"Mommy! Mommy! Look what I caught!" Stevie squealed as he raced through the kitchen door. Natasha set the last of the dishes in the drain and dried her hands on a towel as he proudly held up a small bucket with a handful of fish in it. "Uncle Barney said we can have them for dinner!"
"He did, did he?" Natasha asked, turning away from the sink and ruffling his hair.
Stevie nodded eagerly. "Where's Daddy? I wanna show him about my fish, too."
"He's out working on the front porch. I'm sure he would love to take a break and hear all about your fishing trip with Uncle Barney. But I think I'll take your fish so you don't traipse all through the house with them." Stevie handed the bucket over and darted out, and Natasha looked over at Barney who was lounging against the door jamb. "Fish for dinner, hm?"
"As soon as you clean those and the rest that are out in the cooler on the truck," Barney said with a smirk.
"Me? Oh, no. Absolutely not. I am not cleaning any fish," Natasha made a face and firmly shook her head. "No way."
"Aren't you a science teacher? Don't you regularly dissect creepy crawly things?"
"Scientific specimens, not things that were alive an hour ago," she protested with a shudder.
"Well, I'm not cleaning them," Barney said, shaking his head as he pushed away from the doorjamb.
"Don't worry, I've got it," Clint said, coming in from the living room. He brushed Nat's cheek with a kiss. "I made a deal with Stevie that he could have some Switch time if he cleaned up his Legos."
Natasha smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. I'm pretty sure his version of cleaning up is just pushing them all into a pile against the bookcase." He reached around her and slid a knife from the block on the counter. "C'mon, Barn. You're helping clean the fish."
"Sure," Barney said as Clint headed past him and out the door. He turned back towards Natasha and shook his head. I'm totally not helping, he mouthed, grinning.
She laughed and shooed him out the door.
Turning to the fridge, she opened it and wondered what they had to go with the fish. Lettuce, cucumber, green pepper… and she had four ripe tomatoes sitting on the window sill. Plenty of fixings to make a nice mixed salad.
She was just getting out the cutting board and a knife when she heard the sound of Super Mario from the living room. "Stevie, did you finish cleaning up your Legos?"
"Yeah, Mom!"
She had no idea how a seven year old could sound so much like a teenager, but somehow he managed. Especially since, given that it had barely been five minutes since Clint issued the clean up order, it was doubtful he'd done it. Clint had probably been correct in his assessment of a quick and easy pile instead of properly putting away Legos. But that was something they could worry about after dinner.
The backdoor banged open again and Kate swept in, talking a mile a minute and barely giving Natasha time to take in the sparkly silver jewelry dangling from her earlobe, nevermind object to it.
"Look at what Yelena got me! Isn't it neat?The spider is attached to the web with a tiny little chain," Kate babbled as she swept through the kitchen, her fingers flying across the screen of her phone. "I'm gonna go up to my room so I can facetime with Kamala. She's going to be so jealous. Can you imagine her family ever letting her get any kind of piercing?""
As soon as Kate had disappeared up the stairs, Natasha spun around and narrowed her eyes at Yelena, who grabbed a soda from the fridge then leaned casually against the kitchen counter, pretending she didn't see the death glare Natasha was leveling at her.
"An ear piercing? Really?" Natasha asked, waving her knife at her sister..
Yelena shrugged. "What? It's better than a nose ring and I took her to my tattoo guy, not some random mall store that doesn't know what they're doing."
"She wasn't supposed to get a piercing at all," Natasha protested, turning back to her cutting board to start slicing up vegetables. The pepper received a particularly violent blow, sending a few seeds flying into the sink, "Our deal with her was that she could get one when she turned sixteen."
"Meh, she's close enough," Yelena said, taking a sip of her soda.
"Yelena."
"Natasha," Yelena parroted back at her, making a face. "You did all kinds of crazy things when you were a kid."
"Yeah, and Mama gave me hell for it too! Do you remember how she cut my hair short when I dyed it blue?"
Yelena laughed. "You were so mad at her that you cut it even shorter out of protest."
"God, she hated it whenever I did something she didn't like," Natasha said with a sigh. "Do you know she still harps about the color I painted my room when I was twelve? And the lectures I have to endure from her and Dad because we chose not to have another baby after Stevie."
"Why is that? You should definitely have another baby," Yelena said with a smirk.
"Not you, too," Nataha groaned. "Why don't you have a baby instead?"
"I've got Fanny."
Natasha frowned. "A dog is not the same as -"
"Clint says the fish are all cleaned so he's gonna heat up the grill," Barney interjected as he sauntered back into the kitchen and snagged a piece of tomato from Nat's cutting board. "Also, I've been told to inform you that your parents are here."
Startled, Natasha stood on tiptoe and peered out the kitchen window. Sure enough, there was their car pulling up in the drive. She sighed.
"Did you know they were coming?" she asked, turning away from the window to look at Yelena.
"Do I ever know?" she said, grabbing a piece of cucumber.
"True."
There was the sound of the front door opening and then Stevie squealing from the living room. "Mamma Melina! Poppa Alexi!"
"How is my big boy today?" Alexi boomed.
"Alexi! Don't throw him in the air like that! He'll get hurt!" Melina scolded.
"Nonsense! He is my big strong boy."
The sounds of their voices faded to a dull roar and Natasha could hear Stevie asking if they wanted to see his latest Lego superhero set.
"Guess there'll be two more for dinner," Barney said with a wink. "Good thing we caught all those fish. You do eat fish, Czarina, don't you?"
Yelena scowled at him. "I even know how to clean them. Unlike some other people."
"I know how," Barney countered. "I just choose not to. Can't sully my pretty hands now, can I?"
Yelena snorted and set her soda down on the counter. "I'm going to go upstairs and wash up. I will be back down in a bit if you need more help getting things together."
"Tell Kate it's almost dinner time and that she needs to come set the table," Natasha called after her as she left. Then she turned to Barney with a disapproving frown. "Do you always have to goad her like that?"
"No, but it's fun." He grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge. "I just came in to let you know your parents were on the way and to grab a couple of these for me and little brother to enjoy while he grills the fish."
"Which you have done. So go," she said, waving him back out the door. She went back to assembling the salad, but barely a minute later the door banged open again. "I swear to God, Barney -"
"That bad, huh?" Clint laughed, the door clattered shut behind him.
She swung around at the sound of his voice and smiled.
"How on earth did we go from a quiet afternoon to… this," she asked, waving her hand around the kitchen to indicate the general chaos of the entire household.
"I don't know," he said, folding her into a big hug which she gratefully accepted. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back. "But it's nice, isn't it?"
She grinned against his chest. As crazy as their family made her, she loved them to bits. "Yeah, it really kind of is."
FILL: Afternoon Delight - Part II (Black Widow spoilers) (PG)
-----
"Mommy! Mommy! Look what I caught!" Stevie squealed as he raced through the kitchen door. Natasha set the last of the dishes in the drain and dried her hands on a towel as he proudly held up a small bucket with a handful of fish in it. "Uncle Barney said we can have them for dinner!"
"He did, did he?" Natasha asked, turning away from the sink and ruffling his hair.
Stevie nodded eagerly. "Where's Daddy? I wanna show him about my fish, too."
"He's out working on the front porch. I'm sure he would love to take a break and hear all about your fishing trip with Uncle Barney. But I think I'll take your fish so you don't traipse all through the house with them." Stevie handed the bucket over and darted out, and Natasha looked over at Barney who was lounging against the door jamb. "Fish for dinner, hm?"
"As soon as you clean those and the rest that are out in the cooler on the truck," Barney said with a smirk.
"Me? Oh, no. Absolutely not. I am not cleaning any fish," Natasha made a face and firmly shook her head. "No way."
"Aren't you a science teacher? Don't you regularly dissect creepy crawly things?"
"Scientific specimens, not things that were alive an hour ago," she protested with a shudder.
"Well, I'm not cleaning them," Barney said, shaking his head as he pushed away from the doorjamb.
"Don't worry, I've got it," Clint said, coming in from the living room. He brushed Nat's cheek with a kiss. "I made a deal with Stevie that he could have some Switch time if he cleaned up his Legos."
Natasha smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. I'm pretty sure his version of cleaning up is just pushing them all into a pile against the bookcase." He reached around her and slid a knife from the block on the counter. "C'mon, Barn. You're helping clean the fish."
"Sure," Barney said as Clint headed past him and out the door. He turned back towards Natasha and shook his head. I'm totally not helping, he mouthed, grinning.
She laughed and shooed him out the door.
Turning to the fridge, she opened it and wondered what they had to go with the fish. Lettuce, cucumber, green pepper… and she had four ripe tomatoes sitting on the window sill. Plenty of fixings to make a nice mixed salad.
She was just getting out the cutting board and a knife when she heard the sound of Super Mario from the living room. "Stevie, did you finish cleaning up your Legos?"
"Yeah, Mom!"
