A/N: Hey guys, I've got this chapter all ready for you! Made sure it was uploaded and all I had to do was press submit :) So without further adieu, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Disney, ABC or the Avengers.


Elijah's admission of the vastness of his sister's power vexed me. Would this be for the better, or would they undo the fabric of the universe? It had limitless possibilities, but I knew I wouldn't know until much later. My family was not to know about Callie and Elijah's time travel from the future to warn me. The first rule of time travel was don't change anything in the past.

While I realized the rules of the time-space continuum were sacred, I also knew that things could end up being worse if I didn't change things. So, as my father hovered the Quinjet on the roof of my building, I hugged my future children goodbye, with a promise of a celebration when I returned form celebrating their birthday with their present day selves. They both seemed extremely depressed to be alone on their birthday, but I saw no other way around it.

I had stepped onto the Quinjet to find a ball of fur curled up under my father's legs. Smiling, I said, "Joey."

His head snapped up, and he army crawled over to my legs, licking my ankles as I sat down and strapped in.

"Hey Sweetheart. How's the apartment treating you?" Dad smiled, leaning over to kiss my cheek in greeting.

"Great Dad. Thanks again for my Christmas present," I laughed.

"I really wished you had taken the penthouse. I could have had FRIDAY put in it."

"FRIDAY is no ARSENAL. And besides, there wasn't Internet. The smaller the apartment, the better. I got lost in that maze," I teased.

"Yeah, well… It's for the best, because I don't want this one making a mess on the carpets."

"Joey doesn't make messes. He's a guard dog, and a damn good one. He knows to hold it until he can get outside." I rolled my eyes at my father's dislike of my dog, but remembered that he was never allowed animals growing up because they were messy and filthy.

"We should be at base in four hours." Dad was looking back at his phone, clearly trying to distance his feet from Joey. I reached down to pet my boy, happy to be reunited with him at last.


"The element isn't known for its stability," Dad argued as the Quinjet taxied into the base's hangar.

"But it's our only hope. Grandpa wouldn't have shown you, if he didn't believe it would be important for the future."

"We don't know how the conditions of our atmosphere will effect its performance."

"We are running on faith here Dad. There isn't time to be spending months attempting to run simulations in space to see how well it will hold up. We need it up, like last week," I sighed.

"Well, let's just focus on the twins this weekend. I don't want shoptalk to risk an argument. It's their birthday," I said, offering a small smile.

"Agreed," He grinned back as the ramp lowered. Joey shot out, and towards the sound of my loving husbands beating the crap out of each other in the ring. Rolling my eyes, I walked up to Nat, who was referee for their match and said, "Can I break it up?"

"Of course you may. I was just watching because I was waiting for you, and these little ones," She said, hugging me and then pulling back to rub my belly. At 22 weeks, I was huge, and wanting to be seated at all times. I basically looked like another other pregnant woman at full term, but I was still growing.

"Nah. I just love watching them sweat," I said, feeling myself grow flushed as I watched them duke it out, shirtless and in basketball shorts.

"Let's leave them. We need to have a look in there at my little ones," She smiled, excited.

"You and Bruce want to know the genders?"

"It would be nice to know, don't you think?" She spoke softly as we walked to the medical wing.

"Helen, she's here!" Nat called out, and I saw Bruce shoot up out of his chair in the waiting area.

"Hey Bruce," I smiled, hugging the scientist as I heard Helen call back she was on her way.

"How are our little ones treating you?" He asked, still unsure if he could touch my belly.

"They are fine. I'm extra tired from them, but nothing I can't handle without a little extra sleep." I grabbed his hand and showed him a movement I felt earlier. His face lit up, saying, "Was that one of them?"

"Yeah, they especially move if I start singing them Russian lullabies."

"Okay, let's see these little ones," Helen said, rounding the corner and gesturing me over to a table. Hopping up with ease and lying down, I lifted my shirt and pushed down the elastic waistband on my jeans to show off the swell of belly.

"A little gel," She warned, and I relaxed against the bed as I felt it being squirted on my belly. The wand was placed against my belly, and she maneuvered it with precision.

"I know your chosen profession is cellular regeneration, but I appreciate you acting as an OB/GYN Helen," I smirked.

"This is just cellular generation," She teased, moving to show us the screen. I cooed at the little ones I was growing, and watched one of the twins kick out his foot a bit.

"Wow," Bruce exclaimed, taking off his glasses, and wiping his leaking eyes. Natasha stayed silent, but I watched the genuine smile stretch across her face as she cried silently.

"Okay, zeroing in on Baby A," Helen said, switching to the 4D ultrasound.

