"Hmm... Cedar...", Steve bit his lip. "I'm not truly sure about that one, in some ways... I mean, do we open him up to some tree jokes?", Steve chuckled as Peggy rolled her eyes, "So, then it's Avery then, right?".
Their son gave a cooing squeal in affirmation as he grabbed into Peggy's finger, and Steve laughed warmly, "Avery, then...And since he's active, strong...How about Franklin for his middle name?".
"Wait, as in-?", Peggy asked in surprise as she looked at her husband, and Steve smiled, "If it wasn't for his approval, we wouldn't have gone for Atlantis in the first place, and if he hadn't given us the chance to fight for freedom and our family, who knows where we'd be right now or such?", with a hum as he kept smiling fondly upon their son.
"Avery Franklin Rogers...", Peggy smiled as she gently brushed the head of their son. "I'm sure Roosevelt would appreciate that middle name if we ever bring him to the White House.".
Steve chuckled, "That's for sure.", as Avery gurgled happily before his belly grumbled very hungrily, and Peggy smiled warmly as she brought him closer to her breast, "Go on, darling...", as he instinctively latched into the nipple and began to suckle eagerly, closing his eyes in content satisfaction.
Peggy murmured happily, "Almost five hours of labor...No wonder he is hungry for lunch...", as Steve smiled, kissing her on the temple, "You did it, Peggy...He's absolutely wonderful...Our Avery...", before hearing the faint sound of the doorknob twisting open, and they heard footsteps along with a shuffling sound, seeing two pairs of eyes peering around the corner, with Brookyln higher, on her feet and all, with Asher lower, crawling, both of them looking shyly excited.
"Mumma, Daddy? Can we be coming into bed too? Ash hungry for mumma's milk, and I having lunch on toy wagon tray from family helping.", Brookyln asked quietly, not wanting to be loud to hurt her new sibling's ears.
"Do you think that would be alright?", Steve asked Peggy as she gave a small nod, "Sure... just promise you don't get too close to your new sibling, let's give him a little bit of space at the moment while he's still trying to adjust to his new world.".
Brookyln and Asher widened their eyes as they heard that they got a new brother, smiling happily, and Asher went first, crawling to the side of the bed as Steve scooped him up gently and warmly, using his crystal to sterilize Asher's hands before passing him into Peggy's other arm.
Asher gazed at his little brother for a moment before keeping to himself, giving his little brother space as he took the other nipple, suckling hungrily, while Brookyln quietly pulled a toy wagon that held the tray of lunch to the side of the bed, as Steve went to pick the tray up from the toy wagon, glad of the family's help while she went to climb and get into bed, and sat near her daddy and her mumma's legs, obeying her mumma's orders to give her new little brother space as he kept nursing from their mumma, next to Asher, as the sizes were really truly different of the boys.
"He almost like me and Daddy with hair color...What his name, Mumma?", Brookyln asked in awe and curiosity as Steve handed her a little bowl of sliced bananas from the tray.
"It's Avery.", Peggy told her. "Avery Franklin Rogers.", with a fond, loving, tender smile. "He's a bit different...", Brooklyn said as Steve nodded.
"In more ways than one, yes... we'll tell you when you're older about why you're right...", Steve chuckled as Peggy glanced at him; maybe he shouldn't have said that as Brooklyn was probably going to be curious now. "Sorry.", he apologized to her.
Brookyln blinked, "Is it bad?", with a frown, and Peggy shook her head, "No, and it will never be bad in this family as he will be very much loved. He is a carrier, meaning that when he becomes a grownup like me and Daddy, he is able to have babies.".
"Oh! Like Uncle Abraham being a carrier forever when Rachel and Klaus were being in him, and Uncle Thaddeus briefly being a carrier with Nick!", Brookyln connected the dots as she widened her eyes in surprise, and Avery gave a slight hiccup in surprise as he blinked, in the middle of his meal, glancing with an attempting glare-pout, as he gave a sniffing cry, at Brookyln.
Brookyln blinked, "It's okay, Avery, I not bothered by that, you really special. I love you, Avery...Gosh, you got Mumma's eyes.", and Peggy replied, "That's really nice of you to say that, Brooke, but I think you need to apologize for yelling like that, even if it wasn't mean.".
"Sorry, Avery...", Brookyln apologized as Steve ruffled her hair. "Good girl. And sharp as a tack too... guess we sometimes forget that you're smart for your age...", he chuckled as Brooklyn had a proud smile on her face.
Peggy smiled as Avery returned to his meal, "She has a point through. Abraham would have a pretty good idea of being a carrier, thanks to experience and such, and he would offer advice for Avery here when he goes through puberty.".
