Natasha was still a light sleeper, even though she would have loved to be able to sleep deeper and for longer than a couple of hours, at most, at a time. The constant waking up she could attribute to positions becoming uncomfortable faster, and of course her constant need to get up and go pee. She knew this was a normal part of pregnancy, but normal or not she found it irritating and annoying to deal with.

It wasn't surprising to her that she woke up very late (or very early, for some people) to have to go use the bathroom. However, she was surprised that Tony's side of the bed was empty. She wondered if her trained senses were slipping, or if for once she truly had been deeply asleep.

(There was also the possibility that Tony had been stealthy, but the last time he had attempted to do so he had run into the nightstand, tripped over one of the shoes he had left haphazardly on the floor, and cursed as he nearly knocked over a floor lamp. So Natasha was fairly certain Tony hadn't suddenly developed ninja skills.)

Natasha used the bathroom and when she came out, she rubbed her eyes. "Jarvis, where's Tony?" She was thankful for Jarvis, because otherwise searching throughout the mansion would have been very tedious.

"In the nursery, Natasha."

"Thank you," she said. Softly dim lights automatically came on as she left the bedroom and lit her way just down the hallway to the room they had selected for the nursery. She paused in the doorway and looked inside.

Tony was on the floor with paper instructions and all sorts of parts spread out around him. They hadn't been certain whether it was a good idea for the twins to share a bassinet or crib, so they decided to just go ahead and get two of everything. Everything else had been delivered and most of the furniture had been assembled with a few exceptions. The twins weren't due for another two months so there had been no hurry in getting everything in order just yet.

"Tony?" she asked softly.

Tony looked up, his hair up in multiple spikes as if he had been running his fingers through it. He looked tired and there were the faintest hint of dark circles beneath his eyes. "Sorry, baby, did I wake you?"

"No, I had to use the bathroom for the twentieth time tonight." She smiled ruefully and walked into the room. "What are you doing?"

"Just thought I'd get started on all the assembling. Assemble. Like Avengers, assemble, remember?"

"I do," she said, mildly alarmed that he was babbling. She wasn't able to sit down on the floor with him, so she pushed over the gliding rocking chair and sat back into it. "But it's 4 in the morning. Why are you putting it together now?" she asked gently.

Tony looked away from her, and down at the instructions for how to put together the crib. "I couldn't sleep, and then I did and I just had… nightmares."

This happened every so often. It wasn't as bad as the first two years or so after he had been held hostage, but occasionally nightmares still plagued him, and sometimes the nightmares were a combination of his captivity and when he thought he was going to die in New York.

"About when you were captured…? Or when you were up in space?"

"No." He exhaled a harsh sound that was almost a laugh. "I wish. That I could handle. That wouldn't bother me nearly as much as… as…"

"Tony, I don't understand. Talk to me." Natasha shifted in the chair, leaning forward to touch his face, rubbing her fingertips lightly along his stubble.

Tony looked at her, his dark eyes helpless. "I dreamed I lost you and the girls. I was there but I couldn't do anything about it."

Natasha was quiet a moment, taking that in. "Tony, I can't promise you that nothing is going to happen to us – or you," she said, her voice soft. "But we're in this together. We're a family, and will look out for each other. And we have friends that will help us. It's not like it was in the past, long ago, for either one of us. We're not alone anymore."

He moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face against her belly. There were no kicks or signs of movement at the moment, and he guessed the babies were asleep.

Like their parents should be.

"How do you do it, Tash? How can you stay so strong?"

Natasha's arms came around him and she smoothed his wild hair back into place. "I'm not always strong. I'm human… mostly… and I have my doubts and my fears." She looked down at him. "I lost my family when I was too young to really remember them, and then everything that happened with Red Room… it was easy to do the things I did, because I had nothing to lose. Even after I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., it wasn't as if I really had to worry about anyone. I had people I cared about, still care about, but it wasn't… like this. Now I have so much to lose but it makes me all the more determined to fight and give our daughters the life I never had… a childhood."

"I'm scared that I'll fail."

"I too am scared I will fail in protecting them. We just… can't let those fears rule us, Tony. It takes too much out of a person… the strain, and constant worry. We're going to do the best we can."

"Sometimes I don't think I deserve you or this life, this happiness you've brought me."

"Where's my favorite narcissist? That doesn't sound at all like the man I married," she said, her voice soft and teasing.

Tony looked up at her and smirked. "Favorite narcissist, huh?"

Her fingertips traced over his jaw. "You deserve me," she assured him. "I've done many terrible things – killed people for money, and worse. I know at times I still am cold and have some trouble showing and sharing my emotions."

"You're perfect the way you are, Tash," he said, his voice tinged with a tenderness he had only ever felt toward one person – her.

She smiled at him, her beautiful face lighting up. "You're going to make me cry," she joked.

"Please. Even hormones wouldn't make the Black Widow cry," he said, and they both laughed.

"I'm not that bad."

"Oh, really?" Tony asked, arching his brows. "Who made the newbie field agent flee the room and start crying?"

"An overly emotional response to a simple line of questioning," she retorted swiftly. "My only objective was to figure out who made the mistake. It wasn't as if I was going to take them out back and shoot them."

"Unlike that one time in 2009 when you—"

"Allowing you access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database of incident reports was such a bad idea," she interrupted.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't like I wouldn't have found my way in eventually." He grinned at her.

"What a classy comment," she deadpanned.

"What?" It took him a moment and then he burst out laughing. "And you say I'm a pervert."

"You are," she answered primly, glad he didn't look as hopeless as he had when she first entered the room.

Tony ran his hand over her belly lovingly. "What if I'm an awful father…?"

"You won't be," she said with certainty. "And if you have questions, you could always talk to Steve."

"He looks so happy when he talks about his son."

"Of course. He waited a very long time to have a family of his own." She smiled at him then her features turned serious. "I worry, too, though. I mean, I'm not very warm or maternal. For a long time I thought I couldn't have children and then I went through periods where I was fine with that, because I didn't want to have any."

"You're reserved but you are affectionate. You take care of me and Maks. Maybe you won't be in the kitchen baking cookies when the girls get home from school but so what? You'll be the sexiest, most amazing kickass mom."

"I'm looking forward to them being born. I do miss field work, though," she admitted.

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "If you want to get back to work sooner than your maternity leave is up, I'll stay home with them."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I got everything I need in the lab and through Jarvis I have access to anything on S.H.I.E.L.D. servers. We'll make arrangements if we both have to be out of the house but otherwise? I'd love to take care of them."

"You're… always surprising me," she said, looking at him. "I never thought you'd offer something like that." She smiled. "I don't know what I want to do right now, but it makes me feel better you're supportive of me going back to work."

"We have time to figure it out," he said, feeling his mind more at ease. He stifled a yawn.

"Let's get back to bed," she suggested.

"Good idea." He pushed himself to his feet and then offered her his hand.

Natasha accepted it and he pulled her to her feet easily.

Once they were both in bed, Tony spooned up against Natasha, his hand resting on her belly. He drifted off to sleep, reassured at least for the moment that everything was going to be all right.