Chapter 21

25 December 2017, Aging Mobile Home in the Cascades, Someplace Else

"Hey, Buck, do you remember Mrs Rosenstern?"

Barnes shoved another Oreo in his mouth and said, "Yeah, of course."

"I was just thinkin' of her challah bread. It was so good."

As he took a long swig of chocolate milk, Barnes nodded. "Yeah, sure was. Mrs Rosenstern really knew what she was doing in the kitchen. Remember that incredible cinnamon babka she gave us that last year right at Christmas? She was nice like that."

"Oh yeah, and I remember dreaming of it the next year during the war when we were starving. That was the worst Christmas we ever had, Buck."

"Nah, not the worst. The next year was worse even though we were eating like kings."

Rogers sighed and dug his spoon deep into the grocery store pumpkin pie that was in front of him. "Yeah. Yeah. That was wrong what happened to Durazzo. He was a good kid."

Snatching up two more Oreos, Barnes then replied, "He was a nice kid, sure, but he had a mouth so filthy that it even shocked Dugan." He then shoved both Oreos in his mouth and grinned at Rogers.

Rogers shook his head and rolled his eyes. Then he asked, "Honest? Mateo Durazzo?"

Barnes began smiling teasingly as he said, "Yup. But the kid was terrified of the great Captain Rogers—a feeling that I did a lot to encourage in all the soldiers, I might add—so he didn't dare spout off when you were around."

"Good thing that you know the real me, Buck. I'd have given him a run for his money that year when I was 14."

"Ha, yeah, but when your mam found out that you'd suddenly been cursing worse than a veteran longshoreman…"

Rogers fell back against his chair so hard that it rocked in place for a moment. "Jeez, Buck. I ain't never had the belt applied with such brutal force in my life as I did that day. And do you remember how my mother found out? I do. Thanks a lot, pal."

Barnes laughed as he kicked his foot into Rogers' shin under the table. "Whatever you say, Steve. You owed me for the broken table in my mam's dining room. That table was her pride, if you remember. One of the few things her father brought with them from Ireland."

"S***, I'd forgotten all about that. My mother tried to get them to let her pay to get it fixed, but your father wouldn't allow it. How did it get broken? We were playing pirates, I think?"

Barnes began laughing so hard that he had to lean over onto the table. "Yes, and you jumped right on the top to capture me and it collapsed. Old Mrs McElhenny raced upstairs convinced that the second coming had arrived."

Rogers flushed as he remembered his childhood error and muttered, "Poor Mrs McElhenny wasn't quite right, Buck. You shouldn't make fun of her, not even all these years later."

"What you mean to say is that her deck was short six or seven cards. Ya know, if she'd been nice, then I'd be kinder, Steve; however, the woman was a menace. She was always seeing the Blessings of the Saints in everything that happened. I told Mam that it gave new meaning to the term 'Saints Alive'." Barnes stretched, rubbed his lower back, and looked up at the ceiling as he reminisced with a wince, "Jaisus, did I get a belting that time. Think I still got a scar down there."

Rolling his eyes indulgently, Rogers replied drily, "And you try to tell me that I was the bad influence, Buck?"

"I think it was mutual, Steve. You were full of vim and vinegar the day that I met you. I remember you'd jumped on Jakob Winitsky's back, since he took that pencil you'd won in the spelling bee or somethin'. You were half his size and you were shouting words that made Sister Mercedes cover her ears and run."

"It was Sister Peter-Paul, Buck. I remember, 'cause she thought that it was a mortal sin to say 'heck'."

"Uh-huh, because that's what you were sayin': "Oh heck. Gee whiz, Jake, please wouldja gimme back my gol-darned pencil?"

Winking at Barnes, Rogers grinned and demonstrated his opinion of Barnes' comment with one finger. "You're a pest, Buck."

"Maybe so, but you're a nuisance."

"So you like to tell me. And apparently, I'd be dead in a ditch somewhere if it weren't for you. Isn't that right?"

Barnes started laughing again. "You know that it is, Steve. Why do you think Hill had to knock me out to bring me across the border separately from you? She knows that I always watch your back, since you sure aren't gonna. You're like a new-born babe. You trust everyone. Hill is much smarter than I credited her for, honestly."

"You say that because she found a way to bring your weapons across, Buck. Otherwise, you'd be howling for her head."

