A/N: Hey my wonderful Greekies! First of all, happy birthday to James Buchanan Barnes! Yes, I know, it's been a while since I've updated this fanfic and it's mostly because I've strayed from the Marvel fandom a bit (fanfic wise) and I've moved back to where it all started: Harry Potter. Well, more specifically, the Marauders-Era. I have a book I've grown a tad bit too passionate about, and I would appreciate it if you would read it if you are a Potterhead! It's called "Love is Complicated" and it's a Marauder's-Era fanfic. You don't have to of course but I will probably have a more stable updating schedule for it. I'm so sorry to the people who have been reading this as well! I know it took forever and I am deeply sorry. I love each of you for even skimming through this book! If I've made any mistakes with the storyline, or you don't like how something played out, feel free to tell me!

Also, I know some people are curious, but for the "Love is Complicated" fanfic, I have outlined the entire story, and there will probably be around seventy chapters if I include each December special as a chapter. Without them, it's about forty chapters all together :). Also, my updating schedule after this is: "Flower Gleam and Glow" (Marauders), "Love is Complicated" (Marauders), and then "Summer Holiday" (Marauders).

*Hey guys! So important note here. In this stage of my mom's pregnancy, apparently, I wasn't developing right, which made me born later than expected, (August) plus I got some information wrong in the first chapter but I'm not going to talk about that right now. I might edit it later. Right now, my mom is technically 17 weeks pregnant, but they couldn't tell how long that was in a normal human being, because 34 weeks was too far, and 17 was too close, so they settled somewhere between.*

"Hey! Tony, Tones wake up," Steve whispered, shaking Tony gently, trying to wake him up without being too harsh. As usual, Steve had woken up earlier than Tony. He was an early bird, after all, being pregnant wasn't going to change that. So far, being pregnant only changed his eating habits and his emotional range ... and his physique, but that was a given.

"Five more minutes mama," Tony grumbled his face in his pillow.

Steve rolled his eyes.

"I'm not your mother Tony, I'm the mother of your child though," Steve whispered. He kissed Tony after he had rolled back over, getting his head from out of his pillow.

Tony woke up a bit more after the kiss, his eyes getting a little less sleepy. "Okay, I willin to act like a human. What you want Steebe?" He asked. His words were slightly slurred with sleepiness -- plus he had had some alcohol the night before. Steve thoroughly enjoyed seeing a drunk Tony confess his love to Steve; it was the highlight of his night.

It wasn't like Tony got drunk often. Well, Steve was sure he probably drank often being the fantastic celebrity he was, but Steve himself had never seen Tony drink enough to get drunk. Seeing Tony drunk for the first time made him laugh so hard and even though Tony probably hadn't seen him laughing while being dragged to bed by Steve. The memory would stay with him for a while without people reminding him.

"Do you even know what today is?" Steve asked, smirking.

"Uhhhhh, Wednesday?"

"No, it's your birthday dumbass."

"Oh yeah, May 29th, how old am I again?"

Steve sighed and rolled his eyes, "You're twenty-eight," Steve said, seriously though, how could a man forget his birthday? That's outrageous! Everyone remembered their birthday! Call him childish (twenty-five was not childish thank you very much), but birthdays were meant to be filled with fun, not forgetting your age and the whole birthday all together

Tony smiled sitting up. "Right, that's awesome," he said lazily, getting up to find a shirt to wear.

Steve raised his eyebrow, confused as to why Tony wasn't excited for his birthday. He and Bucky back in the 1940s loved their birthdays, they would always wake the other one up by jumping on their bed screeching, "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY!" Steve didn't think twenty-eight was that old, so Tony couldn't use that as an excuse. Even up into the last era of seeing Buck, how old were they? Twenty-four and twenty-five? Or were their last birthdays when he was twenty-three and Bucky was twenty-four? Either way, they still acted like happy children, well, as childish as you could be while being a soldier in World War Two. Even Mrs Barnes and his mama got excited when it was their birthday and got really happy, and they were way older than Tony!

"I thought you'd be more excited about your birthday," Steve confessed, holding hands under his belly bump as he stood back up from Tony's bedside. He was going to crouch over and shake Tony but quickly realized that his baby bump would not allow him to do such a crazy thing.

"Yeah, well, my birthday wasn't really special when I was a kid. Dad bought me an expensive gift then went to go do some work shit for the rest of the day, and, if I was lucky, my mom would spend the entire day with me," Tony said shrugging, trying to avoid Steve's horrified eyes. The sad thing was that everything Tony said was true. His father never paid attention to his birthday but hell did the Starks have the biggest Fourth of July party. Every. Single. Year.

His birthday? It was a political event, genius Howard Stark's son's birthday is today! Hooray! He would have a big party that didn't have any emotion in it, probably not a drop of emotion unless it came from his mother. Hell, the party wasn't even about him most of the time, of course, the invitation said, "Come Celebrate Anthony Edward Stark's Birthday!" But, even young Tony knew this; it was a political event for Howard to look good and for Howard to go and meet new people to expand his business and make him richer.

Oh, but the Fourth of July party? Oh, that was emotional! Tony could feel the emotion Howard put into the party and how it was a private event with sentiment attached to it.

"Well, this year you're spending it with me and the bub. Happy and I organized things for you, and you have to do it," Steve said with a tone that meant, 'It's final, no arguing.'

