It was Christmas Eve. The Barton children radiated with excitement as Christmas Day ticked closer along with the promise of presents and a grand turkey feast. While Cooper and Lila were brimming with energy, Wanda became more subdued as she spent more time observing everything though not in an overly morose way. It was bound to be a complicated day for the girl. Before Hydra, before the bomb, there most likely would not have been much festivity around the holiday for the Maximoff's in Sokovia. And what little there had been Wanda was so young it would be hard for her to remember. Now the girl had a chance to celebrate with this new family, but Natasha knew that no matter how much happiness and fun filled their day it would also be a stark reminder of the people she loved who were not there to celebrate with her.
Natasha remembered the conversation she had with Wanda first thing that morning. She had woken up to Wanda softly tapping her fingers along her collarbone. Snaking her arms around to squeeze the teenager and kissing her forehead, Nat asked in a sleep rough voice, "What is it malyshka?"
There was a pause, "What do people do on Christmas Eve?"
"Hm, well, families can have different traditions, but we will mostly have a normal day." Natasha explained, her eyes slipped shut again from some lingering tiredness, "We'll have breakfast. We're going to have a big dinner tomorrow, so we will spend some time preparing for that. Clint will want to watch a bunch of Christmas movies.. Then after dinner we will go to the Christmas Festival in town."
"What is at the Christmas Festival?"
"All of the store fronts downtown will be decorated with lights for us to look at. There will be Christmas Carolers. Hot apple cider and other treats. They set up a carousel in the town square." She mindlessly stroked Wanda's hair, "Then we'll come home, drink hot chocolate and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. Then set out cookies and milk for Santa before bed."
"Can you make your hot chocolate?" Wanda inquired and Natasha smirked, cracking one eye open to look at the girl. She had discovered the girl had been passing off all of the hot cocoa Laura had been making to Steve during their visit. Wanda had blushed and said it was not the way Tasha made it, calling it too sweet and yet also watery. However, she had been too polite to decline whenever Laura had made the instant stuff for the children. Natasha just laughed, not sure how they had created such a kid with such particular tastes and told her she could not always use Steve as a human garbage disposal. The look on the man's face when she said this told Wanda that she could.
"I will make you as much hot chocolate as you want all day if you give me another 15 minutes of sleep." The Black Widow groaned and turned to her other side, though she did not let Wanda go as she did, and she ended up pulling the girl over top of her so Wanda lay on the other side of the bed, her legs hanging over Natasha's thighs having not made it all the way over her in the flip. There was a small giggle from the little witch as she settled against Natasha, and they ended up drifting for almost another hour before getting up for breakfast that simply consisted of cereal to prevent too many dishes.
The day progressed much like Natasha had said. After breakfast they did some food prep to make cooking the next day easier. Laura marinated the turkey, Nat chopped vegetables and Steve and Wanda peeled potatoes at the table. When they were finished Steve and Wanda took all of the vegetable scraps out to the pigs, which of course meant the girl had to see all of the animals. She brought them apples slices, except for Nox for whom she asked for baby carrots because she said he liked them better. Clint kept a marathon of Christmas movies running throughout the day. Lila insisted on writing a preemptive thank you note to Santa; Wanda and Cooper played along for her sake and wrote their own notes. The Sokovian was strangely secretive about hers, writing it in Cyrillic, and when Natasha asked if she could read it, Wanda had told her maybe later.
Then suddenly it was a quick dinner of sandwiches, and it was time to drive into town for the Christmas Festival. Clint, Steve and Cooper drove in his truck while Laura, Natasha, Wanda, Lila and the baby went in the minivan. A gentle snow began to fall as they parked the cars and walked to the downtown area. Wanda kept a firm grip on Natasha's hand as they turned onto the main street that was blocked off for the festival. Upon first looking at the street, Natasha felt Wanda's magic excitedly shoot up her arm, underneath her coat and sweater, swarming in the crook of her elbow and making her laugh, "Easy milaya, that tickles."
"Sorry," The girl glanced at her sheepishly and dialed it back to just a comfortable warm sensation. Her eyes were immediately drawn back to the scene in front of them. White Christmas lights were strung between the lampposts and along the shop fronts, snowflakes glittering in the dreamy lighting as they softly floated down to the street below. People walked down the sidewalk and in the streets chatting and greeting each other merrily or stopping to listen to the Christmas carolers dressed in Dickens-inspired costumes as their harmonious voices rose into the evening.
