You Didn't See That Coming? ~Hawksilver~ #Wattys2015

9

(A/N: Clint's POV again, when Laura and Nathaniel come home from the hospital)

"Welcome home!" Lila and Cooper shrieked when Laura and I walked in, Nathaniel in her arms. Natasha ran to hug us.

"Hey, guys!" I exclaimed, hugging my two oldests.

"Can I hold Nathaniel?" Cooper asked, and Laura smiled.

"Of course, hon. Just let us get settled for a minute," she said, tiredly. Wanda came running down the stairs.

"Welcome back," she said happily, and she hugged me and Laura. She kissed Nathaniel's head.

"Hey, thanks, kid," I said, putting down a Home Depot bag and hanging up mine and Laura's jackets in the coat closet.

"Okay, sorry to do this as soon as I get home, but I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed," Laura said. "Wake me up in two hours."

"Sure thing, hon, sleep well," I said, smiling as she handed my son over to me. "How is he?" I muttered to Wanda.

"Awake," she mouthed, smiling like crazy, putting her finger to her lips. "He needs the rest for now," she said quietly, looking at Lila and Cooper bouncing around happily, and I nodded.

"I'll go up in a minute," I said. "You wanna hold him, Cooper?" He nodded, and he held out his arms. "Okay, so be careful, he's only a newborn. Hold him like you should hold a baby."

"So, like how we hold Shuffle?" Shuffle was the name Cooper and Lila gave a cat that lives in our barn. We feed him, but he doesn't officially belong to us. Normally, people would say "no, you don't hold a newborn the way you hold a cat," but in our case, that would be the way to hold Nathaniel. Lila and Cooper held Shuffle as if he were a human baby.

"Uh-huh," I said. I placed Nathaniel in his arms and Cooper smiled.

"Hey, Nat," he said, looking down at his little brother.

"He's so cute!" Lila said, "Not cuter than me, but so cute!"

"I'll be right back," I said, nodding to Natasha, and Wanda and I went upstairs. "So he's still in pretty bad shape, huh?" I asked.

"He's exhausted," Wanda said, "That's why I don't think bringing the kids up right now is a great idea." She opened the door and we walked in, closing the door behind us. Pietro was sitting upright in bed, reading Eastern Birds by Mike Peterson. I laughed.

"That bored, huh?" I said, and he looked up.

"Better than reading An Emu's Tale," he said with a small chuckle. "So...what the hell does plumage have to do with birds?" I burst into laugher. "What? What's so funny?" I tried to respond, but only laughed more.

"Not pluh-mage, ploo-mage," I said, when I settled down, "Like, feathers. Man, you're actually reading that?"

"I'm freaking bored up here," Pietro said, shrugging. "Why do you have this, anyway? And what's with the miscellaneous bird images on the walls?"

"I'm Hawkeye," he said, "My kids make a game out of giving me bird-themed stuff for father's day, my birthday, Christmas, everything. This is our unofficial bird room. That's why we have all the bird books and stuff."

"That makes more sense than you being a bird watcher, I guess," he said.

"Bird watcher? You know what, whatever. How are you, kid? You gave us a good scare back there a couple days ago."

"Fine," he said, "Just tired, hungry, and bored."

"I'll be right back," Wanda said, leaving.

"So," Pietro said, smiling, "Nathaniel Pietro Barton?"

"Shut up," I said, and Pietro laughed.

"No, no, thank you, it's an honor to have someone named after me," he said, closing the book. "When do I get to meet the little speedster?"

"He's downstairs now," I said.

"Okay," he said, and he moved to get out of bed, but I shoved him back down. "Ouch!"

"Wait just a minute here," I said, my fatherly instincts coming out, "You aren't going anywhere. You just got out of a coma, you're staying here for about a week, kid."

"What?! No way. I'm not staying up here for a week!" He whined like Cooper does when I tell him to do his homework before playing with LEGOS.

"Okay, well, stay in this room, if anything. Doctors told us you'd have to stay in bed about a week after you woke, but they also told us you'd be asleep for a long time. You were only out for about 36 hours."

"Obviously, nothing can hurt me that easily, not even forty-seven bullets could kill me," he muttered stubbornly.

"Hey, don't speak like that. I was worried about you. We all were, in fact, we still are."

"I want to see the children," he said simply. "Wanda told me they wanted to see me, and I want to see them. Come on, Clint. Give me a reason to not die of boredom up here."

"Oh, come on, you have plenty of bird books," I said with a smile, and I messed up his hair like I would Cooper's. "Alright. I'll tell you what. You stay in this room for three days, it has a bedroom, bathroom, everything. You stay here three days then you take it easy around the house."

"Ugh, what are you, my father? Fine. But could you send the kids up?"

"Sure thing," I said, smiling and getting up.

"Clint?" He said before I left.

"Yes Pietro."

"Thank you. For taking care of Wanda and I."

"You're very welcome. And thank you, for saving my life. You're a good kid."

"...just so you know, I am 21 years old."

"Oh, come on. You're still a kid no matter what, Pietro, everyone your age is. I know I was." I walked downstairs. Nat was holding Nathaniel and the kids were playing LEGOS as usual.

"Hey, Clint, what's going on?" Nat asked me.

"Pietro's awake," I said, and the kids looked up.

"Really?" Cooper asked, "Can we go up and see him?"

"That's why I'm down here." They dashed up the stairs. "Hey, kids, take it easy around him, he's still not 100%," I called up the stairs, and chuckled.

"So how is he?" Nat asked.

"He's bored," I said, "bored enough to read my bird books. And he's tired, but antsy to get out of bed, and he's thankful for all we've done. So basically Cooper on a bad day." Nat laughed. "What? It's true!"

"I know it is," she said, "That's why it's funny. Cooper really likes Pietro, he looks up to him. I've seen it up close. And Lila likes Wanda a lot."

"It's a good thing I named my son after that quick little bastard," I said.

"Come on, Clint, you love the twins," Nat said, "Just admit it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I muttered. "Here, hand me Nathaniel, would you? Thanks. I'm gonna go bring him up to see Pietro-"

"I'm going to go wake up Laura," Nat said, and we parted ways.