Steve smiled.  “Thank you, sweetheart.  I will take you up on that offer sometime,” he said.  “Though it will be hard to pull myself away from you, even if it is just to sit at the end of the bed.”

He smiled softly, head tilting as he gazed adoringly at her, and squeezing her hand affectionately.  “I love it too.  I could never imagine getting to be as happy as I am now.  This is where I’m meant to be.”

He finished up his coffee and set it down.  “How are you feeling, Peg?” he asked.  “Ready to move on, or do you need to rest a little longer?”

@agentpeggycarterrogers

“It’s cozy and you’re so warm to wake up in your arms,” she said. Peggy blushed. “You’re welcome to wake me up in those other ways too, sweetheart.” She smiled at him. “You may draw me, if you wish, although I’m certain that I’ll wake up if you move.” 

She reached across the table and took his hand. “I love you too,” she replied. “I love what we have. I love our life.” 

The life she’d envisioned for herself was so different from this - and the life she’d envisioned with Steve, too. She had always loved him, but they were always so busy with the war. How could she plan a home life when her career was the way it was? And then he’d been gone, and her fight continued, and still there wasn’t time to build a life. She never had a chance to wonder what a relationship with Steve would look like. Perhaps she’d imagined daring missions and exciting dates. Saving the day and going dancing. But not everything had to be exciting or daring. She found she rather liked this. 

But this - this calm domesticity with Steve was perfect. Sitting in a cafe in Paris, going dancing, going on her missions, taking Steve with her occasionally, cooking with Steve, going to the cinemas, cuddling, and lovemaking - a balance of it all. They could have their home life and their excitement, and it was all perfect. Now she wanted to share everything with him.

@steven-g-rogers

He smiled and nodded in agreement.  He couldn’t agree more.  As soon as she’d welcomed him back into her arms he’d known that this was forever.  He could make plans for them for the next sixty years.

“Oh yeah?” he asked.  “I like having you wake up in my arms.  Having you all sleepy and cozy like that.  Though, I have to say, the thought of waking you up in other ways is very exciting too.”  He winked at her and took a sip of his coffee.  “Aside from that way, I do also consider just getting up and drawing you sometimes.  You always look so peaceful.  I want to capture that.”

He hummed and nodded.  “I didn’t either,” he admitted.  “It’s amazing. Everything I never knew I could have.  I love it.  And I love you.  I couldn’t be happier.”

@agentpeggycarterrogers

She beamed at him and nodded. “I love that we have so many plans - even decades into the future. Because you’re right - this is a lifetime. I love that security, I love knowing that I’ll always have you.”

Peggy smiled again. “I think I say this about every part of the day - but that’s one of my favorite times of day. The morning when we’re awake and still just want to hold each other. It’s peaceful and sweet. I certainly don’t want you to let me go. I love everything we do too.”

She sighed happily and finished off her lunch and sipped her tea again. “A lifetime of this. Oh, darling, that’s never going to lose the unbelievable feeling. It still hits me sometimes that this isn’t some dream. I am used to having you here with me, but it’s still…wow. And we’re in Paris and on our honeymoon and I don’t have to wake up alone ever again. I didn’t know happiness was like this.”

@steven-g-rogers

Steve smiled brightly and nodded.  “I’ll take you to the first showing.  I’d love to see it again, and it’s going to be a while before it comes out.  I think I’ll be ready for a rewatch by then.”

“Well, not just that we aren’t into those things, I think any criminal type who might try and target us would be making the mistake of their lifetime,” he joked.  “I’m not at all worried about our safety there.  It’ll just be an interesting cultural experience.”

He laughed softly.   “I love lying with you in the morning,” he said.  “You feel so warm and comfortable.  Why would I want to leave that?”

He misled and lifted her hand,  kissing her fingers.  “I love it too.  I love everything we do together, but especially the ones like that.  They remind me that this is a lifetime, not just a moment.”

He finished up his lunch and sat back to sip the coffee as he gazed out over the plaza.

@agentpeggycarterrogers

She nodded as she listened. “Perhaps going to the real place tonight will make me want to see the film. Can we see it? Would you want to see it again?” 

