I CAN DO THIS ALL DAY 🎀 21+

"She has spent the night away from you several times over the years. What's a few more days tacked on?"

Mary's weekend routine had been something you learned quite early on in your acquaintance with the Adler duo. Friday nights saw Mary under Roberta's care so Frank could have one night to himself and enjoy his bachelor status. That soon grew to two nights when you took over Saturday nights as your friendship with one cranky Frank grew.

Those Saturday nights had proved fun and quite eye-opening. Super smart and typical attitude to boot sure, Mary was a real sweetheart and knew you cared about her and Frank. You never made a secret about how much you cared about them, especially Mary. The young girl was just too sweet not to fall in love with her.

Frank proved the harder of the two to get to know, but you'd been slowly and steadily knocking down his walls. It'd taken a lot for him to trust you with Mary, but you've never let him down once he did. You also made sure he knew he could lean on you when he needed another person in his corner. That time really came when his mother entered the picture and tried to take Mary from him.

It was a time that still got you hot under the collar if you thought about it too long.

In the end, Frank was able to keep custody of Mary. It was something you knew he didn't take for granted, not with how close he'd come to losing her. She was his entire world since the day he became her de facto guardian. You had no doubts she'd remain his whole world forever. If all you could claim was a small piece of it, then so be it. You were content.

"She's never been so far for so long," he grumbled, his words almost too soft for you to catch. He continued to pace for another minute or so before dropping back into his chair. His cards remained on the table in front of him, forgotten entirely. His hand came up and scrubbed down his face. A moment later, he's pushed himself out of his chair to pace some more.

No way were the two of you finishing your game.

You let out a groan as you picked up his hand and noted how bad it was compared to yours. A lost win if ever there was one. With the hand you had, you'd already been banking on him owing you a great favor. It hurt to see that gone by the wayside at that point.

Win some, lose some, you guessed.

At least, you still had a little trick up your sleeve.

"Oh, no, hey, we were still playing," Frank said, catching you putting up the cards in the drawer of a side table near your chair. "I wasn't…"

You shook your head. "It's fine. Besides, something told me you'd need a distraction. Wanna take a drive with me? I wanna show you something."

The way Frank hesitated, you feared he'd decline your offer, putting your surprise off another day.

Thankfully, you'd learned a trick from Mary and put that trick to good use.

"No, not you, too," Frank groused, his head dropping to his chest. When he blew out a breath, you knew you'd won as he muttered, "Fine, fine, I'll go with you, but put that pout away. I hate it."

Yet, the look he gave you when he finally glanced up again told you he didn't mind the pout so much.

Grinning, you took his hand and practically dragged out of the house and into his old, beatup truck. You tossed him the keys which you'd snatched on the way out and merely raised a brow when he continued to sit and stare at you.

"Anyone ever tell you how pushy you are?" he asked, his hand reaching up with the keys and eventually turning the ignition.

The truck came to life while you flashed him your best grin, saying, "Yeah, I think I've heard that once or twice. You gotta problem with me being pushy?"

"Nah, there are worse traits out there," he said, flashing you one of his smirks before backing out of the drive. "Which way?"

Over the next several minutes, you guided him through the darkening streets until he pulled into the marina where he used to work. A few more turns later, he parked the truck outside the workshop, his gaze turning to you, questioning.

"Come on. It's not much further."

You unbuckled and shot him a sly grin, slipping out of the truck. When he joined you at the front of his truck, you grabbed his arm and tugged him around the corner and down one of the aisles of the marina. Excitement buzzed through your veins at the surprise you knew was waiting your arrival. It arrived just that morning and in better shape than you could've hoped for after so many years locked away, gathering dust.

Seeing the old boat docked in its new slip, you allowed yourself a soft squeal.

That certainly caught Frank's attention. His attention, which had been focused on you, shifted to the boat close to where you stopped.

"Ta-da," you exclaimed, letting go his arm and throwing both of yours to encompass the boat itself.

His gaze swept over the boat, noting every flaw and detail that needed work. His jaw ticked as he swallowed back the first thing that came to his mind.

You knew this because his gaze trailed over to you and he cringed. If anyone else had brought him this boat, you could well imagine his initial reaction. After all, you'd been privy to it a few times over. But no, this was you, and you were his friend. Even if the urge was there, he'd learned to play nicer with his small group of friends.

