Thank you for the response! So I'll be putting a date at the beginning of each chapter just so it's easy to keep track of. This chapter will basically skip through the first 2 terms of pregnancy because nothing exciting will really happen until birth (spoilers I guess). So in the author note at the bottom I will have 5 names, 2 for a boy 3 for a girl. You can pick one of them in a review if you have a favorite. I already have an idea but I'd like some input. I don't own Marvel.
Warning: Mention of suicide
November 1st 1993 4 pm
Dr. Marilyn Williams set her baby boy back down in his playpen in her office, her assistant smiled at the baby.
"I have one more appointment until I'm off then you can go." The younger woman nodded and waved some toy keys in front of the child. Marilyn kissed her so and walked into her lab.
"Agent's Barton and Romanoff? It's nice to see you when you're not severely injured. I hear form Fury you're pregnant? Congratulations, however it's not a walk in the park and I want you to be prepared for anything."
They nodded, this was why they liked her. She was to the point and not overly sentimental. Natasha wasn't sure how long she'd been working for SHIELD but she looked to be in her early thirties with a mess of dark blonde curls pulled into a pony tail to not be dealt with. Natasha felt her pain. Clint heard a baby coo in the next room.
"Your son?" she nodded and gestured to an ultrasound chair in the corner of the room.
"I see you're already changed, Natasha if you could take a seat."
Natasha glared at her hospital gown but laid down in the chair. Clint stood next to her rubbing Natasha's hand. Dr Williams looked up at Natasha
"This won't be pleasant and likely very cold." She stated, Natasha grimaced. Dr Williams pointed at her screen.
"So basically the blob in the middle is your baby. Yeah, not so interesting."
Clint and Natasha begged to differ, they were both entranced by the image on the screen. Marilyn smiled
"First time parents are cute." She mumbled as she fiddled with some buttons on the screen.
"So Natasha you found out this morning?" she nodded, Marilyn stared at the couple
"Fury said you may have concerns, care to voice them?" the couple turned back to the blonde. Natasha cleared her throat.
"Yes, I don't know what alteration the Red Room's conditioning may have made to my body."
Marilyn nodded "Anything else?" Natasha chewed on her tongue
"Past injuries, being shot, stabbed, blunt force trauma."
Marilyn stood up
"Right." She studied the screen for a moment.
"I see anything that can be an immediate issue. However you have plenty of scar tissue, and with what I've seen of the Red Room's work it's entirely possible your body has been conditioned against natural birth. But there are ways around all these issues."
She grabbed a fresh file and scrawled their names into it and began recording their concerns.
"I am going to point out right now that I am a very blunt person. I am with everyone, and I'm not liked for it. I can tell you right now pregnancy is tough for the best of us and yours is going to be interesting. Also the first 3 months or first term is when most miscarriages happen. So you won't be pleased with this Natasha but I don't want you to put stress on yourself. What I mean is basically not doing anything. Stay off your feet and working from home."
Natasha groaned "Seriously?" Marilyn nodded and turned to Clint
"I will also be making sure your missions become so dull and safe you'll want to put a bullet through my skull."
He scowled
"Sorry Barton." She turned back to Natasha
"I'm sorry I can't tell you more about your body and its limits." Natasha opened her mouth to speak
"I know you're worried about that, don't ask how. I'm magical, I will be giving you a list of things not to eat or do and I want monthly appointments. I have Katy schedule them tonight."
Natasha tilted her head "Who?"
A petit black haired girl who looked about 20 poked her head out from Marilyn's office
"Katy, my assistant. Also I can practically guarantee a caesarian which we can schedule later."
She unhooked Natasha from the machines and helped her out of the chair, she scrawled her personal pager number on a business card and handed it to Clint.
"Any concerns call, I always answer unless I'm in surgery."
He frowned "This is the quickest appointment I've ever been in."
Dr Williams nodded "Yes, well most Doctors I know drone on and on about things that scare and stress out the patients. I tell you what you need to know."
She handed Natasha a list of books "All of these are helpful."
She pointed to the door "See you hopefully in a month."
They rushed towards the door, Dr Williams called after them
"You'll be tempted but don't think about names or nurseries or anything like that until we've passed our third appointment. I can't guarantee anything for you."
Natasha understood. None of her real fears had been confirmed, but they hadn't been denied.
"And Clint. Give her whatever she wants, and I'll add that morning sickness is a bitch."
Natasha scowled "This sounds lovely." Marilyn crossed her arms
"If everything pans out the end result is enjoyable." Natasha nodded
"What's your son's name?" Marilyn smiled
"Ryan. He's 7 months old and probably hungry or something. Goodbye Agents, I'll have your perfectly boring lives on track in no time!"
