Chapter 46 heartbeat

say hello to Susan Viola Carter-Rogers, my and Peggy's daughter.".

Erskine smiled warmly, bowing playfully, "Why, hello, look how beautiful you are, Susan.", and Susan blinked, recognizing his voice as she heard it sometimes in the womb, and cooed quietly,

tilting her head in confusion to see that Erskine isn't big like her parents, reaching out to him hesitantly and carefully.

Erskine smiled, his hand touching Susan's pinky, "Remarkable. You truly are the image of your parents, dear one...",

amazed to see such innocence yet intelligence in her eyes. Susan gurgled happily, growing out of her shell, seeing that Erskine isn't bad at all, and decided to shrink down to an Amazonian baby size.

Steve gasped, watching her in near fright as Susan gave a squeal, reaching to Erskine on Steve's palm, and

Erskine looked up, "May I?", and Steve exhaled, nodding, carefully moving his palm close to Erskine, and Erskine picked Susan up, held her with the air of an experienced father.

"You look surprised.", Erskine chuckled. "I was a father once, remember?", with a warm smile. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot...", Steve said as Erskine nodded and sighed.

"Of course, my wife and children are gone now, some of the earlier victims of the Nazis.", Erskine spoke bittersweetly.

"Well, at least their days are numbered for sure now. We've managed to secure the beach and hopefully will start driving inland.", Peggy smiled with a feeling of hope in her heart. "How are the other beaches going, do you know?".

"I've heard that the Americans at Utah also faced light resistance and have secured their beach.

The British, I think, are finishing up Gold and Sword while the Canadians are still fighting at Juno, but it shouldn't last too much longer since Gold and Sword can support them.", Erskine informed.

Peggy nodded, "That's a good relief to hear.", watching

Susan protectively as she played with Erskine's fingers very gently, gurgling and cooing as she can sense that Erskine is fragile in a way.

"She really is taking to you, doc. She has a shy side and a stubborn side and a playful side.", Peggy replied warmly, and

Erskine smiled softly, "I can tell. Size-changing, it's a good ability.".

Steve replied, "She also has invisibility and something else we never saw before.", and Erskine nodded,

"So, she definitely got the Quantonium and the Serum in her body then.", with a chuckle, "Must have been a hell of a shock when she came out of nowhere.".

Peggy chuckled, "Understatement of the century. I really thought I was dying, and when we realized that

I was in labor, giving birth, we were scared as we truly thought that it was too early, but when she came, she grew up,

clearly full developed, and very much alive...She was the one behind the gas and bellyaches.", with a smile.

Erskine laughed warmly, "Wow. So, the Quantonium or the Serum must have put a high speed on the aging.

Susan's quite healthy, I can tell, and her heartbeat is strong.", with a smile as he tickled Susan's belly, causing her to squeal happily, "And of course, her lungs is quite well-developed. Honestly, I don't think that there's nothing wrong with her, and of course, she's clearly yours.".

Steve sighed in relief, "Thanks, doc. That means a lot to us.", and Peggy nodded, relieved as well, seeing

Colonel Phillips coming up, and he bellowed, "Did I hear gossip or truth about the fact that you gave birth on a battleground, Captain Carter?!".

Susan squealed out of fright, turning invisible, turning on her force fields, and hovered back into Steve's arms,

colliding into him as she grew up back to her giant size, and Steve was surprised for a second before murmuring to Susan,

trying to reassure her as she partially turned visible, whimpering.

Erskine slapped Colonel Phillps's shoulder in anger, "Don't do that,

Phillips! You scared her!", knowing that Peggy would have done that, but Erskine did it first.

"Sorry...", Phillips quickly apologized as even he wasn't that blunt in the head not to at least take how a baby can act when startled into account. "I'm just stunned to hear and now see the truth about the situation.".

"Well, it's not like we were planning this, sir.", Steve quickly spoke up. "We didn't even know she was expecting until the moment Susan was being born.".

Phillips nodded, "So, it was a complete surprise.", and Peggy nodded, "Yes, sir. Her name is Susan Viola Carter-Rogers.".

Steve kissed Susan's forehead, "It's okay, princess. You're safe. The colonel is a good man, strict and grumpy, but he means well.", adjusting

Susan into Phillips' view, and Susan peeked over Steve's arm as she became more visible, looking at Phillips with wary eyes.

Phillips saluted her, "Apologies for scaring you, young lady. I hope you forgive me for my temper.", and

Susan blinked, and snuffled, leaning back into Steve's chest. Steve smiled, "I think she forgives you, but she's not warming up to you just yet. You will have to work hard to earn her trust.".

"Understood.", Phillips nodded as he took a deep breath. "So, I take it we're going to lose our now total advantage on the Krauts considering that I've also been told that Eris is dead?".

"She is.", Steve nodded. "Peggy got the killing blow.

It was wild and certainly took her by surprise as she may not have been aware of our newer gifts since we fought her in Italy. But in terms of advantage,

I can easily stay on the front while Peggy stays with Susan and at least take care of her long enough until Susan will be alright without her mother's milk.".

Erskine nodded, "Newborns needs to be close to their mothers for quite some time, and I believe two months would do it for

Steven's time to fight on his own, and if Susan is comfortable with me by then at the end of the two months,

I can feed her in the mornings while Peggy assists Steven, and they can come back in the afternoons to keep up the parent-baby bond.".