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On a warm summer evening, the women of S.H.I.E.L.D, the Avengers, and Stark Industries sat around a large table in one of the many rooms of the Avengers compound. It was not a unique event: though the gatherings didn’t happen often, the women that spent their lives protecting the world tried to get together at least two or three times a year. It was a great opportunity to find support from others who understood the hardships of their lifestyles. It was also a wonderful time to complain about their men.
However, this gathering was not like any other. There was not a single alcoholic or caffeinated drink in sight; the usual hard-backed chairs that matched the table had been replaced with an assortment of padded and rocking chairs; the table was strewn with snacks that ranged from oreos to pickles to black olives to peanut butter; and each woman sported a rounded stomach that ranged from “baby bump” to “about to pop.”
It wasn’t a surprise that so many women were getting pregnant. With Thanos gone and the Universe in a time of relative peace, the 2nd Baby Boom was well under way. But nobody expected every major female defender of the planet to get knocked up within five months of each other.
Nothing like a light workload and boredom to get people into the bedroom.
“So you’re saying that you and Vision got all hot and bothered and you thought about it really hard and then poof: baby?” Daisy asked.
“Babies,” Wanda clarified, smoothing a hand over her stomach.
She and Daisy were both five months along, but Wanda was markedly bigger. Daisy wasn’t jealous; she saw the way the Witch waddled, and she thanked her lucky stars she was only having one at a time.
“Damn,” YoYo said. “That’s freaky. In more than one way.”
Laughter bounced all the way up to the ceiling. Daisy could feel the happy vibrations and her smile widened.
“Speaking of freaky -” Sharon started, but the sound of ‘ooo’ and “ow ow’ and the site of waggling eyebrows made her roll her eyes. “Not that… oh whatever. Did I tell you guys that Steve jumped off another skyscraper yesterday? No parachute.”
Jemma had the decency to gasp, but the rest of the women just groaned. Natasha simply smirked because had she not been carrying a baby she probably would have been right next to the Star Spangled Idiot.
“What was it this time?” Laura asked.
“International spy ring, drug dealers, alien mobsters… I didn’t ask. I told him he needed to stop doing that if he ever wanted to sleep in our bed again.”
“And what did he say to that?” Natasha inquired, but she clearly already knew the answer.
“I couldn’t let ‘em get away with it, Share. I don’t like bullies,” Sharon mimicked, using an impeccably good impression of her husband. She and Natasha sighed.
In the silence that followed they all took a drink. Jemma made sure to savor her tiny sip; during her first pregnancy she had spent two months searching for a pregnancy-safe tea that tasted good, didn’t upset her stomach, and was cheap enough to buy in bulk. When the nine-month supply arrived Fitz simply chuckled and helped her organize it in the pantry. What Fitz didn’t know was that she had ordered two additional nine-month supplies with hope for a full future. Now on her second pregnancy and enjoying a splendid cuppa, she was feeling rather clever.
“Which one of us is due first again?” Hope asked.
“I’m due on the second, Pepper is due on the tenth,” Jemma answered immediately. “Then it’s Natasha and Laura, Sharon, you Hope, Daisy, May, and Bobbi and YoYo are due right after the New Year.”
“I’m already ready to be done,” Bobbi admitted.
“The first trimester is the hardest. Until you reach the third trimester and can’t get comfortable anymore,” Laura commented.
“It’s not even that,” Bobbi said. “It’s Hunter.” T
hat brought on another round of cackles. The women were all very familiar with Lance Hunter because he was, well, Hunter.
“I’m not surprised,” May mumbled. She and Daisy shared a smirk.
“He’s been great, honestly, it’s just… he’s been too great, you know? He coddles me, and though the massages and home cooked meals and control of the TV are fantastic, I’m feeling smothered.”
Most of the women nodded in unison, their eyes closed sagely.
“I had to call Sam to come get Steve out of the house,” Sharon said.
“I had to call Steve to get James out of the house,” Natasha said.
“Vision insists on flying me everywhere…”
“Scott won’t use his suit in front of me because he doesn’t want me to be jealous…”
“Mack doesn’t let me lift a finger, but I need to move, I need to go at my own pace…”
“Tony has been trying to convince me to put on the maternity armor…”
“Robbie doesn’t want me to ride in the Charger because the safety features are outdated…”
“Phil suggested I should tone down my workouts.”
