In this chapter; Evie is six and Elijah and Henry are three

Clint and Natasha had to go to an important SHIELD function; attendance was not optional.
They left their kids under the watchful eye of Tony Stark (after being left with no other choices)
several hours later they arrived back at the tower; surprised to find all three kids in bed fast asleep.
They thanked Tony, who left with a smug grin; "And ye had little faith"

Three hours later Henry appeared at their bedroom door, he tugged on Natasha's arm to wake her

"Moma, I can't sleep"

"What's up bud?"

"Scary dreams"

Natasha looked at the clock; It wasn't even 2am yet

"You want to sleep with me and your dad?"

He nodded enthusiastically, scooting over Natasha and snuggling down between his parents

Half an hour later Natasha felt Elijah climbing into the bed too, whispering to Henry to move up and make room.

At 3.30 Natasha felt another tug at her arm, more gentle than the last. She opened her eyes, not the least bit surprised to see Evie stood at her bedside.

"I had a nightmare" she told her mom, silent tears streaming down her face. Natasha shifted backwards slightly and Evie climbed in the bed, settling in Natasha's arms.

The twins behind her shifted and Natasha heard a loud bang as Clint fell out of bed. She struggled as she tried not to laugh, even through the darkness she knew Clint was glaring as he grabbed the spare pillow and lay back down on the floor

"Go to sleep on the couch or in one of the kids beds" Natasha whispered

"Too tired to move. G'night"

The next morning Natasha was woken when an elbow hit her sharply in the back. She rolled over to see Henry squirming in his sleep. His movements pushed his brother out of the bed, who landed on Clint. Natasha guessed it was not a pleasant way to be woken up judging by the cursing coming out of her husbands mouth, again she stifled her laughter as Clint stood, glaring at her once again.

"What the hell happened last night? How'd we end up with all three in our bed?"

"They couldn't sleep"

"All of them?"

"Unca Tony let us watch a scary movie" Elijah said sleepily, still dangling from Clint's arms

"Oh" Clint and Natasha said in unison, now it was making sense.

"I'm gonna kill Tony" Clint said, rubbing his stomach where Elijah had landed on him

"Told you we should have skipped the party last night"

"Next time, I'll fly to wherever the hell Darcy is and pick her up"

"You going to tell Stark he can't babysit his godsons again?"

"No, he lets us live here rent free! He'll just have to be supervised while he babysits..."

"Daddy, can we have pancakes for breakfast?"

"Sure we can Evie"

"Hey Stark, what do you call an appropriate film for kids?"

Tony looked at Natasha over the top of his laptop, sensing where this was heading

"Not The Gremlins?"

"Certain not The Gremlins"

"Sorry Nat, it's a classic! And they said they'd seen it before"

"And you believed them?"

"I'm sorry Nat"

"You're better off apologising to Clint; he's the one that slept on the floor..."