EDIT*** A/N: I don't think I ever mentioned this on Wattpad (maybe I did, idk) but I see Ivan as Stanley Tucci in my head. Okay that's all haha
~
Maggie's head rested on James' shoulder in the back seat of the limo, still sleepy from just waking up. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, leaving a low golden light to the fog that nestled between the skyscrapers of Manhattan.
Natasha and Steve were sat across from them, with her sitting on his lap, resting her eyes. He was clutching a thermos of coffee, chugging some down then carefully passing it to James, trying not to wake her.
The drive was silent. Both of the girls completely exhausted, while the guys were functioning with ease. They were both fully accustomed to getting little to no sleep while running their empire. They shared a mutual eye roll and a non audible chuckle to the dozing ladies collapsed on them.
Arriving at La Guardia, the driver pulled around back, straight to the runway. James' jet was stationed dead center, on the private strip of concrete. Although, his was owned, not chartered like the others that were waiting on the sidelines.
A team of men hustled over, unloading the bags and moving them onto the aircraft. Maggie was fully asleep now, so James carried her up the stairs, into the jet and laid her down on one of the side couches, tucking an Hermes blanket over her. He jogged back down to grab her purse. Natasha was standing outside of the limo, stretching her arms with a big yawn.
"I should've pretended to be asleep still. Steve, carry me up the stairs like James did." She teased, earning herself an animated scoff from him.
They all finished boarding the jet. James took a seat beside Maggie, lifting her head and resting it over his thigh. He leaned his head back and raked his fingers through her hair. Natasha and Steve were on the divan towards the back of the cabin, lounging back together, trying to catch some more sleep.
The whole group slept for the first few hours of the flight— even James let his eyes close after a while. Maggie was thoroughly confused when she woke up in the jet. She didn't even realize they were flying private, since all James had said about the flight was "I'll handle it".
She knew absolutely nothing about aircraft, but she could tell it was high caliber. Custom ivory leather covered the cushy seats. Through a set of sliding doors sat a well stocked galley. There was even a full bathroom with a shower.
Once everyones heads shook off the sleepy tone of the morning, Natasha really turned up the mood. She ordered a round of mimosas from the attendant, passing them around the group. James politely accepted his, but passed off to Maggie to drink. He didn't particularly favor drinks that were bubbly, especially when they were also fruity. Nor did he enjoy drinking in the morning.
Maggie drank hers down, then his, becoming very giggly due to her stomach being empty. He loved to see it. He adored how her sweet personality was amplified when she had a couple drinks in her. She deserved to be pampered after the night before. Part of him still felt guilty about getting her fired, but he had the whole weekend to figure out how to fix it.
"My dad can't wait to see you, Mags. He literally won't shut up about it." Natasha laughed, fingers tracing the rim of the flute in her hand.
"I'm so excited to see him. It's been almost a year now."
Steve shifted slightly, catching Natasha's attention. She rolled her eyes. "Stevie here is nervous to meet him." She nodded her head at him. "I already told you, babe, he's going to love you."
"Yeah Steve," Maggie chimed in. "Ivan is a really nice man. He's super laidback."
"I don't doubt it. I just want to make a good impression, ya know?" He smiled nervously, then placing a kiss on Natasha's temple.
"I know, baby. I know." She flashed a subtle wink at Maggie.
Frankly— the entire group knew why he was so worried. Each of them knew exactly what was on his mind, but not a word was said to blow their cover. Maggie was bursting internally. Her terrible deception skills were not serving her well in this moment, especially since she had two mimosas.
She chewed her lip, practically shoving her face into James' chest to hide the smile that was creeping up on her. He chuckled at her, realizing exactly what was happening.
He leaned down to her ear, huffing a laugh. "Who the hell gave you permission to be so damn cute?"
"Stop." She whispered back. "I'm dying."
He outright laughed at that. Falling that much more in love with her.
The jet descended, kissing the runway with its wheels as they skidded to a stop. Everyone got up and moved to the car that was waiting for them at the runway. Although the summer was nearing its end, it was hot. Probably not to the locals, but the group of New Yorkers were used to much more mild summer weather.
