Chapter Text
“Hi, Mama!”
Agatha smiles and waves at her son as she makes her way closer to the soccer field, her son and his teammates already on the field warming up.
Eight years ago she wouldn’t have believed anyone if, when her son was born, they’d told her she would one day be a suburban soccer mom, including being a part of the snack rotation because “every parent has to participate”. But her son loves it, so she tolerates some of the perkier parents that are around.
Stepping past the fence, she smiles politely at the few people she passes and heads straight toward her usual spot, the only other parents she likes already sitting on the sidelines watching the kids warm up. They’d formed their own little group a couple of years ago when all their kids started soccer at the same time and realized they got on better with each other than they did with the other parents. Though, that’s not to say Wanda doesn’t make an effort every once in a while with the others. Agatha and Natasha simply don’t have the patience for it.
“Ladies,” she greets as she drops her bag to the grass and sits in the empty chair on Wanda’s right. “I know we’re already a month into the season, but I swear it still feels like it just started.”
Wanda laughs quietly. “I know what you mean. Tommy keeps going on about wanting to score an epic game-winning goal. Though it’s actually more of wanting to score every single goal in a game rather than just the winning one.”
Agatha snorts. “Must be where Nicky’s getting it from. He wants pretty much the same thing.” She leans forward to glance at the other redhead. “Nat?”
The corners of Natasha’s lips twitch. “Anya still plans on bowling over every single boy on the opposing team.”
Agatha laughs, leaning back in her seat. “Attagirl.”
“You and your penchant for violence,” Wanda remarks with a small shake of her head.
Agatha rolls her eyes. “It’s not a penchant for violence, it’s simply supporting a young girl in her desire to be better than the boys.”
Wanda raises a brow at her. “You have a son.”
Agatha nods. “And it’ll be a good learning experience for him. He needs to know that girls can be just as good, if not better, than boys. At anything.”
“It’s a good thing to learn,” Natasha chimes in with a small shrug.
Wanda sighs. “I don’t know why I try with you two.”
Agatha laughs. “You know you love us. We’re the only ones you can tolerate here.”
“I think you’ve got that twisted, Agatha. I’m the only one you two can tolerate. Aside from each other.”
Agatha waves her off. “Semantics.” She turns back to the field in time to see Nicky get clotheslined by another kid. Her instincts kick into high gear and she rises from her seat, ready to pounce on the kid or his parents. It’s only a hand around her wrist that stops her.
“Give him a minute,” Wanda says. “You don’t want to get kicked out again.”
“That wasn’t my fault.”
Natasha barks out a laugh. “Then whose was it? I say let her loose.”
Wanda glares. “You’re not helping.”
“Who said I was trying to?”
“You’re impossible.”
Agatha ignores the banter between the two women, focusing on her son’s form on the field. He’s surrounded by his coach and teammates, all of them fussing over him in some fashion. She’d be out there too if Wanda didn’t have such a firm grip on her wrist.
Thankfully, it only takes a few minutes for Nicky to be up and running around with his team again. She releases a breath and sinks back into her seat, pulling her wrist close to rub at it when Wanda finally lets go.
She’ll check on Nicky later, of course, for her own peace of mind, but she trusts that his coach won’t let him continue if he is seriously injured. This is youth soccer, after all.
The rest of practice goes about as it usually does, there isn’t usually too much excitement at practice. Most of that is reserved for the actual games. There’s always more yelling and screaming and more threats being lobbed from parent to parent across the field during actual games.
By the end of practice, Agatha is more than ready to get back to her house and relax for the rest of the evening. She loves her son, but she doesn’t always love sitting and watching practice. Her friends only make it slightly more enjoyable.
“Mama! Did you see me?”
Agatha catches Nicky with a laugh when he nearly falls into her lap. “Whoa, hey. Yeah, you were great out there, kiddo. I think this really might be your season.”
He beams. “Really?”
“Of course. Would I lie to you?”
He giggles. “No.”
“Well then there you go.” She kisses his forehead and then gently pats the sides of his legs. “Alright, go grab your snack and your bag and then we’ll get going.”
“Okay.” He kisses her cheek and then darts back over to where the rest of his team is gathered around today’s snack.
Taking a deep breath, Agatha stands and stretches. “Alright, ladies, a great practice, I’d say. We should do this again.”
Natasha snorts, sitting up and finally pushing the sunglasses off her eyes. “We will, weirdo.”
“Right. Well, I’ll see you next time, then.” She grabs her bag and starts toward the snacks to grab her son.
“Oh, Agatha, hang on a second.”
She stops and turns toward Wanda. “Yes? Nicky didn’t leave anything at your place, did he?”
“No. I wanted to ask you if Nicky’s free this Saturday in the afternoon.”
“What for?”
“Vis and I are taking the boys to a soccer game over in Eastview, the women’s league, and we’ve got an extra ticket because my brother had something else come up. So, we were wondering if Nicky would want to come with us instead.”
Agatha blinks. “Oh. Uh, yeah, I think that should be fine. I don’t think he’s watched any professional women’s teams before.”
Wanda laughs. “Neither have the boys. They’re looking forward to it, though. I’m honestly surprised Nicky hasn’t brought it up yet, I would have thought they would have jumped the gun and asked him themselves before I had a chance to talk to you.”
Agatha shrugs. “Who knows what goes on in little boy’s heads? I’ll ask him if that’s something he wants to do and let you know.”
“Sounds great. Have a good night, Agatha.”
“You too, Wanda. Nat,” she says, dipping her head in the other woman’s direction as she continues toward her son.
Reaching the snack area, Agatha exchanges quick goodbyes with some of the other parents, as well as the coach. She willingly gives hugs to Billy, Tommy, and Anya, and then grabs Nicky’s hand to lead him over to the car. The eight-year-old can’t stop talking about practice the entire walk and then drive home, telling Agatha every single thing he can remember about it.
She doesn’t mind it though, she loves his enthusiasm for the sport. It makes sitting out in the chilly weather for an hour and a half worth it.
.
.
.
When Saturday rolls around, Agatha is not at all surprised to find Nicky bouncing off the walls in excitement for his afternoon plans. She’d made the rookie mistake of asking him before bed the same day Wanda had brought the offer to her which meant he took longer to go to sleep than he usually does.
But now Saturday is here and Nicky is very clearly not even trying to attempt to hide his excitement for the game ahead.
“We’re gonna be so close to the pitch and Tommy said that maybe we could get hit by a ball.”
Agatha falters. “Uh, yeah. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, kiddo.” She turns fully toward her son and takes a deep breath. “You ready to go?”
Nicky nods, a big grin on his face. “Yeah.”
“You’ve got your money for snacks? And your hat in case the sun’s too hard on your eyes? And you’ve got your–”
“Mama,” Nicky whines.
Agatha sighs, a small smile gracing her lips. “Sorry. Just want to make sure you’ve got everything. If you need anything at all you just ask Wanda and she’ll give me a call, okay?”
“I know. Can we go now?”
“Yeah, alright, come on.” She stands to her full height and grabs her son’s hand, leading him out of the house and down the front steps.
The walk isn’t far, only a few houses down, but Nicky skips the whole way while continuing to regale her with various facts about the teams he’s going to be watching play. She’s only mildly surprised he knows so much already without ever having seen either team play before. She doesn’t retain most of what he tells her, but at least he’s excited about it all.
When they reach the Maximoff household, Vision lets them in with a smile, ushering Nicky upstairs to join the twins who are still getting ready to go.
“Wanda’s in the kitchen if you want to say hello.”
“Uh, yeah, thanks.” She steps inside the house and heads straight through to the kitchen, finding her friend shuffling about and muttering to herself. “Need any help, toots?” Agatha asks in a sing-songy voice, startling the redhead.
Wanda turns, one hand flying to her chest. “Geez, Agatha. Really?”
Agatha snickers. “Couldn’t resist.” She takes a deep breath. “Nicky’s upstairs with the boys, I hope you can handle his level of excitement.”
Wanda waves her off. “We’ll be fine. Tommy’s been bouncing off the walls about it. Billy’s excited too, but his is a bit more subdued, thank goodness.”
“Right. Well, he’s got money for snacks, and maybe a souvenir if there’s enough left over. Thanks again for taking him.”
“Oh, it’s our pleasure. And maybe next time, you can come with us if we’re able to swing it.”
Agatha snorts. “Yeah. I think youth soccer is just about all that I can handle, but thanks.”
“Alright, well, the offer is always there. I’ll let you know when we’re on our way back from the game, hopefully Nicky will be plenty exhausted for you and go straight to bed.”
“You’ll be a miracle worker if that happens. I’ll get out of your hair now, but please, call me if there are any problems.”
“Hey, you know you’re never a bother,” Wanda says with a smile. “I’ll see you later.”
As she leaves, Agatha calls a goodbye up the stairs to her son which is returned halfheartedly. So she steps out of the house, pulling the door closed tightly behind her, and makes the quick walk down the street back to her own house.
She has absolutely no idea what she’s going to do with the rest of her day. Maybe she’ll finally get around to starting some of the projects around the house she’s been meaning to get to. Only time will tell.
.
.
.
Several hours later, Agatha receives a text from Wanda letting her know they’re on their way back. She shoots back a quick reply and then prepares herself for whatever level of excitement she’s sure to witness from her son. He’s been a fan of soccer since he was two but has never been to a professional game before, so she’s sure that he’s bound to have what will feel like a million stories to tell her when he gets home.
And sure enough, twenty minutes later, her son barrels through the front door waving an Eastview Grizzlies pennant and talking a mile a minute about how much fun he had at the game. It’s adorable, of course, because nearly everything he does at this age is, but she can’t help the dread she feels settling in at the prospect of trying to get him to go to sleep.
“I promise he didn’t have an ounce more of sugar than what’s appropriate for a soccer game.”
