Topic: Here We Are

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:25 EST
With the chaos of Christmas and New Year over, and school begun again, life had calmed down immensely on Maple Grove. As much as Lucy Rogers loved her family, it was a relief to only have to handle the twins during the day, especially with Steve splitting his time between illustrating and security consulting for the volunteer crews in the city. Snow lay thick over the Grove, providing a fantastic playground for Sarah and Natalia, overseen by their parents from the porch in a rare free lunchtime together.

"It's weird, Luce," Steve mused aloud, a mug of hot coffee between his hands. "For the first time in my life, I have more time than I know what to do with." It wasn't a bad thing, necessarily - just different, especially for a man who had selflessly pledged his life to fight evil.

"Maybe you can do something for yourself, for once," his wife suggested with a fond smile. She was wrapped up in a thick sweater and a scarf, her own hands staying warm around a tea cup. "Something you enjoy, that's just for you. Or, you know, just more incredible sex with your pixie-like wife."

Steve chuckled, mostly at his wife's remark about sex, but at least, he didn't blush. He'd grown accustomed to her outspoken way of telling him what she wanted, especially in regard to their sex life. "Are you saying I don't satisfy your needs?" he teased back, blue eyes bright with amusement.

She snorted with laughter, leaning against his side. "If I could get away with it, we wouldn't get out of bed until at least midday every day," she reminded him affectionately. "Sadly, we made mini-mes who need looking after."

"Well, we could give them away, but I have a feeling we'd miss them," he teased further, turning his head to touch a kiss to her temple. He didn't have to ask if she was happy; the answer was right there to see in the way her eyes sparkled when she was near him.

With the twins now fast approaching two and able to communicate a little, life was far less stressful than it had been even six months ago. It showed in the more relaxed line of Lucy's shoulders as she smiled up at her husband. "Oh, by the way ....it looks like someone's moving into Birchwood - you know, the cottage on the other side of the hedge there?"

Steve arched a brow at that news and glanced in the direction of the cottage next door. "More Grangers, I assume. You'd think they were all accounted for by now," he said. He wasn't complaining exactly. The Grangers had been more than generous to him and his family; it just amazed him how many of them there were.

"Somehow I don't think there's an end to this family," Lucy agreed with a grin. She wasn't wrong about the house across the way getting new people in, though - there was definitely movement inside.

As Sarah suddenly let out a happy shriek and tackled Natalia into a snow drift, a familiar bark made itself known from the other side of the hedge, and a very familiar Cocker Spaniel bounced into view for a split second. And again. And again.

Steve's brow arched a little higher at the commotion next door. Though he was no fool, you could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he deduced just who was moving in next door. "Wait ....What's Nat doing here" Are they ..." He furrowed his brows in thought. He knew they'd been considering moving to Rhy'Din, but he'd no idea they'd end up next door. "Are Nat and Colin moving in next door?" he asked, incredulously.

For once, it seemed as though Lucy wasn't in on a secret kept from Steve for his own happiness. She looked just as perplexed as he was, rising to her feet to get a good look over the hedge to the other house. The hedge itself shook a little, and the voice of a former poisonous spider made itself known in a frustrated mutter.

"How the hell am I being defeated by a damned gate?"

Steve laughed at the sound of that all-too-familiar voice. "Maybe you should just walk around it?" he suggested from the porch. After all, the twins hadn't seemed to have had any trouble finding their Aunt Nat, though they were smaller and a little sneakier.

"What's the point of having a gate in the hedge between our houses if I have to walk all the way out my front door and around to yours to say hi?" the hedge complained back at him, much to Lucy's amusement. Then the complaining edge changed to a far more familiar warmth as the twins waded out of sight through the snow. "Well, look at you two, pretty as princesses! Aren't you cold?"

Steve chuckled again at the so-called hedge's question. "That's why they're wearing coats. Aren't you?" he asked, as he took Lucy's hand and started down the porch stairs to investigate further. If she was in any real trouble, he'd have been right there to help her, but it amused him to no end that the famous Black Widow had tangled herself up in the hedge, of all things.

"No comment," the hedge replied, to the tune of a pair of happy giggles.

Lucy rolled her eyes as she thumped down from the porch with Steve. "Only you could make a best friend who loses a fight with a shrubbery," she murmured teasingly.

To be fair, it appeared as though Nat genuinely had been trying to use the gate set into the hedge, but it was very old and had wedged her and her six months of baby bump deep into the greenery rather than let her through.

"Shall we go to the rescue?" Steve asked of his wife, as if they had any choice in the matter.

The sound of a door creaking open and slamming closed was heard from the other side of the hedge, followed by yet another disembodied voice:

"What's going on here" Nat, are you being eaten by a man-eating hedge?" he asked, a hint of amusement in the man's tone of voice.

"No, honey, I'm leaving you for a Blue Spruce with serious personal space issues," was drawled back in tone of dripping sarcasm.

That was too much for Lucy, who outright cackled with laughter at this comment, moving to pull her youngest daughters out of the snow before they froze solid.

"Alright, everyone, in the house now for some hot cocoa!" Steve commanded, as if he was in charge, not taking no for an answer. He let go of Lucy, handed her his mug, and stepped forward to untangle Nat from the hedge, making it look as easy as pie. "There, now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Easy for him, anyway.

"Cocoa, yay!" Feigning enthusiasm for the sake of getting the children excited about abandoning the snow, Lucy let hersef be dragged back toward the house, leaving Nat and Colin in Steve's capable hands.

The Black Widow raised a brow as she was freed from the hedge, dusting the snow from her bump.

"We should do something about that," she said, glancing over her shoulder to flash Colin a grin. "Can't have it catapulting children into the scenery."

The Prescotts' dog, interpreting that cheer as being for her, wagged her perfectly-groomed tail and barked a friendly greeting before following after Lucy and the twins. Steve grinned to find his best friend in good spirits, despite her struggle with the hedge. "We'll ask if it's okay to tear it down. We don't need any fences between us," he said. "Good to see you, Nat. I wasn't expecting us to become neighbors." He offered a nod to Colin, not bothering to apologize for pulling Nat free of the hedge. Neither man had any reason to feel threatened by the other. "Colin. Good to see you, too," he said, offering the other man a hand.

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:25 EST
Colin returned the gesture, but only after making sure his wife hadn't been hurt. "Good to be here, Cap."

"Steve," the big man corrected. "No one calls me Cap around here."

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," was Nat's only concession to admitting that she was happy - very happy - to be making a home on Maple Grove near her best friend and his family. Her fingers slid into Colin's as they all turned toward the Rogers' house. "I'm pretty sure Stark's been calling you Capsicle for a few years now, doesn't that count?"

"And now it doesn't?" Steve asked, frowning. Even now, after everything they'd been through, he wasn't always sure when she was teasing and when she was being serious. "Do I really have to answer that?" he went on to answer her question with a question. Tony's nickname for him had never sat well with Steve, but he wasn't the kind of guy to name-call or swap insults.

"Steve it is," Colin was quick to agree. "We're all in our civvies here, after all."

Nat's smile was more relaxed than it had been for most of the time Steve had known her. "I think if I tried to get back into my uniform, everyone would get more of an eyeful than anyone is prepared for," she pointed out in amusement, gently nudging Steve's arm. "Cheer up, old man, we're your new neighbors. Gotta have that cup of sugar ready whenever we drop by."

"I would hope you don't need an excuse to drop by," Steve replied, his expression brightening. "Seriously, Nat ....You don't think it's too close" You don't think we'll get on each other's nerves?" he asked uncertainly, though it was doubtful. Next door to the Storms might be pushing it, but the Rogers were a pretty quiet group, at least for now.

"Steve ....you're the closest to family we've got," she reminded him, including Colin in that assessment. After all, now Lucy had her claws in Colin, he had developed his own version of unexpected sisters in the form of Lucy and Liv.

Steve came to a halt and turned to face her, a few feet from the porch.

Colin seemed to sense that he was the third wheel here and gave Nat's hand a squeeze. "I'll just go help Lucy with the cocoa," he volunteered, continuing up the stairs and disappearing into the house, leaving the besties alone.

Nat flashed her husband a grateful look as he discreetly left them to talk. She had no idea how she had got so lucky as to be loved by Colin, much less to marry him, but he was a gift she did not intend to squander. She looked up at Steve, a familiar smile playing at her lips. "Did I break you again?"

"No, just surprised me," Steve said. He'd been not-so-secretly hoping Nat and Colin would move to Maple Grove, but he hadn't expected them to end up next door. "How's the little one treating you?" he asked, with a nod of his head at her baby bump, which he was a little afraid to touch. After all, though he loved her like a sister, she belonged to another man now, as did her child.

"Well, maybe you should thank Mr. Granger, then," she suggested with a faint shrug. "He's the one who chose where on the Grove we were allowed to live." She glanced down as Steve nodded at the bump between them, flashing him a swift grin. "You know, since the morning sickness ended, things have been pretty good," she admitted warmly. "He's a little active in there right now, if you wanna poke him."

"I will," Steve replied with a smile, arching a brow at the mention of a gender. "You're sure it's a boy?" he asked, lifting a hand, but not yet reaching to do any poking or touching. He looked a little reluctant or maybe even hesitant to touch her in such an intimate way.

"Wishful thinking," Nat told him, still not entirely sure she could parent a girl with anywhere near the success she was pretty sure she could lay on a boy. Seeing his hovering hand, she smirked, wrapping her fingers around his wrist to press his palm to the appropriate place, just in time for baby inside to roll over.

Steve's eyes widened in wonder at the way the baby felt beneath his hand. In that moment, he looked much younger than his years, almost boyish wonder apparent in his handsome, youthful face. Though he and Lucy already had children of their own, it seemed he might never lose that youthful wonder at the miracle of birth, especially when neither he nor Nat had ever expected to have children.

"I can feel him," he said quietly, full of wonder, not even realizing he'd chosen to use the masculine pronoun as well.

Hands on her hips, Nat watched her best friend's hand on her bump with an almost shy expression on her face. "It doesn't seem real, does it?" she admitted awkwardly. "Six months ago, I didn't even know I could get pregnant. And now ..." She glanced at the house, as though looking for Colin for a moment. "Thank god this kid's got Colin, that's all I can say."

A slow smile spread across Steve's face. "You're gonna be a great mom. Just wait and see," he assured her, confident of the truth of his statement. After all, he'd seen how good she was with his children and the Storm children. Even if she didn't believe in herself, he believed in her, and so did everyone else who knew her well enough.

The smile that crossed her expression was soft and gentle, quietly disbelieving but appreciative of the faith he had in her. "It's a shame you weren't there to see Stark's reaction," she told him. "I swear I saw his soul leave his body when the words "maternity leave" came into the conversation."

Steve chuckled, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement. "I bet. I wanna be there the day Pepper tells him she's pregnant," he added with a grin. It wasn't likely to happen anytime soon, but he was sure it would happen eventually.

"She's definitely going to get him to the altar first," Nat predicted, a shiver going through her shoulders as finally the cold started to get to her. "You think maybe we could take the bump inside where it's warm, Uncle Steve?"

He chuckled again at her prediction regarding Tony and Pepper. If anyone could tame the man and convince him to settle down, it was Pepper Potts. "I have no doubt she'll do things in the right order," he agreed, his smile turning to a concerned frown as she reminded him of the cold. It wasn't that he was insensitive to her needs; he just didn't really feel it so much. "Oh, sorry!" he said, turning to go before changing his mind and turning back again, if only for a moment. "I'm glad you're here, Nat. And I'm sure Luce is, too."

"Well, you can't get rid of us now," she promised him. "I'm glad to be here, and I really can't thank my husband enough for arranging all this. It was his idea to see if we could live here. How'd he know me so well so fast?"

"Sometimes it's like that, Nat," Steve said, with a mild shrug of his wide shoulders. He didn't think he needed to explain to her how Lucy complimented him or how well they fit together. Somethings were just meant to be; that's all there was to it. "C'mon. Let's get you two inside and warmed up," he said, slinging an arm around her shoulder, like a big brother might to his younger sister.

It had taken time, but Nat was finally at the point where Steve could hug her like this and she didn't stiffen or pull away instinctively. Tucked under his arm like a little sister, she was content to walk with him toward the house. "So how is life treating you now, old man?" she asked curiously. "Seems very quiet - did school start again already?"

"Life is good," Steve replied almost immediately, though there was the tiniest of frowns on his face. "Still sorting some things out, but it's good. The kids went back to school a few days ago. Enjoy the quiet while we have it," he added with a smirk.

"Bored already?" she murmured, tilting a glance up at him. "Give me a week, and we can go raise hell in the name of personal entertainment and staving off the boredom of being domesticated together."

"Mmm, I don't think so. Not while you're with child. Colin would never forgive me ....or you," he reminded her. No, their days of saving Earth were over, at least, for the immediate future - unless, of course, it was necessary. He lead her up the porch stairs to the front door, the sound of laughter echoing from inside the house. "I'm not bored exactly. It's just different, you know?"

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:26 EST
"Ah, you're no fun." Nat grinned at him, absentmindedly rubbing her hand against the side of her bump as she relaxed into the sound of Colin being well and truly charmed by three of the ladies of the Rogers' house. "It's very different," she agreed quietly. "And a little frustrating at times."

"The only heroic thing I get to do these days is kill a random spider," Steve said, chuckling. "Not that that's a bad thing. It's just different. It's gonna take time to adjust, I guess. But I'm kind of enjoying it. I mean, what?s not to like" I always wanted a family. Just never thought I could have one."

"Your mom would be proud of you, Steve," Nat promised him. She might never have known the woman, but Sarah Rogers was imprinted on her son to his bones. She was positive that Steve's mother would have been beside herself with delight at how far he had come.

"I hope so," Steve said in a quiet voice, a thoughtful frown on his face. "If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have made it past grammar school," he admitted. It was rare for Steve to speak of his mother or of the past, but he had never forgotten her. He truly believed that if it hadn't been for her, he might not have survived.

"You can do this all day," his best friend reminded him through a warm smile. "Every day, for the rest of your life, surrounded by your family. Because they need you, and you need them. A few years without punching Nazis won't kill you."

Steve chuckled as Nat put things back into perspective for him. "Let's hope there aren't many more Nazis to punch," he said, though he knew that was probably a little too optimistic, even for him. "I really am turning into a relic," he added with another chuckle, at his own expense.

"Yeah, but a really fancy relic, like that beard in Padua," Nat offered, chuckling as she pulled out from under his arm. "You implied I would get cocoa if I entered your house. Better not be a falsehood, old man, because I am craving sugar these days."

"So long as the kids left some for us," he told her, grinning, as he pulled open the door and held it open until he followed her inside. Once inside, the sound of voices greeted them, leading them toward the kitchen where Lucy and Colin and the twins were waiting for them.

Nat let out a ridiculous gasp as she walked in to find her namesake cuddled up on Colin's lap, both of them sporting very fetching chocolate moustaches. "Col, how could you? Cradle-snatching already!"

"I didn't have a choice!" Colin said, trying hard but failing not to smirk. It wasn't like he had another woman perched on his lap.

This gave Nat a perfect excuse for another gasp. "Steven Grant Rogers, you're raising a seductress!" she teased. "I'm shocked. Shocked." Grinning, she eased down onto a chair beside Colin and Natalia, kissing the little girl's chubby cheek affectionately. "You can have him for two hours every third Wednesday in a month with two full moons, Tallie."

Across the table, Lucy laughed, rolling her eyes. "That way, everyone's happy, hmm?"

"I doubt she even knows what a seductress is," Colin pointed out. "Do you, Tallie?" he asked the little girl solemnly, before taking an audible slurp of his hot cocoa.

"And she doesn't need to know ....ever," Steve interjected, like any over-protective father might.

"Every woman has a little seductress in them," Nat proclaimed confidently, meeting Lucy's eyes with a significant smirk.

The doctor dipped her own head to hide her grin in Sarah's blonde hair for a moment.

"Not my girls," Steve insisted. Maybe they would when they were older, but for now, he refused to believe they were anything but angels - albeit, sometimes mischievous ones.

"This, from the man who is father to Lianne," Lucy pointed out with a fond smile for her husband. She handed Sarah into his arms, rising to make more cocoa for the newcomers.

Steve claimed a seat at the table, with Sarah on his lap and frowned at their friends. "What's the matter with Lianne?" he asked, his gaze following Lucy as she moved to make more cocoa.

Lucy was still grinning when she answered. "She is an enormous flirt," she pointed out cheerfully. "It's adorable now, but just you wait - you're going to be a wreck when she really starts noticing the people she likes best."

"We could promise her in marriage to Alex," Steve suggested, though it was only in jest. He was in no hurry for his children to grow up, but he knew it would happen sooner or later.

"I'm pretty sure arranged marriages fell out of fashion a few centuries ago," Colin added helpfully.

"I thought Alex was still in love with Lyneth?" Nat asked in amusement. Personally, her money was privately on Martin ending up with the cheeky half-Fae, but she wasn't going to mention that to Steve or Lucy just yet. They probably wouldn't take it well.

"Those are pretty strong words for a child," Steve said, though he didn't doubt his son had something of a crush on the half-Fae. "Besides, aren't you forgetting about Peter?" he asked, who he believed stood the best chance of eventually winning Lyneth's heart, if he hadn't already.

"I don't think Peter exists," Nat said dismissively, though this being Rhy'Din she knew she was possibly wrong. "That little girl is very suggestible when it comes to heroes."

Steve looked shocked by Nat's admission, and though he wasn't entirely sure Peter was who he claimed to be, he had at least met the boy in question. "That's a little ironic coming from you, don't you think?" he asked, considering how they were something of fictional heroes themselves to some people.

"Who's Peter?" Colin asked, looking confused.

"I don't believe in irony, either," Nat drawled through a grin at Steve.

Lucy, on the other hand, was smiling as she set two fresh cups of cocoa down on the table. "Peter Pan, believe it or not," she told Colin. "He's real, and he's Lyneth's BFF."

"Peter Pan," Colin echoed, doubtfully. "The next thing you know, you'll be telling me Tinker Bell is real, too," he said with a chuckle.

Steve raised a hand defensively, "You didn't hear it from me!"

"Lies, all lies," Nat declared, waving a hand before breaking into a brighter smile as she sipped her cocoa. "So ....in honor of our moving in, is this the point where we invite your entire family into our house and stuff you with pizza?"

"No, this is the point where we invite you here for pizza instead," Steve replied. After all, Nat and Colin had only just moved in and probably weren't really ready for company yet.

Nat blinked, clearly surprised. "I'm pretty sure Stark said the people moving in bought the pizza," she said, tilting her head toward Colin. "That's right, isn't it' Did I mess up being a real woman again?"

Steve laughed. "Since when have you known Tony to be honest?" he asked, grinning.

"He has a point," Colin replied. "Besides, the house is kind of a mess right now, until we get settled."

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:26 EST
"You only owe people pizza if they helped you move in and unpack," Lucy told them, thumping back down into her seat at the table. "Which we clearly didn't, so we'll get pizza for you to welcome you to the neighborhood."

"I didn't know there were such rules attached to the buying of pizza," Steve teased, knowing Lucy was probably making this all up, but so long as it worked, who was he to argue. "The kids will be happy to see you," he added. And probably ecstatic to learn they'd become their next-door neighbors.

"Darling, you're the pizza expert in this house," Lucy countered to Steve cheerfully, pulling wipes out of seemingly nowhere to clean off the sticky little faces that were nodding over their cups.

"Looks like it's nap time," Steve said, as he turned to watch Lucy wipe the twins' faces clean. "Can you two entertain yourselves for a few minutes while we tuck these two in for a nap?" he asked their friends.

"Of course," Colin was quick to reply. "We promise we'll be good!" he teased.

"Won't be long," Lucy promised, gently lifting Natalia out of Colin's lap. "Feel free to get comfortable in the living room if you fancy really sprawling."

Nat chuckled, watching the two of them manuver their twin toddlers around with such ease. "You think we'll be that good?" she murmured to Colin.

"With practice, maybe," Colin replied. "It has to be easier with one than with two, right?" he asked, draining what was left of his hot chocolate.

"You'd hope so." Nat leaned back, letting out a slow breath as she stretched her back gently. "Your little monster was polite enough to kick Steve's hand, anyway. He's going to be a good kid."

"I like how you call him a monster and a good kid in the same breath," Colin pointed out, an amused smirk on his face.

She laughed. "He's part me and part you," she answered. "Of course he's going to be a good little monster."

"Hmm, which of us is which, I wonder," he mused aloud, that smirk still on his face. He reached across the table to tangle his fingers with hers. "Are you happy, Nat?" he asked, though he could guess at her answer.

She didn't both answering which of them added the monster to their unborn child's personality, though they both knew she was certain it was her. Stroking her fingers over his palm before letting him tangle his hand with hers, she smiled at him. "You know I am, Col. I don't always say it, but I feel like maybe I'm finding out who I am, because of you."

Colin's brows arched upwards in surprise and curiosity. "Because of me" Why because of me?" he asked, unsure why she might think this. As far as he could tell, she'd seemed to have had a pretty good idea of who she was before she'd met him.

"Because ..." She sighed. "Because I started life as Natalia Romanova, who did everything she was told to do because otherwise people hurt her. Then I was the Black Widow, who didn't think beyond the next mission and should have died, not defected. Natasha Romanoff was still making bad decisions. But I like Natasha Prescott. She's got a future."

Colin smiled and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I think both Natashas have been too hard on themselves, but I like them, too. Both of them," he assured her, lifting her hand to his lips for a kiss. "New life, new home, new baby. A new beginning, Nat. A fresh start," he told her.

She tweaked the end of his nose affectionately. "Coco's going to get jealous again if you keep making gooey eyes at me," she warned in amusement.

Colin laughed. "As much as I adore her, I didn't marry Coco. I married you," he reminded her. He didn't think he needed to remind her that Coco was his dog and not his wife or the mother of his children.

"You made a commitment to her before you ever even met me," Nat pointed out laughingly. "You just got lucky she's not the jealous type. God, could you imagine having a bunny boiler for a dog?"

Colin laughed again. "Or vice versa," he remarked with a teasing gleam in his eyes. "Besides, she adores you," he pointed out and would have proven it to her, if said dog wasn't off cavorting with her boyfriend, Thor.

She laughed again, sticking her tongue out at him. "I wonder how she's going to cope with having a baby around," she mused. Coco liked the bump, that much was certain, but that was probably more to do with the fact that, the bigger bump got, the more Nat could be relied on to sit down and cuddle.

Colin chuckled at her cheekiness, a reassuring smile for her worries. "I don't think you have to worry, Nat," Colin assured her. "She's a friendly little thing. She adores you. Why wouldn't she adore a baby' Besides, haven't you seen Lady and the Tramp?" he asked, playfully nudging her arm. "It's the Siamese cats we have to be careful of."

"You're not planning on pulling a horrible aunt out of your butt, are you?" was Nat's immediate response. They had been working on her knowledge of pop culture to do with children in preparation for the birth; at least she was remembering basic Disney details.

"Not out of my butt, no," he assured her. "In fact, to the best of my knowledge, I don't have any horrible aunts," he told her. Or any close living relatives that he knew of.

"If you were going to produce one, where would it be from?" Lucy interjected as she returned to the kitchen, absently ruffling Colin's hair on the way past. He was definitely an adopted brother now. "Seeing as you just made it perfectly clear that it wouldn't be from your arse."

"The grave, most likely," Colin replied without hesitation, confirming again that he had no living relatives that he knew of. He smirked as Lucy ruffled his hair, attempting and failing to duck out of the way before moving to smooth his perfectly combed hair back into place. "Certainly not in Rhy'Din."

"Ugh, you're morbid," was Lucy's response, though she was grinning as she spoke. "Tea, coffee, juice" We have about an hour before the coherent kidlings return and climb all over both of you."

"Tea would be lovely," Colin replied. Ever the Englishman, if given a choice, he would always choose tea over most any other beverage.

"You're so English," Nat teased her husband fondly. "Did Steve climb in bed with the girls or something?"

Lucy chuckled, putting the kettle on to boil. "I think he's separating the canine Romeo and Juliet in the living room."

