Chapter 25: The Shower
Natasha accepted a position at a hospital in Houston. She hadn't told anybody about it yet, but she was very excited to start helping out another community. The hospital was much smaller than Gravesen, but very diverse. She'd already gone apartment hunting and started packing up some things in preparation for the move. More importantly, preparation for Wanda's baby shower was well underway. It was scheduled for the end of July, a mere week before Natasha's big move. Just looking at the collection of decorations she'd already garnered filled her with delightful anticipation.
Involving Victor was unavoidable, because they needed to know Wanda's schedule without asking her. He was positively touched by the idea and offered lots of ideas. They had a plan in place: Victor and Wanda had a Twinless Twins event Saturday morning, during which Natasha and the others would set up and decorate.
At six A.M. on the big day, Natasha picked up Betty, MJ, Monica, and Kate for the hour-and-a-half drive down to Westview. MJ left her building carrying the most ridiculous gift Natasha had ever seen. Kate stuck her head out the window. "Are you serious?"
"It's not from me. Tony dropped it at our place last time he was here with specific instructions to give it to Wanda. Mine's in here," she nodded to the big bag in her other hand.
"Tony has…taste," Monica remarked.
"Yes, this is definitely a taste. Is it good taste? I don't know."
"I'm sure Wanda will love it," Betty said.
And so commenced Natasha's first group road trip, with her behind the wheel, Kate in the passenger seat, and Monica sandwiched between Betty and MJ in the backseat. She hadn't hung out with a bunch of girls like this since her dance days. The smile rarely left her face the whole way down as she listened to their conversations.
"Nat, how's Hawkeye?" MJ asked.
"He's a mischievous little moshennik," she said flatly. "Just like his namesake."
"What'd he do?" Kate asked.
"He hides his own toys and makes me look for them."
"You're joking."
"No. He'll just sit there, licking himself and watching me search with such disdain. He won't play with any toy unless it's one I just found for him."
"Your cat is a supervillain," Monica said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if I came home from work one day to find he's hacked the Pentagon."
"Tony did that once," MJ remarked.
"Really?"
"Yep. He tells that story every time he gets drunk."
Betty concurred. "I've heard that story."
"Yup," Natasha agreed.
"You guys are nuts," Kate said.
"Says the girl who destroyed a bell tower with a bow and arrow."
The collective gasp from the backseat nearly shook the car. "Hey! I told you that in confidence."
"You destroyed a tower?"
"It was…damaged. I wouldn't say destroyed."
"It was destroyed," Natasha confirmed. "I saw the aftermath."
"Did you get caught?"
"No. It was windy that night—which made the shot that much more impressive, by the way—and a tree fell on it right after I made the shot."
"Wow, you got lucky," Betty said.
Kate shrugged. "I like to think there's someone looking out for me."
"Carol once high-jumped an electric fence," Monica added.
"No way. That's insane!"
Natasha wished Kate and Carol got the chance to meet. Between the two of them and Clint they probably would have brought Gravesen to the ground, she thought with a laugh.
"How high was the fence?"
"It was four feet. On a farm in Louisiana near where my grandparents live."
"Why did she jump it?" Betty asked.
Monica responded with one word: "Clout."
They spent the rest of the drive exchanging stories of that sort. Once they arrived at the house, it was all hands on deck to get everything set up. Victor left a spare key under the mat. Natasha opened the door and they got to work. Her job was to set up food on the kitchen table. After watching a few highlight reels of the shows Victor said were Wanda's favorite, she knew exactly how she wanted it to look: like the famous chocolate conveyor belt from I Love Lucy. Monica dropped off one of the boxes from the trunk that she needed. Natasha grabbed the Styrofoam mannequin head from the craft store and stuck a chef's hat on it, placing it in the corner of the table. She laid three perfectly-wrapped chocolates out, followed by a progressively messier pile, and finally on the other end of the table the bowls and plates for the rest of the food.
"I knew it was a good idea when you first mentioned it, but it looks even better in real life," Monica said.
Natasha heard a knock at the door. Everyone froze in place. Wanda and Victor weren't supposed to be back for another two hours. Tip-toeing towards the door, Natasha opened it slowly. It wasn't Wanda or Victor. It was a middle-aged dark-haired woman.