"It's like from a storybook." Wanda said with wonderment. "It's beautiful."
"Yeah it is." Natasha agreed, though not as beautiful as Wanda in the moment with a small, amazed smile, rosy cheeks and lights making it appear that stars twinkled in her eyes. "Let's go look around."
They had fallen a little behind their group when Wanda had stopped to stare but they caught up easily as people meandered slowly to look at the lights. Walking down the sidewalk, one could see the shops had more personalized decorations- wreaths and garland, windows painted with scenes of Santa's workshop or snowy landscape with a snowman, plastic light-up reindeers pulling a sleigh full of toys, and the hardware store had made a paper-mache chimney and hung pants and boots to make it look like Santa was stuck in it. Wide-green eyes took it all in with amazement, Wanda's magic constantly humming pleasantly against Natasha's skin.
When they reached the end of the block, the space opened into a town square to reveal more attractions. Booths had been set up for hot beverages and freshly fried doughnuts and funnel cakes. Steam from the heat of them pluming toward the sky and wafting their delicious aromas in the air. Tinkling music and children's laughter came from a bright carousel spinning for its passengers' delights. Lila pointed to it and tugged on her father's hand, "Daddy, can we go on the carousel now?"
"Yeah, sweet pea. Let's get in line." Clint grinned at her enthusiasm.
"Do you want to go too, Wanda?" Natasha asked, shaking the girl's hand to get her attention.
She turned to look up at the woman, "Will you go too?"
"Of course, milaya. I love the carousel."
The family joined the small crowd consisting mostly of children waiting; they did not have to wait long as the ride slowed to a stop. An attendant opened the gray, metal gate to let the passengers off and then waved the new people in. Lila, Cooper and Laura shuffled through followed by Wanda and Nat. Clint who held Nate in a baby carrier on his chest and Steve who seemed just a little to large to ride the carousel stayed off the ride, finding spots along the fence to watch them. Lila darted to a white pony with pink and gold details and Cooper found a horse that looked similar to Indiana. Wanda looked confused to Natasha and asked if there was any difference in the horses as the children scrambled around to pick their steed. The woman laughed lightly and told her they were all the same, the kids just chose based on color preference. With this in mind, Wanda found a black horse with a white star on its forehead, the saddle painted in blues and silvers.
Natasha made sure she got on all right and took the chestnut colored horse with red and copper bridle. Before the ride began, Wanda tightly gripped the gold pole that the horses moved up and down on, appearing tense. "It's okay, milaya. It'll be nice and easy."
Wanda nodded and the carousel slowly began to turn, the horses bobbing up and down in imitation of them galloping. The ride got up to its top speed and the brilliant smile returned to the girl's face as she realized that Natasha was right about her having nothing to fear. They waved at the men leaning against the gate every time they passed, Clint making the baby wave back at them and Steve trying to take pictures with his phone. When the ride slowly halted, Wanda's horse ended higher up on the pole then from when it started. The Black Widow helped her down, catching her under her arms and lowering her to the ground. "Nice and easy?"
She grinned at the girl as Wanda repeated her words in confirmation, "Nice and easy."
"Let's warm up with some cider, yeah?" Natasha threw her arm around Wanda, and they filed off the ride with the others.
They went over to the food booths and acquired their treats. Steve found them a bench to congregate around, Wanda, Cooper and Lila given spots to sit, and the adults stood around them as they all sipped on hot apple cider and ate warm cake donuts rolled in sugar. It was cozy and fun as they laughed and talked but soon a chill seeped through their coats and baby Nate fell asleep bundled up against his father signifying it was time for them to start heading back to the house. The family walked down the other side of the street to see the different shops and their decorations. Then before heading off for the evening, they paused to listen to the carolers as they started singing a joyful We Wish You a Merry Christmas. There was polite applause as the singers finished then transitioned into Silent Night sending peace and calm into the night. Wanda rested her head against Nat's shoulder and Steve stood behind them with one arm around her and his other around Wanda to stave off the cold as they listened and in that moment everything was perfect.