James asked the driver to blast the AC. Nearly passing out in his all black jacket and jeans combo. It was roughly an hour drive from SFO to the house they were staying in. One of James' friends owned a beautiful Victorian home in Presidio Heights.
The three bedroom home housed a stylish living room with high ceilings and fireplace. Shining fixtures and radial lamps illuminated the defined furniture, while rich visual art typified the living space. The room lead into a tasteful fully renovated kitchen. Luxurious appliances were framed by paneled cabinetry. All surrounding a wide granite covered island.
Through a set of French doors, sat a gorgeous courtyard that held an impeccably sculpted garden and jacuzzi.
Maggie and James moved their things into the master suite, with its own living room and fireplace.
"Your friend lives here?"
James dropped down his Salvatore Ferragamo suitcases, turning to face her. "It's more of a vacation home. He lent it to me for the weekend since he's back in New York."
Her eyes widened, marveling at the luxury of his 'vacation home'. "Do all of your friends own vacation homes like this? She laughed.
"Yes" His voice was unwavering, stating it matter-of-factly.
She nodded, remembering who she was speaking to. "Do you have any vacation homes?"
He chuckled, sitting down on the edge of the king sized bed, pulling off his Chelsea boots. "Yes, sweetheart. I do."
"Where?"
"My, my, in one of your quizzical moods, huh?" He smirked. James secretly loved when she was like this. He despised being showered with attention, but it was charming when she did it, so he didn't mind. He honestly adored their age gap. He liked being able to teach her things. Those eleven years between them were more obvious during conversations like this.
She chewed her lip, nodding, then plopping down beside him.
"Lets see... London, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Milan, and Paris." He squinted his eyes, trying to figure out of he had forgotten one. "Oh, and then Miami. But I don't quite enjoy visiting that one. Too humid and the party scene isn't my thing anymore. I'm considering selling it to be honest."
His response practically knocked the wind out of her. She couldn't even fathom what all that property costed him. And knowing James, the homes must be incredibly extravagant. The man wouldn't settle for anything, but the best. "W— wow."
"We could go vacation sometime. Whenever you want." He shrugged, like it was nothing, taking off to any of those impressive locations without batting an eye. "Now that you're unemployed, we have all the time in the world." He teased.
Maggie gave him a light shove, chuckling. "Butthead."
"Too soon?" He said with a playful smugness. "But hey, who knows— maybe I'll fall in love with some property while were here. It would certainly make it easier when you want to come visit your hometown."
She forced a smile. His trained eyes instantly picked up on the insincere nature of the expression. "Whats wrong?" He demanded.
Rolling her eyes, hating that he could read her like a book. "It just... it's kind of hard visiting since my mom passed." She admitted, looking down at her lap. "This city has everything she loved. They're one and the same. She's all I think about when I'm here."
James frowned down at her, pulling her to his chest. "I'm sorry, doll. I wish you would've told me. We didn't have to come."
"No, no, I need to be here for Nat and I want to see my grandma. I don't want to dampen the mood, so don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're here with me."
"Of course. I'm glad I'm here too." He pressed a kiss to her head. "I love you."
"I love you too, James."
~
They all got ready for dinner, then headed over to the Romanoff home. James drove his friend's Mercedes AMG. Maggie sat in the front seat, feeling even smaller than usual in the oversized bucket seat. She directed him through the city streets, over to Noe Valley. Her stomach twisted slightly as she watched the buildings pass by. Mentally pin pointing memories from her childhood as they drove.
He pulled to a stop in front of the modern renovated home. It's natural wood, angular shape blatantly stuck out from the colorful victorian homes that surrounded it.
They all hopped out of the car. Natasha lead them to the door, walking right in like she had been her entire life. Maggie followed closely behind, with the two men trailing her.
"Dad?" Natasha shouted through the house.
James and Steve drank in the home. Both decently impressed with the sleek design of it. Ivan had minimalistic furniture and decor. Everything was neutral toned. Abstract art covering his walls, all done by Maggie over the years. He was actually her first customer when she was in high school.
