So sorry for the long absence. Life has handed me a couple of curve balls and I've been really sick for a while, but I'm hoping that's all over! I hope you enjoy this update. I didn't have time to beta or really proofread myself, so I apologize for any mistakes/inconsistencies.


Everywhere she was, so was he. For the past 9 weeks, Natasha had a Captain America-sized shadow that followed her around everywhere she went.

Natasha was a woman who valued her privacy and alone time, so it took a ton of patience and self-control to keep herself from putting Steve in a chokehold just so that she could get some peace and quiet.

They kept their own apartments, so late at night, she still managed to sneak down to the gym to get a light workout in.

On this particular night, Steve was in need of a little late night "warmth" from her, so he went to her apartment. When he found it empty, he wandered the common areas before he followed his instincts down to the gym.

He nearly had a coronary when he found her running on the treadmill.

"What's wrong?" she asked as he rushed over to the treadmill and hit the emergency stop button. He gingerly caught her and pulled her into his arms to keep her from stumbling off.

"You're running….and you're pregnant!"

She nodded, "…and I feel fine. My doctor said it was OK."

"What kind of doctor would say that it's alright for a pregnant woman to run?!"

"A modern one", she said as Steve started to shake his head in protest. She dabbed at her chest with a towel, "Look, I know that, back in your day, women had to stay in bed for the duration of their pregnancies, but thanks to modern science, we know that's not necessary. In fact, it's discouraged nowadays. I'm healthy, the kid is healthy, and as long as that continues to be the case, I don't see why I have to change my lifestyle anymore drastically that I already have."

"I understand that, but—"

"But-nothing, Rogers! Do you KNOW how long it's been since I killed someone?"

Steve's eyebrow arched as he took a quick guess, "…two months?"

"11 weeks, 3 days and 14 hours! Being a spy…killing bad guys...it's what I do. It's who I am! You keep expecting me to turn into this pastel-wearing pregnant lady overnight and that's not going to happen!"

He held up his hands in an effort to calm her, "I understand that."

"You understand SHIT! I'm exhausted! I'm hungry all of the time and I'm FAT!"

Steve took her hands in his and looked deep into her eyes, "You're not fat. You're beautiful. So beautiful, in fact…I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Natasha narrowed her eyes skeptically, but when he laid gentle kisses on each of her knuckles and slowly pushed her hoodie off of her shoulders, all of the doubt she felt over his proclamation of her beauty had faded.

He leaned down and captured her pillowy lips in a loving kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned against his mouth.

When the kiss ended, she whispered, "Here? Right now?"

"Can you think of a reason why not?" he said with a smirk as he leaned down to kiss her again.

"I can", said a voice from the doorway.

They both looked at Clint and took a respectable step away from each other as the archer crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side, "I wish I could say that I'm sorry for interrupting, but I'm really not."

Steve rolled his eyes as Natasha picked up her hoodie and sighed, "I'm going to bed. Try not to engage in a pissing match."

When the two men were left alone, Clint glared at Steve, "Never would have thought Captain America was the voyeuristic type."

"I'm not."

"Please. If I had walked in ten minutes later, I would have had to gouge my eyes out with my own arrows."

Steve groaned as he headed toward the door, "She was just working out."

"…lemme guess. You freaked out."

The older man turned around to cock his head to the side as Clint looked at him expectantly, "How did you know?"

Clint shrugged, "Cause I did too when I first saw her on the treadmill a couple of weeks ago. Then I remembered that she's a grown woman who is fully capable of making her own decisions…and that she's not just some 1940's dame. She's Natasha Romanoff. The last thing she wants are your oppressive, sexist, 1940-something ideals forcing her into your freaky deaky mold of the perfect woman."

"You think I'm sexist? I served under a woman before it was even acceptable to have females on active duty in the military, and I did so with respect and-"

"…and you fell in love with her. That right there kinda hints at your inability to separate the woman from the spy when it comes to Natasha. A guy knocks up a woman while he's on active duty and his buddies buy him a round and smoke some cigars with him. A woman gets knocked up…and her career is all but over."

"Natasha's career is far from over."

"Of course it is…cause she would never allow that."