"Ten fingers, ten toes, and Baby A is a boy," Helen said, as Natasha wiped her eyes. I took her hand and Bruce rubbed her back, kissing her temple.

"Okay, now to see if Baby B will let us see them," Helen teased, moving the wand again to get a better look at the second twin.

"Aha! Another ten finger, and toes... And Baby B is a girl!" Helen exclaimed, as Natasha let out a little sob. Bruce held her close, crying silently himself in joy. I smiled at the monitor saying, "You two will be so loved."

After Natasha collected herself and Helen got measurements for the log, I was given a towel to clean myself off with. Taking their pictures, Nat and Bruce were wrapped up in each other, radiating love for their twins and each other.

I smiled at them and snuck out, quickly making my way up to the common room, where I heard my own twins laughter. Joey found me before I rounded the corner, carefully padding beside me as I walked.

"Daddy!" Callie's shriek of laughter called out as I peeked in.

"Say it, say it," Bucky smiled, goading our daughter.

"Noooo," She laughed as he kept tickling her.

"Say it, babes," I chuckled. The tickling stopped and Callie shot out of Bucky's arms to wrap herself around my legs, shouting, "Momma!"

"Momma!" Elijah rejoiced, getting up and wrapping himself around my free leg.

"Oh I missed you two," I said, squeezing them tightly as I kneeled in front of them. Kissing their faces, they giggled loudly, as I overstated my love for them.

"Mom," Elijah complained, wiping his face a bit. I laughed, "I just missed you both so much."

I looked up to see Steve and Bucky giving me a soft look as my twins hugged me tightly again, "We missed you too."

"Well, I thought I would make breakfast for dinner tonight, how does that sound?" I smiled.

"Pancakes? Waffles?" Elijah asked, eyes wide.

"Eggs and bacon?" Callie smiled.

"And orange juice for my growing twins, of course!" I laughed.

"Oh thank you Momma!" Elijah said, hugging me tightly again, as Steve and Bucky chuckled.

"Well, how about we go see how many things I brought back from Vienna, hm?"

"Presents!" The kids yelled as they took off down the hall.

"Not until tomorrow!" I called out, smiling as they giggled, "We know."

"Now, how about a little sugar for Momma?" I teased my boys. Steve was too slow as Bucky swept me in for a passionate kiss, and a quick squeeze to my bottom.

"Welcome home," He smirked at my dazed look. Steve chuckled as pulled me in for a soft kiss, letting his fingers trace up and down my back, as one hand held my cheek.

"Welcome home indeed," He smiled, kissing my temple as I was wrapped in a hug from both of them.

"I missed you both too," I whispered, feeling all my stress melt away.

Words weren't needed as we embraced tightly, Bucky placing small kisses on my forehead and Steve burying his face in my neck. I could feel their stress melting, so I didn't break the silence. But we heard voices coming down the hallway, so Steve released me first, reaching down to wipe a few tears from my cheeks.

When Bucky released me, he took my hand, kissing it softly.

"Sera!" Wanda said, running up and hugging me tightly.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked, hoping she would be able to tell me what my future twins had already warned me of.

"Good. I have some good news for you."

"Really? What's up?" I smiled.

"Well, these twins wont be the only babies around here," Wanda smiled as I did a happy dance internally, and then letting it out.

"That's amazing!" I exclaimed, hugging her as tight as I could. And when I thought things couldn't get any better, Darcy popped around the corner. "No fair," she scolded, "I wanted to tell her first."

"But it's her news Darce", I chuckled.

"Nah, not that, "She smiled, "Leo knocked me up too!"

"What?" I exclaimed, surprised she want me to know so soon.

"That's amazing Darce. I'm so happy for you both. How far along are you?"

"Well, I'm past 3 months," Wanda said looking over at Darcy.

"And I'm almost 2 months," Darcy said proudly. This girl had like zero shame when it came to anything.

"Not to sound hesitant, but don't you want to wait until you are out of the woods, so to speak, with the first trimester?"

"Helen made a fair point to us that we shouldn't keep our pregnancies from the team. If something were to happen while training or in the lab, no one would forgive themselves for harming our babies and us. So I've been taken off the team temporarily, a forced Mat leave according to Steve..." Wanda said, playfully narrowing her eyes at Steve.

"And Fitz doesn't want to see me near the labs, unless for a physical from Helen. Nicky has me on the Communications team until after my Mat leave from the labs is done. I need to get back to my PoliSci roots," she laughed.

"Makes sense," I nodded.

A sudden scream of laughter from outside made me look out the window. Pietro was outside with the twins, pushing around a soccer ball and showing them how to dribble with their feet. Laughing, Wanda said, "He did this with all the kids in Novi Grad. Pietro wanted to be a football player when he was younger, before the shelling."

