Author's Note: Eep! I'm so excited and thrilled and honored by the tremendous response from everyone on these first three chapters! It always makes me so thoroughly happy to see I've gotten a new review or a new alert or a new favorite. So thank you very, very much for your enthusiasm :)
Review Reviews:
special agent Ali: Thanks! The chapter I'm writing now (not the next one but chapter 6) I'm trying to showcase a little bit of the personality Anya has. It's hard with her being so young though. Thanks for the input! haha she would look like Goldilocks!
123456789: What about Darcy? She still lived in Mexico if that's what you're asking...
Dancingqueen4Life: Thank you so much :)
NRCB: Ta-da! ;)
Lollypops101: Thanks for the input! Personally I like that idea as well :)
Trinnie: Thank you so much :) I hope Clint's return pleases you!
yuki90: Thanks for your input! Part of me just wants to give him twins LOL one boy and one girl so I wouldn't have to deal with this decision haha but that's a bit much for even the god of thunder. I'm not sure if I'll address the half god thing or not. So far all I know is the actions Thor will take but I haven't decided about Asgard- though I'm sure they'd be fine, they seem like reasonable people...gods...whatever they are hahaha
Addle: Thank you for your input! I have decided but the idea of a Mini-Vengers teenage story has crossed my mind. The way I have it set up I was thinking it would be interesting to maybe dabble a bit in Ryland and Anya's relationship as teens and maybe some feelings between them. Would that be something you'd be interested in?
kmp: Thanks for your input! The problem is I can see every one of the Avengers with both genders hahaha I can only see Clint with a girl (at least first) but everyone else I can see with either. It's so hard deciding if I want Thor to romp around with his "little warrior" or sit down for tea with his little princess.
Thanks you all so much for your feedback! I got 9 reviews for the last chapter- which is the most reviews I've ever gotten for one single chapter. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! You are all so very lovely :)
Enjoy!
A few days after Thor's arrival and his "big news" Pepper and Tony took Anya and Ryland out for the day to give Natasha a chance to relax and do whatever she wanted. But as it turned out Natasha didn't have much of a life without Anya to take care of. So she went down to the gym to work out, cleaned the apartment, went with Jane to pick out paint samples and was currently laying on the couch watching reruns of the television show 24.
"Mrs. Barton you have a visitor down in the lobby." JARVIS informed her, the British voice coming out of nowhere and startling Natasha a little. No matter how long she lived in the tower she'd never get used to having the A.I. everywhere at all times.
"Thanks, JARVIS." Natasha replied, pulling herself off the couch. She was still wearing her workout legging and a somewhat baggy S.H.I.E.L.D. tee but she didn't care much of her appearance. It's not like anyone she knows cares how she appears. So she just slipped into a pair of sneakers and headed to the elevator and hit the lobby button. Tony had elevator music piped into the elevator but Natasha desperately wanted it turned off. Nothing gave her a headache quite like the dull hum of a sad piano song. Luckily the ride down to the lobby wasn't too long and soon enough the elevator binged and the doors opened.
Natasha stepped out of the elevator and went over to the receptionist's desk but she didn't get a chance to ask for her guest before a voice cut her off. "Hey lovely," an unmistakable voice murmured from behind her and Natasha immediately spun around.
"Clint!" she all but screamed as she flung herself into Clint's arms. He chuckled but dropped his duffle bag to catch her, picking her up and burring his face in her hair. "What are you doing home? How are you back? You didn't tell me you'd be home!"
Clint just smiled as he held her tight, never wanting to let go. He had a few cracked ribs and he was sorer than he could ever remember being before but in that moment it didn't matter. So long as Tasha was there in his arms the pain didn't matter. The receptionist behind the counter smiled at the reunion but she ducked into a back room as to give the couple a bit of privacy.
"Tony pulled some strings, got me home early. Did you change your hair?" Clint replied as he put her back down. He ran a hand through her hair, noticing it was a bit darker than usual but still soft as ever. Taking a second to look at her, Clint smiled. Sure she had bags under her eyes and she was pale but to him she was gorgeous and more importantly she was there. She was right in front of him and he could touch her and hold her, something he'd longed to do for too long.
"Got yourself banged up a bit, huh?" she mumbled as she surveyed his wounds. He had a gash above his right eye and a purplish bruise on his jaw. Underneath his gray V-neck tee she could see the outline of gauze and his hands were covered in scrapes and scratches. It wasn't an unusual look for Clint but Natasha was careful with him anyway, not wanting to make matters worse.
