It had been a quiet morning, neither one of them doing anything. Saturdays were some of his favourite days. Sure, fighting baddies didn't come with a permanent work schedule but Steve did appreciate the fact that people rarely carried out their evil schemes on a Saturday. So, naturally, the Avengers parted ways to spend time with other people, except himself and his favourite spy, of course. In fact, Natasha had her head on his chest as they were cuddled up on his sofa, watching reruns of The Voice in his apartment back in Brooklyn.

"Adam Levine is hot," she commented, twisting her torso to look at him. He was constantly amazed at how she could possibly be that flexible. She was capable of some of the most outrageous gymnastic feats he'd ever seen and when he'd asked her about it, she just honest to God shrugged and threw him a wink. Of course, she had been a ballerina before, but didn't ballerinas have spines?

"He's a good-looking guy," he shrugged, resting his head on hers and giving her a kiss on the top of her head.

"He is, but... I like a certain super soldier much better," she smirked, cocking her head at him. God, he was so in love with that smile of hers. It was one that he'd seen a thousand times in passing but it never quite matched up to the one she gave him whenever they were alone.
The little flirty looks that she gave him, coupled with rightly timed touches; a brush of their fingers when she passed him a pen, accidentally bumping into each other while on duty, was more than enough, and rightfully so, to drive him insane. He was at least twice her size, but it wasn't hard for anyone to realise that she had him wrapped around her finger.

"Glad to hear it," he chuckled.

"Don't get sloppy, Rogers. Rule number one of espionage, take every word you hear with a pinch of salt," she teased, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Are you implying that you didn't mean what you said?" He said, draping an arm around her waist, tugging her closer.

"Well," she started, a hand on his chest, "You're dealing with a professional liar. Besides, Russia and America never had it friendly."

He reached up to ruffle her hair, drawing a laugh from her, "Friendly."

"Watch it, Rogers, you're not quite my size and you know what they say; the bigger they are, the harder they fall," she replied, tapping his forehead with her finger before smoothing out her hair. "Clearly I fell too hard for you," he joked with a toothy grin, "Must be the size difference."

She smiled and perched herself up on an elbow before planting a kiss on his lips, "Cute."

He was just about to reply when his phone rang. It had been weird at first when he'd first gotten a mobile phone but it had been a gradual change. Whoever said technology was a bad thing? He reached behind her, grabbing the ringing device, watching as Natasha turned her attention back to the TV screen.

It was Clint.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Cap, sorry to intrude on your Saturday but I kinda need some help. I tried to reach Nat but it couldn't get through."

"She's right here, do you want to talk to her?" He said as he nudged his girlfriend. She turned back to give him a questioning look.

"That'd be great, thanks."

Handing Natasha the phone, she answered, "Barton? What's up?"

He heard some inaudible murmuring before she spoke again, "Oh, yeah sure. Do you want me to bring Steve? Okay, sure. I'll see you in a bit."

She hung up and nudged him, "Hey, I've gotta go. Laura's out of town and Barton just got called out for a mission, he needs me to watch over his munchkins."

"Aunty Nat to the rescue," he smiled, "Hey, I'll come with."

"You're sure? Laura won't be back until tomorrow."

"It's not a problem," he replied reassuringly, getting up to stretch, "Clint's kids are angels after all."

"Aunty Nat!"

It was a sight to see really, Lila throwing open the front door and running towards her the moment Steve turned off the ignition.

"Hi princess, how've you been?" Natasha grinned, picking the seven-year-old up in her arms.

Clint appeared a moment later. "God, you two are lifesavers. Sorry to rein you in on a Saturday though," Clint apologised, "Laur's gone off to her mother's place with Nathaniel and Cooper. Lila and I here were meant to have a little daddy-daughter fun time but Fury's obviously got a stick up his arse."

He was already in full Hawkeye mode though, dressed and ready to go despite the complaint.

Steve chuckled, "Evil never stops, Barton. Not even on good days."

