chapter sixty-nine
visiting a friend

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐀𝐓 the ceiling with resting her hands on her growing stomach, biting the inside of her cheek. She glanced at Steve beside her, who was fast asleep, his soft snores filling the quiet bedroom. She turned to look at the alarm clock, and a small frown graced her features—2:14 am.

She let out a small breath and readjusted the covers, shifting her gaze to stare at the wall in boredom.

Whoever said to count sheep was a liar.

I give up.

Without making a sound, Grace slipped out of the warmth of their bed and quietly crept towards the living room. She paused at the mirror in the hallway and tilted her head, turning to the side and resting her hands under her growing bump.

Seven months. Baby Rogers had been growing for approximately seven months, two weeks, and six days, and Grace had been losing sleep for approximately seven months, two weeks, and six days.

The dark bags under her eyes were evidence of that.

Her face looked puffier than normal, and she was certain that her ankles were swollen. Oh, the joys of pregnancy.

That also meant she was able to wear sweatpants all day, every day.

That was a perk.

"Hmm..."

Grace turned away from her puffy reflection and continued into the living room, turning on the nearest lamp. She glanced around the room and let out a contented sigh. After what felt like months of unpacking, the house now felt like a home. Photos lined the wall, including one particular newspaper clipping that had finally been taken out of her wooden box.

She smiled lightly at her and Steve's past selves during the war.

They truly did not know what was in store for them...

She made her way into the kitchen, in desperate need of a late-night snack, and opened the fridge. Her face immediately fell when she looked inside. "My pickles," she said with a small pout, pulling out the empty pickle jar and staring down at it sadly. "Where are all my pickles?"

"You know, you're supposed to be asleep." She tore her gaze from the empty pickle jar at Steve, who was scratching the back of his neck while squinting at the bright light from the lamp. "You're not asleep."

"How am I supposed to sleep when my pickles are gone?" she countered, and he raised his eyebrows at her. "My pickles are gone!"

Steve stared back at her. "Well, there's a bunch of other weird food in the fridge," he said, gesturing to the appliance, and she crossed her arms. "Like sauerkraut and—"

"They're not pickles, Steve!" she exclaimed and he sucked in a breath. "I'm hungry, the baby won't let me sleep, and I want pickles." She sat down at the kitchen island in defeat. "I thought I still had some."

He chuckled quietly to himself, walking over to her and resting his hands on her shoulders. "How many jars do you want?" he asked gently. She looked up at him with a small twinkle in her eye. "Marco at the late-night corner store is gonna be getting sick of seeing me at two-thirty in the morning by now, but..."

"Five?"

"You want five jars of pickles?" he repeated.

She paused. "You're right, that sounds ridiculous. You should get seven for good measure," she said, twisting around on her chair, and he shook his head in amusement. "Thank you."

"Anything for the person growing our unborn child who refuses to sleep during sleep hours," he replied. He kissed her temple before finding his car keys. "I'll be back soon with seven jars of pickles." She smiled happily to herself as he stepped out of the front door, and she slumped against the table.

How did she get so lucky?

She pulled herself away from the kitchen island, moving into the living room. Her finger glided along her collection of records that were lined up next to her light blue record player. She pulled out a vinyl from the back of her collection, putting it into the player and letting the music fill the house.

She opened her laptop, and her eyes immediately shifted to the unread email in her inbox. With every passing word, her frown deepened, and she let out a heavy sigh. She was so lost in thought that she hardly noticed Steve had returned from the corner store with a bag full of jars of pickles for her.

"What happened?"

She looked up at him. "I think Thor needs a friend."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

"𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐄, 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 know where I can find Thor?" The fisherman turned at the sound of Grace's voice and raised his eyebrows at her. "Uh—Thor?" she tried again, pressing her lips together. "Is—Is he around here, or...?" The fisherman continued to stare at her, and she nodded. "Okay, then, uh—"

"He can understand you just fine." Grace looked over when she heard another voice, finding a woman walking towards her. "He's looking at you like that because nobody has asked where Thor is in a long time."

She hummed. "I take it he's not doing well, then?"

The woman shook her head. "That's the kind way of putting it." She stepped to the side and gestured behind her. "Do you see that hut over there?" Grace peered down the hill and nodded. "He's inside. You're free to try and speak to him."

"But?"

"He's in a fierce battle."

