Chapter 15
“Addie!” a small voice said happily, and Adelaide opened up her arms to greet little Nathaniel in a tight hug. He was her littlest cousin, and so cute, having just turned one and a half. Lily and Cooper ran to greet their dad, who was swinging Lily around in the air, but Nathaniel always came to her first.
“Hello, Nathan,” she said in greeting. She was the only one that called him that, for some strange reason, but it made it their special thing, so she didn’t mind. “How’s my favorite cousin?”
“Good!” he replied, giving her a toothy grin. “Dada home!” Oh, his half-sentences were one of her joys in life.
“I know! Want to go see him?”
“Uh-huh!” She picked him up and walked over.
“Look, Nathan!”
“Hey, little buddy!” Clint said, leaning over to grab his son from her. “Oh, I missed you!” He hugged Nathaniel tightly, and Lily greeted Adelaide with a smile and a hug.
“Hi, Addie,” she greeted. While she and Cooper were closer in age, Lily and Adelaide got along wonderfully. They were instant friends from the moment they met, despite their conflicting interests. Lily was definitely Daddy’s little princess, while Addie was more rough-and-tumble, but the two shared a love for books, and often spent hours talking about them. She and Cooper, on the other hand, shared of love of games and such. It didn’t matter the kind—video, board, card—they played all the time. There was a strict rule in place, however—no chess. It took about three games of her solidly beating him in under fifteen minutes for that rule to be made, but it was accepted, and the two were better for it. Speaking of, Cooper gave her a smile and a wave before picking Nathaniel up to go back inside. Adelaide slipped a hand into her father’s larger one and led him up the walkway to the porch of Clint’s house. His wife Laura was standing in the doorway, watching the reunion with a smile on her face. Lily was pulling Wanda along, eager to show her the latest drawing on the refrigerator, and Clint was following behind the group, hauling his bag.
“You’ll like it here, Daddy,” Adelaide informed him. “There’s lots to do, and Uncle Clint’s still remodeling the dining room, so he’ll need some help, because last time Aunt Laura nearly killed him for breaking the floor.”
“Oh, did he?” Bucky asked, looking back over his shoulder and Clint, who shot Adelaide a look.
“Traitor,” he said, but they all knew he didn’t mean it.
“You didn’t tell me to keep it a secret,” Adelaide replied, shrugged her shoulders innocently. She leaped up the steps to hug Laura, who smiled at her fondly.
“Hello again, Addie,” the woman greeted. “It’s nice to see you.”
“Hi, Aunt Laura. This is my dad, Bucky,” she introduced. “Daddy, this is Aunt Laura.” She ducked from under her dad’s arm around her shoulders to help Clint drag the heavy bags up the front steps. She took her bag and her father’s and led him inside while Clint greeted his wife.
“We stay up here, Daddy,” she said.
“You seem to know your way around here pretty well, myshka,” Bucky said. Adelaide nodded as she walked up the stairs.
“I’ve been here a lot,” she said. “Uncle Clint brought me and Wanda here a bunch while you were asleep. Plus, it’s a pretty small house.”
“I suppose it is, but don’t let Clint here you say that.”
“Oh, he knows. He’s planning on building an extension to it, and I told him that he’d better get you and Uncle Steve out here if he wants to do that, because he’ll need some help.”
“Keep him in line, do ya prinsessa?”
“I try. Here, Daddy. This is our room,” she said, pushing open a door and stepping inside.
When she had started coming over more often, Clint had converted the attic space into a bedroom for her, and she loved it. She could hear if someone shouted for her, and she could have space to herself when she needed it. She loved it.
“Wow, this is nice, kotenok,” he said as he entered.
“Yep.”
“Addie, we have cookies!” Lily’s voice called from downstairs.
“Coming!”
“Better hurry! Cooper’s already here!”
“Cooper Barton, you better save me some!” she yelled, ducking around her dad and down the stairs. Bucky laughed and shook his head as he followed her back down the stairs. Yeah, it was a good idea to come here.
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“B6.”
“Miss. C9.”
“Miss.”
“C6.”
“Hit. Dang it, Addie!” Cooper said in annoyance. “How are you so good at this?” Adelaide shrugged as she placed a red marker on her board.
“I dunno. You’re turn.”
“D5.”
