Disclaimer: The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

A/N: A very happy birthday to MomofPhoenix. Thanks for the gentle nudge. I'm so glad that the bronchitis relaxed enough to allow me to get this birthday chapter out for you!

Chapter 21

Steph's POV

"So, what does this mean?" asked Lester.

There was silence for a few beats as I, along with everyone else in the room, looked at him funny. He couldn't possibly mean what it sounded like he meant.

"Well, when a man loves a woman…" started Tony.

"Ha ha ha. I know what Steph being pregnant means. But what does it mean considering that Captain Rogers is... all super soldier?"

Ah, you know, that is actually a really good question. Maybe I should have asked that before I let any super sperm anywhere near me. Oh well, too late now. Choked sounds mixed in with some chuckles and a gasp from Pepper surrounded me. Rats. I wonder if that was actually going to get worse when I was pregnant, like some weird side effect or something.

"Well, I can't say anything about pregnancy's ability to make people who already have the issue any less likely to be able to prevent speaking their thoughts. Though the past minute seems to indicate that this might be a very real concern. And they say 'Pregnancy Brain' is a thing." started Bruce. Double rats! "And as far as the super serum is concerned. I couldn't say for certain."

"But you have some theories," I asked, reading between the lines.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather have this conversation in private?"

I looked at Steve who shrugged then pulled me to him and kept his arms around me for support. "No, it's fine."

"Like I said, I'm not really sure. As far as I can tell from SHIELD's records and my previous research on the subject, Steve was injected with serum in his muscular tissue which then propagated and taken up by his DNA, so it is in every cell of his body now. The Vita-Rays caused him to grow, but again, we're fairly certain that was through a change in his DNA at the cellular level. So it is fully matured super soldier DNA in his body now. I'm not certain, but I would guess that his 50% of the DNA in that baby would propagate the serum's effect that same way into all of the baby's cells."

"So… super baby?" asked Natasha.

"I think that's the most likely scenario. Only time will tell. I'm fairly certain that's how it will go though, so I'm more curious to see if there's any effect on Stephanie, actually."

Steve's body tensed up behind me and my jaw dropped open. "Excuse me? Run that by me again?"

"Fetomaternal microchimerism, or fetal cell microchimerism." Bruce said, as though that clarified anything, and I noticed Dr. Chastain nodding her head in agreement.

"In English, please," ground out Steve.

"As the fetus develops, the mother and baby exchange various cells. There's usually no direct blood to blood exchange, but there are lots of other cells that mother and baby exchange. Primarily the fetus passes them to the mother through the placenta. Those cells are then actually taken up by the mother and establish their own cell lineages within the mother. They've been found decades later in a mother's blood, bone marrow, skin, liver, brain and even injury sites. And since, like I said, your initial injection was in muscular tissue anyway, not blood..."

"So what you're saying is that the baby is going to give me some of its cells and you have no idea what that will do to me?"

"Correct. It very well might not do anything. I can give you some papers to read on the subject, if you'd like." I just grunted because I certainly wouldn't understand them, but Steve nodded his head eagerly.

"But you think it is going to do something to me?"

"I think there's a decent chance it will. Like I said, the serum started just being injected into Steve intramuscularly. I think it spread immediately and the vita-ray exposure changed it, or matured it, but it is there in his cells full strength now. That's why when his cells die and are replaced by new ones, there's no weakening of the effects on him. What I'm saying is that I don't think that the fact that you or the baby haven't been exposed to the rays will matter. Just having your bodies take up the cells with the matured serum in them will possibly be enough."

"Huh." That was really all I could say for a few minutes; I mean, what do you even say to that? "But it might not happen, right?"

Bruce shrugged, "might not."

"Dr. Chastain?"

"I've never studied the serum, so I couldn't say. If the process went the way Dr. Banner says-"

"It did, as far as I remember and understood," interrupted Steve.

"Then I'd say it is a distinct possibility. Fetal cell microchimerism is a very real thing that we in the medical field are only slowly beginning to understand. It's believed that at least 50-75% of women carry on fetal cells after pregnancy."

"When would this start happening?" I asked. "I feel the same."

"Well, in humans, fetal cells have been found in maternal blood as early as four weeks and five days after conception. Both fetal cells and DNA are consistently detected by around seven weeks. Sometime after that, we'd expect the change to happen, probably when some unknown threshold is reached as far as the number of cells from the baby that are in your system is concerned."

I felt my knees go wobbly and all the blood rush out of my head. Steve snagged me around the waist and rushed me into a chair, pushing my head between my legs and telling me calmly to breathe. When I finally started feeling better, I slowly eased myself up and looked Steve in the eye and said, "if that happens to me… well… did it hurt?"

Steve's eyes darted away as he said, "no?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and I just sighed, "seriously, the worst liar ever. Couldn't you have tried a little harder just so I could pretend?"

Bucky cut in, "if it helps any, I'm sure childbirth will hurt more!"

I spun to look at him, disbelief on my face. "That doesn't help! Plus, they make totally awesome drugs for that!"

Tony tried to cover up a laugh with a cough before adding, "Not if you wind up with Cap's metabolism."

"Aww, man! That's not fair!" I whined, turning wide eyes on Steve.

