3.
December 25th, 2012
Steve feels a wave of nauseousness fall over him as he pulls up outside the beautiful Brooklyn Brownstone. He puts the car into park and sits back against the seat, taking a deep breath.
"They're going to love you," Isabel says softly, sensing his change in mood. He'd been excited when he picked her up twenty minutes prior, helping her shuffle out to the car. But now, in front of the home where his entire new family were inside, Steve's excitement has shifted into near-terror. "You look very pale," Isabel notes.
"I'm just nervous. I-… It feels very real right now."
"That's because this is real, honey, like it or not. Steve, you've fought the Red Skull with your bare hands, sliced an aeroplane wing off with your shield, rode your motorcycle into Hydra Headquarters and fought aliens in Time Square… This will be a walk in the park," Isabel reassures, taking his hand in hers. "Now help me out of the car. My hip is killing me today."
Steve obligingly races around the car, opens the door, and helps Isabel to the front door across the slippery, icy surface.
She goes inside before him, into a homely hallway lined with vertical panelling and multiple images of family photos. Steve removes Isabel's coat and hangs it on the hook, and then removes his own.
Isabel takes off through an arched doorway to their left, past the grand staircase, and into what looks like the impressive kitchen and dining area. Steve stays put in the hallway, just about frozen. He closes the front door slowly.
"Grams!" A few voices call, and Steve hears footsteps as people rush to kiss the elderly woman. "How did you get here on your own!"
"I got a ride with a dashing young fellow," Isabel smirks.
"What? Who? James, she's riding with random men now," a voice cries. "Ma, you need to be careful–"
"Oh, hush," Isabel snarks. "Everyone, I have a surprise for you," Isabel tells everyone as they stand in the kitchen. Jamie looks up knowingly with a smile. Ava looks inquisitive but confused, standing before her mother-in-law. Kat and Elisabeth stop where they are preparing the food, turning to look curiously. Michael and Darren look up at the table. The great-grandchildren don't pay any mind from where they play a video game on the television in the living room.
"What is it Grams?" Kat asks.
"Well, there's someone that I've been telling you all about for a very long time. He's very special to me, the love of my life. I'm sure you all saw him on the news, that he's come back, but we all thought it was just another PR act…"
"Grams, are you talking about Steve?" Elisabeth asks, holding her swollen stomach, her jaw slack with shock.
"What's going on?" Ava asks, standing from her seat at the kitchen table, her blonde hair bouncing as she comes toward her mother-in-law.
"Steve came home," Isabel says with a beaming smile, her eyes welling with tears. "They found the Valkyrie in the ice and they thawed him out. He's here. He came to see me."
"Are you sure it's him?" Kat asks, looking suspiciously at her grandmother.
"Honey, I would be sure if I was deaf and blind. It's him. I'd know him anywhere," Isabel promises. She disappears for a moment, reaching around the archway to Steve who stands like a deer caught in headlights in the hallway. "Come on, Steve, they won't bite," they hear Isabel stage whisper, and then she's reappearing, her hand clasped in another's. Steve follows her in through the door, a sheepish and shy expression on his face as he looks around. His eyes widen when there are five suspicious, shocked eyes locked on him. He also sees Jamie, who looks rather delighted.
Steve waves awkwardly. "Uhm, hello?"
Then, everyone moves at once, the entire family moving to crowd around the newest member of their troop. There's a gaggle of faces in front of Steve, most of them vaguely similar indicating that they're related. Some of them are touching Steve, two of the women fighting over whether he is really Steve, Grams' Steve, a few of the men are trying to shake Steve's hand through the chaos.
"Hey!" A female voice says, and then Isabel is pushing through the crowd of her family to stand in front of Steve, frowning with arms crossed at them. "Since when were we a bunch of animals. Stand back and give Stevie some space."
Quickly the family obliges, stepping back to give Steve some room to breathe.
"Sorry, Grams," the heavily pregnant woman says, cheeks red. "We were just so excited to see him. We've waited our whole lives."
Isabel's face softens a little. "I know, sweetheart." Isabel steps back, grabbing Steve's arm and hugging it close to her. "Let me introduce everyone. Steve, you've already met Jamie, and this is his beautiful wife, Ava. We kept it our little secret for a while, sorry sweetheart," she tells Ava, who looks bewildered at her husband who kept this a secret.
"Steve," Jamie greets, shaking Steve's hand. They'd met before, once Jamie came back to the apartment after giving Steve and Isabel some space to reunite. Jamie has his arm around Ava, a petite woman around his same age, her blonde hair speckled with white.
"It's lovely to finally meet you, Steve," Ava reassures, moving forward to kiss Steve's cheek. "Guess I finally get to meet my father-in-law." At Steve's unintended wince, Ava laughs. "I know, it's a little weird for us, as well. I assure you, we'll get used to it."
At that moment, Kat, who looks remarkably like a younger Isabel, hits Jamie's shoulder. "Dad, that's your dad! You can't call him Steve," she argues, holding a hand out toward Steve, who looks a little confused trying to keep up with who's who.
