The Soldier's Girl

Family

I woke up really early this morning. I normally am a morning person but this morning I got up even before the sun. I also woke up to an empty bed. Steve took over Sam's counselling sessions even since the blip. It not only helped out the New York community but it also helped him too. He got to talk about all of his problems and share his life experiences. I knew it was doing him good, as a year after the blip he started to see on the brighter side of life. It helped me tremendously too. Anyway we had to move on. We had a reason too.

I made my way out of bed and slipped on my slippers before heading down the corridor to our nursery. Steve and I had decided to stay in Brooklyn. We bought a bigger apartment as there were a few more pitter, patter's of feet trudging around the Rogers' family home.

I creaked the door open and smiled brightly when I saw a pair of bright, ocean blue eyes staring at me through the bars of her cot.
"Hey baby." I cooed as I padded over to my daughter's cot.

She squealed when she noticed my figure walking towards her and supported her slightly chubby toddler legs by holding onto her cot.
"Hey baby girl." I smiled as I scooped my little two year old into my arms.

She buried herself into my neck and sucked on her knuckle while I balanced her onto my hip and walked out of her room. I peered into the other's room and saw he was still fast asleep so I let him sleep in until he wakes up. He usually always wakes up before his father gets home anyway.

I walk into the kitchen and get the high chair set up before placing my daughter in. She smiled brightly as I passed her a cup of juice. She continued to giggle as she sucked on her knuckle.

I smiled over to her and began to make breakfast as I listened to my daughter blab.
I was just scrambling some eggs in my frying pan when I heard the noise of thumping down the corridor.

"James! James honey do you want some scrambled egg?" I called down the hall.

"Yes please mummy." My son replied as he entered the kitchen. I let out a light laugh at his messy hair and crumpled pyjamas.
"Alright sit down, it will be ready in a minute."

"Is daddy home yet?" The young boy asked me.
"Not yet baby but he'll be home any second." I reply turning away from the turned down stove and lifting James up onto a stool on the breakfast table.

As I dished up the children's breakfast I heard the front door of the apartment open and close.
"Daddy!" James shouted making me smile and turn to see a chirpy Steve Rogers walk through the door.

He hangs up his jacket before making his way straight over to James.
"Morning buddy." He spoke ruffling his sons hair before turning to our baby girl and placing raspberries on her cheek making her squeal with laughter.

As I place the kids bowls in front of them they dig in and Steve comes round the counter to pull me in for a kiss. I smile into the loving gesture and pull away to see his smiling face and just how happy he was.
"How was your session this morning?" I ask.
"It was good. How has your morning been?" He asks me innocently.
"Well mines only just started." I chuckle. I then notice our baby struggling with her eggs making me chuckle.

"Can you help Natalie eat?" I ask Steve, to which he nods and goes over chuckling as our baby girl almost throws her food into her mouth.

I turn around and focus on making mine and Steve's breakfast adding a few pieces of bacon in there as well.

"I was thinking of visiting the compound today?" Steve offers. I nod and pass him his plate of food.

"Yeah that's sounds like a nice idea. You guys want to go see Auntie Nat?" I ask the two.
"YAY! I love Auntie Nat!" James yells making Steve wince and me laugh.

Nat spoilt them rotten and was overjoyed when I had Natalie, as the name she recommended to me all those years ago stuck and I eventually called my own daughter that. Our daughter was named after my two best friends. Natalie Margret Rogers. She had even started responding to Peggy as well as Natalie making me cry the first time she crawled over to me.

James was named after Steve's best friends as well as mine. We ate as a family around the breakfast bar and after that we got the kids changed as well as myself and were off to the compound to see Nat. We saw her at least once a week. As we were still running the Avengers and in public again, now not having to hide as the world realised how much they needed us even after the blip.

The car ride there was quite as the kids dozed off again. Steve went inside to open the doors and James suddenly decided to have an energy spurt and when he realised where we were he rushed off into the compound and out of my sight making me panic as he still didn't know his way around, as much as he liked to argue. As far as he was concerned he was the next Captain America.

I quickly got Natalie out of her carseat before rushing in after James not wanting him to cause any trouble.

I followed him all the way into the meeting room, of course he ran right after his father.
"JAMES SAMUAL ROGERS!" I shout coming to a halt as soon as I see a red faced Natasha and Steve with a smug smile on his face just a few feet away from her.

Natalie was giggling on my hip, she no doubt enjoyed the ride from the car to here. James was hiding behind Nat's chair with a bright, mischievous smile plastered across his face.

I groaned knowing I couldn't stay mad at him.
"Hiya Ali." Natasha smirked.
"Hi Nat." I sigh and pass her Natalie as she reached out for my daughter.

"Auntie Nat!" James squealed also climbing into her lap. Nat smiled brightly at the pair and cuddled them in her lap as if they were her own, making me smile too and catch my breath.

After having two kids I was not as fit as I used to be. Steve wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me to sit down with him across from Nat at the table.

"Clearly, your friend is fine." Nat smirked at Steve, obviously referring to the conversation they had before I came in.

"You know we saw a pod of whales when we were coming up the bridge." Steve tells our friend making her eyebrows raise while I nod and smile. I had never seen James so excited before.

"In the Hudson?" Nat asked.
"There's fewer ships, cleaner water." I remind her.
"You know, if you're about to tell me to look on the bright side. Um... I'm about you to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich." Nat jokingly smiles, as we do the same but I can see the pain hidden behind Nat's eyes. She had tried so hard to move on and keep the Avengers going especially with all the outbreaks of crime and Clint going rouge. She was one of the only ones who didn't get a chance to move on.

Her only glimmer of hope was when she got to hold Natalie for the first time in my delivery room.

"Sorry. Force of habit." Steve smiled.
"You know, we keep telling everybody they should move on and... grow. Some do. But not us. Even Steve and I with these two." I point to my kids. James was cuddling into Natasha, tired from his running and Natalie was playing with Nat's necklace.

"If I move on, who does this?" Nat asks.
"Maybe it doesn't need to be done." Steve offered.
"I used to have nothing. And then I got this. This job... this family. And I was... I was better because of it. And even though... they're gone... I'm still trying to be better." Nat admitted painfully.

"I think we all need to get a life." Steve joked.
"You first." Nat teased planting a kiss on Natalie's cheek as she gurgled.

Just then an alert comes onto Nat's computer, she slides it across ready to skim read it however, camera footage pops up in front of us, showing Scott Lang with his Van behind him. We all stand up shocked as I grab James and place him on my hip while Nat still has Natalie.

"Oh! Hi. Hi! Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. We met a few years ago, at the airport? In Germany? I got really big, and I had my mask on. You wouldn't recognize me." Scott yells when he sees that people are listening to the front gate.

All three of us are shell shocked as we fully knew that Scott Lang got blipped five years ago. It was impossible that he had returned.

"Is this an old message?" Steve asks Nat standing protectively in front of us.

"It's the front gate." Nat admits.

"Ant-Man? Ant-Man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys." We listen to Scott continuing to yell over the camera.