"Things went a little south near the end but we got our target and I got to come home." Clint replied. Natasha picked up his duffle bag and he didn't protest, just threw his arm around her shoulders as they went to the elevator.
"Tony and Pepper took Anya out for a bit today but they should be back soon. Want anything?" she murmured as they rode the elevator up to their apartment and walked through the door. Clint immediately threw himself down on the couch with a grunt.
"Our couch smells like baby formula." He complained but he was smiling. "Any chance there's food for me?"
"Here? No. Downstairs maybe; I'll see what I can find. Go to bed, Clint, you look exhausted." Natasha replied but Clint just grunted in response.
"Believe me I feel worse than I look." He mumbled into the fabric of the couch. Eventually he did pull himself upright however and trudged down the hall while Natasha went to find food. He stopped by Anya's bedroom door and peeked his head inside, flicking on the lights. Of course Anya wasn't there but he smiled regardless. Was it possible for a room to smell pink? Because Clint could swear the room smelt pink.
Anya wasn't much of a girlie girl just yet but there was pink everywhere. That was probably Clint's fault- buying ever cute pink outfit he found. Clint picked up a stuffed animal off the floor and rubbed the soft fur with a bruised finger. This last mission had been a real tough one. Not only was the target hard to get eyes on, he was even harder to keep an eye on. Clint lost him multiple times, each time losing him longer than the last. When they finally caught up with the guy he put up one hell of a fight; left two agents dead and the rest pretty banged up. At one point Clint was sure he was going to die and in that moment all he wanted was to hold his baby daughter again. He wanted nothing more than to go home and hold her.
Nearly dying as frequently as Clint does leaves a certain kind of mark on your mind. It's hard to forget the feeling of nearly dying- or the thoughts that enter your mind. This last time really shook Clint and he had a lot on his mind. Part of him wanted to hang it up, throw his bow in a closet somewhere and never look at it again- to focus on Natasha and Anya and stay alive long enough to walk his daughter down the aisle one day. But at the same time Clint wasn't too sure who he was without his bow. He'd been cowboying around with the Avengers like a jackass for so long he wasn't entirely sure what or who he was without it. Without Hawkeye, Clint wasn't entirely sure who he was.
~!~!~!~
"Please be careful, Ryland!" Pepper called after her son as she watched him play with the other kids at the park. She was sitting next to Tony on a nearby bench, Anya in her lap and a few shopping bags at her feet. Taking Anya and Ryland out for the day was Tony's idea but Pepper loved the day off. They did a little bit of shopping and went for lunch before winding up at the park upon Ryland's request. Anya was getting sleepy but luckily she wasn't cranky.
"I'm being careful, Mommy!" Ryland replied from the jungle gym he was hanging off of. He picked out his own outfit for the day so he was wearing gray Converse, jeans and a long sleeve shirt with a monster on it. He did a pretty good job surprisingly enough and so Natasha let him help her dress Anya. Deciding he liked her cheetah print Converse high-tops best, Natasha put them on the baby along with faux jeans and a white Bambi onesie.
"Can I wear my new hat, Daddy?" Ryland asked as he ran towards his parents. He'd found a ridiculous furry plaid flapper hat at Macy's and begged to get it for ten minutes. Tony thought it was adorable but Pepper wasn't quite sold until Ryland put it. Even though it was a tad ridiculous looking, on Ryland it was absolutely adorable. So they wound up getting the hat for Ryland as well as a grey knit cap for Anya.
Tony fished through the bags for the hat as he mumbled, "It's not that cold out, dude, you're gonna get pretty hot." But he pulled the tags off the hat and handed it to Ryland anyway.
"Can Ace wear her new hat too?" Ryland asked as he pulled the hat onto his head and smiled up at Pepper who took the grey cap from Tony and placed it on Anya's head. Anya tried to look up at the hat, looking very serious and going slightly cross-eyed in the process.
"We look super cute, Ace." Ryland informed the baby with a smile and a wink. Then he looked up at Tony and asked, "Do you think Clint is home now?"
Tony's jaw all but hit his lap as he asked his child how on earth he knew Clint would be coming home. "That was supposed to be a secret, who told you?"
"Bruce mumbles when he works." Ryland replied with a shrug, playing with Anya's fingers.
"You're not supposed be in R-and-D, Ryland, you know that." Pepper chastised but couldn't be mad when Ryland was wearing that damn hat.
