Archive of Our Own

Steve leaned back against the kitchen counter and closed his eyes. The steady plop plop of the curry simmering lulled him into a haze. He was starving, nearly dead on his feet, but making a home-cooked meal after work every single night was a habit he'd forced himself to pick up a few years ago, when he got his first real job out of law school. Takeout was a weekend treat. It was too easy to tip into ordering in every night when he was working such long hours.

Something hissed on the stove and he bolted upright, reaching for the lid on the rice pot. He stirred it down then lowered the heat. 

Cooking was also a way to remember his ma. She'd taught him how to make everything he could. "Can't rely on having an omega cook for you, sweetheart," she'd told him, when, to everyone's surprise, he'd presented as an alpha. Steve had always taken that to mean that it was unlikely he'd ever find an omega, small and scrawny as he was, but later, when he was older and more understanding, and less selfish, he'd realized that wasn't what she'd really meant. 

He didn't have an omega, though, and sometimes that stung a little. He was lonely, as much as he tried not to be, and he was in a mixed building, so sometimes his apartment flooded with a heat-scent that made his mouth water. He didn't know if he'd ever find someone to be a part of his life like that, but his ma had taught him how to take care of himself, as well as to provide for someone else, so he was covered, either way. And besides, he was only twenty-seven. Who knew? Maybe there was someone out there for him. Someone who didn't mind that he was only 5'4" and ninety-five pounds. He didn't begrudge omegas for not finding him attractive, but he was lonely. That, he could readily admit.

The stove timer went off, and Steve pulled the rice pot away from the heat, giving it a stir before leaving it to settle for a few minutes. He took a clean bowl out of the dishwasher and a spoon from the drawer. The curry was perfect, deep red tomato and onion sauce with plump chickpeas. The whole apartment smelled like tumeric and ginger and cumin. 

As he was spooned rice into the bowl, a knock rattled down the front hall. Steve paused, not sure if it was worth letting his food risk getting cold to answer the door when it was likely someone selling something, but a second, softer knock made up his mind. He set his bowl down, wiped off his hands and made his way to the door. There was nothing more than a dark blob through the peephole, and when he opened the door, he could see why. It was a man, an omega, bent over at the waist with one hand braced against the doorframe.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, wrenching the door the rest of the way open and taking half a step forward.

The man jerked upright and wow. He was incredibly pregnant. His round stomach made him lean back to steady himself, legs spread wide and knees bent a little. He was wearing sweatpants and a stretchy maternity top with a droopy, soft-looking sweater covering his arms and shoulders. Despite the shock, Steve still noticed he was gorgeous, big, brown eyes and a sharp jaw, further shaped by a carefully trimmed goatee. A hot blush seared across his cheeks, and he winced as he opened his mouth to speak. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Steve asked.

"This is - okay I can't believe I'm doing this. I feel like such an idiot. But the tater tot won't shut up about it, and I really, really need to sleep and also not throw up, and I'm just -" He broke off into a sort of whine and his hand clamped to his swollen tummy.

"Do you need help? Can I call someone?"

"No, no…" The omega shook his head. "It's not that. It's - okay I'm just going to say it and then you can tell me to fuck off and that'll be that. I can smell what you're cooking and it smells amazing and the baby is absolutely insisting that I eat some of it, which is sort of incredible because literally nothing has appealed to me in about four months. So if you could just maybe tell me what it is or what's in it or something so I can order it… I can't cook for shit, but like, just a name and then I'll be out of your hair." He paused, huffed out a breath, then tacked on another, "Sorry."

Steve blinked at him for a moment, stunned, then laughed. "Is that all? God, I thought you were hurt or going into labour or something."

The man shrugged, bashful.

"I'll get you some. There's plenty."

The omega held up both hands, wobbled, then replaced one of them on the doorframe. "Oh no! I didn't mean that. It's your dinner. I just need to know what it is that's driving me crazy."

"Come in." Steve gestured him forward, pulling the door open further and standing back.

The man hesitated then shuffled in, staying close to the doorway. Steve closed the door but didn't latch it, leaving a gap. The man's body language reminded him unpleasantly of some of the omegas he worked with at Omega Advocacy - despite the layer of false confidence he'd pasted over it - and Steve could understand the value of a good escape plan.

"It's no problem," Steve continued. "I made way too much. I usually just freeze it. It's chana masala, my ma's recipe, so not entirely authentic, but it's the way I like it. And it's unlikely you'll be able to find something like it around here. I've tried the take-out places that deliver here and there's not much in the way of Indian food." Steve left the omega in the front hall and went to the kitchen. "Hold on." He took a second bowl out, one he wasn't too fond of in case he never got it back, and filled it to the brim with rice and curry. He brought it back out and handed it to the omega. "If you don't finish it, it'll keep well in the fridge. I'm sorry your baby won't let you eat or sleep."

The man stared down at the bowl of food, mouth open. Then he snapped it shut, lip slipping between his teeth, and Steve could see tears welling up at the corners of his eyes. "Um. Thanks," he managed to get out. "Been kind of -" He cut himself off, sighed, and flicked his gaze up to the ceiling, blinking. "Damn pregnancy hormones."

Steve laughed gently. "It's okay." He ached to reach out and run a soothing hand over the man's shoulder, but he wasn't one of Steve's clients, and his pregnancy made him smell so strongly of another alpha it was tingling the inside of Steve's nose. Instead, Steve took half a step back. "I hope you enjoy it." He gestured towards the bowl. "Kind of nice to share, actually."

"Oh. You don't -?" The man looked around the apartment as if seeing it for the first time.

"Just me here," Steve said softly.

"Ah. Well. Thank you. So much. Oh god, it smells even better close up." His hand went to his stomach. "You better fucking like this you little brat or I'm donating you to charity."

Steve laughed, opened his mouth to say your alpha might have something to say about that, then bit his tongue instead. It was rare for a bonded omega to talk with another alpha this long and not drop the name of his partner. Probably, no one else would have noticed, but Steve had worked with broken, beaten, abandoned, and abused omegas for so long, he could sense the slight edge they always carried with them in this man. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but he gave him a little extra space, just in case.

"I should go." His eyes flicked back to the door. "Thanks again."

"No problem. Glad I could help - I mean, I hope it helps. If you like it, bring the bowl back and I'll write the recipe out for you."

"Oh. Oh. That's - okay…. That's nice." Again, there was an edge there Steve couldn't quite find the shape of, but he didn't push it. He didn't even know this man.

Instead, he pulled the door open and stood back, letting the man shuffle out the door into the hallway. "Oh. I'm Tony, by the way," he said, bracing the bowl against his chest and holding his hand out.

Steve took it gently, shaking it once before dropping it. "Steve."

"Nice to meet you, Steve."

"Have a good night Tony."

Tony smiled - the first real-looking smile he'd flashed all night - and clutched the bowl with both hands. He waddled off down the hall like a penguin, his face bent over the food, breathing it in.

And that night, curled up in front of the TV with a book open on his knee, spooning chickpeas into his mouth, Steve felt, just a little bit, like he wasn't eating alone.

**

Two weeks later, Steve hadn't seen Tony again. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to get his bowl back, but he didn't mind. He just hoped the omega was doing alright with his pregnancy. He worried, briefly, that Tony's alpha might have been upset that Tony was in another alpha's apartment without permission, but Tony seemed outgoing, pretty comfortable with himself. Despite the red flags he threw up, Steve had to hope that, whoever his alpha was, he respected Tony's freedom. His line of work had shown him too much of the dark side of things - he had a tendency to assume the worst. 

A light day at work gave Steve time to grab groceries, and he decided to make a favourite meal of his, but one he didn't make often: ginger beef noodles. He was still chopping up the vegetables when there came a timid knock on the door.

He smiled to himself - who else could it be? He opened the door, still smiling, and sure enough Tony was there. He looked even more pregnant, something Steve hadn't thought was possible, and he was holding Steve's bowl. 

"Um. I came to return this?" he tried, with a grin.

"Sure you did." Steve laughed and beckoned him in. "Actually… uh. It's not going to be done for a few more minutes - is that okay? Will your alpha mind? You can come back in a bit, if you want, I'll save you some, but if you want to wait, that's okay too."

Tony shuffled in. "My alpha doesn't - I can do whatever I want," he said. "It's not a problem."

Steve beamed at him. "That's good. I imagine it's hard for them." He gestured towards Tony's stomach. Even though he stunk of another alpha's possession, just by virtue of growing his baby inside him, he still drew Steve in, made him want to protect him. It was just human nature. He could feed him, though. That was something. "You okay to wait?"

"Yeah. If you don't mind sharing. I feel really bad. But it smells so good, and I've barely eaten since the curry."

