We'll Make It Alright

Chapter 10

Natasha hurried back up to the floor she shared with Wanda. When she got there she didn't hear crying which was a good enough sign but it was also pretty quiet which didn't feel like a great sign either. In the living room she found Wanda, Steve and the blonde former SHIELD agent sitting on the ground together with coloring books and crayons around them. It was unsurprising Wanda had gotten out the coloring supplies with Steve. Since the man was a bit of an artist, she loved requesting for him to draw animals or foods or whatever popped into her little mind and he happily obliged in doodling for her.

The little witch was actually sitting between Steve's legs which was new. She had been getting more comfortable with the guys but hadn't really been interested in crawling on them the way she did with Natasha. Apparently she was getting more comfortable with him or maybe more likely he was just more familiar than the new person talking softly to her.

In the brief moment before Wanda noticed her, she saw the girl glancing up from her coloring book at the woman with a cautious gaze. But then Wanda's eyes snapped over to Nat and her arms shot out towards her pleadingly as she said behind her pacifier, "Asha.."

"Hi baby," Nat offered her a smile and went to sit down with them. "Did you make a new friend?"

Wanda didn't say anything. She just crawled into Natasha's lap and tucked her face into her neck. The redhead rubbed her back, trying to be encouraging, "What have you been coloring?"

Wanda pointed to the My Little Pony coloring book that has scribbles of pink and purple on the cartoon horses. With Wanda not seeming to want to respond, Nat turned to Sharon, "Hi Sharon. How have you been?"

"Good. Working for the private sector now." The blonde smiled, "Fury told me about what was going on and asked me to come say hello. I hope that's alright."

"Of course, it's fine." Nat said though she didn't really feel fine about any of this.

"Would it be alright if I come by tomorrow for lunch?" The other woman asked, her eyes dropping to look at Wanda, "And we can get to know each other a little better."

"Yeah, that sounds good." She said striving to be polite, then pulled Wanda back a bit to look at her face. "Does that sound good, detka? To have Sharon come over for lunch tomorrow?"

Wanda still stayed quiet. Steadily tugging on her pacifier, the little pressed her index finger into Nat's chest questioningly. The Widow nodded, "Yeah, I'll be at lunch too."

She looked at Sharon and finally nodded. The blonde gave her a big, excited grin, "Great, I'll see you tomorrow. It was nice to meet you Wanda."

"Can you say bye bye?" Nat prompted as Sharon stood to go. Wanda rested her head on Nat's shoulder and waved her fingers at the woman.

"Bye sweetie." The former agent said then addressed Steve and Natasha, "It was good seeing you guys. I'll see you later."

Natasha let out a little breath of relief with the woman gone at least for the day. And she felt Wanda relax more too. Steve looked at Nat curiously, "What was that about?"

"Later." The woman mouthed to him which only made him more curious.

Wanda on the other hand was ready to move past the encounter, "Asha, 'ook."

The little witch extracted herself from Nat and moved about some paper until she found the piece she was searching for. She climbed back into the woman's lap before showing her, "Ook. Monkey."

Nat saw that Steve had drawn a monkey for her before she started coloring on her own. The redhead nodded, sounding impressed, "Wow, detka. That's very nice. Did you Steve draw that for you?"

"Yah." Her head bobbed up and down.

"What do monkeys like to eat?"

"Nanas. Teve nana peas." She thrust the paper back towards him, it suddenly becoming important that the monkey got a banana.

"I can draw the monkey a banana. Do you think you can help me color it in?"

Wanda agreed by once again climbing off Nat's lap. Steve took the black crayon and made a banana shape by the monkey's hand and Wanda took the yellow crayon, sitting on her knees to watch him then coloring it yellow, scrubbing over the black lines so the colors bled together a little.

"Lello." Wanda announced and showed the addition to Natasha. The Black Widow gave her a small smile, and brushed the girl's hair back behind her ear, feeling like she could cry.

"Yeah sweetheart. Bananas are yellow."

————

Natasha came out the Wanda's bedroom having just finishing putting her down for a nap. The little had been reluctantly to go down. But with Nat rubbing her back and humming to her, she couldn't fight off her nap anymore and fell asleep.

She walked into her kitchen and found Steve sitting at the table, having waited for her to come back out instead of returning to his day. He hadn't forgotten her promise to speak later and he didn't waste time as he asked her directly, "What was Sharon doing here?"

"Fury sent her." Nat didn't really want to have this conversation now but she supposed it wouldn't be any easier later.

"Why?" He asked.

"Well, Wanda needs a caregiver and Sharon has agreed to see if she is a fit." She informed him, ignoring the lump in her throat.

"Oh." Steve looked confused then concerned.

"What?" Nat snipped at him a little when he kept looking at her with a worried expression.

"It's just- I thought that.." The captain tried to get out but the Widow glared at him and his words trailed off. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "Never mind.. You want to go spar for a bit?"

"Yeah, just let me go change." Nat grabbed the baby monitor from the kitchen counter and escaped to her room, relieved to have a moment to herself. She hadn't needed Steve to finish his thought because she had been thinking the same thing.

As time had passed, Wanda had become more apart of their lives. The Avengers had come to enjoy having the little around whether she was small and making them laugh with her antics or big and making them some delicious Sokovian dish for dinner. Wanda was sweet and kind and strong and she had become apart of the team. It had seemed like she was going to stay with them. Like everyone wanted her to stay.

You're not really a caregiver, Fury had said though. The statement sat heavily in her chest and dispelled any glimmer of hope she had that Wanda could be happy with them, with her. With the the illusion shattered, Nat had to face reality and begin to let Wanda go.

//

Oh boy, Nat is not in a good place about this. I hope you liked this chapter though! If you liked it, it would mean a lot to me if you gave it a vote :) Until next time! ~Raven