Peggy was certain that Steve was right about the place - or at least that’s the way it was when the cabaret opened. “I’m sure things have changed quite a bit. I hope they have. I have heard that Montmartre isn’t the best area, but it’s so interesting, too. And how lucky are we that we don’t have to pay for sex and that we aren’t into drugs. My life is quite full with my job and being with and making love to my husband. I don’t need the rest of that. But I do want to experience everything with you - even a bawd, glitzy show. I’ve set you straight on things? How, love?” 

She smiled. “You’re lucky that you don’t need either. But I love that you stay in bed with me even if you don’t need more sleep. It’s sweet of you, and I love staying in your arms.”

She gave his hand a squeeze. “I do love cooking with you.” 

@steven-g-rogers

 “I’m not even totally sure what to expect,” he said as he went back to eating his food.  “There’s an amazing movie in the future based on it.  “It’s a musical and it’s a tragic love story.  I think it’s why I want to go.  But the show and the little history I looked up made it seem that it was - is - a … questionable place to go.  People go for danger.  So I didn’t imagine that the food would be amazing.  Just rich people paying for drinks like absinthe and drugs under the table watching the show which is bawdy and then looking to pay for sex.”  He was careful about the choice of words, pausing and stirring his soup as he tried to not just think of ways to give away too much of the future but also to not be too unseemly here or make Peggy worried again.

“But it is such an amazing and beautiful movie.  I wanted to see for myself.  I am glad you’ve set me straight on a few things, and that it isn’t as dangerous to go there as I had told myself.”

He chuckled. “We do love our coffee,” he said and picked up his cup.  “And it’s not even as good as the coffee here.”  He shook his head as he took a sip.  “No.  I just like it.  But then I also don’t need a lot of sleep.  So it evens out.”

He smiled and set his cup down, reaching over the table and taking her hand.  “Of course.   I would love to make them with you.”

@agentpeggycarterrogers

“I am looking forward to tonight,” Peggy replied. “The building is beautiful, and I hope it’s just as glamorous and spectacular inside. The performers are also glamorous, and those costumes, the music, the food.”

Peggy laughed. “And Americans and their coffee, too. Does caffeine work for you - and your serum? Does it affect you at all? I don’t think I’ve ever asked.”

She took another spoonful of her risotto. “Oh, darling, I wanted to make them together. I didn’t mean to ask you to make things for me. You already spoil me too much.”

@steven-g-rogers

Steve, of course, didn’t think it was scandalous at all.  He’d spent enough time in the future where nudity and sexuality were viewed much differently and was much more accepted.  In fact, by the time he left, anyone could go topless in New York Streets regardless of gender.  Not to mention that even back before the war or the serum or any of that, Steve had been taking life drawing lessons.  He was more interested in the Moulin Rouge for the spectacle and history of it.  Plus with his love of musicals, one movie he had really enjoyed in the future was based on the theater.

But the show is considered a little scandalous now. So Steve wouldn’t have held it against Peggy if it was a little too much.  It did however delight him that she not only wasn’t scandalized by the idea of going, but she seemed excited about it.

He chuckled.  “Oh yes,” he said.   “I suppose that’s why the French drink so much coffee too.”

He nodded in agreement and took a look at both dishes.  “I think I could probably do both of those.  I’ll have to find a cookbook with them both in it,” he said.  Though he was still a decade off Julia Child, he thought maybe there was something in English he could follow.

@agentpeggycarterrogers

“It’s a Parisian tradition! I mean, I suppose it’s a bit scandalous. I’m not sure that  I would’ve wanted to if we weren’t married yet. But I know that I’m the one you’re intimate with, so perhaps that helps a bit? Not that I’m going to be jealous of you looking at other women. We’re also seeing nudity in art all day today.” Peggy shrugged. Perhaps this would change in the moment, but she didn’t see anything that scandalous about going to a famous cabaret - even with topless dancers. The Moulin Rouge was part of Paris’s history. 

She smiled when Steve approved of her risotto. “It’s delicious, isn’t it? I can’t take a nap - that’s what this tea is for!” 

She nodded. The food was very good. “Perhaps we should try to make our own French onion soup and our own risotto?” 

@steven-g-rogers

Steve smiled and nodded. “Well my Peggy is willing to go to the  Moulin Rouge with me.  If you’re willing to be as scandalous as that there must be a Peggy out there giving Howard a run for his money.”