"I wasn't exactly pleased at the time, Steve. I think that I may have broken that agent's leg, poor guy. It was pretty clever to use a coffin with a false bottom to bring me and my guns underneath some poor dead lady. The Christmas feast here didn't hurt either."

Rogers snorted. "You and your weapons, Buck. It is a grand romance for the ages."

"Hey, I'll have you know that Sveta and Olya here have saved my hide almost as much as my beloved Betty did during the war."

"Sveta and Olya are quite the lethal pair, I grant you that."

Barnes stole the last part of Rogers' pie and, after shovelling in a huge bite, said, "Don't pretend that you didn't name your shield, Steve."

"I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Buck, I really didn't."

Barnes laughed. "You did so. And you know what the guys all called it."

"Yeah. Yeah."

Snickering loudly, Barnes downed the last of his milk and then said, "Merry Christmas, pal." He shoved a badly wrapped lump across the table and then got up. As he carried their dishes into the kitchenette of the motel room, Barnes listened to Rogers opening the package. When he heard the small gasp that Rogers made when he saw what was inside, Barnes turned around.

"How long have you had this?"

"A while."

"Buck…thank you."

Barnes looked away and asked in a tight voice, "Do you remember that day?"

Rogers nodded and sniffed suspiciously before he cleared his throat and said, "Sure, of course. We had just returned from that mission into Greece."

"Yeah. It took two years before I remembered that, Steve. But most of that stuff from then is there now. I got most of those memories back."

Rogers got up and briefly wrapped his arms around his best friend and then stepped back with the drawing clutched to his chest. "That was a great day, Bucky."

"Yeah, it was."

25 December 2017, Ste. 3800 B, Avengers Tower, New York City

Clint moved a cushion behind Eleanor, so she was propped up further on the bed and asked, "Here, baby. Will this be more comfortable for you?"

Eleanor nodded sleepily. "Yes, thank you."

"Did you have a good time?"

"Yes, very. I hope that you did, too. Thank you for letting me go down to Tony's Christmas party, Clint. I needed something cheerful after…after everything."

"Of course, baby. I'm just so grateful that you're feeling better and that the physician says you're ok to move around again now. Tony was so excited when I told him you were feeling up to coming that he changed the whole dessert menu just for you. And then he had that chaise moved down, since I said you would still need to sit. And I'm pretty sure he hadn't planned on having a harpist before either."

Looking up at Clint with surprise, Eleanor replied, "Really? Tony is so nice to me. I still can't believe that he has basically adopted me as family. He was only my guardian for two days."

"Well, Tony's an unusual guy, baby. He can be an incredible narcissist, but then he'll do something so incredibly generous that it takes your breath away. Anyway, he doesn't have any family living and, perhaps even worse, his bonded brother died years ago. He is pretty lonely, I think, and he says he isn't the kind of guy to succeed at a bondmatch. I think he is just really happy that you actually like him. Tony needs to be liked. Anyway, he's really upset that you are going through this, especially after everything that went down a month or two ago."

"You know how much I like Tony, Clint, but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. Natashenka says that I should be very careful so that no one misunderstands our relationship. And I know that some Alphas feel uncomfortable about people outside of the bond knowing about a failed…"

"It wasn't a failure. You did nothing wrong. It wasn't meant to be, Ellie. That's all. There will be plenty of time to try again." Clint kissed her forehead. "Nat is concerned about my jealousy, probably. But I'm not worried, baby. I know that Tony isn't going to try to make a move on you. I trust him with you. I honestly think he sees you as a sort of adopted baby cousin or something."

Eleanor snuggled into the blanket that Clint was tucking around her and said, "It is nice to have a sort of family, actually. Mine seems to have abandoned me completely."

"Not entirely."

Eleanor wrapped both arms around herself and whispered, "I don't want to reconcile with Jonathan. Everything that happened may have been Lilith's plot, but he is responsible for the family. He chose to go along with it."

"I know. I do know, baby. I still think he's a spineless creep, but I might have been wrong about him on some level. I don't think he actually knew the truth of what Lilith did before. He did abandon you and he did treat you badly. Yet, I think his remorse is genuine. He sent your mother's emerald necklace to you as a peace offering when he could have sold it for at least six figures. I think he finally realised how badly he f***ed up."

She looked up at him and asked earnestly, "Do you want me to rebuild my relationship with Jonathan, Clint? I will do so, if it is important to you."

"No, Ellie, I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to do. This is your family, so it is your choice. I just want you to have all the information before you make your choice."

