Steve felt like he'd been in the waiting room in the Tower's infirmary for hours. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this. It was bad enough they wouldn't let him in the operating room because of his cast... he just wanted some news though, anything to let him know that Tony and the baby were doing okay.
At first he'd been all right, he really had, trying to make small talk and letting the other people in the room distract him in their own ways. Clint had been cracking jokes and Jan had been trying to get him to decide more things for the wedding. Tommy had even offered him a portable video game console and announced how this game should be right up Cap's alley since it required shooting Nazi's... Steve really hadn't been in the mood to tell him that that wasn't the kind of game he approved of, so he'd just smiled and stared at it blankly for a while.
But the longer Tony was in there the harder it had been to stay calm. He felt as though this was taking far too long. Steve had done research on Cesarean sections of the past few months, particularly in the past few days, and they usually didn't take over 30 minutes. While the information he'd found didn't quite apply to this case, something in Steve's gut was telling him something was wrong. He really couldn't help but think a hundred different things that could try to go wrong considering this wasn't even supposed to be possible. He knew that Tony was in good hands but he couldn't help it. He'd gone from pacing to sitting to pacing again and he was certain that all the many gathered eyes in the room here were following all of his movements.
He finally looked up, to see a few people divert their gazes. He took in a breath and decided that he needed to make a better show of this. Captain America was not going to break down in the middle of his child being born.
He sat again, and then folded his arms across his chest. His knee was bouncing anxiously though and he really wasn't sure how much longer he could just stay there. He tried to focus on something else.
He looked around him once more, at all of the people who had gathered in support of Tony and himself. Pepper was there, and so was Sam. The Cages were, and Jarvis. Bucky was supporting a wall by leaning up against it somewhere to his left, and Mary Jane was just now standing up to go and sit next to him. The Fantastic Four had sent their love, needing to be in the newly refurbished Baxter Building. And he was pretty sure Rhodey was on his way. He didn't see Peter but... the man had this habit of being late so...
"He's fine," MJ said to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a sweet smile. "I mean, we were expecting it to take a bit longer simply because of the nature of the pregnancy, right?"
Steve ran a hand over his face, trying to take her words to heart. He gave a nod, "I know. It... It just seems too long." The words hadn't left his mouth when there was a commotion down the hall near the operating room. Steve tensed all over as someone ran out and off in a direction without even looking at him.
Steve stood immediately, his back straight, Mary Jane's hand lifting from his shoulder. That had definitely been an orderly from the room Tony was in. He held his breath and took a step closer to where the operating room was located. He looked back towards the other people in the waiting room, to see if they looked worried too, but everyone's gaze was now on that hallway as well. The only one who caught his gaze was Jarvis, who did nothing but calmly smile at him. Steve wasn't sure why but he relaxed a little after that, at least able to breathe again.
Peter showed up finally a few minutes later, a camera around his neck. He looked a little disheveled. "Did I miss anything?" he asked with a grin that faded when Steve glanced at him.
He didn't know what his face must look like, but it was enough to tell the younger man that he was nervous and was, for once in his life, having trouble hiding it. But Steve stopped paying attention when the same orderly came back a minute later, rolling some sort of large medical device in front of him and not having slowed his pace any. He felt his mouth go dry.
"Nope we're good," Clint's voice answered Peter. "You made it in time for the best part," he said, standing up from where he'd been sitting and hooking an arm around Steve's neck. "Right, Cap?" he asked.
Steve tore his eyes away from the operating room and he nodded some, still feeling troubled.
"Man wouldn't even let us bring cigars to this thing," Clint continued looking at Peter for a second like he was telling the man something important. He rolled his eyes. "I got the bubble gum ones though, that okay?" Clint asked, and Steve took in an uneasy breath and tried to focus on Clint's words, knowing the man was trying to distract him from his worries.
"They make bubble gum ones?" he asked.
Clint nodded. "Yeah, so instead of lung cancer you can make a dentist very wealthy," he smirked.
Peter nodded quickly, apparently taking up the chance to help distract Steve. "Every year after Halloween there would be one kid that would bring them and they'd get in trouble for having 'drug paraphernalia' at school. I remember I got one once in my trick or treat bag and I turned it over to Aunt May because I thought I would get in trouble if I didn't."
Steve watched Clint gave Peter a blank stare in return, as if trying to think of some comeback, but then deciding it would be too easy and turning his attention back to Steve, "So you want some?"
Steve swallowed, barely hearing Peter's words, his thoughts just racing by quicker than he could finish them. He looked at Clint when the man had obviously asked him a question. "What?" he asked.
