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Tony paces in the waiting room; bright white lights blinding his teary vision, thousand dollar shoes scuffing the pristine white tile, and hands wringing together in anxiety as he waits for the news of his mate and infant daughter.
Tony's a new dad, and sure, he's older than most new dads usually are, but that doesn't stop his heart from pounding in his head as the worst of thoughts run rampant in his mind.
Peter's only 22 years old, and he could possibly lose his life giving birth to their daughter. And their daughter could possibly not make it through the birth either. And if neither of them make it, Tony will be left alone to grieve for his young mate and child, wondering why the universe hates him and the people he loves so much.
Peter found out he was pregnant in late July, putting his due date sometime in March, but it's only the beginning of February and their daughter will be born a whole six weeks early, which wouldn't be so bad in most cases of premature births. But Peter's pregnancy has been far from normal.
Tony believes that it's his fault, everyone he loves dies; his mom, Edwin and Ana Jarvis, aunt Peggy, and now, maybe Peter. However, Peter, the sweet and loving Omega that he is, assures him that it's not his fault and then reminds him that fertility problems do, in fact, run in his family.
It's why his aunt and uncle never had children of their own, given his uncle was an Omega and his aunt an Alpha. The fertility issues stem from the Parker side of the family tree, the side Peter's uncle Ben was related to.
Which means that their daughter may suffer the same fate should she live long enough to have a child of her own.
Tony's stomach growls, throwing him from his thoughts. It's been nearly a full six and a half hours since he last ate, but he couldn't possibly stomach the idea of food right now. He'll only throw it up and that would be a waste. So, instead, he continues his pacing, biting his nails nervously, internally kicking himself for the bad habit he picked up from in his youth.
He paces in front of three empty chairs, earning semi-concerned looks from the people in Maternity, not otherwise occupied with worry about the well-being of the child and child bearer in their family.
People are such nosy individuals.
Tony wonders what could have possibly gone wrong in such a short amount of time. He and Peter were happily eating breakfast at around 9 AM this morning when the complications started. Peter got up from his seat only to see stains of blood pooling on the chair cushion. Tony quickly dialed 911, knowing an ambulance would be the safest route to the hospital, even though his armor was faster, he wasn't about to fly hundreds of feet in the air carrying Peter.
Peter was ultimately upset at the sight of blood, still traumatized from their previous attempts at having children. The moment he doubled over in pain, blood rushing down his thighs, the tears began and Tony had to stay strong for the both of them.
The ambulance arrived 9 minutes later and Tony watched helplessly as Peter was laid on a gurney and rolled into the back of the ambulance. Tony stayed by Peter's side as the paramedics did whatever they needed to get both Peter and the baby stable, with the limited amount of resources they had and before they even reached the hospital, the paparazzi was already there waiting for a statement from Tony.
Alpha instincts took over as the crowd made it nearly impossible for Tony to follow Peter into the doors of the hospital, and he said some very unkind things to the press, even made some very rude gestures, all caught on camera. Thankfully, the hospital security arrived to drive them away, leaving Tony to wait in the waiting room of maternity and to send Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey a long and emotional group text message.
Tony sits down finally, after pacing for literal hours, his legs too fatigued to carry his trembling body any longer. However, the nerves need to go somewhere and they ended up traveling into his left leg, causing it to bounce up and down, causing the others in the waiting room to side-eye him. Those who are new, immediately recognize him, but know better than to cause a scene. While other's are annoyed at his leg bouncing, they soon change their expressions, quickly becoming more sympathetic, realizing that he must be worried about someone close to him.
And Tony is worried.
He's so fucking worried.
He keeps the tears at bay and silently prays to a God he doesn't believe in, begging them to allow his mate and daughter a chance to live. Pleading for a miracle that he doesn't lose anyone else that he loves.
Tony mind races and he suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder, from a complete stranger. She's an older woman with long dark hair and equally dark skin. She smiles at him and sits beside him. Her scent is Omega; aged red wine, spicy peppers, and dark chocolate.
"Everything will be okay Mr. Stark." She says, soft words accented like she was born south of the boarder. "Your mate and child are strong, I believe it."
Tony can't bring himself to say anything, but only silently nods his head.