Steve nodded, "Makes sense...Through I have a peculiar feeling that puberty would be brutal as Avery is full super Atlantean, thanks to the serum and such...He will have to be careful less if he doesn't want to be a teen dad...You know how Bucky looked and felt when he told us about Rebecca's difficulties before she found her true home and mate in Atlantis.", with a soft sigh as Brookyln resumed her lunch, as Steve took some from the tray for Peggy.
"Don't worry about that.", Peggy assured him. "Trust me, I get the honest feeling that he probably will find his own amongst Atlantis rather than on the surface.".
"Maybe you're right... still, we're probably thinking too far ahead... after all, how old is Brooke still?", Steve gave a small laugh.
Brooke piped up, "I feel being 2, but smart!", and Peggy laughed warmly, "Indeed. Technically, Brooke here is a year old already since we have her birthday next week, but she looks like 2 years old, with the vocabulary and mind of a three-year-old. Ash is catching up well, as he only is around 13 months old technically, but he'd be a year old within a few months more if he's anything like Brooke, he's then going to start talking, as he's been crawling for a month. But for Avery, since he developed fast, perhaps he will just age normally like a human baby as now we're in peace...No more urgency for him...".
Steve hummed with a smile, "I like the sound of that since we've been speed-raising Brooke and Ash, because of stress and the need to help make them less helpless if found by Hydra or such, but now Avery...we'd be slowing down because of him which is wonderful if you're right...Don't get me wrong, watching them grow up and everything has been amazing, but I just don't want to miss out too short of a childhood with all of them, you know?".
"I know... hopefully they'll start slowing down a bit...", Peggy said. "Too fast and we'll be seeing their like 7th birthday and they're already adults or something.".
Steve kissed his wife on the temple, reassuring her, "Our children are smart, I think they get the idea or will get it eventually.", with a smile, and Peggy nodded, smiling, kissing him on the lips.
And so, the growing family had lunch, enjoying the precious moments of knowing little Avery, and eventually, the rest of the family met Avery later, and they were a bit shocked of hearing Avery's carrier gift, but were happy all the same to see him healthy and active and vocal, falling in love with the newest arrival, including Bebinn and Preston who visited over the next several weeks of their eventually ending honeymoon as Bebinn is getting more bigger in progression of the twins within her womb, and Cookie and Packard who was in awe and amazement yet were happy all the same.
Of course, Preston and Bebinn saw the sense to have a American wedding, but under illusions of their former old selves to fool Preston's priest friend who had moved from New York City, in Washington, D.C., along with some of Preston's long-time acquaintances and high society allies on Preston's birthday in early June, making the documents of the American part for the couple official, but it was rather mundane for them, not special or anything as their actual family wasn't there apart from Cookie and Packard who kept appearances.
However, in late June, Bebinn was told that Preston had a surprise for her in Ireland, with the condition that Preston will do the portals this time in the planned surprise for her.
Bebinn spoke, "Preston, not that I'm not curious, but you know you don't have to do anything as today is my birthday, and I'd be just happy to be just strolling down through whatever town you found for our adventure, with a nice long stint in bed later on, basking in the moment with the twins, wondering when they will kick sooner or later.", as she was blindfolded, led by Preston as she felt the familiar hum of Preston's portal.
"Trust me, you'll love what I've been working on, I promise.", Preston said as he held her hand, "You trust me, right?". Bebinn nodded. "Of course, what are you getting at?", she asked him as he chuckled.
"Okay, well, let's just say that I've been doing quite a little bit of personal research for the past few months...", Preston said. Bebinn replied, "Oh?", managing to raise an eyebrow over the blindfold on her eyes, as her other hand warmly cradled their children's home, hearing the portal vanish away behind them.
"Yeah, let's say it's related to Ireland, and after seeing your memories and hearing things in your perspective, I knew I wanted to build a house for all of us, and sure, I knew I could always have brought anywhere in Ireland, but anywhere isn't going to be right, as the only house I could happily call home is the one you have lost...", Preston replied with a gentle tone and a hum.
A soft gasp came as his wife stopped momentarily, taking into the familiar scent of Ireland, whispering, "You didn't...", as Preston gently moved, touching her along her arm to let her know that he's going to remove the blindfold.
"It took a lot of work... I won't lie. At least the good news was that it was a bit easier since Ireland's remained neutral throughout this whole conflict, so I didn't have as many roadblocks to deal with.", Preston explained.
Bebinn started to cry happily as she realized her husband's intentions to surprise her, and felt him taking off the blindfold, and after a couple of blinks to clear her vision, she gasped, giving a sob as tears came more, her hands clasped just of her mouth as she saw the home she'd never thought to see again in centuries and such, seeing the tweaks of modern windows, the electricity, and the plumbing, but it was still the home she remembered...