Steve crossed his arms over his large chest, "You know her better than anyone…would you mind if I asked you a question?"

"Despite the definite awkwardness that question will bring…sure."

"…are you worried about how she'll handle motherhood?"

Clint raised a brow, "What makes you ask that?"

"I dunno…I guess it seems like she's a little resentful of the pregnancy sometimes…"

"Can you blame her? The only life she's ever known has included her being a kick-ass, take-no-prisoners, assassin. All of the sudden, that's snatched right out of her hands and she can't even work up a decent sweat at the gym. Regular women have a hard time adjusting to motherhood well after their kid is born…and I think we already know that there's nothing 'regular' about Natasha Romanoff."

Steve nodded thoughtfully and sighed, "I just want her to be happy."

Clint stared at him for a while and nodded, "Ok. Well…that was even more awkward than I thought it was gonna be. I'm gonna go get a drink…then go to bed and pray I forget this entire conversation."

On his way to his apartment, he began wondering if Steve really did deserve her more.

A few moments later, Natasha had gotten out of the shower, dried off and started to walk toward her closet. She caught a glimpse of her naked body in the full length mirror and stopped, "Holy shit."

Yeah…she had noticed her clothes had been fitting differently (see also: not buttoning worth a fuck), but she hadn't bothered to look at herself in the mirror. In fact, she had avoided it in an effort to hang onto the false belief that this baby wouldn't completely change her life as she knew it.

The evidence that that belief was complete shit was now staring at her right in the face…in the form of a tiny swell in her lower abdomen.

She slowly ran a hand over her stomach and tried to suck in, but no amount of posture or breath-holding would be enough to hide the evidence of her impending motherhood.

This baby was real, and it was going to be there in a matter of months.

The following day, Natasha was sitting with Pepper, helping her organize some paperwork since she'd completed all her SHIELD busy-work early. She received a call on her cell and recognized the number as her SHIELD-employed Obstetrician, so she left the room to take the call.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Romanoff? This is Dr. Stanley."

"Yes?"

There was a sigh on the other end of the line, "I have the results back from your quad screening…and they indicate that we may be dealing with the presence of an abnormality."

Natasha beat down the alarm she felt creeping into the pit of her stomach as she lowered herself into a nearby chair, "What do you mean?"

"It could be nothing, but due to the results, we'll require further testing to rule out the presence of a genetic abnormalities or chromosomal anomalies."

She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes, "Testing…what kind of testing?"

"In this case, I suggest an amniocentesis. The sooner, the better."

"Why is that?"

The doctor paused before he continued, "Typically, if there is a presence of a severe chromosomal anomaly, many expectant parents choose to terminate due to a low life expectancy or lack of quality of life. Seeing as how you're in your second trimester, it would be wise to proceed with testing sooner than later so that you will be able to make that choice…if that is what you want."

Natasha closed her eyes and sat back, "So…an amniocentesis. That's the one where you have to put the needle into my stomach?"

Steve chose that inconvenient moment to walk up. The alarm on his face told her that he'd heard what she'd said.

She stuttered a little as the doctor spoke, "Yes. It's an in-office procedure. The needle is guided by ultrasound and we'll take a very small amount of amniotic fluid for testing. You'll have to remain on bed rest for a couple of days afterwards since this test does come with a risk of miscarriage."

Natasha looked at Steve and sighed as she held a hand up, "Alright. When can we do this?"

"You can come in tomorrow morning at 9."

"Alright. I'll be there."

Natasha hung up the phone and looked at Steve who was staring at her with a mixture of alarm and expectation, "What's going on?! A needle in your stomach?!"

She shushed him urgently and yanked him into a nearby room. When she closed the door, she sighed, "I need you to calm down, OK?"

"Who's not calm? I'm calm. I'm the picture of calm-why were you asking someone about a needle in your stomach?"

Natasha pursed her lips and took a deep breath as she desperately tried to reign in the confusing, unfamiliar mixture of emotions she was feeling at that moment, "Um. One of the tests I took last week came back…and the results warranted further testing…because it means there might be something wrong with the baby."

Steve was a captain. He was trained to be a leader and the back bone of his team when things went wrong. He was trained for virtually every situation…except this.

