Starting Over

Ch. 32

"Mama, please can't I just stay home today?" Wanda asks as she leans against the counter in her pajamas, it's currently 7 and she should already be dressed and ready for school. Natasha gives her a reluctant look. "I don't want to be away from you while Papa's gone." Natasha's pointed look fades because she knows how anxious Wanda seemed to be after her own nightmare that night.
"Alright fine, Malysh. You win." Natasha says managing a small smile.
"Sissy stay home?" Lia asks from the kitchen table. The girl has made a complete mess of her breakfast, pieces of cereal and puddles of milk liter the floor and table top, milk dribbling down the girls chin as she talks with her mouth full.
"That's right, Li!" Wanda smiles and the little girl nearly knocks over the bowl of cereal as she jumps out of her chair and barrels into her sisters legs with too much force for a 3, almost 4, year old. "Oof."
"Hey, little miss, you left a mess on the kitchen table." Natasha says nodding her head towards it as she takes Luna out of the high chair. The baby grabs onto the dog tags around her neck, babbling "dada" over and over again. Regardless of what Steve would say Luna is definitely a daddy's girl. Wanda leads Lia over to the table, showing the girl how to clean up the spilt milk and cereal with paper towels, before wiping off the girls mouth. Natasha watches fondly as Wanda floats the trash over into the bin, Lia watching with wide eyes, amused as ever. The little girl tries to mimic Wanda's hand motions, clumsily, frowning when red mist doesn't pour from her fingertips.
"Mama, no magic. See?" Lia pouts.
"That's okay, baby. Not everyone has magic." She says as picks the toddler and settles her on her hip, taking them to the nursery.
"Wanna be like sissy." Lia says as Natasha sits her on the bed.
Wanda's heart swells at the words from the hall.

Wanda makes her way to her room, sending Noah a texts about not being at school today. He calls her instead.
"Hey, babe. You okay?" He asks concern sweeping onto his face.
"Everything's okay. We all had a rough night here, my dads gone and we just need a day to...recoup?" She says, stumbling on the word in English
"Okay, well call me if you guys need anything. I can swing by later if you want." Noah replies
"Thank you." Wanda smiles
"L- bye, Wands." Noah replies "I'll talk to you later."
"bye." Wanda smiles before turning off the phone. She quickly changes into some clothes, black leggings and a sweatshirt that Noah had given her with the schools baseball logo on the front, his number in the back. She blushed so hard when he gave it to her, more so because it was his. It nearly swallowed her but had become one of her most cherished belongings. She had a few, Nat's jacket she wore in the battle against Ultron, the jacket Pietro had stolen from the lockers to wear in the battle, her coin necklace, her first sketch book, and the small pocket sized photo that had managed to survive the bombing of her home back in Sokovia, and now Noah's sweatshirt. She'd never had items as cherished as these back in Sokovia.

She smiles as she makes her way to the living room, Lia is playing with a dollhouse in the corner a Disney movie on tv. The girl immediately hands her a doll, wanting her to play. She absentmindedly moves the doll as she watches Natasha on the couch, phone to her ear. Her expression changes as she listens to the message. Wanda's face falls with worry, what if something happened to Steve.
"Mama? What's wrong?" She asks. Natasha pulls the phone from her ear then holds it up again leaving the room. She doesn't get a response as Natasha enters the bedroom and shuts the door.

"Hey." Natasha says into the phone
"Hi..." Steve mumbles sleepily into the phone
"How bad is it? be honest." She says as she sits on their bed
"Honestly, Tash, I don't know how I plan on finding him. Yelena said the red rooms been watching him." Steve replies
"What?" Natasha asks disbelief slipping through her voice.
"I know, apparently some guy named Dimitri is trying to restart it. Yelena's been trying to track them down." Steve adds
"Do you need me there?" Natasha asks after a moment
"No, Nat. I don't want you involved okay? This is going to be too dangerous." Steve says
"Danger is Natalia's middle name." She hears Yelena quip from the other end of the line, followed by a scold in Russian she assumes is their mother.
"Steve, do you want me there?" Natasha asks again
"As much as I want you with me, babe, it's not safe. I need you with our girls." Steve replies
"We can come to you." Natasha suggests as much as she wanted to wait for the girls to meet her family, she will be there in a heartbeat if Steve needs her.
"I'm not going to ask you to." Steve replies
"You're not asking, I'm offering." Natasha says "We can be there by tomorrow in the jet." She hears Steve's internal debate over the phone. "Hey we won't be alone, I can have Sam bring us."
"Okay... alright." He agrees "listen I've got to go... but I love you, so much. I'll see you soon." She can hear him smile over the phone "be safe."
"Always, I love you too." She replies