November 7th, 2000
...Many years ago...
The Red Room was no place for emotions. It was no place for love. It was no place for children to grow up in. That's why when the girls graduated, they took away the one thing that could get in between a woman and their mission.
A child.
Or more specifically, the ability to have children. As soon as they were 18, the year of graduation, they would be wheeled off for the surgery. Never allowed to have a family of their own.
It's not like they would find a special someone due to what they were, no one would ever love them, and to top it all off, they took away children from them.
The most cruel punishment of them all, they would never be able to reproduce again, not allowed to settle down and live a normal life.
And that, right there, was probably the most difficult part that Natalia had to come to terms with.
Natalia Alianovna Romanov was just another girl in the Red Room. She barely remembers her family as it is. The only thing that she remembers is being sold. That day was just a distant memory but she could remember the feelings. The dread she felt, the sadness, the anger, the betrayal that seeped into all her bones from her own father selling her off.
When she tries to remember her mother though, those memories that are buried in the depths of her mind feel somewhat warm, like when a person looks back on a loved one that they lost, and they come across a memory that makes them happy.
That...feeling
But no matter how hard she tries, the young woman can never grab anything more than that feeling when thinking about her mother. She can't remember anything else.
It never fails to bring her mood down just slightly...
Natalia tried not to think about it all too much. If she did, all those emotions would come flooding back towards the surface of her mind and completely drown her. If her superior had found out about those emotions, they'd kill her off so fast.
After all, they were the ones who taught her that emotions were weakness, and weakness would get you killed.
She tried to forgot, really she did, but with her graduation ceremony coming right around the corner, the memories were all she could think about lately.
Really, it was the only thing on the young woman's mind.
Memories of her father, memories of her mother, memories of loss...
Fantasies of having her own family...
Even memories of her "fake" family back in 1995 in Ohio.
Memories of her and her sister, her "dad" and "mom", even of those few kids that lived around them.
Melina used to always say that pain makes you stronger, but Natalia isn't feeling that strong at the moment...
It was stupid and naive of her thirteen year old self to believe a word that woman said.
For she knew in a few months, she'd never be able to have her own children, and that was probably the most painful part of all this.
She's surprised that she has actually kept it together for the most part. Of course, at night when everyone went to sleep, Natalia would sometimes stay up till the ungodly hours of the morn, where she would let a few tears slip past her many walls that she's built up over the years.
Where she would mourn for the loss of the one thing that she wished she could have.
It seemed though, the universe was listening to her silent pleas...
Natalia was in ballet class when it happened. It was the beginning of November and there was only a few months away until she officially graduated. All the other girls were there too, practicing the fluid movements when Madame B walked into the room.
Natalia didn't let it show, but she was surprised. Anyone rarely ever saw one of the main Directors of the Red Room. The only time anyone would see the cold woman would be if there was an assignment they were going on or if they were in trouble.
She knew the older woman wasn't there for an assignment though because she would never interrupt training for that, she'd wait till after.
So that meant someone was in trouble.
"Natalia, I need to see you." The woman said looking at the girl. As soon as the woman entered, everyone stopped what they were doing to give her the attention that she always demanded when she was in the same room. Even the instructor was looking at Madame before she spoke. But when those words left her mouth, the redhead internally winced, not knowing what she did wrong.
The instructor nodded and waved Natalia off, silently telling her to do what was asked. Without another moment of hesitation, she walked off towards the older woman still in her training clothes. They both made their way out into the empty hallways of the academy in silence, Natalia walking a few steps behind the woman, showing her respect.
After a couple moments of silence, the two women arrived at a viewing window that had a clear view of a laboratory below. Natalia could see a table in the middle of the room, there was different machines and tools scattered across the room but nothing stood out that much about it.
She wondered why they were there but she didn't want to disrespect Madame and get into more trouble. Luckily for her though, she didn't have to wait long since Madame spoke up after a few more seconds, "You are not in trouble incase you were wondering. You have been chosen for a special assignment." The woman said in the same cold detached voice she always had since Natalia had met her all those years ago. What the woman said though caught the attention of the younger girl. The teen would be lying if she said that she wasn't all that interested in what Madame was talking about.
