Steve's POV

Everyone was laughing at me, and I knew it. On some level, it was probably even warranted, but, still, knowing that, I didn't particularly care.

I was an alpha, Steph was my omega, and she was pregnant! That was the only reason I needed to coddle her as much as I wanted.

Not to mention that as we'd gone through the pregnancy, it seemed that the baby was racing through development much more quickly than the average baby.

Bruce and Tony speculated that it was because the baby had the serum in his blood, and the serum's primary purpose was survival of the host. It was the same reason that was the primary effect the serum had on Steph after her transfusion with Bucky's blood.

That meant that poor Steph's body was pushed to adapt to a baby that was growing at almost double the normal rate. That meant a lot of aches and pains as her body had to physically make space and adapt to the weight it was carrying much faster than normal. As a result, Steph was almost always uncomfortable, though it seemed her healing was helping a bit with those symptoms as well.

It also meant that she was metabolizing food at a high rate to feed herself and a super-growing super-baby! And that translated into me constantly feeling the need to make sure she was fed.

"Steve, you're turning me into a blimp!" Steph cried in frustration as I walked onto the floor of Rangeman with an over-sized basket of whole wheat blueberry muffins.

I'd taken to bringing Steph food at the office usually at least three times a day. And fairly regularly on the days when she was home. At the moment, Steph seemed to be amused by it, just as all of her coworkers are, but it could vary minute to minute with her hormone fluctuations.

Steph threw her arms up as I strode confidently into the control room where she was watching monitors with Hal and Ram. Although she was, chronologically around 20 weeks pregnant, Bruce told us that in terms of fetal development, she was closer to 34 weeks pregnant. That meant her belly was pronounced, so I wasn't surprised when she used the hug I gave her in response to her gesture as an opportunity for her to leverage herself to her feet.

I gave her a kiss as I pulled her up, and then I smiled and said, "I had to commemorate your last day before maternity leave! I even got Ranger's permission to share."

Because Steph was moving so slowly and laboriously these days, and no one could really predict how long the duration of her pregnancy would be, she'd decided to stop working early. I knew she felt guilty about it, and I could smell the distress rolling off her when I mentioned the milestone.

Of course, the smell of a distressed, pregnant omega had me pulling her back into my arms as I flooded her in soothing scents.

"It's okay, Steph," Ram said. "We'll come visit you while you're out!"

"I know," Steph murmured from where she was pressed into my neck breathing in my scent. "I just feel badly about how short of notice I ended up giving for my leave."

"Don't, Babe," Ranger said simply from behind me. "Just make sure you and the little one are healthy and that's all we ask."

"Hopefully I'll have fewer night terrors about Anicetus kidnapping me now that I won't have to travel between the tower and here anymore until after the baby is born," she whispered so quietly I knew she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"Hey," I said, placing her on her feet again and bending down to make sure we had good eye contact. "I've told you- they're all dead or in prison. There's no one out that actively pursuing the drugs Hercules and Hebe, and as far as all of our intel is showing, there's no one looking to pick it back up. You're safe from them, Anicetus is gone. And I'll remind you of that every day until you're sure if I have to."

Steph studied my gaze before nodding her head firmly, and I pressed a kiss to her brow. "Now, have an afternoon snack," I said holding up the basket and ignoring the laughter that burst out of Steph and I could practically feel radiating off of the others, even if they didn't allow it to escape.

As Steph selected a muffin and started walking back to her desk, Ranger casually asked, "what more did you have to wrap up today?"

"Actually, I'm pretty much done. I've been working hard this week to make sure I finished everything and left clear instructions for anything that had to be passed off, and I guess I was a little too efficient, so I'm done. That's why I was watching monitors with Hal and Ram even though it's as boring as watching paint dry."

"Well then, why don't you take a few minutes in the break room to eat your snack, then just head back to the Tower for the day? I know you feel most secure when traveling with Steve these days."

I passed a look of gratitude his way, and he smiled in return. Placing my hand on Steph's waist, I made sure I had a firm hold on her and was providing her with a strong, soothing scent as Ranger opened the door to the break room.

