Hello all! I feel like I am very late to the Marvel family. I've always liked Marvel, but recently I watched all of the films and didn't realise how many of them I hadn't watched before. I've also recently watched Agent Carter and started Agents of SHIELD so I'm very invested in the Marvel Universe right now. I've had this idea swirling round in my head for a while and had to write it down. I know there are lots of stories that have been written about Peggy/Steve or Peggy/Daniel, but here we go...I'm not following any story lines from Agent Carter or any of the Marvel films. Don't get me wrong of course I love Peggy and Steve...but there's something about Peggy and Daniel that is just so sweet!

I do not own Marvel or any of the characters mentioned. I will update when I can. Enjoy!

15th June 1946

Peggy woke with a start; panting slightly, forehead and the back of her neck clammed with sweat. One of her hands slowly came up to wipe the beads of sweat from her brow. It took everything in her power not to start crying right there and then. She took a shaky breath in and propped herself up slightly. Peggy had been having the same dream pretty much every night ever since that dreadful day when Steve had crashed the plane. The dream always started with Peggy sitting at the bar in the Stork Club, a neat Whiskey in one hand, the other hand placed delicately on the bar, her manicured fingers tapping impatiently in a steady rhythm, waiting for someone to arrive. All of a sudden, someone saying her name would catch her attention and she would turn to see her darling Steve standing there. His hand would be outstretched to her, gesturing to her if she would like to dance with him. With an adoring smile on her face she would accept his offer and soon they were on the dance floor, Peggy teaching Steve how to dance. They would dance for some time, to slow jazzy songs, her head resting gently against his chest, the two of them swaying from side to side. Suddenly Peggy would lift her head, her eyes locking with Steve's and just before she could do or say anything, Steve would say to her. "I'm sorry I crashed the plane. I'm so sorry." And all of a sudden out of nowhere Steve would disappear and the vision of a plane crashing would always end the dream and jolt Peggy awake.

Just as she was back into a steady rhythm of breathing, the familiar sound of a babies wailing captured Peggy's senses. With an almighty heave she threw the covers off of her and swung her legs round off the edge of the bed, a move that had been well practiced since becoming a mother. Her breath hitched slightly as the cold wooden surface came into contact with her bare feet. Her feet scrambled around, swinging from side to side to try and come into contact with her slippers. Once retrieved and slipped on, Peggy planted her feet solidly on the ground and slowly stood up. She padded over to her wardrobe to grab her dressing gown and she slung it over her shoulders. The cries from the room down the hall grew somewhat louder, and Peggy made her way to the nursery. She creaked open the door and stepped inside, making her way over to the small crib in the corner of the room after turning on the small lamp. Peering over the top of the crib she was met with piercing blue watering eyes staring up at her. As soon as the little babe locked eyes with her mother the wails turned into quiet whimpers as she placed one of her little fists into her mouth. In one swift movement Peggy scooped the little girl into her arms and she sat herself down into the rocking chair next to the crib. As Peggy settled herself and leaned back into the chair, a small smile appeared on her lips when the baby snuggled up into her chest.

"Now, now…my darling girl. What was all that fuss about?" she asked in a whisper, stroking the soft dark blonde hair on top of her baby's head. Her daughter simply looked up at her and whimpered once more, a small tear gliding down her cheek. Peggy gently brushed her thumb across the smooth skin of her daughter's cheek to wipe away the tear. "Did you have a bad dream Sarah?" She asked, knowing she would get no response; well not one she could understand anyway, but Peggy knew her voice soothed and calmed her little one. "Don't worry. I had a bad dream too my darling…" She cuddled the babe closer to her chest and continued to rock in the chair. The motion of the chair was very soothing indeed, and after a while of Peggy chatting quietly to the baby in her arms, she could feel herself nodding off. Just before she truly fell asleep with her daughter in her arms, she jolted herself awake and looked down. She was so content, so beautiful, and Peggy couldn't quite believe that she had given birth to such a perfect baby. Peggy leant her head down and kissed the crown of her baby's head. Her heart swelled seeing her daughter sleeping soundly in her arms, snuffling a little as she breathed in and out evenly. She carefully stood up from the rocking chair and gently placed her daughter into the crib, moving her little stuffed bear closer and pulling her knitted blanket over her to keep her warm. "Sleep well my little love." She said quietly before making her way back to the door. She turned back one last time to look at her daughter, leaning against the doorway.