/
"Is she asleep?" Steve asked from his seat on the couch as Natasha entered the living room, her arms full of wrapping supplies and a couple presents for Wanda she had not gotten around to wrapping. She had most of the girl's gifts sent directly to the farmhouse so she would not have to travel with them, but it had been difficult to find time to wrap them since their intended recipient was usually around her, hence the last minute wrapping session.
"Out like a light." The woman confirmed setting her things down on the coffee table. She had just come back from tucking Wanda into bed. After they returned home from the festival, Natasha made her hot chocolate as promised keeping the grin on Wanda's face, which was all she ever wanted. Once they started the movie though, Wanda barely made it through without falling asleep, her head tilting onto Natasha's knee from where she had on the ground in front of her and eyes drooping. Nat gently nudged the teenager enough to get her up to the bedroom. Fortunately everyone had already changed into their pajamas so all she needed to do was a quick brush of her teeth before getting settled into bed. Wanda pouted a bit, mostly from being over tired, when Natasha said she had a couple things to take care of before joining her. With some soft humming and a kiss on her forehead however Wanda quickly succumbed to sleep.
"I've rustled us up a little something if you're interested." Steve showed her a bottle of vodka he had sitting on the end table next to him.
Natasha sighed dreamily, "My hero."
Steve grinned and Natasha took up the half-full mug of Wanda's hot chocolate to present it to the man. He uncapped the bottle and spiked the drink, doing the same to his cup. Nat nabbed the bottle from him and also swiped a swig straight from it with Russian ease. The pair then clinked their mugs together, telling each other Merry Christmas with dopey smiles. For a while they were quiet, with Christmas music floating dreamily from the radio and Natasha snipping paper and tying bows. When she finished, she took her drink and sat on the couch with Steve, facing him with her feet curled underneath her, "I'm really glad you came with us."
"Me too." He gazed at her softly. "I wouldn't have wanted to miss this."
"We would have missed you." Natasha confessed.
"Could I give you your Christmas present now?" Steve asked.
She gave him a surprised, bemused grin, "As long as I can give you yours."
They went and got their respective boxes from underneath the tree. Some presents were already placed, and Laura and Clint would bring down the 'Santa portion' of the presents down in a couple hours when they knew the kids would definitely be asleep to keep the spirit of Christmas alive. Back on the couch, Captain America held a small, flat box in red and white striped paper and the Black Widow held a bigger flat box concealed with red and green plaid paper. With much shyer smiles, they switched packages. Steve opened his first, tearing into the neat paper and pulling the lid off of a white box. An astonished grin lit up his face, "Nat, this is beautiful."
The man was looking at a fine, leather-bound sketch book and a set of pencils with a variety of hardness's and included sharpening tools and a gum eraser. She felt compelled to explain, "I haven't seen you sketch in a while, but I thought you might like to start again."
"It's really wonderful, Nat." His fingers running over the S.G.R. she had embossed on the front cover, "I've been wanting to recently, especially with.. Well, it's perfect, really. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Natasha enjoyed the look on his face before he finally prompted her to open her gift. Tearing away the wrapping, she found a long, black box. It was a jewelry box; she knew it was a jewelry box as she flipped it open but knowing did not prevent the gentle gasp that escaped her lips when she saw what lay inside. It was a necklace, an elegant, silver chain with a delicate 8-point star pendant hanging from it. The pendant was embedded with rubies, each small gem slightly different in size and subtly a different shade of red, some almost purple, making it almost look like it swirled and flowed and shimmered. Tears welled in her eyes, "Steve.. It's gorgeous."
"You like it?" He asked unnecessarily as clearly she was overwhelmed with emotion, "I thought it looked like her magic. That you might like having a bit of her near."
Her obviously meaning Wanda and it did remind her of the little witch's magic that twirled happily or hummed tensely or warmed comfortingly against her skin. It felt like at times it was their own secret language, any foreignness or strangeness of the sensation gone as Wanda unreservedly reached out to her with it and Natasha welcomed it. A few teardrops fell down her cheeks, "It does. I do.. It's stunning, Steve. It will remind me of you too."
Rubies were his birthstone, she wondered if he realized. He blushed a little as he said in a low voice, "I also thought it was beautiful, almost as beautiful as you are, Natasha."
