Chapter 2

Steve Rogers' life was pretty simple and peaceful. He worked with his mom in their small bakery shop in Brooklyn. Even their shop was small, it was very well known to the locals in the area. Sarah Rogers, his mother, had worked in this place her entire life and you could say that this place was the legacy of their family. His mother's side of the family had established it over a hundred years before.

Steve's entire life was in New York. He grew up in the neighborhood with his two best friends, Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson. They had gone to the same school, forming a tight group, protecting everyone from bullies and eventually becoming everyone's favorite boys for both students and teachers. They were popular not only because of what they did to protect other people but also because of their positions on the football team. Steve was the tight end and the team captain, Bucky was the wide receiver, and Sam was the running back. (Steve had lost the quarterback position to Brock Rumlow- the coach said the his speed, agility, and body size were better for the tight end position.)

Steve really didn't mind what position he ended up with because Bucky and Sam were the ones who had convinced him to join the team in the first place, (he'd said that he wanted to join the art club more than sport teams).

The boys helped Sarah at the bakery shop after school and also during the weekend. Bucky was the delivery boy and packing master. (Bucky would have loved to help in the kitchen but he tended to burn or set most things on fire). Sam also worked as a delivery boy but he had learned how to make bread and was really good at it. He created a special bread for each day called "The Wilson Special", which was so good that each day, a line formed outside every morning.

Steve had followed his mother's footsteps since he was just a little boy. He grew up seeing her working happily in this place. Sarah taught him how everything in the kitchen worked as well as how to make every dessert known to man. By junior high, Steve had mastered most things and he'd been given the chance to use his creative skills in the cake frosting and decorating process. By high school, Steve was helping his mother handle almost everything.

Steve's creativity also brought recognition to the bakery, even winning a competition. Local people of Brooklyn came to their shop and asked the Rogers' to make their wedding cakes. The boys were smart, building connections in catering and wedding planning business.

Sam and Bucky also helped bring the bakery to the social media world. Bucky was the technical expert and Sam was very creative with wording. Steve, on the other hand, only had a Facebook account (which he rarely used), and an Instagram account (which he'd created when he was dating Sharon, the woman who was a regular and she lived a couple blocks away). He focused his photography skills and artistry on creating lovely graphics that attracted people to their shop.

Since the engagement and awareness on social media with younger people increased, new faces showed up at their door and mostly were girls. Bucky deliberately posted pictures of the boys on the bakery's Facebook page, (and mostly photos of Steve). They gained a lot of attention and were dubbed "The hottest bakery boys of Brooklyn".

"I'm not sure how this will help," Steve said, in total disagreement when Bucky posted the picture of Steve shirtless.
"Of course it will help us," Bucky insisted. "You don't notice how female customers have increased since I posted the picture of us three?"
"Hell, I noticed it. It's getting awkward every time they come in and try to have a conversation with me," Steve frowned. "I want people to notice my works and the taste of my cake, not my body or my face."
"Yeah, but you are the thing that draws people in to taste the cake." Sam countered.

Steve knew he couldn't do anything when his best friends tagged team like this. He guessed he just had to suck it up and accept the fact that this helped bring more customers to the shop and it made his mother happy.

The mother that paid for his tuition through college. He just wanted more income so that they could live a little more comfortable.

Yes, Steve had graduated from a university, and not just any university. He got his bachelor degree of Visual Arts from Columbia University, (alongside Sam, who'd studied Public Health, and Bucky, who'd studied Engineering). The three boys had entered on athletic scholarships and as Columbia Lions, they'd played the same positions as in high school. They quickly became the most feared three in the offensive line.

Even they though they'd been busy in college as football superstars, Steve, Sam, and Bucky were still helping Sarah at the bakery. Each boy had decided to stay at home instead of living in a dormitory, (Bucky stayed with his mother and younger sister while Sam lived with his parents).

They all had a bright future ahead of them but Steve chose to help his mother instead of the big time job he was offered as a graphic designer by the mets. It didn't make any sense. Steve knew that but all that he cared was his mother and if he accepted the job offer, he would have to stay in Manhattan. He didn't want leave his mother alone to take care of the shop.

"You don't have to worry about me, Steve," Sarah said. "I can run this bakery by myself I can hire more help."

"Don't worry, ma. I really want help you run this place. It's my home," Steve replied while hugging his mother. "I guess it runs in our blood."

Sarah laughed. She knew what her son meant by that. Sarah had graduated from nursing school but being a pastry chef did run too deep in their blood. Sarah joined Steve's grandfather right after she graduated from the college. Steve followed his mother footsteps even though she insisted that she could hire someone else to help her.

"Who knows about this bakery and its customers more than us?" Steve said.

