Come Rain or Come Shine

“Mama, I want a hot dog.” Alya announced from her place in her mother’s arms. 

After all, that's where she was most of the time. Natasha didn't mind one bit. She loved having her little baby close to her and she planned to enjoy it while it lasted. Once Alya hit those teen years, she was going to be even more driven and independent than she was now.

“You want a hot dog, what?” She questioned, trying to prompt the small child to use her manners. 

Alya was so polite most of the time, but there were instances where she did forget. But it was usually only around family, so Natasha didn't have anything to worry about.

“On a bun.” Alya deadpanned, not really catching what the redhead was getting at.

She just knew that she was hungry because her tummy was growling like a monster. The last thing she ate, was breakfast before they drove down here.

It was the Fourth of July and it was Steve's birthday, so they had to celebrate. Steve was the one who came up with the idea of heading down to Coney Island and soaking in some sun and everyone was completely on board with it.

“A hotdog on a bun, what?” Natasha remained patient.

“With ketchup.” Alya played with her mother's hair.

“A hotdog on a bun, with ketchup, what?”

Alya frowned and counted all her thoughts on her little fingers, confused as to why Natasha was making her walk through this. But then her brain connected the dots and she smiled brightly. “Please!”

Natasha kissed her nose, returning the smile. “Good girl. Go with Tetushka and I’ll get you something to eat, okay?”

It was time for lunch anyway, so she might as well get something for everyone instead of just Alya. That was going to take a while and she knew that Alya wouldn't have the patience to stand and wait, so it was better to send her off to play.

“Noooo.” Alya shook her head. “I wanna stay with you.”

“Look.” Natasha pointed at her sister. “Wanda’s there with her. And your cousins are there, too. It looks like they’re having a lot of fun. I’d hate for you to miss out on it.”

The Bartons had flown up just to spend some time with the family. Wanda and Alya had been too delighted to spend time with their cousins, which gave the adults some time to spend together.

Alya looked over at the them, trying to decide whether or not she wanted to get down and join them.

It did look like fun, but she'd rather stay right where she was.

“Uncle Steve looks like he could use a big kiss.”

That was something Natasha knew would work. Alya and Steve were tighter than bark on a tree. They had a very special connection that couldn't be broken.

There was no way Alya was going to refuse to take that suggestion.

Alya’s arms tightened around her mother’s neck before she wiggled out of her grip, running over to where her uncle and her father were sitting under an umbrella. 

And just like that, Natasha's plan worked.

“Happy birthday!” The little girl grinned, giving Steve a big kiss on the cheek. 

“Thank you, Princess.” Steve chuckled.

This had to be the thirtieth time she said it for the day, but he never got annoyed and he never told her to stop. It was coming from a genuine place of love, so he was going to enjoy it.

Alya was at the age where love, hugs, and kisses were free, so everyone soaked up as much as they could.

“I’m gonna go play now.” She giggled, turning to scamper off.

“Hold on a minute.” Bucky managed to catch her arm and pull her back. “You need some sunscreen.”

The last thing he needed, was for her to burn under this hot sun. Her skin was still baby soft and a lot more sensitive than everyone else's, so they had to pay extra attention to her.

He already lathered Wanda up, so she was good to go and wouldn't need another dose for another couple of hours.

“Nuh uh.” The four year old shook her head. “It’s icky.”

Sunscreen was worse than lotion. It was so thick and hard to rub in. It didn't even feel good on her skin.

“You don’t want a sunburn, Scamp.” Bucky told her, pouring a good amount of sunblock onto his hands before rubbing it into her arms and legs while she squirmed.

But this wasn't his first rodeo. He knew how to handle wiggle worms.

“Cold!” Alya squealed, trying to push his hands away to no avail. “I wanna do it myself.”

That was a phrase they heard around on the house very often.

“I’ll let you do it in a minute.” He promised, moving to her face before covering her back.

“I can do it now?”

“Here.” The man, poured a little bit into her hand. “Put that on your chest.”

Alya beamed at the thought of doing something by herself and glopped the cream right onto her chest, rubbing it in until she couldn’t see it anymore all while being careful not to get any on her bathing suit.

“Good job, Pal.” Her father smiled. “Now go play.”

Alya looked back at everyone who was playing and frowned. They were playing catch and she wasn’t very good at it. She could never catch the ball and it only frustrated her.

“Would you rather sit here with me?” Laura asked, opening up her arms.

“Yeah.” Alya nodded and plopped down onto her lap. She hadn't seen her Auntie Laura in a while and she had no problems in sitting with her and having her attention. 

Her lack of movement caught Lila’s attention and the eight year old quickly came bounding over to them with a frown on her face. Being the only girl in the family, Lila was downright obsessed with treating Alya as if she were her baby sister.

Of course, she had Nate, who was the same age as Alya, but he was her brother. Brothers were so much different than sisters.

Not that she'd know.....but still.

If it was anyone else treating her that way, Alya might be offended, but she liked Lila’s attention.

“How come you’re not playing?”

“Alya’s relaxing for a while, Lila.” Laura smiled.

Lila nodded and sat down in between her and her father, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She was tired of playing anyway.

Alya whined a little, prompting Laura to shift her so that they were facing each other, pressing her head to her chest. She had gotten up early that morning and it was almost time for her nap. Laura knew a sleepy child when she saw one.

The preschooler’s hand went up in search for something to hold onto and found the strap to Laura’s bathing suit top.

Just before she could properly drift off, Natasha came back with a tray full of hot dogs, setting it on the ground. She didn’t need to say anything, everyone could smell the food and flocked over as quickly as they could.

“Is she asleep?” Natasha asked Laura.

“No.” Laura shook her head. “She’s on her way out.”

“Good, I want her to eat first.”

Laura sat Alya up, fully prepared for the tired child to burst into tears over being disrupted. “I know, I know. I’m sorry.” She soothed, rubbing her back. “I’m sorry.”

“Look, Alya, there’s hotdogs.” Wanda tried to cheer her up.

She was actually impressed by how long Alya had gone without getting fussy. She was bound to get tired at some point.

But Alya only cried harder and reached out for her mother, who wasted no time in scooping her up onto her lap.

“Okay.” The redhead let her cry. “That was so mean, I know. Mama should’ve put you down earlier, I know. But look.” She showed her the hotdog she asked for. “Hungry?”

Alya sniffled and looked at her mother with those big eyes of hers before nodding and taking the hotdog. She felt much better when she bit into it, her tears slowing down significantly.

“Good?” Natasha pushed some flyaways away from her face as she ate her own hotdog. 

“Yeah.” Alya nodded, doing a content little wiggle.

“Mama, I wanna go swimming, please.” Alya announced after waking up from her nap.

As soon as she finished her lunch, her eyelids fluttered closed and she napped heavily for the next hour or so. The heat also added an extra sense of sleepiness that was hard to fight off.

“Drink some water first.” Natasha held her own water bottle to the four year old’s lips, watching her gulp greedily. “All done?”

“Yeah.” Alya stood up and tried to run to the water, but Natasha stopped her.

“Stay by me, sweet girl.” She took her hand and led her to the shore.

When it came to water, Alya was fearless. Her parents had no issues in teaching her how to swim. They actually struggled to get her out of the water.

Alya splashed into the water once she was close enough and Natasha let go of her hand, letting her hop around to her heart’s content. The cold water felt good under the hot summer sun and the waves knocked her over every time.

After standing up for the fourth time, Alya lifted her arms, signaling that she wanted her mother to carry her, but the woman pointed a finger at Bucky who was tossing Wanda and her cousins in the water.

Alya’s entire face lit up and she swam over, tugging on her father’s arm, raising her own.

“You wanna play, too?” He pretended to be tired. “I don’t know, Pal. My arms are tired.”

But Alya didn’t move a muscle. She didn't believe him for a second.

Bucky smiled and lifted her up, tossing her in the air and catching her a couple of times while she giggled. “Ready?” He made eye contact with Steve to make sure he was ready to catch Alya if she needed it.

“Yeah!” Alya kicked her feet in unbridled excitement.

“Go!” The man tossed her and watched as she flew up in the air, only to come down, splashing at the surface, before she went under.

Automatically, Alya’s feet began to kick their way above the water, allowing her to take a breath. Steve watched as she did so, his hands ready to pull her up if she needed him.

