A/N: Road Trip tells about Steve's adventures when he takes a motorcycle trip across America after the events of The Avengers.
Ice Cream and Wedding Cake Boats
Steve Rogers sat on the grassy bank of the Mississippi River sketching the lazy curve of the river as it disappeared around a bend.
"Look out!" a chorus of young voices squealed.
Steve sensed something rushing toward his head. He brought up his hand, responding quicker than thought, and caught the ball in one hand before he even turned his head.
Four anxious kids and one mortified mother approached quickly.
Steve studied the missile curiously. It was about the size of a soccer ball, but translucent red and filled with something that seemed to slosh a bit when it moved.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," the mother exclaimed.
"Billy, you might have hit the man in the face," the oldest girl chided her younger brother.
"Worse, you might have kicked the ice cream into the river," the next oldest girl said practically.
"Susan!" their mother exclaimed. "The man's head is much more important than ice cream. Apologize, please."
The girl did so with a put-upon expression, because she'd only told the truth by her lights. Steve accepted the apology with solemn politeness that earned the child's appreciation.
"Ice cream?" Steve asked curiously. He politely came to his feet holding the ball.
"Yes, it's a Play and Freeze ice cream ball," the woman explained. "You put ice and salt in one side and ice cream mix in the other, then you roll it around and you get ice cream. It's like an ice cream maker, except instead of turning a crank the kids burn up their excess energy chasing a ball around."
"Sounds like a good idea," Steve said with a laugh.
While the woman explained, Steve turned the ball back and forth to study it, then spun it on one finger like he'd seen a basketball player do on TV.
"That'll make really good ice cream," said the youngest boy in admiration. He had been hiding behind his mother up until then, but the spinning ball fascinated him. "We're making ice cream to go with the wedding cake boat."
"The wedding cake boat?" Steve was once again puzzled, which seemed to be his natural state in 2012.
"The riverboat," explained the mom, who introduced herself as Marlene, her oldest daughter as Emma and her youngest as Josh. "Josh thought my brother's wedding cake looks like the American Queen, so now he calls it the wedding cake boat."
"It's supposed to come by today," Emma said. "So we came to watch."
"And to wave," Billy reminded her.
"And we brought ice cream," Susie added.
"We could share," Josh said shyly, with a glance at his mother.
She hesitated. After all, the man was a total stranger. Steve apologized for his poor manners and introduced himself.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Rogers," Marlene said.
Billy eyed Steve skeptically. "He doesn't look like Mr. Rogers."
"Not that Mr. Rogers. There are lots of people named 'Rogers,'" Emma said, rolling his eyes. "Billy loves 'Mr. Rogers Neighborhood'," she explained.
Steve was getting used to the whoosh of cultural references flying over his head.
"If it helps, I'm actually Captain Rogers," Steve offered, showing his (SHIELD-forged) military ID. "I'm on leave at the moment. Thought I'd see a little bit of the country."
Marlene decided the stranger probably wasn't going to cause her family any trouble in a public park in the middle of the day. She reiterated her children's offer to join them for ice cream. "It doesn't make a lot, but everyone gets a few bites. Of course, no one will get any if the ice cream doesn't freeze," their mother hinted broadly.
The three oldest kids snatched the ball away and began chasing it around the small park, being more careful to keep it away from the river. Josh started after, but then paused and shyly asked Steve if he wanted to play, too.
"Sounds like fun," Steve agreed. "Hold onto this for me, ma'am?" he handed Marlene his sketchbook. "I wouldn't want it to blow away."
While they played, Marlene kept one eye on the kids and one on the river. A plume of steam appeared above the trees. "Here it comes," she called.
The kids grabbed the ball and came to the water's edge, along with a few other people in the park. Steve saw the tips of black smokestacks, then the majestic riverboat rounded the bend, the bright red rear paddle thrashing against the current. It did look like a wedding cake, Steve thought. White arches and columns lining the stacked up decks.
People in the park began to wave. People on the riverboat waved back. Everyone was smiling.
It seemed so pure and innocent in this strange new world of technology, where people texted to each other while sitting at the same table. These people waved because they knew it would make another person happy, and it made them happy to do it.
Grinning broadly, Steve stepped back and took a few cellphone pictures of the family waving with the steamboat in the background. It was a scene he wanted to remember, so he could sketch it, maybe even paint it some day.
Then a teenage girl on the riverboat caught his attention. She was taking a photo of him taking a photo. Their eyes met, then Steve waved and she waved back and her little brother bounced up and down waving frantically at Josh who waved back just as enthusiastically.
The riverboat blasted a whistle in greeting, then continued splendidly up the river leaving a trail of calliope music in its foamy wake.
Marlene laughed as her kids continued to wave until the last corner of the boat had disappeared from view. "Simple pleasures," she said, as she began to decant the ice cream from the ball.
"Wedding cake boats and ice cream," Steve said.
"Ice cream!" the kids squealed joyously.
And everybody smiled.
A/N: I have an idea for three more Road Trip stories, but this is the only chapter written. Next week I promise I will post the first chapter of Enemies List, which takes place during and after the time covered by Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I don't have all the chapters written, but I'm almost done with the last one. Then after I get all the post-Cap2 stories done, maybe I can get back to Road Trip.