After several short but intense missions Natasha and Clint were given some much needed R&R. Clint's was longer, since he'd been on a long mission before Strike Force Delta had been sent out, so he hadn't rushed right home to Laura and the kids. He and Natasha had both been looking forward to spending some downtime together just as best friends. So Clint was staying with Natasha for a few days, and would head home after Sunday dinner at the Carters. For now the pair were camped out on Natasha's sofa with pizza, beer, snacks, and Nintendo. Clint was in his comfy sweats and his favorite faded t-shirt. He had been wearing his favorite flannel but Natasha had stolen it for herself, putting it on over the baby pink tank top she was wearing with her heather gray lounge pants.

The pair was in the midst of a Mario Kart/Smash Bros tournament when there was a knock on Natasha's apartment door. She paused the game as she stood and glared at Clint, "Put the controller down, Barton."

Clint smirked as he set his controller on the coffee table and then faked a look of hurt. "It's like you don't trust me, Carter."

"I don't." Natasha walked over to the door and peeked through the peephole. She smiled instantly as she undid the chain and lock and pulled the door open. "Hey Peter, what's up little spider?"

Peter, still in his school clothes, smiles nervously up at the redhead. "Hi Ms. Natasha. I, um, I need to, um, talk to you, if that's, ok?"

Natasha smiled warmly at the boy as she raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Of course it's ok. Come on in, Petey."

Stepping into Natasha's apartment, Peter dropped his backpack by the door and went to move further inside but stopped, frozen in place, when he catches sight of the man sitting on Natasha's sofa.

Putting her hands on Peter's shoulders reassuringly Natasha smiles down at him when he looks up at her. "Peter, this is my best friend and partner, Clint Barton. Clint, this is Peter Parker, May's nephew."

Clint gives the boy an easy smile as he stands and walks over to him, holding out his hand for a handshake. "It's nice to meet ya kid. Nat talks about you all the time. Says you're a pretty smart cookie."

The boy blushes and grins bashfully as he shakes the man's hand. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Barton, sir."

Bashful Peter was almost as adorable as hyper excited Peter and the way he made Natasha smile, like the warmth she felt on the inside was glowing through her skin, made it evident that she adored the boy. Natasha could tell that Peter was nervous about something and easily picked up on the fact that he'd been hoping to speak to her privately. So she looked at Clint and smiled, "Alright Barton, you lost four rounds of Smash Bros and three rounds of Mario Kart. Pay up."

Clint sighed, a little overdramatically, and then grunted. "Fine, ice cream or cupcakes?"

Natasha hummed thoughtfully and then replied, "Cupcakes, a full dozen."

Walking over to the table behind the sofa Clint picked up his wallet and cellphone and slipped them into his pockets before putting on his shoes. "Kid, never play games with her with steaks involved. I don't think your allowance could afford her sweet tooth."

"Shut up Barton." Natasha tells the archer as she tosses him her car keys. "Be careful with her or else."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not the one with a lead foot." Clint replies as he catches the keys and heads out the door.

Once she and Peter are alone Natasha waves him over to the sofa before collecting the beer bottles off the coffee table and talking them to the kitchen. When she returns she has two cans of soda, a cherry cola for herself and grape for Peter. She holds out the can to him and smiles as she takes a seat on the sofa beside him. "So, what's on your mind little spider?"

Peter thanks her for the soda and then nervously fidgets with the can before looking up at her and saying, "You and Aunt May."

Natasha blinked, then once again raised an inquisitive brow. "What about me and May?"

"I'm really glad you two are dating, Ms. Natasha." Peter is quick to say, so that Natasha knows he's ok with her and May. "She's really happy, and it's been awhile since she'd been happy like this, and, well, just, please don't hurt her, ok?"

"Oh Peter," Natasha says softly as she reaches for the boy's hand, which she squeezes reassuringly. "I care about May, I care about her a lot, I care about you both, a lot. May makes me happy too, Peter. And I would never ever hurt her, hurt either of you, on purpose. I wish more than anything that I could promise with absolute certainty that everything will be perfect, but I can't, Peter. What I can promise is that as long as it's within my power to do so, I will do everything I can to keep making May happy."

Peter took in what Natasha was saying and finally after giving it a few minutes of thought he nodded. "Ok."

