Natasha once jokingly told her sister that she was going to kidnap her kids one day. Specifically, the littlest one.
“You won’t last,” Yelena told her nonchalantly. “You’ll give them back within the day, I promise.”
Natasha had laughed. Yelena’s kids were wild and outgoing but they were well behaved and listened most of the time. It was refreshing to see them look so content and at home after the kind of life they lived.
Natasha had to admit that the baby of the Belova family held a soft spot in her heart. Daria was such a sweetheart. She loved just being held and Natasha never minded cuddling her close. Daria didn’t speak much but she’d draw hearts over Natasha’s chest to tell her she loved her.
Natasha called one afternoon and was greeted by Viktoria answering the phone. She asked if her mom was there and when Viktoria confirmed she wasn’t, Natasha said she was going to visit. She planned to take her nieces out to spend some time with them.
However, she couldn’t plan for things that were unforeseen. Viktoria answered the door when she arrived, smiling tiredly. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Natasha greeted her back. The house was almost eerily silent. “Where are your sisters?”
“Mom’s out with Alice,” Viktoria replied. Her gaze flickered down the hallway. “The others are here. Um, Irina’s got a migraine. And Ksenia’s having a bit of a red day.”
“I see.” Natasha hadn’t meant to impose. “What about the twins?”
The corner of Viktoria’s mouth crooked up at the reference. “They’re in the living room last I checked.”
“This quiet?” Natasha arched an eyebrow.
“They’re content,” Viktoria shrugged.
“How are things with you?” Natasha asked. Viktoria was the defacto one in charge and got easily frustrated when stressed so Natasha was a little worried about her looking after all her sisters, especially when two weren’t feeling well.
“I’ll live,” Viktoria mumbled.
Natasha thought of what she could do to help. She wasn’t familiar with traversing through the issues the girls had and didn’t want to make things worse. “Would it help if I take the twins somewhere else for a bit?” she asked.
Viktoria narrowed her eyes slightly. “Where?”
Natasha hadn’t gotten that far yet. She was still learning the interests and hobbies of her nieces. “I’m not sure,” she admitted.
Viktoria peered down the hallway once again before lowering her voice. “Daria’s always wanted to go to the zoo to see a penguin.”
A grin tugged at Natasha’s lips. “Then I’ll take them to the zoo.”
Viktoria’s shoulders loosened. She relaxed slightly, relief filling her. “Okay.”
Varvara and Daria were indeed in the living room. Tucked away in one corner were a few kitchen chairs and most of the blankets in the house, forming a cozy fort.
It reminded Natasha of when she’d built them with Cooper and Lila.
“Knock knock,” she said as she crouched in front of the ‘door’ to the fort.
She heard the shuffle before a body launched from behind the blankets, tackling her and in the process knocking most of the fort down.
“Hey,” Natasha laughed as Varvara wrapped around her.
“Auntie Nat!” Varvara chirped. Daria, who had been revealed in the wake of half their fort collapsing, moved to shuffle closer on her knees and waited until Natasha held an arm out to her to cuddle close.
“I heard today is a bit of a rough day for everyone,” Natasha commented.
Varvara screwed her face up. “Yeah. It majorly sucks. But today is a quiet day so Ria and I won’t make much noise.”
“How would you like to go out for the day with me?” Natasha asked.
Varvara eyed her immediately, suspicion crossing her face. “For what?” she demanded.
“I thought we could go to the zoo,” Natasha suggested. She saw Daria’s face light up before the young girl peered over at her sister and saw the frown there, the grin falling.
“Can’t,” Varvara grunted out, peeling away from Natasha. “‘Rina’s got a migraine and Nia’s having a red day. Alice is having a very bad day. Ma had to take her out of the house.”
“I thought I could just take the two of you,” Natasha suggested.
Varvara squinted at her. “Why?” she asked.
Natasha wasn’t sure what ‘why’ she was asking or how to answer. She finally settled on, “I thought it might be fun. You won’t have to be so quiet if you’re not here.”
Varvara seemed to weigh her options. Daria crawled away from Natasha to plaster herself to Varvara’s side, her fingers tangling into the fabric of the older girl’s band tee. Varvara peered down at her little sister and softened.
“I’ll have to ask Vikki,” she finally stated. Natasha knew she simply couldn’t handle the decision herself and needed someone else to make it for her. “Be right back.”
Varvara tumbled to her feet and darted out of the living room, socks sliding across the hardwood floor. Daria glanced back at Natasha and picked at the thread on her pastel pink hoodie.
