Chapter 5: The Barton residency

The following morning, Nat awoke to something hard and pointy being poked into her face. She groaned, hoping that it would stop. It didn't. Groaning some more, she turned over onto her other side, facing Steve. He shifted over to her slightly, and buried her face lovingly into his chest. They felt a small weight begin to climb onto the bed and on top of them. She grabbed a nearby pillow and flung it in the direction of the small nuisance, making a bullseye with its face. It laughed at the collision "You're funny auntie Nat!""Go away." She moaned, batting her hand at the small boy. He continued to laugh."Nate, stop annoying poor Nat. She needs her sleep.""Why though?" He asked, as he ran over to his mother. "It's gone nine o'clock, she should be awake and playing dinosaurs with me. She promised!""She's probably not feeling very well. She hasn't been able to live in a nice home for a while, and neither has Captain Rogers.""But she promised!" He wailed, as she took him downstairs.

Steve opened his eyes and grinned at Natasha, letting her into his warm embrace. "Morning, gorgeous.""Morning." She returned the smile, but keeping her eyes still closed, hoping to stay like this forever."How're you feeling?" He asked, gently rubbing her back."Not good." She moaned softly, her stomach churning and her head spinning slightly."You want to stay in bed?" She nodded, her soft red hair tickling his unshaven chin. "Ok, we can stay in bed.""Uh oh!" She gasped, and pelted towards the bathroom, Steve following after her quickly.

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She groaned, clutching her small bump, as Steve went looking through the medicine cabinet for some paracetamol tablets. Once he had found some, he handed her the box and then went hunting for a glass. She didn't wait; she popped two tablets out, swallowed them dry. She shuddered as they scratched the insides of her throat and leaned against Steve's leg, beads of sweat forming on her brow. "How much longer does this go on for?" She whispered, as Steve stroked her hair, brushing it out of her eyes."What, the pregnancy, or the morning sickness?" He asked, smiling at her."The morning sickness! I can deal with the other aspects of pregnancy, but not this fucking shitfest.""Look, I understand how uncomfortable you are, but you need to refrain from using that kind of language.""It's fine, they've heard me call Clint much worse.""That doesn't make it ok." Nat rolled her eyes as Steve lowered himself onto the floor behind her and wrapped his entire body around her, trying to make everything seem better than it was, to try and calm her down. He gently kissed her neck and pushed a lock of scarlet hair behind her ear. Tears rolled down her face; he had never seen her more vulnerable than the past week. It broke him to see her like this, with her walls crumbling around them. "What's on your mind, 'Tasha?" He nuzzled into her neck."Will I be normal again? I mean, as normal as I was before?" He chuckled slightly, pulling her closer towards him."Nat, nothing has really changed; you are still the brilliant you, you have always been.""Thank you Steve, that's exactly what I needed to hear.""I know. Now, shall we go and get some breakfast?""I can try and eat?""Good girl." He kissed her cheek as they stood up and walked towards the stairs.

As they entered the kitchen, they could smell sausages cooking under the grill, bacon being fried, and toast being cooked. The smell was too overwhelming for her, causing a wave of nausea to over come her. "Oh no!" She cried, as she dashed back upstairs to the bathroom."I'm so sorry." Steve apologised to Laura as she busied herself with the bacon."Don't apologise to me, it's fine. Go and make sure that she's ok." She returned. Steve made haste, going up the stairs two at a time.

"Nat," He began, seeing her crying on the floor in front of the toilet. Moving over to her, he knelt on the floor, cradling the sobbing assassin in his arms. "It's not your fault.""What are they going to think of me?""They understand. They've already gone through this three times. I'm sure they found it hard too when Laura was pregnant with Cooper.""How did she make it look so easy then?"

Steve paused for a moment, trying to think of an answer. "They didn't have the stress we have." He said after a while. He rocked her gentle, pulling her up onto his lap, her head on his chest. She could smell the faint scent of his cologne, mixed with his own scent of cinnamon and cedar. She breathed it in, allowing it to fill her lungs, easing her aching stomach, and getting lost in his touch.