SUNLIGHT LEAKED INTO the room through the slivers of the curtains, brightening the unlit room the couple was in.

Natasha stirred awake and looked over to see her husband still in his slumber. She smiled and leaned over to place kisses along his jawline, which caused the man to react with a murmur.

"Good morning, милый (dear)." She said in a soft tone.

"Not yet." He muttered. "I'm still dreaming."

His wife smirked and started kissing him again, also moving down to his neck. Y/N let out a chuckle and finally opened his eyes.

He turned to her. "I said was dreaming."

"You still could be." Natasha replied as she placed her hand on his chest. She started to move it downwards under their covers.

Y/N laughed. "Right now? You know Maggie has to wake up for school soon."

"Steve could take her."

"Nah, he did yesterday."

"Rhodey can."

"He's going to Mexico in a couple of hours."

She sighed. "Fine. How about Pietro?"

"He doesn't even have a license, mostly because when doesn't need a car." He replied. "And I don't want her on his back going at the speed of light."

Natasha chuckled and looked over at the clock before turning back to him.

"We got fifteen minutes 'till seven, though." She said.

Y/N nodded. "I'd say that's plenty of time."

They smiled and started to kiss. Natasha got on top of Y/N and was about to have her shirt removed, but rapid footsteps in the hallway alerted them.

They knew exactly who it was from.

"Ma! Dad!" Nikolai called out.

Natasha quickly got off of her husband as the door opened. Their four-year-old son ran in and climbed onto their bed.

"Wow. Look at who's awake." Y/N remarked as the boy got in between them.

Despite the moment between Natasha and Y/N being halted, they were happy to see Nikolai. Natasha smiled and rubbed the top of his head.

"Why are you up so early?" She asked.

"Dad's going to take me to see Uncle Tony today." He answered.

Nikolai loved going to Tony's cabin and was also good friends with his daughter, Morgan. Y/N remembered that he told his son last night that they were going today.

"Yeah, we are. But not right now, buddy." Y/N said with a chuckle. "Not until a few hours."

"Why not now?" He asked.

Y/N sat up on the bed. "Well first off, Tony is not much a morning person, and Morgan's sleeping. Pepper's probably up but could be busy with work."

Nikolai looked down. "Aww."

Natasha kissed the top of his head. "Well, early bird, you're up now. How about you help me make breakfast?"

"Can we make pancakes?" He looked up and asked.

"Of course, Nik."

He beamed and practically leaped off the bed. Natasha smiled at Y/N and also stood up. The man rubbed his eyes and was prepared to start the day with them.

"Friday, can you do me a favor and check if Maggie's awake?" Y/N asked.

"She is still sleeping, sir."

He looked over at the clock and saw it was almost 7 AM.

"Give her ten more minutes, then wake her up with that song she loves." Y/N said.

"You mean the song she hates?"

"It'll still get her up."

"Right, sir."

Y/N got off the bed and pat the top of Nikolai's head, before walking out of the room with him and his wife.

• • •

THE TWO FOUR-YEAR-OLDS scurried through the yard. Morgan wore a makeshift gauntlet from a knit glove while Nikolai held a cardboard shield in his left hand.

"There!" The girl pointed at the Rubik's Cube on a table in the middle of the yard.

"Let's go." Nikola ran first and his friend followed, but Y/N came out from behind a tree, startling then. He wore a store-bought skull mask.

"You will not take back the artifact, heroes." He said in an exaggerated evil voice. "Turn back now."

Y/N slowly took out a small Nerf gun and pointed it at them. He made sure to give Nikolai time to hold up the shield before shooting. The dart bounced off of it and Morgan lifted her hand to act as if she was shooting.

"Argh!" Y/N feigned a cry and dropped to the floor.

Morgan and Nikolai cheered and moved on toward the cube. This time, Tony came out from the bushes wearing a paper bag over his head. It had holes cut out where his eyes were.

"Halt, you gremlins." He spoke in his evil voice. "You got past my partner but you will not get past—"

Nikola immediately threw his cardboard shield at Tony which hit him in the groin. He doubled over and groaned.

