Third chapter! Is this exciting or what? I hope you're happy with this chapter, I had fun written it and I should thank ceemoy from Tumblr that gave me the "Thor breaking things" idea. You know, if you have any suggestions, my Tumblr link is on my page, you can leave your prompts or ideas on my ask box…mm'kay?
Lots of Love,
Cat
PS: Pepper is six months along and Natasha's five.
Four months later
Stark's Mansion – Malibu
Over the years, it was easy to realize that The Avengers were more than a team of friends. They were a dysfunctional family. They were always there for each other. Field or simply…trying to put together a nursery…
"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Tony said turning to his very pregnant wife.
"Tony, they will be here any minute now, besides what could go wrong? It's just a nursery," Pepper laughed.
"I would've paid to get it ready in twenty four hours. We're rich, y'know?" Tony sighed.
"Tony, these are our babies," Pepper started rubbing her six month old bump. "I want to do this as a family. I don't want strangers putting together the twins nursery because it will be void of emotion. Later in their life, you can brag all about how you set up their nursery with your bare hands."
Tony sighed. That woman with the feelings and the words, she should get an award. "Fine, but be warned, Thor and Cap like to complicate the simple things and if by the end of the day the nursery seems like World War III and not baby heaven…it's not on me," Tony raised his hands in defense and Pepper rolled her eyes, changing the page in her book.
"Tony, do you like Olivia for a girl?" Pepper asked as she read a book with all the names possible to give your child.
"Nope, let's find something…better, suited for a little princess, ok?" he said, entertained with his own version of an iPad – the iStark (yeah, it got a lot of eye rolls) – where he had the tree dimensional plan for the nursery.
Pepper sighed and nodded. They still had to decide on the girl's name. They couldn't seem to agree on one. At her last appointment, there was a little surprise. Apparently the couple was expecting twins. One of the babies had been hiding behind his sibling and since the heartbeats were so in sync, Dr. Summers never realized until that last sonogram were there were more limbs than a human being should have. The first baby was a girl. The second one was really shy and didn't want to reveal anything. "So not like the father," Pepper teased Tony and he huffed playfully, before smiling.
"Sir, your guests are here," Jarvis said.
"Let them in," Tony said and then sighed. "It's going to get messy," he turned to Pepper who blow him a kiss.
"Pepper," Steve greeted, walking into the living room first. "You look stunning, did you know you're glowing?" he smiled getting closer. "Oh, please, don't get up," he said to Pepper has he watched her trying to get up. "Rest, you need it," Steve grinned kissing the top of her hair.
"Thanks," Pepper said. "It's great to see you, Steve!"
"Where's my greeting, honey?" Tony teased.
"Hi, Tony," Steve said flatly.
"What? No 'you look stunning'?" the billionaire went on. "Well, that's just rude!"
Pepper chuckled and Steve's lips curled into a smile.
"Maiden Pepper," Thor's booming voice startled everyone. "You look absolutely amazing," he grinned at her, kissing her knuckles.
"Thank you, Thor," Pepper grinned. "Hi Jane," she greeted the scientist behind Thor.
"Thanks for inviting me, Pepper," Jane said sitting down next to the pregnant woman. "Hello Tony," she said.
"Thank you, dear Jane, you have manners," Tony said standing up. "You two, stop looking so relaxed, we have work to do," he said mentioning to the upstairs room with his thumb.
Thor and Steve both nodded, and followed Tony upstairs. "Here's the deal. The room will be a very light golden color with white furniture that we have to assemble," he started. "So, we'll start painting the room and after that we'll take care of the cribs. But, be careful, remember of your unusual strength. These were very expensive cribs. They were shipped here from Europe," he looked pointedly at Thor.
"What?" the demigod frowned.
"Just…be careful," Tony sighed.
Inside the now vacant room, there were a few buckets of a very light gold paint.
"What do we do?" Thor asked picking one of the few buckets.
"We paint," Steve answered.
"How?" Thor inquired.
Tony just rubbed a hand across his face. He hoped Banner would arrive very soon, he wasn't going to deal with those two all by himself.
"We take the lid out of the bucket and use the liquid inside to paint the white walls," Tony explained like he was talking with a five year old.
Thor hummed in response.
Steve picked up a brush and a bucket and decided that he would paint the north wall. Tony went back to the tree dimensional project that he and Pepper had being putting together.
The demigod, however, was staring at the bucket with interest. He easily removed the lid, throwing it to the floor. Tony cringed when he saw the small dent on the hardwood floor. Then, Thor proceeded to look at the liquid inside and then at the wall.
"This paint goes there?" he asked Tony pointing at the wall.