He just winced and gave me an apologetic grin, "I'm sorry! I didn't know. But hey, we get a baby out of the deal. Yay! And just think of all the doughnuts you can eat without worrying about it if you get my metabolism."

Hmm, that is true. I frequently told him he didn't take enough advantage of that fact, though I wasn't sure it was worth all the pain. And whatever else went with it. Plus, none of my clothes would fit. Of course they weren't going to fit pretty soon anyway. And oh god, what if my foot size changed? Then none of my shoes would fit.

"Are you complaining about the fact that you'd need to go shopping?" asked Steve incredulously.

I shook my head, focusing back on what was happening around me instead of the rabbit hole my thoughts had gone down. "I'm sorry, what?"

Everyone was laughing, so I just shrugged. "Alright, not that this hasn't been fun to try to process so much in like an hour here, especially since I now can't drink. Double damn! If I get your metabolism, I won't be able to get drunk anymore!" I said, pointing an accusing finger at Steve. "Anyway, I'm going to check into Denial Land for a bit, so let's talk about something else. Have you Rangemen seen my new office yet?" I asked while leading the group off in that direction.

The party continued for a few more hours before the Rangemen, excluding Ranger and Tank, headed out. Once they had, we all settled down on the common floor together. Steve sat down in one of the armchairs, and I snuggled into his lap. The others were making polite conversation while Steve and I had a whispered exchange of our own.

"How are you feeling? Still stuck in Denial Land? Because, I'm really sorry, Steph. No one ever said anything to me about the fact that the serum might affect you, and if I'd know, I never would have…"

"You never would have what? Had sex with me? I think we know that's not true. Wanted kids of you own? Again, not true. You wanted to have kids, I want to have your kids. If this has some kind of effect on me, other than regular pregnancy crap, which I've been told is often no fun on its own, then we'll deal with it when it happens. But Steve, even knowing, I still would have agreed to try because I want this. Just as much as I know you do. I'd do anything for you."

"God, Steph, I'd do anything for you too."

"Hey, remember how terrible of a patient I am when I'm injured?"

"You're not terrible. You just get… restless."

"And grumpy. And a bit out of control or ridiculous because of those things. Well, I just hope you're ready for pregnancy hormones, mister, because they'll probably make me a whole different kind of crazy."

"You're not crazy, Steph. And if you can deal with being pregnant, then I'm certainly not going to hold occasional mood swing against you. Or any of them, even if they become more than occasional, okay? You just make sure you always tell me what I can do to help you."

"Okay. I already know that you're going to feel the need to coddle me and go crazy-protective of me. Let's make a couple of promises to each other now. I promise to TRY be reasonable and to TRY to let you do so as much as you need to do to make you feel comfortable that the baby and I are both safe."

I could feel Steve nodding behind me, and he pressed a kiss behind my ear, "and I promise to TRY talk your security and any changes I feel are necessary through with you beforehand or as soon as possible if they reflect immediate danger. And I will TRY not to be reasonable about all of it and not smother you or go overboard unnecessarily."

"We'll try our best. Without a doubt, we're going to screw it up at some point and fight about it, but we'll try." I twisted around and gave him a kiss and said, "it's a deal."

"I'm sure you're right. And yes, it's a deal," he pressed another kiss, this time to the top of my head, and wrapped his arms around my waist. We both tuned back into the conversation happening around us, noticing various amused looks on the other's faces.

I took a deep breath at the first natural pause in the conversation, "well, obviously I'm not going to be going out in the field for the next nine plus months, call it a year to be safe, so all of our previous field security conversations are relatively null and void. Bucky, my offer still stands if you want to go into the field and find another partner while I'm out, I understand. Let's talk about the rest of it though. I'm assuming you all want to make some changes to my regular day-to-day security now."

"I meant what I said, Doll. If you're at a desk, I'm at a desk," said Bucky. "We'll both go crazy if all we do is searches though, so maybe it is time that we start talking more seriously about some of those alternatives we mentioned before."

"Agreed," Ranger, Tank, and I all replied.

"Jinx!" I shouted, pointing my finger back and forth between Ranger and Tank, "you owe me a donut! Awesome!"

There was a smattering of surprised laughter throughout the room before Sam just said, "it's not like you're going to have a difficult time getting anything you want out of any of the rest of us for the foreseeable future."

I clapped my hands with delight, "it's like I have special powers!"

Steve's chest rumbled with laughter against my back and he said, "I don't know, just try to only use them for good."

I paused for a beat as though I was thinking about it before I said, "no".

There was more laughter around us, and it seemed that no one really wanted to be the first to address the security question, "I promised Steve I'd be reasonable about my security. And the mood swings haven't started yet so there's nothing to worry about," I said with a wink to the room at large. "Let's hear it."

"Actually, if we could just hold off for…" Tony started just as the elevator door opened and Happy walked in. "I know you probably don't want to make a public announcement or anything, but Happy is trustworthy and I figured Stark Industries Head of Security should be here as he is responsible for the Tower's security."

I got up and walked over to Happy to give him a hug. We hadn't seen him since the wedding announcement, so as he was returning my hug he said, "congratulations on the wedding!"

