Flower Crowns

Grant took a deep breath, inhaling in the sweet, fresh air. He didn't really miss nature – the claustrophobic openness sometimes reminded him too much of his years in the woods –, but it always was a relief when he, Skye, and the girls could manage to get away from the capitol for a couple of days and visit the Barton farm.

The girls enjoyed it just as much, if not more – although they had a small backyard in D.C., it was nothing compared to the acres of meadows that surrounded the farm. The urge to run around and discover things and find new adventures was just too big to ignore, so he and Skye always had to pay close attention to the girls, lest they wandered away.

But now he was in luck – Haylie and Ada had just found a patch of daisies, and they were busy picking the white flowers, while Haylie recited some rhyme or story she learned at kindergarten to entertain her little sister. It was a heartwarming sight – they really were blessed with two kids like them. He let out a little, content sigh and stood from the picnic bench, walking to his little princesses.

By the time he got to them, they were already done the picking – now they were sitting on the grass, a bunch of flowers between them. Haylie was holding a couple of the daisies in her hand, twisting them around, and showing it to Ada, who, although couldn't keep exactly still, watched her in amazement.

"Can I join you princesses?" he asked them with a smile on his face, eager to join their game. Haylie glanced up him, too absorbed in her task, gave him a quick nod, then turned her attention back on the flowers. Permission give, he eased himself down to the ground – Ada climbed into his lap right away. "What are you doing?" he asked from his firstborn, while taking Ada's little hands into his own.

"A flower crown," Haylie answered, flashing him a little grin. "Miss Macy showed us how to do it last week."

"Really? Can you show me how?" he said, leaning closer. Haylie nodded vigorously, shuffling closer to him.

"Okay, so you take three flowers – no, daddy, you need ones with longer stems! –, and then you put this one here, and this here…" Haylie explained, while getting started on the little braid. Grant copied what she'd shown him, sometimes purposefully messing up a little, and blaming it on his "big, lame fingers", just to make the girls laugh. They worked side by side – while Ada mostly messed up the pile of flowers between them –, and soon enough they had two finished crowns – although he had to help Haylie to finish her own.

"Do you want to show mommy what you made?" he asked from Haylie, to which the little girl replied with and excited nod, grabbed her daisy crown and set off, running back to the picnic table, right into her mother's arms.

Grant stood as well, picking up Ada as well, flower crown slipped onto his wrist. When they reached the table, Haylie was already showing around her creation proudly, basking in the undivided attention of both Skye and Laura. Then as he stepped up behind Skye, guided by a sudden idea, he put Ada down on the bench, slipped his crown from his wrist and placed it on his wife's head.

Skye went still for a moment, then reached for the crown, gently brushing the petals of the flowers with her fingertips. A moment later she turned around to face him, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Daisies, really?" she asked, laughter hiding in her voice. "Don't you think it's bit a of a cliché?"

He just simply shrugged.

"Finding your one true love and getting a happily ever after are clichés, too, but they have worked out pretty well for us," answered, prompting some awws, as well as boisterous laughter from around the table.

"Look at that," Clint grinned, "I knew you were smitten, son, when I first met you, but I thought it would ease up with the years. And now here I am, looking at the proof that I was gravely wrong. You are even worse than you used to be."

Grant gave the Avenger a grin at hearing it, but no retort – he was way too preoccupied by Skye, who stood up in the meantime, put her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss against his lips.

"He might be right," she said in a teasing tone. "You have it bad for me. But it's okay – never, ever change, okay?" And she gave him another kiss.

That was how long Haylie's attention lasted.

"Hey!" she called impatiently, "And now who's gonna wear my crown?"