I know that I said that the last chapter was the last, but my fellow Fanfiction writer has talked me into writing an epilogue. And seriously, who doesn't love an epilogue?

On a sentimental note, I am posting this chapter only a few days before the one year anniversary of the time I wrote what I thought was the real last chapter for Bruises (Chapter 23) until I started with this sequel (the date was November 11). It's crazy how time flies. I'm so glad I decided to add on to this story with a sequel. Thank you all for making it so special.

Enjoy!

Chapter Fifty: Epilogue

Pain surged through my body, sweat dripping from my forehead as my agony increased in increments.

"Come on, baby, you can do this," Steve said, gripping my hand as I pushed with all my might.

"It's coming!" The doctor said with excited anticipation.

"Just a little more, dear. Just a little more."

My heart stopped as I looked at the bright white dress in front of me. I couldn't believe my eyes as I touched the fabric, the tulle feeling course on my fingertips. But it was the most beautiful dress I had ever laid eyes on.

Pepper and Aunt Nat stood behind me, both of them with tear-filled eyes.

"Hannah," Aunt Nat said, "come here."

She gripped me in a hug, Pepper quickly pulling in behind me.

There wasn't much that could get all three of us crying at once, but a wedding had made us all extremely emotional the past few weeks.

"Thank you both so much." I dabbed at my eyes with a white handkerchief, but it didn't stop the tears from coming.

"Think nothing of it," Pepper said, dabbing her own eyes. "It was an honor."

Tony, despite Steve and I's insistence on paying for the wedding ourselves, had paid for the whole wedding. He considered it his "uncle-y duty."

"You look beautiful," Aunt Nat said, rubbing my shoulders. "He's a lucky man."

My thoughts drifted to the coming walk down the aisle. I could only imagine Steve's face as I came down with Uncle Clint who was to give me away. Would he smile? Would he cry? The thought sent me back into tears.

"Oh, Hannah," they replied simultaneously as I continued to dab at my eyes to keep the eyeliner from smearing.

"I really think we should have gotten the waterproof makeup, don't you?" I said and we all three laughed.

"It's a little late for that now," Pepper responded with a smile.

"Pep," Tony poked his head in, though he was careful to not look at my dress, wanting to keep it a surprise for the wedding,"it's almost time."

"Yes, dear," she replied, giving me one last hug and a teary smile before walking out with Tony on her arm.

"I guess that means I need to go, too," Aunt Nat said, beginning to leave.

"Aunt Nat," I said, causing her to turn around. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"No. I mean. . .not for that," I explained. "Thank you, Mom."

The words struck a chord in her, both of us hugging again in a seemingly unbreakable bond in that moment. I couldn't help but think back to when I first met her and I had taken her for the most fake person in the world. Now, here we were, me calling her Mom and her seeing me as a daughter.

"I love you," she replied, patting my back gently as a mother would her child.

"Nat, it's time." Clint's face appeared this time from behind the door, but instead of looking away, he looked straight at me. He stopped, stunned.

"Wow," was the only word he could manage.

"Our little girl has grown up on us," Aunt Nat said, touching my arm one last time. "I'll see you at the wedding."

"I'll be the one in the white dress," I told her, giving her one last smirk as she exited, leaving Uncle Clint and I a few spare moments.

"Where did the time go?" He asked, finally making his way up to me and putting a hand through one of my curls. "I swear it was just yesterday that you were seventeen and hated us."

I laughed, thinking about the first few days when I had arrived with him to New York City. It had been so hard coming to live here, but it was the best thing that had happened in my life.

"We blinked," I answered and he heaved a deep sigh.

"We blinked," He repeated, the sadness evident in his eyes. But he refused to cry. He couldn't. If he did, it was a reminder of how Steve would be taking his place as the number one man in my life, and the thought would send me back into tears.

We walked out of the bridal room, the reality of the situation sinking in.

This is it, I thought. Today I'm getting married.

"He's lucky, you know," Uncle Clint said as we stood in front of the closed doors, waiting for them to magically open to the crowd that would stare at us walking down the aisle, waiting for me to be given away by my father. I would see Steve and would be passed on to him from Uncle Clint, standing by Steve's side instead of his. "Not every person can marry a Barton."

He smiled as he thought about his words, his mind's eye set on Aunt Nat for a moment, before slowly pulling back to the present.

"No matter what happens today..." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breathe, "you'll always be my little girl."

