Agent Carter An AU Series

Chapter 7

Peggy's POV:

No. I did not, in fact try to kiss him.. or did I? No! No,no,no,no,no. That's not what was going to happen... right? Its all still a blur. One minute I'm trying to get out of a chair, and the next I feel like I'm falling, then... Daniel. Was he leaning in? Or was I? No, it must be in my head. For a moment it felt like I was stuck, as if every fiber in my body was frozen and refused to move. All I felt was fear, fear that I would fall and hurt the baby; and then Daniel caught me. 

He stopped the chair from falling underneath me and held me steady. Now I realize what this must look like. As I am aware of how close we are, I release his vest and his hand falls away from my back. Has it always been this cold in here?  No, I must be imagining it. I'm afraid to speak and break the silence, but there was another knock at the door. Someone's very insistent... Wait. What if he has a girlfriend and that's her?  Oh no, what have I done!

"Uhm, you should probably get that." I say. He lets go of the chair and backs away.

"Uh.. yeah, right. One sec." As he leaves my cheeks feel warm to the touch, and poppet once again, decides to kick. Ow!  She certainly has my legs, that's for sure.

 When I turn around to see who's at the door, I see an older man  talking to Daniel. I slowly get up and leave the kitchen. 

"I know I know, but I wanted to surprise you." I can hear Daniel laugh and grab a bag from the man. 

"Thanks Pai, I don't know what to say."

"A thank you would be nice." The two men laugh and embrace. Its nice to see Daniel this way. I should feel wrong, eavesdropping and intruding like this, but I can't stop myself. "Now how about we grab a drink and- oh. I didn't know you had company." At this Daniel turns towards me.

"Oh right, uh.. Pai, this is Peg-uh- Miss. Carter. Miss. Carter this is my dad Frank Sousa. She lives right across the hall."

"Its a pleasure to meet you, sir." I notice him eye my belly momentarily, and then reach for my hand.

"English, huh?" I smile and shake his hand.

"Yes, I am. I was born and raised in London."

"Iv'e been, before the War anyway. Its a beautiful place."

"I couldn't agree more, Mr. Sousa." Oh this feels so awkward. We all stand around in silence for a few moments before I speak. "Well, I should be on my way. It was nice to meet you, sir." I glance at Daniel, who looks as if he'll disagree, but doesn't say anything. 

"Here, I'll walk you there." I start to object, but he interrupts me. "Dad won't mind, will you pai?" He shakes his head and enters the kitchen. We walk to my apartment door and stand for a few moments. "I'm uh.. sorry about that. I didn't expect him to come over today. Normally we eat out on Saturdays, but.." 

"He wanted to surprise you..."

"Yeah." He laughs, shyly. Hes very bashful and quiet when hes shy, I've noticed...

"Its alright Daniel, I don't mind. Enjoy your dinner." He looks at the ground and nods his head. I open the door and stop as I feel his hand on my arm. I look at where we touch, and then at him. His hand drops like hes toughed a hot iron.

"Sorry, I just want to make sure you're okay. After... you know."

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for catching me. I honestly don't know what to think if you hadn't-" I stop and look in his eyes. Why does time stop when I look at him? I take his hand and squeeze it as a silent thank you. He smiles and walks away. Whatever is happening, I don't want it to stop.

Daniels POV:

Normally I'm excited to spend time with dad, but right now, he has the worst timing in the world. I walk back into the kitchen where I see him bringing out plates and setting the table so we can eat. 

"If I knew you had company, I wouldn't have came." Dad has a thing about interrupting people, I never understood why, but he hates it.

"Its fine, Pai. Seriously. She was just over for a little while." As I look at him, he gives me the eye. I know that look. "What? She was helping me with groceries."

"Mm hmm..."

"Pai-"

"You don't have to explain yourself, Danny." Great, I hate that tone in his voice. It means somethings bothering him. I sit down and cross my arms, waiting for it. After a few minutes, he says it. "Where's her husband?"

"I don't know. He died from what I've heard."

"Gossip? You know netter than to listen to that."

"I honestly don't know, pai. She never talks about him." He hands me a plate and sits down across from me. 

"How long?"

"Another month at most, but she thinks it may be before then." I think we're talking about the same thing. All I hear is a 'mm hmm' and then he's silent. Its like he knows something, but I don't think he's gonna say it if he does. "Or are you asking about being neighbors?"

"I was gonna leave that to you." I hate when he does that.

"She moved in about eight months ago."  He looks like hes thinking about something, but I guess he doesn't want to share. What is going on?

"Just be careful, son. That's all I ask." I open my mouth, but he beats me to the punch. "Don't ask, just... be careful." I nod my head and the subject is dropped. The rest of dinner goes smoothly, just like normal. After talking and spending some downtime with dad, he heads home before sun sets. "Remember what I said, Danny. Be careful with her."

"I will, I promise." And with that he leaves. All I can say is this was weird. I head back to the kitchen and notice Peggy's watch on the counter. She must have set it down after reading the time on it. I pick it up and laugh, I'll try and give it to her tomorrow You got it bad Daniel, and its only getting worse. Dammit...