"Hello?" Natasha greeted.
"I don't mean to be nosy, but I was trimming my azaleas and I saw you all pull up and carry a bunch of presents into the house. Are you Wanda's friends?"
"Yes." The rest of the group had assembled behind Natasha off to the left, just out of sight of the person on the porch.
"Is this a baby shower?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, that's so exciting. Does she know about it?"
"No. It's a surprise. She and Victor are getting back around noon."
"Do you need any help setting up?"
They really didn't, but this woman seemed so eager to participate that Natasha couldn't bring herself to close the door in her face. "Sure."
"Great! I'll be right back. I got a present for the babies that I was just going to give to them any old time, but a baby shower is the perfect opportunity. I'm Agnes, by the way." She waved goodbye and bounded over to a house next door.
Natasha closed the door. "Well…I guess we have one more guest." Wanda had mentioned that they had a bubbly neighbor, and now Natasha understood what an understatement that had been.
"I wish I had neighbors like that," Betty said.
"Move to the suburbs," MJ suggested.
With that, they got back to work. Monica had made a beautiful cardboard cutout of an old-fashioned television. But instead of black-and-white footage from a show, they blew up the sonogram picture Wanda sent when she first announced the pregnancy to a size that would fit on the screen, then hung the whole thing on the wall. "That's amazing," Betty remarked when she saw the final product.
"I thought it would be kinda creepy, but it's not," Kate added.
Agnes returned, without even knocking this time, adding a beautifully wrapped present to the stack in the corner and asking how she could help. The girls took her involvement in stride and put her to work arranging the collage of sitcom logos that, instead of the name of the show, had baby-related terms. "Bewitched" became "Expecting," "The Dick van Dyke Show," became "The Wanda and Victor Show," "Full House" became "Full Term." Other titles included "I Dream of Babies" and "The Baby Bunch." Natasha worried they overused the word "baby" but there weren't that many other options. The overall effect was exactly as she wanted.
Finally, they hung red, blue, and green streamers in the kitchen. "You guys really went all out," Agnes noted.
"She gets it from Steve," MJ noted.
"We all do," she agreed.
"You might want to move your car if you want to keep it a surprise," Agnes said. "If she sees it in the driveway she'll be immediately suspicious."
Natasha hadn't even thought of that. "You're right. I'll go do that now." She checked the time. "You guys are probably good to start setting up food. I'll be right back."
She hopped in the car, drove it a few houses down, and parked on the side of the road, hoping she wasn't taking anybody's usual spot. When she got back, everything was ready to go. "Are we hiding?" Kate asked.
"I don't know. I don't want to scare her."
"Let's not hide," Betty suggested. "It'll be a surprise enough to see all of us and the decorations when she walks in."
"That's true. Good idea."
MJ and Kate took up a position in the living room, peeking out from behind the curtains at the street outside so they could alert everyone when Wanda and Victor pulled up. Natasha and the others eagerly awaited their signal. They spent a solid five minutes deciding on the best formation to stand in.
"They're coming!" Kate called. Everyone hurried to position.
"Is the front door locked?" Betty asked.
"Der'mo!"
Natasha ran for the front door, grabbed the key, frantically locked it, and dashed back to the kitchen while shoving the key back in her pocket. She made it just in time. Wanda and Victor chatted on their way up to the porch. Natasha distinctly heard Wanda ask Victor, "Why do you seem so nervous?" and knew he was probably close to giving up the ghost. Then, she heard the key turn in the lock and braced for Wanda's entrance.
"Goodness!" she exclaimed. "What are you all doing here?"
"Surprise!" they cheered.
Wanda took another second to look around them, and came into the kitchen for a closer look. As soon as she realized what they'd laid out, her hand went to her mouth. "You guys! You set all this up, for me?"
"Yeah," Natasha said with a grin. "You have heard of a baby shower, right?"
"Yes. But I've only ever seen them on TV."
"Me too." They weren't really done in Europe. The only reason Natasha even knew they existed was from watching American television.
She walked up to the kitchen table. "Is this the conveyor belt from I Love Lucy?"
"Yep," Monica confirmed. "All Natasha's idea."
"This is so cute. And the posters. You guys are so creative. You really didn't have to do this."
"We wanted to," Natasha assured.
