"I'm so sorry James," Natasha said through a stifled laugh as Steve entered the living room on the common floor, James in tow. The baby turned his attention to his mother at the sound of his name and smiled.
"See look, he likes it," Steve said sheepishly. "Right little man? It's not so bad. You look just like Daddy, ready to fight off all the bad guys."
"Oh yeah Steve, he looks real menacing. You know, with his two teeth and everything." James was dressed in a Captain America outfit (courtesy of Coulson), complete with a mask and toy shield. Natasha would never admit it out loud, but James looked kind of adorable in the get-up. His light blue eyes shone through the holes of the mask, and his blond hair curled out from underneath it.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Are you happy now?"
"Almost," Natasha said as she pulled her phone from her back pocket. "Now smile Steve," the redhead quickly snapped a quick picture. "Oh, I've got to show this to everyone. I'm sure Tony and Clint will be happy to frame it for you."
"Okay, enough messing around. Are you ready to go yet?"
"Yes, let me get Lucy and then we can go. And don't forget your shield," Natasha concluded with a snicker as she disappeared down the hall to retrieve her daughter.
"Oh boy James, you have no idea what you're in for today, do you?" Steve said softly as James cooed happily at the sound of his father's voice.
Much to Steve and Natasha's relief, James and Lucy slept soundly during the drive to Coulson's New York home. Natasha exited the car and proceeded to remove James from his car seat. The child whined slightly at being woken up from his nap. "I know sweetie, I'm sorry to wake you," Natasha said sweetly, rocking her son back and fourth. Sleepy blue eyes looked back up at her as James flashed a smile, showing off his two (and only) bottom teeth. "You are always so happy James! And I know you get that from your Daddy."
"Daddy!" James said aimlessly as Steve walked up to his wife and son.
"Hi buddy," Steve said with a smile, taking his son from his wife. "Alright Nat, I've got him today. You go and have fun with Lucy, but please don't forget to pick me up. I don't intend on spending the night with Coulson."
"Okay, will do," she said through a smirk before leaning in to kiss Steve goodbye. "Bye, have fun!" Natasha concluded sarcastically with a wave.
"Say bye-bye James," Steve took his son's small arm and helped him wave back. This gained a smile from James. Steve turned around and slowly made his way to the door of the house. "Alright buddy, are you ready?"
"Hey, would ya look at that? She's not crying for once," Tony Stark commented as he walked over to where Natasha was sitting on the floor with Lucy, helping her to stand. Pepper was on the couch, smiling happily at the scene.
"That's because she only cries around you Tony," Natasha replied promptly. Tony took on a face of pretend hurt that quickly faded as he sat down on the couch beside Pepper. "And besides, she has no reason to cry right now. She has Mama all to herself today, isn't that right?" Lucy reached her hand out to Natasha's face and grabbed at her nose playfully. She smiled in delight as her mother feigned a yell.
"Is she crawling yet?" Pepper asked curiously.
"Yeah, she's kind of crawling a little, and so is James. It's more like them trying to scoot around, although Steve and I already baby-proofed our house."
"Oh Tony, we need to do that here," Pepper insisted, turning her attention to Tony.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it soon don't worry. JARVIS, remind me to baby-proof."
"Of course sir, I will remind you," The A.I. replied obediently. All eyes turned to Natasha as Lucy started to fuss. Tears on the brims of her blue-green eyes were threatening to spill over.
"See, there she goes!" Tony pointed out with an accusing finger.
"What's the matter sweetheart?" Natasha said solemnly, ignoring Tony's comment as she looked at the pained expression on her daughters face. She pulled Lucy into her lap and began to rub her back in a circular motion. "Oh I know what's bothering you. Do your teeth hurt, huh?" Unlike James, Lucy hadn't gotten any teeth yet. She was teething, and white buds of teeth were just becoming visible. "Mama didn't bring any teething rings for you, I'm sorry девочка," Natasha said sympathetically, offering her finger out to her daughter. Lucy took up the offer and began chewing happily on her mother's finger.
"You willingly let her chew on you?" Tony asked, surprised.
"No, not normally. But I forgot her teething stuff at home so this will have to do for now. For a few minutes anyway."
"Aww you're going soft Natalie," Tony said mockingly.
Natasha shot him a glare as sharp as knives. "First of all, do not call me Natalie, that's not my name. And secondly, I am not going soft. I will prove it, if you want to volunteer."
"No thanks, I'm okay." Tony replied quickly. By now, Lucy had stopped crying. She was chewing happily on her mother's finger, drooling all over herself in the process.
"Come on Luce, let's go get cleaned up. Then we'll be all ready for our girls day with Aunt Pepper," Natasha said as she stood, bringing her daughter up with her. The baby cooed happily and squirmed in her mother's arms. "You just can't sit still, can you?" Lucy turned her head around several times, taking in her surroundings. She smiled happily when she caught Pepper waving to her.
