The Glory Days

In no time at all, a week had passed by in a whirlwind, and to Steve’s surprise, he hadn’t thought about Bucky as much as he had been. His friend usually occupied his thoughts while was alone at his own apartment, and on occasion a few tears were shed, but Steve knew that with Bridget by his side, the mourning process would move all the more quickly. She had been Steve’s safe haven, his beacon of hope in the bleak world around him. Bridget made things seem bearable, and made life worth living again.

He threw a clean t-shirt over his head after having stepped out from the shower, tossing a plaid button up over that. Steve grabbed his comb and brushed his blond locks to the side in a fashionable style, making sure that every aspect of himself was in order. When his appearance seemed to be without fault, he grabbed his few belongings and headed for the door of his apartment, leaving and heading for Bridget’s to pick her up like a gentleman.

On the way, he stopped by the neighborhood florist, deciding to pick up a bouquet for her. He walked inside the small, homey store, immediately being welcomed by an elderly woman from behind the counter. “Hello, welcome,” her old voice warmly greeted. “What can I do you for, honey?”

“I’m just looking, ma’am. You have gorgeous arrangements.” He complimented.

“Thank you, dearie,” she seemed to beam with pride. “Take your time, dear, and let me know if something catches your eye.”

“I will, thank you,”

Steve began to walk around the small shop, taking in all the different buds and scents, trying to figure out which flowers Bridget might appreciate and enjoy best. He tried to visualize the different reactions she would have to different kinds of flowers, though he just couldn’t imagine which she would prefer the most. Maybe it would be best to buy the most popular flower?

“Excuse me, ma’am, but what flowers are usually well-received by women?”

The woman smiled and led him towards the front of the shop, “Usually the roses are the ones to catch a woman’s eye, sonny. Though, each rose has a different meaning.”

Steve’s brows furrowed together. “There’s more than just one kind of rose?”

“Oh, yes,” she nodded her head. “There are red, white, yellow, and lavender, among a few other colors.”

“And they all have different meanings?”

The woman nodded her head once more. “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but who is this woman you are buying flowers for?” She inquired. “Is she a friend, acquaintance, or something more?”

“Uh, w-well, something more I suppose,” Steve stammered out nervously.

She laughed in delight at how pure and innocent Steve appeared to be, and she was somewhat upset that he couldn’t have been interested in one of her granddaughters instead. Whoever he was dating was one lucky lady. “Well, then, might I suggest red, lavender or peach colored roses?”

“What do they all mean?”

“Red conveys passion, romance, love, and beauty, lavender means ‘love at first sight’, and peach signifies optimism for the future, desire, anticipation, and ‘let’s be together.’”

Steve thought long and hard for a minute or so. Red suited her perfectly. There was romance and passion between them, there was no doubting that, and her beauty was striking, though red roses seemed so overused, so cliché. He couldn’t possibly give them to her and expect her to be over the moon with joy.

Then there was lavender. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t felt something go off inside him as a child when he first met her in grade school. There had always been something about her that had caught his eye, something that made him pay extra attention to her. However, with that said, the meaning didn’t seem to have much of an impact.

Next were the peach roses. Optimism for the future, desire, anticipation, and “let’s be together.” He knew he loved her and that he wanted her in his life, he wanted to always be with her. He wanted to see themselves grow old together on the front porch a house. He wanted to create her dream home, be the man to give her what she wanted. He wanted to do it all for her. And yet as he thought more about it, he didn’t know what their relationship currently was. They held hands and kissed on occasion, but officially they hadn’t become a couple yet. He wanted to make it know that he wanted to be more than what they currently were.

“I’ll take the peach colored roses, please, your best dozen.”

She immediately gathered up the best she could, making sure they were nothing short of beautiful for Steve, before ringing up his total and giving him a generous discount.

“Ma’am, thank you, but I couldn’t possibly accept them so cheaply.”

“Nonsense, I’ve enjoyed chatting with you. You’re a sweet boy and whoever you’re interested in is one lucky lady. Good luck with her.”

Steve smiled and gave a nod of the head, deciding it best to accept the bouquet and be on his way before it got any later. He didn’t want to keep Bridget waiting. Jogging part of the way, he soon arrived before her apartment building, climbing up the stairs to her floor and knocking upon door 208.

The door opened a minute later and revealed the brunette who always seemed to be on his mind. She wore a blue pair of women’s trousers with a neat white button up tucked inside; her hair had already been pulled back into a tidy ponytail with a decorative blue scarf wrapped around it.

“Hi,” she breathlessly greeted, taking in Steve’s own appearance.

“Hi,” he sighed out, and his hand twitched as he realized that he still had the bouquet of flowers in his possession. “Here,” he extended out the arrangement of buds out for her to take. “They’re for you.”

She softly gasped at the beauty of the gift, taking them from Steve with care and inhaling their sweet, natural scent that seemed to calm her down immensely. A smile spread across her lips and she hugged Steve tightly with one arm. “Thank you, Steve, they’re absolutely gorgeous. I adore them.” She gushed, walking inside. “I’m going to put them in a vase right now!”

He sighed of relief, glad that she enjoyed his small present and walked inside after her. “I’m glad you like them.”

“Like them? Steve, I love them. They’re so beautiful.” She filled up a vase with water and placed a few of the roses in at a time, making sure to not cut herself on the thorns. Once that was done, she placed them in the kitchen windowsill, admiring them for a bit.

“So are you almost ready to go?” Steve asked.

“Hm? Oh, yes,” she nodded, snapping out of her small daydream and getting her small purse together. “I can’t wait to introduce you to my parents, Steve. Well, reintroduceyou, I mean. They haven’t seen you since we were kids.”