As soon as she stepped in, there was a chorus of "SURPRISE!" and Steph let out a gasp of surprise. The room was decorated in blues because we knew we were having a boy with platinum, silver, and gold throughout because we didn't yet know if our son would be alpha, beta, or omega. On one table was an outrageously huge pile of gifts, another had a large spread of food that had Steph's stomach growling despite her snack, and throughout the room were a mixture of our Rangeman and Avenger families.

Bucky stepped forward and swooped Steph up into a hug and a kiss when the hormones got the best of her and she started crying. There was some gentle teasing, then Steph was guided to an overly cushioned chair with Bucky and I standing protectively behind her.

As Steph started opening presents, Tony stepped forward and gave her a card. When she opened it, it contained a bunch of pictures, and Tony explained. "As you know, I've been doing a little bit of work in your apartment. Rest assured, you can go back in there today, and start nesting or whatever. In addition to squaring away the nursery, I turned the linen closet between your bedroom and the nursery into a small birthing suite and added a door from it into your suite. So when you're ready, if you want to do it yourself, Steph, you have a place. And when you're done, you can move directly into your room without having to go anywhere else."

It was these moments that made me laugh at the idea that I'd ever thought Tony was selfish. He may be filled with bluster and seem pompous, but it was all for show. A bravado he'd developed in the face of a harsh world that was always in his face speculating about his life and waiting for him to fail.

In reality, Tony was a compassionate man. Someone who went out of his way to make sure that everyone in his life was happy. If there was anything he thought he could do or get for you to make things better for you, he absolutely would.

The sentiment behind the gift clearly overwhelmed Steph who latched onto Tony and sobbed into his shoulder for a good five minutes. Once she'd finished, I cleared the emotions out of my own throat and said, "thanks, Tony."

With his arm around my waist, leaning into me, Bucky echoed the sentiment. I was glad that Steph had a comfortable location to give birth if it turned out that she, like the majority of omegas, wanted to do so alone and especially without an alpha and/or beta presence.

Bucky and I had talked it over among ourselves, and I felt confident that we'd finally gotten to the point where we really could happily accept whatever Steph wanted. As difficult as it would be to be able to hear her be in pain and not be there for her and comfort her, we understood that it was nothing personal. Rather it was a hormonal reaction born from years of evolution and the need for omegas to protect themselves and their young in their MOST vulnerable hours.

It helped too knowing that if she didn't want to be alone, she had omega friends in Darcy, Natasha, and Tony who would drop everything to be there for her when she called.

The week spent living on one of the guest floors while Tony and Pepper made the changes to our suite setup was difficult on us, but Steph most of all. It wasn't really anyone's fault- Steph's pregnancy was progressing much more quickly than we could have anticipated, and no one had expected her to get pregnant when she had. Although we'd planned to make some changes, we thought we'd have a couple months to plan them out before her next heat followed by a standard forty weeks from conception to birth.

In reality, Steph had gotten pregnant from the last drugged heat, and we hadn't been prepared. Ecstatic, but not prepared. We'd had to design the nursery, find and screen contractors, and move out for the duration of construction before work could begin. All in all, I thought we'd done it on a reasonable time frame, but it was unfortunate that Steph's need to nest had started up before we were living in our own space again.

It was funny, really to watch her. After her emotion dump on Tony, she'd gone back to the party as usual for several minutes. Opening the rest of the presents, she happily flitted around from person to person and chatted. Then, I watched her look at everything spread out on the gift table which would complete and personalize the nursery and it was like watching a switch flip.

I nudged Bucky and together we watched the light bulb go on in Steph's head that she didn't have to hold back on those instincts anymore. From that moment it took her about two minutes to say her goodbyes to everyone, pile everything up on some carts for Bucky and I to take down to the garage, and push us out and on our way back to the Tower.

She was no longer feeling guilty about her leave; instead, Bucky and I could feel energy and excitement radiating off of Steph as though she'd been storing it up since the second she'd found out she was pregnant. Apparently the first order of business Steph needed to fix was the scent of the place after a week of vacancy and the presence of construction workers and contractors.

