Tony had a way of making things so simple when he wanted to.
Taking a complication such as the Bucky ordeal, and offering a solution. It put Steve at ease, even if he should have found the flaws and the difficulty in what he was offering. But, Tony said he would help, and Steve was in no position to be declining any assistance.
In the mean time, Tony offered to handle damage control with the arrival of Fury, which was saying a lot if he was the one in charge. It's possible that things had calmed down since Steve and Tony's talk, maybe. To avoid even the door to the conference room he had just stormed out of, Steve took the staircase back down to the apartment.
Natasha was sitting on the couch in her pajamas, sorting through an open moving box that sat on the floor in front of her. A stack of three identical boxes stood next to her chair.
" Hey!" She lit up when she saw him, " where were you?"
He watched her pull items from the box, almost forgetting that he was asked a question. " Uh, in a meeting upstairs with Tony and Bruce. Where did those boxes come from?"
" One of Tony's robots brought it up. I'm not sure of it's name, it had a party hat on. I thought it would help to start getting organized."
" Yeah, absolutely." He plopped down on the chair that was opposite her, " leave anything heavy, I'll take care of it."
She smiled. The kind of smile that could make ones cheeks hurt, but for good reason. And it stabbed him in the gut, because he couldn't remember the last time he saw her smile like that, and he would remember a smile like that. Never in London, not once while they were in Washington. Not even when she told him she was pregnant.
" We have so much we have to do." She had a to do list in her mind, but sounded just as excited and relieved, " what's wrong?"
And he was about to ruin all of that.
" When you and Bucky were together, did you two have a baby?"
Natasha twitched, and looked at him like he had two heads and one was on fire. " What the hell did you just ask me?"
" I was just curious."
" No, Steve. I didn't have a child that I just chose not to tell you about." She pointed down to her stomach, " this is the first encounter for me."
He felt awful that he had both made her angry, and was wrong with his accusation. " I'm sorry, that was out of line."
But the dirty look continued, " where did this come from?"
" Nevermind."
" No! You can't ask me that, and then not say why!"
Steve leaned forward, " Fury is here." That statement alone got her to suddenly sit up straight, in case he were to walk into the room with no warning. " He had concerns with the baby, and said there was a baby born in the past that…Hydra had an interest in. He was worried the same thing would happen here. I thought that…well, it was wrong of me to ask you that, no matter what I thought."
Natasha's anger began to disperse, just by looking at him. " Wow, if I thought having a any now is scary, back then would have been really bad." She visibly shuddered, and then looked back at him.
" I don't think it's bad now. Did Nick say anything about the other child?"
" Not enough that I didn't think to rule you out."
" Is he concerned?"
He downright lied. " No, he was just asking what we all wanted to know." Fury's suggestion of adoption would have only caused an unnecessary revolt from her. He knew it's not something she'd ever consider, and after his outburst, Fury knew better than to mention it to her.
Natasha pulled herself to stand, " well, I'm suppose to meet Bruce in his lab to discuss that. He called while you were gone. Do you want to come? He may do an ultrasound."
" Yeah!" He jumped out of his seat. And if there was one argument he would ever want her to drop, he was grateful that it was this one.
She went to leave the room, but he grabbed her wrist before she was too far out of reach.
" Nat, I'm sorry I even asked that. I didn't mean anything wrong by it. Not that that makes it okay."
" I know." She stopped to rest her hand on the side of his face, " you wouldn't be so suspicious if I just told you everything."
And she disappeared into the bedroom.
0000000000
Bruce was putzing about his lab when the two arrived. Natasha recognized it as the same area where she had her first ultrasound four months ago. Not to mention where Steve was brought after they had found him. Except now it was brighter, obviously more used, with more of a variety of objects laying around. It certainly had life to it.
" So, I went over this with Natasha before," Bruce began, once Natasha perched herself on the examination table. " The only sure way I can test for any traces of the serum before the baby is born is an amniocentesis. That's completely up to you two, if you want it done. Personally, I recommend against it since she already ended up in the hospital. But, you're the parents. It's not a dangerous procedure, but you two are the ones who would determine if it's necessary."
Natasha kicked her ranging legs and gave a side eye to Steve.
" I can certainly do a blood test when the baby is here, that's nothing harmful," the doctor continued, " I can even run one on Nat to see if there's any traces there."
Steve leaned against the side of the table, " it's not going to change how everything goes between now and when the baby is here. There's no need to risk it now."
Natasha inched closer to him and cooed, " you just made your first parenting decision."
His blue eyes went side, " is that good or bad?"
" I think we should wait, too. Like you said, it's not going to change anything."
Steve looked up at Bruce, " if the serum did…pass on, it's can't harm Nat, can it?"
" Not from what we can tell. The only concern is that no one has ever had the serum in their system other than you, so certainly no one whose been pregnant. But, making it this far in the pregnancy, there's no super soldier concerns yet."
Steve stood up straight and looked guilty. Bruce motioned for Natasha to lay down on the table, and she did. On the way down, she held on to Steve's hand.
" Hey, we're both okay," she whispered just to him while stroking the top of his hand, " don't be upset."
Bruce also noticed that he was looking a little shaken, " there isn't any way you two could have known about this."
