Museum Fun Part 1
Well, I wasn't planning on updating this today but it just worked out! Part 2 will be out hopefully by next week. Enjoy!
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Turns out getting ready for said day took a bit longer than expected. Yelena could hardly hold still as she chatted on to her mother while she got dressed, telling her every small thing she could think of in the days she had been with her sister. Kate watched from the side, letting Wanda change her and put more cream on before helping her to get dressed. She was excited to go to the museum, Yelena’s Mama had told her there were dinosaurs there but also space ships! She couldn’t decide if she wanted to wear her T Rex hoodie or space ships, and wondered if she could wear both.
“Tash?” she asked, turning to the redhead.
“Yeah baby?” Natasha asked, looking away from the clothes she was looking through while Wanda washed her hands.
“I wear both?” Kate asked, holding up her hoodie and a space rockets shirt.
“Let’s take a look, ok?” Natasha said, kneeling next to Kate and looking at her choices. “I think we can do both, but it’s a bit cold outside so you’ll need to keep it zipped up until we get inside. Ok?”
“Okay!” Kate chirped, grinning and doing a tiny dance as she held her arms up to be dressed. Natasha chuckled as she pulled the shirt on, tickling the tiny belly playfully before giving her a once over.
“Wanda, I think little miss here seems to be missing something,” she mused, face mock serious as she tapped her finger on her chin.
“What?” Kate asked, looking down and poking at the rocket on her shirt.
“Pants,” Wanda stated, laughing when Kate looked at her bare legs in surprise.
“Do I gots to have pants?” Kate asked, wondering if she really needed them.
“Would you prefer a skirt?” Wanda asked.
“No, I’m good now!” Kate declared, spinning in place. Melina snorted from her spot on Yelena’s bed.
“Little hawkling wants to be a naked hawkling,” she laughed. “Yelena was the same way at your age, always wanting to take her pants off or not put them on.”
“Mama!” Yelena whined, embarrassed.
“Pants are icky, they feel funny,” Kate said, giggling as she continued to spin in circles.
“Why do they feel funny?” Melina asked, moving to sit cross legged on the floor.
“Itches,” Kate said, laughing as she fell down.
“That was a lot of spins, Katie,” Yelena said worriedly.
“Dizzy,” Kate agreed, humming happily when Yelena came and let Kate lean against her while she got her bearings.
“Did Kate have any sensory issues when she was an adult that you remember? I don’t really recall any that I can think of but I did not see her nearly as often,” Melina asked.
“Well, we didn’t really go shopping together that often but her go to was leggings. When we did go together, she would always feel the clothes before trying them on. Some of the denim would make her cringe. Hmm, maybe we can try a pair of leggings? They should be ok for going out with her jacket,” Natasha told her, thinking back to what she could remember. “Yelena usually went shopping with or for her, and come to think of it she would always have Kate feel whatever she bought her before letting her try it on.”
“Well, let’s try the leggings. Kate, detka, come feel these. These are pretty soft, can we try these on? It’s too cold to not wear something on your legs,” Wanda compromised, holding out a pair of thick leggings. Kate reached out a hesitant hand to touch them, smiling as she rubbed her hand on them.
“Soft,” she said, giving an approving nod before flopping onto her back and throwing her legs in the air.
“Well, alright then! Someone’s eager to get dressed,” Wanda laughed as she pulled on the tiny leggings.
“Wanna see the dinosaurs,” Kate said seriously, pushing herself to sit up once her pants were on and holding out her bare feet.
“Ok, your majesty, let me get these socks on for you,” Wanda said, putting on some Wall E socks before setting Kate on her feet.
“Go find your shoes and then we’ll do your hair,” Wanda ordered, patting her bottom a couple of times to get her moving.
Kate zoomed off, Yelena following behind as they both went for their shoes while the women all laughed at their antics.
“They are wonderful, you two are doing well with them,” Melina said, eyes shining with unshed tears.
“Thanks, it’s only been a couple of days but parenting is not nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be,” Natasha told her, reaching and squeezing Melina in a side hug.
