Chapter 15

"I don't think we'll be able to get anything to cover that green," Steve said as they stood in front of the paint wall at the hardware store. Peggy was thirty weeks now, and she had finally agreed to decorate the spare bedroom for the baby.

"There's always primer," she commented, comparing two yellow paint chips, "multiple layers of primer." She passed them to Steve, "which do you like better?"

They were almost identical, but with Peggy fully in nesting mode, Steve knew not to poke the bear. He thought she'd have his head the other day when she insisted on cleaning the baseboards again after he reminded her she'd done them the week prior. "The one on the right," he said, after a moment's consideration.

Peggy nodded in agreement, "I thought the same." They'd decided not to find out the gender of the baby since no one did where they were from anyway, so were trying to stick to gender neutral colors.

Steve's phone rang, Rhodey's name lighting up and flickering on the screen. He stepped away, speaking quietly. Everyone else save Rhodey had come home from Berlin by now, Rhodey having stayed behind to wrap up some diplomatic solutions. When Steve ended the call, he opened his photo app to the most recent ultrasound of baby Rogers. They had three dimensional images now, revealing Peggy's lips and Steve's nose. Lemon had her hands up in a boxer's position when they last saw her, partially obscuring her face. "Almost to the finish line, Lemon. Hang in there."

"How's James?" Peggy asked when Steve reappeared at her side.

"He's ok, they're going ten rounds trying to find the main body behind that school." The past few months had yielded middling results. The students had been quick to squeal, but had little knowledge beyond the basics.

"I'm telling you, you need to let me interrogate the employees myself."

"Not now, it's not safe," Steve said, tapping her abdomen gently.

Peggy shook her head, "it won't be safe until they're gone."

"And they will be, but I can't let you so close to this case."

"Everything about this case is close to me, you, the baby, our future, all of it." She blew hard out her nose. "There's no way for me to not be close to this case."

"Can we drop it, for now? I don't like having these conversations in public. You don't know who's listening."

"Fine." Her phone buzzed, Pepper's smiling face appearing on the screen. "Does your phone keep flickering?"

"Hm?"

"The screen? Does it keep flickering?"

"Yeah, but haven't thought much of it. Why?"

She shrugged, "so it's not just me, ok." She paused, reading, "what's a baby shower?"

"It's like a get together for people to celebrate a new baby. Why?"

"Pepper just texted, asking if it's something I'd be interested in." She looked up at Steve, "I don't think it's a good idea. What with everything going on with Hydra and," absently, her hand drifted to rest on her middle, "it just feels like tempting fate."

Steve kissed her forehead, "that's ok."

"I just don't want it to be like this forever."

"It won't be."

Moments of fear were drowned out by moments of anticipation and joy in the coming weeks. The apartment was full of life as Bucky, Sam, and Rhodey painted the nursery. Cliff dropped off bins of gender neutral clothing of various sizing, saying, "please get these out of my basement." Pepper had a knack for assembling furniture, putting together a crib and a rocking chair faster than loads of baby clothes came out of the laundry. Various onesies began to appear on hangers in the closet, adorned with emblems of Avengers. A Falcon shirt would be moved to the back as Winter Soldier pajamas took their place. Then shuffled again as a Spiderman onesie took their place. A nightlight, gifted by Peter, was plugged into the wall. It was the shape of the arc reactor, 'proof that Tony Stark had a heart' engraved along the edge.

"Is it ok?" Peter asked, as he flipped the switch for the first time.

Steve smiled softly, "you leave it right where it is."

By thirty seven weeks, sleep was scarce for Peggy. She was hot, she was uncomfortable, she couldn't lay on her back. She'd always been a stomach sleeper, and being this pregnant, sleeping on her stomach was not, stretching her arm out and finding Steve's side of the bed empty. With difficulty, she stood, waddling in a rather undignified manner out to the living room. A soft yellow light glowed from Steve's desk where he sat with a pencil in his hand. She approached softly, watching his fingers work carefully over a piece of paper. Her foot hit a creaky floorboard, causing him to start.

"You scared me," he said softly.

"Sorry." She cocked her head to one side, "can I see what you're drawing?"

"Oh, ah, sure." He helped her ease herself down into a chair before passing her a sheaf of papers. "I heard babies like contrast, so I thought these might look nice on the walls. What do you think?"

She flipped through them one by one, all done in black pencil on white paper. Hot air balloons, animals, flowers and trees filled page after page. "I love them," Peggy breathed. Her breath caught as she turned over a picture of an elephant. It was different from the rest, this one of a woman she recognized. "Is that me?"

Steve chuckled, "yeah, that one's not done yet. I meant for it to be a gift after the baby comes, but," he shrugged. In the image, Peggy stood at an angle in Steve's favorite dress. She was looking down at her abdomen, hands resting underneath the swell of her belly. Peggy smiled, she'd been standing like that a lot lately, trying to lift up some of the weight to ease her back. More pages were tucked in her hand, and the more pictures she looked at, the more portraits of her she saw. There was her the night they were married, her the day she arrived in the future. Others had multiple vignettes on one page; Peggy with a mug of tea, her smiling while playing with Winston, her deep in thought while reading a book. The last one was far more yellowed, the page more delicate than the rest. "Is this?"

Steve looked sheepish, "I drew that one when I first met you."

Peggy studied the image, just from the shoulders up. Her shoulders were rolled back, her eyes a defiant stare, a smile playing at her lips. Her hair was still arranged in victory rolls, looking smart above her uniform. She looked down at the bottom right corner of the page, S. Rogers 1944. "I love them, thank you." She spread them about her on the coffee table, "we should frame them."

"We've got a few weeks, yet. First babies usually go late," Steve said, kissing her cheek.

Peggy put her hands either side of her abdomen, "you better not."

Steve placed a hand between hers, "listen to your mother, Lemon. She's smarter than you and I put together." The jest earned him a strong kick under his palm. Smiling, he took her hand and led her back to bed. The laid down side by side, facing each other. Peggy worried her lip between her teeth. "What're you thinking?" he whispered in the dark.

"I'm afraid."

He took her hand, pressing a kiss to her forehead in the process. "Childbirth is certainly an ordeal, but you are equal to it, if not greater than it. I promise, I'll be with you."

She shook her head, "I'm not afraid of the pain. I'm afraid of…after."

"Yeah," Steve agreed sadly. "I'll be there for that, too. All of it. You'll do none of it alone."

Peggy nodded, "I love you." A pause, "remember your promise?"

Steve nodded back, "I do. But I won't let it come to that."

"You might not have a choice."

"I won't." He raised a hand to her cheek, "I won't. I love you Peggy, you know I'll protect you."

Not wanting to discuss it further, Peggy nodded silently. "Try to sleep, alright?"

"Alright."

Neither party got much sleep. Around three in the morning, Steve shook Peggy awake, heart pounding. "Peggy, Peggy wake up, we have to go."

"What?"

"We have to go."

"Why?" Peggy was already struggling to her feet.

"Hydra is in New York, we need to hide." Steve slung Peggy's hospital bag over his shoulder, took her hand and Winston, and headed for the door.