"It's a boat," he finally said, going with the obvious.

That was enough to pull a chuckle from you. "Of course, it's a boat, silly."

"Not in the best shape," he added, cautiously.

You nodded.

"I know. It was my dad's. When he died, my uncle promised to take care of it, but he kinda lost interest in them after losing my dad. It's been sitting in storage since." You had to swallow as memories worked themselves to the surface, but you shook them to the side. Meeting Frank's sympathetic gaze, you managed to tilt your lips into some semblance of a smile. "In its prime, my dad would take me out every weekend. We'd fish or simply cruise the lake, spending some hours together. It was a wonderful time. Some of my favorite memories happened on those weekends."

Frank didn't say anything, but he moved closer. One hand skimmed over the port-side gunnel, checking its condition. The other ran down the hull and noted a few concerns based on the way his brows scrunched together.

You simply watched him at work.

While it'd been a couple years since he'd worked on boats full time, you knew he still helped out occasionally at the marina. Usually, he did for some extra cash to help pad the account he'd started for Mary and her future. Sometimes, he'd splurge with the money he made, taking you and Mary out to eat at one of the nicer restaurants in town.

After a few minutes, he carefully hopped over the hull and into the heart of your dad's boat. He checked over everything bow to stern, noting every detail that'd need attention. His hands and gaze missed nothing. A lot of time was spent near the stern with him crouched down to take in the dual engines and their conditions.

When he finally came back to you, he didn't beat around the bush as he said, "It's a lot of work, but it's salvageable. Not gonna be cheap though, but I can try and find some deals. She'll be a beautiful addition to this place once she's fixed up though."

"Money's not an issue," you said, bouncing on your feet, "but does that mean you'll do it?"

Frank's gaze swept over the boat before he nodded, a small grin peeking through. "Yeah, I'll do it, but you're going to help me."

"Wouldn't have it any other way. Figured this would be a good way to pass the empty hours this week. Maybe it'll help us miss Mary a little less. If we get far enough, we can take it out with her next weekend. Possibly? See how it runs? I think it deserves to make some new memories, don't you?"

His grin widened a bit. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Before you could make out his intent, Frank had you wrapped in his arms and lifted you off your feet. His bearded cheek tickled yours while his lips found yours and pressed a quick but promising kiss against them. The first time he'd ever done that in your years of friendship.

When he pulled back, his grin was so wide it had to hurt as he murmured, "You're very hard not to love, know that?"

"Am I?" you asked though your own grin grew to match his. "You're not so hard to love, either. I mean, you have Mary as your biggest selling point, but you're not so bad yourself."

"You really love her, don't you?"

You nodded. "Yeah, and her uncle, too. In case he was wondering."

"He was," Frank said, pressing another kiss to your lips.

And another and another until you were practically dizzy for him.

Thoughts of Mary and missing her slipped from your minds. They were sure to come back sooner or later, but you two were happy to have these new developments to stave off those thoughts.

You’ve spent the day in the kitchen, putting together a little birthday surprise for Captain America, but it takes longer than you expect. So by the time you’ve cleaned up and put on your pretty party dress, you’re later than you wanted to be. It takes some searching before you find Steve drinking alone in a dark corner of the bar. 

For a moment, you wonder if you’ve made a mistake. Maybe Steve wants to be left alone on his birthday and that’s why he didn’t tell anyone. The only reason you know about it is because you’ve studied the files of all the Avengers—and, let’s be honest, paid far more attention to Steve’s than any other.

But then those soulful blue eyes raise and meet yours, and you see a sadness so deep, it nearly cracks your heart in two. You’re so overcome with sympathy for the man out of time that it takes you a moment before you realize he’s seen you, and that means there’s no way you can back out of your plan now. 

So you walk forward, your hands tucked behind your back, keeping your surprise a secret.

“Hi, cap,” you greet him cheerily, watching as he gives you a friendly enough nod. It’s not the warm welcome you’d hoped for, but you can’t begrudge him much.

“Hey, happy fourth,” he says before taking another sip of his beer, the hard Asgardian stuff Thor brought from his home realm. When it doesn’t seem like Steve’s going to say anything more, you take a fortifying breath and pull your hands from behind your back.

