In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah and Henry are four, and Natasha is five months pregnant. Jacob is four and Pepper is seven months pregnant
The Avengers (and their partners) were all required to attend a fundraising event in order to boost their public profile. Fury had arranged the whole thing; transportation, press coverage, he had the fantastic four on standby in case of an emergency and he'd cleared all their calendars. One thing he hadn't thought of was finding a babysitter.
He didn't tell the Avengers about it until the night before; not wanting to give them a change to find an excuse to get out of it.
"What are we supposed to do with Jacob?" Tony asked, when he realised Pepper was supposed to be joining him there.
"And what about Evelyn, Henry and Elijah?" Clint added. "All our usual babysitters are going to be at the fund raiser"
Between the six Avengers, Pepper, Jane, Coulson, Hill and the Fantastic Four; anyone who usually babysat for them would be with them, or on standby for an attack. Anyone looking after their kids had to be security cleared by SHIELD and with the event tomorrow; it was looking unlikely they'd find anyone.
Natasha volunteered her and Pepper to stay with the kids and Tony agreed it was a good idea; Pepper was seven months pregnant and he could almost guarantee she'd rather stay at home with her feet up than be dragged around a boring party in an evening gown. Natasha was five months pregnant and had been suffering with dizziness for the past few days; she was not enthusiastic about attending SHIELD events at the best of times and really didn't want to go to this one.
Fury told the team he'd rather Clint and Tony stayed home, he really wanted Natasha and Pepper there (they presented a better image), but assured them he'd find someone to sit.
He was saved from trying too hard when Darcy Lewis arrived in New York with Jane Foster.
"Ah Miss Lewis! You wouldn't happen to be free tomorrow night and want to babysit would you?" Fury asked, almost too politely; Natasha raised her eyebrows, she couldn't believe he was trying to suck up to her.
"Darcy was actually invited to the-" Jane began
"Oh I'd love to!" Darcy answered, she wasn't too thrilled about going to the party to begin with, and she loved spending time with the Avengers kids! It had been a while since she'd seen them last and felt guilty about getting so tied up with work. She was Evie's godmother and hated missing time with her.
Fury looked questioningly at Natasha who nodded her approval.
Darcy put some popcorn in the microwave and twirled round with Jacob in her arms while she waited for it to finish, he giggled hysterically and waved his arms in the air.
There was a bang as Elijah dropped the bottle of pop he'd been getting from the fridge
"Don't worry kid, we'll sort that in a minute" Darcy reassured him with a smile.
"Darcy why don't you visit us more?" Evie asked from her perch on the counter top
"I wish I could Evie, but my job is far away"
"Can't you get a new one? One close by?"
"I wish I could sweetie"
"I bet if you asked Uncle Phil he could get you a job with him. That's nearby! And then you could work with mommy and daddy"
"Then maybe Uncle Tony could give you a floor of the tower and you could live here with us!" Henry added, Evie looked at Darcy excitedly and nodded.
Darcy looked at her awkwardly, not knowing what to say. She didn't have to think of answer however when Clint called his goodbyes from the other room and the children all ran to say goodnight to their parents.
Natasha wore a floor length black gown, subtly showing her growing bump while Clint wore a smart black suit and purple shirt. Pepper joined them a minute later wearing a pant suit and a red top (it was the only nice thing she had which fit over her stomach) and Tony was right behind her in his usual attire.
The parents made the rounds kissing and hugging their children goodnight, warning them to be on their best behaviour, and assuring Darcy they all had their phones and wouldn't be back late.
"Aunt Darcy"
"Yes Henry?"
"It's my birthday next week! I'm going to be five! That's a whole hand! Look!" he held out a sticky jam-covered hand and waved it front of her face
"I know Henry; I was there the day you were born" she smiled, grabbing his hand and wiping it clean
"Aunt Darcy"
"Yes Elijah?"
"It's my birthday next week too!"
"I know sweetie, it's the same day as your brothers"
"Yeah but mines first!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"I'm older!"
"No! I am!"
"Darcy who's older? Me or Elijah?"
"Erm..." Darcy honestly couldn't remember, she'd not long since been able to tell the two of them apart!
