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Tasha sat between Clint's legs on the pool chair, engrossed in her coloring book. She was pretty good at staying inside the lines but she never made much effort to do so. He breathed in the soft scent of her skin, one of baby oil and powder.
A cutting sort of pain crossed his heart at moments like this, when Natasha was sweet as cherry pie and she was their precious girl and nothing else. She wore a red polka dot bikini top, modest and nothing like the enticing contraption big Tasha would wear, accompanied by an adult swimming diaper that Tony had especially developed for little Tasha.
"Mommy," Tasha drops the crayon in her hand and points to where Pepper, Tony, and Steve are swimming in the pool. "Want mommy." Her hand makes a fist and she swings it in a futile gesture, eyes turning to him in question.
He smiles and wordlessly sets the crayons and coloring book aside, takes her hand and leads her over to the edge of the pool. He jumps in first and helps her in, lets her cling until they reach the others.
"Hey guys." Steve greets, swims over and kisses Clint on the mouth and Tasha on the cheek.
"She wanted her mommy," Clint explains when he passes her over to Pepper, the weightlessness of the water enabling her to hold her baby girl for once.
"Mommy," Tasha announces gleefully and places open palms on Pepper's cheeks, plants a sloppy childish kiss on her lips.
"Hello there, sweet girl." Pepper coos and rubs noses with her. Tasha giggles and kicks, chants "Swim, swim, swim," excitedly.
They all smile and Pepper helps her stay afloat, lets her swim the small distance between her and Steve. "Daddy," she states lovingly and kisses his cheek.
After playing with Tasha until their fingers were wrinkled and resembled prunes, they all returned to the common room for snack time. Tasha got biscuits and a sippy cup of orange juice, coffee and sandwiches for the adults. She looked positively adorable sitting in her pink fluffy bathrobe with ears, nibbling on a digestive biscuit on the floor in front of the television. Adventure Time was on and she was fully engaged in the current obstacles up for Finn and Jake. She proclaimed Marceline the Vampire Queen as her favorite character and squealed every time the demonic empress appeared on screen.
She laid puzzles with Tony before dinner, read with Bruce at bedtime. They all came by to kiss her goodnight, and Clint popped her pacifier back in her mouth when it fell out while she yawned. Pepper checked in on her in the middle of the night and she was out like a light, body curled around bunny and fist clenched around blanket.