Kayla took a deep breath as she lowered herself into the downward dog position in their living room between the windows and the couch. It was Steve's fourth day of work at his new job, and Kayla was creating a routine for herself and her little family. One that included waking up at seven, feeding the kids, then letting Sarah rest in her bouncer while James was allowed to crawl around the super-baby proofed living room.
This allowed Kayla a little downtime for herself, which was needed. The former socialite- criminal- Avenger wasn't used to being a stay at home mom, and as much as the little ones needed her, she was already bored.
It had been seven days.
A loud knock came from the front door around eleven o'clock, and Kayla's head snapped up to look toward the noise. Zawadi began to bark loudly and run at the door, pawing at it as Kayla pushed herself to her feet. She adjusted her tight sports bra as she trotted to the door to see who was there. Kayla looked through the peephole and, seeing the person on the other side wasn't someone trying to arrest her and her husband, decided to open up.
She swung open the door and came face to face with a short brunette with thick hair that fell to her midback. She was at least ten inches shorter than Kayla and curvey, dressed in black jeans and a button-down blouse. "Hello?"
"Oh, uh, hi. I'm Tessa- Tessa Davis. I'm your neighbor." The shorter woman stammered, holding out a covered plate of cookies out to the auburn-haired woman in yoga attire. "I made you cookies to welcome you to the neighborhood. I'm-uh, sorry to interrupt." She gestured to Kayla's clothing after handing over the plate.
"Oh, yes, no worries, come on in." Kayla opened the door a little wider and gestured for the woman to enter, not wanting to seem suspicious. At the newcomer, Zawadi tried to jump up on her, but the woman backed away from the massive dog as Kayla pulled back on his harness. "Sorry about him, he's really friendly, I swear." She groaned as she pushed a strong hand to the end of his spine to make him sit. Zawadi sat obediently and panted, waiting for the new woman to greet him as Kayla knelt beside him.
She approached cautiously, patting the massive creature on the head, "What kind of dog is he?"
"He's a Rhodesian Ridgeback. I got him from a shelter when he was just a puppy. Didn't realize what he was until much later when we did a breed test." Kayla huffed as she gave the dog a kiss on the snout. "Thanks for the cookies!"
"You're welcome..." Tessa trailed off, realizing she hadn't gotten the woman's name.
"Kathryn," Kayla answered, aware that she hadn't used her new name yet. "Kathryn Carter, but you can call me Katie if you'd like."
"Nice to meet you, Katie. I won't keep you, I just wanted to stop by and say hello, if you need anything don't be a stranger. My boyfriend owns the house next door, I actually just moved in a couple of months ago myself." Tessa explained, looking around the house as she took a step back toward the door.
Kayla looked up at the woman, then rose, putting her hand down to keep Zawadi sitting. "You don't have to leave. I mean, you can, if you want to. It's just me and the kids until my husband gets off of work. It's actually kind of nice to talk to someone who's ass I don't have to wipe."
Tessa laughed loudly and pushed back her dark hair, "I mean, I'm not in any hurry to go anywhere." Kayla gestured toward the couch and Tessa entered the Carter residence as she looked around. "Nice place you got here."
"Thanks. Its a work in progress. A bit of a fixer-upper. I'm gonna started painting the upstairs rooms this weekend. Then my husband and I are going to re-do the counters and floors in the kitchen. All the fun stuff. I've already started picking out new appliances, but we needed furniture first." Kayla listed with her hands on the soft curve of her hips. "Can I get you something to drink? Water? Milk? Wine?"
Tessa chuckled again, "Waters fine, thank you." She sat on the tan couch that faced the large windows overlooking the street. She imagined they were planning on placing a tv there at some point, but for the moment it was just the couch and a reclining chair in the corner. Tessa looked to her right as she sat, seeing the infant in the bouncer for the first time, "Oh, she's adorable!" She cooed as she leaned over. The little girl wore a little pink dress that said Daddy's Little Girl on the front.
"Yeah, Steve insisted she needed that." Kayla mumbled teasingly as she stepped over the baby get to reenter the living room. "That's Sarah. She's about three weeks old now."
"She's very tiny." Tessa droned quietly, smiling down at the child without thinking much about her words.
"Yeah, not like her brother," Kayla added as she looked around. "Speaking of which..." She handed Tessa the plastic water cup and went looking around the room. The brunette watched the taller woman as she looked around the couch, having an 'ah hah' moment as she scooped up a large toddler. "This is James. He's about eight months."
"You have a three week old and an eight-month-old?" Tessa asked, looking up as she tried doing the math in her head.
Kayla understood her confusion and quickly answered, "He was a snap baby."
"Oh."
