Clintasha: The Baby

Part 55

Third Person Point of View: 

"Hi guys. So are we ready to get started?" Clint asked with a half smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Bring her over to me and we'll get started, who wants to hold her?" Bruce asked as everyone ignored Bucky except for Natasha who gave him a hug.

"I thought you guys said you couldn't get her to sleep." Bruce said taking the baby out of the carrier that was now on the counter next to the incubator.

"We weren't. She only fell asleep as we started to land and I thought it was a bad idea to wake her so we put her in the carrier. It's been a long day, we don't know what's wrong with her." Natasha said coming over to stand next to Bruce.

"Good idea, but she's going to wake up now, so I'm really sorry guys. Did you guys decide on a name yet?" Bruce asked while gently setting the baby in the incubator and unwrapping her from her blanket.

"No we haven't, we haven't discussed it. We were too worried about getting her here." Clint said before Natasha could say anything, or shoot down the idea.

"Understandable, Natasha how long did she eat for?"

"Maybe ten, fifteen minutes. She fell asleep so I took her off, then she woke herself back up with the coughing." Natasha said hovering over Bruce's shoulder and watching every movement he made with the still sleeping baby. Bruce had now moved her over to the scale he set up. 

"Wow she's so small, she should have probably ate more. This isn't adding up. She's barely five pounds, that's two pounds smaller than Elizabeth when she was born. Do you know how she got all of these cuts and scratches and all of this." He said gesturing to the smoke marks and stains on the small child while walking her over to the sink to give her a bath with the other three trailing behind him. 

"We picked her up in the middle of a firefight with the Red Room while we were destroying the facility. We tried our best to keep her out of it but we weren't always successful." Bucky said jumping in for Natasha, as the baby started crying and coughing again when he put her in the warm water.

Natasha winced and stood directly next to Bruce the entire time but spoke up a little ways through. "Do you happen to know what our plan is going to be to get her to stop coughing? Is she going to be OK?" Natasha asked nervously. 

"Natasha, I know you're worried, and I know you're nervous, but you need to let me work. I won't hurt her, I promise. I'm just doing what you asked me to. I'm just trying to help her, why don't you and Clint go get changed while I finish up my preliminary exam. Then you guys can hold her and both of you will feel more comfortable." Bruce suggested trying to get himself more time to examine the baby without the both of them breathing down his neck and scrutinizing every move.  

"That's a great idea Bruce. I haven't held her yet, so I want her to be comfortable when I do. I want her to be comfortable with her dad." Clint said while going over to grab Natasha by the hand before she could say anything. 

When they were in the elevator Natasha broke the awkward silence between the tow of them. "You know it's not because I don't think you are capable right?"

"What?"

"The reason I didn't let you hold her, the reason why I didn't let you take care of her. It's not because I don't think your capable, it's just that I was scared and I still am, and if she doesn't make it I don't want you to have been attached and get upset."

"Tasha, I know you're scared but our little girl is going to make it, she's like her mother, she's strong, she's a fighter, she's just like you. You couldn't have stopped me from getting attached, because I was from the moment I saw her in your arms. I know that this is meant to be." Clint says walking closer to her in the elevator so that they are as close as they can be without touching. "Can I kiss you?" He asked while leaning down, closer to her face and Natasha closed the rest of the gap between them and their lips touched and a spark was reignited in the both of them. The kiss was short and sweet and didn't have much passion to it, but it was all the both of them needed to be reassured that they still loved each other, that they were meant to be, that they could handle anything as long as they were together.