“Happy birthday!” you say, holding up an extra large cupcake with frosting and an unlit candle sticking out of it. You didn’t know what flavor Steve liked, so you went with chocolate, vanilla frosting and red, white and blue sprinkles. 

For a moment, Steve just stares at the cupcake in your hands and you wonder again if you’ve made a mistake. The silence drags on, and you have to move so the awkwardness doesn’t swallow you whole. Setting the cupcake on the bar, you pull a lighter from the pocket of your dress.

“I know everyone’s busy celebrating the fourth, but I didn’t want you to think we all forgot about you,” you babble, lighting the candle in the cupcake. “Well, Tony may have, but I didn’t.” You raise your gaze to the super-soldier’s face, giving him a hesitant smile. “I hope you like chocolate.”

Steve stares at you for a long, long moment—so long, it takes all your SHIELD training to stop from squirming under the intensity in his blue eyes. Then the bottle of beer he’d been holding thunks down on the bar and Steve’s arms are wrapping around you, pulling you into his chest while he buries his face in your neck. 

Your arms wind around his broad shoulders on instinct, your fingers sliding against the muscles that are tense beneath the soft cotton of his blue button-up shirt. You knead softly against his bunched-up muscles until he lets out a shuddering exhale and begins to relax into the hug.

The super-soldier’s big body is hunched over yours, and he’s crushing you slightly against his chest, but you hug Steve right back, knowing somehow that he needs this little bit of physical connection. You tuck your face into Steve’s neck, murmuring soft sounds of comfort as you squeeze him tight. 

Steve holds you for so long that your hands grow bolder, your fingers sinking into the soft blond hair at the back of his head. You card your fingers through his hair, raking your nails lightly against his skin until he’s shuddering in your arms and holding onto you even tighter, like you’re the lifeline he desperately needs.

It’s a long time before the big man pulls away, and you’re almost sorry he does, missing the strong bands of his arms around your back, and the steady thrum of his heart against your chest. You swallow down the emotions forming a lump in your throat and watch as the super-soldier mumbles an apology for grabbing you like that.

At first, Steve won’t meet your eye, but when he does, you give him a lopsided smile. “Everyone gets a birthday hug,” you tell him, hoping the nonsensical words will make him feel better. Thankfully, they seem to, and Steve’s shoulders lower from where they’d bunched up around his ears.

The two of you stare at each other for a beat longer than normal, and your smile hitches higher when you see his expression looks lighter than it did when you’d approached. You both look away at the same moment, your eyes finding the cupcake still sitting on the bar. 

The candle has nearly burned down to the frosting and Steve pauses a moment before quickly blowing it out. You clap your hands, the sound almost drowned out by the party still going on in Avengers Tower.

“I hope you made a good wish,” you say, just to fill the muted silence between you two, and rush to continue. “But don’t tell me what it is, or else it won’t come true.”

The corner of Steve’s mouth flickers in a smile. “I think this one will,” he says, his hand finding yours and twining your fingers together. You glance down at your joined hands before his blue eyes capture your attention and his mouth curves into a bigger smile. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he says, giving your hand a squeeze.

“Anytime,” you try to say blithely, but your voice is a little too breathless for you to sound as casual as you want. Tension snaps and crackles in the space between you and Steve. Instinctively, you lean closer to him, spontaneously deciding to press a kiss to his cheek. “Happy birthday, cap,” you murmur, lingering close to him, breathing in the masculine scent of him.

“C’mon, sweetheart, let’s get out of here,” Steve rumbles, grabbing the cupcake off the bar and towing you away from the party by your clasped hands. 

The two of you ride the elevator down to the kitchen, where you find some forks and share the extra-large cupcake together. Steve looks happier than he did at the party as the two of you talk and get to know each other better, his smiles coming more easily as you become more comfortable together. 

You have no way of knowning that you’re making Steve’s birthday wish come true, just by becoming his friend. And you also have no way of knowing that the two of you will become much more than friends. But what you do know is that you’ll never forget Steve Rogers’ birthday, and you’ll do everything you can to make it special every year you’re together.

thank you for reading! comments and reblogs are appreciated! ♡