Since he didn't know what else to do, he just grabbed Natasha and pulled her into a hug. He did it to comfort her…but moreso to comfort himself.

Natasha rested her head against his chest and slipped her arms around him as he pressed a kiss to her head, "It's gonna be OK."

She slowly lifted her head to look up at him, "But you don't know that. Maybe this is what the Russian doctors were talking about when they said I couldn't have kids. Maybe they knew I could get pregnant all along…but that I couldn't have a healthy child…"

He shook his head and gently brought his hand up to press her head back to his chest, "You're gonna be fine…this baby is gonna be fine."

"But what if it's not?" she said as she pushed back and pressed a shaking hand to her temple. She let out a deep breath and desperately worked to keep her emotions under control as Steve rubbed her arms.

Natasha shook her head, "I should've known something would be wrong. Women like me have no business becoming mothers."

Steve gently tilted her chin upwards, "You deserve everything you want and more…even a gift so precious as a child of your own. You've been working so hard to take care of this baby…you've changed your entire life around just to make sure this kid was healthy…you deserve this."

He gently pressed her against his chest and kissed her forehead again.

After a few seconds, Natasha maneuvered herself out of the embrace and sighed, "I should go find Clint to let him know."

Steve nodded, "Alright. When are you having the test done?"

"Tomorrow morning. At 9."

"Ok. I'm coming with you."

"You don't have to—"

He cut her off, "I'm going. Don't waste your breath fighting me on this. I'm sure you'll be fine I'm going because I need to be there."

She favored him with a half-smile before walking away to find Clint.

Natasha found him in the lab with Tony and Bruce, "Hey guys."

Tony glanced up from his computer screen, "To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit? If it's about your missing pint of triple chocolate fudge chunk ice cream..." Tony didn't bother to finish his sentence, he simply bolted out of the room.

Bruce and Clint laughed and shook their heads, "Hey. How's it goin'?"

"Been better."

Clint's eyebrows raised in concern, "You OK?"

She sighed, "Can we talk?"

He nodded and escorted her out of the lab. As they walked the hall, she shoved her hands in her pocket, "I have to have an amniocentesis performed because one of my results came back…and they think it may mean the baby has a chromosomal anomaly."

"Oh god…I'm sorry, Nat."

She nodded, "It'll be OK…I hope."

"An amniocentesis? Is that the one where they—"

Natasha cut him off, "Yes, it's the one where they stick the needle directly into my stomach."

"Um…I was gonna ask if that's the one they can use to determine paternity…"

Her eyes widened, "Oh shit…"

After a brief talk with Steve and a call back to her doctor, it was confirmed that he could use the fluid to determine paternity. Both Steve and Clint would accompany her to the office the next day to provide blood samples that would be compared to the DNA inside of the amniotic fluid samples.

After a long day, Natasha decided to retire to her room early.

She stripped out of her clothes and left on her panties and fitted men's tank top. She stood in front of the mirror and rubbed her belly, "I hope you're OK, in there kid…"

A knock on the door forced her to put a robe on. When she opened it, Steve was standing there with a pint of her favorite ice cream, "I figured you would need some stress relief."

Natasha arched an eyebrow, "Is that stress relief coming in the form of you…or the ice cream?"

Steve couldn't help but blush, "That all depends on you."

She pulled him into her apartment and kissed him hungrily as he tossed the ice cream onto her kitchen counter.

Steve trailed kisses down her neck as he gently cupped her breast and whispered against her lips, "You up for this?"

"Are you?" she said as she cupped his manhood.

He gently took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss her knuckles, "I'm serious, Nat. News like that is enough to knock anyone on their ass."

Natasha looked up into his eyes for a few seconds before looking away, "So, you want me to pour my heart out? Admit I'm scared?"

"I want you to do whatever you can to feel better."

"Then take off your pants", she said without looking at him.

Steve sighed and gently placed a hand on her back, "Natasha…you don't have to prove your strength to anyone…least of all me. I know how strong you are…but you're also human."

When she didn't speak, Steve let out a soft groan, "I'll admit it, Natasha. I'm scared. I'm terrified…for a lot of reasons. I'm scared this kid is mine. I'm scared this kid isn't mine. I'm scared that something is wrong…and if it's not, I'm still terrified that I won't be a good enough father. I'm afraid I won't be enough for either of you."

