Growing up is optional

Chapter 8

Lizzie had been home a few weeks, when she was greeted at her front door by a guy in uniform, she got out of her car and made her way to her front door. "Miss Rogers?"

"The one and only. What can I do for you?"

"There's an official hearing tomorrow. John Walker is to be officially stripped of his title of Captain America, along with his other ranks and titles. The GRC were hoping you would attend?"

"Why would I?"

"As the last remaining member of Steve Rogers family, it seems fitting that you are there to see his legacy upheld."

She took a step closer to him then, he raised his hands slightly, clearly then had warned him, who and what she was. "If any of you were bothered about his legacy, you would never have given that man my grandfather's shield in the first place. It should have stayed in the museum or have been given back to the man, my grandfather saw fit to give it to!"

He took a step back from her, he had clearly outstayed his welcome. He left a letter on the railing of the steps and left. Lizzie picked it up and headed inside. The house was empty, it felt different here. Something was missing, she knew what or rather who was missing, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to text or call Bucky. She had messaged Sam once or twice to check in. She pulled the letter open and read the time and place for the hearing, she would have time to go before work.

Sitting on the sofa that night, Lizzie felt different at first, she thought it was because it was the first time in weeks where she had been truly alone. However after an hour of feeling like her stomach had become a stormy ocean she ran toward the bathroom. The urge to empty her stomach remained yet nothing came up, in truth she had been feeling off it for a little while, but this was new. She splashed water on her face and reached for the medicine cabinet, she was pretty sure she had some stomach acid tablets in there. As she opened it up, she spotted the box of tampax she had bought the month before. It suddenly dawned on her if she included this week and the weeks before when she was away with Bucky and Sam it all added up to be over a month, which meant she was late by at the very least four weeks. Slamming the cupboard shut she rushed out into the living room and grabbed her bag before dashing to the store.

...........

Arriving back from the store, after she had bought four different brands of pregnancy tests. She could have gone to work for the test, but that could raise questions and so spend thirty bucks in the pharmacy. Lizzie proceeded to do all four tests, she set them all on the sink side and began to pace the length of the bathroom, waiting the 5 minutes for the tests to be done felt like eternity. When Lizzie heard the timer on her phone begin to buzz, she went back over to the sink and finally looked at them. They all glared up at her with the same positive reading. "Oh Jesus!" she choked out half crying half gasping.

She picked up her phone and was about to message Bucky, saying that they needed to talk, but as she wrote the message, she looked at it and realised that she couldn't send it. Instead she got changed and headed to bed. She felt numb and her movements slow as if she were moving through molasses. She decided that she wasn't going to tell Bucky over the phone or by a message, this was a conversation they needed to have face to face. As she lay in bed her mind wandered, was she really ready to have this baby, to have any baby? What if Bucky wasn't happy with the idea of them having a child? What if she was going to have to raise this baby alone?

When Lizzie woke the following morning, she felt shocking, she'd slept on and off most of the night. She showered and pulled out some clothes. She had decided to go to the hearing, she wanted to say something to John. She turned the coffee pot on in the kitchen, the smell of the fresh brewing dark liquid made her stomach turn. Lizzie quickly flicked the off switch not caring if she bust the machine and ran to the toilet. She came back and made herself a cup of tea instead, the smell of it seemed stronger than before but it didn't make her retch like the coffee. Looking through her fridge and cupboards, she realised she needed a shopping trip, there was very little food and what there was, wasn't really the best for someone who was pregnant. Her whole life was about to change, lizzie realised that in that moment she had chosen to keep this baby.