Steve tightened his tie and shrugged on the jacket of his navy blue suit. It was strange how there were moments that just made you feel old. He had had them a lot, even back when he first woke up after being frozen, and while he was technically just shy of a hundred years old, he still felt like the 27 years he was when he froze in the first place. When he came across a piece of technology and he had no idea what it was for. When people started referencing movies and books that had come out while he was frozen. When they used some slang he didn't understand. Or when Tony and Bruce started talking jargon.
Nothing made him feel as old as his kids growing up. He first felt it when they stopped asking to be carried when they'd been walking too long. Then again when they started school. Starting high school was a big one. As was when they turned thirteen. Graduating high school made him question the very nature of time that it could be going by so fast.
Now here was another one. Today Anthony was graduating from College.
He'd always had a natural aptitude for math and loved technology in that same wide-eyed wonder Bucky always had when he was young. What Anthony had that Bucky never did, was a family with money and an Uncle that helped push and grow his natural abilities. Even though they had lost Tony two years ago, Anthony kept pushing himself wanting to make him proud or live up to his name. So despite the fact he was also taking on Avengers duties, he managed to get his undergraduate degree a year earlier than most people and with a list of offers to do a Ph.D. from the top colleges around the country.
You came up behind Steve and kissed his neck. There were days where when you saw yourself in the mirror beside either of your husbands and you felt like you were the old lady with two toy boys. Today was not one of those days. You had dressed up for the occasion and you felt good. You were a proud mama hen about to see her son graduate.
"You ready?" you asked, straightening Steve's tie.
"As I'll ever be," he answered.
The two of you made your way out to the living room. Bucky was relaxed back in the recliner wearing a pair of black suit pants and a white dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar. The girls were already home for the summer, and Rebecca sat curled up in the other recliner with Alex, cuddling, and marathoning their way through the shows they'd promised not to watch until they were together again. Sarah was setting up an elaborate diorama made of chocolates she'd printed with a 3D printer. America and Kate had shown up to help her, though how much help Kate Bishop was being, was debatable. In the last year or so, those three had become very close. It was a little strange given Sarah was the only one of your kids who hadn't joined the Young Avengers. You'd learned to stop questioning these things too much. Life rarely made any sense.
"You both ready?" Bucky asked, looking up at you.
"Yes, and we better get a move on. Even with the Quin, it's going to take an hour to get there," Steve said.
Bucky rolled his eyes and got up. "I've been ready for twenty minutes."
Steve turned on the teens in the room. "Alright, girls. Don't forget people are coming around and we're relying on you to make sure everything is ready," he said.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Yes, dad. We remember."
"Don't worry, dad," Sarah added, coming over and kissing him on the cheek. I've made a timetable and America and Kate said they'd help," she said.
"Yeah, Cap, we got it under control. Parties we can handle," Kate added. "We're kinda proud of him too. But don't tell him that."
"Thank you, Kate," Steve said with a bemused smile.
Sarah came and kissed you and Bucky goodbye too, and the three of you headed up to the Quin.
It took half an hour to fly into Boston, and another half an hour to get to MIT. The three of you followed the crowd of other parents and friends to the Roman-style building where the commencement ceremony was going to be held. There were straggling students dressed in black robes with yellow sashes. You were directed to your seats, the ushers doing a double take when they realized whose ticket they'd just checked.
Finally, when everyone had been seated the ceremony started and the graduates all filed in, a collection of grey and red robes of Ph.D. graduates sitting in front of the sea of black. You spotted Anthony quickly, towering over most of the kids around him, and broader in the chest than any that may have been his height or taller.
The ceremony was long and quite frankly, pretty boring. Still, there was nothing quite like that feeling of pride when you heard the Chancellor call out Anthony Samuel Barnes-Rogers. Your heart swelled with pride, and you clapped harder than you had ever clapped for anything.
After the end had been closed and mortar boards had been tossed in the air, you went outside and waited for Anthony, each of you getting glasses of champagne, and snatching canapes as they passed you. A sea of figures in black robes came pouring down the stairs and you spotted Anthony right away. He grinned when he spotted you and came right over. As soon as he was in reach you wrapped your arms around him squeezing him as hard as you could. "I am so proud of you," you said.
