Chapter 47: Gwen

The place they had for us was apparently an inn that was mostly still standing. The man who owned it and his wife welcomed us with open arms despite the oddness of our group and fixed us a fabulous dinner. They gave us the best rooms they had and overall just made us feel as comfortable as possible.

After dinner, some of us rested in the lounge. Falsworth and Morita sat by the fire, sharing a bottle of French alcohol with Dugan in a cushy chair. Bucky and I had stolen on couch. I leaned against his side, staring into the fire. Steve had taken the other with Yori, who had the baby in her arms still.

I smiled slightly. Yori had taken her disguise off and her sword was leaning against the edge of the couch by Steve's shield, the image of the sword and shield together poignant in a way. Now she held the baby girl close to her, humming and cooing to her soothingly, occasionally singing random lines of songs and rocking her. The baby had long-since fallen asleep in Yori's arms, full of milk helpfully provided by the innkeeper's wife.

"Are you going to keep her?" Falsworth pointed out, nodding to the baby.

Yori didn't look up from the little girl. She nodded and I wasn't even remotely surprised.

"Really?" Jones asked a little skeptically. "I mean, no offense, but what do you know about babies?"

"More than you'd think," Yori replied, shooting him a less-than-amused look. He held up his hands innocently.

"She'll need a name," Bucky reasoned, absently stroking my hand as well all got involved in the conversation.

"You going to give her as Japanese name?" Dugan asked curiously.

Yori chuckled a little at that. "Probably, but I think she should have a French name. She is French, after all." She looked up at us, inviting us to spitball names.

"Hélène?" Dugan suggested. "I knew a girl named that once." He whistled.

"Perhaps not then," Yori said drily.

"Alphonsine?" Morita suggested innocently. Yori kicked him in the shoulder gently.

"You are not cute," she rebuked.

"Violette?" Falsworth offered. "That sounds nice and French."

"Pascale," Bucky countered.

Yori wrinkled her nose. "Are you sure that's not a man's name?"

Bucky shrugged. "Damned if I know, I saw it on a sign out there."

"Joséphe," Jones called.

"We already have one of those, thanks," I huffed, pretending to be offended. "That's my name and she can't have it."

"I chose my own name," Yori recalled.

"Did you really?" Steve asked curiously. "Why'd you pick that one?"

"Because it was what I wanted to be," Yori replied mysteriously. "I'd give her the same option but I'd rather her not grow up thinking her name is akago. Infant."

"Okay, how about Natalie?" Morita suggested.

Bucky shook his head. "Nuh uh. I've known a lot of Natalies. Natalies and I don't get along."

"Rosine," Dugan suggested with a roll. Yori shook his head.

"I don't like naming girls after flowers," she countered.

"That song you always sing," Steve recalled. "What is it… Sakura? Is that a name?"

Yori blinked. "I… It is. It means cherry blossom though. I didn't realize you'd noticed," she muttered. "But no, Sakura doesn't fit her."

"Cassandra," Falsworth offered.

I shook my head. "Bad name. She was a prophet the god's cursed so that no one believed her. Not a good legacy," I advised.

"You could just call her Winter and be done with it," Dugan pointed out. Yori huffed.

"That shows a startling lack of imagination. I might as well just call her Yuki."

"Snow," I translated for the benefit of everyone else.

"Guinevere," Steve said suddenly. We all looked to him in surprise. He shrugged. "I just remembered heating that it meant something along the lines of 'white' once. That's appropriate for a baby that makes frost and cold, right? And I'm pretty sure it's French."

"Guinevere," Yori contemplated, peering down at the baby. The little girl woke and laughed happily, grabbing a lock of Yori's hair and waving it in her fists. We all laughed at that as Yori looked to Steve ruefully.

"Perhaps she will choose her own name after all. I believe she likes it," Yori chuckled as the baby girl began to frost her hair. Slowly Yori pulled her hair out of the girl's grasp and the ice melted. "Hello, little Guinevere," she cooed, and the baby laughed happily, waving her fists.

"Can I hold her?" I asked hopefully. Yori nodded and I got up, walking over to Yori. I claimed the bundle of blankets and returned to my seat next to Bucky. I held her securely in my arms and bobbed her gently. Guinevere hummed happily and gurgled. Bucky offered her a finger and laughed in delight when she grabbed it.

"She's so small," Bucky said in awe. I looked up at him. He was staring down at the baby in some kind of soft wonder. I wondered if that's what he would look like holding our own child. God, I wanted to build a life with this man, have children and raise them with him.

"You want to hold her?" I offered gently. Bucky nodded and slowly reached out for her, like he was afraid any sudden movement would startle her.

"Watch her head," I reminded him as I shifted her to his arms. Bucky took her and bounced a bit like he'd seen me do. Guinevere gurgled happily as she was bounced and Bucky laughed lightly.

