"Maria?" A quiet, yet urgent voice fills Maria's ears, and the woman hums as she forces her eyes open and sits up. It was Yelena, and Maria frowns in confusion as she kicks off the blankets.
"What is it?" She asks with a frown of concern.
"Tasha's upset. She won't get out of bed." Yelena murmurs as she anxiously fists her blanket.
Maria nods as she grasps Yelena by the underarms and lifts her onto the mattress, "Okay, you stay in my bed and I'll go see if she's okay." She brings the blankets up and leans down to kiss her forehead.
"You'll be back?" The child asks tentatively, and Maria smiles as she takes her hand and gives it a squeeze.
"Right back." She reassures, and Yelena nods allowing Maria to leave the room. When she makes it to the girls room, she was met with the sight of Natasha sat up in bed, staring down at her lap. Her hands were trembling, and when she looks Maria's way, the woman could see a look of terror in her eyes, her cheeks wet with tears.
"Hi baby, is everything okay?" She carefully makes her way into the room. Natasha simply stares at her, and the fresh set of tears falling down her cheeks don't go amiss.
Maria eases herself down onto Yelena's bed, not wanting to get too close just in case it further upsets Natasha. "Was it a bad dream?" She questions gently, crossing one leg over the other.
Natasha's bottom lip trembles, and she sniffles quietly as she nods.
"Okay," Maria murmurs, "is there anything I can do to help?"
Natasha averts her gaze and shrugs her shoulders.
"What's going on sweetheart? Mhh? You won't be in trouble. I just want to make you feel better." Maria eases herself off of Yelena's bed and sits herself down onto the edge of Natasha's. Thankfully, the girl doesn't seem to mind her close proximity, and it allows Maria to find the courage to reach out and grab one of Natasha's trembling hands.
"Tell me baby. It's okay." She whispers, bringing her other hand to rest on Natasha's blanket clad leg.
Natasha goes rigid, and her trembling intensifies.
"Are you scared?" Maria asks carefully, and Natasha lets out a quiet sob as she nods.
Maria wants nothing more than to hold her, but she momentarily refrains, "Of me? Of my reaction?"
Natasha nods.
"Okay," Maria whispers as she shifts herself a little closer, "I promise, whatever happens, you're not in trouble and I won't be mad. I'm just worried baby, that's all."
"I..." Natasha starts, and she lets out another quiet sob, "I forgot to p-put on a pull-up, and I had a bad dream, and I got your bed wet and I'm sorry." She brings her arm up to her mouth to muffle her cries, and Maria frowns as she reaches out to pull the sobbing girl into her arms, wet pants be damned.
"It's okay, I'm not mad. I know it was just an accident. You're okay." She murmurs into Natasha's ear as she begin to gently rock her back and forth, lips pressing repetitive kisses to the top of her head.
Natasha nods, her cries muffled from where her head was buried in Maria's chest, "I-I'm sorry."
"I know," Maria whispers, "I know baby, it's okay. I promise." She brings the girl onto her lap, resting a hand on the back of her head.
"I'm s-sorry." Natasha cries again, and Maria could feel her throat tighten at just how scared she sounded. She couldn't even begin to imagine just what'd happened for her to be this terrified over something that had been a complete accident.
Going out on a whim, Maria rises to her feet with Natasha on her front, the child's legs resting against her hips. She rests an arm beneath her to keep her supported, the other grazing gentle circles across the Natasha's back.
Eventually, Natasha's cries quieten, and Maria gently eases her away and brings a gentle hand up to cup her cheek, "I know you're sorry. I know baby, okay? But it was just an accident, and I'm not mad at you, I promise."
Natasha sniffles with a small nod, and Maria presses a kiss to her forehead before easing her down onto her feet, "Let's get you dry, and then you can come sleep in my bed with me and Lena, okay?" She cups her cheeks, using the pads of her thumbs to wipe away the tears.
"Okay," Natasha whispers, and Maria places another kiss to her forehead, "You want some help?"
Natasha nods.
"Okay. There are baby wipes in the bathroom, go strip and wash off, and I'll bring you some clean pyjamas and pull-up. Does that sound okay?' Maria asks.
"Yeah." Natasha whispers, sending one last glance at Maria before leaving the room.
The woman makes quick work of stripping the bedding and putting on a new set, tossing the soiled ones into the laundry basket to be washed tomorrow. After momentarily heading back to her room to wash and change her own clothes -glad to see Yelena curled up small, fast asleep- she grabs some new pyjamas; the teddy bear ones along with a pull-up before heading through to the bathroom.
"Sweetheart? You sorted?" She knocks on the door.
The door slowly opens, wide enough for Maria to know she was welcome inside, and she does so, coming face to face with a towel clad Natasha.
Without a word, she grabs the shirt and pulls it over Natasha's head, waiting for the child to put her arms through the holes before handing over the pants and pull-up.
"Stay?" Natasha pleads as she takes them, and Maria easily nods her head, sitting herself down on the closed toilet seat.
She averts her gaze as Natasha dresses, and soon, Natasha was at her side again, playing anxiously with the bottom of her shirt. Maria sends her a smile as she stands, bringing Natasha with her and resting her on her hip.