When she turned around, her eyes had a soft glisten to them, thanks to the tears she refused to let fall, "I am scared. I'm terrified."

Steve pulled her into his arms and let out a breath, "I'm here. No matter what, I'm gonna be here for you."

The next day, when they arrived at her doctor's office, Steve was the first to be taken by the nurse to have his blood drawn. Clint stayed with Natasha in the waiting room and took a seat next to her, "You feeling ok?"

She shrugged a little and shook her head, "No really…but it is what it is. I just want to get it over with." Clint reached over and took her hand and gave a comforting squeeze as she sighed, "What if…what if something's wrong?"

Clint didn't know what to say. He sighed and shook his head, "Then…I know you'll have a hard decision to make…but you'll do what's best. I know you will."

Natasha had desperately needed a Steve-like positive affirmation of "it'll be OK" or "don't think like that". But Clint, being as jaded and world-weary as she, took a more realistic approach to her plight.

She bit her lip and nodded absently as a nurse walked up to her to escort her to her room for the amniocentesis.

She had just laid back on the examination table when Steve walked in, "Hey…they haven't done it yet, have they?"

She shook her head, "No. You got your blood drawn?"

He showed her the inside of his arm, which was bandaged, "All done."

Dr. Stanley walked in with a nurse, "Are we all ready?"

Natasha nodded, "Yes."

They flattened the table out so that she was laying flat on her back. She let out a nervous breath as Steve took her hand in his, "It's ok."

She quirked a half-smile, "I know. I know."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead as the nurse placed the ultrasound wand on her belly so that they could find a pocket of amniotic fluid for the extraction. Steve glanced up at the screen and gasped.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Steve smiled and shook his head, "Nothing. I'm looking at your ultrasound…"

"What does it look like?" she asked as she attempted to crane her neck, but was careful to stay still as the nurse continued to move the wand around her stomach.

"It looks like a baby", he said with a kiss to her forehead.

"Don't worry. I'll print off plenty of pictures for you to swoon over", said the nurse as she held the ultrasound want against her belly and noted the fluid pocket for the doctor.

Steve clutched her hand harder as the doctor unsheathed rather large needle. For a second, brave Captain America felt as though he would pass out.

Dr. Stanly poised the needle over her stomach, "Alright Natasha, the needle is going in in 3, 2, 1…"

As the doctor pressed the needle into her stomach, she remained silent and still, much to Steve's surprise. It took every ounce of strength in his enhanced body to keep from squeezing her hand tighter or passing out.

When the doctor removed the needle, the nurse placed a piece of gauze against her stomach, "Alright. You're done."

"That's it?" she said as Steve gently helped her sit up. No one noticed how flushed he was.

The doctor nodded as he capped the top on the fluid sample and handed it to the nurse before he pulled off his gloves, "We'll have your test results….all of them, back within a week or so. For the next couple of days, you're on strict bed rest and you will have to remain on pelvic rest for at least 3 to 4 days. That means no sex, exercise or heavy lifting for at least 72 hours."

"Ok, doc."

"You're going to make me fatter."

"You are not fat. You're gorgeous", Steve said as he kissed her lips.

She smiled and sighed, "The doctor said to take it easy for a couple of days. We're on day 9. I think I can walk myself to the kitchen."

Steve was busy setting a tray of breakfast food on her bed as she continued to scold him for keeping her confined to her bed for longer than necessary.

Despite her complaints, she genuinely appreciated his attentiveness and TLC. Clint took a more hands-off approach because he knew how much Natasha valued her independence and privacy. What he didn't understand was that pregnancy and impending motherhood was beginning to slowly chip away at her hardened shell. She was accepting help because she was gradually putting her baby's needs above her own.

He left for SHIELD headquarters for a few hours, then returned with the rest of the team at lunch time.

Steve found her working on some files Fury sent her, and escorted her to the common area on the upper floor and gently kissed her forehead as she sat down.

Clint watched them for a few moments before clearing his throat and entering the room. Steve straightened and nodded at the other man, "Clint."

"Steve. How you feelin', Nat?"

