Week 1, Day 2
"Okay, are you ready?" Natasha smiled gently as Wanda solemnly looked down at the scarlet red shirt Natasha had picked out for her. She pulled on it, trying to see the design of a red spiral that vaguely resembled the same red flickers that typically came from Wanda's fingers. Natasha smiled and reached behind her for a small brown jacket almost identical to the one Wanda had worn when she was normal sized.
"Thank you" Wanda whispered as she slipped her small hand into Natasha's larger one. The fiery assassin grinned and stood up slowly as she and Wanda walked out to find Clint and Pietro.
"Ready?" Clint was grinning like a Cheshire cat as Pietro looked up at him with big blue eyes.
"Green is not my color" Pietro stated flatly as he picked at the shirt he was wearing. The archer raised his eyebrows; even though Pietro was only about five, he still had the sassiness that constantly accompanied his older self.
"We can find something blue. Let's go find your sister" Clint placed his hand lightly on Pietro's back, quickly withdrawing his hand when Pietro flinched away.
"You guys good?" Natasha asked as she walked up to Clint.
"Yeah, yeah we're great."
"Let's go" Clint said, enthusiastically and then slowly losing his enthusiasm as neither one of the Maximoff twins smiled or looked even remotely enthusiastic.
"How about a hug?" Natasha crouched down holding out her arms. Wanda shyly moved forward and wrapped her arms around Natasha's neck, burying her face in the assassin's neck. Pietro used his super-speed to run into Natasha's arms and then dart out as fast as possible.
"Take care of them" Natasha said softly, her eyes meeting Clint's as he walked into the Quinjet with a reluctant Pietro and a quiet Wanda.
"Clint" Laura smiled as she gave her husband an awkward one-armed hug while holding the baby. She noticed the two little kids huddled behind Clint and turned to her husband with a questioning look in her warm eyes.
"Laura, these are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff" Clint said as he carefully extricated their baby from his wife's arms. Clint cooed at little Nathaniel as Laura slowly walked over to the Maximoff's.
"Hi, I'm Laura, Clint's wife" Laura crouched down to the twins' eyelevel. Wanda smiled shyly and Pietro gave a little wave.
"Why are you so good with kids?" Clint complained teasingly as he watched his wife's interaction with the twins.
"Everybody's good with kids. You're just not" Laura replied as she slowly stood up and took baby Nathaniel back from Clint just in time as Lila and Cooper literally ran into their father.
"Hey guys" Clint grinned, swinging Lila up and ruffling Cooper's hair. Wanda and Pietro stared at the Barton family in what appeared to be awe.
"Who are they?" Lila asked as she squirmed to get out of her dad's arms.
"Guys, this is Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. They're gonna be staying with us for a while. You don't mind, right?"
"Do they like to color?" Lila queried.
"I don't know, why don't you ask them?" Clint suggested, watching as Lila walked over to the coffee table and grabbed a few markers and a few sheets of paper and handed them to the twins. Pietro looked at Wanda and the two Sokovians followed Lila to the table.
"Cooper, can you take Nathaniel?" Laura asked softly.
"Clint, I think we need to talk…"
"What?"
"We have a new baby. You just saved the world. And you still haven't finished the sunroom. And now we're adopting two more kids?" Laura wrapped her arms around Clint's waist, resting her chin on his shoulder.
"We're not adopting them. They'll just be staying with us for a…undetermined…time." Clint replied as he turned around and wrapped his arms around Laura's waist.
"I missed being able to do this," he murmured. Laura chuckled, a small smile breaking out on her face.
"Seriously, Clint" Laura pulled back a bit and looked him in the eyes.
"Alright, they have nowhere else to stay. We can't leave them at the Avengers facility and they can't stay with Tony. Can you really see Iron Man taking care of two five year-olds?" Clint asked.
"What about Natasha? She's great with kids" Laura suggested.
"Nah, Laura we're the only ones who really have anywhere remotely safe."
"Clint…just promise me that we won't be dragged into anything else."
"I promise" Clint said softly into Laura's dark hair.
"Good, let's go get dinner for our five hungry children" Laura smiled and linked arms with her husband.
"By the way, you're on cleaning duty."
12:52 a.m. Barton household
"Clint…Clint" Laura shook her husband's shoulder.
"What is it?" Clint asked, grabbing his gun from the nightstand. Laura quickly put her hand on the gun, gently pushing it down.
"I think it's the twins. Or at least one of them" Laura murmured, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Clint followed her down the hall to the guest bedroom where Pietro and Wanda were sleeping and where the sound of crying was currently coming from.
"Wanda? Pietro?" Clint knocked lightly on the bedroom door before opening it.
Pietro was curled in a fetal position, his hands pressed over his ears. Wanda was kneeling next to him, her hands against his head, red flickers flowing between her fingers. As Clint and Laura walked in, Wanda looked up.
"Please, please help him" she sobbed. Laura hurried to Wanda's side and hugged her gently.
"Shhh…shhh" Laura rocked Wanda as Clint gently rubbed Pietro's back.
He slowly moved Pietro's hands away from his ears, speaking soothingly the entire time. Pietro whimpered softly and squeezed his eyes tightly. Wanda mumbled something in what Clint assumed to be Sokovian, but Pietro just shook his head. She reached out a small hand and touched Pietro's shoulder. At his sister's touch, Pietro calmed noticeably.
"You okay now?" Clint asked quietly. He cupped Pietro's chin and lifted it slightly. Wanda had her face buried in Laura's shoulder, one hand wrapped around the sleeve of Laura's pajamas.
Pietro shook his head. Clint sighed and pulled Pietro so he was sitting in Clint's lap with his head resting on the archer's chest.
"You're okay" Clint soothed. Laura murmured soothingly into Wanda's hair. Pietro clung to Clint like a koala as Clint carefully picked him up and started to pace the room. He remembered doing this with Lila and Cooper when they were little and they needed to be calmed down.
"Honey, what are we going to do?" Laura asked softly. By now Wanda was practically asleep, her head tucked comfortably against Laura's neck.
Clint shrugged, careful not to jostle Pietro too much. The other Maximoff twin was also almost asleep, snuggled close to Clint.
"Let's put them back to bed."
-tbc-
AN – let me know what you thought! By the way the chapters will not all be posted this quickly. Hopefully they will be updated about once a week.
*Thanks to a Guest review, Laura is now introducing herself as Clint's wife, not husband (as it was previously).