The Ordinary Days
A/N: Hello! A little bit more plot for you today as we are only a few chapters away from the ending. I hope you didn't think I'd make it easy for Peggy and Steve. XD
WARNINGS: Sexual content is mentioned in the third paragraph below but not in particularly graphic detail. Peggy mentions her assault a few times as does Steve (a little bit graphically in the paragraph that starts "Steve tried his best not to get too angry…" about 1/4 of the way in the chapter). At the very end of the chapter (in the paragraph beginning "'You want to try to reason with that man?' fired back Peggy") she does use the "r" word. But that line is very brief and skippable.
Chapter Fourteen
July
They had so much lost time to make up for. The last walls, the last barriers, had been stripped away and there were no more mere secrets or hopes that they could have a full marriage. All doubts gone meant that their marriage was real, from the bed they shared every night to the wedding rings they were now wearing every day.
The pair had fallen back into the comforting routine of Steve tending to the farm during the day with Peggy occasionally going out there with him if the tasks weren't too strenuous for her. Spreading chicken feed and giving Penny apples were the only things she allowed herself to do, lest she face a concerning look from Steve if she tried anything more intensive. But Peggy's herb garden was her own special project: tiny green shoots started to grow up in the previously barren soil and their growth progressed with her slowly expanding belly.
Peggy loved having things to do with Steve during the day, but during the evenings…oh, the evenings…they spent every minute together: talking, doing chores, and, of course, having sex. They had to get creative with their positioning when Peggy's belly started to grow bigger, but that did not diminish the amazing experience of their intimate moments. Steve remained as gentle as possible with her – save for the few occasions where she had to practically beg him to go harder and faster, which he eventually obliged – and Peggy's heart warmed with how well he cared for her wellbeing. Any other man would have demanded she fulfill her "wifely duties", baby or not, but not Steve; he was reverent of her pregnant state and made certain her needs were attended to, both in and out of the bedroom.
It was bliss feeling like they finally could be newlyweds together with a baby they both started to love on the way.
August
"Steve, will you hand me the…oh."
Steve looked over at her in alarm as she furrowed her brow while holding her stomach, setting down the tea kettle that had started to whistle.
"What's wrong?" he asked with concern, but she smiled.
"I think…I think the baby just kicked."
She gently grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly over her floral dress, moving it an inch to the left, then two inches up, trying to find the right spot. Then she stood still and Steve gasped lightly when he felt a flutter of something under his hand.
"That…that's amazing," he said, in awe as he felt the baby moving. "What does it feel like to you?"
Peggy thought for a moment. "Honestly? It feels very strange. I know this is supposed to be a beautiful moment, but I just can't get over how there's a tiny person kicking me from the inside."
Steve laughed heartily. "You're a superhero, you know that?"
She smiled as he kissed her warmly on the cheek.
"You better remind me of that every five seconds when I'm giving birth."
September
Most everyone in town now knew about Peggy's pregnancy through word-of-mouth, or by simply looking at her, due to the way her belly very obviously stuck out. Surprisingly, the Jarvises took the news the most excitedly and Ana promised to spend every moment of her free time knitting blankets and clothing for the baby, which Peggy and Steve both tried to protest (but of course she didn't listen).
Peggy could not help but feel a little proud of the smiles she got from strangers as she passed them while walking through town because she had been so used to hiding her pregnancy and seeing it as a thing of shame; but now, as a happily married woman and with no one suspecting the baby wasn't Steve's, she could finally become excited about being a mother. True, she still felt she and Steve were both quite young and probably wouldn't know what to do when the baby came, but she figured that was how every new parent felt at one time or another. They had many people looking out for them – Steve's mother, Angie, the Starks, and the Jarvises – to make sure they felt prepared for when the baby comes.
Presently, Peggy found herself at a furniture shop in Denver with Steve as they looked over the baby cribs and bassinets. She wanted to simply choose the one she liked the most and be done with it, but Steve was much more choosy and wanted to find the best, safest, and most affordable crib they could get their hands on. He was currently in what appeared to be a bidding war with another couple and the store manager, and Peggy could not help but laugh a little at Steve's tenacity.
