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She had been in denial at first, thinking maybe it had been a faulty test, a false positive. But when test number six came back with those tell-tale lines, (Name) knew it couldn’t be any faulty tests. That would’ve been theoretically impossible. The very idea that not one, not two, but six tests could be false positives was just illogical to even comprehend. There was no denying it.
(Name) was pregnant. And now she had to tell Steve about their baby that they totally were not ready for. How was he going to take it? Would he be excited? Angry? Sad? God, who knew. Granted, she figured she was making this scarier than it probably was but that didn’t make the task ahead of her any less daunting.
She decided it would be best to get him when he was free, when he came back to their floor in the Tower for lunch, and just come right out and tell him. He’d feel how he want to feel. She wouldn’t- couldn’t- control how he felt.
It was a few hours after her morning discovery that Steve finally came back, the door slamming shut behind him as he ran to the master bedroom. He was in a hurry. But, why?
"Steve?“ she asked, standing from her spot on the couch to follow him into the bedroom. “What’s wrong?”
"I’m sorry, (Name),“ he said, "I have to go.”
"Go where?“ was her immediate response, though she already knew the answer.
He sighed. "I have a mission.”
"Where are you going?“
"Somewhere out in Asia, I think. I’m not exactly sure. I haven’t been briefed yet. I’m headed there next,” he replied as he finished packing the barest of essentials and zipped up his duffle bag.
"When do you think you’ll be back?“ (Name) really needed to talk to him about this new development sooner rather than later.
"Oh, it shouldn’t be more than a couple weeks.”
"A couple weeks?“ This wasn’t the kind of news that could wait a couple weeks.
"Is everything okay, (Name)? You act as if I’ve never been away for a long time on missions.” Steve turned to look at her now, his brow furrowed in concern.
"Yeah, everything’s fine. It’s just I needed to talk to you about something today.“ She had to tell him before he left. She had to.
"Okay, but it’ll have to be quick. The briefing is in twenty minutes and they’ll tan my hide if I’m not there on time.”
(Name) opened her mouth to say it, to tell him he was going to be a father, but instead she said, “Never mind. I’ll tell you when you get back. Be safe.”
Steve gave her a small smile, still slightly suspicious of this ‘thing’ that needed to be talked about. But he had bigger things to worry about, like the mission briefing he was about to be late for. “Alright,” he said, giving (Name)’s cheek a quick kiss as he turned to go out the door with a quick, “I love you.”
"I love you too!“ She yelled after him as the door shut behind him. A sigh escaped her as she sat on the bed. There went her chance to tell him. He was going to be a father and he had no idea.
****
It had been two weeks since Steve left and things were fine. And fine meant (Name) was constantly hungry all the time for what seemed to be no apparent reason aside from stress and she still hadn’t told Steve. He’d talked to her four times since he’d left and she still hadn’t told him.
As if that wasn’t stressful enough, Natasha kept trying to nonchalantly have a conversation on how she was doing and Wanda was doing the same in a less than subtle manner. This had been happening since Steve had left. And it happened every morning like clockwork.
Today had been no different. As she was sat on her couch, watching the morning news and eating her second bowl of cereal, Natasha and Wanda entered and came to sit on either side of her.
Looking suspiciously on either side of her as she chewed her cereal, she asked, her mouth still full, "What’s up guys?”
Wanda and Natasha shared a look, as if deciding who should talk first. Evidently, it was Wanda who was the chosen one. “So… how are you doing?”
"Fine,“ (Name) responded, taking another bite of her food and finishing it off.
"That’s good,” Wanda said awkwardly, turning to Natasha for help.
"Listen, (Name),“ Natasha began, making (Name) take her eyes off the screen, "you’ve been kind of spacey since Steve left. We just want to make sure you’re alright.”
"Yeah, I’m fine.“ It was then she got the familiar feeling in her stomach. One that said it would be a good idea to head to the bathroom. Standing up, she said, "Now if you’ll excuse me for a second.” She, as nonchalantly as possible, sped walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
After her daily round of morning sickness, she rose from her spot in front of the toilet and rinsed out her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and nearly bumped into Natasha and Wanda, who just so happened to be waiting outside for her.
"Yeah,“ Natasha began, crossing her arms, "you’re fine.” Wanda was quick to follow her example and crossed her arms as well.
"Shit!“ (Name) hissed under her breath.
"Just tell us what’s really going on,” Natasha said, looking at her friend with a serious expression.
“We’re worried about you,” Wanda stated, saying the sentence Natasha hadn’t vocalized but expressed in her body language.
(Name) let out a sigh. Gesturing to the living room, she said, “Come on. I’ll explain everything.” She might as well tell someone if she couldn’t tell Steve.