"Hi Lucy!" Pepper exclaimed happily, moving her hand back and fourth.
"What do you say Lucy, can you wave?" Natasha encouraged her daughter, who in turn gave her mother a blank stare. "How about kisses? Can you blow Aunt Pepper a kiss?" Lucy had learned this gesture a few days ago, and Natasha wanted to see if she remembered it. On cue, Lucy brought her palm to her tiny lips, then extended her arm toward Pepper. "Yay! Great job baby!" Natasha exclaimed happily as Pepper clapped her hands together. "Okay let's go get this drool off your pretty face."
Later that day, Natasha honked the horn of the SUV then moved over to the passenger seat of the car. Several minutes later, Steve appeared carrying James. He quickly strapped James into his car seat before taking the driver's seat. "So? How'd it go?" Natasha asked sweetly a second later.
"Wait. Where's Lucy?" Steve replied, only slightly concerned after his long day.
"Don't worry, she's back at the tower with Tony, Clint, and Pepper. But tell me, how was your day with Coulson?"
"It was...interesting. After taking several hundred pictures of James in his outfit, he carried my shield around all day, pretending that there was a bad guy every three feet. It was exhausting, and like looking after two kids by myself."
"I'm sorry Steve," Natasha said through a laugh as her husband drove down the street back to the tower.
"Well, at least James is all tired out. Hopefully he will sleep through the night," Steve said, not wanting to go into detail about the day's events.
"Yes, that would be nice. But it's only 7:00, so maybe we could hang out with the others once the twins are asleep?" Steve just looked over at her and smiled. He was actually looking forward to a quiet night with some of the team. He let his right hand off the steering wheel and found Natasha's hand. Their fingers laced together as they rode the rest of the way to the Tower in silence, their son sleeping in the back.
Clint, Tony, and Pepper turned their attention behind the couch as Steve and Natasha made their way down the hallway, hand in hand. "Well, you two look exhausted," Clint, said with a small smile playing on his face.
"We are," Steve answered for his wife. "James was all tired out already, but we had a hard time getting Lucy to settle down in her crib." Steve sat down in a plush recliner then pulled Natasha into his lap. He planted a kiss on top of her head affectionately as she let her head fall onto his chest.
"Anyway," Tony interrupted the moment. "Steve, while you were away on you mission, you're kids were being adorable."
"Aren't they always?" the soldier replied proudly.
"Mmhmm," Natasha mumbled in agreement as her eyes closed. "Except when Lucy cries. James doesn't really get upset, but his sister is the opposite."
"Back to my point," Tony cut in, "I had JARVIS video a lot of things so we could watch them. So, that's what we're going to do tonight," the billionaire said proudly as the TV screen changed and JARVIS began to play the footage.
Tony, Pepper, Natasha, James, and Lucy were seen in the living room on the common floor. The footage continued to play, showing the events of that day. Natasha looked up to see a wide, crooked smile grace Steve's features as he watched his family. His smile quickly faded as the footage depicted Lucy saying "Daddy".
"Hey, wait a minute..." Clint trailed off as Steve looked down at Natasha, a hurt expression on his face. Steve began to get up, leaving Natasha behind in the recliner.
"Steve wait. Please let me explain," Natasha pleaded as Steve walked down the hall to the bedroom where the couple was staying. The redhead immediately got up to follow her husband. She caught up to him just as he passed by the twins' room. "Steve please."
He turned around to face his wife. He didn't usually pick up on their height difference, but in this moment it was extremely noticeable. "Nat, why?" He wasn't exactly mad at his wife, but he didn't understand her actions.
"Look Steve, I know how much you hate to be away from the twins, especially since they're about to hit a bunch of milestones. I didn't tell you about Lucy saying daddy because I didn't want you to miss her first word. I don't care about the stupid bet, or if you won. I just didn't want you to miss out on anything."
Steve lightly smiled before pulling his wife into him for a hug. Several moments later, he broke the silence. "Nat?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. I know that you had good intentions," he flashed a genuine smile before kissing her on the lips. "But you're going to pay for this. You lost the bet."
"Okay Rogers, whatever you say," Natasha said a little too loudly, and immediately regretted it. Lucy's high-pitched cries were promptly heard from the room next to the couple.
"You can start by getting her to stop crying," Steve said with a laugh. "And good luck with that feat."
A/N: Ehh, I'm not sure how I feel about this update, which is a continuation (and the final installment) of the previous chapter. I apologize for the lack of an update, I've been crazy busy! Thank you to everyone who continues to read/support my writing, it means the world to me! Again, I'm open to any suggestions or ideas so please don't hesitate to leave me a review! I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter :)