STEVE
James is here. After so long, our son is here. After everything, every little thing that has brought us up to this point, we have a son. I have known Tori for years, and we've always mused about having kids, but we never thought it would happen anytime soon. After all the lies I've told everyone but her, that after the ice I didn't really want a family or stability like I did before, it's pretty obvious now that I still do. I thought it made me weak to want that, that it would drag me down when I had to work. However, that was when I thought that my job was the most important thing in the world. Now I would give that all up in a second to be with my family.
I hold James in my arms, staring down at him with tears still in my eyes. He ate and had his fill of the world for today, so he just sleeps peacefully with his fist somehow wrapped around my finger again. He managed to wrangle part of his arm from the tight bundle of blue blankets he lies in just to hold my hand. I think it might make him feel comfortable or something, but I do know that I have to contain sobs when he does it.
Tori sleeps on the hospital bed, as she should. She did so well today, and I couldn't be any happier. I'm so proud of her though. After all of that, she pulled through until we got to hold him after everything was done and James was content. I can't help but smile when I glance at her sleeping form underneath the sheets.
I sit in between Tony and Bucky, who both look over at James with wide eyes, pointing out every feature that he inherited from Tori or me.
"Definitely my kiddo's nose," Tony whispers, gently tapping my son's button nose with his finger.
"And that's Steve's build," Bucky says. "I think the serum might affect him later on, both of them in fact."
"At least Tori's serum would have shown by now. His skin would have been ice cold to the touch when he was born if that was the case," Tony adds.
"But just because that didn't happen doesn't mean that it isn't in his blood."
"Anyways, look at that little tuft of hair under his little hat."
I ignore the two dorks, and just look down at my son. His grip on my finger loosens and tightens, and he emits soft snores and grunts. Tony pulls the small beanie on James's head back down to keep him warm, and he just smiles. Bucky has smiled more today than I've seen him since even before he fell off the train.
"He's exactly like his father," Bucky mumbles happily.
"Would you like to hold him?" I ask him.
Bucky's eyes widen and dart from me to Tony.
"Hey, I've already held the little guy. It's your turn," Tony grins.
Bucky glances back at me. "Y-Y-You sure about this?"
I nod. "Did I stutter?"
I carefully transfer James into Bucky's arm, even though he won't let go of my finger.
"See, I don't think he wants to go," Bucky stammers.
"Buck, it's all right. You won't hurt him," I reassure him.
Bucky gulps, looking down at James in his arm. James grunts softly, yawning as he wakes up. He slowly opens up his eyes to see Bucky, who is still utterly mortified. Bucky holds his breath, waiting for James to start wailing. But he doesn't.
James gives him a gummy grin, letting out a little giggle. He lets go of my finger slowly, and raises his little arm. The blanket begins to unravel, so I just tuck it back in for Bucky and leave the arm sticking out. James grabs at the air, but his eyes stare up at Bucky. Bucky questionably leans his head down, seeing that he wants something that is up there. And sure enough, James grabs a handful of Bucky's hair.
I laugh, watching Bucky's expression change from horrified to joyful.
"I think he likes you, Buck," I smile.
"Maybe," he says, still looking down at James.
My son just smirks up at him. Good, they like each other. If they didn't, we'd have a real problem on our hands.
I hear the sheets shift, and I glance over to see my wife waking up. She runs her hand through her hair, most likely trying to remember where she is and what happened. I watch her glance down at her stomach and to James, who still is with Bucky. Tears fill her eyes as she watches our son smile and giggle at his long haired uncle, and a smile tugs as the corners of her lips. I stand from my chair and sit on the edge of her bed, instantly greeting her with a kiss.
"How is he?" she asks me.
"I think he's having a blast," I smile, glancing back over at Bucky and Tony. "How are you holding up?"
She nods, taking in a deep breath. "I couldn't be better. I'm going to let everyone hold him now because I won't want to when I'm woken up at three in the morning next week."
I laugh, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. "That's why I'm here, honey. I'm here with you for it all. He's my son too, and I don't want to miss anything in his life. I want to be the kind of dad that he looks up to."
"I think that's already inevitable because you're Captain America," she smiles. She cups my face in her hand. "But you're also an amazing dad. He already loves you, and I don't think that's ever going to change, honey."
"And he loves you too," I say, pecking a kiss on to her cheek.
Bucky has given Tony James because of my son being too wiggly in his arm, making it difficult for him to hold him. Tony makes weird faces at him, causing him to laugh. He glances over at Tori, giving her a smile.
