The Girl From The Woods ~ Natasha Romanoff × Adopted Daughter

19.

Nat's POV:

I made my way back to the living area to talk to Tilly about the possible adoption. Once there, I heard a loud laugh coming from the living room and what I saw there made my heart melt.

Tilly was lying on the couch with Wanda above her, tickling her without mercy. Tilly laughed very loudly and begged Wanda to stop tickling her, but it was probably not an option for Wanda.
"Wanda, what are you doing with my child?" I asked with an amused tone. Immediately after I said this, Tilly turned to me and begged me to help her.
"Please Natty, help me!" I came closer and couldn't help but laugh with her. Her laugh is the best I've ever heard, it makes you want to laugh with her.

As I got a little closer, Wanda turned to me and gave me a warning look.
"Don't you dare help her Nat!"
"No please Natty I didn't do anything!" She burst out laughing.
"Aha, and who said that Nat cooks better than me?" Wanda said to Tilly with a grin.
"Not me!"
"Oh is that so?" Wanda asked again and started tickling Tilly even more. I watched them both in amusement and contemplated whether or not to save my baby, all the while she continued to beg me to help her.

"Please Natty help me!"
"Natty won't help you here Tilda, she's my friend and she's on my side!" The two of them were really cute to watch.
"Natty!" I decided to finally save my child before something worse happened, but before I could act, Tilly said something that shocked me.
"Mama help me pleaseee!" As soon as she said that, Wanda stopped her tickling and we both looked at Tilly in shock.

She seemed to have realized what she had said and you could see straight away that she was uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry Natty, I didn't mean to say that, please don't be mad!" She begged me and tears welled up in her eyes. I reacted quickly and walked towards her while Wanda detached herself from her and stepped aside, still clearly surprised by what had happened.

"Hey, hey baby, it's all good, you don't need to apologize, it's all good." I spoke softly to her and took her in my arms as the first tears were already streaming down her face.
"It's all right, sweetheart, to be honest I wanted to talk to you about something similar. Shall we go upstairs?" I made sure that my voice was still as soft as possible, although on the one hand I was totally happy but on the other hand also totally excited for her answer.
"Mhm"

Tilly put her head on my shoulder and put her arms around my neck. I took this as a sign that she wanted to be carried so I put her up on my hip and went upstairs to my room. But before we left, I quickly looked at Wanda, who now also had a big smile on her face and gave me two thumbs up.

So I made my way to my room and then sat on the bed with Tilly on my lap and turned her so that we were both facing each other.
"So I wanted to talk to you about something really important, okay? I need you to listen to me very carefully and I want your honest opinion. Do you think you can do that for me?" I spoke gently but also serious and looked her in the eye. I want her to be completely honest with me and if she doesn't want me to be her mother, then that's okay with me. After all, I only want the best for her.

"I pinky promise you!" She brought her hand between us and extended her pinky towards me. I giggled briefly and intertwined my pinky with hers.
"Okay sweetie, so I've thought about it and got some help from a lawyer and we want to take you away from your father completely. So far, he still has custody of you, so he decides about you and we want to change that. Do you already agree to this?" I made sure that Tilly listened to me carefully the whole time and that everything was clear to her.

"I never have to go to Dave again then?"
"No never again baby, I promise you that."
"Then yes please!"
"Okay, well done sweetheart, I'm proud of you." I said and kissed her forehead.
"But there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."
"Mhm"

"Well, if Dave loses custody of you, you'll need another adult to look after you. Normally, someone from CPS would do that. Then you'd go to a house with other children and maybe some nice people would adopt you." Before I could continue, Tilly burst into tears.

"What's wrong, my darling?" I asked her gently, taking her head in my hands and stroking her cheeks with my thumbs to wipe away the tears.
"Don't wanna go there. Please don't send me there!" she sobbed loudly and leaned forward to rest her head on my shoulder again. I rocked us back and forth while she cried loudly, hoping to calm her down a little.

"If you don't want that, there's another option dear." I said softly and rubbed a hand over her back. She lifted her head from my shoulder and looked at me hopefully.
"Look, I didn't like the idea of giving you away either and since I've grown so fond of you over the last week, I thought maybe you'd rather stay here with me. What do you think?" My heart has never been beaten so fast in my whole life. I just don't want to lose Tilly.

Tilly didn't think twice before she broke into a big smile and threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.
"Yes please Natty! Please I want to stay with you!" She cried out loudly and hugged me even tighter.

I quickly wrapped my arms around her body and held her close to me. I can't believe it, I'm finally going to be a mother!

Heyy, first of all, please excuse me for posting so late again. I actually wanted to upload a new chapter on Wednesday, but I'm currently in bed with conjunctivitis. (I tell you guys this shit hurts like hell) That's why I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter. I'll try my best, but I can't promise anything.. sorry :(