It's only been a short time since Lacey Williams grandfather died, leaving her his ramshackle home in a remote rural area. The last thing she expected to find was an injured fugitive hiding in the garage. His soft spoken manner conflicts with ever...
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When Bucky was made training officer the training facility had just opened, built to his recommendations. It was everything he asked for to help the Avengers bring their skills up to a higher level. Now, barely a month after the wedding Fury called him into this meeting, and the pessimist in him was sure they were going to tell him that he wasn't doing a good job, that he had squandered the investment they made in him and the facility. Instead, he found Bruce Banner there, along with a midwife and a nurse. The biggest surprise was seeing Lacey sitting with them.
"Sit down, Barnes," said Fury. "It's all good. Since we weren't able to help with the birth of young Tom and be there to monitor the pregnancy of a natural born super soldier it was suggested that we set up a birth centre for your next child. Considering that we would want to keep access to the baby as secure as possible we felt it prudent to keep it in house. Here is the team; Bruce, you know already. We have contracted with a local nurse midwife, Tara Lang, and a nurse who will assist with other health issues on the compound as well as the birth, Irene Santana."
"You did this for me, for us?" asked Bucky, still not quite used to having services such as this available to him. "Bruce, have you ever delivered a baby before?"
The green skinned man chuckled. "I wasn't always stuck being just the Hulk. When I was on the run I offered my medical services in some of the poorest areas of the planet. I've delivered dozens of babies in the harshest of conditions. Didn't lose a single one. We're going to get an ultrasound room set up, not just for you, but for the whole team, and we're interviewing technicians as we speak. Everyone that works here has to pass a security check and any blood we take from you and the baby will be processed on site then destroyed so no one else has access to it. At the same time, we want you to have as normal a birth experience as possible."
Bucky's mouth opened again but nothing came out for a moment and he grasped Lacey's hand. "I don't know what to say, except thank you," he finally replied. "I was worried how we were going to do this."
He coughed and took a couple of shaky breaths before Fury dismissed them. They all walked over to the health centre where Lacey was weighed, her abdomen measured, and her blood pressure taken. As Bruce and Irene watched, Tara asked Lacey to lay down on the examination bed and pull her leggings down to expose her abdomen. Putting some ultrasound gel on the exposed abdomen she pulled out a portable ultrasound unit.
"This is just for the heartbeat," she said. "At five months we'll do a proper ultrasound, and determine the sex of the baby."
Gently she pressed the wand onto the skin and moved it around before finding the heartbeat. Bucky's face lit up as he heard the sound of his child's beating heart. It was fast, strong, and it brought the super soldier to tears. Bruce grabbed a couple of tissues for the man and handed them to him.
"It sounds good, Buck," he said. "We'll check the heartbeat every time." He looked at Lacey. "Fury accessed your prenatal records with Tom. He was actually born post-term, you know that right?"