Varvara was gone for a little longer than it should take for her to simply ask Viktoria but Natasha didn’t rush her. At the moment, Daria was content to snuggle back up against her.
Finally, the red-haired girl reappeared and nodded her head. Daria squirmed in excitement and broke free from Natasha’s hold where the two girls disappeared together to presumably get dressed.
Natasha left a note on the fridge for Yelena detailing what she had done. The last thing she needed was for Yelena to not be able to find her kids and for Viktoria to forget to mention where they had gone.
The girls slid back into the room as Natasha placed the note under a magnet shaped like a flamingo. Varvara had merely exchanged her baggy band tee for another one and changed her pajama bottoms for denim jeans with holes in the knees. Daria had exchanged her hoodie for a long-sleeved baby blue shirt that covered her hands save for the tips of her thumbs and pastel purple sweatpants.
“Are you ready?” she asked them.
“Can Popper come?” Varvara inquired.
It took a few moments for Natasha to remember who Popper was. Then she spotted the toy peeking out from Varvara’s jean pocket.
“I don’t want him to get lost,” Natasha said carefully. She recalled the one time Yelena called her in a wreck because Ksenia could not find her favorite blankie and the girl had a meltdown.
“We’ll be careful,” Varvara promised. Daria looked up at her hopefully and Natasha sighed before smiling at them and agreeing.
The girls squished together in the back of the car despite the room they could have. Varvara sat next to the window and Daria pressed against her, head resting on her shoulder to peer out the window as Natasha drove.
It was a windy day and the sun was beating down so Natasha worried that Daria would get too hot but she knew that the reptile exhibits were usually always cool inside.
Natasha had taken Clint’s kids to the zoo dozens of times and they always looked at the place in awe, but that would not even describe the wide-eyed wonder the teenagers in the back seat displayed when they caught sight of the zoo from behind the gates.
It was busier than Natasha would have liked but she’d deal with that. She parked the car and they all got out but before Natasha could step more than a few feet away from it, a hand desperately grabbed onto her arm. She peered down at Varvara who had a nervous look on her face.
“What is it?” Natasha inquired.
The girls exchanged a look. Varvara looked hesitant to say anything at first.
“Is something the matter?” Natasha prodded a little.
“What are the rules?” Varvara finally blurted out, Daria nodding her head fervently next to her.
“Rules?” Natasha echoed. She felt a little off-kilter but quickly righted herself. “Okay. This place is big and it might get crowded so I want you two to stick to where I can see you, okay?”
Varvara’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Okay. Anything else?”
“I think that’s the most important one I can think of,” Natasha admitted.
Daria nudged her sister and Varvara glanced at her. They held a conversation with looks alone before Varvara peered back at Natasha with another hesitant look.
“What about punishment?” she asked. “For-- for breaking the rule?”
Natasha reached a hand up and ran her fingers through her hair. She didn’t miss the small flinch Daria gave at the movement. “Well, you’re not going to intentionally run off, are you?”
“No,” Varvara’s face scrunched up. “But what if I forget, or--or I don’t realize it, or if it’s an accident!”
Natasha reached out to gently settle a hand on Varvara’s shoulder. The girl was tensed up under her touch. “There is a difference between intentionally breaking a rule or doing it on accident. If you break this rule on purpose then I think leaving early will be a fair punishment.”
“And on accident?” Varvara asked quietly.
“Then I’ll remind you about it,” Natasha said calmly. “It’s okay. Accidents happen. I won’t get angry with you about accidents.”
Varvara took a deep breath, her fingers twitching as she curled them into fists before nodding. “Okay.”
Natasha was glad to have defused the situation without too much of an issue. She guided the girls toward the ticket booth and bought them passes.
Once safely inside the zoo, Natasha plucked a map from its holder and opened it. The girls pressed against her to look at it too.
“Where do you want to start?” Natasha asked them.
Varvara jabbed a finger at a symbol on the map. “Reptiles. That’s where snakes are, right?”
“Yes,” Natasha agreed.
“Ooh, and birds!” Varvara moved her finger to tap the bird symbol. “And Daria’ll like the butterflies, right?”
Daria nodded her head.
“Where do you want to go?” Natasha asked Daria and tilted the map to let the girl get a better look at it.
Daria’s eyes scanned the pages before a smile crossed her lips and she reached out to poke a finger out from between the fabric of her sleeve and tapped the picture of the penguin.
“Oh, right, duh, she wants to see the penguins,” Varvara grinned. She patted her pocket where the head of Popper the stuffed penguin was sticking out.
“How about we make a big circle around the zoo like this,” Natasha suggested, trailing her finger along the path. “And then we’ll do the penguins last so we can spend as much time there as we like.”
