Chapter 2: Family Time
Clint was hiding behind a snowbank, listening carefully to the sounds around him. He could hear a woodpecker hitting a tree, some other birds chirping in the distance. It was cold, he had been outside for probably about two hours now, but he couldn't be sure. He just knew he was so cold. Natasha sat down beside him. "What does it look like?" he asked.
"Two guards protecting the fort," she replied.
"Take them by surprise?" he asked.
"You know it," she replied with a smirk.
Clint rolled across the ground when a snowball was launched at his head and he stood up throwing one back. "Again! Again!" Luca called out as Katia threw another snowball at her father. He dodged that one as well as Natasha threw one at the kids and Luca giggled like crazy when it hit him and the three-year-old sat on the cold ground laughing his little head off.
"One down, Barton, one down!" she told him.
Katia got up from her fort and ran at Clint. "We have an attacker!" he called out as Katia jumped on him and he acted as though it was enough force to send him to the ground.
"Hands up!" Katia told him as she held a snowball in her hand.
"Okay, I give, I give!" he answered, his hands raised.
Natasha was laughing when a snowball hit her in the arm and saw Luca there. "He was pretending to be dead, I've been hit," she said feigning injury while the little boy jumped on her.
"Gotcha!" Katia said beaming, her grey eyes shining.
"Yep, you got us," Clint answered.
He sat up and Katia started walking away smugly. "But you forgot to tie up your prisoner," He told her as he ran up and started tickling her and the ten-year-old shrieked with laughter.
"No fair!" she said laughing, trying to wriggle away from her father's hands.
Clint chuckled as he stopped tickling her, grabbing her arm he got her onto his back as they started walking back to the house. "Christmas is a few days away, what do you want Santa to bring you?" he asked.
"A puppy," she replied, her arms around his neck.
Clint looked at Natasha who gave him the "You started this" look and he chuckled lightly. "A puppy? Don't you want a lizard?" he asked.
"No," she replied.
"A rabbit?" he asked.
"No," she replied.
"A goldfish?" he asked.
"No," she replied.
She kept her arms around his neck. "Come on daddy, you said if I got all A's on my report card before Christmas you promised a puppy," she insisted.
"I don't recall us ever making that type of arrangement," Natasha commented, making Clint wince.
Natasha looked at her husband with wide eyes. "Clinton Francis Barton are you making deals behind my back?" she asked. Katia was giggling at her parents and Clint cleared his throat.
"No, of course not, Nat. We talked about this," he commented.
"Oh really? When?" Natasha asked.
"That one night when we were in our room…" he said slowly.
"Okay, asking me questions during S-E-X doesn't count," she answered.
"What is that?" Katia asked.
Sure they had general discussions about that topic about the difference between men and women to their daughter, but the actual act wasn't something they were willing to share until she was at least twelve. "It's a game your mom and I play," he replied.
"A game we can't play right?" Katia asked.
"Not until I'm dead," Clint replied, getting a smack on the back of the neck from his wife.
Katia laughed as she kept her arms around her father as they walked back into the house.
They got the winter stuff off and Clint smiled at Natasha who smiled back at him before he went downstairs. "Where's dad going?" Katia asked.
"He's going to go work out," he replied.
Katia sat at the table to do her homework when Clint walked back up the stairs with a Siberian husky puppy in his arms. He walked over to his daughter and he placed the puppy in her arms making her gasp. "That's an early Christmas present," he told her. Katia gasped as she looked at the puppy.
"You actually got me one!" she said excitedly.
"Your dad and I picked her up yesterday," Natasha said smiling as she wrapped her arms around Clint's waist, her head resting on his shoulder.
"I love her, thank you so much!" Katia said excitedly as she stood up with the puppy under her arm and hugged her parent tightly with her free arm.
Clint smiled as he kissed the top of her head. "I love you so much," he whispered against her hair. Natasha smiled as she watched as their daughter ran off to play with the new puppy and he let out a sigh. "Hard to believe it was yesterday we were pushing her on the baby swing in the park," he murmured, "I'm going to blink again and she's going to be 18."
"I know, I don't want her to grow up anymore," she said with a sigh.
"Could try to have another girl?" he suggested wiggling his eyebrows as he spoke.
"Not unless you're the one carrying it and then pushing it through a hole the size of a tennis ball," she answered.
He chuckled lightly as he held her close and kissed the top of her head. "I'd get drugs," he commented making her pull back and punch him.
"You're an ass," she answered.
"Yeah, but you love me anyways," he said laughing still as he pulled her close.
"Always will," she answered, looking up at him.
Clint smiled, kissing her forehead gently as he held his wife in his arms. Natasha wrapped her arms around his back and closed her eyes. As nice as it was to be a mother to her children, she couldn't help but wonder about what was going to happen. Alexandra smiled as she dished out dinner and set the plates down in front of her kids and her husband before sitting herself. Chris smiled as they started eating their supper and the twins were trying to push their broccoli off their plates. "Hey you guys, you know the deal," Clint told his kids, chuckling lightly. They rolled their eyes as they kept playing with their food
"Ah the joys of parenthood," she commented.
"As always," he answered as he looked at their kids.
Katia was looking over at her new puppy that was laying in her bed staring. "Don't even think about it," Natasha told her daughter.
"Why do you guys always do that?" Katia asked.
"I'm your mom, I know what you're planning before you even do it," Natasha replied with a smirk.
The girl sighed and ate her dinner silently.
After they finally got their kids to eat their dinners, Natasha was in the shower getting ready to settle down for the night while Clint was in Luca's bedroom, getting the three-year-ready for bed. "Alright, here we go kid," he said smiling as he put him into his toddler bed, "Got Mr. T-Rex?" The little boy showed him the stuffed dinosaur, making his father smile.
"Stowy?" he asked.
"Yep," he replied as he grabbed the book and sat on a chair beside the bed.
The little boy listened to his father and before he was halfway through the story he was fast asleep. Clint closed the book, kissing the side of his head before he turned on the nightlight in the corner of the room. He stretched his back and left the room, turning out the lights as he did so.
He walked down the hall, peeking into Katia's room to find his daughter sitting in her room reading. At least she enjoyed doing that as her free time, didn't have to put a TV in her room. He closed the door, walking into the master bedroom as his wife walked out in nothing but a towel. "Hot stuff," he said with a smirk.
"Yeah, my body's not like it used to be," she commented.
"You look hotter after having two kids," he answered as he sat on the bed.
"And what I wasn't' hot before?" she asked.
"You know that's not what I meant," he answered.
She smiled as she pulled on a pair of his boxers and a t-shirt before she walked over and straddled her husband's lap. "The kids are in bed, what should we do now?" she asked as she draped her arms over his shoulders.
"I have a few ideas," he commented as he held onto her hips, pulling her a little closer.
He saw that her eyes were somewhere else though. "What are you thinking about?" he asked.
"How good things are," she answered.
"Things are pretty good here aren't they?" he asked smiling.
"Yeah, I'm wondering how long it'll last," she replied.
Clint kissed her throat. "Nat, we're in the middle of nowhere. We live under different names, our kid are enrolled under different names so no one can find us," he commented as he kissed her neck. She smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair. "For the first time in our lives, we're safe," he murmured.
"I do like the sound of that," she murmured, "Would be nice to after a while not sleep with a gun under my pillow."
"That would be nice," he answered smiling.
He pushed her hair from her eyes. "Trust me, Nat, we're just fine," he said softly.
"I hope so," she answered.
She leaned forward, kissing him deeply. Clint kissed her back, moving her onto their bed.