"Steve! Let's go; we're going to be late!" Natasha yelled to him from the living room. It was incredible—she could get herself and two four-year-olds ready before Steve finished getting himself ready.

"I'll be there in a minute!" he responded from their bedroom. It was an unusually warm weekend in October and Clint and Laura had invited the Rogers family to their farm for dinner. Natasha had accepted their generous initiation and was anxious to get on the road. Her husband, however, was taking his sweet old time getting ready.

Meanwhile, Natasha's children were waiting patiently on the couch, asking her new questions every ten seconds. She did take a moment to admire how cute they looked, though. She'd dressed James in a blue in green plaid shirt with a pair of dark jeans. She'd also used gel in his blond hair to make it "spikey" among his insistence. Lucy, on the other hand, had on little black leggings with a gray shirt with black polka dots. The shirt was also pleated and had a ballet-pink bow near one of the shoulders. To top it all off, Lucy had on a pink bow headband and pink Converse. Much to Natasha's dismay, her daughter was going through a phase where she wanted everything to be pink. Steve thought this was adorable and endlessly amusing.

"Mama?" James' little voice pulled her from her thoughts. "Is Daddy coming?"

"He's coming, baby, don't worry. He's just being slow," she responded.

"Will Cooper and Lila be at Uncle Clint's?" now it was Lucy's turn.

"Yes, they will. And Nathaniel too." Lucy's smile grew wider at Natasha's answer.

"Can I play with him?" Lucy continued enthusiastically.

"I'm sure Aunt Laura will let you play with the baby Lucy." Natasha turned back to the bedroom, "Steve, if you don't get your as—butt out here in the next 60 seconds I'm leaving without you!"

The twins laughed at that—Mama yelling at Daddy. Steve came running down the hallway a few seconds later. "I'm sorry, I'm ready now," he explained, obviously flustered.

"Daddy you're so slow," Lucy giggled.

"Yeah, we were waiting," James joined in.

"Hey," Natasha turned around to face her kids. "That's enough from you two," she lightly chided. "Now come on, get in the car. I don't want to be late because of this," she smirked.

Thanks to Steve's quick driving (and Natasha's persistence), they were back on track in no time. They were an hour and a half into the two-hour drive, and the kids were starting to get antsy. Therefore, they were repeatedly asking every toddler's favorite question.

"Are we there yet?" James sighed dramatically.

Oh yeah, he definitely got that from Steve. Natasha turned around in her seat to find huge, blue eyes pleading with her. "No, James, not yet. We still have 30 minutes to go." He sighed again and threw his head back into his car seat. Natasha resisted the urge to laugh at her son being so melodramatic.

The comfortable silence lasted for about five minutes. "How many more minutes are there now?" Lucy questioned.

"I have an idea," Steve stated. "If you two can be quiet for the rest of the car ride, Mama and I will get you ice cream." Natasha shot Steve a look that said seriously? "But we'll only get ice cream if both of you stay quiet. Deal?" Steve quickly glanced back at the twins. Both of them nodded in agreement. "Good. We should be at Uncle Clint's house in about 20 minutes. I don't want to hear a peep," Steve concluded using his Captain America tone.

Natasha grabbed Steve's hand and offered him a small smile. She had a hard time admitting it to herself, but she loved it when Steve was firm with their children. Something about it made him seem more commanding and masculine, if that was even possible. Her green eyes glazed over him hungrily; her children were absolutely silent in the backseat. She leaned over, invading her husband's personal space, and quietly whispered in his ear. "I'm going to thank you for that later," she smiled maliciously, making her voice low and sultry.

Steve smiled at that, his eyes momentarily taking on a deeper shade of blue. "Be careful," he whispered back. "I'm going to hold you to that promise."
Natasha just smirked in response. Thankfully, both James and Lucy remained quiet for the remainder of the car ride. Of course, the second they pulled up to Clint's house, James broke the silence. "We did it, Mama! Now you have to get us ice cream."

"Yes, you guys stayed quiet. Daddy will get us some ice cream on the way home tonight." Natasha momentarily leaned in closer to Steve, "and then Daddy's going to have to control two toddlers on a sugar high." Steve's eyes came to a realization at that.