"Ow! That was a low—" Tony was interrupted by Morgan also running up and grabbing his leg. The tandem of the two kids got the man on the floor.

"Ah! You win! You win! Take the damn cube." Tony exclaimed in his normal voice.

Nikolai and Morgan laughed and high-fived each other before going to the table. Morgan grabbed the Rubik's Cube and held it up with a smile on her face.

"All in a day's work...for Iron-Man!" She said.

Nikolai joined in. "And Captain America!"

Tony used his arm to prop himself up and looked at the kids, a smile forming on his face.

Y/N had gotten up and walked over to the children.

"You guys did it!" He said. "Using the power of what?"

"Teamwork." They said in unison.

"That's right." Y/N replied, then walked over to Tony who was still on the floor. "You good, old man?"

"For the thousandth time, that's ironic coming from you." He replied, then got to his feet with Y/N's help.

Tony looked over at Nikolai. "That was a strong throw, Nik. You sure your dad's not putting steroids in your juice boxes?"

"Tones." Y/N rolled his eyes.

"I'm just asking."

Morgan looked at her father. "This was really fun, dad."

"I'm glad you had a great time, kiddo." He replied with a smile.

"Did you have fun doing these things with Grandpa Steve?" Nikolai asked.

Tony sighed. Both the kids knew about their past excursions as Avengers...but only a little.

"Yeah. We had blast." Tony simply replied and held up the paper bag. "Only difference is that the bad guys didn't wear these."

Y/N chuckled at his remark. Pepper suddenly came outside and called out to the kids.

"Lunch is ready. How about you two take a break from beating on these poor guys." She told them.

Morgan and Nikolai agreed and immediately ran into the house. Pepper turned the men next.

"You too. Come on, I know you're hungry."

"Yes, ma'am." Y/N said with a laugh and started walking up the porch steps. Tony followed.

"Uh, I was supposed to be the one responding."

After lunch, the two men talked on the porch overlooking the yard of Tony's cabin. They surveyed the trees and water flowing along the lake in the distance. Pepper was in the living room with the kids who were now watching television.

"I had to pay Happy over two grand because of that." Tony finished explaining a bet he lost. "I was so sure the Dodgers would pull it off."

"They never seem to get over the hump." Y/N replied as he drank his beer. "They won three years ago, but I think that's where it'll stop for a while."

Tony sighed. "Sad thing is, you might be right."

They sat in silence for a moment enjoying their refreshments before Stark spoke again.

"How's everything at the compound?" He asked.

"Good." Y/N replied. "Nat and I still keep in touch with Okoye, Nebula, and the others. Pietro and Yelena are doing all right. Steve's fine. Rhodey's on his way to Mexico."

"Yeah. I heard." Tony said. "Maggie?"

Y/N nodded. "She's good as well. She started school a few weeks ago and seems to be doing all right."

"Must be quite a culture shock...after being homeschooled for the last few years."

"Well now that her accelerated aging stopped, we wanted her to experience high school...which is something Nat never got to do." Y/N explained. "She's special...we know that...but we also want her to experience things kids her age do."

"That's understandable." Tony said and then sighed. "Thank God I don't have to worry about that shit now, since Morgan ages normally."

"Good for you." Y/N replied sarcastically.

Suddenly, his phone rang and Y/N pulled it out. He saw that it was a call from Natasha.

"Hey, babe." He greeted. Tony continued to drink his beer as he gave them their privacy.

"Hey. How's everything? Nik?"

"He's inside with Pepper and Morgan. Tony and I are outside."

"Okay. I just got a call from Maggie's school..."

"What? Why?"

He heard her sigh on the other end. "She was in a fight. Since it's almost dismissal they want us to pick her up."

Y/N nodded. "Wow. All right. I can go get her now if you're busy."

"Please. Thank you."

"I'll see you back at home. Пока, любовь моя (Bye, my love)."

"Люблю тебя (Love you)."

Y/N ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He got up from the chair and took one last swig from his bottle.

"Everything all right?" Tony asked.