Pain and love shot through my heart like an arrow, the pain of him giving me away swirling with the love that had developed between us over the past few years. I could see the man that was my father now, the man that was more than the one I saw on magazine covers once in a while for an Avengers special or the man in full Hawkeye costume as a figurine. He was much more than the man that had taken me in all those years ago and more than some estranged uncle my father had not mentioned because it had pained him beyond words to think of his past. Our journey together had been long and difficult, but it had made us who we were: Bartons. The strain that had been put on the Barton family, severing it for a long time, had finally mended, bringing us together again.

"And you'll always be my father."

He gripped my arm tightly, the meaning going beyond mere words, but forming into thoughts and emotions of the past.

The music started to play, the doors opening to reveal a handful of people, people that we knew and loved, in the pews leading up to the altar. I was afraid to look up at first, for fear that all the memories of my aunt and uncle and all the times we had together would fade away forever.

But as I locked eyes with him, with his black tux and tie and smile, I knew it was okay for the memories to fade. The old memories remained, but there were new ones to be had with them, ones with Steve beside me; ones filled with Thanksgivings where everyone would sit around the table, sharing their thoughts on how thankful they were for a family, Christmases where there was love under the mistletoe and more to spare around the Christmas tree, and more laughs in the everyday-ness of life that made it worth living.

Friends and family watched as we both walked down the aisle, arm-in-arm, the emotions climbing with each step forward. I could see Pepper holding Nathan, his little suit and clip-on blue bow-tie peaking through his blanket as he gurgled happily at his father. The twins stood anxiously waiting at the altar, Natalia with her white flower-girl dress, holding on to her little blue bouquet and Barney matching the other groomsman in his little-man tux, holding a white pillow with two special symbols of love on top.

Aunt Nat dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, but she tried to hide it as best she could. I grinned inwardly at the spectacle, trying to keep tears from the public eye at bay myself. But that was a losing battle as I stood before Steve, the light in his eyes indescribable to human understanding. The only expression would be that it looked like a thousand suns were beaming in his eyes, filled with fiery warmth that touched my soul.

"Who gives this woman to this man in holy matrimony?" the minister called, his voice in the background as Steve and I were too lost in each other to notice.

"Her mother and I do." My uncle's voice resounded with pride, calling himself my father, as he took Steve's hand and placed it on mine.

"Take care of her," he whispered to Steve, giving him his old, familiar grin, laced with fatherly love. Steve nodded, now gripping my hand.

"We love you, sweetheart." He kissed me on the cheek one more time, then rejoined his wife in the front pew. I couldn't remember if I saw a tear glinting in his eye before he turned, but if he did, it was wiped away before I saw his face again.

"The couple has decided to write their own vows," the minister told the audience. In response, Steve gripped my hand, taking a quick, silent breathe.

"Hannah Elizabeth Barton, I have lived for ninety-six years on this earth, most of them frozen in time, but the rest anxiously waiting for the day that I would take a woman by the hand and call her 'my girl.' I didn't think that day would ever come for me until I met you."

He twirled the ring on my finger, his eyes fighting back the tears that I was letting fall easily down my cheeks.

"You are my world, my life and my future. I want us to be an example of God's love, showing you every day that He made you special for me. I promise to treat you with all the dignity, kindness and respect you deserve. I promise to love you to death and beyond, being true to you and you only. I promise to kiss you every day and show you how much you mean to me, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse. If you marry me, my heart is forever yours."

I didn't have to look around the room to see that there was no dry eye in the room. I tried to resist the urge to fall into his arms and cry tears of joy against his suit. Instead, he wiped the tears from my eyes.

Realizing it was now my turn, I pulled out a piece of paper and replied, "Steven Grant Rogers, five years ago, I never would have dreamed that I had met the man I was going to marry."

I thought back to the first time I had met him, back at a coffee shop while on a breakfast date with my uncle. It seemed so far away and then only yesterday. As I looked at him, the sun was shining through the stained-glass windows of the church, the colored light illuminating on his golden hair.

"You're been my best friend; the man who has calmed my fears, eased my pain and wiped my tears. You have been on every step of my journey since I came here, at first showing me true friendship and then teaching me how to love. My father would have been proud to see you here today if he were alive. He would have loved you like a son."

I glanced over to the picture of my father on the altar, his face smiling back at me, the sunlight from the windows casting warmth on his memory. It felt like he was standing there with me as I made my vows to the man I was going to marry.