"Well, now he could compete at the Olympics but he has an unfair advantage," I joked.

"May thinks the dexterity and footwork are a good building block for later in their training," Bucky said, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Well, I for one love it. I used to play when I was little. Aside from dance lessons, riding, and tutoring till I was 13."

"You were tutored?" Darcy asked. I snorted, "No, I was the tutor. I tutored high school students."

"You are talking to the girl who finished high school at 16 and went to Harvard and MIT."

"Oh… right." Darcy went quiet and I just smiled to myself.

"Sera! Oh good, I was worried I would have to make dinner again," I heard Jemma's voice say from behind me. Turning, I hugged her, "Of course not! I was thinking about Breakfast for Dinner."

"Sounds lovely!" Jemma exclaimed, "And I heard your father mention that he'd have pizza brought for the party tomorrow."

"Perfect, one less thing I have to think about," I joked, settling back between Steve and Bucky.


That night as I got the twins to bed, I thought about how excited they were for their birthday, and couldn't help but feel guilty I was missing my older twins birthday too. After consulting T'Challa over my dilemma, he suggested I call them tomorrow, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sneak away long enough to have a real conversation with them. So, as Bucky and Steve snored away in our bed, I snuck out to the barn. I was careful as I trudged through the mud to my little home away from home, taking my time, knowing if I rushed and slipped, I would never forgive myself.

Sunchaser and Sweet Feet were surprised and happy to see me, nuzzling me sweetly as I handed them apples. Sweet Feet was looking about as big as I felt, but she had much longer to go. Letting them out to graze the wet field, I sat down at my small desk on the lower level and took out my phone.

"LUCY," I said, as ARSENAL connected me to the SHIELD AI.

"Yes, Ma'am. How may I help you?"

"I need you to record a video message for me, to my children. To be delivered on their first birthday without their fathers or me. You will know the date."

"Of course Ma'am. Please tell me when to start."

"Record now."

"Recording in 3…2…1…" Her voice was followed by a beep, making me smile.

"My darlings, if you are watching this, it means I am not with you, on the anniversary of one of the happiest days of my life," I smiled, feeling the tears bubbling over already.

"You mean the world to me. I loved you from the very moment I knew of you, long before I ever held you. To my little soldiers, who are brave in the face of everything you have been through, keep your chin up. I promise we will see each other again soon, and we will celebrate so much we will need a week to recover."

"If we parted on bad terms, just know that I love you. Words and bad blood will not tear us apart again. I will make things right, and I will always make time for you."

"I wish with all my heart I could be with you, today of all days. But we all know why neither I, nor your fathers are there. Be strong. We will be together again. This will be the only birthday without us, I promise you."

"I love you," I whispered before asking LUCY to end the recording.

"Would you like a playback Ma'am?"

"No LUCY, just please archive that and send it on the morning of their first birthday without us."

"Very well Ma'am. I have archived the message. Shall I put an encryption on it?"

"Until it should be sent, yes. Hide it on my private server."

"Anything else you should require Ma'am?"

"No, thank you LUCY."

"Good night Ma'am."

"Goodnight LUCY," I sighed. Putting the phone down, I rubbed a hand over my face in frustration, and wiped away the lingering tears.

"Sera?" A voice said, and I nearly jumped out of my chair.

"Oh god, you scared me," I said, turning to see Steve next to my desk.

"What's got you up?" He said, brow furrowed in concern.

"Wasn't ready to sleep. Funny cause my body is used to being 6 hours ahead, I should have been asleep long ago." I teased, getting up and going to wrap myself around him.

"Angel, why were you crying?" He asked softly, holding me close.

"Just thinking about how much they've grown again. They should have been babies right now. But they look like eight year olds. I know we made the right decision about the anti-serum, but I just wish I had a little more time when they were little, you know?" I felt bad lying to Steve, but he couldn't know the truth, not until after this was all over. It could jeopardize everything.

"I know. I miss it too. Which I why I'm looking forward to when we can try again," He smiled.

"It may take awhile with my one ovary," I said softly. He tensed, almost regretting bringing up the subject of babies. That was a dark time for us all, and while all was forgiven, the scars still remained.

"It doesn't have to be right away. Practicing is the best part," He teased lightly, easing the mood. I snorted, "Horn dog."

"No, I just love my wife."

"I knew it! You've been shacking up with me, but you are married?" I exaggerated with a smile.

"I can't help it Angel. I love you more than the moon loves the stars," He said suavely, making us both giggle at the absurdity of our topic. He kissed me sweetly before offering to walk me back to our apartment. After bringing the horses in for the night, I smiled and took his hand, turning the light off. Worry and regret would have to take a backburner for a few days.