Steve was led inside the cabin. It was quiet; peaceful. He could see why Tony had chosen to stay here for so long; to just live as many perfect days with his family as possible. Natasha took Steve to the front room, a sitting room that looked out onto the front porch and beyond. There were leather chairs, a couch, throw blankets, photos; all the mementos that made up a happy home. The lace curtains that hung in front of the open windows swayed slowly in the gentle breeze coming in from outside.

Despite all that peacefulness, however, Steve couldn't help but to feel nervous inside. No good conversation ever started with the words, "we need to talk". He was afraid of what Natasha might have to say, but for the life of him, he had no idea what it could be. His mind went back to the conversation they'd had before he left. She said she wanted him to be happy. Did she not think he had that with her?

Natasha sat down on the couch, offering plenty of room for Steve to do the same. He lowered his shield to the ground, first, leaning it against the coffee table. Then, he lowered himself onto the couch. He was still in his gear, though he did at least remove the helmet. Whatever this conversation was about, Steve figured it was going to be serious. And he didn't think Natasha had ever taken him seriously with that thing on his head. He angled his body toward her, instinctively reaching out to take one of her hands. She pulled it toward her and rested it in her lap, one hand underneath his; the other resting on top. Steve watched her look down at their joined hands for a few moments. He watched her worry her lower lip between her teeth. He wanted to lean forward and kiss her, if only to get her to stop biting her lip, but something told him that this wasn't quite the time for that.

"Hey..." he said, his voice gently coaxing her to look up at him. "Talk to me. What's going-"

"Steve, it worked." Natasha suddenly blurted out.

He furrowed his brow in confusion. "What worked?"

"Tony. The glove. The stones. It brought everyone back."

Now he was even more confused. He squeezed her hand a little tighter and offered a small smile. "Nat, I know..."

"Everyone." She emphasized. Then, she pulled his hand forward a little more, just enough to press it against her stomach.

Steve's eyes had been following the path of their hands. He stared at the new placement of his hand for a moment. Then, his blue eyes grew wide. He opened his mouth and took in a sharp breath of air, lifting his gaze to match hers. The light seemed to shimmer in her green eyes, reflecting off the tears that were forming in them. She tried to keep her face a neutral mask, but Steve could see a million emotions warring with each other behind her eyes. Fear, sadness; hope. This was uncharted territory, he knew. Natasha had told her, himself, that she only acted like she knew everything. This was... this was definitely not something either of them had any experience with. But God had they wanted it. So much that they'd gone all the way to Wakanda for Shuri to work medical miracles to make it even remotely possible. Their love, and ..."perseverance", had done the rest.

"Natasha..." His own eyes began to sting a bit. He blinked rapidly to clear away the wetness trying to form there. Steve scooted a little closer to her. "You're...?"

Natasha nodded a few times. Strands of red hair fell in front of her ears, framing her face. She sniffled once and tried to put on a smile, but the second her lips began to move, the tears started to slip out of her eyes. They were slow and quiet; heavy and warm. In the blink of an eye, Steve had her wrapped in his arms. He felt warm all over as he embraced her tightly, face buried into that red, red hair. Emotion coursed through him like a heavy current. Awe and excitement had him buzzing, but happiness and relief kept him grounded. He laughed, once, into her hair before pulling back to look at her.

Steve pushed Natasha's hair out of her face. He gently brushed the tears off of her cheeks with his knuckles. "Nat, this is..." he huffed and shook his head, unable to form the words. "This is great!"

At least, he thought it was. But Steve realized that Natasha didn't seem to be matching his excitement. It didn't seem that her tears were happy ones. It seemed like there was something else going on. Some sort of roadblock keeping her from fully enjoying this moment that, in Steve's opinion, was the happiest moment of his entire life. That confused him. It worried him. And then it made his mind go back to when he left. His mood dropped a bit. Steve furrowed his brow as a look of hurt and confusion fell over his handsome features.

"Why... why didn't you tell me?" He asked quietly.

Natasha knew that question was coming. She'd been preparing herself for it, but it still seemed to hit her like a slug to the chest. She took in a deep breath and tried to regain some of her composure. After a few moments, she managed to lift her gaze to meet his. The hurt in his eyes nearly killed her. Would he understand her reasoning? Would he forgive her for it? It seemed like a big ask, and Natasha wasn't entirely sure she even deserved forgiveness.