For the first afternoon, she insisted on energetic bouts of sex in the birthing suite, nursery, and our bedroom in order to bathe the places in our scents. Then for the rest of the week, we spread that around to the remainder of the apartment- with healthy doses reapplied to the first three rooms as well.

A little over a week after the baby shower, I woke earlier than usual, unsure why. Almost immediately I realized that Bucky was still in bed, but Steph was nowhere to be found. I heard a muffled noise on the other side of the birthing suite door and got up, gently shaking Bucky awake as we did.

Together we sat silently outside the doors waiting, accepting periodic reassurances from JARVIS that Stephanie was doing well. I was in by the door in the hallway, outside our room, as the first line of defense between anyone who entered the apartment and my family that was, at that very moment, growing. Bucky sat at the door between the suite and our bedroom.

While he would also defend in a fight if necessary, we'd discussed the positioning with Steph beforehand for different reasons. Odds were strong that Steph would need help with cleaning up and, if she didn't want one of the omegas, she'd want Bucky, her beta before she could quite handle my alpha scent. And that was okay too, we'd happily give her whatever she wanted.

Around two hours after I had awoken, presumably from hearing Steph in the birthing room, I heard the sound of a tiny cry and smiled to myself, instantly in love. Several more minutes elapsed before I heard the soft click of the other door and Bucky's muted voice speaking. I couldn't even hear Steph respond, but there were many more rustling noises after that.

Content, I kept my spot on guard, glad that Bucky was with Steph. And the longer they moved around without Bucky coming out, the more I felt reassured that both Steph and our baby were okay. Eventually there was a definite change and the rustling noises moved continuously and resolutely from the birthing suite and into our bedroom. In response, I shifted myself and my focus over to that door.

Steph had been so worried about how I'd react if she included Bucky before me. She didn't want to hurt my feelings. As much as I'd reassured her, I couldn't know for sure, so it was a relief in the moment to know I was right. I was more than okay that only Bucky was in there, I was actually ecstatic that they were together in that moment.

Still, I was even more excited when the bedroom door opened slowly. Bucky was facing away from me at first, but once he turned toward me, my breath was taken away by the sheer amount of happiness and love I saw on his face. It was written all over, in his eyes, his smile, and the tear tracks running between the two.

"Ready to meet our son?" he asked, voice choked up with emotion.

"Are you sure she's ready?" I asked, fully aware of how protective omegas who had just given birth could be.

"Get in here, Punk," Bucky laughed beckoning me forward with his arm.

Feeling relieved, I stood and pulled Bucky into me as I walked through the door, muttering an affectionate "jerk" at him.

Barely two steps through the door, I pulled up short and felt the breath whoosh out of me at the sight in front of me. Steph was in our bed, stripped but with her lower half covered by blankets. She had an absolutely blissed out look on her face, and she was staring down. On her lap was one of our pillows and she was using it to hold our son up against her as she nursed our son.

Allowing the love I was feeling to completely overwhelm my scent, I stepped slowly forward. A few more steps in, and Steph looked up, smile shining bright. While it truly didn't matter to me which of us had actually impregnated Steph, the blond hair on our son's head made it obvious he was biologically mine.

I moved forward even more slowly, not wanting to spook Steph, and she gave me a look that told me she appreciated it. As a gesture of that gratitude, she shifted a little and indicated for me to settle myself down on the bed next to his head on the side from which he was nursing. Carefully I slipped my arm around Steph, satisfied when she settled against me after a moment of tension.

"You did such a good job, Steph," I murmured. "He's beautiful. How was it? Are you okay?"

"I'm good," Steph murmured. "Though it definitely hurt more than getting stabbed."

Bucky was standing back a few paces, and Steph reached out her free hand toward him, waiting until he settled on her other side.

"How does that feel?" Bucky finally asked as we all three sat there just watching our son nurse.

"Magical," Steph said on a sigh.

We watched for a couple more minutes before I broke the silence again, "we're going to have to call him something, any ideas?"

