Author's note: Yes, our hero Wendy Trescott is preggers, folks! Congrats to those of you who saw it coming. The pickles and cupcakes made it a little obvious, huh? (Not to mention the whole puking episode) You didn't think I'd end when the villain was taken care of, did you? So sit back, enjoy the ride, read and review!
"I'm… what?" I couldn't have heard what I thought I heard. I couldn't be… pregnant. Could I?"
"Do you see those two dim red spots?" I nodded. "Twins." Something caught in my throat.
"Twins?" I repeated. He nodded grimly. "Twins!? But how?"
"Wendy, do I really have to?"
"No, no! But… it was our first time together! What are the chances?"
"Apparently, pretty good." There was a moment of silence as we both searched desperately for something to say. Something to make it okay, to make the problem go away. Or at least to make the moment a little less awkward. "Wendy?" Bruce finally said. I turned toward him, and he took my hand, holding it firmly. "We're going to have to make a decision." I knew exactly what he meant.
"But… I don't want to kill them. Won't they feel it?" He shook his head.
"It's too early. We wouldn't have even found out this early on if we hadn't had you under the scanner."
"Wait… are they okay, after the whole electrocution thing?"
"The screen shows they're alive. They must have absorbed the conductive fluid when you did, so, for now, they're alive and well."
"Well… do you want kids?"
"Of course. I always have, it's just that the circumstances are…"
"Less than ideal?"
"Exactly. I'd want my children to have a normal life, Wendy. In a house on the ground, with friends, and schoolmates. And think about it. What if the Hulk is genetic? What then?" I thought about all the little "quirks" that ran in my family. The blackouts. The bloodlust. The schizophrenia. Although, come to think of it, I hadn't heard from Tammy since the incident with ma. Maybe I scared her away? But that was neither here nor there. Bruce and I decided to take a little time apart to think about it. So that's how I found myself in the training room, beating up on mechanical dummies. I sure hoped this wasn't bad for the babies, because I was really going at it. I punched and kicked until the dummy I was using broke, and I threw it on the pile in the corner.
"Ms. Trescott, it might be wise not to overexert yourself."
"I'm fine, Jarvis." I said as I pulled another dummy out of the closet. "See? I haven't even broken a sweat." I wasn't lying, either; I have impressive stamina. And the dummies were less than a challenge. They were still fun to beat up on, though. There was so much to think about. I guess it explained the pickles and cupcakes. (Punch) And the daily puking. (Punch) Come to think of it… yeah. I'd be about six and a half weeks along by now. (Kick, punch, uppercut) Would kids really be a good idea? I mean, I could barely handle the triplets for forty-five minutes. (Right hook) I mean, yeah, I wanted kids, but I didn't know if I could give them the life they deserved. (Roundhouse kick.) The dummy collapsed on the floor, and I picked it up to drag it into the pile.
"And, just what is the reason for your apparent vendetta against robot-kind?" I turned to see Loki leaning against the doorway, in street clothes, no less. Just jeans and a green t-shirt… that was weird.
"None of your business, Loki." He raised one eyebrow.
"You seem to have lost your edge, Wendy. What, no insults? No name calling? No offhanded reference to my helmet?"
"Not in the mood." I answered simply as I set up another dummy.
"You wouldn't make a bad mother." I stopped in my tracks, and turned to face him.
"How did you find out?"
"Oh, I knew before you did. Magic, remember?"
"So, what, you've been scanning me or something?"
"No, simply intuition. It's the same way I know you're having doubts about keeping it."
"Them. Twins." He looked surprised. "What, you didn't divine that with your pixie dust or whatever?" He chuckled.
"I did not. And I don't use pixie dust, just to make that clear." I turned back away and started destroying yet another dummy, tuning him out to focus on my thoughts. I should have been more careful, dammit. Now I didn't know what to do. "The triplets weren't planned, either." I stopped.
"What?" I said.