"Elijah you're older" Evie answered
Damn, Darcy was going to guess Henry.
Now the film was over Jacob, Elijah and Henry really should go to bed... But a few more minutes wouldn't hurt...
They built a fort, essentially rearranging the whole layout of Clint and Natasha's floor to make it work. They dragged the new crib from the nursery and used it and the couch as the two walls. They used Henry and Elijah's bedding to soften the floor and used Clint and Natasha's bedding as the roof. They used stools from the kitchen as the back and propped the tv in front of it.
Jacob fell asleep wrapped in his Trex dressing gown on one of Evie's pillows in the fort.
Elijah and Henry decided to act out a fight scene dressed at Iron Man (Elijah) and Thor (Henry), although they both sulked off when Evie asked why Uncle Tony and Uncle Thor were fighting each other and not a bad guy. The only way Darcy could cheer them up was to pretend to be a villain and allow them to chase her round the apartment.
Eventually Evie joined in pretending to be her mom; initially the boys had just chased her round in circles but when Evie became involved there were strategies and plans of attack. Much more organised Henry chased Darcy down the hallway while Elijah gripped her leg tightly, forcing Darcy to drag him across the floor in order to escape Henry. Seemingly out of nowhere Evie jumped her and the four of them fell laughing to the floor.
Now exhausted, Darcy ordered two pizzas; a hawaiian for her and Evie and a margarita for the boys. Jacob had woken when the tackling debacle had resulted in a loud crash; he'd insisted he needed to wear his 'Capman Merican' outfit when he saw the others in their Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow costumes.
"Do you have a dress up costume Aunt Darcy?" Elijah asked, slightly preoccupied with the tub of Ben and Jerry's he was working his way through.
Darcy blushed slightly and moved the conversation swiftly on.
Another film over, and Jacob was back asleep on the armchair, still wearing his Captain America costume and clutching his toy shield.
The sound of the elevator alerted Darcy to the teams arrival, looking at her watch and seeing it past midnight she panicked; "Quick hide!"
Evie, Elijah and Henry darted behind the couch as Darcy tried to compose herself, sat in the midst of a fort and the credits of Finding Nemo still scrolling down the TV.
Natasha, Clint, Pepper and Tony walked into the room, turning on the lights and eyed Darcy suspiciously.
There were five plates piled on the floor, several cups of half finished pop dotted about the room and two empty pizza boxes. The four of them looked at the grown woman sat in a pillow fort watching a Disney movie alone and chose not to question it.
Tony scooped his son up and shook his head at his outfit; "I told you to buy him the Iron Man one!" he whispered to Pepper as they left. "He didn't want the Iron Man one Tony, he wanted the 'Capman Merican' one" Pepper replied as they boarded the elevator after offering their thanks to Darcy.
"I'll help you tidy!" Darcy said, scrambling to her feet, suddenly remembering the spilled bottle of pop still on the kitchen floor.
"I'm going to check on the kids" Natasha said
Darcy risked a glace behind the fort to see the three kids were still crouched there in their superhero outfits, not in bed asleep as they should be
"Erm, before you do that-" Darcy began, and then faltered at Natasha's expression.
"They're not in bed yet are they?"
"What? What do you mean? Of course they- No, they're behind the couch" Darcy admitted
"Evelyn, Elijah, Henry..."
"We're sorry mom!" Henry said, appearing from behind the couch
"Mom, I am older than Henry aren't I?" Elijah asked, not having forgotten the conversation from earlier this evening
"Mom, can Darcy babysit again one time? She's the best babysitter ever!" Evie said, strolling over to Natasha and hugging her.
"Sure she can Лингпаука, if she still wants to that is..."
Three excited faces turned to face Darcy who smiled and nodded.
Clint tidied the room, dragging the furniture into its original layout, while Natasha took the boys to bed, having some difficulty persuading them to take off their costumes, and Darcy took Evie to bed.
She tucked her in and read her favourite story, stroking her hair from her face she kissed her cheek and turned to leave. As she reached the door and switched off the light she heard Evie ask;
"Aunt Darcy, will you come back soon? I really miss you when you're gone"
"Sure I will sweetie"
"You promise?"
"I promise"