A/N: This chapter is just fluff and I'm obsessed with it.
Also, someone said that babies born at 29 weeks' bodies don't work properly yet, and I recognize that, but if you get lucky they can be fine. I was thinking that because of Nat's genetic enhancement in the Red Room (which isn't technically cannon but is included and assumed in a lot of fanfics) and the whole robot thing that the baby was especially healthy, and also that this story isn't fully true to plausible science. But I did include the breathing tube because that is the most common problem. Also to your point about the blood, placental abruption can happen and cause the mother to bleed, which sometimes causes early delivery. It doesn't necessarily mean fetal demise. Just thought you (Guest) should know that I did my research. Sorry for my rant. Enjoy!
They took the baby away right away to clean her and check to make sure everything was okay. Since she was born prematurely they gave her a small breathing tube to make sure her lungs were strong enough, but she was surprisingly healthy and so they brought her back, wrapped neatly in a blanket with a tiny white hat on her head. Clint went outside to announce the news to everyone else, and they all went to bed, looking forward to seeing Natasha and the baby the next day. Maria stayed with Natasha through the night though, and together the three of them made a perfect little family.
"Congratulations." Maria whispered at two am once everyone was gone and the baby was finally sleeping. They'd taught Nat how to breastfeed and it had lulled the baby to sleep.
"Thank you." Natasha said, leaning over to kiss Maria's hair. Maria smiled as she felt the tiny baby's perfect skin. She had all of Natasha's features, including green eyes and dark red hair. When she grew up she would surely be just as beautiful.
"She's perfect. Now will you tell me what you're naming her?"
Natasha smiled wickedly, closing her eyes.
"Tomorrow."
The next day, everyone was once again sitting in the waiting room. As soon as Natasha was awake and the baby was fed, Maria opened the door and let everyone in. Cooper and Lila led the charge, followed by Clint, Laura, Tony, Pepper, Thor, Steve, Bruce, Vision, Wanda and Fury. There were technically more people than was allowed, but since Fury was in charge he ignored the doctors telling him that Natasha needed rest. If Natasha needed rest Natasha would damn well tell them to fuck off.
"Oh my goodness she's so small!" Pepper marveled, giving Natasha a little hug. "What's the tube for?"
"To help her breathe, because she was born so early." Natasha explained.
"Clearly you're naming her after me." Tony said, standing next to Pepper. "Antonia Romanoff. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
Natasha shuddered. "No. Definitely not."
"Well then, what will you be naming her?" Vision asked, making everyone stop talking and stare at Natasha.
"Or do you have a name yet?" Laura asked.
"I do." Natasha said, smiling as she looked at everybody's faces full of anticipation. "Violet. Violet Anastasia Romanoff."
Wanda, who was standing in the back of the crowd, locked eyes with Natasha and smiled, because she was the only person who knew what her middle name meant.
"That's really pretty." Pepper said, wiping tears from her eyes.
Just then, the door opened and Sasha stepped in. She looked much better than the last time Nat had seen her.
"Sasha?" Natasha said, and the young woman quietly entered the room.
"Hi Natasha. Congratulations." She said softly, and Natasha smiled. "What is her name?"
"Violet." Natasha answered.
"Цвечток." Sasha smiled, and Natasha nodded.
"What does that mean?" Laura asked.
"Little flower." Natasha said, looking down at Violet.
The next couple of hours were filled with excitement and a lot of baby holding. But this time, in all the chaos, Natasha felt happy.
"Congrats, Romanoff." Fury said, standing in the doorway once everyone else had left.
"Thank you Sir."
"I shouldn't have sent you on that mission. It was too dangerous." He sighed, and Natasha could actually see that he felt guilty about it.
"I was the only one qualified, Sir. And it's not your fault they knew who I was." Nat assured him.
"I knew about the cameras the whole time. It was too late when I realized who'd put them there."
Natasha nodded, knowing that he'd left the cameras up so that he could find out who was stalking him. Pretending not to know is the best way of finding something out. That was why spies had to be good liars.
"Speaking of that, Sir, we need protection against Sidorov. He was at the facility and we lost him, and Clint got a message from a connection saying that they'd seen him and he was looking for us. And that he was close."
"I know, Barton briefed me on it. We have agents stationed around, it should be fine. If that bastard manages to get into SHIELD without me noticing, I won't have a job."
Natasha breathed a sigh of relief. Her posture noticeably softened, and her protective grip on Violet eased slightly.
"She looks like you." Fury chuckled, stepping a bit closer.
"Really, Sir? You think I look like a baby?" Natasha said sarcastically. "Do you want to hold her?" She asked, and Fury raised his eyebrows up far enough that Nat was concerned his eyepatch might fall off.
"I don't really think I'm the cuddly type." He said gruffly, but Natasha smirked.
"Come on, Fury. I know you have a soft side."
She carefully placed the baby in his arms, watching his face soften. Violet seemed to have that effect on people. He bounced her slightly, adjusting his grip and making sure not to twist her tube.
"You're a natural, grandpa." She teased.
"If you ever call me grandpa again, I'll personally have you removed from SHIELD and you'll be a secretary for real this time."
"Ok." She said, then whispered, "Grandpa."
The next person to have a moment alone with Violet was Wanda. The next day, as Natasha was getting planning where she would go next, where she could settle down for a bit, Wanda accidentally walked in.
"Oh. Hi Natasha. Sorry, I got lost." Wanda said, looking around confusedly.
"That's okay… um, how exactly did you get lost?" Nat asked, confused as to how Wanda could get lost - she'd been here several times in the last few days.
"I, uh… I was distracted." She mumbled, blushing slightly. "I was, um. I was talking to someone."
"Oh." Natasha said, looking behind Wanda to see if anyone was there. She thought she saw a shimmer of red and green.
"Vision?" She asked, raising her eyebrows knowingly. Wanda smiled slightly, biting her lip. Then her eyes focused on Violet. She stepped closer and put her hand out, looking to Natasha for permission. Nat nodded, and Wanda placed her hand on Violet's head. She closed her eyes and Violet snuffled slightly before going quiet. Captivating red tendrils danced around for a moment and Wanda opened her eyes. Natasha looked at her expectantly.
"She's hungry." She announced, and both women laughed.
"As usual." Natasha said.
"But I think… I think she's happy." Wanda said quietly and Natasha smiled. "Can I hold her?" She asked nervously, twisting her hands, which seemed to be a habit.
Natasha hesitated for a split second. This woman had forced her to relive one of the worst moments of her life, and had helped Ultron. She'd been the one to start that whole thing... but also the one to end it. And… she was barely an adult. And she'd chosen to be an Avenger. The fleeting worry dissipated, and Natasha helped position the baby in Wanda's arms.
"She's very small."
"I know."
Wanda smiled as she rocked slowly back and forth. Again, the presence of Violet seemed to ease her, and Violet seemed just as calm with Wanda.
"Hey… do you want to babysit sometimes?"
"Um… I would like that. Would… is that okay with you?" Wanda asked apprehensively. Natasha smiled.
"Yeah, of course it is."
Wanda laughed slightly and Violet grabbed her finger. Natasha leaned back into the damned hospital bed she was still sitting in and sighed, satisfied. Wanda was happy. Finally.
Just as they were about to settle comfortably into their very own floor of the Avengers tower, Maria got a moment alone with Violet while Natasha was out for the first time in months.
She was packing up some things for Natasha when Violet started whining from the little incubator she'd been placed in. Maria looked around to see if anyone else was there to help, but she was alone, so she walked over and lifted Violet into her arms. She shushed her, trying to replicate Natasha as best as she could. Natasha had been basically perfect at getting her to calm down for the first few nights, and since Maria had been working, she hadn't spent much time with her.
She checked to make sure everything with the tube was okay, that nothing was going wrong, but she came to the conclusion that she was simply hungry. So she grabbed one of the bottles that Nat had prepared earlier and tapped the baby's cheek so she would start drinking. It was the first time that she was feeding her. Together they sat, having a midnight snack together until Violet was lulled back to sleep. Maria had to admit, out of all of the babies anyone at SHIELD had had, Violet was the easiest.
Once she was settled back in the incubator, Maria sat down on Natasha's hospital bed and thought for a moment. All of a sudden, she'd fallen in love with this woman. And now she was gonna go with her and her baby to live with the Avengers after only a few months of being together, and after everyone else had just found out. She kind of liked it.
"Hey." Natasha whispered, returning with a few bags in her hands.
"Hey. What did you get?" Maria asked, walking over to help her with the bags.
"Oh, just a few things."
"Come on, Nat. Stop it with the secrecy. What did you buy?" Maria said, taking Natasha's hands and sitting them both down on the bed. Natasha smirked.
"Guns. And weapons. Also some cereal."
"That's good, because I like cereal." Maria responded, starting to carry things up to the 6th floor, which would be their floor soon, once Natasha and Violet were released from the Med Wing.
Natasha insisted that she was ready to start working again, but since it had only been a couple of days since she'd given birth, everyone including doctors, friends, bosses and even Cooper and Lila forced her to rest for longer. So she'd put up with it for a couple of days, but now she was finally going to live on her own floor with her baby and her girlfriend.
That feels weird to say, Natasha thought when she thought the word girlfriend. She liked it. Girlfriend. Although, the word didn't really fit Maria, nor did she feel it fit herself. Those pet names like honey and sweetie didn't really fly with them either - the only thing other than their names that they called each other was babe. But Natasha considered, and she felt like just calling Maria Maria was fine. No need for girlfriend, or sweetheart, or honey-bunches-of-oats - Maria was perfect. The name and the person.
The next morning, the three of them headed up to the sixth floor and settled in. All in all it was pretty nice as a place to stay for a while, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a main area that included a couch, a tv and a tiny kitchenette. There was enough room for all of the baby's stuff, which was the majority of their belongings because neither Natasha nor Maria had very much stuff. Stark had done a good job with decoration - the furniture was sleek and modern but not flashy. It was mostly black and white, with red here and there.
"This is nice." Maria decided, flopping down on the couch.
"Yeah." Natasha agreed as she placed Violet in her crib next to her bed. For a baby born at 29 weeks, Violet was very healthy. She'd been well cared for by the SHIELD doctors, but nothing was inherently wrong with her so they deemed that she was perfectly fine. Because of Natasha's enhancements that she received in the Red Room and the fact that Violet was half created by a robot, her genetics were basically perfect and she'd probably be super healthy for most of her life.
"I can't believe she's actually been sleeping for four hours." Maria whispered, approaching the crib.
"I know. She's so calm." Natasha marveled, resting her head on Maria's shoulder. Suddenly, Violet began to cry. "There we go. You jinxed it." She laughed, picking the baby up and bouncing her slightly. She retrieved a bottle from her bag and warmed it up, before sitting next to Maria on the couch.
"I'm so happy." She said after a moment.
"Me too. I love you." Maria said softly, and Natasha looked up into her striking blue eyes.
"I love you too."