OMG OMG OMG, what will happen? A girl? A GIRL?

Chapter 48

Somber. That was the only word for it. Tony reclined in Pepper's bed, holding his wife in his arms as she rested against his chest. Little Ben had gone off for the past hour with the nurses. He needed his neonatal screens and with the state of things, they thought the family might find it easier to spend some time alone. Thor hadn't sat since they'd taken Natasha away. He couldn't bring himself too. The stress needed him to pace. Bruce, however, did enough sitting for the both of them.

He still uncovered flecks of blood in odd and unexpected places. Behind his ear and beneath his chin for instance. He'd been elbow-deep in it, right beside Lindsey as the two fought their way through Natasha's bleeding organ. It took a considerable time. Too much time. But eventually they got her under control again. They replaced her entire blood volume and then some. She wasn't under anesthesia long, but for the two doctors it felt like a 48 hours surgery. She woke very rapidly after and not groggy or fighting the way Clint always did. One minute she was dreaming, and the next she wasn't. She had two IV's going to keep her properly hydrated and medicated. Bruce estimated she'd be healed from the ordeal within the week.

Steve joined them after they brought Natasha back. It was the first he could move since the news initially hit of her being in the hospital at all. They saved themselves time and leg work by returning Natasha to the corner of Pepper's room instead of her own. Now that the ordeal was finished on her end, she felt she might rather enjoy being amongst friends.

"A little girl?" Steve said for the twentieth time. It was the only phrase they'd gotten out of him. He sat at Natasha's feet, holding one of her ankles over the cover of her blanket. He wasn't sure why.

"Upside down, refusing to come out, and a girl. We don't need a DNA test. It's Clint's," Pepper said to try and lighten the air.

"We didn't pick out girl names," Bruce said what they all knew.

Tony didn't add what he wanted. That after seeing that small, blue child be whisked away from before his very eyes, that picking out a name by this point was worthless. She was dead. She never cried, never looked at him, or took her first breath. She was dead before Tony could ever love her the way Clint would have wanted. She was dead before he could hold her, spoil her, and give her everything that was once her father's. Today was the day his first son, Benjamin Stark, was born but it was also the day Clint Barton died, again, for everyone.

"Why do they tarry with news?" Thor demanded. "It has been long enough. I will go and search out our fair daughter and bring her—"

The door to the room opened and Nurse Biehl returned with a familiar bundle. Tony's dread pacified slightly seeing that tiny face. They'd placed a cap on the baby's head to lock in the warmth, as he called it. He stood and picked up the baby from Biehl and sat back down beside Pepper.

"Is there any news?" Bruce asked.

"Dr. Castillo is on her way down now. She just wanted me to come ahead of her." Nurse Biehl replied. He smiled at them reassuringly then retreated again. No sooner did he attempt to shut the door, before Castillo herself entered through it. Bruce and Steve both got to their feet. If it was bad news to face, they wanted to be standing.

"She's dead," Tony said before anyone else spoke. His jaw was tight, body threatening to shake apart. Pepper clamped her hand on his arm, but he was too deep in his grief-filled thoughts to think of her.

"There were a few complications," Castillo said in her traditional, non-committal way. "If you let me explain."

"I want her," Natasha said, cutting her off. "I want my baby. Where is she? I want her back." Her eyes welled, Thor moved to her and took her in his arms. She, for the first time, let him.

"We saw the signs of the baby being in distress, and that's when I made the call to send her to the OR. After delivering the baby, we realized that the umbilical cord had become tangled around her neck. Also, the placenta began to detach very rapidly, which caused the hemorrhage. We aren't sure how long the baby was deprived of oxygen. When she was delivered, she was blue, not breathing, and I could not find a heartbeat."

Pepper gasped, holding her child a little tighter. Tony pulled away from her, turned toward the closest wall and pounded the bottom of his fist against in.

Castillo went on. "We intubated, gave oxygen therapy, and began chest compressions to try and restart the heart. We then went to intensive care and implemented drug therapy. We worked on her for two and a half hours. She's now the pinkest baby I have ever seen."

