How about Stephen being worried of telling Tony heâs pregnant?
So, once again, this is all from Earth Child but itâll probably be different once I write it into the actual story. Hereâs a preview!
âPete, you finish up here. Â Iâm gonnatake the Doc back to the compound.â Â Tony turned back to the pileof rubble before him and began shifting rubbish out of the way insearch of Stephen. Â He had been knocked aside during the fight andhad hit his head while skidding into a construction site. Â At least,thatâs what Tony thought had happened. Â Stephenâs comm had gone deadsince he had fallen and Tony assumed he was unconscious.
He dug a little further and finallyexposed Stephenâs cloak, which waved at him, signaling that he shouldprobably keep digging. Â Together, the cloak and Tony uncovered therest of Stephen, discovering that he had, indeed, hit his head. Â Alarge gash above his right eyebrow was leaking blood down the side ofhis face. Â Tony couldnât be sure if he had a concussion and the bestcourse of action would be to take him back to the compound until hewoke up. Â So that was just what Tony did.
âFRIDAY, do a scan. Â Let me know ifStephen had a concussion, any internal bleeding, broken bones, allthat.â
âYes, boss.â
Tony had laid Stephen out on one of thebeds in the med bay and was silently waiting for the results of themedical scan. Â He kept in touch with Peter, who had wrapped things upnicely (Tony was very proud) and had assured him that nothing wasseriously wrong with Stephen. Â He would give him the final resultslater, after they had been given to him.
Stephen looked impossibly still anddeadly beautiful.  His hair appeared darker, falling against ashencolored skin.  Tony had wiped away the blood and grime from earlier,leaving just Stephen behind, but the sorcerer still appeared to bemore pale than usual.  Tony wondered why that might be.  He didnâtappear to have lost that much blood.  Perhaps Stephen wasnât gettingenough sleep or maybe he had been sick.  Tony hadnât noticed itearlier at the SanctumâŠ
âBoss, the scan is complete. Â BothDoctor Strange and the fetus he carries are in perfectly goodhealth.â
Tony stopped dead. Â âTheâwhat? FRI, baby girl, I think you might be malfunctioning. Â Pull up yourcoding for me and let me have a look.â
âI am not malfuncââ
âLet me see.â
Tony pulled up FRIDAYâs coding andbegan searching through it like mad. Â He could find no errors,however. Â Nothing to make her say what she just had.
âSheâs not malfunctioning.âStephenâs voice came from behind him, making Tony suddenly forget thecoding and rush to his boyfriendâs side.
âSteph! Â Youâre okay? Â No concussion? Broken bones?â Tony took hold of Stephenâs hand, taking a seatbeside him and staring into his eyes. Â When Stephen shook his head,Tony let out a sigh of relief. Â âGood. Â You took a hard hit outthere. Â And apparently FRIDAY did too. Â She just said youâreââ
âPregnant. Â I know.â Stephen feltlike he was about to throw up again, but this time it certainlywasnât due to morning sickness. Â This time it was purely to blame onnerves. Â
How could he be doing this? Â How couldhe let Tony know that it wasnât a joke? Â How could he keep Tony byhis side and not frighten him away?
âIf he wasnât frightened by all ofthe things he has seen already, then thereâs no way he would abandonyou over this.â Wong had said. Â And maybe he was right. Â Tonyhad been there with him through so much, and he had been there forTony. Â If the situation had been reserved, he wouldnât hesitate tohelp Tony through this.
Gathering his courage, Stephen metTonyâs eyes. Â He took a deep breath and spoke the words he had beendying to say for so long. Â âIâm pregnant, Tony.â
The only response he got was a veryslow blink and a barely audible âHow?â
Stephen shifted on the uncomfortablebed and licked his lips. Â That probably wasnât his best course ofaction since they tasted like antiseptic. Â âOne of the artifactswas stolen from the Sanctum by a thief. Â I chased him down but beforehe would hand it over to me he smashed it on the ground. Â This gasescaped and I inhaled it.â
âYou got pregnantâŠby inhaling agas?â Tony questioned, unable to follow the story.  It was sooutrageous.
âThe artifact was called the Orb ofTerra. Â Wong and I are still researching it. Â Itâs meant to bringabout the new Earth Child, though we have no clue what that means.âStephen continued to explain, cupping his hands together to try andcease their shaking. Â Nerves, it was purely nerves this time and notdue to his condition. Â âIâm pregnant, for real.â
Tonyâs eyes fell on Stephenâs stomach,not saying anything for a long time. Â He had noticed a gentle curveto it when they had been fooling around in Stephenâs room. Â Was thatthe child? Â âHow far along are you?â
Stephen averted his gaze, his hands nowgoing to his stomach now that he realized Tony was looking. Â Theslight swell was barely noticeable, but the rapid growth of the childmeant that Stephen couldnât be sure exactly when it would be born. âIt happened around a month ago.â
âA month?!â Tony blurted out,startling them both with the volume of his voice. Â âAnd you waitedthis long to tell me?â
âYou havenât exactly been around.â
âTouche.â Tony answered, poutingand crossing his arms over his chest.
A silence blanketed the entire roomuntil the two finally locked eyes once more.
âStephen, Iââ
âTonyââ
âYou go first.â Tony said, perchingon the side of Stephenâs bed before he all but climbed into it. Â Hewrapped his arms around the sorcerer and held him close, pleased whenStephen leaned his head against Tonyâs shoulder.
Stephen took Tonyâs hand in his own andgave it a comforting squeeze. Â âAre you alright with this?â
âMm.â Tony turned his head to kissStephenâs brow, away from his bandaged cut. Â âItâs not exactly likeyou could change it, babe.â
âBelieve me, I know.â Stephen saidsourly.  He would have done anything in his power to get rid of thischild.  It was not something he wanted, nor something he couldimagine himself ever wanting.  But Tony was different.  Tony hadwanted children with Pepperâhad had them, before the future hadbeen erased.  Perhaps Tony could be the father that Stephen couldnâtbe.  âYou want children though, so thisâŠâ
Tony smiled at that. Â âI do. Â Even ifthey arenât my own.â Â Stephenâs child would be his in his eyes. âWe could raise it together. Â I know, weâve both got parentalissues up the wazoo but weâll work through it. Â Weâll figure it out.â
All Stephen could do was nod, his heartbeating at a normal rate once more. Â He watched as Tonyâs handhovered over his stomach before the words met his ears. Â âCan I?â
It was incredibly sweet of Tony to ask,but he really didnât need to. Â âYes.â
A soft smile formed on Tonyâs lips ashe reached out and gently lay his hand over where the child wasgrowing. Â The tiny mound was firm, protective, a temporary home. Â Butsoon the child would be here, in the real world, and Tony vowed togive it a home where it would feel loved and protected. Â âHey,baby. Â Itâs nice to meet you.â Â There was no response, except forStephenâs sharp inhale. Â âI know Iâm not exactly your daddy, but Ipromise Iâm going to love you just like a daddy should, okay? Â Evenif you turn out to be some weird alien, youâll still be mine, becauseyouâre Stephenâs.â
Stephen turned and met Tonyâs eyes oncemore. Â There were no words that could possibly convey the way he wasfeeling right now. Â There was only a kiss.
He covered Tonyâs hand on his stomach,above where their growing child lay.














