Chasing Ghosts | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 69: One Visit A Year And The Occasional Phone Call

She turned to look over her shoulder when the door opened and closed again. This time, much more silent, so she wasn't surprised to look into the face of her daughter, who had a cautious gleam in her eyes, warily looking between her mom and Alexei.

Immediately, Natasha's body relaxed, a small smile growing on her lips. ''Hey, beautiful.''

Maya quickly stalked over to her, not sparing Alexei a glance as she ran to safety. ''Mom said to tell you that memory time is over.'' She had her arms slightly up, so Natasha knew she wanted to be picked up. A move better fitting for a four-year-old, but they would gladly give her all the hugs and attention she needed after being deprived of it for most of her youth. Most of the times, she acted way older. Now, she acted younger.

Effortlessly, Natasha lifted her onto her hip, Maya's head higher than hers. Her daughter would definitely grow to be taller than her. ''Good. Let's go back inside then.'' She turned to leave, but stopped, looking at Alexei once more. ''I don't want to be in a weird place with you, but that means you have to try harder.''

''You're still angry with me,'' he easily concluded.

''Of course, I am. One apology doesn't fix that.'' Her words held less bite and sounded more exhausted instead, all because she didn't want Maya to see her all angry and arguing. That's not who she wanted to be.

''Why, Natasha?'' He begged her to tell him what he did wrong, what else he should do to fix this. But she wasn't going to make it that easy.

''The fact that I have to tell you that, says more than enough. Figure it out yourself.''

She turned away once more, but he wasn't done with her. While reaching for her arm, he - accidentally or not - grabbed Maya's instead. ''Natasha, wait. You have to give me a hint.''

With a dangerous glare and a fire burning in her chest, she spun around, slapping his hand away. ''Don't grab her,'' she growled. Not in a possessive way, but because she and Katya fiercely made sure that Maya did have full control over what happened with her body. Natasha took a deep breath. ''Just... stop.'' 

He said nothing more, hanging his shoulders, so for a final time, she turned back to the house. This time without getting stopped. 

''I'm sorry about that,'' she told Maya.

''It's alright. What was that all about?'' Maya asked, watching her mom's face. Annoyance bubbled under the surface, but for the sake of the atmosphere inside, she pushed it aside.

''I'll tell you later.''

For her, it was easy to sense that something had happened in the house as soon as she saw Katya's face. Everyone, after feeling a strong emotion, had traces of it left in their eyes and their body for a while after, even if they tried to cover it up, like Katya did now. She painted a smile when she looked over her shoulder at the people coming into the house, but Natasha noticed how tense her muscles were.

Nevertheless, she didn't comment and happily took the seat next to Katya, shifting Maya from her hip to her lap while shrugging her coat off.

Alexei didn't come back into the house. Maybe he had gone for a walk or whatever, but it gave the others a chance to talk in peace, without judgement or rude comments. Melina made tea - Russian tea, according to her - which they drank while chatting about upcoming things in their lives. Or, more specifically, Maya's life.

Happily, she answered all Melina's questions about school and soccer, and also told her a lot about the Christmas party and, of course, their cat. Everyone smiled at her cuteness, and Natasha continued to rub her thumb over the back of Katya's hand while Maya talked. Her wife was tired, she knew that. Because of the talking, listening, the early morning. Mentally exhausted.