Chapter 14

Number Three

Shifting uneasily, Emily eyed Laura as she waddled back from waving goodbye to Clint and the kids who were on their way to a Sunday alone with him and a brother-in-law or something. Smoothies and waterslides and cousins had been promised. The smoothies and water part sounded good to Emily. She wanted to go swimming with Natasha later.

Okay, skinny-dipping. The moon would be full this week, and she wanted to watch Natasha's naked form glide through the water. Touch her too. But she liked to simply watch her move sometimes. The woman was already the epitome of grace, yet when she was in water, she grew impossibly more elegant. She realized her sight had shifted to Nat when an eyebrow arched at her.

Emily turned back to Laura. "You're sure you want me here for your delivery? Seems a little crowded." There'd be Clint, the midwife and his birthing assistant, Natasha, and one of Laura's sisters who was supposed to show up soon to keep an extra eye on the kids. Friends were popping by regularly to check in, would probably stick around if Laura went into sudden labor.

Laura slowly eased herself down to the couch beside Emily. She sighed in relief and rubbed her enormous stomach. "Why wouldn't I want my friends and best healer in the world here for it?"

She plopped beside her. "Yea. Okay. Play the healer card. Speaking of, want me to..." she gestured at the belly.

"By all means."

Absolutely, perfectly healthy mini-hawk. Seemed like a good reason to tease Laura. "Oh no," she gasped. Facing pulling into a worried fret, "Oh damn."

Adrenaline was shooting through Laura. The little guy kicked at his mom's speeding heart. "What?"

Even Natasha hadn't caught Emily's fake out. She was leaning forward, body vibrating with her fight instinct, and ready to rush Laura to the best doctors on Earth. Emily shook her head and blew out a breath. "Laura, I'm so sorry." She squeezed out a tear.

"What?" She hissed.

"It's definitely Clint's baby." She deadpanned. Caught in the delicate balance of fear, disbelief, shock, relief, and outrage, the old friends stared at Emily. She sighed. "Poor thing might get his face."

Emily was going to pay for this joke, but their faces were so worth it. She grinned.

Half-hearted slaps rained down on her. "Emily Fortune!" Laura yelled. "Don't you ever do that me again, y'hear? I will string you up by your toes in the peach trees and leave you to the squirrels!"

Arms up to defend the blows, Emily guffawed. She laughed and laughed and fell off the couch, smacked her head on the floor, kept laughing even as a magazine was used to extend Laura's reach. Every blow just made her laugh harder.

Laura was growling about horrible taste in jokes and terrible friends as Emily ached for breath. The magazine was thrown at her, and Laura huffed back into her seat. Tears streaming down her face, Emily sat up, caught Nat's eye. Later torture was promised despite her twinkling eye. Smug, Emily winked at her, got a huffed chuckle.

"Baby's fine, Laura." She popped back on the couch. "Want me to take care of that pinched nerve in your hip?"

It was obvious how much Laura wanted to tell her to go eat a bag of dicks, but she sighed. "Lord help me, Em. You are worse than my husband."

"If he didn't share a bed with you, you know he'd be worse," was her cheeky reply. "The hip?"

Laura grabbed Emily's hand. "You better." Her implied threat was as impressive as Natasha's.

Actually feeling a little chastised, she bent to her work. Pressure on the nerve was relieved. She smiled at the physical sense of Laura relaxing, happy hormones being released, stress levels lowering. The baby reacted as well, giving an enthusiastic stretch. He was a happy bundle. She almost blabbed the baby's sex, but managed to change her question before it left her mouth. "Did you decide what gender to give the kid in your next book?"

"Your next book?" Natasha pouted. She didn't know yet?

Laura sighed at Emily. "How did you even find out, Em? When did you?"

"Uh." She scratched her leg. "Was it a secret?"

"It was."

"Laura," came a soft whine from Natasha. "You were supposed to tell me if you got serious about another book."

Fidgeting, Laura shook her head. "No. I promised to tell you if I ever did a sequel to Burned Socks."

Burned Socks? She'd never heard of that. Was it under a different name? Her mind clicked. Did the great Black Widow not know Laura had a best-selling saga under a nom de plume? That she would be a thousand times more successful if she went on a book-signing tour like her fans had been begging from her for the past six years. Or that Laura had been turning down movies and TV series for a while too.

"Laura Barton." Emily grinned in awe of the woman. "You minx."

In the quiet, the air conditioner hummed. Natasha's eyes were narrowing, her lips thinning. "What have you managed to keep from me?" Irritation, probably a stab of hurt, was overlaid by admiration.