She didn't need to speak her thoughts though, because Madame could already tell and continued on, "You have been hand picked for this assignment, since you're one of the most independent students we have here. You will have to be moved to a different wing of the building for isolation from the others. You'll be given a bigger room with the essentials in order to survive the many months you'll be there for." Madame said which only confused Natalia more. What would she be doing where she wouldn't be able to train with the others? Why was she getting a bigger room? Why was she being isolated for months.
Natalia's curiosity got the better of her and she risked talking for once without getting permission first. "If I may ask Madame, why? What is happening?" She asked the woman, hoping she wouldn't get reprimanded for speaking out without permission. Madame though, actually turned to look at her with a glint behind her eyes. Natalia had front row seats to see a split second of emotion pass through the older woman's eyes. Madame actually looked somewhat excited for this, whatever this was.
Instead of answering her question directly, she started off with smiling towards the girl, which sent shivers down Natalia's spine, before talking to her, "As you know your graduation is coming up. We will be moving it up a few months in order for this assignment to be on time. Tomorrow morning, I will personally come to get you and bring you here, to the infirmary. Get a good nights rest, you'll need as much as you can get for these next upcoming months." Madame said, gesturing behind her to allow Natalia to go first. The younger did so without another word, silently making it to her room escorted by Madame.
As soon as the two woman made it back to the room, Madame looked at her one last time, "I know you'll bring great honor to us, it's why I picked you for this assignment Natalia. Don't make me regret this." Without another word, Madame turned around and moved back down towards the hall, leaving Natalia to go into her room to rest while she could.
She moved over to the bed and heaved a sigh. She had no idea what this was gonna be like, this new assignment but she was getting a feeling that this wasn't just a graduation ceremony. Something was different about it and she wished that she knew what it was. All Natalia could do was lay down and try to sleep as she thought about what tomorrow would bring her.
The next morning, she woke up five minutes before Madame came to get her. As soon as she got up from her bed, she quickly changed into a pair of clean pants and a black tank top. Madame didn't tell her to wear anything special, so she'd just put some training clothes on and if she asked her to change, she would. She sat there and waited until Madame walked in and stood in the doorway staring at her. "As soon as the ceremony is completed, you'll be transferred over to your new room where you'll be spending the next few months in. Please, follow me." The woman said.
"Yes Madame." Natalia replied, getting off her bed and following the Director out of the room towards the infirmary that she had shown to her yesterday. As soon as they got outside of it, Natalia could see there were a couple doctors waiting out there for them to arrive. The doctors and Madame led Natalia over to the metal table that was in the middle of the room and slowly pushed her down onto it.
They didn't waste anytime before they put a mask over her head and started to put her under. Natalia couldn't do anything as the gas quickly flowed into her lungs and knocked her out for whatever these people and in mind for her.
As soon as she was sleeping Madame turned to look at the lead doctor, "Do you have everything you require for the procedure?" She asked. The doctor nodded and held up the small container of the only thing that was needed to complete this, the other half of what was gonna be made.
"It was very difficult to convince them to give us a sample Madame, but after much argument, along with Dreykov's...methods, they gave us enough to ensure that she would be fertilized this first time. Once we extract the egg and place the sperm with it, we can place the egg back into her womb to incubate. Everything should go according to plan." The doctor said. Madame nodded her head in acceptance, pleased that they wouldn't have to do this again. She knew it took lots of convincing to finally get Hydra to hand over the fluids from their prized asset, but Madame was nothing if but patient and persistent. She needed to have the perfect assassin. With her best Widow being the mother and the best of Hydra's Soldiers being the father, she would for sure have the best child.
It would already be enhanced from the mother, but nothing too serious. Her Widow's were only given a serum that helped them not age as fast and that gave them slightly more endurance. But with the father being the Winter Soldier, that child would be stronger, faster, better than anyone that she could have trained.
She'd make the child the perfect assassin just like it's mother...
She'd mold the child into their perfect soldier, just like it's father...
And when she was done, said child would be completely unstoppable...
Just another asset for Dreykov's master plan...
Madame stayed in the room for the whole procedure, watching as they took the egg out of Natalia, watching as they fertilized it and as they put it back in the young woman's womb to be incubated.