"It's not like anything will happen between them ....will it?" Colin said, turning his statement into a question. Coco had been spayed, but he wasn't too sure about Thor.

Lucy laughed again, shaking her head. "I think he's more worried about Thor having a heart attack," she explained. "I don't think either of us wants to tell Martin his beloved dog died having his wicked way with your beloved dog."

"I sure don't want to explain that," Steve said as he finally joined them in the kitchen. Apparently, he'd overheard what they'd been talking about, even though he hadn't been in the room. "But at the moment, they're just having a cuddle."

"Coco's going to be heartbroken when her sugar daddy hops off his twig," Lucy commented then. "You might have to get her a new boyfriend."

Nat rolled her eyes, trying not to smile too brightly. Lucy had a very matter-of-fact approach to death, which didn't always chime well with the rest of her family.

"Thor isn't going anywhere for a while yet," Steve was quick to point out, though he couldn't know for sure. He knew the dog was getting older, but there was no reason to think he'd die anytime soon. Steve was ever the optimist, even in the face of death.

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:26 EST
"Oh, hey, how huge is Liv now?" Nat asked suddenly. If there was one thing guaranteed to make Lucy and Steve both perk up fast, it was the prospect of watching the other half of the superhero family somehow manage twins.

"Uh ..." Steve murmured, glancing to Lucy for an answer. In his opinion, Liv was huge, but that was to be expected when one was having twins. He just wasn't too sure how to say that without sounding rude. "Well, she is having twins, you know," he said with a shrug as he went to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"She's enormous," Lucy translated cheerfully, secure in the knowledge that she was allowed to say it because she'd been through it. "Her bump is bigger than Bess, and she's still got at least another month to go."

Not to mention the fact that Lucy was Liv's sister. She might be able to get away with calling Liv enormous, but Steve wasn't sure he could.

"Thankfully, twins don't run in my family," Colin blurted, though he couldn't speak for Nat.

"We know there's only one in here, thank goodness," was Nat's response. She had no idea if twins ran in her family; she had no idea if she even had any family back in Russia.

Lucy smiled faintly. "One at a time is plenty, trust me."

"Says the woman who is both a twin and birthed twins," said Steve with a grin as he joined them at the table.

"Double the trouble," Colin murmured. "Though I suppose she'll have plenty of help," he quickly added.

"Oh, Liv and Johnny won't be able to move for all the help they'll have," Lucy predicted easily. "She doesn't believe me when I tell her, but I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't like my little sister. Most people she knows would throw themselves into a volcano if it would make life easier for her."

Steve grinned at Lucy's description of her sister. "That's true. And there aren't many people who don't like Johnny either," he pointed out, though he knew the Torch could be a little too much for people to take sometimes.

"What about you?" Colin asked. "It seems to me you're both likable enough."

"I have a temper," Lucy shrugged. She smirked as she glanced at her husband. "He's a pussy-cat, but people feel intimidated when he accidentally looms. Liv attracts people who want to make her life easier because she's just ....nice, all the time. I'm her twin, and I have no idea how she does it."

Nat snickered quietly. "She got the manners, you got the temper."

"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," Colin remarked, though the twins were certainly not as drastically different as that.

"They're certainly opposites, but I wouldn't go that far," Steve said. "Lucy is the older twin. She's the one who had to take care of her younger sister. It stands to reason she'd be the tougher of the two, don't you think?"

"Scary doc." Nat nodded to Lucy.

Dr. Rogers snorted with laughter, pouring boiling water into her tea pot as she shook her head in amusement. "I'm only scary when people don't do what they're told," she insisted. "Or when my patients decide to be difficult."

"Or when I don't take the garbage out when she asks," Steve added, with a smirk. Of course, Lucy's bark was always worse than her bite, and he was rarely on the receiving side of it these days.

"Wow, so the doctor really does outrank the captain, huh?" Nat teased them both, her hand dropping to rub against her side as her passenger rearranged himself all over again.

"A wise man knows to let his wife rule the roost," Colin said, leaning over to rub a hand against his Nat's bump in an attempt to soothe the child growing inside her. It wasn't about rank, so much as harmony.

"I wouldn't say that," Steve said. "I'd say we're equals, wouldn't you, Luce?"

"Equals works for me, baby," Lucy agreed in amusement.

Nat chuckled, sighing in relief as the baby seemed to calm down under the warmth of Colin's hand. "I don't rule the roost, do I?" she asked curiously.

"No, darling, not you," Colin replied, with the hint of a smirk, and a slightly sarcastic tone of voice.

Steve only chuckled and took another sip of his coffee. This was one debate he was steering clear of, if he could help it.

"I know that voice," Nat accused affectionately. "That's your humor her she's pregnant voice. Are you under my thumb, Mr. Prescott?"

"I'd rather be under something else, Mrs. Prescott," Colin replied, grinning back at her.

Steve cleared his throat, as though to remind them that they weren't alone, an amused smirk on his face. He was glad Nat had finally found someone to share her life with, someone who complemented her in every way.

"So, what do we want on our pizza?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Pepperoni," Nat answered instantly, though her eyes were wickedly intimate for just a moment longer on Colin's before she resumed a more public-appropriate expression.

Lucy snorted with laughter. "Just pepperoni?"

"Well, cheese goes without saying," Steve pointed out, or so he hoped. It just wasn't right to have pizza without cheese, though he knew there were some people who liked it that way.

"All right, meat feast maniacs, let's go for a compromise here," Lucy suggested laughingly. "A couple of meat pizzas and a couple of veggie pizzas, a lot of garlic bread and coleslaw, and probably a small barrel of ice cream. How does that sound?" She did know her husband's appetite pretty well by now, after all.

Colin laughed. "Sounds like you're planning on feeding a small army," he said, unaware just how much food it took to feed a small family that included a super soldier.

"Five children, two normal people, a pregnant woman, and Steve," Lucy counted out cheerfully. "Sounds like a small army to me!"

Colin chuckled again. "Steve is a small army," he said, glancing apologetically over at the man in question. "Sorry, Steve."

Steve shrugged, blushing just a little in embarrassment. "I have an overactive metabolism, sorry."

"Oh, look at that, the boys are bonding." Lucy leaned forward onto her hands with an exaggerated sigh of delight, giving both Steve and Colin puppy-dog eyes for the hell of it.

Across from her, Nat echoed her position. "Do you think they'll invite us to the wedding?"

Colin narrowed his eyes in feigned annoyance at the women, quiet as a pin-drop for a moment before turning to Steve and batting his lashes at him, as though he was flitting coquettishly.

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:27 EST
Steve laughed. "Sorry, Colin, you're not my type."

"Ooooh, burn!" Nat leaned back in her seat, laughing delightedly at the silliness for a brief moment, and reached over to pat Colin's knee. "It's okay, baby, I'll take you back. I can overlook you falling for the biceps briefly."

"Rats," Colin remarked, snapping his fingers. "You do know I was just using Nat to get to you, right?" he teased, though it was obvious from the look on his face that he was just kidding.

"Sorry to disappoint you, pal, but my heart belongs to my wife."

"Oh well," Colin shrugged, turning a smile on Nat. "Easy come, easy go."

"Would you look at that?" Lucy said impishly. "I didn't even have to threaten either of them with a hypo."

Nat snorted. "Threaten the father of my child with a syringe, and feel the wrath of my hormonal urges," she responded brightly.

"That would have to be a pretty big hypo in his case," Colin pointed out, jerking a thumb at the big guy, who was, in fact, about equal in height, but who carried a lot more muscle.

"I think I'll just go order the pizza," Steve said, pointing in a random direction before heading that way and taking himself out of what was starting to feel like an awkward conversation.

"Oops." Lucy's grin softened as Steve made his escape. She occasionally forgot that he wasn't quite as at home with contemporary humor and sexuality as he often seemed to be. "You, make the tea. You, sit." Colin, she pointed toward the tea pot, moving to catch Steve and reassure him.

"Yes, ma'am," Colin replied, with a mock salute. He waited until Lucy left the room before deflating and turning a worried gaze at Nat. "Was it something I said" I didn't mean to offend."

