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“Yeah, yeah I’m working on it honey, I promise, I’ll be there.” Clint leans against the wall as he sighs, looking around the bustling tower lobby. “No, it’s the kid. Look, Laura, she’s got no one. She barely lets me and Nat in, let alone anyone else.”
Laura pauses on the other end of the line. “ You know, you could bring her,” she suggests casually. “ She clearly needs people who care – Nat’s already missing Christmas day for court, too. Bring Wanda and I’ll have a room for her .”
“You’re sure? I don’t know how to get through to her”
“ Hun, she’s like Tasha was when she first came. Bring her here and let Lila beg her to braid her hair and have Cooper want to show her the lego collection and she can relax .”
“Alright, I will,” he agrees softly. God, he’s worried. “Can you handle her gifts?”
“ Sure, what does she-”
Natasha appears out of nowhere like usual. “Laura? Phone, please. Da, I heard.”
“Fucking ghost-” he mumbles as she takes the phone, chuckling a little.
“Laura? Yes? Okay, good. Red, it’s her favorite. She doesn’t have much but she wears leggings with everything – you know those nice ones I got you? Try the same brand…” she wanders off with the phone, chattering with Laura and humming
Clint takes the opportunity to go to Wanda’s door, knocking softly. “Wanda? Kiddo, can I come in?”
It takes a moment for the answer to come, but it does. “You may”
He pushes the door open softly, to the small, cozy room she’s picked. It’s on the floor he and Tasha split, and right between the kitchen and Tasha’s bedroom, his just down the hall. It’s fairly bare, but Wanda’s got a warm bed and Natasha’s started with a few framed pictures of sokovia. The closet has clothes, and the bed has a red shawl over it.
Wanda is curled up in it, staring blankly at a TV playing old sitcoms, Liho by her feet.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he murmurs, sitting on the edge of the bed. “How’s today?”
She considers, then moves her head into his lap. Okay, not too bad. She’s started seeking out touch from him and Natasha, if they come close first. A thread of magic nudges his hand to stroke her hair softly, just how he does with Lila, and he smiles.
“Not bad,” she answers quietly. “I miss home.”
“I know,” he murmurs softly, watching the couple on screen dance. “I wish I could give it to you, kiddo, trust me.”
“I know,” she answers again. She’s silent for a moment. “Back home… Pietro and I would always try to make Christmas special. Mama baked sweets for us and all the neighbors and Dad would get me dvds…”
“We can do some baking, if you want?” he offers weakly. “I was wondering… do you want to come with me and Nat for Christmas?”
“Go where?” Wanda cocks her head quietly.
“Home to my family,” Clint answers. “My wife and kids. We’ve got room”
“O-okay.”
Three days later they were navigating an airport in civilian clothes, Wanda protectively under Natasha’s arm – and an alias, same as Natasha is. No one will recognize Clint, as Tasha so smugly points out.
“I’m scared,” he hears the girl whisper to Natasha, who hugs her a little closer.
“Shh, I know little bird,” the older woman replies as she holds her card out to buy their breakfasts. Of course Natasha booked flights before dawn. At least it's marginally quieter for Wanda’s sake.
They manage to board, Wanda in a middle seat at the back of the plane with a weighted blanket over her lap and Natasha’s. Soon enough she does manage to fall asleep on Clint’s shoulder, with the help of some melatonin gummies Natasha got somewhere. They’re probably legal in the US. Hopefully.
They land safely three hours later, with Wanda still sleeping soundly enough Natasha decides to carry her instead of waking her, which is quite the sight, but makes for some cute photos. The start of including Wanda in the family. This kid is already like a new daughter.
-
Wanda wakes up on the drive was they pull up to a cozy, very american farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. She’s not sure how she slept through this much, but.. It’s not bad
“Morning, sweetheart,”
That’s Natasha… she’s in the passenger seat. Clint’s driving
“Where are we?”
“Home,” Clint answers simply, parking. Instantly two small children are running outside, followed by a tall, brown haired woman with sunshine in her smile who greets Clint with a kiss. “Wanda, meet my wife Laura, and my kids.” he grins, scooping up the little girl. “This is Lila, and that-” he gestures to the older boy currently showing Natasha something, “-is cooper, my eldest.”