Natasha smiled as she reached out and ruffled the boy's hair. That had to be the cutest attempt at a shove talk anyone has ever tried. "You want to play Mario Kart or do you need to get upstairs? Does your aunt know where you are?"

Peter nodded to both. "I told her I needed to ask you something. She went upstairs to start dinner."

"Well, if Clint gets back before you head up you can take cupcakes up for dessert." Natasha said as she handed Peter the controller Clint had been using. "Ok, little spider, let's see if you got better skills than Barton."

Natasha meant what she told Peter. She would do everything in her power not to hurt May or Peter. She knew that her job put her at risk of doing just that, so the Black Widow became more think-first, act-second. She was a bit more cautious in the field, and didn't jump into the chaos head first quite so much. Still, there was always that risk, that dreadful chance of something going wrong, so Natasha savored every moment she had with May and Peter. She loved taking May out on the town, and when they would take Peter to the movies, or when May and Peter joined them for Sunday dinner in Brooklyn. Each moment spent together brought them closer and closer, and the closer they got, the more Natasha fell for May, and for the possibilities that May brought with her.

"May," Natasha said softly one evening in May's apartment. They were cuddling on the sofa, marathoning The Great British Bake Off, and Natasha had been working up to asking the other woman something all afternoon. When May hummed softly in acknowledgment Natasha continued, "I was wondering, if you're not busy the weekend of the fourteenth next month, if maybe you and Peter would like to join me in D.C.?" Natasha's gaze tracked May's movements as the other woman sat up and shifted so she was facing her. "The dance school I went to is celebrating a huge anniversary, and there's going to be a special performance featuring current and former students. Ivie, my former teacher's daughter, reached out and asked if I'd like to be a part of it, as a surprise for her mother, and I said yes."

May knew the significance of what Natasha was asking her. She understood from the way Natasha talked about ballet that it was so much more than just an enjoyable hobby for her. There were deep rooted emotional bonds to people Natasha had loved tied to her love and passion for the art. May's smile as she shifted once again so she was straddling Natasha's lap was radiant. Reaching out she cupped her girlfriend's face in her hands as she looked down into Natasha's blue-green eyes. "I would absolutely love to come and see you dance, Natasha."

Everything about the redhead lit up as she returned May's smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." May nodded before lowering her face to Natasha's to kiss her.

That's how Peter found them, May straddling Natasha's lap, Natasha's hands on May's ass, making out like a couple of teenagers. He rolled his eyes and made a gagging sound before announcing that there was a child in the room. The couple parted with laughter and as May moved off of Natasha's lap, the redhead apologized with a blush. All was forgiven when he was told about their pending trip to D.C. however, and the rest of the night was spent making plans.

Natasha was kept busy over the next several weeks. When she wasn't out of the country on a mission, she was in D.C. rehearsing, crashing in Sharon's apartment. When she did make it home to New York, she split her time between May and Peter, and her mothers. With one exception. After a mission she'd gone to England and then she'd stopped in New York on her way to D.C. to pick up something she'd had in storage. Performing again had her aunts on her mind, and after picking up what she needed Natasha headed to the Stark estate. Her trip to England had been to visit her Uncle Jarvis and Aunt Ana's graves. Her trip to the Stark estate had her visiting the mausoleum where her Uncle Howard and Aunt Maria were interred.

The weekend of the performance Natasha comes home to New York so they can take the train to D.C. together. Peter had been excited by the prospect of taking the train, and Natasha couldn't wait to share the experience with him. He was less thrilled at the idea of an evening spent watching ballet, but he really wanted to see Natasha dance so he'd bare it. Natasha had laughed when he'd said he'd been willing to watch borning ballet for her, and she promised they'd explore D.C. to make up for his suffering. They did just that Friday after they settled into their hotel. Peggy and Angie arrived on Saturday morning, so they had a late lunch with them before Natasha had to head to the performance space.

Walking into the bedroom of the hotel suite they were staying in May found Natasha sitting on the edge of the bed with her dance bag beside her. Her girlfriend's head was down, her focus on a black ballet slipper she held in her hand, her thumb rubbing absently at the soft silky fabric of it. "Nat?" She said softly as she walked over and put her hand on her girlfriend's back. "Honey, are you ok?"

Natasha looked up, she smiled but there was a hint of tears in her eyes. "I'm fine."

"You're not." May responded genty.