“Hit. Yay, Coop!” He rolled his eyes.
“Third hit of the game, and you’ve already sunk two of my ships. Just go.” She heard their parents laughing as they watched the two of them play their second game of the evening. Lily and Wanda were drawing at the kitchen table while Cooper and Addie sat on the floor in the living room playing Battleship. Their parents were talking around them while Laura played with Nathaniel, but they were watching the oldest children play and banter happily.
“Okay. D6.”
“Hit. Sink. I hate you.”
“I know.”
“B7.”
“Hit. Coop, that’s two in a row! Aren’t you happy?”
“Stop. You’re not funny.”
“What are you talking about? I’m hilarious!” Cooper rolled his eyes again. Fifteen minutes later, Adelaide reigned victorious, and the children were being herded up to bed. Adelaide climbed into the bed, snuggling under the soft blankets happily.
“Goodnight, Adds!” Clint called upstairs.
“Night, Uncle Clint!” Bucky walked up the stairs and closed the door behind him, changing into his sleeping pants while Adelaide burrowed deeper into the covers. She was comfortable when her dad climbed in on the other side of her and let in all the cold air. “Ah! Daddy!” she yelped, curling in on herself to save her warmth.
“I’m sorry, myshka, but I had to get in somehow.” He made it up to her by pulling her into his chest and holding her there to let her soak up his warmth. “Better?” She nodded.
“Much.”
“Good.” He kissed the top of her head and turned off the lamp beside the bed. “Sweet dreams, Addie.” She kissed his cheek and snuggled back down.
“Night, Daddy. Love you.”
“I love you too, kotenok.”
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“Done!” Addie said loudly, slamming her pencil down. Tony cursed under his breath and stopped writing.
“That’s it,” he said, standing up. “I’m never doing this with you again.”
“But Uncle Tony—”
“Don’t ‘Uncle Tony’ me, young lady! You’ve beaten me for the last time!”
“But you promised!”
“Yes, well, that was before you finished solving your Calculus questions in under ten minutes. I’m done.” Adelaide looked at him with puppy dog eyes, which really had no right being on a sixteen year-olds face, but she was darn good at them. Tony shook his head and turned around.
“No, I am not caving this time! The puppy eyes won’t work on me!” She sighed and stood up, her boots making barely any noise on the tiled floor.
“Okay, Uncle Tony. Uncle Clint, Uncle Scott, Wanda, Pietro and I are going to the park to hear a live band today. We’ll be back sometime later this afternoon. See you later.” She left the room feeling slightly upset. Tony was the only one who could even keep up with her when it came to maths, and if he was done trying to race her, she’d have to go against Vision, and that was never any fun. Knowing her Uncle Tony, however, he’d either give in and keep racing her or come up with a computer program that wouldn’t work instantaneously and give her some competition. Her dad said her brain must be powered by lightning, because she acted faster than everyone except Pietro, but he had superpowers, so it was cheating to consider him. She grabbed her favorite jacket from her room and went down to meet everyone in the common room.
“There you are, Adds!” Clint greeted her.
“Ready to go, Adds?” Scott asked.
“Yep! I have everything!”
“Does Barnes know you are going with us?” Wanda asked, raising an eyebrow. It’d only happened once, and Adelaide had completely forgot to tell Bucky that she and Pietro were going to Florida for a day at the beach, and her father had nearly torn the Tower and the surrounding area apart looking for her. Yeah, she hadn’t been allowed out of his sight for two weeks after that. It was purely accidental, and it had never happened again, but no one let her live it down.
“Yes, Wanda, Daddy knows I’m going to Central Park to see a live band with all of you, and he knows I won’t be back ‘til later. And I just told Uncle Tony, plus I sent Uncle Steve a text. He’ll know I’m not MIA again.”
“Once is all it takes, eh myshka?” Pietro asked, a teasing grin on his face. He’d taken up that particular nickname from her father, and it’d become a part of their daily banter.
“I still blame you for that. You were so excited I forgot to tell him,” she said as they entered the elevator.
“I will accept that.”
“I set him straight, Addie,” Wanda assured her. “He will be much more patient in the future.” The group exited the elevator and climbed into one of Tony’s cars that was more conspicuous, Clint putting the car in gear and driving off.