"I'm older than him. I'm old enough to be his dad, or grandfather. What, are you gonna call him Gramps?" Jamie shoots back, raising an eyebrow at his daughter and sounding an awful lot like Bucky, right down to the drawl.
"You know what, I am," Kat replies with a smirk. She then jumps forward to kiss Steve's cheek. "Nice to meet you, Gramps."
Steve is a little taken aback, eyes wide. "Katherine, right?" He guesses immediately, judging by her personality.
"Uh huh," she says with a familiar smirk.
"Isabel told me you were a firecracker," Steve laughs, smiling knowingly at Isabel next to him. "Seems fitting for our granddaughter. It's practically in your DNA."
"I'm surprised you know what that is," a male voice cackles from the back of the group. Steve sighs good-naturedly, the grandpa jokes already starting up. He supposes though, he is a granddad, so the jokes are justified. He'll just have to embrace them.
"You're catching on fast," Kat tells Steve, ignoring the comment. "That was my husband Mickey, in case you're wondering. He's a bit of an asshole but you'll probably like him. He's Dum Dum Dugan's grandson," Kat informs him, and Steve's eyebrows rise on his forehead. "And these are my little ones, Kyle and Emily," she says, pushing a twin boy and girl forward toward Steve, the two ten-year-olds having been drawn into the room by the ruckus. They look up at Steve with wide-eyes as if looking at a mythical legend. Steve supposes in some ways he is.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Steve," Emily greets politely, offering his hand to shake. Steve takes it gently.
"Is it true you're Captain America?" Kyle asks immediately, not looking entirely convinced.
"I am," Steve replies, just managing to hold back his laugh.
"Do you have the shield?" Kyle asks, as though he needs proof for the claim.
"I do, it's in the car," Steve says. "Maybe we can get it out later and I can show you? I think it would work quite well as a sled…?"
The boy's face lights up like the Christmas tree in the corner of the room. "Yes! Thank you, Mr. Steve!"
Everyone watches with a smile as the two twins run off into the dining room, pretending already to be sledding on the shield.
The heavily pregnant woman steps forward then, dirty-blonde hair hanging down her back in waves. "Hello, Steve," she greets, her voice quiet and pleasant, a bit of a welcome relief from the chaos of the other family members. "I'm Elisabeth, but call me Beth if you want."
"She's just about the only sane one," Jamie tells Steve, smiling at his youngest daughter.
"It isn't hard," Beth reassures. "And this is my husband, Darren," she tells Steve, motioning to the man behind her, who shakes Steve's hand with a firm grip, his other arm wrapped around her waist.
"I feel like I should be saluting you," Darren admits, laughing.
"Oh, no. Please don't," Steve laughs.
"I think that's everyone," Isabel says. "Now, you all be nice to Steve, and we aren't putting labels on things so please don't make him uncomfortable. He's just family," Isabel tells them all sternly. "He's been through a lot and this is surely very stressful for him. Meeting you is overwhelming for anyone, let alone finding out that you're all his family. Especially you, Kyle," she adds, pointing an accusatory finger at the young boy who's skidded back into the room. "I don't want any of your pranks today, okay? Some of those things you pull, you need to know a person well before you do them."
Steve isn't entirely sure what pranks Isabel is alluding to, but he's sure, by the young boy's wicked smile, that he'll find out at some point. "Yes, Grandma Isabel," the young boy says anyway before running off.
"I like him," Steve tells Isabel.
"Of course, you do."
Steve spends most of Christmas absolutely doting on Isabel – he pulls out her chair for her, tucks her chair in, gets her food, drinks, helps her to the bathroom. The rest of the family watch in awe as the man out of time devotes every second of his attention to his former love.
The questions over Christmas lunch are relentless – the children want to hear almost every Howling Commandos story every but from the mouth of Steve himself. Steve and Isabel spend the entire lunch reminiscing on the good and the bad times of the Commandos. They listen in awe, hooked on every word. Most of their Christmas dinner goes cold before they can eat it.
And then the questions take a turn as each of the family members begin to tell Steve about themselves, and Steve asks them a long of questions back. What do you do for work? Where did you go to school? What's your favourite things to do? Where's your favourite place you've travelled? Any movie recommendations? Steve adds a lot of things to his to do list.
They move to the couches, eventually, and start looking through photo albums. Steve hasn't seen a lot of photos, but traces each one with his finger, smiling with tearful eyes at the photos of younger Isabel. He remembers her like that, that's how she was when he last saw her – youthful eyes, smiling expression, bright red lips as the photos slowly turn to more colour than black and white. He watches her age through the photos, grey hairs arriving and wrinkles becoming more prominent. Jamie grows up in front of his eyes, from a baby to a bubbling toddler, first day of school into teen years. In every photo, Steve thinks he looks more and more like his uncle. And then there are new additions to the photos – Ava, the kids – and he watches them grow up as well. It's surreal, to see them as they were to how they are before him now, and not have experienced a single moment of their lives.
