Work Text:
When Steven Grant Rogers unlocked the door of his small apartment in his navy combat suit, he wasn't thinking about work. He wasn't thinking about his long day, or the incredibly rude, persistent cyborg that has refused to let go of a family trapped in a house he held in his hand. No. He wasn't thinking about any of that. What he was thinking of, however, was his family, and his heart swelled at the very motion. And his family was what he saw when he entered the living area and adjoining kitchen. His redhead fiancée, the love of his life was leaning against the kitchen counter, a book splayed open in front of her. In Natasha's arms, lying against her chest, was their tiny newborn son, who was nursing at that current moment. Steve smiled widely. Yes. His son. That was what he was thinking of. In fact, he had been so fixedly thinking about this, that he had, fatally, failed to notice how the door of the closet in the hall was slightly open, hanging ajar. Inside of which hid a certain S.H.I.E.L.D agent by the name of Phil Coulson.
Believe me, he didn't want to be there either. He felt like the creepiest person ever. But, his mission was to know what Romanoff and Rogers were hiding. Evidently, it was a lot more than he bargained for.
"Hey!" Steve grinned, carelessly discarding his navy helmet and vibranium shield onto the coffee table as he headed into the open kitchen behind the sofa. He reached Natasha and sneaked a sly kiss on her cheek before slipping past her to the fridge and opening it. He grabbed a carton of orange juice out of it just as Natasha looked up from the book on the counter. She smiled back in greeting and Steve's heart fluttered. Still, to this day.
"Hey, Cap'. Why're you so late?" The hand previously holding the book open moved to her sons back and patted it soothingly as he wriggled.
"You know we can't leave the compound at the same time, it's suspicious." Steve said, taking a short swig straight from the carton in his hand.
"Rogers! You drink out of the carton one more time and I'll drop kick your ass." Nat quipped, slapping Steve's arm and snatching the carton from his hand before putting it on the counter, far away from Steve's wandering hands.
He chuckled light-heartedly and moved to behind Natasha, his hand falling to her waist and his chin sitting in the dip between her shoulder and neck.
"Language, darling. You wouldn't want to teach the baby bad words, now would you?" He reached a finger down to his son's nose and pressed it lightly in a playful way. "How's he been today?"
"Nanny said he was good. Little fussy towards the afternoon though, didn't settle for a while. I let her go about half an hour ago."
The small infants arm jerked in its coral blue sleeve, moving to grasp at his mother's clothes. His large eyes opened wide, staring up at his parents as he ate. His face was barely visible in the sleepsuit he was dressed in, as it dwarfed the tiny newborn. He hadn't yet begun to grow properly yet and was still practically as small as when he was born.
"Dear me, buddy. Put the nanny in for a hard time, did yah?" Steve gently scolded the baby.
"He's finished. You wanna burp him?" Nat asked, adjusting her grip on the now fidgeting child.
"Sure."
Nat cautiously passed the baby into Steve's large, bulky arms. The baby looked even smaller in them but Steve focused on getting him as comfortable as possible and they both soon relaxed. Nat loved seeing Steve with their son. His whole demeanour changed around him and everything about him softened, focusing solely on the tiny body in his arms. Steve lifted baby Rogers over his shoulder, delicately trying to avoid the cumbersome suit armour he still had on.
"You got a cloth?" Steve asked, beginning to pat the baby on his back. Natasha, who was zipping her stealthy black suit back up, tossed him a white cloth that had been lying over her other shoulder. Steve caught it and delicately placed it under the baby's chin before resuming burping. He followed Natasha into the living area as she slumped onto the sofa, exhausted.
"Tired? What did you do today?" Steve asked concernedly.
"Civilian hostage rescue. Not huge." Natasha answered shortly, glancing at Steve who was still burping their son and who nodded in acknowledgement. She heard the baby hiccup quietly and chucked internally.
"I love you." She smiled brightly up at him. He smiled back.
"And I love you."
He moved to sit down next to Natasha and brought the baby down from his shoulder to cradle in his arms. "He's done. I'm just gonna head to the toilet, kay?"
Natasha nodded, holding out her arms to receive the baby. He passed the now dozing child off to his mother and left, leaving Nat to rock her baby.
"Hey baby." she whispered, completely unaware that her every action was being observed by Coulson each passing second. She combed the baby's blonde wisps of hair back with her fingers as he drifted off to sleep. "You sogot daddy's hair, didn't you? And his eyes." She placed a light kiss on the newborn's temple. "You're like daddy in pretty much every single way… but I suppose I can't complain about that, can I?" she smiled goofily at her son. "это мой мальчик."* She began to sing him a lullaby in Russian.