“Swim back to me, Scamp.” Bucky moved further away from them.

Alya grabbed Steve’s hands to give herself a break before she pushed off and swam to her father. Because of her size, she was a little slow, but she got there and that’s all that mattered.

“Good girl!” Bucky praised, lifting her up once she got close enough. He was so proud of the way she dove into these things head first. “Do you want to go play with your sister?”

“Yeah.” She nodded quickly.

“Okay, make sure you don’t go in too deep.”

Alya nodded and swam over to her sister, latching onto her once she was there. Wanda didn’t think twice before placing Alya on her hip as she treaded the water, continuing her in-depth conversation with Cooper. 

She just loved days like this.

Everything just seemed to stand still. 

“Are you excited for the fireworks?” Lila asked Alya, steadily carrying her on her hip the way her mother always did with Nate. 

“Yes.” Alya nodded.

“Lila, you don’t have to carry her.” Clint chuckled. It was cute to see, but Lila wasn’t much bigger than Alya. The younger girl's feet were practically dragging on the ground. “She can walk.”

“Leave her alone.” Natasha chortled. “She’s carrying her baby.”

Lila smiled in satisfaction and tightened her grip on her cousin as the firework show began to start.

Everyone was enamored by the different shapes and colors that littered the night sky. It was certainly a sight to see.

Alya frowned at how loud everything was and covered her ears. She didn’t remember anything being this loud. She could hardly think.

“Look.” Lila pointed at the new round of fireworks going off.

As soon as the gunpowder exploded, Alya screamed and squirmed out of Lila’s arms, her hands still clamped over her ears. She ran over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her legs, wanting not even a single part of what was going on.

“I know it’s loud, baby.” Natasha felt bad because she didn’t know that the four year old would react like this. She and Bucky avoided going to firework shows for the past few years until they felt Alya was old enough to handle it. “But look. It’s pretty.”

“No!” Alya refused.

There was no convincing her. It was just too loud.

When she didn't like something, that was that.

“Come with me, Alya.” Wanda tapped her shoulder, having heard the commotion.

Alya bit her lip, not wanting to leave their mother, but Wanda had been sitting on a beach chair that was further away from the fireworks. If she was further away, then she couldn’t get hurt.

She allowed her sister to take her hand and pull her back over to her seat, pulling her onto her lap, facing her away from all the ruckus so she couldn’t see it.

“It’s scary, huh?” Wanda swiped her thumb across Alya’s cheeks. “I used to be afraid of fireworks.”

She, like her sister, didn't do very well with loud, booming noises. They used to freak her out so much that Bucky and Natasha were forced to buy her noise cancelling headphones to soothe her.

“Too loud.” Alya pouted, pulling on her ear. “Don’t like fire.”

“It can’t hurt you. It sounds like it can, but it can’t.” Wanda moved the child's hand from her ear.

“Why not?”

“Because I won’t let it.” The older girl spoke firmly. “Relax, Baby Sister."

Alya took what she said into consideration. She trusted Wanda. If Wanda said that those fireworks couldn’t hurt her, then she must’ve been telling the truth. She still didn’t like how loud they were, but if they couldn’t get to her, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

The four year old watched as her sister leaned over and pulled a towel out of the beach bag before she draped it over her, blocking everything out. She whined a little at the idea of being completely covered up, but Wanda shushed her.

“It’s time for bed anyways.” She told the little one, giving her love taps to keep her calm. “Go to sleep.”

Alya didn’t argue, she just stuck her thumb in her mouth and rested her head on her sister’s chest. It was dark out by now, so Wanda knew that it was way past Alya’s bedtime. Their parents were going to allow her to stay up because it was a special occasion, but since they were just sitting here, she might as well go to sleep.

Natasha turned around to make sure everything was alright and gushed at the sight of the two kids, tapping Bucky so that he could see it, too.

Bucky smiled and snapped a couple of pictures with his camera before pressing a kiss to his wife's lips. 

The couple felt like they were the luckiest people on earth. They had each other, they had a wonderful and supportive family, and they had two girls of their own.

Two of the sweetest, kindest, individuals that loved their parents just as much as their parents loved them.

That was more than enough reason to celebrate.