Title: You'll Be Sweet and I'll Be Grateful
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~2,000
Characters: Steve/Natasha
Prompt: "steve picking up nat at the airport after a really long mission and them going to waffle house"
Summary: Maybe he's imagining things because it's been sixteen days since he's seen her, but he swears she's never been more beautiful than in this moment.
For: darcyfitzwilliams
A/N: More plotless fluff, because I couldn't resist.
You'll Be Sweet and I'll Be Grateful
Sixteen days is the longest Natasha's been away from home since Tatiana was born.
Nick is usually really good about not having either of them away so often because of the kids, but sometimes it can't be helped. Natasha's good at what she does and there're only a handful of people that could be trusted to get the same results, especially since S.H.I.E.L.D. operations under Stark Industries is considerably limited. Tony and his connections have helped more than any of them could imagine, but S.H.I.E.L.D. took decades in the making and things won't be of the same magnitude right away, if not for a few more years at best.
The hardest part, though, is how it affects the kids.
James and Tatiana are just old enough to know who their parents are when they see things about Captain America and Black Widow, and they know Iron Man is their Uncle Tony and Hawkeye is Uncle Clint and all that, and they know that their parents are still heroes.
Because it's not that she and Steve aren't on missions anymore. They're out more often than the kids are probably aware of, except only one of them is ever gone at a time and only for a few hours at most, so it's easier for the kids not to notice right away. Or, when Steve and Natasha are both needed, they stay with one of their aunts or uncles for the day.
It's just hard, sometimes, for obvious reasons. The kids do still notice, and sometimes they can brush it off, but sometimes they can't.
They're kids. Of course they're going to ask for their mommy or daddy more than once a day.
Tatiana's standing between him and James outside at pickup, holding onto both of their hands, but she lets go of his to point and say, "Look, look!" as soon as Natasha's stepping outside, like he and James can't see her, either. It's totally adorable, though, and it makes him smile. Natasha turns at the sound of their daughter's voice, and maybe he's imagining things because it's been sixteen days since he's seen her, but he swears she's never been more beautiful than in this moment where her hair's sort of falling all around her face and she's giving them this gorgeous smile. She makes her way towards them, and when she's close enough, she drops to her knees and Tatiana runs into her arms, hugging her tightly.
"Come here," Natasha says, peppering her cheek with kisses, and Tatiana giggles like crazy at this like she has since she was a baby. He loves the sound of it. Seriously, Tatiana's got the prettiest voice he's ever heard. She loves to talk and laughs at almost everything, too, so he gets to hear it all the time.
Then Natasha's standing, pulling James into a hug, and Steve grins and picks Tatiana up, even though she's six and doesn't need to be carried, but whatever.
"We've really missed you, Mom," James tells her, and Natasha smiles, running her fingers through his hair.
"I missed you, too, kiddo." She kisses the top of his head and he grins up at her, grabbing the handle of her rolling suitcase. She keeps her arm around him as Steve walks over to them with Tatiana at his hip, and Natasha's giving him this look that…
God, he loves that their family is together again, but he also can't wait to be alone with her.
"Get over here, already," she says, and he chuckles – he's literally right in front of her – but then slants his lips over hers in a kiss. And he can tell by the way she nips at his lower lip before pulling back that she wants to kiss him properly (aka: dirtily) and totally would if, you know, they weren't right in front of their kids and surrounded by dozens of strangers.
It's alright, though. It'll be something else to save for later.
"Are you hungry, Mom?" James asks.
Natasha shares a grin with Steve. James has shown more than just an interest in the kitchen ever since he was three (which he absolutely gets from Steve) and so that's sort of just his first instinct in any situation, to ask if someone's hungry or to offer to make them food.
"Sure am, kiddo," she replies, ruffling his hair again. "And I was thinking… breakfast for dinner?" she adds, and they're all smiling as Tatiana lets out another giggle.
... ...
They end up at this diner a few blocks from their place that serves breakfast all day, and though they try not to eat out if they don't have to (aka: when Tony doesn't insist they go to an event with him, or they've been invited themselves – because of course Steve can't say no to people), they're here often enough that owner and most of the waiters know them by name. That could also because they're, you know, always in the media, but the kids remember everyone, too, and the staff knows that the kids like cinnamon in their hot cocoa, and that James likes his eggs scrambled and that Tatiana likes wheat everything, which is nice. The kids aren't bratty and won't refuse to eat something if it's not exactly as they want.
But they're still kids. Of course they're going to be fairly particular about what they eat.
"How're your waffles, baby?" Steve asks Tatiana, after she's swallowed another bite and chased it down with a gulp of hot cocoa.
"They're amazing!" she declares, and their waitress gives her this smile like she's the most adorable little girl she's ever met. Yeah, Tatiana gets that look all the time. "They're almost as yummy as your pancakes, Daddy."
