Natasha sat on the toilet seat staring at the pregnancy test in horror. It was Positive.
She and Clint had been in a relationship for almost a year after the mission with Loki. Clint had been there when her nightmares returned and she had been there for Clint when he had his own demons to face. Instead of depending on themselves, they found they could lean on each other. They needed each other; they were a team.
Natasha couldn't focus. A child, she was going to have a child. She whimpered; she had no experience with children and her line of work wasn't exactly family friendly. She put her head in her hands, shuddering. How was she going to manage a child? She had so many enemies, even some days she decided that Clint would be safer without her, but she couldn't bring herself to leave his side. The child would be in danger its whole life with two master assassins as parents.
Clint and Natasha wouldn't be your average parents. She tried to picture her and Clint walking down the street pushing a stroller with a baby inside it and the idea seemed so strange. She had never planned on being a mother.
She ran her fingers through her hair. Abortion was not an option; she already had too much red in her ledger. How am I going to tell him? She thought.
She had no idea how Clint would react to the news or the rest of the team for that matter. She pushed away all her worries and let out a sigh. I have to tell him she concluded.
She put the pregnancy test aside and entered the living room where Clint and Stark were having a heated debate about who would win in a fight, Thor or the hulk.
"I'm telling you, Clint, the God of Thunder has a pretty mean swing,"
"Have you seen the Hulk? He is literally unstoppable," Clint retorted.
Clint smiled brightly as he saw her. "Hey Nat," he said in a softer tone.
Tony smirked at the two.
Natasha managed a nervous smile at Clint, "Hey, Clint, could I talk to you for moment? It's important," she whispered.
"Sure," he said, staying where he was.
Natasha sighed, "In private?" she asked.
"Oh," the penny had dropped and his smile had vanished, he looked as nervous as she felt, "alright. Cya later, Tony," Clint said before joining Natasha in their room. She shut the door behind her.
"What is it?" he asked immediately.
"I'm pregnant," she blurted.
His eyes widened and mouth dropped open. Astonishment filled his features and his eyes rested on her stomach.
A few moments of silence passed and Natasha couldn't take it any longer.
"Clint! Please say something," she begged.
A wide grin spread across his face and his gaze locked with her anxious one. "You've just made me the happiest man on the planet," he finally declared.
All the anxiety from her face lifted like a weight, and she looked at him in bemusement.
"What?"
"I said you just made me the happiest man on the planet."
Natasha let out a sigh of relief.
"Why did you look so worried, Nat?"
She put her head in her hands.
"I have no idea how to raise a child. We have so many enemies Clint, if something bad happened to our child, I'd never forgive myself."
"Nat, it's ok. We'll work it out together. I think you'll make a great mother and if anyone wanted to touch our son or daughter they'd have to get through me, you, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Ironman and Captain America," he reassured her, taking her into his arms.
"You really think I'd make a great mum?" she asked quietly, her voice muffled by his chest.
"Of course, you're protective and caring, the baby will love you," he whispered to her.
"What if it doesn't?"
"It will."
"I love you, Clint," she sighed.
Clint looked taken aback. Even though he knew she loved him, she rarely said it. She usually said it when he got injured or she thought there was a chance she might not return from a mission.
"I love you too," he smiled.
"When are we going to tell the others?" he asked.
"For now, I only want us two to know, just in case something goes wrong," she said, her hands falling on her tummy.
He looked slightly disappointed but nodded. "Alright."
Suddenly the phone rang and Clint picked it up hastily.
"This is Agent Barton speaking, how may I help?"
As the voice at the other end finished speaking, Clint sighed.
"Alright, I'll be there in a moment," Clint said before ending the call.
"What is it?" Natasha asked as soon as the call had finished.
"A mission with Stark, it seems a criminal mastermind has got his hands on a very dangerous nuclear weapon," he said as if he was about to go take a walk in the park.
Clint had been on many missions like this before but Natasha couldn't help but feel worried. Perhaps it was the hormones, she thought.
She swallowed her fears and managed a smile, "You be careful now," she murmured.
"I will," he replied.
Clint leaned down and kissed her forehead, "I'll be thinking of you," he said before leaving.
Natasha felt the heat in her cheeks as she watched him leave.
-OOO-
The mission had almost got Tony and Clint killed. Clint was watching guard while Tony tried to steal the weapons back. If Tony showed him the sign he was meant to interfere. The mastermind had shown up and Tony gave Clint the signal but Clint was too caught up in his thoughts of the baby and Natasha to notice.
The mastermind had disappeared and had set off a bomb that was due to explode in a moment's time. Clint was snapped out of his thoughts when he had heard Tony yelling curses as he got hold of the weapon and spotted the bomb. Clint had run into the room and pushed Tony from harm's way. Clint leaped out of the room and landed beside Tony as they heard the bomb explode.
As they flew back to HQ with the threat now over, Tony was looking at Clint with suspicious eyes.
"Why were you so distracted, Clint?" Tony asked.
"I..." Clint trailed off. He so wanted to tell him.
"I can't tell you," he said with a sigh.
"And why not?"
"She'd kill me. Natasha, I mean," Clint replied.
"She doesn't have to know," Tony said with a smirk.
"Well... Ok, fine. You can't tell anyone this but... Nat's pregnant," he said excitedly.
Tony's eyes widened and he laughed. "Congratulations. No wonder you were so distracted, it's pretty big news."
With Tony Stark now knowing their secret, it would no longer be secret. By dinnertime, Bruce knew, Thor knew and so did Steve.
All their reactions had been the same; astonishment.
"Well, I'll be damned, Clint, a father," Bruce had said.
But when Steve had passed Natasha in the hallway and said "Congratulations," the plan to keep the spilling of the news secret had failed.
"What do you mean congratulations?" Nat had said.
"Well, on being pregnant, of course," he laughed, looking confused.
"How did you find out?" Natasha asked in disbelief.
Steve looked startled, "Tony told me, I'm assuming Clint told Tony," he stuttered.
Natasha clenched her fists.
"CLINT, WHERE ARE YOU?" Natasha roared.
As he heard her yell from upstairs, Clint gulped.
I am so dead, he thought as he heard the footsteps of Natasha booming from up the corridor.