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Natasha sat numbly on her bed, staring at the floor. She was brought back to the presence by a knock on the door and the voice of her husband. "Natasha? Nat, what's wrong?" He called worriedly, hurrying to her side. She looked up at him, mouth slightly agape, before glancing toward the bathroom.
Confused, Steve rushed inside, not returning for several minutes. When he finally did, a huge smile was spread across his face. "Natasha, is-is this true? You're pregnant?"
Natasha stared at him and hesitantly nodded. "Steve, I'm scared, this wasn't supposed to be possible. It's going to be such a high risk pregnancy and-"
"Shh," Steve calmed, wrapping his arms around her, "it'll be ok Nat, we'll do this together."
Natasha melted into the warm embrace, enjoying the peace it gave her. How long they stayed there, she wasn't sure. Finally though, she spoke again,. "I don't... I don't want to tell the team. Just in case... " Natasha trailed off, blinking years from her eyes.
Steve didn't need her to finish to know the end of her question. Just in case I lose the baby. "It's up to you Nat, but I agree. Have you eaten breakfast yet?" He asked, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.
She sighed, "No, I guess I should do that, huh?"
"You should always eat breakfast." Steve offered her his hand, and they walked to the kitchen, his arm gently around her waist.
As she started to make toast and coffee, Clint walked by in his workout clothes. "Natasha, we still on for sparring today?"
Nat glanced at him with a small smile, "No, I don't think so. Probably not for a while either."
Clint stood there confused, Natasha never passed an opportunity to beat him. "She's giving you grace, Katniss, she doesn't want you to bear the shame of getting beat again." Tony sassed, taking Nat's freshly poured cup of coffee on the counter for himself. "By the way, party tonight, here at the Tower. I want everyone to be there."
"Another party? Really Tony, what is it this time?" Steve asked, exasperated.
"I don't know, something big happened at the company and Pepper told me we were having a party. Who was I to say no?"
Steve rolled his eyes in response. "It's up to Nat if she wants to go or not."
Tony turned toward her with a grin on his face. "Well, Romanoff, will Romanogers be making an appearance tonight?"
She sighed, "Only if you stop calling us that stupid ship name."
~~~~~~~~~~~
(Time skip: 5 weeks)
"Natasha, I don't want you to come today." Steve whispered sternly.
"Steve I can't just miss every mission, they'll think it's suspicious. Besides I've already skipped the two before this. I can tell the team doesn't like it." Natasha countered.
Steve sighed, standing silent for awhile. "You know I hate saying this but fine, you can come."
Natasha nodded, "I'll only come as emergency backup. Would you like me to where my suit with extra armour?"
"Very much so." He confirmed, wrapping his arms around her. She enjoyed the comfort, holding him tight.
~~~
"Two spiders chilling in quinjet, five feet apart cause-"
"Stop." Natasha interrupted. She removed her hand from where it had been covering her face.
Peter looked down sheepishly, "Sorry Ms. Natasha." They had been waiting for an hour, with nothing to do. That thankfully meant, however, that the team handy been met with any trouble. "Ms. Natasha, can I ask you something?"
She raised an eyebrow at him, "Within reason and only as long as you're sure you want the answer."
"Uh-uh, o-ok." Peter said, with slightly less confidence, "Whenever I'm around you as of late, I always feel more on guard, like I have to protect you at all costs. Do you know why?"
Natasha's brave persona faltered for only a second, before the smile returned to her face. "Well, I'm not sure why that is, but I am happy you care for me."
For small second they shared a happiness. Then that was ruined. A bright red light began flashing on the dashboard. "Oh no, they need help." Peter was already tugging his mask on as he said that. Though Natasha didn't know it, Steve had come up to him before the left and asked him to keep Natasha ok the jet at all costs, knowing they would be the two reserve backups.
Before Nat could even rise to her feet, Peter was already on the ramp, heading down. "Peter wait! What do you think you're doing? Get back here!"
"Sorry Ms. Natasha. Jarvis, lock her in." With that he disappeared out of sight.
~~~
Natasha paced anxiously, for the next thirty minutes before word came from the team. "Nat?" Clint's voice crackled across the com line, "We're on our way back, get the emergency med table set up."
Natasha's stomach dropped, but she did as she was told. Who had gotten hurt? She didn't have long to wonder, because as soon as she was finished the ramp opened up. The first on through was Tony, still in his Iron Man suit. Natasha quickly realized who had been hurt. Lying in Tony's arms was Peter, his stomach covered in blood, some dripping to the floor. "Oh my gods." She said quietly covering her mouth with her hand. Not far behind was Bruce; once he ran up the ramp, him and Tony set to work on stabilizing Peter. Both had learned some first aid, because look who they're rolling with.
The rest of the group was farther behind, but as soon as Natasha caught sight of Steve, she ran to meet him. The two stood at the bottom of the ramp, holding each other. That is, until Clint told them to hop on the plane. "Are you ok?" Steve asked.
"I'm fine, what happened with Peter?"
"Yeah, Romanoff, what the hell did happen with Peter?" Tony thundered, now that Peter had been stabilized. "We called for backup, and Peter came? He's a teenager Natasha, why did you ever let him come? Because of it he was shot!"
"Tony," Steve commanded, "stop. This wasn't her fault."
Natasha turned away, tears in her eyes. "Except this is my fault," she mumbled lowly, so only Steve could hear her, "I should have gone after him, forced him back to the jet."
"Nat you saw those bullets. If you had been out there you would be dead right, I can't handle that. The only reason those bullets didn't pierce his heart is because of his warning from his Spidey sense, and he was able to slightly move. And you know Tony, this is his way of dealing with grief. He's not really mad." Steve tried to assure her.
