Chapter Text
I was in full active labor seven hours after I lay down to nap with Steve. My water broke at around nine that night, but it was just a small trickle and it took a little while for me to realize it had happened.
It was quite a strange feeling to be in labor while everything was just going on as normal around you. We were experts at it this time, so babies were being breastfed and given tummy time. Dinner was served and eaten together. Riley and Pietro were given their stories and a bath before being put into bed and all the while I was getting these strong, debilitating pains that lasted barely anytime every 20 minutes or so. There was a rotating roster of people who stuck by my side depending on what needed to be done in the house and when all the kids were down for the night Tony suggested that maybe we should just go down to the Medbay and see how things were going. Turns out the answer to that question was; ‘not well’.
“Elise, honey,” Doctor Schroeder said, as I lay back on the bed with a bunch of probes attached to me, and one inserted inside me and attached to the crown of the baby’s head. “The baby is in distress, we really need to do the c-section.”
“What?” I said, the alarms beeping around me as my blood pressure shot up. “No, no, no, no, no.” Beside me, all the color had drained from Tony’s face and he started fidgeting where he stood.
“It’s going to be fine,” the doctor said. “But he needs to come out. We need to put you under as soon as possible.”
“But… I…” I couldn’t think straight. I didn’t know why he would be in distress now. I had made plans. I’d gone into labor, I was supposed to deliver like Wanda and Natasha had.
“El, princess,” Sam said, stepping close to me and crouching down by the bed. I looked at him, still panicking. “Honey, I’ll stay with you the whole time. Okay? I won’t leave your side for one second. We’ll get Edwin out and when you wake up, we’ll all have a happy and healthy baby boy.”
I felt tears prick my eyes but I nodded, feeling a little bit more sure about things. Everyone backed off a little and I was moved onto a surgical bed and set up with an IV and wheeled into surgery. Everything felt like a blur as I was given an anesthetic and oxygen and talked off to sleep. I remember the last thing I could focus on was the light above me and Sam’s voice telling me he was right here with me and everything would be okay.
The next thing I was really aware of was my throat hurting and how cold I felt. “Hey, El,” Sam said, gently. “You waking up?”
I managed to force my eyes open but they fell closed again right away, I shook my head slowly.
“It’s okay, princess,” Sam said, running his thumb over the back of my hand. “You can keep sleeping if you want to. Everyone is fine. Edwin was crying up a storm as soon as he took a breath. He’s with the others now. His feet and hands were a little blue and his pulse was a little high, but everything settled once he got used to being out in the big bad world. They don’t think he’s going to need to be in intensive care or anything. Just your blood pressure stressing him out.”
I relaxed as Sam spoke and seemed to doze off for five minutes or so before waking again. A nurse came over to check me over. “Do you have any pain, Doctor Cooper?”
I nodded and pointed to my stomach where they had cut.
“Do you want some pain medication?” She asked.
I nodded again and started crying - though I wasn’t actually sure what was setting it off.
“Hey, El,” Sam soothed. “It’s okay, honey. I’m still here.”
“And you’re going to see your baby very soon,” the nurse added as she adjusted something on my IV. The pain started to back off again, but I couldn’t seem to stop crying.
“What’s upsetting you, princess?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know,” I cried, my voice raspy.
“Aww, honey,” Sam soothed. “Having a bad reaction to the GA leaving your system. It’s alright. It’ll back off soon.”
I’m not sure how long it took to start feeling more awake but they brought me juice and crackers and checked me over before letting me go to my room where the others were waiting with Baby Edwin. Sam stayed by my side the whole time, talking me through every little medical thing that they did so I wouldn’t worry.
I was wheeled into the room and was greeted by all the others who were seated around on the various couches and sofa chairs set up. They all stood at once except for Tony who was holding the little bundle in his arms.
“Hey, sweetheart. They said it all went fine. How are you feeling?” Steve asked.
“I’m okay. Feel weird. I was pregnant and now I’m not anymore,” I said. “Usually a thing that happens between those points.”
“You had a baby,” Steve assured me. “He’s right there. Tony’s won’t let anyone else hold him.”
“Hey! You all got a turn,” Tony argued. “But I helped make him, I’m proud of my good work.”
“Puh-lease, Tones,” Clint snarled. “You jizzed inside her. Who hasn’t done that?”
“Hey, not in front of the baby!” Tony said, covering Edwin’s ears and looking at Clint with a scandalized expression on his face.
“Alright, alright,” Natasha said. “I think it’s time for Elise and Sam to get their chance holding him.”
Tony got up and carried the little bundle over. He was wrapped in a blue blanket with just his face showing and he was sleeping peacefully. He had a fine head of brown hair and a little button nose. “Look at what we made, El,” he said as he put him in my arms.
“I can’t tell who he looks like more,” I said, looking down at him.
“Well he has blue eyes,” Tony said. “But that could just be because they haven’t settled.”