"Tony…" Steve frowned at him. "You need to eat."

Annoyance flashed across his face. "Tell that to the brat," he muttered, rubbing his hand over his huge belly. "Picky little shit."

Steve pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and hooked an arm under Tony's elbow to help him sit. Then he went back to cooking. He finished chopping the onions, garlic and ginger then started oil heating in the pan.

"God… that smells so good."

"Hmm." Steve looked from the cutting board to Tony. "I wonder what it is that's so appealing." He rubbed some of the garlic on the back of a spoon then held it out to Tony. "Smell."

Tony sniffed it. "That's nice, but it's not the thing."

Steve tried the onions next. They were a big part of the curry too. But no, Tony shook his head to that as well. When Steve held out the ginger though, Tony moaned. 

"Oh my god, that's it. I just want to eat that forever. Holy shit."

Steve laughed. "Here, you can chew on a little while I cook the rest." He chopped off a slice and peeled it then handed it over. Tony nibbled at it happily, while Steve started the stir-fry cooking. "So are you new in town?" Steve asked while he pushed the onions around the pan.

"Uh." Tony froze for a moment, eyes fixed on the half-eaten piece of ginger in his hand. "Yes. It's been just over a month."

"Oh, yeah? I thought I hadn't seen you around. And you guys are liking it here?"

Tony shrugged. "I guess. I haven't seen much, being a small planet and all."

Steve chuckled. "That's fair." He added the marinated meat to the pan and the room warmed with delicious smells. "You're okay to eat meat, right? There's some in the noodles."

Tony nodded. "It seems as long as there's ginger in it, the brat will eat anything."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Steve asked. "Not that you have to tell me. Just curious."

"No… I don't know yet. I um - we weren't sure if we were keeping it, at first, so I didn't want to know."

"Oh. Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

Tony shrugged. "It's okay. You deserve something in exchange for feeding me. I mean, now that I know it's ginger, I should leave you be, really. I'm sure I can buy ginger."

"No way. I promised you noodles, and noodles you shall have. I really meant it when I said it was nice to feed someone Tony, two someones, no less. I've lived here for six years, but I don't have a lot of friends. I work long hours so it's hard to meet people. If you don't mind hanging around a bit and keeping me company - and your alpha doesn't mind you being around another alpha while pregnant - I'm more than happy to share my food."

Tony's leg braced against the leg of the chair and started vibrating. "Okay. Well, as long as it's okay with you. You really want to be friends with an omega?"

"Sure, why not?"

Tony shrugged again. "I never really had alpha friends."

"If I make you uncomfortable, it's okay. You don't have to be here if you don't want to be, Tony. I can always bring the food up to you and leave it outside your door or with your alpha when it's done."

"I'm not uncomfortable," Tony said, too fast, words tumbling over each other. "I just don't want to bother you. But no, you don't make me feel uncomfortable. You're…" He cleared his throat and didn't continue, turning back to his ginger slice.

Steve focused on making the food, getting the vegetables hot before adding the noodles and sauce. He filled two bowls and handed one to Tony who froze awkwardly in his chair. "You okay?" Steve asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah… baby was - uh - kicking." He still didn't move.

"Do you need a hand?"

"Nope." Tony shifted his weight and rocked up to his feet. "Thank you." He still didn't leave.

"You can just bring the bowl back next time you come over for dinner," Steve said, offering him a smile.

"You really don't mind. Promise?"

"I promise. In fact, if you don't come down and get it, I'm going to start leaving it at your door."

That finally drew a smile out of Tony. "I'm in 6D. If I don't bring the bowl back, you can come get it."

"Alright."

Tony finally started shuffling towards the door. "Goodnight, Steve," he said lightly, shooting another smile over his shoulder, and something in Steve's chest twisted and leapt. 

Oh, shit. He couldn't fall for another alpha's omega. He couldn't. And Tony wasn't just another alpha's omega, he was pregnant. Steve took a few deep breaths before settling at the table with his bowl of noodles. The best thing to do was probably to step back, stop cooking for Tony, take some space. But the poor man seemed so lonely, so uncertain, and so hungry. Steve didn't have it in him to step away entirely.

He was going to have to be very, very careful with his own feelings, though.

**

Though Steve had written Tony's apartment number down, he didn't need it. Tony showed up two nights later, with the bowl in his hand, and an apologetic smile on his face. Steve had started ginger and carrot soup, and he couldn't lie and say he hadn't been hoping the sweet, spicy smell would draw the omega down. 

"Hi, Tony, how are you?" he asked, leading Tony back towards the kitchen table. 

"I'm alright. Little beast is kicking all the time now. Usually starts practicing samba at two in the morning. But I suppose I should get used to getting no sleep and peeing on someone else's schedule, huh?"

"That's what I hear."

Tony settled in a chair while Steve cooked, occasionally asking him about the food, but mostly filling the room with his chatter. 

Tony talked a lot. 

Over the next few weeks, he told stories about growing up, talked about his engineering work - which was fascinating, even if Steve barely understood most of it - and his friends from university. But Steve noticed there was a fairly obvious gap. Tony's stories ended around the time he was getting his master's degree - at seventeen - and started up again about two months ago, though those stories were few and far between. 

It was a pointed gap, and it made Steve's heart ache to think about what it could mean. Now and then, he wondered if there was a reason, beyond the ginger, that Tony had come to him that first night. Was he supposed to be picking up on something? Did Tony know he worked for Omega Advocacy? 

So Steve dropped hints of his own, mentioning his job, his connections, talking vaguely about his clients and how he'd helped them. And Tony brushed them all off. He was alone and safe in Steve's apartment so there was no reason for him not to ask for help if he needed it, After Steve had offered as many ways as he knew how, and Tony had gently rebuffed him every time, Steve let it go. Tony was never bruised or injured, didn't seem scared or unwilling to go back to his apartment, and the baby was healthy and growing. Steve had no choice but to accept that Tony's alpha - while upsettingly absent - wasn't abusing him. Whatever had made the past four years of his life not worth talking about was over now, Steve had to hope. Still, it was a comfort when they exchanged phone numbers, so Steve could "text him when dinner was ready."

Steve tried to teach Tony how to made the ginger-laden food, but Tony joked and goofed-off through their lessons, resistant to picking up even the simplest techniques.

"Tony, that's not how you use a spatula." Steve sighed, hands on his hips, but Tony kept air-guitaring on the flipper, his enormous belly making it look even sillier.

Tony giggled and reached out to hand the spatula back, but unused to his size, he stumbled forward and Steve caught him with a firm grip to the underside of his arm. He waited to release him until he was steady. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. Need to hang some counterweights from the rear end." Tony leaned heavily on Steve's arm, not letting him shift away. He handed the spatula back. 

"You're a very difficult student."

"Sorry," Tony said, not looking sorry at all. "It's just -" He dropped his eyes to his hands. "If you teach me how to cook, I won't have any reason for coming here."

Steve opened his mouth then closed it again. "Oh. Well, you don't need a reason. I mean, keeping me company is reason enough."

Tony shifted in place and finally pulled his arm away from Steve's support. "Yeah, okay. I'll pay attention."

"Nah. You sit down."

"But -"

"Next time. I'll teach you next time."

But next time, Tony had a story to tell, and the time after that, he was feeling so sick that Steve wrapped him in a blanket and installed him on the couch with tea while he made sesame ginger chicken. And the time after that… neither of them mentioned it.

The gaunt, wan look Tony had been sporting the first time he'd shown up at Steve's door - a look Steve hadn't really noticed at the time, not knowing Tony well enough - had faded and been replaced by bright brown eyes and pink, glowing skin. Tony grew in expression as well as in size, gesturing wildly over his baby bump and telling stories with his whole body. 

The fear was still there, the uncertainty. He asked for confirmation of Steve's feelings a lot, still asked for permission to come inside every time he arrived, and sometimes, he'd stop a story in the middle, if Steve hadn't made an interested noise in too long, and ask if he needed quiet to think. Steve wasn't even sure Tony knew these things were unusual, and Steve didn't point them out.

Tony offered to help pay for the food, once or twice, but Steve insisted his company was payment enough. He made more than enough to support himself, though Omega Advocacy wasn't an overly well-funded venture, and he wasn't very good at judging portions as it was, used to cooking for two while growing up. Tony seemed to take that to heart, staying later and later, helping Steve wash the dishes after they ate, and even spending a few late nights curled up watching movies with a bowl of popcorn between them. 

"Oof!" Tony yelped, jerking up from where he'd been slouched on the couch, a bowl of ice cream balanced on his tummy.

Steve caught the spoon as it went flying. "What? Are you okay?"

