Pt 4 Chapter 26 - Steps in the right direction

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Y/n's POV

Summer came around quicker than we thought. It was a nice day in July, and it was slowly approaching Harriet's first birthday. She had grown so much since the day we had met her. She was no longer this fragile little baby, but a giggly and fun little girl. Her hair was getting longer and even curlier. Her little face had begun to be dotted with freckles and most of her little teeth had come through. She was definitely a little diva and was well and truly spoilt rotten.

Bruce had moved back in for a month whilst arranging stuff but had moved away for good this time. Steve was still living with us in the compound which no longer felt weird and empty. We were used to the quietness and stillness of the areas where agents would have lived and worked. The house was looking rather nice now and completely decorated to our style. I saw no sign of the Avengers starting up as there were no alien invasions or non-sense for us to deal with. I still trained with Steve and Nat, using my powers and staying strong just in case.

I had gotten Harriet from her nap and returned to the dining table where Natasha was setting up a meeting with Carol. We kept in touch with her as she went off doing things around the galaxy. The buzz of the system trying to call her rang through the room but to my surprise it was never answered.

"She must have gotten caught up, we'll try again later. Gives me a chance to check up on Rhodey." Nat went back to the computer. Rhodey had heard rumors about different and strange attacks in the west, attacks with techniques that seemed a little too familiar. Natasha still desperately hoped that we could find Clint. He was her family for a few years and she missed him.

Rhodey's familiar voice drew my attention back to the hologram projection of our friend.

"Hello Romanoff's." He smiled. Harriet waved at him. The last time we had seen him in person was our wedding. Come to think of it, that was the last time we had also seen Pepper, Tony and Morgan. They were like a second family to me, and yet we had drifted since they moved away.

Steve came back from his shower and nodded a hello at Rhodey as he passed through to make a smoothie. He just had sweatpants on and his hair was messy. He still had his beard and there was no mistaking his toned torso. I could sort of see why he had so many teenage girls swooning over the old man. I put Harriet down so she could go and play.

"Give it to me then." Natasha sighed.

"There's no real sign of Barton Natasha. But there was another attack. To an untrained eye there's nothing unusual, but I checked it out. There was one mark. A similar mark to that made with one of his exploding arrow things."

Natasha sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"And where was that?" She looked up, asking the man. A frown grew over his face.

"Natasha, you know I can't-"

"Please."

I saw Steve pause in the kitchen as we both heard Natasha's voice crack slightly as she fought back tears.

"He's headed west. I'm not sure why. But this was near Ohio." Rhodey spoke slowly. "But that doesn't mean you get to go off looking for his Nat. He's gone now. Besides, he's dangerous."

"So am I." Natasha mumbled to herself.

"Thanks Rhodey, stay safe." I gave him a pitiful smile before hanging up the call. He gave me a little nod before the hologram dissolved. Harriet crawled over to Natasha and pulled herself up by pulling on her trousers. Natasha looked down at her daughter and wiped away the single tear that had run down her cheek. She picked up Haz and we went to sit on the sofa.

"You know it's a bad idea." I tried to reason with my wife.

"I know, that's why I'm just letting it go." She mumbled, twirling her blonde hair around her fingers. I watched as the golden strands ran over her hand.

"Can I ask you a question Darling?"

She looked up, and nodded.

"How come you don't dye your hair out, seeing as your roots have grown at more now."

She looked down at the blonde and shrugged. "Reminds me of my childhood. I had to dye my hair blonde in order to stay more undercover when I was a child. Well actually I ended up dying it blue but it was blonde for a bit. I had to pose as someone's sister and she was blonde." Natasha looked at Harriet, watching her stand up, holding the coffee table.

"That's fair enough, it looks nice. Why did you have to pose as her sister?"

"Well, she was young, we both were, I suppose. And they needed to make sure she was strong enough to join the red room. My par- I mean the agents were there to ensure we both were I guess."

"Oh. How old were you?" I asked softly. I held Nat's hand, rubbing my thumb over it. I didn't push Nat to tell me about her past, only when she was ready and only the details she wished to recall. I was just glad that she felt safe around me enough to tell me even the smallest of little things.

"At first, she was three and I was about six or seven. By the end, she was only six."

I didn't know what to say so I just pulled her into a hug. She relaxed into me and I knew she was hurting when she snuggled her head into my shoulders. As I pulled back I caught Harriet out the side of my eye. She was trying to walk.

"Look!" I pointed at our daughter. Harriet was standing, without the table and trying to move forward without wobbling. We had been helping her walk for weeks now, just hoping she would do it on her own when she was ready. Natasha turned quickly to watch as her little foot took a step, followed by a second and a third step. She bumped down on the floor with a giggle.

Natasha's face lit up and I was laughing. My wife scooped her up and began kissing her face all over. "Well done!" She beamed.

We both sat on the floor and let Harriet stand. I held her waist and then let go.

"Come here little one, come to Mama." Natasha held out her hands. Harriet's face was covered in a big smile and she waddled a few paces forward.

"Good girl!" Natasha gave her a big hug as the child fell into her lap.

"I think that deserves a treat." I winked at Natasha and she nodded.

"Ice cream?" She asked, of course I said yes.

Steve was sitting on the island in the kitchen, drinking his smoothie and obviously thinking. He hadn't really been listening to us or Rhodey as he had a headphone in.

"Oh, hey. What did Rhodey say?" He asked, not looking at our excited faces.

"Clint's in Ohio. But! That's not important because Haz just took her first steps!" I told him quickly before getting out the ice cream."

"And I missed it?!" He looked disappointed.

"She'll do it again!" Natasha reassured him, getting the spoons. Harriet sat on the island counter looking rather confused as to why we were all happy and bubbly.

"Well done little miss." Steve whispered to her. He held out his hand and she hit it clumsily in an attempt to give him a high five.

Natasha put some ice cream in a bowl for us all and we tucked in, smiling. Harriet was learning to walk, Clint hopefully hadn't left the country yet and Nat was opening up about her childhood. Slowly she was healing but I knew it would be a long process that I would have to help her with, that we would work through together. It was a step in the right direction as we lived through our next chapter. Me and her. Together like we were meant to be. Two souls. A twin flame. I knew, deep down, we were meant to be together. It fit, like a lock and key. I just knew that Natasha had walls that over time she would be able to bring down. There was no rush, we had the rest of our lives together. 

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I'm back writing now so that's fun. The following parts will be more like little one shots and stuff so hopefully that will be okay! I hope everyone is okay <3

Don't forget to keep voting and leaving feedback. And remember that I love you all :)

Also I decided to enter this for the Wattpad awards so we'll see how that goes!

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