Steve woke up gasping for breath. He blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the dream of drowning. He shook his head a little. I'm home. It's over. I'm safe at home with Tina. It's okay, he told himself, repeating the phrases Tina usually said. Goosebumps appeared all over his skin, which felt as cold as if he really had been under the frozen river again. His heart still raced with fear, but he didn't want to wake Tina up. She was so tired lately…the twins really seemed to take it out of her. Although, he thought, it won't be all that much longer…she's already five and a half months along. Thinking about the babies helped, but Steve couldn't suppress a shiver. He felt a small hand on his left bicep.

"Steve?" she mumbled groggily, "you okay?"

He nodded, swallowing.

"Mhm. Yeah," he lied, consciously trying to lower his rapid heart rate.

Tina lifted herself with effort, moving her hand to Steve's chest. He took a long, slow breath, hoping she wouldn't notice his slowly receding panic.

"You had that dream again, didn't you?" she said softly, brows furrowing with concern as she felt his too-fast heartbeat.

Steve bit his lip and nodded. He rolled onto his side and cuddled her close as their babies would allow.

"I didn't want to wake you up," he admitted.

She left her palm over his chest and cupped his face with her other hand.

"I wouldn't have minded," she murmured.

Champ, Steve's nickname for the larger baby on the right side, joined the conversation with a powerful shove.

"I think Champ would have minded," Steve said with half a smile. "What about you, Doll?" he rubbed the left side of Tina's belly, hoping to get an answer from the smaller baby. Evidently, Doll wasn't much in the mood to play, because the child didn't deign to respond.

"She agrees with me," Tina said, looking pleased that the fear seemed to be leaving Steve's face, and the tension from his body.

"It'll be really awkward if Doll ends up being a boy," Steve mused, "Or if they're both girls."

"Like you said, Champ could be a champion ballerina," Tina giggled.

Steve chuckled softly, burying his head in Tina's tangled curls. She relaxed as he fell asleep again, smiling as his heart slowed to match hers.

…

Tina stood alone in the first nursery. The rest of the team was in the second one, painting. And Tina was royally pissed that she wasn't allowed to help. "No paint fumes," Bruce chastised her. To say that Tina was fuming about it was extremely accurate. The room was simple at the moment. The back wall was made up of windows, much like hers and Steve's, and the right side led to a connecting bathroom that the other nursery shared. This room, at Natasha's suggestion, was a creamy shade of spring green. The trim was white, and the floors a sandy color of wood. Other than that, it was still empty. The other room was a shade of blue that reminded Tina of Steve's eyes. She'd immediately fallen in love with the color, and Pepper assured her that a baby girl could go in a blue room- assuming there were also purple decorations. Pepper had done her planning, and everything was picked out for a boy or a girl. Girl decorations for the green room, boy decorations for the green room. Boy decorations for the blue room, girl decorations for the blue room. The list was exhaustive and maniacally detailed, to the point of drawn out maps of where everything would go. Pepper had already planned for JARVIS to alert an interior decoration crew when Tina went into labor, although she didn't tell the expecting couple that. She wanted it to be a surprise when they came home to perfectly furnished rooms.

"Are you guys done yet?" Tina called through the open bathroom.

"Are you impatient yet?" Tony yelled back, "Answer's yes, if you were wondering!"

Tina growled, placing her hands on the small of her back to try to alleviate the weight of her pregnancy.

"Almost, Tina," Bruce laughed in answer.

She turned to leave the room in frustration, but jumped suddenly. Natasha was standing less than two inches behind her.

"Natasha! Jeez! You can't sneak up on me like that!" Tina gasped, "Bruce said you weren't allowed to!"

The assassin rolled her eyes.

"I didn't sneak. I was just standing here," she sighed, putting one hand on her hip. The other arm was in an inconspicuous, but still visible black cast. Clint hovered protectively behind her- and it was clearly getting on her nerves.

"Well, I'm going to make sandwiches, and if you scare me like that again I will sic Steve on you," Tina hissed.

