Chapter 75
AN: Thank you for the support. I am now posting this story on both AO3 and FFN to try and increase the amount of people who can read this story. Please, please, let me know what you think of this chapter/this story.
August 2000
A little over two months have passed since Tony and Jiaying's birthdays were celebrated and in that time, Maria has officially finished her program at SHIELD academy, and just like they discussed she celebrated that achievement with Hope, Daisy has turned five, and Tony has continued to date Mary.
It's early evening and Melinda and Natasha are in the office at the safehouse they live in having a serious discussion as something has become perfectly clear to them after how their girls reacted after the last time a mission took longer than expected, while all three of their girls are upstairs, and even though Hope has been staying with Melinda and Natasha she is currently not at the safehouse as she had to go back to MIT for a short intensive class, and won't be back for a couple more days.
"You don't think it's too extreme?" Melinda asks Natasha, as the two of them of them have been discussing an idea Melinda has had.
"No, I think it's exactly what our girls need," Natasha admits, as while some people would think it is extreme she doesn't, she thinks it is exactly what they need. "But the question is can you go there?" Natasha asks, worried that in an effort to make sure their girls are okay Melinda will do something that she isn't completely comfortable with.
"For our girls I can," Melinda says. "But I think we should go there first without the girls and see what we think," Melinda admits, feeling that it is the best way to handle the situation.
"That would make most sense," Natasha says. "Want to see if Tony can come stay with the girls?" Natasha asks, as he is usually their first choice.
"Yeah, I'll make the call," Melinda says, picking up the phone and calling a number for Tony that only family have.
"Yello," Tony's voice answers and Melinda rolls his eyes at his ridiculousness.
"Hey, it's me," Melinda says.
"Mellie? Everything okay?" Tony asks concerned.
"Yeah, everything's okay," Melinda assures him, completely understanding why that would be his first concern. "Natalia and I were just hoping you'd come stay with the girls tomorrow, we'll explain why when you get here, but there's something we need to do," Melinda explains, not wanting to explain everything over the phone, but explaining enough for Tony to get an idea about what is going on.
"Sure, I can call G and be there in a few," Tony responds.
"Tomorrow morning is fine, thanks Tony," Melinda tells him, not wanting him to rush. "See you tomorrow," Melinda says, before hanging up.
"I'll call Fury, get us a few days off," Natasha says, taking the phone from Melinda and proceeding to make the call, and a few minutes later, just as she hangs up both Melinda and Natasha see Gordon's blue teleporting light as he appears in the living area with Tony.
"I told you that it would be okay to wait until the morning," Melinda says to Tony, though it isn't overly surprising that he decided to ignore her.
"I know, but I wasn't busy, and I was curious," Tony admits, as both he and Gordon walk towards Melinda and Natasha. "What's going on?" Tony asks, as both he and Gordon sit down while Melinda and Natasha exchange looks, deciding without words which of them will explain.
"Natalia and are heading out to the house Mom brought as her retirement plan tomorrow," Melinda explains. "We're considering moving there with the girls," Melinda explains.
"Isn't it in the middle of nowhere?" Gordon asks, as that's the impression he got.
"The house itself is in a more rural area, but it's just outside a town called Lebanon Pennsylvania that has a population of just under twenty-five thousand people," Melinda explains. "It's less than two hours from both Baltimore and Philadelphia, two hours and forty minutes away from both Midtown Manhattan and DC, two hours and fifty minutes from The Retreat," Melinda explains, knowing that her mother would have chosen it because of all those factors.
"If we do decide to move there our plan is to have the girls go to school in New York with them registered at one of the family New York addresses, if that's okay with you," Nastasha says, looking at Tony, as she and Melinda decided it would be easier for them to blend in in a New York school than anywhere else, but they both know they need Tony and/or Peggy's okay to do so as they would have to use one of their addresses.
"Of course it is," Tony says, without hesitation. "But what are you going to do about work?" Tony asks, assuming they have thought about it.
"There's a SHIELD field office in New York, we're going to talk to Fury about operating out of there, when possible," Melinda explains, though she knows they have detail to work out. "And while Natalia and I both agreed we are happy to drive every day, there might be times when we'll need you to get us from the place that we'll have be registered as the girls address for school and bring us home or vice versa, if that's okay?" Melinda asks, looking at Gordon, as while this isn't how they planned to have this particular conversation she knows they might as well have it know they together.
"Of course," Gordons says, without hesitation. "Whatever you need," Gordon assures them, as he is always willing to do whatever he can to help.
"Thank you," Melinda and Natasha say.
"So, this is a bit of a nuclear option, are you sure?" Tony asks, looking between Melinda and Natasha, wanting to know more about why they decided on this, very extreme, option.