“That’s how it was with you two. I thought it would be so much harder than it was, but you both made it easy for me to open my heart to you, even if I didn’t want to admit it,” Melina confessed, a few tears falling.
“Yes, I know. Now let’s get our heads on and our eyes dry, those two are ready for a day at the museum,” Natasha rasped, clearing her throat and blinking to make sure her eyes were clear.
“Yes, best not to keep two children waiting for long. They do not tend to be known for their patience,” Melina smirked, wiping her eyes before going into the living room. Yelena was on the floor, shoes on her feet with her laces partially tied as she helped Kate get her shoes on, making sure the velcro was secure once they were on.
“Look Mama, I helped get her shoes on,” Yelena chirped, pointing at Kate’s feet with a smile as the toddler gave her a tight hug in thanks.
“I see, you did a good job baby. Now come here so I can fix your own shoes,” Melina smiled, crouching down to redo Yelena’s shoelaces.
Alexei burst into the room a moment later, the diaper bag in hand almost bursting. Wanda raised a brow as she looked at the overflowing bag.
“Why is there so much stuff?” she asked warily.
“Well, children need so many things. Clothes, diapers, wipes, toys, snacks, so I packed extra so we are good the whole day!” he said proudly.
“Alexei, we only need a little bit of those things since we will only be gone for a few hours. But thank you for helping,” Wanda laughed as she took the bag back, taking out about half of the items. She kept the change of clothes and part of the diapers and wipes, but they didn’t need toys or snacks since they could get those at the museum. She was pretty sure you weren’t allowed to take food in anyway, but the sippy cups would be ok.
“Rexie go too?” Kate asked, hugging the dinosaur close to her chest.
“Ok, but only Rexie, ok? We don’t want to lose anyone if we take too many friends,” Wanda agreed, tucking a stray hair behind Kate’s ear as the toddler nodded.
“We’re gonna science!” Yelena yelled, throwing her arms in the air as Kate copied her.
“Science!” Kate shrieked, giggling when she lost her balance and fell on her bottom.
“Yes, science. It’s important to learn how things work,” Melina told them as she held her hand out for Yelena, the tiny blonde taking Alexei’s other hand and skipping between them. Kate watched them before turning to Natasha and Wanda, holding her good arm for them to take. Wanda took it and Natasha kept her hand on Kate’s head as they moved to the elevator.
The drive to the museum was strangely easy, both girls singing or dancing to the radio with Melina and Alexei sitting in the back. It was a bit cramped for the two adults but neither complained as they chatted with the girls, stopping to let the kids dance along at good songs. It seemed like no time had passed before they were parking in front of the science museum. Natasha noticed the faux fossil dig they had set up for a short time and glanced back at the girls, knowing they would love it. Deciding to keep it a surprise for now, she moved to help them get the girls and their stuff unloaded.
“Ok girls, same rules as last time, ok? You need to stay close to us, hold one of our hands at all times when we’re walking so we don’t get lost. If you’re doing an activity you just need to stay in sight, and Yelena, help us keep an eye on Kate please. If you want to do something by yourself just let us know, ok?” Natasha told them, making sure she got nods from both before holding her hands out to them and leading them inside, the rest of the family following behind her. Kate’s mouth dropped open as she looked around, tugging on Natasha’s hand.
“Tashi, look, a dinosaur!” she squealed, bouncing in place while staring up at the skeleton in the lobby.
“I see it, baby. Cool, isn’t it? Do you know what kind it is?” she asked, picking Kate up and hitching her on her arm before retaking Yelena’s hand.
“Umm… umm… it’s a bron…bon… brocktaporous!” Kate stammered.
“Brontosaurus?” Natasha asked, chuckling at the eager nod she got.
“Lena, did you see?” Kate asked, craning to look at her friend.
“Yeah, it’s so cool! Do you think we’ll get to see the rest?” Yelena asked, looking up at her sister.
“We will, don’t worry. Let’s get our tickets and get started,” she said as they moved to get in line. Looking at their options, she decided to go ahead and get them tickets to the IMAX movie, seeing the one about dinosaurs and knowing it would be a good fit. Once they got their tickets, she kept a hold of Kate while handing Yelena over to Wanda and Melina, leaving the diaper bag with Alexei.
“Ok girls, let’s take a bathroom break before we get started,” Wanda suggested, laughing at the twin groans as they headed to the restrooms. They didn’t take long, soon rejoining Alexei and moving into the first exhibit. Kate and Yelena oohed and aahed at the first station that showed different weather phenomena, both girls watching the video of virtual tornadoes and hurricanes forming over different areas.
“Why it spinning?” Kate asked, tracing the swirling vortex with her finger.
“Not on the screen, darling. So, when two different winds are going against each other and one is warmer than the other, sometimes the colder air goes over the warmer air and they form a vortex if the wind is going fast enough. This is why if you ever hear a tornado siren you are supposed to go where, Yelena?” Melina told them, looking to Yelena to see if she remembered their lessons from Ohio.
“You go in the closet with a blanket and sit down and cover your head,” Yelena recited, grinning when her mother praised her.
“Good girl, that is completely right. Now here in New York tornadoes aren’t very common but it’s important to listen when you have a warning as they can cause a lot of damage,” Melina told them as she went into teacher mode.
“Ok, gots to listen,” Kate agreed, giggling when Melina pat her head.
“Yes, you always listen to your Mama, she knows everything,” Alexei boasted, lifting Yelena up and tossing her in the air making her laugh.
“Daddy, stop,” she giggled, shrieking when he started to tickle her.
Moving away from the screen, there was a hands-on area just off to the side. They let the girls go free, splitting up to do a different activity with them. Yelena chose the hydrodynamics area, loving how she could use small blocks to cut off different water ways and make new paths. She had a mischievous grin as she used a few blocks together to plug up the water, flooding it over the side into the draining tray that was set up just for that reason. Yelena practically cackled as she splashed the water. Natasha snorted as Melina started to move the blocks.
“Ok, my little firefly, time to stop making the towns flood,” Melina joked.
“No, I like the towns flooded! More water to splash,” Yelena protested, getting a few more splashes in before the water leveled out.
“Oh my, seems we have an evil mastermind on our hands,” Natasha laughed as she led Yelena to the next station.
Kate was already there with Wanda and Alexei, working on building a bridge with tape and popsicle sticks. Wanda was explaining how it was a load bearing bridge, and how places like California used them to help keep the bridge stable but flexible against earthquakes. There were little weights near them, and once they were done building Kate carefully placed them one at a time while Alexei helped her count them out.
“One… two… tree,” she mumbled, watching her bridge wobble slightly but hold strong. They made it to 8 before the middle starts to bend, making Kate giggle at its imminent demise while she continues to put more weight on it.
“Thirteen!” she shrieked, laughing loudly when the bridge collapses in the middle.
“Good job, Kate Bishop. We do the hand slap, yes?” Alexei asked, holding his hand out and laughing loudly when she gave it a small slap.
“Lena, look, we broked it at thirteen!” Kate called, making the blonde turn to look at their fallen bridge.
“Yay?” Yelena asked, looking at her father and Wanda for confirmation that this was a good thing before giving a hearty applause when they both nodded that it was.
“What’s next?” Kate asked, eager to go to the next activity.
Melina led them over to an oversized sandbox with a projector shining down on it, showing what looked like an island surrounded by ocean. She showed them how when you moved the sand, it made small lakes and ponds or lost water to become a desert area. Animals were walking across the area, making the girls laugh as they ‘touched’ fish and lions that were roaming across the area.
“I touched it!” Kate said, bouncing in place as Yelena made a large sand pile to the side to make a large lake.
“Now everybody won’t be thirsty,” she told her mother, a big toothy grin on her face.
“You both are doing so well, good job. But maybe it’s time to move to the next exhibit, hmm? I think it may be outer space,” Melina said with a smile, laughing when they grabbed a hand each and pulled her along.
Time to go play in the stars!