Chapter 15

By: MysticFantasy

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"Jarvis would have let you know if something serious was happening." Natasha pointed out as the poked her lunch with the fork.

"Still, I should have been close by." Steve insisted as he paced the floor behind the couch she was sitting on. "This was a false alarm but what if it had been the real thing? I can't take that kind of chance again."

Natasha lightly smiled at the older man. She could and couldn't believe how he was taking the situation. She'd never seen a man be so scared about their unborn child before so seeing this was a little new to her.

But she could understand because Steve is an old fashioned kind of guy and he really did care about what happened to his child. Natasha felt comforted by that fact.

"I promise that I'm going to be close by from now on." Steve declared.

"Steve, I'm glad that you want to be around but you don't need to be glued to my side." Natasha said.

"But I want to." Steve said as he came around the couch and kneeled next to her. "This is my family. I need to be there when they need me."

"You mean for the baby. Right?"

"For both of you." Steve replied. "This is our baby and you are my wife. I love the both of you."

Natasha looked at Steve straight in the eyes.

"You what?"

She noticed a faint blush appear on Steve's face.

"I love our baby but I love you too." Steve said. "This is our child and you're my wife. My family. I lost my only family before I was eighteen. Now I have a new one and I'm not about to let anything happen to them. I'm going to do everything in my power to love and protect my family."

Natasha was silent for a moment as she absorbed Steve's words.

He really is the golden man. she thought to herself. I do not deserve him. I can't believe that he just admitted that he loves me. The only thing I've done to earn his love like that is that this baby I'm carrying is his.

"Steve..."

"Natasha, I know that you may possibly never feel the same way about me that I do you but I just hope you know that I'm always going to be here for you and our son."

"I know Steve." Natasha said. "Our son couldn't have a more perfect father and I know that I don't deserve someone like you as my husband."

"Why is that?"

"Steve, I was an assassin for years until Clint got me out of that life. I killed dozens of people without a care. I took the lives of father's, son's, husbands...Being with you and being pregnant has made me realize my past and it haunts me more now. I'm married to the perfect symbol of hope and innocence and I'm going to give birth to an innocent boy. I don't deserve any of this."

"I don't think that's true." Steve said as he gently took her hand in both of his. "You've done so much to help people. I've seen that with my own eyes. I know that your past is something that haunts you. Mine haunts me as well. We can only try to put it behind us and look towards the future. Our son was planned but I'm grateful to high heaven for him. Having a family of my own has been a dream of mine for the longest time and you're helping my dream come to life. I think you deserve more than what you give yourself credit for."

Natasha lightly smiled at the blond before her.

"How are you able to get people to turn into mush in your hands like that?" she asked teasingly.

"Years of practice." Steve replied with a little smirk of his own.

"I really don't deserve you or our son but...I'm going to try to put my past behind me and concentrate on our little boy."

Steve smiled more and gave Natasha a comforting hug. He didn't break the hug right away since he felt her arms wrap around him.

He could feel the comfort she wanted from him and he had no problem giving it to her. As long as he could breath, he would be there for his family.

"I love you, Steve." Natasha whispered.

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A/N: Ok. Voting time again. There have been several questions about the babies appearance and once again I am going to leave it to you the readers. Choices are below and the most votes win. Baby will be born in the next chapter and you can vote more than once on either choice. Like the other votes, I will only tally straight answered ones. None of the 'either this or either that' votes.

Hair: Blond or red

Eyes: Blue or green