I ran out of time to write more one-shots specifically focused on Gravesen cancer parents, but I do have this one which is a more general look at many different people. September might be ending, but childhood cancer isn't going anywhere and it won't until more than 4% of government funding is secured for research. Getting off of that soapbox, I'm also here to announce my next story: The Next Generation of the Human Race. It will begin posting tomorrow! I will probably update Wednesdays and Saturdays. I am so excited that it's finally here and I hope you give it a read!
Sorry! I Shouldn't Have Assumed:
Every time a new nurse started on her shift, Sarah took it upon herself to host a little get-together for all of them so they could get to know each other outside the high-stakes environment of the hospital. Camille was a few years younger than her, and had switched hospitals because she wanted something a little less exciting than the major trauma center she used to work at.
"We can't promise you there'll be no excitement," all the other nurses warned her.
Currently, they were all chatting in the living room over cocktails. Camille wandered over to the wall of photographs. "Is this your son?" she asked warmly.
"Yes," Sarah said with a smile. She stood beside her and tried to follow her gaze to a specific picture. Camille was looking at the one of him leaning on his motorcycle. "His name is Steve."
"He's very handsome. And he has your eyes."
"Thank you."
She turned to the one of him and Carol May. "Oh, is this a grandbaby?"
Sarah's heart stuttered in her chest. "No. That's actually his…niece."
"Okay, so is this your other son?" she pointed to Bucky in their wedding photo.
Sarah regretted using the word niece. She should've just said "a friend's daughter" or even "goddaughter" to prevent confusion. Niece implied that Steve had siblings.
"That's my son-in-law."
"Oh, so it is a wedding photo!"
Sarah braced herself for awkward silence, or worse, a homophobic comment. But Camille continued, "They look so happy," and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. A person's reaction to that photo was a deciding factor in whether or not they ever got invited back. Sarah expected her to continue along the niece line of questioning, but she redirected. "How old is he?"
"Twenty-seven." Forever twenty-seven, she didn't add. Clearly, Camille hadn't read the poem beneath the picture of Steve and Carol May. Just looking at this wall, there was no other indication besides the poems of Steve's illness. In the year after his passing, Sarah did some redecorating. She removed the lung transplant side-by-side and any picture featuring oxygen. Only displaying photos where he looked happy and healthy made her feel better.
"My daughter is twenty-eight and expecting a little boy," Camille said.
Sarah's gut burned with jealousy. "How wonderful," she said jovially. "Is she thinking about names?"
"Not yet."
"I wish her all the best. You both must be so excited."
"Thank you."
Sarah watched Camille wander off to join the conversation with the other nurses. How nice, to look forward to meeting a new family member instead of constantly missing one.
~0~
"Do you have any children?" The woman at the nail salon asked her, trying to make what she probably thought was simple, low-risk conversation.
"I have a son," she replied. It was her default answer, even though it ultimately led to more questioning that often dug up painful history. It would've been even more painful to say no.
"How old is he?"
"Eleven."
The woman eyed her suspiciously. Edith knew she looked older than her age, even though Harry constantly tried to convince her otherwise. She let her hair go gray at its natural pace, which didn't help matters much. Clearly, this woman thought she looked old enough that having such a young son was odd. "I was pretty old when he was born," she explained. Because that lie was preferable to explaining that Clint stopped aging at eleven and would've actually been twenty-five had he lived to see today.
~0~
"We're thinking about having a baby," Malachi said.
"Oh yeah?" Howard met him through business dealings between Stark Industries and Stane Enterprises, but their relationship had become more friendly over the years.
"Yeah, we want to start really trying. It's time, you know?"
Howard nodded mindlessly. "Yeah."
"Do you and Maria want kids?"
"I know I don't," he said firmly. "Maria definitely would if I wanted to, but she respects my wishes."
Malachi smacked him on the back. "Why not? You're building this great business empire. You don't want a son to pass it down to?"
I used to have one.
"I'll just have to choose another successor," he said flatly.
"That's a dangerous game, my friend."
So is having children.
~0~
"Are they twins?"
"What?" George turned around to find the newest member of the office leaning against his cubicle. She pointed to the framed picture on his desk, a picture of Steve and Bucky at the Espy Awards.
"They look really close in age."
"They're almost a year apart, actually," George corrected. He pointed to Bucky first, "That's my son," and then Steve, "And his husband."
"Oh! Sorry, I thought they were siblings. They both kinda look like you."
George had never heard that before. Steve was the spitting image of Sarah Rogers, most everyone agreed. "You're the first person to ever say that."
"Really? I'm surprised. I would've pegged them for brothers any day."
He chuckled. "Nope. Husbands."
"Do they live around here?"
"About two hours north. Outside of Albany."
"Cool. So you probably get to see them pretty often, right?"
