Chapter 26: The day we finished our journey

Natasha woke up in her bed, a smile played on her lips and she slightly grabbed Steve's arm that was wrapped around her as she stretched out. She turned around and watched him sleep, her husband.

She raised her hand and traced her finger over the side of his face. Happiness was all she felt, she was now married to the man she loved and they lived together with their children. Steve hummed happily and kissed her hand after grabbing it. "Good morning." He said.

"Good morning, Mr. Rogers." She said scooting closer to him.

He opened his eyes with a wide smile on his lips. "Good morning to you, Mrs Rogers." He said again with joy in his voice. He leaned in and took her lips with his in a sweet kiss. She kissed him back and sighed happily in the kiss. "How did you sleep?"

"Wonderfully." She replied before capturing his lips again. "What about you, dear husband of mine?" She asked in a cheerful way.

"Amazingly." He replied before kissing her again.

"This is going to be really annoying if you start speaking like that to each other." Maria's voice was heard from the hallway, it startled the newly wedded couple.

"Oh, my god!" Natasha nearly jumped off of her bed. "What the hell are you doing here, Maria?"

"Well, you guy got married so Sam and I thought it would be good to take the kids with us for a few days so you could be alone and have a small honeymoon." She flatly said as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Oh, that's kind of... Nice." Natasha said and got out bed despite Steve's complains to stay in bed for a few more moments. "I'm not used to this new Maria."

"The old one isn't far away, Red." Tony said as he walked up the hallway with breakfast for the couple.

"How many of you are they in my house?" She asked looking at Tony.

"Too much to count." The billionaire shrugged and sat the breakfast on Steve's bedside table. "All of us are there."

"All of you to take care of just two children?" She asked cracking up an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Not at all." Tony scoffed. "I'd even say we're not enough."

"We are enough, Tony." Clint said as he walked inside with Laura and two suitcases. He threw them (not Laura of course) on the bed before opening them and opened one of the drawer to put random clothes in the suitcases.

"Is that a gathering?" Natasha asked as she looked at Steve who had sat up in the bed. Tony walked around and helped Clint to fill up the cases.

Steve shrugged and ate the breakfast Tony brought causing Natasha to sigh slightly. She was not annoyed but she just expected to spend a good day with her husband and their children.

Laura walked up to the bed, on Steve's side and observed his torso. "You see Clint, this is one of those I want you to get." She said and gestured to her husband the blonde man's muscles.

Clint picked up a piece of cloth and held it up so everyone could see it. "Well babe, that's one of those I want you to get." He said, talking about of Natasha's revealing undies that was in her drawer.

The concerned woman gasped and grabbed her undies from her best friend before scolding everyone out. "Come on, get out, get out." She said pushing them out of the room before closing the door with a sigh.

Steve chuckled and got up from the bed to walk to his wife. She smiled as he put his hands on the door behind her. "Welcome to your new life." He said with a boyish smile.

She pouted slightly and he kissed her lips. She put her hands on his upper arms. "Our new life." She corriged.

He smiled and kissed her again. They kissed passionately until Natasha pulled away. "What are you intentions there, Rogers?"

"I think you know, Rogers." He replied and resumed kissing her.

"Come on, out of there lovebirds!" Clint yelled from the other side of the room and he banged his fist again the door in loud knocks.

"I'm going to kill one of them." Natasha said as she looked at Steve straight in the eyes causing him to laugh.

"I'm stressed." Natasha said as she looked over at Steve. She was seating in the passenger seat of his car, they were on their way to meet her biological sister. Steve reached over and grabbed her hand but he kept his eyes carefully on the road.

"You have every reasons to." He told her calmly.

"What if we don't get along? What if everything goes wrong and she hates me or I hate her?" She asked getting anxious.

"And also a criminal?" Steve asked in a mocking manner, he didn't intend to mock her but just to ease his wife.

"Oh, my god!" She exclaimed. "What if she is a criminal?!"

"Natasha, relax." He said squeezing her hand softly. "She's not a criminal, we've checked her background before calling her. She's far from being a bad person." He informed her and looked over at her to see that she had calmed down but stress could still be read on her face.

"Oh." Was all she said as she leaned back in her seat and let out a sigh in order to calm her nerves. She switched on the radio and the song that was currently playing made her smile. It was the song she and Steve danced on at Laura and Clint's wedding. Their eyes crossed and a smile appeared on both of their faces.

"What do you know about her?" Natasha asked after the song ended, she lowered the volume of the song.

"Well, she's a year younger than you. She was born on January the 3rd and after your parents death she was taken in the same orphanage than you but she was quickly adopted by a couple." He informed her. "She doesn't remember having a sister just like you don't. She was raised in Russia until she was in her teenage years where her and her adoptive family moved to Greece. She went to Oxford university in order to become a doctor. Oh, and I forgot the most important her name is Yelena."

Natasha smiled slightly as she listened to these information about her sister. "Thank you so much, Steve. Thank you for doing this." She looked at him and raised their joined hands until she could kiss his hand.

