Hey everyone sorry for the delay but again life is kind of kicking my ass at the moment. Whoever said that bad things happen in threes got it right. Number three just happened and its been really hard to focus. Anyway I'll continue to update as I finish but updates may be less frequent and for that I'm sorry, So for now here's the new chapter. Let me know what you think. :)
After hours of tests and retests on Claire's part Wren and I finally got the okay to go home. I put on a pair of grey leggings with a red long sleeved thermal tunic and some knee high boots. I topped it with a black trench coat and I was good to go. Wren was all bundled up in a Grey thermal onesie that had his initials on it and a grey beanie with his name on it.
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"You ready?" dad asked.
"Yeah, time to go home Wren." I said looking at my sleepy son.
"We're taking the back exit, we don't think the press know you gave birth but we should play it safe." Dad said.
"Okay. I can't wait to get home I need a shower, a real one." I said.
"Yeah about that…" dad started.
"Everyone's on their way aren't they?" I said.
"Kind of." Dad said.
"Can you have them wait for a bit while I put together before they get there?" I asked.
"I can swing that I'll just send them out on errands." Dad said.
"That'll work." I said.
We quickly took the back exit and got in the car. I was surprised Dad remembered to have the car seat installed before we left. Wren was buckled in between us and he just stared at us wide eyed.
We got to the house and Sam and Aiden were there. I left them to admire Wren while I quickly showered and got dressed in a comfier outfit. It was a simple long sleeved beige dress and some knee high boots.
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By the time I got out Wren was fussy so I decided to change him into a looser outfit so he'd be comfy.
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I was sitting on the couch catching up with Sam and Aiden while holding Wren when dad started taking pictures.
"I know you want to keep this as private as possible but eventually we will have to make a birth announcement and this photo was to good to pass up." Dad said.
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"Aw that is cute." I said.
"It really is." Sam said.
"Boss, miss Romanoff and the rest of the avengers are at the door." Friday said.
"Let them in." I said. The door opened and everyone came pouring in.
"Where's my grandson?" Rhodey said.
"Over here." I said. Everyone walked over and stood around to get a look at him. "Everyone meet Wren Aiden Spencer Stark."
"Good name." Natasha said.
"Want to hold your godson?" I asked. She gave me a smirk and nodded.
"Hi traitor." She said.
"Traitor?" I asked.
"I may have had two nurseries set up in case you had a boy and a girl and thrown everyone off." Dad said.
"Really?" I asked.
"I thought about what you said and you were right no matter what they ended up being the only thing that mattered was that you were both healthy so I didn't open the envelope." Dad said.
"Does this mean I can finally see the nursery?" I said. Dad had locked it up and not let anyone see inside. There were a few times in the past few weeks I almost broke into it but Aiden and Sam always talked me out of it.
"Good idea I think someone needs a diaper change." Clint said.
We went upstairs and dad unlocked the door.
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"I arranged it like that since I know it's important for Wren to get some sunlight during the first few weeks. Something about preventing vitamin D deficiency at least that's what the book said." dad said.
"It's perfect." I said smiling. "And you stocked up on diapers."
"Duh." Dad said.
I quickly put Wren on the changing table and cleaned him up before heading downstairs again. He was passed around until it was time for feeding time and Sam and Wren fussed over who got to do it. Aiden ultimately won that argument with he has my name you'll wait your turn.
"So how are you feeling?" Sam said.
"I don't know how to describe it. I feel lighter and happy." I said. "Like there was something missing and I didn't know it until I held that little guy in my arms."
"You have the glow." Sam said. "How have you been feeling really since…"
"You mean since I came back from the dead? I told you I'm really good." I said smiling.
"Only you can be happy about dying." Sam said.
"It isn't the dying that made me happy, it's what happened during. I saw them. I saw Wren and Jess." I said.
"Nora that's not possible." Sam said.
"Look at our lives Sam is it really that impossible?" I said. "I got closure. I told Wren I loved him and I have a message for you from Jess. She said she loves you and that its okay, she wants you to be happy and that she'll see you on the flip side but that we better not meet them there anytime soon."
"That does sound like something she'd say." He said with a sad smile.
"Like I told Aiden we have two guardian angels looking out for us." I said.
"Yeah, it really does." He said.
A little while later after everyone had gone home and Wren was in bed Aiden and I were sitting down in the living room.
"So what happens now?" Aiden said.
"Not sure, we raise Wren take it one day at a time." I said.
"Never thought this would happen." Aiden said.
"Me having a kid because in case you didn't notice that was kind of the main thing going on around here the past few months." I said.