Nat shook her head. "No, it was us," she assured him. "Steve's still a man from the 40's, you know" He doesn't mean to seem intolerant, and he isn't, generally. But he's not comfortable to be the butt of a joke that implies he may not be totally devoted to his wife and kids."

"I didn't mean to make him uncomfortable," Colin said, frowning. "Should I apologize?" he asked, unsure if it was better to apologize or just pretend it never happened.

"No, just pretend it didn't happen," Nat advised. "Let it go. I guarantee that Lucy is currently reminding him that she knows he's totally hers, body and soul, and they won't remember to order the pizza until the kids get back from school."

"I always forget he's from another era. It must have been quite a shock to wake up and find himself seventy years in the future. I can only imagine what Rhy'Din must seem like to him," Colin mused, though he'd hardly had a chance to get used to Rhy'Din himself yet.

"He copes pretty well most of the time, but he is very much a man of his era in a lot of ways," Nat said thoughtfully. "He got beat up a lot before he took the serum, usually defending someone against a bully. Anything that tips over toward maybe singling him out makes him uncomfortable. So it was me and Lucy, not you."

"I see," Colin murmured thoughtfully. "Well, I don't think he has to worry about bullies anymore," he added hopefully, at a loss for anything useful to say. "I'll try to be a little less insensitive next time."

"Col ....it wasn't you," Nat promised him. "It was me, and his wife. You can't hold the blame for joining in something that is pretty innocuous by modern standards. So stop it."

"I understand that, Nat. I just don't want to do anything to upset him. I know how close you two are. I'd rather we were friends than enemies," Colin argued. It wasn't so much that he felt guilty about hurting Steve's feelings as that he wanted to avoid doing so in the future in hopes they could become friends.

"It's pretty hard to make Steve your enemy," his wife assured him confidently. "Trust me, it'll be forgotten in less time than it takes for you to make that tea."

"Unless you're a member of Hydra," Colin pointed out. Though he was aware that Hydra had been crippled on Earth, he also knew it was likely they'd rebuild sooner or later - hopefully, later.

"And you are definitely not that," Nat answered. "Otherwise you'd be terrified of me finding that out, and since you talk in your sleep, I'd have found it out a long time ago if you were."

"If there's any doubt, you could always have Miss Evchenko question me," Colin suggested, though he was mostly kidding. It was hardly necessary for him to go through further questioning when he had been cleared and was working for AEGIS, until recently.

Nat snorted, rolling her eyes as she laughed. "I love how innocently you assume that Alyona hasn't personally vetted each and every person working for A.E.G.I.S.," she told him fondly. "There is a reason we flew her all over the world."

"Then this argument is moot," he said, smiling as he turned to pour them both a cup of tea. "And I don't think we have to worry about Hydra for a long time. How does early retirement sound to you?" he teased.

"Didn't we just do that?" she countered with a warm laugh, hugging her bump once again. "I'm not expecting to go back on the full team roster ever again. You're stuck with me now."

"Oh, good. I was worried," he said, with a teasing smirk. He wasn't sure if he could completely tame the Black Widow, but it wasn't going to be from lack of trying. "So, you haven't said anything about another ultrasound. Do you want to know for sure if it's a boy or a girl, or would you rather be surprised?"

"I guess we should have one more, just to make sure everything's okay in there," she mused. The dating scan had almost resulted in the technician being kicked to the floor because he'd failed to warn her about how cold the gel was. "I, uh, I think we need to know in advance. I'm kind of freaked out at the idea of having a girl, but I'd rather know before she's right there, you know?"

He handed her a cup of tea just the way she liked it. "There's a fifty-fifty chance. It could go either way," he reminded her, taking a sip from his own cup before moving back to claim his seat at the table. "What if it's a girl?" he asked, a curious and mildly concerned expression on his face.

Hugging the cup between her hands, Nat stared into the tea for a long moment. "I, uh ....I don't know," she admitted. "I just ....I don't think I'll be a very good mother to a girl."

"And yet, you're very good with the twins and with the other children here in Rhy'Din. I've seen how they adore you. Not just the boys; the girls, too. Especially that little one of Liv's - the one that doesn't speak," Colin reminded her.

She shrugged, shaking her head with a smile. "I can give them back," she pointed out. "It's just ....everything I know about being female was taught to me to make me a weapon. Even the ballet. I don't know anything about letting a girl express herself the way she needs to."

"Then just do the opposite of what they did to you," Colin suggested with a shrug. It might sound like a simplistic approach, but maybe simple was best. He reached across the table for her hand. "You're over thinking things, Nat. Has it ever occurred to you that you're going to make a wonderful mother because you know exactly what not[/i[ to do?"

"There you go, being logical again," she sighed teasingly, leaning close to brush a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I know I'm being annoying and stupid. You just have to remind me to stop it from time to time."

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:27 EST
"You are never annoying or stupid," he said, leaning close to tap a finger against her nose, a warm smile on his face. "But I think you do need to decide whether you want to know or not."

"I do wanna know," she admitted. "Do you? I mean, I can live without knowing if you don't want to know until the whole birth thing happens. I know a lot of people would rather not know."

"I think we should know. It will give us time to prepare," he said, especially if the baby was a girl. "Nat ..." he started, a small frown on his face, looking a little worried. "You won't, I mean ..." He sighed. "I guess it's my turn to be annoying and stupid."

She considered him for a moment. "What, are you expecting me to pop out the kid, throw them at you, and run away?" she asked, only half-teasing. She knew her track record for staying wasn't the best, but she'd made her decision to be with him.

"No," he replied, with a slightly nervous smile. "I mean, I know you won't do that, but ....Will you be terribly disappointed if it's a girl?" he asked. As far as he was concerned, it didn't matter much to him either way, but for her sake, he was hoping for a son first. Then, maybe after a few years, she'd be ready for a daughter.

"Baby, there is no way I am ever going to be disappointed in our child," she promised him, without needing to think about it. "If it is a girl, I'm going to be scared of screwing her up. That's where this is coming from. Not because I'm not going to love her."

"Why do you think you'll screw her up?" he asked, though he already knew the answer to that question. "If anything, I think you'd know exactly how not to screw her up," he pointed out.

"Am I not allowed to be scared, Col?" she asked, her voice very small as she frowned at him, worry etched on her face. "Isn't it normal not to be completely confident when there's this little life getting ready to come out and say hi?"

"Of course you are," Colin assured her, setting down his cup so that he could reach for her hand, taking it between his own. "I'm scared, too, but I know you, Nat, and I know you're going to be a wonderful mother. I see how you are with Steve and Lucy's kids. I see how kind and caring you are. Don't you see" It's exactly because of the way you were raised that will prevent you from doing the same to any children of ours."

She stared at him for a long moment, her fingers stroking against his wrist. "How do you have so much faith in me?"

He smiled and shrugged. "It's a little thing called love," he told her simply, leaning closer to brush his lips against hers to underscore his words.

She grinned into his kiss, reassured with just a little affection and certainty on his part. "Remind me to pull out those photos of Loki sometime," she murmured. "We could make Steve double-take at Halloween next year if we dolled you up just right."

He arched a skeptical brow. "You're joking," he said, assuming she was only teasing him. He'd never seen Loki in person and had no way or knowing for sure. The Trickster God hadn't been seen or heard of in some years, and no one seemed to know what had happened to him - not even his brother Thor.

"Mmmm ..." Her expression didn't give away whether it was a pure tease or not, green eyes sparkling with mischief as she eased herself away from a moment of vulnerability that had happened somewhere she was not happy for it to have done so. "I'll be Catwoman," she murmured enticingly.

He grinned in amusement. "Catwoman has nothing on you, love," he assured her. Who needed Catwoman when his wife was the Black Widow" "Does that mean I should dress up as Batman?"

"Latex nipples doesn't do it for me, sweetie pie," she countered laughingly. "I guess I'm just going to have to get expert advice on Halloween. I hear it's a big deal around here."

"Is it' I've never celebrated it much myself," he told her. "Except when I was in university," he added with a smirk. "But I don't think that's the kind of celebration you have in mind." Not with all the children around anyway.

Natasha snorted with laughter. "Oh, tempting," she teased, bumping her nose to his. From the front of the house came the sound of a car parking up, and cheerful young voices heading up over the porch. "Sounds like Fliss brought everyone home today."

