A/N: Well here we are! The final chapter of this story. I will post on here once the first one shot is ready :)
dont forget to review!
Chapter 10
After some negotiation and rounding up of the curious girls, Director Fury and Tony managed to get all of the girls plus Steve, Bruce and Anya onto a Quinjet headed back to the Tower.
Phil managed to convince the doctors that Natasha and Lucy were good and allowed them to leave as well. The small family and Phil took their own jet back to the Tower.
The girls piled onto the couch on the meeting floor, while Natasha and Clint took refuge on their own floor.
Natasha happily sunk down into the armchair with Lucy in her arms.
"Are you hungry?" Clint asked.
"Eh, not really," Natasha shrugged.
"Okay, what do you want to do? Nothing too active, you did just have a baby," Clint said.
"We don't have a crib… we don't have anything for her," Natasha whispered looking down at the sleeping baby.
"We'll get her stuff, don't worry," Clint reassured his wife.
"I know, it's just overwhelming. I mean we have a baby, Clint." She said.
"A beautiful baby," Clint said.
Natasha chuckled, "She is beautiful. Just where is she going to sleep tonight? She can't sleep with us."
"I'll run out and get a crib. I'm sure Pepper will help you out for a little bit," Clint suggested.
Natasha nodded, "Sounds like a plan."
"JARVIS could you have Miss Potts come up here?" Clint called out.
"Of course, Agent Barton," JARVIS replied.
A few moments later the elevator dinged and Pepper walked out.
She knelt down next to Natasha and pulled her into the best hug she could manage with the baby in her arms.
"It's good to see you, is this her?" Pepper said.
"This is Lucy," Natasha said looking from the red head to the baby.
"Could you hang out with her while I go get some stuff?" Clint asked.
"Of course, I would love to," Pepper said.
Clint gave Natasha a quick kiss on the lips and then a quick kiss on Lucy's head. "I'll be right back."
Clint didn't want to leave the two of them, but Lucy needed a bed. There was no way he was going to be able to carry all of the stuff they needed alone.
By pure coincidence, Steve wandered into the elevator.
"Hey, you up for a shopping trip?" Clint asked.
"Um, I was going to go meet Lida, but I guess that can wait," Steve replied.
"Naw, bring her with us! I'm sure she'll have fun," Clint suggested.
The elevator door opened up to the meeting floor where the two men stepped off. All of the girls were piled on the couch sharing bowls of popcorn, each one glued to the TV screen.
"I thought a movie night would be good for the girls. It's certainly distracting them while I find blankets and pillows for later." Tony said as he walked up to the two.
Clint craned his neck around the billionaire to see what movie was playing.
"So you put in Lord of the Rings?" Clint asked rolling his eyes.
"I don't have any kid's movies. Plus they love Gandalf." Tony protested.
"And you get to deal with them when he dies at the end," Clint pointed out.
"Oh god, I didn't think about that," Tony mumbled.
Steve chuckled and turned to Clint, "You want to get her?"
Clint nodded, "Hey Lida, could you come here?"
The small blonde jumped up from the couch and skipped over to where they stood. "Yes, Mr. Hawk?" she said swaying on her spot.
Clint crouched down to her level, "You see that guy right there?" Lida nodded. "Well he is one of my good friends. I think you'll like him a lot. So how about you come hang out with the two of us. We could use your help with something,"
"You need MY help?" Lida asked excitedly.
"Yes, ma'am, we need to go get some things for the new baby and we need someone to help us pick out things that a baby girl would like," Clint explained.
"That sounds like fun!" Lida smiled brightly up at Steve.
Clint stood up and nodded to Steve. Lida walked up to the Captain and took his hand into her little one.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"It's Steve," Steve managed to choke out. The little girl was just a bundle of cute.
"Come on Steve," Lida said pulling him towards the elevator.
Clint laughed, "Good luck Stark."
The three of them took one of Tony's many Audi cars and headed out. Clint had scoped out a Babies-R-Us store months ago, so he knew exactly where to go.
Once they walked in the massive store, the three of them froze. They had absolutely no clue where to begin.
"Does she have a bed?" Lida asked looking up to Steve.
"No, she doesn't." Steve replied.
"Then let's go find her a bed!" Lida exclaimed.
Clint grabbed a cart and hoisted Lida up into the back. They followed the signs that led them to the furniture section of the store. There were so many different kinds of just cribs. Ones that were just cribs, ones that converted into beds, ones that came with changing tables, the list went on and on.
"I like that one," Lida said pointing to a display of a crib that would later convert to a twin size bed.
It was a pretty crib. It was made of dark wood and had simple curve designs.
"Why that one?" Steve asked out of curiosity
"It's pretty." Lida said simply shrugging her shoulders.
Clint laughed, "Well that's a good enough reason for me." He picked up one of the boxes and slid it under the cart.