After the doctors patched up Natalia, they placed her on the stretcher before starting to wheel her off towards her new room on the opposite side of the building, completely isolated from the other students. Madame opened the door for them to allow them entrance and to situate the young girl before she stood in the doorway and watched.
They placed Natalia on her giant bed and placed a blanket over her before they left the room. Madame stayed there for a few minutes though, just to observe.
She looked around the room. Taking notice of all the features of the room. The big bed that was in the corner of the room, the hardwood floor that had carpets covering different portions of it, the baby supplies that were in the other far corner of the room, the kitchen that was to the left of when you walk into the room and the living area to the right.
Madame smiled to herself...
Yes, this would work nicely. All she had to do now was wait...
November 8th, 2000
Natalia woke up in a bed that was definitely not hers. She quietly groaned and rolled over on her side and caught a glimpse of the room she was in when she opened her eyes. It was a giant room, bigger than anything that's she's ever seen before. She could see a kitchen that was pretty decent sized, a living room in the middle of the room, but what caught her attention, was all the baby stuff in the corner to her right.
From what she could see from her position laying in her bed, there was a crib and changing table right next to each other, a shelf with what appeared to be diapers and wipes, another shelf on the other side of the changing table that had different toys on it, and a mini box that if she had to guess, was full of more toys.
The sight of all that baby stuff really confused her. She didn't understand why it was there or why she was in a room with it, but she would try not to ask questions about it. One of her many problems after all was her curiosity, she knew if she didn't control it she would have gotten into a lot more trouble throughout the years.
It didn't mean she still wasn't curious...
The young woman sat up from her bed and winced, bringing a hand up to her head, resting it against her forehead. She pulled the blankets off of her body and realized that she was still in her clothes from before the procedure. She went over to the other side of her bed where the dresser was and picked out clothes to change into.
Just a simple black shirt with black leggings. She moved over to the bathroom door that was opened and closed the door so she could change, not wanting to take the chance for someone to barge in and see her getting dressed.
She walked out after cleaning herself up and went over to the table and sat down at one of the chairs. She knew that she'd be getting guests soon so she just decided to wait until they got there. Which gave her plenty of time to think about her current predicament.
She had no idea why she had to be in isolation for months on end, she didn't even know how many months she'd have to be in isolation for. She wasn't really looking forward to it though. It's not like she's the social type of person, but that didn't mean she didn't want to see her sister at all.
She and Yelena may have a constant competition going between them, but she still enjoys the younger girl's company.
After a few minutes, her mind traveled to the topic that was still confusing for her. She had no idea why there was baby stuff in this new room. Was it to taunt her? To dangle this in front of her face, saying how you'll never have your own family?
Was it a method of physiological torture? Natalia didn't know, she hoped it was neither of those options. She knew that she was strong and all, but the one weakness that she knew she'd never be able to get rid of was the topic of having a family.
That right there, would always hurt her.
She was broken out of her thoughts when her door opened and Madame walked through. She quickly straighten up and made sure all emotions were masked so the older woman wouldn't see them. Madame walked over and sat down opposite to Natalia at the table with a file in her hand. She looked at the younger woman before speaking, "I'm sure you have many questions about what yesterday was." She said. Natalia quietly nodded her head in confirmation.
Madame nodded her head and placed the file down onto the table and opened it. Natalia looked at the file, not knowing if Madame wanted her to take it or not. She got her answer when Madame gestured for her to take it though, so she picked it up and looked it over. The file was labeled under a Project LoneWolf, which confused Natalia a little bit. But she scanned the file and read through what it was supposed to be. As soon as she got to the description, she froze in complete shock.
'The best of the Widows will be the mother of the child. Instead of sterilization, one of her eggs will be fertilized and placed back into her womb to incubate for 9 months. This will happen in place of the graduation ceremony that all students have to take place in, but after the child is born, the sterilization will happen. This will be the first child that will be born form two enhanced people. The baby will stay with the mother in isolation for as long as necessary before it is ready to start its training.'
Natalia was still in shock while she looked over the rest of the information of the file.
