In the bathroom, Nat was on the floor, leaning against the uncollapsed wall, panting heavily. The contractions had been extremely painful for the last ten minutes, but this one was different.
Not only was it more painful than the rest, but it was accompanied by the overwhelming urge to push.
Natasha, however, fought the instinct, determined not to push until she had specific instructions from Bruce.
When the contraction passed, she asked desperately into the phone, "Bruce, what do I do?"
"Take deep breaths," he instructed. "Now, I need you to take your pants off if you haven't already done so."
She hadn't, but after receiving Bruce's instructions she managed to peel them off her sweaty, shaking legs and toss them into the corner.
"They're off," she informed him.
"Okay," he replied. "Now, I need you to get on your knees and spread your legs as far apart as you can manage."
Her whole body already shaking with exhaustion, she grabbed the counter and hauled herself to her knees, wincing as the pressure on her hips increased as gravity pulled the first baby's head down.
"Okay," she whimpered. "I'm on my knees. What now?"
"I need you to feel for a head," Bruce told her.
Natasha reached down, but felt nothing but her own skin.
"There's no head," she relayed worriedly. "Is that bad?"
"No, it just means you'll have to push a little longer," Bruce soothed. "Alright, on your next contraction, I want you to bear down as hard as you can. Your body should instinctively know what to do. Now, I'm going to put Steve on so he can coach you. But after each contraction, I want you to feel for a head. Let me know if you feel a head, or if you have any unusual pain, okay?"
"Okay," she whimpered, gripping the counter and gathering her strength for the job she was about to do.
Just as she felt another contraction begin to rise, Steve's voice crackled through the speaker on her phone.
"You've got this, Nat," he soothed. "I know you do."
Nat nodded, then cried out as the contraction truly began, succumbing to the overwhelming need to push. She bore down hard, clinging to the countertop like a lifeline and moaning as the pain increased.
It was hard, but she didn't stop until the contraction was over, instead focusing on Steve's continual words of encouragement throughout the entire contraction.
Once it passed, Nat felt for a head, frowning when she didn't find one. How long was this going to take?
After pushing for another twenty minutes with no end in sight, Natasha began to fall into despair. Luckily for her, her faithful husband was there for her, just as he always was.
"Steve, 'm so tired," she moaned.
"I know, baby," Steve crooned. "But you're doing so well. I'm sure you'll feel the head on the next push. I'm so proud of you, love. You're doing amazing, sweetie. You're almost there."
Nat nodded gratefully, trying to save her strength for the next push.
As another contraction began, she gave a loud cry of pain and pushed as hard as she could, groaning and panting the whole time.
"Good job, honey," Steve said through the phone. "You got this, come on, just keep breathing. You're almost there, baby, almost there."
When the contraction passed, Natasha almost didn't want to feel for the head. She was afraid of what might happen if it wasn't there. For a moment, she felt nothing, and began to lose hope.
But then, she felt it: a hard, slimy surface that was barely out, but it was there.
"Put Bruce on, Steve," Nat panted. "Or, better yet, just put me on speakerphone so I can talk to you both."
"Hang on," Steve replied. "Okay, you're on speaker. What happened?"
"I can feel the top of the head," she announced.
"Alright!" Bruce exclaimed. "The baby's crowning. So, I want you to take both of your hands and cradle that head. I know it's difficult, but you'll have to do that all the time, even when you're pushing."
He paused, then asked, "Is the mirror still intact?"
"Yes…" Natasha replied slowly.
"Great. Do you think you could get it off the wall?" Bruce inquired.
"Yeah, hang on a second," Nat instructed.
Slowly, Natasha pulled up on the counter, gasping as her legs almost gave out. Rather than try to pull the big mirror off the wall, she grabbed the smaller mirror that she used to apply her makeup off the counter, sinking back down to her knees as soon as she had it in her hand.
"I've got it," she gasped. "What now?"
"Set it up beneath you, so that you can see the baby's progress," he suggested. "That way, you'll know when one of your hands needs to leave his head so that you can catch his body."
Natasha obeyed, gasping when she saw the top of the baby's tiny head poking out. Once the mirror was set up, she cradled the head with both hands and prepared herself for the next contraction.
Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, Natasha watched as the baby's head emerged more and more with each push.
After the latest contraction, she sighed and decided to give Steve and Bruce an update.
"Their head's almost out," she announced. "I think one more push should get it out."
