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Kae texted Elaine as well.
Dinner's ready if you and Steve can get out of bed. |
He's sitting near the window sketching, I'll have you know. XP We'll be there in a few.
Elaine grinned as she sent the message. |
Kae snickered and shook her head, putting food out so people could serve themselves. She got her own food and settled down.
Tony only took a few minutes to convince, and then he followed Bruce up to the kitchen. |
Bruce went over to sit next to Kae, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her close gently.
Elaine came into the kitchen a few minutes later, wearing a pair of jeans and one of Steve's shirts instead of her own. |
Kae snickered at Elaine. Was he drawing you like one of his French girls? she texted, because clearly that wasn't suitable to say at the dinner table.
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Elaine snorted when she read it.
No~! ...Maybe. I wasn't really watching. Probably. |
Kae laughed and leaned into Bruce's side, shaking her head. She could really see Steve doing that, too.
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Bruce raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't get the chance to ask as Clint came back in with Thor and Natasha.
"What a feast!" Thor said, grinning as he saw all the pastries. "To what occasion do we owe such a spread of foods?" |
Kae opened her mouth, paused, and shook her head. "I'll tell you all later," she said instead, settling down. Because, okay, yeah, maybe she'd gone a bit overboard.
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That made Natasha raise an eyebrow a bit even as she nibbled on one of the little Russian pastries that Kae had started making for her. She studied Bruce and Kae for a moment, and then turned her attention to the meal itself, apparently having gotten the information she wanted.
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Kae noticed that and smiled wryly. Well, if Natasha hadn't known before, she knew now.
It was a good thing Kae could always bribe her with Russian pastries if she needed to. |
Once everyone had had a chance to enjoy the mean, Bruce nudged Kae slightly. It really was time to tell everyone else.
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Kae sighed and looked at them.
"Okay, everyone," she said, waiting for them to quiet a bit. "So. News. Right." She hesitated for a moment. "Turns out I'm pregnant." Steve blinked at that. Twice. |
Clint paused, then snorted.
"Way to go, Bruce," he said. Natasha didn't look surprised at all. Thor, on the other hand, grinned widely. "Joyous news indeed!" he said, momentarily forgetting to use his Midgard Inside Voice. |
Kae grinned briefly at that. "Yeah. It'll be an interesting experience, at the very least."
Tony just snickered at her. "When did you find out, Natasha?" he asked. Because he hadn't missed that look. |
"Five minutes after walking into the room," Natasha said calmly. "Give or take." Clint just snorted.
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Tony snickered again.
"Alright, big announcement over, now back to your regularly scheduled decimation of pastries." Kae grinned. |
Everyone pretty much turned back to their pastries at that point, although Clint got up and took six of them with him to go back to playing video games. Thor left as well, to take a plate to his brother (who hadn't wanted to join the others, which was understandable), and Elaine had to stop Steve from trying to help with the dishes.
"No," she said, holding his wrist. "Nope, let Bruce help." |
Steve blinked, looking briefly bewildered. "Um. I'm missing something in your thought process here," he admitted.
Kae got up and went to go do dishes, a little more relaxed now that basically everyone knew. She'd be surprised if Coulson didn't know by the end of the night, and she figured Thor would tell Loki. |
"Bruce is the only one I bet Kae will let help for a while," Elaine said. "Until she's sure people aren't just helping because they think she can't or shouldn't do thing herself. I know you don't mean it that way, but still."
Meanwhile, Bruce did indeed get up to help clear the table, although he was careful to try to split the work evenly. |
"Oh. Right." Steve blinked at that. He hadn't even thought of that.
Kae did notice that and shook her head. At least he was being good, for now. |
"It's nothing against you," Elaine assured him. She snuggled into his side. "But a big, strong 40s-era supersoldier trying to help her will probably send the message that you think she's too fragile. So let Bruce help her for now."
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Steve nodded his agreement. "Alright," he said quietly. "I'll give her some time to adjust."
But he'd be damned if he didn't draw Kae at practically every stage of her pregnancy for Bruce's next Christmas present. |
"Good," Elaine said. "In the meantime, I want to see what you were sketching earlier." She grinned a bit.
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Steve laughed quietly but didn't argue, just heading back down to get his sketch book and show her.
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