"Tadpole is kicking the shit out of my spleen. I know I'm supposed to say 'gonna grow up to be a soccer player' but at the moment, mob enforcer feels more accurate."

"Oof. I'm sorry. Anything I can do?"

"Here." Tony reached out and grabbed Steve's hand then drew it towards his belly. He placed it, palm flat, over the bump. "Feel."

Steve opened his mouth to protest - surely Tony's alpha wouldn't want him coming back smelling even more like Steve than he normally did - but then the baby kicked. And Steve's heart skipped a beat. "Wow."

"Yeah. Weird huh?"

Weird was not the word Steve would have used but he swallowed back the ones he wanted to and merely nodded. He kept his hand there, feeling the warm shift of life growing under it, until Tony relaxed his hold on Steve's wrist and he slid away. 

Steve was about to offer dessert when Tony's phone buzzed and he frowned down at it. He pushed up to his feet. "I…" He texted idly for a moment, wobbling where he stood, then snapped his eyes up to Steve's. "Sorry. I have to go. Raincheck on dessert?"

"Of course." Steve bit his lip before is your alpha home? could spill out. It really wasn't any of his business, and it wasn't like and Tony were doing anything untoward, besides maybe a little ill-advised flirting.

But he couldn't help the way his heart sunk as Tony whipped out the apartment and off towards the elevator, waddling as fast as he could, laden with an enormous baby bump and a tupperware of leftovers. Steve struggled to sleep that night, imagining Tony's alpha coming down to to accuse him of trying to steal what was theirs. And while Steve could easily deny trying to steal anything, he'd have a harder time saying he didn't want to try.

And yet, worry as he might, Tony showed up the next night, all smiles and easy chatter, and installed himself on Steve's couch with a piece of fresh ginger and the TV remote. 

**

Steve sat at his desk, tapping a pen idly on his laptop. He was supposed to be working, but his most involved case wasn't going well, and he wasn't looking forward to having to meet with his client and tell her things weren't looking good for her getting her house back. He loved what he did, he really did, but sometimes it was too tiring, too frustrating.

He poked a stack of sticky notes and the bright, neon green reminded him of the tupperware he'd bought the other day for Tony. Tony, who seemed to be suffering from "pregnancy brain," as he put it, never remembered to bring back his containers when the leftovers were done. Every night, about halfway through dinner, he'd smack his head and groan that he'd forgotten again, but Steve didn't mind. He needed new tupperware anyway, and someday he'd use the excuse to go up to Tony's apartment and get it all back at once. Maybe he'd finally get to meet his elusive alpha, if he timed it right.

The day dragged on, and by the end, Steve was feeling lonely, snappish, and ignored. Instead of stomping off home and ordering pizza like he would have, once upon a time, he went to the grocery store and started loading up his cart with all of Tony's favourites. There was no pick-me-up quite like having Tony filling up his apartment.

Near the checkout, was a small display of treats, all new flavours for one of the brands. At the top, was an orange package that said "GINGER" across the top. Steve picked it up. They were triple ginger cookies, according to the tag line, containing ground ginger, fresh ginger, and candied ginger. Steve added them to his cart, smiling.

Back at his apartment, Steve started prepping for dinner. When onions were sizzling in a pan, he texted Tony. Dinner? 

Tony's reply came almost right away. Can't.

Steve paused, knife in one hand, phone in the other. Tony had never said no, and since they'd started texting, he'd never been anything but incredibly verbose. Everything okay?

Tony didn't answer, and Steve really started to worry. What if Tony's alpha was home and was restricting his phone use? Steve eyed the box of cookies and waffled for a moment before coming to a decision. He'd bring the cookies up and just check on Tony. If his alpha was home, Steve could introduce himself, make it clear he wasn't a threat, and get a sense of whether Tony's alpha was as… difficult as Steve suspected they were. If his alpha wasn't home, Steve could at least make sure Tony was alright and give him the cookies in lieu of an actual meal.

Steve took the cookies and turned off the stove, setting the pan with the onions aside. He took the stairs up two floors to Tony's and went down the hall to his door. He knocked. For a long time, nothing happened, and then he heard Tony's voice, thin and rough, call out, "Laura?"

"It's Steve."

There was another long pause. "It's not locked," Tony finally said.

Steve pushed the door open and peeked inside. It was the same layout as his apartment, which meant it opened into a hallway that ran past a small dining area, then the galley kitchen on the left, then opened into the living room. The bedrooms and bathrooms were off to the right.

Steve breathed in deeply. The apartment stunk of fear and pain, but there was no stench of another alpha. It was sparsely furnished, but mostly neat, except for the dining room table that was covered in gears and wires and soldering irons.

There was no sign of Tony in the dining room or the kitchen but when Steve stepped into the living room, his heart stopped. Tony was wrapped in a blanket, sitting on a ratty couch with a pillow clutched to his front. He was deathly pale, coated in a sheen of sweat, and shaking violently. 

"Tony! What's wrong?" Steve skidded down to kneel at Tony's feet. He resisted the urge to press a hand to Tony's forehead, but he didn't have to; it was clear Tony was running a fever.

"I'm -" Tony started but then he doubled over with a groan, breathing heavily and curling in on himself. After a moment, he relaxed again, eyes wet with unshed tears. "I'm okay," he gasped. "I was hoping you were the midwife."

"Midwife… Tony you have to go to the hospital. You're clearly sick, and if you're having contractions, the baby might be coming."

"Yeah, which is exactly why I called my midwife. But she's out of state for a delivery and can't get back for a few hours. I was kinda hoping I'd fallen asleep and she was here already."

"I'm sorry. It's just me. I brought you ginger cookies."

"Oh." Tony looked on the verge of crying again. "Thanks."

"We have to get you to the hospital right now. I need to call your alpha… and a cab, oh my god." Steve pushed to his feet, but Tony reached out and grabbed his sleeve, pinning him.

"No, no, you can't do that. I can't go to the hospital." Tony's face had managed to go even whiter, so washed out he was almost grey.

"But the baby could be in trouble, Tony. You could be in trouble."

Tony opened and closed his mouth a few times and tears welled at the corners of his eyes. "I can't…."

"Why not?"

The tears spilled forth and Tony followed it with a waterfall of words. "If I go to the hospital, they'll make me sign the alpha's name on the birth certificate. And then they'll call her when she doesn't come for the birth. It's illegal to falsify the birth record and I know who the kid's alpha is. If I lie, they'll send me to jail and I don't even know what will happen to my baby. I - I -" He broke off into sniffles and Steve rubbed his arm gently.

"Tony… can you tell me why your alpha can't know about the baby?"

Tony chewed his lip. "She's not my alpha. Not really. I ran away from her two months ago and she doesn't know where I am. If I have the baby in a hospital, she'll find me. Even if I can manage to convince them not to contact her, once I'm in the hospital system, I know she'll be able to find me. She can do that kind of thing." Tony trembled for a moment then closed his eyes and continued. "She doesn't want the baby, I know she doesn't, but she'll take it from me just to hurt me, to punish me for running away. She likes owning things and she likes having things her way. I left because I couldn't bear to see a kid live in that environment, but now I don't know what to do. She took everything from me, including the company I inherited when my parents died, but I can't let her take this too." He took a shaky breath. "I can't."

"God, Tony, I'm so sorry, but we have to go to the hospital. I'll do everything I can to protect you from her, but it won't matter if you bleed out here. Please, please let me take you?"

Tony crumpled over as another wave of cramps hit him, breathing sharply through his teeth and crushing Steve's hand. "Okay, okay. I'll go. Please go with me?"

"Of course I'm going with you." Steve hit send on the cab request cued up on his phone - five minutes. He took Tony's hand again. "I'm sorry about your alpha, really."

Tony shook his head, eyes glued down to the carpet. "She's not my alpha. I don't have an alpha," he said quietly.

"How have you managed two months without her finding you?"

"I don't know. She's probably not looking that hard for me. But the baby being born will make her want to start, I know it will."

"But the bond -"

"We're not bonded."

"What?" Steve blinked at him. From what he'd said before -

"We're not bonded. We acted like we were, most of the time, and she used to mark me up and scent me a lot, but she always said she wanted to wait until it was really special. I'm pretty sure she just wanted to be able to cheat on me without a bondmark putting people off. It hurt, back then, but now I'm just relieved."

"You're not bonded?" Steve resisted the urge to lean in and scent Tony aggressively. He could smell the alpha on him, but what he'd mistaken for a bond was probably just the pregnancy tinting his smell.

"No. I know what people think, an unbonded omega having a baby, but it's still better than being tied to that nutjob."

