A/N: LOL. I've been attempting to write this chapter for, like, weeks. Haha. And I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a looong while. Anyway. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)

Chapter 6

MEET THE UNCLES AND AUNTS

Natasha just stood there, watching her supposed new family. It was almost surreal. Watching a man—much more because it was Steve—basking in his newfound fatherhood. She almost felt awkward at being in the scene since she could not even make herself pretend that she could be a good mother.

But the situation is there. And she could not run now. Not when a special girl with the same green eyes Natasha bore needed a mother more than ever. She did not know what it was, but the angel trying to clean her ledger was pushing her towards motherhood. And she was letting it happen anyway.

"Nat, look."

Natasha snapped out of her thoughts when Steve called her. He did not break his gaze at the child, so she turned to look at her instead.

"She's smiling," Steve said, a smile growing on his face. He turned towards her direction so that she could have a better view of the baby's face.

True enough, the tiny babe was toothlessly grinning at Steve while gripping his finger as hard as she can. She was so small and light; Steve could only barely feel her grip. But he kept his hand there anyway. And Natasha could not help but caress top of her head. A smile could also not be kept from creeping onto her face as the baby turned to her and made that little baby noise that suspiciously sounded like a giggle.

Bruce was silent as he watched his teammates get lost in the perfect family scene they exhibited at the moment. With Steve holding the child a little upright facing Natasha while Natasha was on his side, running her fingers on her head. Steve playfully bounced her in his arms, causing her to giggle again. Bruce knew his the two of them were very good at handling any situation at hand. But he never thought they would get an assignment that was a little too far off of what they have experience. He had seen them go to the different corners of the world; Bruce himself had fought aliens with them. But this was going to be an interesting mission to witness.

Realizing he was just fondly watching them for a while, he decided to get that envelope he held on his way there and reread some more of his findings before he accidentally (and awkwardly) ruins their moment.

Natasha had never been so entranced with a child before. Or rather, she tried not to be around children that much. Most of her childhood and her teenage years were surrounded by men, violence and the constant need to get the job done. So, she was not trained to handle them. She does admit that she remembered herself hoping to become a mother someday. Maybe it was before the Red Room? Probably. She remembered them explicitly telling her that the first serum they injected her with was going to make her infertile. It shattered her heart. And that was the first step towards how they made her heart as hard as it was now.

"We do not need children here," they said, as if she was not a child herself. "The last thing we need are mothers, bringing them here."

Natalia was hurting. Both physically and emotionally. She was tired, sore and all the needles they used on her were taking their toll on those parts of her skin they repeatedly pricked or poked her on. But she was not allowed to scream or make a sound at all. Or else.

She wanted her mama and papa. Where were they now? They could not have burned with the house, could they? She was their little darling. Their little ballerina. They said they would always be there for her. Always. Even if she had her own little darlings and ballerinas of her own.

But now, the mean men said she is not able to become a mama forever. She could not ever make darlings and ballerinas of her own.

She was not a child. She was a soldier. She was going to save Mother Russia.

Natasha ended her flashback as she gazed at the young pair of eyes staring back at her. They were so curious, and happy—unlike her own. Her own green eyes were stoic in default, unlike the girl's that was a clear window of how she felt at the moment. They had the exact same green eyes. And yet they were so, so different.

"You wanna hold her?" Steve asked her quietly, now turning his head to look at her. Natasha looked at him for a moment, as if contemplating if she should or not, before gesturing him to hand her over to her.

But before she could even touch the child, the door burst open to reveal an excited Pepper, an amused Clint and a worried Tony. Right after the door's hiss sound was heard, it was immediately replaced with Pepper's squeal and running footsteps towards them.

'Well, moment ruined,' Bruce thought to himself, amused.

"Is that her?" Pepper asked as she ran the best she could with her heels and the pencil skirt she wore. She looked like a child who just woke up one Christmas morning, remembering the presents she had under the tree. Right then, Natasha knew she was not going to be able to hold her child for a while.

So, Pepper plucked the girl from Steve's hands, gently swinging her as she turned around to face away from Steve and Natasha and facing Tony and Clint who were walking towards them, the latter going a little faster than the other. Tony looked like he was trying to find a possible exit.

"Oh, she's precious," Pepper gushed as she examined the bundle in her arms. The CEO's smile got bigger when the child squirmed a little and made a little baby noise. "Hello there. I'm your Auntie Pepper."

And when Clint made it to the spot where Pepper was, he immediately tried to take her from Pepper. "Hey, now, Pep, it's time to meet the godfather…"

Pepper looked ready to bite his head off. "You wait there, Mister. I'm not done with her yet," she whined as she turned the baby away from Clint. Clint tried to go in front of her to take the child, but Pepper just kept turning away from him anyway.

"I can tell I'm not even gonna be able to hold my own child when we have one someday," Tony muttered. The group watching them just chuckled.

"You think if we told her now that she's the godmother, she would give the baby back to us?" Steve whispered to Natasha. The latter shook her head.

"Honestly? No."

Steve took his turn in shaking his head before joining his future 'wife', Tony and Bruce in watching the animated banter Clint and Pepper were having.

After lots of chasing, yelling and some of Clint's hair pulled out (or at least what felt like it), Clint finally got hold of his new self-proclaimed (on Clint's part) goddaughter. He bounced her around, eliciting a tiny giggle from the baby.

"Hello there, Tiny Baby," he greeted her in a hushed manner, adding a little bit of baby talk in his tone. "I'm your Uncle Clint, your favorite uncle. Favorite. Uncle. And we're gonna have so much fun. I'm gonna take you to the range-"

"Clint…" Natasha warned, suddenly feeling protective. For some reason, the idea of 'Tiny Baby' being anywhere near danger, however protected she was, did not sit well with her.

