"What do you want?"

"French toast."

"I've told you three times I can't cook, Charlie."

"Then don't ask me what I want, Mom."

Marlena raised a brow at her daughter and shut the fridge. Jay was sitting beside Charlie at the counter bar, a tired expression on his face as he watched his sister and mother interact with each other. The two had been going back and forth about breakfast for almost ten minutes, and Jay had filtered out the sound of their voices just three minutes in. He was hungry, and getting food was all he cared about.

"Can't you just go wake up 'Randa?" Charlie asked with pleading blue eyes; they matched her father's perfectly. It made Marlena smile.

"It's seven in the morning. Do you know how angry she'd be if I woke her up?" Marlena turned to rummage through her pantry. She pulled out a box of Honey Smacks and a box of Lucky Charms. She sat them down in front of the twins, both of whom weren't too thrilled.

"I really wish you knew how to cook, Mom," Jay said to Marlena.

"I wish she did too," a new voice sounded. Marlena looked over to see a recently-woken Steve heading into the kitchen. She scoffed and grabbed the cereal boxes, abruptly shoving them back into their places in the pantry.

"Hi, Uncle Steve," Charlie greeted the soldier with a smile, one in which he returned.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

"Can you make us breakfast, Uncle Steve?" Jay asked tiredly. "Mom doesn't know how."

"It's not that I don't know how, I'm just not very good at it," Marlena defended herself. She grabbed the pitcher of orange juice from the fridge and turned to pour it into the glass she'd placed on the counter.

"That's why you have me," Steve chuckled and pressed a quick kiss to her lips before moving to gather the ingredients for French toast; he remembered hearing Charlie say that was what she wanted.

Marlena leaned over the counter, her eyes on her children. She wanted to see their reaction to Steve's display of affection, but there wasn't much of one. They'd informed the twins of their relationship status and explained the circumstances of Marlena's relationship with Bucky to the best of their abilities. Of course, they weren't capable of completely understanding the situation, but they understood enough to know that their parents weren't together romantically. The downside was that they didn't get to see their parents together much anymore, though it had been what they wanted for years.

"Are we still going out later today?" Steve asked Marlena as he finished gathering the ingredients for French toast.

Marlena shrugged and hopped onto the counter, her orange juice in hand. She was feeling a little nauseous and could only hope it disappeared before the end of the day. The first trimester was absolutely horrible, and she couldn't wait to be done with it. "Yes, but I have to go see Alena first," Marlena answered Steve slowly; she was watching him carefully to see what his reaction was. The two of them still weren't on the same page about her, and Marlena wasn't sure if they would be any time soon.

"Can we go with you?" Charlie asked excitedly, and Marlena looked over at her. She'd completely forgotten the twins shared a relationship with Alena due to the five years they'd spent with her, and she wasn't too sure how to feel about it.

"I thought you guys wanted me to take you to see your dad before we went shopping with everyone," Marlena reminded her.

"I don't think dad wants to see us," Jay said sadly.

Marlena frowned at the sound of his words. Bucky had only returned to the apartment long enough to say goodbye to the twins the previous night. He'd been staying with Sam, who'd found an apartment somewhere in the city.

"Why do you think that, Jay?"

"He said he wanted to leave, Mom," Charlie answered. "He said he didn't want to be around us anymore."

Marlena opened her mouth to respond, but shut it when she realized what Charlie was referring to. Marlena knew Bucky was desperate to leave, to get away from all the pain Thanos had caused him, but she also knew the twins were the reason he wanted to stay. Charlie shouldn't have known that information, however, and there was only one reason Marlena could think of as to why she did.

"Charlie..."

"Yeah?"

"You've got to stop reading people's minds without their permission, honey," Marlena chastised her, and Charlie frowned.

"I don't mean to," she said quietly, her blue eyes meeting her mother's hazel ones. "I don't know how to work it sometimes, Momma."

"I know, baby," Marlena sighed sadly and hopped off the counter. "And I'm going to do what I can to help you. But about your father, there's a lot going on with him right now that has nothing to do with either of you, so don't think for one second he doesn't want to see you."

"I still wanna go see Alena, though," Charlie said to her. "I miss her."

"Please don't take them to see her," Steve spoke to Marlena telepathically. "I already don't trust her with you, but if she hurt the twins..."

"Alena was always the nicest to me, Uncle Steve," Charlie said to Steve after accidentally scanning his mind; she was truly unable to control herself, as her abilities were still developing. "She would never hurt me."

Steve turned his head to look at Charlie, and he glanced to Marlena, who only shrugged and poured herself another glass of orange juice. The smell of cinnamon was filling the air inside the kitchen, making it hard for her to focus on anything but.

"We'll work on it," Marlena said to Steve, a soft smile on her face. She then turned to the twins. "I'm taking you to your dad today, okay? I know he really needs you two right now."