"Not that I mean that this would become my life. I have friends and family. You and Sam and probably Connor know what I used to do for a living and you're still okay with having me around." Aiden said.
"You make it sound like you're a stray dog we haven't house trained. Aiden we've all done some pretty questionable things. I'm a time traveler with a kill list that probably outnumbers yours. Sam… lets just say there's probably a reason he doesn't talk about his childhood. You were brainwashed by a bunch of assholes that used you to do their bidding but not anymore. You had a chance to change and you took it. It's not going to be easy sailing all the time but that doesn't mean you don't deserve to be happy." I said.
"How can you be so positive all the time?" Aiden said.
"You think I'm always positive? You've seen me wallow in bed for days and cry at the most random things. It's not being positive its having hope and knowing that it will eventually get better." I said.
"You make it sound so easy." He said.
"It's not, you take things as they come and one day at a time." I said. "Like for example I need to take a nap because in about an hour or two your nephew is going to be up wanting a diaper change, a bottle or maybe even both."
"Don't forget the monitor." Aiden said.
"Right, good night." I said.
"Night." He said.
Third Person's POV- A Few Days Later
After a few days Nora had finally given Tony the Okay to release a birth announcement to the press. To say they went wild would be an understatement. The photo of her holding her son in her arms had been published in every gossip magazine and had been mentioned in the news.
Most people sent their well wishes and complemented the mother and son. Everyone that is except one bitter blonde.
"That should be me and my son they're talking about not her and that bastard." Sharon said.
"You do realize her husband died so technically he's not a bastard and wow she looks amazing for someone that just had a kid. It doesn't look like she put on any baby weight." Sharon's cousin said over the phone.
"Cassidy!" Sharon scorned.
"What it's true? I get that the past few months have been tough but you have to let go. It wasn't anyone's fault that your son died well except for the guy who planted the bomb but Nora did nothing." Cassidy said. "Besides you and Steve were having problems way before Nora came into the picture you're the one that's chasing after him."
"I don't know why I bothered calling you." Sharon said before hanging up and throwing the phone against the wall shattering it.
Suddenly the landline in the room started ringing.
"What?" She answered.
"Is this Sharon Carter?" A man asked.
"This is she who's asking?" She said.
"Hi I'm Ben Collins I'm a producer on Christine Everheart's show, we were wondering if you'd be willing to come in for an interview? We know that you've been through a lot…."
"I'll do it." She said.
"Oh excellent someone will be in contact with all the details. Thank you Miss Carter." Ben said.
"No thank you." She said with a smirk.
A Week Later- Nora's POV
I had finally put Wren down in his swing while I was making dinner. Aiden was out on a recon trip. One of his leads had finally come up with something about Snow and he went to go check up on it before he was gone.
I was listening to the news when I heard something that made my blood boil.
"Hello and Welcome to real news with Christine Everheart joining us today is Captain America's significant other Sharon Carter." Christine introduced.
"Oh fuck." I said. "This isn't good."
"Thank you for joining us." Christine said.
"Thank you for having me." Sharon said smiling.
"Miss carter you've been dating Captain Rogers for about three years now, tell us how you met." Christine asked.
"Well you all know the story. I lived next door to him and I was asked by my boss at SHIELD to help him catch up on how things have changed since the forties. One thing led to another and one day he asked me out. Three years later here we are." Sharon said with a bright smile.
"How have you been dealing with him being away so often on missions? Aren't you worried someone's going to snag him away?" Christine said poking the bear.
"No not at all. Stevie and I are inseparable. Especially after our son…" Sharon started crying crocodile tears.
"Don't do it." I muttered.
"Your son?" Christine asked.
"I was expecting a boy but I lost him after the terrorist attack last year. I was in the mall of Manhattan," she said sobbing.
"I'm so sorry." Christine said.
"He would have been a month old today. The worst part of it all is the woman who murdered him butchered me too." Sharon said.
"Woman? It was believed that the terrorist known as Crossbones was responsible for the attack." Christine said.
"He set the bomb but Nora Stark finished the job. She was at the hospital when I arrived. She took my son out of me and left me barren." Sharon cried. "My baby's murderer is out there free to do what she wants. I've tried fighting for justice but the judge doesn't see the true Nora Stark. The murderer."
I took my phone out and texted Sam.
Watch the news, things just got complicated.
Sam replied almost right away.
Shit, Pizza after work, I'll see what our options are.
