A/N: Hey, guys, sorry for the delay and this (in my opinion) not-particularly-good chapter. One of the young teachers at my school just suddenly and unexpectedly passed away yesterday, and our whole school is shaken. It's been a very rough 24 hours for all of us. I don't want to depress you guys or anything, so that's all I'll say about it. Just please keep our late teacher's family and close friends, as well as our school, in your prayers and thoughts. We would really appreciate it.
Like I said, I'm kinda on the fence with this one. I wrote most of it a few days ago, but I'm kinda off my game right now due to the events mentioned above. I hope you all can enjoy these random scenes from Maggie's baby days. I love you all! Thank you for your faves, follows, and reviews~
"Hush, little spider, don't say a word; Uncle Tony'll buy you the whole wide world." Tony sang as he tried to calm a crying five month old Maggie.
"Stark, if Tasha and Steve were here to hear you sing that, they would probably strip you of your uncle privileges." Clint commented with a smirk as he walked into the room.
"I'm just trying to calm the squirt down!" Tony defended as he bounced the still fussy Maggie in his arms.
"I think it's time to let Uncle Clint take over." Clint said confidently as he walked over, reaching for the redhead.
Seeing Maggie reach for Clint in return, Tony smiled excitedly. "Good! You can deal with her." He said giddily as he carefully handed her over.
"There we go, Mags. I saved you from your annoying Uncle Tony." Clint cooed as he held her close.
She calmed down immediately and Tony's jaw dropped. "Seriously, Birdbrain, how do you do that?"
"She just loves me the most." Clint bragged as Maggie giggled.
"But I promised to buy her the entire world!" Tony pouted.
"Money can't buy happiness."
"Yeah, yeah, well, it doesn't make me sad, either."
"Fair point."
"Maggie, can you give me a kiss?" Natasha asked the ten month old happily, gesturing to her cheek with her index finger. Maggie happily pushed her lips against Natasha's cheek in what she believed to be a kiss.
"Good job!" Natasha cheered, kissing Maggie's cheek in return.
"Wow, you guys teach her tricks now?" Tony commented from the couch.
"She's not a dog, Stark." Steve rolled his eyes.
"No kisses for Uncle Tony." Natasha decided, handing Maggie to Steve. "Can you give Daddy a kiss?"
Maggie happily kissed Steve's cheek with a smile and small giggle.
"Hey! That's not fair. You can't keep her and her kisses away from me." Tony pouted.
Steve kissed Maggie's temple. "We can do whatever we want." He boasted.
"Has she started walking yet?" Pepper asked as she walked into the room after hearing the tail end of the conversation.
"She's starting to try to stand." Natasha said, unable to contain the pride and excitement in her voice. "Let's see if she tries it here."
She sat down on the floor next to the couch, and set Maggie down, feet first. Maggie quickly latched onto the side of the couch for support as she looked around at everyone's faces. After a few moments, she plopped down to the ground on her bottom.
"Wow. She's growing up so fast!" Tony said sarcastically, causing Pepper to swat his arm.
"Birdbrain."
"Asshole."
"Bas-"
"Hey! What did I tell you two about cussing?" Natasha snapped from the floor, where she was sitting with her year old daughter.
"Sorry, Tasha." Clint and Tony chorused together halfheartedly.
Maggie chose that moment to giggle, as if she knew what was going on. Natasha ran a hand through the toddler's fiery red curls.
"Does she really parrot you guys that much?" Tony asked.
"A little bit, but she's only going to do so even more from now on. I don't want her picking up on your guys' awful language already." Natasha replied.
"As if you don't cuss." Clint snorted, but stopped when Natasha glared at him. Maggie laughed a little bit more, and fell back onto Natasha's lap with a bright smile.
"The squirt's just got a case of the giggles today." Tony observed, amused.
"What's so funny, huh?" Natasha teased as she tickled Maggie, causing her to squeal with laughter. "You're so silly."
"I will never get used to the sight of the Black Widow mommy-talking a child." Tony whispered to Clint.
"You did not just say 'mommy-talk.'" Clint rolled his eyes.
"I heard that!" Natasha shot from across the room.
"That's my cue to leave. I don't think violence is a good thing to demonstrate in front of the munchkin either." Tony quickly scurried out of the room.
