Chapter II

Chloe was still crying and Natasha felt like she was dying. She didn't know what to do. Something was obviously wrong and she couldn't help this tiny human. Chloe's face was red and Natasha didn't know if it came from her constant screaming or if it was related to whatever was happening to her.

"Shh, shhh. It's okay, sweetie. I'm here. Do you miss your mama?" She whispered, cradling the baby. God, why was she crying?

The knock on her door startled her. She'd almost forgotten that Steve was coming. "That's Steve. He'll help. I know he will." She said more to herself than Chloe.

She ran to the door to let Steve in. He opened his mouth but then his gaze fell to Chloe and he closed his mouth again. He stared at the baby in her arms. "Um-"

"She won't stop crying, Steve!" She wailed. "Please, do something!"

"Oh, okay." He closed the door behind him. "Did you try feeding-"

"Yes, of course!" She snapped. "I've tried everything that I could think of!"

"Okay, okay. Why don't you give me-?" He looked at the baby.

"Chloe."

"-Chloe, so you can sit down for a second?" She handed the baby over to Steve who carefully accepted her into his arms. Wow, what a sight that made! He looked really sexy holding a baby in his muscular arms. That and his newly grown beard, so he could be more incognito, really did things to her. Okay, that was not the point right now. Chloe was what was important right now.

Steve started to cradle the infant, but she didn't stop crying. At least it wasn't Natasha's doing that caused her distress. She wasn't a total failure. "Hey, sweet girl. What's wrong? Huh? You look too young to be teething and-" He pressed a big hand against her tiny forehead. "-You don't appear to have a fever."

She watched Steve in awe, he was a natural. He wasn't awkward with the baby at all. Another thing Steve was perfect at. Maybe he should take care of Chloe until Yelena had found a family for her. Chloe blinked at Steve, maybe surprised that someone else was holding her, but she was still crying again after a brief pause.

"Okay, I've got an idea." He placed Chloe gently down on the couch next to Natasha and knelt in front of her. He rolled the baby onto her back and opened her onesie. "Ah, I think I know what troubles you, munchkin. Here, Nat." He pointed at a red spot on her back. "The tag scratched her skin." He swiftly ripped it out of the onesie. "You've got some ointment?"

She would have never found out that her clothes were causing Chloe pain. "I bought that onesie today because I thought it was cute..."

"This isn't your fault. I don't even understand why they put those things into baby clothes. Nat, the ointment?"

"Right." She stopped staring at Chloe who'd stop screaming. Natasha got up from the couch to get the ointment for Chloe's skin. She got to the bathroom on auto-pilot. This was her fault. Natasha had done this to Chloe, she would have never thought to check the clothes for tags that could hurt a baby's skin. She wasn't capable of taking care of a baby.

Steve was playing peek-a-boo with Chloe when Natasha came back to the living room. She handed him the ointment and he rubbed a drop into her skin. He buttoned up her onesie and picked her up again.

"How did you know it was the tag?"

"It was just a hunch." He had Chloe in his arms who looked up at him with what almost looked like adoration. Steve Rogers gained another fan. "The serum heightened my senses. I take out all the tags from my clothes because my skin can't stand it. I figured it was worth a shot."

"Thank you, Steve! I wouldn't have figured it out in a million years!"

"Of course, you would have!"

She gave him a tired smile and pointed at Chloe. "I think it's time for bed for her. Follow me."

Steve followed her into the guest room and put her into Chloe's bed. Natasha switched the nightlight on and checked the baby monitor before she said goodnight again to little Chloe.

"Good night, sweet girl." Steve said softly and caressed her tiny cheek. "Sweet dreams."

They quietly left the room since Chloe was thankfully falling asleep again. Natasha went straight for the couch and plopped down on it. Steve sat down next to her.

"Nat?"

"Hm?" She'd closed her eyes.

"Since when do you have baby?!"

"Since Amazon Prime delivered her earlier today." She deadpanned and she knew without opening her eyes that Steve was rolling his.

"Nat."

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. His beauty had always marveled her. The warmth in his eyes made her smile at him. He smiled back. She took a breath and told him about Yelena showing up, her wanting Natasha to raise the baby since her actual mother was dead, and that they agreed on her looking after Chloe until Yelena found the perfect home.

"I don't know why Yelena would think that I would be suited to care for a baby."

"I would do the same, Nat." He smiled softly at her. "I know you and so does Yelena. You are kind and caring. You've kept me going after the snap, you looked after all of us. You would make an amazing mom." She closed her eyes because she couldn't look at him anymore. "Chloe is exactly where she's supposed to be. She's with someone who can care for her, protect her, and give her everything she needs. You have the biggest heart. That's why Yelena wanted the baby to stay with you."

There were no words to describe how it felt to hear something like that from Steve who was everything good and beautiful in this world. "Thank you, Steve. Thank you for coming over and helping me."

"Of course, Nat. I'll always come." He was still smiling at her and lifted his arms. "Come here."

She scooted over to lay her head on his chest. Steve wrapped his arm around her and she started to feel how tired she truly was. She didn't fight to keep her eyes open and just enjoyed being Steve's arms.

They woke up early in the morning when a hungry Chloe woke them up and like always they didn't talk about the fact that they'd spent yet another night cuddling.

"You're more than welcome to stay for breakfast, Steve." Natasha offered again. Chloe was fed and changed, and it was time for the adults to eat. "I can make us pancakes."

"Thank you, Nat. But I should get going." His gaze lingered on her longer than necessary. There was something on his mind, she could see it in his eyes. Maybe it had already been there last night but she'd been too focused on Chloe. "Everything okay?"

He hesitated for a second. "Yeah, yeah. Don't worry."

"You sure?"

"Yes. It's fine." He gave her a quick smile and bent down to kiss her cheek. "Call me if you need help with the little munchkin. And even if you don't need help, call me, okay? We haven't seen each other much in the last weeks and I miss you."

"I miss you, too." She admitted quietly. It was true that they hadn't seen each other much lately and it didn't feel right. "I want to see how far you got with your house. I'll come visit this week, okay?"

"I'd love that." He beamed at her and her heart fluttered. "Bring the little munchkin."

"I will."

He kissed her cheek again and left. She closed the door and touched her cheek, but quickly moved her hand away. She couldn't go there, it was too dangerous.

She checked on Chloe who was watching her penguin mobile in awe and smiled down at the baby. God, she was so freaking cute! She went into the kitchen to make herself a coffee when she heard her phone buzzing. Maybe it was Yelena with news? The thought that she'd possibly already had found someone for Chloe didn't sit right with Natasha. She didn't want to say goodbye yet. But thankfully it wasn't Yelena who'd texted her, it was Pepper.

Did you know about it?!

Hm? What was Pepper talking about? She sent her a text asking her exactly that and Pepper replied immediately, telling her to turn on the TV. She did as she was told and put CNN on.

No, that couldn't be true.

"John Walker named new Captain America"

No, that wasn't right. Steve wanted Sam to pick up the shield. She knew that Sam had reservations, but they couldn't just name someone else Captain America. Only Steve could do that. And this guy didn't even have the shield- What the fuck? CNN showed Walker in a Cap uniform and with Steve's shield.

What the fuck was happening?!