Baby Captain Widow (a Romanogers pregnancy fanfic)

Chapter 2: The unexpected

Steve awoke early the next morning to the sounds of Nat vomiting again in the bathroom. Climbing out from under the soft covers, he made his way groggily towards the bathroom, knocking on the door. "'Tasha, do you need me to come in there?"
"I'm ok- bleurggh!"
He tried the door handle: the door was unlocked. Opening the door, he walked in and knelt beside her. He gently pulled her hair out of her face. Nat shivered at his touch. "Sshhh." He hushed, gently rubbing her back in circular motions.

She vomited again.

"There you go, get it all out of you." Steve whispered gently into her ear, his hand moving at a steady rhythm. "Do you still feel like you can leave today, or..."
"Yes, I'll be fine, Rogers." She muttered, breathing through her nose so that the stench of acid in her mouth wasn't inhaled into her lungs.
"We'll have to go to some shops to get food for the trip: we'll want to go somewhere further afield. Do you think you'll be up to that?"
"Rogers, I don't need you to baby me." She snapped, turning to face him. The look on his face was of hurt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. What I meant to say is that I'm up to getting any necessary provisions."
Steve leant over to grab a cloth and dampened it, gently patting Nat's forehead, erasing the beads of sweat that stood there.

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They got out of their truck and headed inside the shop ahead. As they walked down the aisles, they piled food into the basket Steve was carrying. Nat slipped off, towards the pharmacy section of the store, and quickly returned, silently burying a pregnancy test underneath a box of crackers.

Walking down towards the cash registers, Nat's head began to spin slightly, slowing her down. Steve noticed out of the corner of his eye, and slowed down as well, wrapping an arm around her to keep her steady. "Almost there. Do you need me to go and grab you some paracetamol?"
"Might be wise."

They took a quick detour, Nat adding 2 boxes of tablets to the pile in the basket. Steve gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "I just want to get back to the cottage." Nat whispered wearily, leaning against the super soldier.
"I know. We just need to pay then you can sleep in the car." She nodded, her eyes closing slightly for the oncoming migraine. Steve steered her towards the cashier, mouthing slightly "She's not feeling very well." The cashier nodded sympathetically and said "Your total is $35.97. He quickly paid, and then left the shop.

"Come on, let's get you back," Steve reassured Nat as he opened the truck door for her. Nat nodded as she fell back against the back of the chair. He placed the bags of food and medicine onto the back seats, and sat in the driver's seat. "Hey," He said, gently squeezing Natasha's hand, "It's going to be alright." She gently smiled back as the engine revved, and the car reversed out of the parking lot.

The drive back was as smooth as Steve could make it for Nat, for there were bumps and potholes in the road that he tried his best to avoid. Nat groaned from her headache. It wasn't long before they got back. Rogers helped her get out of the vehicle before tending to the bags in the truck, helping her up the stairs to the front porch, where he unlocked the door for her to go in. Natasha rummaged in the bags for the test, and slowly made her way to the bathroom upstairs. "You ok?" He called after her, only looking up from transferring food into a rucksack.
"Yeah, just gonna run myself a bath."

She entered the bathroom, locking the door behind her, and began to run the bath, though she had no sudden urges to get in. She unwrapped the packaging of the test and carefully read the instructions. It's just a precaution, she thought, there was no way she could be. She waited two minutes after using the stick, pacing the bathroom, her palms sweaty. Nervously she checked the instructions again: yes, three minutes, the longest three minutes of her life. She clutched the bathroom sink until her knuckles turned ghost white, for once in her life her heart was racing; she felt like she was gonna puke again. Looking up, she checked the clock; three minutes had finally passed. She raced towards the test on top of the toilet, and looked down at it carefully. There were two bright pink lines.

It was positive.

