Call It What You Want: Home Series 1 (Trans!Steve and Pan!Bucky Summer AU)

Eighteen

It was around four when Natasha got bored. The house was quiet with everyone gone except for Natasha and Steve. And despite them getting the Wi-Fi password, Natasha was getting antsy. Which meant that Steve was about to feel like a criminal or a babysitter. Especially once Natasha tossed her phone to the side and slid off the sofa.

Crawling over to the cupboards on either side of the fireplace, Natasha opened the right ones first. Finding a plethora of DVDs and Blue-rays. Natasha started rummaging through them and informed Steve, "Their taste in movies isn't complete shit."

"That's good, I guess," Steve replied as he picked up the landline that Winifred had encouraged them to use whenever. After dialing Sarah's number on the cordless, Steve held the receiver up to his ear and waited.

"Hello?" Sarah finally answered, causing so much relief in Steve that he actually felt the tears building in his eyes.

"Hi, Mom," Steve relaxed in his spot on the lime-green sofa.

"Hi, honey," Sarah cheerily greeted. Steve's whole body warmed at his mom's kindness and joy from simply hearing from him. Even though Steve wasn't looking at Sarah, he could still hear the smile in her voice as she asked, "How's it going?"

"Fine," Steve answered, clearing his throat that had suddenly gotten tight. To lighten the mood, Steve teased, "We haven't been arrested."

"Yet!" Natasha loudly added, so Sarah would hear it.

"Yet," Steve softly chuckled under his breath, earning a wink from Natasha as she still sat on the floor. She was holding a movie case in her hand, reading the back summary.

"Steve Grant, that's not funny," Sarah scorned, but Steve could still hear the smile in her voice. Then, Sarah asked, "How's Nattie been? Is she being nice?"

"Compared to usual," Steve trailed off, looking over at Natasha who was comparing two movies, "Good, actually. We haven't done much, but it's been better than expected."

"Well, that's good. Make sure to -- what, Eddie?" Sarah paused and Steve could hear Eddie saying something, but he couldn't quite make it out. All that Steve could distinguish was the excitement in his high-pitched voice. Sarah relayed, "Eddie wants to talk to you."

"Put him on," Steve chuckled and heard the shuffling sounds as the phone was passed between them.

"Stevie, you're never going to believe what Daddy said last night!" Eddie exclaimed in lieu of a greeting, using so much enthusiasm that Steve had to pull the phone away from his ear in hopes of saving his eardrum.

Genuinely intrigued, Steve asked, "What did Dad say?"

"He said I could have a cat!" Eddie excitedly squealed so loudly that Natasha could hear him.

While Natasha's brows arched high on her forehead, hidden by her choppy gray bangs, Steve's brows furrowed. Steve had wanted a cat for forever. He had been asking Sarah and Joseph for a cat for longer than Eddie had been alive. And now that Steve was away for the summer and was soon to be going off to college, his parents decided to get a cat.

Steve's throat tight, he questioned, "He said you could have a cat?"

"Yes!" Eddie happily confirmed, unaware of how betrayed Steve felt in that moment.

Which, why wouldn't Steve feel betrayed? It's not like Steve had wanted a cat for as long as he could remember, or anything. Nope, not at all. It wasn't like Steve begged Sarah for a cat ever since he could talk and grew up with her friend's fat tabby, Meatloaf. Nope. Why would Steve be upset about that?

Steve could feel Natasha watching him, so he stood from the sofa. Heading over to the guestroom, Steve closed the door behind himself and instructed Eddie, "Put Mom on the phone."

"Okay, bye, Stevie," Eddie agreed. More shuffling noises, but before the phone was successfully passed back to Sarah, Eddie said, "I love you."

"I love you too," Steve stated with a small smile tugging at his lips. Pacing, he reminded, "Mom?"

"Oh, right!" Eddie giggled and passed the phone over to Sarah.

Sheepishly, Sarah asked, "Are you excited?"

"Why is it suddenly okay?" Steve immediately questioned, feeling the tears building in his eyes. Clenching his jaw, Steve was reminded that he had his T shot tomorrow. He always got more emotional when he was in need of another dose, and he instantly wanted to apologize for his harsh tone. Even though he desperately felt justified in his recent turn of mood.

Before Steve could apologize, however, Sarah explained, "Well Nick Fury's mom, Nia, her cat is pregnant, but she's being put into a home since she broke her hip, ya know? And Nick didn't want to take care of all those cats. You know how busy he is. So, I suggested that we take in the cat."

Feeling absolutely pathetic as the tears spilled over, Steve harshly wiped at his cheeks, hoping that the tears would stop. Steve hated feeling like this. He tried to hold onto what his therapist, Dr. Coulson, told him. How Steve needed to remind himself that his parents loved him, Eddie loved him, Natasha loved him. That Steve was a good son, a good friend, a good person.

"Joey said that we might be able to keep the whole litter," Sarah continued, which just made Steve feel even worse. Mainly because Steve knew that Sarah was trying to cheer him up.

Clearing his throat, Steve declared, "Hey, um, I should... I should probably go. I love you and Dad and Eddie too."

"We love you too," Sarah stated. Steve hung up before she could say anything more and plopped down on the bed. Burying his face in the closest pillow and letting out all his frustration.