He simply smiled at her and drove them to the place they would meet Natasha's sister. They arrived a few minutes later in a restaurant in New Jersey, Yelena arrived in America the day before and had settled in a nice hotel there. Steve parked the car nearby, they then went inside the restaurant together. Natasha squezed Steve's hand and smiled at him before looking around even though she had no idea what she looked like.

"Come, she's over there." Steve said and nudged her towards a table on the side where a blonde woman was drinking a coffee. They approached the woman and Steve spoke first. "Hello, you're Yelena right? I'm Steve, I'm the one who contacted you." His voice caused the woman to look up to the couple.

"Yes, this is me." She told them and stood up, an ounce of Russian accent could be heard in her voice. "Nice to meet you." She said holding out her hand to Steve who shook her hand. Her eyes then set on Natasha and she smiled warmly at her. "You must Natasha, my sister."

"I- I am." Natasha replied and returned the woman's smile. She noticed that they both had the same eye color but not the same hair color.

"Please, sit down." Yelena invited them. "Do you want anything?"

Steve and Natasha sat down next to each other facing the stranger woman and they each ordered a drink. After the waitress left, silence fell among the three adults.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Yelena asked to break the silence.

"I am a dance teacher, I teach mostly ballet in my studio." She told her with a sympatic smile. "What about you? Steve told me you wanted to be a doctor."

"That's true." She replied. "I'm actually working in peds, with children. Do you have any by the way?"

"We do, we had a little boy who is five years old and Steve had a daughter with... another woman who is also five years old and we're raising them together."

"The three of you?"

"No, no. She's dead. I mean- that was awful to blurt it out like that but she died when she gave birth to their daughter and we found our way back not so long ago." Natasha explained as best as she could. "It's kind of a complicated story." She added when she saw the confusion on her sister's face.

"Seems like it is." She said before taking a sip of her drink.

Steve had decided to leave the two women alone so they could properly meet and learn things about each other. He went around town to find a jewelry store so he could get Natasha a ring, since his proposal was not planned he hadn't had time to get her a ring and he wished to change that.

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Yelena exclaimed after Natasha told her about Elena and Jamie's meet. The mother had tried her best to explain without confusion their story, it was complicated to explain but she gave it her best. She was very happy to see that her sister was supportive of the whole story, she thought maybe she would have judged her about the decisions she had made but nothing. "Could I meet them before leaving?"

"Of course!" Natasha said. "You're the only actual aunt my children have, I'm not going to let that pass."

The two women chuckled and the blonde sister grinned at something Natasha said. "You said children, you count Elena as your child don't you?"

"Yeah... I mean she never got to meet her mother just like me and she's just so wonderful. It's hard to not love that child." She said with a smile. "Steve says it's okay for me to consider her as my own child but I wouldn't want to step on Sharon's toes again. I'm afraid to let Elena take me as her mother and that she forgets who brought her in this world."

"Well, I think that the fact you are afraid of it won't let you let that happen, you know what I mean?" She demanded looking at her older sister who gave her a nod. "Maybe you should talk with Elena about that. You need it and I think she might need it too."

"Thank you, Yelena." She said with a happy smile on her lips.

"Anytime." She finished her coffee and added. "You know, you're lucky to have a boyfriend like yours."

"Actually, he's not my boyfriend anymore." Natasha said. "We got married last night."

"Oh, my god! That's incredible, congratulations!" Yelena genuinely said.

Natasha chuckled and the two women kept learning things about each other. They stayed another hour in the restaurant before Natasha said she had to come home, the kids needed her and Steve even though the other said they would take care of them. Yelena understood and planned with her older sister their next meeting where the children would be there. The married woman sent a text to Steve who showed up a few minutes later in front of the restaurant.

The sisters bid each other goodbye before separating ways. Steve asked how it went and Natasha assured him it went better than she would have ever thought. He was really happy to acknowledge that. He drove them back to New York and they stayed silent in the car holding their hands together over the handbrake.

"Let your light shine." Natasha said a little before they arrived home. Steve turned his head to look at her with a frown.

"What?" He asked, obviously confused.

"You remember when we went to Las Vegas and that we got our tattoos?" She asked to which he nodded. "You asked me what your tattoo meant and I never gave you an answer until now. It means let your light shine."

A smile appeared on Steve's lips at the fond memory. "It's sweet. Why did you chose this quote? I'm curious."

"Well, you had a lot going on back then and you let yourself become somebody you were not. You acted like this sad man when deep down you had this light and you just didn't see it."

"Until you showed me it." He finished for her with a smile and she nodded.

"Exactly."

The parents arrived at what was now their house and parked in the front. They went inside their house and literally everyone was still there to take care of two children. Natasha was both amazed and scared about how her kids could be when they weren't with their parents. The friends of the little family suggested that they should stay over for diner and they decided to go for a BBQ. It was summer so they could eat outside with no problem.

On the way back, Natasha asked Steve to stop at a store so she could get something for Elena that she knew she would need. When the adults started making food, she asked Steve to got upstairs and print a picture of Sharon which he did. Once he came back with it, she gave it the frame she had brought anfd told him to put the picture inside while she went to get Elena.