"And baby!" Pepper burst out excitedly.

When Happy looked between Steve and I with a raised brow, I just nodded my head and he gave me another hug then walked over to Steve to offer his congratulations.

Once I'd settled back onto Steve's lap, Natasha started, "well, normally I would say that we don't have to do anything all that different from what we're already doing because of the press here until you start showing and experiencing differences in your ability to move around and/or the public finds out. But given what Bruce and Dr. Chastain think is possible, and the fact that we don't know when or how that would happen, I think we're best off if we always have a few people around you."

"Unless I'm in our apartment, right?"

"Right. If you want some alone time and you're in your apartment, JARVIS will let us know if you are distressed. But if something were to happen, especially if it is painful, while you were out, it might draw attention and it might be difficult to move you. That's why I suggest that you have multiple people with you while you're out."

I noticed Happy's eyes widen as Pepper softly filled him in on the whole baby-cell exchange conversation, and he nodded his head.

"That makes sense. Now, of the work-options we'd discussed, I would like to talk about the feasibility of Bucky and I working with clients to help design their systems. If possible, that would include going onsite in the lead up to and during install. Discuss."

There were a couple minutes of silence as everyone rolled that around in their heads.

"You, Bucky, and JARVIS all run searches on clients before you step foot on their property. You share those results via email to the Avengers, and if anything makes anyone uncomfortable, you don't go. Just Bucky goes with Rangeman bakcup," started Ranger slowly.

I agreed and added, "how about the same set-up we had in Trenton. I always have my partner with me. Then I have an additional two Avengers or four Rangemen. Or one Avenger and two Rangemen. Can Rangeman manage that, Ranger?"

"We can. We were planning to bring out a few more guys from Trenton who we managed to get permits for anyway, and hire a few more people in to Trenton since the hiring is going faster there and you haven't been there as much as we thought you might, so we're more comfortable having a higher percentage of new people there. They will be people you know and have worked with in the past. Maybe we'll try our best to schedule as many of your site visits as possible for Tuesdays and Thursdays just to make our scheduling easier?"

"Works for me. Appointments on other days only with advance warning and if necessary for the client. Days with no onsite meetings, extra guard to/from the office, but obviously not necessary in the office, agreed?"

We all agreed.

Steve added, "I will only take a mission if it is absolutely necessary that I be there, but if I do have to take a mission, I'd prefer if you worked from the Tower."

I huffed out a breath as I thought about that. I would rather not agree to that unless there was a specific threat. But, that being said, regardless of the presence or absence of a threat, I knew that it might distract Steve in the field if I was out and about in the city. And a distracted Steve was one who was less likely to come home to me so, "okay. If you have to leave on a mission, I'll stay in the Tower."

"And we'll try to keep him out of the field," said Tony while Steve murmured his thanks in my ear.

"I'm assuming that we want to keep the public in the dark as long as possible," asked Pepper.

"Absolutely," Steve said. "If anyone asks, we don't comment. Eventually, we won't be able to hide it, but until then, we do everything we can to do so."

Won't be able to hide it because I'll be fat, he means.

"You won't be fat, Stephanie, you'll be carrying the Captain's and your child! It is a joyous thing and you should celebrate what your body is capable of!" thundered Thor. And I gave him a smile of thanks in return, changing to a grimace when he added, "though any child of Steven's is bound to be large, so you probably won't be able to hide it for long."

"JARVIS, Clint, Natasha, and I will monitor the various back channels to which we have access for information on the pregnancy until it becomes public knowledge. Just to make sure no one has found out about it," said Bucky

"Okay, maybe I'm being a little dense here, but you all keep clearly delineating between before and after the public finds out. Why?" I asked.

Everyone shifted around a little uncomfortably and I thought about it a bit longer. My hands immediately went protectively over my belly when I realized, "oh my god, they're going to try to take the baby."

"Yes," Natasha said calmly, "there are several organizations who will, without a doubt, try."

I bolted off Steve's lap to the nearest trashcan and proceeded to lose my lunch. Steve was right behind me, holding my hair back and rubbing gentle circles on my back. I felt Natasha on my other side and when it seemed I was done, she grabbed my hand and made me look her in the eyes, "no one is taking your baby. They will have to go through every one of us before they do, and there's no way they will be able to do that. You and the little one are going to be fine. We will keep you safe. Believe me." I looked at the determination in her eyes and realized that I did believe her, so she nodded.

"Suppose we might as well get used to that," Sam said gesturing toward the trashcan while Steve settled me on a breakfast bar stool then jogged off toward our apartment. He was back a minute later with my toothbrush and toothpaste which I gratefully stepped into the kitchen and used. Meanwhile, Natasha replaced the bag of the trash can I'd used. I couldn't ask for a better support team, I realized, telling them as much when I settled back on the armchair with Steve.

"After the public finds out, I can't just stay inside for six or however many months. We'll still have to go to public events and I- I just need to be able to see outside sometimes," I finished lamely.

"No one is going to keep you locked away in here, Babe," Ranger said. "But after they find out, we'll probably ask you to stay in as much as possible for a few days. Maybe a week. Then if you go out, you'll do so with a full, uniformed guard of Rangemen and anyone else that Stark Industries and the Avengers want to add."