So, after sitting them down, she told them everything. How she was pregnant and Steve didn’t know and how she was constantly hungry all the time.
Wanda gave (Name) a smile when she was done, putting her hand over hers. “You didn’t have to hide this from us. You could have told us,” she said gently.
"This really isn’t something you should deal with on your own,“ Natasha told her. "You need some kind of support system.”
"I know, I just-“ (Name) ran a hand through her hair, ”- I wanted to tell Steve first. I didn’t want him to be the last to find out. He’s the father of my child for god’s sake!“
"So when are you going to tell him?” Natasha asked with a quirk of her brow.
"I’m hoping to do it the next time he calls.“
"Hoping?” Wanda’s eyebrows shot up before furrowing again in concern. “(Name), you need to tell him.”
"I know!“ she exclaimed, taking a deep breath to calm herself down before she could get more worked up. "I just… I’m going to do it the next time he calls.”
****
Evidently, she didn’t tell Steve the next time he called. Or any of the times after that. The first time, it was because he’d told her he’d be gone longer than he originally thought. This had made her upset and, in her emotional outrage, she’d forgotten to tell him. The times after that had merely been because she’d kept chickening out.
That had been a month ago.
Wanda and Natasha kept insisting it would be fine, that (Name) should just tell him already. But she simply couldn’t. Every time she tried, she kept getting scared. She’d get close to saying what she wanted to, but then would quickly change the subject when her anxiety kicked in. It was like trying to ask him out all over again.
As if that didn’t make her feel wired enough, her appetite only seemed to be increasing. Even with the increasingly less frequent morning sickness, she never seemed to be sated. She was getting concerned. What if something was wrong? She needed to see someone about it, just to make sure.
But, it wasn’t like she could go to just any doctor and bring this up. Even with the doctors at HQ she ran the risk of them telling Steve. She needed someone who she could explain this to without judgement, someone who could keep a secret.
So that was why she found herself entering Bruce’s lab, where he was quietly working alone on something or other. Upon seeing her entrance, Bruce stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. “Hey, (Name). What are you doing here?” he asked in greeting.
"I… sort of need your help with something,“ she began rater hesitantly. "And it sort of needs to stay between us.”
Furrowing his brows, he responded, “Sure. Is everything alright?”
"I hope so.“ (Name) came to sit on an open stool across from him. "It’s just… I’m pregnant. I’m worried something’s wrong, but I can’t go to anyone else because they’ll tell Steve and he doesn’t exactly know yet.”
"You haven’t told him?“ he questioned, looking rather shocked.
"He left before I could tell him and then it just… never seemed like the right time to.”
Bruce nodded. Standing up, he went over to her and began giving her a cursory once over to see if he could see anything wrong. “What do you think is wrong?”
"I don’t know! I’m hungry all the time. And before you say anything, I already know that it’s common in pregnancy but it’s near constant. It seems I’m never satisfied. I’m worried something might be wrong because of the job or… even because of Steve. With his preserum genetics… something could be wrong.“
"I’m sure it’s nothing,” Bruce reassured her. “I’ll take some blood and run some tests just to be sure, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
"Thank you, Bruce,“ (Name) said with a smile, holding out her arm for Bruce to draw blood from.
****
It had been a week since (Name)’s conversation with Bruce and it wasn’t just an increased appetite she had to worry about anymore. It seemrd she’d started breaking things, unintentionally of course.
At first, she’d thought it a fluke when she’d broken the glass she was going to use for water. Hell, nobody else thought anything of it. Clint had even laughed at her reaction as he’d helped her clean it up.
But when it kept happening with every cup and mug she grabbed, she knew it was something to be concerned about. The others seemed to also take notice of the mysterious disappearing glasses, as well as the fact that she’d began using the metal containers from the various mixers around the Tower as drinking glasses.
It was one morning when the others, minus Bruce, were eating breakfast at the table and saw (Name) once again leave with one of the metal mixing cups filled with water they decided it was time to talk about this.
"Something’s going on with (Name),” Tony stated as soon as she left the room.
"You think?“ Clint said. "She’s been breaking stuff for the past week and eating out the pantry for a month.”
"You know, it could just be stress from Steve being gone for so long,“ Wanda suggested, drinking coffee as she hid the fact that she knew what was going on.
"Nah,” Clint said, “Steve’s been gone longer than this and she’s been fine. Something else is going on.”
"Clint, I say you just leave it alone. That we should all leave it alone,“ Natasha said, looking at everyone. "It’s her business if something is going on. Bucky and Steve will be back from their mission soon. We should just let it play out.”
Everyone was silent for a moment. Then, Pietro spoke, “Or we could talk to Bruce and see if he knows anything about what’s going on with (Name).”
