Chapter Text
Epilogue
Whenever the twins cried, the pup in Peter’s belly kicked like mad. It was like it got upset whenever they did – and boy could that be annoying. Especially since Peter was now past nine months and about as big as a hippo, which meant the pup was big as well. Luckily, the twins never cried for long until their mom or dad gathered them up to calm them down.
Tony had gone into a labour almost a month early, to the despair of Brock, but thanks to the amazing effort of Dr Strange, both pups had been delivered healthy. Super tiny, but healthy. Tony had needed about a week in bed to regain his strength, but now he was up and running as well, alternating between breast feeding and working in the lab where there was now a crib (for the pups) and a huge bean bag (for Peter). There was the baby beta boy they’d named Harley, and an alpha girl named Virginia, but she could be such a fiery handful they’d all taken to calling her Pepper instead.
Peter huffed, stroking his massive belly to try and calm his own pup while reminding himself that he loved his god-pups and it wasn’t fair to be angry at them for crying (even if it ended up in him having to go pee again).
“I’ll get them” Brock grunted, walking past him quickly where Peter was sitting on the couch. For all his gruff manners, he really was a sweet dad. Whenever he picked up Harley, like now, he did so with the gentlest touch, softly placing the pup against his chest so he could rock it to sleep again. Observing him for a second, Peter was reminded he needed to pee real bad, so he turned to his own alpha.
“Help me up please?” he asked with a sheepish smile. Kissing his nose, Bucky chuckled and gently got him to his feet. It had gotten to the point where Peter waggled around like some kind of freakish duck, needing help for any kind of sitting and standing. That included the bathroom…so Bucky would just have to follow him.
The Canadian safe house had been swelling lately. On their slow way to the bathroom, they passed Steve talking intensely to Dr Strange. Ever since they took down Alexander Pierce and the twenty or so beta officials with him, the Wars were finally looking like they were coming to a slow end. The Hydra Government was weakened, and since SHIELD had started working with the more endowed Canadian forces, it seemed they now had the means to deliver the final blow. That also meant that Peggy had decided that she was ready to have pups as well, to Steve’s overwhelming happiness. Right now they were in the process of getting help from Dr Strange in deciding how to best go about it.
Dr Banner had decided to stick around at the Medical Crisis Centre in Montréal where he dedicated his time to helping those omegas either rescued from Hydra or escaped from the safe zones. Even if the decision had come out of guilt, they truly needed him over there and he was of great use to the refugees. An omega who had left Montréal, however, was Clint Barton who instead had gone with Natasha back to this safe house. When Peter awkwardly walked past the kitchen, he saw the pregnant omega curled up in Natasha’s arms while he was being fed his protein shake – he was apparently carrying a litter of triplets inside him and Dr Strange said his chances looked better than he could hope for. They all prayed for the birth to work out. The smell from the pair made Peter want to curl up happy to his own alpha…a newly bonded omega always smelled like flowers to him.
“God, I can’t wait for this to be over” Peter muttered as he got help to lower himself down in the bathroom. Bucky smiled apologetically.
“I’m sorry little bean, you must so uncomfortable” he said, stepping back to give Peter a little privacy. The omega sighed and glared at his stomach.
“I don’t get why it’s taking so long to get out” he complained.
“Well maybe our baby bean just likes it in there, is all” Bucky mumbled as he knelt down and placed a soft kiss on the straining skin of his belly. “Bet it’s real cosy”. Peter sighed and placed his hands over where the kiss was placed, trying to relax enough to pee.
“Don’t you think it’s even cosier being in my arms?” he pouted, to which Bucky chuckled. His alpha looked at him with love filling his eyes, one hand gently resting on his cheek. His thick thumb brushed over the cheekbone, and Peter had to resist the urge to surge forward and kiss him.
“It’ll be out before you know it. Everything is going to be just fine” Bucky promised, placing a lingering, sweet kiss to his eager lips. Still pouting, Peter tried to accept it.
“Okay fine. Help me up” he sighed, annoyed. Gosh, being huge really didn’t come with many perks. He was always too hot and uncomfortable, and his list of ‘food the pup hates’ had expanded to pop tarts, almond milk and any type of red meat. The omega would’ve sustained himself on fries and herring (yes, he had the biggest craving for herring which made everyone else at the house wish for the pup to arrive soon as well) if Bucky didn’t insist on making him healthy meals and protein shakes every day.
Well waggled out into the living room again, the pair was met with Tony on the couch in his usual mama sweats, breast feeding Pepper, while Brock still walked around slowly rocking little Harley. The baby beta preferred to sleep while carried, and Tony was thrilled Brock had the strength of an alpha to keep that up for an hour straight.
However, now the alpha looked rather pained.
“Hey Bucky, think you could hold on to him a little while? I gotta take a piss” Brock grunted quietly, giving the other alpha a strained look. Tony’s head whipped up immediately.
“Language” he reprimanded. Rolling his eyes, Brock very carefully handed over the sleeping Harley to Bucky who gently took the tiny bundle. It looked like a giant holding a doll, and Peter’s heart warmed at the sight. Bucky seemed to have taken a real liking to holding the pups once in a while, always turning so focused on their little faces and playing with their feet. It made Peter long for the sigh of him holding their pup.
“They are a month old Tony, and premature at that. Don’t think they caught that” Brock retorted, stretching his arms that had been in the same position a while.