Steve squeezed his hand again. "I don't think those things. I think you're really strong. And your baby is going to be really strong too."

Tony rubbed the hand that didn't have Steve's locked in a death grip over his stomach. Steve's phone vibrated in his hand and he looked down at it.

"Cab's here."

"Okay," Tony got out between grit teeth. He used Steve's hand to lever himself up and they made their way slowly to the door. 

"She took your company?" Steve asked, trying anything to distract him from his obvious pain.

"Yeah. She took it when I moved in with her and absorbed it into her own. Alpha's property rights and all that."

That… wasn't right. But Steve didn't press. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "Do you want it back?"

Tony shot him a confused look. "No? I mean, that ship has sailed and then some, but even if I could get it back, I don't want it. It was my dad's company and they just made weapons. I have other things I want to do." He groaned through another wave of cramps, braced in the apartment doorway, then let himself be led down the hallway. "I'm going to start my own company. I'm an engineer. I want to build something I can be proud to give my kid, someday. So no, she can keep it. All I want is for her to leave us alone."

They made it out front, and Steve helped Tony waddle to the cab. The driver looked at them with deep concern. "Your omega isn't going to pop in my car, is he?"

Steve glared. "Not if you get moving and get us to the hospital."

He held up both hands. "Alright, alright. Let's go."

Steve settled in the  back then eased Tony down on the seat with his legs folded up and his head pillowed on Steve's thigh. It was awfully intimate, but Tony was in no position to argue, and apparently he had no alpha to worry about him either. Every feeling for Tony that Steve'd had over the last few weeks reared up tenfold, and he forced his mind to focus on other things, like the time between cramps, and Tony's alpha problem.

It was a longshot…but maybe…?

"You were really never bonded?" he couldn't help but ask again.

Tony frowned. "No. Is that a problem?"

"Oh no, it's fine. I'm just… musing on legal things. Trying to find a way to get her off your back."

Tony sighed heavily. "It's okay, Steve. You've already done enough. I just - if she -" he choked "- if she takes the baby and she won't let me go with her, can I stay at your place for a little while? I'll sleep on the couch. I just - I don't think I'll be able to be alone after -"

"Shhh." Steve ran his fingers through Tony's hair, brushing the sweaty locks away from his eyes. "It won't come to that Tony, don't worry. You just focus on breathing and keeping that little tater tot in there until we're ready, okay?"

"Okay." 

Steve kept petting Tony all the way to the hospital, and through two rounds of painful cramps. The cab was soaked in his scent, but he didn't smell like someone else's omega anymore, he just smelled like Tony, and Steve found he liked it more than he should have.

When the cab driver turned around to let them know they'd arrived, Steve growled. 

He cut himself off as soon as he realized he was doing it. "Sorry."

"It's fine, man, he's pregnant, I get it. Do you want help getting out?"

Steve shook his head, cheeks heating. The driver didn't know that Tony wasn't Steve's omega - Tony's scent was way too strong for anyone to be able to tell they smelled different - but Tony knew. Steve glanced down at him but he seemed too occupied with intense pain to worry about what Steve was doing. "It's alright." Steve handed the man a few bills, resisting the urge to growl again when he reached back to take them, then opened the door. "Come on, Tony. We're here."

Tony groaned with pain but let himself be half-lifted out of the cab. Steve bowed under the combined weight of Tony and his baby, but together they managed to stagger through the ER entrance.

"Oh my, look at you!" a nurse said as soon as they stepped in. "Let's get you a wheelchair, young man." She popped Tony in a wheelchair and grabbed a clipboard of forms which she handed to Steve. "Fill these out, please."

Steve paused to look down at them and when he looked up again, the nurse had already taken Tony halfway down the hall. "Oh! Wait." Steve scurried after them. "I'm not his alpha. I don't know any of this. I'm just a friend."

The nurse raised an eyebrow. "Where is his alpha?"

"She's not available," Tony said sharply.

"You'd think having a baby would trump any other pressing appointments," the nurse muttered.

"No," Tony ground out, curling up around another contraction. "She's not available at all. I don't want her involved. She's not involved."

"Involved enough to get you like this, honey."

"Well, not anymore!"

The nurse gave Steve a desperate sort of look, and Steve said, "Uh. They're separated. Is there any way to not list the alpha on the birth certificate?"

She pursed her lips, thinking. "You can try… but usually insurance won't pay out in that case. So I guess if you can pay out of pocket…"

Tony shook his head, whimpering a little as his arms wrapped around his belly. Steve dropped a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. Just - just get him looked at and I'll sort out the forms." He picked the clipboard back up. He had an idea, but it was terribly risky to bank everything on it playing out the way he hoped. It might be the only way, though.

The nurse got Tony in a room, took his vitals and history, and said a doctor would be in soon. As soon as she left, Tony turned to Steve, desperation all over his face. "I'm so sorry you got dragged into this."

"What? Dragged? Tony, I'm your friend. I care about you. I'm not dragged, I'm here for you, there's a difference."

Tony opened his mouth, closed it, nodded once, then said, "Okay."

Steve turned to the clipboard, pen in hand. He was surprised by how much of it he actually knew. He filled in Tony's address and a few other basic things, like his birthday. When he started running into trouble, Tony handed over his wallet and Steve took what he could from his driver's license and insurance card. "It's just your alpha's info now," Steve said softly.

Tony turned his head away, looking up at the ceiling. One hand rubbed idly over his belly. "Her name is Sunset Bain. We met at MIT. She was four years older than me and amazing. I moved in with her after dating for a year and that's when things changed. She got so possessive. And not just in a cute alpha way. She didn't want me to see my friends, didn't want me to make decisions on my own. She started convincing me to skip class, tried to get me to stop trying for a second master's. I ended up getting it in secret. I told her I had a doctor's appointment when I went to my defense. I had to skip my real doctor's appointment that year and just hope to god I had nothing going wrong down there cause if I went to two appointments she'd want to know what was wrong."

Tony took a deep breath. Steve had long since set the pen down, but he said nothing, letting Tony get it out.

"I started to get scared, but there wasn't much I could do. My parents loved her. They wanted me to act more like a traditional omega and settle down. I could do worse than cooking and cleaning for Sunset, they thought. They wanted -" Tony's breath hitched "- grandchildren."

Steve wanted to reach out, provide some sort of comfort, but he wasn't Tony's alpha, he had nothing to offer but a quiet ear.

"Then my parents died. That gave her the last little leverage she needed to take over everything completely. They were keeping me safe, I realized, without even knowing they were, because if my money disappeared, or something happened to me, they'd see it, they'd know. So when they died, she just cleaned me out. She took over everything as my alpha. I lived like that for two more years. 

"I was going to leave, I really was. I'd made a new friend, Pepper, and she was going to help me get out. And then, two weeks before I'd planned to make a break for it. I found out I was pregnant. I stayed up all night that night, trying to decide what to do and in the end, I stayed. I didn't think I could do it alone. It took me almost six months to realize that she was only going to be worse with a baby in the picture, to decide that there was no way I could put my child through the hell I'd gone through over the past four years. So I reactivated the plan. And I left. She didn't chase me very hard. I guess I was never what she really wanted. She wanted my money and my company, my name and my connections. With my parents dead, most of that wasn't worth much anymore, anyway.

"But. The baby. If she finds out I've had it, she'll swan in, wearing some perfect dress with big sunglasses and smile at everyone and coo at the baby and promise she'll take good care of me. And she'll take me back." Tony started shaking on the hospital bed. "And I won't be able to get out this time. Because I'll have the little one to take care of, and I can't - I can't -" Tony looked over at Steve, and Steve broke. He shuffled forward and cupped Tony's cheek.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. Don't think about that right now, okay? We just gotta get you and the little teacup sorted out, yeah?"

Tony nodded.

"Alright. I -" They both stopped and turned as the door opened and a doctor came in, flagged by two nurses. She smiled at Tony then nodded at Steve, whose ears went up in flames as he realized yet another person assumed he was Tony's alpha. How could they not see there was no way someone as amazing as Tony would pick someone like him?

The doctor flicked back the sheet over Tony's knees and Steve looked pointedly down at his clipboard while she examined Tony.

"So you're in labour, sweetheart," she said, tossing her gloves in a garbage bin and clapping her hands together. "Ready to have a baby?"

"What? No!" Tony smacked both hands to his belly as if he could stop the baby from coming out. "Already?"

"Already?" The doctor laughed. "You told Nurse Hanley that your due date was four days ago."

"Well, yeah, but those are never right, are they?"

"This one wasn't. It was four days too soon."

"Oh my god. I'm not ready for this. I thought I had the flu or something."

