Terribly sorry for the wait, guys. School has started and my mind has been everywhere but focused on writing. I was able to crank this chapter out last night, though. Unfortunately, it's quite a short one. BUT! You guys get a special surprise at the end!
And we hit 22.5k hits! Guys, that's amazing! Thank you guys so much!
I don't own Marvel, etc.
"Well Mr. and Mrs. Rushman," a young nurse in bright pink scrubs smiled cheerfully as she deposited a metal clipboard on the counter. "The doctor should be in shortly."
When the bubbly nurse sauntered out of the tiled, clean smelling exam room, Clint turned to Natasha and frowned.
"I still don't get why I have to be Mr. Rushman."
Natasha cracked a smile. "It's just a cover. Get over it."
"Well, they could have at least picked a closer hospital," he whined. They being SHIELD, of course. As the pregnancy progressed, keeping the pair of agents out of the public eye, especially Natasha, became a top priority for the agency. SHIELD took it upon themselves to arrange all medical appointments and consultations- and they weren't exactly picking the most convenient of locations. Driving all the way to New Jersey for a checkup was bad enough, but the Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania for a sonogram? By the time Natasha was ready to give birth, they'll end up traveling halfway to California. "I hate driving in this state."
"I know. You almost got us killed on the turnpike."
"Hey," Clint cried defensively. "I'd like to see you drive with these morons. Flying the quin-jet is easier."
Honestly, he wouldn't have minded wandering around the country looking for an out of the way hospital if he didn't have to use the damned Pennsylvania roadways- their drivers were worse than New Yorkers! And that was definitely saying something.
"Fine, I'll drive home," Natasha shrugged.
"No way."
She snorted, "Well then quit complaining!"
A man on a white lab coat poked his head in the door. "Natalie?" he asked.
"That's me," the Black Widow said softly, waving a hand. Falling back into character was almost too easy. She fidgeted in her exam chair, causing the lining paper to crinkle with her movements.
"Oh good I have the right room," the man laughed as he entered. With an extended hand, he greeted both Clint and Natasha. "I'm Doctor McCoy."
"Star Trek?" Clint exclaimed, cocking his head to the side slightly, before he could stop himself. He bit his tongue and Natasha resisted the urge to slap her palm to her forehead. Clint Barton: her nerdy fanboy- it was the one thing that had ever surprised her about him when they first got to knowing each other.
"Pardon?" Doctor McCoy quirked an eyebrow.
"I'm James," he covered (badly, Natasha would add on the drive home). Clint shared a sheepish sidelong glance with Natasha, to which she shook her head, biting at her lip to keep from laughing. This is the father my child, ladies and gentlemen, she thought to herself, rubbing her forehead.
"Nice to meet you," the doctor nodded with a peculiar smile, which led her to believe that wasn't the first time that's happened. "So James and Natalie, are you ready to see your baby?"
"Whenever you're ready, Doc," the Black Widow scrunched her lips. She lifted up her shirt, hardly wincing when the cool blue gel oozed from the white squeeze bottle onto her exposed stomach. The doctor offered her a small smile as he touched the wand to her skin and began spreading the gel around.
"Ah, there we go!" McCoy grinned as the silhouette of the fetus appeared on screen, sliding the wand across her jutted stomach to get a better view. "You seem to be around the twenty-third or forth week. Very good, very good. Everything seems to be developing on schedule. There's its head... arms... legs. The heart beat is strong- listen... "
He trailed off and for the first time, Clint heard the ka-thump of their baby's heart. The sound made him almost freeze in place. Natasha squeezed his hand as she stared intently at the monitor. Despite their perfected poker faces, both knew exactly what the other was thinking: this was their baby, this was their baby. They were awe struck, speechless, completely in shock that they together created this… being, this living person. Nothing can prepare a person for that. Not all the training in the world.
"Well Mrs. Rushman," he concluded, "everything seems to be going smoothly. Do you have any questions?"
"Can you tell us the sex?" Natasha asked, not taking her eyes off the monitor.
"Ah, yes, of course." McCoy lowered the wand on her stomach. The Black Widow and Hawkeye waited impatiently as the doctor studied the screen.
It was a fifty-fifty shot, like a coin toss: heads for a boy, tails for a girl. It was a coin toss that, depending on how it landed, would alter their lives forever. Before today, neither one of them had given much thought to the subject. The extent of conversation consisted of a playful wager on the car ride to the hospital, with Natasha placing her money on heads and Clint on tails. But suddenly, it became a topic of unequal importance, drawing their complete and undivided attention. Clint hadn't realized he was holding his breath until Doctor McCoy turned back to them and smiled.
"Congratulations, you're having a baby boy."
Clint's emotions betrayed him for just a second. "A boy?"
The glint in his eyes was unmistakably joy as he leaned in to kiss Natasha's forehead. She couldn't help but smile.
Our master assassins are going to have a baby boy! Exciting, is it not? Up next, baby naming and dinner with the Avengers.
And for anyone who's driven in the tri-state area, you know what I'm talking about with the bad driver jabs. All in good fun, I promise.
Let me know what you thought and what you might like to see in the future.