"I'm going to kiss you Steve Rogers." Natasha told him huskily. He did not respond, instead leaning in to meet her lips in a passionate kiss. Steve's lips were soft, and he seemed content to let her set the pace as they explored each other. The kiss became more and more heated and suddenly Natasha realized she was straddling Steve's lap, the man's hands running paths up her back and down to her hips. She pulled back and they both gasped a little for air when their lips separated. The woman did not pull away far as she pressed her forehead to his, "We should slow down. We can't here…"
She trailed off. Nat meant her words, but she still looked at him hungrily. His body firm and tempting beneath her, and his hands felt strong and warm against her back. She wondered if it was him or the vodka that was making her feel floaty and tingly all over; probably a bit of both.
"Yeah.." Steve agreed but made no move to extricate himself from her, "Can I still kiss you though?"
"I think that'd be alright." She brushed her lips against his as she spoke sweetly. Their kiss resumed and Natasha sighed as his fingers got tangled in her curls and Bing Crosby crooning about dreaming of a white Christmas filled the room as they made out on the couch like a pair of overly-infatuated teenagers.
/
"Mommy, Daddy! Santa was here!" Lila's voice could be heard shouting at the top of the stairs. Natasha looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand but knew from the cool blue tone of the room it was entirely too early to be awake. 6:03 am, she bit back a groan and forced her eyes to focus on Wanda who was not fairing any better with the early wake up call. She had rolled away in the night but was now shuffling closer to Natasha, snuggling into her warmth as she wrapped her arms around the little witch.
"Are you awake, milaya?" The redhead asked.
"No, N'tasha." Wanda replied with a slight whine in her voice as she buried her face into Nat's shoulder.
She laughed lightly and pressed her nose into Wanda's hair as she mumbled, "Yeah, me neither."
Even as Natasha heard the rest of the Barton's starting to move around, she considered letting Wanda sleep. She could already feel that subtle shift in the girl's weight against her that indicated she was already slipping back into unconsciousness and the woman was inclined to follow her. However, there was a tapping on their door. Natasha opened her eyes and saw Steve peering in with a Christmas-morning smile on his face, "Did you guys hear? Santa came."
"No Steve." Wanda grumbled.
"Yeah, no Steve." Natasha parroted in a similar tone.
Captain America laughed, not at all put off by her surly teenager behavior or Nat's imitation of it. He teased Wanda, "Come on little bird, you have to wake up early to get the worm."
This only prompted Wanda to try and hide farther into Natasha, murmuring something that sounded like 'why would I want a worm' in Russian. She smirked and ran a soothing hand up and down the girl's spine. The woman did not know where Steve got his energy from. He had been up just as late as her as they cuddled on the couch together, but he seemed much more invigorated this morning than she felt. Not that it had not been worth it, she considered as an affectionate smile grew on her face for him. They had actually almost been caught by Laura in their heated make-out session when she had come down to start placing more presents under the tree, but fortunately Natasha's superspy senses saved them. Though from the smug, knowing grin Laura had given her, she knew exactly what they had been up to even if she had not seen anything. Steve's pink cheeks did not help despite how cute they were. Steve tried to entice her out of bed next, "I've already made some coffee."
Coffee did sound heavenly. Natasha heard more noises from the Barton's. Their conversation was distorted, but she caught Lila begging and Laura reprimanding lightly, and she knew that the mother was telling her she had to wait for everyone to wake up to start opening presents as was tradition. Steve glanced down the hall and then back at the unmoving women, telling them regrettably, "I don't know how long they'll be able to hold off Lila before she comes charging in here."
Sighing, Nat knew he was right. She jostled Wanda a little, "How about we heat up some of last night's hot chocolate and I'll pour a bit of coffee in yours too. See how you like it?"
Wanda opened her eyes at this though her face was scrunched as she fought off the sleepiness giving her an adorably suspicious expression. She had recently become interested in Natasha's coffee, like she was interested in a lot of the things Nat did and liked, but she hesitated to start the girl on caffeine so young. The woman supposed having a little on special occasions like this would not hurt and it would help perk her up.
"And I'm making pancakes for breakfast after we open presents." Steve added.
She turned in Natasha's arms to look at the Captain, "With blueberries?"
"Of course. How else would one eat pancakes?" He proclaimed.
