"You're doing great (Y/n), just a few more push-"

Your doctor's voice was drowned out by the sound of your pained groans. It felt like your entire body was being split into two. Tears stained your face from the effort of it all.

"I want the drugs." You told Steve breathily. "I can't do this without it!"

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." Steve said sympathetically. "It's too late for any pain medication now, it wouldn't kick in in time."

He glanced at the Doctor who nodded in confirmation.

"I don't care!" You sobbed as he gripped your hand, placing a reassuring kiss on the top of your head.

You squeezed his palm tightly, half-crying and half-moaning as you began to push again.

"The baby's crowning." The doctor informed as you were panting heavily, struggling to catch your breath.

Steve scrambled from your side, trying to get a closer look as you continued to force your baby out. He looked slightly nauseated at whatever was going on under the sheet that was covering you from your stomach down, but his eyes remained in a fixated trance.

"Oh my god (Y/n)." He said excitedly. "I can see it! I can see our baby!"

"Keep pushing (Y/n). You're almost there now." You heard the doctor's voice but couldn't register his words. You were too tired, too exhausted. Couldn't they just pull the baby the rest of the way out now? Hadn't you done enough? You thought if one more godforsaken individually told you to keep pushing you'd push them over and see how they like it.

"I- I can't." You breathed out, choking on your words. "Somethings wrong Steve, it hurts."

Steve raced back to your side, seemingly snapping out of his daze.

"You can do this, sweetheart. You're almost done, just hold on a little longer." He pleaded.

You tried to hold onto the sound his voice as you willed yourself to finish one final push, using up the last of your strength. You had no concept of how long you had pushed for, or if it had even worked or not, you just wanted this to be over. There was a loud ringing in your ears, drowning out what seemed like whispered encouragements and I love you's from Steve. The doctor was trying to tell you something. He was leaning over in his stool and handing something covered in blankets to a nurse nearby. Steve was smiling at you with watery and hopeful eyes.

You strained your ears, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Sweetheart?"

Your eyes fluttered as exhaustion began to take over. Steve's concerned face came in and out of view.

"She's losing too much blood."

"What's going on? (Y/n)? (Y/n)!"

"Get him out of here!"

You clung to the mix of jumbled voices for as long as you could but eventually you felt the light fumble and slip from your fingers and you were pulled into darkness.

"No pain medication? Honestly, what kind of a hospital is this?"

"She said she didn't want any, it's not like they could force her to take something."

The sound of two bickering voices began to draw you back in as you struggled to force your eyes open.

"Of course she said that, this is (Y/n) we are talking about! I said the same thing right before I had her until my ex-husband told me I was being ridiculous and to take whatever drugs they were offering. It's the one good piece of advice he's ever given me."

"Well I'm sorry I didn't pressure your daughter into accepting narcotics. What should I do next time, stick the needle in her arm myself?"

"You're not supposed to do anything, this was the doctor's responsibility. What kind of hospital expects a woman in labor to be able to make any sort of rational decision? If there ends up being any long lasting damage I'll sue."

You blinked twice, adjusting to the bright light of the hospital room. Shifting your head slightly, you focused your eyes on the man sitting beside your bed and the woman standing with crossed arms behind him.

"Darling, you're awake!" Your mom's eyes widened in a startled surprise evident in the tone of her voice.

You felt a hand squeeze yours, making your eyes land on the spot where Steve's palm was resting on your own. Your gaze travelled slowly up his arm to rest on his face, relief etched across it.

"I'm going to go get the doctor." She said and you watched as she began to exit the room, mumbling under her breath as she went. "Doctor, as if he can even call himself that, stupid moron almost killed my only daughter."

Steve sighed when the door closed behind her, and you brought your gaze back to him. Your brain was slowly trying to play catch up, beginning to remember the last few moments before you had evidently lost consciousness. Your eyes quickly scanned the room, snapping back to him in a tenuous realization.

"Where's the baby?" You asked hesitantly, worry lacing your voice.

"She's okay, she's resting in the NICU but they promised to bring her once you were up and feeling better."

You sat there for a moment, your eyes widening when you finally processed his words.

"She?"