"Ya know, I never really thought I'd be good with kids, but this isn't so hard," he mused.

"Wait until you have to change a diaper," Falsworth warned, drawing a round of laughs.

"You want one, make your own," Yori huffed. "Quit hoarding mine."

"They've been trying," Dugan muttered, drawing another, louder round of laughter from the men. I flushed slightly and Bucky glared half-heartedly as he continued to bounce Guinevere. He offered her a finger and she took it, shaking it happily.

Nevade had once said to me that there was nothing sexier than a man who was good with a baby. At the time I'd been young enough that I just stuck out my tongue and didn't understand. From a biological standpoint I knew it was meant to mean that the man would hang around and raise offspring well. Now I understood – for whatever reason, Bucky looked much more attractive than usual with Guinevere in his arms.

He looked at me and announced, "I want at least two."

I snorted as the others laughed. "We'll see," I said leadingly.

Yori made an angry noise. "Steve, get Guinevere back from your friend," she ordered. "I think he may try and steal her."

"Why me?" Steve asked in amusement.

"He's your friend," she replied. Again laughter rippled around the room as Steve stood up and approached, looming threateningly.

"Alright, hand over Gwen and no one gets hurt," he joked. Tenderly, he took Guinevere from Bucky's arms and carried her back over to the couch towards Yori. I saw Yori look up at him and I saw the expression in her eyes and understood that she was figuring out what I'd just realized about men with babies. As Steve passed Guinevere over, I saw with a flash what could have been if perhaps Steve had met Yori before Peggy.

I shook my head to get that thought out as Yori shifted so that Guinevere's head was against her shoulder and softly began to sing the song about cherry blossoms. I was surprised when I realized Steve was humming along.


"She's an angel," Peggy cooed.

"She's gonna be a force," Howard put in.

"She's a baby in a military base," Phillips stressed. He didn't seem to be able to get past that.

"Look at that face!" Howard said, pointing to Guinevere sternly. The baby giggled happily and grabbed his finger. "How can you say no to that face? Ah, cold!" He pulled back his icy finger and waved it until the ice melted. He looked at Guinevere and laughed. "I like this kid!"

"Can I hold her?" Peggy pleaded. Yori passed her over. She and Steve had been the one to bring the baby in to Phillips to get approval to keep her there while the others went to clean up. Peggy and Howard had simply seen them with the baby and tagged along. 'Get approval' was rather strong, actually, considering that Yori fully intended to keep Guinevere no matter what Phillips said.

"Just watch her head," Yori warned as she passed the baby to Peggy. Peggy nodded and began to coo as she held Guinevere, rocking her on her hip gently.

"Hello, sweetheart," Peggy murmured sweetly. "Hello, darling." Guinevere gurgled in reply and kicked gently.

"She likes you," Steve observed. Yori glanced at him and quickly looked away as her heart throbbed. Steve's expression was so soft and so caring it wasn't hard to figure out that he was imagining Peggy holding their child in her arms. That hurt more than she cared to admit.

Howard moved behind Peggy, popping out from behind her shoulder and waving his fingers at Guinevere before diving back behind her shoulder. "Peekaboo!" He popped back out and then hid again. "Peekaboo!" He popped back out and hid. "Aw, look who doesn't understand object permanence yet!" he grinned as he poked his head over Peggy's shoulder again. Guinevere smiled happily and stretched out her hands towards Howard.

"I believe she's entertained," Peggy said, hanging Guinevere over to Howard, who took her eagerly.

"What can I say, I have that affect on the ladies," he said smugly, offering Guinevere the end of his tie. She took it and began to gum on it. Howard winced. "That's Italian… Clearly, we're going to need to work on her fashion sense."

"Yeah, okay, she's cute," Phillips huffed. "But we can't have a baby in a secret military base!"

"Is there a law?" Yori asked simply.

"Well no, but…"

"Then there's no problem," she said firmly.

"Come on, Phil, have a heart," Howard whined, pulling his tie out of Guinevere's mouth and making a face at the soggy end.

"Don't call me that unless you want to be placed under military arrest," Phillips said darkly.

"Well seeing as Yori is the one who brought her here and Yori is completely willing to take care of her by herself I see no reason why she shouldn't be allowed," Peggy reasoned.

"She's a baby," Phillips stressed. "In a secret government facility."

"Didn't we just do this?" Howard muttered as he bobbed Guinevere.

"And there's no law against it, we just established that," Yori countered.

"There shouldn't have to be!" Phillips burst out.

Unsurprisingly, in the end he was worn down by Yori's threats, Peggy's reasoning, Steve's support, and Howard's blatant disregard for orders. Guinevere stayed and quickly became famous in the bunker. Everyone thought she was completely adorable and the secretaries fawned over her even when she was in Yori's arms. There were no shortage of offers to babysit and Yori was content to have Guinevere in her life.