"Okay." The teenager agreed and stretched before finally sitting up and allowing Natasha to sit up as well. They climbed out of bed and shuffled downstairs with Steve. Lila cheered upon seeing them though still had to wait a little longer as the adults got their coffee. Wanda stood near Nat and watched her make her mixture of hot chocolate and coffee, taking a timid sip before a smile bloomed on her face indicating she like it. Soon enough everyone was arranged in the living room to begin opening their gifts.
The Barton living room was a cozy Christmas scene- a warm, orange fire crackling in the fireplace, the colored lights shining from the tree, and presents overflowing from the bottom of it. Laura maintained the organization, making sure everyone got the correct package and there was some semblance of order to who opened what and when. And steadily, the patterned paper and shiny bows that the presents were wrapped in were torn, leaving it as confetti on the ground. Even with the masterful organization from Laura it was difficult to keep track of everything that had been opened. Nat knew that Cooper got a new bike and Lila got the doll house she had wanted. Part of the kids present was finding out they would be traveling to Stark's beach house for the New Year which was met with much enthusiasm.
Clint received some archery equipment and Laura got a beautiful diamond bracelet. Steve got some vintage baseball cards from the Barton's that he was very pleased over, along with some workout clothing that Laura had probably gotten just to include him more. Natasha got the lotion Laura bought for her every year that she loved, and some clothing and she returned the favor to Laura, giving her high-end designer pieces that she could not get living out on the farm. Everyone laughed when Natasha opened Clint's present to her, a mug that said in a bold black font 'Definitely Not A Russian Spy'.
Then there was Wanda and her gifts from everyone. Clint and Laura got her a sleek, silver laptop, a safe but nice gift since they were not sure what she liked. Sam and Sharon sent their presents along to her as well. From the Falcon she received a subscription for National Geographics magazines and from the agent she received a poster for the original Singing in the Rain and an offer to take her to see the musical on Broadway. She received a similar present from Steve in the form of a NY Yankees baseball hat and a promise to take her to a game in the spring. Natasha had not been able to help herself and gotten Wanda the most. She bought her clothing- a deep red dress, a sweater with navy, gray and silver yarn knitted with a marbled affect, short black boots with a slightly pointed and buckles on the ankles that were a bit witchy. She bought her books- some more advanced in Cyrillic, a Nancy Drew box set to help her practice reading in English, and some books of nature photography. She bought a variety of gleaming rings reminiscent of the ones she had glamoured onto her fingers when they had first met. The redhead had a couple of other things to give her, however she wanted to give them to her when they were alone.
The Sokovian opened her presents slowly and with amazement, making sure that they knew she was grateful even though she seemed a little perplexed that she had received anything at all.
There were few presents left to be opened and Natasha thought Wanda had opened all of hers, but Laura called her name, "Wanda?"
Rising up, the teenager went to the woman who gave her an encouraging smile and accepted the gift that was slightly bigger than a shoebox. The Russian could not think of what it would be, she thought she knew what all of the girl's presents were going to be. Wanda did not sit down to open it though. She took it over to Natasha who was sitting on the ground leaned back against the armchair and presented it to her instead. With an inquiring smile, she asked, "What's this?"
She saw on top of the box was a folded piece of paper with her name written in Cyrillic. Wanda rubbed her arm shyly as she continued to stand above the woman, "It's your present."
"You got me a present?"
"Clint took me. He paid for it." Wanda tried to deflect some of the recognition. The spy connected the dots, remembering the one afternoon when the archer and Wanda had taken the long trip into town.
"I hardly did anything. Wanda asked to go and picked it out all on her own." Clint told her as Laura took her seat next to the man on the couch and he put his arm around her. Natasha patted the ground for the little witch to sit with her and Wanda lowered herself to sit nearby though she still was not quite making eye contact. Natasha looked at the piece of paper first, finding it was the supposed thank you note she had written for Santa yesterday. She recognized it from catching a glimpse of the stars Wanda had doodled in the top corner. It read:
I know you said the farm is one of your favorite places. You are right, it is very beautiful here. I hope this will remind you of it when you cannot be here.
It is not much, but I hope that it is a start to say thank you for being there for me over these past few months. You have helped me in so many ways and I don't think I will ever be able to repay you for all of the kindness you have shown me.
You will always mean so much to me.
Love, Wanda
Tears threatened to fall as she looked over the words, her heart filling with devotion for Wanda. She reached out and squeezed the girl's hand. Swallowing back a lot of the emotion, though a tear did escape down her cheek, she told her soft but strong, "You never have to repay me. It's what you deserve, alright baby?"