"Let's keep going," Steve chuckled pushing them onward.
Lida picked out a sheets set that had jungle animals on it. Her reasoning for the sheets was that they had birds on them. They continued on to the toy aisle where Lida went slightly crazy. The cart was soon full of different stuffed animals.
She found a stuffed elephant and practically fell in love with it.
"What you got there?" Steve asked Lida.
"It's an elephant," she whispered petting its head.
"You want the elephant? I can get it for you," Steve suggested.
Lida's face lit up, "Really?"
"Yeah! It's all yours," Steve said firmly. Lida flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around his legs, elephant still in hand.
Clint smiled at the two and began to head towards the register. The cashier gave them an odd look as she rung up the massive amount of items.
In total they had gotten: a crib, a mattress, three sheet sets, 5 different stuffed animals (each a different size), multiple receiving blankets, many different onesies and outfits, bibs, and a large quantity of diapers and wipes and of course one stuffed elephant.
And by some miracle they managed to shove it all into the Audi.
Once back at the Tower they shoved it all into the elevator and rode up to Clint's floor.
Lida tugged on the bottom of Steve's shirt to get his attention. "Can I stay with you?" she asked.
Steve smiled down at her, "Yeah you can."
Pepper and Natasha were still sitting where they had left them. At the sound of the elevator Natasha turned around in the chair. She stood up slowly and crossed to Clint.
She glanced down at the bags and boxes around his feet and raised an eyebrow, "Did we have fun?" she chuckled.
"Yes! Look what Steve got me, Natalia!" Lida exclaimed holding up the stuffed elephant.
"Wow, that was nice of him," Natasha said patting the girl on her head.
"I'm gonna stay with him too," Lida continued.
Natasha looked up at Steve questioningly.
"I adopted her," Steve explained.
"You're gonna adopt me?" Lida said looking up at Steve hopefully.
Steve knelt down to the little blonde's height. "If that's okay with you?"
Lida grinned and flung herself into Steve's arms. "I never had a papa," she whispered into his neck.
Steve hugged the little girl tightly, "I'll try." He picked her up in his arms and carried her back into the elevator. "Let's go get some of the popcorn," Steve said mouthing his thanks to Clint and Natasha.
"I'll go put this stuff in our room," Clint said gathering the bags up in his arms.
Natasha stifled a laughed as the archer stumbled as he attempted to balance the bags. She turned back to Pepper, ready to relieve her of Lucy.
"Go help him, I've got her," Pepper said waving her away.
Natasha smiled and turned around towards the box that was left. She managed to drag it to the doorway of their bedroom before Clint interfered.
"You shouldn't be picking up anything heavy, Tasha. I was going to go back for it," Clint said taking the box away from her.
"I'm not going to break just because I had a baby," Natasha huffed plopping down slowly in the middle of the bags.
She wouldn't admit it but she was incredibly sore.
"But knowing you, you're going to overdo it. I just want you to take it easy, okay?" Clint explained.
He knelt down next to her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek .
"Fine, don't get your feathers in a knot. I'll take it easy," Natasha agreed rolling her eyes.
Clint chuckled and kissed her again, "I missed you bird references." He stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll be right back. I need some tools."
Natasha nodded and looked down at the bags around her. In the first bag she found the stuffed animals. To her delight, each one looked pretty realistic. She hadn't wanted to take the baby concept too far.
She set them aside and turned to the next bag. This one held the sheets sets. She smiled at the patterns; feeling a theme beginning to grow. She tossed them over towards the baby mattress for later.
The next bag was the clothes and blankets. She touched the soft fabric, marveling at how tiny the garments were. Lucy would most definitely need more cloths than this but it was a good start. The receiving blankets were all a pale yellow with leafy green accents around the edges.
"Do you like them?" Clint asked dropping down next to the box.
"It's all great. We'll have to get some more things, but this is a good start," Natasha replied.
"Lida had a great time," Clint said ripping open the box.
"She's a great girl. I'm a little surprised Steve is adopting her," Natasha confessed.
Clint chuckled, "Steve will make a good father for her. It's strange that they actually look related. You know? The blonde hair and all."
The archer pulled out the instruction booklet and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He looked from the directions then back to the box.
"Problem?" Natasha asked.
"Naw, I got this," Clint assured her.
He launched himself into assembling the parts, grumbling occasionally about the abundance of pieces.
Meanwhile, Natasha decided to put the mattress cover on along with a fitted sheet.
Slowly, but surely a crib began to take shape. Once he was finished, Clint dropped the mattress down into its spot and stepped back.
"I think Lida chose the right one," he said smiling at Natasha.
"Yes, she did," Natasha murmured getting up and wrapping her arms around Clint's neck, pulling him close.
He bent his head down resting it on her shoulder. He inhaled deeply relishing in her scent; a smell he had missed dearly. He slowly trailed kisses up her neck, pausing at her ear.