"I can only imagine how hectic two babies is going to be," Betty said. MJ nodded her agreement. "We wanted to help out."
"Did you guys take pictures? I want pictures of all of this."
"I did," Kate confirmed. "Now that there's no party to keep secret, we can add you to the group chat we made. I'll put them in there."
"Thank you." She turned her attention back to the kitchen table. "Now if you'll excuse me, Victor refused to stop for lunch on the way home, so I'm starving."
"I had good reason, darling."
"I see that now."
"Go ahead. That's what it's here for."
They all grabbed plates and dug in.
"Have you picked out names yet?" Monica asked.
"Yes. But we're not telling anyone until they're born."
"Can we guess?" Kate asked.
"No. If you guess right, Victor's terrible poker face will be a dead giveaway."
Natasha made direct eye contact with Victor. "So it's not Nathaniel, then?"
"No."
He didn't seem like he was lying. More likely than not, the kids would have names based on their parents' late siblings. If Natasha could have kids, she'd probably at least give them a middle name derived from Clint's.
Wanda turned her attention to the pile of gifts in the corner. "Is that a giraffe?"
The stuffed animal was unpackaged, because finding a bag big enough or wrapping it would've been impossible, with a blue ribbon tied around its neck. "Yes," MJ said. "Tony sends his best.
"I want to pet it," Victor declared.
"Nobody's stopping you," Agnes pointed out.
Victor pet the giraffe. "You can open things now if you want to see the rest of them," Natasha said. "I'm afraid we weren't all quite as…over the top as Tony."
"I'm glad. Otherwise, we'd have to turn the nursery into a zoo."
They migrated to the living room, presents in tow. Wanda and Victor nestled together on the sofa as everyone else fanned out in chairs and on the floor around them. "You pick one first," she told Victor. He sprung for the smallest bag, the one from Monica. They pulled out two little teething rings made of blue silicone and wood beads.
"These are so cute! Where'd you get them?"
"There's this woman I follow on social media who has a small business making beaded teethers and pacifier clips. Her daughter has CF, and part of the proceeds go to CF research," Monica explained. "She calls them Salty Soothers."
"I love that. Thank you so much, Monica."
"You're welcome."
She reached next for one Nat didn't recognize from her trunk—meaning it must've been from Agnes. This one contained two plush bunnies that, instead of a torso and back legs, were made of blanket. Victor was immediately entranced by the silky border of the blanket part, rhythmically running his fingers over it. "This is so soft."
"I had a few of these when I was a kid. We called them loveys."
"It's a fitting name." Wanda hugged the stuffed animal to her chest. "Because they are oh so loveable."
"Should I have gotten a third one for you?" Agnes asked with a laugh.
Wanda looked at Victor, still rubbing the border. "Maybe we'll have to invest in another."
At the others' encouragement, she saved Natasha's gift for last. Before that, she opened a collection of toys from Kate, board books based on classic literature from Betty, and a postpartum care package from MJ. She and Betty also offered to answer any questions she might have, at any time. "I imagine it'll be somewhat different with twins, but hopefully we can still offer some words of wisdom."
"Thank you. I haven't thought too much about it yet, but I'm sure I will have plenty to ask you when the time comes."
Lastly, she reached for Natasha's gift. She held her breath, hoping that she and Victor would like the designs and colors she'd chosen. Wanda lifted the first hand-knit onesie—the blue one—from the bag and gasped her delight. "Tasha, did you make this?"
"Yes."
"That's amazing," Victor lauded.
"There's more," Natasha urged. Wanda reached in again and pulled out the matching hat before passing the bag to Victor. He revealed the complementary green set.
"Hopefully the size will fit them at least for a month or two," Natasha said. She'd done countless research on infant growth to determine how to gauge the pieces.
"I wish it could fit them forever. These are gorgeous."
"Glad you like them."
"Like them? I love them. Come here, give me a hug."
Sheepishly, Natasha climbed to her feet and hugged Wanda. Though they didn't spend that much time together, Natasha felt an inexplicable kinship with the other woman. Maybe it was their European upbringing, or the fact that they both lost someone close to them at a young age, or maybe even their shared love of red hair dye. Whatever the reason, Natasha was grateful to have Wanda in her life and she couldn't wait to watch her become a mother.