What..is this? Another chapter? Whaaaaa?

That's right, my friends. Twice in one night. I know, I'm shocked too. But when the inspiration and ideas keep coming, you gotta keep writing. So I banged out a chapter and a half (since the fist part of 19 was already written before today). My brain is exhausted, but I am satisfied. I hope you guys are too.

On we go...

The Violinist

Chapter 20

Steve woke the next morning to the sound of intense grumbling. Honestly, to him it sounded like a garbage disposal instead of something a human body could make. But lo and behold when he opened his eyes, he followed the sound down to where his hand was currently residing:

Max's stomach.

He chuckled to himself for a moment, rubbing the smooth skin of her belly that had peeked out overnight, whether by his doing or the act of tossing and turning. She hummed and curled back into his touch, something he reveled in seeing, but it made him acutely aware of a pronounced situation going on in his shorts.

Quickly, he yanked his hand back and jumped out of bed. Racing to the bathroom, he all but slammed the door.

"Steve?" he heard her sleepy voice call. It wasn't helping his situation so he turned on the shower.

When he undressed and got in, the icy water was a shock to his hot skin. But not icy enough to make a difference for the sake of his...situation.

Oh god.

Steve knew what he had to do, but the fact that he knew Max was in the other room was the only thing keeping him from losing control. He was thankful he had woken up first because…

Oh god.

Come on, Steve, you can do this, he told himself. She'll start getting worried if you're in here too long.

He was grateful he remembered their night together. He remembered everything, every little detail, every little freckle. And he was going to use it to…

"Oh god."

Max laid in the bed after the door to the bathroom slammed shut, waking her from a strange dream about eating too much candy and birthing a Snickers bar. Her stomach was rumbling, but she wanted to wait for Steve before heading to breakfast. It was a good thing guys usually took quick showers because she was pretty sure her insides were going to start eating themselves soon.

A few minutes passed and she checked the notifications on her phone. When that was done, she ended up playing some silly puzzle game to keep from being bored.

Max was just about to get up and go knock on the door when she heard it.

"Oh god."

Her hand flew up to her mouth to keep the loud gasp in. She was half-embarrassed for hearing that, half-dying from giggling at the thought of Captain America having some alone time in the shower.

To save them both some awkwardness when he came out, Max grabbed her phone off the bed and left for the dining room.

Tony and Pepper were already there when she wandered in, the smell of pancakes making her drool. She plopped down and started stacking one plate with pancakes, and another with eggs and bacon.

"Morning, troll. Decide to skip the shower and come straight here?" Tony questioned.

"Too hungry, must feed baby," she replied, cramming a forkful of syrupy cake into her mouth.

"Oh, that's very attractive."

"Tony, leave her alone."

"She eats more than Bruce and that guy turns into the Jolly Green Giant," Tony retorted.

Max snorted, "You try growing a Super Soldier baby inside of you."

"No, thanks. Super Soldiers and babies aren't really my thing." He took a sip of his orange juice and then asked, "Where's Rogers?"

"Shower."

"Right here."

Max swallowed and looked over her shoulder to see Steve entering the room. His hair was wet and swept back, his skin glowing. Max was suddenly hungry for something else.

"Please tell your girlfriend to stop being a pig."

"Tony!" Pepper gasped.

Max and Steve both froze at the word 'girlfriend'. They were suddenly in a game of 'How to Dance Around This?'.

"I'm not saying that," Steve said, sitting down.

"Not a pig." Max spit out with a mouth full of eggs.

"Right." Tony dragged out.

Steve piled his plates with just as much, if not more, food than Max and dug in. Tony eventually left the table but Pepper stuck around while she finished her coffee.

"Do you guys have any plans for today?" she asked them.

"Yes." "No." They said at the same time.

Steve and Max stared at each other with confused looks.

Max spoke up, glancing over to the redhead, "I'm taking Steve somewhere."

"Oh, how nice. In the city?"

"Brooklyn," she replied and smiled, peering back to Steve. He still wore a mask of confusion, but a smile grew to match hers. Max knew he was excited to be going back to his roots.

Max had asked Pepper if she could have one of her assistants call for a car to be brought to the front of the building. She assured Max someone would be waiting to take them wherever they wanted when they were ready to leave.

After breakfast, Max went back to her room and had a shower of her own, though not nearly as fun as Steve's had been for sure. She was thrumming with excitement, and a tiny bit of nerves, about taking Steve to Brooklyn. It was where he grew up, but it had changed so much since the last time he had spent any real time there. Sighing, she just hoped he liked what she had to show him.

