Chasing Ghosts | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 58: Christmas (Part 2)

Note that the pov changes a couple times in this chapter :)

Katya

No matter how early you get ready to leave, there's always stress at the end. Because people can't find their phones, or coats, or because only half their makeup is done. Always.

In the Romanoff-Petrova household, it was - surprisingly - not the kid they had to yell at to hurry up. No, it was Natasha, who was so afraid she forgot something that she went through the shopping bag full of stuff they'd bring, five times. She even managed to rope Maya into her overthinking process, and they bickered in the kitchen.

The woman looked goddamn gorgeous though, in her suit, with her hair in a neat braid down her spine. It slightly made up for her behavior earlier this morning.

Though she didn't want to hear the compliments. She only had an eye for Katya, whose dress hugged all her curves like it melted onto her skin. The real-life picture looked so much better than the mental image she had created months ago.

She looked like a princess, or a daughter of a millionaire, someone who lived on the Upper East Side and went to galas every week. Not one hair on her head wasn't perfectly straight, falling around her face like a curtain, stopping right above her shoulders. Her legs looked endless in her heels, necklaces dangling against her perfectly structured collarbones.

Natasha was in heaven.

And Maya? She wore a black, flowy blouse with a high neck and sparkles. On the bottom, flared pants with neat boots. She hadn't felt like wearing a dress, and instead opted for this evenly festive outfit, sporting her new jewelry elegantly.

Her shoulder-length hair was loose for the first time in months, although Natasha wore a hair tie around her wrist in case Maya wanted it tied out of her face. She already kept pushing it behind her ears impatiently.

They looked like a picture-perfect family. And honestly, like they walked straight out of a fashion ad in Vogue or something.

''Guys! Jet's here!'' Katya yelled when the familiar sound boomed through the house, spiking her nerves.

''One minute!''

She rolled her eyes and went to signal to Happy that they were on their way. But to her uttermost surprise, Yelena stood on the porch when she swung the front door open. Her fist hung in the air like she was about to knock. Happy must have picked her up first.

For a second, they stared at each other, startled. Until Yelena opened her mouth and cut off whatever Katya wanted to say.

"I am so sorry for all the pain I caused,'' she started to ramble, taking this chance with both hands. ''You, and Natasha, and little Red... I crossed so many lines, and I can't apologize enough."

In that moment, she appeared so fragile. Her heart on her sleeve, she admitted her mistakes for the hundredth time.

Katya's insides got all warm despite the ice-cold wind blowing into the hall. But she chewed on her lip uneasily.

That horrible day in July... She wanted nothing more than to forget about it. Because every time it flashed across her mind, Yelena's accusing voice echoed in her brain.

Nevertheless, she couldn't find it within her to be mad anymore. Anger didn't have a purpose. "And you don't have to. The only thing you did, was pull the pin out the very last bit of the grenade that was my bottled-up trauma. It was you, but it could have been something or someone else too." She smiled carefully. "Seriously, I don't blame you anymore."

Yelena's body deflated, tension falling off her shoulders as she smiled too. It wasn't long before she shot back to her usual sarcastic self. "Okay good, because I don't know how to apologize. Like, at all."