Tony nodded, wondering what the hell Steve was up to. Obviously, he knew birthdays were supposed to be special and they were probably special to Steve, but Tony couldn't bring himself to be ecstatic about a thing that wasn't even important to him. He followed Steve through the hallways and to the landing deck.

"Alright what are we doing here?" Tony asked, squinting as he tried to spot a plane in the sky.

"Just wait," Steve said, and suddenly his baby boy started kicking him. Hard. "Tones!" Steve exclaimed, then he grabbed Tony's hand and gently placed it on the spot where their bub kept kicking. Tony smiled and kissed Steve, and as he did a plane started to land.

The wind whipped in Tony and Steve's faces as the plane landed, and once it did a familiar face stepped out.

"Rhodey!" Time exclaimed happily, going to hug his best friend, "I thought you were working!"

"Well, just because I'm 'working' doesn't mean I have to miss my best friend's birthday," Rhodey said, clapping Tony in the back. Rhodey then went over to Steve and hesitated for a minute, as if wondering how he should greet the very pregnant man.

"You can hug me you know, it won't hurt the baby as long as you don't squish me, or a handshake will do," Steve said as Rhodey gave him a soft hug. Steve noticed They looked down at Steve's bump as if asking permission to talk to his baby.

"Yes, you can talk to him and he can hear you," Steve said in consolation as Tony walked over. Steve held his hands under his belly for support.

Rhodey crouched down to Steve's baby bump. "Hey there, it's your Uncle Rhodey kid, you're gonna be a fine man one day alright? And I hope your ego is smaller than your dads. Well, any ego is smaller than your dads, but I hope it's just about half the size, which is still big, but way better," Rhodey said.

Steve noticed that Tony flinched slightly when Rhodey said, "Uncle Rhodey," but he passed it off as shivering from the wind being whipped in their faces.

"It will be if I have anything to do about it, let's go inside," Steve said, taking a hold of Tony's hand and walking in.

They got inside and while Steve was going to get his sketching things since they were going to go somewhere, Rhodey sparked up a conversation with Tony.

"So, how far along is he?" Rhodey asked. The last time he was here he didn't bother asking so might as well ask now.

Tony measured it out in front of his stomach, moving his hand closer and further from his stomach before he gave up. "He's at the point where he can't stand my chewing and that our kid likes to kick his lungs in the middle of the night, waking him -- and me -- up," Tony said, thinking back a few nights when Steve woke up gasping and Tony thought he was going into labour. It turned out to be their baby boy thinking it'd be an epic idea to annoy Steve and kick his lungs in the middle of the night. The little shit. It gave Tony a scare but, hey, Tony was a little shit too so at least his kid was taking after him, right? Well, hopefully, the kid wasn't exactly like him. Tony knew he was a screw-up, he didn't want his kid to be a screw up too.

Rhodey chuckled as Steve came back, his art supply bag over his shoulder. "Let's go," Steve said with a smile on his face, walking to the door.

Tony insisted on driving even though it was his birthday and Steve gave up trying to convince him not to. Instead, Steve sat in the passenger seat and gave Tony directions on where to go while Rhodey sat in the backseat and Happy in the back as well.

"Can you tell me where we're going?" Tony whined as the three other men in the car groaned. This was the third time Tony asked the same question in ten minutes. Steve thought Tony would've been tired of asking the same question by now but no, Tony had to be an annoying little piece of shit, a handsome one though.

"For the third time, no Tony, it's a surprise," Steve sighed, rubbing his stomach gently. He had gotten used to his bub moving around a lot in his stomach along kicking and hitting him too. Steve swore that his kid already had super strength by how hard he kicked sometimes. He wouldn't be surprised if he did, he was the son of a super-soldier.

Steve's blood then ran cold, what if his kid didn't have the serum? What if he had all of the heart maladies, allergies, asthma. Steve then shook his head. Even his little bub did have the horrible things he had back in the thirties, hopefully, modern medicine could help with it. He was already amazed by modern things anyway. He remembered the day Tony showed him YouTube, quite fascinating thank you very much.

Tony pouted again as Steve turned around as best he could with a pregnant stomach to face Rhodey,."Did he act like this before he learned he was going to be a dad?" Steve didn't notice Tony grip his steering wheel tighter when Steve mentioned him being a dad.

"Oh hell yeah, pouting every second, whiny, big head," Rhodey joked as everyone, including Tony, in the car laughed.

"I thought you loved me Rhodey!" Tony cried out, only one hand on the steering wheel while the other was clutching his chest. Steve was tempted to grab Tony's other hand and firmly place it on the steering wheel as well, but he settled for giving the one-handed driving a look.

"Of course I do," Rhodey said. "But you're still hella annoying. Steve hasn't had to deal with you when you're sick yet, and Steve, be prepared."

Steve chuckled and moved back to a more comfortable position in his seat, he gave Tony a few more simple extractions before saying, "We're here!"

Tony parked the car and looked around the small cluster of shops. "Which one?" He asked impatiently and Steve gestured for him to get out of the car.

Steve grabbed Tony's hand and led him down the street with a bright smile on his face, Rhodey and Happy following. Tony was a little confused but when he saw what Steve and Happy had done he was stunned.

A small, quaint ice cream shop had been brightly decorated in traditional birthday colours. Tony's mouth dropped when he saw the beautiful banner hanging above the shops that said, "Happy Birthday Tony Stark!" With handwriting Tony swore was Steve's. There were streamers everywhere, and he could make out three present bags on a cute table in a booth.