"In the kitchen." Came a voice from down the hall.
The group moved deeper into the home, making their way to the kitchen. Ivan was standing over the counter, rolling sushi in a bamboo mat. He turned clean on his heel, wearing a huge smile. "Welcome home, Red." He swiped his hands clean before stepping around the wide island counter and wrapping Natasha in a hug.
Her dad was an ingenious techie. The head of development at a local solar panel company, creating more options for renewable energy and software for them for the last twenty years. He wasn't a very large man, standing five-eight. He was bald and wore chunky oversized glasses.
Releasing Natasha, he turned to face Maggie with a warm, knowing smile. "Come here, kiddo. You're next."
She beamed up at him, running up to throw her arms around him. "Hey, Pops."
Maggie had never called him dad. It felt too weird, but she started using the nickname 'Pops' for him when she was young. A nod to how he was basically her dad too, without outright saying it.
"And what do we have here?" He gave the girls a look, turning back to face the guys. He extended a hand out to them. "Ivan Romanoff. Nice to see you, gentlemen."
Steve jumped at the chance to shake his hand. "Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you, sir. Thank you for having us for dinner."
"Gladly. Also, you can call me Ivan." He chuckled.
Natasha gave Steve a silent thumbs up and wink, from behind her dad.
James let him have his moment, knowing how much this meant to his friend. He shook his hand next. "James Barnes. It's a pleasure."
"Is dinner ready? I'm starved." Natasha whined.
Ivan flashed her a look. "You know what you little brat? Would you like to take over? Finish up hand rolling sushi for five people?" Playfully jabbing her with his finger.
She raised her hands in surrender, laughing.
Once dinner was done, they all crowded around the table. Ivan went all out, trays filled with various kinds of sushi, miso soup, and tempura. He was a very well travelled man, living all over the world throughout his young adult life before settling in San Fransisco. He lived in Japan for a while, so his dishes were impeccable.
"So, I knew I was meeting Steve tonight... James, who are you and why are you in my home?" He squinted his eyes, pointing at him with his chopsticks.
James chuckled, enjoying his dry humor. "Well, I've been seeing Margaret for a few months now. I tagged along to spend time in her hometown."
"He's also Steve's best friend." Natasha added, shoving a piece of sashimi in her mouth.
Ivan's eyebrows raised, curling his lips down, nodding. "The four of you must go on a lot of double dates." He took a sip of his white wine. "Sets of best friends... hm." He muttered to himself. "What do you guys do for work?"
"I'm the president of the private equity investment firm that James owns." Steve spoke up, smiling warmly as he spoke.
"Wow." He smiled back. "Impressive."
"We started the business together, in our twenties." James added, trying to hype Steve up a bit.
"What is the name of the firm?"
"Buchanan Barnes Inc."
Ivan's jaw dropped. "Thats you two? I just read an article about your company in Forbes the other day. I'm astounded by your success at such a young age. Congratulations, guys." He raised his glass, tilting his head at them.
"How have you been dad?"
"The same. I just finished having a floor heating system installed. I had all these guys in and out ripping up the floor," he waved his hands, gesturing as he spoke, "it was a whole thing. They did a great job though, its nice to have in the mornings. Not that we need it with this weather we're having today, but fall always sneaks up on me."
"Thats an excellent energy saver for heating the home, correct?" Steve questioned.
Ivan smiled at his intelligent response. "Yes. It is. Funny you say that— I actually work for a company that specializes in solar energy as the head of development."
"Is that right? Thats incredible. Ya know, I was just telling James that we should look into energy alternatives for the building since so much is wasted through windows. I had no idea that was a factor until recently."
"Well, I'll take that and raise you this: Transparent. Solar. Cells. My team has been working on making literal windows that absorb solar energy."
Steve's eyes widened.
Natasha rolled her eyes at the exchange. Leaning over to Maggie. "Jesus fucking christ, I knew this would happen." Keeping her voice low, while her dad and boyfriend geeked out over energy alternatives.