He tasted Peggy’s risotto and hummed. “Mm, that's really rich and creamy too.  The French love cream it seems. You might need a nap after eating yours anyway,” he joked.

He moved her plate back to her and went to try his soup, wanting the broth to just cut through the richness of everything else.  It was very good too.  Perhaps not the best French Onion soup he had ever had, but for a museum it was very, very good.  “It’s amazing this place is in a museum.  The food is so good.  Normally museum food is like soldier’s rations,” he joked.

@agentpeggycarterrogers

She thought of a universe with other Steves and Peggys finding each other over and over. She thought it was incredibly romantic that no matter where they were, they would love each other. That sounded a lot like fate to her. 

Peggy nodded and squeezed his hand, and then lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles. “That is the most important, of course. But perhaps playboy Steve has caught the eye of that universe’s Peggy and perhaps she’s a bit of a player herself, but loves Steve anyway.” She smiled. “I think I would love any version of you, but I’m glad I get to be with this one. There is nowhere else I’d rather be than with you.” She’d go anywhere in the universe, in time and space, and there would be nowhere else she’d rather be, as long as they could be together. As long as they could be like this. 

“I’d love to try it. But we don’t have time for naps, darling. We have so much art to see. Would you like to try mine? It’s wonderful.” 

She pushed her plate to him, and then reached for a tiny piece of the sandwich - ham and cheese and all. “Oh, mmm, that’s lovely.”

@steven-g-rogers

He chuckled. “It’s a nice thought.  I can’t say that I know for sure that’s true.  I think knowing what I know, there must be infinite possibilities.  But I like the idea that we find each other over and over.” 

He reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.  “But most importantly;  this Steve has found this Peggy.  If there’s some other Steve out there that’d rather be a playboy or found someone else, they can have it.  There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”

He goes back to his food, taking another bite of the sandwich.  “Mmm it’s so rich.  I’m glad I process things really fast or I’d need a nap after this,” he joked.  “Would you like to try any of mine?  The cheese in this sandwich is so good.”

@agentpeggycarterrogers

Peggy nodded. “All of those things in your childhood made you who you are. I’m still sorry about all your health problems and that you lost your parents, that everything was harder for you because of your size. But I also know that any of those conditions, any choice you made could change the course of the future. You could’ve made it into the army, we could’ve still met, but you also may not have turned out the same. Perhaps if you hadn’t been small and bullied, you would’ve been overconfident like Hodge - the other candidate for the serum, the one Phillips was pushing for. Perhaps your heart wouldn’t have been as kind. Perhaps you still would’ve been as good, but you would’ve been accepted the first time you tried to enlist, and you wouldn’t have ended up at Camp Lehigh at the same time as me. And then you wouldn’t be you.” 

She thought for a moment, and then continued. “I don’t know if I believe in fate, either. Or perhaps I do. I want to believe that in any version of your life, we would’ve found each other. I know that I still would’ve loved you even without the serum. If they hadn’t picked you, I still would have.”

Life could’ve been different for her too - if she’d married Fred, if Michael hadn’t died, if she hadn’t made that choice to become a spy, if she’d stayed at home to become a wife and mother like what was expected of her, if she’d married Daniel immediately. 

“I think you’ve done good in your life, and you’ve made the right choices to lead you to his moment. And now we have all this.”

She took a forkful of her risotto, and tasted the rice, mushrooms, and the butternut squash. “My goodness, this is decadent.”

@steven-g-rogers

Steve clicked his tongue, half scolding her for her cheek.  “Wouldn’t we both, sweetheart,” he teased.  But for now he had other plans.

He watched as her finger moved over her clit, watching how she touched herself, how she gave herself pleasure and committing it to memory.  “Okay, honey,” he said. “I want you, to take those sticky fingers of yours and lick them clean.  Then I want you on your knees on the ground.”

His praise made her smile, as did the evidence of his arousal.

When he asked her if she liked what was happening, she laughed a little.

"I'd like it better if I was you touching me, but yes, it feels good." Peggy said, smirking a little as he watched her.

Just because she was taking orders didn't mean she could tease him a little.

"I rather have you between my legs any day, Darling."