Max dressed in a loose gray sweater and jeans, tying what hair she could back with a band. She made sure she had snacks in her bag, her phone charger and some water before heading out to meet Steve.

He was in the living room reading the newspaper, looking like something straight out of the 50s. Well, close enough. Hearing her approach, he stood and folded the paper, placing onto the coffee table.

"Ready?"

"Yep," she smiled.

They headed up the stairs to the elevator. She knew he was dying to ask her where they were going, but he hadn't so far.

"You look nice," he said when they were halfway to the lobby.

She blushed. "Thank you."

The doors opened and they walked out together. Joan, the woman behind the front desk, told them their car was waiting and that Donny would be their driver.

It was an overcast day, with a chill running through the streets despite the unusually high temperature for that time of year. Steve was in the midst of shrugging off his bomber jacket when Donny greeted them.

"Ms. Stirling, Captain Roger, good morning."

"Good morning, Donny," Steve reciprocated.

The driver opened the back passenger door for them with a bright smile. "Please, allow me."

"Thank you," Max said as she slid into the backseat. Steve followed behind her.

When Donny climbed into the driver's seat, he turned and asked, "So, where are we headed today?"

Steve glanced at Max. She could feel the anticipation rolling off of him in waves.

"32 Livingston Street in Brooklyn, please," she told him, watching Steve from the corner of her eye.

"Alright, you got it."

"What's there that you want to show me?" Steve asked.

"You'll have to wait and see."

"Is that where you were yesterday?"

She snapped her head towards him. "Where did you think I was?"

"Someone texted you…"

"So you thought I ran off with someone for a few hours because we were, I don't know, dealing with something?" she huffed.

"No, I jus-."

"Just want to know where I am and who I'm with every second?" she scoffed.

"Max," he pleaded. "I didn't mean."

"Then stop talking."

The rest of the ride was tense silence. Max focused on counting things like road signs as they passed in an effort to calm down. She didn't know why she had gotten so worked up, but something about it had irritated her.

When Donny pulled onto Livingston Street, Max perked up and butterflies began dancing in her belly.

I hope he likes it.

The car stopped in front of a massive church. Steve looked around, confused. Donny hopped out and came to the door to let them out.

He was staring up at the massive church, it's brown bricks and stained glass windows, when Max emerged from the backseat. She found it amusing that he thought she had brought him all the way across town to see a simple church. As if there weren't plenty of them scattered all over the boroughs.

"A church?" he questioned, puzzled.

"No," she chuckled. "Other side of the street, silly."

He did a one-eighty and peered across the narrow street at the dark brownstone. The stoop light was on over the beautiful hand carved wooden doors. Max beamed as he took in the four-story home.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and starting across the street.

"Max! Watch the cars!"

She raced up the stairs and punched in the code for the key box beside the door. She grabbed it, unlocked the door, and dragged him in behind her.

"This is where I was yesterday. Well, most of yesterday. I saw like...six other places, but I liked this one the best," she explained, squeezing his hand.

"A house?"

"Yeah…"

"This house?"

"Yeah…," she smiled.

"For us?"

She nodded, practically bouncing out of her Converse.

He let go of her hand and started to wander. She counted to ten and then followed behind him, trying to give him some space to explore on his own.

The living room was off to the right from the entry; The walls painted baby blue. A white fireplace was on the opposite wall from the doorway. A huge window faced the street, and one faced the backyard. Beautiful maple hardwood ran through the room to match the rest of the house.

He went across the hallway to the kitchen next. Grays and golds and whites surrounded them. Max loved the kitchen, even if she didn't do that much cooking. Dark cabinets offset the lighter counters. The golden hardwear sparkled from the sunlight coming through the window.

Down the hall was a massive staircase that curved up to the next floor. He grabbed onto the gorgeous dark wooden banister and climbed. The first room he entered was all white with two windows and a fireplace. The door down from that was a matching white-tiled bathroom with a massive porcelain bathtub.

Max would be lying if she said that wasn't half the reason she loved this place.

Next was the master bedroom done in dark blue and a strange aqua palm leaf wallpaper. The fireplace in that room was the only thing that seemed untouched by paint or paper. The master bath looked similar to the other bathroom they had just seen, but slightly bigger.

Two more bedrooms with fireplaces and odd paint or fireplace decoration came after.

On the top floor were two spaces. The laundry room, which had robin's egg blue cabinets to go with the black appliances and sink. And finally, an all-white bonus area with a massive couch taking up three walls.

