The sound of quiet giggling drew Wanda's attention as she and Clint sat in the shade together, finishing lunch.
From down by the roadside stand she could see a flicker of movement, not quite hidden by the corner of the wooden counter, and with a questioning glance at Clint she stood to investigate.
Wanda dusted the crumbs from her fingers on the apron that Laura had given her to protect her dress from paint drips, padding slowly across the front lawn. She heard the giggling again as she got closer, and this time she was able to identify the voice clearly as Lila's.
"You three are not as stealthy as you think yourselves to be," Wanda informed the children as she stepped around the corner of the counter, causing all three children to gasp and whirl to face her in surprise. The three of them had traces of red at the corners of their mouths and their hands held behind their backs, and she raised an eyebrow at them in question.
"Whoops...busted," Cooper mumbled without an ounce of shame.
Before she could ask what was going on, she caught sight of Cassie's little hand frozen where it had been reaching up over the edge of the stand to grab a plastic clamshell of strawberries off the counter.
"Ah! Vy ozornyye malen'kiye kotyata!" Wanda scolded affectionately, chasing the trio of giggling children away from the strawberries with a wave of her apron as she bit back a laugh."Get your paws out of those!"
"But siiiiiiis," Cooper grinned, backing away with his ill-gotten prize held safely behind his back as the younger girls tried to hide behind him. "There's plenty there to share with us, right?"
"I'm supposed to be selling those, not feeding them to you," she laughed, making a half-hearted grab at the boy, which he easily dodged.
"Just say you sold them to us!" Cassie reasoned, stuffing another berry in her mouth before turning to run away from Wanda as she took a few quick steps in the girl's direction.
"Run, Cassie!" Lila cried with a smile, and Wanda whirled to chase her younger sister instead, sending the girl running toward the house with a squeal.
"Wanda, Wanda, can't catch me!" Cooper yelled from behind her as she was closing in on Lila, and she obligingly turned to chase the boy instead, letting Lila escape.
"Get 'em, Wanda!" Clint called from the porch, laughing as she finally managed to corner Cooper at the edge of the yard - the border of their allowed play area.
"You're such a great help, you know that?" she called back to Clint dryly, making another grab at her brother as he tried to run past. She caught the boy up in her arms, tickling his side to distract him as she confiscated his half-eaten carton of strawberries.
"Troublemaker," she scolded with a grin, taking a bite of one of the sweet strawberries for herself as she crossed back to Clint, Cooper following at her heels with a sly smile.
"You all should know by now you can't fool Wanda," Clint chuckled, taking one of the strawberries when she offered the container out to him. "It's like she can read your minds. She always knows when you're out causing trouble."
"Yeah, well," Cooper shrugged, grabbing another berry. "One day we'll fool her."
"You can try, myshka," she said affectionately, ruffling his hair. "But you will have to squeak a lot more quietly when you cause trouble, or the big bad cat will hear you."
"Oh please, you're hardly more than a kitten," Clint said, reaching to ruffle her hair in turn and startling a laugh out of her. "Come on, then, we've only got another few feet of banister and rails to go, then we can call it a day."
Wanda passed the plastic clamshell of strawberries back to Cooper, who took it from her with an enormous grin before running off to find his sister and Cassie.
Fishing her paintbrush out of the half-empty paint gallon, Wanda took up a spot at the porch railing once more, layering white across the top as Clint started in on the vertical posts.
They worked in relative silence until the crunching of gravel drew their attention up to the driveway.
"I believe that's your ride," Clint grinned, and Wanda smiled as she caught sight of a sleek, black sports car pulling into the driveway. "You'd better go get washed up. You've got paint on your nose."
"Keep Vizh busy for a minute," Wanda said, scrambling to her feet and brushing dust from her legs before darting for the door.
"Sure, I can do that. I'll make him help me carry all the heavy stuff around back," Clint told her, a grin in his voice.
"Be nice," she called over her shoulder, trying to hide her own smile as she ducked into the bathroom to clean up.
"Sure thing, kiddo. I'll only threaten him a little," Clint's voice echoed in after her, accompanied shortly after by Cooper's call of "Wanda and Vision, sittin' in a tree-" from somewhere in the living room.
Wanda rolled her eyes in fond exasperation, peering into the mirror as she scrubbed at the white splotch on her nose.
By the time she'd managed to get all of the paint off of herself, strip off her apron, claw her hair into order, and head back outside, Vision and Clint were both sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch, chatting.
"Wanda," Vision greeted her with a smile, scrambling to his feet and running a hand awkwardly through his blond hair before opening his arms tentatively, offering a hug. Wanda cheerfully tucked herself into his embrace, pressing a little kiss to his chest.
Darling man, still so shy even after months of dating. She adored him.
"You two coming back here for dinner?" Clint groaned, pushing himself to his feet, and Wanda turned in Vision's arms to face her father as her boyfriend nodded.
"I was told that Laura will be making pizza," Vision smiled.
"Sure is. You have any toppings you like?" Clint asked, dusting his hands together before hooking his thumbs through his belt loops.
"I am fine with anything, and I am particularly fond of bell peppers," Vision replied, bowing his head a little.
"Mushrooms, onions, and sardines," Wanda smiled, but Clint shook his head with a smirk.
"Laura banned smelly fish from pizzas. Mushrooms and onions we can do, though."
"Natasha would be very disappointed."
"There's only so much 'Russia' the rest of us can take in our humble, all-American meals," he smirked, reaching to ruffle her hair. "We'll let you try talking her into paprikash for Sunday night, how's that sound?"
"I can live with that tradeoff."
"Are you all set to go, Wanda?" Vision asked, and she turned her attention back up to him with a smile.
"Yes, I am. What time for dinner, Papa?"
"Does seven give you kids enough time for whatever you've got planned?"
"That should be fine," Wanda replied, standing on her tiptoes to nuzzle the tips of her and Vision's noses together when he leaned down with a smile. "We'll see you then."