Make It To Me (Chris Evans AU Fic)

The Storm

The wind howled in heavy gusts as it whipped around the small cozy home. Rain pelted the windows in sheets, making Sarge look all around, trying to find where the noise was coming from. The power flickered often, making Nina thankful it was after dinner and all the kids and her husband already had a nice warm meal, but it didn't take much longer for all the lights to go out.

The kids already were in the living room with Chris, who had just finished stacking wood in the fireplace, but Nina was in the kitchen doing dishes when everything went black. She felt around to get a rag to wipe her hands before finding her phone, flicking her flashlight on so that she could see a little bit. Nina gathered up some candles and brought them into the living room along with a lighter.

"Is everyone in here?" Nina wanted to check when she walked into the room.

"We're all here mommy," Logan answered from his spot on the couch with Sarge.

"Good," She smiled warmly before making her way over to where Chris was sitting by the fireplace. He used the light on her phone and the matches she brought to get the fire roaring while Nina lit the candles and spread them around the room, letting a dull glow light up the room a bit.

Everything was still dim but they could at least see each other's faces. Jack was sitting on the floor with Ryan while Logan was laying on the couch, sprawled next to Sarge. The last one that they saw was Sophie. She was sitting curled up by a chair, her thumb in her mouth while tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Sophie! Honey! What's wrong?" Nina asked their little four year old daughter.

"I....I'm s-scared," Sophie cried soft tears.

Before Nina could even make a move, Chris had sprung into action. His protective instincts were in full swing and he scooped his little daughter in his muscular arms, cradling her against his chest. He rubbed her back to soothe her while he comforted with his words, "It's okay Sophie, it's just dark. Don't worry sweetie, Daddy will protect you. I'm going to keep you safe."

She cried against his chest and her little tiny hands reached up to grab onto his neck, clinging to him for dear life. Hearing her cries made Chris feel like he could physically feel his heart getting squeezed and wrung. Nothing wrecked him more than seeing his precious baby girl upset and he wanted to do everything he could to take it away.

Chris sat down on the floor and sat Sophie in his lap to face him. He leaned in and kissed her forehead before he wiped away the tears on her chubby cheeks. Sophie looked up at him with the same big warm caramel eyes that her mother had and it instantly made him melt from the sight. He was so thankful Sophie took after her mother not only in looks, but in her tender spirit, even if it caused a lot of moments like this.

"Now Sophie," He said, holding her cheeks in his big hands. "I know you're scared, sweetie, but do you think I would let anything happen to you?"

The little girl quickly shook her head no, having complete confidence in her heroic father. He smiled from her response and leaned in to give her another kiss, "That's right Sophie, I'll always be here to protect you and you'll always be safe in my arms."

Sensing the fear the little round eyed girl was feeling, Sarge got up and hopped off the couch, walking over to lick at Sophie's face and made her giggle. Chris chuckled, scratching the German Shepherd behind the ears to reward him and Nina spoke up to her daughter, "See sweetie, Sargey won't let anything happen to you either."

"Neither will we!" Jack proudly puffed out his little chest, offering to protect his little sister.

"Yeah, if there are any monsters in the dark, we'll beat them up!" Logan assured her, showing off the little karate kick he could do... which ended up in him tripping and falling onto the carpet with an 'oof', causing the rest of the family to laugh.

Nina got up, kissing Logan on the head on her way by, before she found a box and brought it back over and said, "Well Daddy made sure that there are no monsters in this house before he bought it so we don't have to worry about that. So how about we play a game before bedtime?"

There was a little round of cheers before the boys pulled the box open and got it set up. The two older boys set up the game board with Nina's help while Ryan chose a color game piece for each member of the family. While this was going on, Chris turned Sophie around so that her back was up against his chest and she was sitting comfortably in his lap.

She sucked her thumb as Chris' big arms came to rest around her and he pressed gentle kisses on top of her soft short brown hair. He hated his daughter being upset or afraid, but he wouldn't lie, he did enjoy the snuggles that went with it. Before the board game got started, Nina got up to bring over a pile of blankets, tenderly wrapping one around each of her boys' shoulders before she made it to Chris and Sophie. She wrapped the soft blanket around Chris' broad shoulders and tucked it around Sophie so that the only thing popping out of the blanket was her sweet little face.

Nina pressed a kiss on Sophie's forehead before moving up to gently push her lips to Chris'. His eyelids fluttered closed, letting out a soft sigh when he felt her soft lips against his. He never got tired of her kisses and he savored each one, but he had a special place in his heart for her tender little sweet kisses like this. They were gentle and loving, just like her, but his favorite part of these type of kisses from her was how whenever she would part, Nina would cup his stubbled cheek in her hand and whisper how much she loved him. Her eyes were full of nothing but pure adoration for him and everytime she did this to him, Chris could feel his heart flutter before he fell just a little bit deeper in love with her.

She then took a seat right next to him as the game got started and it wasn't long until the living room only illuminated by the soft glow of the candles, was filled with loud laughter, gloating and smack talk between brothers.... And father. Sophie even ended up having so much fun, she forgot all about her fear of the dark and had wiggled out of Chris' lap to lay by Sarge while she moved her game piece.

Ryan had just won for the second time, earning groans and plans for rematches with his brothers when Nina announced it was time for bed. The sweet mother was met with whines of wanting to stay up to keep playing, but Chris stepped in to say, "Your mom already let you stay up for a second game, now do what she tells you and go get ready for bed. Jack, take the flashlight up with your brothers you three get changed for bed."

The boys obediently nodded before disappearing up the stairs, allowing Chris to turn his full attention to Sophie. She was laying on top of Sarge, who happily loved the affection as shown by his wagging tail, but Chris pulled her back into his lap and said, "Alright kiddo, ready to go to bed?"

Sophie didn't say anything, she just fiddled with Chris big hands before her big sparkling eyes looked up at him and asked hesitantly, "Daddy... can I sleep with you and mommy? I don't wanna be by myself."

Chris didn't even have to look at his tender wife to know if would be alright with her, and they both knew that the moment his little girl flashed those big eyes at him, he was a goner. Once they helped Sophie into her pajamas and the three of them had curled into bed, Sophie was fast asleep in-between them, tucked up tightly to her father's chest.

"You know that she has you wrapped around her finger," Nina softly giggled, laying her head on the pillow as she gazed over at her husband.

He chuckled while looking down at their daughter, stroking her hair before bringing his blue eyes back up to Nina and replied with, "She definitely does.... Just like her mother."