“He’s perfect either way,” Wanda said.
I smiled down at him and ran my finger over his cheek. “Hey, Eddie,” I said softly. “Sorry I missed you being born and stressed you out so much.”
“He’s fine,” Wanda said. “I promise.”
“A hearty lad,” Thor added. “You have nothing to fear, my life.”
I smiled and kissed Edwin’s forehead. “Good,” I said. “That’s the main thing.”
“Not to hurry you along, El,” Sam said. “But I want a turn too.”
I giggled. “Okay, but only because you stayed with me the whole time.”
Sam grinned and took him from me, and I lay down, closing my eyes. “Maybe we should leave you to sleep, honey.”
I mumbled something, trying to ignore the pull of sleep, but finding it hard to resist. “Mishka,” Natasha scolded. “It’s the middle of the night and you just had major surgery.”
“We’ll be here when you get up, and so will Edwin,” Bruce said. “You should sleep while you can and heal so you can come back home as soon as possible.”
I nodded slowly. “I’ll stay with her,” Tony said.
“What a shocker,” Clint teased and came over and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You did good, El.”
“Thanks, Clint,” I murmured.
The others all came over and kissed me goodnight before leaving. I dozed a little while Tony fussed around and eventually set himself up to sleep on the foldout next to me.
The following day I woke up to the sound of Edwin crying. Tony had him cradled in his arms, trying to soothe him as the nurses came and propped my bed up. I have no idea how long I’d slept for, but the sun was up and the room was filled with flowers and balloons.
“There’s your mama,” Tony said. “We were starting to think you were going to sleep all day long.”
“Sorry, Tony,” I said.
He shook his head. “You’re healing. It’s fine.”
“How’s your pain?” One of the nurses asked as she fussed around me.
“About a seven,” I said. “Maybe seven and a half.”
“We’ll get you something. Are you hungry?” The nurse asked.
I nodded. “Very.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll organize that too. And are you going to breastfeed?”
“I’m going to try,” I said.
“Okay, let’s see if we can do that first,” she said, gesturing Tony over with Edwin.
It took a little bit of doing but we eventually had him latched and suckling. I knew I wasn’t really producing anything much yet, the surgery would delay my milk production, but it was important to get him to suckle to bring it on. He suckled with a scowl on his face, staring up at me with his dark blue eyes as he gripped at my breast with one little hand.
The nurse left to go order my breakfast and my pain medication and Tony sat on the side of my bed and started playing with Edwin’s hand. “You ready to see the others?” He asked.
“Yeah. That’ll be good,” I agreed.
“Your mom is here. Those are from her,” he said, pointing to a large bunch of white roses and blue irises set in a blue box with foil balloons attached that read ‘It’s a boy’. “You okay seeing her too?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine too.”
“FRIDAY, let them know,” Tony said.
By the time the very large group that consisted of my husbands, wives, children and mother came through the door, Edwin had stopped feeding and fallen back to sleep and I was slowly eating my way through a plate of French Toast with fresh berries.
“There she is,” Steve said, kissing me hello. “You slept for so long.”
“I guess I was tired,” I agreed. “I’m up now.”
“You otay, mommy?” Pietro asked, coming over to the bed and putting his chin on the side.
“I have a big cut,” I said, caressing his hair. “But I’m okay. I missed you.”
“I misted you too,” he said.
Thor and Bruce lifted both Riley and Pietro up on the side of the bed. “Be careful of your mother, she has an injury,” Thor said.
“Don’t touch her tummy,” Bruce added.
Riley immediately ignored both of her father’s instructions and gently patted my stomach. “Tan I see?”
“It’s just a bandage right now,” I said. “But I can show you when they come and change it if you really want. It has stitches because they had to sew me back up.”
“Otay,” she said and promptly stole a strawberry off my plate and started eating it.
Pietro’s lip began to quiver. “Dey sewed you up?”
“It’s okay, honey,” I said, pulling him in close. “I’m okay and so is your new baby brother. Did you see him?”
“Yeah, he’s borwing,” Riley said, matter-of-factly making me laugh a little.
My mom stepped forward and kissed my cheek. “Congratulations, darling,” she said. “He’s so beautiful. They all are, but Edwin looks just like you when you were born.”
“Thanks, mom,” I replied.
Everyone settled around the room. Some cradling babies while others looked over their shoulders. Everyone was relaxed and happy and completely present as a family. It was a little melancholy to think how back when I was born, my mother had me, and I looked so much like him, and yet I didn’t have this. I would grow up not knowing that this deep love and devotion was a real thing. That I wouldn’t know it until one day when I knocked over an ex-Russian assassin on the way to work and somehow that act would lead her to become fascinated by me.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Every little thing that happened in my life led to this. Me here with the people I loved most. With the people who I had chosen to be a part of my life. I wouldn’t change a single thing if it meant I would lose this. I might not have known it growing up, but my kids would. This was my family.