Clint patted the man's back some and smirked again. "Bubble gum, remember? I'll get you one," he said, leaving Steve's side for a second. Steve's eyes drifted back down the hall.
As he was watching, the doors flew open and he actually jumped. He was certain his heart stopped for a moment as Beast appeared, taking long strides down the corridor. For a split second, Steve thought he saw some sort of shadow over the man's fuzzy face, but it turned into a wide smile when they locked eyes.
"Well don't just stand there!" Beast waved a hand to Steve, beckoning him down the hallway.
Steve's feet didn't work at first but then he was marching over to Beast in as quick a pace as he could manage given his cast. If he'd been in any other frame of mind he would have looked back to the rest of the people gathered there, said something to them, but he simply went, barely hearing their heart-felt words of celebration.
He followed Beast into a delivery room, stopping once he got inside, looking back towards where the OR room and Tony were. "Are they okay? Did everything go as planned? What was-" he stopped as Beast turned around from where he had been leaning over a little table in front of him.
In Beast's arms was a baby wrapped in a warm, pale yellow blanket. "Congratulations, welcome to parenthood," Beast told him, and Steve blinked for a second before his thoughts cleared and he broke out into a boyish grin. He laughed.
"I think she wants you to hold her," Beast told him.
Steve went through a range of emotions that he couldn't even describe, and it ended in him offering his arms out to Beast.
She...
Her...
He had a daughter. She... she was so tiny. Tiny in comparison to what he thought a baby was supposed to look like, but… she had just been born. He held her as delicately as he could, so afraid that he would do something wrong.
"Everything's going to be okay," he told her, not sure why he felt as though that had to be the first thing he needed to say. "I can't believe you're here," he smiled, as she began to move a little.
She fidgeted a little more and then she began to cry.
Steve was surprised by himself as his natural instinct was to start moving with the girl, pacing some, hoping the movement would calm her down. There wasn't any moment of panic or of not knowing what to do. It was all there, everything he needed, somewhere in the back of his mind, letting him call upon it now for help.
He held the girl close to his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. He rubbed her back as he turned and started walking in the other direction, towards Beast now. He hushed her some, feeling her calm, as the man grinned back at him.
"Can I see Tony?" Steve asked in a quiet voice, feeling the need to speak softly around the new baby girl for some reason.
"You're a natural, Rogers," Beast grinned at him, putting a hand to the shoulder his young daughter wasn't resting on. Beast hesitated there for a second and then he nodded. "You can see him in a few minutes. He might be asleep for a little while," he replied. "You stay here with her, and I'll come get you."
Steve nodded gently, lightly rubbing the infant's back. She made a tiny noise and he smiled. "We'll wait here for Daddy, won't we?" he asked her.
Beast left the room and Steve continued to hold his daughter.
Everything would be fine.
Steve was sitting in a chair which had some balloons tied to the back of it. They were all different colors and said congratulations and other various alterations on the theme of them becoming brand new parents. Steve would just feel better when Tony woke up. He still had his daughter in his arms and he watched her as she slept, just as he was watching Tony there in the hospital bed next to him, the steady beat of a heart monitor sounding throughout the room. Steve had been told that it was just a precaution given Tony's history. It still had him a little on edge.
Finally, Tony stirred in bed and Steve automatically looked up at him. "Tony, baby?" he asked him, and Tony made a noise in response. Steve smiled softly and he stood, holding their daughter close. "I think I have someone here, and she really wants to meet you," he said softly, and that got Tony to slowly lift his eyelids up. He looked at Steve and then at whom Steve was holding and his face grew into a wide and exhausted smile.
"She?" he asked, a tad lethargic. Steve shifted the baby into one arm and helped Tony sit up just a bit with the pillows behind him before laying their daughter down on the man's chest. Tony gazed down at her happily. "Hello, beautiful," he said to her, "My Michelle," and Steve held his breath at the first time his daughter's name had ever been said aloud to her. The baby was still asleep, but fidgeted a little as Tony's hand rubbed her back.
Steve pulled his chair closer to the bedside and he lifted a hand up to move the hair out of Tony's face. He looked at his fiancé, a little concerned. The man didn't have much color to his cheeks and he was sweating like he was working off a shock or trauma. Steve knew it was entirely rational that it was just the c-section that had made Tony this way but he lowered his head down to rest on Tony's pillow and he looked at their daughter as Tony continued to rub her back.
"You were making me worry for a little bit there," he said, and Tony just hummed contentedly, the noise in the back of his throat.