"I love you so much, Natasha," He whispered his warm breath making her shiver.
She turned her head to where their foreheads were touching.
"I love you too," she breather before capturing hi slips in a deep kiss.
Clint sighed into her mouth, happy to finally have her back in his arms safe.
A small cry from the living room caused them to break apart.
"I'll be back," Natasha whispered pulling out of his embrace.
Clint quickly picked up the bags and deposited them in the corner of the room for later. He shifted the crib to where it was closer to his side of the bed, so he could get to her easily.
Natasha came back with a whimpering Lucy in her arms.
"She's hungry; hold her for a moment so I can get situated," Natasha said.
Clint took Lucy into his own arms and held her close to his chest. Immediately, she took a fist full of his shirt in her tiny hand and held on tight. He watched Natasha prop the pillows up against the headboard and pull back the covers. She crawled up onto the bed and sat down, motioning for him to come over. She pulled her shirt off and unclasped her bra, leaving herself bare.
"Can you get me one of the blankets please?" Natasha asked as he set the baby down in her waiting arms.
Lucy hungrily latched on, making small slurping noises every so often. Clint brought one of the new blankets over and draped it over Natasha's bare side where Lucy wasn't feeding.
"I'm gonna change clothes. I didn't realize I went out looking like this," Clint said motioning to his dirty shirt that had a few blood splatters on it.
Natasha nodded and watched him retreat into the bathroom with fresh clothes in hand. She looked down at Lucy and gently stroked her soft hair. Lucy brought her hand up and placed it flat against her mother's breast. Natasha shivered at the contact. She brought her own hand up and touched the top of Lucy's.
The little girl's skin was amazingly soft. It was so new, so free of scars unlike her parents' skin.
Clint reemerged wearing lounge pants and a plain white undershirt. He sat down on his side of the bed as Lucy pulled away, apparently full.
"Will you burp her while I get cleaned up?" Natasha asked.
"Of course," Clint smiled taking Lucy. "Take as long as you want."
Natasha sighed; she got up and walked towards the dresser to retrieve new clothes.
"Tasha," Clint whispered as he patted Lucy's back. There was a small burp from the baby that interrupted the silence.
She knew what he was looking at. "It's nothing," she mumbled keeping her head down as she rummaged through the drawers.
Clint got up and walked over to where she stood. He cradled the baby in one arm and reached out with his other. He gently touched the large welts that spanned her back. Lucy whimpered and curled up against Clint, like she didn't want to see.
Clint knew what would leave these kinds of wounds. "Why?" was all he managed to was say to her.
"It would have been Anya. I couldn't let that happen," Natasha explained looking up at Clint. "I took the punishment for her."
Clint kissed her softly on the lips "I wish I could have taken it for you both."
Natasha gave him a weak smile and turned towards the bathroom. She closed the door quietly and crossed to the shower. She turned on the hot water and let the steam fill up the room as she stripped out of her remaining clothes. She stepped into the spray, moaning softly as the hot water loosened up the muscles in her back.
Tilting her head back, she wet her tangled mass of curls. She looked forward at the tiled wall, counting the tiles to occupy her mind. Her hands trailed down her body, pausing over her now empty abdomen. Her breath hitched in her throat. She stumbled back a few steps to where her back was flat against the cold wall and slid down to the floor. She brought a hand up to her mouth to stifle the small sob that bubbled up, keeping the other one on her abdomen.
'The baby is safe', she kept repeating over and over in her head. All the worry of losing her washed over the new mother. While the knowledge that her daughter was safe, she still felt as if she was breaking on the inside.
She knew that there was no way she could get pregnant again; Bruce had told her. She would never feel the same closeness with her child again; being able to feel the baby's every movement had been a special experience. Now…now Natasha felt empty.
She hurriedly washed her body and hair, not caring that the scrubbing stung her skin. She slipped into her soft, clean pajamas and quickly towel dried her hair.
Natasha found Clint sitting alone on their bed. She could see Lucy sleeping on her back in the crib, easing Natasha's worries slightly.
Clint gave her a confused look, "That was fast."
"I…" Natasha started but she dissolved into tears as she crossed to the bed. She crawled up into Clint's open arms, burying her face into his chest.
"Oh, Nat, it's going to be okay. I'm here for you," he murmured rubbing her back.
"I don't know… how to… protect her now," Natasha sobbed.
"Don't worry, she'll be well protected. Who would dare harm her with the Avengers around?" Clint said.
Natasha half laughed half sobbed at his comment. "I guess you're right."
"Just sleep now. I've got my eye on both of my girls. You both are safe," Clint whispered giving her a kiss on the top of her head.
"What did I do to deserve you?" she mumbled.
"I ask myself the same question about you every day. Maybe we were just meant to be together to fix each other," he replied.