Again, Emily was the target of Laura's swats. "You are on bathroom duty this entire visit, you big-mouthed pain, y'hear me? Ya'll weren't supposed to know!"

"Come on, Laura! Danielle Yastreb is one of my favorite characters ever. How was I not supposed to make the connection when you left your notebook open on the bathroom sink last time I was here?"

"Danielle Yastreb?" Natasha demanded, her accent flaring on the Russian term for hawk as the connection between the character and Clint became obvious.

"I'm always on bathroom duty when I'm here." She caught both wrists, rolled her eyes. "Erica Roman," she pinned the nom de plume to her. "Hiding your notebooks in the master bathroom closet might've kept the fox from stumbling over them, but me? You keep them right behind the cleaners."

"Natasha's seen them." Her arms had gone docile in Emily's grip. "She just thought they were diaries and respected my privacy."

Jaw hanging, Natasha was about as surprised as Emily had ever seen her. "Nat's trusted you for a long time, hasn't she?" The new thought made warm fuzzies glow for her lover.

Those sharp green eyes switched to her, then back to Laura, and softened. "So, Erica Roman. Author of the acclaimed sci-fi series about Danielle Yastreb, the futuristic equivalent of Clint had he been born on a Mars colony, injected himself with homemade nanotechnology to repair damaged hearing, and became Mars' best spy with the unforseen side effects of the nanotech," hair swished with a small laugh. "How did I never see the connection? How did I miss it? Clint introduced them to me!"

"He bought a German copy in Zurich." Demure pride smiled.

"Along with a dozen other novels that he dumped in my lap during a long undercover mission." Nat rolled her eyes. "His excuse was that you," her finger pointed at Laura, "Gave him a reading list to distract me from worrying about your pregnancy with Lila."

"A lie. He did that all on his own." Wrists tried to escape. "Will you let go?"

She made a face. "Only if you're going to stop smacking me."

"If you stop causing trouble."

"You'll be waiting forever, Laura." Natasha chuckled.

A groan came from Laura. Momma Barton wasn't used to losing battles. She might be sweet and wholesome, but the Barton farm ran under her strict hand. "Truce."

Releasing her hold, "Fair enough."

Emily had to catch herself from imagining what Natasha would look like pregnant. The topic of her sterility had never been broached, not in the asking Emily to reverse it kind of way. Despite raging curiosity, Emily had kept her promise and never brought it up. There was also the fact that Nat being pregnant would mean Emily becoming a parent, and she had no idea how she felt about that. Her ex had thrashed the idea of kids their first month together. Thinking that would be her last relationship, she'd stopped considering the idea a long time ago.

The three women were sitting in the living room, drinking a berry tea while dinner finished cooking. Giggling and running feet heralded the return of Clint and the kids. One of the adults always waited for the schoolbus to drop them off at the drive's entrance, and today had been Clint's turn. Lila burst into the house first and went straight to her favorite person. Her Auntie Nat accepted the bundle of child with open arms and a kiss to her messy hair.

After a round of customary questions about Lila's day, the more sedate boys appeared. Cooper went to his mother for a kiss on the cheek first. Then Natasha, and to Emily's surprise, her.

"Have you decided on names yet?" Natasha asked.

Lila swiveled to beam up at her auntie. "If it's a girl, she'll be Natasha Amelia Barton."

Green eyes went bright as they flitted between child and parents. Emily felt warmth spread in her chest for the devastatingly sweet expression blossoming on her fox.

"You've brought Clint home safely more times than I care to count. You're part of this family, and you're also part of why this little one," Laura rubbed at a kicking foot, "Is coming into the world. We couldn't think of a better way to honor you than to give our child your names."

Names, plural? Wasn't Natalia's middle name Alianovna? It was. Natasha had confirmed what her files said, and she'd had no reason to lie to Emily. Had she?

Laura had Natasha's hand on her belly, was giving her a sisterly kiss on her cheek. She caught Emily's eye, frowned, then laughed. "And it's Emelia, not Amelia. For you, Emily."

"Right! Emelia!" Lila agreed as though she hadn't made the mistake.

But why? She had grown to care for the Bartons deeply, but she wasn't a partof the family like Natasha was. "That's an awfully generous gesture, Laura."

"What is?" Clint asked as he looked up from his phone.

Giving him a pointed look for dropping out of the conversation to tend his phone, Laura answered. "Lila and I were just explaining what we'll name Number Three."

