"Tony..." Pepper called, yet again, trying to catch his attention. The engineer was laying upside down on a couch, his feet over the back and head dangling off the seat, a book also held upside down in his hand.
"Hmm?" He grunted in reply, a bit annoyed at the distraction. "Yeah?"
"Will you please go pick up Dr. Ford's family?" She ask, repeating herself. Tony pushed himself off the couch and walked over to where she was, organizing on her tablet.
"Why me? Don't we employ, like, a fleet of drivers?" Tony reminded her, reaching across where Pepper stood, stealing an olive from the snack bar. Pepper rolled her eyes and turned to him, kissing the tip of his nose.
"It is more personal when one of us does, and you are the only one who isn't doing something constructive- and don't say 'I'm paying for it' because 'we' are paying for it- and you love it." Pepper reminded him, holding up keys to one of the SUVs. "Now go."
"Fine." Tony called, then paused. "How many people am I looking for?"
"Her sisters, Kierra and Alice, their father and grandmother. Four." Pepper called. "Drive safe."
"Yeah, yeah." Tony mumbled as he wandered on out the door. Pepper took the cellphone from her pocket and typed a quick message.
Hey Sam, are you and Wanda still keeping Jen busy?
The reply took a moment, but soon came in.
We are, be back at 19:00 sharp.
Satisfied with her answer, Pepper looked back over the room. There were twinkle lights already draped from the ceiling on the inside, and Steve was outside bringing them to a point on the balcony. Clint was helping Natasha arrange balloons up the main entry stairway. Vision was wiring the garden for sound. Around them, the kitchen staff was preparing a long table in the outer garden for their meal.
Dr. Jennifer Ford was not a fan of crowds, and the other Avengers had noticed her discomfort at their bigger parties, so they elected to keep this one smaller and invite her family. This would allow them to see the compound and learn about Jennifer's life as an Avenger without outside disruption. Pepper was very fond of her friend and wanted her party to go well. She walked outside to check in on Steve, who was just coming down off the ladder.
"Looks good." Pepper said, squinting as she looked up at the work Steve had done. The lights all attached to a central pole and fanned out onto the side of the building in a half circle shape.
"Should be better this evening." Steve agreed.
"What did you get her?" Pepper ask, a teasing tone hidden in the question.
"Uhh..." Steve paused.
"Sorry." Pepper said, dismissing her question. "Go ahead and get cleaned up. I'll test all of these." She said, nodding him into the building. Steve didn't say anything, and ran off in the direction of his apartment to shower.
Sam and Wanda kept dragging Jennifer further and further out into the wilderness- Much to her annoyance. It wasn't that she minded the hike or the company, but it was hot out and both of her friends could fly if they so chose, as Sam had his pack with his wings with him. She flopped down on a rock and lay back, feeling the heat of the stone sink into her bones in a pleasant sort of burn.
"Don't tell me you've given up before we get there?" Wanda said, sitting next to her.
"We've been out here for three hours. I need a minute." She replied.
"We should hydrate anyway. Wouldn't want to have to call a medic for our medic..." Sam joked, handing them each a bottle of water.
"Where are we going, anyway?" She ask, sitting up to drink.
"There is this amazing view of the bay from a cliff up here. It's all state park and it is untouched. It is amazing." Sam said, also sitting to rest. "When I was a kid, we would come out here some summers and camp. They would run dog fight drills in the jets over the bay and my dad would take us to watch- I remember thinking how much I wanted to do that." He laughed.
"I think its so great you made that goal." Jennifer laughed. "Is your new one to kill me on my birthday?"
"No!" Sam laughed. "Its to show you one of the best views the north has to offer."
"We have mountains in Tennessee." Jennifer said with a wrinkled nose.
"But it is a landlocked state. No ocean." Wanda piped up and added.
"Look at you! Learning geography better than most born Americans your age. I love it. No, we don't have the ocean. But the TVA gave us lots of lakes- haunted ones with whole towns underneath."
Both other Avengers looked a bit horrified by that statement. Jennifer looked at them both and shrugged. "What?"
"The... What?" Wanda ask.
"TVA? Tennessee Valley Authority. In order to try and bring power to rural areas in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina they made the TVA which build several hydroelectric dams, flooding people out of their homes. My mother had family who lost a large farm due to it- and the government didn't give them a fraction of what it was worth when they 'bought' it out, either. But- Great swimming. And fishin'!" She added, trying to lighten the mood.
"Sometimes American history horrifies me." Wanda said, shaking her head.
"America current has some issues, too. I was born to a white father and black mother in the south. That was a hoot." She said, before raising her water bottle and taking another drink.
"Wow." Wanda said, finishing her bottle. "I thought it was just me, because I am foreign."
"Nah, its not just you." Sam and Jennifer were both grinning.
"Shall we continue?" Jennifer ask, standing up and offering a hand to Wanda.
Natasha had just finished tying the next to the last of her balloons, when she felt like the bottom fell out in her stomach. She stopped, braced on the hand rail she'd been adding balloons to and closed her eyes. Clint, who had been rambling about the newest project he wanted for his and Laura's home, took a moment to notice she had stopped working, and he weighed down his remaining balloons and came over to her.
"Hey- Nat..." He said, easing her down. "You okay?"
"I feel weird." She said, covering her face with her hands.
"Like... How?" Clint ask, trying to look at her face for some clue.
"Like I got punched in the gut." She explained. Clint tensed, worried.
