Chapter 15
The first few days were difficult. Tony was inconsolable and the baby refused to leave his arms. Howard had researched the effects of bond loss between mother and child. He knew that the healing process wouldn't be as simple as offering a quick feeding or two. The pup needed to be held, nurtured and comforted by its mother. As a sire himself, he knew there was only so much they could do. They just weren't equipped biologically to handle this sort of situation.
The alpha's grew weary of his reasoning despite the confirmation of countless doctors telling them the same. The pup and the omega were dependent on each other. Had they been given the chance to bond at birth, the loss wouldn't have been so painful. But they had to make up for lost time.
Like most days recently Tony stuck to his room, the baby right with him. They rested often together, taking time to just enjoy one another's company. He was getting better day by day but the lingering thought of giving him up was keeping him from progressing as he should. He still found it hard to eat and sleep. Sometimes talking was exhausting too, but he always made sure to talk with the baby just as he had before.
Steve was fortunate enough to walk in on one of those moments. "I never wanted to give you up. You've always been my little love. The best thing to ever happen to me." Though he wished he hadn't.
Being retired had its perks, but waiting to be needed by some rich omega wasn't one of them. Bucky had gone home for lunch but he was too anxious to leave. Howard was gracious enough to let them come and go as they pleased, just until they figured out the situation with the baby. By the sound of it, it seemed like Tony was forgetting that he no longer belonged to him. He almost felt bad for the poor kid.
"When I had you, Pete." He heard Tony say. "I tried to hold on for so long. I've never been in that much pain, it was horrible. But I was too scared to close my eyes, I didn't want to miss seeing you." The omega sighed, sadly. "I thought I was doing the right thing giving you up, but I almost killed you. I'm so sorry bambino, I didn't know you'd get sick too. I thought you'd be better off without me. I could barely take care of myself then, I didn't how I was gonna keep you safe and warm."
"It's a good thing we got him then." Steve said making his presence known.
"Yes, it is." Tony replied simply. He couldn't hold it against the alpha for feeling the way he did. In just a few days he had managed to completely take over Peter. "I didn't know you were still here."
"Well, I couldn't leave him all alone?"
The omega frowned slightly, "He's not alone."
"Maybe not, but you don't exactly know what you're doing. Figured you'd at least need some help."
Tony was thankful that he shared his mother's temperament. He could easily be angered by the alpha, but he knew better than to poke the bear. "I've done just fine taking care of him. And I don't need help, regardless of what anyone says. I'm not an idiot, Steve."
"Now I didn't say. Don't put words in my mouth omega. I just think he'd be better off with some help from his dad."
"Listen," Tony said calmly. "I understand that you're trying to be helpful, but Peter doesn't need you right now. We're trying to heal and neither of us can do that if you and your husband keep stressing me out. Could you just let me enjoy the time I have with him for now? He'll be all yours once he's healthy."
Howard had gotten into his head since that first night. He'd figured they both were trying to steal his baby. Tony's response surprised him. Clearly, he didn't share the same notion as his father. "What do you mean, for now? "
"I already know I can't keep him, it's just not right. You guys love him and he's your son. I love him too but after this, he won't need me anymore."
"Your his mother. He'll always need you." Steve admitted more to himself than anything. "Besides, it's not really possible to exclude you from his life. He'll just keep getting sick without you."
"Oh," The young man said numbly.
"Tony, we don't want to keep you from Peter. That's never been the plan. It's just- This is the first time he hasn't needed Bucky or me. I've never felt so out of place, I guess I just don't know what to do with myself."
"So, I can come visit him later?" He asked, his voice full of hope and emotion. Steve's heart hurt at the fact that he couldn't see that this was still his child. They weren't cruel enough to deny him time with his pup, regardless of his parental rights.
"Of course you can. Though I'm sure he'd rather stay with you. Whatever the case, we'll figure something out kiddo. It'll be just fine."
"I'm rather glad we didn't have to go through with that horrid plan." Peggy said to Howard over afternoon tea. "The media would have torn us apart for kidnapping a pup."
"Which is why Fury would have handled it. Or one of his men. We're far too old to be getting our hands dirty like we used to."
"Speak for yourself, Howard. Angie thinks still thinks I'm just as young as the day we met." She teased.
"Huh I'm sure she does," Howard laughed to himself. "How is she these days?"
He watched his friend smile. "Oh she's just fine, been busy with the grandkids. How's Maria? I haven't seen her around much."
"She's been giving me the silent treatment if you couldn't tell. I suppose I deserve it, but Anthony needs his mom too, you know? She would've handled this better than I did."
"Eh well, at least he has you for the time being. There's been many a moment where he's had no one. It's about time things have changed."