Hi all! Thanks so much for all of your reviews/feedback (please keep them coming). I have this little mini-chapter available for you because I thought it would be good to lay some ground work for some upcoming events in the story.
Enjoy!
When the nurse woke Natasha up two hours after she fell asleep, she had to fight the urge to threaten the poor woman with bodily harm. After her blood pressure was taken and she was asked a series of questions to test her head injury, Clint walked in.
Natasha stiffened, but he held up a hand, "I'm not here to cause any trouble."
She couldn't help the small smile that spread across her lips, "You never mean to, Barton…"
Clint let out a brief, soft chuckle as he sat in the chair beside her, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
He nodded and looked down at his feet before looking back up at her, "I guess you know that I know about the baby…Steve made it sound like you're sure you're keeping it."
Natasha nodded, "I am."
Clint continued, "…and you know that I know about you and Steve."
She shifted uncomfortably in the bed, "Steve wants to be a father. It's something he's always wanted, really. So it works out perfectly…for all of us."
Clint looked angry and hurt as he placed a hand against his own chest, "Did you even think about how I might feel in this situation?"
"Ya know, Clint…I tried to. But then I realized that, despite the fact that we've been partners for years…despite the fact that we've slept together more times than I can count, I had absolutely NO idea how you might feel in this situation."
He sat back and clasped his hands together in his lap, "It's not like I know what's in your head, Nat."
"Maybe we're just too much alike", she said sadly.
Clint ran his hands through his hair, "What do you expect me to do if this baby is mine?"
Natasha shrugged, "You don't have to pretend that this is something you want, Clint. If the baby is yours, you won't be under any obligation to deal with it."
"So that's that, then? You get to push me out of your life and out of this kid's life without a second thought?"
"This isn't what you want, Clint. You can't lie to me, or yourself about that."
He crossed his arms and stared at her thoughtfully, "Like you said, Nat…you don't know what I feel about this." After a long pause, he uncrossed his arms and leaned forward a little, "What are you gonna do about Fury and your job?"
"I don't know yet. But I'll be OK."
"You weren't tonight."
Natasha nodded, "I'm going to be more careful."
"Please do", he said as he stood.
"I'll give you a week to tell Fury. After that, I'm going to have to say something."
Her eyes widened, "What? Why would you do that."
"Aside from the fact that you're putting the team in danger by not being at your best? You're putting yourself in danger while you're carrying a kid you said you wanted to have and raise…No one will be happy if anything happened to you."
Clint left the room, leaving Natasha to feel confused and nervous by what her future held.
The next day, after a long, restless night, Steve arrived to pick her up from the hospital.
He'd packed some sweats for her to wear home, so he waited while she changed in the bathroom. He aimlessly wandered around the room and glanced down at the food tray where her discharge papers were.
Steve cocked his head to the side when he saw a sliver of black paper peeking out from behind one of her papers. He slowly slid the little piece of paper out and found himself face-to-face with Natasha's ultrasound picture.
The fuzzy picture barely resembled a human being…but he could tell that he was looking a baby. Possibly his baby…
He was still staring at the picture when Natasha emerged from the bathroom, "Ugh. I can't wait to get the hell out of here so that I can finally-"
She stopped talking when she saw Steve staring at the ultrasound picture. He glanced up at her, "It's really small..."
Natasha nodded and walked over to him to look at the picture with him, "Yeah. It's barely got arms and legs yet."
Steve stared at her for a few moments before pulled her to him, "How do you feel?"
"Aside from the neverending headache?"
"I mean…emotionally. I know you and Clint had a chance to talk last night."
Natasha shook her head, "Well, as usual, I have no idea what he's feeling or thinking. I do know that he's given me a week to tell Fury that I'm pregnant. Otherwise he's going to take it upon himself to spill the beans."
Steve's eyes widened, "Why would he do that?"
"I guess it's his way of expressing his concern for the baby…and for me. The sooner Fury knows I'm pregnant, the sooner I'm put on desk duty and taken out of the line of fire completely."
He nodded, "I actually think that's a good thing…at least until the baby's born."
Natasha picked up her bag of belongings, "You're right…ready to go?"
"Right this way…"
When they got back to the tower, Natasha had a tray of food waiting in her room. She figured Pepper had set it up for her, so she quickly ate, took a long bath, and promptly laid down in bed.
Despite her exhaustion, she ended up tossing and turning for an hour. She'd pretty much given up on sleep by the time she heard a knock on her door.
