A red, red rose

Chapter 38

The loud stomping of Clint's children startled Charlie awake.

"Morning sleepyhead." The voice of Natasha sounded from across the room. "You may want to brace yourself for a bombardment of mini Bartons any second."

Just as the redhead said, the two Barton children appeared at the bottom of the stairs. At first they didn't spot the tired brunette laying down on the couch so they ran into the kitchen expecting breakfast. However, Natasha had other plans so she tapped Lila on the shoulder and pointed to the couch. The small child's eyes lit up at the sight of one of her favourite people.

"Charlie!" Lila shouted as she launched herself onto the couch, engulfing Charlie in a hug. 

"Ugh." Charlie let out a noise of pain as the child landed on her stomach. "Hi beautiful, did you miss me?"

"Soooooooo much." Lila giggled.

"This much." Charlie held her thumb and pointer finger about an inch apart.

"No." Lila giggled again.

"This much?" Charlie held her fingers a couple of inches more.

"No!" She shook her head and smiled at the brunette.

"How about this much?" This time Charlie used both hands to show about a foot.

Lila giggled adorably. "NO! I missed you this much." She stretched her arms as much as she could.

"That much, oh my goodness." Charlie sat up and hugged the girl tightly.

Natasha was still at the kitchen island watching her girlfriend and Lila. Her thoughts were brought back to the conversation that she had had with the Barton couple last year. She was incredibly saddened by the thought that she would never be able to give Charlie children. Even if the couple adopted, what kind of life would they be bringing the child into, they could hardly bring them along for missions could they?

Clint's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "I'm telling you, that woman could earn serious money in the babysitting business. I would pay to know her secrets." He handed a plate to the eldest Barton child who was sat next to Natasha. "There you go Coop." He placed another next to the boy. "Lila come and get your breakfast."

Lila dragged Charlie over to the table by her hand and patted the seat next to her to sit on.

Natasha grabbed two servings of the eggs that Clint had made and gave one to her girlfriend, which received a kiss in thanks. 

At the same time, Maria emerged at the bottom of the stairs. "Ew get a room."

"I know right, so disgusting of them." Barton played along.

"Shut up Clint, you and your wife can hardly talk." Natasha defended.

Charlie smiled at the teasing happening between Clint and Natasha. She always loves when she gets to see her girlfriend in a more domestic setting where she feels comfortable to let loose. 

"Even though I know you are twins, and have known for years, it still takes me by surprise when the two of you are in the same room." Clint changed the topic. "I am going to apologize in advance for calling you the wrong name, it's inevitable."

"It's fine. We pretty much respond to either name so it's not really an issue." Maria grabbed a plate and helped herself to breakfast.

It seemed like Clint wasn't the only one who was surprised by the sudden appearance of another Hill twin. Cooper was amazed and could not take his eyes off of Maria and Charlie.

"You okay Coop?" Natasha smiled at the bewilderment on the oldest Barton offspring's face. 

The question seemed to knock Cooper out of his shock resulting in him blushing in embarrassment. "Are you two really identical?" He turned to Charlie and asked quietly.

 Charlie smiled at the boy and nodded her head.

"How did your mum and dad tell you apart?" Cooper asked innocently, not realising the emotional trauma that the question brought with it.

Both Natasha and Maria looked down awkwardly, a sudden uncomfortable silence took over the kitchen. 

Cooper was looking at Charlie, waiting patiently for an answer to the question.

"Urm." Charlie cleared her throat. "I don't know. I think they had superpowers." Both children giggled at the brunette. 

Clint, who must have noticed the uncomfortable tension between the women in front of him decided to end the conversation. "Right guys, I think it's time to brush our teeth and get dressed." Both children hopped off the stools and raced upstairs. "A full two minutes please!" Clint shouted after them.

"If the team weren't up yet they sure are now." Charlie joked to try and rid the remaining uncomfortable air between them. 

"I'm gonna go get some air." Maria got up, placing her finished plate in the sink.

"I'm sorry about Cooper." Clint interjected. He didn't know what memory his son had pulled up but he could clearly tell that is wasn't a pleasant one. 

"Don't worry about it. He was just being a kid, all kids ask questions." Charlie defended. "How was he supposed to know that our mother died in childbirth and our father was an abusive asshole." Charlie laughed quietly.

Natasha kissed the brunette on the cheek which received a small smile. 

"Shit man. I had no idea." Clint processed the information.

"Yeah not great. However, it did make me outrageously funny." Charlie smirked as Maria smacked the back of her head.

"Your such an idiot." Maria teased, no anger in her voice. 

"What?! It did." Charlie defended.

"Sure, you tell yourself that." Maria patted Charlie on the shoulder before she left.

For the rest of the day Charlie spent most of her time entertaining the Barton children, with Natasha sat on the porch staring lovingly at them. Spending time with her niece and nephew was one of her favourite things in the world. Neither of them new her past, and the looks of pure adoration on their faces when they looked back at her made her forget the trauma that was simmering under the surface. Lila and Cooper's laughs chased away any demons that may have been lurking in her vicinity.

Tony and Steve had been helping with cutting the logs that were piled up at the front of the house. Charlie found it quite amusing that Steve's pile was double the size of Tony's. 

Bruce had been doing his own thing all day because Charlie had not seen him once the entire time she had been here. She assumed that he had been cooped up in the house, working on something sciency. Thor on the other hand, had gone completely off the grid. Charlie had learned that he had seen something in Wanda's vision and gone to try and get more information. Non of the Avengers new what he saw or how long he would be gone for, which had put a momentary holt on their Ultron situation. Well, that along with the very much needed break from having their brains scrambled, to put it lightly.

Charlie could see Clint and Laura through their bedroom window having what looked like a serious conversation. She could guess what it was about from the look on Laura's face. Avenging was a dangerous business, even for gods and super soldiers. So the fact that quite a few of the members had no special abilities made Laura quite sceptical to allow her husband and the two women she, and her kids,  had grown very close to, into those fights. Charlie could see where Laura was coming from.

If Natasha was an Avenger without her also in the team, then she would probably explode with fear. However, she understood that what they did was necessary and without it the world would quite literally go to shit. Ultron was not a good example, that may have been their fault. Thinking about it, so was Loki. Hydra! Hydra would definitely be ruling the world if not for some of the Avengers.   

A/N - Finally! Are you guys happy to see me? No? Okay then. Well I have finally finished my exams so the updates should be a little more regular. Do not expect weekly updates because I do have an unhealthy reading habit which consumes quite a lot of my free time but I will be updating more that once every 2 months. Have a good week :)