Love and the White Wolf - Book 3

12. Summer Doldrums - Winter Miracles (Sexual content)

July and August were hot.  James went on a couple of missions in July, none longer than a week and when he returned each time he would throw himself into his ongoing project, a tree house for Steve.  His performance at the facility made James realize we needed to be more proactive in providing safe outlets for Steve's abilities to develop.  He was adventurous to the point of fearlessness but he had developed the habit of checking and rechecking before he jumped.  James admitted to me that when Steve landed on the ground that first time he had been surprised by how much it hurt.  When James knelt beside him he softly told him to take a long slow breath to handle the pain.  Steve shook it off with bravery not usually seen in a toddler.  After the flight with Cap it was obvious that Steve was ready to begin training.

An architect was sent to see us and outlined what the Avengers thought Steve would need to develop his physical skills.  It would look like a gymnastic facility.  Trampolines, foam pits, hanging rings, what looked like a jungle gym suspended from the ceiling and an aerial silk rig.  James looked at me sideways at that with a slight smile on his face.  He often thought I should take it up after we saw it in Wakanda during our honeymoon.  He mentioned to the architect that he wanted to build a tree house for a play centred experience.  The architect pointed James in the right direction to find free plans on the internet. 

It took all of July to build it with all of the mission interruptions, but Sam helped when he could, as did Sheriff Brandon. On the first weekend in August, our second anniversary together, we went out as a family and slept the night in the treehouse.  Steve loved it.  James built a little fire pit about ten feet away from the tree, and we roasted hot dogs, then s'mores.  Steve slept soundly even James slid behind me into my double sleeping bag for some quiet sex from behind to celebrate our marriage, covering my mouth with his when we came so Steve wouldn't hear us.  He wore a condom so he could dispose of it in a bag, without Steve knowing.  When we awoke and he saw us together in the same sleeping bag he smiled saying Mama and Dada played.  I looked at James and laughed, telling him he was getting that duty.  He laughed right back and told Steve to climb down and wait for him.   Then he pulled his pants back on and climbed down after him.  Putting Steve on his shoulders they walked back to the house where they had a talk.  Steve never came into our room at night after that but would knock on the door in the morning asking if he could come in. 

Our midwife came to the house and after hearing about our experience with Steve thought there was no reason why we couldn't do the birth at home.  In early August James requested a leave from the middle of September to the middle of October.  As soon as he was approved he was called out on a mission, a real nasty one.

A rogue military unit had taken hostages to force the release of their imprisoned commander.  He ordered them to release the hostages but they refused claiming he was being forced to ask them.  To prove he was genuine James, Sam and Clint were tasked with escorting him to the hostage site so he could speak to his unit in person.  He refused to take a portal.  They suspected an ulterior motive and were right.  They were attacked, Clint taken hostage and Sam barely lifted James out of danger.   Now the commander was asking for millions to release the hostages and promised to start killing them one by one, starting with children.   What was worse he would force Clint to be front and centre on each of them.

I kept the mission on but muted it and read the closed captions.   For the first time in a long time it looked like James would be asked to implement his sniper skills as would Maria Hill, while Torres, and Sam would use their Red Wings to take out as many of the soldiers as they could.  They had no choice but James insisted he wanted to try to incapacitate instead of kill.  They set a time and everyone got into position.  Torres and Sam sent out their Red Wings and activated it to shoot as many of the unit as possible.  James and Maria shot as many on the outskirts of the assembled hostages as they could, with James shooting them in the hands and knees.  Clint figured out very quickly what was happening and slammed into the unit commander knocking him down but the man recovered and pulled his weapon aiming it at Clint's head.  Maria had no shot, Red Wing was out of ammunition, and James could only see the commander's head.  With no choice he took out the commander to save Clint's life.  It upset him which Clint could see but he thanked James for the shot that saved him.