Peggy's Favorite Teacup
Life was a little tense these days. The Martinelli-Carters had recently moved from their beloved faded red brick brownstone in Brooklyn to a colonial style house in a Maryland suburb that would allow Peggy to commute by car to D.C. and Angie to Manhattan by train. They still owned the brownstone, Peggy and Angie had decided to keep it and rent it out, knowing that someday they wanted to return to New York. They were still settling into their new colonial home with it's warm gray siding, actual front porch, and bright red door. How Angie had managed to get a door the same shade of red as Peggy's favorite lipstick and hat, Peggy had no clue, but it had been a nice surprise when they pulled into the driveway for the first time after leaving New York with a very sullen Natasha. The little redhead was not happy one bit about the move, and was starting to try her mothers' patience.
Between settling the house, tending to her family, and SHIELD, Peggy was spread pretty thin. She was stressed, and a but short tempered, and just generally not in the best of moods lately. She did her best not to bring her fowl moods home, choosing to take things out on the young agents in her still under construction Triskelion, but she couldn't help but carry some of that stress and tension with her at all times these days.
Natasha was in the midst of a growth spurt, much to her relief, she was always the smallest kid in her peer groups and it was starting to really bother her. She was always hungry, was napping a lot, and most of her clothes were or were getting too small. Which is why she was currently walking beside her mother as they crossed the parking lot towards the entrance of their local mall. Shopping in New York was different than shopping in a Maryland/DC suburban mall, and Natasha found it both strange and overwhelming but also kind of cool and exciting. Stepping into the building her blue-green eyes darted around taking it all in while trying to keep up with her mother's purposeful pace. They were there to get Natasha some new clothes and shoes, which Natasha wasn't all together thrilled about because she didn't really care about clothes yet. So what if most of her jeans were starting to creep up her ankles, they were still wearable as far as she was concerned. And who cared if her red Converse were tattered and dirty, and that her toes were a little cramped, she loved her Converse! But her Mum had announced at breakfast that after they dropped her Mama off at the train station so she could go into NYC for an audition, they would be heading to the mall to pick up new clothes.
"Mum," Natasha said as they passed a pet store. "Can we go to the pet shop?" She smiled a bit as she patted her Minnie Mouse crossbody bag that held her Little Mermaid wallet, which contained several weeks of saved up allowance. "I want to get Rosie a new toy."
"Maybe after we're finished, Nattie." Peggy replied as she made a beeline towards the first store on her mental itinerary.
Natasha pouted and pointed to the pet shop they were quickly passing by. "But, Mum, it's right there."
"If we have time after we're finished, Natasha." Peggy said gently put firmly. "Come along now, love. I have a conference call I need to be home for later." Peggy looks at her daughter and gives her a tired but warm smile as she looks the girl up and down. "Trousers and shirts first and then we'll see what we can do about those ratty old trainers."
Natasha sighed and once again did her best to keep up with her mum. "I like my shoes." Natasha grumbles once her mother isn't paying such close attention to her.
The first couple of stores aren't too bad, and Peggy lets her get the same red Chucks only in a bigger size, but Natasha starts to get antsy when they reach the department store after taking their bags to the car and grabbing a snack at the pretzel place. Natasha knows time is growing short and they'll have to head home soon so her mother can make her phone meeting, and the last thing the girl wanted to do was spend what time they had left looking at dresses, skirts, and blouses. Natasha chewed her lip as she watched her mum shift through a rack of fall sweaters, a tiny bubble of resentment started to form in her chest. Ever since her mothers told her that they were moving Natasha had felt like she didn't have a say in anything going on in her life. It felt like she was on one of those fast spinny rides at the carnival and no one was letting her get off. She had to give up her room, in her house, and all of her friends. They leave the busy bustling city for a quiet suburb where the houses are too far apart and there's no noise, no traffic, or rush of people, nothing that Natasha is used too. Natasha felt like she was being dragged around without anyone hearing her unspoken protests of stop for a minute I'm feeling overwhelmed, and she was sick of it.
Before she could think about what she was doing Natasha was heading back out into the mall on her own while Peggy continued to peruse through the racks. The pet store wasn't too far from the store they were in, she'd just pop over and get Rosie's new toy on her own before they had to leave. As Natasha headed in what she thought was the direction of the pet store, she let go of that little bubble of resentment she'd been feeling as her little chest swelled with a bit of bravery and pride, but then she started thinking. The move and all the changes lately hadn't been easy on her mothers either, and her mum in particular seemed more stressed and tense than usual. Another reason to hate it here, her Mum seemed almost unhappy these days. Natasha sighed, she wished they could go back to Brooklyn and be happy again.