“I’m not really that upset at you, Pietro,” Adelaide said to the speedster. “I know everything seems so slow to you, and you just wanted to go.”
“I know, myshka,” he said, ruffling her hair. “But I am trying to be more patient.” The group talked back and forth while Clint drove and found a place to park near Central Park. Climbing out and working their way across the street to the park entrance, Adelaide was giddy with happiness. She was very excited. She’d never seen a live band before, and it was just a cover band, but she was eager to see what they sounded like. The group found a spot near where the group would be performing and sat down. Clint climbed the tree and sat on a low branch, while Scott and Wanda laid out a blanket and a chair. Scott claimed the chair, and Wanda sat on one corner of the blanket, leaning against the tree. Pietro sprawled out on the rest of the blanket, and Adelaide landed on his abdomen, sending the air out of him with a whoosh. “You’re getting heavy, myshka,” he said, looking down where she was using his stomach as a pillow.
“Well, that’s what you get for taking up all of the blanket,” she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. The band was queuing up their instruments, and Adelaide sat up eagerly. She heard her family laughing quietly at her excitement, but she didn’t care. The lead singer introduced them, then they launched into their first song of the night. There wasn’t a large crowd, but people passing by would stop and listen for a bit before continuing on.
The song ended, and the people around clapped for the band, who waved and smiled before continuing on to the next song.
The next song received the same response, and Adelaide shot her family members a wide grin, mouthing a thank you to her Uncle Scott, who had found out about this performance. He smiled back at her and squeezed her shoulders fondly. The band played a few more songs, and the lead singer talked a bit and interacted with the crowd gathered there before announcing their last two songs of the night. Adelaide was using Pietro’s stomach as a pillow and looking up at the stars overhead as the song played. Wanda was curled up on his other side, her head resting on his shoulder, and Clint had taken up her previous spot at the base of the tree. Scott hadn’t moved from the chair, and it was looking like he wasn’t planning on it anytime soon.
She felt someone sit down next to her, and she looked up to see who it was. She nearly squealed and jumped up, hugging her dad around the neck and squeezing tightly. “Hi! What are you doing here?” she asked, pulling back to look at him. “I thought you were spending the day with Uncle Steve.”
“I did,” Bucky replied, “but I wanted to come spend time with my daughter.”
“Daddy, I’ve only been here a few hours.”
“What? I’m not allowed to miss my little kotenok?”
“It’s not that, Daddy, you know that. I missed you too.” Bucky pulled her into his lap, and she sat there as the band launched into its final song of the night.
The song ended, and the crowd stood to give a standing ovation to the band, who bowed and waved, smiles across their faces. Adelaide stood and clapped and cheered, and Clint whistled loudly. The group stood under the tree as the crowd began to disperse, and Adelaide helped Pietro to his feet with a strong pull. Once the area was a bit quieter, they walked over to the large fountain nearby and sat, letting Wanda and Adelaide throw pennies into it for the sheer fun of it. Then, they made sure everything was all packed up and started back towards Tony’s car. “You guys go on,” Bucky said. “Addie and I will be along in a minute.”
“Sure thing, Barnes,” Clint said. “See you back at the Tower.” The others said their goodbyes and headed off.
“What’s wrong, Daddy?”
“Nothing, printsessa. I just wanted to spend time with you.” The park was darker now, but there was still enough light to see. Plus, Avengers’ Tower was visible from where they were, so they wouldn’t get lost even in worst-case scenarios. The two walked over to the lake and stood on the shore, looking at the sunset reflected in the water. “Myshka, I’m very proud of you,” he said suddenly, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her to him.
“For what?”
“Being a strong girl, not giving up. Being kind. Finishing school faster than anyone I’ve ever known. Using your powers for good. All of it. I’m proud of my little girl.”
“Daddy, I’m almost sixteen.”
“Hush. You’ll always be my little kotenok. No matter how old you get.”
“Even when I’m as old as you and Uncle Steve?”
“Even then. I promise.” She smiled and kissed his cheek.
“Okay, Papa. I love you, and I understand. I’ll always be your little girl, even when I can flip you in under five minutes.”
“Oh, I’d like to see you try, rukavitsy.” She glared at him, and he burst into laughter, the sound of it echoing through the air. He pulled her after him as he walked toward the Tower, smiling and ruffling her hair fondly.