"I wasn't in R-and-D I was outside the door." Ryland said as if that made the situation any better. "Besides, Daddy lets me in his office all the time."
Tony let out a long moan as he threw his head back. "Way to throw me under the buss, kid." He grumbled. Pepper shot her husband a disapproving glance so Tony grabbed Ryland and tossed him over his shoulder. "You can't kill me if I have a child." Tony stated as Ryland laughed. The boys ran over to the playground where Tony proceeded to climb up the slide with Ryland still over his shoulder.
"I'll kill you if you hurt my child!" Pepper shouted as she watched Ryland precariously hang off Tony's shoulder. By some stroke of luck the two Stark boys made it up the slide and started running around the play set playing some form of superhero cops and robbers. A nearby group of kids joined in, shouting, "Let's play with Iron Man!"
Pepper watched her two favorite men run around the playground wildly, a smile on her face to match theirs. She honestly couldn't tell who was having more fun, Ryland and the boys or Tony. He made a damn fine dad, Tony did. Of course he'd never admit it and he was convinced he could barely keep Ryland alive, but from Pepper's perspective she couldn't imagine a better father. Not just because he played with Ryland whenever the boy asked or because he could keep the creative four-year-old entertained for hours on end with very little effort. Tony was a great father because he wore his heart on his sleeve and he cared too much for Ryland to ever let his son believe otherwise.
Maybe that was the great downfall of Howard Stark. He cared for Tony but he wasn't the best at showing it. Tony spent his entire life believing his father didn't care much for him at all when in fact Howard loved his son most. Upon becoming a father himself, Tony swore both to Pepper and to himself that he would always make sure their son knew how loved he was. And by god was he doing a good job of it. It was at least once a day that Tony would mumble "I love you" to Ryland. Some days he'd say it before Ryland left the tower or before he'd put Ryland to bed, but most of the time he'd whisper it at random moments. Ryland would be sitting at Tony's desk drawing or playing intently with his action figures and Tony would just sneak up behind him, kiss the boy on the top of the head and whisper words of love. Or when Ryland was acting like a goofball trying to make everyone laugh, Tony would hold his aching stomach and bellow an "I love you" through his laughter fits.
There was something undeniably special about Ryland and Tony's relationship. They weren't quite the same character but they got along wonderfully. Ryland had his father's creativity and imagination as well as his wit and his brawn. But Pepper wasn't lost in her own child. Ryland had her brain as well as her sense of loyalty and maybe a touch of her OCD. More often than not Pepper and Ryland would but heads, arguing over trivial things like bath time or toys. Tony liked to say it was because Pepper and Ryland knew each other too well- the same reason Tony and Pepper argued so frequently. Pepper was better at spending quiet moments with their son whereas Tony was best for playing and imaginative adventures. Tony would throw Ryland over his shoulder and romp about the tower. Pepper would grab a book and a corner and sit with Ryland, gently stroking his hair as she'd read to him.
She'd never forget the time she was reading to Ryland and he looked up and said, "I like spending time with you, Mommy. You're relaxful." She could easily overlook the mispronounced word because it brought tears to her eyes. She could live with being the relaxful parent while Tony took on the role of the fun one. That's how their family worked and she wasn't about to test it. They worked just fine as is.
~!~!~!~
"There is truly nothing on earth better than an American cheeseburger." Clint mused as he chewed a massive bite of his burger. Natasha couldn't find anything tasty upstairs in the common kitchen so she went out for some burgers instead. Upon returning home she'd found Clint curled up in a tight little ball smack-dab in the middle of their bed on top of the comforters with his boots still on. She was careful about waking him up, knowing how jumpy he could be directly after a mission. She hadn't asked any questions- though she had plenty of them- but she could tell this last one was a doozey. It wasn't the right time to bring it up but she knew he was uneasy so she stood back and called his name as softly as she could but even then he woke with a start, sitting up immediately and forming a defensive position. Once he saw it was Natasha and that she came barring food he started to smile, apologizing under his breath and making room for her on the bed. They sat together eating the grease food and enjoying their longest stretch of uninterrupted time together in a long time.
"When's Tony and Pepper gonna be home? I miss my freaking kid." Clint complained as he leaned his head against the headboard. One of his hands was occupied digging around a fast-food bag looking for leftover French fries that fell to the bottom, and his other was gently stroking Natasha's hair as she laid her head in his lap.
"They should be home soon I imagine." Natasha replied, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. "What's it like going on missions with Anya here?" she asked suddenly. "What's it like having people waiting for you here at home while you're out there?"