The little girl sat down on the couch on the back porch of the house and looked at the older woman. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course not sweetheart. I just want to speak with you." Natasha said and looked at the child. "You see, I've known you for a little moment now and I'm starting to think that you are a daughter to me. I know that I am kind of the mother you never had the chance to have but I wanted to see with you if it was alright for me to take you as my own daughter?"

"You want to be my mommy?" Elena asked, trying to understand her words.

"Yes. Do you want me to?" Natasha questioned, hope flying through her whole body.

Elena didn't say anything for moment and looked over at her father for a moment as if she was asking for his permission to say yes. Steve only gave her an encouraging smile and the little girl looked back at Natasha. "Yes, I do."

Both the adult and the child wrapped their arms around each other in a warming embrace. They were both happy about the news, they kind of were officially mother and daughter. Steve snapped a picture of them and sat beside the two women of his life. His wife looked at him and she took the little package from his hands. "Here, it's for you. I thought you might like it." She said and handed the package to her daughter.

Elena accepted the gift and opened it. She gasped when she saw the picture of her mother. "That's my mommy!" She exclaimed happily.

Natasha smiled and looked at the picture, she knew that woman and she frowned slightly. Elena looked back at her and when she saw the frown on her face she thought she shouldn't have called her mother mommy when Natasha was her new mommy. "Are you sad because I called her mommy?"

The adult shook her head and smiled slightly. "No, no, no. It's not because of that. You have every right to call her mommy, she's your mother after all. This is why I gave you this gift, so you wouldn't ever replace her or forget her."

"Why did you frown then?"

"Because... I think I have already met her." She said and looked at Steve before setting her eyes back on the picture. "Oh, I know! I met her at your mother's party, she asked me about you and I t-then she told me to go for you."

"I heard you came with Steve Rogers." Someone said from beside her, she turned her head and saw it was a beautiful woman.

"Yes, I did." The redheaded woman replied.

A smirk formed on the woman's lips. "Are you guys together?"

"Oh, no. We're just friends. He had nobody to come here with so he asked me." She said with a smile.

"How long have you known him?"

"Um, more than two months I think."

The woman swirled her drink that was in her right hand and looked at Natasha. "And nothing happened?"

"I- uh, well." She blushed. "Why are you asking me all these questions? I don't even know who you are."

"How rude of me, I'm Emily I went with Steve to high school." She said holding her hand out for Natasha to shake what she did.

"Natasha." She replied.

"Alright, Natasha. If I can give you an advice, you should confess your feelings to him. You seem to be good for each other." Emily said before leaving with a smile.

"She said her name was Emily." Natasha smiled. "I can't believe it."

"Neither can I, I didn't even know she was at that gala." Steve said and smiled.

"Was she nice?" Elena asked.

"Well, this little thing proves how much of a good woman your mother was." Natasha replied and it made the little girl happy.

"Thank you." She said. "What should I call you, now?"

"Whatever you want sweetheart, I'm not obligating you to call me anything."

"I will think about it." Elena told her earning a laugh from the older woman. Natasha leaned down and kissed Elena's forehead. Jamie called Elena to come play with him, she handed the frame to her father before joining her brother in the garden.

Steve looked at Natasha and scooted closer to her. "You did great."

"You think?" She asked returning his look.

"I do." He said and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She said before kissing him back.

The children called Steve to play with them and he chuckled before giving the frame to Natasha. He kissed her and went to play with the kids. She looked down at the picture with a smile. "What a ride, uh." She muttered to herself.

Tony walked up the garden and took Steve's place on the couch next to Natasha. He looked at the picture she was holding and he raised a questioning look towards her way but he quickly shrugged it off when she said it was a gift for Elena.

They looked back the garden, her at the kids who were chasing Steve through the garden, him at his future wife. Natasha laughed when Steve fakely fell on the ground. The kids jumped on him and tried to hold him down but he wrapped his arms around them saying. "Gotcha!"

She smiled widely and happily at the sight of the love of her life playing with their children.

"I have known you for a little bit more than five years now," Tony spoke up. "And I can totally tell that this is the happiest you have ever been." He said as he glanced towards Natasha.

She looked at him with her beautiful smile then she returned her eyes to Steve playing with the kids, he was now the one chasing them. "It is." She then looked back to the billionaire and laid her hand atop her stomach. "I wouldn't wish for a better life."

The movement of her hand didn't go unnoticed by the man who now smiled, understandingly. "Does he know?"

She looked back at her family and shook her head slightly. "Not yet."

T H E

E N D

WOW! That's the end! I really can't believe it. A thousand thank you to all of you who have read, commented, favorited and added this story to their library. You don't know how much it means to me!

I honestly didn't think I would be able to write a chapter so quickly, now I can fully concentrate on my exams lmao!

This is the longest chapter of this story and it contains a lot of things and different themes. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

If you liked this story, I suggest you check out my other stories even if they are mostly just started.

Thank you for everything 3