Mother: Natalia Alianovna Romanov, Age 18, The Black Widow
Father: Classified
Conceived: November 7th, 2000
Expected due date: August 7th, 2001
Description: The baby will be enhanced at birth due to both the mother and father having a serum in their blood. The father has a variation of the Captain America serum with enhanced strength, speed, durability, reflexes, agility and healing. The mother has a serum that enhances endurance and makes the person age slower than any normal human. The child will be taught the basics from it's mother before it's of age where it can start its training. The mother has all necessary materials to raise the child in the isolation of the room. She will continue on with her training and assignments once the baby is born and will have the real graduation ceremony after too.
Natalia looked up into the eyes of Madame, still in shock at what she was reading. There was no way that she was pregnant, was there? The Red Room completely forbid that sort of stuff, there's no way that they'd do something this risky, would they?
She hated how unsure she was...
She looked down at her stomach and placed her hand along her naval. She thought she'd never get this chance, the chance to be a mother. But she was proven wrong, she was handpicked to be a mother. A burst of happiness spread through Natalia's body, thinking about herself becoming a mother. While it wasn't ideal, she'd still have her own family, her own blood, her own child. She didn't even care who the father was at the moment, this was gonna be her child and her child alone, no one else's. She'd raise the baby to the best of her ability and she'd never abandon her own blood, ever.
Like her family did to her...
"I'm pregnant." Natalia stated while looking into Madame's eyes, trying to cover her hidden happiness with the concept of having the one thing she thought she'd never have. Madame looked her over once before she nodded her head.
"You will stay here for the full nine months and even after that fact, this will be your new room. Once a week, supplies will be dropped off, more food, water and clothes. When they come, they will take your dirty clothes and clean them for the next week. This will continue when you have the child. Once a week we will bring more baby food, diapers, everything you'll need. More information will be revealed once we get closer to the due date." Madame said, picking up the file and starting to walk towards the door, leaving Natalia at the table.
Before she walked out, she turned to look at the younger girl with the same cold stare that she'd had since the day Natalia arrived here, "You will not leave this room, do I make myself clear? We cannot risk the development of the child." Madame said. Natalia internally scoffed, like she'd do anything to purposely endanger the only family that she'll ever have. She'd make sure nothing happened to her baby, no matter what.
Even if she had to kill to ensure that, it's not like it was new to her anyways. She'd willingly use her skills to protect her baby rather than kill others just because Madame told her to do so.
God, less than a day since being pregnant and she already had so many different thoughts running through her head.
Thoughts that would get her in trouble...
She nodded to Madame, indicating that she heard her and understood. Without another word, the older woman left and locked the door behind her, leaving Natalia all by herself with her unborn child.
She rubbed her hand across her stomach, looking at nothing in particular on the table, just stuck in her head. She knew the next nine months would be hard, especially since she was in isolation. But to her, she was playing this for the long haul because the result of this little project, would be totally worth it.
All of her pain would be worth it just to have a baby of her own...
December 14th, 2000
It's been about 5 weeks since Natalia has been pregnant and needless to say that she's already feeling the symptoms. She has been really exhausted recently and she had enhanced endurance so she doesn't easily get like that. The other sure sign that she is most definitely pregnant is her breasts have been sore for awhile now. Usually in the mornings when she first wakes up was when it's the worst.
It's only been a few weeks so she can't really tell that she's pregnant besides those symptoms. The one thing she can't wait to see is the actually proof that the child, her child, is here with her. The day when she can see the bump will be an amazing day that will probably cause her to cry.
From the hormones of course, she was the Black Widow after all, she didn't cry...
Too bad she was proving herself wrong almost every night...
She couldn't get over how she'd be a mother. She couldn't wait to have her baby in her own hands in eight months, where she'd sing it to sleep, comfort it when it cried, fed it when it was hungry, and play with it and offer all of her love and support.
She'd give it what her family never offered her...
God, she was softening up so much. She was kinda glad the other students wouldn't be able to see her like this...
She was glad that her sister wouldn't see her like this the most though because god knows she would never let her live this down.