Happy nodded his head and said, "with a Stark Industries driver and armored car. And we'll definitely be adding people to that guard, especially at scheduled public appearances."

I found myself blinking back tears then and Sam just wiggled his finger at me with a smile on his face, "uh uh uh. You said that the mood swings hadn't started yet, so you cut that out!"

Steve leaned around my side to take a look at my face just giving me a kiss when he saw the tears and rubbing his hands up and down my arms.

"What do we do about a doctor?" I asked. "Is that something that you, Dr. Chastain, and her staff can handle onsite, Bruce?"

"I'll talk to Dr. Chastain in more detail tomorrow, but we think so. I've already got JARVIS working on getting you some prenatal vitamins and other supplies, discreetly of course. We can go through those tomorrow. With your permission, we would like to place a call to Coulson and consult with his team, especially Jemma Simmons."

"That's fine with me, if it is fine with Steve. You all trust his team, right?"

"Yes, and that's fine Bruce. Call them in whenever you'd like."

"I figured we'd have a little bit longer, but JARVIS and I have already started a search for an OB/GYN with Dr. Chastain to add to the medical floor anyway." Tony cut in, "Why don't I provide you with the top contenders to run at Rangeman as well? Then he or she can be on the medical team as well, in building, with a zillion NDAs and the requirement that he or she work closely as part of this larger team only."

"Perfect," I said. "Alright, are we okay for tonight?"

"I think so," Steve said before helping me stand up. "Ranger, Tank, have a good night and I'm sure I'll see you around the office this week. The rest of you, we'll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast?"

There were various words of assent and goodnight as we walked over to the stairs. As soon as we walked into our apartment, I let Steve pick me up and carry me gently to our bed. We spent plenty of time slowly making love, with Steve worshipping my body and paying extra attention to my belly, even though there were no visible changes to it yet.

Steve's POV

Monday morning, I woke Stephanie up slowly at our usual time and in our preferred style. After we showered together, Stephanie wandered upstairs while I grabbed her coffee for her. She was happily chatting with Natasha and Clint when I handed her the mug holding the second I had ready for her. At Clint's surprised look I just shrugged and said, "I switched it to mostly decaf with just a tiny bit of regular a couple weeks ago. There isn't enough caffeine to cause a problem."

Stephanie took a sip and then went completely pale. Tony and Pepper were just walking down their stairs into the common room and the elevator had just opened to Bucky, Sam, Bruce, Thor, Ranger, Tank, and Lester. In a flash, Clint grabbed the trash can and handed it to Natasha, who held it steady as Steph's stomach tried to throw up even though she didn't have anything in it yet. Steph was crying and heaving as I rubbed her back gently.

Catching Sam's eyes, I said, "hey man, do you could move that coffee further away from Steph?" gesturing toward it with my chin and smiling my thanks when he complied. "Steph, honey. Do you want some tea instead?"

When Steph just nodded her head that was still in the trashcan and I was pleased to see Pepper move into the kitchen and start the kettle. While that was starting, she reached into a cabinet and pulled out some crackers, putting them on a plate and sliding it in front of me. Steph finally lifted her head cautiously. I kept rubbing her back gently and pressed a kiss to her temple before asking, "want to try some crackers to see if that helps settle your stomach while we wait on the tea?"

As she righted herself completely, we heard Ranger on the phone instructing someone to make sure that there was no coffee on the floor at Rangeman. Stephanie's eyes went wide and she looked around the room, taking in the number of people who were there. She slowly and gently started banging her head against the breakfast bar groaning out a, "just perfect. Of course everyone saw that."

Clint gently put his hand between Steph's head and the counter then gently pulling her up tall and into his own chest and taking over rubbing her back as I moved to make her tea. "Steph, it's okay. No one cares. You just gotta tell us what things are going to set you off, and we'll try to minimize your exposure to them, okay?"

Everyone else voiced their agreement and watched cautiously as she slowly nibbled on the cracker. She laughed at the looks on everyone's face and said, "I'm pretty sure that was more food aversion than morning sickness. I didn't feel sick until I smelled and tasted the coffee. As long as that's gone, I should be okay. You all can have some though; it will probably be okay."

"That's alright, they'll get some later, and thankfully I don't need any because it doesn't do anything for me anyway," said Bucky.

Pepper walked back into the room her hands full of new toothbrushes and a bag around her wrist with tubes of toothpaste. She put one set in a cup in the kitchen then walked over to the floor's bathroom and presumably set one in there. Then she handed one to each Avenger and said, "just keep this on your floor in case she hangs out there sometime and has a repeat performance." Then she handed the rest to Ranger for distribution as he saw fit throughout Rangeman.

"Thanks," I murmured to her as I finished off Steph's tea and slid it across the counter to her. When she finished a few more crackers and her tea, I asked, "still want to head down to the gym before we go in to the office?"

"And the gun range," she said with a nod.

"Okay, you want anything more to eat before we go down?"

She twisted her lips in thought then said, "no, I think I better not. I'll just eat a couple more of these on the way."

