Prompt 3: "How to be brave. How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?"
(Natasha)
This is what falling in love truly feels like, she realizes.
She thought she'd felt it with Clint; that long, slow slide that she was halfway down before she'd even realized what was happening.
She had no idea how wrong she was until now.
Because falling in love isn't slow. It isn't long or gentle. It's a freight train that barrels through your chest, leaving you breathless and overwhelmed.
She also had no idea that love at first sight existed. But apparently it does, because there's nothing else that explains how deeply and effortlessly she loves the baby in her arms.
Her baby. Her's and Clint's. Their little Anya.
She can't stop staring. She is in awe of the precious little girl that's finally centered and grounded her hectic life. She had no idea that was even possible.
When she tells Clint later that she loves Anya more than him, he gasps in mock outrage. She shrugs, gives him a teasing smirk. "I'd only kill for you," she informs him. "At most, I'd take a bullet."
"And Anya?" he asks, smoothing a hand over the infant's soft, red hair.
She looks up at him, all traces of teasing gone. "I'd die for her."