JaneDowneyEvans- I was so happy to ready your review, it means a lot to know it is one of your favorites! I've been doing a really good job of updating about once a week for the past two months now, so I hope to keep this momentum going for you! Thanks again for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

A/N: Full disclosure, I don't know anything about babies or their development. I'm basing most of my story on how I remember one of my cousins was at this age.

Gold was the color of the leaves

When I showed you around Centennial Park

Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven

Time, wondrous time

Gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies

And it's cool

Baby, with me

And isn't it just so pretty to think

All along there was some

Invisible string

Tying you to me?

-"invisible string" by Taylor Swift

September 20, 2016

I clenched my teeth and let a loud sound out in pain as I made it through another contraction while Pepper held my hand. Once the pain was reduced to a dull ache, I laid my head back on the pillow behind me.

"Maddi, it looks to me like you're in labor, and pretty far along at that. Your baby will be coming soon," Dr. Ramos confirmed. I thought at first that they were just Braxton Hicks, but after getting Pepper's attention from my own reaction to it as they hadn't gotten any better, we thought it was best to call Dr. Ramos to come to the compound. Turns out the stress of having my husband wanted by every government in the world brought on early labor.

"No, no. no," I responded as I shook my head and stared at the ceiling. "It's too early, do we need to go to the hospital? She's not due for another three weeks. Tony isn't even here, he said he'd be here but he's on the other side of the world right now!" I rambled all my thoughts out as I looked back at my doctor. Tony was at an event he was invited to, and it was literally a 15 hour plane ride away. He was supposed to be back by the weekend, we thought it would be plenty of time so he could be here for me when I gave birth.

"I know it's earlier than we expected, but it looks to me like your baby's development went by a bit faster than usual in the last term. We have everything we need right here to make sure you, your delivery, and your baby are safe," she reassured me and I tried to take a few deep breaths to calm myself.

"Tony is on his way, he's already got his plane in the air," Pepper said. "And I'm not leaving your side, you're gonna be alright."

I nodded my head quickly, trying to process before another contraction hit and I let out a yell as I squeezed her hand once again.

A few hours had passed and Dr. Ramos said it was time for me to start pushing my baby out.

"No, it's too early. Tony's not here yet, please," I cried out as the pain built up once more.

"Your baby's not waiting, Maddi, it's time," she responded.

After pushing through the contraction all I could do was let the tears fall down my face in utter exhaustion. "I want Steve," I sobbed.

"I know, sweetheart," Pepper said as she rubbed her free hand on my back to try to provide me some sort of comfort. "I know." Sooner than I wanted, another contraction hit and I cried even harder as I made myself push again. I felt like I couldn't do it anymore. If Steve were there, I could do it, but he wasn't. I needed him there rubbing my back and assuring me that the pain would soon be over and we'd have our baby girl. "You're gonna see your baby soon, Maddi," Pepper tried to encourage me through it. "You can do this, you're gonna see your baby girl. Just keep pushing, hun."

What felt like an eternity of pushing later, my voice broke as I screamed out in agony. I didn't even notice the other voice crying in the room until my eyes focused on the tiny baby in my doctor's arms. My entire body sunk into the bed, too tired to keep itself up anymore. Soon my newborn was placed on my chest and I placed my hands safely on her head and back as I let out a smile and a watery sigh. I had my baby girl in my arms.

She had tiny soft light hair on the top of her head and she was so small. Part of me worried she was too small but I heard Dr. Ramos state she was a healthy size for a newborn. New tears gathered in my eyes as I couldn't stop smiling.

"She's so tiny," I let out and hear Pepper chuckle beside me.

"Do you have a name for her?" Dr. Ramos asked me kindly. I looked down at her little face and knew immediately what her name was. I had been thinking about it for a while, and I didn't want to say it out loud until I met her. Seeing her in my arms, I knew I made the right choice.

"Margaret," I replied. "Her name is Margaret." I smiled again at the women in my room. "Margaret Sarah Rogers," I added. I knew our daughter's name had to honor the woman who raised my husband, the woman who treated me like her own child so many years before when I needed her most. I also knew that after losing the friend who did so much for me throughout my earlier that year, it was only fitting to pass on her name and legacy to my own daughter.

Peggy without a doubt shaped me into the person I was and always made sure I wasn't alone when she could. She was there for me at my lowest and there for me when I had nobody else to go to. She was nothing but encouraging to me in her later years, and I missed visiting her; I missed her calls when we weren't in the same city.

I didn't plan to ever call my daughter Peggy, I felt like the strength in that nickname belonged only to the woman who originally held it. Any other nickname didn't feel like it would have fit my baby either. So I decided we would call her Margaret. Always Margaret. It had an older feel to it as well, one that I felt like Steve would also like.

"Tony should be here in a few hours," Peggy told me as she smiled at the two of us. "I'm sure he can't wait to meet little Margaret."

