At Long Last (OC x Natasha Romanoff)

Chapter 23

Laura's POV

Clint and I were just finishing up dinner for everyone. I was making the finishing touches to the spaghetti dinner while Clint was in charge of making the meatballs for Alex.

C: "I'm going to run upstairs and get the extra blankets and pillows from the closet. Can you watch these for a minute?"

L: "Yeah. Can you get the kids too? Dinner will be done in a minute." I watched as Clint ran up the stairs. We tell the kids all the time not to run on the stairs, yet there he goes. I swear I have three kids. The next thing I hear is the kids scream then a roar of laughter. I smiled and shook my head at them. For as much as Clint is away and how childish he can be, he is a great father. I couldn't ask for a better husband. As I turned the burner for Alex's meatballs off, the pounding of a herd of elephants was heard from upstairs making its way to the steps. "Don't even think of running down those stairs!"

Cooper: "Awe mom! Dad does it all the time. Why can't we?" he whined.

Lila "Yeah!"

L: "Because I said so and it's not safe. Isn't that right Clint." Clint froze on the last step at the sound of his name.

C: "Whatever you say. You're always right." he nervously said through a chuckle. "Listen to your mother, kids. I'll be right back. I'm just going to run everything outside quick."

Cooper: "Can I help?"

C: "I got it bud, but maybe you can help me tomorrow."

As the door shut behind me, I turned to the kids with a plate made for each of them.

L: "I don't want you two going into the barn for the next few days. If you need something, just ask."

C: "Why can't we go into the barn?"

L: "Your father has something in there that I don't want you around yet. Now eat before your food gets cold."

The kids shared a look and dropped the subject for now. Lila started telling her mom all about her day, while Cooper stared out the window at the barn, wondering what could be inside that his parents don't want him and his sister around.

Clints POV

I was making my way into the barn when soft crying and a voice I've never heard before could be heard. I've never seen Nat cry and the only female she was close enough to was Hill, who also never cries. I know she had a sister, but she hasn't seen her in years. The closer I got the louder the crying became. I could make up some sentences but with the crying I couldn't fully understand them. I set down the blankets on a bench near the stable the wolf was in.

C: "Nat! Nat, are you alright? Why do I hear crying? Just as I turned and looked into the stable. I saw the tail end of a human turning into the wolf. The wolf didn't have as thick of a coat as it did an hour ago. "What... the... hell."

I looked at Nat and back at the wolf, who was now couched down in the corner of the stable shaking like a chihuahua. Nat looked back at Alex then back at me. She approached her and got eye level with her.

N: "I trust him with my life. If you tell him he will keep it a secret until you are ready to tell your story. If you don't want to, that's ok, but you can trust him." Alex looked back at Nat then glanced at me. She gave Nat a little nudge towards me. "You want me to tell him?" Alex nudged her again as she went to sit next to Nat. "Clint, you know how when we went to that village, we found that paperwork about a Blood Moon Pack?"

C: "Yeah, what about it?"

N: "That pack was Alex's pack. All the clues we found, the bones, the DNA samples. How everything had a 50/50 result between human and canine. How we had a feeling we knew what it was, but thought it was impossible?"