"Oh. I see." He pocketed his phone, caught his kids' attention. "Go wash up, you mud magnets. I can smell that dinner's almost ready."

Lila challenged Cooper in a race to the bathroom, and they dashed away.

"A boy will be Nathaniel Emil." Laura added, much to Emily's consternation.

Natasha's eyes shimmered at the honor their friends were giving her, and Emily did not want to break the moment for her. She carefully bit the tip of her tongue. Later, she could talk to Clint and Laura, explain her discomfort. Refocusing on her excitement for Natasha, she whisked an easy delight to her face right before Natasha's gaze settled on her. "Congratulations, little fox."

One of those rare blushes colored Nat's cheeks. "Thank you," came out delicately. She sniffled. Emily's heart did a little dance at the display of raw emotion she was allowed to see, falling in love all over again. "Clint. Laura. I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Laura's eye rolled to Emily, silently told her that she recognized Emily's disapproval of being included in the naming and would change Emily's mind later. Emily mentally began preparatory arguments about why the name her parents had randomly chosen didn't deserve to be passed on.

Sitting on the arm of the chair that Nat was in, Clint hauled her in for a hug. "We just wanted to reinforce that you get to help change diapers."

Most anyone else would have groaned. Mentally, Emily did. She'd changed enough of Alan's for a lifetime. Natasha took it as a measure of trust, that anyone would put the well-being of their children in her hands, would allow her to help shape their lives. It was in the tear that escaped.

"I should check the casserole," as she stood. The buzzer went off, and Laura shook her head.

"How do you do that?"

Emily gave her a smile that said it was another superhuman gift, dropped a kiss to Natasha's temple as she passed.

"Why don't you think we should give this kid your name?" Catching up Emily's hand, Laura joined her outside to watch the fireflies dance.

Clint's softer tread creaked, and he settled in around his wife, peering over her shoulder at Emily. "Talk."

"You barely know me." Half of the missions she'd been on with Clint, he'd been up in a sniper perch, speaking to no one. Even when he was training her to hide like a sniper, they rarely spoke beyond the exercise. Or when she'd come that first time. She and Clint just didn't chat much. Laura had drawn her into a fair amount of conversation. Okay, yea. The short amount of time they'd spent together just didn't seem to add up to why they wanted to give a kid her name, even a middle name.

The couple exchanged glances. Clint leveled his dad slash sniper stare on her, and Laura spoke for them. "You know how important Natasha is to us."

Whatever argument she'd been expecting, that wasn't in it. "Your kids call her aunt." What more was there to say?

Laura nodded. "And you probably know her better than any of us now. You know her past, how she works."

"Yes."

"We've never seen her happier."

"Naming your kid after her was the greatest thing anyone could do for her." Of course she was happy.

Clint huffed. "Jesus, you're dense."

"Emily, you've given her the greatest gift. You make her happy every day." Earnest, she leaned forward. "You do what no one else can."

"You can make her angry without losing a finger or two." Clint grinned at his wife's shoulder bumping his chin.

"Clint," chided him.

Where were they going with this? What did loving Natasha have to do with them naming their kid after Emily? They had only been together, what, seven or eight months? She hoped for another eight months, eight years, eight decades with her little fox.

Oh.

Oh. That's where they were going.

"I think she's getting it."

"Clint!"

"Say you'll let us give our kid your name." Clint's gaze was sharp. "You'll let us thank you for helping Natasha be," from hawk to cheeky friend, he grinned, "A little red fox instead of a black widow."

For that, for Natasha, she'd allow it. She caught a flash of red in the doorway. Natasha was spying on them, had poked her head into sight to catch Emily's eye. Her gaze was tender.

"Okay."

A curve of lips, and Nat vanished.

"You can give the kid my terrible name. On one condition." She held up a hand before Laura could jump her with a hug. "Never use the nickname Emmie."

"Is that what your mother calls you?" Clint asked.

"Yea."

The beach ball of a belly made the hug a little awkward. "Deal."

Clint squeezed the three of them together. "Okay. Good hug. Let's go eat ice cream."

Nathaniel Emil, huh? She could handle that.

After a report to Fury that no, Laura hadn't popped yet. Yes, it might be another week. No, Emily wouldn't induce Laura just so he could have Sekhmet and the Widow back on duty earlier. He'd known for months that Natasha, more recently Emily too, would be unavailable for several weeks at the end of summer. He preferred to give them time off on his schedule, didn't like being dictated to by a baby. His greetings were grudgingly offered to the Bartons, and he let them go.