"Exactly what I said. To be honest, if Rose hadn't gotten pregnant, I wouldn't have thought I'd be up to the challenge of raising three Magical-Asgardian-Jotun-Bad-Wolf children." Now that I thought about it, it did seem like a lot to handle. "But here we are, almost two years later, and the children are alright, and we're alright, and most importantly we're all happy." Maybe he was right. Maybe we could do it. I mean, I'd always wanted kids. It's just that now it felt so real. But the next thing Loki said is what sent me on my way. "And of course you would have help."
"What do you mean?" I said, turning to him.
"You've seen how well liked you are among the team. We would all pitch in, myself and Rose included. Finances, babysitting, things of that nature. Your children would have the biggest, most powerful family in the world; the Avengers." Somehow that last sentence filled me with hope. I knew Loki wasn't exactly the nicest person in the world, but he seemed to have a soft spot for me, and these talks always left me feeling better. I started off toward the door; I had to find Bruce.
"Thanks." I said with a smile as I left. I marched through the halls until I got to the lab. Just as I had thought, he was there, sitting on top of one of the desks looking lost in thought.
"Wendy?" He said, surprised as he looked up to see me. "Wendy, what-"
"We can do it." I interrupted him. I put my hands on the desk on either side of him, and looked into his eyes. "We can start a family. We can buy a house, a real one, and they can go to a proper school, and they'll have the coolest family in the world because you know the Avengers will want to help too." He looked shocked. I put my hand on his cheek, smiling. "Can't you see it? Two little adorable monsters running through the house? And so what if they turn green, or black out? Because they'll have the one thing we didn't until it was too late; proper help." I watched as a smile began to grow across his face.
"Alright." He said as he threw his arms around me. "Alright! We can do this!" Of course, that was only the beginning of the pregnancy fiasco.
"Wendyyy!" Later on in the day, as I sat with Bruce making a list of things we'd need, I heard Wade shout my name from some far corner of the helicarrier.
"What the-" I didn't even get a chance to finish my sentence before he and Pete burst through the door and nearly tackled me with a hug.
"You're pregnant!" Pete said.
"Yeah, way to state the obvious. I won't be for long, though, the way your boyfriend's hugging me!" I looked pointedly at Wade, who had his arms wrapped around me too tight for comfort.
"Down, Wade." Pete ordered. Wade quickly released his hold.
"Wait…" I said. "How did you find out?"
"Jarvis told us." Wade said matter-of-factly.
"Jarvis?" I said.
"Yes ma'am?" He replied. He must have been able to see the look on my face, because I didn't need to say anything more. "Terribly sorry, ma'am. I couldn't contain myself when I heard the news." I sighed.
"Well, who else knows?"
"Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts have been informed as well. And Ms. Romanov knows, though that is not my doing."
"Well who told her?"
"Director Fury." Geez… what was Fury doing? Could it be that Mr. heart-of-stone had a soft spot for kids? Seemed a little far-fetched to me. My train of thought was interrupted when I noticed Pete staring at me with doe-eyes, and an idiotic grin on his face.
"What?" I said. "What is it?"
"We wanna throw you a baby shower!" He blurted out.
"You want to what?"
"You heard the man!" Wade said. I chuckled.
"Isn't it a little early?"
"Well, we have to start planning now, don't we?" Pete was starting to look dreamy. Yeah… he was definitely the girlfriend in this relationship. "Please?" Dammit, I couldn't resist those eyes!
"Fine! Fine, go ahead!" He pumped his fist in the air in delight. "On one condition; don't bother me with any of the details, alright?"
"Oh, of course! You just leave it to us!"
"Wait… I have to help too?" Wade said in dismay.
"Of course you're helping! Now, come on; we have to get decorations!" Wade was dragged out of the room with a noisy whine.
"Well, that was strange." Bruce said. He had been in the corner, safely away from the chaos that was Spiderpool.
