In this chapter; Evie is 12, Elijah & Henry are nine, Jacob is eight, Alexis & Oliver are five and Cecelia is four
Alexis Barton was definitely the easiest child in the tower to look after. She was forever smiling and laughing, always thinking of others; hyper aware of their feelings, and constantly tied to make everyone else happy.
So when she was being bullied at school she hid it; not wanting to upset her parents or worry her siblings.
But there was a downfall; Oliver stark, her cousin, was in her class. They were close in age and were best friends, occasionally Oliver wound Alexis up terribly, but on the whole they were incredibly close (much to Clint's dismay; Steve and Bruce often joked about the two of them getting married when they grew up)
Alexis never cried when she was hurt, never; she saw the upset and distress it caused others when her siblings and cousins cried. Oliver once asked her how she was so brave; "I have to be" was her only response.
A group of children in their class had started teasing Alexis when she'd turned up in her new glasses; stating that there was no was a kid with sight problems could be the child of two superheroes.
The bullying quickly spread to the older kids, (the school the kids attended was a small, and expensive, private school which ran right from preschool up to high school) and one day at recess Jensen Kent, the older brother of a boy in Alexis' class pushed her over and stole her glasses, refusing to give them back and teasing her about her eye sight. Jensen was much older than Alexis and Oliver; he was 13 and in middle school, but was known to pick on smaller kids if he thought he could get away with it.
Oliver had had enough and yelled at the older boy. He helped Alexis up and looked at her hands which were cut and grazed, but she made him pinky promise not to tell, and between them; pinky promises were sacred. Alexis told her parents she'd misplaced her glasses at school and Oliver was forced to keep the secret. The next day at recess Jensen started teasing Alexis again, so Oliver decided it was time to do something about it.
The Avengers were running over a plan for an upcoming mission with Coulson when Hill stormed in;
"Romanoff, Barton, Stark. The school wants to see you. Now"
"I better ring Pepper" Tony said
"She's on her way. She'll meet you in the lobby in five minutes"
This was a new experience for Tony and Pepper, never having been called into the school before. For Natasha and Clint, it was unfortunately a common occurrence.
The four adults walked down the corridor to the head masters office where they found Evie, Elijah, Henry and Oliver sat sulking; currently receiving a lecture on violence from their head master.
"Thanks for coming down so quickly" Mr. Cross stated. "I'm afraid I have to inform you that your children have been involved in a fight this afternoon"
Pepper looked at Oliver slightly shocked, he wasn't normally violent in the slightest, but then saying that; neither was Evie, and as mischievous as the twins were; they'd never once been in a fight before now.
"I've called you down to ask if you wouldn't mind taking them home early, we're not going to take this further due to the circumstances" he turned to address the children now "but it's important this does not happen again okay?"
The four children nodded and got up to leave
"Mr and Mrs Barton, could I speak with you for a moment longer?"
Tony and Pepper followed the children from the room
"The fight broke out as a result of your kids trying to defend Alexis"
"What happened with Lexie? Is she okay?" Clint asked worried
"She's okay. She might need some talking to later though. It seems one of the older children has been picking on her, but we're keeping an eye on the situation and the student in question has been suspended"
Clint stayed to talk to the headmaster while Natasha went to collect Alexis.
She found her sat alone on a bench outside her class room, miserably swinging her legs. As soon as she saw her mom approaching she burst into tears, running into her arms and clinging to her tightly as Natasha picked her up
"I'm sorry Mommy. I really am sorry"
"Oh фейерверк, it's not your fault. It's not your fault" she said, holding back her own tears as she clutched her daughter in her arms. It occurred to Natasha that this was the first time she'd seen Alexis cry since she was a baby.
"Please don't be mad at the others"
"I'm not mad Lexie, I just wish you'd told me or Daddy sooner"
"I didn't want to make you sad"
Natasha felt her breath catch in her throat
"Lexie, if you're not happy you must tell someone so we can make it better, okay?"
Alexis nodded, still clinging to Natasha tightly.
"Mommy?"
"Yeah?" Natasha queried, still fighting to keep her own emotions under control
"They said I was adopted, because I need glasses for reading" she said quietly, it pained Natasha that she sensed a slight question in her daughters statement
"Well that's just silly" Natasha told her with a slight laugh, trying desperately to lighten the mood. Natasha sat back on the bench with Alexis facing her; "See look at your hair, it's exactly the same as mine. And those dimples in your cheeks when you smile; they're just like your Daddy. Your green eyes are just like mine, and the way you snort when you laugh is from your Dad. Those kids are just being mean because it make's them feel better. You just have to ignore them okay?"
"Okay Mommy" Alexis smiled at her, showing her the dimples that matched Clint's perfectly.
Clint had explained the situation Pepper and Tony while they were waiting for Natasha and Alexis; he didn't want Oliver getting into too much trouble
They all went back to the tower and had a very serious conversation about how fighting was wrong. Elijah came out with a clever remark about how they were 'avenging' Alexis, and Henry came up with 'the Junior Avengers' as a joke; both Tony and Clint nodded, clearly impressed. Once all the children were well informed on 'using their words not their fists' (Pepper's words) and promised profusely never to get involved in a fight again; they were taken out for ice cream, along with Jacob and Cecelia who had missed out on all the action. More than anything the trip out was to cheer Alexis up.
That night Clint woke up to an empty bed, he wondered down the hallway to find Natasha stood in Alexis' doorway, silently watching her sleep. He placed a gentle hand on the small of Natasha's back; she turned slightly and curled into his arms, not taking her eyes off her daughter.
"She didn't want to tell us in case we got upset" Natasha whispered into Clint's chest
"Alexis has always been like that"
"Yeah, remember that sweater you bought her last month?"
"Oh yeah?"
"She hates it. She takes it off at the school gates and hides it in her bag; she only puts it back on in time for you to pick her up. She didn't want to hurt your feelings"
Clint took a moment to consider this information, before responding with a story of his own;
"She doesn't like oatmeal either. But she eats it every morning because she knows it's the only thing you can cook"
"Clint, is that normal? The other kids have all been so outspoken"
"Tasha, she's not a push over; she just doesn't like to make a fuss. Lex is a sweet kid; she'd do anything to make others happy. We'll keep an eye on her, but I don't think we've anything to worry about... Besides, she's got four other kids at that school to look out for her"
"That's true" Natasha smiled, the guilt that had been weighing her down all afternoon finally ebbing away. She allowed Clint to lead her back to their bedroom to get some sleep, feeling immensely proud of her daughter.