"Uh...I gotta go pick up Maggie from school." He answered. "Do you mind taking care of Nik while I go get her?"

"You gonna pay me?" He shot back, but after a brief moment, let out a laugh. "Of course."

Y/N gave a nod of thanks before leaving the porch.

• • •

THE CAR DOOR opened and Maggie threw her backpack in the backseat before sitting in the passengers. Y/N looked at his daughter with his hands still on the steering wheel.

"Can we get out of here now?" She asked as she shut the door and sat back, making sure to bury herself out of sight from the other students leaving the building.

"I'd ask how was school, but I think I already have an idea." He said as he shifted the gear and started driving away.

She looked over at her father. "They called you?"

"Of course they did. Well, they called your mom."

Maggie closed her eyes and exhaled as she rubbed her face. "Oh, man."

"Oh, man is right. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'd prefer not to."

Y/N nodded. "Well, either you talk to me about it or we go home and talk to your mom. And we both know who's the scarier one."

Maggie crossed her arms and looked out the window. "Can I talk to Steve instead?"

He let out a chuckle. "All he's gonna do is give you a speech that you're not even gonna listen to."

"Uncle Pietro?"

Y/N shot a look at her. Maggie gave up and sighed. "Fine."

"Good." He said. "We could talk over a bite. You hungry?"

Father and daughter sat on a table outside of a Baskin-Robbins. Maggie stuck her spoon into her ice cream and Y/N was already halfway done with his.

"Staring at that cup isn't going to make time go faster...or make us forget about the situation." He said.

Maggie sighed and kept looking at her snack as she recalled the incident earlier that day.

"There's this girl that I've been butting heads with the last couple of weeks. We were having our usual spats at break today, but....she took it too far."

Y/N stopped eating and listened in on what his daughter had to say.

"She said that she hopes my family dies. Like the half of the world that did years ago. So...I hit that bitch." She explained before catching herself. "Sorry, sorry. Like Steve would say...language."

Y/N let out a soft chuckle at her apology before getting serious again. "So what she said made you mad, huh?"

"Of course it did. You can't just...say that. We can name-call and do all that other stuff, but not that." She said. "So I punched her. She tried to hit back but she wasn't able to lay a finger on me."

Y/N nodded. It didn't surprise him that the bully wasn't able to fight back, since Maggie was already naturally gifted at combat. Thanks to occasional training from Nat and him, her skills were refined as well.

After a moment of silence, Maggie decided to speak again.

"It felt good when I hit her, but after...like now...I kind of regret it. Because I know why she said what she said."

"What do you know?" Y/N asked.

Maggie exhaled. "She lost her parents five years ago, then got stuck with her asshole uncle."

Y/N looked down at his snack and sighed at the information. Maggie continued.

"I think that's why she started taking it out on me. Like her, some kids know about my family. They know my parents are you and the Black Widow. They know about the Avengers. And some people are still sour about what happened."

Her father understood. Some people are still grieving and are rightfully angry that the Avengers weren't able to stop Thanos.

She continued. "It got me thinking. How her life is so messed up now...while I'm doing fine. Her parents are gone...while I still have mine. I've been very lucky...while others haven't."

Y/N looked at his daughter. Her statements were similar to what he would say to Natasha years ago. He didn't want her to think that way either.

"Sweetheart. There were a lot of people who were lost that I wish you were able to meet...people I considered family." He said. "What you're saying...I thought the same way. I questioned why I was the lucky one and not them. But your mom told me not think that way...to carry that guilt."

Maggie looked up from her cup and at her father as she listened.

"The ones we lost wouldn't want us to think that way. They'd want us to move on...be happy...continue living. And to join hands with the ones that remained to make our new world better." Y/N explained. "At least that's what I believe. That's my job as not only an Avenger...but as a husband and a father."

Maggie smiled, taking in what her father had to say. It eased the feeling of guilt she had from both the fight and from her own thoughts.

"Thanks, dad." She said. "I do want to help make things better too. And maybe one day I can help that girl as well...somehow."

"That's good to hear." Y/N replied with a smile. "All right, we should pick up Nik from Tony's place and then get back home."

