The Algorithm To Infinity

[13] one in a million

She wanted this... a baby.

Of course, she did. She was two months along... the choice had already been made for her. It was too late to get an abortion, and she didn't want to give her baby up for adoption anyway. Even if she was alone, even if her soulmate left her, she would raise her baby. She would be the amazing and selfless mother hers had been before the KGB had torn them all apart, even if she didn't have a man at her side because a woman never needed a man.

Suddenly, he grasped her shoulders and drew her from her thoughts. "Are you crazy? Why the hell would I feel trapped? I love you... I love this." He said firmly as he pierced her with his azure gaze that struck her to the core.

She stared back at him, seeing right into his soul. He wasn't going to leave her... he was happy about this just like she was, even if they hadn't found out about their child under the most ideal circumstances. "Did you just fucking call me crazy? You are the one who got me pregnant with your super-sperm!" She exclaimed.

His wide eyes full of guilt, his flushed cheeks, and his shocked expression made her laugh even as she tried to bite it back. 

Maybe she had been overreacting. 

Just slightly.

Hearing her laugh made him smile, and he sat down on the bed beside her as he carefully wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "We are in this together... we always have been even if I was the biggest dick to leave you in Miami."

"I didn't tell you I was your soulmate after two years, Steve. You had every right to leave." She said. Just as his lips parted to argue with her, she cupped his handsome face and shifted closer to him even as pain shot through her abdomen. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to argue with a pregnant woman?"

They both began to laugh and suddenly, everything seemed to be okay.

• • •

"Wanda, you are driving me crazy," Steve said.

He glanced up at the young girl as she braided her hair while loudly humming the catchy song from the Disney movie they had just finished watching. His eyes were bleary with exhaustion, and he longed to squeeze himself into the hospital bed with Natasha, who had fallen asleep two hours ago, but his mind was still running in circles.

"Sorry." She laughed softly, tucking her knees underneath her and looking at Natasha with something akin to adoration in her eyes.

She was pregnant.

They had a baby on the way - his soulmate - his love. It was the most unexpected yet wonderful surprise he could've never imagined. He knew he was meant to spend lifetime after lifetime with her, but he didn't know that they would start a family of their own. He had thought it wasn't possible, and he had never longed to have a child with her because he was happy to just be by her side. Nonetheless, he was overjoyed but utterly terrified. He wasn't ready to be a father, and what if he wasn't any good at it? He hadn't been good enough to protect Natasha from getting shot... surely he wasn't good enough to protect her and a child. He knew she would be the most incredible mother, but she and their child deserved better than him. Captain America wasn't enough, but he had to be because no one could ever tear him away from her or their baby.

Comfortable silence settled over him and Wanda until Steve spoke to quiet his racing mind. "Do you remember when you made me see that vision? When Nat and I had a little boy?" He asked as he ran his thumb across the back of her hand. Was that their future? Happiness? Peace? A life not spent saving the world but nursing a baby and cleaning up messes? It was what he wanted - to settle down with Natasha and not have to worry if they would return home in one piece - and he had for a while now. A life with a baby seemed just as daunting as being an Avenger, but he wanted that life too. He wanted it more than he had ever wanted to be an Avenger.

"I know what you're going to ask, but I don't see the future. I only could see your bond." Wanda replied softly, glancing up at him.

He didn't believe her. "So you didn't know that Natasha would get pregnant?" He asked as if she would suddenly concede that she had known all along that they would start a family.

"No. I didn't know that Captain America would knock up the Black Widow." Wanda laughed, her lips turning up in a smirk.

He bit back a laugh, but his stomach still churned with nerves that he had never felt before. "I'm serious, Wanda." He rolled his eyes. "I'm going to be a shitty father."

"You? A shitty father? Absolutely not. You and Nat will make the best parents. I cannot see the future, but I am certain of that." Wanda said sharply, sitting up in her chair to look at him from across the beside. "Things happen for a reason. You may not believe that, but I do." She said. "That's life, isn't it? Figuring out why things happened. The good and the bad."