"I predict pandemonium followed by hugs and then pizza," Colin said, grinning back at her, as she bumped his nose with hers. "I love you, you know," he added, his voice softening as he touched his forehead to hers.

"Love you back," was her murmured reply as she leaned into him, her smile gently relaxed for a long moment. Then ....

"Auntie Nat! You got fat!"

Nat lifted her head, turning her eyes onto Lianne, who was grinning in delight. "What was that, squirt?"

Lianne's grin just deepened. "And you brought Uncle Colin!" the little girl declared, skipping across the room to hug Colin first before braving "fat" Auntie Nat.

Colin laughed as he opened his arms to welcome the little girl into his arms to return her hug. "She's not fat! She's pregnant, remember?" he asked, poking a gentle finger at her side to tickle her.

Lianne's giggles echoed around the kitchen as she squirmed in Colin's grasp. "But Auntie Olivia is so much bigger than that, and she's pregnant, too," was her protest.

A smaller voice interjected from the doorway. "Auntie Liv's got two in her tummy," Jamie said, sidling over to give Nat a shy smile and hug.

Martin hovered just behind Jamie, too old to ask for a hug, but young enough to still want one. "Papa said you are moving in next door. Is that true?" he asked, with a mixture of hope and curiosity. Though he was quieter and more reserved than his siblings, he was just as fond of his Aunt Nat as the rest of them.

"You heard right, peanut," Nat assured the eldest of the Rogers children. "You know the gate in the hedge" We're just on the other side of it."

"And you're not going away again?" Martin asked further, not wanting to get his hopes up for nothing. He was still getting used to the idea of having his father around all the time and fearful it wouldn't last, not to mention Nat and Colin.

"Going away isn't part of the plan, peanut," Nat promised him, looping her arm about Martin's back to hug him gently as they talked. "I am officially retired and all about home and family from now on."

"Really?" Martin asked, eyes widening in wonder, though he was a little scared it was too good to be true. "You, too?" he asked, leaning into Nat's embrace as he turned his gaze to Colin.

"Really," Nat assured him. "Even if they need me on Earth, I'm just going to give them advice. No more going off and fighting unless it's really big, and even then, no more being right in the middle of everything. I've got this little growth I gotta deal with now." She grinned at the boy, patting her bump.

"I wish Papa would retire," Martin murmured quietly, almost not realizing he'd said it out loud.

Instead of answering the boy's question, Colin turned a perplexed glance to Nat, not quite sure how to address that.

"Oh, honey ..." Nat hugged Martin a little tighter for a moment. "But would he still be your papa if he did retire?" she asked gently. "I mean, he'll always be Papa. But Captain America is a part of him, too. He might not ever be able to give that up, but I can promise you now that he will never put that ahead of his family."

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:28 EST
Martin nodded, knowing his Aunt Nat was right, though he wished his father never had to leave them, never had to put himself in danger again. There weren't any tears. At ten years old, he deemed himself too old for that - at least, not where anyone might see him. Despite that, he let her hug him, needing that bit of reassurance, even if he wouldn't admit it.

A moment later, Steve appeared in the doorway and cleared his throat, though it was unclear just how long he'd been standing there. "Is cheese and pepperoni okay with everyone?"

Lianne looked up in surprise from where she had been inspecting Colin's wedding ring for the umpteenth time. "Are we having pizza, Papa?" she asked in excitement.

"That's the plan. Is that okay?" Steve replied, a little uncertainly, as he looked from one face to the next. "It's sort of to celebrate us moving to Maple Grove," Colin explained, hoping to break the ice.

"Oh, oui, Papa!"

Bright and shining and utterly ignorant of the reasons behind the hug that hadn't yet ended between Nat and Martin, Lianne skipped across the kitchen and threw her arms around Steve's hips delightedly.

Steve smiled and scooped the little girl up into his arms to kiss both her cheeks. "Did you have a good day at school, ma cherie?" he asked her, his expression brightening as it always did when he was with his children.

Lianne nodded happily, smooshing a kiss against Steve's chin as Lucy slipped past them both to hug her boys. Nat let herself breathe out a little more easily as the tension in the room eased, glancing at Colin with amusedly wary eyes. As Lianne chattered away to Steve, Nat stood to pour out drinks for the returning schoolgoers.

Steve made a mental note to talk to Martin later, when they had a quiet moment alone, but for now, he pretended he hadn't heard a thing. Instead, he chatted with Lianne about her day before crouching down to greet the boys, as well, once they were done hugging their mother.

"Are Aunt Nat and Uncle Colin really moving in next door?" Martin asked his mother.

"It certainly looks like it," Lucy told him, gently shucking Jamie out of his coat and shoes before stroking Martin's hair. She smiled down at him. "We can check in the morning and make sure they're still here, how does that sound" Think you can face one of your mother's special cooked breakfasts tomorrow?"

"Oui, Mama," Martin replied to both questions, his face brightening. Of all the children they'd rescued from Hydra, Martin was both the oldest and the most serious. "Can I help you cook?" he asked, hopefully, even if it only meant making toast.

"What would my breakfasts be without my toast and eggs right hand man?" Lucy exclaimed, hiking Jamie onto a chair as Nat set down three glasses of juice for the children. "I would be completely lost without your help. You're the one who stops me forgetting where I've put everything."

Martin beamed a proud smile, whether what Lucy was saying was true or not. "Can I take Kiki for a walk later?" he asked, though the question was unrelated to breakfast. He was growing up too fast and already trying to assert his independence. Besides, Kiki was his responsibility, so it was the least he could do.

"That sounds like an excellent plan," Lucy allowed. After all, it was the Grove. "I bet Alex would love to join you with Beast, too."

"Are they coming over for pizza, too?" Martin asked, merely curious. They often shared gatherings with the Storms, but not always. He just wanted to be sure, before he asked if Alex could go with him.

"Not tonight, sweetheart," Lucy clarified. "Colin and Nat have been moving boxes and unpacking things all day - we don't want to tire them out with everyone at once." She grinned at him fondly. "We'll make it up to them another day, promise."

"Oui, Mama," Martin replied obediently, glancing over at his father to greet him at last. "Hullo, Papa. How was your day?"

Steve smiled fondly back at his eldest son. "Too quiet without all of you, but the twins kept us busy enough," Steve replied with an easy-going smile.

"Mumma, where is my snowed-man?" Jamie asked then, and Lucy had a brief moment of oh dear that was clearly visible on her face.

"Uh ....I think maybe the girls might have knocked him down, darling," she admitted, smiling as he frowned. "Maybe Colin will help you build another one, though."

"Maybe we can all work on one together," Colin suggested. "We'll make the best snowman Maple Grove has ever seen."

Martin smiled at this suggestion. "All of us?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Sure, why not?" Nat agreed with a grin as she sat down again. "Or can't girls make good snowmen?"

Lucy snorted with laughter at this obvious bit of baiting, not even needing to look to know that Jamie was now sizing up the Black Widow thoughtfully.

"Lianne makes good snowmen," Martin pointed out. Or at least, she had always helped make them before. He looked a little confused at Nat's teasing, as that hadn't been what he'd meant by his question. He just hadn't been sure who Colin was including in his statement.

"Maybe we should challenge the other families at the Grove to a snowman-building contest," Steve suggested.

"How're you going to stop that overgrown newt next door from squashing all of them, though?" Nat asked with a grin, reaching out to gently tickle Martin's side. "And you, peanut, need to stop taking me so seriously all the time."

"Good question," Steve said, thoughtfully, Then there was the problem of a certain superhero melting everything he touched.

"Sorry ..." Martin started to apologize before he was caught by surprise by Nat's tickling and giggled instead.

"One word," Lucy interjected. "Liv." She grinned cheerfully, snagging the takeout menu out of Steve's hand to spread it on the table. "Okay, smalls, have at it - build a meat feast and build a veggie treat."

"I thought we were having cheese and pepperoni!" Steve said, as Lucy snatched the menu from his hands. Not that he cared, but cheese and pepperoni was his favorite, and he could easily eat an entire pizza all by himself.

"Papa, you can have cheese and pepperoni!" Martin told his father.