October 28, 2016

It had been over a month since Margaret was born. I had my fair share of nights crying because she couldn't sleep and I wanted Steve's help, but each time Tony or Pepper would come to my room and lend a hand. I reassured myself that it would be okay, I wasn't alone in this even if Steve wasn't there. With every time I cried out of sadness, I had a million more times I couldn't stop smiling around my baby. She was everything I had ever dreamed of having.

I often took her on walks outside, and I just thought about how crazy my life had been to lead to this very moment. All of those years of pain and feeling like I had ruined my life by extending it indefinitely. Losing Steve and gaining him back. Not forming a new life with someone else between that time because I knew it would have had to end. Not being able to have kids for all those years we wanted one. Hurting in more ways than one, and never feeling like there was any true reason I was forced to go through it all. But all of it led me to her. The sweet little baby I held in my arms. My beautiful Margaret.

No other path could have brought her to me. She had Steve's beautifully bright blue eyes that I got lost in every time she looked up at me. My heart had never felt so much love for anything or anyone else as it had for when I looked at her. I was grateful for my crazy painful past that finished with her in my life.

These thoughts ran through my head again as I carried her into our living room, but they were suddenly interrupted as I looked up and came face to face with someone who should not have been there.

"Oh my god," I exclaimed with a jump as I turned around quickly to hide Margaret with my body from the stranger in my home. "How did you get access to this room? This is a private zone of the compound?"

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark said he gave me full access when he thought I wanted to live here. I ended up changing my mind, but I thought it would be cool to check it out before I met Happy back in the car. I probably shouldn't have though, I'm sorry for scaring you and invading your privacy," The boy behind me rambled on and I tried to keep up with what he was saying.

"You- you're Peter?" I asked once I realized who he was from his explanation.

"Yes! You know who I am? I didn't know Mr. Stark talked about me. I know who you are, I'm a really big fan by the way." From Tony's stories, he seemed like a nice kid, but at the moment, I wanted nothing more than for him to leave. Especially if he already recognized who I was, and he saw Margaret. "Are you- is that a baby?" he finally questioned. I sighed as I closed my eyes, trying to decide what to do next. Margaret started to stir from her sleep almost as if on queue.

I ended up slowly turning back around to face Peter. "Yeah," was all I managed to let out.

"Aw, he's so tiny," he commented as he looked down at Margaret in my arms.

"She," I corrected.

He smiled and looked up at me. "What's her name?" I swallowed nervously, not sure if I wanted to give him any more information but also not seeing how it would make much of a difference at that point anyway.

"Margaret," I whispered. He didn't say anything else, so I took that opportunity to make sure he understood that this new information he learned must never leave the compound. "Look kid, nobody except a select few know about her, and I would really like to keep it that way. There's a lot of really terrible people out there right now that would love to use a newborn baby to get what they want out of me or out of Steve…" I trailed off trying to find the right words. "You can't tell anyone about her. Please, it's really important that you promise not to tell anyone. You weren't even supposed to find out about her, but there's no going back on it now."

Peter immediately had an expression on his face like he was given the most important mission of his life. "Of course! I promise I won't tell anyone, I've been pretty good at keeping the whole Spider-Man thing a secret already, I can definitely keep this. Sure, Ned knows now, but that's only because he saw me climbing on the ceiling and I had the suit on, so this secret is safe with me. I wouldn't want anything happening to her or you or Captain America. I'm sorry I fought your husband by the way, he was really nice actually even if he did rough me up a bit. I'm a big fan of both of you, so I didn't really WANT to fight him, but Mr. Stark said it was important to stop him from doing any more damage."

"Okay, okay," I said quickly, trying to get him to stop his ongoing chatter. "It's alright," I added, but then squinted at myself, confused on how the conversation took such a quick turn.

"She's really cute," he added as he looked kindly at Margaret in my arms from where he stood across the room. I hesitated for a moment but then spoke again.

"You can come closer, if you'd like," I told him. Margaret had only met Rhodey and Happy since after she was born. I knew it probably wasn't a good idea to let someone I had just met so close to her, but I couldn't help myself. I didn't get to have all the fun familiar interaction with other people during my pregnancy or after giving birth. I also didn't want Margaret to end up always hating meeting new people because she only ever saw a select few around the home part of the compound. She would meet Sam, Bucky, Natasha, Wanda, Vision, Clint, Bruce, and of course Steve one day. I wanted to make sure she would feel comfortable with that. I knew Peter was only one person, but starting small was better than not starting at all, and since he already knew she existed, there was no harm in trusting him further. Tony trusted Peter enough to apparently let him live with us full time, which I would have to have a talk with him about why he never told me first, but if Tony trusted him, then I would too.

Peter slowly stepped closer to us and he smiled as he got a better look at Maragaret. She had her eyes wide open by then and was taking in her surroundings after her nap. "Wow Mrs. Rogers, she's amazing!"

I smiled back at him and said "she really is. Would you like to hold her?" I asked, surprising us both. Peter looked back at me and didn't respond but looked excited at the idea. I motioned him to the sofa nearby and we sat down.

