A/N: And so we've come, to the end of our road...wait, wrong song. :)

OK, so, apparently, when I try to make people laugh, I end up making them cry...at least if yesterday is any indication. :D This is not pure fluff. I could never write pure fluff, at least it seems. There has to be some feeling, some emotion. But I happen to think this is at least happy. However, if you would like to cry, please feel free to do so. ;)

Anyway, sorry it's so late. It's been one of those weeks. The type where you wake up on Monday trying to figure out why it isn't Friday yet. *sigh*

The song is the title song for the series (and for this story). I'd already planned a state fair story, but wanted to tie in the song. It wasn't too difficult. It's by Lee Brice.

It takes place about a year after the previous story. It references stories #2, #10, (both in this collection), and Not for the Faint of Heart (yes, again :)). Flashbacks are in italics. I think that's all.

Thanks to all of you for reading all the way through. Thanks for the likes and the reviews especially. They are more appreciated than I can convey.

I'll never settle down
That's what I always thought
Yeah, I was that kind of man
Just ask anyone

Maria leaned against the railing and watched her daughter go around in circles in the miniature metal airplane. Hope smiled and waved every time her mother came into view again. The little girl had been happy to discover she was still under the height line for her favorite fair rides. She'd been worried ever since her friends, Mia and Gregory, had told her they were too tall this year.

Next to her, Maria felt Steve shift and she glanced at him. There were tension lines on his face in spite of his smile. She knew Hope's height and weight both worried him. But Bruce, who'd been monitoring their daughter since she was a baby, had assured them that everything, with the exception of her ability to hold her breath for an extreme length of time, long enough to make both her parents apoplectic with worry, was normal.

The ride slowed and stopped. Hope jumped out easily and ran around the gate to meet her parents.

"Can I go on the roller coaster, again?" she asked.

Steve scooped her up in his arms.

"Sure, Princess," he said.

Hope laughed as her father threw her over his shoulder.

"I'm not potatoes," she squealed.

Maria smiled.

"Let's get some water, first," she said.

It was a terribly hot day, hottest on record, she'd heard that morning.

'Of all the days to go to the fair,' she thought.

They bought three water bottles from a hot dog vendor then walked over to wait in the line for the coaster. Maria took the opportunity of the wait to reapply sunscreen on Hope's face and arms. Then she took a small amount and put it on her own neck and the upper part of her chest where her hat didn't shade.

"You know, I could do that for you." Steve leaned in and whispered.

Maria turned her head and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Steve, honestly. Do you mind? I'm trying to be cooler, not hotter."

Then she gave him her best "stop messing with me" glare.

"I don't think you could possibly get any hotter," he said, as his eyes wandered slowly down her body the just as slowly returned to her face.

By the time he looked at her she was laughing.

"You've been waiting all day to use that line," she accused.

He gave her an innocent look, then smiled in return.

"Yeah, probably," he said.

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on her lips.

They finally arrived at the front of the line and Hope gave the worker her tickets then ran and climbed into the back car of the child-size roller coaster. Steve and Maria walked toward the exit gate and Maria pulled out her phone to take a picture when Hope came into view.

After that ride they all decided to venture into one of the air conditioned halls. Hope twirled ahead of them as they walked. Maria smiled at her and slipped her hand into Steve's.

Once inside the hall, Hope quickly found a snow cone vendor and they ordered one each. Steve gave Maria his usual rueful look at her order of a so-called "suicide," which required one pump of each flavor. Hope watched wide-eyed as her mother took her first bite of the ice and declared it perfect.

"You don't know what you're missing," Maria said, and took a second bite.

She couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up as Hope and Steve gave her identical disgusted looks.

She reached into her pocket quickly for her phone as her husband and daughter began to take bites from their own snow cones.

"Wait," she commanded.

They both looked up at her in confusion and Maria took a picture.

"OK, that's good enough," she said, as she returned her phone to her pocket.

"I wanna see." Hope piped up.

Steve cleared his throat loudly and Hope looked up at him. It took two seconds, but she realized her error and corrected herself.

