The Tower: Family

Ghost of Family Past

It wasn't long before I felt settled in the new place. I loved the house out at the compound and I was glad we had it, but it had been so large that it still felt a lot like a hotel to me. This new layout at the tower and the familiarity of being in the place where I'd spent so much time, I felt at home. Not to mention it was nice being in the city again. We could order in food, something that had been impossible out at the compound. It was great having the big meals where we arranged them all by type and then just took what we wanted again. People had gone back to stealing things from each other's plates. All these little habits that had been a huge part of our collective lives were coming back and I loved it even after a few days.

Things quickly found their rhythm too. Natasha and Wanda's morning sickness was hitting hard in the morning so they were generally staying home. Wanda was in full nesting mode. She was spending a lot of time with the kids and looking at baby clothes online. Natasha was working in the office, going over mission briefings, and compiling intel. She also was adamant that we did not take the kids out without her, so she would finish work in the afternoons and take them and anyone else that wanted to go to the park and the library for storytime. Her new cloaking powers meant that they were going to be able to live a fairly normal childhood in the end. Or at least, paparazzi free.

I was mostly spending my time between the lab and home and planned to keep it that way as long as I could. So far I wasn't getting any morning sickness. I was still really only barely pregnant, so all those signs hadn't kicked in yet, though I was expecting them to start soon. Mostly I was just relaxed and enjoying life returning to normal.

Bucky had booked Tyr and Spotty in to be groomed and the two of us went to take them to the groomers during our lunch break one day not long after getting back. It was the first time I had gone out without Natasha since the wedding and so my first experience with the paparazzi after they got word that I had married Tony Stark.

They had been grouped around the front door and security had to push them back as we made our way out with the dogs. Mostly they were calling out my name and asking about the wedding. Some seemed to be trying to make Bucky angry for some inconceivable reason. Yelling out to him about being a second choice. Luckily he was good at keeping his reactions neutral. He just put his arm around me and pulled me a little closer.

"Should have gone out the back," I said.

He shrugged. "They're around there too. Just ignore them. You're all glowy so the pics are gonna be nice."

I giggled. "'Cause that's what I care about."

"Just keep walking, don't engage. Security will keep them out of arm's length and if they get past them, they won't have any arms when I'm done with them," Bucky said.

"Bucky!" I scolded.

He chucked and rubbed my shoulder. "I was kidding."

"How long will we have to worry about them?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder at the crowd following after us.

"They're just greedy 'cause they don't get how the wedding thing worked. They'll get over it soon. It's not like they're gonna catch us going out that way very often," Bucky explained. "If it makes you feel any better, the dogs think they're fucking annoying too."

I laughed. "Oh no, babies," I cooed and reached down and scratched Spotty's back.

"You better pat Tyr too," Bucky said. "He's jealous."

I bit back more laughter and pet the Cavalier awkwardly as we kept moving.

"Elly!"

The use of my less formal name by someone in the crowd drew my attention and I turned to see who had called out. The voice was familiar too, and yet it wasn't until I saw who was calling out to me that I recognized who it was.