"Do you like it?" Steve whispered, a bright smile on his face.

"Are you kidding? I love it!" Tony yelled, kissing Steve passionately on the lips. If he could, he would pick Steve up and swing him around, but seeing as Steve was very pregnant and Tony was very not able to pick Steve up, he settled for making the kiss deep and passionate. The two only broke away when Happy cleared his throat. Thanks a lot, Haps.

"Sorry to mess with this —" Happy paused as if wondering how to word Steve and Tony kissing like they were in the bedroom. Tony would've gone with "sexy moment" but Happy went with a more formal approach. How sad, "— passionate moment, but we should go inside before the press figures out we're here. I think we have about an hour or so to ourselves before someone spots you. Even with the added security."

Tony shrugged and wrapped an arm around Steve as the quartet went inside the small shop. Tony moved his hand lower to rub the side of Steve's baby bump and smiled a bittersweet smile. He would love to keep his baby, he truly would, but he also didn't want to have his child hunted and for the press to have eyes on him 24/7. He didn't want his kid to live the chaos-filled life that he lived with the added side effects of being a Captain-fucking-America's baby. He didn't know how to bring up the subject with Steve though. He was terrified of how Steve would react -- if he would react in a way that made it seem like Tony wanted to get rid of their baby when he didn't. He just wanted what was best for the kid as a father.

Tony was taken aback by himself. Wow. That was kind of deep. He had never seen himself as a father and to have the words come so naturally in his thoughts? It was just going to make letting go of his baby harder.

Back to reality though, they took their orders. Tony got a cherry lemon sorbet with chocolate syrup, Rhodey got vanilla and chocolate, Happy got strawberry, and Steve got ...

"One strawberry with sprinkles, and one chocolate with caramel please," he said.

The kind lady got their things and Tony paid because, "I don't care if it's my birthday, I'm the billionaire here, I have money to spare, plus I'm going to fight anyone who tries to tell me no." Steve very well would've fought him, but he was pregnant, so he couldn't really do anything.

They sat down in the booth with balloons and presents and ate their ice cream. Tony was curious so he asked, "Hey Steve-o? Why'd you get two? I'm just wondering, not that I'm, like, shaming you or anything because you're technically eating for two but why?"

Steve suddenly stopped stuffing his face with ice cream and put his spoon down, mixing the sprinkles with the ice cream slowly. "I'll tell you later. It's your birthday, I don't want to ruin it with my thing, but open your presents!" Steve said, changing the topic from him back to Tony.

Tony was still a bit suspicious, but he went to go get his presents anyways.

From Happy, he got a small trophy that said, "World's best boss," and from Rhodey a trophy that said, "worlds best friend." Tony looked suspiciously at the two because the trophies looked like they were hand-sculpted and hand-painted.

"You two made and planned these didn't you?" Tony asked a stern look on his face, as he looked at Happy and Rhodey.

"Yep," Happy said.

Tony's stern face went away and ran out of the booth and to the other side to hug both of them. "That's awesome! Thank you two!" He said, his signature sunglasses were now slightly crooked from hugging the two, but Tony didn't care.

"Yeah yeah, love you too moron," Rhodey said, patting Tony's arm where it was hugging him. Tony let go and went to go sit beside Steve, who handed him a package with a small smile on his face,

"This ones from me," Steve said softly, handing the package over.

Tony took it and was tempted to shake it, but he had a feeling that he shouldn't. He cautiously undid the ribbon -- which he kept because of sentimental value folks! He didn't have any presents from his dad then held sentimental value, but he did keep everything from his mom -- and opened the box slowly as if something in there might jump out at him, but when he saw what was in there his jaw slightly dropped.

There were two small picture frames, a videotape, and a small note.

Tony hesitantly picked up one of the picture frames as if it might shatter into a million pieces in his hand. There, in the frame, was the latest ultrasound of their baby boy, it was a small picture frame, but Tony could see the words, "Our Baby Boy," engraved on it. Before Tony could turn to thank Steve, he waved his hand to the present box.

"You'll want to thank me after you've seen everything," Steve said with a soft smile.

Tony nodded and picked up the next lecture frame, this time larger. His mouth formed a perfect o when he saw what was in it. There was one of Steve's beautiful, grey-scale sketches of him, Steve, and their baby boy bundled in a blanket with small clouds on them as if it were heaven on earth. "Family," was written at the bottom of it in delicate cursive. Tony nearly started bawling and even though Steve thought it was because he was touched, it was something different. Of course, Tony was touched and extremely happy and grateful, but he was nearly bawling his eyes out because he knew deep in his heart, that he and Steve were never going to be able to be a happy family, not with their baby. Never.

Next was the videotape, which Tony turned to Steve for help since he didn't know what was in it. It had a label, but all the label said was "baby," so that wasn't much of a clue for Tony, since "baby" could mean multiple things.

"I had JARVIS put all the interactions with you and our bub so far in there, we can watch it when we get home if you'd like," Steve said, wincing a bit because their bub had kicked him. Very. Hard. "Well that's mean, do you want to see yourself or something bub?" Steve asked his stomach, rubbing the spot where his baby boy kicked.