Steph had resolutely refused to talk about names leading up to birth, saying she'd know what to call him when she met him. But now she seemed a little nervous as she looked between us, so I just gave her a little more encouragement before she said, "well, Bucky mostly goes by his middle name, and you go by your first name. I thought maybe we could name him James, after Bucky's first name, and make Grant his middle name to match yours. That way he's named after both of you, and he can go by James or Grant- whichever he prefers."

"I like it," I agreed, looking over at Bucky who looked taken aback and seemed to be completely speechless. "Come on, Buck, what do you say? James Grant?"

After a few more beats, Bucky pressed a kiss to Steph's head and looked over at me saying, "'James Grant Rogers' sounds perfect to me."

This time I knew I looked baffled, and Steph shifted a little so she could lean against Bucky and both could give me big, begging eyes as Steph said, "Bucky and I talked about it over the past few month and, I know it's kind of old fashioned these days, but we both wanted to take your last name. If that's okay?"

Knowing full well that I was crying again, I nodded my head and studied my family happily. We settled back into each other and watched as our son fed for a good long time. When he finished up and was burped, Steph pulled him a little higher on her chest, and once I was satisfied that she and the baby were suitably covered, I said, "JARVIS, will you take a picture for us, and send an announcement out to the Avengers family and Rangeman announcing the birth of James Grant Rogers? We will let them know when we're ready for visitors."

"Right away, and may I be the first to offer my congratulations?" JARVIS replied.

"Thank you, JARVIS," we said in unison.

A couple minutes later, JARVIS chimed again. "Dr. Banner would like to request that he be allowed in to examine Steph and baby as the first feeding has been accomplished. He promises to be as quick as possible."

Quick glances at Steph and Bucky showed that they felt similarly resigned to it, as I offered our agreement. Bucky had already reassured me that there was no excessive bleeding going on, so it was no surprise when Bruce quietly came in, did a quick exam of both, and nodded his head happily. "Everything seems great," he offered. Waving his hand over where Steph had the baby snuggled up to herself skin to skin with a blanket around both of him he added, "just keep doing that. I'll be back frequently to make sure everything continues to progress in a healthy manner. I'll try to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible while I do, so if I don't say anything, assume all is well. You guys make a cute kid."

With that he reached back into his bag and pulled out a light blue blanket with silver, the color representing an alpha, around the edges. I had no idea how he'd known to bring that one, but I smiled happily as I saw the image of my shield on it. Then he reached back in and pulled out a soft Bucky Bear that was about the same size as our son. After another quick smile at us, he set both next to me on the bed, told us they were from the team, and walked back out.

A few moments later, Steph reached out and I handed the items to her. She made me hold the blanket for several minutes and Bucky hold the bear. Then she took them, sniffed them, and nodded before handing us each the other object. Another few minutes and two satisfied sniffs later, she shifted and switched out the blanket she was using on little James. The bear, for the time being, she kept for herself and used to as a pillow on top of my shoulder before drifting off to nap.

She slept for only about twenty minutes before The baby woke and started rooting around, opening and closing his mouth before he even fully roused, searching for food once more. Steph stirred and helped him latch on, and I couldn't do anything but watch in utter fascination. It was a pattern that repeated throughout the day with Steph not always sleeping in between, but with the baby feeding fifteen times.

Personally, I was a little surprised, but when I mentioned it during Bruce's visit first thing the next morning, he smiled and said it was a good thing. It wasn't unheard of for babies to feed that frequently, and it meant Steph's body would begin producing milk in larger quantities more quickly- something a son of mine was likely to require.

Because she seemed to be recovering well and Bucky was there to stay with her while I kept an eye on James, Bruce cleared Steph for a shower. When she came back out, I gave her a kiss as I quickly passed James off, not wanting her to worry I was keeping him from her. She'd dressed in what she called a kangaroo care shirt, and I watched as she easily positioned the baby inside her shirt. Although she said it was strong enough to hold him up, Steph hardly ever moved her hands away from his body.

"Want to be out of bed for a bit?" I asked. "Maybe settle on the couch for a change of scenery?"

