𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐄.

xxiv. 𝓡𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒.

Jaylanie let Happy's words sink in, but no matter how many times he'll try to comfort her, she'll never be able to grasp the fact that they were gone. She never thought that she'd be going through so much, especially so early in her life, she's only 25 and already lost her boyfriend, and her parents in the span of two years. Never in a million years.

"Your parents loved you, Jay. They loved you so much. And they still do...wherever they are—" Happy's sentence was cut off by a knock at Jaylanie's door, which startled the two. She looked through her window and all she saw was brunette curls and it was nobody else's, but Ingi. Jaylanie quickly, but gently, opened the door and he crawled onto her lap, shivering from the cold.

Just when she thought she lost everything.

"I missed you, mommy." Jaylanie's heart swelled at him calling her his mommy. His dark, chocolate brown eyes brought her down to earth. "I've missed you so much more, sweetface."

"And I don't think they would've done what they did if they didn't know you'd have him in the end." Happy said to her and she smiled. Ingi had a way of calming her without even saying a word. Just like Jaylanie was Nat and Tony's will to live, Ingi was hers. He was the reason why she's still here.

"Where's daddy?" He asked and her heart broke more than it already was. Jaylanie looked up at the sky through the large sun roof above them and saw six, bright, shining stars among a bunch of tiny ones. It was absolutely beautiful.

"Look," she pointed at one and Happy and Ingi followed her finger. "It's your daddy, and that's grandma and grandpa, and those three are for Vision, Pietro, and Agent Coulson. They're my friends." She smiled for the first time since the battle. It was odd to see stars, especially in New York. And what a coincidence that it was six. One for each.

"You don't get stars like that in the city." Happy said.

"They're one of a kind."

༻❁༺

𝓘t's been a couple of days since the battle, she honestly didn't even know how many days have past. It's all a just one big blur. Pepper and Jaylanie leaned on each other for support whenever they needed, and it was pretty often, almost 24/7. They still resided in the cabin, no matter how hard it was to constantly wake up and not hear Tony's AC/DC playlist roaring through the speakers or not smelling Nat's Apple Sharlotka.

Her father was cremated, per his request. Her mother's body was still on Vormir, no way of retrieving it to give her the funeral she deserved and that hurt Jaylanie more than anything.

Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, and Jaylanie gave their eulogies earlier on in the day, but had to take a small break. They just needed a break.

As Jaylanie was crouched down, straightening the tie on Ingi's suit, his soft voice broke her from her thoughts. "Mommy?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Why are you crying?" He asked innocently and she looked at him, fixing a few strands of his hair.

"Well," she took a deep breath before continuing. "Today's a very sad day because grandma and grandpa are in space with daddy and, um," Jaylanie felt herself losing her composure and stopped for a second. "We can't see them anymore. They can't come back and that makes me very sad."