We made it into the gym and Steph walked over to the treadmill setting it to a reasonable walking pace. Clint and Bucky flanked her on either side, running and joking with her. When she turned her speed down more after about 10 minutes, she panted something about not knowing what was wrong with her. Bruce, who had decided to join us today as he did his yoga on the mats, unfolded himself from his current pose and walked over to her. He handed her a water bottle and made sure she drank the whole thing while he explained to her about increased blood flow and heart function due to pregnancy. When he finished, he waited until she'd finished the 15 minutes she'd programmed. He then helped her off the treadmill and over to the mats where he and Natasha proceeded to show her some yoga and pilates moves that they told her were safe and would help her with delivery if she did them throughout her pregnancy.

We finished up in the gun range after Bruce reassured her that it would be fine and me insisting on doubling her up in kevlar the second she set foot inside. I knew it was probably excessive, but I didn't particularly care. I understood the need for Steph to keep in practice with her gun since she was going to be carrying, yet I was also uncomfortable with her being around guns that were firing. Definitely not logical, but Steph seemed to accept and understand, so she put up with my hovering and the extra body armor.

Knowing that she didn't want to be smothered, and that her coworkers had gotten used to getting to spend time with Steph during the day, I chose to go into work with her, but spend most of my time in the break room. I read through the files on OB/GYNs that Tony had sent us, asking JARVIS to clarify some things and do a little extra research. By the end of the day, I had compiled my personal rankings and some notes for Steph to look through and sent them off to her in a quick email.

I stood up and stretched then wandered over to the control room, leaning casually against the door. Hal was sitting watching monitors with someone I didn't recognize, so I assumed it was one of the new employees. "Hey, Hal. Quiet day?" I asked, chuckling when he nodded in agreement but his partner looked over then jumped in surprised. I walked over to him and said, "Hi, I'm Captain Steve Rogers. My wife Stephanie works here; I'm just waiting for her to finish up for the day so we can head home to Avengers Tower."

He gulped audibly before saying, "my name is Michael Miller, but I go by Nitro. It's an honor to meet you, sir."

I nodded solemnly at him, breaking into a smile when I felt Steph poke me from behind. "Stop scaring the new guy. Nitro, relax, he's friendly. No need to call him 'sir'. He's just messing with you right now, but he actually would prefer for you to call him Steve. Cross my heart."

"Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Rogers."

"Ugh, now look what you did. He was calling me Steph earlier!" Steph said to me mournfully before turning back to Michael and saying, "come on, Nitro, I'm still just Steph!"

He nodded cautiously and said, "have a good night Steph, Captain Rogers."

I laughed and pushed off the wall saying, "she's right, it's just Steve. Good night to you as well."

As we walked back over to Steph's office, I wrapped my arm around her waist, chatting with Bucky while Steph powered off her computer and gathered her things. Down in the garage, I helped Steph into the car before walking around and taking the passenger seat. Bucky climbed into one of the Rangeman convoy vehicles and we headed out. There were still reporters who camped out at the office, but the lead car always picked a random route and Steph easily followed them. This tended to result in us losing any trailing reporters fairly quickly in the New York traffic.

Just a couple blocks into the drive, I looked over and noticed that Steph had gone pale. She was trying to breathe slowly and methodically, so I calmly said, "what's going on Sweetheart. Are you okay?" while looking around us.

"Nope, shit, can't do it. Can't do it. Sorry Steve."

I started to panic, asking her "what?" and grabbing my shield as she swerved into the first open spot at the curb that she saw. As soon as the car stopped, she bailed out the side and I hit my panic button before running to her side of the car and covering her with my shield still trying to ask her what was wrong, worried when she didn't respond. That was until she leaned down and puked all over my shoes.

When I heard the squeal of tires as the lead car came back around the block and stopped in front of us, I tried to wave them off as I had the car that was tailing us. Despite my best efforts to spare her some embarrassment and avoid drawing attention as there appeared to be no threat, we were quickly surrounded by Rangemen. Bucky ran back to his SUV, talking on his phone to JARVIS and explaining the situation to the other Avengers, and came out with two bags which he handed to me.

Stephanie's heaving finally stopped, and I heard her groan out, "morning sickness my ass". Thankfully Bucky and I were both able to hold back our laughter. I helped Stephanie away from the driver side of the car and covered her as I moved her around to the passenger side. I settled her in and buckled her seatbelt dropping a kiss on her forehead and handing her a bag. Then I hustled back around to the driver side and sat down with my feet outside of the car. I slipped my shoes off and into the second bag then tied it off and tossed it and my shield into the back seat before adjusting everything to comfortable driving angles for myself.

I looked over at Bucky and said, "shall we go home?"

He just laughed and all the Rangmen hustled back into their cars. As we pulled back into traffic, Steph had her head against the window and she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Sweetheart. Since there's no food in here, I'm guessing that was the admittedly poorly named and dreaded morning sickness?" When she nodded pitifully, I said, "well, guess we're not going to be lucky enough to skip that one then. We'll just have to see what Bruce and Dr. Chastain can recommend to help you out, okay? Oh, I put a few flavors of gum in the glovebox earlier though, if you want. Do you think you can let me or whoever else is with you drive from now on though? At least until this passes? That way we don't have another of these unscheduled stops?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Steph agreed while picking through the gum. She smelled a couple of them and proceeded to get sick into her bag. I winced as she just dropped them into that same garbage bag with a "No fruit and mint, I think."

