"Well, I thought I'd might leave that one up to you come when this all ends, you know? After all, I don't know if I want to take your last name or want you to take mine sometimes.", Steve chuckled as Peggy smiled, "I'd be more than happy to do it any way so long as I be with you at your side like we have been already.".
Steve then looked out to the inland where their further objectives would be waiting for them. The invasion at least at Omaha was going well, but there's no telling how any of the other beaches were or if the entire invasion was in jeopardy. For now, though, Steve just cared about his family that was right with him, "I know what you said before, Peggy... about the right time for this sort of thing?".
Peggy exhaled softly, "Steve, I know that look. You want to help. I'll be fine with Susan.", as she gingerly pushed the afterbirth out, and used the tarps to clean herself up, and got up, putting her bra, underwear, and war outfit back on. "And for the right time, you can ask me when we're back up at the fort. I know she's healthy and all, but I need Erskine's opinion.".
Steve nodded, and passed Susan back into Peggy's arms, "You go straight back to the boats. I have to fight.", and Peggy nodded, "Yes, Captain America. You come right back in two hours, you hear?", seeing the vigilant look in Steve's eyes.
Steve smiled, kissing Peggy on the lips, and then kissed Susan on the forehead, "Crystal clear, Captain Britain. And I'll be right back, Sue-P.", with a nod of affirmation and fatherly love.
Steve would quickly assist the 29th and 1st Infantry as they made their way from the beaches; quickly linking up with some Rangers that had to scale the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc further to the west of Omaha and making sure the road was clear to Carentan where Utah and Omaha beaches could link up. He probably could've run all the way to the town, but his two hours were up as he was confident that the grunts had it under control.
He found himself sitting next to Peggy as they leaned against a cliff once he returned, as the two of them watched more and more ships pull in.
"What a sight, huh?", Peggy said. "You talking about the invasion or our daughter?", Steve joked.
Peggy giggled, "Technically, the invasion, but yes, our Susan is quite a sight to everyone. You would've wished to see the looks on the commanders' faces when they saw me walking back with a baby in tow.", smiling gently with a glance down to her arms as Susan is remarkably still sleeping despite all the noise and such.
"Considering her size, at least it should be obvious to anyone that she's ours for sure.", Steve chuckled as he gently brushed Susan's hair.
Peggy chuckled, "Perhaps that's true, but she also looks like both of us...", with a content hum as she lightly leaned her head on Steve's shoulder..."Do you think your mom would've loved her?".
"Loved her? Peggy, she would go bonkers with spoiling our Susan so much.", Steve laughed lightly, and caressed Peggy's shoulder, "But I know a couple of people would love her as much as my mother would have, next to Bucky...".
Peggy smiled, "Yes, Mum and Dad would be happy to know. And Bucky, he would be a swell uncle.", with a chuckle. Steve smiled, "Oh, for sure.", with a nod before seeing their daughter start to wake up.
"Hey, princess.", Steve smiled, "Nice nap, Susan?", and Susan blinked before wiggling and gurgling as she reached out for Steve. Peggy smiled, "I think we got a daddy's girl here.", gently passing her over to Steve who immediately held her, playing with her as she cooed and gurgled, trying to smile as she tried to catch Steve's fingers with her hands.
Steve chuckled, "I guess she is as I was technically a momma's boy, so I guess I have a natural thing when it comes to family.", with a grin when Susan squealed excitedly as he teased, poking her nose and tickling her belly.
"Still, you'll have to do quite a lot of mother/daughter bonding, especially when she starts getting older.", Steve joked. "Steve, not here on the beach.", Peggy chuckled as she swatted his shoulder.
Steve laughed heartily, smiling at Peggy before focusing on Susan, "Oh, did you catch my fingers? Did you catch them?", before yelping slightly as she squeezed them, "Oh, goodness, she's strong. I felt that for good.".
Susan gurgled happily with a giggle and an almost-attempted smile, and Peggy snickered, "It's reflexes, luv. She will learn how to control them.", with a patient, warm smile, looking at Susan with motherly love in her eyes, and Susan cooed at her before her stomach grumbled.
Susan gave her hungry whine, and Steve grabbed one of the tarps from one of the ashore ships, giving it to Peggy as she removed her war suit to just down by her belly button, but with one of her sleeves on, and taking Susan from Steve, she led her to her freed breast from the bra, using the tarp to shield Susan and her breast from view as she took to latch into her second meal of the day.
Steve replied, "How many times do she has to feed per day?", and Peggy replied, "Mum said that for newborns, they have to be fed 8-12 times a day. It lessens when they reach 2 months and so on. Or so she says. She did it with me, and I am sure most mothers do the same as well.".
"Sounds like I'm probably going to have to be helping the front lines solo then for some weeks.", Steve said as Peggy nodded.
