Chapter 81
AN: Thank you for the support, please, please, please, let me know what you think of this chapter.
October 2000
About a month has passed since the first anniversary of William and Lian's death and in that time Yelena has started to learn Spanish and Portuguese and when she realized that her sister is learning languages she wants to learn Bobbi has joined in, and Daisy occasional does, but she isn't as interested as her sisters and because of that Melinda and Natasha have made it clear that it is her choice when, or even if, she joins in on lessons.
It's after dinner on a Wednesday and while their girls are in their rooms having quiet time, Melinda and Natasha are in their office, both sharing the desk that they purposely made sure was big enough for them both to use at the same time, as they work on their most recent mission reports, as Fury lets them do those at home as long as they don't tell any other agents not counting Coulson, Clint, Larua and Maria.
"Was it twenty-one hours or twenty-two hours from start to finish?" Melinda asks Natasha, as she always pays more attention to that than Melinda does.
"Twenty-one hours, thirty-five minutes," Natasha responds, without even needing to think about it.
"Thank you," Melinda responds before writing that on her report, and just as she finishes writing there is a knock on the door.
"Come in," Melinda and Natasha say together and Daisy walks into the office through the door that connects the office to the corridor that leads to the kitchen/dinning area and lounge room.
"Hi Daze, are you okay?" Natasha asks curiously as while they have made it clear that the girls are always welcome in their office in the time, they have been living in the house the girls haven't spent a lot of time in there.
"Yep," Daisy confirms. "Friday night we're staying at the New York apartment, right?" Daisy asks, as her mother's mentioned that it would make more sense for them to stay at the apartment Friday night than going back to Lebanon because Bobbi has to be at school late and this week Yelena has a soccer match on the Saturday that is earlier than it usually tends to be.
"Yeah, we are," Melinda confirms, feeling how curious Daisy is about that. "Do you feel okay about that?" Melinda asks, realizing that she and Natasha made the executive decision rather than checking in with the girls.
"I do, it's not home, but it will be okay for one night," Daisy asks, and both Melinda and Natasha can tell that there is something else she wants to ask.
"Daisy? Whatever it is you can ask," Melinda assures her.
"I was wondering if, because we are staying at the New York apartment anyway, Kate could sleep over," Daisy explains sounding nervous, but it is also perfectly clear to Melinda and Natasha how much she wants to have a sleep over with Kate.
"You really want her to," Natasha realizes.
"I do, can she?" Daisy asks hopefully, as she looks between her mothers.
"Sure, but we'll have to talk to her parents first," Melinda says, knowing the answer would have been a no if they weren't staying at the New York apartment.
"This is Kate's home number," Daisy says, handing a piece of paper over with Kate's home phone number on it over to her mothers.
"Thanks Daisy, we'll give them a call," Natasha says, taking the piece of paper.
"Do you want to read a story together before bed?" Melinda asks her daughter.
"Yes please," Daisy requests.
"I'll be back," Melinda says to Natasha before getting up and heading out of the office with Daisy, while Natasha calls Kate's parents to arrange the sleepover as she figures it's still earlier enough to make the call.
Two days later Melinda and Natasha are at the girls' school to pick up Daisy, Yelena and Kate, but not Bobbi as she has her science club meeting and because of that Hope is going to pick her up on her way to the apartment, as she, like the rest of the family are going attend Yelena's soccer game in the morning, something which Yelena is very excited about.
"Melinda, Natasha," the teacher greats, seeing them. "Here to get Daisy and Yelena?" The teacher asks as students in the elementary and middle schools have to be picked up by an adult, or if given prior approval an older sibling, which is something both Melinda and Natasha very much approve off.
"Yes, and Kate Bishop is also coming home with us, her parents have given their approval," Melinda says.
"Yes, I have that written down," the teacher confirms, checking her paperwork. "I'll go get them," the teacher says, walking into the area where kids who are waiting to be picked up are, and less than a minute later Daisy, Yelena and a little girl Melinda and Natasha know to be Kate Bishop, hurry over to them.
