Chapter Text
Sammie couldn’t remember the last time she was this nervous. Ever since they left Chris’ place this morning, she had been a ball of nerves. Normally, Sammie isn’t this nervous when she goes home to see her family. But this time around she just wasn’t going home alone, she was bringing Chris to meet her family. She thought this would a good time to bring him to see her family, since everyone was going to be there, including her brother and his family, considering they always went to her parents’ house for Labor Day.
“Hey Babe, relax. It’s going to be okay. You have nothing to worry about okay?” Chris reassured her by taking her hand in his and gently squeezing it as he looked over and smiled at her.
“Chris, you don’t know my family. Once I told them who my boyfriend was, my dad was was less than thrilled. He kept asking me if you make happy, and do you really love me. And my favorite was how does he expect to make you happy when he is going to be gone filming leaving my baby girl all alone? So, just be prepared for his questioning. I’m sure you get it all the time. But after what we went through, he seems to be more guarded. And don’t get me started on my brother. He’s wicked protective of me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to size you up.” Sammie just kept on rambling as Chris listened patiently to her growing concerns.
“Oh but my niece and nephew will love you. Except they only know you as Captain America, so be prepared for their little eyes to grow big with excitement.” She began to smile a little bit talking about her niece and nephew. “Plus, you’re Peter’s favorite superhero. He idolizes you. He walks around saying he wants to be just like Captain America.” Sammie finished her mini rant and Chris just smiled at her.
“You know, you’re kind of cute when you’re nervous.” Chris chuckled as he leaned over and pressed his lips to Sammie’s temple.
Punching him, Chris let out a groan. “That’s for calling me ‘cute’ when I’m nervous. I’m not cute, I’m fucking gorgeous.” Sammie laughed as she rested her head on Chris.
The spent the rest of the flight enjoying each others company. For Sammie she was enjoying the calm before the storm.
“Hey will you stop worrying? I know what you’re thinking even if you think your looking out the window, not thinking about it. It’s gonna be okay. Just think of it as bringing a friend who is a boy instead of a boyfriend” Chris placed his right hand on Sammie’s knee to help calm her.
She looked up at him and smiled as her put her hand on top his to let him know she trusts him in what he says.
Somehow he always knew how to calm her. That was one of the things she loved about him. No matter what she was nervous or worrying about, he knew exactly what to do or say to help her.
The entire drive from the airport to Sammie’s childhood home, she didn’t talk at all. Instead she looked out the window taking in all of her surroundings. Sure she was nervous about bringing Chris to meet her family. Who isn’t? But she was nervous because of her dad’s reaction from their earlier conversation. She didn’t want the focus of the weekend to be about Chris and how he thinks this is going to work when he leaves next month to film. Instead she wanted her family to be happy for her that she found someone she loved; someone she might possibly see a future with.
Pulling into the driveway, Sammie took a deep breath before she introduced Chris to her family. Chris didn’t even get a chance to turn the ignition off before Sammie’s mom opened the front door and make her way over to the couple.
“Sammie sweetheart! Oh Steven, Sammie is here!” Sammie’s mom called back into the house to let her husband know their daughter arrived.
“Hey Mom! How are you? I missed you.” Sammie said as her mom pulled her into a hug, practically pulling her out of the car.
“Hey baby, I missed you too. Oh my, he looks even cuter in person. Please tell me you’re not giving him a run for his money?” Kara whispered in Sammie’s ear while looking directly at Chris.
“Mom! Really?!” Sammie whispered loudly at her mother’s claim.
“What?! I’m just saying. Besides, the way he’s looking at you, I think you found a keeper.”
“Thank you Mom.” Sammie squeezed her mom one last time before mom made her way over to Chris.
“You must be Chris. It’s nice to meet the man who stole my baby’s heart.” Kara said as she went to hug Chris.
“It’s nice to meet you too Mrs. Davis.” Chris hugged back looking up at Sammie who was standing there smiling.
“Call me Kara. Calling me Mrs. Davis, makes me fell too old.”
It didn’t take long for Sammie’s dad to come out and greet his baby girl and Chris.
“DADDY!” Sammie exclaimed as her ran over to her dad, only to swept up into a hug.
“Hey Pumpkin! How was your flight down here?”
“It was good.” Sammie squeezed her dad before they ended their embrace. “Oh and Daddy, please be nice.” Giving her dad a look to let him know she wants everything to go okay this weekend with no hiccups.
“What? Sweetheart, I just want what’s best for my little girl.”
“Daddy he makes me happy. All I’m asking to give him a chance. He loves me and I love him. So be nice.” Sammie was assertive with her dad.
Just as Sammie was finishing her little talk with her dad, Kara brought over Chris to introduce him to her husband.
“Steven, dear, this is Chris, Chris this is Sammie’s father Steven.” Kara introduced the two and noticed her husband change his demeanor when he was introduced to Chris.
“Nice to meet you Sir. Sammie speaks very highly of you.” Chris reached out to shake Steve’s hand.
“Well she is a daddy’s girl.” Steve replied.
Sammie just rolled her eyes at the two men. Her mom took that a cue to moves things inside the house for the time being.