"Let's get to bed baby." The woman murmurs, pressing a kiss to the side of Natasha's head as she carries her through to the bedroom. After setting Natasha on the opposite side to her sister, she climbs in between the two and lets out a deep sigh.
"Maria?" She hears.
"Mhh?"
"Thank you."
Maria turns her head, coming face to face with Natasha. The girl was curled up, covers pulled up to her chest, and Maria smiles as she places a kiss to the top of her head, "You're welcome sweetheart."
*
When she wakes up the next morning, both girls were thankfully still asleep. Yelena, bless her heart, was sprawled out on top of her, the quiet suckles of her sucking her thumb filling Maria's ears. Natasha too was curled up close, her forehead pressed against Maria's arm and her hand securely wrapped around her sisters.
With a small sigh, Maria allows her eyes to slip closed as she brings a hand up to rest on the back of Yelena's head. She absentmindedly begins to comb her fingers through her hair, and at the action, she feels the girl stir against her.
Opening up her eyes again, she looks down and see Yelena awake, staring into space with her thumb still in her mouth.
"Hi you. Still sleepy?" Maria whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of the blonde head. If Yelena hadn't woken up before she'd come to wake her last night, then this was one of the first nights she hadn't had a night terror. She smiles at the thought.
"Mhh." Yelena hums, "tasha sleeping." She mumbles behind her thumb, carefully pulling her hand out of her sisters so she could grip Maria's shirt.
"I know baby," Maria nods, "she didn't get to sleep until late last night so she might be sleeping a while."
"Mmkay."
"Mmkay." Maria repeats as she sits them both up and slides off of the bed, "let's get you changed and see what we can do for breakfast." She pats the back of Yelena's diaper as she carriers her through to her bedroom, playfully dropping her onto the bed as she grabs a clean change of underwear.
Most mornings, the girl would refuse to put on pants until it was absolutely necessary. Maria had tried bribes, threats, and anything else she could think of but Yelena Belova just did not like pants.
Sitting herself down in front of the girls legs, she begins to undo the diaper, "Thumb out of your mouth little one. You know better." She playfully scolds as she wipes the girl down, making sure she was all clean before slipping on the underwear.
Yelena smiles sheepishly as she removes her thumb, and Maria playfully tickles her sides earning herself a happy giggle. After wiping off her hands, she scoops up the pantless seven year old and begins making her way downstairs.
"Can we go to the park today?" Yelena asks as she plays with Maria's hair.
The woman pats the side of her thigh, "I don't we why not. You guys start school tomorrow so it's your last free day." She pulls out the cereal along with some milk. Whilst Yelena eats, she had plans to wake Natasha so the girl didn't wake up alone.
Yelena kicks her legs slightly, "Don't like school." She mutters as she hides her head in Maria's hair.
"Why not?" Maria asks as she finishes pouring the cereal, adding a sufficient amount of milk before pressing a kiss to Yelena's head and easing her down onto her chair. Maria had recently bought a small booster seat that sits on top of the chair itself to help Yelena sit comfortably at the table, because before she was forced to either sit on her knees or on Maria's lap.
Yelena simply shrugs, and Maria doesn't force her to talk. She simply places a kiss to her head and goes to leave the kitchen with the intention of waking Natasha, but she was stopped, just seconds later, by the girl appearing in kitchen doorway.
"Oh, good morning honey. I was just about to come wake you." She holds out her arms, and Natasha doesn't hesitate to fall into them. Maria sways her gently, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before pulling away and gesturing to the table.
"Go eat baby." She murmurs, and Natasha nods as she sits herself down.
"Tasha? Guess what? Maria says we can go to the park today!" Yelena grins before once again filling her mouth with cereal.
Natasha nods as she finishes with pouring her cereal and adds the milk, "That's cool lena."
Yelena giggles as she happily kicks her legs, "Maria? Can we have a picnic again?"
Maria finishes with her coffee and sits herself down opposite the girls, "Not today honey. We already have plans for lunch. Maybe next time, okay?" She promises.
Yelena pouts, but nods her head.
"What are our plans for lunch?" Natasha asks after swallowing a mouthful of cereal. Yelena momentarily loses her pout and stares at Maria intrigued.
"I promised you guys McDonald's remember? Do you guys not want it anymore?" She teases before taking a cautious sip of her coffee.
At the mall the other day, the girls had wanted McDonald's for dinner, but due to the fact they'd already had subway for lunch and Maria didn't want have any plans on letting them eat out twice in one day, she'd promised them McDonald's on the day before they went back to school.
"Yay!" Yelena giggles, "I forgotted about that."
"Me too." Natasha smiles as she finishes her cereal and puts her bowl into the sink.
"Well now you have something to look forward to." Maria tells them as she takes Yelena's empty bowl and places it in the sink next to Natasha. She'd put them into the dishwasher later. "Why don't you girls go get dressed?" She reaches down and undoes the small buckle keeping Yelena in her seat, lifting the girl to her feet.
Natasha nods and sends her a soft smile before leaving the room, Yelena hot on her heels.