"i'll be right here if you need anything."
Natasha sighed as she watched Tony's car pull away from the Avengers compound. She was happy to help watch Penny and Morgan while Tony and Pepper were away, but dealing with a teenager hopped up on pain meds after wisdom tooth surgery was not exactly how she wanted to spend her weekend.
"Okay girls, let's head inside," Natasha said, putting an arm around a wobbly Penny and taking Morgan's hand.
"I feel funny," Penny mumbled, leaning heavily against Natasha as they walked.
"That's the anesthesia still wearing off," Natasha explained patiently. "It'll take a few hours before you're back to normal."
They got Penny settled on the couch, propping her up with pillows. Morgan plopped down next to her, smiled and poked Penny's puffy cheek.
"You look silly!" Morgan giggled.
"Ow, careful little munchkin, I'm still sore," Penny said, though she was grinning goofily.
Natasha handed Penny an ice pack wrapped in a towel. "Here, hold this against your cheek, it'll help with the swelling."
Penny took it obediently and held it to her face. "Thanks Mom," she said.
Natasha raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Did you just call me Mom?"
Penny's eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed in alarm.
Natasha chuckled and patted her shoulder. "It's okay котенок, the drugs are just messing with your head. I know you didn't mean it."
Penny looked immensely relieved. She leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. Natasha tucked a blanket around her and Morgan.
"You two rest, I'll be in the kitchen prepping some soft foods for you both for lunch."
Natasha left them snuggled up on the couch and went to go scrounge up some soup, mashed potatoes, apple sauce and other soft foods that would be gentle on Penny's sore mouth and stitches. She made enough for Morgan too, not wanting her to feel left out.
About an hour later, she heard Morgan calling for her from the other room.
"Auntie Nat, I think there's something wrong with Penny!"
Natasha hurried back to the living room to find Penny quietly weeping, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"What's wrong?" she asked in concern, sitting down and brushing the hair back from Penny's face.
"I just...I just..." Penny hiccuped between sobs. "I was thinking about the musical Hadestown...and it's just so sad! Why did it have to end like that? Why couldn't Orpheus and Eurydice have their happy ending?" She dissolved into tears again.
Natasha had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Of all the things for Penny to be crying over right now.
"There, there," she soothed, rubbing Penny's back. "I know, it's very tragic. But sometimes stories have sad endings."
Penny just wailed louder. "It's not fair! I hate this!"
"Do you want me to play some happy songs for you?" Natasha offered. "That might help cheer you up."
Penny nodded, sniffling pitifully. Opening Spotify, Natasha racked her brain, trying to think of upbeat songs she could play to distract the distraught teenager. She settled on some cheerful show tunes, figuring those would appeal to Penny's musical sensibilities.
She played a medley of songs from RENT, Chicago and Wicked, dramatically belting out the lyrics. Penny and Morgan giggled at her theatrical performance. By the time Penny was listening to a rousing rendition of "Defying Gravity," she seemed to have forgotten about her sorrow over Hadestown.
"Lunch is just about ready," Natasha told them. "Why don't you wash up and then we'll eat."
Natasha helped Penny to the bathroom to wash her hands and check the gauze pads in her mouth. Fortunately there was only a little bit of bleeding.
When they sat down to eat, Natasha made sure Penny's food was cut into tiny pieces and spoon fed her the potatoes to avoid her having to chew much.
Penny sighed after swallowing a spoonful. "This sucks. I wanna be able to eat normal food."
"I know. But you have to let your mouth heal. Just a few more days and you'll be able to move on to more solid foods," Natasha said.
Penny pouted, but took another bite of mashed potatoes. Morgan chattered away happily, telling Natasha about a project she was working on for school and updating her on the antics of her alpaca stuffed animal Gerald. Penny mostly just listened silently, occasionally reaching out to ruffle Morgan's hair affectionately.
After they finished eating, Morgan went off to play in her room. Penny decided she wanted to watch a movie. Natasha got her set up watching Star Wars movies, hoping the familiar, comforting movie franchise would keep Penny in good spirits.
About halfway through the Return of the Jedi though, Penny started sobbing again. Natasha came rushing back, alarmed.
"What's wrong now, Penny?"
"My mouth huuurts," Penny wailed. "It's throbbing where they took out my teeth. And I can feel the stitches with my tongue which is kinda gross and I'm scared I'm gonna get a dry socket."
Natasha checked the time. "It's been about four hours since your last pain meds, I'll get you your next dose."
She retrieved the prescription pills and a glass of water. Penny swallowed the pill then grabbed Natasha's arm.
"Will you sit with me?" she pleaded, eyes big and sad.
"Of course." Natasha settled comfortably on the couch and Penny immediately curled up against her, laying her head on Natasha's shoulder.
Natasha stroked her hair soothingly. "Try and rest. I'll be right here if you need anything."
Penny clung to her like a baby koala. Normally she wasn't quite this snuggly, but Natasha didn't mind. The poor kid was in pain and pumped full of drugs. If her cuddling up to Natasha like this brought her comfort, then Natasha was happy to oblige.
