A month later Chris was sitting in her house in Wakanda sewing together a quilt for the baby. Steve walked in and walked up behind her.
"What are you doing?"
"I am making a quilt for our child."
"Chris we're months away from having this baby."
"And I want to be prepared. The King will only let me do demonstrations for combat. And nothing too demanding because he's afraid I'll hurt the baby."
"We share the same concerns then." Steve said and kissed the top of her head before walking into the kitchen to grab a snack.
Steve pulled out a bottle of beer and looked at her.
"This baby has super soldier blood pumping through its veins. You really think someone could hurt this baby?" Chris asked walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist.
"I don't want to take any chances." Steve said and rested his head on top of hers.
"Steve, we're already taking chances with this baby."
"How so?"
"The damage that was done while I was being held captive in Iraq. The doctors predicted I would never be able to carry to term. What if something happens?"
"Then we will deal with it then. The king is our friend now. He will make sure that our family remains alive and happy."
"We owe him everything."
"Speaking of which he wanted to invite us to dinner."
"Steve, I'm still working on this quilt and then the nursery."
"Chris, it's one night. And we have six months to worry about it. Come on. It's the king."
"Fine, but only because it's the king." She sighed and smiled at Steve.
Steve sat down on the couch and she joined him.
"You know, we never went back to the compound for anything of ours" Steve said looking down at her.
"That's because Secretary Ross would have had us arrested and thrown in the Raft like the people we worked so hard to bust out."
"True."
"Why are you thinking about it?"
"Just looking around, there's no pictures of us. Not our wedding photos or anything."
"I know, but we can't just go get those."
"What if we had Tony send them to us?"
"Then he would know where we were. And then he could tell Ross."
"What about Tash?"
"Just forget about it Steve. We'll get new pictures and make new memories. This is our life now, babe."
"I want reminders of our old life. The times we had in Brooklyn, the times that we had that made me fall in love with you."
"I want those to, but realistically we can't."
"I guess you're right." Steve said and got up.
"Steve."
"I'll be back in a little." Steve said without looking at her and walked out.
Chris sat there for a minute before walking over to the computer the king had provided them. She grabbed her go bag and pulled out her old phone. She popped the back off and pulled out the card before placing it inside the computer. She pulled up the photos and looked them over. She went to the library and placed the pictures on a computer there and then printed them out. She then ran and got some picture frames to put them all in. She hung a blown-up picture from their wedding above the couch and some of their other pictures throughout the house.
Chris heard Steve unlocking the front door and she quickly sat at the table to pretend she had been working on the quilt the whole time he had been gone.
"Chris, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have walked off. You were-." Steve said and looked around.
Chris peeked out of the corner of her eye to see his reaction.
"Where did these all come from?" Steve asked with a smile.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Steve walked over to her and kissed her.
"Happy anniversary." She said smiling at him.
"I love it. It really feels like it's our home now." Steve said and looked around.
"I know. I'm sorry I didn't do it earlier. I just wanted to make sure it was safe before I used my card, but to see you happy is worth it."
"I got you something too." Steve said and pulled out the small box.
She grabbed it and opened it skeptically. Inside was a new wedding ring.
"I know you always left yours at the compound. That would mean that you left it there."
"I did."
"I wanted you to have one again."
"Thank you, Steve."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Steve got up and walked over to the living room to sit down and look at the pictures around him. Chris walked over to join him and sat so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders.
"Things are normal now." Steve said with a smile.
"We're actual normal people. No aliens, or gods, or terrorists. Just you, me, and our house."
"And our jobs training with the Wakandan Army. A secret civilization of individuals with advanced technology."
"Okay, so not completely normal, but for now we can have a normal family."
"Yes, that is true."
"Just think, we could be parents."
"Yeah. And we will have a curly haired child running around driving us up a wall."
"Exactly."
Months had passed, and Chris was in her third trimester and had hit 35 weeks. She was obviously showing, and the king had pulled her out of training two months before. The nursery was getting close to being completed. There were colors on the wall, a crib in the room, many clothes from T'Challa and his family. Everything was going to be ready in time to welcome their baby into the world.
The was a sharp shooting pain in Chris's stomach and she stopped and put a hand on her stomach and sat down.
"Steve." Chris said quietly.
"Chris, you okay?" Steve asked and knelt in front of her.
"I don't know. It might be contractions. It's painful." Chris said and groaned.
"Come on, we'll get you to the doctor." Steve said and helped her up.
They got to the doctor and had Chris change into a hospital gown. She was in the bed just sitting up and holding her stomach.
"Chris, how are you?" The doctor asked walking in.
"It's kind of painful." Chris said.
"Well, we can get an ultrasound and see what is going on."
"Could this be due to the surgery she had after the incident?"
"It very well could be. Past surgeries on the uterus can make it so the baby cannot be carried to term. If this is the case, then there is a good chance that we will have to perform a C-section to get the baby out." The doctor explained.
"Will the baby be okay?" Steve asked.
Chris let out a groan as another wave of pain came over her.
"The baby is only five weeks premature. It should be fine, but of course we won't know until I can take a look."
"Can I at least have something for the pain?"
"Not until we know what we have to do." The doctor said.
"Is there anything we can do for her?" Steve asked.
"I can get some things for aroma therapy and some other distractors."
"Thank you." Steve said as the doctor walked out.
"Steve, what if the baby doesn't make it? It'll be my fault." Chris said with tears coming to her eyes.
"You heard the doctor. The baby has a really good chance of being okay."