She wandered over to the glass baby bottles, absentmindedly stroking her stomach (a habit she had picked up whenever she was deep in thought). She was about to reach out and pick a bottle up to examine it when she stopped suddenly, having the feeling that she was being watched. Out of the corner of her eye, Peggy could see a man standing at the end of the row of shelves and he was looking at her. She then locked eyes with someone that made her blood turn to ice and her stomach jolt with fear: it was Jack Thompson.
For a brief moment, she made eye contact with him and he with her. But she immediately looked away and hurried over to Steve, who was currently still in negotiation with the store clerk.
"Can we go home, Steve?" asked Peggy impatiently, and Steve looked at her with a confused expression.
"Everything okay?"
"Yes, I just…I'm feeling a terrible headache all of a sudden, and I'd like to go home," she lied quickly.
Steve hesitated for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something. But then he nodded and finished things up with the store clerk, letting the other couple outbid him for the overpriced bassinet they clearly wanted more than he did.
Peggy looked over her shoulder as she was getting into the car and breathed a sigh of relief when she determined Jack Thompson was not anywhere near her.
Pulling out of the small parking lot, Steve glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Are you sure you're alright, Peg? You seem nervous about something."
Peggy sighed, rubbing her stomach slowly. "I think I saw Jack Thompson in the store."
"Jack Thompson?"
"He's…" Peggy swallowed. "He's the father of the baby."
Steve's brow furrowed and Peggy saw a flash of anger in his eyes as he gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.
"So he's the one who…"
"Yes," she replied quietly. "I haven't seen him since, and it just spooked me to see him in town."
Steve tried his best not to get too angry as he pictured the man who had forced himself upon Peggy all those months ago. She had never revealed to Steve the man's name, but he also never asked because it seemed to be something she never wanted to talk about. Which he did not blame her for because he couldn't imagine it would be easy for her to talk about being forced to have sex with a stranger while basically unconscious. His heart broke for her every time he thought about it.
Taking one hand off the steering wheel, Steve reached over and grasped her hand gently.
"I would never let anything happen to you, Peggy," he said softly, squeezing her hand.
"I know, darling," she responded sadly as she squeezed his hand back. "I just wonder if he knows about the baby."
"Well, given your stomach I'd say it's pretty obvious."
"No," scoffed Peggy, "I meant I wonder if he knows that the baby is his."
"Why would he suspect otherwise? He probably heard you were married, and a baby is the next step after that, usually."
"Yes, but so soon?" she asked, a feeling of dread rising up in her chest. "I know we've convinced everyone else this was just an unplanned, sudden thing but he knows what he did, so I'm afraid he'll become suspicious."
Steve frowned. "So what if he does? Will that really change anything? He can speculate all he wants, but he'll never know for sure the baby is his."
Peggy nodded slowly. "I suppose that's true. He can never prove anything."
Steve reached her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. "Don't worry, my love. That's all in the past now, and you can leave it behind."
If only I believed that, she thought morosely as she gave Steve a forced smile.
A few days passing by rather quickly allowed Peggy to start forgetting about seeing Jack in Denver. While it had been unpleasant to see him, she realized Steve was right and there was really nothing the man could do as far as the baby was concerned. He could claim the baby was his but he had no proof, so it would be their word against his. True, Jack was close-knit with a lot of his father's friends in the court circuits which meant he could pretty much always get his way legally, but why would he want to claim the illegitimate child was his? What purpose or benefit would that serve him?
The telephone suddenly started ringing in the entryway and Steve answered while Peggy was washing their dishes after dinner. She tried to scrub slower to listen to the conversation, but since he was in the next room, she could hear practically nothing except a few "okay"s. Steve rejoined her a few minutes later and picked up another dish to dry.
"That was my mother," he explained to her curious look. "She told me she got a letter from Mrs. Barnes saying Bucky will be coming back to Denver on leave in a few weeks. Ma figured I should offer to have him stay with us at the farm for a few days if you're alright with that?"
"By all means," she replied with a smile. "I'm dying to meet your infamous best friend. I seem to recall some of my friends from Denver thinking he was quite handsome before he got sent off to the war."
Steve scoffed. "Brunettes are my type, not yours, remember?"
Peggy laughed as she handed him another dish to dry. "I suppose you're right, darling. When will he be back in town?"
"In mid-October, just in time for the Fall Fling."
"Oh, the Fall Fling," she sighed reminiscently. "I remember dancing 'till the sun came up the last few years. I never recall seeing you there, though."