"May I see the picture, please?"

Maria smiled and nodded. Hope came over to her mother's arm as Maria pulled the phone out again. She turned it on to show the girl the photo and Hope began to giggle uncontrollably.

"OK, I think I'd better take a look at that," Steve said, trying to sound serious. "Make sure it's appropriate."

"It's perfect," Hope told him.

Maria turned the phone so he could see and smiled at Steve's proud smile. It had taken a long time for him to accept that his daughter was, indeed, exactly like him.

"Except in personality," Steve said.

Maria turned to him and stepped down from the step stool she had used to hang their new family portrait over the fireplace.

"She's just as stubborn as you," he said, no glint of humor in his eyes.

Maria stared at him for a moment before responding.

"Oh, because you are such a flexible, compliant person," she said, mocking him.

"I am," he agreed, still serious.

She shook her head.

"I'll go get my list," she said and turned to walk away from him.

He quickly grabbed her arm and prevented her from leaving.

"What list?"

"I have a list of every stubborn, unyielding, bullheaded thing you ever did," she informed him.

He stared at her in surprise and it was all Maria could do to keep herself from laughing.

"You keep a list for that?"

"I knew I'd need it for the day when you stubbornly tried to accuse me of being more stubborn than you," she told him.

Steve slid his hand slowly from her elbow to her wrist and pulled her to him.

"You're so efficient," he said, his voice a low rumble.

He leaned down and kissed her neck and Maria felt herself growing warmer despite the air conditioning. Steve certainly could make the most mundane statement seductive.

He pulled away and glanced at the grandfather clock across the room then turned back and raise an eyebrow in query. Maria knew that look all too well. She smiled.

"What say you and I make 'efficient' use of our time to find out exactly which of us is more 'flexible'" He pulled her closer and Maria couldn't help but laugh now, even as his hands slid to her hips.

Maria watched now as Steve and Hope slipped on arrow-shaped paper head bands. Hope handed one to her mother and Maria laughed as she rolled her eyes and put it on her own head.

"Aren't we a sight?" She stated more than questioned.

Steve pulled out his own phone now and grabbed Hope to pull her into a picture with the two of them. They took several goofy pictures, then laughed and talked as they wandered through the hall, eating their snow cones and looking at all the vendors.

"Ready to venture back out in the heat?" Steve said as they reached the last aisle of the hall.

"Yeah," Hope cheered. "Let's go see the animals."

"That reminds me," Steve said to his daughter as he pushed open the door for her and Maria. "Did I ever tell you about the time your mom and I got stuck wearing these funny animal ears at the library and I didn't notice I still had them on all day, even at work?"

Hope laughed hysterically at the thought and Steve pulled Maria's hand into his own, then kissed her slowly.

"Did you kiss Mommy in them?" Hope interrupted their kiss.

Steve and Maria laughed and Steve nodded.

"A couple times," he said.

They walked to the animals where Steve took Hope into the petting zoo. Then she rode the ponies, and, to her great delight, an elephant. After they'd seen, Maria was certain, every animal on the fairgrounds, they went in search of a place that served something besides deep fried Oreos. They found one that sold BBQ turkey and, fortunately, roasted corn on the cob, so Hope, who had decided when she was three that it was terrible to eat animals, could have something to eat.

"You have some sauce on your chin," Maria told Steve. She stopped his hand as he reached for a napkin and leaned over to kiss the small drop off his face.

Steve cleared his throat carefully as she pulled away and smiled up at him.

"Now who's making whom hot?"

Maria quirked an eyebrow at him, then let her eyes wander over his body.

"Must I state the obvious?" she asked, before they both laughed.

Love's never come my way
I've never been this far
'Cause you took these two left feet
And waltzed away with my heart

Sundown didn't mean cool down that evening. The heat was less intense, however, and Maria and Hope could stop applying sunscreen. There was no breeze and the air was heavy. Steve had no trouble with it, and Hope, and this often worried him, didn't either, but Maria was starting to look worn out. He knew she would drop before she said anything.