She was so gorgeous.  The flush of her skin.  The way her hand slid down to her cunt, putting on a show for him.  It was hard to just sit here watching and yet he was enjoying it immensely. 

His cock hardened fully in his pants.  He unfastened them, relieving the uncomfortable pressure that the fabric was putting on him and his cock popped up hard in front of him.

“That’s perfect, Peggy,” he praised.  “That’s my girl.  Just like that.  How does it feel?  Do you like that, sweetheart?”

Peggy felt her cheeks heat, she'd expected Steve to come over and touch her, not for him to sit back and watch her. It wasn't that Peggy objected to Steve's order, but the way he was watching her made Peggy feel exposed and at the same time giddy.

Peggy had said she'd follow orders after all.

"Alright..." Peggy leaned back on one hand trailed the other down her body until her hand was between her legs.

Closing her eyes, Peggy touched herself, teasing her clit, in her mind she was imagining her hand was Steve instead.

Biting her lip, Peggy opened her eyes and looked over at Steve, hoping he approved.

Steve chuckled.  “I don’t really believe in fate, but I definitely think I needed to go through that to get here.  My illness, the things my mother taught me, the way people treated me, it’s all part of what made me me.  If I started out a strong kid that my dad was even a little interested in, if I was able to go out more, and wasn’t rejected by so many of my peers, well, I might not have learned what it was like to be bullied.  I might have learned what throwing around my strength could get me.  Even if I wasn’t shaped by my father, I wouldn’t have been rejected from the army and I’d just have been another soldier.  I’m not saying that would have been a worse life.   Who knows, maybe that soldier would have still met a certain Agent and they might have gone home from the war and gotten married and have had a life lots of soldiers returned to.  But also, probably not. And even still, I think I’ve done good, and I wouldn’t be here appreciating the things I’d have now.  I wouldn’t be me.”

Steve closed his eyes and tried to picture the area.  He hadn’t taken note of a market, because he didn’t think they needed one so it wasn’t information he’d readily taken in.  But as he pictured the street.  “Yeah.  You’re right.  They might.  We can take a look.”

He picked up his knife and fork and began to cut up his sandwich.  “It smells wonderful,” he said and took a bite.  He hummed.  This was probably the best museum food he’d ever had.

@agentpeggycarterrogers

Peggy nodded. “I’m glad the serum helped with that too. You deserve to be adventurous with food as well. That all sounds awful. I’m sorry you had to live like that for so long. And with everything else on your medical record. I remember it clearly - and then suddenly, you were the pinnacle of health. That was part of why I pushed for you to get the serum. I knew it was going to make a real difference with you.” Peggy laughed. “We’re making up for lost time in  a lot of ways, love.” 

She nodded. “I know I appreciate it more too.”

She thought for a moment and took another sip of tea. “Isn’t there a market on the corner near our hotel? Perhaps they have tea and we can just get some and pack it. It can be one of our souvenirs. Although I’m still hoping to find a dress.” 

The food came and it looked delicious - and smelled even more so. “I didn't realize how hungry I actually am, until now.”

@steven-g-rogers

He nodded.  “Oh yeah, it’s all the serum.  I’ve told you about my stomach issues and the issues I’ve had with food.  Anything that could cause inflammation would set me off with stomach cramps or worse.  But now I can eat as much cheese as I want.  And you watch me,”  he joked.  “I’m making up for lost time.”

Steve chuckled and nodded.  “You’re right.  We can’t just let things happen naturally.  But I think that means we appreciate it more.  I know I do.”

He chuckled as she enjoyed her tea.  “I wouldn’t have you any other way,” he said, smiling at her affectionately.  He nodded in agreement about the cruise ship.  “I hope so.  I know they do drink tea a little more in Russia, so maybe as we get closer to Eastern Europe they might have more available.  If not we could try and pick some up in a store somewhere.  I wonder if they are big tea drinkers in Amsterdam.”

As they mused on the tea, their food was brought out to them.

@agentpeggycarterrogers

“I’m glad your diet allows you to eat more varieties of food now. That’s thanks to the serum, isn’t it? It certainly makes this trip more exciting - to be able to try all the food.” 

Peggy nodded. She knew exactly what he meant. “You and I both can never learn things the easy way. I think we can help each other with that; it’s one of the many many reasons we’re good together.”

She took another long sip of her tea, and hummed, letting the warmth flow through her. It wasn’t quite the same as her favorite, but it was still so comforting to have a hot cup of tea in her hands again. She let out a happy sigh. “I know, I know, you can take the girl out of England, but you can’t take the English out of the girl. I can’t help it; tea comforts me.” She took another sip. The same warmth flooded her. 

“We should have,” she agreed. “I’m glad the restaurants have tea at least - even if our hotel room service doesn’t. I’ll manage, I suppose. I do hope they have tea on the cruise ship.”

@steven-g-rogers

Steve shifted in his seat, trying to hide how turned on he was by his wife right now.  His cock was twitching in his pants as he watched her.  She looked so good already.  It was hard to not just go over to her and take her right there and then.

His eyes drifted up and down her body and he swallowed thickly. “Yeah, just like that,” he said, a deep gravel in his voice.  “Now touch yourself, Peggy.  Show me how you like to be touched.”

Peggy smiled and did as he instructed, the way Steve was looking at her and the order he gave her made butterflies explode in her stomach as she walked to sit on the edge of the bed, leaning back on her hands so she could spread her legs for him.

Whatever Steve had planned for her she was going to enjoy it, but the anticipation was killing her.

"Like this, Darling?"

Steve chuckled. “It is amazing.  But definitely not a food I could eat as a kid.  I think the first cheese I ever had was that ration cheese they gave out in tins in the army.  It was not my favorite.  But this French cheese is amazing.”

Steve nodded. “It’s quite likely.   It happened how it needed to.  You know me, Peg.  I always put everything else before myself.  I think I needed to give up everything and to see other people do the same and feel what that was like to teach me the lesson that I can take something for myself.”  He huffed and shook his head.  “I can’t learn things the easy way.”

He laughed at Peggy’s reaction to her tea.  “My poor darling.  We should have brought tea with us so you could have it in the morning or when we get back to the hotel at the end of the day.”

@agentpeggycarterrogers

Peggy laughed. “I can’t imagine not having cheese. It’s one of the greatest foods ever created.” She nodded. “I think you’re making up for lost time in a lot of ways.” She winked at him; she no longer was referring to the food. 

She squeezed his hand. “Of course I loved you even then. You’re you, and loving you is part of me. I imagine I was trying to tell you not to lose hope, and that you can still be happy, that you’ll find me again - but I couldn’t say so many words.” Peggy smiled. “And now we see that you haven’t missed all of it at all. Because now we have all this. And a world of possibilities for our future. ”

She immediately added the milk and sugar and took a sip of the tea. “Oh thank goodness,” she sighed. “I can’t believe it either. I needed this.”

@steven-g-rogers

Steve hummed as he watched Peggy coyly remove the robe.  He almost wanted her to stay there with it dipped down at her waist as she gazed at him over her shoulder so he could draw it.  It was such a sexy pose he could already see how it would look on paper.  “Good girl,” he praised.

Steve’s tongue flicked over the corner of his mouth as he considered what he wanted her to do next.  “Take a seat on the edge of the bed, facing me, legs spread,” he ordered.

The way he kissed her made her dizzy, almost as if she was drunk on him, so when he pulled away she chased his lips a little. Watching him roll his sleeves up, something that made her a little weak in the knees, Peggy smiled when he told her to strip for him.

"Yes, Sir." There wasn't much to strip, just her robe but Peggy took her time, fussing with the sash and slowly taking it off, looking at her husband over her shoulder like some kind of pin up.

Letting the robe fall away, Peggy smiled.

"How do you want me, Darling?"

Steve chuckled.  She was right, there was more bread and cheese in the soup.   He was glad he was a supersoldier right now.  “Gosh,” he said with a laugh.  “Before the serum, all the cheese I’m about to eat might have killed me.  You see, I have to make up for lost time.”

He nodded.  “I sat through it a few times.  But Peg, even before the serum I had a photographic memory.  What you said affected me, and it stuck with me.  But I didn’t just have the video.  I had you too.  Not like this, but you were there and you clearly loved me.  It felt different.  Not for me, but the vibe I got was more that you were sad for me because I missed all that.  I guess you were sad for me because you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t without hope.  Though you did try just in a more general way.”