"OK. Well…I'd really rather not then, if that is ok. Maybe one day, but not now. Please?"

Clint pulled her down onto his chest and wrapped both arms around her. "Baby, this one really is up to you."

"Thank you. I just want to be sure. I know that you have been trying very hard to help me this last week while I heal. It has been really wonderful and I'm very grateful."

He caught his breath and then kissed her forehead before he replied, "Ellie, baby, what else would I be doing if not helping my match? You are everything to me. I want just you to be happy. That's what I want most. You were finally starting to get your body stable again when this happened. Your health has been improving greatly these last three days though. I think we can trust the new doct..I mean physician. He seems to have the right idea."

Eleanor sighed with relief. "Yes, I like Dr Lafoudis. He is nice and he has been very kind about everything that happened before, as well. He keeps saying that it isn't my fault that I had such a difficult time when my medications were changed. Or now with this."

"That is because it is true, Ellie." Clint stroked her hair back from her face and kissed her cheeks and the tip of her nose.

"I suppose. I am just relieved that Dr Lafoudis believes we won't have much trouble trying again. I hope he gives us approval to go ahead soon. Yet, everything that happened before still seems very surreal to me, Clint. I don't understand why someone would get my physician to make me develop agonia. It is like the plot to a gothic novel."

Clint frowned and stared up at the ceiling. "Yeah, it seemed pretty unbelievable to me, too. However, Tony's investigators even have an email trail with the physician explicitly explaining to the mayor's assistant how the medication change would cause serious psychological symptoms to develop and how an enforced isolation would exacerbate the problem."

"But why? I didn't even know the mayor. His son didn't know me. Why do they care so much that I was matched to you? Alphas have their claims refused by Omegas every day and they don't enact revenge plots like this."

Clint's replied heatedly, "No, they don't. What was done to you is both petty and stupid. I'm sure the mayor is wishing that he'd made a different choice right about now. He is lucky that we do not want publicity."

Eleanor rolled over onto her own pillow and very quietly said, "I wish that I had never made that mistake though. I wish it every day because it really did ruin things. None of this would have happened if I hadn't relapsed into autolavoma. I know that I disappointed you, Clint. And I know that you have not been happy since we bondmatched."

After rapidly sitting up, Clint exclaimed desperately, "No, baby, that is not true. I am happy whenever I am with you like this. I want nothing in the world more than I do you, Ellie. Our bondmatch is as far from ruined as it can get. I love you so much."

Eleanor sniffled miserably and said, "I am so lucky to have been bondmatched to you. I don't deserve for you to be so kind."

"Honestly, baby, I'm the one who f***ed up. It was me, not you."

As Clint reached out and put his hand uneasily on her cheek, Eleanor began shivering and closed her eyes, which caused him to drop his hand. He sat back on his heels with a gasp and watched her for a moment silently. Finally, Eleanor opened her eyes and peered up at him anxiously. "I'm sorry, please don't be upset, Clint."

"No, Ellie. I know you wanna appease me and all that s***, but not this time. We gotta talk about this cr**, ok? I didn't realise it until your analyst pointed it out, but I was pretty bitter about our relationship before. It was not your fault, Ellie, but I was having a h*llish time dealing with the unequal nature of our feelings."

Eleanor tried to reach out and catch his hand, but Clint did not notice, as he turned to get off the bed at the same moment. He stalked away and banged his head hard against the enormous window, then stared out through the sheer curtains onto the city below. After a while of glaring out at the skyline, he finally said, "It took a while for me to come to grips with that—and it still isn't easy, but I'm doing better. But I took too long to get control of myself, so I pulled away from you then and let that physician take the wheel. That was wrong, Ellie, I know it was. I'm sorry."

"Please, you don't need to apologise to me, Clint."

"Yeah, I think we both know that I do. I am also terrified of losing you—because you will eventually get tired of me making demands of you or because you might harm yourself. So, it was easier to let him make these decisions for your well-being, then to risk getting down on my knees at your side and begging you for what I need for mine."

Eleanor watched him anxiously, as she tearfully replied, "You never need to beg for anything, Clint. Just ask me. I will do what you want."

Without turning around to look at her, Clint shook his head and insisted, "No, it isn't that easy, Ellie, and you know it. We are different. You've got different needs than I do. I'm not mad about it. I can handle whatever is necessary to take care of you, baby."

