Chapter 9

The next week came before anyone knew it. Livy was super excited to be spending time with her aunts and uncles for a whole week. Steve was looking forward to his down time, but he was also glad to be spending time with Sharon with her not being so busy all of the time. Wanda, Bucky, Pietro, and Allison were eager to spend time with Livy and had lots of plans. As for Nat, well, she didn't have anything interesting going on for her. She was just glad to be starting her second week of teaching ballet to her students and was looking forward to seeing her students advance.

Tony, Pepper, Steve, and Sharon planned to leave New York on Monday around 8 A.M. in Tony's private jet. Steve had to drop off Livy at Wanda's house at 7:15 in order to be at the airport on time. After another night of no sleep, Steve finally decided to get up to get ready at six o'clock. He didn't need to do much because Livy's little suitcase was ready since the day before as well as his suitcase. He only had to put a few things in his suitcase that he was going to be using to get ready. He had no need to wake up Livy because he could still carry her. The most probable thing that would happen is that Livy would wake up while he's taking her to the car from her bed and from the car into Wanda's house, but knowing Livy, she would go back to sleep almost right away.

The first thing Steve did was take a quick shower. After showering and getting mostly ready, he toasted himself some bread even though he was going to eat breakfast in the jet. He had a fast metabolism anyways, so it wouldn't affect him at all. After eating his toast with Nutella, he brushed his teeth and put in the stuff he had already used into his suitcase. Once he was done, he put the suitcases into the car. He then went to Livy's room, carried her, and put a light blanket over her. Steve carried her to the car and buckled her into her car seat. He made sure her head was in a position that wouldn't make her uncomfortable. Livy opened her eyes slightly but quickly closed her eyes and continued sleeping. It was 6:40 when Steve pulled out of his driveway.

There wasn't much traffic at this time in the morning in Manhattan-that's where Wanda's apartment was located-so Steve got to her place a little early. He texted her to make sure she was awake, and sure enough, she was. Steve got out of the car and opened the trunk to take out Livy's suitcase. Wanda came out of her apartment just then, so Steve gave her the suitcase to take inside while he grabbed Livy. When he got to Wanda's door, she led him to the spare bedroom so that he could lay Livy on the bed.

"Aren't you going to wake her up to say goodbye?" Wanda asked.

Steve looked at Livy's peaceful face. "I really don't want to wake her. She looks so peaceful."

"I know, Steve, but I think she will be highly disappointed if you don't say goodbye to her."

"You're right." He looked back down at Livy, and softly called her name. She didn't wake up, so he decided to shake her lightly. "Princess, wake up." Livy started to stir a little. "Princess, Daddy's leaving soon."

Livy slowly opened her eyes and saw Steve kneeling beside the bed. "You're leaving?" she croaked.

"Yes, I am. Sorry for waking you, but I wanted to say goodbye to you."

"I don't want you to leave, Daddy. I want you to stay."

"I know, I don't want to leave you either, but you'll have so much fun with your aunt and uncles. Before you know it, I'll be back."

"Ok, Daddy. I love you!"

"I love you too, Princess. Be good for your Aunt Wanda, ok?"

"Yes, Daddy. I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too." Steve leaned in and gave her a kiss on her forehead. Livy kissed his cheek and gave him a hug. "All right. I have to go now." Livy didn't move.

"She's asleep again," Wanda whispered.

Steve carefully laid Livy down on the bed. He stared at her a little more. "She looks so much like Peggy."

"Yes, she does," Wanda agreed.

Steve soon got up and left the room making sure to close the door. He gave Wanda some instructions such as what time Livy should get up every day and not to give her that much sugar, especially Lucky Charms, for breakfast.

After Steve left, Wanda decided to sleep a little bit longer. She didn't have to be at work until 9:30, so she still had a little time to get some shut eye before getting ready. Allison would be arriving at the apartment at 8:30 to finish getting Livy ready and take her to ballet class.

Wanda woke up at 8 and started making breakfast for Livy. She usually didn't make breakfast for herself opting to grab something on the way like a donut, breakfast bagel, or cinnamon roll. She decided to make scrambled eggs and toast. She knew that even though Livy was only four years old she had a bigger appetite than an average four year old (thanks to Steve). She woke Livy up at 8:15 to give her enough time to eat before going to take her bath. While Livy was eating, Wanda went to prepare the bathtub. After Livy finished her breakfast, Wanda bathed her. Once Wanda finished giving Livy her clothes to put on, Allison arrived.

"Thank God you're here. I really need to get ready. There's still some leftover breakfast if you want some. Maggie is in the spare bedroom putting on her clothes. At least I think that's what she's doing. I need you to comb her hair, and dry it with the blow dryer. Then brush her hair. Steve told me to brush it into a pony tail, but I think she'll look prettier with a ballerina bun. Can you do one of those?" Wanda stopped talking to look at the time. "I'm sorry for not letting you talk, but I'm running late. I didn't measure my time wisely. I'm going to shower. Knock if you have any questions." With that being said, Wanda rushed to the bathroom.

"Well, that was unexpected," Allison said to herself. She had imagined that Wanda would be mostly ready, but apparently, she wasn't near to being ready. Allison made her way to the spare bedroom and knocked on the door. Livy cracked open the door and peeked outside.