Agatha raises a brow at her friend. “Oh, really?”
Wanda nods. “Yes. He’s still just excited from the game. The Grizzlies won, so he’s thrilled. He latched onto that team pretty quickly.” Wanda takes a deep breath. “Well, I should get going so I can get the boys to bed. Goodnight, Agatha.”
“Night, Wanda.” She quickly raises a hand in greeting when she makes eye contact with Vision through his car’s window, and then pushes the door closed.
Turning around, she smiles at the way Nicky is still excitedly talking about his time at the game, oblivious to the fact that he’s talking to no one.
“Okay, kiddo, let’s get you washed up for bed.”
Nicky spins toward her. “Mama! That game was so much fun!”
She chuckles, hooking a hand over his shoulder to gently guide him toward the stairs and up to his bathroom. “So I hear. What was your favorite part?”
His tiny brows furrow, his mind no doubt sifting through everything he saw, allowing Agatha to guide him through his nightly routine without much kickback. She doesn’t usually have any troubles, but it’s nice sometimes for there to be no resistance whatsoever.
By the time Nicky is fully undressed and sitting in the bath, he still hasn’t answered Agatha’s question. She simply perches herself on the closed toilet as her son cleans himself up; he never really needs her help but she prefers to stay close for her own peace of mind.
“Mama?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for letting me go to the game.”
Agatha smiles softly at him. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you had fun. But you still haven’t told me your favorite part,” she teases.
Nicky smiles brightly. “Rio kicked the winning goal from so far away from the goal and at first it didn’t look like it went in. But it did, so the Grizzlies won.”
Agatha’s brows furrow. “Who’s Rio?”
“Rio Vidal, Mama. She’s a Forward, which means she does a lot of the scoring. She’s really good, I wanna be just as good as she is one day.”
“Well, then you’ll just have to practice as much as you can.”
“I know. I’m done now.”
Agatha helps Nicky dry off and get into his pajamas only when he really needs it, which only happens once when he gets tangled up in his pajama shirt. He’s eight now, which, in his mind, means he doesn’t need as much assistance. As much as Agatha loves that he’s gaining more and more independence as each year passes, there’s a part of her that misses the days when he needed her for literally everything.
Once he’s tucked up in bed with his favorite stuffed animals at his side, Agatha sits on the edge of the bed and runs a hand over his head, pushing his damp hair back. “What are we reading tonight, kiddo?”
“Um…can we read The Bad Beginning again?”
Agatha smiles. “Sure.” She stands to grab the thin book from his bookshelf, carrying it back with her and settling next to him with her back against the headboard. She wraps an arm around him when he leans into her and opens the book to the first page. She has so much of this particular book memorized at this point, one of Nicky’s go-to books for bedtime. He’d randomly picked it up in his school library last year, read it, and immediately asked for the entire series for Christmas. So of course she got it for him. They’ve already read through the entire series twice, but she’s not surprised that they’ll be working through it again.
She only gets a few pages in when Nicky’s body finally grows heavy with sleep. She carefully extracts herself from his hold, setting the book down on his nightstand and flipping off the lamp. She presses a kiss to his forehead, checks that Mister Scratchy’s cage is locked properly, and then leaves the room, pulling the door closed behind her with a soft click.
Making her way back downstairs, Agatha pulls her phone out when it goes off, finding a new message from Wanda with a couple of photos attached.
Thought you might want these photos I got of Nicky at the game. Thanks again for letting him come with us, it was a lot of fun.
Agatha immediately opens the photos and swipes through them. There’s one of Nicky standing in between Billy and Tommy, their backs to the field, arms slung over each other’s shoulders, and wide grins on all of their faces. Then one of Nicky leaning forward against the railing of their section of seating, staring out at the soccer field as the players make their way onto it, specifically, the Eastview Grizzlies. The last one is of Nicky standing proudly with his Eastview Grizzlies pennant outside the stadium after the game.
Thanks for the photos. I’m glad everything went well.
Switching over to her rarely used Instagram page (she only got it because both Wanda and Natasha had coaxed her into doing so) she loads the photo of Nicky staring out at the field.
Nicky went to his first professional women’s soccer game today. I think the Eastview Grizzlies might be his newest obsession.
She doesn’t bother trying to tag any accounts, simply posts it for her less than one hundred followers to see. It’s mostly her neighbors, friends, a few women she went to college with, and several random accounts that she doesn’t know, but other than them she doesn’t get much engagement. She doesn’t mind it, though, honestly. She prefers it this way.
Closing out of the app, she quickly tidies up a few things downstairs, shuts off all the lights, and then heads up to her room. She moves on autopilot through her nightly routine, something she’s had set in stone from the time she could truly understand and appreciate the benefits of a healthy skincare routine.
Stepping out of her attached bathroom, she practically dives into her bed, settling down under the covers, ready to fall asleep and reset for the next day. She didn’t even have as exciting of a day as Nicky did and she’s still exhausted. Thank goodness for weekends, though. She wouldn’t survive without them.