"Oh I was there," chuckled Steve as he began putting plates back into cabinets, "but everyone had their eyes on Bucky, not me. I was a sickly, scrawny kid back then so I'm not surprised you don't remember me."
"Aw, darling," she mused sadly, "I'm sure I would've loved you back then too if we had been introduced. But the fact is, I doubt I'll feel up for it this year so I will probably have to wait to go dancing another year."
Steve crossed the kitchen to give her a kiss on the top of her head. "We'll try again next year. The baby won't let you dance too much, I'm afraid."
"Damn thing," she mumbled under her breath, making Steve chuckle.
October
Steve wrote a letter to Bucky asking him to stay with them and he sent back an eager reply from the front. In just a few short weeks, Steve and Bucky were getting out of the car as he looked around at his friend's new house and lifestyle.
"What do you think?" asked Steve as he helped grab Bucky's things from the back of the trunk.
"Quaint," shot back Bucky with a grin. "I guess I'll start having to call you 'Farmer Steve' from now on."
"Punk," returned Steve as he pretended to swing at him and Bucky ducked, laughing.
Peggy greeted them on the porch with a wave and Bucky raised his eyebrows when he approached and saw her belly.
"You must be the Missus," said Bucky charmingly as he kissed her hand. "Boy, you two don't waste any time, do you? Are you sure the baby's yours, Steve?"
Peggy gaped at him but Steve chimed in, "He knows, Peg. I wrote to him a while back and told him everything. He's just being an idiot."
"You'll find out soon enough that I'm an idiot most of the time," Bucky added with a shrug.
"From the stories Steve has told me about you," replied Peggy with a grin, "I figured that out for myself."
Bucky feigned being offended and Steve laughed heartily, clapping his friend on the back.
"Oh, this weekend will be fun. Let's go have dinner, shall we?"
The trio went inside and enjoyed a delicious chicken dinner and found there was much laughter to be had. Peggy felt Bucky was a little cocky and trying too hard to be charming, but she had to admit she fell for it and liked him a lot.
"Are you both coming with me to the Fall Fling tomorrow?" asked Bucky as Steve served them each a slice of pumpkin pie.
"Steve will, but sadly I won't be joining you," answered Peggy as she patted her stomach. "I'll just be a bump on a log if I go and it would make me sad to see everyone dancing and having a good time without me. So out of sight, out of mind."
"You're sure you don't want to come?" asked Steve with a twinge of regret in his eyes, sitting down to join them at the table. "We could dance something slow and go home early if you wanted us to."
"Certainly not. Bucky's here on leave to have a good time with his friend and I wouldn't want to take that away from you both."
"I just hate to leave you alone…"
"I'll be fine, I promise," she huffed as she spooned some whipped cream off the top of her pie. "Plus I won't be alone, I'll have Benny."
She gestured to the dog who was munching away on a bone in the corner of the kitchen, blissfully unaware of the delicious dessert they were enjoying.
"C'mon, Steve," urged Bucky, "if the lady wants to stay home, we should oblige. We won't be out too late anyway."
"Oh, very well," conceded Steve, throwing up his hands in defeat. "I forgot you two are alike in that there's no sense trying to talk you into something you don't want to do."
"I wonder if that's starting to rub off on Steve yet, with you being his wife and me being his best friend?" Bucky asked Peggy, and she shrugged.
"If not, then we'll have to work harder to corrupt him."
The two of them shared a laugh as Steve rolled his eyes like a child.
The next evening, Peggy said her goodbyes to the two boys who excitedly headed off to the dance just as the sun was beginning to set. She enjoyed the last hour of sunlight by playing fetch with Benny for a while, then went inside to make herself a simple dinner.
As darkness outside settled in thickly, Peggy tried to kill some time by reading but her thoughts kept getting distracted by every little creak in the wood as the house settled. It was the first night where she was completely alone since the time Steve had gone to care for his mother when she was ill, and Peggy found herself shivering a little once the autumn wind outside started to howl.
Reading wasn't distracting herself well enough, so she got up to tidy the kitchen, then lit a fire in the living room fireplace, and sat on the sofa to try knitting some baby socks (which she was still learning how to do from Sarah so they really just ended up looking like lumps of yarn). At some point, the exhaustion of pregnancy overcame her suddenly and Peggy curled her legs up and fell asleep with her knitting still in her lap and Benny on the ground by her feet.