Morgan came out a little while later and nestled against Natasha's other side. The three of them stayed like that cozily until Penny drifted off to sleep. Natasha managed to detach herself from the snuggly teenager and tucked a blanket around her.
A couple hours later Penny shuffled sleepily out of the living room.
"Hi sweetie, how are you feeling now?" Natasha asked.
"Uggghhh," Penny grunted. "My mouth tastes nasty. And I'm so sick of only being able to eat mushy stuff. I want real food!"
Natasha patted her shoulder sympathetically. "Tell you what, tomorrow I'll puree some chicken noodle soup in the blender so it's perfectly smooth. That should make it easier to eat but still taste like real food."
Penny brightened a little at that. "Ooh yum, thanks Mom!" Her eyes widened. "Ack, I did it again!"
Natasha laughed. "It's fine, I don't mind." And she found she genuinely didn't. There was something kind of sweet about Penny accidentally referring to her that way.
Over the next couple days, they settled into a routine. Natasha kept Penny supplied with pain meds, ice packs and lots of soft, pureed foods. Morgan kept them both entertained with her playful antics.
To Natasha's amusement, Penny accidentally called her Mom several more times. She was pretty out of it on painkillers, so Natasha knew she didn't mean anything by it. Still, she couldn't deny that it made her feel kind of happy inside.
Four days after her surgery, Penny was feeling well enough for a very special visitor. Natasha brought her girlfriend MJ to the compound for a visit. As soon as MJ walked in, Penny burst into tears.
"W-what are you doing here?" she asked through her tears.
"Come on loser, did you really think I wouldn't come visit my favorite dork after her surgery?" MJ said affectionately, hugging Penny gently and kissing the top of her head.
Penny clung to her, sniffling. "I missed you."
MJ smoothed back her hair. "I know. But I'm here now."
She sat with Penny on the couch, holding her hand while Penny lay with her head in MJ's lap. Natasha looked on with a soft smile. Those two girls really were sweet together.
Morgan came racing over when she spotted MJ.
"MJ!" she cried joyfully. Morgan adored MJ almost as much as Penny did.
MJ grinned and opened her other arm for Morgan to hug her. "Hey squirt! Keeping busy torturing your sister while she can't fight back?"
Morgan giggled gleefully. "Yeah! Yesterday I drew a monocle and mustache on her while she was napping!"
"You little rascal," MJ laughed, ruffling Morgan's hair.
They spent the afternoon hanging out together, keeping things lowkey for Penny's sake. MJ was endlessly patient with Penny's mood swings as she continued to recover. Natasha watched the three girls with a full heart. She really did love them all as if they were her own daughters.
When it was time for MJ to leave, Penny clung to her again. "Noooo don't go yet," she pleaded.
"Don't worry, I'll come back to visit again soon," MJ reassured her, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
Penny finally let go, lower lip wobbling. Natasha put an arm around her shoulders.
"How about we have a pajama party tonight?" she suggested. "We can build a blanket fort, eat ice cream, and watch movies."
That seemed to distract Penny from her sadness. "Oooh yes, let's do it!"
The three of them constructed an elaborate blanket fort in the living room and stuffed themselves with ice cream. They watched silly comedies until both girls fell asleep cuddled up to Natasha like puppies.
A few days later, Tony and Pepper returned from their trip. Natasha met them at the door.
"Welcome back! How was the trip?"
"Productive, though tiring," Pepper said. "How did things go here?"
"Yeah, how's my girl doing post-surgery?" Tony asked.
"Penny's doing well," Natasha assured them. "She had some rough moments, but nothing I couldn't handle. Morgan was a delight as always."
As if on cue, Penny and Morgan came barreling down the stairs.
"Dad! Mom!" Morgan shouted joyfully, flinging herself into her parents' arms.
Penny greeted them more calmly, giving Pepper a gentle hug. "Hey Aunt Pepper, glad you guys are back."
She turned to Tony and threw her arms around him. "Dad, I missed you!"
Then her eyes went huge. "Oh crap, I did not mean to call you that!" she blurted.
Tony blinked in surprise then grinned. "No no, I kinda like it actually."
He ruffled her hair playfully. Penny looked immensely relieved that he wasn't offended.
Pepper came over and cupped Natasha's face in her hands. "Thank you so much for taking care of our girls. I don't know what we'd do without you."
"Of course. I love spending time with them," Natasha said warmly.
"Why don't you both stay for dinner?" Tony suggested. "It's the least we can do after you essentially acted as nanny and nursemaid while we were away."
Pepper readily agreed. They had a cozy family dinner together, with plenty of laughter and love to go around.
Later that night after Penny had been picked up by May, and everyone else had turned in for bed, Natasha lay awake thinking. She really had come to see those girls as her own daughters. And if she was being honest with herself, she loved it when Penny accidentally called her Mom.
She knew Penny and Morgan both had strong maternal figures in their lives with Pepper and May. But still...maybe they had a little room in their hearts for one more maternal figure.
Smiling to herself, Natasha rolled over and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of her little family.