Colin chuckled, privately wondering how many pizzas Captain America could eat all by himself.

"And since when have I ever done you out of a pepperoni pizza, love?" Lucy asked her husband with a smile. "Besides, the bump-bearer made a request for pepperoni, too."

"Could you think of a less attractive moniker for me, hmm?" Nat asked, resting her forearms on Colin's shoulders and her chin on his head as she bent to stretch out her back.

"Well, if the name fits," Steve remarked, a playful twinkle in his eyes. Whatever tension had been in the air a few minutes ago, it seemed to have disappeared. Meanwhile, the children were busily going over the pizza topping choices.

"He does have a point," Colin said with a smirk, risking Nat's ire.

Colin got a gentle flick on the ear for joining in, but even he couldn't miss the smile in Nat's voice as she sighed at them. "Pick on me when I'm not allowed to high-kick, why don't you."

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:28 EST
"Darling, you wouldn't high-kick your husband, would you?" Colin asked, almost wincing at the thought of it, but snickering in amusement as he batted her hand away from his ear.

"Depends how annoying he chooses to be, sweetpea," she responded, grinning into his hair cheerfully.

Lucy caught Steve's eye, smirking at the still unusual sight of the fearsome Black Widow being very affectionate with her husband.

"Shall I take that as a warning?" Colin countered, turning to grin up at her. "It might ruin our chances to have any more children."

Thankfully, the kids were taking their pizza topping choices very seriously and not paying much attention to what the grownups were talking about.

Nat's answering grin was just on the cusp of laughter. "Just how high are you keeping your balls these days?" she asked him in a strangled giggle. "I'd be more worried about your ability to see straight."

"Ah, I see. So, I should be more worried about my nose than my ability to sire another child," Colin said.

Steve looked up and over from helping the kids with the pizza choices. "Children present!" he warned the other couple to keep it clean, like the geezer that he was.

"You could duck, but that would put your face in a very different position," Nat murmured, kissing Colin's temple with a grin. She offered Steve an innocent smile. "What' We're just discussing fight moves, old man."

"High kicks, low kicks ....Best advice I can give you is don't let her kick her at all," Steve warned Colin.

Colin smirked back, looking a little amused at the other man's solemn advice. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

"He's just sore because I can move slightly faster than he can," Nat grinned, easing down into a seat beside Colin. She didn't even seem to notice when Jamie climbed up into her lap, absently wrapping her arms around him as he leaned forward to demand mushrooms on everything.

"Oh, really' Care to put that to the test?" Steve asked, brows arching upwards at the implied challenge in Nat's voice. He wasn't that competitive and he wasn't usually one for contests, but that was twice in one day, he'd suggested a competition.

"Not while there's a baby on board, children," Lucy interjected in an absentminded tone, scribbling down what the actual children had decided on for the pizzas. "Okay, small people, change clothes and get some homework done while we're waiting for dinner."

"She's fast, I'll admit," Steve said, though there was an implied and unsaid, "But I'm faster," in there somewhere. "Jamie, not everyone likes mushrooms, okay?" he added, not missing a trick.

"But they good for you!" Jamie objected, wriggling down from Nat's lap.

Lucy chuckled softly, briefly touching her brow to Martin's as she ushered the children out of the kitchen.

Steve sighed, rolled his eyes, and chuckled at Jamie's remark. "I wonder who he heard that from," he muttered under his breath. It sure wasn't from him.

Colin laughed. "Looks like you have your hands full, Cap."

"Can I show Auntie Nat my new sweater?" Lianne was asking as she filed out.

Lucy nodded. "If Auntie Nat wants to see it."

Cue Lianne looking hopefully at Nat, who smiled in defeat and stood up.

"All right, sweetpea, you drag me upstairs and show me the fortress of girl."

"Keeps me busy and out of trouble," Steve told Colin, before chuckling at Nat. "You make it sound like such a chore," he teased, stopping short of remindering her that she had a fifty-fifty chance of having a girl.

"It's the pink," she mouthed back at her friend, letting Lianne tug her out of the room.

Lucy snorted with laughter, rolling her eyes. "So, I take it you're close to being all ready for the newborn?" she asked Colin. "Less than two months now, right?"

"Except for names and the nursery," Colin confirmed. That said, he realized there was still a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. "We're debating on another scan," he said, gaze following after Nat's exit to make sure she wasn't eavesdropping.

"Prior warning of who is arriving does take a bit of the stress out of it," Lucy admitted, nudging Steve with a grin. They'd known with Jamie, and despite the chaos of his actual birth, the run up hadn't been as bad as it could have been.

"The thing is ..." Colin started, with another furtive glance to make sure Nat was out of hearing range. "I don't think she wants to know. She's afraid of having a girl." He knew he was breaking a confidence in sharing this, but these were Nat's closest friends, and if anyone could help, it was them.

"That doesn't make any sense," Lucy pointed out. "Nat's always been amazing with our kids. Lianne adores her." She glanced at Steve before looking back to Colin. "Has she actually said that?"

"Not in so many words, but she's implied it," Colin said. He and Nat had only just touched on the subject a short time earlier, so it was still preying on his mind a little.

"That's just Nat," Steve interjected helpfully. "She's gonna be an awesome mom, whether it's a boy or a girl."

"I mean, I kind of get it?" Lucy confessed reluctantly. "When I was pregnant with Jamie, I was convinced I'd screw a girl up. I'd always been a tomboy sort of a girl, didn't really do girly-girl things. I was totally convinced I had nothing to teach a little girl."

"And what do you think now?" Colin asked, though he thought it was Nat who needed to hear this, not him.

Lucy's smile warmed. "I think kids are kids, and unless you're a truly terrible person, they're impossible to screw up if you're doing your best."

"Agreed," Steve put in. "I lost my father when I was young, and I never thought I'd have kids. I don't think it's true that it comes naturally, but so long as you love them, you'll both do fine."

Colin nodded in acknowledgment, if not agreement. "It's Nat who really needs to hear this, not me. I mean, she's great with everyone else's kids. I don't know why she's so worried about our own."

"Because she can't give your kid back at the end of the day," Lucy pointed out with a smile. "You know, I think it might be more the fact that you're going to be responsible for a pretty helpless little life that's getting to her, more than what gender it might be."

"For what it's worth, we're right next door, and I'm sure you'll have all the help you want. It's scary at first, but there's nothing more gratifying than having a family," Steve said. That was something coming from the man who had devoted his whole life to destroying Hydra.

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:29 EST
Colin smiled. "I'm sure you're both right. I'm sure we'll be fine, but tell that to Nat."

From the hallway outside the kitchen came the sound of Lianne's voice, growing quieter as she was apparently hurried away from the door. "Are you really scared of girls, Auntie Nat?"

Lucy smirked, rolling her eyes. "You know, I think he just did."

Colin sighed. "Looks like I'm gonna get kicked after all," he murmured to himself.

"Oh, calm down." Lucy rose to her feet. "Help me make this order without screwing it up, I can't read my own handwriting here."

Steve looked as if he was debating something for a moment before rising to his feet. "I'll be right back," he said, before ducking out of the room in search of Nat.

She had made it to Lianne's room, sitting on the bed as the little girl showed off her new sweater. "Looking sharp there, Li-Li," Nat was saying as Steve came into earshot. "Remind me to get you some kickass boots."

"Kickass?" Steve echoed in his mind. He wasn't too sure what that meant exactly, but it didn't sound like something a little girl should wear or do. He debated quietly another moment before rapping his knuckles on the door to announce his presence.

Lianne was inspecting Nat's boots - wedge heeled, knee high, comfortable - when the knock sounded. She grinned up at her father. "Papa, can I have kickass boots like Auntie Nat has?"

Steve frowned, giving Nat one of those long-suffering looks that sarcastically said, "Thanks a lot." "Maybe when you'd older," he told his daughter, not wanting to say no exactly, but not really wanting her to adopt the Black Widow's sense of fashion just yet. "Li, can you go check and make sure your mother is ordering a pizza without mushrooms?"

Lianne let out a long-suffering sigh. "You just want to talk to Auntie Nat without me hearing," she complained precociously, offering up a big grin as she did so. "Okay, Papa. But you owe me lots of cuddles."