Clint paused for a moment before sighing and tossing a crumbled up hamburger wrapper aside. "It sucks ass, Tasha. It really truly sucks. Knowing there are people here that care whether or not you come home…it should make you feel better, right? It should make you want to fight harder and win whatever battle you're facing but it doesn't. It just makes you feel guilty cause they are home safe worried sick about you and you're running around Boar freaking Bora with a stick and a string fighting like a jackass from the paleolithic era."
"You're thinking about hanging it up, aren't you?" Natasha whispered after a moment of silence passed between them. Clint looked down at her, looking into her green eyes. He couldn't find the right words to describe his mental dilemma but he also didn't want to try. Used to figuring everything out on his own, Clint wasn't sure how to voice his concerns or his problems to anyone. Of course Natasha was his sounding board and he talked to her about almost everything. But this was just one of those times where he couldn't find the courage to bring her into the dilemma- bring her in to help fix the problem; maybe because he couldn't see a solution in sight.
Just as Clint was about to reply a knock sounded on their front door and they could hear Pepper and Tony's voices. Forgetting the troublesome conversation path they were just about to embark on, Natasha and Clint started to smile. Clint honestly couldn't have gotten off that bed any faster as he rushed to the front door in anticipation of seeing his kid again.
"Surprisingly enough we brought Anya home in one piece." Tony said as he dropped a shopping bag to the living room floor. Behind him Pepper was holding a squirmy Anya in her arms so that's immediately where Clint went.
"Look whose home, Ace." Pepper said to the little girl as she angled the baby towards Clint who honestly looked like he might start to cry at any minute. Anya turned her head towards her father and stared for a minute almost as if she didn't quite recognize Clint. But a millisecond later she made a high-pitched squealing noise almost akin to a scream and started squirming to get out of Pepper's grasp and into Clint's. She screamed and squirmed until she finally made it into Clint's arm where she curled her little head into the crook of his neck and settled down.
"Looks like she missed you quite a bit," Pepper said sweetly, turning to rest her head on Tony's shoulder. The scene before them was too adorable to look away but they wanted to give the family some privacy so Pepper said, "We're all having dinner together tonight; be ready at seven." before sneaking to the elevator with Tony.
It was amazing how quickly Anya settled down once in Clint's arms but then again he always had the magic touch. He curled Anya close to his chest, snuggling her as he smiled wider than he thought possible. "Oh I missed you, Little Bird!" he whispered as he started subconsciously rocking her back and forth. Natasha watched from a distance, leaning against the couch as she fought back tears of her own at the reunion of her two favorite people.
"You got big," Clint said to Anya then turned to Natasha. "She got big! When did she get so big? I don't remember her looking this big on the webcam."
Natasha smiled as she shrugged, "Babies grow, Clint, your kid's no exception."
"No, that is not okay with me." Clint replied, only half joking. "You're supposed to stay my Little Bird forever. Can you do that for me, Ace? Can you stay tiny forever so I can keep holding you like this?" he asked Anya, pulling her back a little so he could look into her deep blue eyes.
Anya smiled and squealed again. "Dada!" she cheered, slapping her chubby hand against his face. Clint kissed her palm and smiled back at her as he reveled in the ability to hold her again.
"Okay new house rule," he shouted, louder than he intended. "Anya, you're not allowed to get any bigger, got it? And Tasha you're not allowed to let her get any bigger. If she starts growing, stop her. I don't care how- use necessary force- but you'll stay my Little Bird forever, got it kiddo?"
"You know you are going to have to come to terms with her aging eventually, Clint." Natasha mumbled with a smile as she stood up and walked over to him. She ran a hand through Anya's hair as the baby rested her head on Clint's shoulder, looking more content and happy than any baby ever had before.
"Nope, I refuse to accept that as a possibility." Clint replied seriously.
"It's not a possibility, Clint, its reality."
"Reality is…" Clint began than paused. "You know what reality is, Tasha? Reality is this right here. You and Anya here close enough for me to hold you both. That's the only reality I care about."
Author's Note: As usual you can find outfits (including Ryland's ADORABLE flapper hat lol) for this chapter on my Polyvore (samitballi. tumblr. com) under the title Part lV
2 votes for girl Fosterson-4 votes for boy Fosterson
We won't be finding out the gender for a few more chapters but I'll keep the voting open until then so don't forget to leave a review telling me which gender you'd prefer Thor to have as a little god of thunder ;
