So I fell behind a day and am trying to play catchup. So I write this super fast(within 30 minutes). It isn't anything like I wanted it to be, but I do not have time to pick at it so enjoy the chaos. Thanks for stopping by!
Natasha stifled a yawn as she sat her bag down on the porched and raised a hand to knock on the screen door. She didn't even have time to make contact before it flew open and two bodies rushed at her. She staggered slightly as they tackled her legs and she grabbed the porch rail for support.
"Woah boys." She laughed and steadied herself before swiping the youngest up onto her hip and hugging the other to her side.
"Aunt Nat!" Cooper hugged her tightly. "I missed you!"
"Miss you too!" Nathaniel wiggling in her arms.
"I was just here a few days ago." Natasha shook her head with a smile. "You two are crazy."
"Rumor has it that they get that from their Aunt." Clint appeared in the doorway and smiled. "Hey Nat."
"Hey Barton." She gave him a hug with her free arm.
"Aunt Natty!" Lila suddenly wiggled between them, hugging her fiercely.
"Hey kiddo." Natasha ruffled her hair. "Where's Laura?"
"Kitchen!" She heard Laura call from inside the house. "Hey Nat!"
"Hey!" Natasha laughed and nudged Cooper. "Let's go inside Coop, it is starting to rain."
"I've got your bag!" Cooper grabbed the backpack and drug it inside. Clint shut the door behind them and Lila ran off towards her room. Cooper sat off towards the kitchen, chattering the whole time.
"You're gonna spend the night?" Nathaniel twisted in her arms to give her a very serious look.
"Yeah, I am going to spend the night." She smiled.
"You sure you can handle this mess for two days?" Clint chuckled as they walked towards the kitchen together.
"It is just three kids…and a couple of animals…what could go wrong? Besides, I am a highly trained agent. I've got this."
"Ha!" Clint laughed. "That is what I told myself when Lila was born."
"I remember." Natasha grinned. "But in all seriousness, I've babysat for you two before."
"That was just Li, and she was two."
"What is two more?"
"Don't give him any ideas." Laura smiled as they entered the kitchen. She moved the pan of spaghetti off the burner and crossed the room to embrace Natasha. "Hey girl."
"Hey momma. How is it going?"
"Oh, it goes. It never stops going, actually." Laura laughed. "I'm sure you know a thing or two about that though." She looked meaningfully at Clint. "Someone has to babysit him when I am not around."
"Hey! I am perfectly capable of handling myself!"
"Right." The two women said in unison and shared a smile.
"I am feeling very attacked right now."
"I help you!" Nathaniel blew a raspberry on Natasha's neck and giggled. "Rawr! Leave daddy alone!"
"Thanks for the backup kiddo." Clint laughed and snagged him from Natasha's arms. "Are you going to be a good boy for daddy while I am gone?"
"'Course!" The little boy grinned.
"We really appreciate it, Natasha." Laura leaned against the counter.
"No problem! It is your anniversary after all. Go relax, sleep in, don't cook for a few days." Natasha smiled. "We'll hold down the fort here, right Nate?"
"Right!" He grinned at her from Clint's hip.
"Well, dinner is ready to go and I've got everything pretty much prepped and ready to be cooked for the next couple of days. There is a cheat sheet on the fridge for the animals. They are out of school for the summer, so no homework or anything to worry about. Um…" Laura tilted her head as she tried to remember anything of importance. "I can't think of anything you don't know. You are around here often enough to know the routine."
"You aren't lying." Natasha chuckled.
A short while later everyone was assembled at the door. Clint had already loaded his and Laura's bags into the truck and the kids were gathered around them, chattering noisily. Laura was fretting, reminding the kids to brush their teeth and make sure they put on clean underwear. Clint was reminding Cooper to feed the dog and Lila to take care of the goats. Natasha leaned against the couch and watched them, amused by the whole thing.
"You are going to miss your flight." She finally said. "We will all live for two days. Promise."
"You're right." Clint chuckled. "Alright kiddos, come here." Clint hugged Cooper and ruffled his hair. "Be good bud, I love you."
"Love you too dad. Love you mom." Cooper moved to hug Laura.
"I love you too sweetie. Now go eat before dinner gets cold. Come here dear." Laura pulled Lila into a hug and kissed her cheek. "Help your aunt keep the boys in line, ok?"
"I will mom." Lila smiled. "I love you. Have fun."
"I love you too." Laura picked Nathaniel up as Lila followed her brother to the kitchen. "And last but not least, my little man." She kissed her cheek and blew a raspberry. The little boy giggled and blew one back on hers, a grin on his face. "I love you buddy."
"Love you too mommy." Nathaniel hugged her neck. "Be back soon?"
"Yes sir. Just two days." Nathaniel nodded before twisting towards Clint, reaching towards him. He picked his youngest son up and gave him a hug before tickling his sides.
"I love you buddy." Clint smiled as the boy giggled.
"Love you too daddy. I be a good boy!"
"I bet you will be." Clint chuckled.
"Bye bye!" Nathaniel kissed his cheek before reaching for Natasha. "We eat now, Aunt Natty!"
"Yeah, we can go eat." Natasha smiled and took him from Clint's arms before hugging him, then Laura. "Y'all have fun and stay safe. See you in a few days!"
"See ya, don't burn my house down." Clint teased before ushering Laura out the door.