"I didn't..." she began, but paused to take another breath. Then, she started over. Her voice was a bit firmer this time around. "If you stayed, I wanted it to be for the right reasons."

Steve took a second to take that in. He narrowed his gaze a bit as the information fully settled onto him. Then, he finally released a small huff of laughter. "Right reasons?!" He said. "Nat, I can't think of a righter reason than that."

"No," she shook her head. "I just mean... Steve, you are a loyal and responsible man. To a fault, sometimes. If you knew about this, you would've stayed because it was the right thing to do, even if it wasn't what you wanted."

She took another deep breath. Her lips pulled down into a slight frown. She realized that what she was saying sounded ridiculous. It sounded childish and naive, and she felt like an idiot for all of it. She knew this was something he wanted at one point in time, but that was over five years ago. Before they'd lost it. A lot had happened since then, and after his revelation after having seen Peggy again, Natasha wasn't sure that Steve wanted the same things anymore. Now that he was back, and happier than she'd ever seen him, she knew she was wrong.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I wanted you to be able to choose your own happiness for once. Rather than be... forced into it."

"Nat," Steve sighed. He looped a finger beneath her chin and lifted her, coaxing her gaze to meet his. "When you came to me after Peggy's funeral, you said something to me. You said, 'Staying together is more important than how we stay together'. It's the choice that matters. You chose to help Bucky and I in Germany. You chose to stay with me after all that, despite all the hell it put you through. Everything, from that moment on, has always been choice, Natasha. We chose each other. I chose you, and I will keep choosing you."

"I'm not going anywhere." He smiled and pushed another strand of hair out of her face. "No matter how hard you try to get rid of me."

Steve pulled his hand away from Natasha's. He reached into one of the pockets of his pants and retrieved a small, wooden box. It was old and weathered; chipping here and there. It creaked a little when he opened it. Inside, there was a thin, gold ring with a single diamond nestled into it.

"This was my mother's," Steve said. "I'd left it at home. Never had a chance to go back and get it before I went into the ice."

Steve had made a special trip this time, though. Even without knowing what he knew now, he had gone through that time portal with every intention of coming back with this ring. Seeing the ring, Natasha now knew that. She knew how wrong she had been to assume that he was never coming back. She felt guilty and stupid beyond belief for that, now.

"Natalia Alianovna Romanoff," Steve said, "will you marry me?"

Natasha said nothing. Her big, green eyes flickered between Steve and the ring and back again. A lifetime of not feeling good enough, of deeming herself unworthy of anything good and true in this world, came crashing down around her. Being told she had no place in this world, being a child molded into a weapon instead of a person shattered like glass against the wall. Because the best man that Natasha had ever known was asking her to spend the rest of her life with him. Not because he had to, but because he chose to. She was worthy of that, and she did have a place. Beside Steve. It'd always been beside Steve.

The silence had alarmed Steve, at first. He felt his heart drop into his stomach as he struggled to read Natasha's expression. Her face seemed to go blank. He saw fear and uncertainty pass behind her eyes as she looked down at the ring. But then she looked up at him, and he saw a kind of love that he never thought he'd see again. It was warmer than the sunlight filtering through the window. It melted away Steve's fear, and he smiled softly at her.

"Starting to get a little nervous over here, Romanoff." He said quietly.

Natasha blinked a few times and inhaled sharply, as if she were waking up. "Yes!" She remembered to say.

She'd barely finished speaking the word before Steve was leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers. He wrapped his free hand around the back of her neck and held her close while she placed both her hands on the sides of his face. Steve felt his heart and soul pour out of himself and into Natasha, and hers pour into him. He kissed her until his lungs burned, and only then did he pull away. The box was still in his hand; the ring still in the box, so he gently plucked it out with nervous fingers. Natasha held out her hand, and Steve slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit.

"Shit!" A tiny voice said from the doorway.

"Morgan!" Pepper exclaimed. She rushed in behind her daughter and scooped her up into her arms. Realizing that they had clearly interrupted something, she began to apologize profusely. "I am so sorry!" She told Steve and Natasha. Then, she looked at Morgan. "Morgan, honey, we don't say that word."

"But Daddy said it when he made that time thingy," Morgan said in her soft, child's voice. "I thought it was for when something good happened, and Auntie Nat and Cap are gonna get married!"

