Stephanie suckled upon the bottle Bridget held to her mouth quietly, her blue eyes darting around her surroundings while Bridget hummed a soft tune to her daughter. The baby's eyes soon began to droop, her eyelids covering those blue orbs in minutes as Bridget lay her down in her crib for her afternoon nap. Silently adoring her child for the umpteenth time in the last hour, she found she had to leave her daughter's side when there was another knock upon the door.

The mother kissed her daughter's temple gently to not wake her from her sleep and left the den area where she had the crib at, creeping her way across the hall and to the front door. As she opened it, she was somewhat surprised to see Peggy Carter standing there. As much as she loved Peggy, she couldn't help but feel her stomach drop, for whenever the brunette came, so did bad news.

* * *


Bridget Rogers had been dead for more than five years now, and from another part of the cemetery, she could see her parents, sister and her own growing family, and her daughter, Stephanie, visiting her grave. Her parents had gray hair, Gracie and her husband had two teenage boys with one little girl, and Stephanie was now at the age of fourteen years old. As she watched the Spencer family say their goodbyes to the tombstone, she slowly approached it when they were out of sight.

They left the usual flowers, and to her surprise, one card was placed right beneath them. Picking it up from under the bouquets, she opened it and read the few words that were scribbled upon the piece of paper to herself.

Mom,I'm turning fifteen a month from now. I wish you could be here with me. I miss you celebrating my birthdays. I know this is childish of me to be writing you a letter at this age, but it's comforting. It makes me feel like you're really listening to my problems, like you're not so far away. Aunt Gracie still always tells me about how you raised me with love and how you sang me to sleep, and I wish I could remember my childhood better than I do now. I know you loved me mom, and I know that dad loved me, too. Aunt Gracie still doesn't talk about him, the same goes for grandpa and grandma. Grandma only told me he was a sweet guy, and that I have his smile. I love you, mom. I'll continue to make you proud in heaven.
Love you always,
Stephanie


Biting back the tears that threatened to spill over, she pocketed the small note and looked over to where she saw the Spencer family driving out of the cemetery. Lighting up a cigarette, she shakily breathed in after bringing it to her lips. Taking a long and satisfying drag, the smoke that filled her lungs sent the usual wave of ease upon her. "Yeah, Steve," she murmured to herself, the tears once again beginning to build up. "Those were the glory days."

If Bridget was going to continue living, she was going to do it as a Spencer – not as a Rogers.

Notes

What did you just read?

I don't know what your facial expression is right now, but I'm pretty sure you just don't know what the heck you read. I mean, even I was like, "Whaaat am I doing?" while typing it out. Obviously.... THIS CALLS FOR A SEQUEL! Look up at the right hand corner of the story page screen, folks!

Yeah, that's the sequel.

You can go ahead and click it to check it out, BUT READ THE REST OF THIS FIRST.

I really only have a few things to say. One, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS STORY. It's definitely got a special place in my heart, and so do all of you because you read it (perhaps even commented or recommended it). So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for that!

Next thing to talk about is the sequel. On the sequel's story page, there is a Characters tab. DO NOT CLICK IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RUIN THE STORY. THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THERE.

You know, I had so much that I wanted to talk about in this Author's Note, and for the life of me, I can't remember what the heck I wanted to say. ::facepalm: