Steve Rogers (neverdanced) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2019-05-02 12:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !completed gdoc, !log, ~2019 may, ~25 points, ~~natasha romanoff (blackwidow_nat), ~~steve rogers (neverdanced) |
Who: Natasha, Steve and baby
Where: Steve’s place
When: Thursday
What: Auntie Nat visits
Warnings: Low/None
Status: Closed | Completed gdoc
Natasha had visited Steve and his family not long after the baby had been born but it had been a while now and she wanted to see how they were doing. And, okay, she also wanted baby cuddles. One of the things she’d liked most about visiting Laura and Clint when the kids were tiny was that she got to hold them, she’d been hesitant at first but Laura hadn’t given her much choice something Natasha had later been grateful for that.
Being a normal grown up she knocked on the door and waited, bag of gifts for everybody in her hand.
***
Steve was always happy to have his friends over to show Keith off to. He couldn’t have been prouder of his son and was eager to share that with anyone who was willing. Which meant the house was pretty comfortable these days with having people coming over, a knock on the door not as surprising as it was to see who was on the other side when he opened it.
“Romanoff. Didn’t think you remembered how to knock.” She’d never done it when visiting the house before. Steve only recalled her turning up when he got up in the morning or when he came home at the end of the day. There wasn’t a single occasion that came to mind of her coming over like a normal, polite person.
***
“Honestly I don’t think I’ll be doing it again” Natasha admitted with a smile, she thought with Steve having the baby and everything she should maybe do the normal thing but it just didn’t feel right. Simply appearing was much more her style and everybody in the house was fully aware and prepared when she visited, “Let’s call it a failed experiment” she added with a shrug, “More importantly how are you all doing? Keith okay?”
***
“We’re doing okay.” Things had been a little hard for them all since Summer had gone home but they were finding their feet again and would all be okay. It was a hard loss but their family was strong. “And he’s great. Starting to sleep a little better, which everyone appreciates.”
The constant waking had been getting even to Steve, who didn’t sleep much to begin with. Even a few more minutes of sleep was good for all of them.
***
The disappearances of people was always going to be one of the hardest things about living in Madison, no matter how many times they experienced it. But they had a pretty good support network set up now and experience told them they’d eventually be okay.
“Glad to hear it, sleep deprivation isn’t ever a good look” she teased with a smile, “How’s Veronica feeling?” she asked, knowing it could be harder on the mom.
***
“She’s doing okay.” At least as far as Steve could tell. He couldn’t always read her, though, didn’t always know if there was something bothering her or what she was thinking unless she just came out and said it. It was something he was always working on. She deserved not to have to say if something was wrong, at least to her husband. “I think she’s gladder than anyone that the baby’s sleeping a bit more.”
The rest of the adults in the house were enhanced and dealt a little better. Molly was a teenager and slept through just about anything that went on in the house.
***
“I can imagine” Natasha said, “When Laura had Cooper she said it was the sleep deprivation that was the hardest to deal with” And the moms had to handle that more since they were the ones with the food when the baby woke up hungry in the middle of the night.
“I hope he continues to sleep better for you all”
***
“Ah, I’m sure he will.” Everything Steve knew about babies said they just kept it up, more or less. Everything would be fine for them. “But come on. What’s going on?”
As in why had she stopped by. They did, now and then, just because they were friends and they were close, and where Steve tended to call ahead, at least a message to say he was on his way, Natasha didn’t. That wasn’t unusual. But there was always the chance that something serious was going on.
***
“Going on?” Natasha asked, one eyebrow raised, “Do I need a reason to visit now?” she teased, “I can’t just stop by to say Hi with only a slight ulterior motive in hoping for baby cuddles” she added with a grin.
Honestly that was really all she was doing, she wanted to see Steve and hear how they were all doing but she couldn’t deny that she was always going to be hoping for baby cuddles now. Being unable to have her own didn’t stop her wanting to hold them, it was different for everybody of course but for Natasha she took joy in her friends families.
***
“Uh huh.” There was nothing but amusement in Steve’s expression. “I see how it is. Changing things up to try to distract me so I won’t say anything about you tossing me over for the baby.” He wasn’t serious but if it was true he couldn’t have blamed her. His kids were both great and he’d pick them over anyone any time.
“You’re lucky he just got up. Make yourself at home while I go get him.”
***
“Would I do that?” Natasha asked, feigning innocence with a flutter of lashes though there was a cheeky smile on her face.
“You’re the best” she told him before moving into his living room to settle in for a cuddle session with baby Keith.
***
With only a shake of his head, quiet amusement, Steve disappeared upstairs to get the baby. Coming back down with Keith balanced in one arm, he always looked so small in his father’s grasp, he shifted the bright-eyed little boy into Natasha’s lap. He was a few months now but even if he wasn’t, Steve wouldn’t have hesitated for a second.
There were few people he trusted without question and after everything they’d been through together, Natasha was one of those few.
“He’s getting big, isn’t he?” he said proudly as he joined her on the sofa.
***
Natasha understood the trust Steve had in her and was very grateful for it, it wasn’t something she would ever take for granted. True friends were keepers and Steve was definitely a true friend.