“Okay, let’s get these two settled in, shall we?” Kara asked to the group. “Chris, Sammie, since your brother and his family are staying the weekend, you two are just gonna stay in your room, since the guest room is being used for the kids. I didn’t think you would care since I’m sure you two…”
“Okay MOM! We get it. Let’s just get everything in the house then.” Sammie rolled her eyes at her mom for making that statement. The last thing she needed was to be embarrassed by her family this weekend, which would add to her climbing anxiety.
Chris and her dad grabbed their bags and brought them inside, following Sammie and her mom. Once they got into the house, Sammie grabbed her suitcase from her dad and had Chris follow her upstairs to her room.
“Sorry about my mom. She can be a little forward sometimes.” Sammie turned head around as she told Chris.
“It’s okay babe. Believe me, she isn’t that bad. I’ve met more embarrassing moms.”
“What, like yours?” Sammie scoffed. “But I love when she shows me videos and pictures of baby you. You were so adorable; not saying you aren’t now. I mean you fucking hot but still. Plus, I’m sure my mom is going to show you some photos and videos of me too. So just you wait.”
They made their way down the hall to the last door on the right. Sammie could not have been any happier that her mom was on the opposite end of the hall from her parents.
Sammie opened the door to her room. As soon as she opened the door, Chris picked her up bridal style, getting Sammie to squeal as he carried her past the threshold.
“Christopher! What are you doing? This is only works when you get married.”
“Well I’m making an exception then. Plus, maybe this is just practice.”
Before Sammie would respond to what Chris just said, her mom called for them downstairs.
“Sammie! Chris! Could you two please come down. I need a favor.”
“Sure Mom! Be right down.” Sammie sighed as Chris put her down. She wrapped her arms around Chris and pulled his face to hers to plant a kiss on his lips before they headed downstairs.
Once they made their way downstairs, they found her mom in the kitchen going over something written on a piece of paper.
“Oh, you two are down already. I thought you would some time alone.” Kara seemed surprised to see her daughter soon after she needed them
“Well you sounded like you needed us, and Mom, we have plenty of alone time.” Sammie smiled at her mom, making Chris slightly uncomfortable.
“Anyways, I realized I am short on some things for the weekend and I want to make sure we have them before your brother comes later this afternoon. Would you two mind going to the grocery store for me?”
“Sure Mom. You have the list?” Sammie asked as she was making her way further into the kitchen.
But before Sammie could retrieve the list from her mom, her dad came in the kitchen and snatched the list off the counter.
“How about I go instead? I need something to do. Plus I thought it would provide an opportunity to get to know Chris. What do you say?” Steven turned so his attention was focused at Chris as he asked the question.
“Uh yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”
Sammie looked to her mom with a pleading look to help her out in this situation. She could only imagine what her dad was going to ask Chris in the car. Her dad had already taken to list and made his way to the car. Sammie turned to face Chris and gave him a weak smile before she sent him off to hell.
“Good luck with my dad. He’s gonna interrogate you like a criminal ya know. At least he would do that at dinner. But since you’re going alone with him, shit, I don’t know what to tell you. I love you no matter what happens.” Sammie reached up to pressed her lips to Chris before he left to go with her dad.
“Babe you make it seem like I’m not coming back. It will be okay.” And with that he left to go to the store with her dad.
Chris couldn’t understand why he would think the car ride with her dad would go anything other than good. For him it always ended up good. Chris always got told about how the dad was always protective over the daughter, and to be ready to be interrogated as if he was some prisoner. So when, Sammie told him about how protective her dad was over her, Chris brushed it off as if it was no big deal.
The two men hadn’t even left the driveway when Steve began to ask Chris questions.
“I’m sure Sammie has already warned you about how protective I am over my little girl?” Steve asked as he was backing out of the garage.
“Yes, Sir she has” Chris responded while looking out the front windshield.
“Steve please. Sir, sounds like I’m asshole, who likes to boss people around. Anyway, I am sure you are a good guy. I’ve done some research on you.”
Chris’s eyes widened as Steve confessed to googling his daughter’s boyfriend.
“Oh no, not like that. I just wanted to get an idea of who my daughter was dating. Plus, it’s like a free background check. ” Steve chuckled as he saw Chris’ expression.
“No, I just have never heard a parent tell me they googled me. That’s a first.” Chris confessed. His nerves were beginning to take over. And at the rate this was going, he wasn’t sure if he was going to make it back to her house.
“Look I am sure you are a good guy and all, and that’s what it seems, but I really have one question for you.”
Chris couldn’t get any words out so he just nodded to let Steve continue.
“I know Sammie loves you. Every time I talk to her, I can tell her lights up every time she talks about you. And it makes me happy to see my daughter has found someone who makes her happy. But can you always keep her happy? You travel for work right? And Sammie has mentioned to me that in the coming months you leave for a good chunk of time. She can’t always travel due to work obligations. So how are you going to make her happy? Because if I am correct, the last time you two took a break, she was heartbroken. And I don’t want to ever see her that up-happy again.” Steve’s voice grew concerned and forceful as his mini-monologue went on.