Everyone flinched. A few of the women wondered if Phil was alright after that encounter.
“What did you do?” Wanda asked cautiously.
With a subtle smile, May said “he held my punching bag steady the next day.”
She received a round of applause.
“Don’t worry ladies,” Laura said, leaning back leisurely in her chair. “They’ll relax once you get to number four…”
“Oh nooo -” “Don’t even suggest -” “Let me get through one-”
Laura just laughed and shook her head before taking another bite of her pickle and oreo sandwich. “
What about you, Jemma?” Sharon asked. “Is Fitz still a little crazy with number two?”
“Well,” Jemma said as she considered the question. “He wasn’t even crazy with number one. We were both nervous and protective of course, and he definitely puts extra locks on certain lab cabinets, but… Fitz has always been a quick learner, especially when it comes to pleasing me.”
There was a second of silence. And then Jemma turned bright red as she tried to clarify what she meant over the raucous sound of guffaws and lewd comments from the other women. Daisy jumped in to save her.
“Fitz is a really great dad. I’m so glad Robbie has him as an example, and that this kid will have such a cool uncle.”
Jemma met Daisy’s warm eyes and gave her a grateful smile.
“Has Robbie finally popped the question?” Hope asked.
“Neither of us are ready for that, thank you very much,” Daisy said.
“But you’re ready to raise a kid with him?” Wanda queried.
Daisy shrugged. “We aren’t really conventional. We’re also super independent. And this baby was an accident, so…” Everyone gave her a pointed look. “Ugh, fine. We can’t agree on Johnson-Reyes or Reyes-Johnson.”
“Ah, there it is.”
“What about you, Romanoff?” Daisy shot back.
Natasha’s coy eyes slid to the side. “I could say the same to Bobbi.”
“Been there done that,” Bobbi said, lifting her glass of water in a mock toast.
“Don’t worry,” Pepper said to the two never-been-married women, “It took Tony seven years.”
“It took Phil seventeen years,” May chimed in.
With her mouth half-hidden behind her water glass, Natasha mumbled “it’s taken James seventy.”
“What?” Pepper said.
“What?” Natasha repeated.
Everyone stared at her for a moment before letting it drop. It was Natasha. There were things they didn’t want to know.
Before their conversation started up again the door swung open. The other Dr. Fitzsimmons stuck his head in cautiously. There was fear in his eyes, and for a moment his mouth flopped before he located Jemma.
“H-Hi,” he said. Eleven powerful women stared back at him. He swallowed. He did his best to focus on his wife and remind himself that most of these women would be on his side in a bar fight. “You, uh, wanted to leave by three? So we could catch our flight and be home in time to take Maggie to school -”
“Is it three already? Oh gosh, time really flies.”
“Amongst other things,” Daisy muttered.
Jemma pushed her chair back and heaved herself out of her seat. “This has been lovely, everyone, thank you. Next time we’re together we’ll get to meet all of these little ones!”
Daisy and Bobbi both got themselves out of their chairs to hug Jemma and Fitz. Elena blew them a kiss. May waved and winked at Fitz. The rest of the women called their goodbyes and good lucks as she shuffled to the door. Jemma gave Fitz a kiss on the cheek when she made it to his side, and awws spread throughout the room. He blushed furiously but smiled through it.
Once they were gone the women settled into their chairs again. Hope turned to Pepper and asked “have you figured out how you’re going to balance running Stark Industries with having a baby?”
Pepper chuckled. “We’re as prepared as we can be. Tony supports me going back to work right away, but the rest of the board is - how do I put it nicely - stuffy and old fashioned? But it’s fine, they’re due for reelection soon so I won’t have to work with them much longer.”
Natasha fist bumped her. Laura slid another orea onto her plate.
“That’s great. If I was still running Pym Lab-”
The door swung open again, and Phil Coulson popped his head into the room. He was met with a chorus of welcomes and hellos, to which he smiled bashfully. May rolled her eyes.