As she passed by a small shop Natasha stopped at a warm and familiar scent that wafted from within as someone opened the door and walked out. It smelled like the small cabinet in the kitchen where her Mum kept all of her teas. Natasha looked over at the shop where the familiar smell came from and noticed something in the small display window. It was a pretty white teacup with purple flowers on it, sitting on a matching saucer. The little redhead smiled to herself as she looked at it. Sometimes when her Mama was sad or seemed to be unhappy her Mum would buy her something pretty to cheer her up, and Natasha wondered if that would work on her Mum too. Stepping into the shop, that turned out to be a whole store for tea and tea related things, Natasha walked up to the counter. "Excuse me, I'd like to buy the pretty teacup in the window please. It's for my Mum."
Mere moments after Natasha walked off Peggy plucks a lovely pale green sweater from the rack with a warm smile and holds it out in the direction of where she expected her daughter to be. "What do you think, poppet? It's going to be chilly when we go to London, you'll need a few new warm jumpers." But Natasha wasn't there. Peggy's dark eyes darted around as she turned to look out over the rest of the area. "Natasha?" A small flicker of panic began to ignite in Peggy's chest as she began searching for her little girl in the racks. "Natasha Elizabeth, this isn't funny young lady. Where are you?"
The flicker of panic began to grow into a blazing fire with each second Peggy spent looking for her child. It wasn't like Natasha to wander off, she knew better than that, so of course Peggy's worry led right into her worst fears. Had someone, one of her enemies, an enemy of SHIELD, taken her little girl? Natasha wasn't anywhere in the department store. Peggy did her best to reign in her darker thoughts as she stepped out into the mall. Her brown eyes stung with panic fueled tears as her gaze darted around looking for any sign of her daughter, a wisp of red hair, a flash of the bright blue shirt she was wearing, anything. "Natasha?" Taking a deep breath Peggy gathered up all of the overpowering emotions clouding her thoughts and calmed herself enough to think. "The pet store."
Stepping out of the tea shop Natasha smiled with pride as she patted her bag where the boxed and wrapped teacup was not snuggled safely beside her far more empty wallet. Pretty china tea cups with matching saucers cost a bit more than a new dog toy, but that was ok because Natasha just knew it was going to make her Mum smile. The nice lady had even helped her pick out a yummy loose left tea that she put in a cute little pouch and tucked into the cup before she wrapped it up. Natasha couldn't wait to give her mummy her new present but as Natasha began heading back towards the department store she'd left Peggy in she realized she wasn't sure how to get back. An uncomfortable knot began forming in her stomach, and her little chest felt tight as her panic grew. Fear set in quickly as Natasha's blue-green eyes darted around as she tried to find her bearings, but she hadn't been paying attention as she walked and she didn't know the mall, and now the tears were starting to well.
Natasha wasn't in the pet store and no one who worked there had seen her so Peggy began searching the area between the pet store and the department store. Her well trained and experienced gaze took in every face, every figure, every nook and cranny until they landed on a red ponytail whipping back and forth as a small head turned this way and that as if looking around wildly. Rushing towards that flash of red hair Peggy called out, "Natasha?"
Natasha whipped around at the sound of her mummy's voice, her blue-green gaze searching her out until it lands on Peggy as she rushes towards her. "Mummy."
Peggy's fear gives way to relief as she reaches Natasha and pulls the girl into a crushing hug. "Oh thank god." She breathes as she holds her daughter tightly and drops a kiss on the crown of Natasha's head. Peggy takes a deep breath, pulling in Natasha's scent to calm her own nerves. She can feel Natasha trembling, and can hear the soft sniff muffled by having her face pressed into Peggy's chest. Pulling back before she can accidentally suffocate her wayward child Peggy grips Natasha's upper arms and looks her over. "Are you alright, darling?"
"Y-yes." Natasha replies softly as the knot in her stomach unwinds a bit. Her voice quivers, her cheeks are tear streaked, but having her mother hug her so tightly had chased away the trembling. "I just didn't know how to get back to the store you were at."
