Drabble: Steve/Natasha
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~1,300
Prompts: interview + photo (links on AO3 version)

... ...

They'd talked about getting a dog only once before, when James was three and asked for one just because there'd been a dog on the page of his coloring book.

He'd forgotten all about it almost as quickly as he'd mentioned it, but she and Steve did come back to that for a bit after James had gone down for a nap. It didn't surprise her at all that Steve thought it was a perfect idea, and yeah, she gets that it'd help teach James responsibility and everything, so they were going to wait until he was actually old enough to, you know, understand what that meant and could participate in taking care of one. Plus, she wasn't so sure about having a puppy around Tatiana, who'd barely been one at the time.

She'd been under the impression they'd wait until James was in middle school, at least.

Then they found Ginger.

And they quite literally found her, too, or at least Steve did, because it was early December and snowing, and he and James had just gone outside to start shoveling the driveway. Well, Steve was going to shovel the driveway, but James was eight and wanted to help his dad out as much as possible, so he was out there, too, and they told her they'd started hearing this whimpering sound. Ginger had been hiding out underneath a car parked at the curb right in front of their house, freaked out by the people moving around her but too terrified to actually budge. Somehow Steve had coaxed her out of her hiding place, and Natasha knew as soon as she saw James carefully wrap the little puppy inside his old baby blanket that, if they couldn't find the owner, this little girl would be here to stay. Maybe she could've resisted James if she'd tried, but trying to say no to James, Tatiana, and Steve?

That was just physically impossible for her. It still is, honestly.

But, anyway, they took Ginger to get checked and did what they could to try and find the owner – which James was really into because, he'd told her, as much as he wanted to keep the dog, he'd want it with its real family more if it had one. To hell if you think that didn't make her tear up.

After a month of no response, they'd found themselves filling out the necessary paperwork to formally adopt the pup, which Steve names Ginger.

Maybe it's stupid, but sometimes it's hard to remember their family without her.

She and the kids spend hours literally running after each other, nearly giving Natasha heart attacks when they're jumping around and bumping into things but not actually knocking anything over. They've never actually broken anything, and they're pretty damn graceful, especially for kids, and avoid disasters pretty easily, but still. It's kind of really awesome to hear their laughter and Ginger's little barks echoing through the house, and it's also pretty easy to get them to go down for their naps because of all the energy they burn off, so that's a bonus. She and Steve take Ginger with them for their runs while the kids are in school, and Ginger likes to just curl up with them when Steve's sketching or she's reading.

Anyway, Steve was picking the kids from their play date (well, they're too old to call them play dates, but whatever) at Tony and Pepper's, so she took Ginger to the park, sipped on a pumpkin spice latte and played fetch with her for a while and then headed back when she knew they'd be home.

"Hey," Steve greets her as they're walking through the front door, kissing her cheek. There's something about his expression that's a little off.

"What?" she asks.

He gets this grin on his face. "Don't get mad."

She raises her eyebrows, but Steve just takes her hand and leads them towards the kitchen, Ginger sniffing the air as she follows behind them. And really, Natasha isn't sure what she's expecting, but somehow, part of her isn't all that surprised when she sees James and Tatiana sitting at the kitchen table, Tatiana cradling a little kitten in her hands.

"Mom, look who we found," James says, voice somehow excited but also even, obviously not trying to startle the poor thing, which is shaking a little.

Natasha glances at Steve, who still hasn't stopped grinning, and gosh, she already knows where this is heading.

"We rescued her, Mommy," Tatiana announces proudly.

Ginger walks over to James's chair, hopping up and onto his lap when he motions for her to, and Ginger's eyes are totally trained on the kitten, but Natasha's not really worried that she'll try to lunge at the thing. Ginger's still young and not fully trained, but she just wouldn't do that.

"You should've seen how scared she looked, Mom," James tells her. "We found her in this box of empty jelly jars on the side of the road."

Tatiana's eyes light up. "We can call her Jelly!"

James smiles widely, and okay, Natasha's heart totally swells a little at that. "That's so cute," Steve murmurs into her ear, and well, yes that is, but…

"We can't just keep her, you know that, right, sweetie?" Natasha reminds gently, because, hell, it's like déjà vu, watching Tatiana cradling the little kitten close to her chest the same way James had held Ginger that night they'd found her. "We have to see if she has owners first, because I'll bet they miss her a lot."

"But we're not going to let anything happen to her, right, Mommy?"

"No, of course not," Natasha says, combing her fingers through Tatiana's hair. "And I can count on you and James to take extra special care of her, right?"

"Definitely, Mom," James answers, and Tatiana bobs her head in agreement, beaming at her brother.

And, other than for dinner, Tatiana literally doesn't let go of the thing for the entire night, even as she dozes off for a few seconds more and more frequently towards the end of Bolt (James's pick for their Saturday Movie Night, and strangely fitting to their situation right now – which is probably exactly why he picked it, the sneaky little guy). Once the credits start rolling, Steve gently takes the kitten from Tatiana – who begins to protest, but it just too tired to – and Natasha goes upstairs to help the kids get ready for bed. And really, Natasha should've known better than to steal glances at Tatiana cuddling with the kitten during the movie, because the girl looked so happy just holding her and would keep glancing down during the movie as if watching for the kitten's reaction. It was adorable, and she knows it'll be heartbreaking if, this time, they actually are able to get her back to her original owners.

Even if they were to get Tatiana a different cat now, she'd still think about this one.

(Is she a horrible person for hoping they don't find any owners?)

They're both out as soon as their heads hit their pillows, practically, and Natasha kisses their cheeks and leaves their doors open a little before heading back downstairs. Steve's already shut off the TV and folded all of the blankets except for the one draped over the couch.

Ginger and the kitten are fast asleep, curled up next to each other with Ginger's little paw over the kitten, and fuck, that's really cute.

Steve smiles at her, walks over and slants his lips over hers, kissing her gently. "Am I in trouble?" he asks.

"Yes," she says, and he chuckles because he knows she's teasing. "Seriously, though, even if we don't end up adopting this kitten because we find her owners, this needs to stop or else we'll end up with a farm or something." Steve smiles a little wider, and hell, he probably loves that idea. "Just… no more bringing home strays, alright?"

"I make no promises."