Bucky worked as an engineer in a clothes factory in Brooklyn for a year before he could no longer work their anymore. During one of his night shifts, Bucky was helping one of the factory workers in a machinery accident at the cost of his own arm. His left arm was crushed by the machine the doctors said that they had to amputate his arm before the infection from his wound spread. His bones also got crushed into pieces.

Lucky for the family, the factory covered the expense and got a prosthetic arm for him. Steve and Sam stayed by Bucky's side all the time that he recovered and physical therapy.

Since Bucky could no longer work in the factory, Sarah told him to come and work with the Rogers', (the delivery boy had just quit). Bucky said yes without any hesitation.

"Thank you, mom," Bucky said, hugging her tightly, (he and Sam had always called Sarah 'mom'). They were like one big family from the start anyway.

"There's always a place for you here, my Bucky," Sarah said fondly and kissed her boy on his cheek. "Besides, I need someone to help keep eyes on Steve."

"Mom…" Steve groaned from the frosting station. "I'm the one who has to keep my eyes on him."

"Punk, need I remind you that you're the chivalrous one who gets into a fight every time a drunk guy in a bar disrespects girls."

"Need I remind you that you were right alongside me," Steve smirked.

"Hold on, I'm actually the one who has to pull both of you out of trouble," Sam chimed in.

"All I have to say is that I'm tired of bailing your asses out of jail."

Sarah cut them off. "Luckily, Captain Holt loves the cake we make. I have to send boxes of desserts for his entire precinct everytime you all got in trouble."

They laughed. That had happened when they were teens and hot headed. Luckily, the entire precinct knew that they only got into fights only to protect someone from bullies and defend girls' honor.

Sam joined the three of them after Bucky. As it turned out, even after graduating with a degree in Public Health from one of the top universities, it was really hard to find a job. Sam tried for a year and half and took part-time jobs while he searched for a job before he gave up. Of course, Sarah opened her arms and took another son back home. Sam's parents were even happier than Sarah because he'd finally taken a job at Sarah's bakery.

"If you wasn't so stubborn, Sammy, you wouldn't waste your time like that," Darlene Wilson said to her son.
"Ma, I just want to put my degree to good use," Sam replied. "But it's great to be back here. I'm home again."

That was how the "three amigos" reunited and worked together at the bakery. They ruled the five blocks radius together and everyone loved their baked goods. The bakery was two units of 4-floor brownstone buildings in Brooklyn Heights area, (the Rogers family had owned these two units since the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge.) Steve and Sarah lived on the third and fourth floor.

Everyday, Steve would start his day early at around 4 am along with his mother, preparing the day's bakery products. Bucky and Steve would sanitize the kitchen area while Sam and Sarah prepared the dough to make the bread, buns and other baked goods.

It was a mundane task to do everyday but it was what they did for a living. Cleaned the baking bins and completed an inventory of the goods they needed to bake. That was when the fun happened. They could begin to mix the ingredients needed for the products. The baking began at 7 AM. Sam also prepared his 'Wilson's special' breads and baking goods.

The bakery staff (a popular part time job for teenagers in that area.) came to the bakery at 8 AM and helped prepare the display and set up the table, line of queuing, and packing the advance orders for today. The bakery opened at 9 am and Bucky will began the deliveries. Sam put up a sign with how many "Wilson's specials" would be available on that day. There was always a line waiting to buy freshly baked goods or to enjoy breakfast, (they served food that mostly contain breads with coffee or chocolate).

While the breakfast goods were sold, Steve began to make pastries, cakes, and desserts. Customers visited the shop all day but the prime time was lunch and afternoon. Some days, Steve showed off his frosting skills. It was a show that everyone, including customers watched every time in awe.

They closed the shop early, around 4 pm due to the popularity and amounts of people visited their shop. Some days, they would stay open until 5 pm. After the shop closed, they prepared everything for the next day. The cycle repeated itself every day. The boys took turns having day off once or twice a week.

After all the work was done and shop was closed, the boys went to the gym together, where they made friends with great guys and formed a group of mixed martial arts fanatics called "The Howling Commandos". Sometimes they entered competitions against rival gyms to earn more money. Steve and Bucky were their best but Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan was the tank and not so easy to take down.

After a good work out, the gang hit their regular bar, just a block away from their home called "The Highlanders", where Bucky and Sam always scored a girls while Steve watched his friends having fun. Girls always expressed their interest in him but he turned them down. You could say that he was a old-fashioned guy who would have preferred a long-term relationship instead of a one-night stand.

He was looking for the right partner and he willing to wait for someone who really took his breath away.

Steve really didn't mind people calling him "mama's boy" or anything related to a guy who still lived with his mother. They didn't have even half of the story. He wanted to take care of his mother because she was the only family that he'd had since he could remember.