Pepper's shocked gaze went to the two of them. Steve slowly rose from the couch, Natasha following suit. He watched Natasha nod to confirm what Morgan had said. A smile played on her full lips. Pepper released an excited laugh and immediately walked over to them. She let Morgan down so she could hug them both and offer her sincere congratulations, along with her sincere apologies for her potty-mouth child interrupting their moment. Steve certainly didn't mind, though, and from the looks of it, neither did Natasha.

"Come here, squirt." Nat said, scooping Morgan up into her arms. "I'm glad you're here," she told her.

"You are?" The girl asked, twirling a strand of her brown hair around her finger.

"Of course!" Natasha smiled. "I'm going to need a flower girl, and only the best will do."

Steve watched, a smile on his face, as Natasha held Morgan, and Pepper began talking excitedly about how perfect the wedding was going to be. She was going to help however she could, however they would let her. There was a lot to be done, but first there was something that Steve needed to do. He placed a hand on the small of Natasha's back to get her attention.

"I'll be right back," he told her. "There's one more thing I have to do." He pressed a kiss to her temple, ruffled Morgan's hair, and turned away. Steve picked up his shield and headed outside.

He found Sam and Bucky out front, talking or debating or arguing, or whatever it was they did on such a frequent basis. When they saw him, however, they stopped to turn and greet him. Sam smiled and opened his arms wide.

"Cap!" He said, giving Steve a few slaps on the back. "Good to have you back, man."

Bucky, hands in his pockets and a small smile on his face, gave a nod to confirm that statement. Steve hadn't really said anything to them upon his return. He'd stepped off the platform to find that Natasha wasn't there, and that had worried him. Now, though, he greeted them both happily. Even more happily than he might have previously. After the greetings passed, however, Steve got down to business. He looked at Sam.

"I've got something for you." He said. He slowly handed the shield over to Sam. It was heavier than Steve remembered it being in all his years of carrying it. It felt like a weight he no longer needed to shoulder. A weight that no longer belonged to him. When Sam had it in his hands, a confused look on his face, Steve gave a nod.

"Go on," he said, "try it on."

Confused, Sam slid his arm into the wrist strap and tightened it. He gave the shield a lift and a few practice swipes.

"How's it feel?" Steve asked.

"Like it belongs to someone else," Sam commented.

"Well, I think it's a perfect fit." Steve said.

He'd been thinking about this moment for awhile. Long before Thanos and time traveling and bouncing all over the universe, Steve had considered this. It was back in Wakanda, when he and Natasha had gone to Shuri in the hopes of finding some way to reverse what had been done to Nat in the Red Room. Steve told himself that, even if it didn't work, he'd be ready. Ready to hang this all up, pass the mantle on, and settle into a good, peaceful life with Natasha. Granted, he didn't know how much "peace" they'd actually get, but he knew it would be good, no matter what. And he knew he wanted to try.

Steve had thought about Bucky and Sam. Both good warriors; both great men. He knew that, if anyone could wear the shield, it would be one of them. But Bucky had spent a lifetime as someone else's weapon. He'd spent years only knowing darkness and blood. With the help of T'Challa and Shuri, he'd finally gotten his life back. He was working on finding himself and finding peace for the things he'd done when he was under the control of others. It seemed wrong to throw him back into the fighting after all that.

But Sam... Sam had been with Steve and Natasha all those years after the Sokovia Accords. He'd fought the good fight, and proven himself to be a strong, honorable man. He was smart, loyal, responsible, but most of all he was good. Steve knew, without a doubt, that if anyone could carry on the mantle of Captain America, it was Sam Wilson. Steve smiled, and looked over to Bucky.

"Don't look so relieved," he told his friend. He stood beside him and looped an arm around Bucky's shoulders. "You're not off the hook. I've got an even tougher job for you..."

...

They planned the wedding in two months. It was a whirlwind, but it was under Natasha's behest that she didn't want to be a balloon in a wedding gown, even though Steve knew that she could have worn a trash bag and still have been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. It seemed only fitting to have it at Stark's cabin by the lake, so it would not only be a place for endings, but also a place for beginnings. A place to remember the past and celebrate the future.

Pepper had been monumental in putting things together. The place looked beautiful. Two rows of flowers and small, white lanterns marked the aisle that led from the cabin down to the lakeside. Steve stood beneath an arching trellis, covered with green-leafed vines and vibrant tiger lilies that seemed to melt into the sunset. Behind him, on the lake, floated countless lotus flowers, each outfitted with a tiny candle that made the lake look like it was filled with flickering stars. A string quartet played soft music off to the side. All of their closest friends, their family, were seated in white chairs with excitement on their faces. They'd come from Wakanda and space and everywhere in between to be here. They had fought beside Steve and Natasha, so it only made sense to have them here, now.

