert anyone?" Laura asked suddenly, getting off the couch and handing Clint the baby as she clearly tried to avoid a fight brewing. The thing was, Bethany and Steve hadn't been fighting. Disagreeing, yes. But their disagreeing never amounted to them getting angry or yelling at the other. They either agreed to disagree or one of them would change their opinion on the situation. It had been a little over a month since the Ultron fiasco, and it was like neither one of them had the energy to actually fight, or the desire to.
Steve reached out and took Bethany's hand, giving it a tight squeeze. She smiled at him and he smiled back at her, and that was everything. No fighting, just acceptance.
When Bethany had mentioned that she was having a difficult time staying home with Jamie, her mind focused on what was going on at the Facility, she hadn't really told anyone how much it really bothered her. She hated when she was trying to bond with her son and her mind would wander to whether or not certain things were getting done, and more importantly, whether or not they were getting done the way she wanted them to be done. If she told anyone, she would be admitting that she didn't fully trust the team.
That really wasn't the issue. She trusted them, she just… liked control. That was not a new concept. But she was constantly worrying about working when all she wanted was to spend time with Jamie, which basically led to her coming up with an idea that could be completely idiotic. Or it would be genius. Her heart was pounding as she was trying to debate over whether or not she should do this. Steve wouldn't agree but she felt like after Ultron, she'd have to tell him.
"You-you want to do what?!" Steve demanded before taking in some deep breaths and repeating the question with a calm tone.
"I want to develop an artificial intelligence to be my eyes and ears at the Facility. Not like Ultron, but like JARVIS. With a holographic body. Both of us know how great JARVIS was. He was helpful and resourceful. The only difference is that this intelligence will be created by me and have my decision making process. At the end of the day, it'll send me a report and-"
"Only if it's just like JARVIS," Steve interrupted. "It can't have any prospects of war or freedom or-"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Bethany said as she jumped into Steve's arms kissing him.
He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I didn't think this would make you so happy."
"I just want to be able to spend time with Jamie without worrying about what's going on outside. I'll get the plans from Tony and make some small adjustments," Bethany promised.
So she had spent almost every free moment of her day working on the AI. She would set Jamie up in the living room with a variety of toys and activities while she would sit at the couch, working away. Jamie would usually pick a specific toy and crawl up onto the couch and sit beside Bethany, his head leaning against her arm, watching cartoons on the TV. This wasn't exactly what Bethany wanted Jamie to do all day, but she knew that once she set up the intelligence, she was free to take Jamie outside for picnic lunches or finally go out to Mommy and Me classes.
The Computerized Holographic Response Intelligence System, or CHRIS, took a little over a week to set up. Since Bethany wanted it to be a hologram, she also had to ensure that the pod that would screen the body could move throughout the Facility, but would fall dead as soon as it reached the boarders of the Facility building. All of the Avengers agreed that this would be for the best. Vision would monitor CHRIS to make sure that everything was safe and not going to hell, and as soon as Bethany finished the program, Sam applauded her for CHRIS' body—the intelligence took on the appearance of Kerry Washington.
So after a week of monitoring CHRIS carefully, the intelligence sending Bethany daily updates on everything going on in the building and Bethany agreeing with all the decisions or suggestions CHRIS implemented, Bethany finally enrolled herself and Jamie in some Mommy and Me classes. On their first day, Bethany had woken up at five, her nerves getting the best of her. She could go up against aliens, HYDRA and an army of robots, but the fear of interacting with a group of mothers didn't allow her to swallow up her nerves.
"Why are you doing it then?" Steve asked Bethany as he got dressed for the day, watching as Bethany obsessed over which outfit to wear that day.
"Because I want Jamie to interact with children his age," Bethany said with a sigh. "I just… I'm not exactly looking forward to what the mothers will think of me."
"Do you want me to take the day off?" Steve asked, halting doing up his suit. "Take him? Or go with you? Just so that you feel like you can go by yourself next time?"
"Would you?" Bethany asked softly, her desperation showing in her eyes. "I want them to like me. If I didn't care, I could do it because I could kick their asses if I had an issue, but I want them to like me and actually make friends so I don't change my mind about taking Jamie there every week."
