#growing pains au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whereianonymouslypostfics · 7 months

Text

Growing Pains Part 1

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~9.9k

Summary: Little Nat is almost 13 and school’s a bitch. Retired mob boss turned stay-at-home mom Wanda has to figure out how to deal with bullies at her daughter’s school.

A/N: Credit to @rianncreates for this fic idea. Enjoy 😘

Warnings: Fluff, teen angst, injury, reference to previous injury/trauma, bullies, and mentions medicinal drug use

"Mama, I’m going to be late!”

Natalya is running out of her room with only one shoe on as she hurries to finish getting ready for school. She has to stop for a second to pull on her other shoe, and she nearly gets pushed down the stairs by one of her dogs. Rogue is 14 years old and moving slowly these days, but he still tries to follow her everywhere she goes. This leads to her almost flying down the stairs as he bumps into her when she stops suddenly. She bites her lip to stop herself from cursing in surprise.

The last time she’d done it in front of her parents, they’d been horrified and she’d been forced to rat out her uncle for saying that particular curse word in front of her. She’d had to text her Uncle Pietro and apologize for the rant she knew he was about to face from her redheaded mom.

“I’m ready, milaya. I’m waiting for you.”

Nat sighs in defeat because of course her mom is ready on time. She is only ever late if she has to drive with her brother. She jumps down the last few stairs and lands with a loud thud that surprises Fletcher who’d been sleeping in the living room. She doesn’t have to turn to her mom to see the disapproving look, but it’s unfortunately still there after she’s tied her shoes and heads over toward the older Maximoff.

“You know I don’t like it when you do that, Natalya. You’re mom’s a bad influence on you. “

Wanda watches as her daughter just smiles widely before seeing that she’s holding her lunch and her face lights up. She realizes what Nat’s forgotten only a second before she spins around and runs back upstairs.

“My backpack! I’ll be back!”

Wanda rolls her eyes as she watches her daughter run back upstairs to retrieve her bag. Rogue thinks about following her back up, but he decides against it and comes to stand next to her. She smiles down at him and scratches him behind the ears as she waits for her daughter to return.

Natalya is almost 13 and although she looks more like her, it’s obvious to anyone who meets her that her personality is far closer to yours than hers. It’s funny and a little confusing at times but Wanda wouldn’t want it any other way. Her daughter is always full of energy and she worked hard in school despite not liking it very much. Not that Wanda expected her to at this age. Middle school was rough and before she became involved with the mob, this was where most of her traumatic memories came from.

Like you when you were younger, Natalya could go a mile a minute and had a seemingly endless amount of energy to burn at the end of each day. She was an odd combination of overly focused when it came to school work, but a little spacy about everything else. She could study quickly and efficiently, but she sometimes struggled with everyday tasks like making sure everything she needed was in her bag for school. As well as remembering to grab her bag for school.

Given her daughter’s high energy and desire to always be moving, you had suggested that she try out for sports. Wanda had needed to be persuaded to agree because she was worried about Nat getting hurt. She wasn’t the most graceful kid, and you definitely weren’t taking responsibility for that. Sure, she tripped weekly on the dogs and sometimes missed a step on the stairs, but it wasn’t anything serious. Also, you were convinced that getting her into sports would improve her coordination.

So far, you’d been proven wrong.

“Do you have everything you need for practice?”

Wanda realizes she should have asked this earlier, but luckily Nat just nods as she returns with her backpack and reaches out to pet her dog before taking her lunch box. She leaves most of her things at the dug out because she forgets to bring them home, and that’s worked out so far. She smiles and grabs her mom’s arm to lead them to the car with a sigh.

Another thing that both you and Wanda love about your daughter is the fact that she’s not a typical almost-teenager. While Natalya’s friends and classmates are beginning to develop a begrudging tolerance toward their parents, she just seems to continue to treat them nicely. She always has been very affectionate and open with them, and you both sincerely hope that continues into her later teen years.

Wanda turns down the road toward her daughter’s school and she holds back her sigh at the sight of the long line of cars waiting to drop their kids off. It’s an everyday occurrence and if she weren’t so paranoid about a bunch of kids near her house, or Natalya walking down the mountain a bit to another neighborhood she’d let her daughter ride the bus. You’d told her it would be good for her. You joked that it helped build character when you had to sit with a bunch of people you may or may not like. The bus was where you’d had your first fight, but you’d only told Wanda that, not Natalya.

“Can I ask you something?”

Wanda’s brought back to the present by Natalya’s voice, and she turns to see her daughter glancing out the window with a frown. She briefly wonders if she missed something, but she doesn’t waste too much time thinking about it before she smiles.

“Of course.”

Natalya hesitates as she tries to talk herself into the question she’d originally wanted to ask her mom. She loved both of her moms a lot, and equally, but sometimes it was easier to talk to one over the other. Depending on the circumstance, would go to one parent or the other, and although she knew they both would find out eventually, she just felt more comfortable that way. She felt less pressure than she would if she tried to talk to both parents.

Natalya went to Wanda for potentially embarrassing questions like when girls in her grade started to talk about periods, or boys. Wanda found having these conversations with her daughter bittersweet yet rewarding in a way that she hadn’t expected. You were certainly willing to talk to Nat about these things too, but Wanda did a better job of it.

Nat usually went to you for animal-related questions or when she had difficulty getting something done. You both shared a painfully short attention span at times, and you’ve taught Nat plenty of ways to combat this over the years.

She honestly would have asked either of you this question, but you were out of town until tomorrow for a work thing and this had been weighing on Nat for a while.

“Were you or mom popular in school?”

This isn’t exactly what she’d wanted to ask, but she chickened out last minute. She knew that between her two moms, Wanda was the one who tended to cross the line into being overprotective. She never said anything outright, but Nat would see her get a look in her eye that scared her a little, and made you intervene, if you noticed it.

Wanda’s trying to figure out why her daughter would ask her this as she finally pulls into the school’s parking lot. She still has a ways until she’s close enough to drop Natalya off, but she decides that this might be a good thing for once. She senses that this conversation might be going somewhere important, so she answers truthfully with a shrug.

“Not really, no. We liked to keep to ourselves or our small group of friends.”

People were exhausting. Wanda didn’t say this part but both you and Wanda believed this at times. She’s sure Natalya does as well because she’s definitely an introvert like her mothers. She might actually enjoy getting out more than them, but she was just as tired when it was all over and she’d crash sometimes before she even made it to her bed.

Natalya thinks about this with a pout that she doesn’t realize is on her lips. She has a few good friends that she hangs out with sometimes, but she likes her alone time outside of school. She uses it to recharge with drawing or spending time with her parents or dogs. Fletcher doesn’t really like anyone but her redheaded mom.

“And that worked for you two? You never got…lonely?”

Bullied is what Nat was going to say, but just watching how her mom shot her a curious look made her panic. She didn’t want to tell her mom for the first time that she was being picked on at school while she was driving a car. She didn’t want to tell her at all, but things weren’t getting better, and she didn’t know what to do. You both had told her the importance of standing up for herself, but never resorting to violence. You’d stressed this part for some reason, but Natalya got the idea. She only defended herself when girls in her class threw insults at her, and she let them shove her into lockers as they walked by her without retaliation. She was getting sick of it though and she needed someone’s help to figure out what to do to make them go away.

Wanda pulls up to the drop off lane and frowns at the idea of this conversation ending. She feels like Natalya’s not saying everything on her mind, but unfortunately, she’s running out of time to figure it out. She slows the car before reaching out for her daughter. Natalya turns when she feels a hand on her shoulder, and she sees her mom smiling kindly at her.

“Not really no. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to be popular, but it honestly seemed exhausting. I was happy just being a bit of a loner. Your mom too.”

Natalya smiles at the fact that she knows this is true. Sometimes when they all spend time together in the living room, they watch tv or a movie together. Other times they’ll all be doing different things, and are just content to have someone nearby.

She smiles as her mom pulls up to the school, and she knows she has to get out now. She feels a little better knowing that her parents coped well in school despite being a loner like her. She can do that too. She just needs to figure out how to get her bullies off of her back.

“Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you after practice!”

Wanda smiles as the brunette leans over to hug her just long enough for her to kiss her hair. She nearly flies out the door and only a couple of steps away from the car Wanda’s lowering her window to call after her.

“Natalya, you forgot your bag!”

You sigh heavily as you lay sprawled out on the bed in your hotel room with your dog curled into your side. You’re exhausted from all of the networking and chit-chat that this CE trip involved. You had met more people in the last two days than you have in maybe 5 years, and it’s making you want to curl up and sleep for the next 24 hours. You’re just grateful that you have Boone with you because otherwise you’d be tired, lonely and overwhelmed by the number of extroverts you’ve met.

You run your fingers through your dog’s fluffy coat, and you smile widely when he turns around to lick you. You look at his cute face that’s turned whiter in the past couple of years. He’s nearly 12 now and despite slowing down he’s still your trustworthy companion. He still follows you wherever you go, or at least he tries to, and you’d considered leaving him because he was mostly just going to sit around the hotel, but the day after you’d decided you found that he’d ripped up one of your shirts. You took that as a sign that he didn’t want to be left behind and you rebooked a room at a dog-friendly hotel that day.

“Are you having fun bud? Are you excited to go home tomorrow?”

Boone’s tail starts to thump against the bed and you laugh before sliding down toward him so you can kiss his furry head. You sigh as you lean against him gently before closing your eyes and trying to relax. You’ve had a good time, and you’ve learned a lot here, but you are very eager to go home. You miss your wife, daughter, and other fur children, and you’re excited that you’ll be coming home the night of a family dinner. You’ll get to see everyone and catch up on how they’re all doing.

You’re thinking of what food you’re going to be eating tomorrow when your phone rings from where you left it on your pillow. You spin around careful not to hit Boone as you grab it before turning back so you’re on your stomach again. You smile widely when you see who’s calling you.

“Hey, Wands, one second. I’m just walking my mistress out.”

Wanda rolls her eyes with a dramatic sigh as she grabs a basket at the front of the grocery store. She’d needed to pick up a couple more things for dinner tomorrow, and after dropping off Natalya she’d wanted to talk to you. She hears shuffling on the other end of the line and despite calling bullshit on her wife’s statement she decides to check in on her.

“Don’t even, Y/n, but turn on your camera so I can see your ridiculous face.”

You laugh at this before turning on the camera and tilting your phone so you can fit both you and Boone into the shot. Wanda smiles at the sight of you and your dog, and she brushes her hair out of the way as she fixes her earpiece. You realize immediately that your wife is at the store and you have to hold back the urge to ask her to get you some chocolate.

“Hi there, beautiful. How are you?”

Wanda smiles at your cheesy greeting that despite knowing it’s sincere makes her cringe a little. The two of you have been married for almost 18 years, and there have been many ups and downs that led you to this point. When she was 18, she never would have thought that this would be her life. She would have assumed she’d be stuck with the mob until she died, but instead she’s married with a beautiful daughter and a big family that was finally on the right side of the law.

When she’d left her job almost 14 years ago, she’d wondered if she would ever be free from the stress and danger associated with it. She’d gambled a lot and quite literally made a deal with the devil to get not just her, but all of her friends out. She didn’t want them stuck there because not only would they still be in danger, but having any association with them would put her at risk and make her exit just a formality. She never would have guessed that Strucker would hold up his end of the deal, but she was grateful. He should be too honestly, he had gotten her entire criminal empire, and all it cost him was ensuring their protection.

Wanda’s eternally grateful for how things have turned out, and she’s looking forward to having everyone over tomorrow. Even her brother.

“I just need to pick up a few things for dinner tomorrow and thought I’d check in with you. How are things there?”

You sit up so you’re more comfortable before you look around the room with a shrug. You’re glad that tomorrow is just a brief closing event so you can make your flight mid-day and be home in time for dinner. Despite still being filthy rich, Wanda had given up some of the perks that came with her job. Such as the private jet she’d once flown you to Miami with. As far as you were concerned this was okay because you were still able to fly with Boone sitting at your feet on his own bed in first class for this trip. You would have never let him fly in cargo because not only is it too hot or cold down there, but the noise and the separation anxiety would have been too much for both of you.

“It’s been fun, but I’m sick of people, Wands. I want to come home and see you and Little Nat.”

You sigh dramatically as you flop back onto the pillow and look up at your wife who’s glancing between you and the items she’s looking for. You wonder what she’s grabbing, but as if she can read your thoughts, she flips the camera so you can see where she’s walking in the busy grocery store.

“We miss you too, detka, but tomorrow’s not too far away.”

You smile in agreement as you stand up and stretch while holding your phone above your head. You cringe slightly at the uncomfortable pull on your tense stomach, but you take a deep breath and shake your head to focus back on your wife.

“I’ll be back in time to help cook, and I’ll make my famous cheesecake.”

Wanda smiles at the idea of this and she reroutes toward the dairy aisle at your subtle reminder about your plans. She’d forgotten to get the ingredients for that and she knows that both you and Natalya would be upset if she forgot. It was your daughter’s favorite dessert and you tried to make it every so often and, on her birthday, so you both could eat too much of it and suffer from a sugar high.

“That sounds great. Steve and Bucky will bring the booze and Kit with them.”

Kit is the 7-year-old rescue dog that the duo had living at their house. You’d met him as soon as Bucky had brought him home and you fell in love. He was adorable albeit very nervous, but you were used to anxious dogs given your experience at work and he’d warmed up to you, Steve and Bucky quickly. He hadn’t been as quick to warm up to your dogs, and the trio had actually just growled at each other for several minutes before you called it and decided to try the meet-and-greet later. Your dogs were older, but they were still very protective of their family and their territory. They hadn’t liked a new dog coming onto their turf even if he was with a familiar face.

Over the past couple of years, Kit had warmed up to the idea of having older brothers, and your dogs had deemed the younger dog an acceptable addition to the family. He often came to visit during biweekly dinners with Yelena’s younger Akita, Fanny II.

“As long as they all get along and your brother knows he’s being locked in the basement if he gets too drunk.”

Pietro’s certainly calmed down in the past decade, but he still sometimes over indulged when the family was all together. You used to tolerate it better, but now that Natalya was old enough to pick up on certain habits and be influenced by her family’s behaviors, you and Wanda had warned him off from getting drunk in front of your daughter. They believed their daughter was smart enough to not follow in Pietro’s footsteps, but the second he suggested sharing alcohol or anything else with her, you were allowed to toss him in the basement.

Wanda’s finishing up grabbing the last ingredient you’ll need for cheesecake when someone accidentally bumps into her. The store is crowded and she’d been a little preoccupied so she doesn’t think much of it. She hears someone mutter an apology before she heads to the produce section.

“Believe it or not, I think he learned from his last trip down there. He’s getting too old for that behavior anyway. I doubt he can bounce back like he used to.”

You sit back down with a quiet groan before you think about the truth in Wanda’s statement. Once the group passed their mid-30s, their ability to drink like they did in their twenties quickly dissipated, even for Yelena and Nat who had been able to drink any of them under the table on any occasion. Pietro was the one who suffered from it the worst because he didn’t catch on very quickly, or rather he tried to resist by over indulging more regularly which ended in many nights of blacking out. Wanda had actually sat him down and talked to him about his behavior on their 40th birthday. She didn’t want him to get stuck in this bad habit when he was really just drinking for fun and something to do. He wasn’t an addict and she didn’t want him acting like one. Especially around Natalya. She wanted her brother to be a role model for her daughter, and she swore that if he got her into drinking before she was 25, she’d make him regret it.

Now that they were both in their mid-40s, they rarely drank more than a glass of wine, beer or half of a cocktail at night. Wanda drank even less because she only really drank socially or if she was stressed, but those days were mostly behind her. She was more of a stress eater or tv-show binger these days, and you still couldn’t hold your liquor. She’s also made you stop smoking for fun except on very rare occasions like your birthday or vacation. Now, you only did it for your chronic pain if your medication wasn’t enough to control a flare up.

“Whatever I say to that can be taken the wrong way, so I’m going to just say that Pietro better behave.”

Wanda laughs at your response before she turns the camera back around so you can see her for what she says next. She’d put more thought into it, and she is a little worried about how Natalya is doing at school. She has near perfect grades and all of her teachers love her, but her questions this morning concerned her a bit. She’d always wanted her daughter to be happy and do well in school. She didn’t need straight A’s, she just wanted her to try her hardest, and she saw everyday how much time she spent working. Even if she didn’t do well on something, Wanda wouldn’t get mad.

She wonders if maybe she should have pushed for Natalya to hang out with her friends more when she was younger. She was always worried about kids coming over to the house because with kids came their parents, and when they saw how large and isolated their house was it usually led to questions she didn’t want to answer. It was difficult to believe that a veterinarian’s salary alone could pay for the house and the large property that it sat on.

For this reason, most play dates happened at other friends’ houses, and those were pretty few and far between. She’s asked Natalya about it sometimes and she’d given her an answer that she struggled to come to terms with.

“So Natalya asked me something on the way to school today that I wanted to run by you."

Immediately, you catch onto the change in your wife’s tone, and you’re sitting up straighter as you give her your full attention.

“What did she ask?”

Wanda summarizes the conversation she had not too long ago with Natalya as she finishes shopping. She makes it to the check-out counter before she finishes, and she greets the cashier while waiting for your response. She knows that you are a little worried about how self-isolating Natalya is, but given that your daughter doesn’t seem to mind and is still able to get along well with the friends she does have, you hadn’t been overly concerned. Hearing that she might be hinting at being lonely makes you frown and consider your options.

You know Wanda doesn’t like people over at the house, and you’re honestly a little anxious about it as well. You just can’t help but think about the many, many guns that are still locked up in the basement and have been for over a decade. You and Wanda had talked about moving them at some point, but you always got side-tracked or never really came to a decision about it. You knew that the rest of your family still had guns in their houses, and you wouldn’t be surprised to know that they had them stashed around the house like you did before Natalya came along. Maybe you could give them all to your brother-in-law.

Other than the many weapons that were safely locked away, the house was huge and very secure. In the past, you’d used the two guard dogs you have at home as excuses to not have kids over, but really you just feared that someone would be too curious and look into the house and as a result find out about Wanda’s past.

She’s been a law-abiding citizen for nearly 15 years, and she’d cut ties with the mob completely. You’d only learned about what really happened when Natalya was 3, and the fact that Wanda had just handed it over to someone else was baffling to you. Her life’s work and she traded it all away for a comparatively boring domestic life. At the time you’d wondered if your wife ever regretted it, but so far she hadn’t given you any indication that she did. She loved being there for Natalya, and she loved not having to stress about her house getting shot up. No one had approached her or even mentioned her previous life for years, and Wanda liked it that way. She liked to focus on the present and appreciate the life she had always dreamt of having.

Wanda’s back at the car and you still haven’t responded. She looks at her phone to make sure she’s still on with you before she frowns slightly at the sight of the ceiling. You’d disappeared and Wanda doesn’t hear anything other than Boone licking his paws as she starts her car.

“Y/n, you still there?”

You take a deep breath before you’re nodding despite the fact that your wife can’t see you. Sitting up carefully you cringe before you grab the phone again to see that Wanda’s in her car. You open your mouth to apologize, but your wife knows all too well what’s going on.

“Yeah, sorry. I think maybe we start simple. Ask if she wants to have some friends over or to go out next weekend. Go from there.”

Wanda nods in agreement but her attention’s shifted to you and she frowns as she shoots you a questioning look.

“Is it bothering you again?”

You sigh in defeat, but you can’t help but smile at the fact that you still seem to think that you can hide something from your wife after all of these years. You’d think that your many failed attempts would be enough to get you to stop trying. You nod before claiming that it’s fine and it’s no worse than usual which luckily is true.

“Just the usual amount. I’m about due for my meds again is all.”

Just shy of 16 years ago, you’d been injured in a man’s poorly executed scheme to steal your wife. Despite healing and being able to take comfort in the fact that those involved were dead, you still weren’t free from the consequences of that day. A couple of years after healing completely, you’d started to experience a tingling sensation around the scar and throughout your abdomen where you’d been shot. It was only every month or so that it would almost tickle oddly for a few minutes before ceasing. Eventually it became more of a pins and needles type feeling that came more frequently and persisted for longer periods of time. It didn’t become debilitating until a few years ago. One day you’d been playing with Natalya and the dogs in the backyard, and an electric shock-like sensation shot through your side and sent you to your knees.

Nat had been so worried she’d started crying, and that alerted your wife and her brother who had been visiting at the time that something was off. Wanda had taken you to the hospital immediately where you’d just been told that this is something that can happen down the road. It had been news to you because dogs and cats couldn’t complain about previous trauma affecting them years down the line. You’d been put on a pain medication and an antidepressant. You hadn’t liked the idea of being on drugs like this, but you also didn’t want to experience this type of pain again, or scare your family.

Now that you’re on your medications regularly, you only had a few episodes of pain that made you reach for medical marijuana. You did your best to stay healthy and exercise regularly so you can improve your chances of decreasing these episodes. They mostly happened at night, right after you go to sleep or right before waking up, and you’ve learned that you just have to get up and smoke. You won’t be able to go back to sleep without it, and you hate to wake up your wife with your tossing and turning.

“Take your meds, detka, and then have fun at the rest of this conference because I’m not letting you go to another any time soon.”

You’re grateful for the distraction from your tingly skin at Wanda’s joke. At least you think it’s a joke. Since you’d become the managing vet at your practice you’ve been working longer hours. You split your time so you’re no longer working just with clients and seeing appointments. About 25% of your time is working on management stuff, and as much as you don’t like it, you’re making a lot more money. Not that you need any.

Wanda may have left her old job behind, but most of the money she’d made, she’d kept and moved it around enough so it wouldn’t raise suspicions at any bank. You didn’t understand it, but since the rest of your friends had done the same, you’d just let them handle it. You know you have more money than you’ll need, and Natalya should be able to have everything she needs and then some. You don’t want her to grow up spoiled, but you also don’t want her to feel like she can’t ask for something.

“Will do, Wands. I promise to spend all weekend with you and Nat. I’ve missed you both.”

Wanda is driving home when you say this, but she steals a glance at you as she comes to a stop at a light. She’s missed you too and as much as she hopes you had fun and learned a lot on your trip, she hates it when you leave. She’s spent every night with you for years, and having to go to an empty bed at the end of the day was no fun. Sometime she let Rogue sleep on your side on a large blanket just so she doesn’t feel so alone. She’ll be glad to have you back.

“We’ve missed you too. I’m going to let you go rest before lunch is over, and I’ll let you know what Nat says tonight, okay?”

It’s 12:40 here and you realize you only have half an hour before you have to go back downstairs. For now, you stand up so you can find your meds before you try to sleep for the rest of lunch. Boone will have to go out before you leave, but you’ll worry about that later. You smile at your wife before offering her a little wave.

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“Love you too. And you Boone!”

When Wanda arrives home a little later, she puts her purse and the groceries down on the counter with a sigh before she wanders up to the bedroom. She greets Rogue and her old, lazy cat along the way before she heads into the bathroom with a sigh. She walks over to the small safe that was hidden in the vanity and opens it quickly. Both you and Wanda agreed that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep a gun nearby just in case. You hadn’t experienced any issues and hadn’t needed it at all, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Since the safe was already nearby, you decided to put your marijuana from the medical dispensary in here. You didn’t want it just sitting out for anyone to find, and you kept it in the safe for whenever you needed it.

Wanda frowns slightly when she picks up the jar and sees that it’s not as full as when she last checked. She makes a note to call in a refill soon as she puts the jar back and shuts the safe. She has a few things she needs to get done today, including cleaning all of the dog hair that’s managed to evade the Roomba. She stops short of leaving the bedroom when she sees one of the pictures that sits on the dresser.

It's one she hides behind the other two because she was embarrassed by it when her brother had first taken it. They had all been at the beach when Natalya was 5-years-old, and you and Wanda had spent the day chasing after your overenthusiastic and hyperactive daughter. She’d wanted to do everything at once and she was not willing to slow down at all. You’d joked about putting her on a leash, but after Little Nat had tuckered out mid-swim you and Wanda had collapsed too. You’d fallen asleep under the tent with your daughter between you and Wanda and you woke up an hour later to the sound of someone calling your name. You’d seen Pietro with his phone and after stealing it and finding the cute pictures, you’d sent one of them to yourself so you could frame it. You had given it to Wanda for Mother’s Day and despite hating how she looked in it, she loved seeing how peacefully you and Natalya slept.

Wanda frowns as she leaves the room and thinks back to Natalya’s questions this morning. She wasn’t sure if she was just reading too deeply into things because she’s been guilty of that before, but she hopes that her daughter knows she can come to her if she needs help.

Natalya was leaving her least favorite class when her phone vibrated from her jacket pocket. She figures she knows who it is, and she decides to wait until she washes her hands and heats up her lunch to text back.

She only has a single class with her friends, but most days she has lunch with them in their science class, the library or outside if it wasn’t too hot. Natalya leans against the counter as her food spins in the microwave and reads the text from her friend Taylor. Usually she hates group texts, but her friends know this and don’t expect her to text back unless it’s an emergency. She has her read setting on and she puts her phone back in her pocket without responding.

We’re outside on the hill. Blame Luke.

Luke was the only guy in her friend group, and she’d actually met him first a couple of years ago in science class. They’d been paired for a project and despite hating the assignment, they’d gotten along well and Luke had introduced her to his other friends, Taylor and Alyssa. Nat had been and still was pretty sure that he liked them both, but she never felt comfortable asking, and it didn’t really matter in the end. She didn’t feel like a third or fourth wheel with them, and they always made her feel included when they sensed her spacing out. She hadn’t hung out with them outside of school for a while and she was considering asking them to do something soon as she walks through the cafeteria toward the doors that lead to the hill.

“Whoops.”

Nat hears the sarcastic voice before someone bumps into her and makes her food splash out of the Tupperware and onto her hand. She hisses in pain and nearly drops it as she tries to set it down quickly and wipe off her hand. She turns to look over her shoulder at the group of girls laughing at her as they continue on as if nothing happened. Nat scowls at them before she covers her food ad runs to the bathroom to wash off her spilled lunch.

She’s not sure how she’d managed to catch the attention of this particular group of mean girls, but it had started a few months ago. Stacy was the ringleader and honestly the dumbest person Natalya had ever met. She attempted to overcompensate for her stupidity by wearing too much makeup and putting other girls down whenever possible. Her two closest friends Jocelyn and Lisa had jumped on the bandwagon with her, but they luckily didn’t harass her if they were alone. They mostly just kept up appearances around Stacy, and Nat almost felt bad for them.

Natalya had thought about complaining to someone, but the blonde’s mother was the president of the PTA and her dad was probably one of the richest people in town. He was the CEO of some hot shot company that Stacy knew nothing about, but she didn’t care. Having rich parents and being as dense as a brick didn’t give her permission to be a jerk.

“Hey! There you are.” “You know, I wonder why your moms got you a phone just to have you neglect it.”

Natalya rolls her eyes as she drops her bag onto the grass next to her friends. She sighs as she carefully sits down and crosses her legs with a small smile. She looks to the trio that are already laid out comfortably and eating and she decides to address Luke’s comment first.

“I don’t neglect it. I read Taylor’s text, didn’t I?”

In all honesty, Natalya was surprised that her parents had gotten her a phone. She was notorious for losing things and after leaving her first one outside and not finding it again until it had rained two days later, her parents had bought her a waterproof case for it. She mostly texted her family, like her aunts or uncles, and these three, but her parents insisted she keep it on her at all times when she wasn’t home. They wanted to be able to reach her whenever she was, and there may or may not be a tracker in it because old habits die hard.

Taylor’s the first one to sit up as the smell of Natalya’s lunch reaches her. She recognizes it immediately and she’s once again jealous of how the brunette gets a home-cooked meal more often than not. The one time she’d stayed at Nat’s house for a sleepover, her redheaded mom had cooked for them, and it was honestly the best meal she’d ever had.

“Why do you always have such good lunches! You’re so lucky.”

The other brunette creeps toward Nat to potentially get a bite when she notices something that steals her attention.

“Wait, what happened? Did you burn your hand?”

The back of Natalya’s right hand is red and looks painful. Nat shrugs her off but lets her grab it to inspect it more closely. Alyssa slides away from where she’d been sitting next to Luke to get a look and she cringes at the sight. The blonde wants to follow in her mom’s footsteps and become a doctor, so Natalya indulges her and lets her friend fuss over her for a minute.

“Ow, did you trip or something?”

It’s a fair question because they are well aware that she’s a klutz, but this time she just shakes her head before muttering something under her breath. She looks around to make sure the trio aren’t nearby before she explains what happened. Luke and Alyssa frown while Taylor looks like she wants to fight someone. Between the four of them, Taylor is the least afraid of confrontation, and she’d definitely been to detention more times than anyone else in their group. She would go find the trio and shove all of their heads in a toilet, but Nat didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

“My fan club accidentally spilled it on me as they fought over my autograph.”

Taylor looks around next and she scowls as she shakes her head in annoyance. Her friend was a little too passive aggressive for her own good, and things were only getting worse with the trio. She shouldn’t have to deal with this every day.

“They’re jerks, Nat, you should tell them off.”

Nat had tried to once, but it just ended up in her getting shoved to the ground by all three of them. She’d just watched them laugh as she brushed the dirt off of her clothes and tried to convince herself that they’d get bored. She didn’t want to get in trouble by resorting to violence, but sometimes she daydreamed about punching their sneers right off their faces.

“I don’t want to get in trouble. Also, my mom will probably lose her shit if she finds out.”

None of them needed clarification because despite having only met Nat’s parents a few times, it was obvious to them which mom was more of a worrywart. While you were silently concerned and seemed more chill on the surface, Wanda wasn’t as good at hiding her anxieties and often verbalized her concerns. It was a no brainer that she’d be furious if she found out that her daughter was getting bullied.

“She would, but this can’t keep going on.” “Maybe we should beat them up after practice today.”

Nat shakes her head quickly before she decides to change the subject because she’s getting a little self-conscious. She’ll deal with Stacy and her minions at some point, but for now she’s going to keep ignoring them.

“No, no. Let’s not. I was going to ask if you wanted to come over soon though? We could have another sleepover?”

Natalya realized that her distraction had worked as soon as her friends start to plan what they’ll do when they come over. They loved walking around the woods with the dogs and hanging out in the den eating too much junk food. The last time she’d had them over, they’d had a movie marathon of kind of scary movies that her parents had approved. They had still freaked her out a little bit, but she hadn’t told them that. She wanted her mom to let her watch her favorite horror movie when she turned 13, but her redheaded mom still wasn’t on board.

“We can have another mac and cheese fest. Your aunt seemed to like that.”

The last time that they’d come over, you and Wanda had been busy so Yelena had come over to supervise. Despite their daughter being mature for her age, they knew she needed to be watched closely. Teens could too easily get in trouble if not held accountable, and they wouldn’t be good parents if no one was around to supervise them. When you two had come home to find the kitchen was a mess with 10 empty boxes of mac and cheese on the counters, you realized that maybe Yelena needed supervision as well.

“Or we could cook with your mom again.”

Nat can’t help but laugh at this as she rolls her eyes at the fact that she’s fairly certain her friend has a crush on her mom. It’s only a little horrifying, but she tries not to dwell on it most times. This is not one of those times though and she can’t help but find her friend’s blush amusing.

“I think you like more than just my mom’s cooking, Taylor.”

The brunette in question just coughs awkwardly before she just wordlessly grabs her fork so she can take a bite of Nat’s lunch. She decides that she’ll ask her moms about spending the night at Nat’s. They would probably say yes because it would give them a night with one less kid at home. Her brother was usually at a friend’s house and her sister liked to stay holed up in her room on the weekends.

“No comment.”

Wanda sighs heavily as she gets off the exercise bike that she’s been spacing out on for the past 40 minutes. She steps over Rogue carefully before she checks the time to make sure she’s still on schedule. She doesn’t have to pick up Natalya until 6:30 and dinner is ready to be put in the oven as soon as they get home. She decides to spend the next couple of hours finishing up her workout before relaxing outside for a while. She had a book she wanted to finish reading, but when she hears her phone beep nearby her this thought leaves her mind.

Practice cancelled. Coach is sick. Gonna study with w/ T &A

Wanda frowns before she starts to type out a response. She wouldn’t mind getting to skip the rest of her workout, but if Nat wants to spend time with her friends, she’s not going to protest.

Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up?

Natalya and her friends are already settled in the library when her mom texts her back. They had been on their way to practice when they’d gotten a text from their coach to cancel practice for the day. Apparently, she’d had to go home for the day because she’d gotten food poisoning from whatever takeout she ate for lunch. Natalya is a little bummed because she’d been hoping to run around and burn some of the extra energy she had. Instead she’s going to work on her math homework so she doesn’t have to do it later tonight. She loved having nothing to do but relax when she went home. Relax and eat.

Taylor and Alyssa were also on the softball team and didn’t have a ride until 6:30 either, so they’d all decided to hang out and study. The library was open for the kids who stayed after school until at least 6, and then afterwards people typically went to the hill to wait for their parents to pick them up.

“I don’t get the second question. Do you?”

Nat hears her phone vibrate when Alyssa asks this and she takes a few seconds to tell her mom that she’s fine waiting here before answering. They get most of their homework done because Luke’s not with them to be a distraction. He barely did his homework on time, and he was the type who could only focus on work if he was alone in his room with music blaring. He got too tempted to talk or people watch if he was anywhere else.

“The library’s about to close. Do you want to keep studying outside?”

Instead of studying, they end up chatting until their parents arrive to pick them up. They’d walked to the softball field where they were usually picked up and Nat stretched out of the sidewalk as she sighed heavily. She turns to look at her friends that just smile before Taylor reaches out to grab the phone that’s fallen from Nat’s pocket.

“Let us know what your moms say about next weekend, okay?”

Natalya nods as she sits up at the sound of a car pulling up. It’s Taylor’s dentist mom and she and Alyssa both stand up to head out. As always though, Alyssa turns and speaks up for the trio as the passenger side window rolls down.

“Do you want us to wait with you until your mom gets here?”

Nat shakes her head but she stands up to hug her friends before going to greet Taylor’s mom. She smiles at the blonde before opening the back door so her friends can get in.

“Hi Doc, how are you?”

She’s always liked the blonde despite not enjoying her visits to the dentist. She was funny in a dry sort of way that reminded her of her moms, and she was laid back like her aunts. Nat always felt like she was someone she could go to if she had a problem but couldn’t tell any of her family.

“Hi Nat, good to see you! Are you sure you don’t want us to wait with you?”

Wanda’s pulling into the parking lot where she sees Natalya standing next to an unfamiliar car. She’s smiling as she chats with them and Wanda has to stop herself from freaking out. She knows her daughter’s smart and that she knows better than to talk to strangers, so she assumes this is one of her friend’s parents. This is confirmed when she drives by them and sees three familiar faces inside.

“Hi Mama! See I said she would be here any minute.”

Wanda gets out of her car and smiles as her daughter runs up to her and wraps her arms around her waist in a hug. She moves a little so she can wave at the woman she recognizes as one of Taylor’s moms. She shoots her a polite smile before they’re on their way home for the weekend.

“Hi Kayley, thanks for watching this one for me.”

After bidding them goodbye, Wanda can hear Kayley asking her daughter something that makes her laugh. She leads Natalya to her car, making sure that there’s nothing left on the sidewalk as she opens the door for her.

“Why don’t you hug me like that, Taylor?” “Mom!”

Natalya’s stomach growls as she gets into the car, and it’s so loud that her mom can hear it as she’s opening her door again. Wanda’s amazed by how much her daughter can put away and still be so small. She’s a lot like you, and you joke about her inheriting your hollow leg now that you’re older and can’t eat nearly as much without it showing. Natalya is young and energetic, and she’d eat 5 meals a day if she had the time. Instead, she eats breakfast and lunch and then comes home so hungry she eats two or three helping at dinner. Wanda’s already getting buckled and starting the car again to get them home when she hears confirmation that her daughter’s hungry.

“Let’s get home so we can start dinner, shall we?”

Natalya smiles before practically bouncing in her seat at the idea of getting to eat. She’d had most of her lunch, but some had spilled and she hadn’t gotten her usual snacks at practice, so she was famished. She’s already brainstorming possible dishes her mom’s made when the older Maximoff speaks up with a curious look.

“Did you finish your lunch?”

Wanda asks this because 99% of the time the answer is yes. Very occasionally Natalya will be busy during lunch and be too distracted to eat. She’d come home once or twice with most of her lunch still packed away and Wanda would have to remind her about the importance of eating throughout the day. You’d always add to this by telling her that food was really the only way you ever got through a school day.

Natalya tells her about how she’d eaten all of her food as well as some of her friends’. She owed them some on Monday, but for now she was more concerned about dinner. She was about to ask what her mom had made when she hears a gasp that makes her frown in confusion.

“What happened to your hand??”

Natalya curses herself for not covering up her burn or even bothering to go to the nurse for that matter. She realizes her mom will be upset with her, and that she won’t get any dinner until she’s treated and wrapped her hand. It stung a little and hurt to touch, but she’d forgotten about it during her afternoon classes and then the nurse had already gone home. She decides to tell the truth because she’d learned very early on that she took after you when it came to her ability to lie.

She wrings her hands nervously before she covers up her burn with a frown.

“I spilled my lunch on it and forgot to go to the nurse.”

Wanda frowns in response because damnit sometimes her daughter is too much like her. She never used to take care of herself and her friends or brother had to convince her to go to medical to get checked out after any sort of injury. It wasn’t until you came along that she started to do a little better because well you’d threatened her with a bad time, or took care of her yourself which was both unpleasant and slightly humiliating.

When Wanda sighs Nat has to hold back her urge to shrink down in her seat in shame. She hates to upset her parents, and she knows that that they don’t like it when she doesn’t take care of herself. Like that one time she sprained her ankle during a game, but didn’t tell anyone until she was having difficulty running. She’d been lucky enough to have both parents present for the game, and they’d both chastised her before having Alyssa’s mom take a look at her.

“You need to take better care of yourself, milaya. I’ll look at it when we get home, okay?”

Nat just nods before she stares out the window for the next few minutes. She feels chastised and that familiar pressure in her chest makes her want to fix it immediately. Nat looks back to her mom when she speaks up a few minutes away from home.

“How was the rest of your day?”

Natalya’s first thought goes to Stacy at lunch and she frowns before shrugging as she starts to play with the hem of her shirt. She rambles nervously about the rest of her day and how it was fairly uneventful. She finished all of her homework and hopefully her coach’s food poisoning would be over by Monday.

Wanda smiles as they arrive home to see that Rogue is sitting in the driveway waiting for them. She’d been nervous about letting the dogs outside while they weren’t home, but you’d set up an invisible barrier and Rogue was the only one who really left the decks upstairs. He mostly just lingered around the house or very occasionally walked to Nat and Yelena’s down the road. He was only let out during the day and you’d put tracking collars on them so they wouldn’t get lost.

Seeing him stand up and wag his tail excitedly as she opened the garage made her feel even more love for her precious dog. Natalya waited impatiently for her to pull into the garage and park before she jumped out of the car and greeted her dog.

“Hi Rogue. How was your day bud?”

The shepherd pants happily as his ears and neck are scratched. He shakes himself out sending hair flying and Nat cringes slightly at how it’s now covering her hand, specifically her burn. She tries to shake out her hand but she’s unsuccessful and unfortunately her mom doesn’t miss it. She grabs her daughter’s backpack before calling her to come inside.

“Natalya, I’ll get dinner started then we’ll look at your hand.”

About 10 minutes later, Natalya’s sitting at the dining room table with her mom and an assortment of first aid supplies. Wanda had given the brunette a Tylenol before setting up everything she needed to clean and dress her wound. Wanda’s frowning as she takes her daughter’s hand and tilts it slightly to get a better look of the burn.

“This looks like it hurts. Hopefully covering it will help it heal faster.”

Wanda works in silence and Nat tries to distract herself from the stinging as her hand is cleaned meticulously before it’s slathered in ointment. Eventually Nat starts to get bothered by it so she speaks up to keep her mind off of it.

“I know, Mom will be back tomorrow, so it doesn’t have to be this weekend, but would it be okay to have my friends over soon for a sleepover?”

Wanda smiles immediately at the idea of this and she secretly wonders how Natalya just happened to ask this today after the conversation she’d had with you earlier. Either way, she’d be glad to host Natalya’s friends, they were both very polite and treated her daughter well. She couldn’t really ask for more than that.

“Of course. We’d be happy to have Taylor and Alyssa over.”

This makes Nat frown slightly as she realizes she needed to be more specific. The last time she’d had a sleepover they’d invited Luke as well. Her parents hadn’t known about it until he arrived and Yelena had called to tell them. Wanda had been freaked out and you’d wondered if Nat had been intentionally vague when mentioning her friends. This had led to a slightly uncomfortable conversation about the nature of Natalya’s relationships with all of her friends, and she’d certainly learned something new. When asked if Nat liked Luke, she’d simply shaken her head and told her that she was the only one without feelings.

“I think he likes Taylor or Alyssa. Or both. I think they like him too. It’s kind of confusing”

Wanda certainly was a little confused by this and she’d paid extra close attention to how they all acted together when they were at her house. She couldn’t tell from watching them because they all got along so well and no one really was extra clingy in a way that would suggest deeper feelings.

Still, Wanda doesn’t mind having Luke over, but until she’s told otherwise, she’s going to still insist that he sleeps in a different room.

“Luke too?”

Wanda nods as she starts to wrap Natalya’s hand first with gauze and then with the compressive wrap.

“Yes, but the same rules apply.”

Natalya just nods at this because last time Luke had slept in one of the guest rooms with Boone sitting at the door. The dogs didn’t mind visitors and since meeting the trio they even come up to greet them like they would for anyone else they knew. Luke liked the dogs the best, but Wanda remembers seeing both girls cuddling with a shepherd on the couch during one of their movie marathons.

“Okay, Mama. Thank you.”

Masterlist

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x female reader #wanda maximoff fanfiction #wanda maximoff #wanda x reader #wanda x you #pietro maximoff #yelena belova #natasha romanoff #steve rogers #bucky barnes #natalya maximoff #growing pains au

97 notes · View notes

whereianonymouslypostfics · 6 months

Text

Growing Pains Part 2

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~12k

Summary: Little Nat is almost 13 and school’s a bitch. Retired mob boss turned stay-at-home mom Wanda has to figure out how to deal with bullies at her daughter’s school.

A/N: Credit to @rianncreates for this fic idea. Enjoy 😘

Warnings: Fluff, teen angst, injury, reference to previous injury/trauma, bullies, and mentions medicinal drug use

You’re back in your hotel room after dinner when you get a call from Wanda. You’d called every night so you could talk to your daughter before she went to bed. It was Friday and you’d be home tomorrow, but you still wanted to check in with her and see how her day had gone. She has a game on Monday that you’ve already promised her you’d make it to. You’re supposed to be back at work, but you’ll be able to leave a little early if you work hard.

You move to the couch when you hear your phone ring, and you pat the space next to you so Boone jumps up. You smile as you answer the video call and see your daughter sitting next to her shepherd with a wide grin.

“Hi Mom! Hi Boone!”

You and Natalya catch up on your days and you don’t realize that Wanda is nearby until you hear dishes in the background. You only have a moment to wonder if she’d talked to your daughter about having friends over before Natalya is asking you about it. You’d planned on relaxing at home all weekend because you were beat from this trip, but you wouldn’t mind supervising a sleepover if it meant your daughter had fun.

“I know you’re probably going to want to relax when you get home, so is it okay if Luke, Alyssa and Taylor sleep over next weekend?”

You’d love this and you’re almost tempted to tell her to have it this weekend, but tomorrow’s your family dinner and Sunday isn’t a good idea. Not only will it make everyone useless for school, but Natalya might actually fall asleep in the outfield on Monday. Instead, you just smile widely and then wave when you see your wife sneak into the background to say hi.

“That sounds like a great idea. Hi, my love.”

Wanda smiles at you and the look of slight embarrassment on her daughter’s face. Rogue’s head is resting on Nat’s lap, so there’s more room for her on the screen as she smiles at her wife before reaching for Natalya.

“Hi detka. There’s one more thing we left out.”

Natalya doesn’t realize what her mom’s talking about until she takes her hand gently and raises it so her other mom can see. She only considers yanking it away for a second as she sees the confused look on your face. You notice the wrap around Nat’s hand and you immediately realize she’s hurt. Had something happened at practice this afternoon?

“What happened, Little Nat? Did you catch with the wrong hand again?”

Nat blushes slightly before she shakes her head and tugs her hand free before she hides it in her lap. She explains what happened to her with only slightly more detail than what she’d offered before. You frown at the fact that your daughter had been burnt by her lunch, but she seems to be taken care of at this point, and it should heal quickly. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt too much.

“I’m sorry that happened, but it looks like your mom’s got you covered.”

Wanda sighs and Natalya groans under her breath at your joke that makes you laugh more than either of them. Boone sticks his nose in your face and you scratch his head with a smile before you cover your mouth to stifle a yawn.

“I can’t wait to be home with you two. I also miss my bed a lot.”

You and Natalya talk for a few more minutes before she heads off to bed. She hugs Wanda before waving to you one last time.

“Night, Mom. Love you.”

You smile before waving to her too before turning your attention to your wife. You wish you could skip tomorrow and just come home, but you were at least grateful that you would be getting in relatively early.

“Love you too, kiddo.”

Wanda sighs as she steals Nat’s spot on the couch next to Rogue. He lifts his head but otherwise barely acknowledges the change in arrangement as Wanda watches you get up and move to the bed. You’re fading and you need to get up fairly early so you should probably sleep soon.

“It’s like she read our minds, Wands.”

Wanda shifts before tucking her legs underneath her with a quiet groan. She’d forgotten that her legs were a little sore, but she is too comfortable to move right now. You don’t fail to notice this, but you let it be for now as you watch your wife consider something that you’d only thought about half a dozen times since meeting your daughter’s friends.

“I’m still trying to figure out who likes who, Y/n. It’s confusing as hell.”

You laugh at how distressed Wanda sounds when really, it’s not a big deal. You’re interested of course but you’re not going to stress over it given how young everyone is. You’ve seen everyone interact before and you loved how well they all got along. You saw your daughter come out of her shell with her friends, and she seemed to like them all the same amount. She’d met Luke first, but Alyssa and Taylor were surprisingly nice for early-teen girls. You and Wanda remember what your classmates were like around that time and you were glad that Natalya chose well.

“It is, but does it really matter? They’re all nice and you know Little Nat’s not interested in that right now.”

You are telling the truth and Wanda sighs in defeat before she looks over her shoulder to make sure Nat’s door is closed. When Natalya first came to them in the 6th grade asking what it meant when someone wanted to be your ‘girlfriend or boyfriend’ you couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. She was still so young and the idea of her liking someone like that had been a little daunting. Luckily, she wasn’t interested in having a boyfriend or girlfriend, but apparently she was one of the only ones in her grade that felt this way. You’d almost forgotten when you’d first been interested in someone romantically, and it was a shock to your system to realize your daughter was at that age. It made you feel ancient and your wife had not so helpfully mentioned it was over 30 years ago.

“I know. I just can’t help but be curious.”

You can relate to this, but you trust your daughter to be honest with you. She’s not great at keeping secrets, and you’re pretty sure it wouldn’t be too hard to notice if she was romantically interested in someone, especially her friends.

“I get that, but let’s not rush her, Wands. She still so young. Practically a baby.”

Wanda laughs at this as she runs her fingers through Rogue’s fur with a smile. He looks up at her before lying his head back with a huff. She’s nodding to herself as she thinks back on the days when Natalya was actually a baby. She’s glad that she’s old enough to clean herself up now, but she doesn’t like seeing her grow up so quickly.

“She was such a cute baby. We should set out the scrapbooks when her friends come over so they can look at them.”

You laugh loudly at the idea because you’re certain that your daughter would be mortified. Her face would turn as red as Wanda’s hair and she would probably try and throw all of the pictures of herself in the firepit out back. You didn’t have as many pictures as you liked, but you’d realized fairly early on that you wanted to be able to commemorate special times in your life, and be able to look back on them. Having pictures of your family that you could look at whenever you felt lonely or nostalgic was always a treat.

“I think she would try and put us up for adoption if we did that.”

“Or move in with Nat and Yelena."

Fanny II continued to walk down the road toward her house just a few minutes before her dinnertime. She was given free reign of the house and outside up until it became dark outside. Her mom knew she could take care of herself, and she only got in trouble once when she’d brought home a dead cat she’d found in the road. She’d thought that her mom would want to see it, but she’d gotten so grossed out she’d bathed her and locked her in the laundry room for a few hours.

She arrives to the house that Yelena and Natasha share just moments before the blonde is pouring her food into her bowl. She steps on the rug inside of her doggy door before rushing over to the kitchen with a wagging tail.

“Hi there, Fanny. My good girl."

Yelena pets her akita while Nat continues to stir their dinner diligently. They both had learned to cook more often shortly after retiring. They’d realized after leaving the mob that they needed to change a lot of their everyday habits. Nat had cut down on the amount of caffeine she drank since her hours were no longer ridiculous. Yelena had learned to cook something with a vegetable in it when she realized that she was jobless. They both had eventually turned toward remote part-time jobs that gave them flexibility and something to do with their time. However, they didn’t really need money and as long as they weren’t frivolous, they would have enough to get them through actual retirement age.

They’d decided to live together to start out. They wanted the security after leaving the mob, and despite Wanda’s reassurances that they would be safe, they hadn’t gotten this far in life by being careless. They were glad that Wanda hadn’t been proven wrong, and they just decided to stick together after a few years because it was easier. They enjoyed each other’s company even if they were reluctant to admit it. They were also glad that they were not too far from their friends. They’d built a house about a mile away from where you and Wanda lived because the redhead had wanted them close by. It had really been helpful right after Natalya was born, and they quickly got used to being close to their niece/goddaughter.

“What are we supposed to bring to dinner tomorrow?”

Nat knows that you should be back in time for the weekly dinner tomorrow, but she wouldn’t be surprised if you were tired from your conference. You were still such an introvert after all these years, and it was no wonder Natalya took after you. Her sweet niece preferred to be alone or with a couple close friends, and she required about as much time to recharge after a social event as you did.

“Wanda said to bring a couple of sides. She and Y/n are getting the desserts, Steve and Bucky the booze, and Pietro claimed the main course.”

Yelena nods as she starts to think of different dishes that she could bring for tomorrow. She’s glad that this week’s dinner is at your place because that meant that all of the dogs could run around the backyard while still being in sight. She was also looking forward to seeing her niece again. She had to ask her opinion on getting another dog.

“Something other than mac and cheese this time.”

Yelena groans under her breath before she waves off her sister. Last time she’d brought three different mac and cheese casseroles and despite them all being good, all they had that night was mac and cheese and potatoes.

“Alright, Natasha, you come up with something then.”

Natalya is about to sleep when her phone vibrates from her bedside table. She reaches out her arm from under the covers and frowns slightly when she sees the bandage around her hand. She grabs her phone with a grimace before she sighs in defeat. Glancing at the screen she sees that her aunt has texted her and she can’t help but smile at her predictable question.

Would your moms be upset with another mac and cheese casserole?

You had definitely loved it the last time Yelena had brought it, but you’d also complained about it being too unhealthy. Wanda had only eaten some of it before telling Yelena to mix it up next time. She and her aunt had eaten almost all of it by the time the blonde left.

I wouldn’t be!

Nat sees that she has another text from her friends and she sighs before putting her phone back down. She’ll respond tomorrow. They are planning on going to the mall on Sunday and they’re telling her as usual that she’s more than welcome to come. She might, but she hasn’t seen her mom in a few days and it would be nice to hang out with her this weekend.

She tries to sleep for five minutes before she picks up her phone again and types a quick response. She then sighs heavily before rolling over and pulling her covers over her head. Tomorrow her mom will be home and she doesn’t have to go to school for two whole days. She can’t wait.

Taylor is sitting on the couch downstairs in her living room with her parents when Nat texts her back. She’s surprised to have a response so quickly, but she looks at it regardless and can’t help but smile at her phone.

I might pass depending on if my mom has plans, but they said yes to next weekend’s sleepover!

Her parents turn toward her curiously but she doesn’t notice as she types out a response. The three of them are watching a movie before going to bed, and her brunette mother was sitting next to their husky on the ground while her dentist mom sat on the couch next to her. She didn’t let Alfred on the couch because of how much fur he had, and her other mom had decided to sit with him this time.

They exchange a look before one of them speaks up to get their daughter’s attention.

“What are you smiling about over there?”

Taylor looks up or rather down immediately to see her mom smiling at her and she has to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Her parents are still convinced that Alyssa and Luke are dating, and they don’t believe her when she says that they’re not. They all spend a lot of time here, usually just the three of them, but Nat comes over sometimes too.

“Nat might come to the mall with us Sunday, and she said her moms okay’d a sleepover for next weekend.”

Kayley can’t help but smile at this. When Taylor had first mentioned meeting a new friend a couple years ago it had taken them a long time to meet her. At first Taylor would mention her and then just end up hanging out with Alyssa and Luke. She initially thought that Taylor didn’t really like her and they purposely excluded Nat from things, but it only took one meeting to realize how introverted the brunette was.

She was perfectly polite when she first came over, but she was also very quiet and mostly listened to her trio of friends talk. Each time she came over she was slightly more comfortable, and now two years later she was almost like a fourth child to them. They’d only met Nat’s parents half a dozen times because one worked full-time and the other was a bit of a recluse. Well she was out and about a lot, but she always seemed busy going from one place to the next doing whatever it is she kept herself busy with.

“That sounds like fun! I assume her parents will be there?”

Taylor opens her mouth to confirm that at least one of Nat’s moms will be there. They felt the same way about sleepovers with the group as her parents did. They needed at least one chaperone and separate bedrooms for Luke who definitely liked both Taylor and Alyssa.

She doesn’t get a chance to speak up before her mom scoffs slightly as she pets her favorite fur child.

“I’m pretty sure Taylor’s going to do all she can to at least make sure Mrs. Maximoff is there.”

Taylor blushes immediately and hides her face in a pillow for a few seconds to groan loudly and curse herself. She was never going to live this down and she almost wishes she’d never met the redhead. No that wasn’t true. She was very nice and a good cook.

“MOM!”

“Kara come on, leave her alone.”

The brunette can’t help but laugh a little at her daughter’s expense because it is so adorable to see her have another crush. Her first two had been older boys at school, and then a teacher, and then her friend’s mom. It was pretty obvious to both of them that their daughter had another little crush. She had come home one day from Nat’s house and talked for nearly an hour about how they’d made dinner with Nat’s mom and how she was so nice and cool and pretty.

“I’m sorry, it’s just so adorable, Taylor. Wanda’s a cute one."

“I’m right here you know.”

Kayley rolls her eyes as her wife hops up from the floor covered in dog fur to hug her. Kara shoots her an apologetic look that she just sighs at before she’s engulfed in a furry hug.

“Oh, you know you’re the only one for me, my dear.”

Taylor blocks out her parents’ voices as she thinks about her friend and what happened to her today. She had never liked Stacy and her friends but she left her alone for the most part. She’d started to try and pick on her after she’d started hanging out with Nat, but she wasn’t as averse to conflict as her friend was. She’d threatened to smack the makeup right off Stacy’s face, and she now only threw dirty looks at her which she easily returned.

She was a little worried about Natalya because despite being strong-willed and resourceful, she was a bit of a wallflower and didn’t like the idea of drawing attention to herself. Taylor secretly wondered if there was another reason why she didn’t want to stand up for herself, but after today’s incident, Taylor was already plotting her revenge. She’d texted Luke and Alyssa about it earlier and they were still brainstorming together. They were still on the fence about whether or not to tell Nat, but she had a feeling they’d end up trying to just convince her to go to someone at school for help.

“Everything okay, kiddo? Sorry if I upset you. I was mostly kidding.”

Taylor turns to her brunette mom, her birth mom before shaking her head and sighing in frustration. She doesn’t want to rat her friend out, and she knows that their moms all talk to each other; it was practically a requirement. If she said something that got back to either of Nat’s parents, she was afraid that her friend would get mad at her.

“No, Mom it’s okay. I was just thinking about a mean girl at school.”

This catches both of her parents’ attentions like she thought it would. Taylor’s already shaking her head because she knows where her moms' minds went. She just wants their advice on this and maybe she can take whatever they say to Nat.

“Is someone bothering you?”

“No. I just see this group bothering people at school and I want to get them in trouble….”

Wanda wakes up the next morning to the sound of whining nearby. She opens her eyes with a quiet groan before she turns to look for the source of the sound. There’s really only one option, and she’s not surprised to see her dog with his face on the bed mere inches away from her. She sighs before turning her whole body toward him with a small smile.

“Hello my boy. Are you happy that mom’s coming home today?”

Rogue just whines again before nosing her hand in a not-so-subtle reminder that it’s time for his breakfast. She decides to try and give herself a few minutes of additional rest, and she grabs a blanket and covers one side of the bed with a smile. She pats it with a questioning look, and Rogue happily jumps up to sit beside her. He settles on the blanket, but stretches his neck so he can lie his head beside her. She reaches out to scratch him before moving closer so she can kiss his head.

“Such a sweet boy.”

Wanda stays in bed for almost half an hour longer, but her legs still don’t feel any less sore as she finally feeds Rogue and Fletcher around 8 in the morning. She passes Natalya’s room and peeks in through the door that’s cracked to confirm that she’s still asleep. She carefully closes the door before heading downstairs to make breakfast for herself and Natalya. The teen didn’t usually wake up until 9 on the weekends, so Wanda’s a little surprised to hear her come downstairs only a few minutes after she starts to stir the waffle batter. She’d been ready to refrigerate it until her daughter was up, but the sound of her footsteps on the stairs makes her look up at the clock.

“You’re up a little early, milaya.”

Natalya just mumbles something under her breath as she walks into the kitchen toward her mom with a yawn. She wordlessly hugs the older Maximoff who just smiles before looking down at her tired daughter. She half-heartedly attempts to fix her bedhead, but eventually gives up when she realizes Nat’s speaking again. She can’t hear her because she’s mumbling into her side.

“What’s that?”

Nat yawns again before she looks up to her mom with a smile. She’d woken up early because her hand had started to hurt given that she was lying on top of it, and then she’d smelled something delicious. She wasn’t allowed to drink coffee yet, but the smell of it always got her out of bed in the morning. However, nothing got her out of bed faster than smelling her mom’s cooking. When she sees that she’s making her chocolate chip and blueberry waffles she has to stop herself from grabbing the spoon and eating straight from the bowl. She sees some sausages on the counter, and it’s likely that those are actually for Rogue more than her.

“Morning, Mama. Can I help cook?”

Wanda kisses the top of Nat’s hair before she nods and hands her the bowl and a cup to pour the batter into the mold. She watches Nat start the waffles before looking around to the sausage and some other things that she’d taken out of the fridge and decides to start making scrambled eggs.

“Did you sleep well, Nat? You’re up earlier than usual.”

Nat’s nodding as she washes her hands and the two vegetables that she knows her mom likes with a shrug. Wanda watches Nat grab a knife before she realizes that her hand is no longer wrapped and she can see the pinkish skin that is outlined with a few small blisters.

“I did, but when I woke up, I was sleeping on my hand and that kept me from going back to sleep.”

Wanda frowns at this before heading for the cabinet for something that Nat can take with her breakfast. She watches Nat grab a pan and place it on the stove before she grabs a plate for the waffles that are almost done. Wanda grabs the syrup and places it on the counter next to the bottle of Tylenol. Nat turns to it and just nods before she starts making her mom’s breakfast.

“I can wrap it again after breakfast.

Natalya is a barely more awake by the time she and her mom were at the table eating breakfast. She tries to slow herself down because she is always her hungriest in the morning. Unfortunately, her eyes have been bigger than her stomach, and she had to hold back from having more than two waffles and a small plate of eggs. She will probably end up giving the leftovers to her dog who’s looking between her and her mom.

Breakfast is eaten in relative silence because despite being up early, Natalya is still pretty sleepy and she just manages to get her fork to her plate and to her mouth without dropping any food. She looks down at Rogue who’s sitting between her and her mom, but she knows that she’s not allowed to feed him from the table. You’re not here to chastise her, but it’s almost like her mom reads her mind because she tells Rogue to go sit in the living room.

“Do you want to come with me to the airport later to pick up your mom?”

Nat brightens at her mom’s question and she’s nodding as she finishes chewing her food before she responds excitedly.

“Yes! Can I drive?”

Wanda can’t help but laugh at this, but she shakes her head because there is no way that she’s letting her daughter get behind the wheel. She was still ticked at her brother for letting Natalya drive his car one time in a parking lot last year. Ever since she’d wanted to get behind the wheel again and speed around like her brother. He was not the best influence on her, and Wanda had tried to get him to talk to Natalya about waiting until she was 14 to practice driving again.

Predictably the conversation did not go well and Pietro had somehow ended up in his car trying to show Natalya all of the reasons why she shouldn’t want to drive now. Nat had of course loved it, and when Wanda went outside to search for them, she nearly lost it when she saw Nat was behind the wheel.

“No, Natalya. You can’t practice again until you’re 14.”

Nat frowns slightly at the predictable answer, but she can’t say that she is too disappointed. She has a feeling that she knows the answer to her next question as well, but she can’t help but smile cheekily before taking the last bite of her waffle.

“Can Uncle Pietro teach me?”

Wanda can’t help but scowl in response as she shakes her head and she sets her coffee down. She’s not going to let her brother teach Natalya anything involving heavy machinery for the next 10 to 15 years. If not more.

“Definitely not. Someone else will teach you. Anyone else in the family, except Yelena.”

You glance at your phone as you get off the plane with your luggage and dog. Boone’s leash is held loosely in your hand that’s also holding your phone, and you honestly would lose both him and the device if he decided to take off. Luckily, he was well-behaved and he just followed you obediently as you called your wife to see where she was. You headed toward the exit as you waited for Wanda to pick up.

“Hey Mom!”

You smile at the sound of your daughter’s voice and you figure that she and Wanda are on their way.

“Hey there, Little Nat, what’s up?”

“We’re on the way, Y/n.”

After finding out that they’re only a few minutes away you take a quick detour to the dog relief area as you catch up with your family. Apparently, they’d had a pretty relaxed day, but your daughter mentioning waffles made you realize that you hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

“That sounds delicious. Now I’m hungry, maybe I’ll make some for lunch.”

Wanda frowns at the fact that it’s almost 3 and you haven’t eaten lunch yet. She forgot how you weren’t the best at keeping a normal schedule when you weren’t home. Sometimes you completely forgot to take your meds and Wanda had to remind you via text or during your daily check ins. Wanda decides to worry about this later because Nat is talking excitedly about her plans for the weekend, so she focuses on driving. They’re almost there when you and Boone step outside into the warm air. You sigh happily as you find somewhere to stand while you wait for your wife and Natalya.

“We’re coming up now, Mom. Where are you?”

You look up to try and find a helpful landmark to tell your family how to find you. You of course picked the least descript place possible and you’re not able to be much help at all. You laugh under your breath as you look down to your dog with a smile.

“There’s a bench…a light post, and a dog.”

Wanda rolls her eyes but she finds you fairly easily because you’re the only one with a large dog. Boone is sitting patiently beside you as you roll your shoulders while staring at the blue sky.

“We see you, detka.”

You smile as Natalya opens the back door quickly and waves Boone inside with a smile. She pats the seat and your dog goes to make the jump excitedly. He doesn’t quite make it but you’re there to help him when his foot slips and he then bounces onto the seat next to Nat to give her a sloppy kiss. You shut the door behind him and throw your bag in the trunk before sinking into the passenger seat with a tired sigh.

“It’s so good to see you two. I’ll be getting my hugs as soon as we get home.”

Wanda smiles at you as she reaches out to grab your hand with an amused huff. She takes a moment to look you over as she waits for the pedestrians to cross in front of them. You look tired but happy and Wanda kisses your hand before she starts to drive home.

“Good to see you too, Y/n. We’re glad to have you back.”

You kiss your wife’s cheek before you turn around to greet your daughter. You hold out your arm with a concerned look as you zero in on her hand.

“Can I see your hand, kiddo?”

Natalya holds out her newly bandaged hand with a small smile. She took another pain killer with breakfast so it doesn’t hurt that badly. She doesn’t say this though and instead tries to pacify her mom’s concerns with something that’s still truthful.

“It’s already much better! Mama’s been taking good care of me.”

You smile knowingly as you carefully inspect your daughter’s hand. You can’t see much of course, but you still want to know more about what happened. You note that Boone’s head is resting in Natalya’s lap and she’s running her free hand through his fur.

“I’m sure she has. This was from spilling something?”

Natalya just nods before she steals her hand back so she can scratch Boone with both hands You eye her curiously before nodding in understanding. You talk to Nat for a bit about how school’s been since you’ve been gone before answering some questions about the conference.

“It was fun! I learned a lot about old dogs and I got free food.”

Wanda smiles at the very predictable highlights of your trip. The animals and the food were usually your favorite things. You turn back around as you arrive home and spot Rogue waiting on the front lawn. His tail wags excitedly and Boone sits up as well to see his brother waiting for him. Natalya opens the door and then gets out before watching Boone carefully jump down onto the driveway. He runs to greet his brother with a long sniff before following his lead and heading into the house.

“That’s great, Mom. We’re going to have a lot of food tonight.”

You try to grab your bag from Wanda but she shakes her head before leaning in to kiss you while your daughter’s distracted.

“I’m glad you’re back, detka.”

You smile widely as you nod in agreement before pulling your wife closer. You’re glad that you went to this CE, but you agree with Wanda. You won’t go on another for a few months at least because you miss being home with your wife and daughter. Especially now that softball season’s started you want to be present for Natalya’s games.

Eventually you pull away from your wife before taking her hand so you can lead her inside the house. You could use a nap, but you’re pretty sure you promised to help cook for tonight.

“Me too, Wands. I missed you, my beautiful wife.”

An hour later you’ve fallen asleep on the couch next to Nat who was only half watching something on TV. She and Wanda had caught up with you for a bit longer before Boone had jumped up on his blanket on the couch to cuddle up with you. You hadn’t wasted any time decompressing from your trip and your eyelids grew heavy within 15 minutes of being home. Wanda let you sleep because she could tell you were tired, and from the way you were sitting, she could tell you were sore. Whether it was from sleeping in an unfamiliar bed, the plane ride, or something else, she’d have to ask later.

“What are you drawing, milaya?”

Wanda asks this from the kitchen where she’s cleaning up the remnants of lunch. You’d done most of the cleaning before falling asleep, but Wanda was a little too restless to just sit around and watch you sleep or Nat draw. The brunette was leaning against the arm of the couch with her sketch book on her lap. She had started drawing Boone, but then he’d moved so he was on your lap, so she’d started drawing you too. She says this before turning the book around so her other mom could see.

“Mom and her fur baby.”

Wanda laughs at this as she dries off her hands before walking over so she can get a better look. She rests a hand on Nat’s shoulder as she comes to stand behind her with a smile. It’s not quite done yet, but even as only an outline, Wanda can tell who it is. She glances at you when you shift in your sleep with a groan, and you instinctually pull the closest thing to you even closer. Boone grumbles a little but he doesn’t protest as you hold him tighter before falling back to sleep.

“It’s beautiful.”

Natalya’s practically shaking she’s so eager to see her family. She saw them every week, but almost every time they all got together something interesting happened. It was mostly due to her uncle’s unpredictable behavior, and half of the time he got on her mom’s nerves. This was less entertaining, but then you would talk her down or hold her back from chasing him out by holding her hostage on your lap. Her other uncles were a lot calmer, and they often brought her cool things that she added to her pile of collectables.

Her ’strange gifts from my uncles’ pile had started in third grade when Bucky had given her an old cannon ball that had been painted to look like a turtle. It was her prized possession and she’d secretly named it as well as the other odd trinkets he and Steve had brought her.

She’s also excited to talk to her aunt, Yelena. She’d thought about it a lot and she decided that she’ll ask her for advice on what to do about Stacy. She would rather go to her because she knew that she was the least likely person in her family to go to her parents and potentially the school with her concerns. Her uncles would feel obligated to tell her parents, and her Aunt Nat would pretend that she’d keep it to herself, but she’d drop hints as subtle as a sledgehammer for her parents to pick up on.

For this reason, when her aunts arrive first for dinner, she’s running down the stairs to greet them.

“No running! Be careful.”

Nat only slows down a hair before she throws open the front door and greets the trio that stand in front of her.

“Fanny!”

The akita jumps on her and licks her face for a bit before Nat’s two dogs catch wind of her arrival. They all greet each other while Nat steps aside to let her aunts in. She hugs Nat first because she’s closer, but she looks over to her blonde aunt when she grumbles something under her breath.

“Always more excited to see the dog, so unfair.”

Nat rolls her eyes before she releases little Nat to greet her ornery aunt. Yelena accepts a hug from her niece eventually, and Nat is sure to make it last a little longer as she squeezes the blonde tightly.

“No, I’m not! I’m super excited to see you two! It’s been too long.”

When Yelena is finally released Nat turns to pet the akita who’s come back for scratches. It’s at this time that her aunts notice the bandage on her hand, and they both frown in confusion and worry. Nat shuts the door behind them before following her sister and niece further into the house.

“What happened to your hand?”

Nat realizes that she should have prepared better for this question. She’d only answered it three times, but she’d been planning on telling one of her aunts the truth, but not both. For now, she just sighs before stopping in the living room where her parents are either getting up from the couch or stepping out of the kitchen.

“Hot food and slippery floors. Didn’t work out in my favor.”

Nat frowns at the thought of this true hazard before she greets you with a smile. You hug your friend tightly before you hear what your daughter says as she shrugs in indifference.

“It’s not a big deal.”

Yelena tries to sneak into the kitchen to see what smells so good, but Wanda stops her in her tracks as she pulls her in for a reluctant hug. The blonde still isn’t a huge fan of showing affection after all these years, but Wanda’s at least glad that she seems to tolerate, no sometimes demand it, from her daughter.

“Hey Lena. Nat warned me that you brought just mac and cheese again?”

While Yelena argues that three dishes with pasta and cheese are not all mac and cheese, you and Nat catch up briefly while watching Little Nat play with the dogs. They’re all on the ground and the dogs surround Nat as they alternate between licking and pawing at her as she tries to pet them all. She’s laughing happily and you can’t help but smile at the scene as you shrug in response to your friend’s question.

“It was pretty good. I learned a lot, but I missed being here. Boone definitely made it better.”

Nat smiles at the thought of you taking your dog with you on a trip, and on a plane. He probably does pretty well. Now that he’s older and calmer, as long as he’s near you he doesn’t seem to care that he’s on a giant metal box in the sky. He probably doesn’t realize it. Nat watches as you shift slightly beside her before standing up to greet Yelena, and you hide a grimace at the movement.

“It’s good to be back with everyone though.”

Nat smiles as you sneak up on her sister and grab her around the shoulders with an excited yell. She sees the instinct to flip you get pushed down as Yelena turns and tries to pry you off of her. You just hold on tighter and cheer victoriously as Wanda rolls her eyes and sneaks her way over to Nat who’s just watching in amusement.

“Hey Nat. Thanks for trying.”

The other redhead laughs at this before sighing in defeat. She’d tried really hard to convince her sister to make something else, but she’d tried to offset her overly cheesy food with other sides so the result was that they’d brought a lot of food.

“No problem. I can’t promise that there won’t be a bunch of it left over for Y/n and Little Nat to eat.”

The sound of the doorbell has Natalya jumping up and running once again to the front door. This time she has three dogs on her heels and she throws the door open to reveal her three uncles and another dog. She squeals loudly and both moms are turning toward the sound only to see Pietro has picked up his niece and has her in a bear hug. The brunette groans under her breath but she’s still smiling as Pietro walks her further into the house with a smile.

“Hey there kiddo!”

“Hi Uncle Piet. I’m getting kinda big for this, you know?”