His father hadn't been present since he was born. Joseph was an alcoholic and Steve didn't bother to even remember his last name. He'd left his mother after he found out that she was pregnant, without leaving her anything to raise their child. Lucky for both of them, her family still welcomed her despite the shenanigans with Joseph. They had a cute baby boy who took their last name breaking any ties that could link the boy to Joseph. Steve was okay with it as he grew up. He didn't have any need to know who his father was or why he used 'Rogers' instead of his father's family name.

All that he knew was that his father was a sperm donor to him.

He grew up with a single mother and he saw how hard it was for her to raise him by herself. Steve tried his best to make it easier for his mom by helping her with anything that he could. He also never missed the look on his mother's face when she saw a whole family came in, the family that they should have had if Joseph hadn't bailed on them. And he also never missed the way his mother tried to hide in her room when she cried during the middle of the night.

He hated his father for doing this to her, for causing so much pain in someone so loving and caring.

Steve vowed to himself that he would protect his mother at all costs and that he would be there for her all the time.

So here he was, twenty-six years old and still living with his mother and his two best friends. But that didn't mean that this was all his social life. Bucky and Sam always dragged him out at night so they could hang out after work and, hopefully, score with someone. More like, Bucky and Sam did all the scoring while Steve was just their wingman.

Steve met his girlfriend, Sharon Carter, at the bakery. She'd become a regular since moving to the neighborhood from Miami in order to pursue her career in fashion design. Steve knew she was ambitious the moment he laid eyes on her. The confident and beautiful blonde strode into the bakery and Steve was the one who greeted her and took her order.

He knew she was dangerous and he loved to play with fire. So he kept the small paper she slid across the cashier counter. It was her phone number.

He called her that night. (Yeah, he'd totally ignored Bucky's stupid rule that forbade calling a girl in the first three days after getting her number). She agreed to meet him the next day, telling him to bring her favorite chocolate muffin in a flirty voice. Bucky and Sam never saw this one coming. It was after Steve asked Sarah if he could take a day off and his friends didn't stop interrogating him that Steve told them that he was going to meet a girl at the coffee shop nearby.

"It's a date, isn't it?" Bucky asked.

"Tell us, pal. Who is she? Or he?"

"Dude…" Steve groaned. "Her name is Sharon and I think you guys met her at some point."

"What? When? I mean, if she's hot, I would totally remember her."

"No, you wouldn't."

"Come on! Just show us the picture!"

Steve shook his head before grabbing his jacket and hugging his mom, telling her that he might come home late she didn't have to wait up. Sam joked that Steve was planning to stay out all night with the girl. Steve didn't care and took his bike to meet Sharon at the coffee shop.

They hit it off easier and faster than both expected. They could say that the first date was a successful one because they both enjoyed each other's company. Steve called her that night, asking her out again on Saturday. She didn't hesitate to say yes.

It took them a month to become official, when Steve introduced Sharon to his family. Sam and Bucky were awestruck when they saw her. (Steve was sure that they remembered her, judging from their reaction. Bucky had probably even hit on her once or twice only to be shot down). They had dinner together and Steve was relieved that everyone welcomed her. Sharon felt at ease and blended in well. She even stayed the night at his place for the first time on the night that he introduced her to everyone.

Everything between him and Sharon went smoothly. Steve was the sweetest and most loving boyfriend someone could find and Sharon was the luckiest girl to have him. After dating for almost a year, Steve was serious about their relationship. He was planning on proposing to her on their one year anniversary. He had everything perfectly planned out.

But nothing lasts forever.

On the day before their anniversary, Steve came back to her apartment a bit early. He'd wanted to take her out for a nice dinner and probably a movie together afterwards. He opened the door to find scattered clothes all over the floor, leading him to her wide-open bedroom door. Sharon's moans came from their bed. She was not alone.

Rage took control of Steve. He bellowed and threw the guy who was having sex with his girlfriend across the room. Blood boiling inside his body, his heart beating so fast, he punched the guy until Sharon pulled him away from her secret lover.

They got into a huge argument and Sharon tried to convince him or to beg him to give her another chance. They ended it right away and Steve didn't ask to why she cheated on him. When he was about to leave, the guy got up and bashed his head with a bottle of wine. Steve stumbled against the wall, stunned but still conscious.

The neighbor who heard all the yelling and noises called the police and they both got hurled away to the nearest precinct. Sarah, Sam and Bucky came to bail him out. Sarah almost cried when she saw the bandage wrapped around her boy's head.

Steve told them what happened, knowing it would be hard for them to digest the terrible news. After that, Steve went on "shutting down" mode. Of course, the boys took him out to the bar in hopes that they would find someone who could help Steve forget the sorrow Sharon put him through.

"Bro, you are too nice for a girl like that, you know? There probably isn't a girl good enough for you in this town," Bucky said as Steve poured another pint of beer down.

"But we will find you someone that it equally nice to you as you are to her. Don't worry we will find you someone." Sam promised.

"Nah, I think I'm going to be out of the dating game for a while."

