Work Text:
Steve turned down a familiar road, one hand on the wheel and his other hand clasped in Beth's on the console. He forced himself to take a breath, ignoring how there was a bundle of nerves in his chest, making his heart jump.
He didn't understand why he was so nervous. He was just taking Beth and Alex to finally meet Tony and Pepper. Beth had talked to Pepper before, over the phone and face to face virtually. It wasn't like they were strangers. And Tony almost worshipped Beth's coffee. It shouldn't give him so much anxiety to be doing this, but it was. He supposed it was similar to the feeling of introducing a girlfriend to his parents, except Tony and Pepper were two of his best friends.
He didn't have near as much of a problem introducing Bucky to them.
Beth squeezed his hand. "Everything is going to be fine, honey."
"I know." He answered, glancing in the rearview. He could see Alex, sitting in his car seat with his toy action figures in his hands. The boy made them clash, making quiet fighting sounds. "I don't know why I'm nervous."
"Sometimes you have feelings you don't understand, and that's okay."
Briefly, his eyes flicked over to meet her beautiful blue ones. She wore the sundress he'd gotten her for her birthday, a pretty sunshine yellow that Natasha and Pepper assured him was a great pick, and paired it with a set of sunflower earrings that he'd gotten a week after first seeing her in that dress. He'd seen them in the store and knew they'd go perfectly with it. Her smile was soft and assuring, instantly making him feel a bit better.
Lord, how did he get so lucky?
Soon, he parked the car outside of the house. Tony had texted him earlier that most of the kids would be gone for various summer activities, besides Morgan who was very excited to meet Alex.
Steve took Beth's hand when they'd gotten out of the car, Alex walking on his other side with his toys in hand. The kid's eyes darted everywhere, taking the space in. "They have a lake?" He asked.
"Yep."
"Cool!"
They headed up the porch steps. Pepper opened the door before anyone could knock. "Hey, come on in!" She stepped aside for them to step through. "It's so great to finally meet you in person." As soon as she shut the door, she'd swept Beth into a tight hug as if she'd known her forever. "Steve has told us so much about you two. All good things, of course."
"Really?" Beth asked Steve, raising her eyebrow as Pepper knelt down to compliment Alex's toys at his eye level.
"Uh," he couldn't help that his cheeks were likely turning pink, "yes."
"There's the coffee queen!" Tony's voice called. He appeared at the top of the stairs, carrying Morgan in his left arm. He grinned down at them. "Seriously, best stuff I've ever had. Have you tried mixing it with hot chocolate yet?"
"I'll keep that idea in mind." Beth answered with a smile, thankfully not overwhelmed by the sheer presence that was Tony Stark. "Thank you for buying so much."
"You're thanking me?" He asked, making his way downstairs to them. "No, I need to thank you for making God's gift of coffee. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too. Is this your youngest?" Beth asked, directing it toward the little girl in his arms.
With a small bit of Tony's gentle prompting, Morgan spoke, always a little shy at first, "I'm Morgan H. Stark."
"I'm Beth, and this here is my son, Alex." She guestured to boy who was trying to hide behind her legs, eyes wide at the sight of Ironman. He gave a little wave.
"Nice to meet you too, kid." Tony set Morgan down. "Morg, how about you show Alex your room and you two can play while we do the boring adult talking?"
"Okay! C'mon, Alex!" Temporary shyness gone, Morgan grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him up the stairs, talking a mile a minute.
"Adorable," Pepper commented.
"Definitely." There was no other word for it.
"Let's move this party to the living room, shall we?" Tony suggested, already moving that way. They followed him, settling onto the couches while the kids played upstairs.
It didn't take long for Pepper and Beth to chat like old friends, with Tony's jokes making any possible awkward tension impossible, and Steve found himself feeling silly for worrying about them meeting in the first place.
When the two women had gone to the kitchen for Pepper to show some Mother's Day trinkets her kids had made for her, Tony elbowed Steve lightly in the side.
"What?" He asked, rubbing the spot even though it didn't hurt.
"You want my advice?"
"That depends on if it's good advice."
Tony rolled his eyes. "I always have good advice."
"No, you don't, but hit me with it anyway."
The genius's lip quirked into a smirk. He leaned over, voice dropping. "Steve, you should marry her."
Instantly, his heart sped up. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it - he definitely had - but it was way too early for the typical couple to discuss that. "Is this still about you getting an unlimited supply of coffee or..."
"That, but also, you should, and that's all I'll say."
"I find that last part hard to believe," he replied, getting Tony's offended face. He wasn't able to say anything further as Beth and Pepper returned, inadvertently changing the subject to something Peter and Harley were up to yesterday.
Still, the conversation stuck with him. As much as Tony joked around, he was clearly serious, unlike last time he suggested the same thing. The pure thought of marrying Beth made Steve's chest warm in a way he couldn't explain.
"Honey," Beth murmured as Pepper and Tony bickered back and forth over something about the lab, her hand settled on his shoulder, "are you alright?"
He put his hand over hers, already imagining a ring on it. "Perfect."