Steve couldn't get the picture of the pouting redhead out of his mind. Nick had all but promised to keep him away from dangerous missions if he could—but that notion was short lived. The whole team was hanging out when the call came in. Just two short hours ago, Fury contacted all the Avengers to go on a top-secret mission. All the Avengers except Natasha, of course.

"Come on Nick, I can go!" Natasha pleaded with the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"No!" Nick, Steve, Tony, and Clint simultaneously said, looking down upon their teammate. "Sorry Nat, but there's no way in hell you're coming with us. It's way too dangerous," Clint sternly told her.

Natasha looked like a child. She firmly stood in place with her arms crossed, gazing up hard into the faces of her companions. She wasn't planning on moving.

Steve grabbed her arm and led her away to a separate room of the Triskelion. "Natasha, I know you want to come. And I also know that you're more than capable of helping us. But, please, just not this time, okay?" Steve's worried glance seemed to break through to his wife. She uncrossed her arms and looked up at him through pleading blue-green eyes.

"I know Steve," she sighed, surrendering her stance. "It's just that I feel completely helpless. I should be out there battling with you guys, and not in here sitting at this godforsaken desk pushing papers!" She ran her slender fingers through her pin-straight hair in defeat.

"Thank you," Steve replied feeling relieved. "You need to think about yourself. Nat you're four months pregnant. Go home and relax. Our baby is going to need both of its parents around." Steve profoundly said, walking towards his wife and placing a hand on her growing stomach. He pulled her into an embrace. "I love you Nat, and I need to make sure that you stay safe. Not only for you, but for our son as well," he slightly snickered at the end of this sentence.

"Here we go again Rogers," Natasha retorted with an eye roll and a small laugh. They still hadn't found out the gender of their baby, but Steve was positive that he was going to have a son in the next few months. She leaned in to him for a kiss, standing on her toes to reach his lips. "I love you too. And you need to consider yourself as well. I don't want to have to raise our daughter alone," the words hung on her lips with a small smile. Steve couldn't help but flash one of his crooked smiles at their little game, and his wife. He leaned in one last time to kiss her goodbye, and started towards the door. "Be careful Captain," Natasha shouted after her husband as he disappeared through the door.

"How do you put up with this Pepper?" Natasha melodramatically wined to her friend. Pepper had invited Natasha to stay with her while the men were away on their assignment. The team had been away for three days, and Black Widow was starting to get impatient.

"What, living with Tony?" Pepper replied, knowing that's not what her friend was talking about.

"Well yes that too. But I mean how do you put up with staying here when everyone else is away? It's driving me crazy!" By this point, Natasha was pacing back and forth across the living room. Pepper walked over and led her friend to the couch.

"You need to relax! I put up with it by preoccupying myself while they're away. All this worrying isn't good for the baby!" Natasha knew that Pepper was right. She trusted all of her teammates, but she continually feared what could happen to her husband. Especially since she wasn't there herself to watch out for him. She felt her eyes begin to water as she pictured anything happening to Steve. Stupid hormones.

"Alright I know. What do you usually do to keep your mind off of things?" Natasha questioned.

"Why don't we go shopping?" Pepper stated enthusiastically. "Have you gotten any clothes for the baby yet?" Sometimes Natasha felt that Pepper was more excited about the baby than her and Steve.

"We haven't bought anything yet," Natasha admitted. "We've been busy with work, and we're not planning on finding out the gender anyway."

"That doesn't matter!" Pepper excitedly clapped her hands together. "Let's go shop for baby clothes! I'll help you pick out neutral colors, and we'll have a great time! It's my treat. Tony and I are going to spoil this kid rotten!" Natasha wasn't really the shopping type, but she couldn't say no to Pepper. She was just too excited and willing.

"Okay, sounds good to me!" Natasha said.

The two girls went shopping all afternoon. And to be honest, Natasha's back and feet hurt. She hadn't really felt any pregnancy symptoms up until this point. Maybe it was actually a good thing she wasn't out in the field. She and Pepper had gone to at least a dozen different baby stores throughout the city. To her surprise, Natasha had bought a lot of clothes for her baby—and even thought that they were cute. Of course, Pepper picked most of them out. She wasn't the type of person who enjoyed shopping, but she had to admit that she had fun. And their trip helped to take her mind off of Steve.

"Well, I'm exhausted," Pepper sighed as the two sat down at a cafe for lunch.

"You're tired Pepper?" Natasha laughed. "I'm the pregnant one. I'll gladly trade you my sore feet if you want them," Widow said through a slight smile.

"Okay you win," Pepper gave in, rolling her eyes. "But doesn't all this shopping make you excited for your baby to come? I know I'm certainly ready to have a child in the family!" Natasha hadn't really thought about her own excitement. She'd been too worried about everything up to this point. Now that she's taken a day for herself to prepare, she felt more confident.

"Actually, I am getting excited. I can't wait to see to look on Steve's face when he finds out that I went shopping for baby clothes without him. I should have bought all girl outfits as a joke," Natasha admitted to her friend. All of a sudden, Natasha and Pepper's phones went off at the same time. The Black Widow anxiously unlocked it to find a message from Nick.

Mission is complete. The team will be arriving within the next few hours at base.

"Come on Pepper, let's go get them," Natasha excitedly said with a wide grin spreading across her face.

Pepper and Natasha eagerly waited by the helipad for the arrival of the team. Natasha was super excited to meet her husband, and tell him what she had been up to. Besides, she had though up a couple of really good comebacks that she wanted to test out.

Ten minutes later, the helicraft landed with the Avengers (minus Black Widow) inside. The stairs lowered and here came the men. Tony was first to exit, and went straight to Pepper. Next came Bruce, Thor, and Clint. After Clint stepped off, the stairs began to retract into the craft. Natasha's chest immediately twisted. Where is Steve? Her mind began to race as Fury approached her.

"Nick…where's Steve?" Natasha worriedly questioned as she power walked toward the director.

"Calm down Natasha. Steve's not with us, he's in medical. Surgery actually. He's going to be okay." Natasha felt her knees go weak as Nick dropped down to steady her. Terrible thoughts streamed through her head as she turned away from Nick, and bolted towards the medical wing of the Triskelion.

Author's Note: Sorry if this story is rushed and not that good! Iv'e been suffering from a bit of writers block. Please let me know what you think and I hope to post more chapters soon!

-Fhockey42