'And she says I'm more stubborn,' he thought.

It was barely more than a year since he and the SHIELD team had only accidentally recovered her. Maria's nearly yearlong captivity had been horrific and Steve was truly amazed she could function. Quite honestly, she'd recovered better than he.

"Why don't we ride the Ferris wheel?"

Maria's voice broke into his thoughts and Steve nodded, then followed as she turned toward the line. It was as close to an admittance of her exhaustion as he was going to get.

"We should make this our last ride, then we can go to the car and watch the fireworks from there," he suggested.

When his wife and daughter looked at him in horror at the idea he chuckled.

"The car has a/c, the grandstand doesn't." He reminded them.

They didn't look happy, but they acquiesced.

In line for the Ferris wheel, Steve got Maria to at least lean into him. He'd have carried her but he knew that suggestion wouldn't end well for him.

"Stop babying me." Maria was angry now, but Steve was frustrated so he didn't back down.

They were on the stairs, a week after she had come home from the hospital after her captivity, and Maria was struggling with the pain. Steve had made the mistake of suggesting he carry her.

"I'm not 'babying' you! I'm just trying to help," he retorted through gritted teeth.

"I don't need your help, I need to be able to do things on my own," she snapped back, her voice getting louder as she spoke.

"It's not a bad thing to ask for help, Maria" Steve said, trying to keep himself calm.

"Are you trying to make me angry, Captain?"

Steve stared at her back from the foot of the staircase. She was only on the fifth step, it had taken her a minute to get that far. Something about the way she said the words and the use of his title caused his chest to tighten. He wasn't even sure how to respond, until an old memory came to him.

He took a deep breath then walked up the five steps to stand next to her. She looked up at him. The physical pain she felt was apparent on her face. She held out her hand and he put her arm around his shoulder and she leaned on him as she took the rest of the stairs with his help. It took three full minutes before they reached the upstairs hall, by then Maria looked drained.

"I've carried you this far before." He touched her face and nodded his head toward the bedroom.

"Yeah, but there's no reward this time." She attempted a smirk.

"Any time you're in my arms it's a reward," he said.

Maria rolled her eyes.

"You're such a sap," she said, but she raised her arms to indicate she'd allow him to carry her.

Steve put one arm under her shoulders and his other under her knees and lifted her gently. In a moment he laid her down on their bed.

"I didn't know you remembered that," he said as he lay down next to her.

"How could I forget the first time Captain America tried to kiss me?" she asked, softly.

Her eyes were closed so Steve only smiled to himself and brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead.

"I remember a lot of things now," she said after several minutes. "It's what got me through."

"The first time you told me you loved me," she began. "The first time we kissed. Our wedding. The first time we made love."

She paused, then smiled after a minute.

"A lot of the times we made love," she said and Steve took her hand in his.

"How happy you were when you found out we were having a baby," she said, then shook her head. "I don't think I will ever forget the joy on your face. You looked as happy as you did on our wedding day."

"I was," Steve said.

"The first time I saw Hope," she continued. "I remember thinking it was so strange for me not to be afraid of all her tubes and wires, but you were right next to me, and I'm never afraid then.

"I thought of how the doctors and therapists were so amazed when she started walking and talking, and everything was fine with her despite all their negative prognoses.

"Every good thing that ever happened to us really shouldn't have," she said. "We never even should have met. But we did, and my life is so much better for it."

Maria opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I was so afraid of all of this, afraid that loving someone would mean that I couldn't protect myself," she said. "But it was our love that protected me while I was captive. It was our love that made me want to fight and go on."

"Daddy, you should sit in the middle and Mommy and I will sit on either side," Hope said.

They were almost to the front of the line now. Maria was still leaning against Steve, her back to his chest. He had his arms wrapped around her stomach and was supporting most of her weight, though it wouldn't look as though he was to anyone watching.

"I'd like that," Steve said.

"So would everyone on the Ferris wheel," Hope replied.

"Um, why?" Steve asked, interested to know where his daughter came up with that thought.