"все королевские лошади
и все люди царя,
не мог собрать меня снова
но у меня есть чудо
и меня держит Бог
и я бы никогда не покинул тебя, дорогая.
кто бы мог тебя покинуть, дорогой?
кто мог остаться?"*
Her body swayed as she sung, rocking the baby. It was such a private, intimate moment that Coulson felt embarrassed watching it. Like he was intruding. Which he was, technically, he realised. He consoled himself by convincing himself he shouldn't be the one feeling embarrassed. Her and Steve were the ones who had hidden this place, this child, from her loved ones intentionally. This would hurt them.
While Natasha was immersed in comforting her son, Coulson snuck out of the closet under the cover of the darkness of the hall and dim lighting of the living area and stood in the doorway of the hall, waiting for her to notice him.
A disturbance in the air that Natasha had sensed and a patch of darkness in her peripheral vision she could see made her stop singing straight away. An uneasy feeling rose in her chest and made her vaguely nauseous. Sensing danger, Natasha drew her son as close as she could to her chest and looked up. One glance was all it took to see the dark figure of a man in the hallway and she didn't hesitate to yell.
"Steve!" she shouted as loud as she could.
She still couldn't see the mysterious figure's face because of the dim lighting and the shadows he hid in.
"Nat? Are you okay?" she heard Steve cry from the bathroom. There was a couple of crashes and a thump as Steve rushed to get to Nat. He came skidding into the living area just as Coulson stepped into the light.
"Coulson?" both Steve and Nat cried incredulously at the same time.
"What are you doing here? How did you find us? You're not supposed to know where we live! No one is!"
Steve was angry, approaching Phil menacingly, teeth clenched in a grimace. Natasha was angry too. Coulson had blown the safe house it had taken them months to find for them and their son. What's more, he could have led other, more dangerous adversaries to them. Mercifully, the Black Widow and Captain America's child continued to sleep peacefully in Nat's arms, despite Steve's rapidly raising voice.
"Explain yourself!"
"I tracked Natasha home, here. I knew there was something going on, with all your stolen glances and silent conversations. Turns out your home location is not the only thing you have been keeping a secret." His gaze fell to the quietly sleeping baby.
Steve got right up in Coulson's face and pointed a threatening finger at him.
"If you harm one hair on my son's head, and I mean one hair, you will die in the most painful way I can imagine, you hear me?" he growled.
"Steve. Calm down." Natasha warned Steve. After a few seconds, Steve backed down stepping back to the sofa which Natasha was rising from.
"I don't intend to harm your son. I am simply on a mission. But I'm a little curious. It's a wonder nobody found out after this long considering your job alongside a concealed pregnancy. How did you do it?" he directed his question at Natasha.
After a moment's hesitation, she told him. He was part of S.H.I.E.L.D, she had to trust him. "Hyper-manipulative fibre-optic photostatic veil. It acts as an enhanced photostatic veil, creates any illusion you like, rather than one pre-existing."
Coulson nodded, impressed. "Right. That's some extreme advanced technology, where on earth did you get your hands on it?"
"You're becoming nosey, Coulson. I'd be careful if I were you. But, if you must know, Hill calibrated it extremely recently. Don't get excited though, it's not officially released to anyone else yet. Fury put a rush on her to finish it for me, just didn't tell her why."
"I understand you don't want to tell me everything, just protecting your little one and all. But I'm not here to hurt you, or Rogers Jr." he gestured to the baby.
Steve and Natasha stared him down furiously, Steve taking a defensive position in front of Nat and the infant. Coulson stared back, arms crossed, expression determined. After what seemed like ages, Steve exchanged a look with Natasha and they seemed to both decide to trust him, as Steve moved away and his shoulders relaxed.
"His name is James. Not 'Rogers Jr.'" Steve said.
Nat was a little shocked at the ease with which Steve had disclosed their son's slightly controversial name. She wasn't even sure Coulson knew who Bucky was. She looked questioningly at Steve but he nodded back and that was all she needed. She trusted Steve, and if he believed it was safe, so did she.
"I'm gonna go and put James to bed and come back so we can talk about this, properly." Nat stated. She felt both pairs of eyes follow her as she left. Once the door to the nursery shut behind her, she felt instantly more at ease. She brought James up to her face and kissed him again.
"Our secret's out now, солнце." she sighed dejectedly. She laid him down in the white and soft blue wooden crib Steve had built for him. As she set him down, James' arm stretched out and grasped onto one of the bars of the crib. She stroked his tiny fist before waving and leaving the room.
When she entered the main room of the apartment, Steve had sat down on the brown leather couch while Coulson leaned awkwardly on the wall of the closet. She took a seat next to Cap on the couch and looked up at Coulson.
"Fine. What do you want to know?" she asked exasperatedly.
"When was he born?"
