Things Are Almost Perfect

Chapter 6 ~ You're a Ghost, You Can't Feel the Discomfort of the Backseat

The first thing Yelena noticed when she woke up was the smell of waffles. And the sound of screaming children. But mostly waffles.

"MOM LILA TOOK MY WAFFLE!" Nathanial yelled.

Yelena groaned and rolled over to cover her ears. But ended up rolling the wrong direction and fell off the couch. Grumbling about missing a real bed, she untangled herself from the blankets and dragged herself to the kitchen.

"Auntie Lena!" Lila said, grinning. She grabbed a plate out of a cabinet and handed it to Yelena.

"Morning," Yelena replied, taking the plate and grabbing four waffles.

Nathanial stared at her plate. "That's a loooooooot of waffles."

"Yep." Yelena sat down at the table and poured the syrup on.

Laura was standing at the counter, popping fresh, warm waffles out of the waffle machine.

Cooper dug into a huge bite of waffle, "You have eaten waffles before..... right?"

Yelena nodded as she devoured the waffles. "But none as good as these! These are amazing, thanks Laura," she said after swallowing a bite.

"You're welcome," Laura said.

"Boo!"

Yelena nearly flipped the table. She spun around and saw Natasha grinning mischievously. "Natasha I'm gonna....."

"You're gonna nothing. I'm just fulfilling my duties as a ghost!"

The kids giggled, big smiles crossing their faces.

Laura stared at the four of them like they were ghosts. Which was going in the right direction, but not quite there yet.

"You're in a good mood," Yelena noted, stuffing more waffles into her mouth. Who cares that Laura probably thought she'd lost her mind. She wasn't going to give up a chance to talk to, (and possibly annoy), her older sister because someone thought she was crazy.

Clint walked into the room, also seeming to be in a good mood.

Yelena blinked, realizations dawning on her, "Ohhhhhhhhhhh. That explains it."

The three kids were extremely confused.

"Would someone explain what's going on?" Laura asked. Okay, Laura was definitely more confused than the kids. And was probably concerned too.

"Long story short, Nat's a ghost and all of us can see her," Clint said cheerily, grabbing a waffle and sitting down.

"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts," she said.

"I didn't. Until last night."

Laura stared at Clint for a moment. "I'm calling a doctor."

"Dad's telling the truth," Lila said, lifting her plate up to her mouth and licking the syrup off of it.

Everyone was quiet. Laura blinked, hoping that they were all just pulling an elaborate prank on her.

"Auntie Tasha, do you show up in the mirror?" Cooper finally asked.

Natasha blinked. "One second." She hurried away and returned a few moments later. "Nope."

Cooper sighed. "Darn, that would make everything so much easier."

Laura tilted her head. Cooper too? He'd never been the kind of person to play imaginary games.

Poof.

"Holy--"

"Don't swear in front of the kids," Natasha interrupted.

Laura stared at Natasha. "You're a ghost. My family isn't insane and you're a ghost. Okay."