Steve sat on the white couch and glanced around.

"So...What do you think?" Max asked, nervous for his response.

"It's big."

"Yeah, six bedrooms, five bathrooms...You didn't see everything," she laughed.

"You really think we'll need this much space? It's just the three of us."

"Right now," she replied a little too quickly. "I mean, no...Not-not that we're having more kids. Just that people visit and things happen and it's good to...have...space…"

He smirked, "Six bedrooms?"

"Three for us and three for guests."

"Three? I understand one for the baby, but you haven't slept in your room since this started," he reasoned, chuckling.

"Have to."

"The bunker doesn't count."

"I-."

"Neither do naps."

She pouted for a second, but then it quickly turned into a smirk of her own. "Steve Roger, do you want to share a room with me? Is that it?"

"What? No."

"Then I get a room to myself here."

"You'll never use it."

"So you want me to share your room?"

"No."

"Yes."

It was his turn to pout.

"So does this means you like it enough that I can text my realtor?" Max questioned after a moment of silence.

"That's who you were texting?"

"Yep. And before you say it, I wasn't going to tell you in the car because it would have ruined the surprise."

There was another pause in the conversation. Max started typing away on her phone, checking in on Fury and Aunt Maria like she did every few days.

"Maxi?"

"Hmm?" she murmured, not looking up from her phone.

"I like it."

Her head shot up and she gave him the biggest smile she could force her mouth to make. "Oh my god, really?!"

Steve nodded. "Really."

She sprang up from the couch, grabbed his hand and tugged him into a bone-crushing hug. Max was bouncing, literally this time, with excitement.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He laughed, "Easy, doll."

She lessened her hold on him, arms hanging loosely around his hips. He peered down at her and grinned.

"I can't wait to move in and start decorating. The master is definitely getting some new paint and, oh god, Pepper is going to have a field day doing the nursery. And I can't wait to take like a billion baths in those tubs-."

Max had been rambling on and on about the house and what they should do that she had stopped paying attention to everything, including Steve. So when she felt his hands on the sides of her face, gently cupping her jaw, and pulling her up towards him, his lips on her, it took her completely off guard.

He was kissing her. She had gone from talking about paint and couches and shit to being pressed up against the hottest man alive. Her mind had come to a complete halt, like a train slamming on the brakes. But then he moved his right hand down to her lower back, pushing her closer into his body, and the engines fired back up.

Full steam ahead.

Max moved her hands up under his jacket and dug them into the cotton of his shirt. She had no concept of time. His other hand had made its way into her hair as their kiss went from hot to hotter. Maybe it was his shower this morning that was bringing this on all of a sudden, but whatever got Steve in the mood to makeout with her, keep it coming.

She was sure things might have ended up back on the couch if not for the ringing coming from his left front pocket.

"Shit," he swore and pulled away. Max let go and caught her breath, wishing she had a fan so she could cool herself down. She sat down and laid back on the cushions, closing her eyes.

"Hey, Sam. What's up?"

They talked, but Max wasn't paying much attention. Steve had kissed her. Sober. And now her mind was on overdrive trying to figure out what it meant and what was going to happen next and if it was just spur of the moment or not.

Max pulled out her phone and shot a quick message to the realtor that they wanted the house to get the process started. She was still excited, but now there was this new possibility hanging in the air.

Steve and her.

She locked her phone and closed her eyes again. Her stomach grumbled and she sighed. Barely ten weeks in and she was already sick of eating every five seconds, though the food was always so good going down.

"Hungry?"

She jumped a little at how close he was all of a sudden. Her eyes opened and he was sitting next to her again.

She nodded.

"Pizza sound good? I know this great place not too far from here."

She nodded.

"Kissing you makes you awfully quiet, doll," he smirked. Max blushed. "Come on, let's go."

He stood up and offered his hand. She took it.

*Cue fireworks*

*Someone screams finally from the crowd*

I know. I've been trying to figure out the best way to do their first official, sober, kiss for WEEKS. Then I found their house yesterday online while I was apartment hunting and it all fell into place.

Also, if you want to see the actual house that I'm talking about (since I suck at describing places), here's the link to the website:

32-livingston-st-brooklyn-ny/nregm9n/

Fucking gorgeous. I picked it because it has that 1900s feel that I thought Steve would like. And it's in Brooklyn.

Alright, so enjoy the new chapters. The next one might have a bit of a time jump. IDK.

Let me know what you think. I love hearing your thoughts. Thank you in advance for the favorites/follows.

Until next time -KAITi-