Steve sat with Emma and Danny in the waiting room of the emergency room; they had been there for god knows many hours now, still waiting on Harry's test results. They were tired, hungry not to mention there was a lot of tension and awkwardness between him and Danny considering the whole Emma thing. But both men had silently agreed to put it to the side until this whole ordeal was over. Steve turned his attention to Emma, even with the two cups of crappy coffee, she looked exhausted but she was adamant that she would not sleep until she knew her son was okay. Steve just couldn't help but be amazed by her. "Ms. Williams…?"
All three adults head snapped in attention at the doctor was standing in front of them with a unreadable look on her face. Giving no indication of why they were her and what news that they could probably have. All three of them stood up but Emma was the only one who took a few steps towards the doctor. "What is it? Do you have the results of the test?"
"I do." The doctor began and Emily wearily glanced back at Steve and Danny before looking back at the doctor. "The tests was clear, there is nothing seriously wrong with Harry. No meningitis, just an ear infection that needs to be treated with different medication."
"H-he's going to be okay?" Emma tearily asked and it was clear that she didn't believe what she was hearing.
"Yes he is, you can even take him home now." The doctor said and gave Emma a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before heading back into the E.R.
Slowly turning around Emma looked at Danny and Steve with tear filled eyes and to Steve it seemed like this whole ordeal was hitting her like a tonne of bricks. "Did you hear that? H-he's going to be okay…" Emma stated and it seemed like she was going to burst into tears when Danny pulled her into a tight hug. Steve watched the two of them, as Danny comforted his sister. But what really surprised was after Emma let go of Danny and hugged him; she headed back into the E.R leaving the two men alone once more.
"Thank you." Danny said holding his hand out.
Steve took Danny's hand and both men shook on it. "No problem Danno."
Twenty minutes later Emma carried a sleeping Harry and his bear to Steve's truck, where she insisted on driving, so Steve ended up having the sleeping boy nestled in his lap whilst Emma drove them to her house. Despite his protests Emma was having none of it, claiming that after everything he had done for her and Harry the least she could do was take care of him. When they arrived at Emma's house, they ended up going upstairs to her bedroom where she placed Harry in the middle of the bed before climbing onto the rest side of the bed. "C'mon Steve, there is plenty of space…" Emma said.
"It's fine, I can go crash in one of the spare rooms." Steve said.
Despite the late hour and how tired she seemed Emma laughed and motioned for Steve to take the other side. "Your not going anywhere Steve, you are staying right here where I can keep an eye on you so hurry up and lie down!"
Knowing that it was better to agree with Emma, Steve undid his boots and lay down on the left side of the bed but his eyes quickly caught the attention of a photograph of the bedside table. It was a black and white close up photograph of Emma and a baby – no doubt Harry, "This is a beautiful picture." he told Emma.
"I think that was taken a couple of hours after Harry was born, I'm not really sure. Things were hazy for a while and I was exhausted for quite a while, before and after I had given birth." Emma quietly noted.
"Difficult pregnancy?" Steve said.
"It was mostly an easy pregnancy, morning sickness lasted until a couple of weeks into my second trimester and I didn't get any weird cravings but I did have Braxton hicks and Harry was in breech for a while and there was talk of a c-section but thankfully baby boy finally turned and I went through a very long and natural labour." Emma replied as she stroked Harry's hair.
"How long is long?" Steve questioned.
"Nineteen hours. I started having contractions three hours after my waters broke."
Steve was simply amazed by this. "Nineteen hours, what did you have in there a bowling ball for a baby?"
"Surprisingly not but it was all worth it, Harry weighed 7lb 4oz when he was born. But I think baby was in a bit of a huff about having to come out so he decided to punish me over it, even in the womb he had the Williams' family stubbornness…" Emma quipped.
"Was George there for the pregnancy?"
Emma shook her head. "No he was over in Afghanistan for most of it, a couple of weeks after he was sent back was when I found out I was pregnant. He was involved as much as he could be, I sent him the scans and we skyped and I filled him in on the doctors appointments. My parents were worried about me being alone and going into labour so six weeks before my due date they made me move back home. Thankfully George got time off to be here for the birth and he arrived home two days before I went into labour."
"But nineteen hours of labour Emma, seriously?" Steve said slowly.
"I know but I had an epidural for some of it so that relieved some of the pain and then hearing my baby boy cry after being born and holding him in my arms made it all worth it. Hard to believe it'll be five years this coming October, it's scary how quickly he has grown up. I'm worried I'll blink and he'll be eighteen ready to leave for college…" Emma said with a yawn.
"I think mommy needs to get some sleep, she's deserved it after all the super work that she's done these last couple of days."
Emma smiled as she moved closer to Harry and as she did, she let her arm lean over and grab Steve's good hand. "Thank you for everything Steve, you've been amazing and I don't know what I would have done without you. These past few hours have been crazy and I would have lost my mind if it wasn't for you…"
Steve just smiled and watched as Emma's eyes closed on their own accord as her body finally gave in to the long overdue sleep that she deserved. Steve himself was tired but for a few moments he just looked at the sleeping mother and child, normally he wouldn't have decided to date someone especially if they had kids as he wasn't particularly great with kids albeit Grace and Harry but there was something different about being here with Emma and Harry. And it just felt right.