Tony chuckled, "Yeah, that'd be nice," he said before taking out the card, he didn't read it aloud, but in his head in Steve's voice,

"Dear Tones,
Happy Birthday! Now, I don't want to make this cheesy, or you're going to laugh at me, but I still want to get my point across.
I love you, I love you so, so, so much I can't bear it, and I know you love me and the bub too. I know you're going to do everything in your power to give our boy the life he deserves and I love you for that, and I always will.
I'm always going to love you Tony, Alright? I only ever felt this way about one other person and that was Bucky, but he's passed on. I really think you're my one and only you know? And the only proof I'm ever going to need is the baby boy inside of me right now.
I love you Tony Stark.
Love, the guy you knocked up,
Steve-o,"

The letter was signed with a flourish, and Tony couldn't help but tear up at it.

"Love you too Stevie," Tony whispered as he kissed Steve on the lips. Tony swore he saw Steve flinch slightly when he called him Stevie, but Tony thought it was because it was Bucky's nickname for him. Tony was right but at least Steve's reaction was better than the first time Time tried to call him that.

"I love you too Tones," Steve muttered against Tony's lips.

The couple heard a click and saw that both Rhodey and Happy had taken a photo of him and Steve kissing and were both grinning.

"Now that's going in the family album," Rhodey said grinning.

Both Tony and Steve rolled their eyes at Rhodey and went back to kissing. Tony showed Rhodey his middle finger which made Rhodey chuckled as he took another picture.

When they got home, Steve had another surprise waiting for Tony.

"Is that a seven-foot-tall cake?" Tony nearly shrieked (okay fine, he did shriek like a little girl who lost her lipgloss to the trash can) when they got inside, "It's fucking taller than me!"

Steve grinned because even though Tony was the dominant one in their relationship, he was still around four inches shorter than him. "Yeah," Steve said, rubbing his stomach absentmindedly.

Rhodey and Haply smirked and bobbed their heads as they looked at the cake. It was red and gold, Tony's favourite colours, it had a lovely red base with old accents which made it took stunning, it probably had over twenty layers, and most importantly, had "Happy Birthday Tony," written in it in what seemed suspiciously like Happy's handwriting.

"Wow," was all Tony had to say, staring at the cake, "That's, like --" he did the calculations in his head but Steve cut him to it.

"Forty-five people," Steve said proudly, "And, by the way, while you were out drunk last night, Happy and I baked the top tier of the cake, so it should taste good. That is if Bucky wasn't lying about my baking skills," Steve said grinning.

"Shouldn't we, like, eat dinner first?" Tony said as he stared down the huge cake.

Rhodey rolls his eyes, "it's four since he did you care about eating dinner before shoving junk food down your throat?"

"I don't want to get fat just because I ate too much cake," Tony muttered, examining the cake, walking a full circle around it. "Can I cut it now?" Tony asked, coming back to stand by Steve.

"Nope," Steve said as Happy ran off to find a lighter or some matchsticks. "First we light twenty-eight candles and sing happy birthday, then you can dig in," he said grinning as he looked at the candles on the cake. There were candles only on the front side, so Tony didn't have to walk around the entire thing just to blow out the candles.

Happy returned with a long lighter and handed it to Tony. "Light it up," he said.

Tony indeed, lit up the cake and Steve started to sing happy birthday. Tony blushed when they all sang, but he was able to pick out just Steve's voice and damn, was he good at singing when he put effort into it. Tony had always listened in on Steve singing soft lullabies in his native tongue, and in English, and his voice was beautiful, and Tony meant beautiful.

"Happy birthday to you," They finished and Steve leaned down to whisper in Tony's ear, "Make a wish Tones, and don't say it out loud, or it won't come true."

Tony squinted his eyes shut and thought hard. 'I wish this will all work out in the end, that Steve, our baby boy, and I will live as a happy family -- and Steve's boyfriend Bucky spiritually if that can happen somehow, or maybe he's out there. I'm open to ideas. No matter what happens though, I wish we can be all one happy family ... please.' Tony took a deep breath and blew out all the candles in one swift gust of air.

The quartet cheered and Tony got a knife and cut the cake. He wanted to taste the top tier that Happy and Steve baked first, so they had to get a small ladder for Tony to reach the top.

"Red velvet?" Tony asked, as he set the cake slice onto the plate and set it on the table.

"Each tier is a different flavour, there's red velvet on the top, then chocolate, then strawberry, then vanilla, then cherry, then lemon, and so on," Steve explained as Tony went up to cut the cake for everyone else there.

Tony nodded as he got down for the last time, giving a slice to Steve, "Alright I'm going to try it in three, two, one!" Tony stuffed a forkful of cake in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

Both Steve and Happy held their breath as they waited for Tony's verdict.

Tony's eyes lit up with surprise and joy as he chewed, "his id heavy hood!"

Steve rolled his eyes as he got some cake on a fork. "Chew your food before you talk -- and before you swallow," he said his mouth felt the fork in his mouth and chewing. To his surprise, it was actually decent.

Tony chewed the rest of his cake and swallowed it with a big gulp, Steve was surprised that Tony didn't choke on that big of a piece of cake going down his throat. "That was really good!" Tony exclaimed, shoving more cake down his throat.

Everyone smiled as they saw Tony happily shoving more and more cake down his throat.

Tony finished that slice soon and called for seconds as he went on to get more. They all tasted each and every flavour of the cake. Each of them was magnificent. After, they went to sit, or plopped, down in the living room.

Tony patted his significantly larger stomach, "I'm going to get far," he groaned, sinking dower into the couch.