Damn, she'd been doing so well. He should've known this conversation would drift into awkward territory. Most conversations involving Steve did, unless they were with people who already knew the situation. "Not as often as I used to," he admitted. Vague enough to be true without whacking her over the head with the depressing reality.
"That's a shame."
"Yeah, a real shame."
~0~
"Yo, is this your girlfriend?"
Steve looked up from his desk to find his roommate had stolen his phone and was gaping at his lock screen. They'd been living together long enough that he didn't consider it a gross invasion of privacy—it wasn't like he knew the passcode and could actually look at anything personal. "I don't have a girlfriend," he said matter-of-factly. "That's my little sister."
"Oh shit, you have a sister?"
"Yeah."
"Why haven't you mentioned her before?"
Steve shrugged. "It never came up."
"I complain about my sister all the time. You didn't want to weigh in with your own experience?"
"I don't have anything comparable to complain about." Steve knew that with two simple words he could ensure his roommate never complained about his sister ever again, but he didn't want to play that card.
"Well I gotta know something now that I know you have a sister. Come on, what's she like?"
"She's a spitfire, but not in an annoying way. In the way that makes you respect the hell out of her."
"She sounds cool. You miss her?"
"More than you could ever imagine."
~0~
"What does your daughter do for a living?" her hairdresser asked.
"My daughter?" Winnifred had never even suggested that she had any children other than Bucky.
"You were talking about your son and daughter-in-law, but I've also heard you mention a son-in-law so I just assumed. I'm sorry, is that not the case?"
"No, I don't have a daughter."
"So your son-in-law is…?"
"Bucky's husband."
"Ex-husband?"
Winnifred clenched her teeth at the assumption. People always assumed that. Divorce was far more common than death in people Bucky's age, but it still hurt every single time. "Not exactly," she said frankly. "My son-in-law passed when he was twenty-seven."
"Oh shit. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."
"No, you shouldn't have. But thank you for apologizing."
~0~
"What happened to your real dad?"
"Huh?" AJ had never spoken to this kid in his class before, except maybe to say excuse me as they both reached for their coats at the same time. He didn't know why he was suddenly asking about AJ's dad.
"There's no way the guy who chaperoned the field trip yesterday is your real dad. So what happened to him?"
"None of your business," he snapped. Dad had offered to chaperone their school trip to New Orleans, and AJ had been so excited for the trip ever since. All the kids in his group whispered to him about how cool Bucky was. What did this kid even mean by 'real dad?'
"Come on, tell me. Unless you don't know? Did your mom never tell you?"
"I know! I just don't want to tell you. It's personal, and I'm not even friends with you."
"I'll bet he left and your mom doesn't know where he is."
AJ clenched his fists at his sides. "That's not true."
"Tell me the truth, then."
"He died. In a car accident."
"Oh. That's boring."
And then he just walked away. AJ reported him to the teacher immediately and the kid got sent to the principal's office. The teacher must've told his parents, because that night both Mom and Dad congratulated him on standing up for himself.
~0~
Dottie was complaining about her sister's shopping addiction again. At least, what she referred to as a shopping addiction. Wanda suspected it wasn't anywhere near as severe as she suggested. She turned to Wanda. "I'll bet you have lots of siblings to gripe about. Don't people from your culture often have a lot of children?"
Victor barely managed to turn his unamused huff into a passable cough. The nerve of this woman. Wanda didn't even know if Dottie was referring to Eastern European people or Jewish people, but either way was pretty prejudiced, and also plain untrue. She plastered on a fake smile and calmly informed her, "I only have one sister, actually. We're twins."
"Oh, that's so cool! You're a twin, and a mom of twins. It must run in the family."
"It's just a coincidence. The boys are fraternal, my sister and I are identical." She purposefully left out the conjoined part.
"I'm also a fraternal twin," Victor supplied.
Dottie practically squealed with delight. "Did you guys meet at some sort of twin convention?"
"As a matter of fact, we did," Victor said. Wanda and he exchanged a glance out of the corners of their eyes.
"You might've met my brother-in-law!" she exclaimed. "He goes to the one in Ohio every year with his brother."
Wanda shook her head. "It wasn't just a twin convention. It was a Twinless Twins conference."
"Oh, okay. Wait—" The realization seemingly hit her over the head like a baseball bat. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay," Wanda said with a shrug, even though it really wasn't. "Happens all the time."
~0~
"Is this your son?" Joseph brought home a new friend he'd met at a local Army veteran event. The two of them were currently sat in the living room drinking beer, Sarah's wall of photos in full view.
"Yep," Joseph said.
"I don't see any pictures in uniform," he chuckled. "You not convince him to join up?"
Joseph shook his head. "It wasn't for him." But convincing him had never been the problem. Steve would've joined in a heartbeat if he had the chance.
"Or did he join the Navy and you just don't want to advertise that?"
Joseph raised his bottle. "Yep, that's it."
"That bites."
Not as much as the truth, he thought.
