Chapter Text
Clint Barton sat in the crappy reclining chair beside his sleeping wife's bed with his brand new daughter sleeping on his chest, stroking her back absently and kissing her downy blonde head every now and then. Natasha had dozed off again, the combination of painkillers and lack of sleep finally catching up with her, but she hadn't been asleep very long. Clint wanted her to sleep as long as she could; God knows she had earned it. In the meantime he just sat, basking in the glow of being the happiest he’d ever been in his life and thinking that surely he was the luckiest bastard in the world.
Natasha's pregnancy had been...unusual and eventful, to say the least. She had been pregnant during the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and hadn't known it, then was kidnapped by her old handler from the KGB after all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets were revealed - including her location. They had found out she was pregnant while she was in the hospital after she took a vicious beating that should have killed her and the baby, but hadn't thanks to her enhancements as a child in the Red Room - the same Red Room who had attempted to damage her reproductive organs so that she could never have children. The chemical enhancements they gave her made her heal the butchering they did over time, however, and he and Nat had been shocked to find out she was pregnant. Clint was overjoyed right away, Natasha was not. She felt no attachment to the baby until it was born and struggled mightily with the idea of motherhood.
Clint and Natasha had married a little over two years ago in Las Vegas, but their marriage was voided on a technicality. Both of them had been broken hearted and wanted to remarry, but couldn't see a way around it. Thankfully, Phil Coulson had contacts who owed him favors and was willing to help them out. So as soon as Coulson had cleared up the issue, he had proposed again and they married in Central Park while she was pregnant. She was Natasha Romanov Barton now, and oh, how that made his heart sing.
Then her uterus had herniated towards the end of her pregnancy, an event that could potentially be fatal to Natasha and the baby, and the doctor put her on bed rest. That had gone over horribly. Thankfully, it hadn't lasted long before her water broke, and she delivered the baby safely via emergency c-section, since the cord was around the baby's neck.
Damn. Nothing's ever simple, is it?, Clint lamented.
But now it was over, Erinna Claire Barton was born healthy on Halloween and Nat was safe. Clint had the two women that mattered most in his life, his whole world, sleeping on him and beside him and he couldn't understand for the life of him how he'd gotten so damned lucky.
Erinna stirred and he shushed her quietly, rubbing circles on her back, hoping to get her back to sleep. Nat hadn't slept much since the c-section 36 hours ago, and had been laboring for ten hours when they took the baby. She needed to rest.
Erinna, however, was not ready to be soothed. She stirred a little more, whimpering in a croaking sort of way (he guessed that was normal, Clint knew dick about babies), and started rooting around on his chest. He smiled at her, "That's not me you want, princess. C'mon, though, let's let Mommy sleep a bit, ok?"
He stood up, cradling her gently in his muscled arms and went to the little plastic bassinet, looking for the pacifier. He found it and put it in her mouth quickly, swaying back and forth.
"She's not supposed to have that, you know."
"I know, but I wanted to let you sleep."
"I appreciate it."
"She's hungry."
"Okay, give me just a second." Natasha adjusted the bed until she was sitting upright, then held her hands out for Erinna. "Come here, baby girl. Let's get you situated." Erinna let out a cry of protest as she left Clint's arms, but settled immediately upon finding her meal waiting.
"Did you hear that, Tasha? She cried for me. She loves her Daddy."
Natasha smiled at him indulgently. "Of course she does. What's not to love?"
He smiled back at her and leaned to kiss her briefly. "I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you, too. Now, bust me out of here today."
"The doc wants you and Erinna to stay until tomorrow so they can watch you."
"We're both fine, and I'm dying to get home."
"Why are you so anxious to be home?"
She rolled her eyes. "Clint, you know perfectly well I can't sleep worth a damn without you beside me. I'm exhausted and want to go sleep."
He kissed her forehead, then lowered his forehead into her hair. "Okay, but I want medical coming to check you and the baby out until you're both cleared."