"Look at me!" Steve said, pointing to his baby bump. It looked larger than normal, even though it was pretty big normally.

"Are we even going to have room for dinner?" Rhodey asked, leaning into his couch.

"No clue," Happy replied, deeply regretting how much cake he had.

"I mean, we were going to have an entire line of different types of cheeseburgers -- from every place around the world but if you don't want to," Steve said. Smirking he resting his hands on his belly.

The three other men immediately perked up and Steve grinned at the success of capturing the attention of three very different men with just the mention of cheeseburgers. It was oddly satisfying, like when you sharpen your pencil and the shaving stays all in one piece.

"Cheeseburgers? Every kind? Around the world?" Tony asked, his excitement growing with every word. "Oh, my fuck I love you Steebie!" Tony screeched. He wrapping his arms around Steve and hugging and kissing with him all over, being careful not to harm their baby.

Steve laughed and tried to pry Tony and his lips from off him. "Yeah yeah, I even kept this from Happy," he said and he was quite proud of that. Keeping secrets from Happy was quite hard when your boyfriend basically relied on Happy for everything. Security, assistant, friend. Speaking of assistants, he really should talk to Tony about getting one -- preferably female because there is a need for a strong female voice in this mansion. Or maybe Steve is just homesick for a strong female person in his life, first, it was his mum, then Mrs Barnes, then Peggy. It wasn't that he didn't love Tony, or that Happy was bad, they just really needed estrogen in the house.

"I thought you were kidding!" Happy exclaimed,

"Nope, they should be here around seven to get started, so we have around two hours of doing nothing. Unless you guys have any ideas," Steve said, his hands going back to his belly bump. He looked down to see, and feel, that their baby boy kicked, and Steve saw the little bump of his foot.

Steve rubbed the spot softly and didn't pay attention to the conversation until he heard, "Go to the pool?"

In all of the three almost four months he's lived in this house he's been into the pool once, and his aquaphobia hasn't quite left him completely. Even the idea of going back knit the water made him get shivers all over his body.

"The sun shining, it's hot, and it's a cloudless sky, perfect pool weather," Rhodey said completely unaware of Steve's aquaphobia.

Tony looked hesitantly over to Steve, who clenched his teeth together slightly. But, since it was Tony's birthday and it really was beautiful outside, Steve just nodded his head, telling Tony, 'Just say yes.'

"Awesome! Steve-o and I are going to go get changed. Rhodey, there's swim trunks in the spare room if you need it, and you probably do," Tony said getting up. He wrapped his arm around Steve and leading both of them away to their bedroom.

"Are you sure about this?" Tony whispered softly to not be heard by the other two men. Tony saw how Steve froze when Rhodey mentioned the pool as if memories of the plane crash were playing out in front of Steve's eyes. Granted, it wasn't Rhodey fault for bringing up the topic of the pool. If anything it was Tony's fault for not saying something about Steve's aquaphobia sooner.

"Yeah, of course, I am," Steve whispered back, not wanting to ruin Tony birthday, "I'm sure it'll be good for the bub, maybe he'll even like me being in the water," he added as they got to their room. Steve went to his drawer and decided to amuse Tony by picking out the star-spangled swimming trunks. They were a bit tight around the waistline, but Steve was sure he could make it work.

Steve decided to go into the bathroom to change, not that he minded changing in front of Tony. They've seen each other naked plenty of times, he just wanted to see how ridiculous he looked in the mirror. He quickly stripped off his old clothes and slipped on the trunks, admiring his baby bump and his trunks in the mirror.

"Well, I don't even look half bad," Steve said, smirking, rubbing his hand up and down his baby bump. He could see stretch marks on his stomach from growing too fast, but he didn't really care. He loved how he looked and that was that. Plus, most of the time his stretch marks faded out to the point where you had to be deliberately looking for them on his body to find them. Steve found that out a few days after the serum after he found his body littered with stretch marks, but his body treated them like normal scars and injuries, so they healed quick enough. Even if he did have permanent tiger stripes, he would still wear them like a boss. You looked how you looked and you were handsome or beautiful just the way you are.

He would actually be kind of sad if he didn't have any stretch marks from his pregnancy. He thought the marks you got from were like trophies for carrying a real human being in your stomach for nine months -- or five or six in Steve's case. He kind of wanted them as a reminder he cared for his baby in his stomach for months and should love the baby forever like the stretch marks that would forever stay in his body.

He knew his mom didn't have that many stretch marks sicne he was a tiny baby. He was very small, which meant people didn't believe his mom was even pregnant for a while. He remembered how at night when he was real little, he would cuddle with his mom to sleep on their small bed. He remembered how sometimes his mom's shirt would ride up a bit and he would see the tiny stretch marks on her stomach and think, 'they're beautiful'.

Steve walked out of the bathroom to find Tony grabbing a towel, and from Steve's point of view, he had a lovely view of Tony butt. Obviously, Tony had in bright red swim trunks, but the real kicker was the words across his butt in big gold letters saying--

-- "It's my birthday," Steve read squinting slightly at Tony's butt. "Seriously Tony? How long have you owned that?" He asked with an exasperated look on his face but he was smiling a little bit.

Tony grinned and shook his butt, kind of twerking, "Longer than you'd be comfortable with. Like it?" He asked, turning around and smirking.

