Three weeks had passed since the Skrull infiltration at the Avengers Tower. Since then, the security had been heightened. Tony and Bruce had completed their DNA identifier, along with new ID's for everyone. The Stark-Banner DNA identification had become one of Jarvis' latest features added so the residents of the Avengers Tower were free to come and go. There seemed to be no traces of the Skrulls, let alone Thanos, and this had always kept the Avengers on their toes.
Loki was sitting on Natasha's bed, leafing through a book on pregnancy. He had become transfixed by the subject as of recent since he was to become a father. He always enjoyed learning and the fact that there wasn't much to do lately also added to his reasons to read up on the topic. Also, Natasha simply set the book off to the side ever since Pepper had given it to her. "You really should read into this," Loki said to her. He rested his head back against the headboard as he watched her.
"Maybe later," she said. Currently, she was staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror near her bathroom. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere as she turned to get a good view of her profile. A hand traced along the slight bulge of her stomach. This past week had been the first time she took notice of her weight gain. She tried adjusting her jacket to make the bump less evident.
"Natasha." He shut the book and set it back on her nightstand.
She snapped out of her trance and turned her head to stare at him.
"Is something the matter?" he asked.
She turned to stare at her uniform that she had folded up atop her dresser. "I don't think I can fit into my suit anymore." She forced a laugh. Her career as the Black Widow was officially being put on hold. Now, she was moving onto the even more frightening position as a mother. "Did we ever talk about names?" she asked him.
"I believe I mentioned it," he informed her. He got out of the bed and walked over to hug her from behind.
"Any suggestions?" She felt that she could use the distraction, even though she was only fifteen weeks along.
"We don't know the gender," he reminded her.
"Something tells me it's a boy."
"A son?" he blinked. The idea of raising a boy of his own made him think of his own past. Whatever the gender, he knew that he would love it nonetheless.
"Throw some names at me." She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He began to chuckle softly. "I'm not familiar with Midgardian names. Would you want our child to have something Asgardian?"
She bit her lip for a moment. "Maybe we can hold off with the names for now."
"Freya for a daughter, Balder, a son…" he recited as a hand touched her stomach.
"I said we'll see!" She couldn't help but laugh at how… different the names were.
"What was the name you mentioned before? Alexei, was it?"
She tensed up at the mentioning of his name. Even though she had never gone into the details between her and her late husband-she really didn't want to- the idea of naming a child after him seemed… acceptable. "Later we'll talk," she said as a call interrupted them. She grabbed her phone from the front pocket of her jeans and answered it. The call was from Nick Fury himself, warning them to assemble.
"That DNA tracker is going off the charts!" he warned. For convenience, he had linked calls with all the other Avengers-aside from Thor who could never work his phone. "The Skrulls are here. And I think Thanos is with them."
She ended the call and stared at Loki worriedly. "This could be it."
He pulled her against him. "We'll be alright," he promised.
"I'm going with you to meet with Fury. I'd rather not be here alone," she admitted.
"Alright." He hugged her tightly and kissed her hair.
Before they left, Natasha attached her holsters along with the guns and secured her wrist blasters.