Can We Keep Her?

First Day Nerves

Five years was a long time. A lot could happen. There were more children in the tower. Tony and Pepper had adopted again. This time a little girl they named Maria. Wanda and Vision had twins too. Boys. You were pretty sure Wanda might have made them out of thin air but you felt like that was one of those things you shouldn't ask about. They were very cute though. Wanda had said that one day Tommy would have the same speed powers as Pietro and that Billy would have her gifts. The fact she knew that when no powers had manifested yet scared you a little too. Her powers were scary. She was so soft and loving though that they only ever scared you in the 'wow, the things you are capable of,' way, rather than actually considering her a threat.

There were agents with children too now, and the Tower had opened up a child care center for them.

Clint and Natasha were just going along as they always had. Clint was greying a little now and he kept talking about how he was getting too old for this shit. He never actually quit and had now become this mentor figure to anyone new to the team, and there were a lot more members of the team. The Avengers had become a pretty large organization with three different facilities. Two in New York, the tower in the City, a bigger compound upstate, and a west coast facility.

You, Bucky, and Steve were quite content. Steve and Bucky were balancing work and home like professionals. Bucky had mostly retired, only coming in for the big things and issues he took a personal interest in. Clearing out of specific HYDRA bases. Anything that involved someone being used as a weapon against their will. Otherwise, he was content training and being a mostly stay-at-home dad.

Steve worked more but tried to make sure that he and Bucky were never on a mission at the same time unless there was no other option. When that happened you were worried about a lot more than just your husbands not coming back.

You had started dipping your toe back into work too. You'd been drawing more designs and a couple of times a week, you would go into the store and just make something that's design had been haunting you.

The triplets were growing well. They were little balls of endless energy that tore around your apartment causing trouble. They had also developed their own personalities and tastes. You had added a dog and a cat to the family, waiting until the children were able to control their own strength. It was extra important to make sure they wouldn't accidentally hurt a puppy and kitten considering they had inherited their father's special abilities.

Sarah was quiet and artistic. Not that she couldn't get into as much trouble as the others, but you were just as likely to find her hyper-focused on coloring as you were trying to coax the cat down from the fridge with cookies. Her drawings had already progressed past the abstract brightly colored scribbles. She spoke in a quiet soft voice unless she was very excited when it would raise in pitch and volume demanding your attention. She was shy of strangers and usually hid behind someone's leg if there were new people to meet.

Rebecca was loud and rambunctious. Her hand-eye coordination was impressive for a child three times her age, never missing something thrown to her, and easily kicking balls through goals when she was taken to play at the park. She loved to run, and balls were often confiscated from her as she kicked them down the hall. She was constantly trying to ride the dog.

Anthony was serious and thoughtful. He didn't like crowds and would usually cling to one parent when he was out meeting people. He loved his Uncle Tony and took a lot of joy in the things he invented. He was particularly smitten with Dum-E and would follow it around giggling whenever he had a chance to play with the bot. He also had a very strong feeling of right and wrong for a child so young. He was the first to tell the other two off if he thought they'd pushed the boundaries too far.