Steve was trying very hard not to laugh at his wife. Firstly, he'd found that laughing while brushing his teeth was not a good idea, as it spewed toothpaste-spit all over the mirror, and secondly, he thought it might be a bit rude. Tina stood in front of her bathroom mirror, holding her tank top up and examining her flat stomach. He gave her a pointed look, hoping that she'd answer his unasked question. She caught his stare.
"Give this a good look," she commanded, pointing at her abdomen, "Because your baby is going to screw up all my Natasha-style training. You are not going to see this looking this nice for another year. Or ever. No, Nat will kick me back into shape. But, still. It'll be a while."
Steve rolled his eyes and rinsed his mouth out.
"Goodbye, little abs. I will miss you," Tina lamented.
"You're ridiculous," he laughed.
Tina sighed and dropped her shirt, starting to violently yank a brush through her hair.
"So," she began, "When do we tell everyone?"
She pulled hard on a particularly stubborn tangle. Steve's expression turned contemplative as he took the brush out of her hands, gently working through the knots.
"I don't know…" he responded slowly, softly running the brush through her golden hair. "I have no experience with this," he chuckled, selecting another curl to smooth out.
Tina laughed with him.
"Because I do?"
Steve smiled and set the brush down, playing with the now-silky curls with his fingers.
"We should tell them today," Tina decided.
"Good plan. JARVIS would snitch eventually," the soldier agreed.
"I would not have!" the AI responded heatedly, "What have I ever done to deserve such mistrust?"
"Nothing, J. But Tony can overwrite your protocols at any minute and find out anything you know," Steve explained.
"Or he could check the internet history," Tina added.
JARVIS huffed and Tina giggled, leading Steve out of the bathroom.
"Might as well do it now," she said. "What are you gonna say?"
Steve stopped dead.
"Me?! Oh, no, no, no. YOU are carrying a baby, YOU tell them."
"What? What happened to 'we're in this together'?" Tina crossed her arms and glared.
"What happened was I told you the news. You gotta tell them," Steve defended himself, "Fair's fair."
Tina's glare intensified, but Steve didn't look ruffled.
"Not doing it," he said stubbornly.
"If I do this, you have to tell my family," she bargained.
"We can do rock, paper, scissors for it?" he suggested.
Tina scowled.
"You always win that! And I'm convinced it has something to do with your super-reflexes."
Steve grinned guiltily, and she growled and stomped toward the open door. Steve immediately laughed in triumph and grabbed her hand.
…
"Gently, Thor. Very gently," Bruce cautioned, anxiously watching the god prepare to flip a pancake.
"I know!" Thor said impatiently.
He jerked his wrist and the pancake flipped beautifully, albeit four feet high, just missing the ceiling before it landed squarely on the pan again.
"Very good," the scientist applauded, silently thanking his lucky stars that no goo ended up on himself or the kitchen.
"Good morning everyone," Steve greeted his team cheerfully before taking his customary seat across from Tony. Tina hopped up on her favorite barstool next to Natasha.
"Hey Steve," Clint smiled and waved.
"You okay, blondie?" Tony asked, "You were acting funky yesterday."
Tina smiled, trying unsuccessfully not to blush.
"I feel great now, so I guess that passed."
Natasha raised her eyebrows, sensing her evasion.
"I am glad you are well, Tina," Thor said, "Would you like some pancakes? I made them!" He grinned excitedly, looking for all the world like a kindergartener presenting the teacher with a drawing.
"I'd love some. I'm pretty hungry from skipping dinner."
Steve set aside his newspaper so Thor could place an enormous stack of pancakes on his plate. Tina got Tony another cup of coffee and poured syrup on his pancakes.
"Very good job Thor," Steve praised him.
The god smiled widely and clapped Bruce on the shoulder hard enough that his glasses slipped down an inch on his nose.
"I learned from the very best. Thank you for teaching me."
Bruce smiled and started clearing plates, unable to help noticing that Tina was steadily growing more fidgety. Part of him wanted to ask if she was alright, but knowing her, that wouldn't get him anywhere.
Tina stared at the surface of the table, hoping it would tell her how best to break her news. She bit the inside of her lip, anxiety getting the best of her.
"Um, guys?"
Her voice sounded pathetic. Like a kid confessing that they stole a cookie from the jar.
"I-um. Well, actually, WE," she took Steve's hand, partly for emphasis and partly to keep her hands from visibly shaking. "We're, well, um. We're going to have a baby. I'm kind of, uh, pregnant."
For a moment, there was silence, then there were cheers.
"Congrats!" Tony said.
Natasha laughed and grabbed Tina's hand.
"That's awesome! I'm so excited for you two!"
Pepper did a freaky little happy dance.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! This is so exciting!" she crowed. "How long have you known? Aww, you're gonna have a little baby! A tiny Tina! Or a mini Steve! OH MY GOD!" she gushed.
Clint cursed under his breath and counted out twenty dollars, which he passed to Natasha. He mock-punched Steve in the shoulder.
"That's awesome dude," he grinned.
Tina eyed the transaction. Natasha winked.
"Call it a hunch," she whispered, "You were acting weird."
Bruce mussed Tina's hair.
"Okay, I was wrong about the flu thing. This is much better."
Thor pounded Steve on the back. If Steve were a normal human, he probably would have been hospitalized for broken ribs, but thankfully, it only caused him to grimace a little.
"Well done, Captain!"
Steve blushed lightly, grinning ear to ear.
"We just found out last night," he belatedly answered Pepper.
"Steve actually figured it out before I did," Tina added, "due to his wicked paranoia and tendency to over-worry about everything."
Steve rolled his eyes.