Then his eyes betray him and the tears start falling.
Immediately the woman opens her arms, offering him a hug, and he accepts, needing someone here to support him. Pepper is away at work, Happy is on vacation, and Rhodey is working some deal with government. His people can't be here for him and Peter right now, but he doesn't blame them.
Instead he takes the kind gesture from the stranger, hugs her tight, and listens to her speaking to him sweetly in Spanish.
"Thank you." Tony says weakly to the woman. "I needed that." He jokes, emotions getting the better of him.
"You're welcome Mr. Stark." She says in broken English. "I know becoming a parent is worrisome, but the early years of diapers and bedtimes are worth it." She says with a smile.
A doctor and an Alpha woman dressed in delivery room scrubs quickly emerge from the heavy double doors. The Alpha woman quickly turns toward the elderly Omega woman, beams in her direction and hurries over toward her.
"It's a boy!" She exclaims to her, lifting her up from the seat and bringing her into a hug. "You need to come meet your grandson, Abuela!" The Alpha woman says the word teasingly with a smile.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Abuela says with an equally happy grin. She turns to Tony for a second, pats him gently on the knee and tells him, "have faith Mr. Stark, if not in God then in the science you invest so much in, you'll be reunited with your family soon enough."
Tony nods, watching Abuela and her daughter leave the waiting room to follow the doctor through the double doors. Tony knows he can believe in the science, he funds the damn hospital for Christ sakes, but he also knows that even with the most advanced science, some things just happen.
He knows how long he and Peter waited for the day to have a family together. Which is why they officially tried to start having kids once Peter turned 18.
But this isn't Peter's first pregnancy, and yet this is the only pregnancy he's had to get as far as to coming to term than the others.
The first one was unexpected, months away from when they decided to start trying. Peter was only 17 and a half when he jumped into Tony's arms, happily exclaiming the news, and showing off a positive pregnancy test in his hands.
Sadly, Peter was only 15 weeks when he miscarried. The Omega was distraught for months. But as time went on; as Peter finished high school, hung out with his friends, volunteered around the hospital with his aunt for some required hours he put off last minute, applied for college, did his patrols, and moved half his things into Tony's home; the pain lessened and Peter was feeling better.
It was after Peter's 18th birthday where they decided to actually start trying because Tony wasn't getting any younger and they didn't know how bumpy and cracked the road to parenthood was for them.
Peter was 19 when he found out he was pregnant again. They were both so happy when they found out.
Tony was also incredibly nervous and was already making plans for a change to his will and making plans to make his baby a suit of armor to protect them in an emergency situation. And Peter was worried, of course, of losing this child too, but also cautious. He stopped his patrols the moment he found out about the baby and did everything by the book, to not risk anything happening.
But 23 weeks later, during a routine check up, the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat in the ultrasound and both he and Peter knew that they lost this one as well. Peter gave birth to a still born baby boy the next morning, and they both cried over the loss of their son.
They named him Benjamin Edwin Stark and held a small funeral for him. They also buried him in the family plot beside Edwin and Ana Jarvis, with a little headstone marking the grave.
But now with everything happening so fast and yet so slowly, Tony is just hoping everything goes okay with Peter and their daughter.
More families come and go, some overjoyed with welcoming a new member to their families, others completely distraught with news of complications and death.
It's at 8 PM when the doctor, Peter's doctor, comes out to talk to him.
Tony's on his feet immediately.
"How are they?" Tony quickly asks.
The doctor's face is unreadable for almost a minute, her tired expression neutral to any sort of news she may have for him.
"They're both in stable condition." The doctor tells him, small smile twitching on her lips. "Your mate lost a lot of blood and will be on bed rest for some time to recover from that and the birth."
Tony nods, taking it all in.
He's numb to the news. Stable is good, why isn't he jumping for joy? Because he knows that anything can happen.
"Your daughter is in the NICU for now, she can breathe on her own which is a good sign, but her body temperature is lower than average and the incubator is keeping her warm to keep her circulation in good condition. It was touch and go for a while, but otherwise, everyone is stable."
"Can I see them?" Tony quickly asks. He can't wait any longer. He'll explode if he doesn't see either of them soon.
"Yes you can, come this way." She says, beckoning Tony past the double doors.