A while turned into three months, and then six before he was okay with Bucky and Sam setting him up with someone. From time through time, Steve still struggled with Sharon's daily appearances at the bakery. Her position was that she was a regular anyway and that she shouldn't change just because she'd broken up with the owner's son. Bucky and Sam were on the lookout for Steve and alerted him if they saw Sharon coming. Steve tried to stay at the back around the time she came to buy her things and it worked every time.

Steve went on a date and tried to get his social life back but Steve being so nice and everything and it scared girls away sometimes. Everyone said that he was too nice to be true and they were afraid that they might break his heart.

"James, he is too nice to be real." Lisa, the girl Bucky find for Steve, said. "I don't know. He's making me question myself. Am I being too selfish?"

"It's okay, Lisa."

"Tell him I'm sorry."

"I will."

Nah, I won't. Bucky thought. He will use that as an excuse to Steve out more often. When Steve complained about his relationship with girls was getting nowhere. Sam and Bucky said that it was his bachelor defensive system.

"That's not true." Steve countered. "I was just being nice to everyone. I don't have to act like a jerk or a bad boy because 'Girls addicted to bad boy'."

"Even I don't have an arm, I still score more girls than you." Bucky said.

"And you always hide at my place because of those girls you scored, hunting you down and tried to cut off certain parts of your body." The blonde shot back.

"Low blow, man."

"I guess I haven't found the right partner yet."

Steve was getting better as the time passed by until he forgot about the woman who hurt him. It took him year to finally let it all go. Some part was that Sharon didn't come here as much as she used to be.

He was finally able to move on with his life.

One day boring, quiet day turned into the moment that would change his life forever. The three boys were lounging behind counter in one morning when there was a call came in.

"Rogers Patisserie. What can we do for you today?"
"Yes, I would like to order samples of everything you got in the menu including all of your specialty." A sweet sultry voice came from another end of the line. Steve's heart skipped a beat just by that intoxicating sound.
"Of course." Steve replied, trying to keep his voice calm. "Do you have any preferences?"
"Keep the ones with strawberry separates from ones with no strawberry." She said. "My friend is allergic to strawberry."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Send them to Stark Industries Tower, tell the front desk that you have a delivery for Natasha Romanoff."
"Sure, we will deliver it in one hour."

They hang up and Steve noted everything down before he could pay attention to the little detail and planned for what to do next.

"Holy shit!" Steve shouted. "We just got an order from Stark Industries."
"Shit!" Bucky and Sam yelled at the same time before they huddled around Steve to take a look for themselves.
"Natasha Romanoff, huh?"
"Is she someone important there?" Steve asked.
"Let me googled her." Bucky said and before Steve could stop him, his friend was already had the laptop in his hands.

His curiosity peaked because they never got an order from someone in that building so Steve followed Sam and stood behind Bucky as the brunet did the research on their customers. But some part of him disagreed with what they were doing right now, invading someone's privacy.

"I don't think we should do that." Steve said. "We need to respect her privacy."
"Bullshit!" Both Sam and Bucky yelled in unison.
"Come on, guys."
"Go stand in that corner." Bucky shushed him. "We will do the research."

Steve sighed and walked away to greet the customer who just came in. Bucky and Sam did find her Facebook account but they didn't get a chance to take a closer look because she set her profile page for only those who were her friends and the profile picture was her turning away from the camera.

"We got nothing." Bucky said. "Except that she is working in legal department for Stark Industries."
"And that she's a redhead."
"You will see her when you deliver these boxes."
"Yeah, I should get going."

Bucky packed everything on his bike before he left to deliver the cake. He came back with a generous tip and he wouldn't shut up about how beautiful Natasha Romanoff was. Steve didn't listen to his friend and let Bucky went on and on about her.

"Anyway, she said that she loves the taste of our cake and she wants us to cater for the wedding."

"Wow...that can be a great gig."

"Yeah" Sam nodded in agreement.

"Did she say when will she dropping by?" Steve asked.

"Nah, she said she will contact us back. She needed to talk to her friends or something first."

"We can only hope then."

Friday came fast and Steve was frosting the birthday cake at the center counter (Specifically designed for showcasing his skill. It was Bucky's idea.) It was a quiet morning and the first and heaviest lot of early-morning customers just dispersed. Sam was now filling the empty baskets of breads while Bucky shelving the cakes and desserts.

The doorbell rang as a signal for the arriving customers. Steve looked up and saw the most beautiful human being he ever seen in his entire life. Steve stopped whatever he was doing and couldn't anything but stared at her, jaw dropping to the floor.

It was very hard to take his eyes off her, with her fiery red hair, and her was sure, even more fiery spirit. Bucky cleared his throat and brought Steve's conscious back. He gave her his bright smile and said,

"Welcome to Rogers Patisserie, ma'am."