The first time Steve saw her was one of his favorite days. His morning run with Sam and Bucky was beautiful, the perfect spring dawn and the temperature just right so that they didn’t melt a mile into the daily outing. Once back, Steve decided to make a nice fruit salad to quench his craving for something sweet yet healthy. He’s starting to slice the apples to cut into a medium dice when she enters with Tony. He knew of a new recruit to the initiative but didn’t know when they would be expecting her. Steve hadn’t realized he wasn’t alone anymore until he feels a pair of eyes closely watching his every knife stroke and he glances up, momentarily caught off guard by the beauty in front of him and accidentally slices his finger open. The icy alloy moved through his skin with ease, not differentiating between the flesh of the apple and the meat of Steve’s digit. The yelp he emits startles the girl and she jumps into action, wrapping a paper towel around the open wound, telling him to keep pressure on it while she finds some hydrogen peroxide and a fresh band aid. She helps to get him all patched up, his eyes never once shifting from her movements, mesmerized by this woman who was so quick to help him with the smallest thing when she didn’t even know who he was. Once she was finished, they exchanged names and pleasantries and she departed with Tony to finish her tour of the compound, leaving Steve to watch her retreating form wishing to get to know her more very, very soon.

Not long after the first encounter did they start hanging out, mostly with other members of the team but with each other nonetheless. Her birthday had come soon after her arrival and the group had decided to throw her an intimate, yet lively party. They had piñata, presents, basically everything. Her favorite thing though was the three-tiered red velvet cake with cream cheese icing that sat next to a beautiful, jewel handled knife, ready to make pieces for all of the people in the room. She gravitated towards that first thing, basically begging Steve to let her cut it before doing anything else. He pretended to contemplate his decision, dragging it on to bug her even though she knew he would cave. After using her big Y/C/E puppy dog eyes, he finally broke and ushered her over to the towering cake. She immediately grabbed the encrusted blade but before she could take a segment out she was stopped by the sound of singing and the soft glow of the gold candles gently placed in the white frosting. This is where she felt the safest and most serene in a long time.  

Training seemed to have the biggest impact on her. She’d go so hard it felt like there was a knife permanently lodged into her side, even hours after her previous session. But they were her favorite moments in the compound. Training with Steve were her most prized sessions. Was endurance and weight lifting training not as fun as other kinds; maybe but if Steve was there that’s all that mattered. This particular day was combat training with plastic knives and batons. Since Bucky was the best trained in this specific area, he would be the lead for the day, but Steve decided to tag along to maybe get some pointers. What he didn’t expect to see was Bucky getting his ass handed to him by someone who has never had any training in this field at all. The plastic blade she was using always seemed to find it’s mark, no matter how fast Bucky moved to dodge it. This was the exact moment that Steve fell in love with her. And how could he not? If someone could disarm his best friend in a matter of seconds, they had to be extremely special because that was a feat even Steve couldn’t do.

There she was, standing in the back of the small church, breathtaking as ever. Steve couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. After missing 70 years of his life, the ache in his heart after losing Peggy felt like he was stabbed 37 times by the dull knife of regret. He never expected to find someone like her when he came out of the ice but as she made her way to the front the realization finally hit that she was going to be his; Mrs. Rogers. The ceremony went off without a hitch and throughout the cocktail hour and dinner people were enjoying themselves and coming up to the happy couple congratulating them on their big day. When it was time to cut the cake, it had looked awfully familiar to Y/N. Steve had decided to surprise her and order the cake that they had for her first birthday with the team, except this time with a few more tiers. As they got closer, she recognized the same bejeweled knife that she had used all those years earlier. Tears welled up in her eyes as she laid a soft kiss on Steve’s lips, silently thanking him for remembering one of her most favorite days of her life. The knife felt familiar, like it had never departed from her hand. The same sense of serenity washed over her as she portioned out a piece for her and her new husband, then feeding him sweetly as family and friends cheered on as they watched the new couple celebrate the beginning of their lives together.

Y/N woke up with a start. This shouldn’t be happening, not now. She had just gotten into a dreamless sleep after not getting much for a while. She shook Steve awake telling him to get ready and meet her in the car. It was time. They arrived at the hospital soon after, the stabbing in Y/N’s stomach getting stronger and stronger by the second. It was like she had swallowed a knife and it had just now decided to leave her body after staying hidden for this long. It wasn’t that much longer after arriving that she was on the bed pushing, the stabbing pain becoming unbearable, but she had to get through it. For Steve and their currently unborn child. One hour and 20 pushes later, Steve and Y/N welcomed their baby girl, Alea Suree Rogers, into the world. At 4:28 am on July 4, 2018, Steve Rogers became a father on his 100th birthday. What a wonderful birthday present and better late than never.

A/N: Suree is also a nod to the knife emotion. It means “One sharp, like the knife” so I thought it would be a nice addition to the overall theme.