"Damn right," he sighed, before turning to Lila. "I'm heading off now, you be good for your Aunty Nat and Uncle Steve alright?" Clint smiled, giving Lila a sloppy kiss.

"Daddy!" Lila yelled, giggling in Natasha's arms, "Aunty Nat is here!"

"And suddenly I'm the embarrassing father," he sighed, "Lila, she's my best friend, you don't get to steal daddy's best friend."

Lila just stuck her tongue out and gave him a cheeky grin, "I love you, daddy! Come home safely!"

"Alright, I love you too. I'll see you later," Clint smiled as he continued his trek down the long driveway.

Natasha grinned as she set Lila down, "I mean obviously I'm the favourite aunt here."

The little girl ran off into the house excitedly as they followed her. Steve wrapped an arm around Natasha's shoulder, "Well don't tell Pepper that."

"No getting handsy in my house, kids!" Clint hollered as a SHIELD-issued vehicle appeared around the corner to pick him up.

Natasha just waved as he got in and in typical Clint Barton fashion, he flipped her off.

"Obviously some people never grow up," Steve laughed as she flipped him off with not just one but both fingers.

"Shut up," she said, nudging him as they made their way into the house.

"Alright Lila, what do you normally do on a beautiful Saturday like this?" Natasha asked, getting down to Lila's height.

"Well, daddy and I were meant to be doing arts and crafts today."

"Getting into the grown-up stuff now aren't you?" Natasha smiled as Lila giggled happily, nodding. The look on her face was so full of pure joy that Natasha couldn't help but reach out to stroke her hair, "Okay, do you want to paint? Because Uncle Steve here is an amazing artist. He's really good."

"Really? Can he paint me a pony?" The little girl asked excitedly.

"I don't know, can he?" Natasha teased, turning to look at Steve.

"Are we talking My Little Pony or Black Beauty?" Steve chuckled.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Natasha shrugged, unable to wipe the smile off her face. Steve picked Lila up and gave her a tickle, "Well then, what are we waiting for? Lead the way, princess."

As soon as Steve set her down, she took off running towards the Barton's storage room. While Lila rummaged through her paint box for the Rainbow Dash painting, Natasha crept up to Steve's side, wrapping an arm around his waist from behind, "Aren't you just the sweetest with her?"

"She's a sweetheart," he shrugged.

"Uncle Steve! I found it!"

"Good job princess, alright, let's get started," Steve smiled, taking her hand.

They set up a huge canvas in the middle of the living room flanked by a very professional dining chair. Steve sat Lila down on his lap as they thought about what to do, "Okay, do you want to draw the outline in pencil first?"

"Yeah!"

"Looks like I'll leave you two to it then," Natasha said quietly with a smiled, shaking her head as she curled up on the sofa, propping herself up on one elbow on the armrest as she watched the two attempt a drawing at Lila's favourite little pony.

Steve, obviously offered to help her with it but boy, did the girl have an inner DaVinci in her. She wouldn't be painting a Mona Lisa anytime soon; but she could definitely draw a perfect Rainbow Dash, down to the very last line of detail of the pony's mane.

"Well looks like you didn't need my help after all princess," Steve grinned, ruffling her hair.

"Thanks, Uncle Steve," the little girl giggled happily, obviously flattered by the compliment.

It didn't take too long for them to finish up painting the pony. It was a perfect pony, complete with a rainbow in the background to match, much to Lila's absolute delight. She signed her name and the date on the side of the canvas before insisting that Steve did too.

Natasha honestly felt her heart melt just the tiniest bit.

"Aunty Nat! Sign it!" Lila said, hoping off of Steve's lap to pull her over.

"Yeah, don't be a spoilsport Aunty Nat," Steve teased, reaching over to tug her by the arm. She scoffed, smiling, "I didn't paint a single thing on here."

Steve didn't seem to agree because he placed a paintbrush in her hand and guided her towards the sun they had drawn before adding a few quick strokes.

"Hey, sun's gotta have a few rays," Steve grinned.

"Ewww, you guys are mushy," Lila giggled, covering her mouth with her small hands, her ponytail bouncing as she hopped up and down.