Maggie quietly laughed. "Thats a good thing though." She whispered back. "At least they're bonding."
"No, I know. I love it. It's just funny to see how psyched they both are over something so boring." She peeked over her shoulder to see that they were still going at it. "I think I'm marrying my dad." She joked, making Maggie laugh.
They picked at the trays of sushi until they were empty, leaving everyone sufficiently stuffed. Retiring to the living room, they all sat around the couches together, continuing their conversations from the table.
"Maggie, how has work been?" Ivan asked, looking at her intently.
James' head peeked down to her, watching her gnaw at her lip. "I um— I was let go. Yesterday."
"Oh, kiddo... I'm so sorry." He frowned. "Well, your boss wasn't such a good guy was he? Red mentioned he was a bit of an ass."
She smirked up at James. "Yeah. Good riddance."
"Whats your next move then? Or have you even had time to think about that yet?"
"I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping I can focus more on my own art for a bit and maybe use the money to start saving for my own gallery."
Ivan smiled. "Thats a great idea. Hey, maybe I can spread the word about you and see if any of my buddies are in need of your talents."
"That'd be amazing, thank you."
He nodded.
"Oh! I just had the best idea." Taking a long sip of his wine and standing it down on the side table. "I'm going to go find some childhood photos of you two girls. This night is in desperate need of some embarrassment. It's been far too pleasant."
The two of them both shouted in protest, but he hopped up from his seat anyways.
"Hey Ivan, do you need a hand with that?" Steve asked.
"That'd be great, thank you."
They walked down to the media room together, leaving Maggie, James, and Natasha upstairs. All of them knew exactly what kind of talk was going to take place in the other room, so they figured it'd be a bit. Natasha chugged down her wine, feeling nerves bloom in her chest.
"So..." Maggie tried to break the weighted silence. "Are you happy to be home, Nat?"
"Shhh. Shut up, I'm trying to eavesdrop." Natasha shifted her head over, looking down to the side.
James scoffed.
"What?" She spat. "I know what he's doing. He's not very slick." She arched a brow, listening back to the stairs behind them. She couldn't hear anything, so she sighed, giving up.
"It'll be fine, Nat. He clearly loves Steve already."
They came back upstairs about ten minutes later, both wearing huge grins. Good sign, Natasha thought to herself. Problem was, Steve was lugging a storage bin of embarrassment in his muscular arms.
The rest of the night was filled with laughs and memories. Natasha and Maggie were both bright red at the photos of them in middle school. Their awkward phase. It didn't help that the photos were from the early two thousands when fashion was wildly ridiculous.
Natasha literally screamed when her dad pulled out a picture of her in a Von Dutch shirt, paired with a jean miniskirt and cropped leggings. She ripped it from his hand, shoving it behind the couch cushion before Steve could see.
"Oh, look at this one!" He extended it out to Maggie.
She took it from him, looking it over. It was a picture of her and her mom at the Father Daughter dance when she was in kindergarten. She remembered being so heartbroken that she didn't even have a man in her life to take. Not an uncle, not a grandpa, or even an older brother. But her mom took her anyways, explaining that she didn't need to have a dad to have fun.
"Can I see, doll?"
She silently nodded, passing it to James. He looked it over. Maggie was itty bitty, probably only about five years old, but clearly small for her age. He smiled at the floral dress she wore and the way her tangled curls were flopped over her head. She really hadn't changed much, he thought to himself.
He noticed how similar she and her mom looked. Nearly the spitting image of Maggie now. They had the same hair, but hers was slightly lighter in color. He flipped it over to the back, finding the words, 'Kindergarten Father Daughter Dance, 2001'. His heart ached for her, realizing what this image was. Not only a reminder of the loss of her mother, but her lack of a father.
His eyes peeked down to see her wearing a lost expression, a slight pout etched over her mouth. He rubbed her back, pecking a kiss to the top of her head. She leaned into him, chasing the comfort he was offering. Like they read each others minds, he was reassuring her and she was thanking him.