Tony spun around. The entire room seemed to fill with a gust of air. Castillo smiled, exhausted, but equally relieved. She tilted her head a little at the bundle in Pepper's arms.

"I'd like to introduce you to Clint's daughter."

Shocked, Pepper looked down at the baby and pulled up a corner of the tiny cap. Sure enough, the jet black tufts of hair were absent, exchanged for a mop of raggedy blond. Two lapis eyes stared up at her in sheer wonder and amazement. Clint's baby.

"Natasha! Oh Natasha!" Pepper exclaimed, beginning to hand the girl to Tony, but thought better of it in retrospect and handed her to Thor instead. The child nearly disappeared into the Asgardian's arms. For such a tiny thing, she came into the world with a punch of drama.

Natasha's arms extended the instant Thor approached. Bruce and Tony flanked him on either side as Steve moved away. Natasha held the little girl in her arms for the first time. The child, innocent and beautiful, with a face like an angel smiled up at her beneath the red, scrunched face. Ten little fingers all extended and flexed together. Before cruising up for her mother. Natasha caught one of them with a finger, allowing the other to explore the end of her nose. Clint's baby. Her baby. She was a part of this life in her hands now. How could she ever think she might separate from it?

"You just fell right down a rabbit hole. We are all mad here. Full of peculiar people who do extraordinary things and you are one of us," she whispered to the girl.

"Alice in Wonderland." Bruce said smiling. He wanted to cup the tiny face in his hand, but already Tony had taken that roll. He didn't even really understand what he'd said until Natasha looked up, latching onto the word.

"Alice," she repeated. "Clint's grandmother, Kitty. Her middle name was Alice, wasn't it?"

Even if it wasn't Bruce was more than prepared to lie his way right through it. Thor held a thumbs up in complete support. "I think it was."

Natasha looked back into those perfect lapis pools. She had Clint's eyes, his hair, and even a little of her nose and chin. Somehow that didn't bother Natasha as much as she thought it might. "Alice Rellya Barton."

"Rellya. Hawkeye." Thor translated the elven word.

Natasha nodded. "I don't know why I'm crying. Why can't I stop crying?"

Bruce wanted to laugh. He sat in the bed beside her and caressed little Alice's face with his hand. Despite her rough start, and what might prove to be a difficult future, Alice was safe in their arms at long last. He had no idea what the Avengers were going to do with themselves. They'd prepared all this time for a boy. They were convinced, even without photo evidence that Clint had made another man to replace himself. A girl spelled trouble with a capital T. She would have her multitude of uncles so trapped in her fingers, they wouldn't find a way to ever escape. Even worse, they may never even want to.

"Ok, I need a baby. Someone get my baby. Women getting jealous on this side of the room," Pepper announced to everyone's chuckles.

Tony planted a kiss on the side of Alice's cheek and returned to his wife. He nearly climbed into her lap and dragged her against his chest.

"Dr. Banner?" Castillo said.

"Hmm?" Bruce looked up from where the girl had his finger in a death grip. He was as ethereal as the rest of them. At this rate, he might find it difficult to Hulk out any time soon.

"She did have a serious condition. Would you like me to discuss possible complications? Or do you prefer to take over?"

The rush of relief suddenly filtered away. Bruce hadn't exactly forgotten about complications, but Alice looked so healthy now it was easy to overlook their existence. He made a motion telling Castillo to continue herself.

"Oxygen deprivation can sometimes come with no side effects and that is what we always hope for. But there are a few things that we must take into consideration. We will be keeping an eye on some of these as she grows older, but you need to hear about them now. Seizures, behavioral deficits, cerebral palsy, infarcts, heart disease, there is a considerable list. I don't want to scare you, but as of right now we haven't seen any signs of dysfunction. But we will have to continue to monitor her."

Thor crossed his arms. "Whatever the result, she is ours. A daughter of the Nine Realms. We will never abandon our duty by her and pledge this day to use my might in her honor. I rue the day a suitor might attend her hand."

Natasha could only gaze around the room at the overwhelming support. She had no doubt in her mind that Alice was going to be loved for the very rest of her life.