“Hey everyone, it’s great to see you all. I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just got a call from base and our best agents are needed.”
Daisy, Bobbi, and Elena rolled their eyes along with May this time.
“I’m sure you say that to all of your agents, Coulson,” Elena goaded.
“Technically you’re all Mack’s agents, and I’m pretty sure we know who his favorite is,” Coulson teased back.
“I’m pretty sure we know who your favorite is, too, Phil,” Pepper said with a pointed look at May.
“Clint,” Natasha said.
“Lola,” Daisy said.
“Steve Rogers,” May said.
“Well,” Coulson said. “Time to go. Mack is prepping the quinjet.”
The agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gave a round of hugs before exiting. As Coulson made to close the door, Laura called out “Phil! Clint expects you at our fourth of July party next week.”
Coulson did his best to look apologetic. “I’m so sorry, but with trying to restart the Academy-”
“Steve will be there to celebrate his birthday.”
“Count me in,” he said.
The remaining women laughed freely as May tugged him from the room and shut the door.
Hope was grateful for the laughter they got to share. It had been so long since she had strong women in her life, let alone a whole group of fierce, funny women whom she could call friends. With these ladies, and with her mother back, she was confident that her and Scott’s future daughter would have plenty of great role models. She just had to make sure their kid didn’t want to take on superhero business. Which reminded her…
“Laura, do you have any advice for convincing kids that being a superhero isn’t all that great? Cassie has been pressuring Scott and Hank for her own suit for a few years now, and we’re worried that it’s more than just a phase.”
“The easiest thing to do is convince them that you and Scott are lame and will only harm her reputation at school.”
Hope chuckled. Her laughter quickly faded when she saw Laura’s face. “You’re serious?”
Laura shrugged. “It’s worked with Cooper. Lila is in love with Natasha though, so it’s been harder to keep her from idolizing the Avengers.”
“I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry,” Natasha said.
“Alright,” Hope said. “Not really the answer I was hoping for. But Scott is dorky and awkward enough, I’m sure we can figure something out.”
The door swung inwards again. “Speak of the devil,” Wanda murmured.
“What? Who? Me?” Scott said. “Devilishly handsome, maybe. Hey, it’s you again!” He waved at Wanda. “I know you, you’re awesome. And you, you’re cool too. And hey!” He waved at Hope. “I think I know you. Have we met before? Do you come here often?”
“Scott.”
“Right, sorry. Cassie called and was wondering if we could spend the day with her tomorrow. If you’re willing, I figured you would want to catch a flight soon so we could sleep at home and feel refreshed for whatever she has planned.”
“That sounds great,” Hope said, “but you know she only wants to see us so we can tell her about our ‘hang out session with the Avengers.’”
“Yeah, well, I can only impress my oldest kid for so long.”
The women shared a look. Laura patted Hope’s knee. “Good luck,” she said.
“Thanks. Come on Scott, let’s go home.”
Once they departed, the five women left in the room sat back and closed their eyes with a collective sigh.
“Are you all spending the night here?” Sharon asked. They responded with affirmative noises. “Good. Steve said he was going to make pancakes in the morning.”
“James will be thrilled,” Natasha said.
“Tell Steve to not allow Vision to help. Not unless we all want to evacuate the building again,” Wanda said.
“Noted,” Sharon answered.
For a few more minutes they sat in companionable silence. It wasn’t often that they got to enjoy peace and quiet. They were all aware - thanks to baby books, charity events at preschools, and visits to the Barton farm - that peace and quiet would soon be nonexistent in their lives as parents. But they also knew that they weren’t alone, and with each other to turn to they would all make it through.
When Tony opened the door twelve minutes later, he found his wife and the four other women asleep in their chairs. He shut the door again as carefully as he could.
“What’s going on?” Clint asked.
“Shhh, don’t squawk so loud, Birdman. They’re napping.”
“Napping? I thought there were only chairs and a table in there,” Steve questioned.
“I thought you would be a pro at falling asleep in chairs, old man,” Tony quipped.
“Out of the five of us, who is the only one with gray hair?” Bucky asked. Tony flipped him off.
“Should we wake them up and help them move to more comfortable sleeping arrangements?” Vision suggested.
“No!”