Growing Up

11 Years Old

Peter secretly liked Natasha the best out of all the Avengers. Not only did she help him with his homework, but she also taught him Russian (much to Tony's chagrin), helped him plan pranks, and was ultimately the best babysitter ever. That's why when Tony told Peter he had to go to Shanghai for a week, he begged his dad to leave him with Natasha instead of Steve. He liked Steve, but Natasha was better. He would never tell Steve that, though.

"I'm home, Auntie Tasha!" Peter yelled, dropping his backpack in its honorary place by the lift.

From her place on the couch, Natasha looked up from her laptop and smiled at Peter. Without prompting, Peter grabbed his pop tart from the kitchen before telling her all about his day and joining her in the living room.

"And your field trip is tomorrow, right?"

Peter nodded.

"You're still coming, right?" he asked.

Natasha always went on field trips with him. Since Tony and Steve were both too recognisable and Tony never wanted Peter to be alone if something bad happened, Tony needed someone to go with his kid. Fortunately for him, Natasha was almost always around for a field trip and if she wasn't, she somehow managed to convince Hill to go in her place.

"Yes," Natasha promised, "And we're getting ice cream with Ned and MJ afterwards."

"Yes," Peter cheered quietly.

"But only if you finish your homework," Natasha replied pointedly. Peter's cheeks turned red and she sent him back to get his backpack. At least she would help him with it.

* * * * *

The next morning, Happy drove both Peter and Natasha to school bright and early. Even though the bus would be leaving at 7:30, Peter was easy to wake up on field trip days and Natasha was naturally a morning person, so they were both ready on time.

As soon as Happy stopped the car, Peter bounced out and looked for Ned.

Across the parking lot, Ned waved wildly and shouted, "Hey, Peter!"

Peter glanced at Natasha who nodded her permissions. As soon as he was free, he ran towards his friend while Natasha checked in with the teacher. Seeing as it was the first field trip of the year and with a new teacher, Natasha searched out Peter's teacher to explain why she was there and that she should be expected to show up on every other field trip, that wasn't a problem right?

"Of course not!" Mr. James said, fumbling with his clipboard as Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. "We have lots of parents chaperone. Not a problem at all."

Natasha smiled then turned and went to find Peter, Ned, and MJ who were happily talking about the robots they would get to see at the museum.

It was long before it was time to load the bus, but Natasha stayed near Peter until they loaded. As soon as they climbed aboard, Natasha left them to find their own seats and sat near the front with the rest of the chaperones and the teacher. Might as well introduce herself if she would be there often.

* * * * *

The robotics museum was one of the coolest places Peter had ever been to. Ned seemed to think the same and together, they talked about everything they had seen the whole way back to school. They talked so loud and so excitedly that MJ left them to join Natasha upfront, wanting to read in peace. Sure, it had been cool but she didn't want to talk about it for an hour when she could be reading the new book she got.

They returned to the school earlier than expected and after Mr. James collected all their paper assignments from the museum, he dismissed them. They had two hours before school normally got out, but Natasha had anticipated this and had called Clint to get them earlier. As they stepped out of the school, she found him standing outside a large SUV, leaning against it casually with sunglasses on. She didn't even have to point him out before Peter, Ned, and MJ were hurrying across the parking lot.

"Hi, Uncle Clint!" Peter yelled, waving as he ran.

Clint smiled and climbed into the driver's seat as Peter dove into the backseat. Scrambling in after him, Ned joined Peter in the very back seats while MJ took the middle row and Natasha climbed in beside Clint.

"How was the museum?" Clint asked.

MJ groaned and shrunk down in her seat, burying her face in her book. Clint gave Natasha a worried look, but she waved him off.

"They talked about it the whole way here," she said in Portuguese, "She liked it, but she wants to read."

Clint nodded in understanding before listening to Peter who was in the middle of telling him about every single thing they saw.

MJ was the first one out of the car when they arrived at the ice cream parlour. Before Clint had even turned off the engine, she was out of the car and walking towards the parlour. Natasha followed her inside, leaving Clint to deal with the boys who were still talking about the museum. They walked inside a few seconds after Natasha and MJ had and immediately went to look at the ice cream flavours, forgetting about the museum entirely.

"Uncle Clint?" Peter asked, "Can I try this flavour?"

Clint nodded and relayed the question to the young teen behind the counter. The teen took a spoon and dug it into the bin before handing it to Clint who handed it to Peter. After Peter decided he liked it, Clint ordered a medium cone for Peter. Soon after, Ned and MJ chose their flavours and the three of them sought out stools at the high table in front of the store window. Once Natasha and Clint got their own ice creams and paid, they joined the kids at the table.