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“I need you to come to Clint's right now.”
Steve glanced at the clock beside his bed with a yawn. Half 11. He'd just drifted off to sleep, only to be woken up by Nat ringing him, demanding him to leave his comfortable abode.
“What, why?” he groaned.
It was obvious, but he still asked the question. He could barely hear Nat's voice, a loud wail overpowering any other sound at the end of the line.
“I've been left in charge of Nathaniel if you can't tell already.”
Steve just managed to make out the tiredness in her voice, each sentence she spoke ending in a short catch of breath.
“Where are Clint and Laura?” he asked, rubbing his eyes, pleading that he wouldn't drift off to sleep again. That wouldn't end well with Nat.
“They've gone away for the weekend.Cooper and Lila are staying with friends,” she replied, taking a sigh before crying, “Steve, I don't know how to look after a baby!”
“Why did you say yes then?”
“I panicked, Laura asked me and I felt bad saying no.”
She paused for a second, letting the baby cries continue, strengthening in volume. Steve had to move the phone further away from his ear, the shrieks starting to be painful to his hearing.
“He keeps crying but I don't know why,” she sighed, “I show him food, he cries. I put him down to have a nap, he cries. Apparently, babies have a different cry for different things. It all just sounds like noise to me.”
“Yeah, sounds like noise to me too,” Steve said, letting out a soft chuckle.
“Steve. You're going to have to come over here and help me. Two people having no idea what they're doing is surely better than one. Teamwork, you know. It's what we do.”
Steve really didn't see her logic. But as tired as he was, he just couldn't say no. He would do anything for Nat, go to the ends of the universe for her. And so he found himself clambering out of bed, stretching his arms as high as his body would let him. Steve knew that he wouldn't be getting much more sleep tonight.
“Fine. I'll be there in 20.”
Steve was indeed true to his word. He found himself outside Clint's in no time, 15 minutes and 27 seconds to be precise. Nat opened the door instantly, Nathaniel attached to her hip, still screaming at the top of his lungs. She looked extremely worn out, her hair a mess, rings starting to form under her eyes.
“I don't understand how someone so small can create this much noise,” she huffed.
Opening his arms, Steve beckoned for Nat to pass the shrieking child to him, which she did extremely willingly. Almost instantly, Nathaniel's cries stopped. He gazed up at Steve, huge brown eyes fascinated by the man holding him. Rubbing the baby's back in a circular motion, Steve's eyes were drawn to Nat, who was still stood on the front doorstep. He could tell she was relieved by the peace and quiet, but her arms were folded across her chest.
“Are you shitting me right now?” she shook her head with a sigh, a glimpse of a smile on her face. “Of course you have the magic touch. You're Captain America. All the kids love you.”
Steve grinned, highly amused.
“All the ladies do too.”
Rolling her eyes, Nat turned to go inside.
“You might as well come in now. Nate will probably start bawling again if you leave.”
Steve obeyed. It wasn't like he had anywhere to be.
There was only a few times that Steve could remember being in Clint's house. It was all rather unfamiliar, but he managed to locate the living room, sitting down on the couch and placing Nathaniel upright on his lap. The baby was memorised by him, staring at him, every so often touching his face with his tiny little hands.
“Now this is adorable,” Nat had walked into the room, leaning on the wall with a smile. Steve looked up as when he heard her speak. Returning her expression, he glanced her up and down briefly. Her beautiful face had returned to its usual self, stress free and bright. And everything else... Steve found his eyes getting a little carried away. He directed his gaze back to Nate, hoping that Nat hadn't noticed him staring. But she'd clocked on and was staring at him too.
There was a sudden awkwardness between them. A silence. Images appeared in Steve's head, images that were constantly cropping up at the most inappropriate of times. He simply wanted to kiss the smirk off her lips, pick her up, let her wrap her legs around his waist. But he wasn't even sure if Nat reciprocated such feelings. He was trying to figure her out in their moment of quietness, trying to see if she was thinking about him in the lustful way he was her. She was good at refraining her emotions, however. She instead decided to break the silence.
“You're sweet with him considering you've never looked after a baby before,” she said, nodding to Nathaniel.