He bit the inside of his cheek, looking at you hopefully.

"She." He nodded. "The most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen."

You broke out into a smile. You knew your baby was going to be fine. She had to be. She. You couldn't believe it. Looking at Steve you waited for your happiness to be mirrored on his face. It was sort of there, but there was something else there too, something holding him back.

"What's wrong?" You asked, the nerves starting to come back to you, but he shook his head.

"Nothing's wrong." He assured you quickly, only the emotions on his face were anything but comforting. "I was just so worried. Everything was fine and then it wasn't. You were unconscious and they kicked me out of the hospital room. I was so scared."

He was barely holding onto his composure, his hold on you was gentle but strained, as if you he was sure you would vanish if he let go.

"It was awful. I felt so helpless, I just had to sit there and wait, praying that I hadn't lost you."

You reached your hand up to his cheek, brushing away the wetness that had piled there. Whatever Steve had witnessed had clearly scarred him in some way, you only wished you could brush away those scars as easily as you could with his leftover tears.

"I'm still right here, Steve." You whispered. "I'm not going anywhere."

He bent over so the his forehead was leaning on yours. His eyes were closed and his body seemed to physically relax when he touched you, confirming that you were still breathing, that you were really there, and that you hadn't been taken from him all too soon.

"I love you." He mumbled, sighing contentedly.

Before you could reply the door swung open, Steve pulled away from you, not letting go of your hand but enough so that you could see your mother had reappeared with your doctor.

"How are you feeling, (Y/n)?" He asked, approaching the side of the bed.

"Like I gave birth to an elephant."

The doctor smiled, scanning the monitor next to your hospital bed. There was some sort of IV still attached to your free hand, connected to the monitor and some pouches containing some sort of clear liquid. You tried not to look at it too carefully, just the thought of needles made you nauseous.

"Well your vitals look great." He said, picking up his clip board and jotting down a few notes.

"After the birth, you lost a lot of blood. It happens unfortunately quite frequently with premature births since the mothers body isn't fully prepared for the toll labor can have on the body. There was tear that resulted in the blood loss, thankfully I was able to find the source and sew it up before there was too much damage. I'm going to keep monitoring you but you look already on the way to a speedy recovery."

You nodded, letting his words sink in.

"Is there anything we can do to make sure the recovery goes smoothly?" Your mother said, her arms still crossed so tightly across your chest you were sure they would never come apart. "Is there any medication she should be taking? We don't want her to be in any more pain than she already is."

"I'm fine mom." You said quickly, seeing a wary and slightly affronted look on your doctor's face.

"As I've previously told you, three times, I've already written her a prescription for the pain should she decide to take it." The doctor said in manner telling you his patience with her was wearing thin. Your mother just tapped her foot impatiently.

"Well apparently it takes me asking that many times to make sure things get done around-"

"Can I see my baby?" You interrupted, partly because you knew your mother's penchant for turning small problems into much larger problems, and also because you didn't want to wait a second longer to meet your daughter.

The doctor nodded, pressing a button on the side of the monitor that you assumed must have been some kind of intercom.

"Please bring the preemie from the NICU into room eight hundred and one." He said, before turning back to face you. "A nurse will bring her in any moment now. I'll be back to check on you later this afternoon. If you need anything at all in the meantime you can press that red button, or get a nurse from the hallway."

"Thank you, doctor." You smiled, as he left the hospital room, Steve repeating your words to thank the doctor himself.

Once he was gone you shot your mother an annoyed look but she just shrugged, completely unfazed, arms still crossed. It was only two minutes before there was another knock on the door, and a nurse entered the room, rolling some sort of cart into the room. You shifted in your hospital bed in anticipation, Steve wrapping an arm around your waist, helping you to sit up from your previous position.

"Are you ready to meet your baby girl?" The nurse asked, smiling cheerily. You nodded hastily in response, trying to peer around her to get a good view but you couldn't see anything. The nurse turned on the spot, lifting the baby out of what you could only guess was some sort of incubator. She walked over to the side of the bed where Steve was sitting, carefully placing her in his waiting arms.