"You want to play like that, Game on bitch." I said. I looked over at my son and smiled. "Don't worry buddy, mommy's going to take care of this." Wren gave me a small smile before letting out a fart. "And that too." I said picking him up.
A Few Hours Later-
"SO I got you a large meatlovers…" Sam started.
"That bad huh?" I said.
"It's not pretty and the news isn't exactly loving you but that's only because they don't know all the facts." Sam said.
"So right now I'm a baby murderer and vengeful bitch." I said.
"Actually just a baby murderer, they don't know about you and Cap though there is a bit of a theory going on that there's a love triangle." Sam said and I gave him a look. "I got bored at the dentist and they only had a gossip magazines. It was purely for research."
"okay so I'm a baby murderer and the whole world thinks that. What happens now?" I said.
"Well I got a call from the judge, he wants us all in his chambers tomorrow morning." Sam started.
"That's good right?" I asked.
"Well…"
"Okay not good. He's going to take us to trial so no one thinks he's bias." I said.
"Yeah, on the plus side they have no proof so things should be pretty straight forward. Downside, you're going to be on the news a lot more and it isn't going to be flattering." Sam said. "I know you're not going to like what I'm about to say and that you really don't want to but you need to tell tony and take his help."
"Sam…"
"Nora I can handle the trial but the press, that's not my forte. Tony has an entire department dedicated to spinning things like this." Sma said.
there was a knock at the door.
"Friday?" I asked.
"It's your dad." She answered.
I turned to Sam and gave him a look.
"Remember I love you and I'm doing this because I care." Sam said.
"Let him in." I told Friday.
"Kid?" Dad called out.
"In the kitchen." I said.
"So I called my PR team and lawyer they're on it. By tomorrow morning every media outlet will have a cease and desist letter and after your trial you can sue for libel and your career will actually be better off because of it. Sam you have all paid leave from work until all of this is resolved, I want you focused on this case, any resources you need give them straight to Gabe and you'll get it." dad said,
"Thanks Tony." Sam said.
"Thanks Dad." I said.
"Oh we're not done, why the hell is it so hard for you to ask for help?" dad said as Wren started crying.
"I'll go take care of him while you two talk." Sam said walking out of the room.
"It's hard okay? I'm used to handling things on my own. Hell this was taken care of until Sharon blabbed on national TV and got her stupid trial." I said.
"Kid I'm here for you but you have to let me help. Getting out of legal messes is my specialty." Dad said.
"I'm not used to these messes. The last mess like this ended with me marrying my best friend and having a kid who I adore more than life itself and I just realized that's probably what you feel for me…Aww I'm sorry." I said crying.
"Nora it's okay, you just gave birth to a kid your hormones are out of wack and you're sleep deprived." Dad said hugging me.
"Why do I keep getting sued?" I cried.
"You're a rich successful surgeon it comes with the territory. On the plus side you got a rich dad with a freakishly good legal team." Dad said.
"That is always a plus." I said.
"And you got that to cheer you up." Dad said turning me around so I could see Sam coming over with Wren.
"Hi sweetie." I said reaching for him.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow." Sam said.
"I'll pick up Wren tomorrow morning. You need some you time." Dad said.
"Thanks dad." I said.
"That's what I'm here for kiddos." He said kissing the side of me head before kissing Wrens head. "I'll see you two tomorrow."
"Night dad." I said.
The Next Morning-
I woke up early and got Wren's diaper bag ready for the day. I quickly showered and got dressed in a light heather grey pencil skirt and a black long sleeved blouse. I wore my push present necklace and short black heels.
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Wren being the good baby he was didn't spit up on me after I fed him so I didn't have to change. I have the best kid in the whole world.
I got him dressed and pumped some breast milk for him. I packed it all up. By the time I was done Dad was at the door along with Sam.
"Morning kid. Venti caramel Macchiato and a croissant." Dad said handing me my usual Starbucks order.
"Thank you." I said taking it.
"You ready." Sam said.
"As I'll ever be, let's go drown that bitch in legal fees." I said.
"That's one way to look at it." Sam said.
"I packed a few changes and some milk. Be sure to put it in the fridge as soon as you can. I also have his sleep schedule written down for you and if you lose it Friday knows it too so just ask." I said.
"Kid I got this, its not the first time I watch a baby. I've taken care of you." Dad said.
"You were gone until I was three." I deadpanned.
"Did I mention Rhodey's spending the day at the tower?" dad said.
"Okay that does make me feel better." I said. "Call me if anything. Bye baby. Be good for Grandpa okay. I love you." I said giving his cheek a raspberry making him laugh.
"Go before you're late." Dad said.
