Love and Hate| Natasha Romanoff

29. Aunt, brother, and more surprises

Y/N'S POV:

Today's the day. I confront them. Mom? Dad? Strangers? Guardians? I have a headache.

"She's home. She doesn't think anything's wrong, at least I don't think she does." Peter sighed, resting his elbow on the window and his head on his hand as I drove us to his and Aunt May's apartment.

"How are you holding up?" I glanced at him then back at the road, worried for everyone else but myself. I mean, Peter was like a brother to me anyway.

"I'm..." He took a deep breath and shook his head in thought. "Okay, I mean... it's a lot to process. I feel like I should be asking you that." There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "So, how do you feel?"

"I think too much has happened in the last year for me to be that surprised by this. I feel fine, but like you said... it's a lot to process." It got quiet, uncomfortably so. I glanced down and handed him a charger for carplay. "Play some music."

Fifteen minutes later, we were there. We took a moment to collect ourselves before getting out of the car and walking into the house, Peter holding the photo in his hand. Two flights of stairs and a few doors later, we got into the apartment.

"Peter? Is that you?" May calls out from the kitchen. "I'm making Pasta, alfredo!" She walks into the living room with a bright smile and a glint in her eyes knowing she was surprising Peter with his favorite dish, but it melded into confusion as she saw me. "Who's this?" The smile was still there, just not as bright."

"Aunt May..." Peter stars, his voice wavering from the nerves. "This is Y/N, and I know she's my sister."

Her expression dropped, her eyes welling with tears and her hands slowly coming up to cover her mouth from the shock. "Y/N?" She lets out an almost relieved laugh, the tears slowly falling down her face. "Y/n, it's you! You're okay! I've been looking for you for years!" She came in for a hug, and I gave her one. I looked at Peter in confusion as her tears fell onto my shirt.

"Looking for me for years? You didn't hear about me becoming an Avenger?" I rubbed her back soothingly but couldn't help the questions, and eventually she would ask some too. "What.. happened?"

She sniffled and sat down on one of the couches, signaling for me and Peter to sit on the other one. "Well, when my brother died, I had to take Peter in. I was always close with Richard and when you both were born, I was so happy for him. The night he died, the police brought me Peter. I asked them about you and they said Peter was the only one there. I told them I needed you too and showed them photos, so they knew it wasn't just Peter but, nothing ever came up. Years passed and the police lost hope and gave up. But I knew you were out there, you were Richard's kid, you had to be strong. It's just so good to see you again, alive, well."

"Wait, so... no one actually put me up for adoption? My parents.. the one's who... let a nazi government experiment on me when I was a baby... they what, were my kidnappers?" I stared at the floor, thinking about every moment I ever had with my so called "family" before today. Everything seemed so normal.

"Well, maybe not, maybe they did find and save you. You were young." She sighed and got off the couch and sat next to me on the other one, between me and Peter who's been silent so far. "I'm just so glad you're okay. I worried about you every day.

"So what now?" Peter asks, finally speaking up. "Do we move on? Pretend this never happened? Do we go along with it?" He looks between me and Aunt May.

"I think, it depends on Y/n." She says quietly. "On if she wants to continue to live the way she has been with her current family, or if she wants to give this a shot and come home."

I couldn't help but smile at the warmth of the moment. How welcoming she was, despite me being basically a stranger, she still thought of, and accepted me as family. "I want..." I looked between them and took a deep breath. "I want to get used to this."

Peter and May both lit up at my words and threw themselves on me, wrapping their arms around me. For a moment, things felt good, right. After about a minute, they both pulled away, May wiping the tears from her eyes and Peter smiling like an excited toddler.

"I also might have another surprise for you..." Peter said while he tried not to giggle like a five year old.

"No, please, too many surprises I cannot, handle another." I groaned and threw myself back on the couch.

Suddenly, Natasha's voice emerges from the door. "I think you'll like it. At least I hope you will."

I smiled but my eyebrows furrowed. Of course, I was happy to see her, but I was also very confused. "Hi, baby, what's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Well..." She started, looking to the side at Peter as he pulled his phone out to record which I found very suspicious. "Today was a big day for you, an important one, and it's a day that brings a lot of change in your life. It's good change, based on the smile on your face, and since that's the case, I want to produce one more positive change in your life."

I nodded and kept smiling, her words giving me a hint of what was happening, but almost refusing to process it. It was impossible to believe... until she reached into her pocket, and got down on one knee and help up a felt box with an absolutely gorgeous and shiny and huge diamond ring, my hand coming up to cover my mouth in shock and tears quickly welling and falling.

"Y/f/n (your full name), I'll admit, when we met, I hated you, or, at least I thought I did. It turned out that I just hated the way you made me feel. You made me feel thing's I hadn't felt in a really long time, thing's I've... never felt. You made me feel alive. Once I got used to you, once we went out, once I got to know you and vice versa, once... once I fell in love with you, you've made me feel like I wasn't just... a monster. Like I was worthy of love, like I deserved it. You replaced that for me. You made me better. Now all I could ever do in return, is spend the rest of my life, our life, trying to make you feel the same, like the best possible version of yourself. So, will you, y/f/n, make me the happiest woman in the entire damn milky way, and be my wife? Will you marry me?"

I was frozen in shock, looking around the room, at May and Peter's smiling and ecstatic faces, at the phone Peter was using to record, then back at her and the stunning ring. "Natasha I..." I nodded and laughed, the tears still flowing like a river. "Yes! Yes I'll marry you!"

I gave her my left hand to let her slide the ring on before she stood up and pulled me in for a bruising, passionate, kiss. When we pulled away, I took a closer look at the ring, smiling widely. "Nat... it's beautiful! How did you even- when?!"

She laughed and took my hand in hers, kissing the back of it. "I've got my secrets now, don't I?"

I looked into her eyes and just smiled and shook my head. "God I love you..."

"I love you too, fiancée."

We had dinner at May's that night, all of us. My aunt, my brother, and my soon to be wife.

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It's been a while... sorry...

Stay hydrated and don't forget to eat!!!

~A