Wanda gazed back at her with shining green eyes and nodded. The woman released her hand with a resolute exhalation then began unwrapping the package and lifted the lid to the brown box. An involuntary smile stretched across her face as she found a bronze horse sculpture nestled in white tissue paper inside. The sculpture was excellently done, the horse had fine details and the artist had been able to capture the easy power of its movement. And it embodied Wanda in a way with the oddness and thoughtfulness and enchantment of it. She looked up again to met the teenager's eyes that peered at her for her reaction, "Oh Wanda, it's so beautiful. I love it. I really love it."
A grin crept onto her face when she saw the woman liked her selection. Natasha set the box aside and pulled Wanda to her. Settling the girl between her legs, the Black Widow peppered her face with kisses to make her giggle, "It's perfect, milaya. Just perfect. Thank you, baby."
She ended with pressing their foreheads together, their noses gently brushing against each other as they enjoyed their closeness. Suddenly Wanda ducked her face to push it into the hollow of Nat's throat, the woman feeling her release a shuddering breath against her. Immediately, Nat could sense she was overwhelmed, needing a moment to decompress against the woman. Not wanting to draw attention to it, she simply held Wanda a little tighter and angled them away from the others in the room, who fortunately seemed distracted by their own conversations or presents now. Quietly she hummed just for the girl reclined against her, the little witch's fingers toyed with the pendant on her new necklace that rest on her chest. Steve had put it on her before they had shared one last kiss goodnight. She felt small, red wisps mindlessly encircling it.
"Merry Christmas, malyshka." Natasha said softly into her hair, not realizing she had started to rock them gently as she resumed the melodic tune for the girl.
Wanda rasped back as she relaxed more into Nat, "Merry Christmas, Tasha."
/
Wanda looked at the presents she had received all lined up on the dresser. Her new books, clothing and everything else, they were the nicest, best things she had ever owned. They were amazing but not the best part about her Christmas day.
The best part was Natasha opening the gift she had picked out for her, her face lighting up with happiness, then the woman holding Wanda together in her arms. And the delicious pancakes that Steve decided to try and arrange the blueberries into smiley faces that turned into rather odd, slightly terrifying looking faces that made Tasha laugh until she was close to tears. And when Steve using various food scraps to show the different baseball positions and explain the rules at the kitchen table as cooking went on around them until they were shooed out for getting in the way. And calling Sam to wish him Merry Christmas and then calling Sharon to do the same, speaking with her longer than Wanda thought she could. And Clint piled on the couch with all of his children and all of them fast asleep to How the Grinch Stole Christmas playing in the background. And Steve stealing a kiss from Natasha underneath the mistletoe when he thought no one was looking and the radiant glow they emitted when they looked at each other.
Like the items on the dresser she catalogued each precious moment to be remembered and treasured.
It had been a magical day, and now it was coming to an end as she sat on the end of the mattress, ready for bed and waiting for Natasha to come back from brushing her teeth. It was not long before she came back through the door, shutting it behind her, "Hey milaya. How are you doing?"
"Good." Wanda watched as the woman sat down next to her.
"Did you have a good Christmas?"
"Yes, it was wonderful." The teenager briefly rested her head on Natasha's shoulder before looking up at her again and asking thoughtfully, "Did you have a good Christmas?"
"The most wonderful." She confirmed with a soft smile that turned a bit conspiring, "Your present was my favorite. Don't tell Steve."
The little witch's gaze dropped to the new necklace Tasha still wore, the delicate star sparkling red on her chest. She had not said but Wanda could guess that had been Steve's present to her. Wanda thought it was beautiful and did not know how her horse sculpture could compare, but she woman seemed genuine when she made her statement. The redhead continued, "I actually have a couple more things for you. If you feel up for it."
"More presents?"
"Yes, more presents. Though I think they are just more things you should have." The way Natasha spoke cautiously made her think, made her know, that what she had to give would not be easy to receive. Wanda bit her thumb as she considered if she was ready to accept what the woman had for her. Tasha added, "We can just go to sleep if you're tired, sweetheart."
Finally the Sokovian shook her head, "No, I- I'm ready."
