Avenger-Nerd-Mom meets Chris Evans

(Update September 2017- For personal reasons I have decided to pull the images from this post.  Just imagine cute, adorable fan photos of Chris and I both wearing plaid!)

The long lines didn’t bother me.  I knew who was on the other side of that red curtain at the end of the line, and who was by my side while I waited.  I’d been dreaming about meeting both for months and the time had finally arrived.  @thewife101cevans and I were finally in the same place together and we were waiting to see Chris.  It was like I’d known the woman by my side my whole life.  It would surprise others to see us together to realize we just met face to face the night before.  I was so excited we were going to share this epic moment together, and just a little giddy that Chris had appeared that morning in plaid, a personal favorite of mine and a certain saucy red-headed character I write.

Such a favorite in fact, @thewife and I were both in plaid for our photo op too!

We spent the time chatting, messaging friends and people watching. Her nerves were evident so I was trying to keep mine at bay.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her my heart was pounding and I was beginning to think I couldn’t do this.  The man who haunts my dreams in the best of ways was just within reach.  There were so many dreams and expectations, but I knew as the line began to move faster our hopes for the cute posed photo we’d planned out was slowly slipping out of our reach.  I still had our prop in my hand, another plan quickly forming in my mind.  I was determined to give him the item I’d saved for weeks, knowing gifts in photo ops really aren’t allowed.

We stepped behind the closed red curtain and I saw his smiling face, already looking tired. We quickly set our bags on the table and we were pushed forward for our turn in front of the camera.  Things were moving so fast, like a movie speeding forward.  Chris simply stepped aside from Hayley to make room for @thewife and I in between them.  Smiling, I looked into his blue eyes and said, “Oh, no, honey, I wanna be on your other side,” and he simply laughed and opened his arm to pull me next to him.  I moved my arm around behind him and felt the well-worn plaid of one of my favorite Evans’ shirts beneath my shaky hand. Soft and warm, just like the man beside me….

And it was over.  I didn’t even realize the camera clicked.  As the next fans began to move forward for their picture, I offered Chris our prop- a bag of Starburst jelly beans.  He enthusiastically thanked me and as he took the bag from me, my hand ran along his palm to the tips of his fingers. As a fangirl, a writer of smut, I’d like to say there was an instant spark, but there wasn’t.  It was warm and friendly, and his hands were soft.  He thanked me again, and looked me in the eye with his beautiful baby blues.  It happened in a split second and I stepped aside.

I thanked Hayley and told her she looked beautiful and her sweet accent replied, “Thank you.”

It all happened so fast.  Maybe even less than two minutes!  I stepped to my bag, checking that @thewife had hers.  She was so dazed; she had forgotten it on the table.  I grabbed it for her and we made our exit, collapsing in each other’s arms, only to find Tom Hiddleston walking right in front of us!  I squealed, thinking I needed to get a picture for @mistressjenbradlee and friends back home, but I couldn’t get to my phone fast enough.

In the blink of an eye, another moment had passed.  I was determined to try to make more time for my second opportunity to meet Chris.

Yup. I’m a lucky bitch who had more than one opportunity to see those beautiful blue eyes again!

As a fairly new writer in the Evans fandom, some wonderful readers have been by my side from the beginning.  I had the wonderful opportunity to get to meet several of them over the weekend, and have bonded with them over the last few months.  One girl I’m lucky enough to call “friend” is @virtualgirlfriendsan, who contacted me after falling for #TeamErica, but I didn’t hold that against her.

When she was talking about making the visit to Philly, I encouraged her to go, and she made me promise if I went, that I would join in her photo op.  At the time, I laughed off her offer, but said yes, knowing it wasn’t in my finances to go.  I knew I would bow out gracefully later.  But plans changed, and on Sunday, I found us waiting in line together with @thewife and @master-of-duct-tape.  Can I say I fangirled too?  These two amazing writers influenced me to start writing and I found myself in awe throughout the weekend.

The line passed quickly simply because we were together.  We saw Tom Hiddleston again and I was able to snap some photos.  We admired the cosplay of others and continued to bounce story ideas off one another during our wait.  As the line advanced towards the red curtains, once again things were speeding forward.  I reminded @virtualgirlfriendsan she had something important she wanted to share with Chris and told her to make time to take a second to say it, or she’d always regret it.

