The White Queen (S.Rogers)

Chapter 55

Steve watched, a glass of something alcoholic in one hand, as Juliana ran around the very large family room at the Marino's house. She was playing with the Marino's grandsons, and while he was more than okay with her playing, right now, he just wanted to keep an eye on her, since boys could by nature be rougher than girls. Brooklyn had laughed when he expressed this to her, informing him that the Marino grandsons knew very well to be respectful of girls. Even so, Steve wanted to keep an eye on everything, stepping in if he needed to.

Brooklyn was standing over at a table set up with refreshments, talking to one of the Marino daughter in laws. Faith, he seemed to remember her name being. Her hand was playing with the pendant he had given her for Christmas, and a warm feeling of satisfaction filled him. He hadn't wanted to tell her, when he had given it to her, that one of the reasons he wanted it on her, was it was a very caveman way of putting ownership on her. To prove to the world that she was his girl. No one else's. She belonged to Steve Rogers. And until he could convince her to put a ring on her finger, it was going to have to do.

She was dressed in a very tasteful green dress, with a higher bust line than she normally wore. The skirt hit mid calf, and all in all, it was rather modest. Her hair was pulled up in some sort of half knot, and a sprig of holly was pinned in the back. She looked perfect, in his eyes.

Brooklyn, as if feeling his eyes on her, turned her head, and smiled at him. Easy and carefree. A big difference from earlier, in her bedroom. He returned the smile, and she returned to talking to Faith.

He really was upset, not at her, never at her, over the fact that he had not noticed that she might have been struggling this morning. Hearing Sam tell him that she was having a lot of resentment over the fact that her father had not been there for their early morning Christmas had been hard. He felt the same way, in another aspect. Not that Bucky wasn't there because he needed him there, but because he wasn't there to share the experience with Steve. He had never considered the fact that Brooklyn would be holding a grudge against her father. She had never given any indication, whatsoever.

That she had felt, even for a moment that she couldn't share it with him, well that hurt. He had thought that they were getting to a better level, where she felt more than secure in sharing things like that with him. The fact that she hadn't wanted to do it, for fear of hurting him... well, he shut that down, pretty quickly as soon as she calmed down. He reiterated, again, that no matter what she was feeling, or how she thought it might make him feel, she should always know he would want to hear it. He needed her to share that with him, so that he could help lighten her load, both emotionally and physically.

So, after she had calmed down, he had told her that, and when she shared how, just for a moment, she had felt a flash of resentment towards him, yes it hurt. But she had also been quick to tell him that the resentment wasn't at him, it was at the fact that he wasn't her father, in that moment. She had stumbled and stuttered around the words, but finally got them out in an order that he was able to understand. And when he did, he had taken her in his arms, held her, and told her he understood and wasn't upset with her.

Now, looking at her, he wouldn't have been able to tell she had broken down, this morning, if he hadn't already known.

Juliana ran up to him, climbing on the couch, panting. He frowned at that, but let it go. She was a little girl. "What's the matter, Sweetheart?"

"Brando is being mean." She told him. "So I told him I wasn't gonna play with him anymore."

"Ah." He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. "Well, you just stay by me, and I'll keep all those nasty boys away."

She giggled, pushing at him. "Steve! Boys aren't nasty!"

"Yes." He nodded. "Boys are very nasty. We don't like boys. We don't want to play with boys."