Your mouth fell open slightly. You weren't sure what you were expecting to see, but the beautiful baby girl in front of you left you speechless. She was looking up at Steve through gorgeous and sleepy blue eyes, as he one handedly pushed aside the small wisps of blonde hair on the top of her head. She looked so small in his arms. She couldn't have been more than five or six pounds, and yet you could feel the weight of her importance on your heart even now, easily a hundred times that.

"Can I hold her?"

Steve stood up, reaching over to place your daughter in your arms for the first time. You let out a shakey breath as you held her. You counted her two arms and her two legs. You counted her ten fingers and her ten toes. Then you counted all over again just to make sure one hadn't vanished in the time that you had last counted. She blinked up at you lazily.

"What's her name? It don't see it on the chart yet." The nurse asked, peering down at the clipboard. You tore your gaze off of your daughter's, turning to look at Steve with widened eyes. You racked your brains, repeating the list of names you had been debating in your head for the past few months. None of them seemed right now that she was laying there in your arms. They all felt like other people's names, not your daughters.

"We uh-" Steve spluttered. "We hadn't decided yet. We were waiting on finding out the gender."

You weren't sure why hearing this fact affected you the way it did. You knew your hormones were going to be all out of balance post-pregnancy but you hadn't expected it to start this quickly. No matter how many times you reminded yourself of the fact, you couldn't remember it or utilize it in a way where you could reign in your loose emotions running rampant all over your heart and mind. Your eyes began to water, one tear falling down your cheek, and then another.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Steve said nervously, his smile faltering slightly.

"I'm already a terrible mother!" You sniffled. "The first thing she's needed from me and I already failed to give it to to her! I'm a failure! They're going to call child protective services!"

An amused and relieved look washed over Steve's face as he leaned over to kiss your forehead.

"You are the absolute furthest thing from a failure." He mumbled against the top of your head before placing another kiss there gently. "Look at what you just put your body through just for her to enter the world safely. She's going to be strong and selfless just like her mom."

You let yourself be comforted by Steve's word and his touch. You let him reel you back to sanity, even though the tears were still trickling down your face relentlessly.

"Lots of parents wait a few days before choosing a name, it's very common." The nurse added, continuing to stare at the clipboard. "I see there was a request for a paternity test, the results are right here confirming Steve is the father. I'm assuming the doctor already told you that?"

Your head shot up, eyes meeting Steve's. His were wide, frantic, and frightened. Apparently your mother hadn't been paying attention because she had waltzed over to the side of your hospital bed.

"Can I take her? I want to hold my grand baby, please." She asked smiling. Her arms were finally uncrossed, ready to pick up the baby, apparently the little angel resting in yours had been the key to getting them to unwind.

"Yeah, can you give us a minute actually? I need to talk to Steve." You asked, handing her over, watching to make sure your mom had her securely before letting go. She walked away with your daughter in her arms, whispering in a sing-song voice as she left the room. "I'm going to spoil you so much! I have the cutest little Fendi onesie with your name on it! Or it will once your slacker parents give you one."

Your mom was closely followed by the nurse who seemed to understand that you needed privacy for what was about to come next. As the door shut, you turned to face Steve, your heart rate beginning to increase. Normally that wasn't something you noticed but you were still hooked up to the monitor, and the beeps coming from the machine began to accelerate.

"Sweetheart." His voice was dry and pleading, he tried to clear it but it didn't help at all. It continued to crack. "Sweetheart I..."

He was looking at you, a terrified expression on his face, apparently at a loss for words. You shifted in the hospital bed, beginning to realize how uncomfortable it truly was. As you did, your blanket shifted, falling off your legs. He got up from his chair, walking towards the edge of the bed to fix it. Each step was nervous and jittery, and you were sure if it was him and not you attached to the machine his would be beating just as quickly as yours.

Just as you were about to speak the door to your hospital room slammed open.

An irate looking Peter Parker stormed through the room. He had a mess of papers clutched tightly in one hand. He grabbed a fist full of Steve's shirt with the other, slamming him against the wall and holding him there with his forearm pushing against Steve's chest.

"I can't believe you're pulling this shit again!" Peter's voice echoed loudly in the room, reverberating off the walls of the small space. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"