Brooklyn - Steve Rogers X OC Spinoff

26 - Maddison

Maddison let out a frustrated groan, slamming her head down onto her kitchen table a little too roughly. Between studying for quarterly exams, a full time job, Avery's first birthday and trying to find as much time for Steve as she could, she was overwhelmed. Her life had gotten so hectic.

Avery was set to turn one in a few weeks. Before Steve, it would've just been Jackson, Scott, and Maddison's mother coming to a small get together. She wouldn't have even needed to decorate or worry about cooking or catering. It just wouldn't have been a big deal. But now, it was. Emilia had called, insisting she throw Avery a party at her house. Insisting she invite anyone and everyone she could think of. It was sweet that Emilia wanted to go through all that effort, she'd even told Maddison to simply tell her a number of guests and she'd handle the rest. But she couldn't seem to let herself do that, it felt wrong to push her responsibility off on her friend and boss. But Emilia was persistent, she wanted to do this. She wanted to make Avery's first birthday special. Plus, it felt rude to refuse, and Emilia really did have a nicer house. Shoot, she had a nicer everything.

Maddison felt Steve's large hand on her back, the other sliding under her forehead as a cushion in case she decided to smack her head against the table again. "Talk to me, Mads. What's going on?" He asked calmly. She both loved and hated when he was so calm and reasonable when she was overreacting about things.

Maddison sighed heavily, picking her head up and staring at Steve. "I'm frustrated, I'm tired and I need more hours in the day." She whined. "And I've been on hold for over 2 hours with the electric company." She added in. Her bill was wrong this month, or at least she prayed it was. Her weekends were spent at Steve's place, so her bill should have went down over the last couple of months. And it had, significantly. But this month it had more than tripled, to a number so outrageous she couldn't afford it. So, her choices were to call and figure out why or let them shut the power off, which is so embarrassing. It also wasn't safe with a baby in the house, she could freeze, the food would rot, and the lack of TV would have Avery screaming.

Steve started to lightly rub Maddison's back, his hand moved from her forehead to the side of her face, cupping her cheek. "Go lay down, I'll wait on hold. What are we upset about if they answer?" He asked in a calm voice. How was he always so calm? Maybe that was normal and she was just on edge all the time, she wasn't sure.

Maddison sighed, standing up and straddling Steve in the chair he sat in. She hugged onto his shoulders, laying her head on his shoulder. "The bill is wrong. It has to be." She mumbled into his neck.

Steve moved on to rubbing her back with both hands, occasionally squeezing and kneading her muscles as he went. "Okay. Why is it wrong?" He asked quietly.

"It's usually like $175, this month somehow it's $621!" Maddison whined, feeling like she was on the verge of tears. She couldn't afford a $600 electric bill. She barely afforded the $175 when it was that high. She was thankful that Steve's SUV saved her the subway fare everyday, especially since Steve seemed to continue to secretly show up and keep the tank full at all times. But the bills just kept drowning her, food was getting more expensive and Avery was transitioning to more real food and less formula, so that cost more. Plus, her college raised tuition yet again, it felt criminal to keep raising the prices. She'd had to buy some new scrubs for work last month, 3 separate pairs had worn out from being so old, and new work shoes which cost her a pretty penny. She constantly felt like she was right on the verge of financial disaster. It didn't help that she no longer qualified for WIC and that she never qualified for SNAP or financial aid for school.

Steve kissed Maddison's temple lightly. She felt him move his hands down to grip her ass and stand up with her in his arms. That made her let out a squeak of surprise and clutch onto him for dear life, terrified of being dropped. She felt him carrying her, looking to see he was taking her to her bedroom. She wanted to protest, but when he laid her down on her bed, all she wanted to do was sleep. Steve covered her up, tucking her in with her fleece blanket and stole a kiss from her lips. "Take a nap. I'll deal with the power company and if Avery wakes up while you're still asleep, I'll handle it. Just rest." He encouraged.

Maddison took Steve's hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You did this last weekend, too. You kept Avery all Sunday so I could study, I can handle it." She promised. Even as her eyelids felt heavier, she was more stubborn than tired.

Steve sat on the edge of the bed, his knuckles gently tracing across Maddison's cheek. "I know you can. But I like spending time with Avery and I like knowing you're resting, it's a win-win for me." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Humor me, take a nap. And when you wake up, you can check on us if you'd like, or you can stay in here and study. Okay?" He offered.

Maddison loved how Steve took over, making her life easier just by being there. It made her wish she'd met him sooner, it made her remember how hard things were when Avery was first born. Being so tired that Jackson and Scott had to take shifts staying the night because she didn't trust herself to be awake to breastfeed, she didn't trust herself to be awake all hours of the day and night while Avery had colic either. Steve would've been a godsend to her in those months.

"Okay.." Maddison finally said, giving up even more control to Steve. He seemed to love being the one in charge, which worked for her because she hated it.

The smile Steve gave made it all worth it, he leaned down and kissed Maddison again. "Good. Rest, shout if you need anything since I'll have your phone." He said before stealing another kiss and darting out of the room before she could change her mind.

Maddison woke up hours later, disoriented and groggy when she realized the sun had set. How long was she out? But she saw the light on in the livingroom, so Steve was still there. She pulled her thick, dark red hair into a pile on top of her head, securing it with a claw clip before making her way out into the livingroom. She saw Steve laying on the couch, the entire house was spotless and Avery was sound asleep sprawled out across his chest.

"Hey, angel. Good nap?" Steve asked in a whisper.

Maddison rounded the couch, sitting on the floor in front of him. She leaned in and gave him a kiss. "I love you." She said. She'd known it for a while now, but seeing him sleeping with her daughter in the house he cleaned spotless while she slept? That sealed it. He took care of her, well...both of them. His girls. He really did do anything and everything he could to make their lives better, and he was always so understanding and sweet throughout her mood swings.

Steve smiled at her, taking one hand off of Avery to grip onto the back of Maddison's neck, pulling her in for another kiss. "I love you." He said back after they'd separated. He stole a few more quick kisses before pulling back, gently massaging her neck as he held onto her. "Did you sleep okay?" He asked again.

Maddison smiled and nodded, laying a hand on Avery's back, the other held onto Steve's forearm. "I did. I can't believe you let me sleep so long." She mentioned.

"You needed it." Steve said with another shrug. "Dinner is in the fridge, if you go warm it up, I'll lay Avery down and we can spend some time together." He offered.

Maddison nodded and smiled, climbing up off the floor and heading into the kitchen while Steve carefully carried Avery into her room to get her changed and in bed. On top of scrubbing her house clean, he'd made dinner. Several by the looks of it, all in labeled Tupperwares with the days of the week. A plate wrapped in saran wrap was also in there, for tonight she assumed. As she warmed up her dinner, she wondered how she got so lucky. She owed Emilia a lifetime of thank yous, they never would've met if it wasn't for her.