“Captain Rogers! Captain Rogers!”
“Yes?” Steve was hanging from the lowest branch of an old oak tree ready to pull himself up to the next level. “What is it, kid? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“Yes, I – I can see that, it’s just…” The ten-year-old boy who had been carrying out errands for Steve over the past couple of weeks flushed and looked up to his hero.
“Get it out, kid,” Steve said as he climbed the next branch, his eyes fixed on his aim still several branches above him. “Does the tailor have difficulties fitting my new uniform again? I think my shoulders got a bit broader since last time. Tell him, I’ll come by tomorrow, so he can take my measures again.”
“No, sir, that’s – that’s not what – Your wife –“
“Oh, no. Don’t tell me she wants another colour for the baby’s room. I just finished painting it. And I can’t seem to get off this paint. Even my ears were yellow, and this morning, when I took a shower, I noticed some splashes of paint in my left knee pit. My knee pit! How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“You know, kid, I really love my wife but if she wants another colour, she’ll have to paint the room herself. – And if that damned cat climbs that tree one more time, I’ll just let it rot. I feel like I’m up here every other day!” Steve climbed another branch and was now at eye level with the tabby cat that had its claws dug into the tree carefully watching his every move. “Come here, kitty kitty. Come on, we both know how this game works, and you would save us both a lot of time and nerves if you just came down with me.” As anticipated, the cat didn’t move an inch. “You know, I always wanted a dog,” he told it and carefully crawled towards it. “I have never seen a dog climb a tree.”
“Sir,” the boy was heard again from below, “I was sent here because your wife went into labor.”
“WHAT?!” Steve lost balance and crashed down through the branches, landing hard in the grass next to the boy’s feet. Groaning he got up and grabbed the boy by his shoulders lifting him off the ground. “But it’s not due till next week. It can’t come. I’m not ready to be a dad yet!”
“Sorry, sir, I’m afraid that can’t be changed anymore.”
“What do I do? What do I do?” Steve absentmindedly put the boy back on his feet and turned in a circle trying to clear his mind and to remember what Peggy had told him to do in this case. “The hospital. Is she already there?”
“Yes, sir. She was having lunch with Miss Redgrave when it started. I happened to be just around the corner of the restaurant they were at and was therefore sent to you.”
“Good. Fine. Thank you. I need a cab.” Steve ran into the street, ignoring the fact that he was only dressed in a pair of cotton trousers and a white t-shirt that was now covered with grass stains. He hailed a cab and told the driver to get to the hospital as fast as possible.
While they were speeding through the streets of New York, the driver kept throwing curious glances at Steve through the rear-view mirror. When they were forced to stop at the end of a traffic jam, he finally blurted out: “Aren’t you Captain America?”
“What?” Steve hadn’t been listening to him and was nervously eyeing the red brake lights in front of them.
“You’re Captain America! I saw you in the papers! It’s such an honor.”
“Yes, yes. Can’t you go another way?”
“Sorry, sir, all the streets around here are jammed.”
“Fine,” Steve said opening the door. “How far away is the hospital?”
“About six miles but –“
“Thank you. You can send the bill to my house.” Without paying further attention to the driver Steve set off towards the hospital.
Five minutes later he crashed through its front doors and dashed at the reception. The fact that a sweating and panting superhero was standing in front of her didn’t impress the middle-aged lady behind the counter in the least.
“Can I help you?” she asked in an almost bored tone of voice.
“Rogers. Peggy Rogers. She must have been brought here in the past hour. She’s having our baby.”
“That is wonderful. Now if you’d please take a seat in the waiting area. We’ll let you know when there is any news.”
“No, no, I don’t think you understand. She’s having our baby RIGHT NOW!”
“I do understand that but you will have to wait outside like all the other fathers to be.”
“But I am Captain America!”
“And I am Nurse Lorraine and this is my hospital and you will have to wait like all the others.”
“But – but –“
“Mr. Rogers, you of all people should know how important it is to stick to the rules.”
Quietly cursing Steve entered the waiting area that already contained a handful of nervous-looking young men.
The next couple of hours he spent pacing up and down the room, sitting down, getting up a minute later, and driving all the nurses crazy because he wouldn’t stop asking them about Peggy every time one of them appeared in the room.
One by one the other men left, new ones arrived, and still there was no news from Peggy except that everything was going fine and he would have to be patient just a little bit longer.
It was almost midnight when a nurse finally approached him smiling. “Congratulations, Captain Rogers, you are now a father.”
Steve felt his knees go weak and he had to grab the wall to steady himself. Like in trance he followed the nurse to Peggy’s room and hardly heard her say “I will leave the three of you alone” before she left.
Peggy was sitting upright in her bed greeting him with a warm smile. She looked pale and exhausted but her eyes were shining and her face radiated a happiness that shone from deep within. Steve thought that she had never looked more beautiful.
His eyes filled with tears when he looked at the small bundle she was holding. “Is it a boy or a girl?” he heard himself asking.
“A boy,” Peggy replied with a smile. “Do you want to hold him?”
“Yes.” Unable to avert his gaze from the miracle in Peggy’s arms he leaned down and carefully took the baby from her.
“He’s so tiny,” he whispered supporting his son’s head with his huge hands. “And beautiful.” The baby looked at him curiously. “He’s got your eyes.”
“And your nose.”
“He’s perfect.” Steve sat down on a chair next to the bed and kissed Peggy softly. “And so are you. I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
“And I will love you for the rest of my life,” Steve said to the baby. “Welcome to the world, James Abraham Rogers.”