“Yeah but they’re genius babies” Tony cooed as he rocked Pepper a little, preening down at her. “So they’re special” he prompted in his baby voice, causing Brock to roll his eyes again before leaving for his piss. Peter giggled, carefully sitting down close to his omega friend.
Pepper ate hungrily while the two omegas talked. Around them life buzzed – Peggy came by with a herring sandwich for Peter (honestly, that lady was god-sent), while Sam got his ass handed to him by Brock after he decided to drag his whole left wing into the living room to show Tony where it faulted which of course woke Harley up all over again. Since the last mission Steve had left a lot more responsibility with other leaders and now worked mostly from the safehouse (“like a house-alpha”, as Bucky liked to cheekily point out). He was in the kitchen frowning over the computer – there was still missions he needed to go to, but the death of Alexander Pierce had really taken the wind out of Hydra. Perhaps now that dream Tony had of houses next to each other could be real…Peter smiled shyly, hoping it could.
Even Tony’s father was here. He spent most of his days in a separate part of the workshop, but he seemed to have taken to the twins, even if he still wasn’t all that sure about Brock. Tony said it was a process – the greying alpha would get there in the end. In any case, Tony belonged to Brock now. And Howard would just have to accept that. Sneakily, Peter glanced over at the table further away by the window where Howard sat. The alpha fiddled around with his computer, but it was obvious he was observing them. This whole ‘grumpy old man’-thing was mostly an act though…Peter hadn’t missed how he would walk around the workshop with a pup on the hip, telling them about his work while they stared at him wide-eyed. Howard Stark might not love his son-in-law, but he sure loved his grandchildren.
“We should pick California” Tony said suddenly, interrupting Peter’s thoughts. The little bundle now laid content and asleep against the older omega’s chest, snoring slightly.
“California?” he repeated. Checking so Bucky hadn’t left the room, he adjusted awkwardly on the couch, getting a kick as a reward. The omega scrunched his nose while Tony nodded eagerly.
“Yeah. Once the Wars are over. I know you’re more of an east coast kinda guy, but wouldn’t Cali be amazing? Think about it; we could get a house by the beach, teach the pups how to swim…look at our alphas in swimming trunks”. The last part was added in a lower voice and with a wink, drawing a blushing smile from Peter.
“Can we get one of those inflatable pink flamingos? I’ve never had one of those” Peter asked, getting excited.
Tony smiled warmly at him. His left hand reached for Peter’s and he intertwined their fingers.
“Of course Petey. We can get however many flamingos you want”.
-
That night, Bucky woke to Peter shaking his arm. His alpha instincts detected the distress at once and quickly sat up, before he suddenly caught the scent of something…else…
“I think my water broke” Peter whispered frantically, looking at him with wide eyes. And at that time, however scared Bucky might have felt, all of that washed away when he saw how terrified Peter was. Acting on instinct, he gathered his beautiful, pregnant omega in his arms and stroke his back soothingly, reaching for his phone with his free hand.
“It’s okay little bean, I’m gonna call Dr Strange over, okay? Everything is gonna be fine” he mumbled calmingly as his finger slipped on the phone trying to get it open. Against his neck, Peter hiccupped and nodded, trying to breath properly.
The doctor came in less than seven minutes, rushing in with the bag already prepared. They’d discussed this earlier and decided Peter would give birth in his own bedroom, so everything was prepped for that. By the time he got there, Bucky had helped Peter out of his underwear and placed him comfortably (as comfortable as he could get) against the pillows. His breathing wasn’t any better, and every time a cramp rushed through the omega, Bucky felt it through their bond like an electrical current, making him hiss with pain. Dr Strange threw him a single look before devoting his entire focus for the omega in labour.
“I need you to go get the towels” he instructed Bucky. With a stressed nod, the alpha rushed away to comply. He hated leaving Peter’s side for even a second – Dr Strange had told him that it would be less painful and in general easier if Peter had his alpha present during the birth, since their bond was so strong that Bucky could more or less absorb some of the pain for him. So he hurried.
Once he got back things moved faster than he was prepared for. Peter’s small hand gripped his with all his strength through it, yet Bucky felt only reassuring pressure his omega was fighting to deliver their pup. And he did such a good job – Peter was such a good boy. Watching him breath in the patterns the doctor told him to, struggle to push at the right time, and how the omega still found time to look over to Bucky and give him a reassuring little squeeze like Bucky was the one needing comfort…the alpha’s heart just swelled until it was practically overflowing with love. Feeling like he couldn’t control himself in this situation, he let his alpha instincts kick in and do the work for him. He let Peter nuzzle his chest for the calming scent, soothed him with encouraging words, licked his neck tasting the salt…everything Peter seemed to need through this, he gave him.
And then suddenly, there she was. A perfect little pink bundle, crying in Dr Strange’s careful grip until he placed her at Peter’s chest. Then she got real quiet, looking up at her parents with wide eyes…beautiful, brown eyes. Bucky felt his own tear up with happiness when he realized they looked just like Peter’s.
“Congratulations. You have a healthy omega girl” Dr Strange said breathlessly. And most importantly, Peter had managed the birth without complications. Those brown eyes turned to look up against his alpha, wet with tears. They both smiled shakily, holding their new born pup together on the bed.
“Bucky? Can we name her May?” Peter whispered, voice wavering. Bucky softly stroke his daughters tiny little arm with his thumb. Then he gave Peter another smile, kissing his forehead.
“May. Yeah…I think that’s perfect” he answered.
Bucky hugged his family close. His family, which he never thought he’d have, and which he had fought for with all he had. They were safe now. He was safe.