Tears threatened to fall from her brown orbs, a feeling of sadness rushing through her. If only Steve was here to see their beautiful daughter. If only. Those were two words that Peggy had thought about a lot since she found out she was expecting and even more so since little Sarah had been born. Her darling, Sarah Evelyn Carter was born at 3:21am on 3rd January 1946 and weighed in at a healthy 6 pounds 10 ounces. She had been born with wisps of dark blonde hair on her head, crystal clear blue eyes and the most beautiful long eyelashes that Peggy had ever seen. As soon as it was announced to Peggy that she had a daughter, she knew instantly what name she wanted to give her. Sarah was Steve's mother's name, and it felt very fitting to name her after her paternal grandmother, to keep some of Steve's memory alive. Evelyn was the name of Peggy's nana, whom she adored. A special name for a special little girl. Peggy sighed a little to herself as she continued to stare lovingly at the baby in the crib. Why oh why did Steve have to be such a hero? Even after a year of him being gone, the heartache she feels for him is still there, and she wonders if it will ever go away; if she will ever be able to move on. Peggy's pregnancy had been long and hard, but she counted her lucky stars that she had wonderful people around her and that she didn't have to face it alone. Steve had crashed the plane a mere few weeks before VE Day and a month or so after the monumental day, Peggy was offered a job across the pond in New York, to work for the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR). She arrived in the Big Apple and soon after she started working there, Peggy felt like she had lost her purpose. She felt like she contributed a lot to the War and to Project Rebirth, and being stuck doing paperwork and running for coffee and lunch orders was certainly not what she planned on doing for the rest of her life. However, finding out she was carrying Steve's baby had reignited that sense of purpose inside of her. When Peggy found out she was pregnant it certainly was a massive shock. There were no symptoms at all really, well maybe apart from feeling a little sick now and again, but she just put that down to tiredness and maybe skipping a meal or two. One morning in the office, Peggy had stood up from her desk and a sudden rush of nausea and light-headedness caused her to faint. After the embarrassment of waking up to see all of her colleagues staring at her, Chief Dooley had insisted she take the rest of the day off and go to the doctors immediately. After nervously telling the Chief her news, she had expected him right there and then to let her go from her job, but since she had come very highly recommended to him by Colonel Phillips, he had made a very rare exception, provided that she would find appropriate child care for her baby. She would cross that bridge when it came to it.

With her job still in tact, she knew she had to fix her living arrangements. Peggy had originally been sharing a small double room with a lovely girl named Colleen. Their living arrangements worked well for them at the time due to their schedules being completely different and only having one bed in the room was not an issue. Soon after finding out she was expecting, she sifted through every newspaper she could find and luckily had found an advertisement in the paper for a two bedroomed apartment that was surprisingly very cheap for the area and well within her budget. Peggy immediately called and arranged a viewing, not wanting to miss out on a good opportunity such as this. An older couple, George and Isabella, owned the building and lived in the ground floor apartment. Peggy had later found out that George's father had been a very wealthy businessman and was the original owner of the apartment building. His father had left it to him to do with as he pleased. They had decided to move into the ground floor apartment and rent out the other two. Within five minutes of looking around and chatting to the couple, both George and Isabella and even Peggy herself knew that this arrangement was going to work well. Peggy had been honest with the couple about the baby from the start, well as honest as a woman could be in her situation. She had told George and Isabella that her baby's father had died in the War and she was currently working for "The Phone Company". That's what she called the SSR to people outside of her profession. She daren't tell them whom she really worked for. When little Sarah arrived, Isabella had offered to babysit for Peggy while she was at work. Since she was at home anyway and only lived downstairs, it made sense for her to help out. Peggy had grown very fond of George and Isabella, and they had grown fond of Peggy. One evening, when Peggy was half way through her pregnancy, the couple invited her around for dinner and drinks, non-alcoholic for her of course. They enjoyed a lovely meal and after a few drinks, George and Isabella opened up to Peggy. The couple revealed that they had had a daughter, Natalie, many years ago but unfortunately passed away when she was about twelve years old in a terrible accident. They didn't divulge any more information about the accident, but went on to discuss how they never had any more children after such a tragic loss. Peggy soon found herself opening up to them also. She spoke of her life back in England, her overbearing mother, her adoring father, and Michael, her older brother who was sadly killed in action. She told tales of the two of them as children playing in their back garden, them growing up together and how much she adored her older brother. Peggy still kept in contact with her mother and father through letters and phone calls. To say Peggy's mother Amanda was disappointed in her daughter for having a child out of wedlock was a bit of an understatement. She knew her mother wouldn't take it well and dreaded telling her parents. However, as soon as her parents had received photographs of their granddaughter in the letters, she had gotten a phone call from her father telling her how gorgeous his granddaughter Sarah was. He had also complimented her on using her Nana's name for Sarah's middle name and was proud that she was keeping her Nana's memory alive. He reassured her that they would never disown Peggy for her circumstances. However, despite this, Peggy so badly wished that her brother were still alive. He would know what to say to her to make her feel better. He would understand; he always did.

