Retribution ★ Avengers

I'm Not Leaving Your Side

May 23, 2027

★ ★ ★

The last few months of Marlena Claire's pregnancy had been nothing short of bittersweet bliss. While she spent most of it chasing after her other two children, she also found that she had more time to focus on the planning of her upcoming wedding. With a plethora of family members and friends willing to step in and help Steve and Marlena out with the two nine-year-olds that seemed to be at the peak of their mischievous youth, Marlena was finally feeling like things were falling into place once again.

It'd been five months since Doctor Stephen Strange's heeded warning regarding Charlie and her powers had caused Marlena and her family some distress during Christmastime. She was more than thankful that during the development of what she assumed would be her final pregnancy, he had either opted to leave them alone for a while or he was off somewhere working to learn more about the extent of her daughter's capabilities. Regardless, she was more than happy to take advantage of it to get a grip on her life and the chaos to come now that there would soon be three children for her to look after.

Marlena stood with the refrigerator door open in front of her, scanning its shelves for the one thing she'd been craving all morning. As her eyes searched side to side, her vision became doubled and she groaned in frustration. Somehow, she managed to spot what she'd been looking for and snatched it up in her hands.

Double vision was just one of the many side-effects this pregnancy had caused her, which was very unusual to her as she had experienced no issues while pregnant with the twins. Between that, her nausea that seemed to last far beyond the typical first trimester, and frequent headaches, Marlena and her doctor had determined she was experiencing gestational hypertension—high blood pressure specific to pregnancy.

Despite the symptoms and the effect they had on Marlena's body, she did remain in a relatively positive mood. It was hard not to when she was consistently surrounded by the family and friends she had spent so many years thinking she'd lost forever. So many of them had been there for her through her difficult pregnancy, whether it was letting her rant or babysitting her children to give her a break.

"Hey, Mar, you're looking a lot bigger these days," Sam's familiar chuckle caused her to huff in annoyance as she shut the refrigerator door.

"Bite me, Wilson." She responded before stuffing a breakfast bagel in her mouth, not even bothering to spread cream cheese on it yet. She'd been hungrier than usual, but she knew no matter how much she wanted to blame that on her hypertension, she knew that was just who she was with or without child.

Sam threw up his hands in response. "Hey, hey, I'm just saying, we could probably get you set up with one of those little wide-load signs they put on trucks—"

Just then, Steve returned to the kitchen from the kids' room, and shot Sam a look. "Poking fun at a severely pregnant superhuman? You're an even bigger idiot than I thought."

"How the hell did you even get in here? I don't remember giving you a key." Marlena narrowed her eyes at Sam and popped another bite of bagel in her mouth.

Sam rolled his eyes in response. "Which offends me, by the way. Steve let me in a bit ago."

Marlena finished chewing as Steve caught her up in a gentle hug. He rested his chin on the top of her head, her brunette locks tickling his face. He'd found it harder to resist hugging her and holding her close in the final days before their baby would enter the world, because he knew their little girl would be the focus of their attention from the second she was born.