Peggy relaxed a little more knowing Natasha was alright just a little frightened. She pulled her girl close again and held her a moment longer, needing to feel her safe and sound in her arms. "You gave me such a fright, Natasha!" Now that she had Natasha safe in her arms Peggy let the anger come, and it came on strong. Releasing Natasha from the hug Peggy took half a step back so she could look down at her daughter with a stern, angry expression. "Natasha Elizabeth Luisa Martinelli Carter!"
Natasha blinked at the use of her full name. Her Mum used a word sometimes, bullocks, that she wasn't allowed to us yet so she'd come up with, Oh biscuits, as a substitute. Watching the shift between fear, relief, and anger playing out on her mother's face and hearing her full name used as those same emotions laced her mother's voice, oh biscuits really didn't seem strong enough to really define the releazion of just how much trouble she was in.
"You know better than to wander off like that!" Peggy scolded, not caring one bit if people were glancing over at them as she towered over her errant child. Honestly the girl was lucky that she didn't take her right over to the bench behind them and pull Natasha over her lap right here and right now. "What the bloody hell were you thinking, young lady?" Natasha actually went to answer her and Peggy shook her head. "No, you know what, we're not doing this here. We're going home Natasha Elizabeth Lusia, where you and I can have a proper talk about this totally unacceptable behavior."
Fuck. Fuck was a word she'd heard both of her mothers, Uncle Howard, Uncle Dum Dum, and even Tony use before, and it seemed like the much better choice for the situration. As her mother grabbed her hand and began pracitcally dragging her out to the car, Natasha decided that yes, fuck seemed like the perfect word right now.
The drive home gave Peggy time to get a better grip on herself, not enough to deal with things as soon as they walked into the house, but enough that when they did walk through the door she managed to send Natasha to her room without raising her voice. She kept her tone stern but not harsh as she said, "Go to your room Natasha Elizabeth. I'll be up shortly to handle the matter, and then you and I need to talk."
Handle the matter, Natasha sighed as she trudged up the stairs to her room. She was totally getting more than just grounded for this. Which, yeah, sure, ok, looking back on what happened wandering the mall alone without telling her mother she was leaving could have been dangerous, but it wasn't like she was a baby or a small child. Though she had managed to get herself lost in the process of trying to feel like she had some control over something in her life for a moment. Was that what ironic meant? In trying to feel a bit in control, she ended up losing more control, and now she was doomed. Was there a word stronger than fuck for these kinds of siturations? She'd have to ask Tony.
Peggy watched Natasha trudge up the stairs like a condemned man shuffling off to his fate. Well, at least the girl had enough sense to know how much trouble she was in, even if she didn't seem to have enough sense not to get into it in the first place. With a heavy sigh Peggy made her way to the kitchen where she filled up her kettle and set it to boil. While she waited she retrieved the cordless phone from it's charger on the wall and dialed her wife's mobile number. She needed to talk this out with Angie. She also needed the reassurance and soothing that came from hearing her wife's voice before she could move on.
"Hello?" Angie's voice came over the line.
"Hello darling." Peggy sighed into the phone.
"Hey English!" Angie said cheerfully and then laughed. "Having a phone in my purse is still such a trip. Such a long way from sharing a pay phone at the Griffith. Anyway, hon, what's up? How was shopping? I'm sorry I missed out. Did you remember she needed new dress shoes too?"
Reaching for a box of herbal tea from the small corner cabinet decided to just her tea collection, Peggy let Angie's voice wash over her. Then she sighed heavily and said, "Natasha wandered off from me and it took nearly fifteen mintues for me to find her."
"What?" Angie's voice instantly shifted from cheerful to concerned. She listened to Peggy retell the events that unfolded at the mall and then she asked, "Is she ok? Are you ok?"
"We're both rather shaken." Peggy admits. "But she's fine, unharmed, safe, upstairs in her room."
"Good." Angie replies as she shakes her head. "What the hell was she thinking? She knows better than that. Do you need me to come home early? I will. I'll come home and be the heavy this time."
"No, love, I can handle it." Peggy replies, grateful for the offer though. As she pours the hot water over the tea bag in her cup, and watches the dark color of the tea swirl into and over take the transcendence of the water, Peggy sighs. "Maybe we misjudged just how hard this move has been on her. It's the only thing that I can come up with for her to pull a stunt like this."
"Yeah, could be, probably is." Angie agreed. "But that's no excuse, she knows she can talk to us. Geesh Peggy, knowin' you, you went to all the worst places in your head, you must have been freakin' out. I'm comin' home. I'll grab the next train and take a taxi back so you don't have to come get me."