"The girls aren't happy here, they're not comfortable," Melinda admits, as especially since summer begun that has become perfectly clear. "They need space, they need somewhere where they can feel safe, that they can truly call home," Melinda admits. "Yes, it will be an adjustment, and it will take a while to get used to travelling to New York every day for school, but in the long term we think it would be the better option," Melinda admits, it being clear to Tony and Gordon that this is something Melinda and Natasha have talked about a lot.
"I get wanting the girls to go to school in a bigger city, but Baltimore and Philadelphia are both closer than New York, why not have them go to school there instead?" Gordon asks.
"Because it's easier to blend in in New York, it's easier to be anonymous," Natasha explains.
"And after the year the girls have had that's what they need, and it's the safer option" Tony realises, causing both Melinda and Natasha to nod. "When are you going to tell the girls?" Tony asks curious, as he wants to know what he can say to them while he is looking after them.
"Well Natalia and I are heading out there tomorrow to see what it is really like. If we think it is suitable we will talk to the girls when we get back, and all of us, including you if you're willing," Melinda says, looking at Tony. "Will head out there, see what they think, and then have a serious discussion," Melinda explains, knowing that she and Natasha don't want to do anything the girls aren't completely okay with but at the same time they don't want to do anything the girls aren't okay with.
"Well, whatever help you need, I'm here," Tony assures them, making it clear that he doesn't just mean help with the move, he means whatever is needed to help them give the girls the normalcy they want.
"Thanks Tony," Natasha says, appreciating all the help he is willing to give, and the four of them drift into silence as they sit together.
The following morning, having gotten an early start, Melinda and Natasha, having left the girls, who are quite happy to spend time with their favourite uncle, with Tony and travelled to Lebanon Pennsylvania.
After driving for almost three hours, as while they drove fast but also wanted to make sure they weren't followed, Melinda and Natasha are driving up the driveway towards the house Lian built. A house that is surrounded by forests has a creek that runs behind the back of the property, so much grassed space out back that Melinda would be able to land a small plane if needed, as well as a in ground pool, small back porch and patio, and a large shed, that has power, out back.
"Take it to Lian not to do things by half," Natasha comments amused, as they approach the two story, L shaped house with a three-car garage as well as a large lookout basement and attic storage space, as while she has seen a picture of the outside it is another thing to see it in person. "What do you think?" Natasha asks, looking over at Melinda.
"I think it could be just what we need," Melinda admits, as she stops the car. "I think Mom was thinking of us when she built this," Melinda admits, as the house is way too big for just Lian, now that she is seeing it in person, she is sure that Lian built it not for herself but for her, Natasha and their girls.
"Me too," Natasha says, reaching out and taking Melinda's hand. "I'm ready whenever you are," Natasha says, gently squeezing Melinda's hand, and after a few moments Melinda nods, and the two of them head inside.
As soon as Melinda and Natasha walk into the house they walk into a double level entry, that has plenty of light, with coat closest either side of the front door. Directly across from the front door is the main staircase that leads upstairs as well as, though an archway, a corridor, leading towards the main living area, where one of the set of stairs down to the basement are, and the entire house has a light colour scheme with the walls painted a light cream with white panelling on the bottom of the walls.
"Which way first?" Natasha asks Melinda as well as the arch directly across from them there are arch ways to both their left and right leading to different areas of the house.
"Left," Melinda says and she and Natasha walk through the left arch which leads them to a very open kitchen, with an island that sits four, as well as so much space that they would be able to a table big enough to fit their entire family, which both Melinda and Natasha are sure would have been a design choice made by Lian to have such open space in the kitchen rather than a dedicated dining room.
At one end of the kitchen there are French doors that lead out to the backyard and at the other, almost directly across from the arch Melinda and Natasha walked through there is a small corridor that leads to the pantry, stairs that lead both upstairs and downstairs, a mud room with a separate bathroom, that has a door that leads outside and it is also through the mudroom that is how you get to the garage.
Walking to the French doors Melinda and Natasha are both impressed by what they see, especially the view, and after a few moments they walk through the archway near the French doors that lead into the living room.
While the living room is pretty cozy, it also large enough to comfortable place a large corner sofa, and it has a wall of windows as well as a built-in fireplace. As they look around both Melinda and Natasha can imagine sitting with their family on the couch watching movies, or just snuggling with their girls in front of the fire.
Walking out of the living room they head into the corridor that leads towards the front door but rather than walking straight to the entry way they go to their left, right of the front door, and down a small corridor before walking through a set of French doors and into the office. As well as built in bookshelves the office also has enough space for a large desk, a three-seater, or futon, couch, some armchairs, or maybe even another small couch, and a small alcove sunroom like space that can a couple of armchairs or more likely in Melinda and Natasha's case a weapons chest.
After heading though, a sliding door between the alcove and the French doors Melinda and Natasha find themselves in a room that Lian clearly designed to be a library as both the wall around the sliding door, and the wall that separates the room from the entry, are covered in built in bookshelves.
"Bobbi will love this," Natasha notes, knowing that because of the three large windows the room gets plenty of light, which means as well as being a library it could also work as a play area for the kids.
"She really will," Melinda confirms, as she looks around. "Upstairs or basement?" Melinda asks, as she knows that they are the two places they need to look into.
"Upstairs," Natasha answers, and the two of them head back through the arch and into the entry way.
Once in the entry way Melinda and Natasha head upstairs and once on the upstairs landing, which is completely open to the lower level, they realises they can either go straight into one of the bedrooms which has an ensuite and walk in wardrobe, right to the master suite or left down the corridor that leads to the rest of the upper level.
From the landing Melinda and Natasha go right into the large master bedroom that like the office below also has a small alcove sunroom, and to the left of the door into the room there are double walk in wardrobe separated by a small corridor that leads into the large ensuite bathroom that has a bath big enough to fit both of them, separate room for the toilet, double basins, and a large walk in shower.
"This is incredible," Natahsa notes, once they are in the bathroom, very much liking the large window above the bath.
"It really is," Melinda admits, and after spending a few minutes look around the master suite they head out of the room.
After leaving what will be their room Melinda and Natasha head into the first of the large bedrooms, that while the decision will ultimately be up to the girls, they assume it will become Daisy's room if they move. After leaving the room that has plenty of light and its own ensuite bathroom Melinda and Nataha head down the corridor that has a storage closet at one side before arriving at a corner.
In the corner there is a door that leads into another large room, that also has its own bathroom and walk in closet. Due to being the corner room it is slightly bigger, and has a little more storage space, than the last room, but not by much. After looking around the room Melinda and Natasha head back into the corridor and head to their right.
A short way down the corridor, which has attic access via a pulldown ladder, they arrive at another bedroom, which like the others has its own bathroom and walk in closet, that is across from the stairs that lead down to the kitchen and a study nook. After looking into the room that is about the same size as the corner room Melinda and Natasha continue down the corridor, pass the laundry room one side, and two very large built-in closets on the other, and into the room that is above the garage.
Out of all the rooms, possibly including the master bedroom, the room Melinda and Natasha walk into is the largest. Unlike the other bedrooms it does not have a walk-in robe but instead has two built in robes facing each other with a window between them, and two large dormers that have large widows, due to the layout the room doesn't get quiet as much light at the other rooms, but the sheer size makes up for it and like the other rooms it has its own ensuite bathroom.
Looking around the room Melinda and Natasha can see the room being Tony's room, as they both know without talking about it that he will have a dedicated room at their house, or they can see it set up for sleepovers, or visitors, or they could also see Bobbi claiming it as her room as she gets older and wants more space, it will just depend on what is ultimately decided. After spending several minutes in the room Melinda and Natasha head back down the corridor and down the stairs that lead to near the kitchen, and then down another flight of stairs and into the basement.
Getting to the basement the first thing Melinda and Natasha see is that there is plenty of room. In the middle of the basement area there is the staircase that leads upstairs, with a large bathroom underneath the stairs.
To the right of the stairs that Melinda and Natasha walked down there is a small, secured room that can be used as a saferoom in an emergency and to the left there is a large bedroom, though slightly smaller than the upstairs ones, that has a built-in wardrobe and ensuite bathroom. Without even talking about it both Melinda and Natasha know that it would most likely become Tony's room, if he decided he didn't want the large space above the garage, if they were to move in.
Heading back out of the room Melinda and Natasha realise that there would be enough room between the two staircases to set up a sparing area and still be able to access the under the stair's bathroom without a problem.
Heading straight, to the left of the stairs, Melinda and Natahsa find three more bedrooms, each with closets, but no ensuite bathrooms. While the bedrooms are smaller than the upstairs bedrooms, one room being slightly bigger than the other rooms, there is enough space to put multiple beds, in fact, in each room, there is enough room to create a bunk room using full beds rather than twin ones. While Melinda and Natasha both assume one of the rooms, likely the slightly bigger one, will be claimed by Hope who they are sure will continue to stay with them often, even after she finishes collage, the other two rooms are perfect for multiple family members to sleep in when they stay over, which again they have to assume was Lian's intention when designing the house.
Leaving the last bedroom Melinda and Natasha find themselves on the other side of the staircase where there is a small kitchenette, an alcove for a small table, and a space that would be perfect to set up with a couple of couches and a TV. Through the kitchenette there is a double sliding door that leads outside, and it is the area of the basement that gets the most natural light as there are several windows.
"What do you think?" Melinda asks Natasha as they both look around.
"I think I can see us calling this place home," Natasha admits, as she is already imagining various things.
"Me too," Melinda says before walking over to Natash and kissing her.
Once Melinda and Natasha break apart, they both look around the area of the basement they haven't looked thorough, which is just a small walk space that leads to the middle staircase with a couple of storage closets, before heading upstairs, where they both spend time looking around the house they can both see becoming their new home.