"Yes!" Steph replied happily.

"And the other thing we discussed?" Bucky prodded her.

"I know you're probably feeling just as protective as I am, but I thought we could let the others know they can drop by whenever they're ready to meet Grant. Would that be okay?" Steph asked.

I'd noticed that I tended to refer to our son as "James" whereas Bucky usually preferred "Grant." And Steph seemed to flit between the two with no pattern I had yet to detect. I figured it would be up to our son, in time, to decide which he preferred. In response to the question, I said, "I think I can handle family- team and Rangeman both- but it will be a while before I'm comfortable with anyone beyond that."

"Agreed," Steph retorted before stealing another kiss.

"JARVIS, you heard the lady!" I called out.

There was a pause as JARVIS replayed the last few minutes of conversation, and I utilized the time to carry Steph down the stairs over her protests. Before I had my precious cargo settled on the couch, the door to our apartment was opening up to reveal Darcy and Ranger. Both Ranger and Darcy had smiles pasted on their faces that only got wider when they caught sight of Steph and James bundled together on the couch.

"Honestly, Babe," Ranger said after they took a couple minutes to take in the sight, "for a while I never thought I'd see this day."

"That's not fair, Ranger," I replied, "it had to have been more likely for Steph than for you, even when she was with Morelli and swearing she didn't want kids."

"Ranger already has a daughter," Darcy laughed out.

Startled, I looked up at Steph who didn't look at all surprised. I looked over at Bucky, and as one we shifted our gaze to Ranger who was looking at Steph in surprise. It was Steph who finally spoke, addressing Ranger with a shrug, "it wasn't mine to tell. I know you're even more gunshy about people knowing after the whole Scrog thing." Turning to Bucky and I, Steph explained, "a few years ago, Ranger had a stalker who kidnapped his daughter to attempt to take over his life. And also to draw Ranger out and eliminate him."

I wasn't quite sure what to say, but was at a loss. Thankfully, Steph turned back to the baby and in baby talk said, "but thankfully he wore body armor when he came in, and his daughter is, well, his daughter. She shot Scrog and all was well… after a while."

"Huh," Bucky said, effectively summing up all I'd been able to come up with in response to the topic. "Well, good for her."

"Alright, people, this is way too dark of talk with someone so fresh and new to this world in the room," Darcy said, fearlessly sitting herself down right next to step and leaning over to coo at James and reach a finger out to pet his cheek a little. By the time she was done, the elevator doors were opening bearing the rest of our teammates.

Only twenty minutes later, most of Steph's Merry Men, it seemed, had joined us as well. I was curious who they had left in the office, but I figured they knew what they were doing and let it go. After all, it wasn't any of my business. Our friends stayed with us for hours, chatting and basking in the happy glow that had overcome our apartment. When Steph, the baby, or both slept, the conversation would go down to a dull hum, and when both were awake, it would become more boisterous.

By the time dinner came around, everyone had cleared out, leaving Steph, Bucky, and I to bond with our baby in peace again.

"Who'd have thought something so good could come from a run-in with illegal drugs," I murmured as we settled into bed that night to try to get at least a little sleep before James woke us again.

"Better not let anyone else hear you say that," Bucky laughed out.

"Yeah, Captain America is supposed to be a good role model to all!" Steph teased.

"I just mean that if you skip hadn't taken that drug, you would have taken him down without a fuss, so Bucky and I wouldn't have met you," I argued.

"Mmmmm," Steph murmured. "I'd already moved into town, and you two are just too perfect for me. I think it would have happened either way."

"Doesn't matter," Bucky said. "I've got you both, and our growing family. It's more than I deserve, but I'm going to enjoy it every moment I can."

"You're a good man," Steph said, "you both are. You deserve this, we all do. And any more we decide to have."

"Oh, you're ready to discuss another already?" I joked.

"Well, he's pretty perfect," Steph said. "It'd be selfish of us to deny the world of more perfect babies."

Grinning at her I said, "you can have as many as you want; he is pretty perfect."

The End