"Looks that way, at least until we can find a better way for Susan to be taken care of. I'm not a bad mother by wanting to leave her behind and go back into the fighting, am I?", Peggy asked with a worried tone as Steve shook his head.
"Not at all; you're wanting to come back to help end this war sooner so we can spend time with our daughter and raise her in a peaceful world.", Steve assured her.
Peggy sighed in relief, "I want the same for our daughter as well...Susan deserves to have a wonderful life.", looking down at their hungry daughter. Steve smiled, kissing her temple, "At least we can know that our Susan has a very good appetite, and she's healthy. Well, she'll be a celebrity soon enough, for she's born of a union between our nations...a sign of hope and life...I mean, she's British and American altogether...You saw those recon planes...And of course, with everybody coming on for the landings...", with a half deep, half weary sigh.
"They better give us the privacy that we want with Susan, or I'll crush their cameras without a second thought.", Peggy chuckled as Steve nodded.
"I'll help you with that. Susan deserves to have her privacy; she doesn't have to be famous like her parents if she doesn't want to.", Steve said.
Peggy chuckled, "Indeed.", smiling at Susan who was slowing down now with her meal, and Steve sighed warmly, "I still can't believe that she's here...".
Peggy kissed his cheek, "Believe it, luv. Susan is part of us, and we are part of her. We will be there to support her, to love her, to have faith in her, and be her parents all the time.", with a firm nod, and felt Susan let go, giving out a burp.
Steve went to receive Susan as Peggy went to get the bra back on, and zip the part of her outfit back on, and watched Steve play with their daughter once more. A few minutes later, a familiar voice spoke, "I couldn't believe my ears when I heard about you with a baby in tow on the radio, Miss Carter.".
Peggy and Steve looked over to see Dr. Erskine standing on a big boulder. Steve blinked in surprise, "When did you come in, Doc?".
"Flying boat. As soon as word reached that Eris was here and the beach was secured, I was quickly flown in.", Erskine explained. "I'll still need to exam her body, of course.".
"A few GIs are guarding her body; under orders at the risk of a court martial if they do anything without express orders from General Bradley.", Steve told him.
Erskine smiled, "Good. May I know her name?", nodding at the baby in Steve's arms, and Steve smiled, scooting down to Erskine's level, adjusting Susan to see better.
Susan peered shyly with an eye as she tucked in Steve's chest, "It's okay, princess. This is my very good friend and doctor, Abraham Erskine. Doc, say hello to Susan Viola Carter-Rogers, my and Peggy's daughter.".
Erskine smiled warmly, bowing playfully, "Why, hello, look how beautiful you are, Susan.", and Susan blinked, recognizing his voice as she heard it sometimes in the womb, and cooed quietly, tilting her head in confusion to see that Erskine isn't big like her parents, reaching out to him hesitantly and carefully.
Erskine smiled, his hand touching Susan's pinky, "Remarkable. You truly are the image of your parents, dear one...", amazed to see such innocence yet intelligence in her eyes. Susan gurgled happily, growing out of her shell, seeing that Erskine isn't bad at all, and decided to shrink down to an Amazonian baby size.
Steve gasped, watching her in near fright as Susan gave a squeal, reaching to Erskine on Steve's palm, and Erskine looked up, "May I?", and Steve exhaled, nodding, carefully moving his palm close to Erskine, and Erskine picked Susan up, held her with the air of an experienced father.
"You look surprised.", Erskine chuckled. "I was a father once, remember?", with a warm smile. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot...", Steve said as Erskine nodded and sighed.
"Of course, my wife and children are gone now, some of the earlier victims of the Nazis.", Erskine spoke bittersweetly.
"Well, at least their days are numbered for sure now. We've managed to secure the beach and hopefully will start driving inland.", Peggy smiled with a feeling of hope in her heart. "How are the other beaches going, do you know?".
"I've heard that the Americans at Utah also faced light resistance and have secured their beach. The British, I think, are finishing up Gold and Sword while the Canadians are still fighting at Juno, but it shouldn't last too much longer since Gold and Sword can support them.", Erskine informed.
Peggy nodded, "That's a good relief to hear.", watching Susan protectively as she played with Erskine's fingers very gently, gurgling and cooing as she can sense that Erskine is fragile in a way.
"She really is taking to you, doc. She has a shy side and a stubborn side and a playful side.", Peggy replied warmly, and Erskine smiled softly, "I can tell. Size-changing, it's a good ability.".
Steve replied, "She also has invisibility and something else we never saw before.", and Erskine nodded, "So, she definitely got the Quantonium and the Serum in her body then.", with a chuckle, "Must have been a hell of a shock when she came out of nowhere.".
Peggy chuckled, "Understatement of the century. I really thought I was dying, and when we realized that I was in labor, giving birth, we were scared as we truly thought that it was too early, but when she came, she grew up, clearly full developed, and very much alive...She was the one behind the gas and bellyaches.", with a smile.