The words are a little strangled as Natalya fights to bring air into her lungs while being squeezed so tightly. Bucky comes to her rescue and reaches out for his hug while Pietro is distracted by his sister’s disapproving look. She still comes forward to greet the older Maximoff with a hug once her daughter is free and hugging her other two uncles. Kit appears behind Steve and glances at the other three dogs carefully. He wanders over there to greet them and quickly gets lost in a sea of fur.

“She is too big for that, Pietro. You can’t throw her around anymore.”

Pietro smiles at the memory of one of his favorite games that he’d used to play with Little Nat. When the younger Maximoff was just a baby, he’d hold her low to the ground before throwing her up in the air. It terrified Wanda and she hated when he did it, but Natalya would always shriek and laugh happily, so she allowed it occasionally. You trusted your brother-in-law not to hurt his niece and despite feeling your heart race at the sight of her mid-air, you tried to let her have fun.

“Nonsense sestra. I’m sure she’d like it as much now too.”

When Natalya is put on the ground, the dogs are right there waiting for her. She kisses both of her shepherds before Fanny and Kit and leads them all to the kitchen where her family has gathered. She shakes her head in response to what Pietro says because she’s actually sure she’d get a little sick. She has motion sickness and being thrown into the air will certainly trigger it. Instead of saying this though, she sneaks a peek at all of the food that was brought, and she smiles widely as she starts to help unloading things onto the counter.

“Look at all this food! I’m so hungry!”

You laugh at this characteristic, familiar comment, and Wanda just shoots you a knowing look before moving to help her daughter. You go to greet Bucky and Steve, but you stop short of hugging the former when you see that he has a large knife tucked into his belt. It has been a while since you’ve seen him, any of your friends really, armed and the fact that it’s here at a weekly dinner, concerns as much as it confuses you.

“Hey, Buck. What’s with the shiv?”

Wanda doesn’t hear you ask this because she’s still talking to her brother about what he’s been up to recently. Among their friend group, Wanda was the only one who didn’t work at all. Everyone else worked in low profile jobs that either had little contact with the public or everything was online. It had been years since they were criminals, but the desire to remain incognito and not disturb their lives was motivation enough to not try for anything too elaborate. You continued your job because you were the least known, and you wanted to. You loved your job and you wanted to keep working until this changed. Despite none of the family needing money, you wanted Natalya to have at least one working parent. This would make answering the inevitable questions about how they had so much money later down the line easier.

Wanda didn’t plan on ever telling her daughter about her past life. She wasn’t ashamed of it per se, but she didn’t want her daughter to know too much about it. She would undoubtedly be curious or worried because it was something out of the norm and definitely illegal. This life was behind her, and Wanda wanted to keep it that way, and you respected that. This did raise the question of what you would do with all of the guns locked away in the basement when the time came for Natalya to stop being creeped out by the dark room beneath the house.

This was a lot to consider, but for now Wanda just wanted to know what was going on with her daughter.

“It’s for Little Nat. To add to her collection.”

You watch with wide-eyes as Bucky pulls the large knife from his belt and holds it out to you. You reach out for it hesitantly as you admire it. You have to admit that it looks nice. The metal sheath covering it is decorated with a lion, no wait, a three headed animal with a lion, goat, and snake head. The name was escaping you, but it looked cool. Still, you weren’t sure if you wanted Nat to have a knife this big. Or a knife at all.

“Um, that’s very sweet of you, but I’m not sure if this is the best gift.”

You were well aware of your friend’s habit of bringing your daughter slightly odd, but still thoughtful gifts every so often. It’s been a while since her last one, a weird metal trap that she seemed to love, but you weren’t sure Nat would be keeping this one.

“Woah! That’s so cool!”

You turn just in time to see Natalya running up to you and Bucky excitedly. She shoots her uncle a questioning look and he just smiles before handing over the large knife that’s practically half of her arm over to her. She squeals in excitement and she’s looking it over with an awe-struck look when Wanda comes over to investigate. She’d been taking things out of the oven and replacing it with what her friends had brought while she talked to her brother, but she left him in charge for a moment as she tried to figure out what was happening.

“Bucky…Is this for Natalya?”

Bucky can tell that his friends are a little reluctant to accept this gift, but he just holds his hands up in surrender before smiling at his niece’s enthusiasm. She’s just staring at the intricate details on the outside, and she hasn’t even tried to open it yet.

“Yes, and don’t worry moms, the knife itself is superglued in there or something. It won’t come out. I’ve tried for years.”

Despite being glad to hear this, you’re still a little reluctant to let Natalya have this weapon. Growing up, Natalya has never demonstrated any concerning behaviors. Sure she was a bit of a loner, but you and Wanda were fine with this. You were just glad that your daughter was still the smart, thoughtful person you’d raised her to be. Despite being in her early teens, her attitude toward school and her family hasn’t changed, and you’re grateful for this. You’ve never noted any violent tendencies that would worry you either. When she got angry, she usually crumpled up paper and threw it on the ground. Sometimes she’ll stomp around if she’s particularly annoyed, but she won’t talk about what’s bothering her until she’s snuggled up next to one of her dogs or parents for a while.

“It’s so cool uncle Bucky, thank you!”

As Natalya hugs her uncle, you and Wanda exchange an uncertain look. When a timer goes off in the kitchen Wanda sighs and decides that they’ll talk about this later. She supposes it can’t be very dangerous if Nat can’t even get to the sharp part of the knife.

“Let’s eat. We’ll talk about it later.”

You’re glad that dinner was a relaxing experience all around. Pietro was behaving himself well and mostly just chatting with Little Nat since he’d sat next to her tonight. The uncles and aunts rotated whether they realized it or not, and each time Nat sat next to a different relative. You thought it was cute and Wanda was glad that her daughter seemed to enjoy spending time with her family.

The dishes that Natasha had brought definitely helped even out Yelena’s super cheesy sides that, as suspected, she and Little Nat ate the most of. Wanda turns her attention from her daughter to you with a small smile. Regardless of the musical chairs that the rest of the family played, you always sat next to Wanda who sat at the head of the table. It was the closest to the kitchen, and given how often Wanda got up to get something or check on something else, it made sense for her to sit here. You sat beside her now as always, holding one of her hands under the table as you ate a little more of your food.

You were losing your appetite as time went on, and you were afraid you wouldn’t be able to eat any of the cheesecake you made. You suppose it would keep, and you were mostly concerned about the fact that your side hurt so much. You could have sworn you took your meds mid-day, meaning you weren’t due for another two hours. Maybe you hadn’t taken them. You really weren’t sure anymore, but your ability to keep eating was quickly diminishing.

“Are you okay?”

Wanda whispers this under her breath, but given that Natasha is sitting beside her, it’s hard to be discrete. She’s mostly listening to Natalya talk to Pietro, but this catches her attention and she can’t help but frown slightly at your response. You just offer a small smile before deciding that this is your excuse to sneak upstairs really quickly. You don’t care how long it’s been since your last dose, sleeping away from home and being on a plane always does a number on your back. When your back hurts it puts more stress on your front, specifically your left side.

“Yeah, I’m just going to run upstairs really quickly. I forgot to take my meds.”

You see no point in lying to your wife because she’ll find out one way or another. You also knew that she’d notice you were hurting as soon as you stood up. Wanda wanted to protest and go get them herself, but you could see it coming and you shook your head before squeezing her hand. You stood up and excused yourself before quickly leaving the room.

“It’s alright, I’ll be back. Excuse me.”

Wanda just watches you leave and she realizes that most everyone else notices too. Natalya is still preoccupied showing her uncle her new gift between eating more mac and cheese, and almost more food than anyone else. Natasha considers asking what’s going on with you, but she decides it’s not her business. She’s well-aware of the complications that you’ve experienced since being shot, and she hates how after all these years it’s still a problem. You’d changed your behavior a lot in an attempt to get healthier, and it wasn’t until just last year that you’d told her how afraid you’d been. You hadn’t felt any kind of extreme pain in a long time. You’d argue that the last time was when you’d been shot, or maybe when you’d fallen off one of the decks and landed on your arm.

The first time that your side had hurt enough for you to be truly worried, you’d realized that not only were you getting older, but this was something that wouldn’t just go away. It could be treated with meds and behavioral modification, but it would always be an issue. It could get worse. The thought of not being able to move enough to do what you loved; hiking in the mountains behind your house, going to your daughter’s games, and being able to do your job terrified you. You didn’t want to feel the pain of being on bedrest again. You need to a do a better job of taking care of yourself.

When you return to dinner, you realize that it’s winding down and it’s time for dessert. You smile as Natalya stands up and starts to help grab plates that will be stacked by the sink until after everyone’s finished eating. Maybe after Nat’s gone to bed and everyone else stays for a drink or two.

Nat sets the dishes in the sink before she looks down to Boone who’s just staring at her expectantly. She looks over to where her blonde aunt is grabbing glasses and trying to balance more than she should carry at once. Nat takes a deep breath before she reaches down to pet her dog with a smile right as her moms come into the kitchen to grab dessert and clean plates for everyone.

“I’m going to take the dogs out real fast.”

You frown at this but don’t protest as Boone perks up at the word, and heads toward the back door gaining the attention of the other three dogs as well. You look to Yelena who’s about to drop all of your glasses before looking back to your daughter.

“Okay, Little Nat. Take someone with you please, it’s dark.”

This is true and Nat has to hide her smile as she hurries to get her aunt’s attention and practically drag her outside. Nat knew that you mostly just wanted her to have company because there were a lot of dogs to keep track of. It wasn’t very dangerous at this time of night. She’d seen the occasional fox or black snake, but she’d never seen anything more interesting than that. Not to mention, she’ll have four dogs with her, if something scary is out there, they’ll go after it.

“Aunt Yelena, can you come take the dogs out with me?”

Yelena is all too happy to leave the glasses where they are, and follow her niece outside to help with the fur children. The four dogs leave the deck at different speeds and Nat watches as her two shepherds amble toward their favorite pee spots as Fanny darts out into the yard and toward the woods. Kit surprisingly doesn’t go anywhere immediately; he just stares out into the yard for a few seconds before going in a completely different direction. He heads toward a group of trees and Natalya takes a deep breath before she turns to her aunt who’s watching her dog disappear through the trees.

“Aunt Yelena, can I ask you something?”

Five minutes later, you and Wanda have served everyone dessert and they’re ready to sit back at the table. Natalya and Yelena aren’t back yet and you’re about to go check on them, but Pietro beats you to it. He promises to be fast as he leaves you with a smug smile before he goes out to fetch the duo. When he sees them standing out in the grass a ways out, he decides to try and scare them.

Yelena’s frowning as she considers her niece’s question. She’d thought that she’d been a little casual when talking about her injury earlier, and now she realizes her hunch was right. She hates the idea of Natalya having trouble at school, and she knows what she’d do in this situation, but she’s also well aware that her niece is a very different person. She decides to ask the most relevant question first before formulating a plan.

“Has something like this happened before? Is this the first time you’ve been hurt?”

Natalya sighs as she nods in confirmation. Sure, Stacy and her crew have shoved her a few times and tripped her, but nothing like this. Yelena doesn’t seem happy about this answer, but she doesn’t have too much time to think on it as Boone and Rogue walk by them to head back inside. Neither of them notice Pietro sneak outside, and they’re still talking about Nat’s dilemma by the time he’s within earshot.

“So you have a couple of options. One, you tell an adult, other than me. Maybe someone at school, or your parents, I’m sure they’d be all over it.”

This is an understatement and they both know this. You’d be horrified and Wanda would be out for a 12-year old’s blood, so maybe the best option was someone at school. Natalya was reluctant to do this because she had a feeling her parents would be told either way. Not to mention, she would draw unwanted attention to herself and risk things getting worse instead of better. If Stacy’s discipline was anything short of being expelled, Nat would still have to deal with her presence. She doubted anything would get better.

“And the other option?”

Yelena crosses her arms as she squints at the sight of her dog coming back through the trees. Kit had snuck back inside a while ago, so it’s just Fanny standing between her and dessert. She frowns slightly before deciding that her niece should know how to defend herself. She shouldn’t have to put up with bullies for any reason.

“You could always hit them back. Scare them off from messing with you again.”