"Okay, remember to burp him after you feed him or else he gets colic and…" I started before Sam pulled me out of the house and closed the door.
"Nora focus, Wren's going to be with your dad. The man built a suit of armor in a cave out of scraps I think he can handle a few diaper changes and besides he's not going to be alone. You need to be focused right now. No distractions, eyes on the prize. Go protect what you've work so hard to build." Sam said.
"Right, let's go kick legal ass." I said getting into the car.
We got to the courthouse and went straight to the judge's chambers. Sharon and her lawyer were already sitting outside. She gave me a sly smirk as I passed by.
We sat down and waited for the judge to arrive.
"Seen any good news lately?" Sharon said. I knew what she was trying to do but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.
"Yeah election year, so many political scandals and one of them will end up being the leader of the free world. What will become of us?" I said. Picking up my phone and looking through photos and videos of Wren. "Sam I still haven't shown you this one."
"Is that Axl?" Sam asked.
"Yeah it's the craziest thing. Axl just follows him around. I thought he was going to bite him or something but he just watches over him. Look at this." I said
"Wow, that is adorable and he's building up his immune system." Sam said.
"I know, this is my new screen saver." I said.
"The judge will see you now." The bailiff said. We all stood up and I put my phone away. We walked in and the judge was sitting behind his desk.
"Good morning." He greeted.
"Morning." We all greeted.
"Doctor Stark it's good to have you back. You look well, how is your child?" He asked politely.
"A beautiful and healthy seven and a half pound baby boy." I said proudly making Sharon grimace.
"Congratulations. Now that pleasantries are out of the way it's time to attend to the matter at hand. Due to recent changes in circumstances I have been forced to take this case to trial. All evidence against the defense is completely circumstantial so I suggest you get your case in order this should be a fairly straightforward case. Due to Miss Carter's very public interview jury selection will be complicated and those jurors that are chosen will have to be sequestered for the duration of the trial. We meet in two weeks for jury selection and a week after that for opening statements. You're dismissed." The judge said.
We walked out and saw that Steve was there.
"Stevie you came!" Sharon exclaimed and I rolled my eyes.
"Nora can we talk?" Steve said.
"Sam." I said.
"My client would like to inform you that for the duration of the trial she will in no way fraternize with potential witnesses and as such any and all communications with her shall only be done through her attorneys which would be me or the firm of Hogarth Chao and Benowitz. Any attempts to communicate with her in any other way will be met with legal action." Sam said.
"Please Nora." Steve said.
I put on my sunglasses and said, "Sam we have an appointment."
"Right, See you in court." Sam said leading me out.
We got in the car and drove to the law offices of Hogarth Chao and Benowitz.
"You ready for this?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, it's time to fight back." I said.
"I've seen you fight, They won't know what hit them." Sam said with a smile.
"You do realize that this is going to get beyond ugly. These guys will dig up dirt and you might see the worst side of me. If you want to back out, I won't be mad." I said.
"We're family, besides you haven't seen my bad side yet either." He said.
"This is why we're family." I said.
"Yup, now come on, they charge by the hour and it's not cheap." Sam said getting out of the car.
We walked in and we got the celebrity treatment. I really missed the days I wasn't recognized anywhere.
"Doctor Stark." A woman with a pixie cut dark hair dressed in black said. "Jerry Hogarth." She said shaking my hand.
"Miss Hogarth," I said with a nod.
"Sam Winchester." She said shaking Sam's hand. "I can see why you turned us down."
"What can I say, it was an offer I couldn't refuse." Sam said.
"Please follow me." She said leading us to the conference room. Once we were all settled we got to work. "I've reviewed your case and I have to say your opposition doesn't stand a chance. All the evidence is based on a grieving mother's bias testimony. Her lawyer probably only took it because of all the media attention this is going to have. You have done a great job handling everything so far Mr Winchester and Doctor Stark your reputation precedes you. Your time in the military along with your honorable mentions. Not to mention all the charity work you've done in the past year it says a lot. I also want to commend you on not talking to the media throughout this entire ordeal. The only thing there is recently on you is the birth of your son and that has gotten you a lot of sympathy. You will continue to deal with the court case while we deal with the media and making sure you come out of this spotless. The only question now is how you want to handle it."
"What exactly would you recommend here?" I asked.
"Well all the cards are in your hand. You want to keep things as they are and let the world think what they might or go on the offense and bury Sharon Carter." Jerry Said.