She didn't like how she kept referring to her unborn child as an "it" either. But she didn't want to call it a him or her yet. It was only a month along and was way too early to tell the gender. If someone was to ask her what she would have preferred for a gender for her baby, she wouldn't be able to tell you. She was fine with either a girl or a boy. The only concerns she had was if the baby turned out to be a boy, she had no idea how that would effect his stay at the Red Room. She knew that the only students here were female, so she hoped that they wouldn't discriminate her baby if he did decide to be a boy.
God, the image of a little boy wrapped up in her arms made her heart melt just a tiny bit more...
A doctor also came by once a month to check out her progress. Her first appointment was a couple days ago. A couple doctors, two nurses and Madame all entered and let her lay down on her bed while they preformed an ultrasound and took some of her blood, just to make sure that she and the baby were all healthy. When she saw what would eventually be her baby, she almost cried in relief but she kept it all together until everyone had left.
That, was when she cried...
But today she was sitting at her table around mid afternoon if she had to guess, eating her lunch while she was stuck in her head, thinking about how this would change her life forever.
"You know, mommy's gonna love you baby, so much... I wasn't really all that wanted growing up and I would never put my own flesh and blood through that. I'll always be right her for you, I promise." She said looking down at her stomach. She knows it's probably silly to talk to her child who is only 5 weeks old at the moment, but she didn't really care. Her baby was the only company she'd have for the next eight months so if she wanted to talk to him, she would.
Him...
Maybe she did have a preference for the gender...
February 20th, 2001
She could finally see the bump...
In the beginning of the month, she had saw the first signs of the bump, definite proof that she was for sure pregnant. Now, she already knew with all the other symptoms. Some of them have been really getting on her nerves recently though, like the cravings and the morning sickness.
But, it brought her an odd sense of comfort to actually see her child growing...
Her routine was pretty simple everyday. She wakes up in the morning, sometimes later than most, and she starts to make breakfast. Sometimes it's only something easy like toast or a bowl cereal. But even then, the cereal is so bland that she will most likely cook something else.
They left her a cook book in her room so she could learn new things to make during her isolation in the room. She'll sometimes cook some eggs, make French toast or even pancakes. She's learned pretty quickly that the smell of grease and stuff will make her nauseous so she can't cook any of the bacon or sausage that was left in the room. She has also learned that apparently her kid loves blueberry waffles.
Her room has all of the modern tools to make anything that she would desire and that includes a waffle maker. The first time that she made waffles she added blueberries to it and instantly fell in love with them. She wasn't the only one though, five out of the seven days of the week she has cravings for blueberry waffles no matter what time of day it was. Not like she was complaining though, before she became pregnant she never got this good of food, ever.
She'd take cravings for blueberry waffles over nasty oatmeal any day of the week...
Probably the most difficult part of all of this though is the emotions. She has trained all her life to block them out, to burry them and never dwell on them for too long. But being pregnant, her hormones are everywhere and they've brought up all those emotions to the surface of her brain, clouding all of her thoughts constantly.
It hurts...
But at the same time, it feels right...
She's all sorts of confused...
She's actually had time to stop and think about what she's been doing all her life. Her training, her little assignments, the killing...
It's all wrong...
But she can't do anything about that now, she's trapped here and Natalia is no fool. She knows that if she acts out once the Red Room wouldn't be against using her child to keep her in line. They'd constantly dangle is fragile life in front of her and if she acted out, they wouldn't have a problem with taking the baby away from her.
She wouldn't be able to live with herself if they did that to her. Took her child away from her when she realistically knows that the child that's gonna be born in a little less than six months will be her only family. She hasn't even met the kid yet and she already loves it with all her heart.
God, just the thought of them taking her kid makes so much anger surge through her lithe body...
Natalia also has come up with a few names for the baby so far. She wants to be prepared since she doesn't know the gender yet, that comes in a couple months.
The names that she's picked out for her child is Pyotr Ivanovich Romanov if it's a boy, and Petronia Irina Romanov if it's a girl.
Her mother intuition is saying it's a boy though...
And Natalia Romanov is rarely ever wrong...
It was actually towards the end of February where she decided to start calling her child by its name. She didn't want to keep walking around and calling them it. That just didn't sit right with her.
She was sitting down on her couch reading a book when all of her emotions started to push through her barriers that she has made. All of a sudden she just started to cry right there, on her couch. She sighed before placing her book down on the little table to the side of couch and placed her hands on top of her little bump.