“H-hi..” it’s like her entire knowledge of English has left her, and she feels wildly out of place inside this sweet, unbroken family.
Until seconds later she has a tiny version of Clint looking up at her eagerly. Lila, she’s fairly sure, given as she’s the only girl, and she tugs on her sleeve.
“Daddy says you can do French Braids?”
Wanda pauses. “Um- Da, yes, I can.”
Natasha nods encouragingly before Lila speaks again
“Can you braid my hair after you’re unpacked?”
“Um-sure... I could do that”
She’s not sure where it comes from for a second, but the next words directed to her are in her native language.
“{Come with me sweetheart,}” Laura murmurs in Sokovian. “{You’re safe now. Let’s get you to your room.}”
For some reason that has Wanda tearing up as she’s led into a cozy, safe, normal home, up the stairs and into a cozy room. Quilt on the bed and scarf decorating the dresser, the shade of red she loves best. A handmade welcome hard – and shaky, google-translate Sokovian. Signed from Cooper and Lila.
She’s left alone that night, curled up in a nest of too-soft blankets and pillows, Pietro’s favorite sweater draped over her pillow. Their Babushka had made that…
When she wakes up, though, she’s surprised to find a small brunette head next to her, reading. Lila Barton-
“What are you doing here?” she rolls over, yawning. A pretty plush rabbit toy has been tucked into her arms, and she doesn’t feel inclined to remove it.
“No one else’s up, so I stayed here,” Lila shrugs. “You seem fun, and Daddy says you’re lonely. I’ll be your friend”
Wanda melts softly at that, sitting up. “And who’s this?” she holds up the rabbit toy.
“I dunno its name, that’s for you to pick,” Lila shrugs. “Mama said it was for Christmas but you needed a friend now, so I made Auntie Nat find it for me”
Pietro would’ve done that , she realizes quietly. “Yeah?”
“Yep!” Lila hops up, spinning around and giggling. “C’mon! I want breakfast and Mama got cocoa puffs!”
-
It’s strange, the way the rhythm happens. Wanda starts to relax, starting to be willing to spend time in common spaces. She watches Bluey with Lila while braiding her hair, tries to teach Cooper to play Chess – an epic fail, but they come up with some wildly complex game no one else understands.
Which means on Christmas Eve, when the kids are curled up in bed and Wanda has been carried to her room by Clint when she falls asleep on the couch and Lila made a tired trek to cuddle against her pseudo-sister, Natasha sets an envelope on the counter in front of Clint and Laura.
“Don’t tell me it wasn’t in your thick head, birdie,” she shrugs. “I just did the work.”
Laura pauses, opening the envelope as Clint speaks.
“Tash, you know I love you, but really what did you-”
“They’re adoption papers,” Laura cuts in. “For Wanda.”
“For Wanda?”
“For Wanda,” Nat confirms. “Look. She’s happier than anyone has seen her in ages. I’d do it but I’m not gonna be a good parent. Okay, I might be, but that’s beside the point. Look, I might be called Auntie Nat when she’s tired, but I’m not the one she nearly calls Dad or Mama. It’s what she wants, we all know that.”
“We don’t,” Clint points out. “It could be pushing-”
“Clint.” Natasha raises an eyebrow. “She’s Stark’s ward, and the government. She needs you.”
“And she already fits in and you know it,” Laura adds. “Look how much the kids love her. She adores them too, Lila loves her so much and Coop too. They go to her all the time, and Lila always crawls in with her at least part of the night.”
Silently, Natasha holds up a roll of wrapping paper. “So?”
It takes a moment, but Clint takes it with a small smile. “One more gift to wrap, then.”
-
The next morning, Wanda lights up, all but crying when she opens her gifts – finally, the papers making it pour over as she’s pulled into Clint’s arms with Laura hugging her tight. With shaking hands she signs the papers Nat slips away to file, and Lila asks what’s happening, lighting up with joy at the discovery of a new sibling. For the first time in years, Christmas is full of joy, and even without Pietro she’s smiling. Lila begs to help read a chapter book together while Cooper plays with his new bow with Nat, and Clint starts dinner while Laura rests with her own new book. There’s a family in Wanda’s life, now. And it’s been a long time coming