"Those are both tempting options. All things considered things can get messy and she's probably going to start mudslinging again as soon as she starts seeing things aren't going her way or when her attorney jumps ship. For now just spin everything and when the time comes go on the offense." I said.
"And when would that be?" Jerri asked.
"When we counter sue for libel." Sam said.
"And that is why I wanted to hire you." She said with a smirk. "I think that's all for now. Doctor Stark you have my number, don't hesitate to call if you have any questions."
"Thank you Miss Hogarth." I said standing up and shaking her hand. Sam did the same and we walked out.
"I could really go for some paella right now." Sam said.
"How long until the kids are out?" I asked.
"A couple of hours." Sam said.
"Barcelona here we come." I said. I put his hand and teleported us to Wren's apartment. "I haven't been here since my honeymoon."
"This place is great." Sam said. Suddenly the door opened and Aiden came stumbling in.
"Aiden?" I said.
"Nora get us out now." Aiden said.
"What's going on?" Sam said.
"Teleport now questions later." Aiden groaned.
"Sam listen to him." I said. I put a hand on both of them and teleported us back to the house. "Now you can talk."
"Found Snow, and he found me, I jumped out a window and Went to the apartment. How've you guys been?" Aiden said.
"We're going to trial and Sharon talked to the press so everyone now believes I'm a baby murderer." I said.
"What the bloody hell? Do you want me to you know…" He said making the throat slitting gesture.
"No but I appreciate the thought." I said. "We got this trial in the bag so stop stalling and tell us what's the plan."
"What plan?" Aiden asked.
"The plan so we can take out Snow." I said.
"Oh no there is no we, there's only me and I'm going to take care of this." Aiden said.
"Sorry buddy but the minute you were accepted into this family you stopped doing things on your own. We're a we and obviously Sam isn't going but he can bail us out of jail so start talking." I said.
"He's making a deal with the Galician Mob to help ensure protection of their shipments using their child soldiers as drug mules. They have a warehouse and the deal's going down in a few hours." Aiden said.
"So we got a few hours to prep. First I need to make a quick stop." I said teleporting to the tower. I saw the dads sitting on opposite ends of the ground trying to get Wren to favor one of them.
"You guys do realize it'll be a few months before he can crawl right?" I said walking over and picking up my son.
"Nora! When'd you get here?" Dad started.
"About three seconds ago just came for a quick dose of cuteness before I'm off again." I said.
"How'd the meeting go?" Rhodey asked.
"I'm going to trial, my boss wants to see me in three days for lunch and now I'm going to go take my stress out by helping Aiden take out a certain British prick who likes to experiment on kids and turn then into enhanced soldiers. Muah, Bye sweetie mommy loves you." I said handing him to dad. "I'll be back in a few hours, I'll bring Paella."
"Nora wait…" Rhodey started but I teleported away before he could finish.
I quickly got dressed in comfortable clothes and armed myself.
"Okay let's do this." I said.
"Are you sure…" Aiden started.
"Dude I promised my friend I wouldn't kill her niece I need to shoot someone before I lose it." I said.
"Forget I asked." Aiden said.
"Sammy see you when we get back." I said. I put a hand on Aiden and teleported us to Spain. We got to the warehouse and it was empty.
"I thought you said this was the place." I said.
"I thought it was too." Aiden said. We walked opened up one of the storage containers and threw up. It was filled with decomposing bodies.
"Why?" I asked.
"We found it standard clean up protocol. We have to go." Aiden said.
"What now?" I said.
"Protocol states that after a clean up a scape goat is reported." Aiden said.
"Shit." I said as I heard police sirens coming closer. I put a hand on him and teleported us back. "How is he always ten steps ahead of us?"
"Hell if I know, that conniving bastard is hard to pin down." Aiden said.
"So we're back to square one." I said.
"Looks that way. Regretting stopping me last time now?" Aiden said.
"You're still alive so no. This is just a set back we'll get him it's just going to take us a bit longer." I said.
"Yeah and the meantime we need to handle your situation." Aiden said.
"It's already been handled." I said.
"That's what you said last time. I'll call in some of my contacts see if there's anything that can get this moving along. Now let's see what's going on in the world" Aiden said turning on the TV.
"It was only weeks ago that Sharon Carter gave a heart wrenching interview where she announced to the world the person responsible for her son's murder and today she finally took the first step to getting justice for this heinous crime. It has officially been announced that the case will go to trial. We shall be updating you with details as soon as we learn more. This is Christine Everheart with Real News. I'll see you next time." She said.
"Okay, as soon as this trial is over I'm getting my Dad spayed so he can learn to keep his dick in his pants." I said.