Call It What You Want: Home Series 1 (Trans!Steve and Pan!Bucky Summer AU)

Two

"So, Natasha is staying in Arkansas this summer with her Aunt Winifred, and she wants me to go with her," Steve quickly stated at dinner.

Sarah paused with her food covered fork in midair in front of her face, and she glanced over at Steve. Of course, Steve kept his gaze on his plate as he pushed around his food, purposely choosing to not look at his mom. When Steve couldn't ignore his mother's gaze any longer, Steve glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye.

Setting her fork down, Sarah narrowed her eyes and asked, "You'll actually be in Arkansas with Natasha's family, right? I won't get a call at three in the morning from you in a Mexican jail or anything?"

"Mom," Steve exaggerated, rolling his eyes for good measure of being the angsty teenager.

"Don't, 'Mom,' me," Sarah stated, finally eating her food off her fork.

Sarah was still evaluating Steve, not that he could blame her. After all, the last trip that Steve took with Natasha, the pair ended up in Pennsylvania before Natasha's car broke down and they had to break down to call the Rogers who believed the pair was safely with Natasha's family Up North. Which, Steve actually believed was the plan. Until he ended up in a car with Natasha going in the complete opposite direction of where they were supposed to be.

However, Steve was a bad liar, so there wasn't a point to study him too much.

So, Sarah dropped her gaze and Steve let out a sigh of relief. Finally, Sarah sighed. She set her fork down and started, "If I let you go, you'll promise to stay there? You'll be the perfect house guest? And you'll be sure to keep Nattie in line?"

Looking at his food, Steve couldn't help but think, that sounds like a lot of work during a vacation. But Steve reassured her, "Of course."

"Okay," Sarah smiled and picked up her fork again. Gathering more food on her fork, she replied, "I'll call Ivan later to see if he's okay with this."

Steve's dad, Joseph, scoffed from his seat then, because he -- like everyone else -- knew that Ivan couldn't care less. Not with the bimbo-in-charge, as Natasha "affectionately" called her, around. Steve couldn't blame Natasha for being sour though. Especially since Natasha's mom, Sarina, had only been dead for a year. And if that wasn't bad enough, Ivan's latest girlfriend --correction, fiancée -- his third lover in the past year, used to be one of his former students.

Since Joseph chuckled, Sarah started to too, and Steve couldn't help but join in. Steve's six-year-old brother, Eddie, asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Sarah lied, reaching over to ruffle his auburn hair. She lightly caressed his freckled cheek, and widened her eyes as she theatrically asked, "Who's ready for dessert?"

"Me!" Eddie happily exclaimed as Joseph gathered everyone's plates and took them to the kitchen.

Eddie was the baby of the family, obviously. Steve was eleven when Eddie was born, and Steve remembered being so excited. He had spent years begging Sarah to gift him with a sibling. Of course, that was Before. Before middle school. Before puberty. Before transitioning. Before Steve realized how complicated life could be.

"Do you want whipped cream?" Sarah asked Steve as she handed Eddie a bowl of strawberry shortcake. Made the good way with the angel food cake.

It didn't take long for Eddie to start stuffing his face and Steve teased, "Who do you think you're asking? Of course, I want whipped cream!"

Sarah playfully rolled her eyes and turned back towards the kitchen. Getting caught in the doorway with Joseph and ultimately surrendering to his loving embrace. As Joseph kissed Sarah, it was difficult for Steve to remember a time before Joseph. See, Joseph wasn't Steve's biological dad. But he was the only dad that Steve knew.

Steve liked to think that meant that he was loved more because Joseph chose to be his dad.

And Steve could remember when Joseph met Sarah and Steve at the laundry mat that they typically went to. It was back when Sarah was in nursing school. Back when Sarah and Steve were living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment. But it wasn't too bad. Steve's five-year-old self liked sharing a bed with Sarah because it had been the only constant in his life.

Sarah had been a teenage mom. Leaving home at seventeen after Steve was born because her parents had been "bad parents" that were "coked out", and she knew that she wanted a better life for Steve than the one that she had growing up.

Steve's first memories were of Sarah and himself staying with some of her friends, sharing a twin-size bed and Sarah pushing Steve's blond hair off his face until he fell asleep, holding her tightly. It had always been Sarah and Steve, and Steve didn't know that it wasn't normal to have such a young mom, or to even have just a mom.

Then they met, "You can call me, Joey," Joseph who always seemed more like a dad even with his boyish good looks. And Steve remembered Joseph smiling at Sarah whenever she looked away as they spent their Saturday afternoon at the laundry mat. Sarah doing their laundry and Steve in the designated kiddie area watching Hercules, but being more entertained by Sarah and Joseph.

Remembering the demure way that Sarah smiled at Joseph and thinking about how much the pair looked like a Disney couple. Joseph being the perfect prince that Steve had always idolized. Especially with his short auburn hair falling into his sparkling green eyes and the freckles that were sprinkled along his cheekbones and slope nose. Steve's favorite part was the way Joseph's thin lips pulled even wider whenever Sarah smiled at him.

The game winning point though, was that Joseph didn't run away when he found out that Sarah was raising Steve as a single mother. The other men who admired Sarah often dipped out as soon as they found out that information. But not Joseph.

Not even when Joseph found out that Sarah had adopted her brother and decided to raise him as her son. A fact that Steve didn't even find out until later. A fact that made Steve love Sarah just a little bit more.

After that first day with Joseph though where he bought Steve a pack of brownies with neon-colored chocolate chips from the vending machine and theatrically sang along with the Muses, Steve knew that Joseph was special. When Steve and Sarah got back to their apartment, Steve told Sarah that she was going to marry Joseph.

And sure enough, she did.