Happy Birthday, Steve!

Of course Independence Day, the 4th of July, is the birthday of Steve Rogers, Captain America! . . . Or is it?

The stone's in the midst of it all by togina -- My summary: The true story of Sarah Rogers and her son Steve's background. A beautifully written story of how the mythology of Captain America began. Author's summary: Sarah Rogers was born to fight an unwinnable war. She wonders how it could be, sometimes, that she gives birth to a boy who does not understand defeat.

Excerpt:

When the boy is born, late that year, as dusty air begins to freeze, she tells the doctor – she knows them all now, is one of the only women on her block to give birth at the hospital, simply because she was already there, because she is always there, surrounded by the dead and the dying – what date to write before she tells him the name, thinking of summer heat and parades and fireworks. “There something wrong with November?” he wonders, even as he scribbles “July 4, 1918” next to DOB.

“It's not poetic,” she answers, slumping against the pillow, watching the small, red-faced infant wave his fists and mewl at the cold. Dr. Parker is from Brooklyn as far back as his parents can recall, and so he would not understand that the words he prints are the child's enlistment papers, the baptism scheduled for next week his induction into the war.

“Especially for the Irish son of a war hero,” the doctor agrees, because he's heard her story. Because people need something beyond the dead lining the corridors, the hungry children snatching penny treats – they need a story that makes them smile. “Gonna name him after his pop?”

“Steven,” she nods, because there is no reason to say that it is her father's name, instead. “Steven Grant Rogers.”

Dr. Parker takes it down in messy scrawl, hands it off to the nurse and smiles at them both. “Well, there you have it, Sarah. Little Steve Rogers, born on the Fourth of July.”