"You have fixed me," she said sleep heavy in her tone.
"You fixed me too, Tasha. More than you will ever know," Clint said leaning his head back against the pillows and closing his eyes.
Tony carefully tip toed around the girls, making sure each one had a blanket covering them. When he came to Anya, who was laying on the couch because of her bruised ribs, she stopped him.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark. You have idea what this meant to the girls. We have never gotten to do anything like this," Anya whispered.
"You can call me Tony. I'm glad that it made them happy. You girls deserve it," Tony replied patting her on her head.
"Good night, Tony," Anya whispered closing her eyes and pulling the blanket up to shoulders.
"Good night, Anya," Tony whispered back before finishing his check.
He came to one of the armchairs where Steve had fallen asleep with Lida and her stuffed elephant curled up in his lap. He carefully laid a blanket across the two before turning to Bruce who stood near the elevator.
"JARVIS, turn out the lights please, but make sure to leave the light in the hallway on dim setting." Tony whispered.
There was no response from JARVIS, but he did as he was instructed. The two men retreated into the elevator and pressed the buttons for their floors.
"I think today was a success," Bruce said.
Tony chuckled, "I guess so. The master assassins became parents, the super soldier became a dad and so did you big guy. I feel left out."
"Yeah, it's going to be interesting from now on. I'm a little worried about explaining the other guy to Anya," Bruce confessed.
"I'm sure she'll think it's awesome. She's a pretty badass little girl," Tony said.
The two men fell silent for a moment; the only sound being the elevator announcing they had arrived on Bruce's floor.
"I'll see you in the morning Stark," Bruce said as he exited. Tony gave him a small wave before heading up to his own floor.
He found the main part of his floor empty with no sign of Pepper. She was probably still helping Natasha with the baby…the baby, whose name he didn't know.
He toed off his shoes by the elevator and quietly padded over to the mantle. He reached up and picked up the first arc reactor he had made for the suit. Underneath it in the groove that was carved out to hold the reactor in place was the object he was searching for. He held up the diamond ring at eye level, examining it before slipping it into his pants pocket.
Tony turned around and headed down the hallway that led to his and Pepper's bedroom. He smiled when he found Pepper sitting on the bed in one of his t-shirts reading a book.
"Hey," he said tugging his shirt off over his head and tossing it into the hamper by his dresser.
"Hey," she replied looking up from her book for a moment to see him taking off his jeans.
Tony pulled out a clean undershirt and pants, pulling them on while secretly switching the ring into his pajama pants pocket.
He playfully hopped onto the bed causing Pepper to bounce slightly. He lay flat on his stomach with his head propped up on his elbows, looking up at her. Pepper marked her place and closed the book.
"Yes, Mr. Stark?" she said putting on her secretary voice.
"Why Ms. Potts, how is our new resident bird?" Tony asked.
"She's good. Natasha is exhausted and Clint may explode from excitement, but they are good," Pepper replied. She set the book down on the bed side table.
"What's the baby's name again?" Tony asked sitting up.
"It's Lucy. Lucy Charlotte Barton." Pepper said with a smile.
"Ah, Lucy in the sky with diamonds! Very nice," Tony said.
Pepper laughed, "I'm not sure they were thinking about the Beatles when they named her, Tony,"
"It's still a cute name," Tony said turning to where he could lay on his back with his head resting on the pillows.
"What you are doing is amazing Tony," Pepper said softly.
"Well, laying here is a very hard job to do," he mocked.
"Not that, you bringing the girls here to stay for now. You're surprisingly good with them," she said whacking him lightly on the chest.
"It's not that hard. I'm just being myself," Tony explained sitting back up.
"And that's what I love about you," Pepper whispered leaning forward and kissing him on the lips.
Tony smiled and gently pushed her away, "Pepper, I've been thinking."
"You thinking is never a good thing," she said.
"It's a good type of thinking. Ever since Barton and Romanoff got married and then when he found out about the baby; I was jealous in a way. I wanted the happy ending too. I'm not saying Natasha getting held captive in Russia while she was pregnant and The Hawk coming apart at the seams while we searched for her is romantic. But they got the happy ending in the end. I want that too," Tony said softly.
"Anthony Stark, if you are going to propose to me…" Pepper breathed.
Tony pulled out the ring from his pocket and held it up for her to see. "Well, that was sort of the plan." He said rolling his eyes.
Pepper launched herself into his arms, kissing him full on the mouth. She broke away leaving Tony breathless.
"I'll take that as a yes?" he whispered.
"Yes," she breathed.
Tony gave her a goofy grin as he slid the ring onto her finger. Pepper tackled him again capturing his lips once more. After a moment Tony started to laugh, causing Pepper to pull away.
"What's so funny?" she asked playfully swatting him.
"We are going to have one hell of a story to tell Thor when he gets back," Tony laughed.