"Darling you don't have to miss your audition for…" Peggy began.
"Shut up, English, you're talkin' too much." Angie cut her off. "Finish your tea, babe. Then when you got yourself all pulled together go upstairs and do what you gotta do. I'll be home as soon as I can get there. And Peg, you're a wonderful mother, remember that, and I love you."
"I love you too, darling." Peggy replies, feeling much better than she had five minutes ago. After hanging up Peggy set the phone down on the table where she sat with her tea. While she and Angie had grown into admirable adults, they didn't necessarily want to parent their own child in the same manner they'd been raised in. She and Angie had grown up in a different time, with different ways of thinking about things. Natasha was the kind of child where a stern verbal chastisement and disapproving tone from them could make her bottom lip quiver and her eyes well with tears. But something like this, when she'd put herself in what could have been a potentially dangerous situation, this is just the circumstance they saved this course of action for. Peggy hated it, but she knew it had to be done. So she finished her tea, took a deep breath, and then headed upstairs to discipline her daughter.
Nearly thirty minutes later Peggy was back in the kitchen once again making tea, two small mugs of peppermint tea, one sweeter than the other. The sweeter one she gently blew on as she carried the mugs out to the living room. When she walked into the room she watched Natasha trying to awkwardly sit on the sofa without actually sitting on her bottom and it pinched at her heart. "Here you go poppet," Peggy said gently as she held out the sweeter of the two teas. When Natasha took the mug and brought it to her lips she added, "Sip it, love, it's hot tea not that fake orange juice rubbish you like so much."
Natasha rolled her puffy red from crying eyes. "I'm not a baby, Mummy. I know how to drink tea."
"Well," Peggy huffed playfully as she sat beside Natasha on the sofa and gently pulled the girl close after setting her own tea on the side table. "We have raised you far to American for my taste and I just wanted to make sure."
She'd been punished and forgiven, and the stone of guilt she'd had in her stomach over scaring her mother so badly was gone, but Natasha was feeling a bit clingy now so she eagerly snuggled into her mother's side. She sipped at her tea and waited, because now that the punishment part was over, the actual talking part was coming, and she knew that her mother was just waiting until Natasha had fully calmed down from her punishment.
"Nattie," Peggy had waited a few more moments, combing her fingers through Natasha's hair and watching her sip her tea. "Darling, we've talked about there being untrustworthy and dangerous people in the world, and how children can be hurt or come up missing sometimes. So why would you wander off like that? I know it wasn't just impatience over getting Rosie a toy."
Natasha sighed, and for a few seconds just looked into her cup. When she felt a gentle nudge from her mother she looked up, shrugged, and said, "I just decided to do it."
Peggy tilted her head a bit as she looked into her baby girl's eyes. She hadn't been sure how Natasha would respond, this whole event had her baffled, but that wasn't even close to a maybe as far as responses go. "You just decided to do it?"
"Mmhmm." Natasha nodded. "It was my choice."
It took a minute to think through but then the penny dropped. Oh, Peggy thought. Oh! There it was. "Mama and I have been making a lot of decisions that have created a lot of change in our lives lately haven't we?" Natasha nodded. "And you've had no choice but to go along with it all."
"Yeah." Natasha sighed and shrugged as if it weren't a big deal even though it was.
"Nattie, you know Mama and I wouldn't put us all through so much change if it wasn't good for us all right?" Peggy asked as she titled Natasha's head up by placing a gentle finger under her chin.
"I guess so." Natasha replied with another shrug.
Now Peggy was the one feeling a tight knot forming in her stomach. It was clear that Natasha was holding something back, something her girl was worried would hurt her feelings perhaps? Peggy needed to know so she pushed gently. "You guess so?"
Natasha sighed, "It's just that I thought… Nevermind."
"No." Peggy said gently but firmly, as she reached for Natasha's chin when the girl ducked her head to avoid looking at her. "You thought what, sweetheart? Tell me. You can tell me."
Natasha sighed again. She struggled with saying the words and giving voice to her thoughts. She didn't want to hurt her Mummy's feelings, but she could only hold out for so long when Peggy looked at her like that, all understanding and supportive and gently demanding. "I thought you were doing it for you, cause you're work is here now, but Mama's is in New York, and my friends and my school and all my stuff was in New York too."