I hummed in agreement as I finally pulled into the Tower, laughing when I saw the rest of the Avengers standing next to Stephanie's parking spot waiting for us. I climbed out of the car and didn't quite make it around to the passenger side before Tony had it open. Natasha held out her hand to Steph and helped her out of the car then without second thought grabbed the bag out of her hand and asked, "again?"

I sighed and just said, "no gum of the fruit plus mint flavor family."

"JARVIS?" called Tony.

"I've added it to the list, Sir."

"List?" Stephanie asked cautiously.

"Foods to which you have aversions during your pregnancy, Mrs. Rogers. Sir has asked me to start keeping track so that any residents can check at any time. I'll monitor as best I can while you're in the Tower, but you can update me whenever you'd like."

"Well thank you both, that's sweet."

Tony winced when he heard the word "sweet", while JARVIS seemed quite pleased when he replied, "you're most welcome, Mrs. Rogers. As always, if there is anything I can do to make you more comfortable, please let me know. With your permission, I'll also track your vitals as best I can while you're in the Tower and alert the Avengers and medical staff if there are any concerns."

"Sure, JARVIS, that'd be great".

Natasha dumped the bag in the trash, wrapped her arm around Steph's waist, and gestured to Clint to hand Steph the crackers he was holding. "So, think you can handle dinner?" I asked hesitantly after she'd nibbled on a couple.

I relaxed when her stomach grumbled in response and she said, "maybe something light? Like a light pasta?! Ooooooh with pesto and vegetables and chicken? And garlic bread? Can we get something like that from somewhere?"

"Full kitchen staff, Steph! 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!" Tony reminded gleefully. So, as we rode upstairs in the elevator, we each called out our orders, and JARVIS sent them to the kitchen.

When JARVIS told us it would be up in about 45 minutes, Bruce cleared his throat and said, "Dr. Chastain stayed late. We were wondering if we could give you a quick exam before dinner?"

The elevator paused on the medical floor, and I watched holding my breath until Stephanie agreed. She, Bruce, and I stepped out and told the others we'd be up before too long. Dr. Chastain looked up from the chair she was sitting at in the lobby and greeted us kindly.

"Doctor, we all just ordered dinner, would you like JARVIS to add something to the order for you? I'm having pesto pasta with veggies and chicken. I'm sure it will be delicious, and they'll make you whatever you want!" Steph asked enthusiastically.

"Oh, I don't want to impose."

"Come on Doctor, you're part of the team!" I encouraged, knowing Bucky would love the chance to get to spend some more time with her.

"Alright, I'll join you, but if I really am part of the team, you all are going to have to start calling me Lynda."

"Sure thing, Lynda!" Steph said brightly as we wandered down the hall to one of the exam rooms and Steph. When I paused outside, Stephanie just turned around and looked at me with raised eyebrows and said, "don't know what you were thinking was going to happen, or if this is a 30s and 40s thing, but trust me when I say I expect you to be with me for every step of this. Including being inside the room during the appointments."

I took a deep breath and let it out a little apprehensively before nodding my consent and following her into the room. It wasn't as though I wasn't intimately familiar with her, but I just wasn't so sure about the clinical setting. Plus, like Stephanie said, men didn't really do that when I was younger. But I would support her in whatever way she needed me, so if she wanted me in the doctor's office, I'd go with her into the doctor's office.

"Because your pregnancy is completely unique and we don't know what to expect, we'd like to see you weekly, Steph so we can closely monitor what is going on. We have no reason to expect that it won't go perfectly, but we want to be on the safe side. For now, Dr. Chastain and I will run your appointments, with Dr. Chastain doing most of the, uh, physical examining with me hanging out up here above your head if you don't mind, Steph."

"Works for me. You can Steve can have an above the head party during the awkward moments."

"And then if and when you pick out an OB/GYN, that doctor would obviously become primary, but we'd probably both stay on as part of your medical team."

We started with Steph's height and weight (which I frowned when I realized she still wasn't up to pre-shooting weight) and drawing blood. They put it into a machine to begin analysis before Stephanie changed and moved to the exam table. They asked Steph when her last period started, and when she hesitated, I told them the date. They gave me strange looks and I just shrugged and said, "I remember pretty much everything."

From that, they guessed that Stephanie was somewhere around eight weeks pregnant, explaining that they count from the period, not conception. That seemed weird to me because it meant she wasn't actually pregnant for roughly the first two weeks of her pregnancy, but I guessed if that's the way they do it, that's the way they do it. They told told us that they'd like to do an ultrasound. Apparently because it was so early, they had to use a very awkward probe called a "transvaginal ultrasound" that actually went inside of Steph though Steph was of the "what does it matter if you're doing a full exam anyway?" mentality. Truth be told, I felt a little guilty for the invasiveness that she was already going through, but she seemed to take it in stride, so I just quietly observed. From above her head.

I crouched down to be at the same level next to Steph when Dr. Chastain smiled and turned the ultrasound monitor toward us. She pointed at a little tiny spot on the monitor and said, "there's your baby! And look, we can see the heart beating! Looks like that eight week guess should be about right, I'd expect your hormone levels to confirm when JARVIS gets those results."

