high hopes [baby avengers and reader]

chapter twenty three

Once inside the magical place called Disneyland, the little ones were in awe, taking in the colors and the happy locamotive about to depart from above, with playful spirits.

"Hey! Look, a train!" Steve yelled excitedly and pointed at it.

You chuckled and pet his hat covered head. "We'll go on it, I promise." You said, and he nodded with a smile.

"Look at the pwetty flowers!!" Tasha squeaked happily; admiring the mickey shapped vegatation

"I wish I could pick one for you." Clint said, not knowing he was audible.

"What?!" Natasha asked happily.

"Nothing." Clint said quickly.

Coulson seemed amused, and pulled out a map he had grabbed. "Hmm... Let's see... Where should we go first?"

"I think the pirates ride since they all said they wanted to go on that one." You suggested, and Coulson seemed to agree.

"And," You said, looking down at little Steve, who was holding your hand. "We can take the train to get there!"

"Yay!" Steve exclaimed, a huge grin on his face.

Thor didn't look as amused as the sweet Captain.

"Don't worry Thor, there are dinosaurs on the way." You assured, and he seemed to perk up a bit.

You all headed through the main archway, into the park, and directly to the right, where there were steps to lead you up to the ride.

Luckily, there were only a handful of people waiting there, in the train station looking line, complete with wooden benches to sit on.

There was a small family, and an older man, who you had assumed was their grandfather.

Steve looked up at him for a few moments before tugging on the man's brown sweater. "Hello, sir."

The man looked a little startled at first, but smiled when he realized it was just a boy. "Hello."

"Umm, were you in the army?" Steve asked politely, yet also with the innocence of a child.

You looked a bit nervous and cast your eyes over at Coulson, but he gave you a nod, to signal that it was alright.

"Yes, I was. The second world war, in fact." The man explained, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

The adult male in the group, seemingly his son, looked concerned for his dad, knowing the pain he had to go through.

The man's wife gave him a soft smile and held his hand, to keep him from worrying.

"You're a real hero, thank you for serving our great country sir." Steve said proudly, and gave the man a proper salute.

The elderly man, eyes full to the brim with tears at this appreciation, smiled, then gently pet the boy's head. "Thank you. And I'm sure you're going to be a hero to many others as well." The man said honestly, and with much sentiment.

"Thank you sir, I hope so." Steve said with a smile, as the train chugged into the station and the staff escorted the family, and yours, onto the train.

A few minutes later, after everyone had found their seat, the train began moving.

Chug. Chug. Chug. The train wheeled on, with the fake smoke clouding the air in white fluffs of nostalgia.

Steve was very happy, kicking his little feet that couldn't at all touch the ground, while you held onto the baby. The stroller was folded up and standing in front of you at the moment, with a pocket of space to see through.

And after having gone through a quick, dark tunnel, a jungle emerged.

Real jungle shrubbery and animal noises entertained the little ones, especially Bruce, who was constantly clapping his chubby hands together in excitement as the train moved on through another tunnel, this one a bit longer than the last.

When the light finally broke through, adventurous and yet, dangerous, music played as the overhead announcer explained what was going on.

Currently, there were animatronic dinosaurs in front of you, some flying, others eating leaves, and some roaring periodically.

"Woah! I want a dinosaur for a pet." Thor grinned.

You chuckled, and a few moments later, the train had moved to a different scene, the grand canyon.

"I hope I can go there someday.." Steve commented.

"That place is real?!" Thor exclaimed, just as the scene changed back to the jungle.

"Yep!" You replied happily.

"Wow! I wish I had places like that where I'm from." Thor said, which made you pause for a moment.

"But they wouldn't keep it anyway, they would say it's a big hole, cover it up." Loki grumbled.

You laughed lightly. "Don't worry Loki, it would be far too big to cover." You reasoned, and as the train met it's first station, in New Orleans Square, you felt the train shift to a stop.

You prepared the stroller for Bruce and got out of the train before the others, and put Bruce in the stroller.

"Goodbye sir." Steve said to the other man respectfully, and extended his hand for him to shake.

The older man smiled faintly and shook it, then unpinned one of his medals from his bag and pinned it onto Steve's hat.

"Sir, are you sure you want to-" Steve tried to say, but was cut off by a gentle wave of his hand.

"People like me aren't brave to get a medal.. We're brave to save our friends, to keep our way of life, and..." The man said with a hopeful smile. "For kids like you, who will grow up to be our leaders and heros as we get older." The man said earnestly, and left with his family.

Steve smiled proudly and gently touched the medal on his hat, a star, he could feel. A silver star medal, and Steve Rogers was proud to wear it, as he followed the rest of his makeshift family off the train and onto New Orleans Square.