Work Text:
Steve has been gone for 17 days with no contact.
Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal. He was an important man with an important job. Duty calls, you know the drill. But you’ve had the week from hell and all you could think about was his strong arms wrapping you up.
Your daughter, Bria, got sick at daycare. Typical for a 4 year old. They get sick all the time. Until her cold turned into bronchitis.
Bronchitis meant no daycare.
No daycare meant working from home.
You were grateful your job offered it, but no work gets done with a toddler around. Between wrestling her to take her medicine, playtime, eating, the endless snacks she demanded, plus working from home, nothing got done.
And you were tired. Exhausted was an understatement.
She wasn’t getting a full nights sleep and neither were you. When she woke up coughing, you were there with water and her prescribed inhaler to help her breath, which meant another wrestling match since she hated the inhaler.
By day 8, you were just on autopilot. It was Friday, you could take a half day. “Just get through the day until bedtime,” you kept telling yourself. You counted down the minutes, letting her watch whatever she wanted, drug out bath time.
When bed time finally came, you shut her door and looked out into the living room and kitchen and heaved a heavy sigh. The apartment was a disaster.
With a toddler, you embraced the messiness. There was no sense to follow her around, picking up toys when she would just take them back out again. No, the mess didn’t bother you. But this wasn’t messy, this was dirty.
You haven’t swept or mopped in at least a week. The dishes were piling up, the trash was overflowing, you could barely see the floor from all of the toys. But that would have to wait.
A shower was needed.
4 days was your limit and only so much dry shampoo could help before you had to wash your hair. You needed the self care. She would be up in a few hours anyways, this was the only time to get it done.
You slipped out of your sweats and turned on the water. The hot water felt like little needles against your skin, but you didn’t mind. Anything to forget the tightening in your chest.
Yes, kids get sick, especially in daycare. It was a germ cesspool. That didn’t make it feel any better when she actually did get sick. It was always a hassle getting her to take her medicine. And it was just you that took care of her. You had no help, being a single mom since she was born. Trevor, her dad, if you could call him that, left before she was born. Wanted nothing to do with her. No, you didn’t need anyone. You could do it on your own.
Or so you thought.
Steve.
God, Steve.
Only been together for 8 months now, but somehow he had wedged his way into your heart. When he was around, he’d never let you lift a finger. Always carried the groceries, fixing odds and ends things around the apartment, made dinners when you were swamped with work, and he adored Bria.
You didn’t deserve him and it scared you to feel reliant on him. He’s been gone for 17 days and you needed him, and that scared you.
Were you loosing a part of yourself? Were you using him as a crutch? What if he leaves?
Your chest tightened again and this time you didn’t hold back. A sob escaped your lips as tears fell down your face. The past week has been hell and it finally wore you down. Your throat burned, head pounding, as you finally unraveled.
Strong arms wrapped around you from behind and pulled you close. I must be dreaming, you thought to yourself, until you felt Steve’s nose nestle by your ear.
“Shh, honey. It’s ok, I’ve got you,” his low voice rumbled in his chest. You tilted your head back, resting on his chest as he swayed you back and forth under the water, holding you as you put yourself back together.
Peace.
Finally, something sturdy to remain afloat.
When your crying finally stopped and the water ran cold, Steve slowly turned you around to face him. Your eyes were still closed, but you felt his thumb gently brush your cheek to wipe away a stranded tear.
“You truly are the strongest woman I know,” he said softly. You scoffed as you finally looked up at him. Another reason why you didn’t deserve him, his compliments towards you. Putting you on the highest pedestal.
“Bria is sick. She has bronchitis,” you said looking down at your feet. You noticed the dirt washing off of him, taking note that he came straight to your place from his unknown location.
“You know that’s not your fault, right?” You dodged his question by turning around, grabbing the loofah and some soap. When you turned back around, you began to wash him down. His hand grabbed your wrist to stop you. “Y/N?”
“I know, I just-,” you whispered. “I feel horrible.” He let go of your wrist and pulled you back into him, placing his hand under your chin to tilt your head back.
“Y/N, you’re doing an amazing job and you’re a wonderful mother. Everything good about that little girl, you single handedly did it yourself. You’re the real superhero here.”
You chuckled at his corny joke and a small smile spread across your face as you stared back into those big blue eyes. You reached up to move a longer piece of hair away from his face, you noted that he would probably ask you to cut his hair soon.
“I’ve missed you so much, Steve,” you said cupping his cheek. He kissed the inside of your palm and took your hand.
“Not as much as I missed you,” he said before kissing you so hard and so deep, his need for you to invade his space and to never leave. His hands were everywhere. Steve was always a passionate man, letting love fill him and to gladly give it back in return. Finally getting a taste of him after 17 long days.
A small cough echoed the bathroom that made you guys part. You peeled back the shower curtain and watched the baby monitor. Bria was having another one of her coughing fits.
“Let me,” he said placing a kiss on your forehead. He quickly dried himself off, threw on some sweats and dashed to her room. You turned the water off and wrapped yourself in a towel and watched the baby monitor. Steve knelt down to her bed and rubbed her back, offering her water that you kept by her bed. When she finally calmed down, she threw her arms around his neck.
“I missed you, daddy,” she said. Your heart sank as you held your breath. She normally addressed him as Stevie or Steve, never dad. She knew that Steve wasn’t her dad, and you made sure to not let her know he was your boyfriend until very recently because you wanted to make sure Steve and you were serious.
You were frozen, waiting to see what would happen. Steve wrapped his arms around her and cradled her head.
“I missed you too, sweetheart,” he said placing a small kiss to her cheek. He held her and rocked her until she fully fell back asleep. You changed into some pajamas, a shower long forgotten as you waited for him on your bed.
Steve’s large frame filled the door way as he entered your room. You stared at him for a moment, searching his face for any emotion before you said anything.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why she-,” you started.
“Don’t worry about it. Honest mistake,” he said with small laugh, moving around the bed to lay down. He motioned you to lay down with him. Your head fell to his chest, immediately being soothed by his beating heart. His arm wrapped around you, lightly tracing the length of your arm as he rested his cheek on the top of your head. “They gave me the next month off. I have to go in tomorrow for debriefing and some paper work, but after that I’ll be off so I can help around here.”
He said it so casually, comfortable with the domestic life. Normally, you would put up a fight, but hearing how much he cared about you and Bria made your heart swell.
“You don’t have to do that,” you said pushing past the lump forming in your throat.
“I want to,” he said giving you another kiss on your forehead. “Gotta take care of my girls.”
Tears prickled the edges of your eyes again.
“I love you,” you said before you could stop yourself. You shot up, eyes widened and your heart racing. “I’m sorry. That just came out. I know we haven’t been dating long and I don’t want to rush anything. You don’t have to-,” Steve sat up and cupped your cheek.
“I love you too,” he whispered. A nervous smile spread across his face. The heat in your chest grew. Anxiety melting away. Lips crashed together, sharing breaths as you whispered I love you‘s to one another.
Maybe relying on Steve wasn’t so scary after all.