The Girl From The Woods ~ Natasha Romanoff × Adopted Daughter

15.

Nat's POV:

"Детка, it's Nat, you're safe, I'm here. You're not with him anymore. You're here, with me. He's not here." I want nothing more than to take her in my arms and take away all her worries. However, I don't want her to flinch again, which is why I prefer to keep my distance first and try to get her out of her thoughts with words.

Tilly slowly starts to calm down and I make sure that I keep trying to talk to her and make it clear to her that she is no longer there with him. After a few minutes, which felt more like hours, she had calmed down enough to breathe normally and sitting quietly on the floor.

However, she was still curled up in a ball with her head in her hands. I didn't even have to look at her to know that she was still crying non-stop.

"Tilly baby, can I come closer to you?" I asked, to which she hummed softly.
"Okay, I'll come closer now." I crawl to her and sit cross-legged in front of her, waiting for her to take her head out of her hands. Eventually she looked at me and I couldn't help but look at her with pity.

"Come here baby." She crawled into my lap and I wrapped my arms tightly around her body. I held her tightly and rocked us slightly. She let a few more tears fall until she fell asleep in my arms through exhaustion.

I took my phone out of my pocket and sent Wanda a short message to tell her to come and see us. It only took a few seconds before there was a knock on the door and after I said 'come in', Wanda appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, how is she?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. She's asleep right now but you should have seen her, she was a wreck." I let out a long breath and finally let a few tears fall that I had stifled earlier.

"Hey, hey what's wrong?" Wanda asked me worriedly, coming closer until she sat on the floor next to me and gave me a hug.
"What am I doing here Wanda?"
"What do you mean, what are you doing here?"

"She doesn't deserve any of this Wanda. She deserves someone to look after her and not put her in any more danger. Look, if I hadn't brought her here, none of this would have happened. She deserves so much more than I can give her Wanda." From this moment on, I start to cry more. What am I doing here with her? She doesn't deserve me, she deserves so much more than this.

"No Natasha, you listen to me now." She starts firmly and turns my head so that I'm looking at her.
"You're wonderful with her. She more than deserves you and no, you're not putting her in danger. This was just a stupid coincidence, which I've already spoken to the team about, by the way. And from what I can see, you're perfect for her. She needs you and you give her everything she needs."

"I only want the best for her. She deserves the world."
"And you give her the world, Tascha. Maybe you can't see it right now, but you're giving her the world." Wanda holds me in her arms and we both look down at the sleeping girl in my arms.

I can't help but think about Wanda's words. Wanda has always told me the truth since I met her, even when it hurt. She was always there for me and told me her honest opinion. That's what I like about her, no matter what situation we were in, she was always honest with me, so why would she lie now? Maybe I just need a little time before I realize that Tilly is really safe with me.

Time skip to the next morning

Last night Wanda, Tilly and I stayed in the conference room for a bit until we decided to call it a night and finally go to bed. It was a very busy day and I was very happy to finally be able to cuddle up in bed with Tilly and sleep.

Right now I'm still lying in bed with Tilly and waiting for her to wake up. It's already quite late, but I deliberately let her sleep in because she seems to be in desperate need of sleep.

"Good morning sweetie, did you sleep well?" I ask her as she starts to move in my arms. All I get in reply is a grumble.
"You're never going to like the morning, are you?" I ask her, giggling. It's quite cute to see how she starts every morning with a grumble.

"Come on sweetie, it's getting pretty late and you need to eat," I say as I get up and put her on my hip. On the way to the kitchen, Tilly wakes up a bit more and starts to look around a bit more. I definitely have to give her a little tour so that she knows roughly where things are.

Wanda was already waiting for us in the kitchen, preparing pancakes.
"Ah good morning sleepyheads. I was just about to make breakfast for you and bring it up."
"That's sweet of you Wanda, have you had breakfast yet?"
"No, not yet, why?"
"Great, then you can eat with us if you like!"
"Gladly. Where do you want to sit down?"

"Детка, where would you like to eat? We can eat in the kitchen, the living room or the dining room." I want Tilly to feel as comfortable as possible since the incident yesterday, so I try to leave some decisions up to her.

She thinks for a moment and then looks out of the window onto the balcony.
"Outside?" She asks, pointing to the small table outside.
"Of course, why not?" It had been a while since I had last eaten outside, but as it's not cold or raining today, I didn't see a problem with it.

If Tilly likes eating outside, maybe we can have a picnic on our own or with the team. I think she would really like that.
After we had set everything up outside and Wanda brought out the food, we ate together in a comfortable silence until we had all finished and cleared away.

"What do you want to do today Детка? We can do whatever you want."
"Can we please watch a movie Natty? I haven't watched one for a long time!" She said, jumping around in my arms with excitement. She really is the cutest girl I've ever met.

"Of course we can do that baby. Where do you want to watch?"
"In your room and with Wanda please!" Wanda, who was doing the dishes, turned around and had the most grateful look with the biggest smile I'd ever seen on her face.
"Well, if you want to watch with Wanda, you have to ask her first." She wiggled in my arms to tell me to put her down.

I put her down and watched in awe as she ran to Wanda, who picked her up and listened with a wide smile as Tilly asked her if she wanted to watch a movie with her and me.
"Of course I do! Would you like to take some snacks with you?"
"YES!" After her answer, Wanda and I had to laugh out loud. This is way too cute.