" Certainly not," Natasha said, " we had numerous precautions in place, so it never crossed my mind."
" Oh yeah, I think I can explain that. What you two do is not my business, but there's a good chance any kind of birth control being used easily failed. The serum affected everything, and shouldn't be held to the whole ninety-nine percent chance that things are going to work. I'm sorry if there was no chance to say that any sooner." Bruce pulled the ultrasound equipment closer to them as Steve turned a whiter shade of pale. " Also, I would recommend never saying anything regarding that to Tony, unless you want to hand him more ammunition."
Natasha snorted and smiled, " well, that's good to know."
" This may be the single most awkward moment of my entire life," Steve mumbled.
Bruce pushed Natasha's stomach up and over her stomach, " I am only here to help and provide any medical advice I can offer. And I was going to start judging anyone in this group… it wouldn't be either of you."
The comment even got a small laugh out of Steve.
Similar to the clinic in London, there was a large projection screen on the nearby wall, not one that Natasha can remember from when she was first there. Bruce applied the warm gel to her exposed skin before moving the wand through it.
A black and white image appeared on the screen- a baby, who was much bigger than the last time. Not like it was shocking to them that the baby had grown, but certainly that it had grown that much. The being squirmed and wiggled, though now there was evidence of that movement, which it's mother could feel on the inside.
" It looks so much more like… a human." Steve didn't mean to let that slip out.
Bruce chuckled and studied the screen, " way, did the doctor in London tell you that it was twins?"
And Steve collapsed to the floor.
Natasha roared with laughter, and tried really hard to muffle it, with poor results. She attempted to sit up, but her laughter and stomach prevented her. Bruce rushed out of his chair and hovered over Steve on the other side of the table.
Bruce looked up at her.
" I'm so sorry, I just wanted to lighten the mood with a joke."
Natasha peered over the side of the table, still giggling, and seeing that Steve was out cold.
" It's okay, really. I've been waiting for him to cause himself to black out over all this, it's long overdue. "
Bruce grabbed a small package out of a nearby drawer and ripped it open, waving smelling salts under Steve's nose. Within a moment, his eyes popped open. The doctor helped him to sit up, assuring that there was only one baby on the way. He struggled to stand up, and once he did, Natasha was still shaking with laughter.
" You're so adorable when you're conscious," she commented.
Steve stayed hunched over the table, holding on to the edge as well as Natasha's hand, " well, I try."
Bruce returned to the ultrasound. The baby, the only baby, was back on the screen, shifting around which could have been caused by the recent havoc.
" I would offer a 3D ultrasound, but, since you want a surprise, it would be best to avoid that."
" That's okay, " Steve said softly, concentrating on the screen.
Natasha watched closely as Bruce kept giving a tour.
She loved watching the unborn, but what she loved more was to see Steve watch the baby. He was so fascinated by simply a video, that it excited her to think of how he would be when there would finally be a baby to hold. Finally something to soften Captain America.
" I read your records from London, and I'm happy to announce that the baby is still the same gender."
Steve gulped, " does it tend to change?"
" No, it's just not always accurate," Natasha told him.
" This one is pretty sure, " Bruce said, now harboring a secret as he was the only Avenger that knew the gender of the baby on the way. " Oh, look, it's sucking it's thumb
He continued moving the wand over her stomach, " hey, look at that." The baby's right hand stretched upwards and opened, almost like a wave, but pressed against the inside of its temporary home. Both Steve and Natasha were in awe that the still developing black and white form was slowing becoming it's own human being. And possibly an enhanced one.
" Does everything look okay?" Natasha asked, hoping that Bruce would have said something by now.
Bruce nodded, " no problems that I can see. Actually, the baby is measuring a little small for this stage."
" Oh great, it's going to get my other genes," Steve muttered, and Natasha snorted.
" Nothing to be concerned about, but I would recommend getting as much rest as you can. That should be easier since you'll be staying in one place for awhile."
" I've been saying that for months!" Steve announced.
Natasha smacked his forearm, " you're not a doctor." She looked up at the actual one, " do you know how to deliver a baby?"
Bruce started making weird faces, like he couldn't decide which one he wanted to settle on. And that he as suddenly remembering what was involved with that task. " I can, yes. But a hospital would be your best option. I can certainly be a back up."
With Steve's help, Natasha sat up, leaving her shirt over her stomach. " I don't like the idea of having the baby in a crowded city hospital, not with our circumstances. There's too many..opportunities."
" Well it's better than giving birth where Tony takes his naps.""
Bruce took the distraction of her giggling to make eye contact with Steve. Steve knew what was coming, and immediately, and subtly, shook his head. He also mouthed, ' I didn't.'
" No one is going to touch that baby if the other guy has to stand outside the nursery over night."
The comment made Natasha smile.
Steve kissed her shoulder, " I'll have the shield, too."
She appreciated the gestures from the men, she really did. But once yanking her shirt down, she could assume that her child was only completely safe while inside her.
The very thought terrified her.
I apologize for the short chapter. I wouldn't call it writers block, because I know where I want the story to go, just working on filling in some pieces!
Thank you all of course for reading and reviewing.
I finally did decide on the baby's gender. The name, however, could use some working. So, I'm always open for suggestions!