"Mama, Mom, this is Kate," Daisy introduces, feeling very proud to introduce her friend to her parents.
"It's nice to meet you Kate, I'm Melinda, this is Natasha," Melinda introduces, and as she does she feels how nervous Kate is.
"Hi," Kate says responds in a timid voice.
"Have you all got everything?" Natasha asks, trying to get attention of Kate to help her feel a little more comfortable.
"Yep," Yelena and Daisy say, as Kate nods, it being clear that all three of them are extremely excited.
"Okay well, we were thinking we could get Ice Cream on the way to the apartment, how does that sounds?" Natasha asks the girls.
"Really?" Daisy asks excitedly.
"That would be awesome," Yelena says.
"Yes please," Kate says and together the group of five head out of the school, both Melinda and Natasha noticing the way Kate is acting, while Melinda also feels what she is feeling, and because of that they do their best to help Kate feel a little more comfortable.
About ninety minutes after Melinda and Natasha picked up Daisy, Yelena, and Kate from school the five of them are at the double story Apartment that is officially the May-Romanoff home, or more accurately the 'Johnson' family home, and while all three girls, as it has become clear that Yelena likes Kate too, are playing in the living area Melinda and Natasha are in the kitchen getting the salad, that is going to go with the pizza they are going to order for dinner, ready.
"Do we have drink options, or do we need to order them with dinner?" Natasha asks, as she realizes she didn't check.
"We're fine, I checked earlier we have soda, juice, milk, and water, plenty of options no matter what Kate would like," Melinda explains.
"Good," Natasha says, before taking a step towards Melinda. "Am I imaging it or is Kate open with Daisy and Yelena but hesitant around adults?" Natasha asks curious, wanting to know what Melinda has noticed.
"You're not imagining it," Melinda admits. "From what I'm feeling from her, she's nervous, she desperate to be a part of things," Melinda admits, knowing it is times like these when her gift comes in handy, but at the same time she knows it can be considered to be an invasion of privacy. "Seems like her parents, even though she is close to her father, live very separate lives from her, she was feeling jealous when we were getting ice cream. She desperate to belong, to have family who actually spent time together," Melinda explains, knowing that she and Natasha have always made sure that even with their difficult lives to make it so they are always a part of their daughters lives, but it seems like Kate's parents don't make the same effort.
"So, she's feeling everything a kid shouldn't feel," Natasha realizes, with a frown.
"Exactly," Melinda confirms. "Which means we…"
"Need to be there for her," Natasha finishes, realizing exactly what Melinda was about to say.
"Yeah, we do," Melinda confirms, a look of understanding passing between them, and the two of them continue to make the salad as they drift into silence, silence that is broken by loud laughter coming from the living room followed by Hope and Bobbi walking into the kitchen.
"You know there are three hyper kids out there, right?" Hope asks amused, being pretty sure they would have noticed, but she wanted to check.
"Oh, we know," Melinda confirms.
"How was science club?" Natasha asks, looking at Bobbi.
"It was great, I really enjoyed it," Bobbi explains, grinning as she feels she really belongs when she is apart of science class.
"Good," Melinda says, feeling how glad Bobbi is about that. "Was the drive okay?" Melinda asks, looking at Hope, knowing it was a fairly decent drive for her to do, though of course not as bad as when she travels from MIT to Lebanon.
"Yeah, it was fine," Hope assures her. "So, are we having salad for dinner?" Hope asks curious, as while she would expect them to have more than just salad she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
"We're also going to order Pizza, Uncle Tony left some recommendations," Natasha reveals, as while Tony is also in New York he isn't staying at the apartment, but he will be at Yelena's soccer game under disguise.
"We can go pick it up if that would help," Hope offers, volunteering both herself and Bobbi as she knows she will need help carry everything, and she doesn't imagine Hope would mind.
"That would be good, thanks," Melinda says to her.
"No problem," Hope responds.
In Queens Tony, feeling very nervous, is walking up to an apartment as while both he and Mary are in New York but while he has spent the day in meetings Mary spent the day with her brother and sister-in-law. Once he gets to the apartment Tony takes a moment so that he can hide how nervous he is, before reaching out and knocking.