Eventually, everyone parts ways momentarily, leaving Steve alone with Beth. She sits quietly on the couch opposite him, and Steve enjoys the momentary quiet. Elisabeth traces her baby bump slowly, smiling down at it.
"How many weeks are you?" Steve asks quietly, putting the photo album down.
"Thirty-two," Beth smiles.
"Not long now."
"No, not at all."
"Are you excited?" Steve asks. "What a silly question, of course you are."
"Excited, but also totally shitting myself," Beth says. "Sorry, inappropriate. It's just going to be a massive adjustment. And well, the baby needs to get from here to out here," she says, gesturing from her stomach to her cradled arms. "Through… well, you know. Not exactly something to look forward to."
Steve laughs, his cheeks going slightly red. "I suppose not."
Beth jumps slightly, clutching her stomach. "She's kicking pretty hard today," she grunts.
Steve pauses. "She?" He asks. "Belle told me it was a secret."
Beth smirks at him. "It is. You're bound to secrecy. Don't tell anyone."
"I won't," Steve promises quietly.
"Give me your hand," Beth requests, holding her hand out to him. Steve hesitates and then slowly reaches over, his hand sliding into her dainty one. She moves his hand toward her belly, rests it lightly against the fabric of her dress, and then Steve feels a strong kick beneath his hand. "She's strong," Beth notes, her face screwing up slightly in discomfort.
Steve is in amazement. The baby continues to kick, nudging his palm. He concentrates hard, and he swears he can feel the baby's heartbeat against his hand as well, the slightest rhythm pulsing through hand. "Wow," he breathes. "I've never…" He pauses then, and Beth watches his face go quickly from amazement to dejection.
"I'm sorry that you never got to experience this," Beth whispers, her own eyes welling with tears.
"So am I," Steve says quietly. He looks up at her sparkling blue eyes. "Please don't cry for me," he pleads.
"Sorry," Beth says, fanning her face. "Pregnancy hormones have got me all out of whack."
"I just… I don't want people's pity," Steve explains.
"Then you won't have it," Beth smiles. "You can just have the love part."
Isabel takes a seat in the arm chair in the sunroom, the glass walls giving her a perfect view of the small backyard outside where Steve is currently dragging the shield up and down a small snow mound they've made, letting Kyle and Emily taboggan down before dragging them back up to the top again. The twins are hysterical with laughter, Kyle still unable to get over seeing Captain America's shield. Steve is laughing, a genuine smile, talking and joking with Kyle and helping Emily back on the sled when she falls off.
Michael and Darren are also out in the snow playing with their children and talking to Steve, the men laughing at something Michael says. A few times, Steve looks over at Michael, almost in disbelief of how alike to Dugan the man is.
Beth's gone to lie down for a while and Kat's in the kitchen cleaning up, the banging of pots and pans and plates faint behind them.
Isabel looks over when there's movement beside her. Jamie sits carefully in the other arm chair beside her, pulling the rug from the armrest over his lap. He watches his grandchildren outside for a while, listens to their squeals and giggling. He and Isabel laugh when Steve trips and falls face-first into the snow, quickly standing and shooting them a thumbs up to let them know he's okay. When he notices Isabel is watching, he smiles brightly, his entire face lighting up, and waves at her.
Jamie watches his mother wave back, smiling humorously, a twinkle in her blue-grey eyes.
"He really loves you, Mom. Like, really, really loves you," Jamie notes, looking at her with slightly disbelief.
"I know," Isabel says quietly.
Jamie watches Steve a while longer. "He came back for you, didn't he?"
"I think so. But I hope he also came back for himself. This is what he deserved."
"He had a good life with you guys before the war," Jamie reassures.
"Yes, but this is what he was really meant for. A chance at a life without illness or a war. He was always fighting, he was never at rest. I'm just glad that he gets to be happy now."
"I think you gave that to him," Jamie reassures. "I think even when he was sick, you made him happy."
Isabel looks away from the windows and takes Jamie's hand in her own, smiling gratefully. "I like to think that."
Jamie looks at his mother a moment, eyeing her critically whilst she smiles back at Steve, watching as he easily lifts Emily up and spins her around, the little girl peeling with laughter. He passes Emily over to her father and Michael wraps her up, pressing a sloppy kiss to her cheek, making her squeal.
Kyle runs over then, dragging the heavy shield behind him, and holds it up to Steve, saying something. Steve takes it and then holds the shield with his arm in the leather strap, showing the young boy how it works. He motions throwing it, the shield shining in the bright light of the early afternoon.
"Do you love him?" Jamie asks Isabel suddenly.
Isabel turns to her son, her eyes still soft. "Of course, I do. I've waited for him since the day I lost him," she says sincerely.
"That's a long time to wait," Jamie notes, a smile growing on his lips. "Was it worth it?"
"Definitely."