emmylou | natasha romanoff

fifty-eight.

2023
Staten Island, New York

Kennedy and Natasha opened the door to the house and Natasha tossed her keys in a basket near the doorway. Behind them, Anya, Yelena, Reagan, Wanda, and Alexei enter behind them. The four look around to see that everything appeared the same, and yet was different entirely.

Reagan walked over to the wall where a family photo sat. She took it down and looked at it. The triplets were a perfect mix of Kennedy and Natasha, Elena and Diana looking everything like Kennedy with Natasha's green eyes, and Franklin looking like Natasha, red hair and all. And though TJ wasn't their own he blended in perfectly, looking more like Franklin's brother than his own two sisters.

"Can I see?" Wanda asks. Reagan looks up at her and nods as she hands Wanda the frame. A smile instantly settles on Wanda's lips as she looks at the photograph, "I can't believe that they're here, you know? That they're not a thought. They're these little humans."

"I know," Reagan says as she looks at the photo, "They're so cute."

"What do you think they're like?" Wanda asks with a grin.

"They're sweethearts," Reagan states, "They have to be. Look at who their moms are."

Wanda and Reagan both look over at Kennedy and Natasha who were standing by the sink as Natasha wiped the blood off of Kennedy's forehead.

"I can do this myself. And I'm going to take a shower, so all of this seems pointless," Kennedy mutters.

"Shut up, I am mad at you," Natasha says as she aggressively scrubs the dry blood off of Kennedy's forehead.

"I said I was sorry," Kennedy insists.

"I don't care," Natasha responds.

Reagan looks at Wanda, "Their marriage was happier when we left."

"Five years and kids can do a lot to a marriage," Wanda responds and Reagan smiles at the comment.

Yelena looks at the children's toys on the ground, "Do they really need this many toys?"

"No," Anya says, "They typically play video games and read and harass me."

Yelena smiles, "I hear that you're not only in a sorority but that you're its president."

"What?" Reagan and Wanda ask in unison.

Anya laughs nervously, "Yeah, I needed a hobby in college. And popularity."

"Geez Anya you're in a sorority and you have a girl-"

"Apartment!" Anya interrupts, "I have a girl apartment! And I can't wait to show it to you guys!"

"Okay we'll just pretend that wasn't really weird," Reagan says.

"Natasha," Alexei says, "Where is your mother?"

And just as though hearing him, Melina appears on the banister, looking down at all of them in the kitchen. Her eyes look down in disbelief at the sight before her. With slow and heavy steps, she makes her way down the stairs. Anya picks up on the steps and turns to see her mother standing there. She nudges Yelena who looks over as well.

"Mama," Yelena breathes as she walks over, with brisk steps as she embraces the woman. Melina holds Yelena tightly. She hadn't expected it to work and when she saw on the news that the Facility had been bombed she didn't expect them to make it out, and yet here they were. Here Yelena was.

Melina wasn't one to cry but as she held the daughter she hadn't seen in five years, tears streamed freely down her face.

"Oh, I thought I'd lost you," Melina says as she pulls away from the embrace and cups Yelena's cheeks. The younger woman buries her face in Melina's hand, a shy smile on her lips making her look several years younger.