Natasha picked her up, giving her a snuggle and placing a kiss on her cheek, "Mushy? I'm hardly mushy."

"Aunty Nat! Stop!"

"Aren't you two just the cutest?" Steve chuckled, "Okay Nat, it's time to sign our beautiful masterpiece."

Natasha let Lila down and signed her name in Sharpie next to Steve and Lila's before adding a heart.

The day passed by far too quickly and by the time it was seven in the evening, they were sat in front of the TV having mac and cheese for dinner. Steve was an excellent cook and the Barton household was always fully stocked, so he had whipped something up nice and easy. After dinner, Lila insisted on doing one more thing before bed. Clint had bought her Play-Doh a few days ago and she wanted to make a few things. They ended up being the ones who stayed up making weirdly shaped pieces of Play-Doh after they tucked Lila into bed.

"Thank you for such an awesome day, Aunty Nat, Uncle Steve. This has been the best day ever," Lila yawned, shutting her eyes as she pulled the duvet up to her chin.

"It's been a fun day princess, I'm sure your daddy and mummy will love the new painting we made," Steve smiled, speaking quietly as he referred to the still-drying painting of Rainbow Dash sitting against the living room wall.

"Yeah," Lila smiled, "Goodnight Uncle Steve, Aunty Nat."

"Goodnight Lila," Natasha smiled, shutting the younger girl's bedroom door closed behind them. The two of them made their way back to the living room and they stood there for awhile, while Steve pulled her closer, arms wrapped around her comfortingly, "Well, today was fairly eventful."

"Babysitting Clint's kids is always a joy," Natasha smiled, running her hand through his hair.

A thought came to her and it almost threatened to wipe the smile off her face. He was such a loving guy and so good with Lila, she wondered if he'd ever wanted to have kids of his own one day.

"You would be a great dad, Rogers," Natasha said quietly, looking up at his blue eyes that she thought could put the sky to shame.

"And you would be a wonderful mother, Nat," he said genuinely. He knew about what happened, but they had never breached the subject.

"I just think it's a shame. If you stay with me, I'm not going to be able to give you the family you want, you know," she said flippantly, pulling away and trying to brush off the fact that her own words hurt.

"If you ever for a minute tell me that you think having kids or a family is a number one priority in my list you're wrong, Nat," Steve said, looking at her pointedly before pulling her back into his all-too-familiar arms, "It's not. Maybe I did want those things, but that was before 1945, that was before I met you. Besides, I'm going to be too busy loving you for the rest of my life."

"I love you, Steven Rogers," Natasha grinned, pulling him down for a kiss. He loved her, she knew that, but she wanted him to make sure he knew she loved him too.

"Hey Nat, give me your hand," Steve laughed, a mischievous smile on his face. He pulled out a ball of Play-Doh from his pocket and wrapped the coloured plasticine around her ring finger and smiled in the cheesiest way possible.

"You're such a cheese, Rogers," she chuckled. He cupped her face in his hands and she could tell he looked at her with utter adoration in his eyes. She hadn't ever thought about how much she loved him before, but as she studied his every feature; from the crease by his eyes when he laughed a bit too hard, to the way he smiled at her, she realised she loved him more than she could possibly describe.

Everything was going to be okay. It was going to work out.

BONUS

It had been several days since Steve had last seen Natasha. After Barton had returned, they had sent her out for a mission and while he had tried to keep herself busy, it was hard not to miss her. Her being out of the country meant he had a lot of time to set things up though and he knew she was coming back today. So, when the door to his apartment opened and slammed close, he knew she had come home. It wasn't the best time nor place to ask her an important question, but he really didn't want to wait any longer.

"Hey, Nat?" He called out.

She was towelling her hair dry when she plopped down on his lap, "Hm?"

"Remember when we went to babysit Lila?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"Remember that Play-Doh ring I made?"

She looked at him suspiciously, "Uh huh... Rogers, where are you going with this?"

He pulled out the ring box from his pocket and popped it open, "I kind of needed to know your size for this."