IMPORTANT: This is the last chapter of SILENCE. And I have gone back and forth on whether I should do an epilogue or not. I probably will. But I just want to hear your thoughts...
This has been an incredible journey... I don't know how I will ever thank everyone for their support and words of encouragement. Thank you!
WARNINGS: Fear of abandonment. Childbirth. Mentions of death in childbirth.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The forest grew a little greener The roots reach in little deeper The birds all sing a little sweeter All to welcome you
. . .
Avengers Compound January 14th — 8:02 AM
Natasha shifts in her chair, turning her gaze away from the young redhead. It's been tense these past few days, with Rose locking herself in her room and barely talking wherever she comes out to get food. And Natasha understands — she did the same thing upon her entrance to shield. She didn't talk to anyone for days after Budapest, needing the time to find herself and learn to look at the world without someone else looming over her.
Rose swallows, sensing her mother's subtle glaze from behind, and she stubbornly ignores the sudden urge to turn around and look at her as well. She tightens her grip on an apple, reaching out to open the fridge, before quickly settling on the box of strawberries. It's her favorite, just like it's Natasha — but she doesn't know that. It doesn't take long to finish cleaning the fruit before it's ready for her to eat, and she turns to walk away, her heart pounding in her chest. But at the last second, she freezes. And turns back toward her mother.
"Dreykov talked a lot about you," Rose begins quickly, shifting anxiously on her toes. And it does not make sense — why this is suddenly so important, the sudden need to talk — she's never acted like this before. Vulnerable. "He was definitely obsessed with you. And I would get angry — so angry every time he brought you up. And he always did. I was your replacement and nothing I ever did was ever good enough for him."
Natasha swallows, "... I'm sorry, Rose."
"I wasn't the one he wanted, and he never let me forget it." Rose shakes her head, trying to find a balance in her frantic thoughts. It's like everything she's wanted to tell her mother for so long is finally coming to the surface. "He said I wasn't good enough. That you left because you had me, because you didn't want me. But I know now why you left the room — it's the same reason all of us wanted to leave. So, I guess, my question is, what was wrong with me that you couldn't take me with you or what did I do? What was wrong with me?"