"I don't mind going to see dad today," Jay spoke up. "As long as he wants to see us."

"He does, Jay."

"I just hope you're not planning on leaving looking like that," Steve said to her with an amused grin on his face. Marlena was wearing a pair of black and red plaid pajama pants with a black t-shirt that was about two sizes too big. Her long hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head, one that was a bit discombobulated from sleep. She looked exhausted and emotional, thanks to pregnancy and everything else going on in her life.

"I'm so sorry we can't all wake up looking like that," Marlena remarked, gesturing to Steve's usually attractive figure. "And just wait—as soon as little Rogers pops out you're gonna look just like me."

"Little Rogers?" Jay asked with a quirked brow.

"Are you having a baby, Mom?" Charlie followed. Her tone was excited, but Marlena hadn't planned on the two of them knowing so soon. She was the only one to blame, though, as she was prone to speaking without thinking sometimes.

"Yes," Marlena breathed out, while Steve chuckled from his spot by the stove; he knew she'd let it slip sooner or later.

"With Uncle Steve?" Charlie continued. "Is Uncle Steve gonna be my other dad? Is the baby still gonna be related to us even though Uncle Steve is the dad? What's its name? When are you gonna have it?"

Charlie was incredibly excited, and the sight of it made Marlena feel so much better about the situation. There was nothing in the world that compared to seeing a smile on her children's faces. "Yes, Charlie, he'll be your stepfather, and the baby will be related to you—it'll be your little brother or sister."

"I wanna know the name, Mom," Charlie said. "Can you name it Charlie like me?"

"Charlie isn't even a cute name," Jay scoffed.

"Neither is James," Charlie retorted. "That's why we call you by a stupid letter."

"You two need to be nice to each other," Steve said as he finally placed their French toast-filled plates in front of them.

"He's the one that started it," Charlie grumbled, though she was thrilled with the sight of the breakfast in front of her. "All I wanted to know was what you and Mom are gonna name my baby brother or sister."

"I don't think we've really talked about that yet, Charlie," Steve answered. He grabbed the syrup and placed it in front of the twins, both of whom were way too eager to grab it.

"I do have something in mind, though," Marlena answered quietly. She had a frown on her face rather than a smile, and it was because of the thoughts running around inside her head. She knew exactly what she wanted to name her child, but that was far from being what had upset her. "I'm not sure if you two remember Natasha, but she was my best friend. Before we got you guys back, she called the baby Emerson."

"I like that," Steve said, a soft smile on his face. He knew exactly why Marlena had gotten upset over the topic, though the twins didn't, and he was sure they were about to find out. "It works for a boy or a little girl."

"I really like that," Charlie said. "It's not like anything I've heard before, mom. Why'd she choose it?"

"I'm not sure," Marlena replied.

"Where is Natasha now?" Jay asked, and Marlena let out a deep breath.

"She's gone," she answered slowly. "She's gone the way I thought you were, except she's really gone."

"No one is ever really gone, Mom," Charlie said to Marlena. She could feel how upset Marlena was getting, and she didn't like it. In that moment, Charlie longed for Natasha's presence for the sake of making her mother happy. "Maybe we can bring her back the way you brought everyone else back."

"Not this time," Marlena replied sadly. She grabbed her glass of juice off the counter and started out of the kitchen. "I'm going to get ready."

Marlena didn't bother waiting on a response from any of them. She walked down the hallway and into her room to grab clothes. She was excited to finally shower after what felt like days, but turning around only caused a delay in her plans. Marlena, now startled by the sight in front of her, dropped her clothes to the floor and backed into her dresser. She hadn't expected to see the face in front of her again, yet there it was, staring her right in the face with firm green eyes.

"N-Natasha."

"Marlena, I'm here."

Marlena shook her head quickly and started towards the redhead standing five feet in front of her. She held her hand out, and Natasha watched as Marlena carefully placed her hand on the side of her face. Marlena took a deep breath as her skin made contact with Natasha's; she sounded real, she looked real, and she felt real, but she wasn't, and Marlena could sense it. There was only one reason she stood there in front of Marlena, and that reason was sitting in the kitchen enjoying her breakfast.

"Steve!" Marlena called, and in seconds she could hear him coming down the hall.

Steve opened the bedroom door to see what Marlena had called him for, though he stopped the moment his eyes landed on the red-headed woman standing with his fiancée in the middle of the room.

"W-what?" Steve slowly walked over to Natasha and Marlena, and Natasha smiled as she glanced back and forth between the two of them. "How is this possible?"

"It's not," Marlena said to him. "Charlie's doing this."

"You're serious?"

"Yeah," Marlena breathed out, her eyes still on Natasha. She was so happy to see her best friend's face again, but she was forced to accept it wasn't real, and she was okay with that. "It looks like we have a lot more on our plate than we thought."

"Tell me about it."