Chapter 21 The real story of what happened to Baby Jane.
Howard's point of view
Peggy woke up at 4am inconsolable... tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Heeey" I said softly reeling her in close and rubbing her back "What's the matter?"
She couldn't speak... at all... she was far too upset.
"Peggy, relax... take a deep breath and relax... Come on sweetheart..."
She eventually went back to sleep, in my arms. I was worried.
When we got up, I had Bruce and Sam check her over because she was very quiet.
"Dad, have you tried the soulmate link?"
"Not yet, that's what I was going to do next..."
"OK... do it..."
I enter the SoulScape and find Peggy sitting sobbing uncontrollably by a tree
Peggy, what's wrong?
Howard, do you think it's time to tell Tony and the others about Jane?
Yes... is that what's got you so upset?
Yes
I think when we tell the kids about what happened, you should probably let me do most of the talking?
No Howard
Why not?
Because I'm never going to heal from it otherwise
All right, baby, but... maybe I should sit with you when you tell them?
OK
I think you should sit on my lap
OK
Tony's point of view
After we had unpacked and eaten that night, Mom and Dad called a family meeting.
Dad was tense, he had mom sitting in his lap. She was sitting very stiffly facing towards him. They were holding hands. She had her head on his shoulder. I sat down and pulled Pepper onto my lap, Bruce sat down and pulled Maria onto his lap, and Clint did the same with Nat. Jay sat next to dad. Wanda and Pietro sat next to Jay, Maria and Obie sat on Dad's other side, and Harry and Hermione sat on the floor…
"All right..." Dad said, "mom has something to tell you all, and it's not going to be easy to hear."
Peggy's point of view
"For a short time, I was in a relationship with Steve Rogers. During that time, he abused me... it started out as just psychological abuse, but then it started turning physical it became financial. That wasn't all he did to me. He would... violate me on a nightly basis... but he didn't do it when I was... menstruating... I got away from him, with help from some, at the time, very good friends. Unfortunately, Steve found out I had moved out of the apartment we had shared, and he dragged me back there and for a month, he violated me and beat me every single night until I was rescued... Unbeknownst to me at the time, Steve's actions had severe consequences. I was pregnant, and I didn't know it until 9 months after the fact when I started getting labour pains, and even then, I had no idea what was happening until Maria explained it..."
I felt Howard gently caress my cheek with his fingers.
"I delivered a beautiful, healthy little girl... who I immediately put up for adoption..." I explained
"The nurse asked for a name for her, but I was so discombobulated trying to deal with the aftermath of the birth and the reality that I was a Christian woman who had just given birth to an illegitimate child and what that meant… I couldn't think clearly"
"I stepped in to name the child..." said Howard. "I named her Jane Elizabeth"
"That's pretty" said Pepper.
"We couldn't conceive naturally" Maria interjected… "We'd adopted my godson and his siblings after his parents died."
"So I did the only thing I could think of…"
"Jane is the youngest of the 9 children we raised"
"The world thinks that Steve Rogers was a good person... he was not!" I felt my breath catch in my chest. Howard rubbed my back. There was a knock at the door... Tony got up and answered it. There was a young woman standing there, long curly dark brown hair and big brown eyes. She was short and very skinny. She was standing beside a tall muscular man with long golden blond hair and bright silver-blue eyes.
"Hello, my name is Jane Elizabeth Foster, I'm looking for my biological mother... Peggy Carter... no wait that isn't right, she's been Peggy Stark since about 18 months after I was born"
"Come in... we were just talking about you... I'm Peggy's son, Tony"
"This is Thor Odinson, we're to be married in September."
Jane's point of view
I followed my half-brother into the living room and there, looking exactly like my only photograph, was my mother. I felt Thor's hand on my shoulder, reassuring me as I looked into my mother's eyes. They were exactly like mine.
Peggy's point of view
"I was just... explaining how you came into the world." I said... silent tears poured down Jane's cheeks.
"You...gave me up for adoption because..."
"I didn't have a choice. The man I was with was violating me on a nightly basis - he drugged me every time... and you were the result of those... violations."
"Oh..."
"I had no idea I was pregnant until the pain started and..."
"I know this is insensitive of me, but I have to ask. If you had known, would you have kept me?"
"I don't know... I would certainly never have gone down the other path, I was raised a catholic, and although I am no longer a catholic, I'm still a practising Christian, but I wouldn't have been able to raise you."
"I understand" said Jane.
Pepper had tears streaming down her face...
"I was a by-product of... violation too... and my mother kept me... she resented me... she abused me and..."
"That's precisely what I was afraid of..." I said, "That's why I had you adopted... I had grown up with a girl who was in a similar situation to the one Pepper was in and... it didn't end well which is why I always said I would... do the opposite"
"I understand... I just..."
"It's OK if you want closure or if you want to... stick around..."
"I would like to stick around… I have some photographs from my childhood…"
I swallowed thickly. Howard pulled me into his arms.
"I have to confess I would like to know how you grew up... Have you spoken to... your... father?"
"I tried... he's in jail... he's been in jail for a very long time... he doesn't believe that I'm his..."
"Oh what, so he thinks I lied or something?"
"Yes"
"He was always a stubborn disgrace..."
"Sorry, Peg, I had to know."
"It's OK Howard"
Tony's point of view
Mom and Dad went upstairs to bed. Mom was understandably discombobulated.
"So Ummm... tell us about yourself, Thor"
"Well, until last summer I was the intended future king of Asgard... In Asgard years I'm 1500 but on earth I'm 39... I'll be 40 on September 27th... one earth year is 20 years on Asgard. I got into an argument with my father, and he called me a disgrace, so I said Loki - my adopted brother and the God of Mischief - could have the throne. My father banished me, and he tried to take Mjölnir from me, but my mother stopped that from happening... She couldn't stop my father from banishing me, but it's OK because I care not one whit about the throne... I want to be my own person... Jane has been teaching me about life on Earth... we Asgardians call it Midgard... but since I'm now living here, I'll be calling it Earth."
