I Thought You Were Different: Part 6

Dance

It took every ounce of strength you had to not get up and help Steve once you had released his arm to take your seat before the ceremony could start. He wobbled slightly on his unsteady leg, with his grip on the cane whitening his knuckles, and the grimace barely hidden under his smile tearing at your heart. The man was determined that he would stand at his son's side even if the pain was killing him. When Anthony flinched to extend a hand to his father to help, the man was too stubborn to accept it, instead giving his boy a firm handshake of congratulations as he took his place.

"You ready, son?"

"Yes," he whispered back, "but are you okay? You can sit down if you need to Dad, it's okay."

"I'm good."

"Dad."

Steve took the opportunity and pointed towards the back of the room, where T'Challa stood with Esihle tightly holding his arm for support. She didn't look scared or nervous, despite how she was feeling in her gut, but she still knew this was the right thing to do. She and Anthony may have been apart for years, and when they were together they were barely teenagers, but there was a force inside each of them that was drawing them back together that neither could deny.

Steve smiled at the sight and began to reminisce about seeing you walking the aisle to him, and he had to consciously pull himself from the sadness that was about to overtake him. "Look, there she is," he deflected. "Your only focus should be there. Remember every minute of this, Ant."

"Right...wow."

Everyone in the room stood to attention to watch T'Challa and Esihle move to the front, and the sense of almost relief when the young man took his bride's hand was palpable. It was as if for just a few minutes, there could be happiness again, with no worries, no pain, and no reminders of what was to come at sunrise the next morning. There was a glimmer of hope that things might continue on with some semblance of normalcy, whatever that really was. There was a tiny sense of maybe a chance that this could all work and everything would be okay again, like it used to be.

You almost slapped yourself right then and there for even daring to think that way.

~~~

Once the ceremony had finished, and your son was a married man, the after-party was set to begin. Sam had left right after the I do's were said so that he could stay with Bucky, who had all but become a prisoner in his own home. With the deterioration of his memory happening so quickly, it was a risk from minute to minute that he could suddenly wander off.

Everything had gone to plan, despite how quickly it was all thrown together, and Anthony actually looked happy and almost carefree for these few precious hours. You could tell that he was doing his best to not keep his attention towards Steve too much, but you could also see the complete, enveloping relief that had washed over him now that this day had come and his father was at his side.

"Hey," Steve whispered, nudging you gently as you watched your son dance with his new wife, "we did good, didn't we?"

"We sure did. It's a miracle, though."

"Well, yeah," he smirked, "the chances of us making it this far were pretty slim a few times there."

"Because we're idiots."

"No argument from me, doll." The silence was held between you for a time again, as the music continued on and the young couple swayed together. You both watched with a slight pang of jealousy at their youth and the lives ahead of them that was without limits. His hand slid from tabletop and to yours as it rested in your lap, his grip as strong as it had been in the past weeks since the trouble had all started. "Dance with me?"