*A/N What happened during the birth of Philip James Rogers. Warning: some mild swearing.
12 August 2016
"God dammit, Steve, I'm going to kill you!"
Steve just nodded along, watching her worriedly as he kept his hands wrapped around Arianna's, letting her clutch at it almost painfully. In fact, he was certain that if it weren't for the super-soldier serum, she probably would've broken his bones by now.
Arianna screamed again, and Steve glanced at the doctor and nurses working at the end of the bed before looking back at Arianna as he begged: "It'll be okay, Ria. It's almost over."
"'Okay' my ass!" She screamed at him, before her hand clenched even tighter around his as another contraction hit and she squealed in pain.
"You're doing wonderfully, Mrs. Rogers." The doctor soothed as she checked Arianna's progress. "Just a little more."
"See, babe?" Steve tried to calm his wife as Arianna sagged a little, sobbing from the latest contraction. "Just a little-"
"If you say 'a little longer' one more time, I'm going to slit your throat." She hissed furiously, before she cried again as another contraction began.
Steve just held Arianna's hand helplessly, glancing back at the doctor beseechingly. It had already been at least three hours since they'd entered the ward, though to him it felt much longer. Due to their need to keep low profiles, they'd avoided coming to the hospital T'Challa had offered for as long as possible, i.e. when Arianna started going into active labor.
The unfortunate consequence of this was that Arianna was almost into the birthing period by the time they'd arrived at the ward. She'd held up fairly well until that point, but started screaming just before they'd entered, leaving Wanda and Sam looking faint while Clint looked grim as they were forced to wait outside.
Steve had been allowed in as the husband, but at points he wasn't sure if that was lucky or not. Watching Arianna scream while shaking from the contractions was definitely not high on his wish list, and it killed a part of him to watch her in so much pain. It didn't help that she'd proceeded to start screaming at him about an hour ago.
The doctor didn't notice, focused on her work as she called: "All right, we've got enough dilation to give birth."
The nurses all crowded around while Steve's hands tightened on Arianna's as she clutched his wildly.
"Now, Mrs. Rogers, I'm going to need you to push." The doctor instructed. "Take a deep breath."
"Come on, Ria." Steve encouraged as Arianna took a shaky breath. "Breathe."
She glared murderously at him as she took a deep breath before pushing as she'd been instructed to.
"That's it, you're doing great." The doctor encouraged while Steve rubbed circles on Arianna's hand with his thumb.
He'd rarely felt this helpless, and he wasn't sure what to do to help. The only thing that seemed to work so far was to let Arianna curse at him. Like now.
"Steve, you asshole! I'm going to castrate you myself for putting me through this!" Arianna screamed as she slumped back down on the bed.
"Mrs. Rogers, another push." The doctor instructed, and Arianna tensed.
"You can do this, Ria." Steve encouraged, ignoring her insults at him as he just let her hang onto his hand like a lifeline. "And then you can do whatever you want."
"Oh, God." Arianna moaned, and the doctor instructed: "Breathe, Mrs. Rogers."
"Oh, God." She just repeated, and Steve urged worriedly: "Breathe, Ria."
"Shit!" She cried, but she did as he said and took a deep breath before pushing with another scream of pain biting out through her grit teeth.
"That's it, that's it." The doctor encouraged and Arianna screamed as she slumped back once more.
"That was a really good one, Mrs. Rogers." The doctor encouraged. "Now, just one more like that one."
"Go to hell!" Arianna screamed, and Steve begged at last: "How much longer?"
"We can see the baby's head inside." The doctor answered calmly, clearly used to this. "Now, we need another push, Mrs. Rogers."
"Come on, Ria, breathe." Steve encouraged, and she bit out at him: "I should have let the Chitauri kill you."
"Yeah." Steve nodded as Arianna took a deep breath.
"Or Ultron and his robots." Arianna snarled, and Steve just nodded: "Yeah."
"Shut up!" She snapped at him, and the doctor interjected: "And push, Mrs. Rogers."
Steve clutched her hand as Arianna tensed, pushing once more and with another bitter scream.
"God!" Arianna cried as she slumped back again after her push, and Steve soothed: "You're doing great, Ria."
"I will f*cking kill you, Steve Rogers." Arianna sobbed as she shook like a leaf.
Steve just kept his mouth shut as he rubbed and soothed her hand in his as she squeezed his hand so hard he swore it was going to bruise. Another sob escaped Arianna as she took a shaky breath before pushing hard again.
The process continued for another almost hour, Arianna alternating between swearing to kill Steve and screaming bloody murder. Steve just took it all as he held her hands and soothed her as best as he could while the doctor added professional encouragement along the way.
"That's great, we can see the baby's head." The doctor encouraged. "You're doing wonderfully, Mrs. Rogers."
"F*ck you!" Arianna gasped, and Steve grimaced at last.