Natasha grimaced. An angry Steve was one of the few people in the tower she actually would run from. Aside from an angry Hulk, of course. While he'd never hit her, he would definitely play Fury and get her some awful detail to work. Maybe he'd report that she wasn't fit for active duty for another year. She shuddered. I don't know if even messing with Tina would make him that brutal…ugh. A desk job.

Clint brushed her hair back.

"You need an outlet," he murmured.

She swiped his hand away.

"I'm fine," she grumbled, stepping forward.

"You're losing it. You just picked your vulnerable best friend to scare, you're not talking to me, and you're being incredibly rude to almost everyone else." Natasha glared, but Clint stood his ground. "I'm not saying you need to start writing love poetry, but you need to concentrate your energy elsewhere."

She bowed her head.

"Yeah?"

Clint smelled victory and stepped toward her again, opening his arms.

"Yeah," he answered.

She took a baby step forward and he held her close, whispering in her ear.

"Think about all the fun stuff you can work on."

"Clint, I don't have anything to work on. My job is my life," she said dejectedly.

"We can come up with something," he decided.

"Like what, singing?" she snorted, "Not a chance."

Clint sighed.

"This won't work if you decide to be difficult."

"I want what I do to be useful in some way. Like I usually am. Stuff only I can do. Or that I can do best."

"You could be emotion patrol," Clint suggested with a sly smile, "Nobody keeps Rollercoaster Tina under wraps as well as you and Steve do."

Natasha looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Nah. That's barely a part-time occupation. I need sometime more time consuming."

Clint laughed and took her hand, leading her from the room.

"I'll think on it."

…

Steve strolled into his bedroom whistling merrily.

"Tina? Babe there's-"

He stopped suddenly, hearing a muffled sobbing. "Tina? Honey?"

She stood in the middle of the room which had clothing and various belongings scattered around it, glancing around in panic. Steve put his arm around her waist.

"Tina?"

"Th-there's stuff e-everywhere," she cried, "an-an-and it's a mess but I'm so t-t-tired and I just w-w-wanna sleep."

Steve's brow crinkled in confusion and his eyes widened.

"Can't we just clean up in the morning?" he asked in confusion.

"No! It's a mess! I was looking for something and…" her anger trailed off and tears started falling again, "and I c-couldn't find it and I can't s-s-sleep when it's messy and I'm…" she dissolved into sobbing again, covering her eyes with her hands.

Steve had no idea what to do. He bit the inside of his lip, staring at his completely hysterical wife in confusion. He had no thoughts of what could he could possibly do to make her illogical breakdown better, so he decided to keep it simple. He wrapped her in his arms, holding her close and rubbing her back.

"Okay, baby, it's okay," he murmured in her ear. "I know you're tired. Would you rather clean up now or just go to bed and clean it later?"

"Now," she mumbled, "I can't sleep when it's messy in here, it bothers me."

"Alright. You go get ready for bed, I'll start tidying up, okay?"

She nodded and walked across the room, shutting the bathroom door behind herself. Steve became a whirlwind of cleanliness, flying around the room like a dervish. He folded shirts and put them away at top speed. When Tina opened the door, the room looked as perfect as it usually did, with Steve panting slightly in the center of it. A few more tears slipped out of her emerald green eyes.

"You, oh Steve, thank you, I…"

Steve hugged her again and walked her over to their bed.

"No problem, hon. Don't cry anymore, it's okay now. Just go to sleep, alright?"

He pulled the covers under her chin, just the way she liked.

"I'm a crazy person, Steve," she mumbled, "I'm sorry. I'm totally crazy."

Steve smirked a little, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm crazy about you," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"I love you," Tina sighed.

"I love you too. Now close your eyes…get some rest."

Steve waited until she was deeply asleep to laugh softly to himself. There are definitely things about this I will not miss. As if responding to his thought, Champ gave him an indignant prod. And things I definitely will, he amended.

"I look forward to seeing you in person," he whispered to his children.

He was rewarded with a tiny nudge from Doll. Steve grinned. "Aw thanks, sweetie," he delighted in the rare occurrence. "I love you too."