"Duly noted," Steve replied with a grin. "How about one for the road?" he asked, crouching down and opening his arms to the little girl. She might be young, but she was as sharp as a whip.

Giggling, Lianne swarmed up into his arms for a tight hug before skipping merrily out of the room.

Nat couldn't help smiling at the little interlude, raising her brow at Steve once the girl was gone. "Is it pep talk time, old man?"

"Do you need one?" Steve asked, moving to sit beside her on the bed, which looked ridiculously small with the two of them perched there.

To her credit, Nat did think about this before answering. "I think I'm going to keep being scared of motherhood no matter what," she suggested reluctantly. "It's not even something I can explain. I just ....I feel like I'm going to screw this up."

"Nat," he started, reaching for her hand. "What do you remember about your mother?" he asked, as gently as he could. They had not really talked about this in all the time they had known each other, and he had a feeling it had something to do with the source of her fear.

She hesitated, almost wincing as she cast her mind back, trying to find whatever had come before the Red Room. "I, uh ....I don't know," she murmured. "I was pretty small when they came for me."

"Have you ever tried to find her?" he asked further, not really knowing whether she'd been taken from her family or if her family had given her up. There had to be records of it somewhere, probably buried deep inside Russia.

"Why would I?" Nat asked him, genuinely confused for a moment. "She gave me up. If she didn't, then she's dead. Either way, that isn't a woman I want to see."

"Okay," Steve said, abandoning that line of argument, though he could still make his point. "But have you ever considered that maybe you're afraid of being a mother because of that?"

"I don't, I don't understand," she answered, her fingers flexing in his grasp. "Why would not being able to remember my mother make me afraid of doing it myself?"

"Because you don't have those memories, Nat. Maybe you've repressed them. Maybe they were taken from you. Maybe there isn't much there worth remembering, but most people remember their childhood. Most people remember their parents, and they either want to emulate them or be nothing like them. In your case, you don't have that point of reference. Let's face it - you didn't have a happy childhood, and you're probably worried you don't know how to give a happy childhood to your own child," he said, though he was no shrink and could only guess.

"Col thinks that I'll be fine because I know what not to do," she muttered, shaking her head. "Truth is ....the only moms I've ever seen in action are Lucy and Liv. And they're just ....it's so natural for them. For you."

"Lucy and Liv were orphans, too, you know," he pointed out. They hadn't had mother figures to show them what to do and had still managed to raise families of their own. "Lucy was afraid to have children, too, but she's a great Mom. To be honest, I'm not sure it comes natural to anyone. It's the love that comes natural. The rest you just learn," he said with a shrug.

Nat's expression relaxed a little, though that relaxation definitely required some effort. "You're a pretty good mom yourself, old man."

Steve's mouth twitched into a smirk. "I'd prefer to think of myself as a Dad, not a Mom," he pointed out, though he might sometimes act as a sort of mother figure to the team of Avengers. Someone had to do it, after all.

"Does that make Stark the Mommy?" she asked in amusement. "Oh, wait, no ....he's the weird uncle. I kinda think Alyona and Nicolai are the new parents, with the new recruits coming in."

Steve chuckled at her analogy. "I never would have expected it, but you're probably right," he said with a sigh. There was and probably always would be a part of him that missed being involved with the team, but they knew how to get in touch with him if they needed him. "Do you ever miss it?" he asked, curiously.

She met his gaze with honest eyes. "Yeah, I do," she said, without shame or regret. "But this is my life now. I made the choice to step back and let myself be in love, to build a family. I may not be confident about it, but I am not going to back out on it because of that. This is what I want."

"Yeah, I feel the same way. No regrets, right?" he asked, giving Nat's hand a squeeze before letting go. If he hadn't made his choice the day he'd met Lucy, then it had been the day they'd decided to adopt Martin and Lianne.

"I wouldn't say that," she admitted, "but the benefits outweigh the regrets by a ton. And there is nothing wrong with your daughter wearing comfortable boots, by the way."

"Comfortable boots. Not kickass boots," Steve corrected with a grin. "Nat, you're gonna be a great mom. Trust me. The kids adore you. If you want, you can practice on the twins," he added with a smirk.

Natasha Romanoff

Date: 2019-01-14 12:29 EST
"Have you seen these boots?" Nat held out her feet. "Comfortable and kickass." She grinned at him, rolling her eyes at the continued reassurance. "I'm not going to believe a word until I've done something awful and it didn't kill the kid, you know."

"Like what? Drop him or her?" Steve teased. That had probably happened plenty of times, but for some reason, babies were more resilient than they seemed. "Seriously, you're gonna be fine. You just have to believe in yourself."

"Gee-whizz, mister, you're really encouraging!" she replied, sarcastic as ever but with an appreciative cast to her smile. "I guess you need me to reassure Col now, huh?"

"I try," Steve said, shrugging, an amused smirk on his face. "Only too happy to help, but I think you're the one who needs encouraging, not him," he added. "Nat, you're the biggest badass I know. You can do this. Trust me."

"Yeah, yeah." Rolling her eyes, she reached over to hug her friend. "Thanks, Steve. Don't know what you did to deserve a weird-ass little sister like me, but you're doing pretty good, Pops."

"Sister, not daughter," he pointed out, slinging a large arm around her shoulders to hug her back, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. He knew she liked to tease him about his age, but he didn't feel like a day over thirty.

"What, you think I can't pull off being your kids' big sister?" She grinned at him impishly, eyes alight with mischief. "I bet if I asked her, Lianne would make you adopt me."

"No offense, but I don't really wanna be your Dad. I'd rather be your friend, if that's okay," Steve told her, taking her a little too seriously. Or even brother, but not father. "Let Tony play Dad."

"Well, he's definitely getting better at "uncle" these days," she pointed out, heaving herself up onto her feet. "How much bigger is this thing going to get?" Nat asked, gesturing to the bump. "I can handle this, but much bigger and I'm not going to be able to see my own feet."

Steve laughed, moving quickly to his feet to give her a hand. "When you can no longer see your feet, you'll know you're about ready to pop," he told her, with a hint of amusement in his eyes. "How do you feel about mushrooms these days" Jamie is obsessed, and frankly, I hate mushrooms."

"Well, if you're nice to me, I'll eat your mushrooms for you," she informed him teasingly. "Shall we go and pretend to be helpful over homework so your wife doesn't decide she wants my actual blood again?"

"Sounds like a plan. We should probably rejoin them before Lucy and Colin wonder what?s going on up here," he teased, though neither had any reason to feel threatened. If anything, Steve and Nat's relationship was more like that of siblings than lovers.

Paws scrabbling on hardwood floors drew their attention to the doorway, where Lianne's cat Cherie was batting at Martin's puppy, Kiki, with one velveted paw. Nat snorted with laughter. "You'd never guess they were owned by a brother and sister, would you?"

Steve shrugged and chuckled. "Cats and dogs. One day they're best friends; next day, they hate each other," he said, leaning down to scoop Lianne's cat up into his arms with ease before she had a chance to do the puppy any real harm.

The beautiful cat purred as soon as Steve picked her up, draping herself over his shoulder in luxurious comfort. Kiki, on the other hand, whined, looking up at the humans with soulful eyes.

Nat chuckled. "You just picked a side."

"I just saved him from a fight," Steve said, though he doubted the puppy would see it that way. He sighed. "Come on, Kiki. Let's go see what Martin is up to," he said, whistling to summon the puppy to follow at their heels as they made their way back downstairs.

Nat fell in behind, watching as Kiki scrambled down the stairs at Steve's heels. It was rather adorable, she reflected, how very at home he was with his family and their myriad pets. When they'd met, he had been a man out of time, focused on being a soldier because he was convinced that was all he had left to him. Nat wasn't sure how she could ever thank Lucy for showing Steve there was more to life than S.H.I.E.L.D.

If anyone had told Steve a few years ago how his life would be, he wouldn't have believed them, but he couldn't deny he was happy. Rhy'Din had become home, and he was even happier that Nat and Colin had joined them. So many orphans that had found each other and formed a family of their own choosing and making. He only hoped Nat would be as happy and as at home here as he was.

Finally, though, the infamous Black Widow had a home. That was a good place to start.