"Mama, can you help?" James pleaded sadly. He couldn't get the straps of his car seat undone, and his sister was already jumping out of the car (luckily Steve caught her before she got too far).

Natasha couldn't deny him—her baby boy, who was becoming less and less of a baby every day. "Of course, малыш," she swiftly undid the restraints holding James back.

James proceeded to lunge from the car to catch up to Steve and his sister. Before he got there, though, he turned back to Natasha. "Thank you, Mama," he said in a voice that made Natasha's heart melt.

When they reached the house, Laura was there to greet them at the front door. "Hi guys! I'm so glad you could make it!"

"Well thank you for inviting us," Steve courteously responded. In an instant, both Lucy and James had disappeared to go play with Lila and Cooper. The kids all got along nicely, despite the fact that Lila and Cooper were a few years older than the twins.

"You know we love having you," Clint entered the room with a one-year-old Nathaniel in his arms.

"There's my namesake," Natasha said happily at the baby.

"Here, you can take him for me," Clint handed over Nathaniel to Natasha. "Steve and I better put the steaks on the grill, right?"

"Sounds good to me," Steve responded. He gave Natasha a quick peck on the cheek before following Clint outside to the grill. With Clint's permission, Steve began to cook the slabs of meat that were laid out on a tray before them.

The two men cooked in comfortable silence, making small talk occasionally. Steve couldn't help that his gaze kept wandering back to Natasha. More specifically, to Natasha holding Nathaniel. She looked radiant playing with and talking to the baby. Steve felt a pull on his heartstrings as Natasha showed Lucy how to properly hold the baby.

"So, you want another one?" Clint's question interrupted Steve's train of thought.

"What?" the soldier questioned.

"The way you've been looking at Nat with Nathaniel this whole time. It's the look of a man who wants another kid."

"Me? No. We have the twins; they're still little."

"Steve, as much as you don't want to admit it, your kids aren't babies anymore. They just turned four and they'll be 18 before you know it." Steve's face looked to be saddened and a little frightened by that. "I can tell, you miss the days where James and Lucy were babies—the days where Natasha held them like she's holding Nathaniel right now. And you want those days again."

"Am I that obvious?" Steve blushed.

"You're blatantly obvious. You want another baby."

"Yes, I do. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Natasha's so amazing to Lucy and James, but she doesn't realize it," Steve shook his head solemnly. "And I couldn't ask her for that. She's already given me so much—made so many sacrifices."

"Just ask her, will you? You don't know, maybe she wants the same thing. The worst she can do is say no," Clint encouraged.

"I don't know, we'll see." A long moment passed before Steve spoke again, "so what's it like being outnumbered by your kids?"

"Man, I'm not gonna lie, sometimes it really sucks. But at the end of the day, it's incredible; there's so much to love." Steve thought over Clint's words as he turned back to look at his wife holding Clint's baby.

"Laura, that dinner was great," Steve stated what was on everyone's mind. All of the adults were sitting on the back porch while the kids—minus Nathaniel—were playing in the yard.

"Thanks, Steve," Laura smiled sweetly. "And thank you for helping Clint with the steaks."

"Oh, it's not a big deal. I—" Steve was cut off when Lila ran up to him on the porch, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Uncle Steve," she sniffled, "James tripped me," Lila whined, on the verge of tears.

"He did?" Steve pulled Lila in to face him. "Did he do it on purpose?" Lila shook her head no. "Do you want to go inside and get cleaned up?"

"No, I want to stay here with you."
"Okay, sweetie, you can stay here if you want to," Steve (quite easily) lifted Lila into his lap so she could sit and talk with the adults.

The conversation picked back up a few minutes later as everyone was enjoying the approaching twilight. "James? Lucy, Cooper? Come on up here and sit with us, it's getting dark out," Natasha stated loudly. Steve would never say as much out loud, but Natasha was very overprotective when it came to their children. He couldn't blame her, though; they knew and saw too much evil to be ignorant to the dangers of the world.

The three kids obediently ran up to the porch where their parents were. Cooper and James immediately began playing with some toy cars that they left on the porch earlier. Lucy, however, clung to Natasha's leg, curiously eying Steve. "What's the matter, baby?"

Lucy's little face fell at her mother's question, and she mumbled something into Natasha's leg.