"Yes, goldilocks, it does. Just do what-ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"
Tony wasn't able to even finish explaining everything. When Thor heard the confirmation to his question, he just did a little swing with the bucket, sending gold paint splashing to the wall and floor. Steve's jaw dropped.
"There," Thor actually grinned, pleased with himself.
"You big oaf," Tony hissed.
"Er, Thor, you're supposed to use the brush?" Steve said uncertainly waving the object in question.
Thor frowned. "Oh, my bad," he shrugged.
Tony just slapped his forehead. Why, oh why, did he have to agree with Pepper? "Now, look at this mess," he mumbled. "Why don't you go to the next room and assemble the cribs instead?"
The demigod nodded and dropped the bucket with a little more strength than the average person. Tony hissed at the second dent. Thor left the nursery room, to the adjacent room, filled with boxes. The billionaire followed him. "Those boxes over there have the first crib. Do it first. It has instructions and I think you already know how to read those," Tony said.
"Do not worry, friend," Thor said.
"I'm not so sure about that," Tony mumbled.
Downstairs, Jane and Pepper were happily chatting about their lives.
"Thor wants to take me to Asgard. He says that if we are getting married, we need to do it there," Jane explained.
"Are you afraid?"
"Of living in another planet? Absolutely," Jane said. "But still it's exciting, and I love him," she smiled.
"…ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" came Tony's yell from upstairs.
Both women exchanged glances and laughed. "It's starting," Jane stated.
"Oh well, I just hope my children have a room by the end of today," Pepper laughed.
"I think you're asking for a miracle," Jane chuckled. "Isn't Banner supposed to come?"
"He's running late, but he'll be here," Pepper said. "Have you talked with Natasha?"
"Yes, actually I did a few days ago. That's one person I never expected to really settle down," Jane said. "I mean, it was always clear that she loved Clint, but to the point of having a family? I was shocked, really."
"People can surprise us sometimes, and she just needed to find someone who accepted her and was willing to wait," the blonde shrugged.
"Thor actually offered to help them set everything together. You know, since he's helping Tony he can help them too. They both seemed terrified at the idea," Jane said amused.
Upstairs a loud noise of wood breaking made the women heads shot up.
"I think I might regret my decision very soon," Pepper sighed and Jane chuckled.
"I love him, he has a very good heart, but I don't think this is the kind of job for him," Jane laughed.
"YOU IDIOT!" Tony yelled.
"It said to put them together," Thor defended himself.
"Yeah, put them together, not smash them together. Who do you think you are? Our green friend?" Tony grumbled. "Out of here. Go downstairs, see if the ladies need something. Do not touch anything," he said.
Few seconds later, Thor was descending the stairs with a frown on his face. Gold paint was splashed in his clothes. "Honey, what did I tell you?" Jane asked raising an eyebrow.
"That I should be careful, but beautiful, I tried," Thor said.
"I know, sweetie," Jane chuckled.
"Can I be of any help for you, fair maidens?" he asked.
Pepper and Jane exchanged a look. "He can do milkshakes," Jane shrugged. "So far, that's the only thing he's able to do without breaking anything."
"Yes, those drinks. I can do them," Thor grinned.
"Ok," Pepper nodded. "You know where's the kitchen, Thor, help yourself. The fruit is in the fridge," she smiled.
Thor nodded with a smile and disappeared to the kitchen.
"Mrs. Stark? Dr. Banner has arrived," Jarvis informed.
"Let him in," Pepper said.
A few minutes later, Bruce entered the living room, greeting both women with a warm smile. He kissed Pepper's head and Jane's cheek. "What are the guys up to?" he raised an eyebrow. "Everything is a bit too quiet," he observed.
"Well, I'm sure Thor already ruined one of the cribs and the nursery's is a bit delayed," Pepper started and Bruce's lips twitched into a smile. "But, right now Tony and Steve are upstairs and Thor's in the kitchen," she told him.
"Kitchen?" Bruce's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "That's a bit dangerous, don't you think?"
"Let's face it, everything is dangerous when Thor is involved," Jane laughed.
"I'm going to keep an eye on our god friend," Bruce smiled.
Upon entering the kitchen, Bruce was surprised to see everything intact and Thor cutting the fresh fruit. Bruce knew Jane had to be the one responsible, he heard that milkshakes were one of Jane's favorite drinks.
"Bruce, glad you could join me," Thor grinned at his friend. "I wasn't of very use upstairs," the demigod said shrugging.
"So I've heard," Bruce chuckled. "Want help?"
"I've got this, good friend," Thor said pleased with himself.