"Let me see about that." Natasha pops a piece into her mouth and Tatiana squeals in protest, but she's giggling, too, so she's not actually upset. "That is yummy."
"Try the bacon," James says, handing his mother a strip as if she didn't finish all of hers as soon as the waitress set the plate down. But this earns him a kiss to his temple and Steve knows that's why he did it. James isn't as affectionate as his sister, at least not in the same ways, but he loves getting that kind of attention as much as he loves giving it out.
"Is this place going to give my breakfasts a run for their money?"
Steve's joking, of course, but Tatiana laughs and pats his hand as she says, "Of course not, silly! Yours are always going to be the best."
Gosh, she's such a sweetheart.
She's always been. It's just kind of in her nature to know the right things to say to make someone smile, and Natasha swears, without a doubt, that she gets that from him – that both James and Tatiana get their compassionate sides from him – but Steve's not convinced.
A lot of it comes from her, he thinks. Natasha has always been a selfless person. Maybe she doesn't always do things like hold doors open for people or hand out compliments to everyone she sees, but she'll talk to someone in their native tongue when she can tell that it's easier for them and she'll spend the extra two or three dollars for whatever item the cashier tells her about because the proceeds go to charity. She changed her diet with Pepper for Pepper's first trimester to help her ease into the pregnancy, and she's always the one to make sure Bruce and Jane take breaks from the lab, and just last week, she spent the entire day baking granola bars with James for his cross country bake sale fundraiser.
The kids are amazing because Natasha's an amazing mother, and because they make a great team, and that's that.
... ...
"What do you want to wear to brunch tomorrow, T?"
Steve's leaning against the doorframe into Tatiana's room, and the kids haven't noticed him, but he doesn't mind. He loves just watching them together and this is always something they do right before bed: James will sit on one of Tatiana's little wooden chairs for her table and help his sister lay out her outfit for the next day. This became a thing the night before Tatiana's first day of Kindergarten, because she was nervous about what she should wear and James talked her through it and helped her be excited about school rather than scared.
Now it's just part of their nighttime ritual, and Steve can tell James genuinely loves it. He's a really good big brother to Tatiana and always has been.
"What about this one?" She hands James a floral sundress Steve knows she got for her birthday last month.
James must remember this, too – which isn't surprising since he's his mother's son, after all – because he goes, "That'd be awesome, because it's the first time you'll be wearing it and Uncle Bucky and Auntie Darcy will get to see you in their present."
She claps her hands excitedly and then goes to her little vanity, and James holds her dress up for her as she matches bracelets to it.
"They're so cute," Natasha says, coming up beside Steve, but she's not surprised about it or anything. Of course she isn't.
James and Tatiana are amazing siblings. James is so patient with her, helps her plan her outfits and (albeit reluctantly) plays dolls with her if she asks, and Tatiana adores her brother and always wants to help him, or is at least the loudest one cheering him on. They seek each other's approval, whether they know it or not, and it's so sweet.
And it's not like they never fight, or that it doesn't happen at least once a week, but they can't ever stand to be mad at each other for more than an hour or two hours tops, and then they make it up to each other somehow, no matter who started the fight.
It's great.
Steve sets a hand over the small of Natasha's back and she leans against him a little more. "They're the best."
"Yeah," she says, and he knows she means it.
Once they're done, Tatiana lays out the bracelets and headband she picked to go with her dress, sets her sandals on the chair as James hangs her dress on the hook on the wall next to her vanity, and then she jumps into bed and he grins and shakes his head, pulling the covers over her shoulders. "Love you," he tells her, and Tatiana giggles all sleepily and says it back. Steve and Natasha walk in and give her a kiss goodnight on each cheek, and then they switch off the lights and James hugs them both goodnight before climbing into bed, too.
Natasha turns off his light and shuts the door, and then Steve's sliding his hands over her hips and kissing her in the middle of the hallway.
"We really missed you," he murmurs against her lips, and she laughs a little.
"I can tell." She hooks her finger through the belt loop of his jeans and tugs gently, leading them into their room. "We really need to take the kids to London soon. They'll love it."
He chuckles. "Just finished a dangerous mission on another continent and your first thought is planning a vacation there?"
"No one said it was dangerous," she says, but he lowers her onto the bed and pushes the hem of her shirt up, revealing the bandaging over her side. Yeah, of course he'd figured out it was there fairly quickly, and the fact she obviously wasn't in pain anymore because of it was the only reason he didn't bring it up sooner. She just smiles. "It's already healed."
"Natasha," he breathes.
"You can kiss it better if you're that worried," she tells him, and he knows she's teasing, but he doesn't miss the little noise she makes when she's got her legs spread and he traces his thumb over the edge of the bandaging as he kisses the inside of her thigh.