Clint was finally home. It had taken three weeks, but he made it. He wasn't even in the house yet and it was already amazing to be back. Being trapped in a hospital was basically torture for him, and he was so thankful it was over.

The doctors finally released him from his sentence to let him recover at home, since most of his injures were healing nicely. The stitches under his leg cast were taken out the day before, and that was a small taste of freedom the bulky plaster. Unfortunately, the fractured leg wasn't finished healing and now he had a brand new cast, but he was glad for even that temporary relief as he was still going to be suffering for a while.

His minor stitches had come out earlier, leaving only scattered scars to add to his collection, and when the doctors were sure that his injured ribs were healed enough to be moving out of bed, they finally let him go.

Clint's shackles were still going to stick around, but at least he was out of prison.

Now, winter had started settling in their Iowa home with Christmas just around the corner. Clint was unbelievably glad to be freed of the confined space and white walls to at least celebrate the holidays. Three weeks of staying in one spot, inside a building... He was surprised the anxiety he got from that hadn't killed him already.

He took in a breath of the frosty air, his lips curling into a smile as Laura prepared his wheelchair outside of the truck. Clint could walk, but he was under orders to walk as little as possible. He was supposed to mainly use the wheelchair to get around, but after years of injuring himself, even Laura knew he would bend some rules.

Clint got out of the passenger seat of the truck, doing his best to lean on the support of the vehicle before plopping down onto the chair. He closed the truck door from his lower than normal position as Laura helped cart him through the light layer of snow covering their long, gravel driveway.

When he got to the porch, he stood up again. They had yet to set up a makeshift ramp on the steps, so he had to stand up and allow Laura to bring up the chair separately. Clint was basically beaming at the, "horrible inconvenience," since any excuse to stand up and walk was a lifesaver for him. He was perfectly glad to hobble up the steps while leaning against the railing.

It was a process, but by the time he made it up the last step, Laura had the door open and the wheelchair waiting for him across the threshold.

Laura would have offered to help him to his seat, seeing his struggle, but she knew he was much to stubborn to accept it as he made his way over himself. The second he sat down again, Clint was greeted by Lila and Cooper bombarding him with hugs.

Clint's smile grew as wide as it possibly could. "Hey kiddos!" He laughed as he group hugged them back with his good arm. The hint of pain from his still healing ribs was well worth this hug.

"Welcome back, dad," Cooper smirked as Lila piped in her own response.

"We really missed you," She said, refusing to let go.

Clint didn't mind the prolonged hug as he replied a little quieter, "I really missed you guys too. It's been ages..."

It took a while, but eventually their hug ended and the kids finally started taking in their father's current appearance. He had a cast covering his whole right leg, making the limb stick straight out from the inability to bend it. He had a matching cast on his right arm resting along his chest, and his face was still healing from bruises, but he was looking significantly better with each passing day. The fact alone that he was home already made him look and feel better.

The kids looked at the two casts and deviously shared a glance. "Can we sign them?" Cooper asked the question on their minds.

"Now, when have I ever said no? They've been looking barren for weeks…" Clint happily smirked, knowing exactly what they were up to and was glad for it.

As soon as he gave his approval, they ran into another room to grab some supplies. Clint missed seeing his kids more than ever, at least doing his job kept him busy and distracted when he was away, but recovering in the hospital for weeks... He had too much time to dwell on the fact that he missed them.

Laura helped him take off his winter coat, and as she hung it on the rack, she saw Wanda come down the stairs from just putting Nathaniel to bed.

She smiled as she saw Clint, glad to see him out of the hospital. "I thought I heard some chaos down here..."

Clint did his best to turn his chair around and better face Wanda, but before he could say anything, Laura said, "Yeah, the main troublemaker just came home."

"Why do I always get the feeling you guys gang up on me?" Clint replied with a grin while shaking his head. When he finally contorted the chair to see everyone, he decided to change the topic. "Thanks for watching the kids, Wanda."

She nodded. "It's no problem. It's easier to babysit them than it is to babysit you."

Laura couldn't help but chuckle in agreement as Clint playfully rolled his eyes. He wasn't even going to bother combating her wit because he knew she was right, it was much harder to keep him out of trouble.

"Come on, let's banter over here so we have room when Lila and Cooper come back," Laura said and helped navigate Clint's wheelchair into the living room without bumping into any of the furniture. She and Wanda had already started moving the furniture around this past week to make sure he'd have enough space to move around in, but there were still some adjusting that needed to be done.

Laura positioned him near the coffee table and she briefly leaned in to share a soft kiss with her husband. She'd worry about arranging furniture later, for now, she was just glad to have Clint back.

