Her White Wolf

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The once small bump on Cleo's belly grew in what seemed like no time to the size of a healthy, small melon. She still had a few months to go until the baby arrived, but she could no longer deny that she was pregnant by any stretch of the imagination. She loved her belly, often holding it protectively, or at least she did when James or Steve didn't have their hands on it.

She could have found out the sex of the baby weeks ago, but after receiving the serum she'd wanted to allow herself and the fetus to adjust before finding out. She'd told the boys she was finding out and that she'd let them know in her own way.

It wasn't an elaborate plan, but she thought they'd be tickled. She'd insisted that they wouldn't paint the baby's room until they knew the sex; she had ideas for both. Today, she'd gotten paint and told both of them that she was ready whenever they were. She sat in the baby's room in the center of the floor, the can of paint to her right as she smoothed her hands patiently over her belly.

James walked in with a bottle of water in one hand. "So, this is how you're telling us?" He asked, a smile on his face. "By the color of the paint?"

"You don't have to make it sound so lame," Cleo replied with a smirk, rolling her eyes a little.

"It's not lame, and that's not what he's saying," Steve's voice remarked. "We just want to understand. This is all new for us."

"I guess they didn't get to reveal genders before the baby showed up," Cleo mused.

"They didn't," James agreed. "We only found out when they were born."

"Well, now with technology we can plan," she said with a shrug, pushing the can of paint towards the two strapping men.

Steve gestured towards it, raising a brow to Bucky. "Your baby, your paint. I'll get the next one."

James chuckled and knelt down to pop open the can of paint to reveal the color to them both.

It was... white.

"White?" Steve questioned, furrowing his brows.

"Yeah. White. It's gonna be a white baby," Cleo confirmed, as if it would be surprising.

James furrowed his brow before looking back up at Cleo. "I'm a bit confused baby doll."

Cleo gave both of them a confused look herself. "What do you mean?" she asked, continuing to feign ignorance for another few moments before she broke into a guilty smile. "You have to mix it up," she advised.

"With the flat stir thing?" Steve asked, pointing to the stir stick.

"Um hm," she acknowledged, reaching out to grab it and hand it to James. I can't wait for him to see.

James took the wooden stick and dipped it into the paint before stirring it. The can quickly began swirling with blue, making his eyes widen and look up at Cleo. "A boy?"

Cleo smiled, smoothing her hands over her belly as she nodded. "A boy," she confirmed, laughing softly as she watched his face.

Steve smiled and reached out to clap Bucky on the back. "A son, Buck. Congratulations!"

With tears in his eyes, James stood and wrapped his arms around Cleo, cradling her to him.

Cleo released a watery chuckle as James's arms moved around her and she hugged him in reply. "How do you feel?" she asked, sniffling as tears threatened to fall.

James pulled back and smiled at her. "I feel amazing," he assured before bending to kiss her softly.

She allowed her lips to linger on his, one of her hands still rested on the side of her belly. "We'll have to think of boys' names..."