emmylou | natasha romanoff

fifty-three.

2023
Staten Island, New York

"Hi, my name is Diana Meredith Melina Allen-Romanoff and today I'm going to tell you all about the heroes in my life!"

Kennedy and Natasha sit in the back of their daughter's kindergarten classroom as the kids presented the heroes in their life. The presentations had been simple and cute with kids claiming that their heroes were random celebrities or cartoon characters, and Kennedy and Natasha were honestly terrified of what their daughter had prepared.

A picture of Kennedy and Natasha appears on the screen and the women share a nervous look.

"These are my moms!" Diana says with a wide smile. She was missing a front tooth that she'd lost a week ago to a cupcake and Kennedy had been short five dollars that same night.

"Mommy is a doctor," Diana says, "She's won a Presidential Medal of Freedom which is the highest award a regular person can get! Mama is an Avenger, Black Widow to be exact, which means that when bad guys come to earth, she takes them down. Like when Loki attacked New York! My Mama was there, and she fought him off and saved the city!"

"Them being a doctor and an Avenger is really cool," Diana says, "But that's not why they're my heroes. They're my heroes because they are the bestest people I know. They're always there to help me. They hold me when I'm sad and they give the best hugs. Their hugs have powers. The power to make you feel safe and loved."

"I'm gonna cry," Kennedy whispers.

"They may be heroes to the entire world when they're at work, but when they're at home, when they're just my moms, that's when they're my heroes. And I'm okay sharing them with the entire world because that just means that they're really good at what they do. Thank you for listening to my presentation!"

"Wow Diana, that was an excellent presentation," her teacher says as she stands from her desk. Diana beams up at her before skipping over to Kennedy and Natasha, running into their arms. Natasha picks the girl up and sets her down on her lap as she plants a kiss on her forehead.

"Did you guys like my presentation?"

"We loved it, baby," Kennedy says as she kisses Diana's cheek, making her smile widely.

After the presentations in Diana's class were finished, they had to head over to Franklin's classroom where they were doing a different presentation. His was show and tell and though they'd questioned their son about what he was bringing, her wouldn't tell them.

"I can't believe we have to sit through two more presentations," Kennedy mutters, "If they're anything like Diana's, I'm going to need to reapply my mascara."

"Agreed," Natasha says, "I mean Franklin's doing show and tell. He probably snuck Thor into school or better yet, one of the turtles from the backyard."

Kennedy giggles as they enter Franklin's classroom, while one kid was presenting his grandmother, who he brought for show and tell. Franklin spotted his mothers by the door and waves at them happily. They both waved back, and Franklin averted his attention back to the front with a smile.

"Okay, next up we have Franklin Allen-Romanoff."

Franklin reached into his bookbag and pulled out a stuffed toy that he hugged closely to his chest as he headed to the front of the classroom. He looked at everyone and began to grow shy. He glances over at Kennedy and Natasha, both offering him warm smiles which seem to relax him a bit.

"Um this is Mr. Neptune," Franklin says as he holds the stuffed planet that had legs and arms out to everyone, "My Aunt Carol gave it to me."

"Why's it important to you?" his teacher asks.