"I agree, her hormone levels reflect approximately eight weeks pregnant, six weeks of fetal development" intoned JARVIS.

She continued explaining that the baby was currently about the size of a raspberry and was starting to get eyelid folds and ears while swimming inside Steph with webbed fingers and toes. She kept explaining things to us and asking Stephanie about symptoms but all I could see was that tiny spot on the screen in front of me. I was absolutely dumbfounded by everything that was going on inside of Stephanie already!

Steph asked for copies of the picture, and gave Bruce and Lynda permission to discuss the highlights and show pictures to the Avengers if they wanted to see them. JARVIS too. They finished up the ultrasound and gave Stephanie and I some time alone. Once Stephanie had cleaned herself up a little and changed back into her uniform, we took advantage of that time just to hold each other and experience our bond. Well, and we exchanged a few kisses.

Bruce and Lynda rejoined us and discussed the symptoms that Stephanie was experiencing, and it seemed she was checking most of those boxes off. Most importantly in my mind, we discussed the morning sickness that was just starting. They stressed the need for Steph to eat continuously throughout the day to minimize nausea as well as her desire to keep exercising, agreeing that her workout from that morning had been reasonable and good for her.

We wandered upstairs, happy to see that the food was just arriving. We also noticed two new people in the foyer, Jane and her assistant Darcy, who we'd been expecting a couple moths ago. After quick introductions, we moved fully into the room, Steph's stomach growling audibly again. When our eyes went over to a stretch of wall where Tony had removed a painting and JARVIS had created a new display, however, we re-routed. On it, JARVIS had placed a short video continuously looping of today's ultrasound under the label "Baby Rogers - 8 weeks". Below the picture he had some of the facts that Lynda and Bruce had given us about what that meant in terms of the baby's development.

As Stephanie walked up to it and ran her fingers over the ultrasound, there was silence in the room.

Darcy licked her lips nervously and said, "first of all, I want you to know, that you can absolutely trust us, we're not going to let anything slip to the media or anything like that. Second of all, everyone up here was super nervous about your appointment, and they got really excited when JARVIS told them you'd given him permission to tell them about the pregnancy. So I came up with the idea of making this display so that after each appointment, you could have it until the next one. I also thought maybe Stephanie would want to take a picture by it each week so you could track her bump. I've seen some awesome blogs that do this. I hope I haven't overstepped..." she trailed off awkwardly, nibbling on her nails and clearly unsure of how this was going to be received.

Stephanie was still enthralled with the ultrasound picture, but when Darcy stopped talking she spun around and rushed up to the woman and pulled her into a hug while sobbing rather alarmingly all over her. I could tell that Darcy and Steph must be cut from a similarly friendly cloth when Darcy, though looking slightly taken aback, wrapped her arms around Steph and gently rubbed on her back before asking, "is this happy, sad, angry?" with wide eyes.

"I like it," I cautiously filled in the awkward silence.

Stephanie launched herself at my chest, but shifted her stance so she could tilt her head on my chest and look Darcy in the eye. "Happy. This is fabulous. Thanks! Maybe you could help us take the picture after dinner?"

Darcy smiled and nodded, looking very relieved.

I carefully guided Steph in the kitchen, and pointed out where her food was, but then let her wander around and smell everything else. When it seemed like nothing was going to set her off, I led her over to the big dinner table, and settled her down with her food in front of her. I went back and grabbed my own food, amused to find that Steph had Darcy on one side of her and Natasha on the other, so I shrugged my shoulders and sat down across from her.

Dinner passed with a little bit of baby talk, but Stephanie seemed more interested in finding out about Darcy and Jane. How their move was going, what they were going to be doing and where they would be working (in the tower, it turned out. Jane would be continuing her research and Darcy would be assisting Jane, Bruce, and Tony as well as interfacing between the Avengers, including Pepper and Stephanie, and both traditional and social media.) We also had another detailed safe room discussion now that Jane and Darcy needed to be factored into the equation. When Stephanie had JARVIS pull up the portfolios and notes I'd made about the various OB/GYNs to get opinions from the other women figuring they'd be using those services as well to some degree, the other men and I tuned that part of the conversation out.

Once everyone had finished up dinner, Bucky and I gathered up the dishes and took them into the kitchen before grabbing the dessert. I set Stephanie's cheesecake in front of her and was shocked when she immediately burst out in tears.

"Steph…" I started cautiously, "what's wrong? You like cheesecake."

"Raspberries!" she wailed.

I looked over at the monitor in the other room and winced.

"So, I'm guessing the hormones have joined the party," Clint said slowly. Natasha reached out and smacked him upside the head when that just made Steph cry harder.

I quickly grabbed my handkerchief and passed it over to Steph as she tried to gasp out an "I'm sorry!" and I just gathered her up in my arms and carried her into the living room, shushing her and whispering softly into her ear. I gestured to Natasha and said, "I think it's time for the-"

"On it!"

Natasha quickly stepped into the elevator, and Stephanie had mostly calmed down by the time she got back. Holding out the boxes she brought back with her.