Tony walks past some empty rooms, some rooms with crying babies already freaking out their parents, and some rooms so full of happy faces Tony is almost envious. But he has to stay positive, for Peter's sake. And their daughter's sake.
Tony walks into Peter's room, only to see him sitting up and smiling wearily his way.
"Well that was fast, we'd figured you'd still be out for a while longer Mr. Parker." The doctor says.
Peter just chuckles and shrugs nonchalantly, but he and Tony both know, his healing factor is probably working on overtime since Peter had to have surgery.
Tony stares at Peter, noticing how pale and exhausted he looks behind the smile. He wants to run and hug him, hold him tightly in his arms and never let go. But he also doesn't want to hurt Peter either.
Instead, he tentatively steps forward, circles around the hospital bed, and waits for Peter to let him hug him.
Peter opens his arms, IV needle hanging from the inside of his left arm, and invites Tony in for a hug. Tony quickly engulfs his mate with his arms and hugs him gently, careful not to hurt him.
"It's okay Tony, I'm fine now, see?" Peter tells him softly.
"I was so worried." Tony mumbles. "I thought I'd lost you." He sobs.
"You're stuck with me sweetheart." Peter says with a quiet chuckle.
"Good." Tony sighs, feeling a weight finally lifting off his shoulders.
As the night draws on, Tony convinces Peter to sleep some more, so that he'll be strong enough to go see their daughter the next day in the NICU and Peter agrees to the terms, however, he forces Tony to sleep as well. And he does, for a little bit, but then his Alpha instincts tell him to stay awake to keep watch over his Omega.
Tony wheels Peter into the NICU at 8 AM the next morning in a wheelchair. Peter declined using it but Tony gave him a glare and an unhappy growl to which Peter sighed and sat down, grumbling to himself saying he was feeling 100% better.
When they reach their daughter, who's in the far corner of the NICU, they both stare in awe at her.
She's small, adorable, and bright pink. Her head isn't misshapen from traveling down the birth canal, and is perfectly round with tuffs of chocolate brown curls on top. Her body is pudgy and she looks like a little doll. But what catches Tony's attention is that her eyes are wide open, staring at them with large brown orbs.
"Oh my god." Peter whispers, voice wet, and eyes already full of tears. "She's beautiful."
"She's got your nose." Tony says, smiling down at his daughter.
She may be hooked up to a bunch of machines to make sure she's stable and healthy, but she still looks absolutely perfect.
"She's got your eyes." Peter points out and Tony lets out a small laugh.
Her eyes are a deeper shade of brown than his, but they're still the same.
Tony watches as Peter carefully sticks his hand into one of the holes cut out of the incubator, allowing parents to touch their babies, and rests his hand beside her head.
Peter's finger moves and gently strokes the infant's arm, soft and warm and perfect.
Tony carefully reaches over to put his hand in the other hole. His finger gently rests in his daughter's palm and she closes her tiny delicate fingers around his, gripping it tightly, as if she's reassuring him that she's okay.
Tony tries not to cry, but allows the dam to break. He's waited so long for this, he can finally relish in having a family now. All the complications are over. Peter is alive and healthy and their daughter is too.
"She needs a name." Tony whispers. "Something unique and all hers." He adds.
Peter only nods in agreement, senses too wrapped up in paying attention to their daughter.
Tony's head searches through all the girl names they looked at online over the past few months, ever since they found out they were having a baby girl.
"I like the name Isabelle." Peter suddenly says.
"I like that name too." Tony agrees with a smile. "Isabelle Regina Stark, my little princess." Tony coos. Peter chuckles, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I love it." Peter says. "However..."
"However?"
"I'm kind of jealous she gets your last name, maybe we should fix that?"
"We can hyphenate?"
"No, I mean, what if I were to have your last name too? So I won't be the only one left out?"
Suddenly it hits Tony.
"Are you trying to propose?"
"Yes." Peter answers.
"I think, that's my line." Tony says with a wide grin. He bends down to kiss Peter gently on the lips and he notices that Isabelle is smiling as well.
The area around them smells of relief, love, and happiness. There are smiles all around and Tony can only thank whatever deity is out there that his mate and daughter are alive and healthy.