"Uncle Bucky told me that you are so heavy that you would make the Ferris wheel fall over if you were on the side," Hope answered, very serious about it.

Steve felt Maria begin to shake as she chuckled.

"I'll have to have a chat with your Uncle Bucky later," he said.

"OK," Hope said, then returned to watching the people in front of them board their car.

When it was their turn, Hope scrambled quickly into the car as Maria and Steve followed.

When all the cars had been filled with new riders, they swiftly began to go around and around. The breeze the motion created helped them cool down. Hope laughed in delight at the speed and lamented that it couldn't go faster. After three minutes, they slowed and the passengers were traded again. Hope began to giggle. The closer they got to stopping at the top, the more she laughed. Steve and Maria exchanged glances.

"Well, just ask yourself what you'd be giggling about in this situation," Maria told him.

Steve rolled his eyes at her.

When they were at the top, waiting to go back around and disembark, Hope clapped her hands.

"Hooray, we're at the top."

Before either of her parents could ask exactly why that was such a good thing, Hope turned to them and smiled.

"You have to kiss each other now."

Steve felt his mouth fall slightly open as he stared at his daughter.

"Why?" And this time Steve was nervous of her answer.

"Mia said that when Uncle Tony and Aunt Pepper got to the top, they kissed, and when she asked them why they told her that's what married people do."

Steve was about to respond when Maria replied.

"A romantic opportunist," she said. "Yep, she's exactly like her dad."

Steve turned to her and gave her the best hurt look he could muster under the circumstances.

"Don't look at me like that," Maria admonished.

"Well, I wouldn't take every opportunity, if you would stop being, well, so, you," was the best quip Steve could come up with because the thought of kissing Maria, here, now, ever, did things to him. It always had, since the first imaginary one in his mind all those years ago.

And now she was smiling at him and it was the kind of smile that made him feel far too warm even in winter and then she reached for the front of his shirt and pulled him slowly to her. He brushed his lips gently over hers. Behind him he heard Hope cheer. Maria started to laugh and he couldn't stop himself from laughing, either.

As they walked to the car, Steve leaned over to Maria and whispered.

"We could just go home and make our own fireworks."

Maria turned and gave him an incredulous look.

"We could just go home and work on your puns," she retorted.

"I'm sorry, did you say you wanted to work on my buns?"

Maria started to laugh and Steve pulled her to his side and kissed her temple.

"I love you," he said.

She smiled and he bent down quickly to kiss her lips.

"Aw, not yet," Hope whined.

They looked at her.

"You have to wait until the fireworks," she told them rather dramatically.

"Mia tell you that, too?" Maria asked.

Hope shook her head.

"Gregory."

Steve smiled.

"Well, how about as soon as we get to the car?"

"Steve," Maria said and gave him her "not in front of the child" look.

He only smirked at her.

"Here, Hope, we'll get there faster this way," Steve said.

He picked up his daughter then turned and handed her to a surprised Maria. Then he put his arms under Maria's shoulders and knees and picked the two of them up together.

"Show off," Maria laughed as Steve carried them across the parking lot to their car.

"Wow, Mommy. Daddy must really want to kiss you," Hope giggled.

"And then some, Sweetheart," Steve said.

Maria just shook her head and laughed at him.

They left after the fireworks and by the time they arrived home, Hope was fast asleep. Steve carried her in and Maria and he got her limp body into her pajamas and into bed.

By the time Steve joined Maria in bed he knew there would be no "fireworks" or anything else that night. He smiled as he watched his wife sleep. He thought about what she'd told him when she was rescued, that it was their love that got her through. He knew exactly what she meant. It had done the same for him, and now that he had her back he planned on giving her a million more memories to make her stronger.

He reached behind and turned out the light, then he pulled Maria to him. She mumbled something incoherent in her sleep, then she settled onto his chest. And Steve closed his eyes and slept the sleep he only could when she was in his arms.

I don't dance, but here I am
Spinnin' you 'round and 'round in circles
It ain't my style, but I don't care
I'd do anything with you anywhere
Yeah, you've got me in the palm of your hand
'Cause I don't dance