Seconds after Tony knocked on the door it opens to reveal Mary, and standing behind her are a man, who is clearly her brother, and a woman.
"Hey," Tony greats.
"Hey," Mary says, leaning forward and kissing him.
"Mer, you going to introduce us?" her brother says in a teasing tone of voice, causing Tony and Mary to break apart, and Mary to give him a apologetic look as she knows what her brother and sister in law can be like.
"Tony, I'd like you to meet my brother Ben and sister-in-law May," Mary introduces. "Ben, May, this is my boyfriend Tony," Mary introduces.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both, Mary's told me so much," Tony says, putting the most charming grin on his face.
A little while after Bobbi and Hope got back to the apartment the two of them have gone and collected the pizza for dinner, and they, along with Melinda, Natasha, Daisy, Yelena and Kate have eaten all pizza they brought. While the three younger girls are currently playing in the bedroom they will be sharing for the night Melinda, Natasha, Hope and Bobbi are cleaning up after dinner.
"This is the last of them," Bobbi says, as she and Hope bring the last of the dishes into the kitchen where her mothers are.
"Great, thanks, just put them on the sink," Natasha requests, knowing that she and Melinda will wash them by hand rather than putting them in the dish washer as when there isn't a whole lot of dishes they prefer to wash them by hand as they both find it relaxing.
"Can do," Hope says, and she and Bobbi do just that.
"Um, so, would it be okay if Hope and I go to the library?" Bobbi asks her mothers. "Three excited kids in an apartment, even a fairly decent sized one, isn't exactly the best environment to study in and I have some work I want to do," Bobbi adults, and once she does Melinda and Natasha exchange looks, which both Bobbi and Hope know means they are nervous about letting them go.
"We'll stay together, I promise Aunt Mellie, Aunt Nat," Hope says to them, as like Bobbi she really wants to study but she also understands why Melinda and Natasha would be nervous.
"Do you have the retractable knife Aunt Peggy gave you?" Melinda asks, looking at Hope, as while she knows that in an emergency Bobbi can use her gift, she wants to make sure Hope has a way to protect herself more than just her, admittedly well developed, hand to hand self-defense skills.
"Of course, I never go anywhere without it," Hope responds, as she has learnt over the course of her life that it's better to be safe than sorry.
"Then okay, just stick together and if anything doesn't feel right, get back here," Natasha says, knowing that both Hope and Bobbi will look out for each other, and that realistically they are both capable of protecting themselves, but she also feels incredibly concerned about them.
"Thanks Mama," Bobbi says. "We won't be too late promise," Bobbi says, and she hugs both her mothers before leaving with Hope, Natasha feeling worried that they made a mistake letting her go and because she feels that Melinda feels that too.
After spending a while with Ben and May Tony and May have made their way back into Manhattan and having dinner together at a little restaurant that Tony brought them too.
"You really know all the best hole in the wall restaurants," Mary says to Tony, as just as when they had their date in LA months ago Tony has brought them to a little restaurant that has amazing food, but is clearly not one that many people know about.
"I once again have my mom to thank," Tony admits. "She loves New York, always tries to find special places," Tony explains.
"Well, she definitely succeeded," Mary admits. "This food is amazing," Mary says, taking a bite of the food she ordered.
"It is, and so are you," Tony says to her, and Mary looks up from what she is eating. "The last few months have been incredible, I've absolutely loved our time together… and I love you, Mary," Tony says, saying the words to someone outside of family, though this is a very different context, for the first time in his life.
"I love you too," Mary responds, leaning forward, across the table, and kissing Tony.
Not overly far from where Tony and Mary are having dinner Natasha is knocking on the door to the room Daisy, Yelena and Kate are in, though she isn't confident they are going to be able to hear as there is loud music playing, after about a minute of nothing Natasha knocks a second time, this time louder.