"Let me just call the team and let them know I'll be gone for the day," Steve allowed, giving her a smile. Bethany clasped her hands together as she smiled, watching as Steve left the room. She turned back to her closet, looking over her options. It was like the first day at the Facility all over again, except this time, Bethany was trying to decide what kind of mother she wanted to appear as.
There was something appealing about showing up looking hot, like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine, but she knew that it would be better to relate to the mothers if she dressed down. She settled on a pair of worn-in jeans and a pink and white plaid top. She even went as far as to pick out an outfit for Steve. Bethany had already picked out a cute outfit for Jamie the night before. This was yet another milestone that meant the world to her. She didn't want Jamie to grow up sheltered and alone.
Despite her nerves for Mommy and Me class, the mothers welcomed Bethany into their circle, even inviting her over to their place a few times. Every time, she got a little nervous, just because she had a hard time trusting anyone that wasn't already in her circle, but they were curious about her life. Mostly, they were amazed at how much she could juggle. It helped that Jamie, besides his aversion to bath time, was a typically good baby. He wasn't even too fond of nap time, but Bethany had learned that he would nap in the afternoon, just when he wanted to and where he wanted to. The other day, he fell asleep on the floor, cuddled up to Molly.
Jamie had blended in with the other babies easily. At first, he looked confused at them all, but quickly found out that they were fun to play with. He loved playing with the building blocks. The cutest thing he did was when he noticed a little girl trying to reach a toy on the shelf, just out of her arm length. Jamie had stood up, walked over, picked up the toy and handed it to her, looking to his mother for approval.
The approval by the other moms had been just as exciting for Bethany. She didn't tend to have friends that didn't mesh in with her superhero/super spy life. Even Jen, who was just a neighbour, now qualified as part of that life. She was making connections away from the Avengers and that was very fulfilling. Bethany had been in a dark place a few months ago, feeling helpless and lost even when she had no reason to be. She had friends and a loving husband, but now that she had experienced life away from the Avengers and the work that followed that life, she felt like an entirely different woman. They wanted to talk about trashy celebrities and cute things their babies did. And, much to Bethany's amusement, how attractive her husband was. That seemed to be a popular topic with the women.
After the class one day, Bethany took Jamie out for ice cream, deciding that she wasn't ready to return to the Facility just yet. While at the parlour, Bethany eyed an elderly couple in the corner, both with oxygen tanks and canes, but eating their ice cream slowly and having conversation nonetheless. She couldn't help but smile. Getting old was something that scared a lot of people because it meant dying eventually. Bethany would admit that she was afraid of getting old because of the change, but there was something so mysterious and exciting about the life that could be ahead of her. Growing old with Steve by her side.
"Happy Birthday," Bethany whispered to Steve as he woke up on the Fourth of July. He gave her a soft smile, rubbing his eyes as Bethany drew circles on his arm with her fingernail.
"Thanks Doll," he replied, pulling her closer to him and taking a whiff of her hair. When Bethany had asked Steve what he wanted to do for his ninety-seventh birthday, he really had no idea. What appealed to him the most was just doing what they did for Jamie's birthday—have close friends over for a barbeque and beers. But since it was also America's birthday, he understood that a lot of their friends were working on keeping the festivities safe or participating in them themselves. They decided that they'd have a joint birthday party the next month, after the house was done, when Bethany turned ninety-five. That day, Steve was just going to spend some time with his family.
"Jamie is still sound asleep," Bethany informed him after Steve yawned, trying to shake his sleep off.
"That's because someone let him take a nap at five yesterday," Steve replied, a small smile tempting his face.
"Guilty as charged," Bethany supplied. "Not complaining too much however, since it means we can lie here a little longer. Any idea of things you'd like to do today?"
"Picnic lunch?" Steve offered. "Maybe a movie for the three of us. I'd like to see the fireworks tonight though, if you don't mind."
"Not at all," Bethany promised. "It's your special day. Whatever you want."
Steve let out a deep breath, letting it soak in that it was his birthday. Ninety-seven. It didn't seem right. Technically, he was only thirty today. Or at least, that's how many years he had been awake, his heart and brain functioning. It all continued to seem so surreal to him. This life. What was really becoming hard to understand was that Bethany no longer seemed like a piece of his old life. She was his new life. Every part of his new life had her in it. She was there in the 1940s, but he considered her more a part of this new generation than the old. He felt that he was losing his past a little each and every day. When he had mentioned that to Sam, his friend had told him that this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. That he needed to accept his life as it was and make the best of it. Dwelling on the past wouldn't change anything. In a way, Steve knew he was right, but his past was who he was and where he came from. It was hard to let go of that.