"Great!" Bruce replied. "Then after that, only two more pushes and you'll have the first baby!"
"Did you hear that, Tasha?" Steve asked. "Our first born's almost here. Isn't that exciting?"
"Yeah," she smiled.
Just then, another contraction began, causing Natasha to cry out.
"Okay, you're okay, sweetheart," Steve soothed gently. "Just breathe, and push, hun, push!"
Natasha, still cradling the tiny head between her hips, gave another loud cry as she pushed again. When the contraction passed, Natasha glanced down at the mirror and saw that the tiny head had fully emerged.
"The head's out!" she cried. "It's out!"
"Okay, so the next push should give us the shoulders," Bruce explained. "And then, you'll want to put one hand on the back of the head, and hold the other one out to catch the baby, okay?"
Natasha nodded mutely, too enraptured with her child's tiny face to form words.
As the next contraction built, Nat cried out weakly and bore down hard.
As the shoulders emerged, she gasped from the shock of the pressure that threatened to split her in half.
"Ah, Bruce!" she cried. "There's… aah… a lot of… pressure. It… hurts!"
"I know," he replied. "Just try your best to breathe through it, and remember what I told you about catching the baby."
A sob escaped Natasha, and Steve's voice came over the phone to rescue her.
"Nat, ssh, it's okay," he comforted. "It's going to be alright. Just one more push, and you'll get to hold the little boy or girl who's been kicking you for the last nine months. You're almost there, you just gotta be strong for me for a few more minutes, okay?"
"It hurts so bad, Steve," she whimpered.
"I know, love," he sighed, his voice breaking. "But you're almost there. Just breathe, baby."
As the next contraction built, Nat screamed, pushing with what little strength she had left, remembering at the last minute to catch the baby like Bruce had instructed.
The instant she caught the baby, Bruce's voice came over the phone to give her more instructions.
"Natasha, you need to clear its airway," he told her.
She did so, allowing her body to fall back against the wall as her baby sucked in its first breath and began to howl.
"It's a boy!" she announced excitedly.
For a moment, all she could hear on the line was the excited cheers of the Avengers.
Then, Steve asked worriedly, "Is he okay?"
"Yes, he's perfect!" Nat said happily. "He's so beautiful Steve, I can't wait for you to see him!
"That's great, Natasha," Bruce commented. "But you've still got work to do. Your contractions should start to ease for a bit. Your scans showed that the twins are fraternal, so there's two placentas. On your next contraction, you'll need to push to deliver the first one. After that, you should have about ten minutes of mild contractions before they'll pick up and you'll have to start pushing to deliver the other baby."
"Okay," Natasha replied. "Is there anything I need to do for this little one while I'm waiting?"
"Well, ideally, you'd just rest," Bruce sighed. "But you'll have to find something to tie off the umbilical cord, and then you'll have to cut it. After that, you'll have to wash him off- assuming that the sink works, of course- and then find something to swaddle him in and somewhere safe you can set him down while you're delivering his twin."
"Okay," Natasha responded. "I'm going to hang up, but I'll call you back when I'm ready to start pushing out the other one, okay?"
Not waiting for an answer, she hung up as another contraction washed over her and she pushed to deliver the afterbirth.
Once that contraction passed, she stood shakily to grab dental floss and scissors off the bathroom counter.
She tied off the umbilical cord tightly and cut it, wincing as the baby began to cry again. Not wasting any time (she could feel the contractions already beginning to intensify), she turned on the sink, waited for the water to warm, and washed her son gently, taking care not to get any water in his eyes or ears.
Once he was mostly blood free, she grabbed Steve's towel off the wall and dried and swaddled their son in it, grateful, for once, that her husband was a germaphobe and insisted that they each get a clean towel daily.
Now that the baby was clean and comfortable, his crying died out and he snuggled closer to Natasha's chest.
Satisfied that the baby was taken care of, Nat retrieved her sweatpants from the corner, folded them, then sat down on the floor to rest.
Natasha, despite being completely exhausted, couldn't help but be excited about delivering the second baby. Now that she'd seen her first son, she desperately wanted to see the face of the second baby that she'd been bonding with for so long.
After about five more minutes, Natasha got her wish.
An intense contraction rocked through her, and the urge to push swept through her, nearly causing her to drop her son. She cried out, then settled her sleeping baby onto the folded sweatpants gently, forced herself to her knees, called Bruce, and began to push.