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The phone call came at three in the morning. Phil woke with a start at the sound. There was a mad scramble to be freed from two human-shaped octopuses before Phil was able to get to the phone. Clint and Steve had both been out fighting Dr. Doom the day before and nothing short of a call out or the end of the world was going to wake them now that they were in their bed. Phil sighed and answered the phone before he noticed that it was Clint’s phone and not his own.
“Hello?”
“Hi. I’m looking for a Mister Clint Barton?”
“He’s my partner. He’s asleep. Can I take a message?”
“Uhm, well, I’m calling from Child Protective Services here in Jersey City. If you can ask him to give me a call back ASAP, that’d be great.”
“CPS?” Why would the CPS be calling Clint? “Listen, Ms…, sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”
“It’s Hansen. Monica Hansen.”
“Ms. Hansen, I’m Agent Coulson of SHIELD. I’m assuming that by calling this number, you know who Agent Barton is?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve seen the footage from yesterday?” Phil waited for the woman to acknowledge him before continuing, “Good. So you’ll understand if he’s a little indisposed at the moment. If you can give me the detailed information about what you’re calling him for, I can take care of everything.”
“I’m really not supposed to divulge this kind of information to—”
“Ms. Hansen, I would rather not involve the higher ups, but I will if I have to.” Phil bluffed, knowing that no one wanted to be the reason that their bosses were woken up in bed at some ungodly hour.
“Okay! Fine.” Hansen sighed. “Do you know a Mr. Charles Bernard Barton?”
“That’s Clint’s brother. He’s serving several life sentence upstate.”
“Yes, well, his girlfriend got into a car accident earlier tonight. She died before the paramedics could get to her.”
Phil could feel a headache building behind his eyes as he listened to the woman.
“She and Mr. Barton have two children, six month-old twins, and as Mr. Barton is currently incarcerated, Agent Barton’s just become the only family to these children.”
“Where are the children now?” Phil asked, getting out of bed so he could get to the kitchen and find something to jot down all the information.
“They’re being placed with a foster family for now, until Agent Barton has a chance to make a decision. If Agent Barton cannot take custody of them, we will find a more permanent placement for them.”
The problem was that Phil already knew what Clint would do in this situation. “Okay, thank you for calling. If you don’t mind me asking: how are they doing?”
Hansen sighed before she answered Phil’s question. “They are, for the most part, healthy. There were signs of neglect, slight dehydration, but nothing that would result in serious harm.”
“Thank you, Ms. Hansen. I will make arrangements to bring Clint as soon as possible.”
Phil sighed, leaning against the counter after taking down the necessary info and hanging up. There was a small light above the cabinets that brightened slightly when he came into the kitchen.
“JARVIS, can you send a memo to Director Fury to let him know that Clint and I won’t be at the afternoon briefing?”
“Of course, Agent Coulson. Should I include Captain Rogers in the absence list as well?”
“I don’t know. This… this doesn’t really concern him, but…”
“I will note for the memo that Captain Rogers may also be absent.”
“Thank you, JARVIS.”
Phil ran a hand down his face before getting up from the stool he perched on and padding back into the bedroom.
Steve woke up as Phil climbed back into bed, the soldier that he was, wrapping his strong arms back around Phil’s middle and snuggling close. It had taken Phil a while to get used to being sandwiched by two muscular furnaces when the three of them got together, but he couldn’t deny how wonderful and loved he felt every night they laid in bed together. “Hey, Phil… What happened? Why’re you out of bed?”
Phil breathed in deep and let it out in a long exhale. “Child Protective Services called.”
“Why?” Steve said softly, so as to not wake Clint, who was still dead to the world. Steve’s voice rumbled in his chest against Phil’s back. “Did something happen?”
“It’s Barney’s girlfriend.” Phil said. Steve knew of Barney, being one of the very short list of people whom Clint trusted enough to let know the more sordid parts of his life. “She died in a car accident earlier tonight. She and Barney have two six month-olds with nowhere to go.”
“What’s the plan?” Steve asked after a few moments of silence. “Should we wake Clint up right now?”
Phil shook his head. “Let him sleep. They have the kids at a temporary place for tonight. I’ll talk to him once he’s up and go from there.”
“I’m coming with you two.”
“Steve—”
“There are three of us in this relationship, and I want to be there for you both.” Steve used his strength to his advantage and flipped Phil over so they were facing each other, then pressed a finger to Phil’s lips. “You’ve known him longer, and you know him better than I do. Clint’s going to want to take them, isn’t he?”
Phil sighed. “Probably. He might say no if he thinks we don’t want that kind of complication in our lives, but I know he’ll want to. You know how he is when it comes to children.”
“Yeah,” Steve gave Phil a soft smile. They’d both seen how Clint was around kids. He loved them, and he was good with them. “He’s going to be a great father.”
“You’re taking this surprisingly well,” Phil said, propping himself up on his elbow, then arched an eyebrow at Steve.
Steve looked slightly embarrassed as he snuggled closer to Phil, wrapping his arm around Phil’s waist and tangling a muscular leg with Phil’s. “Well… There’s been a few moments, watching Clint with kids that made me wonder…” He shrugged. “I’ve always thought that I’d never get a chance, given how sickly I was before the serum.”