"I like that idea better,“ Tony stated. "Good thinking, Speedy. Come on, guys. Let’s go.” He stood and began to walk towards the elevator. The others followed behind with Natasha and Wanda hesitantly bringing up the rear. They did not like where this was going.
****
The elevator door opened to the lab levels and the horde of Avengers exited and headed to Bruce’s lab at the end of the hall. Tony had been the one to open the lab doors and enter first, saying, “We need to talk to about (Name).”
Bruce stopped reading off of his clipboard when the group had stormed in, “Tony, I’m kind of busy.” If only Tony had taken the time to observe his surroundings he might have noticed (Name) sitting in front of Bruce.
A person would normally be embarrassed to be caught in this kind of situation, but Tony was far from normal. Instead, he took immediate notice of the clipboard. “What’s that in your hands there, Bruce?” he asked, gesturing to it.
"Oh, this?“ Bruce asked, shaking the clipboard in his hand. "It’s nothing. Just a lab report.”
Tony didn’t look like he believed a word he’d said. “Okay… then let me see it.”
"No,“ Bruce said firmly but still in his quieter voice.
As soon as it was clear that Bruce wasn’t going to budge, things moved pretty quickly from there. A rush of silver wind flew around Bruce, which was revealed seconds later to be Pietro. Pietro, who was holding the clipboard Bruce was just a few seconds ago, handed the object to Tony, who began to flip through it.
His brow furrowed as he asked, "These-These don’t look right. Unless you’re Steve. But even then these levels are skewed.” He looked at Bruce, “Who’s blood is this?”
Bruce looked ready to speak up, but was interrupted by (Name), “It’s mine.”
Tony’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he looked at the results again before looking back at (Name). “(Name) if this is your blood, then… Why does it have high levels of serum components?”
"Serum components?“ Wanda asked, confusion written on her features.
"Super soldier serum,” Tony clarified.
"You mean like the stuff coursing through the Captain’s veins?“ Pietro asked.
"The very same,” Tony nodded. He turned back to (Name) and asked her , “Why did you have Bruce run your blood?”
Natasha and Wanda looked at each other with a dawning realization. “That explains the cups,” Natasha said to her.
"And the eating,“ Wanda added.
"And that one pantry door handle,” Natasha said.
"What? Okay, what’s going on?“ Tony asked, hating that he wasn’t in on what was happening.
Before (Name) could respond her phone rang. And she knew exactly who it was. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her phone, saying to the room, "If you want to know what’s going on, stay in here but keep your trap shut while take a this phone call.” She answered the phone with a “Hello?”
”Hey, sweetheart,“ came Steve’s voice came through the other end. ”How are you?“
"I’m fine,” she replied, steeling herself for what was about to happen. “Listen, Steve, there’s something I gotta tell you.”
”Hang on a sec, (Name)-“
"No, Steve, I have to say it before I chicken out.” Another deep breath and then, “I’m pregnant.”
"You’re what?!“ Came a collective yell from the unsuspecting peanut gallery, who were promptly shushed by the three people in the know.
"I’m pregnant, Steve,” (Name) repeated, a smile as the relief of finally telling him. “We’re going to be parents.”
"You and Stevie are gonna be parents? No way! Congrats, you two!“ came the reply of a new familiar voice.
"Bucky?” She hadn’t expected him to be the one to reply first.
"That’s what I was trying to tell you,“ Steve’s voice said. ”I was gonna take you off speaker before you said your news but this works too. So… we’re having a baby?“
"Yeah, we’re having a baby.” Her smile couldn’t get any bigger.
It was then Tony came by and took the phone from her hands and held it up to his own ear, “Listen, Cap, congrats on the whole fatherhood thing, but I’m gonna take your lady and the rest of the crew out for a celebratory meal. I mean, a new life doesn’t happen every day, especially one that’s making your wife a super soldier.” There was a pause where Tony was listening to what Steve was saying. “Oh, the baby’s causing her to have powers because the kid’s half you and her body’s producing serum components to aid in it’s development. She’ll explain later. Right now, we’re celebrating.” Another pause. “Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah, okay, gotta go. Bye.” He quickly hung up and handed the phone to (Name) with a “Let’s go.”
"What did my husband say?“ (Name) asked, eyeing Tony.
"Nothing important right now,” Tony responded. “Now, I repeat, let’s go. The restaurant closes in 5 hours.”
(Name) was quick to shake off the response and followed after him, “Because 5 hours isn’t enough time to get there, order, eat, pay, and leave?”
"It’s called leisure time, (Name). And I want plenty of it!“ He exclaimed as he led the way, the others following not too far behind him.