Erskine laughed warmly, "Wow. So, the Quantonium or the Serum must have put a high speed on the aging. Susan's quite healthy, I can tell, and her heartbeat is strong.", with a smile as he tickled Susan's belly, causing her to squeal happily, "And of course, her lungs is quite well-developed. Honestly, I don't think that there's nothing wrong with her, and of course, she's clearly yours.".
Steve sighed in relief, "Thanks, doc. That means a lot to us.", and Peggy nodded, relieved as well, seeing Colonel Phillips coming up, and he bellowed, "Did I hear gossip or truth about the fact that you gave birth on a battleground, Captain Carter?!".
Susan squealed out of fright, turning invisible, turning on her force fields, and hovered back into Steve's arms, colliding into him as she grew up back to her giant size, and Steve was surprised for a second before murmuring to Susan, trying to reassure her as she partially turned visible, whimpering.
Erskine slapped Colonel Phillps's shoulder in anger, "Don't do that, Phillips! You scared her!", knowing that Peggy would have done that, but Erskine did it first.
"Sorry...", Phillips quickly apologized as even he wasn't that blunt in the head not to at least take how a baby can act when startled into account. "I'm just stunned to hear and now see the truth about the situation.".
"Well, it's not like we were planning this, sir.", Steve quickly spoke up. "We didn't even know she was expecting until the moment Susan was being born.".
Phillips nodded, "So, it was a complete surprise.", and Peggy nodded, "Yes, sir. Her name is Susan Viola Carter-Rogers.".
Steve kissed Susan's forehead, "It's okay, princess. You're safe. The colonel is a good man, strict and grumpy, but he means well.", adjusting Susan into Phillips' view, and Susan peeked over Steve's arm as she became more visible, looking at Phillips with wary eyes.
Phillips saluted her, "Apologies for scaring you, young lady. I hope you forgive me for my temper.", and Susan blinked, and snuffled, leaning back into Steve's chest. Steve smiled, "I think she forgives you, but she's not warming up to you just yet. You will have to work hard to earn her trust.".
"Understood.", Phillips nodded as he took a deep breath. "So, I take it we're going to lose our now total advantage on the Krauts considering that I've also been told that Eris is dead?".
"She is.", Steve nodded. "Peggy got the killing blow. It was wild and certainly took her by surprise as she may not have been aware of our newer gifts since we fought her in Italy. But in terms of advantage, I can easily stay on the front while Peggy stays with Susan and at least take care of her long enough until Susan will be alright without her mother's milk.".
Erskine nodded, "Newborns needs to be close to their mothers for quite some time, and I believe two months would do it for Steven's time to fight on his own, and if Susan is comfortable with me by then at the end of the two months, I can feed her in the mornings while Peggy assists Steven, and they can come back in the afternoons to keep up the parent-baby bond.".
Steve and Peggy look at each other, and whispered quietly as they huddled in, and with nods as they finish the huddle and look at Erskine, Peggy replied, "A good solution, doc, and I can express my milk for the morning feedings when that time comes.".
Steve then added, "And as Susan has already taken to you, we have decided to name you as godfather.", with a warm smile, "But only if you'd like to be.", with a nod. "I would be honored.", Erskine smiled as Phillips cleared his throat.
"Yes, well, I suppose that's all we can do for the situation; probably better to have you back safely in England for the time being, Carter. After that, as Erskine said, the morning/afternoon stuff could work too, but you'd have to be fairly close to have her somewhat close to the frontline.", Phillips reminded.
"Wouldn't be too bad. Certainly can keep out of any long-range artillery and the Luftwaffe is basically non-existent now so we wouldn't need to worry too much about air raids.", Steve said.
Peggy nodded, "That's for sure.", smiling as she is seeing that Susan is, once again, falling asleep in Steve's arms. Erskine smiled, "I will go with Miss Carter and the dear one to England after I finish with examining Eris's body which I better get on.", with a bow, "Sweet dreams, my goddaughter.".
Susan only snuffled, closing her eyes, and a quiet laugh came around the group as Erskine nodded to Phillips and smiled at Steve and Peggy, "Many congratulations, you two.".
Steve smiled, "Thanks, doc.", and Peggy nodded, "Yes, thank you, Dr. Erskine. And if you excuse my offense, but I believe that your wife and children would have been proud of you for bringing us together indirectly, and of course, ending up with a goddaughter, due to us.".
Erskine smiled as Phillips looked around and tapped him on the shoulder, "Come on, Doctor, I'll get us a ride to Eris.". The two of them headed off to find transportation off the beach while the giant parents once more were mostly alone to themselves with the rest of the landings happening around them.
Steve smiled softly as he glanced down at his slumbering daughter, "I'd never imagined I would be a captain soldier, a giant, and a father, and if you or anyone else told me when I was a teenager or something, I'd think it was a joke.".