Steve was glad the awkwardness had eased, but he wished he'd had the courage to speak up about his sudden thoughts.
“He's a delight,” he eventually said with a grin, in an attempt to tease her, knowing full well that Nate had not been a delight hours before.
With her signature eye roll, Nat stood up straight.
“Hold on. I'll send a pic to Clint and Laura,” she said before backing out of the room, presumably to get her phone. After watching her leave, Steve turned his attention back to Nathaniel, jigging his leg up and down to entertain him.
“You know,” he whispered to the baby, “your auntie is very very pretty. Beautiful in fact.”
Steve carried on his cooing, similar words relating to Nat's perfect looks, Nathaniel replying with gurgles. He was so engrossed with the baby, he hadn't realised that Nat had returned phone in hand.
“He doesn't say much back, you know,” she interrupted with a smile.
Steve jumped, feeling his face getting hot. He hoped that she hadn't been able to make out what he'd been saying, trying to play it off as best as he could.
“Yeah it's a bit of a one way conversation,” he chuckled.
Nat snapped a quick photo and sent it to Laura, before joining Steve and Nate on the sofa. She turned the television on, finding an appropriate channel to leave it on. Nathaniel was occupied with it instantly, taking his eyes off it every so often to stare at the two adults with him. Nat and Steve watched the TV reluctantly, the silly cartoon characters being rather tiresome. Each glance Steve shot at Nat, she became more and more sleepy, until her head began to drop. Once her eyes had shut completely, Steve gave her a gentle nudge.
“You go and get some sleep. I'll keep Nathaniel down here tonight.”
“You don't have to stay the night if you don't want to.”
“No, it's fine. I'm happy to.”
Nat yawned, rolling her shoulders as she got to her feet.
“Are you sure you'll be ok on the couch?”
With a nod, Steve gave Nat a reassuring smile, in which he received a grateful look, before Natasha exited the room.
The next morning, Steve woke up early. He did most days, enjoying watching the sun rise. And as soon as he opened his eyes, his mind instantly thought about breakfast.
Entering the kitchen, Steve placed Nate in his high chair, before starting his search for utensils and food ingredients. He managed to find what he needed, cracking a couple of eggs into a bowl as Nat walked into the room.
“Are you making pancakes?” she asked with a stretch.
“I am indeed.”
Steve clocked Nat's uncertain face as she went to stroke the top of Nate's head. She wasn't allowed to judge his cooking, especially since she'd never tried it.
“Don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em,” he said with a grin, watching Nat cross the kitchen to find Nate's food.
“Okay, Rogers. Whatever you say,” she replied, flashing him a smile.
Once Steve had concocted an adequate amount of pancakes, the two of them sat down at the dining table and tucked in, Nat admitting that they were indeed delicious. Nate sat beside them in his chair, having eaten his own breakfast previously, his mouth smeared with baby food.
“Why don't we take Nate out today,” Steve said.
“Sure. Where are you thinking?”
“Just to the park. Maybe stop off for lunch somewhere.”
“Sounds great. I'll go and attempt to get Nate dressed,” Nat stood, picking Nathaniel up, while Steve cleared the empty plates.
It was pleasant weather, so Nat had dressed the baby in a t shirt and shorts, his little outfit complete with a hat. Nat had put her hair up, braided, and Steve loved it. It kept her hair out of her face, made her beautiful features more visible. He would've complimented her, but he felt too awkward. And so he kept his opinions to himself.
They left Clint's just before lunch, walking to the local park. Conveniently, there was a café right next door and so they stopped for a drink. All eyes were on Nathaniel as soon as the three of them entered, many faces softening at the sight of the cute baby. After ordering two coffees and a couple of sandwiches, Nat and Steve kept up their usual conversation until their food came.
“What a beautiful baby.”
Both heads shot up to find an elderly lady gazing at Nate, tilting her head in adoration. Steve saw Nat open her mouth, ready to shut down any suggestion that Nathaniel was theirs, but Steve jumped on, playing along.
“Thank you.”
“How old is he?”
“8 months today actually.” That was a lie. Steve didn't have a clue how old Nate was, but it sounded believable enough. Nat stared at him throughout the entire exchange, unsure what to say. The old lady smiled at the trio.
