Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER SEVENTY mom and dad-to-be
"𝐈 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔 should consider the name Belle for her middle name," Adelaide said, reluctantly helping Steve paint the nursery. Grace was sitting in the rocking chair that had finally been delivered, sleepily supervising the work being done inside.
Baby Rogers was due any day, and there were several emotions with that realization for everybody involved.
Including Adelaide.
Grace was uncomfortable all the time and ready to no longer be pregnant. She was very excited to be able to see her feet again and be able to tie her shoes by herself. She was more than ready to see who the baby would look most like.
Steve or Grace?
Steve was excited, but he was hurriedly finishing different tasks in the house. Outlets needed to be covered, and cupboards needed to be locked. Grace wasn't sure if he remembered that the baby would not be able to crawl for several months, but she found his panic adorable.
Adelaide could not contain her excitement. More often than not, she and Pietro, who dutifully came with her, were at Steve and Grace's house to see if there was an update.
Pietro brought Sokovian food. Grace liked him best.
"We've already told you, we have a middle name picked out," Grace told the blonde, leaning her head on her hand while mindlessly rubbing her swollen stomach. "A first, middle, and last name. We're all ready to go."
"Except for all the safety measures we still need to finish," Steve reminded her, and she furrowed her brows. "There are still cords all over the place."
She sighed. "Steve, the baby will be sleeping for the majority of her early life," she said, tilting her head. "We don't have to worry about cords at this very moment."
Adelaide looked around the room. "Pietro, where are you?"
"I'm making food because you keep saying you're hungry!" he called back from the kitchen, and Grace glanced behind her. "Do you all want it spicy?"
"Yes, please!" Grace piped up with a smile. "I've heard spicy food can help induce labor, and Mama wants her out. I'm hot, tired, uncomfortable, and I can't sit up on my own. And I think I sound congested from how swollen my nose is." She held up her arms. "The baby is sitting on my bladder again."
Steve chuckled quietly and helped her up from the rocking chair. He watched her walk, more like waddle, away before leaning against the baby's dresser and glancing around the half-painted nursery. It was a sage green; the furniture was brown; and the windows let the sunlight seep inside.
"What's with the face?" Adelaide asked, passing him a bottle of water before continuing to paint the walls. He looked back at her; her bright blonde hair had been cut to just above her shoulders and was currently tied into little pigtails. She was wearing a pair of old overalls over an old SHIELD shirt that she had found buried in the back of her closet. A little sparkle had returned to her eyes since the blip; a small part of that, he suspected, was finally telling Pietro how she felt about marriage and him admitting he felt the same way.