"What was that, Lucy? I can't understand you when your face is in my leg, honey."

Lucy looked up to meet Natasha's gaze, tears forming in her blue-green eyes. "That's my Daddy," Lucy sobbed, barely audible.

Natasha knelt down to be at her daughter's height. "Of course he is. But he's just helping Lila right now. You can share Daddy, right?"

Lucy shook her head no and ran over to Steve. "You're my Daddy. Lila, that's my Daddy," she stated more boldly. Steve gently nudged Lila off of his lap as Lucy tried her best not to cry. "Daddy, I don't want to share you," Lucy sobbed, losing what little self-control she had left.

Steve's heart broke at his daughter's confession. His brow furrowed as Lucy covered her face with her hands and continued to cry. "Hey, it's okay," Steve lifted his daughter into his lap. "I'm not going anywhere," he comforted.

"I don't want to share you, Daddy," Lucy mumbled into Steve's shoulder.

Steve looked to Natasha. She gave him a sympathetic look and shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, Lucy. Look at me," Steve made sure that his daughter was paying attention before he gently spoke to her. "I love you so much, don't you ever forget that. You and your Mama are the most important girls in my life, and I could never love another little girl more than I love you—you have my whole heart. Okay?" Lucy nodded her head yes and her sobs quieted. Steve dropped a kiss into her strawberry-blond hair and the toddler started to drift off.

"I think that's our cue to leave," Natasha picked up James and settled him on her hip. "Thank you guys so much for having us. Dinner was delicious."

"Are you sure you're okay driving home? We have plenty of room," Laura offered.

"Thank you, Laura," Steve stood up, Lucy in his arms. "But we'll be fine."

About an hour later, Steve and Natasha were on the road, their two tired, sticky kids in the backseat. Steve had honored his promise and had stopped to get the kids ice cream along the way home. Luckily, the twins were overtired and fell asleep quickly in the car.

"Hey," Natasha covered Steve's hand with her own. "What's up?" she offered him a small smile when he glanced at her.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"That's not what I meant," she spoke softly, mindful of her sleeping kids. "I can see you thinking. You've had something on your mind all day."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's nothing. Just a stupid notion of mine."

"Tell me. I want to know."

"No, really. It's embarrassing and frankly it's selfish of me."

"Steve," she sighed gently. "You trust me, right?" He nodded his head. "Then come on. We promised—no secrets."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I just...seeing you today with Nathaniel. It brought back a lot of memories for me."

"Me too," she admitted.

"I miss it, Nat. I know I don't have a right to ask you for any more, and I thought I didn't want it anymore, but now I don't know. They're so big now—James and Lucy. Before we know it they'll be grown and won't need us anymore. Time is moving so fast. And I know it's foolish, but I want to slow it down. I want them to stay little forever," he looked in the rearview mirror at his sleeping children. Steve hesitated before speaking again, "I know I'm being extremely selfish, but I want to have a baby again—another one. I want to see you holding another baby—our baby. But I know I don't have a right to want another baby; I already have more than I will ever deserve. And after the way Lucy reacted to Lila sitting on my lap—I just don't know," he shook his head. "I'm being stupid. I'm sorry."

After a long pause, Natasha finally replied. "You do have a right. To ask. To want." Another pause. "And Lucy can learn to share. So can James."

Steve looked at her in the darkness. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I know. I know how you feel because I feel the same way; I want the same thing."

"Really?"

"Really. I do want another baby. It pains me that my babies aren't babies anymore. And I want another shot at it too."

An enormous smile made its way across Steve's face in the darkness. "So we're going to try for another baby?"

"I guess so," Natasha smiled. "But I'm not sure that it's possible. No one knows how I managed to get pregnant the first time, and they're not sure that I can get pregnant again—I already asked the doctor. We can try, but I don't want you to get your hopes up. It kills me that I can't guarantee you this, but I can't."

"I know, love. I don't want to put any pressure on you. But we can try?"

"No promises. But yes, we can try," Natasha smiled up at her husband.

"Right now? You did promise me as much earlier," Steve asked eagerly.

"I'll make good on that promise," she replied seductively. "As soon as we get home. And after we put our two toddlers to bed."