Grace furrowed her brows as she began to make her way down the hill. "Battle...?" she muttered to herself. "Oh—I never got your name."

"Brunnhilde," she replied. "A member of the Valkyrie."

She smiled lightly. "Grace." Despite her unusual center of gravity, she walked down the hill towards the little hut and tilted her head when she heard shouting come from inside. She poked her head through the door. "This is the fierce battle?" she whispered.

Thor was yelling at the television screen next to someone who looked to be a pile of rocks. Her eyes shifted to the video game controller in his hands before noticing the pile of beer cans and bottles that were starting to fill the room.

She jumped when she heard another shout and sucked in a breath. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked, stepping into the room. Thor's head shot up abruptly. "I thought I was visiting a friend, not a video game tournament."

"Grace!" he exclaimed, and she smiled lightly at him. "What in Odin's name are you doing here?"

"Visiting a friend," she said again. She stepped further into the room, carefully maneuvering around the piles of empty cans and bottles. "Steve would have come, but the first meeting of his support group meets tomorrow. He passes along his hello, though."

"Support group?"

She nodded. "There are millions of people in the world feeling the same way as everyone else. Just like you, I imagine."

"What?" Thor laughed and shook his head. "I am perfectly well!"

Grace side-eyed him, moving aside yet another pile of empty cans. "I beg to differ," she said, pressing her lips together. "And do you know why? Because everybody in the world is feeling the exact same way." She sat down on the only empty chair in the hut. "Guilt, for one?"

Thor let out a breath. "I am perfectly well," he repeated.

"And I don't believe you," she reiterated firmly. She glanced at the man who looked to be made of rocks. "I'm sorry, you are...?"

"Korg."

She smiled kindly. "Korg, do you mind if I have a few minutes alone with Thor?" she asked, and he nodded. "Thank you very much. I promise I won't take too much of your video game time."

"Not at all."

Grace watched Korg leave the hut before letting out a breath. "Do you know the real reason Steve didn't come?" Thor glanced at her. "Because he thinks you all failed. He feels guilty that all of these good things are happening to him, but half of the universe is gone. And that he's still here. Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't feel the same way."

"My brother died before all of this," he said quietly, and she bit her bottom lip. "Choked until he turned blue in the face, and his neck was snapped. My father died, and I became king of a realm that no longer exists. We came to Norway. And now half of Asgard's population is gone. I don't think I failed, I know I did."

Grace's eyes followed Thor as he stood up to open another can of beer. "And your solution is to drink?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged. "It helps. A baby?" He nodded towards her baby bump, and she subconsciously rubbed it with her thumb. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." She rose from her chair. "I won't make you talk about your feelings anymore." He looked at her. "But I've never visited Norway before. Could you show me around your little town?"

"Very well."

A short time later, Thor was walking alongside Grace at the edge of the water; she could see fjords in the distance, and she closed her eyes, taking in the sounds and smells of the country. As she opened her eyes, she saw a little girl and a boy standing on a nearby dock, watching the fishermen reel in a trap full of fish.

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips at the sound of the little girl's excited giggles. That sound truly was priceless.

"Do you have a name?" Grace looked at Thor, who, despite bringing a bottle of beer with him, had not drunk it during their walk. "For the child?"

She nodded. "We decided a few days ago." She paused for a moment. "Perhaps we'll come visit after she's born. If you're up for a visit again."

"Perhaps."

Grace sucked in a breath and, without any hesitation, pulled Thor into a tight hug. "I'm sorry about your brother," she said in a tone that he hadn't heard in a long time. She reminded him of his mother whenever she consoled him as a child. "And your father. And about Asgard." She pulled away and rested a hand on his shoulder. "But the people still exist, don't they? They're right here. And I'm no expert on Asgardian customs, but you're still their king."

She patted him on the shoulder. "I need to go back to New York. But I am visiting again. It's not up to you, it's decided. I am coming back. And next time, you can meet our daughter." She kissed his cheek. "Take care of yourself, Thor. Your people need you now more than ever, I think."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 the bookshelf he was building when the front door opened and, instead of Grace, who he was expecting, Adelaide walked inside. "Uh—hello."

"Hi." He raised his eyebrows at the blonde who was pacing in front of him while he set aside his screwdriver. "I need advice."

He shrugged. "Well, I'm not Gracie, but I can try. What's going on?" She pressed her lips together. "Addy...?"

"I found a ring," she blurted out, covering her mouth as soon as the words escaped. Steve paused and looked at her. "Oh, crap. But I did. Accidentally, I mean. It was—It was in his sock drawer and—and I do the laundry to keep myself from going insane and so I—I put away his clean socks and it was just... sitting in there..."

Steve nodded slowly. "Alright... Um... And then what?"

"And then I told Pietro that we were out of groceries and I was going to the grocery store," she said, continuing to pace. "But instead of the grocery store, I came here. Did I mention that this was ten minutes ago? I've barely had time to process and I—I'm freaking out!"

"I can tell."

"What do I do?" she asked desperately, stopping to look at him. "I mean, do I tell him that I found the ring? Is he going to be disappointed that I ruined his presumable surprise? Do I just never tell him and put my undercover acting skills to use and act surprised if and when it happens?"

"First, you're going to take a deep breath," Steve said, standing up from the floor and resting his hands on her shoulders. "Because you're going to hyperventilate if you don't. And second... if he asked, would you say yes? Do you want to marry Pietro Maximoff someday?"

She nodded. "Someday," she replied quietly. "But not right now. Do you mean if he asked me right now, would I say yes?" Steve hummed. "Right this very minute? No, I wouldn't. My entire life since I was sixteen has been SHIELD and undercover work and missions and evil purple titans. I—I don't even know who I am yet without all that.

"And he's the same way. For almost his entire life, he was a product of HYDRA. He lost his twin sister with the snap of a finger. We're not ready for marriage. I—I like us how we are."

"Okay, then you need to tell him that," Steve told her gently, and she sat down on the couch. "Not that you found the ring, that's up to you, but that you're not ready to be a wife yet. For all you know, he thinks you're ready, and maybe he's not. You both need to be on the same page about what your future looks like."

"How did you know with Gracie?"

"Addy, I fell in love with her the minute she ran into me at her brother's expo in forty-three," he said with a soft smile. "But how did I know I wanted to marry her?" Adelaide nodded. "It just made sense for us. Granted, it took two proposals, two years on the run, and half the universe disappearing, but it made sense. And we talked about it briefly during the war. You'll know when the time is right, Addy, I promise. But for now—"

"Talk to Pietro," she finished, nodding to herself. "Right. You're right. Thank you." She stood up and walked to the front door. "You're gonna be one hell of a good dad."

He smiled at her. "Thanks for showing me how."

Adelaide chuckled and waved him away. "Oh, shush, you. I'm going now."

"She's right, you know." Steve looked over when he heard Grace's voice to find her setting down her suitcase and leaning in the doorway. "You're gonna make a hell of a good dad."

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, you mean how much of that conversation did I hear?" she corrected him with a smirk. "I came in somewhere around, 'fell in love with her at the Expo'. I didn't think running into someone and making them lose their peanuts was enough to make someone fall in love with another. But I'm not complaining."

"I wasn't lying," he said as she sat down beside him. "I fell in love with you the minute I saw you at that Expo. Even if I didn't know it at the time."

She hummed with a smile. "When you jumped on the grenade."

"Huh?"

"When I started to fall in love with you," she replied, looking up at him. "When Colonel Phillips threw the dummy grenade and you were the only one who jumped on top of it. But do you want to know when I really knew?"

"Hmm."

"Your song and dance," she said with a laugh, and he playfully shoved her shoulder. "I'm just saying. I was a sucker for the USO tours that you did. Howard showed Tony a clip when he was eight, I think. You're lucky it didn't become his ringtone for you."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to live that down."

She shook her head. "But it made you you," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "And the man you are right now is who I decided to marry." She glanced at the newspaper clipping that was framed on the wall. "Look at those two... They would not believe that this is where they are now."

"Seems like a lifetime ago."

"And yet, like no time has passed." She hugged his arm. "I'd do it all over again. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Even the 'me sort of dying, you not aging, us not seeing each other for over sixty years' part?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah. Because it led us to right here." She took his hand and rested it on her stomach. "Our next chapter of our lives. And probably the best chapter yet."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

━ author's note:

is this me hinting about the next chapter? maybe, i don't share my plans... ;)

sorry this took so long, i rewrote this chapter like eighty times and i never ended up liking it, but this one felt cute and right to me.

there'll be more nat & pietro in future chapters, i promise. especially addy-nat moments, they are practically surrogate sisters.

okay, that's all!