The girls agreed so they took off to the right first.
Natasha noted very quickly that Varvara always stayed to one side of Daria to keep her in between them. It was like a bodily shield between the youngest and the rest of the zoo. If Daria noticed, she didn’t stop her.
Daria, on the other hand, kept brushing against Natasha. She would bump her hip, brush their arms together, grip the hem of her shirt, or even curl her fingers around Natasha’s wrist as if she wanted to hold her hand but was unsure if Natasha would actually let her. Varvara had no such qualms and would grab at Daria’s hand if she ever felt the girl reaching.
Varvara took great delight in reading the little signs beside each exhibit with facts about the animals on them. Natasha had never considered how well any of the girls could read until Varvara would stumble over certain words or turn to look at her to ask what certain ones meant.
Varvara’s newfound favorite word was hibernation. She thought it was a funny word and when she found out what it meant, her face twitched a little.
“Auntie Nat?” Varvara inquired as she stared at the dwarf lemurs.
“Yes?” Natasha watched as she stared very intensely at one of them.
“Do you think that being subjugated counted as hibernation?” Varvara inquired.
Daria turned, eager to hear the answer, and Natasha felt like she had just been doused in ice water.
“I don’t know,” she managed to croak out. Something must have shown on her face because Daria shrunk in on herself a little and started to walk away from the exhibit. Varvara reluctantly peeled herself away to follow after her.
They spent a surprisingly large amount of time with the red panda.
“The sign says a red panda is also called a lesser panda,” Varvara commented. “But why? What makes it lesser? Is it because it’s red?”
“I think it’s because it’s smaller,” Natasha said, watching as the two girls crouched in front of the window to observe a baby who was playing near the glass.
“Then they should have called it a smaller panda. Science people always overcomplicate things,” Varvara tutted. Daria giggled and Varvara grinned at her.
When they finally got to the reptile house, Varvara was a jittery ball of energy. The cool breeze inside the reptile building felt nice and Natasha was content to sit on a bench with Daria, who did not want to look at the reptiles, while Varvara bounced from reptile to reptile.
Then Varvara finally stopped in front of one exhibit and stared for a really long time. She didn’t move a muscle and as minutes passed a bubble of worry started to form in Natasha’s gut. She patted Daria’s knee before she stood and made her way toward Varvara.
“Everything okay?” she asked, peering into the glass to see a python curled up in the corner.
“Did you know,” Varvara started off quietly, “that snakes shed their skin? They do it up to a dozen times a year.”
“Yeah?” Natasha knew that but she was trying to dig deeper into what had made Varvara so off-kilter.
“The cells in the human body get replaced every day. But every seven years, every single one has been replaced.” Varvara was so quiet that a breathy whisper was barely audible between her lips. “Do you know what that means?”
“What?” Natasha asked just as quietly.
Varvara craned her head to peer up at her. “That means when I am twenty-five, I will be a whole new person. The Red Room will not have touched me.”
Varvara’s fascination with snakes suddenly made sense. Natasha’s heart hurt for the teenager standing next to her and all of the other girls who had been robbed of their childhood and innocence.
She didn’t know what to say. But sometimes the best thing to say was nothing at all, so Natasha merely held her arm out and let Varvara tuck herself against her side as they watched the snake for a few more moments before she gently coaxed Varvara to keep moving forward.
The gorilla exhibit was very crowded. Natasha hadn’t considered the circular layout of the five attached exhibits.
She missed it at first as Varvara’s face was nearly pressed to the glass sticking her tongue out at a gorilla who was mimicking her. But then her eyes went to search for Daria and she saw the girl rocking on her feet, rubbing her palms against her pants as she drew her shoulders up to her ears. She was getting overwhelmed by the crowds and noises
“Daria?” Natasha grew closer to her. Daria turned her head away from her and when Natasha tried to touch her shoulder, the girl jerked away. “Would you like to go someplace quieter?”
Daria’s face scrunched up. A little girl bumped into her trying to weave through people and a distressed whine escaped Daria’s lips.
“Come on,” Natasha reached for Daria’s hand hoping it would be the best way to guide her. Daria slapped her hand away just as a head of red hair popped up.
“Don’t touch her!” Varvara snapped at Natasha. The aggression in her tone took Natasha aback. Varvara then turned, wrapped her arms around Daria tightly, and picked her a few inches off the ground to move her away.