He wondered where Bucky was. They hadn't been able to find him, only catching cold trails here and there. Bethany continued to remind him that cold trails were good things because that meant that he was still alive and that no one else had found him. It scared him to think that other people, people having bad intentions, were after his friend. He felt obligated to find him before anyone else did. But even now Kiley was taking Bethany's side about letting Bucky be.
Steve still hadn't got the full story on Bucky and Kiley's adventure, but one thing was certain—Kiley had feelings for Bucky. The issue was that Steve couldn't tell most days whether it was positive or negative feelings. It was like they rotated on a daily basis. But one thing remained certain and that was that Kiley kept telling Steve that Bucky needed his freedom to figure out who he was. That even though she wasn't trying to force him to be anything, she unintentionally did. He needed to be away from people and just discover himself before he could make a reappearance. Steve had a hard time hearing this, but it seemed to be the consensus all around.
"What are you thinking about?" Bethany asked softly.
Steve ran his fingers through her curls, feeling the silky strands slip between his digits. "Bucky," he answered truthfully. When three minutes had passed and Bethany didn't say anything in return, he continued. "He's still my friend, Doll."
"I know," Bethany replied. "But you may not still be his. That's a hard truth, but you need to be prepared for a future where you and him are not friends."
"I can't accept that," Steve quickly argued back, but his voice was quiet.
Bethany turned her head to look at him and he could see the worry in her eyes. She wasn't saying these things to hurt him, but to protect him. He knew she had nothing but the best intentions, but Steve had a hard time accepting a future where his best friend was the enemy. "You don't even know if you can have a relationship with him because we still don't know who he is. He doesn't even know who he is."
"Kiley said he had made a lot of progress," Steve pointed out.
Bethany sighed, looking down for a moment before gathering the strength to meet his hopeful eyes again. "The human brain is an amazing organ, but it can only go through so much trauma before real damage is left behind. Any progress could be lost with a simple memory. A word. A blink of an eye. A trigger. You don't understand what it's like to have your brain feel like it doesn't belong to you. Sometimes, you can see, feel and hear all the stupid things you're doing, thinking and saying and know that it isn't the right thing to do, but you keep doing it anyways because it isn't your brain. You don't understand that like I do. And Bucky's brain has gone through a lot more than mine has."
The sound of Jamie stirring, the crinkling of his crib and his call out for his mother ended the conversation just as quickly as it began. Bethany pulled the covers off of her, but decided there needed to be one more thing said. "Babe, I want everything between you and Bucky to be good again. I want him in our lives, happy and healthy. But I also don't want you to get your hopes crushed again. It's so hard for me to watch you get destroyed emotionally because there's nothing I can do to fix it."
With that, she crawled out of the bed and made her way to Jamie's room, Steve lying in bed and letting her words float around his head. He knew that he could possibly just end up getting his heart broken again but he couldn't give up on Bucky. He never had before and he never would in the future.
For lunch, the family sat in what would soon be their backyard, on a huge blanket and a ginormous spread of food. They had some soft jazz music playing as the family of three ate, talked and played. The house still had some ways to go, but the best part of the situation was that it was actually starting to resemble a house. Bethany sat watching as Steve pretended to chase Jamie around the yard, Jamie falling every few seconds, but getting up and continuing his trek, a goofy smile on his face.
Jamie finally ran over to Bethany, Steve a few steps behind him, the baby collapsing into his mother's arm. "Aw, you tired out?" Bethany asked as Jamie's little chest heaved in exhaustion.
Steve sat beside them, picking up the polaroid camera and snapping a quick photo, waiting as the photo cleared up. "Tony called," Steve said to Bethany as she shifted Jamie in her arms, trying to get the baby to fall asleep. "Wanted to wish me happy birthday."
"That's it?" Bethany asked, patting down Jamie's curls, watching as his blond lashes fluttered.
