In this chapter; Evie is five and Elijah and Henry are two
Evie was always a quiet and thoughtful child; easily occupied with a story or a coloring book and generally well behaved. She never went through the 'terrible twos', so when the twins reached theirs; Clint and Natasha found themselves wholly unprepared.
Fury was stood in front of the six superheroes, lecturing them on their impulsive actions, irresponsible attitude and their disrespect for orders; when Natasha's phone started to ring. Fury glared at her as the other five members of her team dared to glance in her direction;
"Bad move widow" Tony whispered, as Natasha apologised and excused herself from the meeting in order to take the phone call.
Fury carried on his rant, only to be interrupted once again several minutes later;
"Sorry Director Fury, I need to speak to Clint for a minute"
"See this is exactly what I'm talking about! You have 60 seconds Barton!"
"Right sir"
Clint dived out of the room, thankful for the break;
"I'm so glad you pulled me out of there" he said with a smile, kissing Natasha while wrapping his arms around her
"Clint, Clint I really need to speak to you"
"Oh, you didn't just set this all up to get us out of there?"
"No, although now I wish I had" she smiled as Clint continued kissing her
"What is it?"
"That was the preschool on the phone. They need to see us"
"Both of us?"
"Yeah"
"That bad huh?"
"Your sons are too much like you"
"They're always my sons when they're in trouble"
"Well they're in big trouble and we have to go"
"Man, Fury is gonna kill us, do you think theres any way Pepper could go and-"
"Clint, Pepper took the day off yesterday to take Evelyn to the dentist"
"Oh yeah, what about Coulson? Couldn't he-"
"He's in Tahiti"
"Right. Hill could-"
"Clint, remember last night when we discussed how you desperately wanted more children? Well that's never going to happen if we can't control the ones we have"
"Right, okay. Let's go then"
"You go tell Fury we've got to bail, I'll go organise transport with Hill"
"But can't you tell Fury and I'll-"
"Clint. Your sons are in trouble; hurry up"
Clint and Natasha took the jet back to the tower to get changed (they were no longer allowed to turn up at the preschool in their work uniform; too many weapons, although they were still armed when they were in their everyday clothes; they were somewhat more discreet) before driving to the preschool.
"What do you think they did this time?" Clint asked as they sat in traffic.
"Can't be any worse than last week"
"The paint fight?"
"No"
"The time they convinced all the other kids it was 'don't wear pants day'?"
"No"
"Oh, when they stole all the snacks and ate them before the others could have any?"
"No, the time they snuck out and hid in the supply closet; the staff were so worried they called the cops"
"Oh yeah... I forgot about that..."
"What do you think is wrong with them lately? They were always so well behaved"
"Maybe it's the preschool... They're always well behaved at home"
"Clint, last week they cut Evie's hair"
"Oh right yeah. We're never gonna have more kids are we?"
"It's not looking likely"
When they reached the preschool the manager was waiting for them with Elijah and Henry in her office.
"Mr and Mrs Barton" she greeted them sternly as they entered. Elijah climbed into Natasha's lap and was asleep within the minute. Henry sat on Clint's knee and sat quietly while the adults spoke.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this Mr and Mrs Barton; but if your sons don't improve their behaviour soon we'll be forced to suggest they attend a different preschool"
"What did they do this time?" Clint asked, looking down at his sons; Henry sat on his own knee, playing with the buttons on his top, while Elijah slept in his mothers arms, clutching her hand in his while he dozed. The two of them looked so angelic and well behaved; how could they be so mischievous when he and Natasha weren't there?
"Elijah and Henry built a fort and refused to come out for nap time, then they threw blocks at anyone who tried to approach them, and injured several members of staff"
"They're two. How much 'injuring' could they do?" Natasha asked sceptically
"We had to call the paramedics"
"Oh"
"We would appreciate it if you would talk to your sons. We know you're both busy, and your daughter was always well behaved when she was here, but this has gotten out of control, I can't keep calling you every other day and my staff can't look after an entire class when your sons are acting up. Have you ever considered separating them? Putting them in different classes may help"
"We'll talk with them Miss. Sargeson, I don't think it'll come to separating them. I'm sure it'll be fine"
"Well we'll see Mr Barton. Thanks for coming down to collect them early. I hope I won't be seeing you both too soon"
"Goodbye"
Natasha sat at the table rubbing her temples;
"Maybe we should consider splitting them up Clint?"
"No. They're brothers; best friends. It's not fair on them"
"But they're not behaving. I don't understand. Is this our fault? Are we doing something wrong?"
"Tasha no, they're fine. They're just being boys"
"Boys who sent someone to the emergency room today Clint!"
"They're the sons of two assassins, what more do you expect?"
"Exactly my point, this isn't normal behaviour"
"Look, we'll talk with them, and see how that goes. Okay?"
"So did you talk to the boys?" Pepper asked over a glass of wine that evening
"Yeah, we shouldn't have any more issues"
Natasha sighed. She was not as optimistic as Clint was that they'd solved the problem.
"They said; 'they liked being naughty because then we pick them up early'" Natasha explained
"Oh" was all Pepper responded
"Exactly" Natasha replied
"It's not that bad, we spoke to them and they'll behave from now on" Clint told them both confidently
The two women raised their eyebrows at him, and in that moment Tony realised his girlfriend had probably been spending too much time with the assassin.
"Well if you ask me-" Tony began
"No one did" Natasha interrupted
He continued anyway;
"You guys deserve what's coming; you had it too easy with Evelyn, she was too good. Now you have a dynamic duo going through the terrible twos, and what's worse; they're exactly like birdbrain"
"Thanks a lot Stark"
"They'll get through it and you'll all be fine. But it's gonna be a lot of fun watching you try!"
"Just you wait Stark, I bet you'll have kids one day; and I hope they're as much of a pain as you are!"