Natasha didn't say anything, numbly walking over to bench and pulling her legs up by her. Steve sighed, knowing this would be hard on her. He sat next to her pulling her close against his side, for the long trip home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Time skip: 8 weeks)
Steve lied down on the bed, tired. It had been a long day and Steve was ready for bed. Natasha set her hairbrush on the counter and looked at him, before flopping down next to Steve. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, "I love you, babe. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, love." Steve replied, pulling the covers over them. Draping an arm over Natasha, he settled in for hopefully a restful night.
~~~
Steve woke with a start. Nat. He had to get to her. He ran down the hallways till he finally burst through the hospital doors. He rushed to the bed where she laid and grasped her hand. Then he heard... Natasha's voice? From behind him.
"-eve. Steve! Wake up!" He glanced toward the doorway to see Natasha staring worriedly at him, her bathrobe wrapped around her. Steve looked down to where his hands rested, clutching the sheets.
"Steve what happened?" Natasha asked worriedly.
"I-I don't know." Steve replied. He had never sleep walked before, or sleep run for that matter. Natasha reached out her hand. He went over to her and grasped onto her, grounding him to reality. "Are you ok?" He questioned.
"Of course, I'm fine, we're fine. But what was going on? You just... Burst out of the room."
"It was just a dream. I don't really want to talk about it." Steve wrapped and arm around Natasha, leading them back towards their room. Suddenly, a head popped out from another bedroom. It was Bruce.
"Everything all right out here? What was the noise about." Bruce sleepily asked.
Natasha and Steve shared a glance before she replied. "Nothing, just go back to sleep."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Time skip: 14 weeks)
Natasha shuffled out of her room. She wore black sweatpants and one of Steve's black t-shirts. The color quite reflected her annoyed mood.
"Hey Nat." Tony greeted. She walked right by him, grabbing a cup of coffee, drinking silently. After pouring a second glass she sat down at the table, far away from the others. Steve had encountered many of these days during her pregnancy. He left her be, making sure the others did the same.
"I've got bacon!" Cling exclaimed, happily placing a tray of fresh cooked bacon on the table. While most of the reached for as many slices as they could hold, Natasha stood abruptly. Hurrying into her room, she barely made it to the attached bathroom's toilet before throwing up. Within a minute, she felt her husband's comforting presence, rubbing her back and holding her hair.
When she finally stopped, Nat leaned back against Steve, shivering slightly. "I'm sorry..." She whispered.
"Shh, it's not you fault Natasha, you can't help this." Steve soothed.
"We should... We should probably tell the team soon. It's getting hard to hide." Natasha confessed.
Steve nodded, "If you're sure...when are you thinking? Do you want to do it today?"
"Today. Now works, as long as they remove all that putrid food from the table." She shuddered, trying not to remember the horrible smell.
"Alright," he helped Natasha make it to the bed, "I'll tell them to remove the wretched bacon and then I'll be back for you." He finished with a wink.
~~~
Steve walked to the table and took all the bacon. Including the tray, the pieces from people's plates, and the strip in-between Clint's fingers. "Hey!" He protested, "What do you think you're doing?"
The group shared a grumble of agreement with Katniss. Except Peter, who hadn't wanted to eat any bacon anyway. "Natasha has something to tell you, but this bacon is making her sick." Steve explained, throwing it into the garbage.
"Well couldn't it wait? I really wanted bacon." Clint continued.
"Shut up, this is actually important." Steve warned, leaving to retrieve Natasha. The two returned quickly, Steve's arm wrapped protectively around Nat. She took a seat at the foot of the table, Steve standing behind.
"So..." She began, taking a deep breath, "As I'm sure Steve said, I have something to tell you. We, uh, we didn't want to tell you too soon, because we weren't sure if this would..." Natasha's voice broke slightly, "if this would last. But it has so far, and is going to be hard to continue to hide. So I'm just going to say it. I'm pregnant."
Tony's fork dropped. "What?"
"I knew it!" Peter exclaimed. "That's why I felt so on guard around you!" He leapt from his chair and ran to give Natasha a hug, Wanda following closely behind.
"This is cause for celebration." Tony affirmed, "Let's celebrate with dinner and drinks tonight."
Wanda, Peter, Steve, and Natasha all looked at him in disbelief. "No!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Time skip: 34 weeks)
"I don't want you to leave Steve, please." Natasha pleaded with him.
"I'm sorry Natasha, this mission is huge, and dangerous. The team needs me." Steve said solemnly.
"I know. But Steve the baby is due within a week or so. Please I need you, I can't do this alone." Natasha wiped tears from her eyes.
Steve knew she was right. He wasn't sure what to say. So instead, he hugged her. Held her while she cried. "I'll be back, I promise you."
~~~
Barely.
That's when Steve returned.
Barely.
Pepper and Natasha had been hanging out together one afternoon, five days later when it happened. Natasha was in labor.
Thankfully, Pepper had managed to remain calm, calling Steve, notifying the doctor, and wheeling Natasha to the med bay in a wheelchair.
Steve had rushed through the doors an hour later, instantly kneeling by his wife's side. Natasha clutched his hand in pain, and even though he had super strength, it hurt like heck.
By 5:09 that evening the baby had been born. Natasha laid tiredly on the bed, Pepper having retrieved her favorite blanket. Steve returned with their child a little later.
"A healthy baby girl, Natasha. You did it." Steve gently placed her into Nat's arms.
"Hi there." Natasha whispered, looking at her newborn daughter with a peaceful joy.
"What are we going to name her?" Steve questioned, sitting next to Natasha.
After thinking for a while, she finally responded. "How about... Katelyn Margaret Rogers?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~