"Is it a Nathaniel or a Natasha?" Nat asked from her side of the bed that night.

"Laura wants it to be a surprise," was her drowsy response. She'd been prodded about this for months, from Clint and Nat, then the kids when they'd learned what Emily's gift was. It was exhausting, and she was ready for Laura to push the kid out already.

The hand that always touched hers as they fell asleep like this tugged at her fingers. "Come on, please?"

Emily opened her eyes, peered at the glinting sparks on the other pillow. "You can deal with not knowing this one secret for a few more days."

"Emily!"

"No." She dropped her eyelids.

"Emilishka, pozhaluista." Featherlight touches traced her knuckles.

"You put that tongue away. I'm not telling you." She grunted. "And its sex isn't all that important. It's just another hawk."

Natasha groaned and flopped to her back.

"You're cute when you pout."

Annoyance glared at her.

She smiled back, yawned, and closed her eyes.

Nathaniel burbled up at Natasha. She made sure that no one was close enough to hear and whispered, "Traitor. You were supposed to be a Natasha." The little cone-head reached up and tangled his fingers in curls. His dark eyes reminded her of Emily. "Fine. I forgive you."

Cradling the precious bundle, smelling his baby scents, all milk and spit up and powder, Natasha wondered at the idea of a child who carried her blood as well as her name. Or Emily's. What would it be like to grow a little person inside herself? To give birth and watch Emily hold their child for the first time? Emily would make a beautiful mother. She was already a mother in all but physiology, having basically raised her brothers because of her parents' neglect and abuse.

Would Emily want to raise a child of her own with those scars on her heart?

Nathaniel had shifted, letting go of her hair and was trying to mouth at her fabric covered breast. "Sorry, little guy, wrong boob."

"Is he hungry?" Laura asked as Nathaniel made an unhappy noise.

Natasha eased over to her friend. "He's not old enough to want a boob for anything else yet."

As the little guy latched on to his mom, Laura gave Natasha an annoyed look. "Must you always be so crass?"

"I still can't believe how quickly you're recovering this time." The midwife hummed and scratched his neatly trimmed beard.

Smiling down at her sucking baby, Laura hummed. "Must be all the help I've got."

She got a disbelieving look, but the man had a good relationship with the Bartons, knew that it was a family with a few secrets. He had kept his opinions to himself, and Natasha had let him keep his tongue. As always, he gave her a wide berth as he moved about Laura, making sure she was in good health. She'd never been anything but polite to him. Except every time Nat didn't know what to do with herself when Laura was in labor, yet insisted on her presence, and ended up giving the midwife her best threatening glares, promising unending torture if Laura didn't make it. He had good reason to avoid her.

Emily appeared with a pot of tea and several cups. "You are a godsend, Em." Laura beamed up at her.

This labor had been the best ever. Natasha had been able to almost completely relax knowing that Emily was on the job. The screaming and cursing and grunts of pain had been what kept her on edge. Almost as much as Clint. One of Laura's younger sisters had come, along with her fussy toddler, to watch the kids and generally be around to help. Emily had snuck in a health check on them as well, quietly fixed a fractured vertebrae that no one had been aware of. They'd blamed the kid's tears on Cooper's loud action cartoon. From fussy to sweet-tempered, the toddler had switched overnight. Natasha had made sure to show Emily her appreciation. Repeatedly. Loudly. And far away from the house in the mosquito-netted pavilion they'd set up for this visit.

"She is a deity, Laura." Natasha corrected. "The goddess of doctors and battle."

"And tea," was Laura's amiable agreement. "How did you get this one?"

And tea. Natasha still had know idea how Emily got this particular blend. The company it came from did not ship outside of its native country of Turkey, didn't even have a website. No missions had taken them there, and Natasha was fairly certain that Em didn't have Turkish friends.

"Trade secret, I'm afraid."

"Nat has definitely been rubbing off on you."

The midwife's eyes flitted between the SHIELD agents. "And you two met on the job, the same kind that Clint does?"

Natasha sipped daintily at her tea.

"Oh no." Emily shook her head, replied cheerily. "My job is much more hands-on than his."

Thinking of the Afghanistan job, of the dresses that Emily had looked so fetching in, that Natasha had delighted in removing, she grinned wolfishly. "Especially in Kabul."

Giggles floated among the women. The midwife shook his head. "No. I don't want to know."

Translation:

pozhaluista – please

A/N – I always imagined Laura providing for her family in her own way instead of just being a homemaker. Why not be a secretly successful writer?