"Aren't you just the sweetest little thing in the world, hm?"

Esté felt like she was walking on clouds when she held her best friend's baby boy for the first time, feeling his heart beat in her arms and listening to his soft breaths, his tiny whimpers and restless yawns as he squirmed in her hands.

Katy had given birth just two weeks ago, however some complications after her birth meant that she and her son had to stay in hospital for an extra week, finally getting to go home as a family of three seven days later once they got the all clear.

Esté and Alicia were more than respectful of Katy and Steve's wishes to have the first few days alone to get used to things, though they couldn't help but be bursting with excitement to meet the newest addition to the wild family that they were now all a part of together.

It was a Friday night when Tony offered to take Steve out for some dinner and drinks with the other guys, partly wanting to offer his friend some respite from life with a newborn and also wanting to get the lowdown on what exactly he had to come in just a few weeks time himself.

Esté's third trimester had been a blessing. She was in good health and still working on what she could from the comfort of her own home, Tony being adamant that she needed to rest her body as soon as she hit thirty-six weeks. She was happy to agree and take a break from her busy schedule to get any last minute bits sorted for their new arrival, adding small pictures in wooden frames to the walls of the nursery and going back and forth over a long list of potential names.

It almost didn't seem real to the couple that they'd have a baby with them in around two weeks, but when Esté looked down into the small bassinet in Katy's living room and saw Dawson Rogers for the first time, it all became suddenly very real.

Somehow, Katy's ebony hair hadn't been passed on to her son, the boy being born with golden hair and bright blue eyes. According to his mother, he was a complete and utter dream, not crying unless he was hungry and sleeping peacefully most of the day and night, only waking up his parents once or twice in the early hours of the morning.

Esté didn't struggle to believe he was an angel, feeling tears pool in her eyes as she gently rocked him back and forth by the fireplace, in complete awe of the beautiful boy that fell into a quiet sleep once she'd picked him up.

"I'm so happy for you, Katy. He's gorgeous, absolutely perfect," Esté smiled at her friend who was sitting wrapped in a blanket on the couch.

The house was filled with congratulations cards and flowers, small gifts and teddy bears, laundry that hadn't been done yet and a stack of bottles that needed to be sterilised in the kitchen. It was chaotic to say the least, but Esté didn't feel anything but peaceful inside that home, four walls filled with so much love and happiness it didn't matter whether their clothes were clean or they hadn't cooked themselves a proper meal in a week.

"You can't even tell he's my kid, he looks just like Steve," she laughed and took a cup of hot cocoa from Alicia who brought a tray through from the kitchen.

Esté smiled down at the baby, "Yeah, there really are no prizes for guessing who his Daddy is."

Katy had been more than willing to share her experience on giving birth, though Esté was quick to decline the offer. As much as she wanted to be prepared, she knew that no two births that were ever the same, and so what happened to Katy would more than likely not happen to her, too.

She'd heard horror stories about labour and delivery as well as tales of not feeling any pain at all, and although Esté was forever the optimist, she wasn't naïve enough to believe that she would sail through it all with a smile on her face.

Still, the premise didn't worry her. Her parents were staying in town and Leonie had reassured her daughter that she would be there through it all if that's what her little girl wanted. Esté was convinced that so long as she had the support from her mother and Tony, everything would be absolutely fine.

"It's alright little one," Esté whispered when Dawson started to whine in her arms, gently brushing her fingers across his cheek to calm him down, "You're okay, it's alright."

Katy just smiled, "You're going to be an amazing mother, Esté."

She turned to look across at her friend and pouted with raised brows, "You think so?"

Alicia grinned and nodded in agreement, "Absolutely. You just have this awe about you, he's so comfortable in your arms. He cried when I tried to hold him."

Esté laughed and wandered over to the window, bouncing her arms slowly to keep the baby asleep. The sun had set a while ago and dark winter clouds were rolling in across the city, a sky full of what looked like thick rainfall imminent overhead.

She peered out and searched for the stars, her mind always wandered to try and remember the names of the constellations that Tony had drawn with the ends of her fingers a million times before.

Her eyes spotted a trail of stars that seemed familiar, though Esté's attention was quickly pulled away from the dim sparkle when a huge crash echoed across the streets, yanking her gaze away from the sky and over to a giant spaceship rattling through Central Park.

"What the hell is that?"

The girls jumped up from the couch and joined Esté by the window, all three of them wide-eyed and shaking in terror at what they could see just in the horrifyingly near distance.

The sound ricocheted through the ground and started a wailing of car alarms and pulled the tarmac on the roads, shaking scaffolding on buildings and making the bricks of old homes like Katy's creak and groan.

Dawson began to cry and Katy didn't hesitate to take her son into her arms and soothe him, leaving Alicia and Esté stood paralysed by the windowsill as all they could do was watch the greenery a few blocks away become clouded in grey dust and smoke.

Esté grabbed her phone from the corner of the couch when it began to ring, answering it immediately before rushing back over to the window.

"Tony, please God tell me you're alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm just- shit," there was a loud clang down the line and Esté winced at the sound, "I'm fine. Are you?"