"That's what they're like. You get used to it." I stroked my chin and thought a moment.
"What is it?"
"We need to announce this." He looked confused.
"Doesn't everyone already know?"
"Not everyone. Jarvis and Fury already got to half the Avengers. I want to announce it on my own terms before it spreads all over the whole helicarrier."
"Well, what do you propose we do?" A grin spread across my face.
"Do you remember our first date?" He nodded. "Remember how Stark had to ask you out for me?"
"Wait… you're gonna hack the PA?"
"That's the plan!" I moved over to one of the computers and got to work. "This thing has a mic, right?"
"Yeah, it does. But are you sure this is a good idea? Fury might not like it so much."
"Fury? Please. I can deal with him. Now, on the count of three; one, two, three!"
"We're pregnant!" We both shouted into the mic. If everyone on the helicarrier hadn't heard that, then I had done something wrong. All that week I kept getting congratulations.
"Lady Wendy, I am overjoyed!" Thor said when I saw him in the halls. "The best of luck with your new family! Know that you shall have our help!" I smiled.
"Thanks, Thor. Thanks a lot!" Stark had something to say about it too, the next time I went to help him with Jarvis.
"Damn. Seven months and he already knocked you up? That's what I call efficient." That earned him a rather, *ahem*, shocking punch in the arm. "Yeah. Shutting up now." Pepper was also happy for me, and we spent a good while daydreaming about nurseries. What can I say? She brings out the stereotypical female in me. Natasha's reaction had been surprising.
"Wendy, I'm so happy for you!" She had said, as her lips curled up into a smile. I honestly hadn't expected her to care either way. Not that I was complaining. Clint was standing with her. He had been a bit... shaken after the incident with Charlotte, and he was finally back on the team after a long leave. He looked just fine, but if I know something about trauma, it's that it doesn't just disappear.
"Give you any ideas?" He said, winking at Natasha.
"Clint, you'd better get a bun in her oven soon." I said. "I ain't doing this alone!"
"That's the thing, though." Natasha said. "We'll be married soon. Doesn't it worry you that you and Bruce are still just dating?"
"Well, no. I mean, we'll work it out." That got me thinking, though. Maybe we should get married? I didn't want to pressure him into it just because of the twins, though. I decided to leave it alone. Everyone seemed really pretty excited in general. Jane even dragged me into one of those picture places you go to see what your kids would look like. The results? Were adorable.
"Aww, she has your eyes!" Bruce cooed over one of the photos.
"Or he." I remarked. "You never know."
"Truly a remarkable child." Thor said over my shoulder. He was wearing jeans today, and a red t-shirt with a Harley Motorcycles logo on it. It was strange to see him without his armor. And even stranger to realize how hot he looked in street clothes. That's when I started to feel weak. It felt like every nerve in my body was starting to shut down.
"Bruce?" I said weakly, grabbing onto his shoulder.
"Wendy, are you alright?" He said as he lowered me into a chair.
"Is she okay? Should I call the hospital?" The woman behind the counter started to panic.
"Feel… weak." A look of understanding spread across Bruce's face.
"Um, ma'am, you might want to leave the room." She left in a hurry. "Thor, do you have Mjolnir with you?" He nodded, and pulled a cell-phone from a holster on his hip, which promptly transformed into his legendary hammer.
"My brother enchanted it with a glamour charm."
"I think you know what to do." Thor nodded. He raised his hammer, twirled it around, and struck me with it, just narrowly missing bashing my head in. I was hit with a sudden wave of energy, just like the first time, and I felt like I could take on the world.
"Ahh, much better!" I said, standing up. Of course, now I had to burn off all this energy. "Let's go for a walk, huh?" I walked out the door, the metal arching as I put my hand on the handle.
"There has to be a better way to do this." Bruce wondered aloud as he, Thor and Jane followed me out the door. They'd have their work cut out for them, though; I shot off like Wade on caffeine.