She moved to the edge of the bed and then stood up. As she gripped the bedpost for support, Eleanor quietly responded, "You have said that several times before. Do you mean the differences between Alphas and Omegas or do you really mean something else? I need to know, Clint. It is just that…I think that you see things dissimilar to how they really are."

Clint crossed the floor so he was beside her, then stood awkwardly with his hands hovering at his hips. He seemed undecided about whether touch her or to shove his hands deep into his pockets. Finally, he simply ran his hands roughly through his hair, making the blond tufts stick up even more wayward than normal. "Obviously, we got some different needs based on our designations. That's part of the definition, right? But no, that's not what I was referring to. I meant that I need you just to even function properly each day. You need my protection to feel safe. There is a wide gulf between those two things, baby. Please, don't look so miserable, Ellie; I don't blame you. I'm not angry. It is just how things are, ok?"

"But I don't think you understand, Clint."

He sighed and finally allowed himself to caress her cheek lovingly. Then, Clint stepped over to the tissue box and snatched a fistful. As he gently wiped her face, he carefully studied her face. It was dark enough that Eleanor—as an Omega, so many of her senses were weaker than even a Beta—would only be able to see the room in greyscale or just vague outlines of all his old tattoos. Yet, Clint's Alpha-enhanced senses allowed him to see every micro expression that passed over her face. He knew that she was anxious and that she was too easily intimidated by his physical strength, but, when Clint saw a flicker of fear in her eyes, he crossed his too-beefy arms behind his head and groaned with frustration almost too great to bear.

"Baby, I swear that I'm not angry or disappointed in you! You don't need to be so worried, ok? This is just how things are. Unequal love is as old as the emotion itself, so I'm in good company, right? It is ok. I'm honestly grateful for every day I get with you. You're worth it, Ellie."

"But…"

He frowned grimly and said curtly, "Let me finish, Eleanor. You need to hear this."

"I'm sorry. I am listening."

As he guided her to sit back down on the edge of the bed, Clint explained, "I just want you to understand. I'll work even harder to make your life good and beautiful—just like I promised the day we bondmatched. We will try again for a child and it will happen. We know we will be good together."

"I believe you."

"Good. Good, because you need to know that I'm not gonna just give up. I just can't deny that it is hard. I am trying to balance both what I ask of you and what I need to be ok emotionally. I can get it right in time though, I swear it."

Although she had stopped crying, Eleanor's eyes were still teary as she replied sadly, "Oh, Clint, I don't think that our bondmatch is at all what you think it is. Truly, for me the bond is as deep as it can be."

Clint crossed his arms across his chest and said gruffly, "I know, baby, I wasn't questioning your bond. Before our bondmatch, I always thought that the bonding ceremony sounded like a bunch of magic and bunk. It didn't seem possible that people could somehow have their minds and hearts joined together by a cloud of random hormones. Or that there would suddenly be some tangible yet metaphysical connexion, or something. But we did truly create exactly that kind of bond, for which I am deeply grateful every day. There really was a difference after the ceremony; I could feel that."

"Oh yes. Me, too."

"And I am glad that Nat and you really did bond like sisters. She and I had over a year of trust and friendship before we made a sibling bond, so I never expected you and she could make a similar type of connexion so quickly just because she and I had done so previously. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I can see it is real."

Eleanor breathed out forcefully and replied, "I don't know either, Clint, but I suppose that some primal things are engrained to a very deep degree. You are right about the sibling bond, too. I know that I am very lucky to have Natashenka as a sister. I love her so much."

Clint winced and straightened back up sharply. He stood there awkwardly for a while with his clenched fists hidden behind his back, before he said finally, "I'm so glad that you love her, baby. That is critical for Natasha and, therefore, for me, too." Then, he sat down on the end of the bed, several feet away from her. "I really wish that I understood how to help you feel better, Ellie. I admit that I'm pretty useless at knowing that stuff. I swear that I've tried to read and understand your signals. I'm trying to put into action the things that the analyst has suggested. So far, though, I'm just really cr** at it. You're going to have start giving me clues or something, I guess. I know that I'm supposed to do better as your Alpha, but right now I don't think that I understand what the f*** I need to change in order to fix it."

Eleanor took a deep breath, folded her hands in her lap, and dropped her head as she had been taught. "May I speak?"

Clint grunted unhappily, "Yeah, baby, I've told you before that I don't need you to do that cr**. I know you respect me. You don't gotta prove it to me. You can always talk to me, Ellie. I want to know what you think."

