At this point I'm pretty much up for an improvised advent calendar. Shall we see how many days I can keep it up for...?
Don't own Marvel. Pretty sure Disney owns Marvel.
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"Nope." Claire was buried halfway into the Mark 100-something Ironman suit, and Pepper and Natasha's attempts to bring her to the park with them and Natalia were met with complete dismissal.
"It will be nice," Pepper attempted to encourage her gently.
The engineer scoffed softly. "Last time I was meant to take a simple walk into the park with Maria and, originally, you both, I ended up kidnapped and spending a solid week on the couch, in shock. I'm staying here!" Her tone was half playful, half serious.
Natasha laughed, picking up on the humor, but not unkind to the side of her daughter's godmother needing actual reassurance. "You do realise I am coming this time? I think I can guarantee safety against kidnappings."
Claire frowned, apparently thinking about it. "Maybe tomorrow," she finally concluded.
"We could go with you if you like," Claire looked up from where she was double-checking accounts, sitting by the kitchen table, to see Bucky and Steve in the doorway, both looking concerned.
"Pepper told us you didn't want to go outside. We had no idea. We could come with you," Bucky offered, coming to join her at the table. "We thought you just wanted to be in the lab..."
Claire smiled at them. "Thanks, but it's not that bad. And I did want to be in the lab, that's why I was. It's just the whole 'park' thing, you know? I think I need to just... do it. I mean I went on a second date with Wayne - not that he didn't have security and everything, and Bruce came with us - and I went with you and Tony to the car auction and I felt fine, but the park... maybe I'm not ready? I thought I was." Claire sighed and put her pen down. "Maybe I was just wrong."
"How about we all go, this first time? You'll be safe and you can rip off that band-aid," Steve suggested softly.
"You can take one of the summoners for the suits, too, if you like," Tony suggested from the door, looking equally as worried, "we've made several that'll fit you!"
"Thanks, guys," Claire responded softly, taking their care for what it was. And she was grateful.
It was another beautiful day, absolutely perfect for taking a walk. Still, it caused somewhat of a stir when suddenly the entire Avengers team appeared in Central Park along with Pepper Potts, her baby, and Tony Stark's apparent surrogate daughter or whatever she was.
The group was talking animatedly amongst themselves, grouped around Miss Potts, Miss Thomas and the pram which held baby Stark. There was something in how they stayed in a close group, along with the stiff shoulders of Hawkeye, Captain America and the former Winter Soldier, which made people leave the group alone, forsaking asking for pictures or autographs.
It was not a long walk, not that anybody could see, they all got hot drinks at a stand and then turned back, though more attentive watchers could see how the younger woman flinched slightly walking past a certain building, right by the road, as they walked back towards Stark Tower.
They couldn't know that it was the exact spot where Claire and Bruce got kidnapped, last time, but they'd done it - they'd walked past. Claire visibly relaxed as they'd gotten it over with.
Pepper sat on one of the swings, her baby daughter in hand, carefully gaining just a little speed. "Is she smiling?" she questioned the women standing near her, who could see the baby's face. Natasha, leaning against a post and watching their baby almost reverently, merely nodded.
"She is. I'm sure she likes it," Claire confirmed, smiling back at the smiling baby. "We should do this more often."
"Definitely," Pepper agreed as the engineer took the swing next to her, leisurely building a little more speed as she had both her arms free. "We need to take the time. She will grow up lonely if we don't teach her how to play. It'll be harder for her to find playmates when she's older, since her parents are in the public eye. She should have siblings ideally, I think, but..." Pepper sighed, cradling her daughter close.
Natasha looked thoughtful, but didn't speak. Claire settled for comfort, and for promises to help out. She had already proven that she could be relied on, but neither one of them had any idea what the future would look like. If they could have looked ahead, they would have been surprised, but maybe not so worried anymore.