A sudden bark from Benny made Peggy wake up abruptly, finding herself confused because the fire had almost died out and she had no sense of what time it was. Benny shot up and ran out of the living room into the kitchen, barking wildly at the back door that led from the kitchen to outside.
"Benny!" she sharply called after him, heart hammering from the adrenaline of being woken up so suddenly. "Benny, come here!"
The knitting in her lap fell to the floor as she sat up. She swung her legs off the sofa to stand up but stopped suddenly when she heard the familiar creak of the back door. Benny's frantic barking turned into a yelp, then the door slammed and Benny's muffled barking could be heard outside.
Peggy instantly knew there was no way Benny could have opened that door himself. Her heart was hammering so hard she thought it would burst out of her chest as she unsteadily stood up to go investigate the noise.
It's just Steve and Bucky…she tried to tell herself as she took shaky steps forward. Please just be Steve and Bucky coming home early…
She crept around the corner to the kitchen, blinking in the darkness, and gasped when she saw a shadowy figure standing near the back door.
She quickly flipped on the light switch and saw Jack Thompson leaning against her kitchen counter, smirking at her.
"You know, you really should lock your doors at night," he said coolly.
"Steve!" Peggy shouted, praying Jack didn't know that Steve wasn't at home. "Steve, come down here!"
But Jack merely laughed. "I know your husband isn't at home, Peggy. I was just in Denver and saw he was dancing the night away and you weren't there, so I had a hunch I could finally catch you alone."
"What do you want from me?" she asked fiercely, trying not to let her voice show just how afraid she was.
"Well, imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I saw you at the store and you were very clearly expecting a child. I had heard you had married the farmhand – I couldn't have cared less about that, really – but then when I thought about it I realized something didn't add up. You married him in, what, May? And you're already this big? And then it hit me."
He took a step towards her and Peggy backed away.
"It hit me that there could have been consequences after our – dalliance – that night at the dance hall in Denver, and that means the baby would be mine."
"Impossible," she scoffed, shaking her head. "I got pregnant after Steve and I were married. And besides, who would even believe you if you brought this up to anyone? I'm a married woman and you can't prove when the baby was conceived."
"Oh I do have proof, actually," he said with a smug smile. "I have it in writing that Steve claims the baby isn't his."
She blinked at him in surprise. "What? How…how would you have something like that in writing?"
"I had heard from an old flame of mine that Bucky Barnes was coming back to town soon, and I remembered he and Steve were best pals. I have a friend in the post office who checked every day for me if Steve wrote a letter to his pal Bucky, and one day I got extremely lucky! Not only had he written to his friend about you, but he told him all about how it's been hard knowing that his wife was pregnant with a child that wasn't his, but he would raise it like his own child nonetheless. I copied down the contents of the letter and now I have it as proof that the child is mine, not his."
Peggy could not help but feel a twinge of sadness at the admission that Steve was still struggling with not being the baby's real father. He never seemed to be too upset by it whenever they talked about it and she figured he would feel more like a father once the baby was born. But her stomach sank when she realized Jack's suspicions were now confirmed and he had his proof.
"So what?" Peggy asked scathingly. "You're going to admit that you intercepted a private letter and will now claim a married woman's baby is yours? Steve and I will vehemently deny it and say your lies are just a cruel trap set by a spurned lover because I chose Steve over you."
Jack laughed menacingly. "And you think people will believe that? Come on, Peggy, I thought you were smarter than that."
He took another step forward and she backed up again, trying to not show her fear but realizing he had the power over her in this situation.
"So here's what's going to happen," said Jack decisively. "If you have a girl, fine, I don't really care. But if you have a boy, he will be my heir and the eventual heir to my father's fortune. I expect you to hand over the child to me, its real father, so my family's fortune is secured with my bloodline. If not, I will get the law involved and we will go to court. With my father being the best judge in Denver, how do you think that's going to go for you?"
"I'll never agree to that," she spat sharply. "It'll be your word against mine and no one will take my child from me. Do you understand?"
She took a bold step forward and he merely laughed at her.
"You do realize I could also just forcibly take the child after it's born and, as its father, I would have every right to do so?"
"I…"
She swallowed nervously as she realized he could be right. Jack shook his head with a hollow laugh.
"For your sake, I hope you have a girl. Good-bye, Peggy. I'll see you when the baby's born."