Chris seemed liked he had his answer all set and ready to go. He and Sammie discussed in grave detail about how they were going to work out them being apart while he was filming. Neither were happy about it. Chris would try to come back up to Boston when he could and if Sammie could take a long weekend, she would come down and visit. But now he wasn’t sure if his answer would suffice.
“You are correct. Sammie loves me as much as I love her. I know we had a bump in the road in the beginning of our relationship, but we’ve moved on and worked past it. As far as my work goes and my commitment to Sammie, I am 100% committed to her, if not more. We have discussed in grave detail about how we are planning to make sure we make time to see each other. We won’t always be able to see each other, but we have phone calls, texts, FaceTime, and other means of communication. I’m not trying to mold my answers to your liking. Whether or not you agree with our decisions and choices on how we plan to make our relationship work through this, we are committed to each other, I would go to the end of this world for your daughter to make sure she is always happy.”
Not only was Sammie’s dad surprised by Chris’ assertiveness, but so was Chris.
“Well son, I must say, I don’t think I have ever had any man talk about my daughter the way you do. Just by how you talk about her, you do care and love for her. And that is all I want for her. I’m sure when you go to have your own family, you will understand.”
Meanwhile, back at the house, Sammie was getting rather anxious with her dad and Chris alone. She was pacing around the kitchen until her mom stopped to hand her a glass of wine, hoping it would calm her nerves.
“Sammie, here. You need to stop worrying about your Dad. You know he just wants the best for you. And I’m sure Chris can handle him. Honestly, I think Chris might be the one to set your dad straight.” Kara handed a glass to wine to her daughter and sitting down on one of the chairs around the kitchen island.
“I know Mom. But you know how dad his sometimes. I think he worries a little too much about me. I’m a big girl. I can handle myself now. And I know Dad. He’s going to ask Chris about me being happy and all that crap, especially after that happened in July. He has to know, that Chris and I can work through it. I don’t understand why you seem to be so calm about all of this anyway, Mom.” Sammie took a large sip of the wine her mom gave her.
She couldn’t figure out her Mom which was unusual since she could normally read her mom like a book, she was that obvious and predictable in anything and everything she does and says.
“Don’t worry Sammie. I’m telling you. I talked to you dad about all of this; after you and Chris took your break. It broke my heart to see you upset about it, even though you were the one who wanted it. But after you two got back together, I could tell by talking to you how happy you were again. You wouldn’t stop talking about all of the things you and Chris were doing and how happy he was making you. And you know that is all your dad wants. So I decided to have a little talk of my own with your father. So you don’t have anything to worry about.”
If there was one person in this world who could get to Steve, it was Kara. She knew how her husband could be when it came to his children, but she also knew her children. They didn’t like when their parents would try push their way into their personal lives. As stubborn as Steve could be, he knew what the consequences were if he were the cause of his own children’s heartbreak.
An hour later, the boys returned back from the store. Sammie nearly jumped out her chair from the kitchen where she and her mom were catching up, when she heard the garage door open.
“Hey Dad and Chris! Do you need any help bringing anything in from the store?” Sammie was trying to get a read on the situation between her dad and Chris and couldn’t figure out if their conversation went well or not.
“No sweetie we have everything.” Her dad kissed her head as he made his way into the house with a couple of bags.
“Like your dad said, we have everything babe. I promise there is nothing to worry about. I’ll tell you later.” Chris leaned down to capture Sammie’s lips.
Sammie leaned into the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, she deepened the kiss. With their tongues dancing, Chris grabbed Sammie’s body, pressing it against his. She could feel his hardening bulge straining against his denim. But before they could carry on with their little rendezvous, Sammie broke it off, pressing her forehead against his.
“Why don’t we finish this later, okay?” Sammie kissed him on the cheek before she left him in the garage for a minute trying to compose himself.
The four were in the kitchen all helping preparing for dinner. Mikey wasn’t due in town for a couple more hours with this family, so this gave everyone time to make sure the food was prepped and everything was ready to go.
“Mom, when is Mikey and the family coming over?” Sammie asked as she was was helping Chris set up place settings in the dining room.
“He should be here in the next thirty to forty-five minutes why?” Kara called back from the kitchen.
“Well, I wanted to know if you told him about Chris coming, since Peter is a HUGE Captain American fan. And to warn Mikey since he wasn’t too happy after the whole July incident.” Sammie walked back into the kitchen.
“I didn’t tell Mikey about you bringing Chris. I assumed your father did when we planned this.” Kara looked up from what she was doing to look at her husband to make sure he talked to their son.
“No I didn’t tell Mikey. I assumed your mother did.” Peter responded as he handed Chris an open beer when he saw him come back from the dining room.
“Great, this is just great. How are going to explain this to Mikey Mom, and Dad? You know how Mikey feels about Chris.”
“Your brother doesn’t like me?” Chris asked Sammie.
“I think like is an understatement. When I talked to him last, he was still pissed about us being together after what happened this past summer. He told him he doesn’t want to be in the same room with you in fear he might not control himself.”
As Sammie finished telling Chris about her brother’s feelings towards him, they heard the doorbell ring followed by,
“Mom, Dad, Sammie, we’re here!”