Somehow Peggy managed not to audabily whimper. Natasha was giving voice to things Peggy had worried about herself. Was she being selfish by asking Angie to pack up their family, their lives, and moving it here just so she could be closer to work? Was she putting SHIELD before her family by doing this? Angie had been reassuring and supportive, and even excited about getting the big house with the big fenced in yard. Her only demand had been that they move some place where she could still somewhat easily make it into the city for her own work, and that wherever they moved offered good things for Natasha and wouldn't force her to give up any of her activities. Which they had, Natasha would be enrolled in the best private school, attend an acclaimed dance school under a renowned teacher, take lessons at an award winning martial arts center, and once they found the right gymnast program she'd be able to continue that as well. But still, the person who benefited most from this move had been Peggy herself, there was no denying that. Peggy sighed softly, "Nattie…"
"But I don't think that anymore, Mummy." Natasha continued quickly as she watched the hurt and worry play out in Peggy's big brown eyes. Peggy was good at keeping her emotions off her face most of the time, but she couldn't hide the emotions in her eyes, not from the people who loved her.
"You don't?" Peggy replied, her voice soft and low to make sure Natasha couldn't pick up on any more of her sudden distress.
Natasha shook her head. "You haven't been you since we moved here."
Peggy blinked. "How do you mean, my darling?"
Natasha shrugged at first, not really sure how to put it into words, but then she said, "You come home late a lot now, and when you don't you come home tired and grouchy. You kind of smile when Mama's talking really fast and being silly, but you don't laugh. You promised we could start reading Little Women, but we haven't. You kiss Mama's cheek in the morning before you leave, but you don't kiss her all icky and eye rollie for no reason like you use too." Natasha shrugged again, not sure she was making any sense. "I don't know, you just don't do the stuff you do when you're happy, so I don't think you're happy here either."
"Oh poppet." Peggy breathes out as she takes Natasha's mug and sets it aside before pulling her little girl into her arms and holding her close as her eyes fill with unshed tears. "Oh Nattie, my darling, sometimes Mummy forgets just how perceptive and observant you are."
When she realized her mother was trying to hold back tears Natasha squeezed her tight for a long time and then pulled back. "Don't cry Mummy." She smiled as she wiggled out of her mother's arms. "Don't move, ok. I'll be right back."
Peggy blinked as she watched Natasha dash upstairs, causing a few tears to fall which she wiped away with annoyance. Between the move and work she has been incredibly stressed lately, but she hadn't realized it was having such an effect on her family. Angie hadn't said anything, normally when she got like this Angie called her out before it got to the point where she was brooding and picking fights with her wife. Maybe she hadn't reached a point yet where Angie felt the need to say something, but clearly Natasha's limit for Peggy's shite was lower than her mother's, and the girl just didn't know how to call Peggy out without getting herself into trouble. Peggy put her head in her hands as she doubled over on the sofa and sighed. When she heard Natasha on the stairs she sat up and took a deep breath, schooling her features and doing her best to smile. When Natasha returned she had a small box in her hands and a bright smile on her face. "What's that, poppet?"
"It's for you, Mummy." Natasha replied as she held the box out for her mother to take. "I saw it when I was looking for the pet store and I thought it might make you smile, so I bought it instead of a toy for Rosie. She's a dog, she's always happy."
Taking the box Peggy was more than a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. Natasha urged her to open it so she did, discovering a teacup and saucer nestled protectively in tissue paper. "Oh, poppet," Peggy breathed as she pulled the cup free of the box. "It's lovely, my darling."
Natasha beamed happily, proudly, at the smile on her mother's face. "When Mama's sad you bring her pretty things like flowers, or if she's really sad a pretty new dress, and it makes her happy again, so I thought maybe if I got you a pretty new teacup you'd be happy again too."
Natasha's observational skills were astounding. Running the pad of her thumb over the purple flowers Peggy indeed smiled, her heart swelling with love and pride and astonishment. Setting the teacup back into the box, she placed it on the side table carefully and then reached out and pulled Natasha into her arms once again. "I love it, poppet, thank you." She let go of Natasha just enough to give herself space to kiss her forehead, the tip of her nose, and both of her cheeks. Later Peggy would make sure that Natasha understood that it was the gesture of thinking of someone that made them happy or gave them comfort, more so than the item itself, because she was fairly sure her little poppet had spent a good portion of her saved allowance on her new favorite teacup.