"Yes," she breathed frantically, "We're safe at Katy and Steve's. Please do not get inside that thing Tony, whatever you do."

"Well, technically I'm not inside it."

"Oh Jesus Christ..."

Esté knew exactly what Tony meant without him having to say anything more. As soon as she saw whatever the hell it was crush half of the trees in Central Park, she knew there was no way Tony wasn't going to be involved somehow, and knowing him the way that she did, the outcome of it all terrified her.

"I have to get this thing out of here, it's dangerous and-"

"Yes Tony, it's so dangerous. Please can you let someone else handle this, just for once?"

There was a long pause before she heard his voice again. What sounded like the world going to ruin echoed down the line and Esté could do nothing but swallow a lump that had risen in her throat and wipe tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Sorry sweetheart, I have to do this. I have to keep you safe."

"I need you here to keep me safe, please just-"

"I refuse to let my child be born into a world where this keeps happening, honey. I promise I'll be back in no time, you won't even know I've been gone."

"Tony please," she begged, her voice breaking as she covered her trembling lips with a shaking hand.

Her mind instantly fell back to the last time Tony had left with a promise to return, and she'd so very nearly lost every piece of herself with the thought of losing him, too. It had been the darkest form of torture she'd ever endured and there was no part of Esté that felt strong enough to cope with any of it again.

The sound of Esté sobbing down the phone was almost enough to make Tony turn back. He swore he wouldn't leave her again, wouldn't put his life at risk and bet on his safety, but the love he felt for her and their unborn child knew no limits, and Tony felt a desire to do anything necessary to keep them both safe, and that included leaving them behind.

"I'm doing this for us," he said calmly, "For us and for our beautiful baby, alright? I love you Stella, I love you so much."

"Please don't go," she choked, hating that his voice sounded more like a goodbye than a see you later, "I need you here, I can't do this again Tony."

"Everything is going to be fine, honey," Tony did his best to convince himself as well as Esté, "By the way, I changed my mind. I think it's a girl."

The line went dead and Estélla felt her world turn black. She watched as the grey shape ascend from Central Park and disappear through the clouds, nauseous at the thought of Tony clinging onto it somewhere, being dragged to the depths of space and time without a way home.

That same familiar numbness consumed her all over again, only that time, the kicking of her baby inside her stomach reminded her that she was still alive, and had no choice but to carry on.

It was an hour before the front door rattled open and Steve and Bucky dragged themselves inside, covered in bruises and with a few splashes of blood across their faces, though still in one piece, and still on their planet.

Esté could do nothing but watch in distress as her two best friends ran to embrace their other halves, relief filling the room at their safety yet Estélla getting to taste none of it, again.

"Are you alright? How's the baby? Is he OK?" Steve said, kissing Katy and walking over to the bassinet where he son was now sleeping soundly.

"He's fine," Katy nodded, "We're all fine, we're-"

Steve looked away from her, gazing past her shoulders and straight at Estélla who stood alone with one hand resting on her bump, dried tear marks on her red cheeks and glossy eyes.

The guilt hit him like a train for the second time, hating the way that Esté looked so empty, so emotionless with nothing but grief behind her blue eyes.

"Estélla, I'm sorry. We all got split up, I couldn't get hold of Tony, I-"

"Help him."

He nodded quickly, "We'll do everything that we can, right Bucky?"

"Of course," he said from across the room, one arm around Alicia's shoulders.

Estélla didn't believe either of them.

Steve offered to walk Esté home and despite her declining multiple times, he insisted, the two of them leaving the house together to make the short journey a few blocks away.

The entire walk was silent, Steve spending most of the time wondering what he should say, what he could say. The relief he'd felt when he'd seen his son safe in his bassinet was like nothing he'd ever felt, but in the same breath, he understood completely why Tony had made the decision that he did, also feeling liked he'd do whatever it took to keep his partner and child safe.

"Will you be alright tonight? Katy and I will come over in the morning, I don't want you to be by yourself."

Esté unlocked the door and looked at Steve who stood one step down outside her home, looking up at her with a bruise around his eye and bloody knuckles. She didn't like seeing her friend that way, but would've preferred to see Tony broken and bruised than to not see him at all.

"Bring him home to me, Steve. You did once, you can do it again. I can't have this baby on my own."

Steve swallowed, the thought of never getting to meet his son and having Katy give birth all alone making his skin crawl and heart bleed. Tony had given enough to the world and he sure as hell deserved a happy ending, but Steve knew that there had always been a desire to prove himself buried deep within the genius' soul. He just hoped that one last mission would be enough.

"I will, I'll-"

Steve was concerned that Estélla despised him from the way her eyes pierced straight into his bones, but when she interrupted him by throwing her arms around his neck, he soon realised that hatred had never been inside of her at all.

He held her for a long moment, rubbing his hands across her back soothingly and giving her a gentle squeeze. He'd grown to love her as a friend just as much as Katy did, so not only that, but for Tony's sake too, he would do everything in his power to bring that family back together.

Esté looked up at him and dried her eyes with the back of her palm, "Please, Steve. I need him."

He just nodded, "I know, I'll make this all better. I promise."

The words meant a lot, but Estélla just wasn't sure that she believed in promises anymore.