Kayla sat down on the tan couch next to Tessa and bounced James on her lap. "Yeah, but everyone's back now, so that's all that matters." Kayla pushed back the boy's blonde hair which must have come from his father seeing as it looked nothing like Katie's.
"I was one of the vanished," Tessa said quietly, leaning back against the soft cushions as she took a long drink of her water. "It's why my boyfriend has a house now. Lucky for me he didn't move on while I was gone."
Kayla smiled, gazing off through the open window wistfully, "That has to be very hard. What's he been up to all this time?"
"Working. Saving money. I'm hoping for a ring soon." Tessa replied quickly, setting her cup down on the table next to the couch. She noticed Zawadi wander up and lay across her feet, but she didn't mind.
Kayla hummed thoughtfully, bouncing James on her knee, "That would be exciting..."
Tessa smiled to herself as she picked up her water and took another long drink, staring out the window with a hopeful smile, clearly imagining a proposal from her longtime beau.
James began to get frustrated in his mother's arms and she set him on the ground to continue crawling around. He cruised quickly on hands and knees for a baby, and Zawadi perked up and followed the child as Kayla leaned over Tessa to see Sarah still smiling happily. "So what do you do for a living, Tessa?"
"I work at the coffee shop downtown. Well, I own it actually." Tessa admitted, a slight blush creeping onto her round cheeks
Kayla gave the woman an impressed stare, "Wow, good for you. I'll have to stop by sometime."
"You should, I'll give you a good discount." Tessa winked, and Kayla tossed her hair back and laughed. Tessa studied the woman, taking in her familiar appearance. She could swear the woman's face was someone she met before, but she didn't remember ever meeting Kathryn Carter.
Suddenly Kayla raised her head to address her neighbor, "Are you free next Friday night? Maybe you and your boyfriend could come over for dinner?"
Tessa inadvertently balked a little, not prepared for the invitation, "Oh, yeah, sure! We'd love to."
"Cool. I'll try to stop by the shop this weekend while Steve's off. I need a break from the kids." Kayla moaned moments before she heard the kitchen table scrape along the floor. Both women propped themselves up to see what caused the noise and found Zawadi cowering under the table as James giggled. Kayla immediately knew it was her son, not her dog who moved the heavy table, but how was she supposed to explain that to her new friend? "Zaddi! Careful around the baby." She chastised lightly and Zawadi whimpered as she strolled over to pick up her son. "I've got to change this one, but I'll see you soon?"
"Yeah, I better get going. Ryan's gonna be home in a few hours. His brothers are coming to visit this weekend so I better finish cleaning up the house, but it was nice to meet you, Katie."
"Thanks for stopping by." Kayla beamed as she led Tessa to the door. "Have a good day."
"You too." Tessa said, a hint of suspiciousness in her voice as she left the Carter household. After Kayla closed the door, she leaned against it, holding James against her hip.
"Where'd the cookies come from?" Steve called as he washed his hands in the kitchen sink, seeing the tin foil-covered plate on the counter. He felt gross but relieved to be back home with his family. Coming home to his wife and kids reminded Steve why he was doing this. To give them a normal life.
"Tessa Davis. She lives next door with her boyfriend." Kayla hollered back from the downstairs bathroom she'd locked herself into to have some alone time now that her husband was present to watch the kids.
Steve nodded understandingly as James bumped into him, pushing himself to sit on his butt and yank on the leg of Steve's jeans. "She nice?"
"Yeah, she's really nice. She hung out for a while. It was so nice to talk to an adult." Kayla yelled through the door, and Steve chuckled to himself as he picked up James in his left arm before leaning down and picking up his tiny daughter in his right hand. Kayla finally emerged from the bathroom, her long thick hair pulled up into a dark bun on top of her head. "How was work?"
"Work is work," Steve grunted, leaning against the counter with a kid in each arm, "It's easy. Moving stuff. Driving machinery. It's not hard."
"Easier than fighting aliens and evil robots and traveling through time?" Kayla joked and Steve nodded, smiling weakly. Kayla took Sarah from Steve and cuddled the little girl against her chest as Steve hoisted up his boy to look him in the eyes. "Go get cleaned up. I'll get these two fed then start dinner. Also! Your son moved the kitchen table all by himself today."
"Oh did he?" Steve teased as he smiled grandly at his wife, but she just stuck her tongue out at him. She narrowed his eyes and he took James up to the master bathroom with him so the child could crawl around the safe, empty space while he showered and got ready for dinner.
Author's Note:
Nikkita Star- Oh hai there friend! Thanks for joining the community! I also love domestic Steve he's the most precious and I adore him and did I mention I love him! Get ready for shenanigans with the kids (especially when they get a little older) and a whole of of your main man Tony Stark!