"I have no idea what these are," she said to Stephanie, "but Ranger hinted that they would come in handy. We've been holding them back to hide them from Thor, but I think it is time." She winked at Thor when she mentioned him because his love for Pop Tarts was legendary.

Natasha opened a box then held a package out to Stephanie.

Stephanie rushed Natasha and pulled her into a hug, causing her to drop the boxes. "Tastykakes! Oh my god, you're the best!"

"Steve was in on it too."

And I found myself with an armful of Stephanie before she pulled back and passed one out to everyone. As we ate, Darcy and Stephanie eyed the Baby Rogers sign contemplatively.

"Oh, shoot! I hate to tell you this, but, I think the press is onto you. Did you stop on your way home from work today to throw up in the street?" Darcy asked.

"Fuck. Seriously? Cameras?!" I shouted.

Darcy paled and just stared at me, terrified and nodded. She managed to stammer, "people are speculating morning sickness."

"Sorry, Ma'am. I know it isn't your fault." I tried to reassure her, but Stephanie seemed to do a better job of that.

"Well, we're trying to wait to officially confirm until at least 12 weeks. Speaking of, Steve, I have an idea for that we should talk about. And Darcy and Pepper too probably, after Steve and I have talked." She sighed and said, "but for the meantime, just don't respond."

Bruce cleared his throat and said, "depending on the effect of that other thing we discussed at the party, you may not have that long."

"Alright," I said, "well, until if and when that becomes relevant, we'll proceed as planned."

"In the meantime," Stephanie bounced up excitedly. At this point, I had to admit to myself that if this was a sample of the pregnancy mood swings that I'd been assured would last the whole pregnancy, they were going to be exhausting. Probably more so for Steph though, so I'd just have to roll with it. "Picture… What do you guys think? Should I try to find something that I might be able to wear the whole time?"

Pros and cons of that idea as well as a couple others were listed, and eventually Stephanie decided to go the sports bra route. So, she wandered downstairs to change. Once we heard the door into our apartment shut, everyone looked at me with raised eyebrows.

I scratched my chin and said, "yeah, that was the first round of obvious mood swings. To be fair though, it was a big day. First workday and day out of the tower since she found out. And we saw the baby for the first time." My own voice choked up remembering that, so I quickly rushed on with, "Who wants to see how much chocolate raspberry cheesecake they can eat before she gets back? Dibs on her piece!" I said, rushing back into the dining room. I was pleased to see everyone else join me and cram their cheesecake into their mouths quickly then gather up the dishes to get rid of the evidence. We settled back into the living room just in the nick of time, and Stephanie gave me a kiss then snickered when she tasted the cheesecake.

"You could have eaten that in front of me, but thanks for the thought."

I looked her over and noticed that she'd freshened up her makeup, not that she needed it, and let her hair down. Otherwise she had traded her Rangman pants in for her yoga pants and was in her matching black sports bra, much like she was every day in the gym. I walked her over to stand next to the sign, with her hands next to her and watched as Darcy, and everyone else, snapped some pictures on their phones. Nevermind the fact that JARVIS would easily be able to do the same. Then at Stephanie's insistence, we took another set with me standing behind her and my hands caressing where are baby was resting, currently sans bump and a few with me resting my hands on her hips, stomach still clearly bared.

After we finished that round of pictures, Stephanie insisted on everyone else crowding in behind us for a family picture that JARVIS took. Then she looked pensively at the screen again and asked Tony, "Once this goes public, do you think we could put one of these on the floor at Rangeman?"

"Of course. I can have one there for you tomorrow if you want."

"No, they bring customers through there, so we can't put it up until it is public knowledge, but thanks!"

Stephanie and Darcy spent a few more minutes discussing social media. At Darcy's insistence that Steph and I were the closest thing the US had to England's Prince and Princess, we agreed that she could set up social media accounts and a website for us, as long as she waited for approval from us both before publishing any new content. To get her started, we provided her with a copy of our entire file of wedding pictures. We also gave her permission to get copies of pictures from JARVIS, trusting both Darcy and JARVIS to exercise discretion about which of those pictures to access. And knowing we'd be able to reject them if necessary.

After a truly exhausting day, emotionally more than physically, Stephanie eventually passed out on me in the living room. I cradled her to me for a while, with my hands resting over her belly again, as I kept talking to everyone else. When I decided it was time to move her to our bed, I gathered her up in my arms and bid everyone good night. As I led her downstairs, she explained her idea and what she needed from me for whenever we decided to announce the pregnancy. I liked her idea, so, after she drifted back off to sleep, I started on a few designs. I'd have one made for each possible week of announcement after she approved.

A/N: First off, super bonus points to the first person to find the Archer quote. Now that we have that out of the way, we can move on. So, how are you all? What are your thoughts and feelings on this chapter? Please share (review or send me a PM)!

Fetomaternal microchimerism info if you're curious, one review paper if you like science papers, or the wikipedia page if you don't!

Replace the DOT with . everywhere and hopefully these will make sense this time.

wwwDOTncbiDOTnlmDOTnihDOTgov/pmc/articles/PMC2633676/

enDOTwikipediaDOTorg/wiki/Microchimerism