“Yeah, I wonder what they’ll say,”

“Well, I know my mother will gush about you,” she laughed. “She’ll talk about how you’ve grown and all that. My dad… well, let’s just say he means well.” Steve could feel an unsettling feeling overcome him for a minute, though it left when Bridget placed a small peck upon his cheek. “Don’t worry; I’ll be there to protect you.”

“That’s my line,” Steve chuckled as he took her hand, the two of them soon venturing off towards Bridget’s parents’ neighborhood.

They had taken a thirty minute cab ride into a suburban neighborhood, children played on the sidewalk, their parents looking at them with a watchful eye, and many others going about their daily routines. The air was more crisp and fresh than what Brooklyn had to offer, and it was then that Bridget realized how much she missed visiting this place.

“This is a nice neighborhood,” Steve commented.

“Yeah, I know, my parents moved out here as soon as I finished elementary. I got myself a job after high school, lived with them for a few more months, and then I was back in Brooklyn.” She sighed and leaned back in the seat of the car. “You know, now that I think of it, I don’t even know why I moved back to Brooklyn. I guess I was attracted to the hustle of it all, but now as I’m getting older, I’m starting to want to take things slower.”

“It makes sense,” Steve nodded, squeezing her hand in his as they pulled up to the curb of her family’s home.

After tipping and paying the cab fare, they got off and walked up the cobblestone pathway to the front door, knocking upon it until Bridget’s mother, Mrs. Emilia Spencer, answered it, glowing with joy at the sight of one of her daughters.

“Bridget, you finally made it!” She squealed, pulling her into a hug and kissing her cheek tenderly. “Oh, and who is this strapping young man, honey?”

Bridget laughed softly and looked to Steve to see a light tint of blush covering part of his cheeks. “Mom, this is Steve Rogers. He and I went to elementary together. Do you remember?”

Emilia scrutinized his face for a few seconds, a wide smile soon making its way upon her face before she opened her arms and pulled him in for a hug as well. “Oh, Steven! Is that you? I can hardly recognize you, you’ve grown so much! I’m sure your mother and father would’ve be proud to see the man you’ve become today!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Spencer,”

“Oh, come in, come in,” she moved aside and let them walk in, closing the door right after them. “Make yourself at home, the both of you. Oh, and Steven, please just call me Emilia.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t do that, Mrs. Spencer.”

Emilia smiled and walked up to him, cupping his face in her hands softly. “You always were such a gentleman,” she gushed. “Very well, I’ll let you call me Mrs. Spencer for now.”

“Thank you, ma’am,”

“Gracie just got here a few minutes before you both; I’ll call her in from outside.” With that said, she hurried towards the back of the house, leaving the two of them to themselves in the Spencer living room.

“Told you she was going to gush,” Bridget smiled.

“That you did,” he smiled back. “And Gracie… little Gracie?”

“Mhm, my baby sister’s all grown up now. She just graduated high school a year ago, her boyfriend Tom’s off in Germany right now and she’s working for the USO.”

“Bridge!” The brunette spun and saw her younger sister – and carbon copy, Grace Spencer, fast approaching, with arms already spread out and a grin that covered half her face.

“Gracie!”

The two siblings met each other, engulfing one another in a back-breaking hug. They hadn’t seen each other since Grace’s graduation as Bridget had been off dancing and waiting for Steve to return home and Grace was working while awaiting her own man as well.

“How’ve you been?” Bridget asked.

“Good, good, yourself?”

“Great,” she chuckled softly, taking a step back and looking over at Steve. “Gracie, do you remember who this is?”

The younger brunette studied his face curiously and shook her head. “Sorry, no,”

“This is Steve Rogers. Remember he’d walk me and you home sometimes when we were in grade school?”

She contemplated for a few seconds and then snapped her fingers. “Oh, Steve! It’s good to see you again!” She laughed. “Sorry, it’s just been forever since I’ve seen you and you’ve really… grown.”

Steve chuckled and nodded his head. “It’s fine, Gracie, really.”

“Well, well, well, who do we have here?” Mr. Spencer inquired, coming down the stairs with a cigar in his mouth. “Who is this, Bridget?”

“Dad, I’ve told you to stop smoking those things. They’re no good for you.” Bridget disregarded her father’s earlier question and then walked over to give him a hug. “Dad, this is Steven Rogers. You remember him right?”

“Steven…” he pondered the name for a second, eyeing him up and down before giving a nod. “Yeah, I remember you. You finally got some meat on those bones, boy. Good for you.”

“Uh, thank you, sir.” Steven nodded, extending his hand out for him to shake. “It’s good to see you again.”

Bill took his gesture and firmly grasped his hand. “You, too, son.” He nodded, taking a puff from the cigar and breathing it out through his nostrils. “Now, if you’re here because you’re interested in my daughter, then I expect you to take good care of my Bridget, you hear? If I hear anything about my little girl’s heart being broken, I’ll come at you with my shotgun. Understood?”

Steve chuckled nervously, giving a nod anyways. “Yes, sir, I’d never break your daughter’s heart.”

“That’s what they all say,” Bill eyed him up.

“Oh, Billy, leave the poor boy alone!” Emilia scolded.

“Dad, just stop, okay?”

“Emilia, I’ve got to take care of my little girl!” The two adults bickered for a while more, only stopping when they went full circle.

“Mrs. Spencer, it’s quite alright. I’m sure if I were the father of a girl like Bridget I’d want to do everything I could to make sure she found the right man.” Steve said, earning a glance of admiration from Billy, though he did his best to remain intimidating and indifferent.

Billy seemed to eye Steve up once more, taking another deep breath of smoke before letting it out calmly. He turned his attention to his daughter, who was watching their Mexican standoff in slight annoyance, before returning it back to Steve. “You can date him.”

And that was that.

Notes

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