He smiled and ran his thumb down the back of her hand.  “It means the world to me too.”

The waiter came out with their tea and coffee, setting them on the table.  “I can’t believe they had tea,” Steve said.  “We’ve barely seen it since being here.”

@agentpeggycarterrogers

“And isn’t there cheese in the onion soup? It all sounds delicious. The French do like their cheese, don’t they?” Peggy chuckled. “Yes, we’ll need a balanced dinner. I’m interested in seeing what the Moulin Rouge has for dinner.” 

She thought about the answer, and she kind of wished she’d come up with something else. “I suppose that’s…sort of true. You did manage to keep my husband alive and send him home to me.” She smiled at him. “You remember the answers? You must’ve watched this interview quite a bit.” He must have missed seeing her face and hearing her voice, and it made her heart ache for him. 

“Oh, darling…” she said softly. “I’m sorry that all you really had of me was that video.” She remembered that he told her he visited her when she was old, and that she was going to have to act like she hadn’t seen Steve in years, even with her own Steve at home. He still had her then, but how much could her older self really be there for him, in her nineties, when he was young and youthful. Perhaps it was just her presence that comforted him, and she could definitely understand that. 

“I know you understand,” Peggy replied. “We have each other, yes, always. That means the world to me, love. That we have each other forever.”

@steven-g-rogers

He nodded.  “That works.  I like that.  Just a simple start to see if we like it.”  He tugged her close to him and leaned in, hovering his lips over hers.  “I love you,” he said and kissed her deeply.

When he pulled back, he pulled away completely and began to roll up his sleeves.  “Undress,” he said.  “Slowly.  Put on a show for me,” he said and moved to take a seat on the sofa chair in the corner of their room. 

Peggy thought about it for a moment before smiling and stealing a kiss.

"I think for tonight, we should explore you giving me orders and me following those orders without question. We can explore punishment another time if you want." If Steve didn't want to do any of it all he had to do was say so, but for now they would take it slow and test the waters.

"Does that work for you, Darling?"

“Cheese and ham,” he joked.   “That’s two proteins right there. Not much else really besides the carbs.  I might need a more balanced dinner, huh?.”

His fingers flexed against hers and he shrugged a little.  “Yeah.  It was very strange. What they got right and wrong.  Seeing things I’d used.  Some of my art and the books I’d taken with me.  I didn’t have any family so there was no one for that to go to, so I guess the government just gathered it all up.  It was particularly strange when I asked for some of it back.  They seemed pretty reluctant.  They tried to convince me it was the property of everyone now.”

He shrugged again.  That period had been very lonely, confusing, and isolating for him.  Even with Natasha trying to mother-hen him he just felt misunderstood and out of place.  “I can remember most of the answers. I can write them down for you.” He chuckled and shook his head.  “You told them I saved your husband in the war.  I suppose that’s not untrue, is it?” he joked.

“I do understand though, honey.  I mean, I had you and I still sought out that feeling of connection I felt I lost.  You didn’t have me.”

He lifted her hand and kissed her palm.  “We have each other now.  Always.”

@agentpeggycarterrogers

“It does feel like that,” she agreed. Peggy read his selections on the menu and smiled. “Lots of cheese, darling. Not just protein.” She smiled back at him and gave his hand a squeeze. 

He brought up the Museum of Modern Art and she nodded. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand. She smiled. “Was that odd for you - to see your things in a museum?” she asked. And then a thought occurred to her. “I haven’t been interviewed about you. I wonder if that’s yet to come. I’ll have to plan some answers for them.” 

Peggy wondered how she’d feel to be asked about Steve, about working with Steve during the war, about losing him, and also knowing that he was waiting for her at home. That was a secret she could never reveal during this interview. 

“It just felt like a place you’d like to go - that and the Met. Central Park. I never made it to Coney Island - it seemed strange to go alone. Mr. Jarvis certainly isn’t the amusement park type. Perhaps you and I can go when we go to New York.” 

She laughed at herself. “We’re sitting in Paris and planning more trips. A trip to Italy, the opera, and the Uffizi. A trip to New York to visit Coney Island and to see a play on Broadway…It’s nice to enjoy this trip in the present, too.”

@steven-g-rogers