Happy Wife, Happy Life

Life was good. Life was happy. Steve Rogers was happy. Things were good with S.H.I.E.L.D; no one had threatened the earth with tyranny in at least eight months, he'd found love with his fellow Avenger Natasha Romanoff after a lengthy courtship. He had taken care of marrying her soon after. She had then surprised him on his most recent birthday with the news that she was carrying his child. It was by far the best present he'd ever received. By now she was a few months along, and it had been so nice to see his wife so genuinely happy about the future. Especially about something that everyone thought had been rendered impossible.

He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he came that night to see her darting around the kitchen frantically trying to finish cooking dinner. Well, she wasn't darting so much as waddling. By now her stomach had started to grow and her feet had started to swell. The morning sickness was over but she was still prone to the odd moment of queasiness.

"I'm so sorry, honey. I wanted to have it ready before you got home," she said hurriedly. But quickly abandoned what she had been doing to come over and welcome him home. He wrapped her in a tight embrace, breathing in her scent. It was so good to be home.

"How was your day?" she asked, wriggling free of his arms and heading back into the kitchen. She came back holding a chilled bottle of beer which she handed to him before directing him to the couch. Since becoming pregnant she'd been taken out of the field, much to her dismay. The last few nights had been exactly like this one. Her sitting him down, getting him comfortable and then asking a million and one questions about all things S.H.I.E.L.D, but in turn, she spilled the office gossip. She missed it greatly, and at the moment Steve was her only source of information.

"Eh, you know how it is. BS here, BS there, unravelled a nation-wide conspiracy. The usual. Stark and Clint have been deployed to shut it down. Should be taken care of within the hour."

"I wish I was sent to take care of it within the hour," she grumbled under her breath.

"I know you do, honey," he said softly. "But you know it's better for you and the baby this way. How would you feel if something happened to you out there? You'd never forgive yourself if something happened to the baby because you were feeling particularly reckless."

"Yeah, I know. It just sucks. I hate sitting around here doing nothing. I hate having that stupid office job. Who wants to plan the missions? I want to be the one completing the missions!"

"I know," he said again. He hated seeing her like this. He wanted nothing more than to help her, but they both knew that there was nothing he could do. There was no way Fury or Hill was going to put a pregnant Natasha back in the field just because she was feeling useless. They'd laugh me out of the room. And personally, he felt a lot more comfortable with her at the 'stupid office job' even if it meant she was temporarily miserable.

"But remember, this isn't forever. It won't be long and you'll be back as the Black Widow. For now though, you have to put the mission aside and focus on yourself and the baby."

"Thanks, Steve. You always know what to say to make me feel better." He responded by planting a kiss on her head. "I'm going to go and finish dinner." With that she heaved herself off the couch, pushing Steve away as he tried to help her. He sat back in defeat, accepting that this is how it was always going to be. The fearless Black Widow needed no man. He didn't know what he was going to do if this baby was a girl. He could already see her as being exactly like her mother. They'd decided they didn't want to know the gender of the baby until it was born. He was starting to regret that decision a little bit.

Later that evening, Steve had been temporarily called back into the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters to sit in on the mission debrief from Clint and Tony, leaving Natasha once again alone in Steve's apartment. They'd decided a while ago that they should start house-hunting, as they'd both agreed that they didn't want to raise their child in the city. There was just too much potential danger, and they'd been looking to get out of the city anyway. After all the craziness in their lives they were looking for some peace and quiet. A calm, peaceful environment for their child. Away from all the evil and terror that seemed to consume the rest of the world. By that logic they'd also be closer to Clint and his family. Suddenly in the mood, she grabbed her laptop from the kitchen counter and settled in on the couch with a mug of herbal tea. She started her search in the suburbs, and then slowly spread out, ending in the country side. Just seeing the houses online was enough to mesmerise her. They were in the middle of nowhere. Hidden by trees, concealed with a long driveway and a gate, no one, nothing for miles. It looked and sounded absolutely perfect. She couldn't wait for Steve to get back so that she could show him, and tell him all about the perfect life she could picture in her head. It made her giddy with excitement. As Steve had been telling her for months now, it was nice to see her so happy about the future. And she was, she really was so excited for their new life with their new child. Secretly, she was hoping it was a boy, and she thought Steve was too. Neither of them would know what to do with a girl.