"It's open!" she yelled as she sat up on the edge of her bed.
She heard Steve call her name from the living room, "Nat?"
"In the bedroom."
Steve walked in, "I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Quite the opposite. I can't sleep."
He furrowed his brows in concern, "I thought you said you were tired."
"I am."
Steve gave her a thoughtful look before he slipped out of his shoes and removed his shirt. She watched him with great curiosity as he laid down in her bed and opened his arms.
"What are you doing?"
"Helping you get some rest."
She quirked an eyebrow before slowly and hesitantly climbing into bed with him.
Almost as soon as she laid down with him, her body began to relax. She inhaled his scent and closed her eyes.
Damn…he smelled so good…and his arms felt so good around her.
He kissed her cheek and gently stroked her hair as she drifted into a peaceful sleep.
Steve watched her as she slept for several moments until he slowly let his hand drift down to her flat belly. He gently spread his fingers over her stomach and closed his eyes, "I hope you're mine, kid…"
Steve and Natasha were both blissfully unaware of the fact that Tony was watching their intimate moment from his office.
The billionaire was now let in on the big secret.
"What do you mean she's PREGNANT?!" shouted Pepper.
It took every ounce of Tony's will power to keep from actually clamping his hand over her mouth. Instead, he very animatedly gestured with his hands for her to lower her voice.
She covered her own mouth and cringed apologetically, "Sorry. But seriously…Natasha Romanoff…the Black Widow. She's pregnant?"
"Yes. With Steve's baby."
"STEVE?!"
Tony rolled his eyes at Pepper's lack of volume control yet again. The woman could keep her cool while helping him run a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, but as soon as you give her a juicy bit of gossip, she dissolves into chick-fit.
"See? This is why I can't tell you anything. No volume control."
Pepper apologized again, "I'm sorry. I promise I got all my screams out…so her and Steve?"
"That surprises you?"
She shrugged, "I guess I thought her and Clint had a…thing."
"I've actually known about the Steve-thing for a while. I couldn't tell you because I was sworn to secrecy."
Pepper raised a brow, "Hm. Wonder why."
"I'm only human. I couldn't even keep the fact that I was Iron Man to myself…and my life literally depended on that. How the hell do they expect me to keep a juicy tidbit like this to myself?"
She acknowledged him with a deadpan expression and monotone voice, "You're right. They should have known better."
"I know, right? I mean, if you—"
He was cut off when Pepper smacked his forehead, "Tony! This is why Fury didn't want you around SHIELD in the first place, AND, this is why you don't have very many real friends."
"I can't let people close. I'm a very important person."
"…who can't keep his mouth shut about other people's business." Tony rolled his eyes as she grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes, "These Avengers…your teammates…are the closest thing you've had to family since your dad died. Don't breach their trust or meddle, OK?"
Tony sighed, "Ok."
Pepper smiled and kissed his lips, "Good boy."
As she got up and walked to the bathroom, he called after her, "You never let me have any fun!"
Three days after being released from the hospital, Natasha's morning sickness kicked in. Funnily enough, she happened to have a meeting with the team and Fury that day, so she found it almost amusing that she couldn't stop throwing up on the one day she had work related shit to do.
Clint stopped by her apartment to see if she was going to choose today to tell Fury about her pregnancy.
"Hey. On your way to the meeting?" she asked as she tried to keep herself from dry heaving.
"Yeah. I was just coming by to see…are you OK, Nat?"
She shook her head, "I guess I have morning sickness."
"Oh…damn. I'm sorry. You do look a little ill."
"Gee. Thanks", she said sarcastically.
Clint glanced at the clock, "The meeting starts in two minutes. Think you can make it?"
"I have to."
He paused for a brief moment before he spoke again, "Are you going to tell him today?"
"I thought I had four more days, Warden."
Clint smirked, "I'm not a warden…I'm your partner…and maybe the father of your baby."
She sat down and looked up at him, "Have you ever wanted to be a father?"
He looked into her eyes for a moment before he looked away, "I'd be lying if I told you I didn't have a few fleeting thoughts about one day having a family…but I guess I trained myself not to think about the possibility since it seemed so unreachable."
"Why was it unreachable?"
Clint seemed to force himself to look at her as he spoke, "The only woman I could ever see myself with…was a spy, living her life just as dangerously as I live mine. That's not necessarily a smart situation to bring a kid into."
Natasha's eyes widened as he headed toward the door, "We should go. We're late."
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