"And I know he has blessed us here today."

I wanted to cry, then. Deep inside, my heart ached for him, but I knew that it was alright. He was there in my heart, and those memories would never leave.

"It's okay," Steve mouthed quietly, encouraging me onwards.

"Steven Grant Rogers, I promise to hold your hand when times are hard, to love you unconditionally as God loves us and to kiss you every day. I vow to keep to you only, forsaking all others and to stay with you, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. I promise to love you for the rest of my days and into eternity, my heart always belonging to yours."

He had grown red, his eyes puffy as he couldn't resist the urge to cry any longer.

"I love you," I whispered and he was able to give me a smile through the tears.

"And I will always love you," He whispered back, suddenly taking me in his arms, holding me close.

"And now for the rings." Barney held up the pillow with rings attached with pride, puffing out his little chest as he raised them high for Steve and I to take, both of us holding the others' ring like we were about to attach the missing piece to the others' heart.

I could hear the repetition of words from the minister on my lips as I slipped the ring on Steve's finger, just as he had done before me, but I felt so lost in his eyes that were as bright as the sunlight coming through the windows.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Captain Steven Grant Rogers."

It was a long, slow kiss, his lips meeting mine, soft and smooth, the warmth of love making us want more until he finally broke it off.

"I want to save the rest for the honeymoon." He whispered with a sly smile.

As the reception ended and it was time for the departure on Steve's bike (after changing out of my dress so it wouldn't get caught in the bike), the small group of friends and family gathered around us, giving us their goodbyes for a week-long honeymoon on the beach.

"Have fun, my friend." Thor winked at Steve, a hidden meaning in his statement.

"Take care," My aunt said, hugging me close her.

"We will," I promised. "We'll be back in a week."

"And if you have any trouble, don't hesitate..."

I cut off my uncle, saying, "You'll be the first to know." He gave me a small smile, the smile I imagine every dad has to give their daughter before they leave on their honeymoon.

"The jet will be waiting for you when you get to the Tower," Tony told us. "And you'll enjoy your ride."

Indeed, the bike had been 'decorated' with tin cans and sign on the back that said, "Just Married."

"Thank you," I replied, half-sarcastic and half grateful.

We mounted the bike, my arms having difficulty still wrapping around his large, muscular torso.

"Are you ready?" He said with a grin, knowing that the answer was more than just for the now, but for the start of the rest of our lives.

I gave him a smirk. "Absolutely."

He leaned over his shoulder, giving me the opportunity to give him one last kiss before he revved up the engine and we sped away.

Steve stroked my wet hair gently as I leaned against the back of the hospital bed, the little bundle in my arms gurgling softly, staring at the two of us with wide eyes.

"He's beautiful, baby," He said, his other hand stroking his baby boy's thin, blonde hair.

"Steven Bernard Clinton Rogers." I repeated our baby boy's name again, the name holding so much meaning to our family.

"He's got your smile already," Steve admired, watching as the little boy's lips perked a little at the sound of his name.

"Not to mention your eyes." They were a beautiful baby blue and the look of them reminded me so much of Steve.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Steve said. It didn't take long for the room to be filled with people.

"Come and meet Steven Bernard Clinton Rogers." I told them.

"You gave him two middle names?" Tony asked us. "Poor kid." I laughed.

"But the meaning is worth it," I replied, looking at my uncle, who was speechless. The name was a surprise for him, us keeping the baby's name a secret for months.

"Bernard Clinton?" He asked.

"After his two grandfathers," I told him with a grin. "Come and hold your grandson."

He gingerly took the baby boy in his arms, looking at him with instant love.

"A grandson." He beamed at the word and looked at Nat. "That makes you a grandmother."

She gave him an annoyed glance before taking the boy in her arms. "I'm not old," she replied indignantly, playing with the baby, tickling him under his chin. It was like the night she held the twins in her arms, the love in her eyes as she held them close.

Finally, Steven Jr. was placed into his father's arms, the baby appearing very small next to his father.

The twins jumped on the hospital bed, silently examining the newest addition to the family with awe.

"My son." Steve whispered. "My son."

Everything that I had been looking for in my life, what we all had been looking for in our lives, was now somehow complete. We were all a family.

THE END

Okay, now this is really the end. And I really want to cry. Writing this story has truly been an awesome experience and I hope that you all have enjoyed it. What did you all think about the ending? Again, thank you for being a part of this story. You all have been amazing!