“Well, he's a little charmer. Must get it from his parents.”
Nat watched in awe as the lady left, her head instantly shooting back to Steve, a small smile on her face.
“You're a shit, you know that?”
“What? To everyone we've walked past today, we probably look like a normal couple who's just had a baby.”
“Wait until they find out that I don't have a uterus.”
The joke was dark, but Nat still smiled, letting Steve know it was ok to laugh.
“You can't deny that it's quite entertaining tho,” Steve said with a smirk.
“Ok, it is a little bit.”
“You're good at the whole pretending to be someone else thing. Why don't we have some fun with it?”
Standing up, he took hold of her hand, Nat seeming comfortable with him doing so.
“For the next couple of hours, you are the soon to be Mrs Rogers, a science teacher. I'm ex army, and we go round America renovating houses. And this,” he gestured to Nate, who reached out to grab his finger, “ is our son Nathaniel, little angel he is.”
Nat simply smiled, rising to her feet, not letting go of his hand.
“ Fine.”
They managed to keep up the cover very well, recieving many looks and comments about how beautiful of a family they were. Steve was enjoying it so much, he nearly believed it to be real.
It seemed as though Nat had forgotten that their relationship was fake, as she kept hold of Steve's hand even until they were back at Clint's. The realisation of her actions made her face redden, and she didn't acknowledge Steve when she dropped his hand and walked into the house. Steve's heart sank a little as she did so; her touch having been comforting to him throughout the day. Maybe it was a sign that her feelings toward him were simply platonic.
Once Nathaniel had been put down to sleep, Nat joined Steve on the couch, kicking off her shoes and putting her feet up.
“It was fun being your pretend fiancé,” she said with a smile.
“We must be a very convincing couple if everyone believed us,” Steve replied, returning her pleasant look.
Nat nodded in agreement, chuckling to herself. There was a brief moment of silence, Nat clearly wanting to say something. Steve watched her mouth open, then close again, attempting to choose her words carefully. Eventually, she spoke.
“So you think I'm pretty, huh.”
Steve was not expecting those words to come out of Nat's mouth. He must have looked very taken aback, because Nat felt she had to elaborate what she'd said.
“I heard you talking to the baby yesterday, Steve.”
Steve froze for a second. Why was she mentioning such a topic? Was she trying to hint at something? He couldn't quite tell, but he felt like he wouldn't find out her intentions if he didn't take a leap of faith.
“Pretty is an understatement.”
Nat bowed her head with a smile, taking the compliment in.
“Is it now? Well, you're not too bad yourself,” she said with a smirk, glancing up at Steve, not taking her eyes off him.
The atmosphere in the room had completely changed. Seconds before it had seemed friendly. Now the tension was beginning to build up and everything had suddenly become intimate.
Nat had somehow made her way closer to him, her face inches away from his. Steve didn't even remember her moving, but he could barely breathe as she rested a hand on his thigh.
“We never actually stated when we were going to stop the pretend couple scenario,” she whispered.
“What are you saying?”
“What do you think I'm saying? You're Captain America, surely you can figure it out.”
She tilted her head towards him, her lips looking ever so inviting. He just wanted to lean forward and break the gap between them, but Nat wouldn't let him. Her hand slid up his neck, her fingers getting caught in his hair.
“Natalia Alianovna Romanova,” he muttered breathlessly, “you need to stop teasing me like that.”
“You using my full name sounds like pillow talk to my ears, Rogers,” she replied softly, briefly brushing her lips against his.
“That's my plan.”
And then he was kissing her. His hands grabbing onto her hips, her legs straddling around his waist. Steve couldn't help but find glee in the soft moan that was coming out of Nat's mouth as he pulled her further on top of him.
Suddenly, a distant cry broke the quiet around them. At first neither of them moved, Steve proceeding to plant kisses along Nat's neck. But as the crying continued, Steve reluctantly broke away from her, letting go of her so she could climb off him.Trust Nate to interrupt them at the most convenient of times.
“You don't move,” Steve said, rising to his feet, “Stay right there. I'll be back.”
Nat lent back, catching her breath, a wide smile on her face.
“I'm not going anywhere.”