The doctor laughed again. "You'll be just fine, Mr. Stark. We're going to get you all set, you've got your alpha here to help you through it, no trouble at all. Couple of pushes and you'll be holding your little one. You are a bit dehydrated and some of your numbers aren't thrilling - it's possible you have a bug as well, to be honest - so we're going to get you on a drip and get this underway, okay? You're dilated just about enough, but I'm going to need you to start getting involved and get those hormones helping out, okay?"

Tony bit his lip and turned to look at Steve, wild-eyed.

"I'll go," Steve said. "Give you some privacy."

"Please! No." Tony grabbed his sleeve. "Don't go, Steve. I know I have no right to ask you of this, but I really don't think I can do this alone, please?"

"You really want me to stay?"

"I do."

Steve looked to one of the nurses. "I'm not his alpha. I'm not the baby's parent. Will it still help if I'm here?"

She shrugged. "We use synthetic alpha pheromones for omegas that are alone, so it might not be perfect, but it'll sure help. Most alphas can't stand the smell when it's not their baby, though. You want a mask or something?"

"No, no. I'll be fine." He turned back to Tony. "I'll stay. Whatever you need."

"You can get the mask," Tony said quietly. "I don't want you to puke."

Steve cleared his throat. "Uh. You don't smell bad to me. It's not - I'll be okay. I don't have a great sense of smell anyway." But it was good enough. Tony smelled distressed, and he smelled scared, but he didn't smell bad. He didn't smell claimed. He smelled like he could be Steve's, somehow, and that was delicious torture.

And the baby… there was about to be a baby in the room, with no alpha to claim it, and Steve knew how that was going to feel. He'd given up on children a long time ago - it was unlikely he'd be able to have them anyway, with all his health problems, he didn't even know if he could hold a knot properly - but he loved kids, wanted them desperately. And soon there was going to be a tiny person, looking like Tony, smelling like Tony, needing alpha comfort, and he didn't know how he was supposed to walk away from that.

Maybe Tony would let him stay, let him be involved. He could be a godparent or - or something. But before he could think of a something he could be, Tony was hit with another wave of contractions. He whined and waved his hand around until Steve grabbed it. He needed to stop thinking about himself and start thinking about Tony. If alpha pheromones were what Tony needed to relax and be able to do this, Steve needed to provide that. He turned his back on the doctor, focusing on Tony instead, and took his hand between both of his. "You've got this," he said, forcing himself to relax.

Tony looked at him and his expression melted into softness. "Oooh, shit, Steve, that feels so much better." He breathed in deeply. "Thank you."

There really wasn't much for Steve to do, in the end. He focused on being a grounding presence for Tony, ignoring everything happening below the belt, since it really wasn't his business. He breathed with Tony, held his hand, even when Tony squeezed so hard he thought it might break, and he whispered encouragement to him between contractions. 

When he heard the baby cry, he was so startled, he nearly fell out of his chair.

"It's a girl!' The doctor said. "Fingers and toes and everything. Here we go." She scooped the baby up and after a brief flurry of activity, placed her on Tony's chest. She was naked, save for a blanket over her back and a tiny, yellow hat on her head, and Tony's hand automatically came up to cup her little rear and keep her from sliding away.

She was so small. Steve couldn't remember ever having seen anything that struck him as being so utterly tiny.

"Wow," Tony said, eyes fixed on the little package. "She's so small."

Steve chuckled. "That's what I was just thinking. How can she be so small?"

Tony brushed a fingertip across her chin. She was awake, blinking at them, no longer crying, her tiny cheek resting on Tony's bare chest.

"She's beautiful. Tony, you did it."

"Shit. I did, didn't I? Wow. Thank you. For staying."

"Of course." They stayed like that while the doctors cleaned up and helped Tony get decent again. Tony's eyes never strayed from her face, and Steve leaned down to rest his head on the edge of the pillow, watching her.

"Do you want to hold her?" Tony asked, when one of the nurses asked him to finish signing his forms.

Steve swallowed heavily. He did want to - too much. "Uh. Can I?" 

They both looked at the doctor, who nodded. "Lots of skin-to-skin contact is best over the next few hours, but short breaks to be held or for us to give her a quick checkup is not a problem."

Tony bit his lip and curled the blanket around the baby then looked to Steve, uncertain. Between the two of them, and with a little encouragement from the nurse, Steve managed to get her safely nestled in his arms. 

She was impossibly beautiful. She looked just like Tony with huge, bright eyes, and a mess of dark brown curls already, peeking out from under her hat. She fell asleep in Steve's arms, eyes fluttering shut and tiny lips parting. Babies were supposed to cry when they were held by alphas who weren't family. But she wasn't crying. She was sleeping. At peace.

Steve panicked.

He could feel something huge and new and terrifying welling up in his chest, and it was so overwhelming that he pushed up to his feet. 

Tony startled and looked at him, brow furrowed.

"Sorry. I - I just remembered a phone call I have to make." Steve lowered the baby ever-so-gently back down to Tony's chest and the nurse helped unwrap her, getting her comfortable again. "I have to go."

"Oh. Okay. Well… thank you." Tony fingers tapped on the edge of the bed, his other hand cupping the baby's back.

"Tony…" Steve stepped forward and placed his hand over Tony's fidgeting one. "I'll be right back. Okay?"

"Oh. okay. I mean, it's alright if you have to go."

"I'm not leaving you here. I'll just take care of a few things, grab some food, and be right back. You hungry?"

Tony hummed. "I don't know. Still a little funny feeling. And I don't know if I can eat without ginger now." He laughed. "Guess I should try."

Steve laughed too. "I bought you ginger cookies. Guess you won't need them now."

Tony turned wide bright eyes on Steve, and Steve's heart skipped. "Thank you. You've taken such good care of me, even when you hardly knew me, and I - I appreciate it so -"

"It's okay, Tony." Steve gave his hand a squeeze then stepped back. "You'd do the same for me, right?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll be right back. Text me if you decide what you want to eat."

"Okay. Thank you."

Steve scooped up the clipboard with the form and slipped out of the room. In the hallway, he stopped and took several deep breaths until Tony's needy scent was cleared from his lungs. 

Even if Tony didn't need an alpha, he did need a lawyer, right now. And even if Steve couldn't have what he wanted, he could still help protect Tony and his baby. He hoped.

He found a gift shop and bought a notepad and a pen, then went to the cafeteria and bought a coffee. He settled on a bench by the back door with his phone and set to work.

It only took half an hour and one phone call to get everything he needed. There was no question: Sunset had seized SI as bond property from her omega, but they weren't bonded. He had one shot to make everything okay for Tony, and he couldn't screw it up. He went to the front desk and asked if he could use a printer for some insurance documents. They pointed him to the copy shop across the street and he jogged over and emailed himself the papers he needed, then had them printed out.

Back outside, he settled on a bench, phone in hand. It was getting late, almost nine at night, but it was only dinner time back in LA where Sunset lived. He had to remind himself that the hospital was going to call her anyway, as soon as they started to process Tony's insurance. He had to do this now, or miss the element of surprise.

He dialed.

Tony must have given a direct, private number for her, because after only three rings, a woman answered with, "Sunset Bain."

"Good evening," Steve said, snapping into lawyer mode immediately. "My name is Steve Rogers and I'm representing Tony Stark."

"Tony? Is he in some kind of trouble? What did he do?" She sighed dramatically. "Poor dear. Just tell me how much for bail and I'll get him sorted."

Steve cleared his throat, letting out a careful breath. "He's not in trouble, ma'am. I'm calling because he's given birth."

"Oh! Oh my." She paused for a moment. "Good for him," she said, almost surprised, like she'd thought there was a chance Tony would just fail to have the baby.

"Right. And he listed you as the alpha."

"Yes. That's true. If you let me know which hospital he's been admitted to, I can come pick them up."

"That won't be necessary," Steve said, trying not to drip in as much ice as he wanted to. "Mr. Stark readily admits that the baby is yours but he has no desire for you to be involved in the child's life. So I'll be faxing your office some paperwork, most notably a forfeiture of all parental rights, and I'll need those signed and witnessed. Mr. Stark is also requesting a one time support payment of fifty thousand dollars, by money order, sent to my office with the signed forms." Steve squeezed his eyes closed and crossed his fingers.

Sunset laughed, bright and tinny. "How bold. And why on earth would I do that? That's my child, Mr. Rogers. Of course I intend to be a part of its life."

Steve cleared his throat. "Well. This is, really, only tangentially about the baby, if I'm honest with you, Ms. Bain. In actuality, I'm calling about your illegal bond property seizure three years ago."

"Excuse me?" her voice had chilled as well.

