Natasha shot up in bed panting and sweating. She had just had a horrible nightmare. She looked around the room with narrowed eyes, taking in every detail to see if there were any intruders. When she determined it was safe her shoulders relaxed and she placed a casted hand gently on her barely rounding stomach. Since finding out she was pregnant three weeks ago things had been pretty hectic for the Black Widow. Things at work were a mess. Fury and Coulson were working on how to handle the situation best, so that Nat could work as much as was healthy. They had plenty of time to work it out though. Her elbow and lower arm were still wrapped in an uncomfortable fiberglass cast that itched like you wouldn't believe, and her ankle was still strapped into a bulky black brace. So she wouldn't be back in the field anytime soon. In fact, she wasn't sure that she would get to go back into the field before it became too risky for the baby. Clint stirred next to her and slowly opened his eyes.

"Mm, Nat. Go back to bed." He pleaded. Natasha smiled down at her husband. She nodded and he smiled before closing his eyes again and returning to his peaceful sleep. Natasha sighed and leaned back on her pillows. Recovery had not been easy for her. She had spent a week in the S.H.I.E.L.D infirmary before she was released to come home. During that week she had spent the majority of the time sleeping and trying to fight off the pneumonia before it had a chance to really affect the baby. Her ribs had healed rather fast, but everything else seemed to take its sweet time. Now that she was home and over the pneumonia she was feeling much better, but she still wasn't her old self. Of course, no one expected her to ever be the same. Especially since she was eleven weeks pregnant with her and Clint's baby. It still blew Natasha's mind how she had even gotten pregnant in the first place. Before she had left to go undercover she and Clint had been so careful. Not to mention the graduation process in the Red Room had pretty much killed Natasha's chances at having a kid to begin with. Clint kept calling it their little miracle baby, and she honestly loved that. He was right after all, this baby really was a miracle. That's exactly what she kept thinking as she drifted back to sleep.

She was awoken a few hours later by the smell of bacon coming from the kitchen. Natasha smiled to herself and pulled herself out of bed. She wandered into the master bathroom and brushed her teeth. Then she ran a comb lazily through her fiery red hair before wandering lazily into the kitchen. Clint smiled when he heard the sound of his wife's ankle brace scraping against the hardwood dining room floor. She smiled back to him and hobbled into the kitchen. She plopped down at one of the bar stools and propped her head up with her uninjured arm while the injured one hung lazily at her side.

"Good morning." She murmured. Clint smiled and leaned across the bar to kiss her on her cheek.

"Morning Nat. How are you feeling this morning?" He asked and turned back to the skillet that sat on the stove.

"Tired, but okay." She answered.

"Anything hurting?" He asked and flipped a piece of bacon over.

"My arm itches, and my ankle hurts a little. The baby is fine though, and that is all that matters." Natasha answered. Clint smiled to himself. She was so right. The most important thing in the world to him right now was Natasha and their baby's safety. Clint turned to look at her again briefly. She was so breathtaking to him, even more so now that she had that motherly glow to her. She just radiated beauty.

"Big day today! OB/GYN appointment and Orthopedic appointment." Clint announced and turned the gas on the stove off. Behind him Natasha nodded slowly. It was a pretty big day, and she sincerely hoped she would receive a good report on all accounts. Clint turned around and placed a plate overflowing with eggs and bacon in front of her. Natasha smiled and leaned up to kiss Clint on the cheek.

"Thanks." She told him and started to dig in. Since returning from captivity, and hardly receiving any food; Natasha now ate almost anything she could get her hands on. Her excuse was that she was now eating for two. After enjoying breakfast together the two assassins found themselves sitting in the Orthopedic doctor's waiting room, Natasha kept picking at her cast and it was starting to drive Clint insane. Finally after a painful twenty minutes of waiting the called Nat back to get some new x-rays taken. Using actual doctors drove Natasha insane, but because of Fury's personal request here they were. After the x-rays were taken and Natasha had been cut out of her arm cast, they waited in silence in an exam room for at least a half an hour before the doctor decided to make an appearance. He smiled graciously at the pair as he walked into the room with a large folder tucked under his arm. He closed the door behind him and walked over to a light board on the wall furthest from where Natasha was sitting.

"Good morning guys. How are you felling Natalie?" He asked as he slapped images of Natasha's arm and ankle bones up on the screen. Natasha rolled her eyes at the pseudonym Fury was making her use.

"My ankle is a little sore, but other than that okay." She answered. Dr. Gregg nodded.

"Well, I'm just going to get right to it then. The bones in your arm are healing really well actually. I'm going to pull the pins out of your elbow before I recast it. You shouldn't need another cast after this one I'm about to give you. Your ankle on the other hand is actually getting a little worse. You can kind of see on the images that fuzzy white section is your Achilles tendon. It actually looks like its tearing a bit which is what is making your ankle bones actually unalign as opposed to re-aligning them. So I'm going to have to upgrade you from a brace to one of these lovely walking boots." He explained and pulled a black walking boot from the shelf in the room. Natasha sighed and leaned back slightly in exasperation. Clint squeezed her hand encouragingly. "I'm going to go get some cast materials. Clay you can put the boot on your wife if you'd like." Dr. Gregg said and slipped back out of the room.

"No wonder it was hurting you that bad." Clint told Natasha sadly as he slowly pulled her ankle brace off. Then he picked up the walking boot and unstrapped it so it would slide on her foot easily. Natasha winced slightly as he strapped it on tight.

"Hopefully I heal completely before I start getting too big." She groaned. Clint smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic Nat. You'll be fine in just a few weeks. I promise." He assured her. Two hours later the assassins found themselves in an entirely different exam room. Nat was laid down on her back staring at the ceiling with her non casted hand resting on her baby bump. She was so nervous about the appointment with her OB. She wanted more than anything in the world for this baby to be healthy even though its mom wasn't in the best shape right now. The door opening and closing brought her back to reality and out of her thoughts. Her OB Dr. Nelson smiled from the entryway and came closer to the exam table.

"How are we doing today Mr. and Mrs. Benson?" She asked and sat Natasha's chart down on the ultrasound machine.

"Good." Natasha answered and glanced over at Clint. He smiled and nodded.

"Awesome. Well first let's take a look at your baby and then we will run some tests. Sound good?" Dr. Nelson asked. Clint and Natasha nodded. Dr. Nelson smiled and nodded. She grabbed the ultrasound gel off the top of the machine. "Roll up your shirt, and brace yourself. This is pretty cold." She warned. Natasha did as she was asked and Dr. Nelson squirted some gel onto Natasha's still flat stomach. Natasha gasped slightly at just how cold it really was. She had not been expecting that. Dr. Nelson moved the radar around until a swooshing sound filled the room.

"Is that the heartbeat?" Clint asked. Dr. Nelson smiled and nodded but didn't look up from the ultrasound screen. She smiled again, a little wider this time and turned the screen so Clint and Natasha could see.

"And right here is your baby." She told them and pointed to a point on the screen. Natasha broke out into a huge grin.

"Our baby is so beautiful." She gushed to Clint with a smile on her face. Clint nodded.

"Indeed." He agreed.

"It's also a very healthy baby." Dr. Nelson reported.