She had no idea how a seven year old could sound so much like a teenager, but somehow he managed. Especially since, given that it had barely been five minutes since Clint issued the clean up order, it was doubtful he'd done it. Clint had probably been correct in his assessment of a quick and easy pile instead of properly putting away Legos. But that was something they could worry about after dinner.
The backdoor banged open again and Kate swept in, talking a mile a minute and barely giving Natasha time to take in the sparkly silver jewelry dangling from her earlobe, nevermind object to it.
"Look at what Yelena got me! Isn't it neat?The spider is attached to the web with a tiny little chain," Kate babbled as she swept through the kitchen, her fingers flying across the screen of her phone. "I'm gonna go up to my room so I can facetime with Kamala. She's going to be so jealous. Can you imagine her family ever letting her get any kind of piercing?""
As soon as Kate had disappeared up the stairs, Natasha spun around and narrowed her eyes at Yelena, who grabbed a soda from the fridge then leaned casually against the kitchen counter, pretending she didn't see the death glare Natasha was leveling at her.
"An ear piercing? Really?" Natasha asked, waving her knife at her sister..
Yelena shrugged. "What? It's better than a nose ring and I took her to my tattoo guy, not some random mall store that doesn't know what they're doing."
"She wasn't supposed to get a piercing at all," Natasha protested, turning back to her cutting board to start slicing up vegetables. The pepper received a particularly violent blow, sending a few seeds flying into the sink, "Our deal with her was that she could get one when she turned sixteen."
"Meh, she's close enough," Yelena said, taking a sip of her soda.
"Yelena."
"Natasha," Yelena parroted back at her, making a face. "You did all kinds of crazy things when you were a kid."
"Yeah, and Mama gave me hell for it too! Do you remember how she cut my hair short when I dyed it blue?"
Yelena laughed. "You were so mad at her that you cut it even shorter out of protest."
"God, she hated it whenever I did something she didn't like," Natasha said with a sigh. "Do you know she still harps about the color I painted my room when I was twelve? And the lectures I have to endure from her and Dad because we chose not to have another baby after Stevie."
"Why is that? You should definitely have another baby," Yelena said with a smirk.
"Not you, too," Nataha groaned. "Why don't you have a baby instead?"
"I've got Fanny."
Natasha frowned. "A dog is not the same as -"
"Clint says the fish are all cleaned so he's gonna heat up the grill," Barney interjected as he sauntered back into the kitchen and snagged a piece of tomato from Nat's cutting board. "Also, I've been told to inform you that your parents are here."
Startled, Natasha stood on tiptoe and peered out the kitchen window. Sure enough, there was their car pulling up in the drive. She sighed.
"Did you know they were coming?" she asked, turning away from the window to look at Yelena.
"Do I ever know?" she said, grabbing a piece of cucumber.
"True."
There was the sound of the front door opening and then Stevie squealing from the living room. "Mamma Melina! Poppa Alexi!"
"How is my big boy today?" Alexi boomed.
"Alexi! Don't throw him in the air like that! He'll get hurt!" Melina scolded.
"Nonsense! He is my big strong boy."
The sounds of their voices faded to a dull roar and Natasha could hear Stevie asking if they wanted to see his latest Lego superhero set.
"Guess there'll be two more for dinner," Barney said with a wink. "Good thing we caught all those fish. You do eat fish, Czarina, don't you?"
Yelena scowled at him. "I even know how to clean them. Unlike some other people."
"I know how," Barney countered. "I just choose not to. Can't sully my pretty hands now, can I?"
Yelena snorted and set her soda down on the counter. "I'm going to go upstairs and wash up. I will be back down in a bit if you need more help getting things together."
"Tell Kate it's almost dinner time and that she needs to come set the table," Natasha called after her as she left. Then she turned to Barney with a disapproving frown. "Do you always have to goad her like that?"
"No, but it's fun." He grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge. "I just came in to let you know your parents were on the way and to grab a couple of these for me and little brother to enjoy while he grills the fish."
"Which you have done. So go," she said, waving him back out the door. She went back to assembling the salad, but barely a minute later the door banged open again. "I swear to God, Barney -"
"That bad, huh?" Clint laughed, the door clattered shut behind him.
She swung around at the sound of his voice and smiled.
"How on earth did we go from a quiet afternoon to… this," she asked, waving her hand around the kitchen to indicate the general chaos of the entire household.
"I don't know," he said, folding her into a big hug which she gratefully accepted. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back. "But it's nice, isn't it?"
She grinned against his chest. As crazy as their family made her, she loved them to bits. "Yeah, it really kind of is."