Chapter 10
There were so many joys to having a soulmate bond. Steve could easily give or receive a wide range of wonderful emotions: love, happiness, playfulness, confidence, lust, reassurance, humor, and so many others that filled his heart with warmth.
What he hadn't expected or counted on - was the painful side of the bond.
The first time he felt pain through the bond, it was the worst pain he had ever experienced. Steve had been shot in war, watched his brother’s arm get blown off, but it didn’t compare to the pain that came through his bond.
The blonde had been restocking the mini fridge in his Pappy’s office when he felt it.
It had the Alpha collapsing onto his knees, wrapping his arms around his stomach in pain.
Something happened, something happened to Tony. He could hear his Pappy, who had been in the room with him, speaking and could feel hands on his shoulder, but it was all muffled over the pain in his chest.
The sounds of footsteps banged their way to him and before he knew it his brother was next to him, confusion in his scent as he bent down to the other Alpha.
“Steve? What the hell?”
“Tony,” the blonde whimpered just as his cell phone rang. “Get it, Bucky please.” Still curled in on himself, he watched as his brother took his phone from his pocket and answered the call.
“Steve’s phone. Oh my god...yeah of course, which hospital? Oh...okay we’re on our way. Stevie get up, come on, I’ll drive you.”
“Tony,” Steve whimpered again as he stood up with Buck, leaning against his brother as the other Alpha led them to his car, Pappy’s shouts of encouragement following them. He could hear the sounds of people around them, but the voices were muted and mumbled together. “Buck what...what happened?” he asked when his mind was a little less foggy
“There was a car accident. Harley was with him but he’s unharmed. That was Pepper on the phone, she said Tony is in surgery.” The ringing in his ears quickly returned as he once again curled in on himself and whimpered in pain.
“The...the baby?”
“I don’t know, Stevie. We’ll find out when we get there, we’re not far from the hospital.” Steve had stopped listening, doing his best not to throw up from what he had just heard. His mate was hurt and their unborn pup…
Steve jerked when a hand landed on his shoulder, unaware that they had arrived, parked and his brother was trying to get him out of the car. He limply followed along, knowing that his brother was trying to talk but unable to process anything that was being said.
“Stevie, listen to me,” Bucky said with a sharp pinch to his arm, making the Alpha refocus. “The bond works both ways, right? You can try and push some ease from your half. Try it now before you go in there and scare Harley anymore than he already is.”
The reminder of the scared six year old had Steve momentarily snap out of it, looking at his brother for confidence. The brunette smiled at him, nodding his head while Steve attempted his suggestion. Focusing all of his energy, he pushed ease and comfort through the bond, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt calmness coming through the other side.
Steve squeezed Bucky’s arm in thanks before standing up a little straighter, taking a deep breath to fully calm his nerves.
“I’m going to head back to the gym now. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“Thank you Buck,” Steve said, feeling hoarse from his crying in the car.
“Anytime, Stevie. Go check on your boys.” Feeling more comfortable and confident, Steve shook off the last of his nerves and opened the door to the surgery waiting room.
Inside was a somber affair. Rhodey and Happy were standing off to the side, speaking in hushed tones. Pepper was sitting next to Maria, comforting the woman and sitting next to them was Howard with a sniffling Harley in his lap.
Howard was the first one to notice him, gently shaking the whimpering pup in his lap.
“Harley, pup look who’s here.” Steve was caught a little off guard from that, fully expecting the pup to cling tighter to his grandfather. Instead, the Alpha watched with misty eyes as the pup’s eyes lit up when he saw him. He wasn’t harmed, which did ease a little from the ache in his chest.
“Steve!” Harley cried, jumping off Howard’s lap and running over to the older blonde. He’d never initiated a hug before, but luckily Steve’s reflexes were automatic as he grabbed the boy and pulled him up into his arms, reminding himself the pup was safe. “It’s my fault, Steve! This is all my fault.”
“Hush, bear, none of this is your fault.”