Just as she was about to turn in for the night, she heard the jingle of keys in the door. She stood from the couch just as Steve opened the door. He looked tired.

"Well that took longer than expected," she said as he came to her.

"Clearly you've never had to sit through a debrief with Stark and Barton arguing over every little detail," he said with a groan.

"That bad, huh?"

"Oh believe me, it was worse," he said. "You could smell the competition between them. Who had taken out the most guys, who had the better plan of attack."

"Surely it was your plan they followed?"

"Yeah well they weren't interested in hearing that, were they? And besides Stark improvised most of it anyway… Jerk."

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry you had to go through that." She understood, she'd had to sit through her fair share of unpleasant debriefs. She aided by giving his broad shoulders a massage, having to really dig so as to get actually have any effect. Suddenly, a little chuckle escaped from Steve's lips.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Your stomach was pressed against my back, I could feel the baby kicking," he said, a smile had lit up his face as he turned to face her. They shared a loving look as he placed his hands over hers on her stomach.

"That is kinda funny," she said. "Whoa, it's really moving in there."

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" he asked, suddenly concerned as he saw her decrease in comfort.

"No, it's okay, I'll be okay. Nothing I haven't experienced before."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sweetie, I promise I'm fine. I was actually about to go to bed just as you got home."

"You have no idea how good that sounds right now," Steve said, gathering her empty mug and laptop. He placed the mug in the sink and her laptop on its charger. He walked back into the living room to find Natasha struggling to get off the couch.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm fine," she said as she struggled for the third time. "I don't need help, I'm fine."

"Honey, you're not fine. Don't feel that just because you're Black Widow that you need to be strong all the time. You're carrying another person inside of you. You're allowed to be vulnerable."

"No! I refuse to be vulnerable!" she cried as Steve tried to help her for a second time. She swatted his arms away, settling back on the couch. This was way different from her usual mood swings.

"Nat, what's going on?"

She sniffed, blinking back tears. "It's stupid. Me and my stupid pride ruining what's meant to be the best time of our lives. I can't accept the fact that I need to rely on you now that I'm pregnant. I hate it. I feel so… Weak." He knelt in front of her, astonished at what she thought of herself.

"Natasha, pregnant or not you will always be the strongest person I know. You'll always be the infamous Black Widow. Nothing will ever change that. So you're off your feet for a few months, a year at the most. That's not a big deal. No one will think any less of you for taking some time to carry and then have a child. To bring a new life into the world. Everyone is here to support you. You just have to be willing to let them in. And besides, there is no way in hell that I'm going to stand by and let you do this by yourself just because you think you can. Whether you want my help or not you're gonna get it." Natasha was stunned into silence at the end of his monologue. Tears stung her eyes as she looked at the man she loved.

"I love you," she said as Steve sat back on the couch. "Thank you."

"I love you too," he said lovingly. His voice was soft, almost a whisper as he tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "Now can we please go to bed?"

"Yes, of course," she said, this time, letting Steve help her off the couch. With that, Steve then bundled her into his arms and carried her upstairs to their bedroom. He made sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed before climbing in the other side. After no more than a few minutes he felt Natasha snuggle up to his side. She loved cuddling with Steve. She always felt so safe. They could have been in the middle of nowhere, on the brink of death, but she would always feel safe wrapped in his arms. Even in her current state, Steve had said that there was nothing he enjoyed more than the feel of her hugging him back. He claimed there was just more of her to love. She knew it was complete BS to make her feel more at ease, but it did more than that. It reminded her that no matter the time or place or situation, he would always love her. And it reinforced the fact that she too would always love him. She felt her eyes close, and let the feel of Steve' beating heart send her off to sleep.