Note: *throws confetti* I finally finished! Yay! Thanks for sticking with it!
"Clint, hurry up! We're going to be late!" Natasha said as she nearly ran out the door.
"Are you sure that visiting them right now is going to be a good time?" Clint asked when he caught up to her. "I mean she just had the baby."
"I promised Betty that we would visit her today. You can play with your toy when we head back home." Natasha said.
"My bow's not a toy," Clint mumbled.
Things had been surprisingly peaceful recently. Pierce was gone and Natasha finally felt like she could move on with her life. She was no longer the Russian or the communist or the nurse from the war, she was just Natasha and that thought made her smile.
She had also grown closer to Clint too. She had been spending so much time at his farm that she rarely went back to her apartment anymore. She knew that she had to be careful. If Tony ever realized how much she was really there, she would never hear the end of it. But she had grown attached to the farm. It was much larger than her apartment and it was a peaceful place for her.
When they had arrived at Bruce and Betty's house, Natasha quickly knocked on the door. Bruce opened it and he looked like a mess. His hair was sticking in different directions and he looked exhausted. But he had a huge smile on his face when he saw both of them.
"We were starting to wonder when you two would show up," Bruce said.
"Has everything been alright?" Natasha said.
"Yeah, Betty's exhausted though," Bruce said. "The labor was pretty hard on her."
"Natasha is that you?" Betty said from the other room. Natasha walked into the room and saw Betty lying on a bed with a little bundle in her arms. Natasha sat down on the side of the bed so that she could give her friend a hug. "Natasha, I would like to introduce you to Henry." Betty said as Natasha leaned over to get a better look.
Henry Banner was a tiny little thing. He had dark hair and dark eyes and was looking around like he wanted to see everything that the world had to offer. "Would you like to hold him?" Betty asked.
"Oh, I don't think-"
"Natasha, come her and hold your godson!" Betty said sternly.
"My what?" Natasha asked, shocked by her friend's statement.
"Bruce and I talked about it. There's no one else I trust more than you," Betty said. "We've been thought so much together, Natasha. You're so much more than just my friend. You're practically my sister."
"I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything. Just hold him." Betty said, placing the bundle into Natasha's arms.
Natasha just stood there for a moment just holding the baby. He was just so small that she was scared that she was going to hurt him. But Henry didn't seem to mind one bit. He reached his little fingers out and tried to touch her hair and he let out the most adorable giggle she's ever heard.
"Look, you're a natural," Bruce said. Natasha turned her head and saw Bruce and Clint standing in the doorway. Clint was looking at her in a way she had never seen before. It was almost like awe. She suddenly had an image in her head of a little baby with blue eyes and red hair and she felt her throat close up. She had never really thought about having kids before. There had been no time to really think about it when she was in nursing school. And once she joined the war, kids were the last thing on her mind. But now, she didn't really mind the thought of it. She handed Henry to Clint and a smile erupted onto his face. He held the baby in his arms, making silly faces and Henry seemed to love it.
They spent the next hour just talking to each other. Learning about all the new things that parenthood brought. Natasha would smile every time she would talk about Henry. The last time she had seen Betty this happy was when they learned that Germany had surrendered and that they could go home. By the time they had left, it was starting to get dark and Natasha's mind was filled with tiny fingers and small giggles.
The rest of the evening had been uneventful. They had dinner and Natasha was cleaning up the dishes when she heard something behind her. She turned and could see Clint on the back porch, pacing back and forth and running his hair through his fingers. He always did that when he was nervous about something. Natasha walked over and opened the door. Clint stopped and looked at her as she closed the door behind her.
"Everything alright?" she asked. He nodded quickly and walked over to her, kissing her gently.
"There's something that I want to do, but I have no idea how to do it. I don't even know if I can," Clint said quietly.
"Well, why don't you take it one step at a time," Natasha said. "What's the very first thing you have to do?"
Clint took a deep breath. "I guess it would be this," he said as he slowly lowered his knee to the ground.
"Clint," Natasha said. She felt like he couldn't speak.
"I know that I don't have a lot to offer," he began. "I'm not rich or a genius. I don't have a very big, fancy house or anything. But it's just…you're so…" He stopped, desperately trying to find the right words but failing miserably. "I'm doing this all wrong," he said, mostly to himself.
"No you're not," Natasha said, finally finding her voice again. She placed her hand on his cheek and made sure that he was looking right at her. "Keep going," she said quietly. Clint nodded and continued his speech.
"You have made me happier than I ever thought I could be," he said. "You came into my life and you have made it so much better. I already lost you once and I never want to go through that again. So, will you marry me, Tasha?" He puts in his hand into his pocket and pulls out a ring.
"Yes," Natasha said with a large smile on her face. "Yes, of course I will."
Clint slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up, pulling her into him. She doesn't know exactly how long they stand out there just holding each other. She's begins to think about everything that has happened. She thinks about how happy he has made her and that he has made her life better too. She knows that it might get hard sometimes and that there will be other people like Pierce, but she knows that she can get through it. She survived a war, she can survive anything.