"Come in," Yelena's voice says and Natasha walks into the room to find Daisy, Kate and Yelena dancing around to Brittany Spears music. "Hi Mama," Yelena greats.
"Hi," Natasha says, not being able to help but smile at how happy the girls are. "As much fun as it looks like you're having it's almost time to get settled in," Natasha tells the three girls.
"Is it bedtime?" Daisy asks.
"Not yet, but in half an hour I am going to come back and then it will be," Natasha tells the girls. "Which means you have half an hour to settle down and get ready for bed," Natasha explains, knowing it wouldn't be fair to expect them to go straight from dancing to sleeping without any time between.
"Yes Mama," Yelena and Daisy say together.
"Yes Natasha," Kate says, having between told earlier to call Melinda and Natasha, Melinda and Natasha, rather than by any other name.
"I'll see you in half an hour," Natasha says before heading out of the room closing the door behind her, and then heading downstairs.
Once downstairs Natasha heads to the living room where Melinda is sitting on the couch.
"We've got three kids dancing to Brittany Spears upstairs," Natasha reveals as she walks towards Melinda.
"Of course we do," Melinda says, smiling because she feels Natasha's amusement. "How long did you give them before they have to be in bed?" Melinda asks Natasha.
"Half an hour," Natasha says, sitting down next to Melinda. "I thought it was best," Natasha admits.
"Probably, hopefully they settle down," Melinda says, knowing that if they don't they are in for a long night and likely some very grumpy girls when they have to get up early in the morning.
"Hopefully," Natasha responds. "It's been nice hearing Daisy and Yelena so happy," Natasha says, as while they always have each other it's not often they get to have fun with other kids outside of school as Bobbi and their cousins are all older than them.
"it's been nice to feel it too," Melinda says. "They are both feeling worried that they are going to reveal something they're not meant to, but they are also letting themselves have fun," Melinda reveals, knowing that she and Natasha will have to have a conversation with them once Kate goes home to help reassure them.
"Good," Natasha says, leaning over and resting her head on Melinda's shoulder and the two of them drift into silence.
A few minutes after Melinda and Natasha drifted into silence the door to the apartment opens and both Hope and Bobbi walk in.
"Hi, how was the library?" Melinda asks, seeing them, looking for any signs of injuries to make sure they are not hurt.
"Good," Bobbi and Hope both say.
"I got my report done," Bobbi reveals.
"And I was able to find a great source for a research project I'm working on," Hope responds, feeling rather glad about that.
"That's really good to hear," Natasha says, feeling glad that Bobbi and Hope were able to get some studying done.
"How are Daisy, Yelena and Kate?" Bobbi asks curiously.
"Good, they've been having a lot of fun, but they should start to settle soon," Melinda tells her.
"In that case I'm going to go read a book in the bath before heading to bed," Bobbi reveals, knowing that the room she and Hope are sharing isn't too far away from Daisy, Yelena and Kate. "Night Mom, Night Mama," Bobbi says, hugging both her mothers and giving them each a kiss on the cheek before heading upstairs.
"What time do we have to be up in the morning?" Hope asks curious, after Bobbi walked away, wondering if she is going to be able to get some more studying done.
"We have to be out of this apartment by seven at the absolute latest," Natasha tells her.
"Okay, then I think I will skip the studying and just do some reading," Hope comments.
"Probably a good idea," Melinda tells her.
"Yeah, night Aunt Mellie, Night Aunt Nat," Hope says, before heading upstairs and after Hope walks away Melinda and Natasha once again drift into silence as they sit together before they both have to go upstairs to see if Daisy, Yelena and Kate have settled down.
Just like Natasha said well before seven am in the morning she, Melinda, Daisy, Hope, Bobbi, Yelena and Kate leave the apartment and make their way to the field where Yelena's soccer match is taking place. Once at the patch they are joined by the rest of their family, except for Fury but including Mary, most of whom are wearing some kind of disguise to hide their identities, and together they watch Yelena's team win their match and after the game finishes they take Kate home and start the drive back to Lebanon, happily listening to Yelena talk about the match in vivid detail the entire time.