Bartoned

Chapter 17

Four days after you and Clint agreed to become the strange hybrid version of fuck-buddies and people in an actual honest-to-god relationship, you had sex with him again. You'd stayed in his room and slept all night through once again. Then the following night after tossing and turning you crept into his room while he was asleep and slept in the same bed as him. What followed was two weeks of either sex and sleep or creeping in and sleeping until you just gave up trying to sleep separately, and started going to bed together regardless of the sex.

Even though you were sleeping in the same room, you still considered yourselves as having separate rooms. All your stuff was in one room and all Clint's was in another. So the hunt for a bigger apartment was on the list of things you and Clint were doing together to prepare for the arrival of Natasha. The question was whether you could convince Tony to find you more space, or if you should move off-site again.

Clint kept looking in Brooklyn. It seemed crazy to you to move so far away from work though. Especially when you had just moved your things into the building. Clint argued that having seen Manhattan attacked a few times now, with the Tower being the target for those attacks at least twice, he'd rather not have Natasha be put at risk like that. You could see his point, but you still thought it had better be the perfect place to be worth the trek into the city every day before dawn.

Along with working out the living situation, you had antenatal classes to go to, things to buy, doctor's appointments and work to do. The work sorted itself out really. It was quiet for you but Clint was as busy as he ever was.

Today you were tackling two of the other issues. First, it was the antenatal class, and when you were done with that you were going to the park where Kari, Nat, and Wanda were organizing a baby shower. According to Kari, Tony had been overseeing everything, so you assumed it was going to be a little over the top.

Clint had loved going to the antenatal classes so far. The other people there treated him as a celebrity, and he had a weird fascination with the whole labor and birth process. For you, it felt odd being in the lessons. It was all stuff you knew. You'd delivered babies before for god's sake. But now you were learning it from the other side. Not as the medical professional getting someone through it. But as the person who was about to go through it. It was strange sitting beside Clint watching this birth video that was going through five different stories with five different labors, while he whispered to you and all around you people watched on with horrified expressions on their faces. You knew all this. You'd seen all this up close and in living color. But that was going to be you screaming and shitting yourself and the thought of it was horrific.

"Oh my god. Oh my god!" Clint said, nudging you. "She's just standing up. The nurse should have a catcher's mitt on."

"They should totally include catcher's mitts in the required medical equipment," you whispered back to him.

"I can't believe I'm gonna see our baby squeeze its way out like that. It's so messed up," Clint whispered. "All stretched out. Shitting yourself." You elbowed him and he wrapped his arm around you and pulled you close. "I hope you do it on all fours."

You snorted. "You always hope that."

"Yeah, I do," he teased. "Can I film it?"

"No, you can not. Get fucked," you said.

"Aww, man. But I wanna," he whined.

"Yeah, well I wanna stab you for getting me into this situation. We don't always get what we want," you whispered. "Now shush, and watch the horror movie."

The film ended and the midwife turned the lights back on. "I know that might make it a little scarier. But the moral of the story is; make a birthing plan, but be ready to let it go. Giving birth is not a thing you can predict. The pain is something you won't be able to fathom until you're going through it. Maybe you can handle it. Maybe you can't. Maybe there will be complications. Maybe the baby comes so fast you aren't even ready for it," she said. "First-time babies are usually long labors. Being on your hands and knees or standing and bent over are the most comfortable ways to deliver. It's not how you see it on television. Are there any questions?"