Chasing Ghosts | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 84: Gold Rush

I know you all are expecting the date, which was the original plan, but I got to 7000 words before the date even started, so I decided to split it up into two parts. Part one (this part) you get today, and part two you get this Friday as a bonus chapter ;)

June 23, 2024

Whoever invented alarm clocks... Why? They always interrupt the best of sleep and make a woman want to suffocate themselves with their pillow before even opening their eyes. If lucky, said woman had a wife who smacked the alarm after the first tone. Katya was one of those lucky women, blindly snuggling into whatever part of Natasha faced her when it went silent, a content smile on her sleepy face.

''Good morning,'' she mumbled, sighing when two arms wrapped around her tightly to pull her even closer, into - what she felt now - a very warm chest. The cast around her underarm annoyed her to the point where it grew into hatred, and she did everything with it that she shouldn't, simply out of spite. For example, letting the woman holding her crush it between their bodies. Because morning cuddles were much more important.

''Morning, gorgeous,'' Natasha muttered back in her raspy morning voice, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Katya latching onto her body like a koala would a tree, never got old, their legs tangled together to the point where they were unsure what foot belonged to whom. ''I missed morning cuddles.''

Katya hummed, too drowsy from sleep to properly think or talk. Natasha's scent completely smothered her, and the hand on her lower back, thumb brushing up and down her bare skin, had her sinking further into the cuddles. ''I know you did.'' Morning cuddles were holy to Natasha. If she didn't get them, she was grumpy the whole day.

With Katya's breath fanning over her collarbone like old times sake, a small smile grew on Natasha's face. Her love language was physical touch, so she had been starving for this. ''You sleep okay?''

Another hum. ''No dreams.''

How could she have had them anyway? The places their bodies touched created a warmth so safe, that it wrapped around her soul and numbed all the potentially dangerous thoughts in her mind. Natasha took the sharp edges off, as if she'd beaten the horrors in her head into silence with a simple touch. Maybe fuzzy was the right way to describe the feeling in her brain, subdued.

The peaceful silence of the early morning helped for sure, an orange hue from the sunrise managing to peek through the blinds and curtains, deeming the nightlight unnecessary. The air felt still inside this room, the songs of the birds outside muffled as if the walls were made of pillows. Or maybe that was just Natasha's hair and shirt which blocked her ears.

Before Katya could ask the same thing in return, a sad meow came from somewhere around her feet. Her brows furrowed, sleep disorientation not allowing her to immediately remember they adopted a cat yesterday, one she had baptized as 'her baby'. But when the meow came again, and the covers started to dip around her calves, her head shot up from Natasha's chest.

A blurry dot of ginger slowly walked up her body, literally, over her thigh and hip until it sat down on the side of her waist. Even then, he held a perfect balance, the lack of a leg affecting him in no way. Mimosa simply stared at her expectantly with those yellow eyes of his, waiting for affection.

Right, that happened yesterday.

''Oh, hey. Did we wake you, buddy?'' She whispered with a smile, carefully scooting backwards to make room between hers and Natasha's body, which he gratefully inhabited with a thankful meow. She didn't notice her wife's slight pout at the interruption of morning cuddles, too busy making heart eyes at the new addition to the family as Mimosa got comfortable.