"Ok. Thank you." Eleanor lifted her eyes to his face and gazed through the half-light at him very seriously. "It is not your fault that we are struggling to understand each other, Clint. We came into our bondmatch without a good knowledge of each other's expectations. That is fixable though. Later, I think that it might be important for you to understand what I was taught at school. But also, it would be so helpful for me to know what you used to hope for in an Omega match before you met me. That would help with our misunderstandings, don't you think?"

Clint's shoulders jerked sharply in an approximation of a shrug and he said flatly, "Yeah, I'm sure it would. We can do that, Ellie."

Eleanor picked at the sleeve of her nightdress, as she replied, "Thank you, Clint. I really think that we should talk about those things soon. Yet, if you don't think it is wrong of me to ask, I would prefer if that conversation was just you and me though. Natalia already knows what I was taught-I mean regarding traditional male Alpha expectations—and even a lot of your thoughts. Therefore, she could probably mediate, yet I think it would be better for us if we just talk to each other directly. Would you mind that?"

Surprised, Clint replied, "No, I can see why you're asking that. We can do that."

"I don't mean to exclude Natashenka, of course. I wouldn't ever want that." Eleanor lifted her eyes to Clint's face briefly before dropping them again to her lap. "I am just thinking, Clint, that I would like to talk directly to you about some of this, since some of it is very private."

Uncertain just what she was trying not to overtly say, Clint agreed with an uneasy nod. "Ok. Yeah, that's fine, Ellie. I said that we can do that."

"Thank you. I…I want to talk to you about something else, but it is harder. You asked me not to discuss emotions, if you remember."

Clint sharply sat back, causing him to have to stabilise himself on the post of the bed with one hand. "No, no I did not."

"Yes, Clint, I promise, you did. You clearly said that you didn't expect me to talk to you about how I feel, so that it was best if I didn't say anything. And I thought that I understood what you were saying at first, since that is very much in line with ultra-traditional guardian-class Omega teaching. Very old-fashioned families like mine still teach their Omega daughters to demonstrate our true feelings through our actions so as not to annoy their Alphas."

Eleanor began weaving her fingers together, twisting them anxiously as she continued explaining, "Yet, it didn't take me very long to understand that you didn't mean this in any traditional sense at all. Therefore, I have been very confused what you want, since I feel like you are unhappy based on the assumptions that you have made regarding my feelings. Yet, I am not supposed to correct any mistaken assumptions."

Lurching forwards slightly, Clint thrust his hand out to grip her tightly wound hands, which caused her to look up at him anxiously. He watched her through the heavy shadows that fell across the bed from the window and said succinctly, "Baby, I cannot imagine why or when I would ever have told you that. That doesn't make any sense at all, Ellie. Are you telling me that the reason why you have never…oh, oh s***, on our bondmatching night. Yeah, I did say that."

He could sense her relief, as Eleanor whispered, "Yes."

"Holy s***, I'm an idiot. That wasn't what I actually meant then, but I didn't explain that to you, did I? Baby, of course, I need to know what you think and how you feel. I don't know who the f*** came up with all these traditional rules anyway. Why wouldn't a man want to know how his match felt?"

Turning a sob into a rather unconvincing ragged breath, Eleanor replied shakily, "I don't know, honestly. I think that it comes from when the majority of bondmatches were arranged without the Omega's approval. We didn't always have self-determination like Alphas have, remember. So, we Omegas were never supposed to show anything but satisfaction with the match."

"Well, that is utter s***."

Eleanor suddenly smiled despite herself, but immediately wrenched her expression into something more neutral. Clint watched as she peered down at her hands, which were now fiddling with the edge of her shawl uneasily, and forced herself with obvious effort into her usual, placid demeanour. "I like you Clint. So, so much. I think that you are so much more than just one special talent that I cannot imagine how anyone could think that even though you say people do and you describe yourself that way it all the time. You are not a…a screw-up. Please, I don't like when you talk about yourself that way."

"Thank you, Ellie, but I say it because it's kind of the truth. I honestly am a disaster in most areas of life. I just got a few areas where I have extraordinary skill, which is basically what keeps me from being a complete failure. I've tried to change, especially since I met you, but I'm still mostly just a f***-up."

"No, that isn't true! You are extraordinarily skilled and clever. You care so deeply about other people and you go out of your way to help others even if they aren't kind to you. You are thoughtful and kind."

