Chapter Text
“And in other news today, a baby girl was found outside the local hospital. A nurse says the mother came into the hospital asking for help.”
Natasha stared at the TV with wide eyes. A little girl was abandoned at the hospital. Where was the mother? What about the father?
“Steve, look at this,” Natasha said nudging her husband awake. Steve blinked his eyes a couple of times and looked toward the TV.
“The mother left the carrier on one of the inside benches along with a note saying that she couldn’t afford to care for the baby and that she wanted nothing to do with it.”
“Aww, poor baby,” Steve said.
“I feel bad for the mom too. The fact that she had the guts to abandon her child is just horrifying,” she responded.
“Wonder where the father is?”
Natasha shook her head as she turned her direction back to the TV. The news anchor went on to say the answer to Steve’s question.
“The father of the baby left after he learned that the mother was pregnant, saying he wanted nothing to do with it as well. He actually went as far as taking her to an abortion clinic. A nurse at the clinic helped her escape and call the authorities. Currently, the boy has a restraining order on her for trying to abuse her.”
“Well, someone needs to teach that kid some manners,” Steve said.
“That girl is probably scared of out her mind,” Natasha answered.
A comfortable silence fell between them as the news anchor moved onto a different news story.
“Nat, you OK?” he asked when he felt her squeeze his hand.
“I just can’t imagine what her life is going to be like. I mean, look what happened to me, my childhood was taken from me. I grew up learning how to kill people. I was tortured and beaten. I was…” She trailed off as she couldn’t finish her sentence. Steve let go of her hand and wrapped his own around her in a tight hug. He knew what Natasha was forced into the Red Room by Ivan. He knew, based on what she told him and what he read in her file and from talks with Clint about what the Red Room had done to her. Probably the worst thing that had been done to her is that she had been sterilized, not once, but twice when she was taken captive by Igor in Bahrain nearly a year ago. In fact, Igor had done so much internal damager tot her that she had to have her uterus and ovaries removed in an emergency surgery.
“Shh, it’s OK. All of that’s over now. You’re safe with me,” he soothed.
“Bahrain still ruined me! I’m damaged!” She sobbed.
“Nat, that’s not true. You healed from that, and you healed from the Red Room.”
For the next few minutes, Natasha continued to sob into his chest. He whispered softly to her, trying to comfort her. Whenever something triggered a memory of her past, she always broke down and would be in need of comfort. Yes, she had come to terms with the fact that Ivan was dead and she had killed Igor herself, but there were still numerous horrors of her past that haunted her. The only way she would get sleep is if Steve held her.
“Steve,” she said lifting her head a little. “Do you still want a family?”
Steve was taken aback by her question. Up until now, there had never been any previous talk about even the idea of having a family. Steve was too afraid to bring it up to her. He also accepted the fact that Natasha would never want to have kids based on what had happened to her. Now, here she was asking him if he still wanted a family.
“You know that I do,” he answered. “And I’ve been clinging to a hope that one day you might reconsider it.”
“I’ve been going back and forth on it the past few days. Thinking about what it would be like if we had a child of our own. I picture them running around the base, playing outside, running to our bed in a thunderstorm, and then me teaching them the same verse that Anna taught me that night,”
“I remember that night,” Steve interrupted her.
“I picture us teaching them about God, them growing up to be adults. I could go on, but we would be here awhile,” she said smiling.
“So you’re saying you want to try and adopt two of them?”
“Maybe one for starters. Maybe that little girl we just saw on the news. They never said her name, so maybe we could name her.”
“Adoptions take a long time, but if it’s what you want, we can certainly try,” Steve said taking her hands in his.
“Yes, I do want this. I want a family,” she said as she began to sob again. Steve leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers in hopes that she would draw a bit of strength from him.
“Alright,” he said leaning back to look into her eyes. “I’ll call social services and see what we have to do to start the process. Oh, Nat, I’m so excited for us right now.”
“Me too, Steve. We’re going to be a sem’ya!”
“Family,” Steve responded realized what she had said. “Never thought I’d hear you say that,” he said smiling.
“Neither did I.”
“I love you. Steve,” she whispered.
“I love you, Nat. I’m so happy that we’re doing this. More importantly, I’m happy for you in making the decision.”
“We’re gonna make it happen.”
The following day, Steve went to DC social services to inquire about adoption. In return, he received a bunch of papers that he and Natasha would have to fill out.
“Are we able to adopt the little girl that we heard about on the news?” he asked the social worker.
“I think I can arrange that. She’s currently living with me until a foster family can be found.”
“Did the mother name her?”
“Not that I was told. I’ve been calling her Natalie, or Nat," the social worker told him.
"That's what I call my wife. It's short for Natasha."
After going over a few more details, Steve shook the social worker’s hand and left the office.
He returned to SHIELD like he had just won the lottery.
The prize.
A daughter.