"Would you like him back?" Tony asks her.
She ponders for a moment, finally nodding as she looks up at me. Tony stands up slowly, walking James over towards us. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tori tilt her head towards me, and Tony grins as he hands me James. I roll my eyes at the siblings, taking my son in my arms. I position myself next to Tori so that she can see him. James grabs my finger like he did before, his mouth forming a small 'o' as he yawns.
There is a soft knock at the door, and I expect it to be one of the nurses to come up and check on James. Instead, after Tori calls for them to come in, it is Sam, Natasha, and Rhodey. Sam helps Rhodey in to sit next to Tony in my original seat, and Sam and Natasha rush to see James.
"He's so cute!" Natasha squeals, looking over him like Bucky and Tony did.
Sam just smirks at me. I raise an eyebrow, scared of what he's going to say.
"You made that," Sam states.
I nod. "Yeah, I know. There's evident proof there too."
Sam just continues to give me a smug look, crossing his arms with a sneer. "All right, lemme see the little squirt."
I bring James closer to Natasha and Sam, who both gawk at him. James blinks awake, revealing those blue orbs that he got from me to the two. He holds my finger tighter once he sees the new people.
"Hi, I'm Auntie Nat," Natasha sweetly smiles at him, giving him a little wave. "You look just like your dad."
"Hey, little dude. I'm your Uncle Sam," Sam greets.
"How patriotic," Tori mumbles.
"Says the person who reproduced with Captain America," Tony mutters.
"Says the person who keeps a poster of Captain America in HQ," Tori shoots back.
Tony smacks his lips, not having a better comeback.
James giggles at his uncle, and makes more cute baby sounds afterwards. Natasha looks like she might burst from excitement, having to clasp her hand to her mouth from overflowing. Tony just gives my son a glare and shoots one at my chuckling wife.
"That's my boy," I whisper to James. "Bully your Uncle Tony and not me."
"Don't encourage him, Steve," Tori scowls.
"You told him the same thing a few weeks ago!" I retort.
"He was in the womb then! Like he even understood what he was doing."
"He doesn't know now either!"
"Stop arguing in front of your child," Tony groans.
Sam stops smiling for a moment, his eyes scanning the room. "Why is he here?" he asks, pointing to Bucky, who sits in the corner laughing his head off.
"Take a guess," I state.
"Yeah. I mean, their kid is kind of named after me, you know," Bucky says in between laughs.
"We said if there just do happen to be any more children, Sam is going to be the first one who has a child named after him," Tori confesses. "We did promise him."
"Uh huh, and I expect it," Sam says.
Tori nudges my arm gently, gesturing to James. He sleeps soundly in my arms in the midst of the chaos the Avengers have created. I shake my head at him, listening to him snore softly.
"Let's go show you off to Uncle Rhodey real quick, buddy," I mumble. I carefully get off the side of the bed without waking him up, and I make my way over to Rhodes. He smiles at me, looking down at James.
"He looks a lot like his mother when his eyes are closed," Rhodes remarks. "He's gonna be a good looking kid."
I nod in agreement. He definitely looks like Tori. From his facial features to his hair, he shows some of the most prominent features I see on her. Then when he opens his eyes, I see nothing except myself.
"Cherish these few hours," Rhodey laughs, "because you're going to wish that he was like this when you're at home."
"Yeah," I scoff. "Everyone keeps telling me that. But that means that I can just hand him off to his several aunts and uncles for a couple of hours."
Rhodes laughs, shaking his head at me.
I head back to Tori, switching off. She takes James and holds him close to her. He refuses to leave me at first, not releasing my finger, and getting a good giggle out of everyone, but he eventually let's go once he feels his mother.
"I'm surprised that he's not wailing," Natasha states. "Barton's kids screamed for hours, and one still does."
"Oh believe me, he did," Tori says, still trying to get him into a comfortable position on her chest. "I think he's just so confused he doesn't know what to do, so he is just chill with everything at the moment."
"He is a Rogers, so he's quite oblivious sometimes," Tony sighs, shaking his head.
Tori and I give him cold glares.
"What?" Tony asks. "It's true."
We're cut off by a nurse coming in to check on James, and the poor woman freaks out once she sees the Avengers here. She almost faints when she sees Tony. He gives her a quick autograph after she tends to James, which makes us laugh afterwards, and he seems to be doing all right. We still have to be here another day, but all is doing well.