"Am I still going to have to talk to mom about what happened?" She asked.

"I can't confirm nor deny." He said.

"Ugh. All right." Maggie got up from her seat. "I'll be back, I gotta use the restroom."

Y/N nodded as she went back inside the Baskin-Robbins. He started finishing his ice cream when he heard a voice behind him.

"Well said, young man." The senior citizen spoke from the seat behind him. He held the newspaper he was reading. "The lady has quite the role model."

Y/N turned around and smiled back. "Thank you. I try to be."

"You are. 'Nuff said." The old man replied before turning back around.

Y/N nodded, before getting up from the table to throw away his empty cup.

• • •

THEY WERE ALL in the lounge. Natasha sat on the couch with Nikolai on her side while Maggie was on the other sofa with her arms crossed. Steve sat on the seat across the coffee table and Y/N was in the kitchen area behind them attempting to cook.

"I might need to watch Gordon Ramsay tutorials." He muttered to himself. "Then maybe I can become the world's best chef too."

As they were watching television, a commercial started to play. It showed footage of a female police officer, a firefighter, Muhammad Ali, and ultimately ended with Captain America. Steve, who was on the screen, wore his old uniform from 2012 and spoke to the viewers.

"Courage. Pass it on."

Nikolai's eyes lit up as he watched. "Ma! Look! It's Grandpa Steve."

"Oh, I know, hun'." She replied.

Steve shook his head. "They're still showing those? I haven't worn that in years."

"Thank God for that." Y/N spoke from the kitchen. "It always looked funny to me."

"Hey." He called out.

Maggie spoke up. "Don't listen to him, Steve. It looks cute, in a dorky way."

"Thanks, Maggie." Steve said with a chuckle.

Natasha got up from the couch and went over to see what Y/N was doing in the kitchen. He already knew she was eager to assist.

"I got this." He said.

She smirked. "I can tell you don't."

"Yeah...I don't."

Suddenly, Pietro came into the lounge holding some envelopes and a package. "I got the mail...because nobody else does."

"And we appreciate it." Y/N replied.

Pietro handed a couple of envelopes to Steve on the sofa. "Fan mail for Rogers."

Steve sighed. "All right."

"No fan mail for me?" Y/N joked as Pietro handed Natasha one envelope.

"No, honey. But you do get the bill." His wife said and gave him it.

"I'll just forward this to Tony." Y/N simply stated and put it down.

Pietro had placed the package on the island that the two were at. Y/N went over to it and checked who the box was from.

"Is that...?" Natasha started to ask.

The box had the initials C.F.B, and the two knew who it was from. Natasha exhaled upon looking at it, then walked away to continue helping with the food.

"Okay, kids. This is for you." Y/N called out.

Maggie got up from the sofa and Nikola ran up to the island. He climbed up onto the stool and looked at the box as Y/N started to open it.

"Is that from Uncle Clint?" He asked.

"Yup."

Y/N took out the wrapped-up item and unveiled it in front of his son. It was a Lucha Libre mask and the tag said it was originally from Mexico.

"Wow!" Nikolai exclaimed and grabbed it. He immediately put it on. "I'm a superhero now."

His father chuckled and pat the top of his head. He then took out the next item inside and opened the case. It was flowers made from Huichol beads, also from Mexico.

"Oh, wow." Maggie said as she took the case. "These are really pretty."

Y/N smiled as his children looked at their gifts. Clint would often send them things from around the world when he'd do his work. It was nice to know that he still thought of them and Y/N appreciated it. Natasha, although also appreciative, was still hurt. They both knew what Barton was off doing...and what he had become.

"I guess he's working in Mexico now." Y/N remarked.

"When will he come here?" Nikolai asked, which Natasha looked down upon hearing it.

Aside from old pictures and videos, the children haven't seen or met Clint. Y/N sighed as he looked at his son.

"When he's ready." He answered. "Or when work allows him to. Hopefully soon."

Nikolai looked down, still wearing his mask. Pietro stood nearby listening in and decided to lighten the mood...or at least Nik's.