"I believe his exact words were 'Happy Birthday Old Timer. Don't break your hip when you climb out of the bathtub,'" Steve replied. "That's how he's convincing himself I broke the bathtub at the Tower."
Bethany chuckled, knowing that Tony had an easy time thinking about everyone else's sex lives except for Steve and Bethany's. Although, Bethany knew that if Tony wasn't related to her, he'd be very curious. It was just in his nature. It was in hers too. "Let him believe what he will. Less embarrassing, don't you feel?"
"Probably about the same, to be honest," Steve replied with a soft laugh before looking around. "It's coming along nicely."
"They're saying about another month to finish everything," Bethany explained. "They start putting the pool in next week. It's all coming together."
"Which means we should probably go shopping for furniture soon," Steve pointed out.
She nodded, softly encouraging Jamie to fall asleep before replying. "We'll need a full day at IKEA. It's up to you when you want to go, but on Tuesday, Tony will be here so we can connect the Facility's security system to the house."
"Maybe on Saturday?" Steve suggested. "Unless something comes up."
"What if something does come up?" Bethany asked curiously, avoiding Steve's gaze at first but ultimately meeting it when he didn't reply quick enough.
"Then we'll reschedule," Steve said with a sigh. "Bethany, you know I can't back out of a mission if-"
"Did I say anything?" She interrupted harshly, Jamie stirring in her arms. Gathering her patience, she backtracked. "Babe, I'm not angry. It's just… difficult for me to wrap my head around you working five days a week at the Facility and then on our weekend, you may possibly have to step away. That's all, okay. You're at work more now than you have in our entire relationship, that's all."
"I see your point," Steve offered. "But I'm also working nine to five, five days a week. You can't tell me that that's not being normal."
Bethany bowed her head to try and hide her smile. She knew he had a point. In fact, she was kinda fond of the system they had built and the schedule they had. But he had, on two occasions, had to step away for a mission on the weekend, and more than a few times during the middle of the night. "Bad guys don't follow the rules of the weekend. That I know firsthand," Bethany replied. "I'm just excited to get some furniture for our home. That's all."
Bethany looked back down to see that Jamie was sleeping soundly in her arms, his cheeks a sweet rosy red as they always were when he fell asleep and his lips slightly parted and wet. "How's your birthday going so far?" Bethany asked with a sweet smile.
Steve reached out and cupped Bethany's cheek before kissing her softly. "It's amazing. I'm excited for the fireworks tonight," he admitted.
"The ones in the sky, or the ones in our bed?" Bethany asked with a smirk.
Steve let out a laugh, shaking his head in amusement. "Both, apparently."
"You'd think I'd let your birthday go by without some mind blowing birthday sex?" Bethany asked.
"We didn't have sex last year," he pointed out, but Steve already knew why they didn't have sex. Bethany had just had Jamie and they were still working out their issues in regards to trusting each other and feeling the wounds their painful words had caused.
"Yeah, but I feel like we're in a much better place now than we were then."
"Oh, I know we are," Steve assured, leaning forward for another kiss, this one lasting much longer than the previous.
**A/N:
pulchritudo in omia: Glad you caught up :) Haha, yes Steve as a Daddy is instant wet panties for sure. I really want there to be a sense of peace before the Civil War build up to add to the drama so there will be more peaceful times to go around :) the occasional issue, but all around, some good ole family time for the Rogers.
Adela: Thanks girl! I don't want to take my time, but I did feel like I deserved a week off to relax in the sun ;)
Jo: I definitely needed the vacation after the last semester of school. Haha, my sister and I were going gaga at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I basically just smiled and jumped excitedly at Diagon Alley. I definitely didn't look 21, nor did I feel it. I truly felt like I was 8 years old again :)
Anonymouscsifan: Tony does have a point, and it'll cause some strain with her and Tony, along with when Tony finds out that Bethany knew about Bucky being the cause of his parents death and not getting upset/ naming her child after him. Obviously. At one point, they saw things in the same light. They don't as much anymore because Bethany is starting to see things the way Steve does. My trip was amazing! I was happy and smiling the entire time. I barely even thought about the story because I was enjoying myself so much. It was nice to have a week where the only thing that's really expected of me is to go on all the rides my brother and sister want me to, since I'm the official designated ride volunteer-er :)