"Steve, I'm serious. If we lose this baby now, it'll be all my fault."
"No, it'll be no one's fault. Our baby will be fine. And he or she will be beautiful."
"Okay." Chris said and nodded her head.
A little while later the doctor came back with some papers in his hands.
"So, it looks like we're going to have to get the baby out. Your uterus has thin walls that are lucky to have housed your child for as long as it has. If we go forward with a natural birth, there is a chance that your uterus could tear and there could be some major bleeding and we would have to open you up. If we perform a C-section then I can control the bleeding and try to repair as much as the uterus as I can."
"And if you can't repair the uterus?" Steve asked.
"I'll have to remove it and you won't be able to have any more children."
"Oh." Steve said.
"If it comes down to it I want you to take it out." Chris said.
Steve grabbed her hand and looked at her.
"I'd rather have the opportunity to have a life with the one child I have than risk having more that could kill me." Chris said, and Steve nodded.
"Okay." Steve said and kissed the back of her hand.
"Okay. We'll get you prepped for the surgery. Mr. Rogers, you can be in there with her. This will be a conscious sedation as long as I don't have to remove her uterus. If I do, we will sedate her and ask you to leave her room."
"Okay." Steve said, and the doctor walked out.
"It's going to be our baby. And it may be the only one we ever have, but it'll be ours. It'll be strong and beautiful and smart."
"I know. I love you, and if it's only the three of us then it's only the three of us and we will be the happiest three in the entire world."
"Exactly." Chris smiled and kissed him.
The doctors came in and prepped Chris and took her to the operating room to prep her. Steve was given a gown to put on and then sat next to her head as she was draped and covered.
"Start the anesthesia." The doctor said as he walked in and gowned.
"Chris, can you feel this?" The doctor said and touched her stomach.
"No." Chris said and shook her head.
"Good, we're ready to go in."
"It's good, baby. It's going to be okay."
"You're the one freaking out not me." Chris said with a smile.
"They are cutting you open."
"Then don't look. Look at my face. Just think as soon as this is over we will be parents."
There was crying and Steve looked over the drape to see the child being pulled out of the uterus.
"It's a boy." The doctor said and handed over to the nurse and she took him around to Steve and Chris.
"He's so beautiful." Chris said as her eyes rolled back in her head.
"She's really bleeding. I need to put her under. Mr. Rogers, I need you to get out."
"Is she gonna be okay?" Steve asked as he was pushed out.
"She'll be fine, but I need you to get out." The doctor said and Steve left.
"My son?"
"We're just going to clean him up and then we'll let you see him."
"Okay." Steve nodded and waited in Chris's original room.
After a few minutes the nurse walked back into the hospital room pushing the small cart holding his son.
"Hi, buddy." Steve smiled and picked him up to hold him in his arms.
"Your wife is stable and is being closed up and then she'll be here in a little while." The nurse said with a smile in her face.
"Thank you."
"Have you picked out a name?"
"Chris and I have a few in mind, but I'll wait for her to pick one."
"Okay, I'll leave you two. The king has been informed of your son's birth. He said he would be here soon enough."
"Tell his majesty there is no hurry."
The nurse nodded and stepped out.
Steve stood up and walked over to the window to look over Wakanda.
"Now, this isn't Manhattan, but it's pretty great. In Manhattan there is a layer of smoke over everything, but here there's a certain beauty in the hum of a city. I grew up in an older city called Brooklyn. I was much smaller than I am now. I hope you don't get my small stature. I was picked on a lot by the kids. Then I was frozen in a block of ice. I hope you never have to go through that either. But one good thing did come out of it, I met your mother. And although sometimes she drives me crazy, I love her. How could I not, she gave me you." Steve said and looked down at his son in his arms.
"Hey, you." Chris said being rolled in on her bed.
"Hey." Steve smiled turning to show their son in his arms.
"How is he?" Chris asked as her bed was locked into place.
"He's beautiful. Do you want to hold him?"
"Yeah."
Steve walked over to her and gently placed their son in her arms.
"He is beautiful." Chris said with tears in her eyes.
"We did that."
"Yeah. What are we going to name him?"
"I liked Gabriel." Steve smiled.
"Gabriel? I love it."
"How about Tomas for the middle name? After your father?" Steve asked.
"Gabriel Tomas Rogers, I love it. I love him. He got your blue eyes."
"And it looks like he got your curly brown hair." Steve said calming the small curls on his head.
There was a knock on the door and the happy parents looked up to see T'Challa standing in the doorway.
"Your majesty, you grace us with your presence." Chris said with a smile.
"Please, Chris, it is T'Challa."
"It frazzles you." Chris smiled.
"This is your son?" He asked gesturing to the baby.
"Gabriel." Chris said and T'Challa walked over to stand beside Chris and look down on the child.
"He is beautiful, my friends."
"Thank you. And thank you for allowing us to stay here with you." Steve said looking across the hospital bed at T'Challa.
"It is the least I could do after you helped me catch my father's killer. If you need anything else. Please do not hesitate to ask. The crowning ceremony will be postponed until you are back on your feet and able to attend."
"Please, you do not need to wait for us."
"Crown or no crown, I can still make decisions. And I have decided that I need my new friends there."
"Yes, your majesty."
"Rest. I will see you all soon." T'Challa said and kissed the top of Chris's head before leaving.
Steve sat on the edge of the bed beside Chris and wrapped an arm around her shoulder while grabbing Gabriel's hand with his own. Gabriel opened his eyes and Chris smiled at the beautiful blues that stared up at her and Steve.