“He is” Natasha smiled, holding the baby and making faces to make him smile, “But beautiful too, aren’t you?” she said to Keith, “Not surprising with your mommy and daddy though, huh? You are a super lucky baby” Keith gurgled and waved his arms around making Natasha laugh, “Yeah you know it”
***
“He’s lucky in a lot of ways,” Steve agreed, smiling over at them. He’d been worried, quietly the whole time they’d been waiting for him to come along, that the parts of his DNA that had been responsible for everything that made him unwell in his youth had still been there, that he was going to pass them on. He’d worried that Keith would be sick and weak like he had been and even if it wasn’t the near death sentence it had been in the 40s, he didn’t want that for his kids.
He considered himself very lucky that it hadn’t happened, and that he hadn’t let the fear put him off wanting to have them.
“More family than you can shake a stick at. He’s got it pretty good.” They all did.
***
“Just as it should be” Natasha said, they were all lucky to have each other. For someone who’d never really had family it had been a change for Natasha but she knew she couldn’t be without them all now. And it was good that their kids all had that big family unit around them. There was a reassurance in that which Natasha took comfort in.
***
“It sure is.” There was no way to argue with that. Steve had been alone for so much of his life, had thought he would be until it had turned out he wasn’t. Even at home it wasn’t the family he’d expected to have, but it was one he loved. One Natasha was a part of.
“Speaking of. How’s yours doing?”
***
“Bruce is as wonderful as always” Natasha said with a smile, “Cassie is less so at the moment. Honestly teenagers are such a pain in the ass, why did nobody warn me?” Playing truant was bad enough but the attitude was what really got to Natasha, she was not a fan of the back chatting.
***
“We wanted you to suffer the way we did,” Steve informed her, teasing but truthful. He’d have been the first to say that teenagers were nothing but headaches and if she’d asked him from the start he’d have advised her as best he could. He’d done the parent thing first, completely by accident, and his caused near constant confusion.
“What’s going on?” If he could help, he would. Molly and Cassie were similar in some ways, came from lives that weren’t all that different at the core; they just seemed to approach things differently on the other side.
***
“I knew it” she said with a smirk, not that it honestly would have changed anything. She adored Cassie and wouldn’t give her up for the world. But sometimes she did wonder if she was as good a mother as she should be.
“We got a letter from the school that she’s playing truant. She claims it’s not a big deal since nothing we do here matters anyway” Natasha sighed, “It’ll be fine, we’ll work it out, I just find it a little frustrating”
***
“You buy the excuse?” Having met Cassie, Steve didn’t. He couldn’t make a guess at what it might be otherwise but he didn’t buy it. She didn’t strike him as someone who didn’t care or who really thought nothing mattered.
But then, they weren’t close; he didn’t know her well. Obviously Natasha would know better.
***
“Partly. But it’s not the full story at all” Natasha said, “She’ll tell us eventually but until then it’s teenage attitude at our place”
Natasha knew Cassie had issues with the fact that they could be taken home and thrown back to their old lives at any time but she also knew she had been trying since she’d decided to go back to school. Something had happened, they just needed to figure out what.
***
“If there was anything to be done about that, I’d tell you,” Steve chuckled softly. He knew all about teenage attitude. Molly was full of it no matter what her mood, which sometimes made it hard to tell when something was up. He’d learned, though, to read the differences and know when it was just her being a teenager and when it was actually a problem.
“You ever want me to sit down with her, just say the word.” He’d offer, but no more than that. It was her kid and her call, but he knew that if he needed her to sit down and half a talk with his, she’d do it no questions asked. Steve just happened to be lucky enough to have a few other adults on his side to help with their kid.
***
“Damn Steve, I was relying on you to give me all the handling-a-teenager secrets” Natasha said a small smirk on her face and amusement in her tone. She knew there were no shortcuts but sometimes she worried it was her failure rather than anything else.
“Thanks, I will” she promised, before refocusing on the baby in her arms, “At least it’ll be a good few years until your teenage strops huh?” And she was pretty sure she’d read that boys were easier in the area than girls.
***
“Maybe we can just train him not to have them.” That was asking for a lot, Steve knew it. Teenagers were going to be teenagers and he knew himself; he knew what a bad influence he was probably going to wind up being on his son.
At least not in any of the ways that really mattered. He was sure in that. No matter what, his son would grow up learning to be a good man.
***
“Now that is a good idea, what you think Keith? I think we can make that happen huh?” she said to the baby, smiling as he waved his limbs happily.
There was no doubt in Natasha’s mind that any child of Steve’s would grow up knowing the importance of right and wrong. It was just natural.
***
Since he was too small still to understand much more than the tone of someone’s voice, Steve was very sure that Keith had no idea what they were talking about. But that didn’t stop him from reaching over with a smile of his own, smoothing his hand against the mess of blonde hair.
“I think he’s on our side. Better keep him there.”
***
There was no doubt Keith had no idea what was going on but Natasha was willing to overlook that and interpret things as him agreeing with them. It was just one of those things you did with babies.
“It’s a plan” Natasha agreed.
***