Wanda observed their affection with a smile before the kids interrupted their moment by running in seconds later, art supplies filling their hands. When they reached the coffee table, they messily dropped the colorful Sharpies everywhere.

"What's this for?" Wanda asked, a bit confused on why the kids just made a mess and their parents weren't complaining.

"We're going to color dad's casts!" Lila said with excitement before Cooper explained why.

"The first time dad came back with a cast, we decorated it. It's a lot of fun, and now we do it every time."

The kids had been very young the first time they saw a cast on Clint. In their toddler eyes they saw it as a blank canvas needing color, so when Clint took a nap on the couch they basically vandalized his broken arm. Ever since then, they insisted on decorating a cast he had. Over time, it naturally became a whole family affair. It became tradition to have these family drawing sessions whenever he came home injured. It helped lift his spirits whenever he looked down at the thing immobilizing him for months, and it was one of the only perks of getting injured on the job.

"Why don't you join in on our family tradition, Wanda?" Clint said as Cooper handed him a purple marker.

Wanda thought about it for a moment, finding the idea a little silly. She hadn't colored in years and to her, it was an activity for kids. But as she observed them all grabbing markers, she noticed that even Laura and Clint seemed to enjoy it.

Deciding to go out on a limb, she grabbed her own marker. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try, maybe she would enjoy it even if she had no idea what or how to draw.

As the three girls got started drawing on Clint's leg, Cooper worked with him on his arm cast. Since Clint's ribs were still healing, Cooper was in charge of handing him a new Sharpie from the table every so often. Clint wasn't an artist by any means, but after coloring with the kids for years, he did his best to draw his bow and quiver. Along with joining in on some of the Avengers designs Cooper was drawing.

For the next hour, the family bonded over vandalizing Clint's injuries and catching up with what they missed. It had apparently been an eventful few weeks as school was nearing its winter break for Cooper and Lila, and even Wanda had a number of stories to tell since she'd been watching the kids on and off during that time. Steve and Natasha understood Laura needed a little help whenever Clint was injured, so they were glad to give Wanda a little time off. They wanted to give her time to recuperate too, knowing she'd been growing increasingly closer to the Barton's and she was affected by the scare of the injury.

Once they filled up a majority of the white space with bright colors, designs, messages, and pictures, they took time to admire each other's work.

"I think these are the most colorful casts yet," Clint smiled at the finished product. He looked at what Lila drew and she completely changed the side of his leg into a forest scene with trees, grass, and even the family of deer. "Now that's pretty darn cool," He said while pointing with his good arm. It was almost like he was in the forest he couldn't roam in a wheelchair.

He could already tell it would help relieve some of his inside anxiety.

Lila smiled at the compliment as Clint's eyes wandered to the rest of the cast. He laughed as he saw one of the pictures Laura drew. It was a heart with an arrow through it and the letters, "L & C."

On Wanda's end, he noticed she didn't draw much. She mainly helped out with drawing Lila's forest, but she did attempt to add a picture of a bird. "Is that a hawk?" Clint sighed at her play on his code name.

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a chicken..." She smirked at managing to make Lila and Cooper giggle.

"I'm liking what Cooper drew," Laura changed to subject and hid her laughter in hopes to spare Clint from more teasing today. Cooper had drawn various symbols the Avengers team had, such as Cap's shield, Thor's hammer, the Avengers logo, and more among the many small designs filling up his arm.

"I like how these casts turned out," Lila proudly proclaimed.

"Me too," Cooper agreed.

Clint raised his good hand to give everyone high fives. "Good work team! I pronounce these to be the best casts in family history."

Smiles grew around the room and when Wanda joined in on Clint's team high five, Lila asked her, "Did you like our tradition?"

Wanda nodded and honestly replied, "Yeah, actually. You guys have a lot of cool traditions."

"I think you should be included in all our family traditions!" Lila bounced in her seat on the floor. "Since you're family now."

She was family now, there was no escaping the way Cooper and Lila called Wanda their older sister when talking with their friends at school and even to her, personally. They engraved the fact into her brain that she was growing into their family, so it was nearly impossible to ignore or deny.

And Wanda didn't want to ignore or deny it. The Barton's may not be able to replace the family she did lose, but she wasn't comparing the two. After all, she had now become part of three very different families and nothing can compare to the unique experiences each one of them brought her.

"I'd love to be a part of all your traditions," Wanda said. Any chance she could join the Barton's unique family experience, she was glad to take. Even if there was a scare or two, she was glad to finally gain happy memories again.

Clint wasn't the only one finally home.