"You claimed Tony's property under the Bonding Property Statute as your own, but you weren't bonded at the time. Still aren't bonded, physically or legally. Tony didn't contest the claim at the time and had no family to contest it on his behalf, but there's no statute of limitations on property seizure, Ms. Bain."

The silence on the other end of the phone was frigid now.

"So as I see it, your options are to fill out the paperwork, relinquish all rights to the child to Mr. Stark alone, and enjoy the benefits of your ill-gotten gains without any claim or contest from Mr. Stark. Or we take this issue to court, along with that of custody, and see what they have to say. From what I've heard, Ms. Bain, they don't usually award custody, even partial, to alphas who are in jail for property theft."

Sunset still said nothing.

Steve dropped his voice low. "You can give up the baby, and give up Tony, or you can lose everything." 

"You want him for yourself, don't you?" Sunset purred. "I can hear it in the way you say his name. He's not a client. You're fucking my omega."

"I'm not. I will admit I care about him, but right now, he is my client, and my feelings don't change the law, Ms. Bain. You have a simple choice."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Sunset growled. "Send the forms," and Steve's heart started beating again.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll send them right away."

She huffed. "I'll be better off without him, anyway. Enjoy knotting that little slut. He's a useless brat. Honestly, I'll be happy to be rid of him and I'm sure any little mini-mutts he pushes out will be just as hopeless as him. He's all yours." She hung up.

Steve stared down at the phone. He'd done it. Maybe? It took him a moment to register that the copy shop would be closing in twenty minutes and he had to get the forms faxed out. Maybe she'd sign them without giving herself time to think about it too much, time to decide that she wanted to fight - forcing Tony into a lawsuit neither of them could afford, despite the fact that the law was on their side.

Steve had to hope that she was mad enough at Tony for running away, and protective enough of what she'd stolen from him, that she'd let him go.

**

"She has jaundice," Tony said, when Steve returned and the baby wasn't there. "She's in the Easy Bake oven. I get her back soon, though." The way his eyes lit up at that made Steve's heart clench.

"She's really amazing, Tony. You did a wonderful job."

Tony beamed at him. "Thank you. Seriously - thank you for being here. I don't know what I would have done without you. Probably tried to have her on my kitchen floor and bled out and died."

"Jesus. Don't say that."

The nurse chose that moment to arrive, the baby in her arms. She handed her down to Tony, who half-unswaddled her so she could lay on his chest. She didn't wake, even being handed off. Steve couldn't help but reach out and brush his fingertips through her thin fluff of hair. 

"I named her," Tony whispered, the room closing in cozy and tight around them. 

Steve shuffled closer. "You did?"

"Yeah. I wanted to make sure she had a name, officially, before Sunset got her. So she couldn't change it."

Steve crossed his fingers behind the bed that Sunset wouldn't be coming at all. "What'd you name her?"

Tony grinned, a bit sheepishly, ears pinking. "Ginger."

Steve almost laughed but cut himself off, pressing his hand to his mouth. "Ginger? Tony, that's adorable."

"Figured we could call her Ginny for short. Ginny Stark. She'll probably end up hating the taste of ginger, but it'll be a funny story, anyway."

"It's perfect." Steve reached out and gently touched the back of the baby's hand. "Hi, Ginny."

"So… can I be horrible and ask one more favour of you?" Tony asked.

"It's not horrible. I'm happy to help. Honestly."

Tony looked at him quizzically, eyes narrowed. "You always say stuff like that."

"Well… it's true."

"Why? What do you get out of it?"

Steve turned the question around in his mind, holding back from giving a quippy answer. Tony seemed to genuinely not understand. "Because I like you. We're friends. I want you to be safe and happy, because you mean a lot to me, and if you were unhappy, I'd be too."

"That's -" Tony paused. "Not many people have felt that way about me."

"I know. I can tell," Steve said softly, "But it's okay, Tony. I won't ask anything of you. I really am just your friend."

"You won't?" Tony turned wide eyes on Steve and there was something else there now, something hopeful in a different way.

Steve looked at Tony pointedly. "I won't. So if there were ever something you wanted. You'd have to ask me."

Tony opened his mouth like he was going to say something, light dancing in his eyes, but he closed it again, curling his lips into a small smile and looking down at Ginger again. "She's pretty perfect, huh?"

"Definitely."

"I'm scared to be a parent."

"It's pretty scary. But you're going to be great."

Tony tilted his head to the side. "I feel like I should learn how to cook, being a parent and all."

"What? After all those lessons I gave you? Don't you already know by now?"

Tony's smile twisted into a cheeky smirk. "No, sadly it didn't stick. Guess I'll have to take the course again."

"This is just your way of ensuring you can still come over and eat my food every night."

"Maybe." Tony shrugged with a soft laugh. But his smile faded as he watched his tiny daughter sleep in his arms. "I mean. I'll probably have to move. But it's a nice thought."

"You don't have to leave just because she asks you to, Tony. She has no claim on you."

"But she does have a claim on Ginny. And if Ginny goes, I have to go with her. I can't let Sunset have her. I can't."

Steve reached out and dropped his hand to Tony's shoulder. He squeezed gently. "I hope it won't come to that."

"Me too."

"Oh - Tony. You never asked me for the favour. What was it?"

"Oh right. I have to stay for forty-eight hours apparently. Make sure everything's stable. But we left in such a hurry that I forgot my go bag. If I gave you my apartment key, could you grab it? It's a red duffle in my bedroom. I just really need to brush my teeth and put on real clothes."

"Of course. No problem."

"You don't have to bring it right away. I mean, only if you were going to be coming back in this direction, anyway."

"I'll go get it now and be right back. I'll bring some work so I can stay all day - okay?"

Tony looked like he was about to protest then he stopped and nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

Steve squeezed Tony's shoulder again, biting back the urge to kiss him on the top of his head, then kiss Ginger on hers. He had no claim over Tony and the more he indulged in wishing he did, the more he felt the urge to claim him. But even if he managed to scare Sunset off, and Tony and Ginny came over for cooking lessons, they still wouldn't be his. Not his family. Not really. Not the way he wanted. "I'll be right back."

Steve found his bag and jacket and left the room, feeling like he was leaving an important piece of his heart behind in it. He also couldn't help the slight twinge of anxiety at thoughts of Tony's alpha. What if she had found the hospital and was on her way? What if Steve's threat had done nothing? What if it had made things worse?

Steve called a cab and went back to the apartment building. The cab driver kept scrunching up her nose and shooting Steve looks in the rear view mirror, but Steve ignored her. He went to Tony's apartment first and grabbed his bag, then made sure all the windows were locked up and nothing was on that shouldn't be. Downstairs, he packed a bag of his own, including a bunch of case briefs he'd put off reading, and changed into more comfortable clothes for a long night in an uncomfortable chair.

Back at the hospital, Steve found Tony and Ginger both asleep, Tony sprawled out on the bed, and Ginger on her back in a rolling crib. Both her hands were scrunched up into tiny fists on either side of her head, her chest rising and falling rhythmically. Steve pulled his chair up to the edge of the crib and folded his arms over it, watching her.  

She was a tiny piece of Tony, a little sprout that was going to grow into a magnificent flower.

After far too long just staring at her little face, slack with sleep, Steve pulled his papers out and got to work. Tony woke up a few times over the next few hours, whenever Ginny woke and started screaming, but Steve made it until nearly two in the morning before he found himself struggling against the pull of sleep. He curled up in his chair, jolted awake when only a few minutes later when the nurse came in to check on them.

"Everything okay, honey?" she whispered.

Steve nodded. "Just getting some sleep."

"You're all gonna need it." She poked a few monitors, checked on Ginny, then left. But before Steve could get settled in his chair again, she reappeared, rolling a second hospital bed in front of her.

"Damn thing's blocking the hallway," she said, winking at Steve. "Just need to get it out of the way, you know how it is. Keep an eye on it for me, sweetheart?"

Steve nearly overflowed with gratitude. "Yes. Absolutely. Thank you."

"Goodnight." She winked again and whisked out of the room.

Steve rolled the bed around until it was parallel to Tony's, the crib between them, then crawled in. There were no blankets or sheets, but it didn't matter - he was out like a light only a few minutes later.

**

Steve woke up whenever Ginny woke up, but Tony seemed to have taking care of her figured out already, and when he saw everything was fine, Steve dropped off again, each time. When Ginny's piercing cry woke him at seven fifteen, though, he sat up and stretched. 

"Nice bed," Tony said, scooping Ginny out of her crib and settling her on his chest. 

"Thanks. I'm just looking after it for the nurse," he replied with a grin.

Tony petted Ginny's hair back from her face. "You didn't have to stay. We're doing alright."

