Steve dropped Natasha off at the airport the next morning. After a long kiss good-bye, she boarded the flight bound for Florida. For the two and half hour flight, she was nervous. Not because she was going to help with the move. It was more so because her mom interrupted her before she got to say who she was engaged to. When the plane landed, she stepped off into a bear hug from her mother, and a surprise visit from her past.
"Hi Mom, I've missed you since you moved here.
"I'm glad you came. So this fiancée of yours, who is he? When do I get to meet him?"
"It should be soon. Right now he needed to stay with his own mother, while she undergoes treatment for cancer."
"Of course I understand. Family is very important. If you don't want to tell me yet, that's fine."
"It's Steve Rogers. We've been back together for almost six months now."
"Wait a minute, isn't he the guy who left you in college? I thought he cheated on you."
"He didn't cheat Mom. He joined the army. The reason he did it was to protect his best friend. It wouldn't have been any different if Clint had done something similar, and I followed him."
"Natasha, I'm not sure I approve of this. When you told me you were engaged, I hoped you had gotten back together with…"
She pauses when Alexei walks up, also to greet her daughter.
"Hey Nattie, it's been a long time."
Natasha's jaw drops in shock. The last person she expected to see was him. And she always hated his nickname for her. She quickly pulls her mother away.
"What the Hell is he doing here, Mom? I told you that I turned down his proposal years ago, because I didn't love him. He never made me feel the way Steve still does."
"That's not the point. I never got to meet Steve. You dated for a year and then he left you. He doesn't deserve you. You should call it off and give Alexei another chance. Maybe he'll surprise you."
"No! Steve and I are getting married. He loves me and I love him. Why don't you give him a chance? Did you really want me to come here to help you move? Or was it just so you could try and put me back together with your ideal guy for me?"
"Watch your tone Natalia. This is not the place for us to have this discussion. We'll finish this at my new apartment."
Every instinct Natasha has tells her to turn around and board the next flight back to New York. But her fury at this underhanded trick makes her follow her mother. She intends to settle this and make her mother see why Steve is the only one she wants to be with. During the drive, she sits in the passenger seat staring out the window. Every attempt at idle chit chat from her companions goes unanswered. When they get to their destination, Alexei unpacks the car, taking Natasha's bags, which she immediately grabs from him.
"I can carry my own bags. I don't need your help."
She stomps up the stairs, leaving him dumbfounded, while her mother walks up to him.
"Don't worry. I'll talk some sense into her. Why don't you go back to your hotel? I'll give you a call when she's ready to talk to you."
Inside the apartment, Natasha is still fuming.
"You've got some explaining to do, young lady."
"Explaining?! What is there to explain? Alexei and I weren't right for each other. You told me a long time ago that you just wanted me to be happy. Steve makes me happy. Will you just accept that?"
"I thought Alexei made you happy. And he's more compatible with you than this soldier will ever be. He received a great inheritance, he's well placed in high society, and he's of Russian descent. What more could you ask for?"
"Money isn't everything. I don't need his money; I have my own successful art consultation business. Love is more important than any material possession."
"If you think I'm against marrying for love, you're wrong. I loved your father very much. But the hard truth is that soldiers die in battle Natasha. I did this for you. I don't want you to have to go through what I did when your Dad died."
"So your fear is that Steve is going to leave me a widow, raising a child on my own."
"Yes, no child should have to be the strong one in that situation."
When she hears her mother's explanation, it softens her anger.
"It's not going to happen, Mom. I know it won't."
"You can't be sure of that. When does he ship out again?"
"I am sure of it. It won't happen because Steve was honorably discharged in June. He's home for good. He's also gone back to school to finish his degree. So please, give him a chance. Call Alexei and tell him you made a mistake."
As tears start to fall from her daughter's eyes, she realizes that the relationship and her feelings are real. She hasn't seen Natasha cry since she scraped her knee falling off her first bike.
"All right, I can see how strongly you feel about him. I'm sorry I tried this. If he can't come here, I'll go to New York to meet him."
She then called Alexei and explained the situation. He thought that he was only helping her move. After all he was living here, but preparing to meet his own fiancée's parents. He moved to Florida with her, when her job transferred her there.