Steve rolled his eyes and noticed Tony had two towels, one for him and one for Steve. "Yeah yeah, Tones, give me my towel and let's go," He said as Tony practically skipped up to him and handed him a white fluffy towel. The two went off to the pool, where they found Happy and Rhodey, already putting on SunTan lotion.

Steve sat down in one of the chairs and watched as Tony flipped Rhodey's hand to his cheek, effectively putting a handful of sunscreen on his cheek.

"Hey!" Rhodey said, smearing sunscreen on Tony's face in turn. Tony grinned and swaggered over to Steve, who had his arms on his stomach and was smirking at Tony.

"You fight like kids," Steve said in a half-exasperated and half-matter-of-faculty tone. He was sure if somehow the two transformed into toddlers again, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference for how they acted; they were so childish around each other.

"Yeah I know I do, is this safe for the baby?" Tony asked, showing Steve a bottle of suntan lotion that he must've gotten from their room when Steve wasn't looking.

Steve looked at the bottle, which said it was safe for babies and children, so it was probably safe for pregnant mothers -- and fathers -- as well, "Yeah, it looks fine."

"Can I put it on you?"

Steve was a little confused by the request but he allowed Tony to rub the lotion onto his stomach anyway. He moved his arms from off of his bump to his sides to make it easier for Tony.

Tony squirted a generous amount of lotion on Steve's stomach, then grinned, "You know, this looks a lot like c-"

"Nope," Steve said, his ears going pink, "Don't you dare say that around our baby."

Tony just grinned a toothy grin and went back to gently rubbing the lotion on Steve's skin. Apparently, their baby boy liked his little massage and kicked Tony's hand, or maybe that meant he didn't like it. Steve wasn't too good at telling the difference yet.

Steve smiled at the bump he felt and let Tony finish massaging the lotion in. When he was done Tony squirted the lotion on himself and handed the bottle to Steve, "I can get your back for you if you want," he offered.

Steve nodded and squirted large amounts of suntan lotion on his skin. He found out early in his life that his abnormally pale Irish skin got burned really fast. Bucky would always scold him for not putting on a hat, covering up, or putting on sunscreen before going out. Of course, Steve would always roll his eyes at Bucky but then leap onto him and kiss him (which was the only way his past five two self could reach Bucky's lips without pulling his shirt down) all of the worries and burns forgotten.

Tony and Steve were finished putting on protection (which they certainly didn't do when they were conceiving their baby boy), Tony immediately cannonballed in the water un-gracefully, effectively splashing with Rhidey and Happy, who were already in the water. Steve just stood a few inches from the edge of the large pool, supporting his stomach with his hands and looking into the pool hesitantly, his eyebrows furrowed.

Steve tried to convince his mind that this wasn't like the freezing cold, iceberg-chunked ice he crashed in back in 1940. He tried to convince his mind that he'd be safe. He tried to convince his mind that this would be fun, but, he failed miserably. The only thing he could see when he saw the water in front of him was the unforgiving icy blue waters he crashed into, the water that nearly killed him if it weren't for his unnatural serum enhanced body.

Tony noticed Steve still at the edge of the water looking down. 'Well, at least he isn't three feet away for the edge, that's improvement,' Tony thought as he swam to Steve.

"Showing off your star-spangled ass Steve-o?" Tony joked grinning.

Steve just rolled his eyes and smiled, "No way Tony."

"You alright to get in?"

Steve still looked hesitantly in the water, then out to Rhodey and Happy, who was floating away in floats that Steve had no idea how they got.

Tony swam away and got another float for Steve, then came back. "I swear the water isn't at all like the water you crashed into," Tony promised, "It's what? Ninety-five degrees out? That means the water is around seventy-five degrees, it's not cold at all. Plus look at me, Happy, and Rhodey, we're fine and I promise you'll be too." Tony reached out his hand to Steve.

Steve hesitantly reached out for Tony's hand and stuck half his foot in the water doing so. Steve waited for the feeling of white-hot ice, then followed by numbness, but it never came. Instead, the water was decently warm, but still refreshing in the summer heat.

Steve walked in slowly, feeling a bit safer now that he was closer to Tony, and his bub seemed to like it too. Steve nearly rushed over to be in Tony's arms and just stayed there for a minute, getting used to the water. He waited for pain and numbness to come, holding his breath for fear his lungs to fill out with icy cold water, but it never did. Instead, he felt the fresh waves of the water, the heat from the sun, and the heat from Tony.

"See," Tony said, running his fingers through Steve's hair, "It's fine, now, you can get on the float and come with me to the deeper end with Happy and Rhodey, or you can sit in the edge, or whatever you want to do, as long as you're comfortable with it."

Steve silently got on the pool float, which was kinda nice because it was one of those with a covering on it, shielding you from the sun, but it had a plug so it could fill it with water slightly, but it, and you, wouldn't drown. It felt a lot like a car seat and Steve manoeuvred the float so it followed Tony's swimming and the two went into the deep end of the pool where Happy and Rhodey were. There, Tony got in Steve's float too and wrapped an arm around him.

"So what was that all about?" Rhodey asked, leaning back in his own float, laying down and soaking up the sun. Steve was jealous for a bit, with Rhodey's dark African-American skin, he was able to actually sunbathe without getting sunburned as easily and turn pink or red.

Tony looked to Steve for permission to talk about his aquaphobia, but Steve explained it himself.