"Mamama…" Maggie babbled happily as she poked Natasha in the face.
"Yes, I am your mama." Natasha smiled, grabbing Maggie's hand.
"As adorable as this is, I think I'm going to go do some archery." Clint announced with a wave of his hand. "See you later."
Natasha used Maggie's hand to wave goodbye in return as Clint walked into the elevator. "He just needed to go renew his man pride because you make him feel soft." She teased the toddler, though she knew Maggie wouldn't understand. She then lifted Maggie out of her lap, and stood her up in front of her. "Now, missy, it's time to walk."
Natasha scooted back a few feet as Maggie watched her curiously, holding onto the couch for support. "Come on, Лапушка, come to me." Natasha called softly to her. Maggie just blinked.
Then, Steve emerged from the elevator. His face immediately brightened at the sight of the two redheads, and he walked over to them. "Hey, you two-"
"Ah!" Natasha quickly cut him off, gesturing with her hand for him to not come any closer. She gestured with her head to the still standing Maggie, trying to communicate that she was trying to see if their daughter would try to walk on her own.
Steve got the message, and hung back. Maggie walked a few steps this way and that, all the while holding onto the couch for support. She didn't seem interested in letting go of the furniture. Steve was standing not too far away from the couch, putting him in a good place for her to use him as something to try to walk to.
"Go to Daddy, Maggie." Natasha encouraged her. "Daddy's waiting for you."
Maggie looked over at the man in question, and started pushing herself forward towards him using the couch. Steve crouched down to be at the same height as her, his arms wide open. She stopped where the couch ended, leaving about two feet of distance between father and daughter.
"Come on, Mags, you can do it." Steve hoped she would try. Maggie seemed to be considering all her options again, and for a moment, both parents were expecting her to just sit down and give up. However, with a concentrated look on her face, she pushed off the piece of furniture and toddled unsteadily towards him. Natasha watched in amazement as Steve reached forward just a bit, making the short distance a little more bearable, and Maggie happily waddled into his open arms.
"Good job, Maggie!" Steve said proudly before showering her in kisses. Maggie squirmed in his arms and giggled happily. Natasha quickly walked over to them.
"I can't believe it. We have reached the 'first steps' milestone." She said excitedly to Steve when he let Maggie go, only for Natasha to scoop her up and tickle her.
"What Tony said a few months ago was right. She is growing up so fast." Steve sighed, feeling nostalgic.
"I think our next task should be potty training." Natasha wrinkled her nose in distaste at an all-too-familiar scent. "I'm getting tired of this whole 'diaper' thing." She complained as she stood up with Maggie in her arms.
"I'll take that as my cue to take care of this one." Steve said in amusement, standing up with a stretch.
"You bet, soldier." Natasha smiled widely as she handed Maggie over to Steve. "Then we'll have to go tell everyone the good news!"
"Un… Unca…" Maggie tried a few times.
"Yes, yes, yes! Come on, just say 'Tony'!" Tony encouraged as he sat down on the floor with the year and a half old toddler sitting in his lap.
"Unca… Mama. Dada. Bah!" Maggie babbled happily as she played with some blocks, not paying attention to Tony at all. "Shield! Black!"
Clint burst out laughing from the couch. "Oh, man, she's totally not into you." He commented as he practically guffawed.
Tony scowled at the archer. "Excuse me, but she didn't say your name either!"
"Yeah, but at least I wasn't just dissed by an 18 month old. Man!" Clint continued, clearly amused.
"Ha, ha, very funny." Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm telling you, though, Legolas, one of these days, she's going to say one of our names."
"Oh, I'm sure she is. I just doubt it'll be yours." Clint snorted.
"Wanna bet, Katniss?" Tony challenged.
"Cat!" Maggie butt in, hearing a word she recognized. The two Avengers paused to smile at her in amusement, but then returned to their banter.
"No, not really. My name is hard if she can't make the 'cl' sound. I'm not stupid." Clint replied.
"You may not be stupid, but you're an idiot." Tony shot back.
"What the hel-heck is that supposed to mean?" Clint raised an eyebrow, narrowly managing to control his language in fears of an angry Natasha sneaking into his room at night and ending his existence.
