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Steve's fingers traced idly over the piano keys. He stops and randomly pressing down on one before moving on. Over and over he moves back and back and forth caressing the keys almost lovingly waiting for those brown eyes to open and focus on him.
It was a perfect day. The sun had woken them at their usual 6 am and as usual they stayed in bed for another hour just talking and teasing each other until they rose to start their morning routine. Sam took the bathroom first while Steve tidied up the room and had his daily phone call with Bucky (today’s call was mostly about a movie Bucky seen recently and Sam. A sound had gone off in the background and Bucky was cursing in 5 different languages before hanging up. Steve would call him back later). Then Steve took the bathroom and Sam made them breakfast. He made those fluffy buttery pancakes they both love and they ate it while bird watching on their porch. Their house was a quaint one-story located outside of a small urban town. The town was lively, but their neighborhood was mostly quiet with the exception of neighborhood block parties and cook-outs. They were always the only ones out that time of morning, so it felt like, for a few brief moments, the world was theirs. Mornings with Sam have always felt like that.
Steve lightly caresses the keys again. Sam had fallen asleep on the couch a few hours after they ate like Steve told him he would. He was slumped over in a way that makes Steve worry over how uncomfortable Sam was going to be once he did wake up. He looks down at the sight of his own wrinkled hands laying gently against the wood thinking of the times he would pick up and carry a drowsy Sam into their bedroom with no problem.
Those days were long since gone.
Steve had known something was off after their final battle with Thanos and his mission returning all the stones. He could feel a change within his body but tests after tests showed his vitals as normal so eventually he let it go and enjoyed his life with Sam and their team. It wasn’t almost an entire decade later when their spooning in bed that Sam sees it. Steve’s first gray hair. More grays followed after that along with some of Steve’s serum given abilities faltering. The hearing in his right ear was the first to go then his vision worsen after that. He stopped being able to lap Sam and struggled lifting weights much lighter than he usually would. By the time he officially retired he couldn’t hold the shield anymore.
Losing his powers turned out to be both a curse and a blessing. It was extremely difficult for Steve to handle the thought of his body determining in fear of it returning to his pre-serum state, of being so weak and vulnerable to the elements there was no way he could continue doing missions with Sam and watch his husbands back. But then, one night a few days after they were told that the changes to Steve’s body were permanent, Sam had mentioned casually, “you know, I always wanted to go see the Grand Canyon.” He turned to him with a smile on his face and that look in his eyes that still made Steve’s heart race and said, “let’s go see the Grand Canyon baby.” They were on the way to Nevada the next day.
It takes a few moments, but finally Sam's eyes blink open and the man shoots up into an upright position. Steve winces at the same time Sam does as the man hands come around to rub at his back. Because he is a nice husband, Steve’s going to hold in the ‘I told you so’ and instead basks in the warmth that comes from those pretty brown eyes focusing in on him. They’ve been married for 14 years now, but still all it takes is a look and a lazy drowsy smile for Steve’s cheeks to heat. Sam’s chuckle in that low raspy voice only makes it worse. He jerks his attention back to the piano as arms wrap around his middle.
“Hey baby,” he presses a kiss to Steve’s cheek and mutters into Steve’s good ear. A habit that was no longer needed now that Steve started wearing hearing aids, but he still appreciated it all the same. “how long was I out.”
“Not long, a couple hours at most.”
Steve leans back into the embrace turning his head to deliver a proper kiss. Their lips move unhurried falling into a familiar rhythm of push and pull pressed together until there wasn’t space left between them. Eventually Steve pulls away. As much as he’d love to continue this, his elbow digging into the wood of the piano called him to refocus. He gestures for Sam to move back to the couch and returns his hands to the keys.
“Oh, are you going to finally let me hear what you’ve been practicing? I know you’ve been playing a new song”
“You weren’t supposed to be listening!”
“Relax I wasn’t. I even put on those earmuffs like you asked”
“Good.” Steve would have been upset if the surprise he was working on for months was already ruined. He glances back at Sam looking interestingly between the piano and Steve. He can clearly picture the man he spotted jogging that morning all those years ago. He had seen that face change many times throughout the years into the matured version it is now. No matter what age, Sam still takes his breath away.
A melody very familiar to both of them rings out into the room as Steve begins to play. He watches as Sam catches on almost instantly. With a delighted laughter, Sam grins like a fool as he plays through the song. He had perfected the beginning and the ending, but all week Steve struggled with getting the middle of the song right. He stumbled a bit, but Sam didn’t seem to care. His husband was up swinging around the room as he sung, “This I know baby
Girl, I ain't gonna let it sweat me, baby
I come up hard, but now I'm cool
I didn't make it sugar, playin' by the rules
I come up hard baby, but now I'm fine
I'm checkin' trouble sugar
Movin' down the line”
When he finishes Sam pulls him into a kiss laughing into his mouth. “Trouble Man, really Steve? You’re so cheesy.”
“Yeah and you love it” Steve whispers against his lips. “Happy Anniversary sweetheart”
“Happy anniversary Steve.” They kiss a couple more times before Sam starts pushing him back towards the piano. “Play it again!”
He does, and all the neighbors hear from the Wilson-Rogers house that night is the sound of laughter and Marvin Gaye.