Steve adjusted his tie for what felt like the hundredth time. Beside him, he heard Bucky chuckle.

"Can't get hitched if you choke yourself before the vows, bud." Bucky said.

Steve shot him a look. "I didn't know being best man came with so many jokes."

Behind Bucky, Sam stood with a barely-contained smile on his face. The two of them together were a more troublesome duo than dynamite and a blow torch, but Steve was happy to have them. On the other side of the aisle, Pepper and Wanda stood in pale pink dresses, holding small bouquets at their waists. They both gave Steve reassuring smiles. It was nice to have, especially in the face of all the teasing he'd gotten from Bucky and Sam. Steve didn't think he'd been this nervous in his whole life. Naturally, Bucky and Sam saw that as an opportunity that they couldn't pass up. There had been a lot of ribbing throughout the day, but when all was said and done, they'd gotten Steve to the altar and were standing at his side in full support.

A few, quiet "awwws" pulled his attention forward. Morgan, in a little white dress, her chocolate hair worn in long curls, came walking down the aisle. She had a wicker basket, inside of which were flower petals that she sprinkled liberally down the aisle. She had a smile on her face the whole time. Very charismatic, just like her father. She certainly didn't seem to be afraid of the spotlight. She came to a stop in front of Steve, took the biggest handful of flowers that she could, and threw them up into the air. Then, giggling, she scurried off to join Pepper.

The music changed.

Steve took the deepest breath he'd taken all day and looked up at the cabin. The doors opened, and Natasha stepped outside, escorted by none other than Fury, himself. She looked ethereal, in a white gown with thin straps, a lace bodice, and a flowing bottom sprinkled with sequins that glittered in the light of the setting sun. A long veil was pinned to her red hair with glittering silver leaves and flowed down the back of her dress. Around her neck was the thin, silver arrow necklace that Steve had never once seen her without. The little swell of her stomach reminded him of the unseen wedding guest nestled safely in her tummy.

He felt himself go weak in the knees. The smile that spread across his face felt like it was a mile long. The aisle did, too. Steve felt like each, slow step that Natasha took toward him lasted a lifetime. Yet, before he knew it, she was standing there in front of him, glowing like a thousand stars and smiling just as brightly. Any words he might have had were caught in his throat and just stayed there with no intention of coming out.

"It's impolite to stare, Steve." Natasha said in a low tone. She perked a brow at him, her lips pulling into a half smirk.

Behind them, their over-sized officiant cleared his throat. Bruce had gotten himself specially ordained for the occasion, which had proven to be easier than finding a suit to fit him.

"Shall we get this show on the road?" He asked.

"Don't hold things up on my account." Fury said. He looked to Steve. "Now, I know this is typically the part where I'm supposed to say something like 'If you hurt her, I'll kill you', but... I think she can handle that part all herself. So... Good luck, Captain. You've got your work cut out for you with this one."

Fury laughed at his own joke. He hugged Natasha tightly, and then shook Steve's hand. "Don't say I never did anything for ya." He said. Then, he went and took a seat next to Agent Hill.

Steve and Natasha joined hands, facing each other. "You, look..." Steve began, but shook his head, at a loss for words once more.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she replied with a half grin.

Bruce started the ceremony. He picked a few, nice verses and sprinkled in some lovely quotes that reminded them both of everything they'd gone through to get to this moment and made them appreciate it all the more. Vows and rings were exchanged. Steve and Natasha never took their eyes off each other. Green and blue stayed locked together like trees meeting the skyline. They made their promises of forever, and when it came time for "I do", Steve stepped closer to Natasha. He felt her thumb running across the metal band on his finger, and already it felt like a familiar comfort to him. He looked down into her endless eyes and saw home.

"...for as long as you both shall live?" Bruce asked.

"I do." They said, together.

Steve wrapped her in his arms and sealed the deal with a kiss.

The audience erupted into cheers. They stood up from their seats, clapping, yelling, blowing bubbles, waving sparklers, or, in the case of Stephen Strange, summoning flocks of white doves to send flying through the air. It was a sea of sound and light and color. Natasha and Steve turned to face them, hand in hand.

"How are we supposed to get through all that?" Natasha mused.

Steve looked at her and smiled. "Together," he said.