"You're really testing out mommy's strength aren't you little one." She chuckled wetly, bring one hand up to wipe a tear from her face. "You know, mommy hasn't felt anything like this in so many years, these people taught me how to conceal everything, don't let anyone know what my true emotions were. But now that I have you, I know I won't ever be able to be like that again, at least not how I was before. You're always gonna be my one weakness in this world Pyotr...and I'm completely fine with that." She continued to quietly cry staring down at her baby growing inside of her.
She knew that everything would be ok. Her baby would be born healthy, she'd get to spend time with him, and she'd get to watch him grow.
The only regret that she has is that he'd have to grow up in a place like this...
April 17th, 2001
It was a boy...
Her little Pyotr was already five months along which meant she was halfway through with the pregnancy. Which also meant she only had four months until she could see her baby boy for the first time.
She relaxed against the headboard of her bed as soon as the doctors left the room. She got to see her baby and find out the gender of him so she was feeling so many emotions flow through her she could barely contain them. She had enough control though to wait until Madame and the doctors left before she let them out.
"I love you so much baby. Mommy already can't stand the thought of being without you, I can't wait to meet you." She said smiling down to her stomach. She liked to think Pyotr could hear her, so her habit of talking hasn't really gone away.
She shut her eyes and laid her head down onto the wall behind her bed, the smile never leaving her face.
After a few minutes of resting, she suddenly felt a jolt in her stomach which caused her eyes to shoot open and stare in disbelief at her protruding belly.
"Did you just...?" She whispered, not believing that she just felt a kick.
"Baby, Pyotr, if you can hear mommy can you give her a little kick again, I just wanna make sure." She said in a hopeful voice. Not even a second later the jolt came back and she could see her stomach move just a little bit. Her smile widened when she felt it again and there were tears in her eyes.
"I can tell you this right now, you're the best damn thing that will ever happen to me Pyotr, don't you ever forget that." She laughed down at her stomach. The only response she got was another kick to her stomach.
"Wow, you're a strong one aren't you? A fighter just like mommy." She said. She may not know this yet, but her child was indeed a fighter. After all, he was the product of two enhanced people. And whether Natalia wanted to admit it or not, her son was also like it's father. He did have half of his enhanced DNA inside of him, even if she still had no idea who he was.
Of course, she wouldn't know until years down the road...
"What're you in the mood for baby, huh? You want more waffles?" She asked playfully towards her stomach, getting a kick in response. She laughed before she got up off of her bed and made her way over to the kitchen to make some more waffles for herself and Pyotr.
She couldn't wait until she could actually hold her son in her own two hands and sit down and have a meal with him.
Only four more months...
July 13th, 2001
It's been getting to the point where Natalia was having trouble sleeping at night now. With her being 8 months along already, her stomach is so big that it's really uncomfortable for the young woman to try and sleep during the night. Even if she doesn't fall asleep, she only gets a couple hours of sleep before Pyotr wakes her up and she can't fall back to sleep.
She hasn't even met him yet and she knows that her little baby will be a trouble maker.
"You sure don't make it easy for mommy." She said. Natalia had just woken up from her sleep again, this time only getting an hour of sleep before being awoken by Pyotr. She sighed before sitting up in her bed and threw her legs over the side, slowly getting up to grab a glass of water.
She made her way over to the cupboard and grabbed a cup before filling it up with water, taking a sip and letting the cool liquid run down her throat. After she was finished with her drink, she walked back towards her bed to try and get a couple hours of rest.
She sat down at the edge of her bed when Pyotr decided to give another kick in her gut, causing her to wince a little, "You just love beating up mommy huh? I'm just your little punching bag." She said, scooting back towards the head of the bed to rest her back against the wall.
God, she now knows why they didn't have her continue her training, her back is killing her. She can't wait for her back to stop hurting.
She can't believe that in less than a month she could finally get back to some sort of routine again, but this time she'd have a kid to take care of.
Every time she thinks of holding her child for the first time, it makes a wave of love and affection rush through the cold, calculated assassin's body.
But there was times like this, where she wondered if the affections were mutual between the two of them.