The two of them scowled and stalked out of the room, Marilyn smirked slightly before turning on her heel and returning to her office.
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3 months later, January 13th 1994
The first term of Natasha's pregnancy was uneventful, her morning sickness wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been and SHIELDS work for her wasn't as dull as she expected. Her most recent appointment with Dr. Williams had been the same as every other her pregnancy was normal but just because they had now past three months didn't mean they were out of any sort of danger yet. Much to Clint and Natasha's dismay Marilyn had said they should start thinking about a nursery and names and baby proofing their large safe house. For likely any other couple these decisions would be exciting, like their child was a real thing, something that was happening. This was what Clint and Natasha were having problems with. Choosing a name, picking colors and making sure their house was safe just emphasized the fact that they were almost in complete control of someone's life until they were capable of making their own decisions. It scared them, two assassins who didn't quiver while staring down the barrel of a gun were completely terrified of being in control of someone's life.
What if he or she didn't like their name?
Or their parents? How they lived?
Clint and Natasha knew their child wouldn't live a normal life.
They had to think about that too.
Not yet but eventually, would they go to school? Would they want to work for SHIELD?
Endless questions, endless what ifs that Clint and Natasha would love to push past but couldn't help but dwell on late into the night. Clint and Natasha stared around the room they had selected to be their child's nursery, it was right in front of their own. They guessed when he or she was older they might want to move into one of the bigger rooms down the hallway. The house was simple, dark wood floors white walls and black or dark furniture. Three floors not including the bunker/basement. On the first floor there was a kitchen, a living room, a foyer and a formal dining room they never used, the second was all bedrooms. There were 4 and each had its own bathroom and on the third floor was a library and an entrance to the roof. The basement was simply weapons, dummies and sea rations. What Natasha considered to be the most impressive part of the house were all the staircases. Most of them were hidden aside from the obvious one heading from floor to floor. The others had hidden entrances behind a painting or in a linin closet. Each room was somehow connected and all the hidden passages in the home either lead up to the roof or down into the bunker. The few people who had visited them in the home (Coulson, Hill, Fury and Dr. Williams) thought it was a bit much, but they didn't care they did everything they could to make it safe. Including 11 foot high iron gates around the property and a state of the art SHIELD designed security system. The couple gazed out the window rom their position on the window seat.
"Nat, we should just start with names, it's the simplest thing."
She raised an eyebrow "Seriously? Out of decorating and buying foam squares to put on tables a name is the simplest thing?"
Clint gave her a slight shrug
"It's the most fun." She turned towards him
"Fine, any ideas?" he looked back out the window
"Something Russian?"
She was momentarily stunned. As much pain Russia had caused her she still loved the county from the bottom of her soul. It was home to her, the cold, the snow, the wildlife, the cities and architecture, the food and people. It was in her blood, Clint had no idea how much her child having a Russian name would mean to her. Well, clearly he had some idea or else he wouldn't have thought of it.
She nodded "Start with a male name or female?" Clint frowned
"Right, gender. Umm statistically the child has a higher chance of being female because there are more woman then men, don't know how that works-"
She waved her hand cutting him off "Start with a boy's name."
Clint nodded "Any ideas?" she frowned "You don't have any?"
He shook his head "Which one of us here is the Russian?" she pursed her lips
"I always liked Anton or Erik." Clint nodded
"Anton or Erik what? Are we using my name or yours? Or both?"
Natasha sighed "We can't use my name."
Clint nodded he understood, Romanoff was distinctly Russian and known by many organisations. People who wanted her dead, Barton was more common, safer.
"So Barton? Anton or Erik Barton."
Natasha silently agreed, Clint knew it. He also knew how horrible she felt. She knew they were bringing a child into a dangerous world, he or she would be in danger their entire life. Clint grabbed her hand
"Should we chose one or wait until we know?" Natasha nodded
"Wait. No point picking one if we don't have to use it."
The two of them decided that when they had the option to know the gender they would. The only reason was to simplify the task of buying clothes and decorating. Clint examined the snow covered trees outside
"And for a girl?" Natasha had to think for a moment
"Izabella, Kristina or Anastasia." Clint nodded
"I'm not a fan of Kristina." Natasha shrugged "Lydia?" Clint shrugged
"They are all nice." Natasha nodded
"Izabella and Anastasia have short forms, nicknames. Bella or Ana" Clint suggested, Natasha shrugged
"Right, those were never common, I was so confused when you called me Nat for the first time."