There was also Howard and the Jarvis'. Howard Stark was Peggy's old friend whom she met during Project Rebirth. He had been delighted when Peggy made the move over to New York and was looking forward to catching up with his dear friend from across the pond. Upon hearing the news of the baby, his search to find Steve became more frantic, but every lead they thought they had would be a dead end. One day when Howard was updating her on their findings, she blurted out that he should call off the search all together. She was fed up giving herself false hope. Of course Peggy was extremely grateful that Howard cared about Steve as much as she did and was doing everything he could to find him, but Peggy felt like they should stop kidding themselves. Steve was gone. Howard quite enjoyed the Uncle role that he had taken on when little Sarah was born and Peggy enjoyed teasing Howard by calling him 'Uncle Howie' to baby Sarah in front of him. She loved to see him squirm. They always had that easygoing banter between them, but there was nothing more there between them than just friendship. Howard had introduced Peggy to his butler Mr. Edwin Jarvis and his wife Ana. The two of them were certainly opposites of each other. Ana being far more outgoing and confident than Mr. Jarvis, but his timid nature and sensibility complimented their marriage well. Ana had been extremely helpful during Peggy's pregnancy. She had made Peggy some lovely maternity dresses in gorgeous patterned material, seeing as her normal clothes no longer fit her. Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis had welcomed them into their lives with open arms and Peggy was rather fond of both of them.

Most recently, Peggy had met a delightful and vibrant young lady called Angie Martinelli, who worked as a waitress at the L&L Automat, a little diner near the office. She considered Angie to be a friend even though she had only known her for a matter of weeks. She had seen Angie from afar at the diner numerous times before when collecting the lunch orders, but they only properly started talking after Peggy had stood up to a rather rude customer who made a very vulgar comment about Angie and had slapped her on the bottom. She had gone over to the man and dug a fork into his side, threatening to stab him unless he found a different place to eat and to tip generously. When Angie found out, the next time she crossed paths with Peggy she had thanked her profusely; Peggy merely shaking her head and saying that there was no need for thanks. Many a time Peggy would spend her days off having lunch in the diner with Sarah sitting on her lap, Peggy munching on the delicious food they served; key lime pie was Peggy's guilty pleasure and she even let little Sarah try a teeny tiny bit of the smooth cream, to which she got most of it smeared over her face rather than in her mouth. When Peggy was in the diner with Sarah, Angie spent many of her lunch breaks sat in one of the booths with them, telling tales of her audition successes and disasters and stealing cuddles off of Sarah. Angie was an actress trying to make it big on Broadway and from what Peggy had seen, she knew that one day she would make it big. Peggy had a lot of respect for her; taking rejection after rejection and still turning up to work at the diner to put in her all to be able to get by.

And of course there was Daniel Sousa. He worked with Peggy at the SSR and had suffered a lot during the war, having lost half of one of his legs in battle. Despite all of this, Daniel was very good at his job and Peggy had never looked at him any differently, just like he never treated her any different just because she was a woman. Daniel was the only one in the office who had ever stood up for Peggy when the other men were rude or vulgar towards her. Peggy faced constant sexism in the workplace but from her tough exterior it looked as though their comments never fazed her. The men were just jealous of the fact that a woman could ever have been a field agent. There was one Agent in particular, Agent Jack Thompson, who really grated on her. She didn't know why she let him bother her so much. It was probably because he constantly reminded her that woman in this age should be at home playing the housewife role and were no longer needed once the war was over. The news of Peggy's pregnancy would only heighten the vulgar comments, and when the news did somehow circulate the office, Peggy; for the first time in her life, felt very self-conscious. They weren't exactly being quiet about it. Daniel could sense her discomfort and one afternoon when she was doing the lunch run, he had offered to go with her and on their walk to the diner; he had congratulated her on her news. He had an idea of who the father was but he daren't say anything. If Peggy wanted him or anyone to know she would divulge that information on her own accord. There had been rumours of Peggy being Captain America's girl, the newsreel with her picture in Steve's compass hadn't helped matters during the war, but she simply turned a blind eye to the fact that the men in the office were clearly gossiping. They were exactly like silly teenage girls. Well, all of them, except Daniel Sousa. There certainly was a mutual respect between them, and she very much valued their friendship.

Pushing these thoughts of her friends from her mind, Peggy hadn't realised how long she had been standing there in the doorway, staring into space. She brought her hand up wiped a stray tear that had fallen down her cheek and retreated from the doorway and closed the door gently. She made her way back down the hallway to her bedroom to try and get a few more hours sleep before her alarm would go off for her to start getting ready to go to work. She hoped she would drift off pretty quickly, if not, it would be an awfully long day for her on just a few hours sleep.