"July. 26th."
"So he's only a few weeks old?"
"Correct."
"When did you and Rogers...for want of a better word, start to...fondue?"
Steve snorted at the reference to his very words in the past. Natasha just rolled her eyes. "I mean…when did you engage in a romantic relationship?"
"A year and a half ago."
"Why?"
"Why? Did you really just ask that? It isn't really any of your business. It happened."
"Right. Your son is only a few weeks old. Why are you already back in the field? Surely you need time to recover."
"She's the Black Widow. She gets back in the field when she wants to." Steve cut in. Nat smiled wanly.
"I felt no need to stay out longer than I needed to. Besides, it only would have aroused suspicion." she explained further.
"For who? Is Fury the only one who knows?"
"Fury is the only one who knows. When I found out I was pregnant, the first thing I did was go and tell Fury, as I didn't know what it would mean for my current mission at the time, and my job. Steve was actually outside the door and heard everything. I would've told him eventually, just probably not at that exact moment. Fury organised a safe house, or apartment rather, for us to move into and arranged things like healthcare for me and childcare for after the baby was born. He exempted me from missions when I hit my third trimester." Natasha answered Phil's question before he could ask it. "No one suspected because he advertised that I was still doing missions, sending me along with Steve, when really I would sit in the quinjet while Steve did the work for the both of us."
"Do forgive me for asking, but I was under the impression you weren't able to have children. Your S.H.I.E.L.D file talked about your experiences in the Red Room, including the graduation ceremony. How did you get pregnant?"
Natasha jabbed a thumb towards Steve. "Super-serum. Apparently, he's enhanced everywhere. Believe me, I was not aware."
Steve's cheeks flushed, but Nat pretended not to notice.
"Nobody else knows? No one? Not even Clint, Bucky?"
"No. Just us, Fury, and now you." Nat finished.
There was a silence as Coulson paced in front of the sofa Nat and Steve lay sprawled on.
"I know it's private, but when abouts did you actually get pregnant?"
"If it's private, why are you asking?" Natasha smirked, arching an eyebrow.
"No reason, sorry." He assured, returning to his pacing.
"How are you going to raise him? He can't stay a secret forever, trapped in this apartment for his whole life."
"You're right. He will stay a secret until he is no longer, or less, in danger from those around him, or until those around him no longer pose a threat to his well-being." Steve started.
"Knowledge of his existence is a weakness. Our enemies could torture you for information about us, and we will not tolerate knowledge of our son's existence or whereabouts to cross your lips if we can help it. When there is less of a target on our backs, we will introduce him. That is, unless James had already been discovered at that time. Now our safe house has been blown, we will need to find another one. Anyone could have tracked you here as you did me, knowing your connections to us. By this time tomorrow, we could be dead or the whole world could know that Black Widow gave birth to Captain America's son." Natasha explained.
"Ah, yes. Sorry about that. Blowing your cover and all."
"It's done now, Coulson. It's a shame, I was really starting to like this place. I hope we can take James' crib with us, it's just so beautiful." Natasha rose from her slouch on the couch. "Coulson, if you don't mind, the evening is rounding up and your visit means I have some calls to make, and I was hoping to make them before Rogers' son wakes up for food, so if you'd be on your way…" she gestured to the door.
"Yes, yes, of course. Well, I wish all of you the best, and-"
"-and if you breathe a word of this to anyone, you're dead." Steve interrupted, getting protective again. Everyone headed to the door.
"Yes, well, that." he mumbled uncomfortably. "Romanoff. Rogers." he nodded to the two agents in turn before quietly leaving, shutting the door behind him. Steve triple locked it for good measure.
He turned to face Nat, both experiencing the same overwhelming 'wow' feeling. Okay. That happened.
"Come here, soldier." she said, opening her arms and inviting him in.
He took one step into them and enveloped her small body in his arms, holding her close. Her head rested on his shoulder and he smothered his in her hair like he'd first done all those years ago. When they broke apart, he took her hand. She jerked her head towards the sofa and TV.
"I'll make those calls in the morning. Come on, let's see what's on."
And so, the two took a seat close to each other on the sofa with their sleeping baby in the next room, safe in each other's embrace and knowing that they were granted each others eternal protection.
__________________________________
*Translations:
это мой мальчик - that's my boy
все королевские лошади
и все люди царя,
не мог собрать меня снова
но у меня есть чудо
и меня держит Бог
и я бы никогда не покинул тебя, дорогая.
кто бы мог тебя покинуть, дорогой?
кто мог остаться?
- all the king's horses
and all the king's men,
couldn't put me back together again.
but i have a miracle
and i am held by God
and i would never leave you, darling.
who could ever leave you, darling?
who could stay?
солнце - (my) little sun