I go into Laura's hospital room. There are beeping machines everywhere, people running in every direction and talking loudly, two beds. It reminds me of Hydra's experiments. I shake the memory away and move to stand next to Laura. She's pale, sweaty and clearly about a hundred times more exhausted than us, but she finds the strength to smile at me.
"You came," she whispers.
"Of course," I reply, "Did you see Clint?"
"Yeah, he came in just now."
I nod, then she gasps in a breath, clenches her jaw and grabs my hand. She catches a doctor's eye, who comes over and asks, "You ready?"
Laura nods quickly, and he says, "Okay. Push."
She starts yelling again, and her grip on my hand tightens painfully, but I barely feel it. My heart is beating too fast, my breaths too short, to focus on anything.
The nurses start running around with towels and water and cloths and other things I couldn't give a name or purpose to if you paid me a million dollars.
Half an hour later, a second screaming voice fills the room and suddenly a nurse is holding a blood-covered, crying baby boy, Laura's hand lets go of mine, her yells end and she's crying, a huge smile across her face.
When I see the baby about two minutes later, washed and wrapped in a blanket and still crying, but so, so small and so, so beautiful, I cry too.
Laura holds out her arms for her son and I move over to see his small, screwed up face better.
"He's so beautiful," Laura sobs.
I can only nod.
"He's here," I think to Pietro, "and he's adorable."
A couple of seconds later, Clint, Pietro, Cooper and Lila run in. Nate is already sleeping, and Clint begins crying instead, pride written on every inch of his face. Pietro wraps his arms around my shoulders and Clint sits down on the edge of the bed, one hand on Laura's shoulder and the other cupping the back of Nate's head.
I lean my own head on Pietro's shoulder, my eyes stinging from exhaustion and tears.
"Let's go home," he says.
A nurse drives us home in her own car. Clint decided to spend the night at the hospital with Laura and Clint.
The kids don't complain when we send them straight to bed. They do, however, come and crawl into our beds two minutes later.
We sleep together again.
In the morning, we take the bus back to the hospital. Laura is sitting up and looking a lot better, though still slightly pale. Nate is asleep in her arms, and Clint is sitting on the end of her bed.
"Morning," I smile as the kids run to clamber over their mom.
"Guys, careful!" Clint laughs, pulling them away from Nate before the wake him up, "He's sleeping. We want him to stay like that for as long as possible."
"You were a loud baby," Cooper says, prodding Lila in the side.
"Was not!" Lila snaps, shoving him back.
"What part of 'careful' do you not understand?" Pietro asks after flashing to catch Cooper before he hits the ground.
I laugh and join them on the bed.
We fall silent, and sit there, happy and comfortable. We must be a strange sight to any onlooker, our mismatched family. Not even Pietro and I look alike after Hydra's experiments changed his hair from brown to white.
Eventually, a nurse turns up and clears Laura and Nate to go home. Together, the seven of us leave the hospital.
Word count: 595
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Two New Bartons (completed)
FanfictionWhat if Pietro never died? They've lost their parents. They've lost their country. At least they still have each other. And their new family. Now, all they need to do is get a hang of being the two new Bartons. I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS...