Natasha lost them in the crowd as Varvara quickly walked out of the exhibit. Luckily, it wasn’t too hard to spot them once she exited. The head of red hair and pastel shirt were easily picked out, the duo in a little nook off to the side. Daria had folded herself small and Varvara was wrapping her arms around Daria so tightly that it looked like it would hurt. Natasha couldn’t see Daria’s face from where it was tucked into Varvara’s chest.
As she approached the duo, she realized that Varvara was rocking rather roughly, tipping forward on her toes before dipping back onto her heels.
When Varvara saw her approach, she scowled at her. “Don’t touch,” she warned harshly.
“I won’t,” Natasha promised, holding her hands up. She settled a few feet away, feeling useless but knowing that she’d probably only make the situation worse.
Varvara continued the rocking motion. Her lips pressed to the top of Daria’s head and she mumbled too softly for Natasha to hear. It took nearly ten minutes before Daria’s face emerged from Varvara’s chest, bright red and tired. Natasha spotted Popper the stuffed penguin clutched against her chest tightly.
Varvara stated they were ready to keep moving. Natasha wanted to ask questions or inquire if Daria really was alright or if she wanted a break. But Daria didn’t protest, her fingers fisting a handful of Varvara’s shirt.
Daria slowly got content with pressing up against Natasha’s side, and she didn’t pull away when Natasha finally took her hand to hold.
Varvara seemed content that Daria was in good hands and strayed ahead. The girl was like a vibrating ball of energy that never ran out.
Natasha had looked away for only a moment but when she sought out Varvara again, she saw the girl had started to climb a metal statue of a tiger that had a plaque next to it with a very clear “DO NOT CLIMB” sign.
“Varvara!” Natasha called out, her tone firm. “Get down from there!”
Varvara immediately jumped off the statue, tripping over her shoes in her haste to scramble back to Natasha’s side. The guilt was painted on her face.
Before Natasha could say anything, Varvara burst out, “I’m sorry! Please don’t make us leave early! Daria hasn’t seen the penguins yet and--”
Natasha hadn’t anticipated how easily Varvara would spiral. “Woah, hey,” she reached out her free hand to touch Varvara’s cheek. “Look at me. Breathe. Come on.”
Varvara obediently inhaled.
“Good,” Natasha praised, ensuring her tone was softer. “I’m sorry I raised my voice. I’m not upset with you. We’re not going to leave early. We can still see the penguins.”
Varvara shuffled nervously on her feet. “Promise?”
“Promise,” Natasha said without hesitation and Varvara blew out a slow breath. “Let’s start making our way there now, hmm?”
They got there without any issues. Daria was delighted and immediately left Natasha’s side to get closer to the glass. She pressed her palms against them, face so close that her breath fogged up the glass.
“That one kinda looks like Popper,” Varvara said, nudging Daria and pointing to one in particular.
Daria pointed out the two penguins fighting and they watched as one pushed the other into the water. Daria then poked Varvara’s chest.
“Hey, Viktoria only threatened to throw me in the creek like four times but she never actually did it,” Varvara huffed with her hands on her hips.
Daria wiggled her fingers and made a small splashing noise with her lips, a grin stretching across her face.
“Oh yeah?” Varvara’s grin stretched out even more. “Well, if you wanna be a penguin so bad then I’ll throw you in there too!”
Varvara wrapped her arms around Daria and scooped her up, pretending to try and haul her up over the glass barrier that stretched well above their heads. Daria wiggled and kicked, little wheezes escaping her lips from how hard she was giggling. Varvara herself was laughing so much that she had a hard time keeping her balance, stumbling around.
“Auntie Nat!” Varvara called out. “Come help me chuck Daria into the pen!”
Natasha came over and accepted an armful of squirmy teenager. She took a moment as if she had to think whether to save Daria or not before she too pretended to throw the girl in. Then she scooped Varvara up and pretended to throw her in as well.
They spent an hour alone at the penguin exhibit watching the penguins. Daria had introduced them to Popper and Varvara had named each of them and narrated like they were in a nature documentary.
They sat on a bench by the exhibit the whole time. Natasha had a girl on either side of her, both pressed against her as they rocked or kicked their legs back and forth with excitement and joy. Natasha looked forward to when she could take all of the girls to the zoo.
Later, after she had returned the girls and met up with her sister, Yelena asked her, “So, was there any chaos?”
Natasha raised an eyebrow at her. “Have you even met your kids?”
Yelena gave her a wicked grin.
“They get it from you, you know,” Natasha added on. “You were the personification of a tornado as a child.”
“Life would be pretty boring without a little chaos,” Yelena shrugged. “Besides, it’s what makes them unique.”
Natasha laughed at that. She wouldn't have her nieces any other way.