Kae glanced at him before settled in to her conversation with Phil, who'd dropped in to join them unexpectedly. She had no idea when she'd get a chance to talk to Bruce at this rate.

Bruce, to his credit, noticed the look, and it made him curious. Something seemed to be bothering Kae. Carefully, he waited for a break in the conversation, and then went over to her, slipping an arm around her waist.

"Is everything okay?" he asked her quietly.

"Yeah," Kae said after a moment. "Help me with the dishes?" Clint, Natasha, and Phil had wandered off already, and Tony looked just about ready to drag Bruce off to the lab again.

Bruce frowned a bit, but nodded.

"Sure," he said, following her. It must be important if she wanted busywork as a buffer.

"Tony, go back to the lab," Kae ordered, waiting for Tony to slink away before she started working on the dishes. Sure, she had Bruce here now, but she wasn't sure how to start the conversation now.

Bruce went over to sink, washing dishes with her quietly for a few minutes.

"Something is bothering you," he said after those few moments of silence. "Is something wrong?"

"Just... just keep calm, okay?" Kae shut off the water and turned to look at him, biting her lower lip for a few moments.

"I realized I missed my cycle about a week ago, so I did about six texts, and they all came back positive."

As Kae spoke, Bruce's grip on the plate in his hand got tighter and tighter until the plate broke. He didn't care about the plate, however; he was far more focused on what Kae was telling him. His skin took on a distinctly greenish tint.

"You're sure?" he asked, his voice rough.

"Yes." Kae kept her voice quiet, watching him a little worriedly. And this is what she'd been worried about. Because, really, there was no easy way to drop a bombshell like that.

Bruce gripped the counter tightly, his fingers digging into the counter top as he clenched his teeth. The Hulk surged to the surface, and Bruce worked hard to fight him back.

"Kae," he ground out, "go into the living room." Because he didn't want her anywhere near him if he lost his hold on the Hulk.

Kae hesitated for a few moments, debating. Bruce said having her close tended to help, but she wasn't sure if she would help in this instance. So she touched his cheek briefly before moving back to the living room, although still close enough that she could get to him in moments.

Bruce just stayed there, fighting back the Hulk. Hulk roared in their head, struggling to get free in Bruce's moment of stress, but Bruce was putting up a massive fight. Finally, the green faded from his skin, leaving Bruce standing there winded and tense, but normal.

Kae gave him a few more moments before she moved over to him. "Better now?" she asked quietly.

"For now," Bruce replied, carefully letting go of the counter. There were gouges in the marble.

Kae didn't comment on that, just taking his hands after a minute. "I'm sorry. I couldn't think of any better way to phrase it."

"It's--not your fault," Bruce said carefully. He didn't pull his hands away, but he was ready to, just in case. "Be careful. I don't want to hurt you, or..." He trailed off awkwardly.

"It's fine. As soon as I see green, I'll let go and back off," Kae promised quietly. "I just, I know it was sudden, and I wasn't sure if you'd be... okay, with that, or..."

"I don't..." He hesitated. "Kae, I shouldn't even be able to have kids, not after the radiation. And with this..." He shook his head. There were a million and one things that could go wrong, with both Kae and the baby. "And I never had a role model, no father-figure." His eyes flashed briefly green just mentioning his father, and he took a deep breath.

Kae grimaced and nodded. "Okay," she said quietly. "Just... just think about it for a bit." Because it sure sounded like he didn't want the baby. Clearly they both had some considering to do.

Bruce hesitated, but nodded.

"Just... Give me a little time?" he asked.

"Of course. I'm not going anywhere." Kae smiled a bit.

And suddenly she was very glad the only other person who knew was Elaine.

Bruce cautiously pulled Kae into a hug, and then let her go. He was careful, since he could still feel the Hulk seething in the back of his head.

"Go and settle in," he said. "I'm, uh... going down to the lab for a while." While there wasn't necessarily less int he lab for the Hulk to break, the lab was far easier to replace if things got smashed.

"Alright," Kae agreed quietly. "I'll be in my room whenever you want to come up." She kissed him briefly before heading back down to her room to take a nap.

With that, Bruce disappeared into the lab. He had a lot of considering to do.

Much later, well after midnight and into the earlyish hours of the morning, he finally went to Kae's room.

Kae was asleep again, curled around her stomach laying on her side facing the door. Clearly she'd fallen asleep waiting for Bruce.