He turned around and opened the back door through which he had come in. Benny lunged at him with a growl but Jack expertly grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pushed him back inside the house with Peggy. Benny continued barking frantically as Jack closed the back door behind him.
As soon as she knew he was gone, Peggy rushed to the telephone and gave the operator an address, her mouth dry from the fear and adrenaline. The line rang a few times and she was relieved to hear a familiar voice.
"Stark residence, this is Jarvis."
"Jarvis? It's Peggy Rogers."
"Ah, Mrs. Rogers, how lovely to hear from you. How can I help?"
"I need a favor," she implored as calmly as she knew how. "I need you to go into town and find Steve and his friend, Bucky. They're at the Fall Fling and I need you to tell them to come home immediately. It's an emergency."
"Are you alright?" Jarvis asked immediately. "Are you in any danger?"
"No, I'm not in any danger at the moment, but they need to come home now. A man just broke into our house, but he's gone."
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Jarvis in alarm. "Shall I telephone the police for you?"
"No, no, I already did," Peggy lied. "But I need Steve to come home now."
"I understand completely, Mrs. Rogers. I will leave at once."
"Thank you, Jarvis."
She hung up the telephone and placed a hand over her heart, feeling how fast it was currently beating. She remembered stress like this was probably bad for the baby so she sat on the sofa and breathed deeply to try to calm down. But she thought about Jack's words and that made fear pump into her veins once more.
He said he was going to claim paternity of the child and fight her in court to get her to hand the child over to him…or he said he would take the child by force if necessary. The thought made her blood run cold and she put her face in her hands, wondering what she and Steve were going to do. They couldn't fight him in court; his family was too intertwined with the law and they would easily get what they wanted. So then what? Move away to have the baby but always be looking over their shoulder anywhere they went?
She sat in deep contemplation for an hour or so until she finally breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the familiar sound of their truck rumbling down the drive. She heard the brakes squeal and the doors open and slam, and then Steve and Bucky both burst through the door.
"Peggy?" called out Steve and then he saw her sitting in the living room. She immediately rushed over and threw her arms around him.
"Steve, thank God," she breathed as she held onto him tightly, and he put his arms around her securely.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he pulled away for a moment to look down at her face. "Are you hurt in any way?"
"No, no, I'm fine. I'm just spooked, is all."
"What happened?" asked Bucky, looking around the room a little puzzled to see no broken glass or busted doors. "Jarvis said you told him someone broke in?"
She looked up at Steve. "It was Jack Thompson. He came in through the back door while I was sleeping."
For the first time in the several months since she had known Steve, Peggy saw an intense anger in her eyes that honestly would have scared her if she hadn't known how gentle and good-natured he normally was.
"Did he touch you?" he asked carefully through gritted teeth, and Peggy shook her head.
"No, he said he wanted to catch me alone to talk to me."
"I'm sorry, who's Jack Thompson?" interrupted Bucky.
"He's the real father of my child. The one who…"
"Got it," he replied soberly in understanding.
"So, he just wanted to talk to you?" asked Steve angrily. "What did he say?"
Peggy explained everything to them about what Jack had said about claiming paternity of the child, the letter he had read that Steve wrote to Bucky, and taking the child by force if it was a boy.
"...And then he said something like he'll be back when the baby is born, and he left."
Steve began to pace around the room in agitation. "I could kill that man if I saw him again."
"Whoa, Steve," said Bucky as he walked over and put a calming hand on his shoulder. "That's not gonna solve anything. You two need to figure out a plan if he does what he says he's going to do."
"Can he really use that letter as proof?" Steve asked no one in particular. "Would that hold up as evidence in court?"
"I'm not sure," replied Peggy with a shake of her head, "but I don't think legality matters if his father is the district judge. We'll be completely ruined if he takes us to court."
"We'll have to avoid that, then. Perhaps we can convince him that there's another way to settle this?"
"You want to try to reason with that man?" fired back Peggy. "The man who raped me and broke into our home to threaten to take my child away from me by any means necessary?"
The outburst made both Steve and Bucky stare at her with widened eyes, and she turned away from them in frustration. She sat back down on the sofa as tears pooled in her eyes.
Steve sat next to her carefully and grasped her hand. "I will never, ever, let him or anyone else touch you or our child. I promise, Peggy. We'll figure something out."
Peggy looked up at him as a single tear slid down her cheek.
"I just wish I could believe that."