:(:):(:):

Thor stood by the window, bouncing slightly as he rocked from left to right. The city of New York was bursting with life. The sweltering summer had peeled back for a few precious days to give an almost spring like atmosphere. The people were driven from their homes to enjoy it and now clustered along the streets as if the Macy's day parade was scheduled early.

"I believe Happy may find difficulty in reaching us this day," he said over his shoulder.

"Well you aren't flying Alice home. I'll put my foot down to that," Natasha said, slipping the last of her things into her bags. She'd stayed at the hospital longer than she'd liked already. As it wasn't much of an inconvenience, Pepper decided to share the time with her. Being waited on hand and foot, attended to by the likes of Thor, Steve, Tony, and Bruce with a nursing staff more than welcome to take the new babies away and allow their mothers time to sleep was a Godsend no woman would soon relinquish. They had no more excuse to stay. Natasha had healed from her surgery and Pepper planned to be back in Jillian Michael's shape by October, she had done little but rest and eat. It was time to end the fantasies.

"Oh I would not attempt such a feat with a mother like yourself ready to behead me," Thor replied. He turned his back to the window and came bobbing over. The swaddled bundle of Alice seemed perfectly content to continue staring up at his expressive face.

"Darn right." Natasha replied. She zipped her bag closed and left it on the bed. With arms extended, she allowed Thor to pass the child over while he continued to hold Benjamin in the other arm. No one could have anticipated his incredible instinct with the babies. They simply gravitated to him like a massive teddy bear. One swing in his arm was enough to put Benjamin right into a contented baby coma until his stomach eventually sallied him awake again.

Pepper appeared out of the bathroom and shut the door in her wake. "I thought peeing every twelve minutes stopped after the little human came ripping out of me."

Natasha snickered.

Thor attempted to offer Benjamin back, but Pepper declined to take him. "Oh no, he's Uncle Thor's problem. I still haven't put anything in my bags yet. And where's Tony?"

"Someone rang?" Tony announced, opening the hospital room door and striding in beside Steve and Bruce. They had a bag full of breakfast and a couple cartons of coffee. "I thought mommy might be starving." He leaned in and kissed Pepper's cheek.

"I am! And caffeine too!" she exclaimed, grabbing the closest cup and the entire bag. She sat down on the mattress and began to pour out the array of contents. It was Thursday, after all, and that meant bagels in honor of Clint.

"I know you hated giving up the Java," Tony replied, he plucked one of the bagels from the pile and handed it to Natasha who also sat.

"Coffee never tasted so good, ever. That's it. If we do this again, I am keeping coffee."

Tony smiled. He took over baby duty from Thor and stood for a while with his son propped against his chest. The others spread out and began to dig in. "Happy's stuck in traffic. Once he's free we'll meet him downstairs. He's got the car seats installed already. I wish I'd seen how that went."

"Think they're in correctly?" Bruce asked with a smile.

"If we see duct tape, the answer is no." Tony replied.

"I'll be happy to get back home. It's feels like longer than a week. Bruce, you didn't have to come all the way up just for this." Pepper said between chews. It would take time for her to stop eating for two. It had become such a habit.

"I didn't mind. Besides, my lecture series was over and I didn't want to stay and listen to all the students who didn't pass the course."

"How many this time?" Steve asked. He unwrapped Natasha's food and handed her a quarter of it.

"First estimates are showing about a third of them. An improvement from day one."

"Think they got wise to the fact that the way to your brain is through actually using theirs?"

Bruce chuckled. "Oh, that is one big leap for a lot of them to make. No, it's a learning curve for me too. I haven't taught this type of class before so it takes a while to know what works and what doesn't. I think I've got a good niche now."

A faint knock came to the door post and the company turned to see the visitor. They had expected Lindsey, or maybe Castillo. Though they had already taken their leave of the doctors, usually those sorts of processes were more drawn out. Whatever Tony may have planned to say went right through the window when he saw the figure actually in the doorway.

BAH!

Who's at the door? Who could it possibly be? ANd Can i just say how ADORABLE Thor is with children?

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