"You fell asleep randomly, threw up, and then couldn't eat dinner. I had a reason to be worried. Plus, I never thought you might be expecting. JARVIS is responsible for that idea," he explained.
Tony laughed.
"Good job, J," he praised his creation.
"Thank you, sir," it responded crisply. "Call it insight, if you will."
…
"That didn't go badly at all," Tina sighed with relief.
Natasha laughed as she leaned on the railing while her friend doodled.
"What, you thought we'd all freak out?"
"No," Tina said softly, "Just. I don't know. I was nervous to tell you."
"Don't be silly!" Pepper admonished, "You can tell us anything. Us girls need to stick together in this houseful of testosterone!"
"Maybe there'll be one more girl to help soon," Natasha teased.
Tina smiled and shook her head but kept drawing.
"Are you going to find out whether it's a boy or a girl?" Pepper asked.
"Mm. I don't know. I kind of want it to be a surprise, but that might be a nightmare for planning a nursery, huh?"
"Not necessarily," Pepper said, "You could just make the nursery mostly unisex and add in gender-specific colors later if you want."
"Not yellow," Natasha begged, "It is the most awful color. I don't know why people always make nurseries yellow. Do green or something."
"I like green," Tina mused, "That could work. Green and blue. Or green and pink?"
Pepper nodded, and Tina could see the wheels turning in her head.
"I am going to need to do some serious planning," the CEO of Stark Industries eventually announced.
"You're welcome," Tina said, "I know how you love to plan. Since Steve and my wedding is over, you're all out of things to plan for."
Pepper nodded, ignoring the sarcasm.
"That was so fun to arrange…But now I have doctors appointments to chart, a nursery to plan, clothes for you to buy, baby stuff to get…oh you and I are going to spend a LOT of time together!"
Tina set down her pencil for a moment.
"Can I ask you two something?"
Both women nodded and the assassin sat beside her.
"It's about the doctor…is it weird to ask Bruce to do it? Do you think he would want to?"
"Absolutely," Natasha answered immediately, "He was dying when you got hurt and he wasn't allowed to help. He loved being able to care for people when they needed help, I think he misses it."
"It wouldn't be awkward?" Tina wondered.
"Tina, he loves you like a daughter. He'd love to be able to experience all of this with you and Steve," Pepper responded.
Tina smiled.
"I'll talk to Steve about it then."
The Black Widow glanced at the sketch on Tina's notebook.
It was Steve from the back. Natasha was sure it was him, although his face was hidden from view. In his arms was a blanket-covered bundle, with a small, chubby hand reaching up.
…
"Nervous?" Clint asked as he watched Steve bench-pressing an insane amount of weight.
Steve shrugged as much as he could while holding the bar.
"You don't need to be tough for us, Steve," Tony said.
The soldier sighed and set the weight down, sitting up.
"Okay. Yeah. I'm kinda nervous…I know nothing, and I mean nothing about pregnancy or babies, I-I wanna be able to help Tina, but I'm worried I'll just be in the way and that I won't support her right, and maybe I won't be a good dad-"
Thor laughed out loud as he did pull ups, cutting Steve off.
"That is not something that should be bothering you, Steve," he chuckled, "You will be an excellent father. All your other woes can be quickly remedied with a few lessons."
Tony nodded his agreement from his seat next to Bruce.
"Yeah. Get a few books, maybe take a class or two. Bam, you're ready."
Bruce rolled his eyes.
"Although that is a gross oversimplification, he's right. I can teach you and Tina pretty much anything you need to know. I spent a lot of time delivering babies in Calcutta."
Steve spun around in his chair.
"I completely forgot about that," he smiled, "You can help me not be an idiot!"
"You're not an idiot," Bruce chastised him, "You come from a time where men were rather uninvolved with infants, and very uninvolved with pregnancy. But I can answer questions you have, if you want me to."
"Is there any special foods Tina has to eat? When can I feel the baby move? Can the baby hear when I talk? How do you know if it's a boy or a girl? Should she not move around a lot? What the hell do I do when it's time for her to deliver?" the soldier rattled off a list of questions like a machine gun.
"Whoah, whoah, okay," Bruce threw his hands up to stop his friend. "Maybe we can do nightly lessons or something. Have some couple-and-Bruce time."
Steve nodded and slumped.
"Don't get me wrong…I'm really happy, I've always wanted a family of my own, but…I'm kind of scared, too."
Clint patted his shoulder.
"We're all here to help you guys through it. You can hide with us when she gets hormonal, and we'll all pitch in to babysit!" he joked.
Half a smile played on Steve's lips.
"So, do you want it to be a boy or a girl?" Tony wondered.
The Captain shrugged.
"I'd be happy with either."
"Really?" the billionaire asked interestedly, "I thought for sure you'd want a son to carry on the family name…isn't that an old-timey thing?"
Thor rolled his eyes.
"Just because it is old-fashioned doesn't mean Steve agrees," he pointed out, "You don't agree with everything new."
Steve laughed.
"True…but," he lowered his voice a little, "Tina thinks it's a boy," he confided.
"Really?" Bruce asked, "Already? Does she want a boy?"
"I don't think she wants either gender, but she's convinced. And I'm not fool enough to argue with mother's instinct."
"Twenty bucks says it's a girl," Clint said cockily.
"No way. It's a Cap junior," Tony scoffed.
"It will be a lady," Thor declared.
"Nope. I agree with Steve," Bruce decided, "Mother's instinct."
The money went into a jar, and Clint hoped he wasn't about to lose any more money over this kid than he already had.
Well, since this took FOREVER to write, I made it extra long...hope that compensates haha!
So do you think Tina's instincts are on? Or is she in for a surprise?
Review all y'all!