He'd never heard Arianna swear as much as she had in the past two hours, even when she'd had to endure morning sickness, and he doubted he'd hear it again… unless this happened again.
It was as he was thinking this that Arianna gripped his hand and wailed: "I'm going to kill you for this! Never again!"
"Push, Mrs. Rogers, we see the crown." The doctor called, and Steve soothed: "Breathe, Ria, it's almost over now, really. You can do this."
"God!" She sobbed, but she did as he said.
Steve had to admit, he took a small bit of pride in the fact that despite all her insults and swearing at him, she still listened to what he told her to do. Arianna pushed once more, and Steve glanced down as the doctor called happily: "We see his face, you're doing great, Mrs. Rogers."
Arianna gasped, still shaking but she finally stopped yelling at Steve. She still squealed and cried through the rest, but knowing that the baby was near and the end in sight kept her motivated enough to keep going. And her vice-like grip never released Steve's hands from hers while he let her use his hold to keep herself grounded.
The room was finally filled with an infant's cries, and Arianna collapsed back on the bed while Steve stared in wonder as the doctor cooed: "Aw, look at the little man!"
She held up the slightly bloodied baby as the nurses quickly and effectively cleaned him off and kept him warm with towels. Arianna cried while Steve could only stare as the doctor gently placed their newborn son on Arianna's bare stomach. Steve crouched to stare at his son as the baby calmed down slightly upon contact, though he was still crying as Arianna slowly lifted her head.
"Oh, my God." Arianna whispered, and Steve smiled at her as with tear-filled eyes.
"He's beautiful." Arianna sighed as she brushed a shaking hand over the baby's head, and Steve nodded as he answered: "As beautiful as you."
"Shut up." Arianna chuckled a little, her voice cracking slightly from all her previous screaming, as she bent to kiss and cuddle their son while Steve kissed her temple.
"Mr. Rogers." The doctor murmured and he glanced over questioningly.
The doctor held up the placenta, still attached, and a nurse held up a pair of scissors as the doctor asked: "Would you like to do the honors?"
Steve nodded, though he was still a little shaky himself, but his hands were steady as he took the scissors and deftly cut through the line that had kept his son alive while still inside his wife. Arianna sobbed a little in happiness as she watched, still cuddling their son.
Steve moved back to her head, kissing her tear-stained cheeks as he gently brushed her sweat-soaked hair back while he watched his son in Arianna's arms.
The rest of the process went quickly, with the doctor easily removing the placenta from Arianna and checking that both mother and child were healthy. The doctor then had the sense to remove herself and the nurses, letting the small family have their moment after reminding and coaching Arianna on how to breastfeed the baby.
Thankfully, the little baby seemed eager to feed as he latched on quickly, and Steve watched in silent awe as they were left alone for the moment.
"Little Phil." Arianna murmured as she held their son close, and Steve smiled.
"Philip James Rogers." He tested, and Arianna laughed a little as she noted: "You know, Phil would've died of happiness to hear you say that."
Steve chuckled with her before they lapsed into another brief silence as they both stared at their son.
"Sorry I yelled all those things at you." Arianna murmured as she, too, watched their son with fascination and wonder lighting up her eyes. Steve just chuckled around his tight throat, shaking his head.
"Thank you for going through all that." He answered, and Arianna smiled as she glanced briefly at him before staring back down at their son.
She pressed another kiss to him, which required a little maneuvering that he apparently disliked. The baby gurgled unhappily before latching back onto her breast and suckling, causing both parents to laugh a little.
"Temper like his mother." Steve teased and Arianna laughed back: "Stubborn like his old man."
Steve chuckled, though he became pensive towards the end. Arianna noticed it and she admitted: "I know – I feel weird too, knowing that I'm really, actually a mother now."
"I didn't think it'd ever happen." Steve sighed contently. "Even after you told me you were pregnant, it didn't strike me as it strikes me now…"
"Mhm." Arianna hummed in agreement before she also sighed contently.
The doctor returned shortly, checking on the baby and on Arianna once more, and the exhaustion finally hit Arianna. She sighed, her eyes drooping as she called: "Steve?"
"Hm?" He asked as he glanced at her, and he too noted how tired she seemed. "What is it, babe?"
"I love you." She murmured, and he smiled.
"I love you, too, Ria." He murmured back, kissing her temple again as she sighed before she fell asleep.
The doctor silently held up the baby, bundled up in a blue blanket, and Steve nodded gratefully as he held his son properly for the first time. The doctor left them once more after some further whispered instructions, and Steve stood rocking his son as he watched over his sleeping wife.
The doctor explained that Arianna wouldn't be out long, so he waited beside her patiently though the others would probably be worried about now. But Steve would go call them soon, so until then he allowed himself to relax just slightly and enjoy the quiet moment with his son and Arianna, until she woke back up.