Natasha took Nathaniel into the kitchen and sat him down at the table in his booster seat before setting a pooh-bear plate full of spaghetti in front of him. Cooper and Lila ate quietly while Nathaniel chattered, waving his fork through the air and flinging the occasional noodle. Natasha plucked them off the table and sat them on the edge of her plate, smiling as the little boy smeared sauce across his face. She loved Clint's kids like her own, but she had an especially soft spot for the youngest boy that they had named after her.
"Hey, Aunt Nat." Cooper said suddenly. "Remember when you spent the night last time?"
"Yeah!" Lila suddenly grinned. "When we made a pillow fort."
"Yeah!" Cooper nodded. "And watched a movie!"
"Let me guess." Natasha smiled. "You want to do that again?"
"Please?" They said in unison.
"I had already planned on it." She grinned. "If you are all finished eating, go stick your plates in the dish washer. I'll get the little man cleaned up and you two can get things started. Deal?"
"Deal!" They grinned at her.
"Last one to the living room is a rotten egg!" Cooper grabbed his empty plate and ran towards the kitchen.
"Walk!" Natasha called after him as Lila grabbed her plate and followed him. "Would you look at you?" Natasha couldn't help but laugh as she looked at Nathaniel. "I think you got more food on you than in your tummy."
"I ate lots!" Nathaniel grinned at her, pointing at Pooh-bear's sauce covered face. "Look!"
"I see." Natasha smiled. She grabbed his plate, carried it into the kitchen, and popped it into the dishwasher before returning to the little boy. She picked him up and carried him upstairs, straight to the bathtub. She pulled his pasta covered shirt off and tossed it into the laundry hamper.
"I already took a bath today!" Nathaniel pouted as she sat him on the counter.
"We are just cleaning you up. You look like a big meat ball!" The little boy giggled at that. Natasha grabbed a wash cloth and dampened it before wiping his face and arms down. He wiggled and squirmed under her touch, prolonging the process, but Natasha finally managed to get him clean.
"I clean now!" Nathaniel said matter-of-factly.
"Yes you are. Now then." Natasha grabbed him a fresh pair of clothes and helped him into them. "Let's go see what the big kids are up to."
"I'm a big kid too!"
"Oh, most definitely." She smiled. They made their way down stairs and Natasha looked around, impressed. The kids had drug all six dining room chairs into the middle of the living room, making two rows that extended from the couch. They had several pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags piled in the middle, making a comfy looking pit. They now stood on either side of the couch with two sheets in hand, looking confused.
"Aunt Nat, we can't reach to get the top on!" Cooper sighed exasperatedly.
"Yeah," Lila frowned. "We did everything else though!"
"I see that! Very impressive. Here, let me see that. You two hold one side." She sat Nathaniel down and he crawled into the middle of the mess of blankets, watching them. Cooper and Lila grabbed on side of the sheet and Natasha grabbed the other. They stretched it over the tops of the chairs and they secured it in place before doing the same with the second.
"There!" Cooper grinned and jumped up and down. "We did it!"
"Yay!" Nathaniel clapped and giggled from beneath the 'roof' of their fort.
"That is a fort to be proud of!" Natasha smiled. "Now then, Li, you get a movie going, and I'll go pop us some popcorn!"
"Popcorn!" Nathaniel squealed.
"What do we want to watch?" Lila looked up at her aunt.
"Something Disney for sure." That earned a smile. "Be right back."
Natasha retreated from the fort and into the kitchen. She grabbed a bag of popcorn from the pantry and popped it into the microwave. After it was finished she dumped the bag into a big bowl and carried it back to the living room. All three kids were standing outside their fort, waiting for her. They grinned as she entered the room and scrambled into the fort, arguing about who was going to sit where.
"Here Li." Natasha stooped and passed the girl the bowl before crawling in after them.
"I want to sit next to her!" Cooper made a face at his little brother.
"No, I want to!"
"Boys." Natasha said sternly and they both fell quiet. "There is room for everyone. Here." She sat against the middle of the couch and Lila sat on her left side. "Right here Coop." She patted the spot on her right and pulled Nathaniel into her lap. "See? No more arguing."
"Sorry Nate." Cooper reached over to ruffle his brother's hair in a very Clint like gesture.
" 's okay." Nate grinned at him. "Play the movie!"
"Yeah!"
Lila passed the popcorn to Cooper and crawled over to the tv stand. She hit play before crawling back inside, snuggling against Natasha's side. She wrapped her arms around the kids and Nathaniel snuggled against her chest, his eyes glued to the movie. It did not take long for the four of them to end up stretched out on the pallet. Lila dropped off first, her back pressed into Natasha's side. Cooper went next, his head resting on Natasha's shoulder. Nathaniel hung on the longest, invested in the story of the two lions, but he did not make it more than half way through the movie. He fell asleep on Natasha, his head resting on her chest.
Natasha grabbed an extra blanket and draped it over Lila before grabbing the second and pulling it over herself and the boys. She wrapped an arm around Nathaniel and couldn't help but smile as she looked at her nieces and nephews. If someone had told her all those years ago that she would love Barton like a brother, she would have scoffed at them and told them how obnoxious he was. And if they had told that he would get married and she'd be best friends with his wife, she would tell them that she had no friends, that friends only got you hurt. But if someone had told them that she'd love their kids like they were her own, she would have laughed in their faces and probably shot them for talking nonsense. Natasha Romanoff did not love anyone, she did not let anyone get close, and she did not like children. Yet, here she was in a pillow fort with three of her favorite people in the world. She'd undoubtedly be sore in the morning from sleeping on the floor, but it would be worth it. Because after all, even a master assassin had room for a little love in their heart.