With that, Tony stepped behind him. "Hey, nobody is a favorite uncle. Tiny, I can give you anything. That means I get to be the best uncle, right?"

"Hey, hey, hey. First of all, I'm the one who gave her the nickname, which means I'm the only one who can call her that. Second, being her godfather-"

"This isn't fair. You obviously have an advantage!"

"Apart from that, I'm her mother's best friend," Clint goaded, making Natasha roll her eyes, Steve raise his eye brows and Tony hold his chin up, becoming competitive.

"Well," Tony started. "I'm the father's best colleague."

That earned a snort from Steve and Natasha's turn in raising her eyebrows. Things were getting established so quickly.

"Sure," Natasha quipped sarcastically.

And so, the banter continued on for a while, with Clint challenging Tony to carry the girl, Tony actually accepting the challenge, Pepper trying to pry her away from them, and Steve, Natasha and Bruce feeling very nervous.

If there was anything she did not expect this week, it was everything that happened during the past week. Getting a long and odd mission, getting married to Steve, having a daughter and, the team adoring the baby. It all happened so quickly, really. She did not even know they liked children. And if there was one thing she lacked during the mission that has always been there in all the missions she has accomplished, it was confidence. Luckily, although she would never admit it, everybody was there to help.

Just a little while after, when the baby was probably getting sick from being passed around, she started to wail as loud as she can, alarming everybody.

"Alright, this is so not part of my job description," Tony said, obviously feeling very scared. He tried to rock the baby in his arms but ended up being not so gentle. The baby wailed even harder causing Natasha to snatch her from him.

"Give her to me," she muttered, starting to rock as gently as possible. "Sshh, sshh," she cooed. She turned around, facing away from the group so that she would have a little privacy trying to comfort the crying child. She felt Steve stepping a little closer to her, as if he was guarding her from them.

"I think it's best if we called it a night. The three of them have a long day tomorrow, and the baby needs to sleep," Bruce said. He started to lead Tony, Pepper and Clint out.

"Alright, bye, Tiny!" Clint called out while walking as if the baby could understand him.

"Bye, Mini Spangle-ett!" Tony added. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Nat, call me if you're shopping for her baby things," Pepper said, excitement filling her hushed voice. After that, the three of them were finally out of the room.

But Natasha was not listening. She continued to sway and rock the child until she finally calmed down and stared up at her with her big green eyes. Eyes that were so like her own. Eyes that she hoped were never going to hold any pain at all.

"I think those three are the danger Fury was talking about," Bruce told Steve, starting to arrange the folders he held when he went in.

"That must be the reason he made us go away," Steve replied. He and Bruce chatted animatedly, keeping their voices hushed so that the baby does not get disturbed again.

"But what about getting a dog-"

"Dasha."

Hearing Natasha whisper, both Steve and Bruce turned to her.

"What was that, Nat?" Steve asked, stepping a little closer to her. Natasha turned to face them.

"I want to name her Dariia," Natasha said a little louder, never breaking her gaze at the now asleep child in her arms. Steve looked at her; a little amazed that Natasha cared enough to give her a name that seemed special to her.

Bruce looked slightly confused. "But I thought it was 'Tasha'… or 'Dasha'?"

"It's Dasha," Natasha answered, finally looking up. "It's short for 'Dariia'."

"Alright. Dariia it is then." Steve wanted to ask why she chose the name. But he decided against it; he will just wait for the time that she will bring it up.

Natasha touched her sandy blonde hair one more time before looking up at Steve as if asking him if he wanted to hold her. He nodded and then gently picked Dariia up from Natasha's arms.

"Hello, Dari," he whispered just as the child scrunched up her nose in her sleep.

Natasha put her hand on his shoulder as she stayed beside him. "He's your Daddy, Dari. And he's probably never gonna get laid ever," she said playfully while wearing her trademark smirk, earning a glare of daggers from Steve.

Bruce, again standing there alone but a little less awkwardly this time, spoke up. "I already noted the name 'Dariia' in her birth details. Do you guys want to give her a second name?"

The soon-to-be pretend couple paused and looked at each other for a few moments before turning back to Bruce. They have not even considered looking for baby names. Maybe it was something they should have done prior to this.

"Uhh," Steve stammered, racking his brain for some baby names. Natasha did the same.

"What about 'Elizabeth'? Or 'Susan'. 'Eleanor'," Bruce suggested. Natasha shook her head in disagreement.

"No. Too English," she said, making Bruce raise an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with that?"

"She's British. And her sister's name was 'Susan'. Might stir up some memories."

"Oh."

"Uhm, 'Stephanie'?" Steve suggested this time, looking at the sleeping baby a couple of times.

"She doesn't look like a Stephanie," Bruce interjected. Natasha could not help but regret that she made Pepper go away. The woman would have given them a million great suggestions already.

Steve started to think about the great women that he knew. Natasha, for one. But her name was out of the question. She was the "mother", after all. Next was Maria. And then Peggy went through his mind. Ahh, Peggy. Maybe 'Margaret' was a good idea. But then her blonde hair and pale skin reminded him of someone. He thought about the pictures when she was a grown up she had in her file. How her eyes were bright with curiosity, excitement, and kindness. It was similar to the smile that he thought about when he reminded himself of his morals.

"What about 'Sarah'?" he asked in a very hopeful voice.

Just when he thought they were going to disagree, Natasha said, "Dariia Sarah Rogers. Sounds pretty good."

Steve smiled at her. Of course, it was a good name. Natasha could not possibly deny him of naming her after his late mother. After all, the woman was slightly alike with Virgin Mary. Giving America its Golden Boy. She could joke about that to Steve sometime later.

A/N: I'm so sorry this came out so late. I'll update soon! :D