"Hey, Livy! It's me, Allie. Can you let me come in so that I can comb your hair?"

Livy smiled and opened the door. "Hi, Miss Allie!" She gave Allison a big hug which Allison returned.

"So, where's your comb or brush?"

"In my suitcase."

"Ok. Can you go get it?"

Livy nodded and ran to her suitcase. She searched it until she finally found both her comb and brush. Then she ran back to Allison and gave her the brush and comb.

"Thanks, Livy. Let's go sit on the bed."

Livy climbed on the bed and sat down. Allison sat down behind her and started to comb her hair. Once her hair was combed, she left the room to ask Wanda for the blow dryer. Wanda told her where it was at, and Allison went to go get it. When she got back to the room, Livy was playing with her stuffed dog.

"What's your doggie's name?"

"Peanut."

"That is such a pretty name!"

"Thanks!"

"So, do you know what this is?" Allison asked holding up the blow dryer. Since Steve was a guy, she highly doubted that he owned one.

Livy looked at it and frowned. "I one time saw it at the store, and I see it in movies. What does it do?"

Allison smiled gently. "It's a blow dryer. People also call it a hair dryer. It dries your hair quickly. I'm going to use it so that I can brush your hair."

"Daddy brushes my hair when it's wet."

"I know, but I do things a little differently than he does. I like to brush my hair when it's dry."

"Oh, ok. Will it hurt?"

Allison laughed a bit. "Of course not. It may get a little hot. If it does, tell me."

"Ok."

Allison blow dried her hair, and once she was done, she started brushing it in a ponytail. She tied the ponytail so that it would be easier to make the bun. Since Livy was used to only having a ponytail, she started to get up.

"Wait, Livy, I'm not done yet."

"But my hair is in a ponytail."

"I know, but how would you like a different hairstyle?"

"Which one?"

"It's a ballerina bun." Allison looked for a picture on Pinterest and showed it to Livy.

"You want me to do that hairstyle?"

Livy nodded her head. "It's really pretty. I'll look more like a ballerina!"

Allison continued with the hairstyle. When she finished, she took Livy to a mirror so that she could see herself.

"I love it!" Livy exclaimed.

"I'm glad you do."

Livy stayed there admiring her knew hairstyle. Just then, Wanda came up to her. "Maggie, I'm going to work now. Allison is going to drop you off, and Bucky will pick you up."

"Why aren't you going to pick me up?"

"I'm going to pick you up tomorrow, all right?"

"Ok."

Wanda gave Livy a kiss and hurriedly went out the door because she was really late.

Allison and Livy left at 9:30 to give Allison enough time in case she got lost or in case there was more traffic than usual. They arrived with ten minutes to spare. Livy, who was used to getting there a little early, sat down on the couch in the lobby. Daisy was at the front desk, and when she saw the little girl, she went to greet her.

"Hi, Livy! How are you?"

"Hi, Miss Daisy!" Livy jumped up and gave her a hug. "I'm good. I missed you."

"Aw, I missed you too!"

In the meantime, Allison was awkwardly standing nearby watching the whole thing. When Livy let go of her embrace on Daisy, Daisy noticed Allison. "Hi, I'm Daisy Johnson. I'm the secretary here."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Allison Brown."

"Oh, you must be here to drop off Livy at her class."

"Yes, I am."

"Well, the ballet class should be ending soon. Why don't you take a seat while you wait?"

"Thank you."

The telephone on the front desk rang, so Daisy excused herself to go answer it. Just as Daisy said, the ballet class finished soon after. The students that had just finished the class were leaving while those kids who were going to be attending the next one started making their way to the ballet room. Since Livy knew the routine, Allison just followed her. When they got to the room, Livy quickly looked for Natasha. Natasha was also looking for Livy so that she could meet the person Steve had assigned to drop off Livy. Natasha spotted Livy first and made her way toward her.

"Good morning, Livy."

"Good morning, Miss Nat."

"You look really pretty today! Who did your hair?"

Livy turned around and pointed at Allison. "She did."

"Oh, what's her name?"

"She's Miss Allie. She's my Uncle Pietro's girlfriend," she announced happily.

"Nice to meet you, Allie. I'm Natasha Romanoff, Livy's teacher."

Allison smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you. Livy speaks very highly of you."

"Oh, well, I'm sure whatever she says is a bit of an exaggeration. I'm just an average person who happens to be teaching ballet. There's really nothing special about me."

"I beg to differ. Livy never speaks of someone if they haven't made a big impact on her life."

Natasha smiled. "I'm glad that I'm able to impact her."

"Yes, me too. It was so nice meeting you. I need to go to work now."

"I also need to get to work. I'll be seeing you tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"All right. Take care."

"You too." Allison left. "Steve was right," she thought. "She is really pretty. Livy seems to like her more than she likes Sharon. Too bad Steve can't see that."


So, I'm planning on the next chapter to be about Wanda, Bucky, and Pietro meeting Natasha. I decided no to write about Steve in Malibu. Instead, I'm going to go with Steve telling Bucky about the vacation. To those of you who are eagerly awaiting Romanogers, I'll just say that we're getting nearer to seeing it.