Finding Love in France (Alternate Version)

Part 19: Picnic

After relaxing for a bit after breakfast, Mila suggested they go for a swim in the small pond on the property. They packed a few things and Mila snuck a few more surprises into the bag.

It was July and the water was lovely. They had been enjoying themselves immensely and she was able to breathe, not worrying about how they were on borrowed time for a moment.

As they were relaxing in the sun, Steve went to find a jar of drinking water in the bag. As he was digging around, he noticed some butcher-paper wrapped items. "Hey, Mila? What's this?" He held the items up for her to see.

"Ah, you found the next part of your birthday party!" She laughed. "How are you at making a campfire?"

"Uh, not great...not a ton of camping in Brooklyn, sorry." He laughed. "Lighting things on fire, sure. Making a useful fire? Not so much."

"That's right, you're a city boy!" She laughed. "As a city girl myself, I came prepared!" She dug around the bag and pulled out a box of matches. "Now all we need is some dry wood...do you think we should dig a hole or something?" She was laughing harder. "I've never actually done this before and don't want to burn the place down!"

They found some small dry branches and piled them up near the water, just in case. She lit a match and nothing happened. "Hmm...are we missing something?" She was puzzled. Then she got an idea. She unwrapped one of the packages and crumpled up the paper in the middle of the pile. She lit another match and tossed it down. Thankfully, it took. "Did we do this right?" Smoke was stinging their eyes as the paper burned. Then one of the sticks caught fire and they were in business. "Yes!" She cried triumphantly. "Now we can cook your birthday lunch! Frankfurters!...or as you Americans call them, hot dogs."

"You got hot dogs?! Where the hell did you find hot dogs?" He was so excited for something familiar. "Um, how do we cook them?"

Mila grabbed another stick and speared one of the small sausages. "Isn't this how you do it back home?"

"Not exactly...but I guess it's like a barbecue, right?" He speared one and held it in the fire. It went up in flames immediately as he tried to blow it out.

Mila laughed hysterically watching him try to pick the char off the meat. "Here, take mine, birthday boy..." she shook her head and reached into the bag to grab some bread.

As they sat and ate, he couldn't remember when he had this much fun. He started to wonder what was going to happen to her when he left. "Hey Mila, what's next for you, once you finally get rid of me?"

She sighed. "Whatever is needed, I suppose?" Was this the best time to have this conversation? His birthday? She didn't want to get upset. "Besides, once you finish saving the world, who knows what I'll be doing..."

He thought about it for a minute. "Would you maybe want to try and join up with the Allies?" He took a deep breath. "Maybe head back with me?" He realized how he sounded and tried to explain himself. "Howard Stark would probably love to meet you, if that's something you want..."

She bit her lip and tried not to get ahead of herself. "Do you think I would be welcome?"

"Of course! You worked on the super soldier project, you're a doctor, you speak a bunch of languages, we'd be stupid not to try and find you something to do!" He hoped he was convincing her.

She sighed again. "What if your Peggy is still alive?" She couldn't look at him as her eyes welled up.

He hadn't thought about that. "Well..." he ran his fingers through his hair. "...that's something we probably need to figure out." He sighed. "I really like you, and I've had the best time here with you..."

"But?" She spit out.

"But my heart belongs to Peggy Carter. Always has, and if she's still alive, always will." He watched as the tears fell down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Mila. I never meant to hurt you." He tried to wipe her tears, but she turned her head to dodge him and got up.

"I'm fine, Steve. It's your birthday, enjoy your lunch." She walked back to the house alone.