Though wounds healed overtime, they never truly disappeared.

Past actions would come back to haunt me at times, I could admit. No matter how far back they were, they'd surface to the forefront of my mind. Perhaps I wanted to torture myself, though I couldn't imagine why.

But to battle the bad, there was the good.

Due to the family growing, we had to say goodbye to our old home and venture out for something a little roomier. We didn't settle for a farm like the Barton's, though Clint did try to sell us a compelling argument. Instead we settled for a large neighborhood with many welcoming people. A lot were younger families, with little children.

I sat out on our swing on our front porch, watching the children play across the street. This was an ever watchful neighborhood, someone always had eyes on the children outside. The parent network was still something I couldn't get over.

Steve walked out from the house, joining me on the swing. I kept the gentle pace going. Our youngest daughter was at the playground within the vicinity. Currently, the obstacles were discarded for an old-fashioned game of Tag. A little girl in blonde pigtails bounded after the others in hopes of not becoming "it".

"Neighborhood watch again?" Steve teased.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one. It's been a while since I've put eyes on them."

"You know you don't have to do that. We're not in that business anymore."

"Sure, we're not superheroes, but I'm still a mother. I need to make sure my children are safe. Speaking of, isn't Grace's soccer practice almost finished? And aren't you supposed to go get her?"

"No, she's getting a ride from one of her friends on the team. She told me so."

I shook my head. "I worry about them, Steve."

"About their powers?"

"Yes. Or their lack of. What if they never manifest?"

"Then perhaps we consider that a win. I'm not saying having powers is bad, I mean, look who I'm talking to." He snorted. "I'm just saying I want our girls to have the most normal life they can get."

"Sure, when their parents led far from normal lives." I leaned back further into the swing's cushions. "Well, in any case, we may have a few more years before we talk to them about it."

"If it coincides with puberty, that's all you, Kiara."

"Oh, so I'm flying solo on that mission?"

"Hey, discussing changes when our girls are becoming women...yeah, that's not my area."

"Very well."

The blonde pigtails stopped, resting in the grass. She seemed to have lost interest in the game, now picking at strands of greenery around her. She was to start kindergarten in the fall, Gracie was about to be in middle school.

"Are you ready for it?" asked Steve.

"Ready for what?"

"When Natalie's first day of school comes."

"It shouldn't be as bad as when we shipped Gracie off on her first day."

"I don't know, just because we did it once doesn't mean it won't hurt the second time. Means she's growing up. She and Gracie both are."

That was another thing I worried about. Between Steve's super-serum aging and my Asgardian blood...how would it take to our girls? "Well, this time we're not meddling with time. Right?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"We agreed to retire out of the superhero business. I don't want to dip a toe back in just for the sake of preserving how young our girls are now. They'll grow up one way or another. I don't...as much as I don't want them to grow up, it's going to happen. And we'll be there for them. For every milestone. Every birthday. Every heartbreak or happy day."

"We will."

When Natalie became bored with the children, the playground, and even the grass under her, she came running back to the front porch. She leapt onto the swing with us, with Steve catching her. Between our heritage and the two people she was named after...she'd be one to look out for.

Right now, the world didn't know Gracelynn and Natalie Rogers. And they didn't need to. And honestly, I hoped they never had to. Not for the reasons their father and I were known for. I wanted nothing more than our girls to go through life on their own paths, their own ways, without Captain America and Cynder's histories hanging over their heads.