"You're doing amazing, Tony. Look at you. But I wanted to stay."

Tony sat up with a groan. "In that case, can you hold her while I shuffle embarrassingly slowly to the bathroom?"

"Of course."

Tony deposited the tiny bundle in Steve's arms and made his way off to the attached bathroom. Steve cradled Ginny close to his chest. She was both awake and not crying for the first time in a while and when Steve poked her tiny hand with a single finger, she wrapped her hand around it and held on tight. "Oh god, you're too perfect, aren't you?" Steve asked her. "I'm a little screwed."

"What's that?" Tony had reappeared.

"Nothing," Steve said quickly.

"You don't have to hold her if you don't want to," Tony said, and Steve snapped his eyes up to his face. He was shifting from foot to foot, hands twisting together in front of him.

"Why wouldn't I want to hold her?"

"I don't know. Every time I give her to you, you look really uncomfortable. And - uh - I know it's really different when it's, like, the promise of a baby instead of an actual baby. So if that change isn't working for you, I mean, if you don't want to be friends anymore cause - um - I -" Tony's tongue stumbled to a halt, and Steve stared at him for far too long of a minute before he was able to get his own started.

"What? What are you -? That's crazy, Tony. I don't - I'm not uncomfortable. Not exactly. I just - she's yours, and I think she's so perfect, but it's not my place to - to -"

"Oh…" Tony reached out for her, and Steve carefully shifted her into his arms, a little piece of his heart going with her tiny yellow hat and strong fingers. "I don't know why I keep trying to give you an out. I'm sorry. I mean, if you really wanted to leave, I'm sure you just would."

"I would," Steve assured him. "I don't want to leave. But I kind of know why you do that. I mean, Sunset never gave you an out, did she? But you wished she would."

Tony's mouth worked, his eyes fixed on Ginger's face. "Yeah."

"I don't mind. I'll keep telling you I want to be here as many times as it takes." Then Steve winced. "Actually… I have to go." 

Tony snorted out a laugh. "Getting mixed signals, here, Rogers."

Steve laughed too. "I know. I just have to stop at the office while my assistant is there. Then I'll come back."

"Okay," Tony said, visibly swallowing back the urge to tell Steve he didn't have to, yet again. "We're okay, for now. Take as long as you need. I'll call you if I need anything?"

"Okay, yeah. Perfect." Every atom in Steve's body ached to lean forward, scent his omega - not his - and his baby - not his. Before the urge could become so overwhelming he couldn't resist, he grabbed his stuff and slipped out of the room.

The cab ride to the office was sobering. Out of the cozy hospital room where everything smelled so strongly of Tony and Ginny, Steve was able to clear his head and he had to remind himself that it didn't matter how much he wanted the omega and his daughter to be his family - it wasn't up to him. Even if Tony liked him, maybe wanted him a little - and it seemed like maybe he did - he hadn't had a good history with alphas, with relationships, and Steve couldn't push him. Tony might never be ready for something more serious than friends, and Steve had to be prepared for that. He was, really, it just hurt a little, sometimes, when he indulged himself.

Wanda looked up from her desk when Steve walked down the hall. "Hi, Mr. Rogers! I thought you weren't coming in today?"

"I'm not. I mean, I'm just here to check my mail and grab a few files."

"Oh! Mail. Something came for you." Wanda dug around behind her desk then handed over a thin, overnight FedEx package. There was no way… but when Steve flipped it over, the address was in California. 

He swallowed heavily. It could be the papers, signed, or it could be the papers, unsigned and carefully cut into the shape of a hand giving the middle finger. "Thanks, Wanda. Keep telling everyone I'm out sick?"

"Of course. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Steve gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "It's actually a friend of mine who's sick. He's in the hospital -" only sort of a lie "- but it seemed simpler to say it was me."

Wanda nodded sympathetically. "Do you need anything? Flowers sent to the hotel room? Food?"

"Actually…" Steve smiled at the thought. "Flowers sent to my apartment? No card. Something not too big or showy."

"You got it." Wanda looked up at him coyly. "Who's your friend?"

Steve smirked back. "None of your business. Get to work, slacker."

"Yes, boss." Wanda turned back to her computer, grinning.

Steve slipped away to his office and perched on the edge of his desk, the envelope clutched in his hands. This was it. If he'd fucked this up, Tony would never speak to him again. He took the pull-tab between his fingers and ripped it open then emptied the contents into his hand. 

The papers were there. And they were signed. 

He nearly sobbed with relief. All parental rights and control, all alpha responsibilities, ties, and obligations - relinquished. Ginger had one parent, and one parent, only, and she never need know there was ever another one. He'd done it. 

There was another, smaller envelope inside, unsealed. Steve peaked inside - if it was a message for Tony, he wouldn't read it, but in the end he didn't have a choice. It was a money order for two hundred thousand dollars, made out to Tony Stark, with a pink sticky note attached to it. Written on the neon pink paper, in smooth, elegant cursive, was.

I'd better never hear from you again.
-S

**

Steve knocked lightly on the hospital room door, and waited for Tony's soft, "Come in," before pushing it open. 

Tony was sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed with Ginny puddled in his lap amongst a twist of soft green blanket. "Hey." Tony grinned at Steve, his whole face lighting up, and Steve's heart skipped and jumped. There was still the possibility that Tony would be upset by what Steve clutched in his hands, but he hoped he'd made the right choice. And he hoped that not asking Tony beforehand, and saving him the anxiety of it all, was also the right choice.

Steve stepped up beside the bed. Ginny was awake, wiggling her arms and legs up and down, one hand clamped around Tony's finger. "I have something to show you," Steve said, all in one breath. "I hope it's… well, I hope you think it's good news." He handed over the packet.

Tony extracted his finger gently from Ginny's hold, trading it for a corner of the blanket and looked at the packet in confusion. "What is it?" He flipped it over and saw the return address. "I - what -?"

"Just open it."

Tony found the open flap and reached inside. He drew out the packet of papers and set them on the bed next to Ginny. As he flipped through them, his jaw slowly dropped. "What the fuck…?" He picked up the sheet that had Sunset's signature at the bottom and pressed his other hand over his mouth. "Is this real?"

"Yeah. It's real. She's relinquished all parental rights. Ginger is yours - free and clear."

Tony choked out a broken noise. "Really? Oh my god… how - how?" 

"I -" Steve cleared his throat. "I might have threatened her."

"Threatened her? And it worked? What on earth…?"

"I threatened her with a lawsuit."

Tony turned damp eyes on Steve. "Over what?"

"This is where you might end up hating me," Steve muttered. "She stole your company, Tony. After what you said, I looked into it. She had no right to your ownership of SI or any of your assets that she took. You two weren't bonded. There was no shared bond property - it was just yours and hers. And California doesn't recognize common-law bonds, so she can't make that argument either. I told her she had to give up the baby or we'd come after her for custody and SI. She didn't call my bluff. She folded. SI is hers, but Ginger is yours."

Tony came to the smaller envelope, tucked between two pages, opened it, and burst into tears. Steve couldn't stop himself; whether Tony wanted it or not, he stumbled forward and wrapped his arms around him. Tony burrowed into his hold. It wasn't the cheque he was holding - it was the sticky note.

"Tony, Tony, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Are you kidding?" Tony choked out between sobs. "I've never been so happy. She doesn't want to hear from me again. Not ever. She's gone. You got rid of her - for good. Oh my god. She doesn't want Ginny. And even if she does, she can't have her. I can't - I can't -"

"Shhh. It's okay, Tony. Keep breathing."

Tony sucked in a hard breath and Steve backed off a little, rubbing his back gently. He knew he was pouring calming alpha pheromones into the room, but Tony didn't wrinkle his nose. Instead, he leaned against Steve's chest, still holding the sticky note. "I can't believe you did it. I'm getting this framed."

"I couldn't bear the thought of someone trying to take her away from you."

"Thank you doesn't even begin to cover it."

"You don't have to thank me."

Tony picked up the money order and ran his thumb over it like he was making sure it was real. "She really sent this?"

"Yeah… I never thought she would, to be honest. That was my bargaining chip. I was going to drop it when she fought me. She actually sent more than I asked for. Guess she was really scared to go to jail for theft."

Tony snorted out a wild laugh, and Ginny gurgled in response. Tony rubbed his hand over her belly. "Yeah, that sounds like Sunset. She can't do anything without doing it to the max. This time? I'm grateful for that." He waved the cheque. "Most of this is going into a trust for Ginny."

"Good plan."

"The only thing besides a little DNA she's getting from that horrible woman."

"She'll get everything she needs from you."

Tony looked up at Steve, eyes bright and piercing. Then he smiled softly. "Sure. Thank you, Steve."

