Chasing Ghosts | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 36: Movie Nights

When dinner was gone, Maya didn't give Yelena time to relax. She took her hand and dragged her to the couch in front of the TV, already setting up the movie. Impatiently, she waited for Natasha and Katya to clean up the mess on the dinner table and join them. But they were too busy enjoying Maya's enthusiastic conversations with Yelena, which they could vaguely hear through the door.

Maya took a while to warm up to people, but when she did, she could talk for hours. With Peter, for example, she could talk endlessly. Poor May had to deal with that for a whole evening. 

''Mom! Come on!'' she eventually yelled when her patience had run out. 

''Yes, yes. Impatient much?'' Natasha chuckled when they finally walked into the living room. 

Yelena sat in Katya's usual spot, so she was left without a place to sit. But how could she be mad when her daughter adorably sat between her mother and her aunt, Liho in her lap, and the biggest smile ever on her face. She beamed, really. 

So without protest, Katya sat in the armchair and pulled a pillow to her chest to have something to cuddle with instead. She would have enough time to cuddle with Natasha tonight.

Yelena shifted in her seat, like she got ready for something exciting. ''What are you having me watch tonight, Red?'' Maya pressed play, which caused the title to show up on screen. Confused, the blonde frowned. ''The Hunger Games?''

''She's obsessed. Just accept it. You're not getting out of it,'' Natasha replied to her, over Maya's head. She acted all annoyed and bored, sinking down in her seat, feet on the table, but everyone could see that was just an act. She would sit in front of the TV, watching these same four movies every day, if that was what made Maya happy.

''You like it, too! Don't act like you don't,'' Maya exclaimed.

''Just because I can mouth every single word doesn't mean I like it.'' Natasha tried so hard to keep her face straight. Maya's expression was too funny. Her small angry pout, begging her mother to stop with the complaining.

Katya chuckled. ''You do like it.'' She backed Maya. She had to swallow nicknames like 'babe', because she didn't want to do that to Yelena.

Natasha shrugged, not even mad Katya threw her under the bus. She'd keep insisting to hate these movies for the rest of the night. ''Sure, if I want to watch a classic love triangle in the midst of a civil war, which is solved by a teenager with a bow.''

Maya gasped, giving Natasha's shoulder a push as the redhead chuckled. ''Mom! You just spoiled the whole movie!''

''Natasha, that's not cool,'' Yelena scolded her, genuinely upset she ruined the storyline for her. Her face wasn't unlike Maya's, both forming a front against movie spoilers.

Katya didn't know if she should join them or laugh at Natasha's smug expression. She eventually settled for both, shaking her head as she chuckled.

''What?'' Natasha feigned innocence as she looked at her wife across the room, hating how she didn't have Katya to cuddle with either, her hands uselessly laying in her lap.

''Ты хуй (You're a dick),'' Katya said, not wanting to say that in front of Maya. It just made Natasha chuckle again. ''Just ignore her, Maya. Come on, play it,'' she encouraged, sending her wife one last warning look before the movie started and everyone turned quiet. Even Natasha shut up, getting sucked into the story, whether she liked it or not.

Halfway through, Katya realized this might not have been the best option for a movie. She started watching Yelena closely for any signs of stress, or even a flinch, but she didn't look bothered by the shooting, the storyline or anything. She did keep asking Maya questions instead of just watching and seeing for herself, but the girl whispered all the answers back patiently.