the fallen star

seeking, but not finding

"I know the basics." She replies sassily. "Two plus two is four. Done. Maths over."

I raise an eyebrow at her attitude. "And that's great, but you need to know this as well."

America lets out a loud groan, throwing her head back in annoyance.

"Mamaaaaa!" She whines, and I can't help but suppress a smile at her adorableness.

"Americaaaaa!" I copy her tone to tease her. "Can you please just do a few questions for me, then you can go and play outside?"

America thinks for a moment, before reluctantly picking back up her pen.

"Thank you, princessa." I give her a peck on the forehead as she leans into my touch while writing on the paper.

~~~

"Hey, Ree." I call, getting America's attention from where she was doing flips on the trampoline.

"Yeah!" She calls back, doing another front flip which made my stomach do nervous flips.

"Can you come out of there for a minute please, princessa. I need to ask you something." I tell her gently, throwing the dead apple tree branches that I had just cut off, into a wooden crate.

"Umm... ok." America stops bouncing, giving me a slightly confused look.

As she was making her way out of the netting, America touched the ladder and I heard a loud electric noise.

"OW, FUCK!" America swears loudly, falling back into the trampoline. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!"

I try not to laugh at her over reaction of the electric shock. "It's just an electric shock sweetheart, it happens a lot in summer when there is lots of friction about."

America clutches her hand, glaring at the ladder.

"And watch your language, young lady." I add, making her whine.

"I think getting electrocuted is a viable reason to swear, Mama." She reasons, still looking warily at the ladder.

"I disagree." I chuckle. "Come on, get out of there Miss Electric."

America goes to touch the ladder again, but hesitates, backing away. "I don't wanna get shocked again, Mama..." She whines, doing her puppy eyes at me.

I roll my eyes, walking over to the trampoline and opening the gap in the net wider. "Come on then."

I open my arms so I can help America out without her using the ladder.

America quickly runs into my arms and stares at the ladder the whole time, while I lift her out by her armpits, setting her on the floor.

"Can I talk to you now?" I ask, with a teasing smirk.

America gives me a satisfied nod. "Yesssss."

I turn my tone more serious. "Do you remember what I told you about Vision, Pietro, Billy and Tommy?" I ask, wanting to check if she remembered who they were.

America's face lights up, and she nods eagerly. "Yeah! There your husband, brother and real kids, right?"

The 'real kids' made me frown slightly. "Hey, just because they are my biological children and your not, doesn't mean I love you any less, sweetheart." I run my hand through her knotted brown hair.

She blushes slightly. "Thank you, Mama. I love you too."

Is give America a smile, before remembering what I needed to talk to her about. "So I'm trying to get them back, and then you would have a Dad, Uncle and brothers. How does that sound?" I ask enthusiastically, hoping America would be up for this idea.

America looks at the floor nervously, making me furrow my eyebrows.

"What's wrong, princessa?" I ask worriedly, hoping that I hadn't upset her.

"What if they don't like me?" She asks quietly, playing with the sleeves of her shirt.

"America look at me." I make my voice slightly firmer and America's eyes meet mine. "They are gonna LOVE you."

My words make a shy smile come across her face. God I love this girl so much.

"Are you sure?" She double checks, still looking slightly apprehensive.

"Of course!" I reply immediately. "Billy and Tommy have always wanted a sister, and Vision has always told me that he would love to have a daughter. Pietro will just love you regardless."

She grins at my words, before nodding.

"So you would like them to live with us?" I check, making sure I wasn't misreading her expression.

Obviously I wanted my family back, but I care about America's thoughts on this too, as it will definitely effect her.

"Yes!" She cheers, crashing into my arms for a warm hug. "How are you gonna get them back though? I thought they were..." She trails off at the end and I let out a cough.

"There's this book which lets me find them in the multiverse, and then I thought we could use your powers to travel there." I leave out the books details. She didn't need to know the darker side of it.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" America pulls away from me, running a few paces backwards. "Come on, let's go get them now!"

"America wait!"

At my words, she halts in her tracks, turning back to look at me confused.

"I need to find where they are first sweetheart, and it's proving to be a slight challenge. You also need more time to master your powers."

America's face falls slightly. "Oh... okay, well as soon as you find them, we can go get them?" She reasons.

I chuckle at her innocent naivety. "Yes, sweetheart."