Hi. I know tgis chapter is really short. I just felt like posting something new. Please continue to comment and I'll continue to write. I expect to update pretty soon. And, again, thank you sooooooo much to those of you who have commented.

I woke up to the sound of a mechanical beeping. Next came the blinding light and the confusion of not knowing where I was. Slowly, the light began to define itself into shapes and colors, and I was able to, at least, partly decipher my surroundings. I was on a comfortable bed with a brown quilt laid over me. Not a hospital, yet there was medical equipment connected to my body, not much, only a heart monitor.

I slowly drifted my head to the side, and that is when I saw it. A red piece of silk that was tightly wrapped around something. Seeing it brought back the memories of what had happened. It brought to my head a thousand questions which would have to wait to be answered. For the time being, however, I would conform with investigating the red silk. I reached towards it, which was not hard, since it was directly next to my head. I slowly unwrapped the object of my curiosity, and uncovered a pair of ballerina shoes: well cared for, yet worn down with age.

"Your mother used to dance when she was your age." A quiete voice ran from the doorway. It sounded thick with emotion, with nostalgia.

The speaker approached the bed, until he entered my line of sight.

"How are you feeling?" He offered me a tentative smile. He was handsome, with dirty blond hair and grey blue eyes. His voice appeared familiar, and it did not take me long to pair him up with the man I had spoken to on the phone. The man my mother refused to talk to. Which reminds me:

"Where is she?"

"In the room next door. She needs to rest."

He seemed to know exactly whom I was talking about.

"You need to rest as well."

My head was spinning. This man knew my mother; knew her well enough to know that she danced when she was younger. He could be her friend. He could give me answers; or he could be one of her enemies.

The stranger seemed to read my mind.

" I won't hurt you Natalia. I would never hurt you." "Do you want to see your mother. She is sleeping now, but she said to wake her as soon as you woke up."

That was strange. I might not have known Natasha Romanov for a very ling time, but I do pride myself in being observant. And my mother is not the type who would fall asleep in the presence of someone whom she did not trust completely. Did she trust this man? And, if so, why did she refuse to speak with him so vehemently.

"No. Let her rest."

He smiled, yet his eyes continued to fill up with unshed tears.

"Okay. Do you need anything?"

"Who are you?"

"Someone who loves your mother very much, and you too."

Then it hit me. My father. He had to be. Yet how? How could he be? Why?

"Are you my father?"

The stranger froze.

"Why don't you rest? We can all talk later."

And he walked away, giving me another smile, but that was the only answer I needed; the only confirmation. He was my father.

Please comment. And consider this a mini-chapter :) A sneak peak of what is to come.