As they continued to bicker, Maggie crawled out of Tony's lap. She waddled over to the couch where Bruce was sitting, reading something on his tablet. He wasn't paying attention as the two other Avengers argue.
Bruce looked up from his reading and saw her baby blue eyes staring at him expectantly. "Up!" She chirped.
Smiling, he set his tablet down beside him and lifted her into his lap. "Got tired of those two children over there, huh? Join the party." He commented as he kissed her temple. "It's peaceful over here."
"Peace?" Maggie echoed, looking up at him.
"Yeah. Peace." Bruce was always amazed at how fast she could repeat a new word. Finally, he couldn't help himself. "Hey, Maggie? Do you know who I am? I'm Bruce, your Uncle Bruce. Can you say that?"
She furrowed her brow at him, a look he chalked up to meaning she had no idea what he was asking her to do. He sighed, and let it go. "That's okay. It must be stressful for you, with everyone constantly on you for learning new words. You're still so young; people shouldn't be pressuring you so much."
Maggie just giggled happily again, and leaned her head against his chest. He had to admit, he didn't mind being cuddled with by a toddler. He pressed a gentle kiss against the top of her head, and she looked up at him, beaming happily, before resuming watching the other two Avengers.
The two sat like that for a while, watching Clint and Tony continue to bicker, though it now seemed to be over an entirely different thing. Bruce was amused that Maggie seemed to find it so enjoyable to watch, as she giggled occasionally at their gestures and would throw out a "Silly!" every once in a while.
Eventually, Maggie mentioned food. Tony and Clint declared a half-hearted truce as they decided to search the kitchen for snacks.
"Finally, now we can have some real peace and quiet." Bruce sighed, content, as the room was now lacking the sound of Clint and Tony arguing. It was short lived, however, as they quickly returned with animal crackers and a completely new argument.
"Come on, Legolas, just let me try working on some of your arrows again! Please?" Tony pleaded.
"Heck no! Last time, you almost blew all of us up. I will not have Natasha on my a-s-s," Clint knew spelling things out loud would help them avoid any possibilities of Maggie picking up on their language, "again because of something you did with my stuff."
"I think you're being a bit dramatic." Tony shrugged him off.
"She could have killed me!" Clint shot back.
Temporarily pausing from eating, Maggie giggled again. "Unca Brucie!" She squealed as if it made the most sense in the world.
The three men immediately looked at her in surprise, the argument already insignificant and long forgotten. Tony and Clint's jaws dropped as they stared at the scientist in shock.
"No way." Tony gaped. "Bruce, my science brother, how could you betray me like this?!"
"I-I didn't do anything! She just said it!" Bruce protested, looking down at the smiling redhead.
"Unca Brucie." She giggled again, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Bruce managed to save the container of animal crackers from being turned over and emptied onto the couch. He carefully set it down on the cushion next to them.
"Aw, come on! Mags, I thought what we had was special!" Clint whined dramatically.
"Brucie!" She repeated happily, completely ignoring her godfather. Clint faked a sob.
"Okay, I have to admit, this is pretty adorable." Tony sighed in defeat.
"Yeah, she loves you, man. I guess I'll have to win her back now." Clint laughed as he watched Maggie try to stand on his lap and wrap her arms around his neck.
"Yeah, I guess." Bruce said in slight exasperation as her small feet dug into his thighs and he put his hands on her sides to steady her.
"I'm starting to get jealous. How come I don't get to be this close to you, Bruce, my science brother?" Tony fake cried.
Bruce rolled his eyes. "Maggie, your Uncle Tony is silly." He said to the happy toddler.
"Silly!" She echoed happily.
Bruce nodded his head in agreement. "He's a goofball who doesn't think before he speaks." Clint laughed as Tony grumbled something under his breath.
Maggie giggled, leaning against Bruce's torso. "Brucie silly!" She declared with a playful smile. Had she not been eighteen months old, they definitely would have thought she was intentionally teasing him.
A/N: Omg, writing the first line of the last part (Maggie trying to say "uncle" and Tony encouraging her) reminded me soooo much of that meme floating around tumblr with the baby's first words and all of that. But, yay for Bruce! He gets to be the first uncle to be called by name! Hooray! *throws confetti*