The Tower: Unexpected

The Xenomorphs

For quite a while things just went along like that. Everyone had settled into the idea of the babies coming, though I still hadn't even seen Tony and I was starting to firmly believe that it was just Hulk now. Bruce was gone and he probably wouldn't come back until the kids were in college.

I'd decided I was going to stop dwelling on it though. Most people who were having a baby had one partner there helping them. I had seven. I missed Bruce and Tony like crazy, but I've always believed that the last person who should raise a child is a person who doesn't want to, so I let myself mourn the loss of a relationship but otherwise stayed positive in the ones I still had.

There were still logistical issues. We each had apartments to ourselves. Some had spare bedrooms, most didn't. There was definitely not one that would fit all of us, and only a few that would fit two of us and a baby. Hulk wanted me to move up to the empty apartment on his floor, but it was still only a one-bedroom. Rhodey offered to be the one that moved and for me to take over more of the floor I was on. We considered that. It wasn't ideal but we could maybe turn it into something that would work. The main issue was it would mean Tony had to sign off on it.

I had been too scared of buying anything because of it. What's the point of buying a crib if there's nowhere for it to go. At this point, my babies were going to be sleeping in the bath and wearing clothes fashioned out of things we already had lying around.

I had more doctor's appointments. She had said nothing to me about needing to worry about anything particularly. So I still didn't know whose babies they were anyway. They were just our babies, and we were starting to get excited.

At twenty-one weeks we were just hanging around in the common room when I felt a very hard kick.

"Holy shit," I said putting my hand on my stomach where it happened. "Someone's trying to bust out Xenomorph style."

Wanda scrambled over to me, literally climbing over Clint and Steve to get closer. "Let me feel."

I took her hand and put it on the spot I felt the kick. "Just be patient. I don't know if they'll do it again."

She pulled a face and I felt her push the words 'I want to feel them' directly into my head.

"I know. Just..." There was another kick and I looked up at her. "There, did you feel that?"

She squealed and the brightest smile broke out on her face. "Yes!"

I grinned at her and kissed her forehead. "Can you tell which one it is? Like can you feel them?" I asked, tapping my head.

"Yeah, they're a little different," Wanda said and her eyes glowed pink. After a second I was linked with her and I could feel the two different thought patterns of the babies. They were so simple and primitive. Just lights and colors and sounds, but each baby felt different. I was connected to them.

"Oh," I said with a happy sigh. "Which one is which?"

'This one is Riley.' Wanda sent to me, boosting the thought pattern of the baby who just kicked me once again.

I looked over at Sam. "It's Riley kicking."

"It is?" Sam said, moving closer. "Can I feel?"

She kicked again and I nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Oh, man, she's so active. It's like she's trying to feel the outside world the way thoughts are. She wants more space."

Sam put his hand on my stomach and I moved it next to Wanda's. "Yeah?"

"Hopefully you can feel from there. Give it a second." I said.