A single-story cob cottage with a whitewashed look, with a thatch roof, with low rock fences creating portions of a herbal garden, a vegetable garden, and a glorious front yard with a working well, trailed by earthen paths and planted rock paths, and a modest barn for small farm animals and a horse or two, and the family plot in a beautiful meadow with two trees at the edges of the plot for shade and border within the wooden fence, and the nearby fields primed to be either tilled for grain or used for trails.
Bebinn was in awe, almost speechless, "Preston...", and Preston replied, "I know it isn't exactly the old-fashioned version as I know you got used to modern amenities, but I hope I did all right for-", before being surprised by an overjoyed, emotional kiss on the lips.
"Thank you... thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!", Bebinn cried as she kept kissing him on the lips and wrapping her arms around him tightly, minding her baby bump.
Preston smiled so brightly as his heart soared by seeing his wife so happy, wrapping her gently yet lovingly around in his arms, minding her baby bump of their children, as he never thought he'd see her this exhilarated, returning the repeating kisses with love.
Bebinn soon calmed down a little, almost bouncing on her shoes, "It's perfect, Preston! Come on! I want to see the inside!", dragging him by his hand as he laughed warmly, letting her lead the way, seeing her slowing down with tears as she went to touch the low rock walls, soaking into the scent of the herbal and vegetable gardens, the well with reverence.
"How did you manage...?", Bebinn whispered in joy and awe, and Preston chuckled, "Some with old-fashioned hard work, some with magic, and of course, lots of help from our extended family...I couldn't dare to cut corners, but luckily, it was easier with help...And of course, it's officially part of the Whitmore properties, but on secret in ink and such...I found out a bit of sad news that there was a famine through the village about a couple of centuries and half ago or so, and they abandoned the village, so, it's taken back by nature, but this way, we can have all the privacy and all the space for all our extended family's children to run around together with our children in time...".
Bebinn widened her eyes slightly in horror and glanced at the familiar hills that held the distant bell tower of the meeting hall in the village, which was a landmark for her, but sure enough, there was nothing, and she glanced at Preston, "Did...did they...?".
"There was a few elder deaths and a few young adult deaths, but luckily, most of the village left before it got really bad, with the children as the next generation through Ireland, but other than that, nothing I could find...They saw sense to bury your father, fortunately without blaming him long after you left, and resting peacefully next to your mother. We spruced the family plot up the best for them and your grandparents as well, with room for the far future.", Preston explained.
Bebinn cried in relief and bittersweet understanding, "Thank you...", as she squeezed his hand warmly, and walked closer with an exhale, rubbing her baby bump as a habit, fingering the familiar door knocker carving of a seal. Seals were her mother's favorite animal as she came from a seaside hamlet before she met the man who became her father.
Preston spoke softly, "You okay, Bebinn?", and Bebinn replied, "Memories, that's all...You're here, I'm carrying our children...I just never thought I'd bring a husband or children to my childhood home...even if you saw it already from rebuilding it and all, it's...it's just getting real now, you know?".
"I know... still hard to believe at times but it's the truth. No waking up to a whole different reality thank goodness...", Preston smiled. "Yeah... thank goodness this isn't a dream...", Bebinn wiped her eyes a bit as tears still kept trying to build at moments.
Preston squeezed her free hand, kissing her on the temple, and Bebinn took a deep breath, and went to squeeze the latched doorknob of black metal, opening the lock, and walked in as the scent of the house filled her senses, almost lived in, yet slightly new.
She fell in love with the rustic yet modern features as soon as she saw the lounge room with the fireplace, the modest dining table, the charming kitchen, the two-halved door to the gardens and the backyard, the master bed, and the bathroom as she cried happily, reverently touching everything that was exactly from her memories, and taking in every modern aspect with delight, and then she sobbed as she saw the nursery that will fit as a bedroom later on with plenty of room for the twins, seeing the beautiful carved cribs, "Preston...".
Preston smiled, "I figured I'd go neutral with pastels for now, and then when they arrive, we could do bright colors occasionally for blankets or such, though I have to admit the cribs are the most colorful in the room right now...".
"I love it, Preston...I couldn't ask for anything better than this. They are going to have a wonderful life here...", Bebinn smiled tearfully and happily, stroking her baby bump before gasping in surprise and pain, and heard Preston's voice in quick concern, "Bebinn! Are you alright?".
Bebinn smiled so widely, "Preston, they're finally kicking!", with a tearful sob, "Oh, gods, they're kicking...", as Preston widened his eyes, and came closer to his wife, looking at her with a tentative look, and she chuckled, "It's okay, Preston, say hello...", a bit surprised to see her husband looking nervous for once as he seemed to take the pregnancy in ease, being his excitable, eccentric, and loving self.