"It was taking way too long," Steve said with a laugh he hoped hid how nervous he had felt on the matter. "I read on the computer how long c-sections are supposed to take. Peter showed me," he said, and that got Tony to smile.
"You read things on the Internet? I'm so proud of you," he took in a breath and let it out slowly, his eyes never leaving the baby. For a second it looked like Tony was going to tear up but he blinked and then smiled and his gaze met with Steve's. "Look how perfect she is," he said to him.
Steve grinned and kissed Tony's forehead. Tony was okay, he'd just make sure that the man rested, as always.
"You did so great," he said, to the other man. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been in here," Steve added.
Tony blinked and shook his head. "It was for the best."
Steve felt a little worried again but he smiled and then patted his chest, feeling for the chain that held Tony's engagement ring. "Hey I have something else for you," he said and Tony tried to open up his eyes a little wider. Steve took the chain off from around his neck, unclasped the hook and then slipped it around Tony's neck, being careful of the baby, before hooking it up again. "There, now I feel much better," he stated, matter-of-factly.
"Complete, even," Tony responded and it sounded sincere. Their moment ended when Michelle kicked out her tiny feet and made a gurgling cooing noise before opening her eyes and looking around at her fathers. "I think she's got your eyes," Tony whispered some, looking a little lost and blissful.
Steve leaned into him a little more and kissed his jaw line. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you."
Tony chuckled lowly and shifted his hold on his daughter, studying her fondly like he was trying to figure out everything about her. Watching Tony watch Michelle was probably the most amazing moment of Steve's life. He was just generally in awe of how... complete he felt. Complete was a good word. And Tony looked happy, legitimately wholly happy. Steve wasn't sure how long it would last but he was glad for it. Tony smiled at his daughter, the new life he'd helped to bring into this world, and there was a moment of peace.
Then Tony made a face.
"When do I get to leave this place?" he asked Steve and Steve simply sighed.
"Tony... can't you take it easy for an hour?" he asked back.
Tony smirked, looking decisively more Tony-like, and less like a trauma patient. "Hey, you know me," he said in return. "I have so much... to… do…" he tilted his head, trailing off, and looking at Michelle again, an easy smile on his face.
"Thank you," Steve suddenly found himself saying to Tony, after a few minutes.
Tony looked over at him with another grin. "Yeah? Why for?" he asked.
Steve thought about it, wondering himself and then he looked down, giving himself a moment. "For not having the first thing I said to her be a lie."
Tony's smirk disappeared and he tilted his head looking curious about that, but before he could ask, the door to Tony's room was knocked upon and then opened and Hank Pym came in, being trailed closely by Janet Van Dyne.
"Oh good you're awake," Hank commented but Janet had just sort of stopped in her tracks, looking at Michelle. She put a hand to her chest and then let out a breath. Hank looked over to her with a smile before going off to read Tony's vitals.
Jan cooed at the child, walking over to Steve and reaching out a hand to sweep back the little wisps of hair the infant had on her head. "She's beautiful you two," Jan said, her voice sounding sort of amazed. "I have no idea how you did it, but she's breathtaking."
"We had some great friends to help us out," Steve said automatically, standing to give Jan some room. Jan grinned, "I have got the cutest outfit. She's going to love it," she preened, standing up straight and smiling at Steve.
Steve breathed in slowly, "I'm not sure if-"
Tony who had been trying to perk up since Hank and Jan had entered the room interrupted him. "All of that depends on when we get out of here," he said, looking over to Hank. Hank just sort of looked at him blankly and opened up his mouth to speak.
Steve quickly interjected, "We're not starting up your bad health habits again, you're taking it easy and you're not going to argue the point with me."
Tony rolled his eyes. "My habits are never poor," he said. "Or well, they aren't cheap at least," he smirked. Then he waved a free hand, as his other arm still held his child. He looked down at her, smiling again. "Torture her with designer labels later, Janet. She's not even a day old." Jan might have pouted, but she kissed Tony's forehead and then sauntered over to Hank's side at the machines.
"You're doing fine, much more stable," Hank reported to Tony, finishing his check-up.
Steve made a face and looked at Tony. "Meaning you weren't before?"
Tony shrugged, "You say it like it surprises you," he smiled, his eyes still on Michelle. "Doesn't matter does it? Everything is so perfect now," he ended. Steve's eyes narrowed but he ended up sighing into a smile. He shook his head a little, sitting back down close to Tony and their daughter.
He couldn't really argue with that.