"I have aquaphobia," Steve explained, "It's because of the plane crash incident. Ever since then, I wasn't able to get near any body of water larger than a puddle. Tony helped though."

Tony chuckled, Helping you is an overstatement. I helped you get in the water once the first night you got here, and today."

"Yeah, but at least you helped. I bet if it were anyone else they just wouldn't get in the pool, or, if they're bad, they'll call me a big baby and tell me to jump in."

"Well if anyone told you that I would personally fight them."

"Of course you would."

"You know it."

"You're an idiot you know."

"Of course I am Steve-o, at least I have a little common sense, while you went off to fight in the army as a twink."

Steve stared at Tony incredulously.

"You talk in your sleep," Tony said, shrugging, "Usually you just mutter the pledge of allegiance every night--or maybe the national anthem if I'm lucky-- but sometimes, you mutter things from your past, plus everyone knows you were a twink."

Steve looked to Rhodey and Happy for confirmation.

"It's true," Rhodey said shrugging, "Considering I'm in the army, I'd know."

Steve just sighed and buried his face in the crook of Tony's neck in embarrassment. Steve was delighted to find that he fitted perfectly, so he just ended up suckling and kissing Tony's neck just to spite him. Tony held back a moan as Steve just so happened to kiss his sweet spot. Steve smiled into his kiss as Happy and Rhodey rolled their eyes at the couple. But, since it was Tony's birthday, they didn't want to do anything about it.

Steve came up from the kiss and was delighted to see he had left a love bite on Tony's neck. Tony noticed and proudly wore it, turning to kiss Steve on the lips.

Steve broke away and asked, "Hey, what's the time?"

Tony looked to Happy with a pleading smile on his face. Happy sighed and went to go check the time on his phone.

"Five forty-five," Happy said when he returned.

"Great, so we should get out of the pool at quarter past six just to get ready," Tony said, thinking back to when Steve said that the people were coming at seven. He was being responsible just for the moment because; cheeseburgers.

Everyone agreed and they had fun in the pool for the next forty-five minutes, Tony and Rhodey (sometimes even Happy or Steve) were goofing around. They jumped into the pool at random times just to flip a float over (no one flipped Steve's float over though, no one really wanted to find out what Steve's panic attacks were like), splashing each other, the typical stupid stuff they do. Eventually, Steve got bored of his float and paddled it over to the edge where he got out and sat on the edge of the pool -- the part that was lined with a seat in the water.

Steve was still wary of the water but scooted over so he could be near the rest of the group. His water-covered stomach felt nice and cool in the heat and the bub seemed to like it as Steve could feel him moving around delightedly in his stomach.

"So, does our kid like water?" Tony asked, swimming over to sit by Steve.

Steve smiled warmly and rubbed his stomach, something he was getting quite used to doing now

"Yeah, I think he does," Steve said.

Tony smiled and sat by Steve, wrapping an arm around him and kissing him softly. Steve smiled in the kiss and pulled his hands up to cup Tony's face and deepen the kiss. Steve could vaguely hear Happy scoffing and Rhodey telling them to get a room, but he couldn't care any less.

Ting broke away grinning and he gently trailed his hand down to touch Steve's baby bump, pressing a kiss there too. This caused his head to go underwater and Steve chuckled slightly at how Tony's hair poofed up due to the water.

Tony came up and the two smiled at each other before Rhodey and Happy splashed them lightly with water -- not enough to really be called a splash, but still enough to catch the couples attention.

"What?" Tony asked annoyed, his face sounding up slightly.

"It's almost time to get out," Happy said, already getting out of the pool.

Tony pouted while Steve shrugged and grinned at how much like a baby Tony looked while pouting. "I don't wanna get out!" He whined like a baby (proving Steve correct that yes, Tony was a big baby) crossing his arms.

Steve rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "We can take a shower together if you'd like," he whispered in Tony's ear, which got Tony scrambling to get out of the pool. "Called it," Steve said grinning as he too slowly got out and got his towel.

After a steamy — figuratively and literally — long shower in their gigantic shower, Steve and Tony came out looking their best. Tony had insisted on getting a whole set of male maternity clothes tailored to Steve once his bump started becoming too big for his normal clothes, so Steve was wearing one of the fancier shirts and pants where the waistbands had been altered. Tony has already complimented him immensely when Steve wore the outfit, and Steve had heavily complimented Tony in return. The compliment probably going straight (a bad way to put it) to his boyfriend's massive ego. Tony was obviously wearing his birthday boy best (not the naked one), three-piece suit and tie to eat burgers in; how typical. Ask him to go to a meeting early in the morning in front of government officials though. He'll show up with sweats and maybe a nice shirt if Happy can wrangle him in one.

Steve smiled when he saw how giddy Tony looked when the plane landed and everything smoothly came out. The chefs, the ingredients, everything. Steve nearly laughed at how Tony was vibrating with excitement and he could see Rhodey and Happy holding back chuckles.

They had the entire thing set up outside since it was a beautiful day and the view was to die for. Steve was sure he had drawn the view they had from the mansion a million times, but he could never truly capture the beauty of it. Just like how he could never truly capture what their baby would look like, the real deal was always more beautiful and better.

They sat at the table set up (there was a white tablecloth, and Steve just hoped it didn't turn yellow, red, and green by the end of the night) and had the food served to them. Delicious gourmet burgers cut served in quarters because there were quite a few.