Steve tucked his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't throw his arms around Tony again. "I'm just glad my play worked. You should rest. I've got some papers to read." Steve shuffled back until his knees hit his chair and he dropped down.

"Okay." Tony scooped Ginny up and flopped backwards on the bed, the baby tucked up safely on his chest.

Steve pulled a packet of papers out of his bag and started flipping through them, but every time he looked up, Tony was smiling softly at him, one hand drawing lazy circles on Ginny's back.

**

A week later, Tony was long-since back at this apartment, and so was Steve. He hadn't seen much of Tony over the past few days - no doubt getting settled and adjusting to parenthood without the help of the nurses - and he missed him, deeply, but the space was no doubt good for both of them. He dropped the flowers off as soon as they'd returned, along with the box of cookies he'd missed out on giving him the first time, and a few containers of curry from his own freezer. Tony had been grateful, but clearly exhausted and distracted, and Steve had let him be.

He'd gone back to work the next day, following up on a few things to make sure Tony was as protected as he could be and then going back to his regular days helping omegas out of their legal troubles. 

On Friday night, he almost stopped at the store for groceries but between spending the beginning of the week at the hospital with Tony and then staying late every night after to catch up on the work he missed, he decided for the first time in a long time, that he was too tired to cook.

Back at home, he was just digging a frozen entree out when a knock came at the door. He opened it, to find Tony standing there, grinning at him, Ginny tucked securely in his arms. "Hey, Steve."

"Hi, Tony. Hi Ginny. What a sight for sore eyes. Sorry, I hadn't planned to cook tonight."

"Thanks okay!" Tony said, grin brightening. "We cooked this time!"

"You did?"

Tony tipped his head to the side, cheek kissing Ginny's curls. "Weeeeellll. We washed the forks, but Luigi's did the rest."

Steve laughed. "You did the hard part."

"You know it. Can you come up?"

"Of course." Steve grabbed his keys and locked up, following Tony to the elevator.

"You sure you're free? Seemed like a busy week. We stopped by a couple times, but you weren't home," Tony said.

"I'm sorry. It has been. But I'm free, now, yeah. All yours."

Tony shot Steve a soft look. "Good." At his door, Tony tucked Ginny into Steve's arms without even asking, and Steve took her gratefully, rocking her gently back and forth when her eyes blinked open. "She's eating well!" Tony said, headed for the kitchen, with Steve following after. "Doing everything she's supposed to be doing."

"That's wonderful." Steve turned to Ginny. "You're doing a great job. Well done." She gurgled in reply.

"I ordered lasagna and garlic bread. I hope that's okay."

Steve breathed in the scent of cooked tomatoes and garlic. "Perfect. I'm starving. Thank you so much."

"Well, I owed you one. And then some." Tony stepped up until they were almost chest to chest, Ginny between them.

"It was my pleasure, Tony, you know that."

"I know. And this is mine." He smiled up at Steve, and it was so beautifully free that Steve was caught up in how much that kind of smile had been missing from Tony's face before.

Steve handed Ginny back, and Tony settled her in a bassinet, before scooping lasagna, salad, and garlic bread onto two plates. Instead of sitting at the table, Tony led Steve to the couch in the living room, where they sat side by side with their plates in their laps. 

"So I think I found a business partner for the company I want to start," Tony said, cheeks pinking slightly.

"Yes! Who?"

"Remember Pepper? She helped me get away from Sunset. Well she has a business degree and she's moving out here. It's not set in stone yet, but I'm hoping she'll be CEO and I can be Chief Engineer or something. We can get some product pitches up and start looking into investments. I've told myself I can use a quarter of the money from Sunset getting the business going and the rest is for Ginny. After all, me having a job and maybe a company to pass on to her someday is still supporting her, right?"

"Definitely. I think it sounds wonderful, Tony. Exactly what you wanted."

"You don't think it's irresponsible? To be a single parent and work that much? What if I don't have enough time for her?"

"You'll make time. And you're not just a parent. You get to have your own life too. That'll be good for her - to have you happy and passionate about something. I know you'll make it work. And… uh - if you ever need a babysitter?"

"Really?"

"Of course. I mean, I work a lot, and no one wants an alpha looking after their kids. But she doesn't seem to hate me, and I'd love to spend the time with her. She could even come to work with me, some day, maybe, when she's older and can be away from you for that long. I wouldn't get anything done, but the whole office would go nuts for her." Steve leaned over to reach a hand in her bassinet. He rested his palm on her belly, and her tiny form made his usually too-small hand look normal-sized.

A soft clatter made him look up to where Tony was putting his fork down on his half cleared plate and setting it aside. "Steve."

Steve set his plate aside too. "Yeah?"

"I'm - I have something I want to say to you. Yeah, this dinner wasn't entirely ployless. I just - I really value our friendship and if anything I say doesn't appeal to you, just say so and we'll move on, no problem."

Steve's heart stuttered and started and tried to crawl up his throat. "Okay."

"Okay. So - I mean - I don't know if it's obvious, but I really, really like you. And you're very special to me. And I thought maybe I couldn't ever trust an alpha like that again, not really, but I trust you with everything. I trust you with her -" Tony gestured towards the sleeping baby. "I almost took one of the doctor's hands off when he touched her, but when you touch her… it just feels nice. Safe. I didn't know alphas were safe, and I know that's a fucked up way to think, but I couldn't help it."

Steve opened his mouth to tell Tony it absolutely wasn't fucked up, but Tony help up a finger so he stayed silent.

"Anyway. First of all, I need you to know that I wanted to do this before the hospital, before everything with Sunset. I planned to wait until after the birth to bring it up because if you didn't want to be around the baby, or I realized I didn't have the time or energy for… something, with a newborn, I didn't want to string you along. But you said if there was something I wanted, I should ask for it, so here goes: I want you. I want you to be my alpha, or at least start on a path that leads there. And I'm asking for it. And if you say no, that's okay."

Steve could barely breathe. Was Tony really offering him everything he could possibly want? He opened his mouth but no sound came out. 

Tony inched closer. "I have it pretty bad for you. And it was long before you saved my ass with Sunset that I felt that way. You just make me feel worthwhile. And you have that protective alpha thing, but never smothering. I feel like trying to ever live without you just sounds like the stupidest, most difficult, awful thing. You're so kind, and selfless, and strong, and -" Tony paused, sighed softly. "I mean, I fell in love with you, but no surprise there. I'm happy to keep loving you as my best friend, if that's all you want, but if you want more…?"

Steve sat up, leaning forward, and reached out to cup Tony's face between his hands. He petted a gentle thumb over Tony's cheek. "All of it. I want all of it. Desperately." He bent further, and when Tony's eyes fluttered shut, Steve stole the last inch and kissed him.

Steve had been coming home to his apartment every night for six years, but this, this was coming home. Tony melted into his arms, soft and easy and warm. His lips were gentle against Steve's, a little chapped still, from the hospital, but he tasted like home, and he smelled like home, and Steve never wanted to try living without him either. He tried to pour all of that into the kiss, but he was pretty sure he'd have to kiss Tony for a hundred years more before he managed it.

Tony pulled back a scant inch and tipped forward until his forehead rested against Steve's. "This is amazing. I can't believe it."

Steve took Tony's hand and wound their fingers together then leaned back more, giving him space to breathe - though Steve hardly could; the room smelled so deliciously like Tony's happiness that Steve wasn't sure there was any oxygen left in the whole apartment. 

Ginger made a noise - somewhere between a squeak and a whine - and Tony hooked his chin over Steve's shoulder to check on her, effectively pouring himself into Steve's lap in a haphazard mess. Steve gripped him tightly, never wanting him out of his space again. 

"I know she has to be your focus, right now, Tony," Steve said softly. "I understand if you don't have a lot of time for me. I won't be upset."

Tony shifted back again, eyes on Steve; Ginny had fallen quiet again. "Well… I was kind of thinking, maybe she could be both our focuses right now? I know you've got a job and a life and other friends and stuff. And you didn't sign up to suddenly become a parent overnight, but I want her to have good, strong alpha influences in her life. Nothing like Sunset, and I was hoping you could be that."

Steve's heart swelled. No one had ever described him as strong before, but Tony said it without hesitation. "I would love to be. I'd be honoured to be in her life, Tony, however you'll have me. She's the most amazing thing, and I can't wait to see her grow up."

"Me too." Tony shuffled closer until Steve wrapped his arms around him and eased Tony's head down to rest on his shoulder. He finally pressed his nose to Tony's hair and breathed him in, and Tony sighed happily. He shifted to look up at Steve with a cheeky grin. "Besides, someone is going to have to teach her how to cook."