"God, mom. Calm down," Anthony said, though his arms closed around you and he kissed you on top of the head.
"No, I will not," you said. "Take our photo," you added, looking at Steve.
Bucky was chewing the inside of his cheek trying not to laugh. "Gonna have to suck it up I'm afraid, Tony," he said. "This is what moms are like."
"Ugh, like I hadn't worked that out yet," Anthony teased. He put his arm around your shoulder and rested his head on the top of yours as Steve took a photo. "You want to go get one of the professional photos done, mom? So you can have dads in it too?"
You felt yourself tear up and you nodded, wiping underneath your eyelashes with your fingertips and trying to blink the tears back.
"Mom," Anthony whined. "No. What did I do?"
"Nothing. I'm just really proud of you," you said.
He shook his head and put his arm around your shoulders. "Come on then."
After the photos and mingling for a while, speaking to the Dean and other Professors, as well as some of Anthony's friends, the four of you traveled back to New York. When Anthony opened the door a huge cheer erupted inside. The crowd gathered inside consisted of family, old school friends, ex-Avengers, and current Avengers. The room was crowded and loud and while you had been away, Rebecca, Sarah, and the others (though you assumed it was more Sarah, America, and Kate) had put up balloons and streamers. The chocolate diorama that Sarah had been working on was spread over four tables weaving in and out of chips and dips and cupcakes and bows of fruit punch. There were three different chocolate fountains set up. One in milk chocolate, one in dark, and the third seemed to have nacho cheese. Something that was so Clint Barton to do, that it could only have been Kate's idea.
"Oh man, you guys. You didn't have to do this," Anthony said, running his hand up the back of his head.
"You kidding me?" Edwin argued, coming over and patting Anthony on the shoulder. "You saw the party my dad did for me when I graduated. It's what we do in this family."
The use of the term family by Edwin Stark made your heart hurt a little and you felt tears prick your eyes. You waved your hands in front of them like that would blow them back into your eyes.
"Oh no. Mom's started again," Anthony teased.
Steve took your hand. "Don't worry. You have fun. I'll take care of your mom," he said, pulling you away from the kids. The two of you headed to the chocolate fountain. Steve looked at the cheese one on the way and started laughing. "It's funny how kids can pick up the most random things from people they look up to, isn't it?"
"You think it was Kate too?" you asked.
He laughed. "It was so obviously Kate. A cheese fountain is as Hawkeye as not missing a shot."
"Look at these things Sarah made," you said, picking up one of the fine geometric shapes she had made from milk chocolate. "It's like she used Bucky's love of tech and your artistic skills to find her own way of doing what I do."
"My artistic skill? Like you don't have any yourself," Steve said. He looked over at the kids who were now socializing in a large group. Sam was talking to Anthony animatedly.
Steve picked up a strawberry and dipped it in the milk chocolate before offering it to you. You took a bite, closing your eyes and savoring the tartness of the strawberry, mixing with the bittersweet chocolate. "Remember that party Tony held and I fed you strawberries?" he asked, wiping his thumb over your bottom lip. Your tongue darted out and licked it as it brushed the strawberry juice away. "Before we were seeing each other."
You chuckled and leaned in against him. "Mmm... Sam was hitting on me."
"And I got a little bit jealous," Steve added.
"And I slapped you in the face," you said, and you both started laughing.
"Come a long way since then," Steve said, pressing his lips to the top of your head. "Look at what we've done."
You sighed and rubbed his stomach. "I think we've done pretty well."
Bucky approached you both and poked you in the side. "Still being a couple of saps, I see."
"Just reminiscing. Our first kiss," Steve said with a chuckle.
"Oh yeah, that was a violent one for you two," Bucky teased. He leaned into your ear. "Maybe later we can reminisce a different first."
You bit your bottom lip to stop yourself from laughing. "If you wanted chocolate-coated bacon, you just have to ask."
"Why you little..." Bucky said, wrapping his arm around your waist and pulling you into a deep kiss.
Steve laughed, softly at first and then much louder when he saw the face that Rebecca pulled when she looked over at the three of you. It was nice to know that even if he was feeling his age, he didn't always have to act it.