The young girl working at the curtain was so cute and just as excited to be close to Chris as we were!  It seemed like such a long wait to be rushed at the crucial moment, but again we were pushed forward and I watched as @thewife spoke to Chris. My heart cheered for her, knowing how nervous she was to speak to her idol. She gave him a small gift, and I watched him take a second look at it.  A huge smile crossed his face that reached his eyes as she walked away before he placed it on a chair.

From the corner of my eye, I saw @virtualgirlfriendsan slip under Chris’s arm as I sandwiched between Chris and Hayley. After the photo was taken, I turned to Chris and asked if he enjoyed the jelly beans, and he said excitedly, “Oh my god, yes! Thank you!” and it felt genuine and pure, and it added to his sincerity when Hayley jumped in with her beautiful British accent, “Are you kidding? I watched him eat the whole bag!” And they both laughed.  She thanked me for waiting and hugged my shoulder.

I found out later while I was talking with Hayley, @virtualgirlfriendsan had gathered up her bravado to speak to Chris and share with him her story.  But that’s her tale, not mine…

Outside the curtain, the four of us hugged and squealed our excitement! The other girls went to pick up our photos as I ran off to a third photo op with another friend.  Like I said, lucky bitch.

@lillianfromaccounting had also asked me ages ago to be in her op with her.  She just said she felt like it was very important for me to meet Chris.  I can’t really argue with that!  “Emery needs it,” she had teased.  And again, I never really thought I’d be waiting in line with her, holding her young son, waiting to meet Chris, Anthony and Seb.  As I murmured to the little baby about waiting to see Cap, the Winter Soldier and Falcon, he would smile and coo every time I said, “Falcon.”  It seems only fitting that later, Anthony couldn’t wait to get his hands on the little guy!

Our wait was filled with small talk about our children and families and catching glimpses of Chris Hemsworth through the red curtain where he was also meeting with fans.  @mistressjenbradlee was a few lines over, waiting to meet with Hayley Atwell and we were also in contact with @jennygirl2014, who looked AMAZING in her blue Cap’s shield sundress!

After our extremely long wait, @lillianfromaccounting and I were disappointed to see the boys were sitting; there went our plans for our cute op!  After Anthony stole the baby from mom’s arms, saying repeatedly, “Gimme dat baby!,” Chris waved us over to stand behind them, practically rolling his eyes at the worker, after the con volunteer had said no to my request.  The photo was snapped so quickly, we later discovered my eyes were closed. While @lillianfromaccounting spoke with Anthony, I quickly thanked Seb and Chris, relishing the feel of Chris’s blue jacket under my fingertips.  I spoke to Anthony, but his eyes stunned me and I don’t even remember what I said.  DAMN. He is a good looking man!

When we went through the line a second time, Anthony teased and said, “You were just here!” When I laughed and said my, “My eyes were closed,” he laughed too and said, “Gimme dat baby again!  I love me some babies!”

Before leaving the second time, I made sure to capture Seb’s attention and he smiled warmly when I thanked him for being there in Philly.  I squeezed Chris’s shoulder (who could resist!) and thanked him, and Anthony told us to “take good care of that baby!” as we left the photo op room.

And with another blink of an eye, it was over…

It all happened so fast, each meeting with Chris.  Did it live up to my expectations?  Well, I write fan fiction; I was probably hoping for a little more of a connection.  I was so captured by his blue eyes, I didn’t even sneak a look at the beard, where I had hoped to glimpse some gray mixed with red.  I didn’t get to thank him for my amazing new friends, and because he was sitting in the final photo op, I didn’t get to ask for hug, which had been my plan on our final meeting together.

But he was wearing plaid.  And the red belt.  And I spent the whole weekend with new friends, talking about our favorite man and story plots, so on a whole, I have no complaints and no regrets.  Meeting Chris Evans was one of my dreams come true!  And I got to share it with my favorite tumblr and twitter girls!

 

A special thanks to @moncun for going out of her way to meet me and making me feel like a celebrity and to @angelus80 for a crazy ride to the airport!  @angelus80, you are definitely my kind of “people!”

And a very special thanks to @there-are-no-strangers.  You added to our trip in a big way and your kindness and generosity knows no bounds!  Thank you for all your support and all you did for this crew!  We appreciate it so much!

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