“Are you condoning violence, Yelena?”

Both Yelena and Nat turn to see Pietro standing not a foot behind them. The blonde berates herself for not noticing him while Nat is sweating, she’s so nervous. She hadn’t wanted to tell Pietro because he would definitely tell her mom, right? That’s what she assumed would happen next, but when Yelena just shrugs before claiming that she should know how to protect herself from this type of abuse, Pietro is quick to agree.

“I agree. You need to punch this girl in the face.”

When your daughter returns with her aunt and uncle, you realize that something’s up. Pietro is smiling widely as he leads Nat by the shoulder back inside. The brunette is hyper-focused on the dogs walking in front of her as she panics at the fact that her uncle is definitely going to bust her. She takes a deep breath before planting a very fake smile on her face that her parents can see through immediately. They’re about to ask what’s wrong, but Pietro beats them to it as he walks by the couple on his way to his seat.

“You’re welcome."

You frown in confusion while your wife is scowling in annoyance at her brother’s smug expression. She looks back to Nat when he responds with a concerning statement that she’s definitely going to follow up on.

“For what?”

“I was being a good uncle.”

As Pietro takes his seat you and Wanda exchange a look before you eventually shake your head. You’ll worry about it later once everyone is gone. You’re not going to call Nat out in front of everyone and risk embarrassing her, and given what Pietro’s said you have a feeling it might be embarrassing. Wanda looks like she wants to argue, but you just squeeze her hand before leading her back to her seat. You decide to focus on dessert for now and see what you can find out about Natalya and Pietro’s talk after dinner.

Natalya is quieter during dessert, but it’s mostly because she’s starting to get tired. It’s relatively early, but all of the socializing makes her eyelids heavy as time goes on. She’s finished her two slices of cheesecake and was ready for bed, but she didn’t want to leave yet. She was near leaning on her uncle who just smiled at her before patting her head.

“Just a second. I’m just going to close my eyes for a bit.”

Pietro looked over to his sister at the other end of the table, but she was distracted talking to her wife so he decided to take initiative. He checked the time, confirming it was almost 9 before shaking Natalya awake.

“Is it time for bed, Natalya? Maybe make the rounds and call it a night?”

Natalya wants to argue with her uncle, but as soon as she opens her mouth she yawns again. She ends up sighing in defeat before she hugs the older Maximoff goodnight. She goes around the table before she reaches her moms and asks if it’s okay for her to go to sleep. You both nod despite wanting to talk to her privately, and you hug her before watching her hug her aunt Nat and uncle Bucky.

Boone follows her upstairs and you are tempted to follow her, but Pietro draws your attention back to the rest of your family.

“Y/n, tell us more about your trip. Were you glad to finally have some time away from Wands?”

Everyone is either rolling their eyes or laughing under their breath while you just turn to your wife with a wide smile. You kiss her hand that you’d grabbed again as soon as you hugged your daughter before turning back to Pietro with a shrug. He really never would get tired of provoking his sister.

“She’s definitely not the Maximoff I wanted time away from. That one is much older.”

Wanda laughs at your answer and the affronted look on her brother’s face. He’d only rubbed in the fact that he was older than her for the first 40 years of their lives. Now that they were past the point of it being a positive thing, your wife would often turn it back on him just to piss him off.

“12 minutes! That’s it. She’s still old too.”

You feel your wife tense and you have a feeling a shouting match is about to start, so you quickly stand up and look around the table with a smile. You glare at your brother-in-law before waving him along with you. You need someone’s help and you want him away from your wife for a bit.

“Incorrect. Piet come help me get drinks for everyone?”

When you and Piet disappear from view, Wanda turns to Yelena with a curious look. She figures that the blonde would know what her brother was talking about when he said he was being a good uncle. She didn’t realize that she’d been sworn to secrecy. This made her more nervous and she has to resist the urge to go wake Natalya up later to ask her what’s wrong.

“Lena, what did you and Piet talk to Natalya about?”

Yelena shrugs before she finishes eating her second helping of dessert. She wasn’t going to rat out her niece because that was not how she was going to win the title of favorite aunt. She may have been swayed to give in, but she wants to trust that Natalya will do the right thing and be able to figure this out. She’d made the brunette promise to tell her or someone else if she was hurt like this again.

“She just asked for advice, no big deal.”

You’re having a similar conversation with Pietro as you two get glasses and everyone’s preferred drinks. You’d asked him to help primarily to spare yourself from having an annoyed wife on your hands, but you definitely were going to take advantage of this opportunity to talk to him alone. You glance over your shoulder watching as Pietro grabs a bottle of vodka before you speak up.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re such a great uncle? Other than the obvious of course.”

You’re kissing ass in an attempt to get a straight answer from him, but you should have known that it was going to be tough. Pietro liked to hold things over you, specifically secrets and you had a feeling this was going to be one of those times.

He laughs as he turns to see you holding 6 glasses and a couple bottles of beer. You set them on the tray in front of Pietro with a sigh when you make it to the other counter without dropping them. He considers telling you the truth, but he doesn’t want to betray Little Nat’s confidence. He wasn’t even supposed to hear what she said.

“Ah nothing too interesting, kid. Just asked for some advice.”

You frown at this vague answer before you turn completely so you can shoot your brother-in-law a serious look.

“What kind of advice? Is something wrong?”

You try not to be hurt by the fact that Natalya didn’t come to you or Wanda for advice. You knew that it might be easier for her to go to her aunts or uncles, but still you wish that she knew you both were here for whatever she needed. Pietro actually looks a little uncomfortable as he tries to find a truthful answer for you. He realizes that if this blows up in his face, he’s going to be in for it. His sister would tear him a new one if she finds out that he knew her daughter was being bullied, but he said nothing.

“She’s just dealing with some girl trouble.”

You’re not given any time to consider what this could mean before Pietro picks up the tray and heads back to the table. You’re left to scurry after him very confused and wishing that you could have something to drink. You aren’t allowed to mix your medications with alcohol and you would much rather have those on board than any slight buzz that you can get before feeling too nauseous.

“Piet--.”

You stop short and turn back toward the kitchen to grab the drink you’d forgotten for yourself. You sigh in defeat as you go to sit with your family for a little bit longer. You wonder if Natalya is asleep yet. She was a lot like you. She would either drop on her pillow and pass out immediately or she struggles to go to sleep at all.

Natalya is stressing about the fact that she finally told someone other than her friends about what’s been happening with Stacy. She wanted it to stop, but her fear of confrontation was strong, and she knows which mom she got it from. She sighs in exhaustion as she rolls over and faces the wall with a frown. She can faintly hear her family still talking downstairs, but she blocks them out as she tries to come up with a solid plan. She could try to scare them off from bothering her again, but she’s not sure how well this would work. She’d put up with them for so long that it might take a while to actually ward them off. She should ask Taylor for help.

The brunette was probably the toughest of all of her friends and she’d definitely know what to do.

Nat is still thinking about what she’s going to ask Taylor when she falls asleep a few minutes later.

You sigh in exhaustion as you show the last of your friends out. You hug Nat and Yelena before thanking them for coming and helping with clean up. That was another thing you loved about your friend group. Regardless of who hosted, everyone helped clean because the idea of leaving someone with all of the dishes seemed daunting. They were a large group and you were nearly asleep on your feet by the time Pietro left first. You had tried to get more information from him, but he’d been infuriatingly silent and you’d had no luck figuring out what ‘girl trouble’ meant.

“That was fun.”

Wanda says this as you let the dogs out one last time for a quick walk. You’ve turned on all of the lights in the back because your dogs couldn’t see so great anymore at night and you knew that it helped them move faster. You wave them both back in once they’re done and you shut and lock the door behind them with a smile. After shutting off the lights and confirming that everything’s locked you watch Wanda arm the security system.

“It was. I’m glad I made it back in time to see everyone.”

You hold out your hand to Wanda who takes it with a smile as she follows you up the stairs. You stifle a yawn as you push open the bedroom door and allow Wanda to walk in first followed by Rogue and then you. You glance down the hall where Boone decides he wants to camp out tonight, and you smile at him before waving and shutting the door with another yawn. You should go to bed right now. You really wanted to shower first though. Honestly a bath would be better, but you’re afraid you might fall asleep.

Your medications have started to kick in, but your side still aches a little so you don’t plan to sit down and aim to just get changed in the bathroom.

“I was going to shower really quickly. Do you need the bathroom?”

Wanda shakes her head as she searches for clothes to change into. She’s as tired as you are, but she’s not in any rush to get ready for bed. She spends some time with Rogue beside his bed while you’re in the shower. He just lies in her lap for a while as she pets his head. She still can’t believe that this dog had been so vicious when she first met him. She would argue that he’s even sweeter than Boone because the other shepherd definitely held grudges, but she wasn’t about to have that conversation with you. Both Boone and Rogue were precious and despite definitely having favorites, you both loved the shepherds that had been with you for over a decade. You and Wanda had talked about it one night that you were worried about how Boone was acting. You hated the idea of them getting older and dying, but now that they were getting up there and then some, you almost had to expect it. As cynical as it sounded you didn’t want them to live longer at the expense of their health.

You’d noticed things over the years that were normal old dog changes, but you wanted to make sure that nothing catastrophic happened. Boone sometimes slipped when trying to get up, and Rogue could just barely jump on the bed without the assistance of the stairs that you’d bought for him. Overall, you just wanted to make sure they were still happy and that they had more good days than bad. In the end, you just didn’t want them to be in pain, and the six medications they were on together was your limit.

“Sorry I took so long, all yours.”

Wanda didn’t realize you were back until you spoke up and she jumped slightly in surprise. Rogue looks at you in disinterest before he whines as Wanda stands up to finish getting ready for bed. She reaches out for you as she shoots you a questioning look. She hadn’t forgotten that you were hurting earlier, and despite taking your meds she can tell that you’re still a little tense. She’s been married to you for long enough to know that when you get to the point of mentioning that you’re in pain, it’s well past the point of what most people would tolerate without intervention.

“You didn’t, don’t worry. How are you feeling?”

You don’t bother trying to sugarcoat anything because you’re way too exhausted to manage that. Your wife is too smart for that anyway and you just lean in and kiss her quickly before heading to your side of the bed.

“I’m a little sore. I’ve missed my bed.”

Wanda frowns at the confirmation that you’re not feeling great and she just watches as you get situated.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Wanda knows that the only thing that really helps your intractable pain is smoking. However, it’s late and you’re tired and Wanda sincerely hopes you don’t end up having to do that tonight. She’s glad when you just smile before getting more comfortable under the covers as you shake your head.

“No thanks, Wands. I just need to lie down. Preferably with my lovely wife, so don’t take too long please.”

Less than five minutes later, Wanda’s in bed with you and you’re already feeling better. Despite having Boone’s company, you really had missed being able to go to sleep next to your wife these past few nights. You sigh happily as Wanda moves closer so she’s pressed up against your right side. She hesitates to throw an arm over you because she doesn’t want to hurt you, but you quickly take her hand and kiss it before placing it on your tense stomach. Maybe it will help you relax.

“It’s okay, my love. Just don’t tickle me please.”

Wanda rolls her eyes at this, but she just nods before resting her head on your shoulder. She takes a deep breath before snuggling closer to you and tangling her legs in yours with a smile. She’s missed having you here beside her and she meant what she said earlier about keeping you here with her for a while. She didn’t like when you left and now knowing that extended time away made your pain flare up, she was going to be more insistent that you stay on top of your meds while away, or you simply just didn’t go away.

Wanda’s near sleep a few minutes later when she feels you tense underneath her. She frowns and waits to see if you’ll relax, but when a few seconds pass and she feels your muscles continue to spasm she opens her eyes.

“Detka?”

You curse yourself when you realize that you’ve woken up your wife. You keep nearing sleep, but then a sharp pain will startle you awake. You’re getting annoyed but you’re trying to wait it out. You say something to this affect and you can tell that Wanda’s concerned. Luckily a few minutes later you’re both asleep, and despite knowing that you’ll be waking up throughout the night, you’re glad to finally be back in your wife’s arms.

Masterlist

#wanda maximoff x female reader #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff fanfiction #wanda maximoff x you #growing pains au #pietro maximoff #natalya maximoff

51 notes · View notes