She shrugged, "Fine. I'd be up and around more if Nurse Rogers would take a break from guard duty."

A few minutes later, Tony and Bruce walked in carrying armfuls of Chinese takeout containers, prompting Natasha to practically rub her hands together as Pepper began handing out plates and chopsticks.

As their lunch wound down, Natasha's cell phone rang. She looked down at the screen and then to Clint and Steve, "We should take this in private."

Pepper hopped up, "Say no more. Tony, Bruce…"

She grabbed both men by the arms and dragged them out of the room as Natasha answered her phone, "Hello?"

Dr. Stanley's warm voice responded on the other line, "Hi Ms. Romanoff. How are you feeling today?"

"Great. A little nervous now."

"I can understand that. I can ease your fears by letting you know that, according to the results of your amniocentesis, your baby is perfectly healthy."

Natasha let out a sigh and smiled as she placed a hand on her forehead, "That's….that's great. Thanks."

"About those other test results…"

She looked up at Steve and Clint and began walking away from them.

Natasha slipped out of the room and finished her conversation with the doctor out of earshot of both men.

When the phone call ended, she rejoined them, "I…I want to talk to both of you in private…if that's OK."

They both nodded as she pursed her lips and looked to Clint, "Do you have time right now?"

"Sure."

"Steve, we can catch up later, OK?" she said before slowly walking away with Clint.

Steve looked deflated. For whatever reason, he took her desire to talk to Clint first as a sign that the baby wasn't his.

Clint and Natasha walked to her apartment and sat down in the living room, "So…it's awesome that the kid is healthy, huh?"

She nodded, "Yeah…and I know the sex."

"Already?"

"The doc ran a full genetic panel on the baby…and he asked if I wanted to know the sex. I said I did…so he told me."

He nodded, "What else came back?"

Natasha bit her lip and remained silent for a long time before she finally whispered, "I'm sorry, Clint."

Clint lowered his head and ran a hand through his hair, "So…it's not mine?"

She shook her head, "No."

Clint closed his eyes for a few moments before he nodded, "You know…this doesn't automatically mean you have to be with him."

Natasha sighed, "Clint...we're not in sync like that anymore…I'm not sure if we ever were. We used to be the same, but I have a kid to think about now…and I want to learn how to love…openly. Freely."

He clenched his hands together, "I guess it's too little, too late, huh?"

She sighed, "Clint…you never told me—"

"I know. I know. And I guess I'll live to regret that", he said as he stared at her wistfully. Clint moved his hand up to gently cup her cheek, "Do me a favor…teach your kid to follow their heart."

"Clint—"

"I know it sounds stupid and cliché…but those guys are the ones that get the girl. At least they are in this situation."

Natasha hugged him, but he cut the embrace short and walked away.

She felt awful about herself and what she had done to him, so she sulked away in her apartment for two hours…until Steve knocked.

As soon as she opened the door, he rushed in and started talking a mile a minute, "Ok. I know you probably are working on a way to tell me that the baby isn't mine, so I just thought that I'd save you the trouble and come down here so that we can just get it over with. It's not good for you to hold something like this in and be stressed."

Natasha sat down, "…and what am I holding in?"

"That…that..the baby isn't mine."

"Is that what you want?"

He shook his head, "No! Definitely not…but there's not much I can do."

"Well good. Because the doctor let me know that the baby is healthy…and it's yours."

Steve's expression of distress immediately transformed into one of elation, "It's mine?"

"Do you want to know what it is?"

"What?"

"The doctor asked if I wanted to know the sex. I said yes."

"I can't believe you wanted to know! I kinda want it to be a surprise…"

She shrugged a little, "It's not that big a deal…"

Steve laughed and shook his head, "I think you'll be singing a different tune in a few months."

Natasha crossed her arms, "So…now that you know you're going to be a father….to a healthy boy…or girl…are you happy?"

He took her in his arms and kissed her lips, "Very…"


I hope you enjoyed this update. I'll try to get another one up soon. If you hadn't noticed, the tone of this story will be a lot fluffier and funnier from now on because I want to chronicle the rest of Natasha's pregnancy, as well as Thor's return, and the team's continued/ever changing reaction to her pregnancy.

Review please!