“I...I distracted Daddy while he was driving! It’s my fault Steve -”
“- Harley, baby bear, that simply isn’t true.”
“I tried telling him,” Howard said, standing up and walking over to the blondes. “See Harley? It was the very dumb, intoxicated man who is to blame for this, not you.” Steve absorbed those words, trying not to let any anger smother his scent as he guided the pup’s face into his neck to calm him. “Steve the doctor, you weren’t here so they asked me...I...I told them to go ahead with the surgery...even if it meant losing the pup…” There was fear in the older Alpha’s voice that Steve had never heard before.
“Thank you Howard,” Steve said instantly, meaning every word as he kept his father in law’s gaze to drive his point home. The older Alpha gave a small smile in return before turning around, heading towards Maria to switch places with Pepper. “It’s going to be okay, Harley. I promise.”
An hour or so passed when a tall Alpha in scrubs approached them. Steve handed Harley to Rhodey as the man asked for “Mr. Rogers?”
“That’s me,” Steve said as he stood in front of the man, anxiously awaiting for any news. He could still feel Tony through the bond so he sent a prayer upstairs for good news.
“I’m Dr. Stephen Strange, your mate’s surgeon. Your Omega is okay and will make a full recovery, he’ll just have a few scars on his chest.”
Steve breathed a sigh of relief even if he could feel that.
“And...the pup?” he asked even though Howard had explained to him the chances of the premature pup surviving. Tony was only about seven and a half months along.
“Well, Mr. Rogers...would you like to come meet your son?”
“Son?” Steve asked, tears in his eyes as he remembered he had a crowd of people behind him anxiously waiting for news. “Tony’s going to be okay,” he said to them, smiling at the cheers as he walked over to his six year old. “Harley...your Daddy needs time to recover then we can go see him. In the meantime...do you want to come with me and meet your baby brother?”
It got more cheers from his mate’s loved ones and a tired smile from the pup, who nodded shyly in response. Harley lifted his arms as Steve quickly brought him up to his chest before turning back to the doctor.
“Lead the way.” Steve followed the man, stopping at Tony’s recovery room to show Harley his Daddy through the glass. “See, he’s okay bear,” Steve whispered to the boy, kissing his temple before leading the two to the NICU. “The puppy will probably be small, but don’t let that scare you,” the Alpha explained as Dr. Strange led them to the pup.
He was small, a squirmy thing even though his eyes were closed. He sported a tuft of brown hair and the tiniest fingers Steve had ever seen.
“He’s small,” Harley said quietly, leaning over to get a better look at him.
“Yeah cause babies usually are born at nine months and he was born at seven and a half.”
“He’s perfectly healthy, however. He’ll need to stay in the hospital for about a week for observation, but then you’ll be able to take your baby brother home after,” Dr. Strange supplied with a smile. “In the meantime maybe you two can come up with a name.”
“Hm, your Daddy and I haven’t agreed on a name yet. Any ideas?” Steve asked the pup in his arms, who looked like he was deep in thought.
“What about Peter? Like in my books?”
“Like Peter Rabbit?” Steve asked, smiling brightly when Harley nodded and giggled in his arms. “What do you think, little puppy? Do you like Peter? Your big brother thinks it suits you and I agree.” Peter just squirmed in his blanket which had the two blondes chuckling.
“Hey Peter, I’m your big brother, Harley.”
“I think he likes it,” Steve said, feeling warm all over and desperately wanting his mate here to enjoy this moment. “Should we go tell your Grandpa and Nonna to come meet Peter?”
“They’re free to meet him but two at a time, please. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got another surgery to prep for.”
“Thank you, Dr. Strange, for everything,” Steve said before heading back to the group, hugging Harley close to his chest.
He had a son. Two now.
His mate was going to recover.
Steve sent a thank you to whoever was listening before telling Tony’s loved ones the good news. And as Steve sat with Harley in his arms, watching Howard and Maria walk away to meet their grandpup, the Alpha took that opportunity to update his brother and parents on all the good news.