"Show me where." He said, gently guiding one hand down from her face. She moved the other to block out the light from her eyes and she showed him where on her abdomen she had the pain. Clint let a sigh of relief when he saw the pain was more in the upper part of her stomach near her intestines, and not lower toward her uterus. "Its higher. I doubt it is the baby." Clint said, trying to comfort his best friend.
Natasha let out a small squeak in pain and curled herself tighter. Clint took his phone out and sent an SOS to the team and knelt back down beside her. The phone lit up that Sam was going to fly Jennifer back in and they would be about twenty minutes out by air. He put the phone away and gently put his arms under Natasha.
"Nat, I'm going to take you inside, okay. Try to relax just a little, okay?" He said gently, the same tone he used on his children when they were hurt and needed him. She wrapped an arm around Clint's neck, and allowed him to hoist her up and take her inside.
By the time he got her inside, most of the team was waiting, and Rhodey brought over a wheelchair which Clint gently put her into. Pepper draped a blanket around her and they took her down the long hallway to the elevator that would take them to the medbay on the flight deck, so they could meet Dr. Ford as Sam dropped her off.
As they moved her to a bed from the chair, Sam was touching down and Jennifer ran over. Pepper handed her some scrubs and she began to strip and change, the male members of the team present all turning their backs, even though Jennifer did not care, she simply wanted to see to Natasha.
"Out. Pepper, Wanda- Hang back." She instructed and each of the others filed out of the room.
"What's going on?" Pepper questioned, kicking her heels off to move with the rolling bed better.
"Tell them." Natasha grunted, her face scrunched tightly.
"Agent Romanoff is about nine and a half weeks pregnant." Jennifer explained as they rolled. "Due to a unique medical occurrence from exposure to small doses of radiation which cured her ligation- she received this second hand from Dr. Banner, who is the father."
"Oh my God..." Pepper whispered.
"Okay Nat- Wanda and Pepper are going to help you stretch out- I need to get where I can do an ultrasound." Jennifer instructed. Natasha nodded tightly and allowed Wanda to gently guide her shoulders down and Pepper straightened her knees and held her legs. It was then that all three women noticed the swelling of Natasha's abdomen. It was not terribly noticeable, but the spy was normally in top physical shape and had a very fit abdomen.
Jennifer squirted the gel onto the agent and watched her machine carefully. She raised an eyebrow, and moved the tool. The other two women watched the doctor's face for any clue of what was happening. Finally, Nat spoke up.
"What do you see?" She croaked, still wincing.
"Well, this muscle here..." She said, and ran a gloved finger along Natasha's stomach, "Is almost doubled up it is so cramped. I believe due to the rapid growth of your uterus. This happens sometimes with twins. When they implant one behind-"
"What?!" Natasha, Wanda and Pepper all cried at once.
"Oh. There are two healthy fetuses." Jennifer turned the viewing screen for Natasha to see. "Here... and here. Measuring both at nine weeks, two days. Good heartbeats." She explained. Natasha still looked pained, but her face softened significantly when she saw her children on the screen.
"Both of them?" She ask, looking back at Jennifer, who smiled softly.
"They're both fine." She confirmed. "I'm sorry you're having pain. Dehydration is a common cause of these cramps, along with the growth spurts the babies have. I'll need to get you a couple bags of fluid."
Natasha didn't speak, nor take her eyes off the screen before her. Jennifer looked over at Wanda.
"Would you please hand me a IV kit and a bag of saline from cupboard three?" She ask. Wanda nodded and gently released her grip and left.
The three of them stay silent for a few minutes, letting Natasha watch the heartbeats on the screen. Quietly Jennifer froze the screen and pushed print. Natasha blinked away tears and nodded, and Jennifer took the queue and clicked the power off. Jennifer gently turned her arm over and started an IV drip to re-hydrate her friend. Pepper cleared her throat.
"I hate to ruin the moment- but there are several worried men outside that door. What are we going to tell them?" Pepper ask.
"The truth." Natasha said with a shrug. "Its time they knew. Let them in, Pepper."
Pepper nodded and went back into the main med bay to grab her shoes, then went out and ask the others in; She noticed that Tony had joined them at some point, and he came over and kissed her temple, noting the worry on her face. They all filed in, finding Natasha sitting up, Jennifer sitting by her side on her exam stool. Each of the others filed in and stood quietly. Jennifer looked over at Natasha, who was looking hard at the floor. After some time, she looked up and around at the faces of her team.
"I guess I owe you all an explanation. I've been missing from training and missions, and its time I told you all why..." She swallowed and a tear ran down her cheek. "I'm... Well, I guess I should say... Bruce and I are going to have babies. Twins."
Each of the other Avengers had a shocked reaction, except for Clint, who stepped forward.
"Twins?" He said, grinning. "Are they both okay?"
He came over and hugged Natasha, then sat next to her on the bed.
"I knew it!" Tony called from his place against the wall. "I knew you and Brucie Bear were in looooove." He exaggerated. Pepper elbowed him in the ribs and he grunted and apologized.
"Both children and so far Natasha are all healthy and I will continue to keep a close eye on them. But for now, of course... She is benched."
"I think it is important for Nat to know we all love and support her and these kids, and will continue to do everything in our power to find Dr. Banner." Steve said. There were mumblings of agreement all around.
"Thank you all..." Natasha said, smiling sadly. "And Jen... I'm sorry we ruined your party."
"What party?"
Part one of Jennifer's birthday now- the rest later this week. Sorry I fell off the face of the earth... but I'm back!
Please review!