"I am, I promise." Natasha replied and then explained. "I was three when my Aunt Maria took me to see Swan Lake for the first time. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, it was love at first sight. It took her nearly a year to get my Mum to accept ballet lessons as my birthday present that year. There was, let's say baggage, involved because of a connection to my birth mother. But she eventually agreed, and ballet became a huge part of my life, I loved it. My Aunt Ana, she was a designer and seamstress, she made each and every one of my costumes. My family was always there to watch me, my moms, my Uncle Jarvis and Aunt Ana, Aunt Maria, Tony, hell even Uncle Howard would try and be at my recitals." Natasha sighs softly as she wipes away a stray tear. "I'm just missing them, is all."

May wrapped her arms around Natasha and held her close, offering up comfort and strength. She'd known that Natasha asking her and Peter to come had meant a great deal to the other woman, she just hadn't realized how much it truly meant until now. "They'll be there tonight, Nat, just like they always have been."

Natasha smiles, and kisses May thankfully. She lingers in her girlfriend's embrace for a little longer before finally standing to put her slippers in her bag and zip it up. She gives May one more kiss, and then grabs her garment bag and heads off to the vengue. She's excited, nervous, and a dozen other things, including happy because she was sharing something that meant a lot to her with a woman who was starting to mean the world to her.

May and Peter met Peggy and Angie in the lobby of the hotel. Angie coos over Peter, telling him how handsome he looked in his suit and tie, while the boy blushed and Peggy and May smiled as they watched. Because Natasha was a featured dancer they were given really good seats towards the front, and slightly off center. The first performance was a mix of the newest class of students and members of the first class of dancers. Natasha's would be after a brief intermission.

The piece of music Natasha chose had been composed during the war by a composer who was Easteran European and Jewish. It was one of the pieces she danced to that was a favorite of both of her late aunts. The music started off dark. Natasha, dressed in a black sequins chiffon and lace bodice, with a flowing knee length tulle handkerchief cut tutu, was knelt in the center of the stage, slightly doubled over, her hands over hear ears, arms around her head, as if she were corwaring. As the music swelled darkly and the spotlight became brighter, Natasha slowly unfolds herself in time with the music, and begins to dance. She is hauntingly graceful, and ethereally beautiful, as she tells the story of a frightened girl fleeing for her life in the midst of fear and darkness. She is simply exquisite. The majority of the dance is Natasha alone, but towards the end, as the music becomes brighter, happier, a male dancer joins her, and the story ends happily with Natasha and her dance partner locked in an embrace as the spotlight fades.

May is absolutely awestruck. She had seen the accolades and heard stories of how good Natasha was during dinner the handful of times she and Peter had gone with Natasha to Brooklyn, but May had always thought the stories were told from the perspective of proud and adoring mothers. They were not. Natasha was amazing, breaktaking, and stunning.

"You must be incredibly special to her, indeed." Peggy says warmly as she hands May a tissue. She smiles at the surprised look on May's face, clearly the younger woman hadn't realized she had tears on her cheeks. "Natasha hasn't performed that piece since the woman she created it for passed on."

Again May found herself in awe of this woman she'd fallen in love with. "Nat choreographed that herself?"

Peggy nods proudly. "As a gift for her godmother, Ana. It's her story Natasha tells. Ana was Jewish in Eastern Europe at the onset of the war. She met Edwin, they fell in love, and he helped her escape."

At the reception following the performance May's eyes scan the growing crowd until they find a shock of familiar red hair. She's desperate to get to Natasha before anyone else and quietly slips away to make her way across the room to her.

Natasha sees May coming and she smiles. As soon as May is close she asks, "So what did you think?"

Before May replies she pulls Natasha into a toe curling kiss and then tells her, "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Natasha blushes as brightly as her hair and May smiles as she reaches up to brush her fingers against the warmth. "Thank you for allowing me to see that. Your mom told me what the dance was about, who it was for."

"She would have liked you." Natasha says softly as she takes May's hand into her own and holds it to her chest. "My Aunt Ana, she would have adored you, and Peter."

"Oh?" May says softly as she looks into Natasha's blue-green eyes as the room and people around them fade away. "And why is that?"

Natasha smiles. "Because I love you."

They had danced around it, implied it, but had never said it in those three simple words before.

May smiles as she starts to close the distance between their faces and just before she kisses Natasha says, "I love you too."