The demigod picked up the bowl with the cut fruit and went over to the blender. He dropped the fruit and the milk inside and Bruce was thinking that everything was going a bit too well. His suspicions were confirmed when Thor forgot the blender's lid.
"Thor, don't forget the…" he tried, but a bit too late.
Thor turned the blender to the maximum speed and its contents were spread all over the kitchen and the two Avengers.
"Oh," Thor simply said turning off the blender.
Bruce took a deep breath; the other guy didn't need to make an apparition. Besides, he was used to Thor's distractions, so he learned not to let his temper get the best of him.
"I'll clean this up," Thor said.
"Good," Bruce simply said turning around and walking out of the kitchen.
Jane and Pepper watched Bruce pass through them, going upstairs, covered in fruit and milk.
"I think Thor forgot the lid of the blender," Jane said while Pepper laughed.
Clint and Natasha's (New) House – New York
"Tell me again…" Clint breathed dropping the final box on their bedroom. "…why did we have to move?"
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "My apartment was small, yours was dangerous," she shrugged.
"Dangerous?" Clint repeated in disbelief.
"Look, we needed something more child friendly, ok? A fresh start," Natasha said crossing her arms. "You're just complaining because you have to do all the hard work," she smirked.
"Well, why couldn't we accept our friends help?" Clint said sitting down on the floor.
"Thor? Are you joking? He's a good guy, but I want my new home intact, thank you very much," Natasha rolled her eyes. "Besides, we are going to have help. Maria is coming over tomorrow."
"She's going shopping with you," Clint pointed out.
"Exactly. Do you want to go instead?" she threw back at him.
"No, no, I'm good," he gave her a charming smile and she shook her head with a smile.
Natasha sat down in one of the couches looking deep in thought.
"Tasha?" he asked.
"When are you leaving for your mission?" she sighed.
Ever since she got pregnant, and the news reached Fury's, Natasha was then "banned" from field work and now she was working like a consultant to several missions. She was unhappy of course, Natasha hated paperwork and basically that's what she was doing right now. What she hated the most was watching Clint go on missions without her.
"Two days," he replied. "But if you want, I'll tell Fury to find someone else," Clint offered.
"No," she said. "You need to go. You're the best. It's bad enough that I can't go. Just promise me you'll be careful. I don't want to handle your spawn all by myself, got it?" she tried to joke, but her worries were very much clear to him.
"You know you're not getting rid of me that easily, Tasha," he smirked, getting up from the floor, so he could sit next to her.
"How long?"
"Two weeks. But you won't even miss me. This house still needs a lot of work," he whispered wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
Their new house was practically empty and the walls were all white. Initially he shuddered because it reminded him of a hospital and he wasn't found of those. They only had boxes with their stuff and they weren't a lot. Both of them came to the conclusion that they barely had anything that they felt connection too, they weren't that kind of people, but with the baby, that had to change. The baby would need a good environment to grow up, that why they were now living in the suburbs of New York (it was still a bit unbelievable to both of them how much their life changed). Both of them wanted to their child, what they never had.
"You'll miss the next appointment," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry," he sighed.
"It's our job, we knew this was going to happen," Natasha shrugged.
Clint kissed her temple and just held her. "If you need anything, talk with Maria and if it's urgent do not hesitate to call me."
"I don't want to compromise you," she said.
"I'm a big boy, I can handle myself," he scowled. "You and our baby come first."
"Thank you for putting up with me," Natasha smiled.
"It comes with the 'I love you'," he chuckled. "You know, we're going to be fine," he said after a minute of silence.
"Yeah, I think we will," Natasha sighed. "I'm just scared our baby will hate us."
"Hate us? Why?"
"Hello? Couple of master assassins as Tony puts it? What will our child do, when he or she figures out what we've done for a living?"
"Tasha, you're worrying over nothing," Clint said. "Believe me, our child we see us as heroes, we never took out the good guys. All the red in our ledger, is bad blood, ok?"
"I just want this to work," she whispered. "I have no clue of what I'm doing. I never held a baby…"
"That's a lie, I remember one of our missions, you entered a building on fire to save a forgotten infant," Clint interrupted. "I never was more proud of you. I think…I think that that was the moment I truly knew that I loved you," he smiled.
"We're going to be fine," she breathed with a smile.
"That's the spirit," he chuckled kissing her cheek.
"Now, stop been lazy, Barton, there's more boxes in the car," she teased him.
Clint smiled and kissed her softly. "Yes, dear," he said in a teasing note and she slapped his arm.
It's time to guess. What gender are Pepperony's second baby and the Clintasha's baby?
Also, let's play the name game. What would go well with Stark or Barton?