Little Ray of Sunshine

Lena's Birthday

It was a few months later that she was back at Barton's farm to celebrate her niece's birthday.

She had been talking to the little girl daily. It was her favorite part of the day, all of her problems would be fixed with just a little giggle or smile from that child. But there was always a little bit of sadness at the thought of being so far away from her niece, feeling like she was missing every important thing the kid would accomplish.

She spotted the five year old playing in the swing set with the youngest of the Barton's children, Nathaniel. The little girl's face lit up the moment she waved at her.

"Auntie Lena!" her little namesake came running to her. "You came" the kid smiled.

"I told you I would, didn't I?" she scooped her niece up to embrace her tightly.

It had been so long since the last time she had held the little one that she really took her time to soak in that little moment, gently stroking the child's wild blonde hair.

"Wow! Look at you. You're a lot bigger than the last time I saw you" she commented while observing her, tickling the child's side, who burst into laughter. "And you're not wearing the vest anymore" she pointed out, being surprised since the kid would wear it constantly.

"Aunt Laura said it had to be washed" the little girl frowned while crossing her arms. "I didn't want to. I really like the pockets" her niece complained, to which she could not avoid laughing.

"I liked the pockets too" she whispered to the little girl as if she was telling her a secret, getting her niece to smile widely.

"You bring presents?" the five year old pointed to the bag she was holding in her right arm.

"I do" she nodded before leaving the kid on the ground. "And you can open one. You'll have to wait for your birthday party for the others, okay?" she told her, so after seeing her nodded she gave her the present.

The child's smile grew bigger when the piece of clothing was unwrapped. A similar vest to the one she had bought years ago, but slightly smaller, was in the little girl's hands. It did not have as many pockets as the other one, but, for a five year old, it was enough.

"Thank you" her little namesake hugged her legs, before trying to put it on.

"You're so much welcome, sweet girl" she helped her after seeing her struggling with the zipper.

"A new vest, huh?" Laura walked to them.

"Now I have two" the kid said.

"Now you have two. And you won't be upset when one is being washed, right?" the woman pointed out, the child shaking her head. "It's really good to have you back, Yelena" Laura hugged her.

For a moment she thought of pulling away, but ended up accepting the hug. All of that was still a little bit weird and new for her, still trying to figure out where she fitted in, since they were her sister's family, but...Hers? They seemed to worry about her, but she was not sure if it was because they truly care or because they felt like they owed it to Natasha.

"Can you braid my hair?" her niece asked her, a cute little pout on her face, her weakness.

"Sure" she nodded.

"Lila has been trying to braid her hair, but her requests are too advanced" Laura explained while pointing to the kid.

"I can teach her a few simple braids" she offered.

"That would be great. Thank you" Clint's wife smiled at her as she shook her head.

Braiding her own hair had been a basic skill she had learned at a really young age in the Red Room. For her braids meant training, combat, missions... It was a way of keeping her hair away from her face, but she knew that for the little girl it meant something fun and cute and, honestly, she could not wait to braid her niece's hair.