I unswaddled Margaret from her blanket and carefully handed her over to Peter.

"Make sure you support her head," I reminded him.

He smiled as he looked down at Margaret in his arms and I smiled too. It was so nice to see her interacting with someone new.

"You said Tony was going to let you live here? But you're not living here?" I asked to make conversation.

"Oh yeah, he said I was ready to be an Avenger if I wanted, but I think it's best if I stay in Queens and finish school, just do small stuff there and maybe be an Avenger sometime in the future." I nodded as he spoke.

"That's a very mature decision," I told him. "It's better for you to enjoy being a kid for now. The Avenging can wait, I promise."

"Do you know where Captain Rogers is right now? I've heard a lot of crazy stories like that he's figured out how to change his face to look like someone completely different and he's actually just hiding in plain sight like that." I let out a chuckle and shook my head.

"No, I don't know where he is, and I don't think he's changed his face like you said."

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"Sure," I responded as I ran my hand lightly on Margaret's head as she was looking up at us still in Peter's arms.

"How do you do all the big time Avengers stuff without being scared? I mean I sometimes act like I'm not scared, but I can't push down that fear sometimes." I looked at him with my lips pursed at such a heavy question. I could tell it was something he had thought about for a while but hadn't voiced it yet. I had a feeling it was something he didn't want to ask Tony, I had gotten the impression earlier when talking with Tony that he really looked up to him.

"Peter, I don't think I could tell you how to do things without being scared because I don't do that 'big time Avengers stuff' without being scared," I replied honestly.

"But you guys are Avengers, I thought you weren't afraid of anything," he said.

"We're afraid of everything," I immediately commented. " We're afraid of everything because we've seen almost everything, and we know it can still get worse." I debated whether I shouldn't say something like that to a teenager, but I also felt like he should understand the reality of what it means to have the superhero role he now has. "Just like in anybody's normal life, there are things that can take away what you care about. People, accidents, health, they're all unpredictable and it can all be really scary when you think too much about it. When you do things like fight as an Avenger, there's just more that can hurt you or the people you love. So of course there's more fear, I feel that fear everyday."

He thought for a moment as he smiled slightly at Margaret. "I just always thought you couldn't be afraid to get the job done, you know? That the fear was holding me back."

"You can be afraid, Peter. Being a hero doesn't mean you're fearless. Every hero is afraid. But to keep fighting for what is right, to help those who need it, despite the fear, that's what makes you a hero."

"Even Captain Rogers gets scared?" He asked a little in disbelief and I smiled.

"Yeah, he does. Steve knew what he was doing when he left, he knew what would happen when he broke the accords, and he did it anyway because he was fighting for what was right. I know he's scared. He's scared of what will happen if he gets caught, if I get punished for what he's done. I know he's scared that he might never get to come home. I'm scared of what could happen to him and I'm even more scared now of what could happen to Margaret. That's why I'm keeping her a secret, to protect her when she's the most vulnerable and precious thing in my life."

"I promise, nobody will know from me that she exists. I wouldn't want anything to happen to either," he said, and I believed him. I could tell he was a good kid who was struggling with the weight of his abilities. I understood why Tony wanted to help him. Peter handed Margaret back to me and stated he should probably go back to the car before Happy freaked out that he was missing.

"If you ever want to come back here and spend time on the compound, you're more than welcomed," I told him before he left. "I'm sure Margaret here would love to see her newly made friend again," I smiled. She had done remarkably well around him, I was expecting her to cry around someone new but she was calm the entire time. "I'll let Happy know that you can come back up here whenever you want, no Avengers responsibilities required," I added.

"Thanks Mrs. Rogers!" He said. "Bye Margaret," he waved goodbye to her and then left.

A/N: We have a baby! I'm so happy for you all to finally meet Margaret Sarah Rogers!

The Taylor Swift song I chose was to fit how Maddi feels like the "hell" journey she went through was to bring her "heaven" in Margaret. She is fully and finally at peace with her path because there is no other path that would have brought her daughter into her life, and this entire time there was that "invisible string" that tied them together.

I would love to read any thoughts you have, and thank you all for the support!

I also wanted to say that I am in love with TFATWS right now! No spoilers, I promise, but with this being out and so closely related to how Steve's story ended in the MCU, I wanted to make an announcement about my own fic. It has been my plan for at least a year now, probably even multiple years, that I will be ending this story at the end of phase 3. I have the rest of the plot of this fic mapped out already, I've had it mapped until the end for a long time. I've been watching the new phase 4 shows with my fic in the back of my head (I'll probably do the same with the movies too). With the way I am ending my fic, I just don't see how I can incorporate more. I would love to try, but then this fic would truly never end and I want to be able to write a definitive ending that I am proud of. There are some post Endgame elements I will be incorporating into my fic, but some of it will steer away from canon in order to fit how I will be ending Maddi's story. I hope you all stick with me until then, and I hope you enjoy the ending I have planned for Maddi!