Hello Captain (Steve Rogers)

Parade

Wed July 4th 2012
Sarah's POV
    I woke up to the bright morning sunshine coming into the window. It was Independence Day, my favorite summer holiday, so everything was shut down for the holiday and we had the day off. My head was pillowed by Steve's chest. Surprisingly, he was still asleep, so I took a moment to just look at him. He was always handsome, but when he was sleeping peacefully, he looked almost angelic. I carefully slid out of his arms and reached for my phone to take a picture of him. It was pretty rare that I was awake before he was. I grinned and snapped a couple pics before scrolling through my messages.

    There were a couple that I sent off replies to before setting the alarm on my phone for 9 and putting it back on the nightstand. We had quite a while before we needed to get up, so I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth before coming back to the bed and worming my way back into his arms. He was pretty used to me moving around in my sleep by now, so he didn't even wake up as I got back into my spot.   

    I had already asked Steve if there was anything special he wanted to do, but he's only said he wanted to spend the day with me. I warned him that he might regret that and planned a full week for us. Today was Wednesday, so we were going to go catch the National Independence Day Parade and then go grill out at Tony's and screw around with his water toys. Tony said he had a private beach and waterfront access at his DC house that we were all invited to use, so the team, Rhodey, Pepper and Maria were meeting us there. None of the others had wanted to go to the parade.

    Today was also Steve's birthday, so we were planning a surprise party for him later. My parents, Jace and Chloe were driving up this afternoon to meet us at Tony's DC house. He was taking care of the food and had a caterer lined up. I had been extra sneaky this week trying to get everything done with out him noticing. I had bought and wrapped his present last week when he was out of town and left it at Tony's. Natasha had taken it upon herself to arrange for a birthday cake.

    I smiled to myself as I remembered that conversation.

    "Go easy on the candles this time, Nat. I heard about the last cake you got him."

    She had laughed and shook her head. "You're dreaming. It's go big or go home!"

    Tony had shrugged, unconcerned at a repeat of the first cake – probably because he found it hilarious. "I'll have DUMM-E on standby with a fire extinguisher just in case. It's his favorite job."

    I had given up at that point and went to go find Maria. After pestering her for a couple days, she finally agreed to come. I also convinced her that since she had known Steve longer, she was in charge of the guest list. I told her I expected to see her for lunch and drinks at Tony's beach and Natasha said she'd make sure Maria showed. Between them, they were going to make sure that any of Steve's friends that I didn't know were coming.

    I felt Steve stir, so I looked up at him to see his cobalt eyes watching me. He had a small smile on his face as he reached over to run his fingers over my cheek. "Morning. I must have been more tired than I thought."

    "That's what happens when you don't come to bed until well after midnight. I fell asleep waiting for you." I tried to climb up on him, but he resisted like he usually did and rolled on his side to face me. I hadn't been able to convince him to take our relationship further than kissing and mild petting. He had become quite adroit at evading my attempts to take the next step and move past second base. We may spend almost every night together, but we really only just slept, nothing more.

    I sighed, which made him smile. He leaned over and kissed me deeply, holding my hands over my head in one of his hands so I couldn't run them over his body like I usually did. His other hand rested on my hip and slowly worked up my back. My alarm went off then, so he let me go so I could turn it off. I turned back to him and he was laying with his arms under his head, watching me.