Chapter 15: The baby shower

1 month later.

Wanda and Clint had been preparing a baby shower for Natasha and Steve's baby, and today was finally the day. Natasha had put on a nice, flowery, green dress, and she had arranged her hair in a messy bun, with pieces of hair trailing down around her ears. She was busy applying a small amount of make up to her already glowing face. Steve entered the room, smiling as his fell onto her. "Wow, you look adorable." He stammered. She looked up at him, surprised, and smiled. "What?" He asked, moving over to her and kissed her forehead. "No one has ever called me adorable before. It's always either sexy, hottie, hot-stuff, or once in England, peng, whatever the fuck that means?""Well, they should call you adorable more often." He wrapped his arms around her as she finished applying her mascara. "Do you need me to get you your shoes?" He offered, smiling at her in the mirror."Yes please, they're the green flats in the wardrobe." She smiled as she reached over to get her lipstick. She groaned slightly as she did so, her hand moving towards her stomach."Are you alright?" Steve asked, walking over to her with her shoes in his hand."Yeah, the baby's kicking really hard.""Does it hurt?" He queried as he bent down to put them on her feet."A little bit, but it's really nothing." She brushed it aside as she applied her lipstick.

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The living room was decked in blue and pink streamers that adorned the walls, and matching balloons were pinned at each end of the streamers. There was a pile of presents in the corner, and loads of cushions on the sofas and chairs. The rest of the avengers were already there, including Fury and Agent Hill, all sitting down either on the sofas or on extra cushions on the floor, leaving a squashy armchair for Nat. "Ah, the radiant mother-to-be, and the amazing father-to-be." Tony greeted them as they entered the room. Natasha beamed as she made her way over to the armchair and sat down, with Steve sitting on the arm."So, how're you feeling?" Clint asked from the floor, grinning at them."I'm feeling good, except the baby kicks much harder than before." She said, wincing slightly at another blow in the stomach."Does it hurt that much?" Wanda queried."It hurts, but it's nothing compared to what we come out of fights with."

"Hey, do you want to open the presents?" Peter asked, eagerly."Sounds like a great idea." Steve said, looking over at Nat. She smiled at him and nodded. Peter immediately scrambled up off of the floor and grabbed his present from the pile. He nearly fell over as he made his way over to the couple, and nearly threw his present at them. Nat laughed as she unwrapped the small bundle. It was a small onesie with a little spider on it and underneath it said "Little Spiderling"."It's adorable, thank you Peter." Nat smiled, reaching over and hugging him. Peter blushed slightly, before plonking himself back down on his cushion. Tony reached over to the pile and pulled out his own parcel, large and round. He handed it to them. They began unwrapping it, and a smaller version of Cap's shield. "It's a bobsled for your kid of for the winter.""Is this vibranium?" Cap marvelled, feeling the sled and turning it over in his hands."No, it's a gold-titanium alloy, just like my suit. I painted it with waterproof paint so that it was identical to your own.""Wow, Tony, this is amazing. Thank you so much." Nat gushed, giving him a swift peck on the cheek. Her hand slowly flew to her stomach as her child began kicking her again. Fury stood up, eyeing her carefully as he handed them their presents. "Here you two are." He said, as they began to unwrap their gifts. In the parcel were a t-shirt with "Papa Bear" on it, another saying "Mama Bear", and a small onesie saying "Baby Bear"."Thank you so much, Nick." Nat smiled, embracing her father figure. He smiled one of his rare, soft smiles at her, as he placed his large hand on her huge bump."Wow, this kid's feisty." He exclaimed, feeling only a fraction of it's strength. She nodded, smiling through the pain.

Half an hour later, they had unwrapped all of the presents. There had been cuddly toys from Sam, Wanda, Pepper, and Bucky, blankets and clothes from Vision, Rhodey, T'Challa and Shuri, and Clint had bought essentials such as breast pumps and diaper genies.

"Who wants to play truth or dare?" Tony suggested."Sounds great." Nat answered."Great. Barton, truth or dare?" Tony asked the assassin."Truth." He answered."What happened in Budapest?" Nat shifted uncomfortably."Tony, ask him something else." Steve cut in, noticing the widow's response."Ok, then, if you weren't with Laura, who would you go out with in SHIELD?""Umm, probably Georgia?" He answered, unsure of his answer."Nice, she's smoking." Tony agreed, earning himself a death stare from Pepper beside him."Ok, then," Clint moved on. "Nat, truth or dare?""Dare." She answered confidently."Alright then, I dare you and Rogers to make out for 5 minutes." He grinned."Don't you think that's for teenagers?" Steve asked, sceptically."Steve it's fine, come on." She said, turning to face him. Their heads moved together, and their lips met. Steve's hands found their way into her hair, whilst Nat wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing passionately and slowly, allowing their tongues to peak into each other's mouth."Wow, wasn't expecting that." Tony broke the silence after their five minutes was up. They broke apart, and they looked around the room. Nat got up, embarrassed, and left the room, not looking back."Too far, guys, too far." Steve said, following after her.

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"You wanna talk?" He asked, closing the bedroom door behind him. She shook her head. She was lying on the bed, facing the wall opposite to the door, her hand on her stomach. Steve moved over to her and noticed that she was wincing, an expression of pain subtly evident on her face. "Is the baby kicking too hard, again?" He began massaging her stomach slightly, she sighed at the relief. "No, it's another Braxton Hicks contraction. I'll be fine, you don't need to worry.""'Tasha, you know I'll always worry about you." He said, laughing slightly as he kissed her forehead.