"All right." Natasha said after looking her over carefully for a moment. She stood and went to her suitcase lying in the corner of the room pulling out two boxes, neither were wrapped in colorful paper like her other Christmas gifts. Rejoining her on the bed, the woman set the bigger box next to her and handed her the small, black velvet ring box. She kept her hands over Wanda's to stop her from opening it right away to explain, "The West has a tradition with people having birthstones depending on the month they were born in. This one is yours, sapphire."
Wanda nodded, then flipped open the small box. She blinked at what she saw inside. Natasha had given her a silver ring with two midnight blue, pear-cut shaped jewels set horizontally into leafy art nouveau tendrils. She blinked again and this time tears fell from her eyes. Looking up, the girl found Tasha smiling at her sadly, her eyes wet as well as she said softly, "One for you and one for Pietro."
Her heart hurt and yet felt full at the same time when the Russian said her brother's name. She said it like they said it at home, without flattening the vowels as Americans tended to do and with the barely-there roll of the 'r'. Wanda released a shuddering breath, looking down again at the jewelry, "It's too beautiful, it's too much.."
"Nothing is too beautiful for you, malyshka." Tasha declared as she gripped Wanda's wrists firmly to get her full attention. She then moved to take the ring from the box, trying to slide it onto Wanda's right ring finger but slipping it onto her index finger instead when it was a bit loose. She kissed Wanda's knuckles, saying, "You'll grow into it."
"It's.. Thank you. It is my favorite." Wanda rubbed her thumb against the smooth part of the band, staring in awe at something so lovely on her hand. It was something she never would have even imagined to glamour for herself.
"You're welcome." Natasha's lip twitched in a smile then reached for the second box. "These are for you too."
The woman lifted the lid to this box for Wanda to peer at the contents. Lying in tissue paper were three framed photographs. One from when she and Pietro were about 4 or 5, arms slung around each other with cheeky grins in front of an admittedly bleak looking playground, but in her memory it had been their fantastical kingdom. Another picture of her and Pietro from close to the end of their time in Hydra that could have been a still from a security camera. They looked like the older versions of themselves, but they were leaned against a brick wall smiling at each other in an unguarded moment. Then final one was of her whole family; she, Papa, Mama and Pietro all sat on a shabby couch in their shabby apartment, the camera not at quite the right angle from being set on the coffee table on a timer, but they were huddle and happy and perfect. It was from the twins' 8th birthday, the last picture that had been taken of the little family before the bomb. She brought her trembling finger to trace over their smiles. Her voice cracked when she pushed out the word, "How?"
"They somehow ended up online. FRIDAY found them. She'll periodically run a background search to see if any more surface." Natasha told her. Tears began to fall more steadily from her eyes blurring the faces of her family, of her brother.
"Thank you.. This means the world to me, thank you. I- I miss them so much. I miss Pietro so much." Wanda heard herself babbling between the sobs that now escaped her lips. Tasha hurriedly set everything aside and pulled the girl to her.
Wanda pressed her face into the woman's chest, feeling as though she were scrambling to try to pull her nearer by her t-shirt. Deftly, the spy maneuvered them up the bed, arranging them so she sat reclined against the pillows and Wanda straddled her thighs so she could keep resting her head against the redhead's chest, letting them be as close as possible. One of Nat's hands cradled the back of Wanda's head and the other tenderly rubbed her back and her velvet voice soothed in her ears, "I know baby, I know. I'm so sorry they can't be here. I'm so, so sorry, baby girl."
"Tasha.." She whimpered, nuzzling her cheek against Nat's collarbone.
"Let it all out.. It's okay, malyshka. I'm right here." The woman gently scraped her fingertips against Wanda's scalp, and she thought she might feel teardrops fall onto the top of her head.
Her mind went into a dark, blank grief as she cried. But she found the feeling draining from her, the presence and warmth of Natasha taking its place. Eventually the tears started to fade out and the woman sweetly humming her Russian folksong began to fade in, and a wave of tiredness washed over her. In her other ear, the little witch could hear sound of Natasha's heartbeat, the soft, steady bum-bump sound lulling her. The tears that had fallen so earnestly were completely gone and her breathe evened out and deepened as exhaustion almost pleasantly weighed her down. She could think the woman's name in cadence with the gentle thumping underneath her as the calm and sleep overtook her. Tasha. Tasha. Tasha.. Tash.. Mama…