Without warning, she lost all strength in her knees, and collapsed onto the cold hard floor. "Nat! Is everything alright up there?" Steve yelled from downstairs. Nat couldn't answer; she was speechless. "Natasha! Answer me?!" He yelled again, pounding up the stairs three at a time. Natasha shifted over to the door and unlocked it. Steve barged in and grabbed her by the shoulders. She was shaking. His eyes fell to the test in her hands, her eyes also glued. "Nat, what's happened?" He whispered, turning paler by the second.
"I-I'm - p-p-pregnant."

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"Ok, ok, just breathe Nat. Everything is going to be ok."
Nat looked up at him, fear scribbled all over her face. "Steve, loving your optimism here, but how the fuck is it going to be ok?!"
"Nat, I honestly do not know, all I know is that we will make it ok."
"But how?" Nat was on the verge of tears as reality appeared to be crumbling before her.
"What we need to know right now, if how far along are you? When did we last, uh, fondue?"
Nat thought for a moment, and then replied "When we were in that motel in Chicago."
"Blimey, that was six weeks ago!"
"Fuck!" Nat groaned, leaning her head back against the bath tub, feeling the cold surface on the back of her neck. Steve moved his hand towards hers, and interlaced their fingers.
"Come on, how about we talk about this somewhere more comfortable, like the living room, or the bedroom?"
"The bedroom. It's closer."

Steve helped Nat get back on her feet, and took her into the bedroom, lifting up the quilt for them to enter underneath. Nat shifted along, with the captain following in per suit. He then continued to cover them up, and wrapped his arm around her. She softly whispered "I don't even know if I can be a mum, I never had mine, and I spent most of my childhood in that hellhole assassin school." A tear began to roll down her cheek, and Steve delicately caught it with his thumb, wiping it away. He took the pregnancy test from her hands, and turned it over in his.
"I'm sure that you will be a great mum, I mean, you are great with Wanda..."
"That's different though, she may be a kid, but she isn't a child." Steve considered this, and leaned his head on Natasha's.
"True, but you have helped teach her, mentor her, and you have helped her come out of her shell and truly embrace her powers." She smiled through her tears. He continued "And you are strong, brave, and most importantly, you are Natasha Romanoff, no longer afraid of doing what is right. Since I have known you, Nat, I have become even more proud of who you have become." She wrapped her arms around him in silent appreciation, her tears of unspoken love dampening his shirt.

"So," He changed the subject, "Where are we going to go, and are we going?"
"Um, of course we're going. How about your old training barracks? You know, in New Jersey?"
"I don't think it's habitable to say the least, especially after our last visit, when the whole of SHIELD was hunting us down."
"Ok, how about the secret SHIELD bunker that we stayed in after Bucky blasted a bullet through my shoulder?" Steve thought for a moment.
"We could potentially lay low there. Though Stark may go looking there."
"I doubt it, Steve, seeing as Tony most likely doesn't know about it."
"I've just remembered this old bunker that only Sam and I know of. It's over in Missouri from a previous mission a year or two ago. It's small and secluded so we should be safe there. It is quite a way though."
Nat yawned, "That'll be fine, I do want to go and stay with Clint though, it would make some of this" She gestured to her stomach. "A bit easier to deal with."
"Understandable. Right, you need some rest. I've packed everything up, we can just wear these clothes tomorrow, and leave. We can eat on the way."
"Ok..." Nat yawned again, and nestled her head into Steve's warm chest, rising and falling with each breath they took. He placed the test on the cabinet next to their bed, and wrapped Nat with his free arm, embracing her with the comfort she so desperately needed.

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Oh my gosh, you guys! I absolutely loved writing that second half of the chapter, and to be honest with you, I was crying from the emotion when I was writing the part where Steve is giving Nat a pep talk on why she should be a mother and how she is going to be such a great one.

If you guys could comment on your favourite parts, I would absolutely love that, and feel free to vote for it as well! Thank you guys so much for reading Baby Captain Widow, it has really made me feel so happy! 😁