Steve scrunched his nose up at the smell and focused a little more on Tony and his reaction. Steve knew he would eat like he was famished later. It was just one of the many perks of pregnancy, one moment you lose your appetite, three seconds later you're eating the entire kitchen's contents. At least the smell didn't make Steve vomit on the spot like other foods. Tony and Steve were sitting across from each other and Steve watched the way Tony's face moved with an artist's eye as he bit into the quarter of his burger. Steve smiled when Tony's eyes lit up and he moaned quite audibly, he also watched as Tony shoved the entire rest of the quarter in his mouth and laughed when he looked up at him with a surprised face. Steve laughed a little bit harder at the face Tony made when he tried to smile. It was a cross between cringing, smiling, and growling.

Steve dug in his food and he had to admit it was pretty good. Sure, he didn't enjoy it as much as Tony did. Tony was already on his last quarter and his moans sounded like they belonged on a porn website; he was so happy with the taste. But Steve still quite liked it. Steve looked to Rhodey and Happy for their reactions to Tony's erotic moans and they both looked completely unfazed by it; they were probably used to Tony's Tony-ness by now.

Steve finished his plate way later than Tony, who was already almost done so his second plate (Steve had the stupidity to wonder for a moment if Tony worried about getting fat). About two hours later (after Tony actually started talking) everyone finished eating and were talking about life. Steve rested his back against the cushioned chair and placed his arms on top of his belly bump. His little bub seemed content with cheeseburgers seeing as he wasn't kicking Steve's lungs out.

"So," Rhodey said as he kept a close eye on Tony, who was asking one of the servers for more wine, "How long 'till you're due?"

Steve looked at his stomach as if he were trying to mentally ask his bub when he felt like coming out. "Well, the doctors don't really know anymore. With the serum and all, our bub's developing faster than a normal baby, twice the speed, but that would mean his due date would be in be June. But then the doctors said that he wasn't developing as fast anymore, so maybe it'll be in September," he explained.

Rhodey nodded, but it was clear he barely understood a word of what Steve was saying. "Okay, but you keep calling him a 'bub' and Tones keeps calling him 'kid'. Have you guys not decided on a name yet?" Rhodey asked, and Steve heard Happy groan and saw him roll his eyes.

Steve chuckled nervously. "Well, we haven't yet," he explained sheepishly. He and Tony really needed to get on that, or they would have a nameless baby on their hands. Of course, Steve had been looking at those books filled with baby names, but none really stood out to him. There was the idea of naming him after someone, but Steve couldn't think of anyone other than Bucky or Peggy or his mom Sara. But, Bucky was potentially one of the bub's dads, and Peggy and Sara, were, well, female. Peggy's full first name was Margaret, and Steve didn't know how to make that a boy name. Maybe one of the Howling commandos? Certainly not Howard, Tony had made it clear enough he didn't like his dad.

Steve would have to talk to Tony about it later, for now, he just kept a close eye on Tony as he hilariously became drunker and drunker. Steve decided to let him, it was his birthday, after all, might as well let him have some fun before the horrors — joys — of parenthood came along.

All three men watched as Tony started garble out drunk things, Steve looked to Rhodey and Happy and silently asked them to help him take Tony up to their room. Happy and Rhodey got the gist and after Steve thanked all the servers and chefs (he was raised t be a polite boy — well, as polite as he could) before heading up to his room. Everyone excused themselves at that point, and then Steve slightly jumped at a disembodied voice.

"Hello Mister Rogers," JARVIS said, "I see Mister Stark has, once again, gotten drunk," he added and Steve swore he cold hear JARVIS chuckle.

Steve chuckled himself though. "Yeah, again, it's his birthday though, I don't see why it's wrong," Steve said, suddenly remembering all the drunk nights he had with the Howling Commandoes and Peggy.

"Yes, well, I'd listen to Mister Stark's talks when he's drunk. I already told you the night before. Most, if of the things he says is true," JARVIS said.

Steve thanked JARVIS before he focused on Tony, who was grinning, "Steeb? Am I allowed to get drunk?" He asked, his words slurred.

Steve just chuckled. "Yeah, it's your birthday, of course, you're allowed to get drunk, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't change into your night things" Steve explained and laughed lightly as Tony scrambled out of bed and to the drawers. He was seemingly happy to please Steve.

Steve supervised Tony for a moment, and once he thought Tony was "sober" enough to at least figure out how to change, he went about with changing himself. Once he got back, he found Tony on the bed (in the correct clothes, thank god, the other night he managed to try and fit himself into a suit) and eager to please. Steve crawled in bed, minding his belly bump before he felt Tony press up against him and hug his belly bump softly. Steve figured Tony wasn't about to go to sleep anytime soon, so he asked JARVIS if they could apply a movie — The Wizard of OZ animation.

Steve watched the movie before hearing Tony mumble words to his stomach. He looked down and saw Tony with his face near his belly bump.

"I'm going to give you the best life, the best life that's right. You'll away from the spotlight though, away from the mean crowds. You will be happy. Yep, best life," Tony said, his words slurred, though, Steve wasn't sure if it was from alcohol or exhaustion.

Steve just smiled as he rubbed his stomach and put his hand on Tony's back. "I know you will," he said. He assumed Tony meant their kid would be spoiled rotten, but out of the way of political matters which he was fine with. He wasn't really sure what else Tony could mean, but he knew that whatever it was, it would be good for their baby.