Clint smiled "It was worse when I said Tasha." She smirked
"I was always Natalia Romanova until Fury or someone decided Americanising my name was smart."
Clint rolled his eyes "You liked the idea, something about a fresh start if I can remember."
Natasha's emerald eyes shined with tears
"Are we seriously doing this? A child? It's insane! How are we supposed to be parents? We can barely keep from fucking ourselves up, how are we supposed to raise a child properly? How do we tell them that we are killers? Do we just cook breakfast one morning and just sort of go 'good morning! We kill people would you like cereal or toast?' I mean, in all honesty what the hell are we doing?!"
Clint pulled her into a hug, he rubbed her back trying to comfort her.
"Tasha, I know. Trust me I know, I've had the same thoughts this entire time. But we'll find away, he or she will know that we save lives. And no one knows how to be parents the first time. Tasha don't worry."
She bit her lip "But we've never even seen good parents!" Clint rested his chin on her head
"Maybe not but there's no real rule book for parenting. I hope. It's just putting someone else before yourself, their needs before yours. Just being accepting and things like that. Making sure they eat and are clean and happy."
She laughed "Your making this up as you go Barton." He nodded
"But I'm right. Think of this as another fresh start. We'll take it one day at a time, what about middle names?"
She sighed, her face still resting on his shoulder "Are those necessary?"
Clint smirked "They are now." She growled
"Dimitri, it's the only name I have left." Clint's smirk stayed on his face
"Alright, for a girl do you like Edith?" Natasha looked up at him
"That was your mother's name." he nodded
"She was a nice woman."
Natasha squeezed his hand, she had never heard Clint speak ill of his mother, only sadly. He missed her, she knew it. What she did wasn't fair to her sons, but Natasha knew suicide had seemed like the only option, Natasha had been there. Near the end of her time in the red room, she became aware for a moment of what she was. Before she could even try one of the leaders put her back under mind control, the next time she became aware after that was when she met Clint, then she kept fighting until it was out of her system.
"Definitely." She shot him a sad smile.
"Fresh start Barton." He kissed her forehead
"We're ready Romanoff."
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2 months later, March 18th
Natasha gazed around the finished nursery, they still didn't know the gender but that didn't matter. It matched the rest of the house, dark floor, white walls and dark furniture. Still so far the pregnancy was uneventful, every appointment was the same. Healthy baby, healthy Natasha. Both Clint and Natasha were nervous this was the calm before the storm. Their fifth appointment was today, they got to know the gender. Clint made sure he was here, not on another boring mission like the last time. Natasha had never seen Clint more bored at work, and his boredom led to pranks on base. Recently he had put fish in the water coolers, replaced the coffee with the most horrible fruit juice he could find and assaulted people with nerf guns from the vents. Natasha was disappointed with his lack of creativity, he said it was because she wasn't there to give him good ideas.
"No, Clint. I'm busy carrying your child." She would retort with, that shut him up.
Once they arrived at Dr. Williams office Clint paced outside the door for 15 minutes waiting for it to be their turn. He was heavily glared at by the Agents in the waiting room, seeing this Natasha returned their glares, scaring a few of the Agents. Unfortunately for Natasha her pregnancy was no longer a secret from her colleagues. And for some unfathomable reason everyone was speculating the father, Natasha didn't think it could be more clear, Clint Barton. Anyone with any level of common sense understood this but many of the Agents at the New York base were young idiots. Once their name was called Clint and Natasha raced into the room. Dr. Williams smiled at them and gestured to the chair
"Take your seat, once again I feel compelled to tell you it will be unpleasant and cold."
Natasha deadpanned and lifted up her shirt, Marilyn rolled her eyes
"Fine, don't take the joke." Natasha smirked
"It's just because I spend so much time with Clint and his bad sense of humour."
Clint frowned "I'm offended." Marilyn smirked at them
"Just wait for the dad jokes 'Dad im hungry! Hi hungry I'm dad.'" Natasha frowned
"Clint if you do that I will kill you." He smirked slightly
"Now I have you."
Dr. Williams wrote down the gender on their chart "Don't tempt death more then you have to Barton."
She put their chart back in the filing cabinet
"Well would you like to know?"
Lol. So shorter chapter then last time, the next one will be longer. So guesses on the gender can be put in a review if you would like and here are name options
Boy- Anton Dimitri Barton or Erik Dimitri Barton
Girl- Izabella Edith Barton, Anastasia Edith Barton or Lydia Edith Barton
I have a personal favorite for each, but your input is appreciated. But if I don't chose the most popular I have a reason.
Happy New Years!
