So I wanted to post this on Mother's Day, but since it's my birthday as well, my family will be having a party, so I decided to post it tonight so that perhaps tomorrow you'll read it. I hope you all enjoy.

Natasha sat in the recreation room, reading one of her mystery novels that she rarely got to continue. It was quiet in the Tower, and after an hour of reading undisturbed, Natasha grew suspicious. Bruce, Thor, and Steve were out of the Tower, doing their own things. So that only left Clint, Tony, and Alfred. So what were Tony and Clint up to? If those creeps were planning to prank her like they did on April Fools Day, so help her God... Her inner thoughts paused as she heard movement behind her. She pretended to not notice, wanting to see what he was planning. The person behind her stood still for a moment, before he turned and walked to the hallway. From there, she heard more footsteps join the owner who had retreated from the room. The three pairs of feet walked down the hallway before she couldn't hear it any longer. Natasha leaped to her feet and followed the sounds, trailing them to Alfred's room. Curiousity over took her, and so she listened in.

"Come on kid!" Tony's voice was unmistakenable. "How hard is it to get her attention? You almost had it."

"You could have at least thrown the stuff at her and ran," Clint's voice added.

"This wasn't a good idea," Alfred said, sounding a tad depressed. "She'll hate them and probably kill me."

"You're a cute kid," Tony said. "She'll probably just castrate yah."

Natasha could hear the young man give a resigned sigh. She narrowed her eyes, thinking of ways to punish Tony for making Alfred feel bad.

"Oh don't worry about it kid," Clint added. "She likes you, so she won't do anything to you. You're like her little chicklet, so you'll be fine."

Natasha narrowed her eyes more. She'd heard enough, and it was obvious from what they were saying, the two older Avengers weren't doing anything to make Alfred feel better. So, with that thought in mind, she gave the door a quick knock before entering into the room. Tony and Clint were standing over Alfred, who was sitting on his bed, looking nervous as he hid something behind his back. Tony and Clint flashed her mischievous smiles and walked towards her.

"Well hello Natasha," Tony greeted. "You look radiant today. Did you do something to your hair?"

"Your flirting has never worked on me before, Stark," Natasha retaliated, crossing her arms to show her annoyance.

"You wound me," Tony said theatrically, placing a hand over his heart. "Here I am, trying to be a nice guy, and you shoot me down."

"That's women for you," Clint remarked with a shrug of his shoulders. "Hey Nash, I think Alfred has something for you."

Natasha gave Clint a glare - he knows how much she hates that nickname - and turned her expression to the young Avenger. She raised an eyebrow at him, trying to school her face as much as she could. The poor boy returned her gaze nervously, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Oh? What do you have?" Natasha asked kindly.

Alfred glanced at the two males for assistance, but they just flashed him smiles that weren't helpful.

"C'mon Alfie. Nata here is waiting," Tony egged on, ignoring Natasha's glare.

Alfred released a whimper, causing Natasha to send a vicious glare in their direction. What had they put him up to? Before she could speak, Alfred presented what was behind his back to the woman; a bouquet of lovely flowers. The S.H.I.E.L.D. spy blinked at them in surprise.

"What are these for?" she asked.

"It's Mother's Day," Alfred responded, his voice shaking.

Natasha's eyes widened. Alfred was giving her flowers on Mother's Day? Alfred saw her facial expression, and took it the wrong way, because he began to talk frantically.

"I saw on the calendar last week that there was a Mother's Day but I didn't know what it was so I asked Tony and Clint and they said it was a day to get gifts for mothers and show your appreciation. But since I don't have a mom, not to my knowledge, I thought about you because you're nice and you always give me advise and you look after me and stuff. But now I don't think the flowers are nice enough but I didn't know what else to get you," Alfred let out pitifully. "I'm sorry. Please don't kill me."

Natasha felt her heart-break into little pieces. She was touched that Alfred thought of her as a mother like figure, but she felt guilty about the fact that Alfred was afraid of her. She liked to be feared, but not from Alfred. It just didn't seem right. He looked so small, shaking like a leaf, and looking on the verge of tears. Taking pity on the young man, she walked over to him carefully, not wanting to terrify him, and picked the flowers out of his hands. She allowed herself a moment to look over the bouquet made up of roses, daisies, lilies and more. Once done, she looked at Alfred and smiled. Alfred seemed to relax a little, but he still looked tense. To quell any misgivings, Natasha bent down and gave him a hug. This caused him to relax greatly, and after a few seconds, he shakingly wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you for the gift, Alfred," she said. "The flowers are lovely."

She felt, more than heard, him release a shaky sigh of relief. She mentally reminded herself to harm Clint and Tony for scaring the poor boy. Speaking of Tony and Clint... Natasha pulled out of the hug, looking behind her to see that the two men were not in the room. When had they left, she wondered.

No matter; I'm not letting them ruin my day, she thought to herself with a nod.

"Hmmm..." she said out loud.

"Is something wrong Ms. Romanoff?" Alfred asked.

"Nothing Alfred," Natasha said with a smile. "I was just thinking that we should go to the park today and enjoy the day."

Alfred smiled and nodded.

"That sounds nice Ms. Romanoff," he said, standing up. "Soo... do you really like the gift?"

"Of course Alfred," Natasha nodded. "You thought of me on this day, and that's special. So... thank you."

Alfred flashed her his winning smile, something that always made her smile in return.

"You're really important to me Miss Romanoff," he said.

"And you're really important to me too, Alfred," Natasha said, pulling the boy into another hug. "I'm happy you're in my life."