It took Angie longer to get home than she liked, and she muttered about it the whole time until she walked through their front door and into the living room. Finding Peggy and Natasha cuddled up together on the sofa wasn't surprising, but finding Peggy in tears was. It wasn't uncommon for which ever one had to punish Natasha this way to end up in tears afterward, but that happened when they were alone in their room with the other one to comfort and reassure them. Certainly not in front of Natasha! What on earth had she missed?
"Hi Mama." Natasha said a bit timidly when her mother walked into the room.
Angie shrugged out of her jacket, tossing it onto Peggy's armchair, and then toed off her heels as she crossed the room. When she was closer to the sofa she crouched down and crooked her finger at her daughter.
Natasha sighed a heavy sigh. "You told Mama."
"Of course I told Mama." Peggy replied as she released her hold on her girl so she could face her mama.
Natasha knew she wouldn't be punished twice so she wasn't worried about that as she slipped off the sofa and walked over to her mama, but she did know she was gonna get an ear full of her mama's option on the matter. Once she was standing in front of Angie, blue-green eyes locked onto blue-green eyes, Natasha gave her mother a sheepish smile and repeated, "Hi Mama."
"Hi Natasha Elizabeth." Angie replied, her voice firm but kind. "You and Mummy talk about how you ain't a stupid kid, but what you did today was really freakin' stupid?"
"Yes." Natasha bobbed her head up and down. Of course that's not how Peggy phrased it, she understood her mothers had vastly different ways of talking, and she knew Angie wasn't being demeaning, not that she knew what demeaning meant just yet.
"You talk about how it's dangerous for you to wander off like that and how we need to know where you are to make sure you're safe?" Angie asked next.
"Yes Mama." Natasha replied.
"Did you apologize for scaring the ever lovin' crap out of your Mummy the way you did today?" Was Angie's next question. Reaching out she tucked Natasha's hair behind her ears while maintaining eye contact with her.
Natasha nodded as her eyes began to well with fresh tears. "Yes. I'm sorry, Mama."
"I know you are, baby." Angie replied, brushing away a tear that was rolling down Natasha's cheek. "I'm not mad at ya, angel, I ain't gonna scold ya again. Mummy already handled that yeah? Spanked ya, didn't she?"
"Yeah." Natasha blushed deeply.
"Then all's forgiven, angel." Angie reassures her daughter. "I just wanted to make sure you understood things, and to make sure you know not to do it again."
"I won't, Mama. I promise." Natasha sniffled.
Angie reached out and pulled Natasha into a tight hug, kissing her temple, and looking over her shoulder at Peggy. Once Angie locked eyes with her wife she mouthed, 'Are you ok?' Peggy nodded. "It sounds like my best gals have had a pretty rough day." She says as she lets Natasha out of the hug. Reaching up she brushes the tear tracks from her baby's face and smiles. "I think tonight is a pizza and movie night on the couch kinda night. I'll order the pizza and you go pick out a movie, ok baby?"
"Ok." Natasha says softly before dashing off to the basement to look through their home movie collection.
Once they were alone Angie walked over to where Peggy sat and sat beside her, pulling her wife into her arms and hugging her tight. She didn't say a word, they would talk about feelings later after Peggy had time to deal with them herself, for right now it was just about comfort and reassurance. When they heard Natasha returning Angie finally let Peggy go and muttered, "Please not Hocus Pocus again, please not Hocus Pocus again, please not Hocus Pocus again." She heard her wife laugh, a sound she hadn't heard in awhile and it warmed Angie's heart. "What? No offense to the Divine Miss. M, whom I love and adore, but if I have to hear, I Put a Spell on You, one more time, I'm gonna lose it, Pegs."
Peggy's response was to pull her wife into a kiss.
"Hey!" Natasha protested as she came into the room with her selection. "You're not supposed to do that until the end of the movie!"
Peggy laughed again as she pulled away from her wife to ask, "What did you pick, poppet?" Natasha held up her choice and Peggy smiled. "The Princess Bride?"
"Yeap!" Natasha nodded her head. "Mummy can we have popcorn too?"
"I suppose so." Peggy replies. "Though if Mama doesn't order those pizzas we may have to have it for dinner."
"I'm on it." Angie says as she reaches across her wife to snatch up the cordless phone from the side table. "What's in the box, Peg?"
Peggy smiles, her gaze locked with Natasha's as she says, "My new favorite teacup."