In this chapter; Evie is 13, Elijah & Henry are 10, Alexis is four, Cecelia is three, Jacob is nine and Oliver is four, Natasha is two months pregnant and Pepper is six months pregnant


A few weeks after Pepper and Tony had made their announcement; Darcy came to visit.
Thor, Jane, Bruce and Steve had taken the older kids ice skating while Clint and Tony had taken the younger ones with them to do their Christmas shopping for their wives.

Darcy arrived with three large Starbucks hot chocolates, a tray of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a handful of movies.

The three women gathered in the lounge with the fire on and discussed Pepper's exciting news, Darcy had been miffed she was away when she made the announcement and made her retell everything.

"So Pepper, tell me everything"

"You pretty much know everything Darce; I'm pregnant. There's not much else to tell"

"What I want to know is how you kept it secret all this time, when I was pregnant with the boys everyone just knew"

"Tash, you were pregnant with twins"

"Yeah, but I was barely three months when everyone pointed it out. You were nearly six months and no one noticed"

"It was easier for me to wear baggier clothes; your uniform doesn't leave much room for hiding it"

Natasha shrugged, contemplating slightly about her own secret, she was almost three months pregnant and desperate to tell her friends, however her and Clint had agreed not to tell anyone until after the 12 week scan.

"And all the screening came back negative?" Darcy asked

Pepper nodded, her mouth full of doughnut. After Jacob was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome shortly after he was born, her and Tony had been advised to undergo genetic screening on each subsequent pregnancy.

"Do you know what you're having?" Darcy asked excitedly, knowing how much both Pepper and Tony wanted a daughter

"A girl" Pepper smiled brightly

Natasha and Darcy both smiled, they were both so happy for their friends

"So Tasha, when are you and Clint having your next one?" Darcy switched the conversation with a wink

Natasha nearly choked on her hot chocolate at the abruptness of the question. She knew they were both expecting her to outright deny they were having anymore kids, but she didn't want to lie.
She covered up her shock with a cough and shrugged her shoulders, trying to turn the conversation back around; "You thought of any names yet Pepper?"

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You blatantly avoided the question!"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did, come on Tasha, spill it?"

Now she was stuck, she could lie her way out of any situation in the field, however when it came to her friends; they knew her too well, and she always felt guilty keeping things from them.
Her prolonged silence answered the question for them anyway.

"Oh my God Nat, are you pregnant too?!" Darcy asked excitedly, shifting forward in her seat

"Okay, yes but you can't mention it to anyone else"

"I'm totally winning the bet!" Darcy said under her breath

"What?"

"Nothing"

"Congratulations Tasha!" Pepper exclaimed, getting up to hug her friend

Natasha was smiling; she was clearly thrilled and felt much better after telling two of her closest friends

"How far along are you?"

"Only 11 weeks, we were going to tell the kids next week after the scan"

"Wait so you were pregnant the other week when you fell off the roof of SHIELD?"

"I didn't fall!"

"Okay, well whatever happened..."

"I believe I was knocked off the roof after saving Tony's life" she answered, "I don't fall"

"He did save you in return afterwards" Darcy clarified

"Yeah true" she admitted

"You would have been like two months pregnant then?"

"Yeah, almost. I didn't know though, not until I woke up and the doctor had told Clint"

"Was everything okay?" Pepper suddenly seemed very concerned. She knew missions injuries had cost Natasha in the past

"They said everything was fine, we've had a few checkups since too. But anyway, back to you; you thought of any names yet?"

"Yeah, we're going to call her Poppy"

"Awwww" Darcy gushed

"Not Antonia?" Natasha asked, smiling

"Definitely not!"

"Heyy!" Clint greeted them, leaning over the couch to kiss Natasha as he ran to the kitchen area

"Hey daddy" Darcy winked at him, Natasha glared at her before shaking her head subtly to Clint who was giving her a confused look

"Clint where's Tony?" Pepper asked

"He's on our floor with the kids, I just came to steal some sugar; we ran out last night. Anyone want anything?"

"Yeah; can you leave so we can carry on talking about you" Darcy teased. It wasn't unusual for Clint and Darcy to joke and torment each other

He shot another questioning glance to Natasha but she avoided his gaze, at this rate it wouldn't take him long to figure out that Darcy and Pepper knew, and he'd insist on telling Tony; who in turn would tell everyone

"Only if you say nice things" Clint countered back to Darcy, kissing Natasha again on his way out

Once he'd left Natasha threw a doughnut at Darcy

"Way to be subtle!"

"Sorry. But is it really so bad if everyone knew? You know they're all going to be thrilled"

"I know, I just want to check everything is still okay before everyone knows"

"Got you, my lips are sealed" she smiled, mimicking the phrase so often muttered by the children in the tower

"Don't worry Tasha, we'll act surprised when you tell us again" Pepper laughed

"When are you going to tell Fury?"

"I'm not sure" Natasha wasn't looking forward to telling him.
When she and Clint had got married he hadn't been too impressed; he'd terminated their partnership. But when their missions started going badly; on Clint's first solo mission he'd been shot (twice) and his first mission with a new partner had left six agents dead. While Natasha's solo missions had been just as disastrous; she'd been trapped in a burning building and kidnapped by a terrorist cell; she'd refused to work with a new partner after her first mission with Agent Turner left her with a concussion and a broken ankle when he'd missed a shot at an approaching enemy solider, she failed to trust anyone else to have her back after that.
Shortly after, Fury partnered them up again.
Following an injury during her first pregnancy (she was thrown out of a second story window during a fight when she was almost five months pregnant) Fury withdrew Natasha from active field duty as soon as he was able. More than a few missions had been botched due to her absence, and she knew Fury was quietly confident she wouldn't be needing anymore maternity leave.

"He is gonna be pissed!" Darcy added, further adding to Natasha's feeling of dread at broaching the subject with her boss; maybe she'd just let Clint tell him

"Hey Tasha, can I speak to you a minute?" Clint had reappeared at the elevator door

Darcy glanced at her apologetically as she got up to leave

"Do Darcy and Pepper know?"

"No"

"Tasha, look at me?"

"Why?"

"I can tell if you're lying when you look at me"

"Alright fine, they know..."

"That's great!" Clint enthused, confusing Natasha slightly. "Now I can tell Tony!"

"Oh Clint, can't you wait just a few more days? Tony's worse at keeping secrets than the kids"

"And you, apparently"

"I know; I'm sorry. They asked me outright; I couldn't lie to them... There's a difference between not telling, and lying to them"

Clint sighed, but he knew she was right. If he told Tony the whole world would know within the hour.

Natasha leaned in, passionately kissing Clint; "The scan is in five days, after that I promise you can be the one to tell the others" she said, before returning to the kiss

Suddenly Tony appeared behind them; "Stop that now! That's the kind of behavior that leads to this" he said, holding up Cecelia who was covered head to toe in green paint

"Oh what happened ребенок девушка? (baby girl)" Natasha asked, taking her youngest daughter from Tony's outstretch arms.

"You can't take your eye off them for two minutes!" He stepped aside to reveal Alexis and Oliver, both sulking and green paint dripping from their hands.

"We wanted to make her into 'The Hulk'" Oliver admitted sheepishly

"I have no idea how you guys cope with five" he said, before taking Oliver to get cleaned up

"Little does he know" Clint whispered into Natasha's ear as he took Alexis' hand in his

"Shhhhh" Natasha said smiling, elbowing him in his side.