"So you're a superhero now, huh?" He walked up to the four-year-old. "How about you get training from the best one there is?"

"Superman?" Nikolai looked up and asked.

"Uh, no. Me!" Pietro replied.

Nikolai looked at Y/N, who gave a smile and shrugged. The kid turned to his uncle figure.

"Okay!"

"Great. Now catch up." Pietro suddenly dashed out of the room. Nikolai looked around for a moment before sprinting out of the room normally.

Natasha chuckled. "If that kid becomes anything like Pietro, we're doomed."

Later that night, Y/N and Natasha were cleaning up the lounge. Everybody had called it in for the night, with Steve and Pietro in their rooms and the kids getting ready for bed.

As Y/N put away the dishes and started to wipe down the island, he noticed Natasha holding the package the gifts came in. She put it down as tears rolled down her face.

"Hey." The man called out and went over to her. He got behind her and rubbed the sides of her arms. "It's fine."

Natasha sniffled. "He thinks he can just send them things and act like everything's all right. It's not."

She picked up the box and went over to the bin nearby where she tossed it.

"At least he's thinking of them." Y/N said.

"But he's not here." Natasha shot back. "And I'm starting to think he'll never be."

"Don't say never, Nat."

Natasha leaned against the counter and crossed her arms as she turned to Y/N. The man continued.

"After Thanos, I figured he wouldn't want to see us again. But then time went on...we let him know about the kids...and then he stuck with us, although not physically." He explained. "Barton knows he means a lot to us...to them...and one day he'll realize that people are waiting for him that love him."

Natasha looked down and fiddled with her fingers. Y/N walked up to her and lifted her head with both of his hands. He kissed her forehead and looked into her eyes.

"He's not too far gone, Tasha."

She nodded and smiled back. "You do have a way with words."

Her husband grinned and leaned in to kiss her again. Afterward, he walked over to the radio by the television.

"I got something to show you." He began.

"What is it?"

"Remember how I'd always complain about not knowing what song played during our dance in Moscow?" Y/N connected his phone to the radio and started to play the track. "Well...I found it."

It was Memories by David Guetta.

A/N: I put the track in the banner media of the chapter in case you want to hear it.

The upbeat track began as Y/N playfully danced his way toward his wife. She laughed at his antics and he reached over to take her hand.

"Come on, let's reminisce." He said.

Natasha accepted and started dancing with Y/N by the radio. They made sure not to overdo it since it was in the lounge of all places.

"You should bring out the red dress." He remarked.

"As I said eleven years ago, I'm never wearing that again." She replied.

The couple continued moving to the beat, almost mirroring what they did during the undercover operation those years ago. Natasha then turned around and danced on him, bringing back memories from that time.

As they danced, her face tilted backward and got near his. He then got to do what he wasn't able to back during the op, which was to kiss her. His lips met his wife's, an embrace that lasted a moment before she turned back around and faced him. They kissed again, this time lasting longer as the track continued to play.

Maggie suddenly walked into the lounge. "Nik's whining about wanting—" She saw her parents kissing and made a disgusted face. "Uh, ew. Can't this wait until we're all asleep?"

The two parted and laughed at their daughter's remark. Their song was on a loop and started playing again, which gave Y/N an idea.

"Come on, Maggie. Let's dance." He said walking over to her.

"What? No, thanks." She replied, but Y/N pulled her in.

Her father started to dance again, which was embarrassing at first to the young redhead, but ultimately sucked it up and moved along to the music. Natasha stood back and laughed at the sight.

"Ma!" Nikolai came in next wearing his pajamas and saw what was going on. "Why is dad dancing?"

"Because he's a goofball." She replied and grabbed his hand. "Want to join him?"

Her son nodded with a smile. Natasha and Nikolai joined Y/N and Maggie in the middle of the room as they danced to the music.

Meanwhile, Pietro walked down the hallway and was about to enter the lounge in order to get some water. He stopped upon hearing music and peeked into the room, seeing the family having their moment.  

The speedster smiled at the sight and turned back around. He didn't mind coming back later to get his refreshment.