"Jesus, you sure do pack a punch." She winced again when he kicked against her stomach rather harshly. God, he wasn't even born yet and she could already tell he'd be stronger than any normal human.
She sighed and looked down at her stomach. She knew that they'd have her son train to be just like her. She knew that they'd train him to be an assassin for them, to be the little obedient soldier that they always wanted.
And there was nothing she could do to stop it...
They'd make him hide his emotions, they'd tell him that it was weakness, that he should push them all down and forget about them.
But when he's with her, she'll never tell him those things...
She'll encourage his curiosity because let's face it, he's her son and she's a very curious person by nature. It's obvious that'll he'll at least have some of her curiosity. She'll tell him that it's ok to cry, to show emotions, she'll hold him when he needs comfort, she'll never push him away.
She'll never abandon him...
With the last thoughts about her son, she slowly closed her eyes and fell into a restless sleep. Hopefully she could get another hour of sleep.
Unluckily for her though, she didn't even get an hour before she woke up again from discomfort.
God was she ready to give birth, she didn't know how much more she could take of this...
August 10th, 2001
The doctor placed her son in her arms for the very first time and it almost made Natalia cry.
She looked down at her son with so much love and affection in her gaze. She couldn't believe that he was finally here, with her.
She's spent the last nine months carrying him, protecting him and really early on she got attached to him. She's always wanted family and now she finally has one, with her son.
"Hey Pyotr," she whispered to him, resting her hand on top of his little head, keeping it pressed against her chest. Suddenly, he started to whimper and make noises of distress, "Shhhh, baby, it's ok. Mommy has you. She's not going anywhere, I promise." She gently shushed her baby, running her hand up through what little hair he had.
He blindly reached around to grab onto her hand. She smiled warmly at him before offering her finger to him. He quickly grabbed onto her pinkie and held on with as much strength as a newborn baby had.
The moment between mother and son were quickly ruined though when Madame B walked into the room.
She stared at the kid in Natalia's arms with hidden glee in her eyes. The first part of the plan was all going according to plan, now, all the older woman would have to do was wait for the boy to grow up a little bit before she started his training.
She locked eyes with her student and saw the protective look in Natalia's eyes as she was slightly glaring at her.
She was getting attached...
She'd have to deal with that later...
But she still needed Natalia, someone had to raise the child until the time was right.
Who better than the mother?
"Get her ready and transfer her and the baby into their room." Madame told the doctor who was in the room, getting a nod in return.
"His name is Pyotr." Natalia responded to the woman.
Madame scoffed, "You named it?"
Natalia's glare hardened, "It...is my son, and he'll be referred to as such." She basically spat with as much venom as she could in her tired state. She would not have people downgrade her son before he could even open his eyes.
He couldn't protect himself at the moment, but Natalia had no problem with doing the job until he could.
The young adult could see the disdain clearly radiating off of Madame's face when she replied, "What is...his, full name?"
"Pyotr Ivanovich Romanov." She replied confidently, keeping one hand on his back protectively. The only response that Madame gave was a sharp nod before she gestured for the doctors to do what they needed.
An hour later, Natalia was back in her room leaning against her headboard with Pyotr resting on her chest and breastfeeding. The doctors had left her alone with the necessary things she would need and told her that they'd be back in the morning to check on both of them.
She didn't care though, as long as her son was healthy, she'd be ok.
After she was done feeding him, she repositioned him in her arms and slid off the headboard so she was laying down on her back with her son laying on top of her chest.
She looked at him with a warm smile, "Mommy's gonna take real good care of you, ok? I won't let anything happen to you." She said to him. Surprisingly, Pyotr turned his head over to her and slowly blinked his eyes open and Natalia had a clear view of her baby's bright green eyes.
Her eyes...
She breathed out a quiet laugh, "Don't worry baby, I'm right here, go back to sleep." She placed a kiss on his head. He seemed to listen to her because he snuggled back down into his mother's warmth before his breath evened out.
Natalia's eyes were also slowly shutting too as soon as she saw her son go to sleep, the days events finally catching up to the young woman.
He laid her hand on his back before she drifted off into the land of dreams.
Instead of nightmares, and memories of the horrors that's she's done, she dreamt about a future with her son right by her side.