“But you wanted them.”
“I did. Thought about it when I met Peggy. And I still do.” Steve reached up to brush Phil’s ruffled hair back, massaging his neck when his hand landed at Phil’s nape. “What do you say? Ready to be parents?”
Phil smiled until his face strained. “Hell, yes.”
The next morning—well, closer to noon than morning—Phil waited until Clint was fully awake after a full pot of coffee and breakfast before sitting him down on the couch. Phil and Steve flanked him on either side as Phil broke the news to Clint.
Clint was silent through it all, and the only sign Phil had of Clint paying attention was his body tensing as his fight or flight response kicked in.
“Clint?”
“Shit, Phil.” Clint rubbed his face with his hands before running his fingers through the short strands of his hair. “I can’t even take care of myself properly most of the time. How am I going to care for two kids? Two babies!”
“But you want to take them.” Steve pointed out from the other side of Clint as he shifted closer to Clint, wrapping a large hand over Clint’s thigh for support.
“I can’t leave them in the system. I just can’t,” Clint said, sighing loudly. “But I can’t ask you guys to… we haven’t even talked about this kind of thing. Fuck!”
Clint looked like he was going to bolt, the stress of the situation triggering his need to run.
“Clint? Look at me.” Phil tilted Clint’s head up to meet his eyes. “I know you won’t leave them in the system.”
“But—”
“You have us, remember?” Phil pulled Clint’s head to rest on his shoulder, where Clint loved to nuzzle whenever they were cuddling on the couch.
“Exactly,” Steve added. “I’ve seen you with kids, Clint. You’ll be amazing.”
“Wait, you mean…?” Clint leaned his head back, looking from Phil to Steve in disbelief.
Phil and Steve shared a look, then nodded.
“Phil and I talked last night after he took the call,” Steve said.
“The decision is yours, Clint, but know that we’ll be behind you every step of the way,” Phil continued.
It took Clint a moment to think things over, but he nodded at the end. “Okay.”
Phil couldn’t help the smile that mirrored Clint’s and Steve’s.
“Oh, my god,” Clint groused loudly. “We’re going to be parents. How crazy is that?”
“Not nearly as crazy as jumping off a rooftop with nothing but a grappling arrow.” Steve deadpanned.
“That was one time!” Clint huffed.
It took a bit of time to call and arrange the paperwork, but Phil was soon packing Steve and Clint into a car, heading towards Jersey City.
“What about supplies?” Clint asked as they approached the place, the realization that he was going to be a guardian to two six-month-old babies finally sinking in. “We don’t have anything. We need to baby-proof the place. We need to set up warning systems with JARVIS. Oh, my god, what are we going to tell the others?”
Phil was thankful that Steve had volunteered to drive, because he needed his all of his attention to stop Clint from working himself into a full-blown panic attack.
“Clint.” Phil reached over and squeezed Clint’s hand, making the younger man look over towards Phil, mild panic in his eyes. “I’ve got it, okay? I’ve asked JARVIS to order some temporary supplies for now. We can set them up in the guest room, and JARVIS will alert us if anything were to go wrong. We’re going to take this one step at a time, like all the other parents.”
“What Phil said. We’ll be fine, Clint. We’ll be sleep deprived for a bit, but we’ll be fine. I can’t wait to see the look on Tony’s face, though,” Steve added from the driver’s seat. “I’ll have to remember to ask JARVIS to record it for posterity, because it’s going to be epic.”
“Epic?” Phil arched an eyebrow.
“Epic. It’s an apt description.”
Phil snorted.
“We’re here,” Steve said a few moments later, rolling to a smooth stop in front of the CPS office.
Clint let Phil do all the talking, and went when Phil tucked him in his arms and steered him towards the small room in the back.
“They’re so tiny,” Clint said softly when he saw the two carriers on the table. “They’re really six months old?”
“They’re beautiful,” Steve added, big hands teasing at the soft skin, and chuckled when one tiny hand hung onto his finger and refused to let go.
Phil watched from next to Clint. His stomach was doing flips while his heart fluttered at the love he already felt for the two tiny lives they were bringing into theirs. “Go ahead. You’re allowed to pick them up.”
Clint looked at him with a moment of uncertainty in his eyes before it evaporated, replaced by conviction and love. Phil watched as Clint slid his hands under the tiny bundle and lifted it into the crook of his right arm.
“What are their names?” He asked softly.
“The boy’s name is Finn, and the girl is Lisa,” Hansen said.
“Hey, Lisa.” Clint smiled at the baby in his arms, then looked up at Phil when the baby smiled back at him, giggling happily when Clint rubbed her belly gently with a finger. “Oh, Phil…”
There were moments, Phil knew, when something happened that tilted your axis and changed you completely. This was one of those moments. He felt so full of love for his little family, for his two loving partners and now these kids, too. He thought of their extended family back at the tower, of Natasha and Bruce and Tony and Thor and Pepper and all the others.
Steve came over to stand next to them, Finn in his arms still holding his finger hostage. “They look like you, Clint.”
He and Phil shared a smile that told Phil he’d had the same epiphany. Phil chuckled before he said, “Come on. Let’s go home.”