I'll Keep This Secret For You

Chapter 37

You knew it was coming. It was nearly two weeks late now. You were expecting it. You were prepared for it. But you didn't expect it to happen this way.

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You are woken up by a sharp, stabbing pain in your abdomen in the middle of the night. Gasping you curl up in a ball, hugging your stomach.

Okay, you think to yourself once the pain is gone. Just stay calm.

It's finally happening. You knew it was going to happen soon, you'd been experiencing braxton hicks for the last few days now but that was definitely a real contraction.

You begrudgingly shuffle onto your other side to face Bucky.

"James," you whisper and shake him. "Buck wake up."

"Hm? What?" He mumbles instantly, shooting up.

You're not surprised, he's been so alert and on edge for the past few days that you doubt he's actually been sleeping just in case something happened.

"Are you alright doll?" He frowns through the darkness, caressing your cheek.

"I think- I think it's nearly time." You smile weakly.

Immediately he reaches behind him to turn on the lamp, a mixture of excitement, concern and nerves plastering his face.

"Should we go to the hospital now?" he asks.

"No, not just yet, that was only the first one. Just wait and see how long until the next one." You shake your head.

"Okay, whatever you say. You're the experienced one." He sighs before flicking the light back off and lying down. "Just let me know what you want and I'll do it."

"Okay," you mumble as you lie down and let him wrap his arms around you. "The best thing right now is to try and get a bit more sleep."

You haven't been sleeping very well the past few nights so you're already tired and the hard part hasn't even started.

But either you drift off for longer than you thought or the next contraction comes sooner than expected because it doesn't feel like very long before you're tensing up in pain and pressing your head against Bucky's chest as another contraction comes. It's short and the pain is bearable but of course you still don't enjoy it.

Bucky senses your discomfort.

"Is that another one?" he asks softly and unsurely, keeping his arms tight around you.

"Mhm." You whimper.

"Shh, shh, it's okay. You're okay, you can do this," he whispers and presses a kiss atop your head, rubbing your back soothingly.

It's hard to think that this is pretty much his first time doing this properly when you've done it a few times now. He seems like such a natural and he's a lot more calm than you expected him to be.

You don't go back to sleep this time and as you were suspecting it's only a few minutes before the next one again. Except this time it's a whole lot more painful.

"Ahhhh." You gasp and grip at the sheets, squirming in discomfort.

"You okay?" he asks worriedly, turning the light back on.

"I think it's time to go." You breath weakly.

"Okay, okay yeah sure." He nods, an alert, frantic look on his face. "I'll go tell the kids and ring Steve."

"Yes. You do that." You pant, clutching your large stomach.

He kisses your forehead before getting up and running out of the room. You slowly get yourself up and pace the room, breathing deeply and slowly to keep yourself calm.