A Soldier's Journey

Part 20: The Hardest Goodbye

After driving for about thirty more minutes, we pull up to a beautiful small house hidden in a group of trees. I look at Steve in confusion, but he just smiles. Steve gets out of the car and I go to open the door, but Steve glares at me. I take my hands off of the door and smile at how sweet he is. He opens the door and helps me out. He continues to hold my hand as we walk towards the house. The house has a beautiful front deck with a riverstone design. We walk onto the deck and Steve pulls out his keys and unlocks the door. The door swings open and Steve motions for me to walk inside. I walk inside and look around at the open room. A large rock fireplace surrounded by a couch and a couple of chairs. The kitchen is open into the dining room and living room. "Go ahead, look around." Steve says. I start walking throughout the house, but forget to let go of Steve's hand, so he just follows me. The kitchen is beautiful and open with granite countertops and an island in the center. In the dining room, a medium table is centered. A small bathroom hangs just off the dining room. As we go upstairs, I note the lack of belongings in the house. Steve releases my hand as I get to the top and he goes back downstairs. I follow through the hall. I open one of the few doors, revealing an open room with a wide window. A large queen size bed in the center of the room against the wall. I look throughout the room and notice an open bathroom, right off the end of the room. The bathroom has a large walk-in closet and shower. The room has a rock balcony off the side as well, overlooking the trees. As I walk down the hall, I see another bathroom with an open shower. Two similar rooms along the hall as well.

I walk back out into the hall and see Steve walking up the stairs. He walks up to me and takes my hand. "What do you think?" He asks. "It's beautiful." I say, at a loss for words. He holds out my hands and puts a key in it. "It's ours." He says. I look at him in amazement. "What?" I ask, making sure I heard him right. "It's ours." He replies. "This house...is ours?" I ask. He nods his head with an entertained smile. I smile and lunge at Steve hugging him tightly with a big smile across my face. He returns the hug and chuckles. "Come on, I have something else I want to show you." He says, taking my hand and pulling me towards the stairs. When we get downstairs, he covers my eyes with his hands, then leads me somewhere. I hear a door open, then close, then he removes his hands. I look around at the beauty of the back yard. It's covered in grass and trees and the house has a deck that wraps around the whole house with steps leading to the ground. I hug Steve again, unable to grasp the thought of this being our house. It's beautiful. The perfect house. He picks me up in the hug and walks back inside. Happy tears escape my eyes. He sets me down in the living room and I see a blanket laying across the ground with candy and pizza and a stack of movies.

"How did you do this? You were at the tower for most of the day." I ask, still shocked by the news. "Natasha." Steve says. "How did you know that I didn't actually have another date?" I ask. "Well when you've known someone for a hundred years, you start to pick up on when they're being sarcastic." He says with a smirk. I lightly nudge him and move towards the blanket, pulling him with me. We sit down and I watch as he gets comfortable, smiling the whole time at my amazing soon to be husband. He gets comfortable and looks at me, looking at him. I caress his cheek and kiss him. "You're the best." I say after I pull away. "You get as many foot massages as you want." I say. He chuckles and casually yawns and swings his feet onto my lap. I smile at him, then start massaging his feet as I use my telekinesis to put a movie in the dvd. After a few minutes, Steve swings his feet away and pulls me towards him, holding me on his lap. I smile and kiss his cheek. "You missed." He says. I smile again and press my lips to his softly. His hand reaches up and caresses my cheek while he returns the gesture. One of my legs moved to his other side, so I am now straddling his waist. I deepen the kiss and push him down to the ground, so he is laying on his back.

I pull away and smile at him. "I have a surprise for tonight." I say as I remember the lingerie that I bought that's still in the trunk of the car. "Do I have to wait?" He asks, making me nod. He groans and I chuckle, pulling him to a sitting up position again.