"Whatever it takes."
He kissed her again. "Okay. I'll pack your stuff."
*
Natasha didn't know if she was amused or annoyed with Clint when they got back to their floor of Avengers Tower and he walked a sleeping Erinna from room to room, showing her around her home. When he came into the den, however, and stood by the chair she was sitting in, it switched to all amusement.
"And this here's the TV. Two hours a day, either educational or football, so 's you don't ruin your appreciation of the finer things."
Natasha burst out laughing, then clutched her belly. "Dammit, Clint, that hurt!"
He grinned at her. "She has to be introduced to the classics early. We gotta raise her right."
"Are you going to be quoting Raising Arizona all the time now?"
"Possibly." She rolled her eyes, smiling as he put her in the swing. "How the hell does this thing work?"
"How should I know? Aren't there instructions? Buckle her in, though."
He did, then set about pressing buttons. Music started playing, then stopped. A mobile started spinning, and he stopped it. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Mechanical shit ain't my thing. We need Stark or Banner."
"Why don't we just put her in her bassinet and go to sleep until she wakes up? I'm so damn tired."
"Okay. Clint reached over to offer a hand to Natasha so she could get to her feet. She took it and he pulled her into his arms. "I can't believe you married me."
"Twice."
He grinned. "Twice. Now you've given me a little girl. Do you have any idea how much I love you?"
"Maybe."
"Just maybe?"
"Show me you love me by putting me in the bed and cuddling me to sleep before the baby wakes and people start showing up."
He kissed her softly. "You got it."
*
"Mr. Barton?"
"Mmmph."
"Mr. Barton, Mr. Stark and -"
A loud wail cut him off, and both Clint and Natasha bolted upright, Clint reaching instinctively for his gun and Natasha grabbing her lower abdomen and groaning. Clint heard her and changed directions in an instant, reaching to comfort her.
"Sweetheart? You okay?"
"Yeah, just not supposed to sit up that fast yet." Erinna continued to cry as Clint sat with his arm around Natasha, unsure what to do. "Go get her! I'm fine!"
Clint scrambled off the bed and over to the bassinet, scooping up Erinna and rocking her gently, quieting her almost instantly. "Jarvis, so help me, if you wake her up again I'll have Nat deprogram you. You hear me?"
"My apologies, sir. I will endeavor to remain quiet where young Miss Barton is sleeping from this point. I am quite sorry.”
Clint sighed. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he'd have guilt for being rude to a disembodied robot voice. Natasha came walking over slowly, deliberately, wanting to check on Erinna.
"What was it you needed, Jarvis?"
"Sir, Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts wish to come visit you shortly, in approximately one hour. What shall I tell them?"
Clint looked at Natasha. She was exhausted and sore. She looked dead on her feet and his heart ached for her. "Sweetheart?"
She sighed a little, then nodded. ”Yeah, okay. Tell them that’s fine, they’ll be welcome. Just let me feed her and get a shower. Jarvis, can they wait until we let them know we're ready? It'll be about an hour."
"I'll let them know, Mrs. Barton."
"Please, call me Natasha. Mrs. and Miss Barton is going to get confusing."
"Yes, ma'am."
She sighed and laid her head against Clint's shoulder for a moment. "The next few weeks are going to suck, aren't they?"
He heard the trepidation and tiredness in Natasha's voice and steeled himself to be strength for her and Erinna for as long as they needed him. Clint kissed her hair, nudged her head back with his cheek then bent over and kissed her lips softly, opening her mouth to him slowly for just a moment. He looked into her eyes, willing her without words to stay out from behind the wall she liked to hide behind. "I love you, and I've got you. I'll not let you fall, sweetheart. Trust me, and trust that."
She smiled tiredly. "I trust you."
Erinna squawked. Clint kissed Natasha quickly and said, "Good. Now let's feed the little princess so we can take care of you."