The Girl From The Woods ~ Natasha Romanoff × Adopted Daughter

8.

Tilda's POV:

Natasha is so caring even though she doesn't even know me. From experience I'd rather run away and live somewhere alone for the rest of my life but it's like my body reacts on its own and goes to Natasha.

I find my hands in Tasha's hands again and I don't know why but suddenly I've forgotten why I went to Natasha in the first place.

I think I feel safe around her. I haven't had this feeling for a long time, which is why I don't know exactly what safety feels like anymore, but I definitely know that nobody can hurt me around Tascha.

I slowly walk towards Natasha until I find myself in her arms. She holds me close to her body and I rest my head on her chest so that I can hear her heartbeat.

When I had a nightmare as a small child, I used to lay my head on my mother's chest and listen to her heartbeat. As far back as I can remember, this always calmed me down. I like that I can find the same comfort with Natasha right now. It reminds me of my mother but also calms me down and takes my mind off things.

"Would you like to tell me what happened?" Natasha asks me after a few minutes.
"There was something" I answer quietly. I'm sure I answered a little too quietly and she didn't even hear it.

"Where was something Tilly?"
"Outside" I whisper. I notice how Tascha becomes more tense, which scares me even more. I try to cuddle up to Tasha even more, which she seems to notice and tries to calm me down again.

"It's okay Tilly, I'm here. You don't need to be scared. Shall I go and see if there's anything outside?"
I just shrug my shoulders. On the one hand, I want her to look outside but on the other hand, I don't want her to hurt herself and I don't want her to leave me.

I know it all sounds stupid but I feel safe with her and I don't want her to let me go. "That's okay Tilly. We can stay here for now." It's like she can read my mind and know what I'd rather be doing right now.

I melt more into her embrace as she whispers sweet nothings in my ear. After a while, I feel myself getting tired again and slowly sink into Natasha.
"Do you want to sleep here with me?" Tasha asks me quietly, to which I give a slight nod, too tired to give a verbal answer.

"Okay, come here," she says softly and slowly lifts me on the couch. Tascha lies down next to me and I cuddle into her side. She pulls the blanket over our bodies and I quickly fall back asleep in Tascha's arms.

Nat's POV:

I wait until Tilly has fallen asleep until I close my own eyes and fall asleep again.

The next morning I am awakened by the sun shining out of the kitchen window. I look to my right and see Tilly sleeping soundly, still cuddled up to me. In contrast to the night, she looks so peaceful and unconcerned, I really wonder what she saw or heard yesterday to react like this.

But I'm glad she came to me and accepted my comfort. I would do anything for her to make her feel safe.

I decide to stay in bed for now and wait for Tilly to wake up. I don't want her to wake up alone after last night.

After half an hour, Tilly wakes up and I can see straight away that she is definitely not a morning person.

"Good morning Tilly" I say cheerfully, to which I only get an unmotivated grumble. This supports my suspicions and makes me chuckle.

Tilly replies again with an annoyed grumble.
"Aww come here little one. You're not such a morning person, are you?" She just shakes her head and I hug her lightly.

"Are you hungry?" I ask, hoping to get some food into the child because it looks like she hasn't eaten a real meal in a long time. In response, she nods again and I get out of bed.

"Are you coming?" I ask the little one, who is still lying comfortably on the couch. From this position, I can see how tired she still looks, as if she's only had two hours' sleep.

I stretch my hands out towards her with the intention of lifting her into my arms. At first she looks at me skeptically but after a few seconds she lifts her arms so that I can pick her up.

I put Tilda down on my hips and stabilize her with one hand. So I make my way to the kitchen and look through all the cupboards to find something to eat. I remembered that I went shopping yesterday before I got here and still had my bags in the car.

"Hey Tilly, I've still got shopping bags full of food in my car. Would you like to help me carry them in or would you rather stay here?" She thinks about it for a while until she finally answers with a small "help".

At the car, I wanted to let Tilly down briefly so that I could safely hold all the bags, but she clung to me so tightly that I gave up in the end. I let Tilly hold a small, not too heavy bag while she was still sitting on my hip and with my other free hand I carried two more bags.

When we got back to the caravan, we unpacked the bags again, while Tilly stayed on my hip the whole time. I didn't mind much, she wasn't particularly heavy and if she felt safer with it, then she should do it.

As I said, I would do anything to make her feel safer. After we had put everything away, we decided to make scrambled eggs with bacon. I'm not the best when it comes to cooking but I can easily manage the simple things like scrambled eggs.

Tilly luckily ate her whole portion, which wasn't too much but not too little either.

Tilly spent the rest of the morning by my side and didn't want to leave me.