Clint stared across at her with such surprise that he did not realise for a whole that she was expecting him to reply. Then, he stammered, "I'm glad you think so."

Eleanor lifted her head from the traditional Omega position of respect and blinked nervously at him, whilst she began to stammer, "I…I don't know what they would have taught you as a male Alpha in school or w-whatever, but…but who you are is exactly what I want, Clint. I don't…I wouldn't want you to change at all. I wouldn't be happy if you changed yourself to try to please me because…because I adore you like you are now." Her voice lowered into a tiny whisper, "You're perfect already."

Swiftly taking her hands in his, Clint pulled her closer to him, as he said roughly, "Ellie."

"I don't know how I couldn't love you the way you are."

More than overwhelmed, Clint felt as if he was nearly ready to lose his mind. He struggled mightily to force himself to find the words to say what he wanted. "Ellie, I…" Giving up, he simply dropped his face into her neck and held her so tightly that he was sure that she could feel him shaking. "Thank you, baby, I love you so much."

25 December 2017, Barton Family Farm, Someplace Else

"Daddy! Daddy look!"

Barton lifted his head from his wife's shoulder and grinned at his daughter. "Yeah, pumpkin?"

"Look what Nana sent me! Now I have my own Switch, so Cooper can't hog all the games anymore."

Cooper made a face at his sister and said, "Those games are mine, Lila. I don't hafta share them if you're not being nice."

Laura pulled away from her husband's arms and sat up straight as she exclaimed firmly, "Excuse me?"

Cooper immediately muttered, "Sorry."

"Do we all share in this house, Cooper Francis?"

"Yes, ma'am. But I got most of those games for my birthday or with my own money, Mom."

"I don't care. You will share with your sister just like she's going to share with you. If I find out that either of you are having trouble remembering that, then you will forfeit your device for a month."

Apparently hoping for backup, Cooper looked over at Barton, who quickly said, "Sorry, Cooper, but your mother's right. Share or lose the right to beat me at MarioKart for a month. That's the deal, buddy."

"Yes, sir."

Barton gestured to the pile of gifts on the floor beside the tree and asked, "Don't you have even one interesting thing in that sizeable haul you received, Coop?"

Cooper smirked and replied, "Yeah, I guess."

Barton laughed as he patted his chest and drawled, "Look at that, Laura. The very picture of gratitude. My son. I feel so proud."

"Jeez, Dad. I was kidding. You know I love it."

"Oh, do you? Really?"

Cooper rolled his eyes and said, "Dad!"

"Well, I wanted to be sure. I wasn't sure if you'd checked out the deck yet."

"Huh?"

Leaning into Laura's embrace, Barton gestured with his head and explained, "Flip it over, bud."

Cooper's eyes widened. "Woah! How did you get my board autographed by him?"

Barton leant back and closed his eyes as he explained sarcastically, "Well, you see, buddy, once upon a time, I used to be a member of this pretty sweet team called the Avengers. I doubt you've heard of it, but some of us older dudes still remember the olden days of 2016. It was so fun running around and shooting arrows at aliens. Cool, cool stuff. Anyways, turns out that even though the band broke up, I still have fans. I know, I know, crazy, right? Fortunately, Jonny Wright isn't just a fan, but he also owns the company that made your board. So, I happened to mention when emailing him that I have a son who skates. Custom skateboard for Christmas? Done."

"You actually know him?"

Barton snorted with amusement and looked down at Laura who nudged him with her elbow. He shrugged. "Yep."

"I've gotta call and tell Justin! Can I, Mom?"

Laura sleepily replied, "Not until you've collected all the wrapping paper and carried the gifts upstairs to your room."

"Ok, but then?"

"Sure."

Lila hopefully asked, "And may I play a game on my Switch, Mom?"

"Same answer. Help clear up the living room and take your gifts upstairs. I don't want to see a scrap of paper or anything that belongs to either of you in this room."

Both children replied, "Yes, ma'am."

"Little guy is out cold, isn't he?"

"Well, waking up at 4 AM is a bit early, even for Nate."

"I'm serious, babe, how did we have a child who prefers to wake up at 6 and doesn't even have to be told to go to bed?"

Laura sighed. "I have no clue. He is not like his father there, is he?"

"H*ll no. The best days never start before 8 AM."

"Oh yeah? And was this a good day?"

Barton's lazy smile turned brighter as he looked down at her. "The best, Laura. The very best."