Billy was the oldest of three children and, as such, had spent his fair share of time taking care of his younger siblings throughout his childhood. He'd come away from that experience with the distinct impression that children were enough to drive anyone insane, no idea how his parents had raised the three of them without offing themselves, and less than no desire to have children of his own someday.

That was why, when Teddy had asked several months ago if he ever wanted children, Billy's answer had been a firm, "No." The disappointment on his boyfriend's face hadn't even really registered in Billy's mind at the time; it had seemed like a simple offhand question, not an idea that would turn out to stick for months.

"We could adopt, you know," Teddy said one day, several weeks after the first time he had brought the subject up. Billy sighed, lowering the book he had been reading so that he could raise an eyebrow at his boyfriend. "I mean, we obviously can't have kids." Billy chose to ignore the opportunity to point out that, thanks to Teddy's alien heritage, they probably actually could. That was just too creepy an idea. "But, I'd like some…someday."

"Maybe someday," Billy had murmured, before returning his attention to The Fellowship of the Ring. He'd thought that would be the end of it. And it was, for awhile.

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The next time the subject came up it wasn't Teddy, but instead Mrs. Kaplan who brought up the idea of adoption with, "So, when am I going to be getting grandbabies out of you two?"

Billy choked on the rice he had been eating, and Teddy pounded him on the back while laughing along with the Kaplans. "We were actually talking about that last week."

"You were talking about it," Billy interrupted, shooting his boyfriend a glare and kicking him under the table.

"You weren't disagreeing with me," A smug smile crossed Teddy's face before he turned back to Mrs. Kaplan.

"I said maybe someday," he argued weakly.

Rebecca Kaplan was grinning at the pair of them from across the dinner table. "Someday sooner rather than later, I hope?"

"Well, I…" Billy got the distinct feeling that this wasn't an argument he wanted to start, because he wasn't going to win. Both his boyfriend and his mother were smiling and exchanging conspiratorial glances across the table. He looked over at his father for help, but the older man just shrugged slightly apologetically and continued eating. "…wasn't really thinking anytime soon?"

"Billy," his mother sighed, in that way only mothers could. Making him feel as though he had done something incredibly wrong even when he knew he hadn't. "You don't have forever, you know, dear."

"We're twenty-three!" He protested, frowning at her. "There's plenty of time left to think about kids, especially since we don't have to actually have them."

"And who's to say that either of you will come home from your next mission for the Avengers?" That was definitely not the argument she should have used.

"That's exactly why bringing kids into our lives is a bad idea." It was a logical argument. Billy didn't see the point in adopting children they might not be around to care for.

"That's exactly why you don't have time to put it off with 'someday's and 'maybe's," Rebecca argued, glaring at her son.

"She's right, Billy."

"No, I'm right," Billy snapped at his boyfriend, "Do you seriously want to adopt a kid and then die and have it put right back in the system?" He stood, pushing back his chair so hard it fell over, and left the room in a way that wasn't quite storming out in a temper like he had when he was a child.

Before the door swung closed behind him Billy could hear the low murmur of conversation turning towards why he was so against the idea of children. As if he hadn't just told them his exact reason.

It had been a long time since Billy last stomped out of the kitchen in a huff, but he followed old paths and ended up sitting on the roof outside his window, knees drawn up to his chest. He was feeling guilty by then, chastising himself for not being more patient.

When the window slid open again only minutes after he had closed it behind himself, Billy didn't move. He knew who it was already. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

A large hand settled on his shoulder as Teddy climbed out onto the roof beside him. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."

Billy glanced at his boyfriend out of the corner of his eyes and was pleased to see that he didn't look angry. He did, however, look a little bit disappointed. "I don't see why you want kids so much," he said, after several minutes of comfortable silence.

"I don't see why you don't," Teddy countered, eyes fixed on the horizon to avoid showing the disappointment in them.

"Do you think that we could really manage to raise a kid with the way we live?" He wanted to know, even if he wasn't sure he would like the answer.

"Without totally fucking it up?" Teddy asked, and Billy nodded even though it hadn't been a serious question. "I'm not sure. But I'd like to have the chance to try."

That was how, some months later and after far too many long discussions and even more arguments, Billy ended up agreeing that maybe adopting wasn't such a bad idea after all.

It was two years before anything came of the idea. Between the Avengers and trying to keep up some semblance of a normal life any thought of children slipped their minds. Then things went wrong down on the West Coast and several newly trained heroes died, one of whom was a mother.

The child was two years old and had already proven itself to be a mutant, apparently. By healing a broken neck before its startled mother's eyes after crawling off the top of a flight of concrete stairs, and performing the same healing feats under tests. That was why S.H.I.E.L.D. got involved rather than simply letting the child go into foster care.

When Tony Stark made it clear that if a registered hero didn't step up for the job of taking care of the child it would be put into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Billy really couldn't say no.