| |
Natasha looks up at the large stuffed animal display, shuffling her feet in excitement. Her hand feels tiny in Tony's and he swings their hands back and forth when she makes no move to take a closer look at the toys. "Well I'm gonna be over there looking at the boys' stuff. Don't run off." he kisses her brow before walking away.
She grows anxious at being left alone and her eyebrows knit together as Tony rounds a corner and turns out of sight. Natasha turns back to the shelves of stuffies, eyes scanning the rows hurriedly.
When Tony said they were gonna go for a ride she'd been excited at first, but when he parked the car outside a Toys 'R' Us in the Brooklyn industrial area her stomach dropped. She'd only ever been in the car while in little space and this sudden exposure to the real world was daunting to say the least. But her little self banged against the walls in her head, little Tasha wanted out to look at the toys.
Natasha's internal debate ends when her gaze falls on a blue corduroy elephant with beady black eyes and a friendly smile. She just manages to pull the plushie down, inspecting it carefully. She runs her fingers over the seams of it's mouth, looks into the glassy eyes. Natasha feels like she should've found them sinister, or at least off-putting, but she didn't. The dark blue colour of it's fur spoke to her in some deep primal way that she really couldn't explain.
She doesn't notice Tony coming up beside her, but only flinches a little bit when he puts his hand on her shoulder. "Found something you like?" he doesn't acknowledge her reaction because he knows her, knows that it's hard to let your guard down.
Natasha nods and holds up the elephant, tension easing up in her posture and a hopeful smile taking it's place. "Can I have him, daddy? Please?" Natasha's pretty sure daddy Tony would buy her the world if he could, so it's no surprise when he says "Of course you can, sweetheart."
Tony takes her hand and leads her to the register, pays in cash to avoid a riot if the cashier sees "Anthony Stark" on a bank card. Discretion is key when avengers are out and about, even more so when one has a diapered assassin in tow. Tony is in the regular hoodie-sunglasses-baseball cap combination while Pepper had dressed Tasha in a pink bucket hat and heart shaped sunglasses, completing the look with denim shortalls and a red tee. The childish attire is mostly what had caused Natasha's worry, which might have caused a stir in a smaller town but hardly in NYC.
When Tony buckles her up in the back seat she leans over and kisses his cheek, thanking him sweetly for the toy. "You're welcome, kid." he replies.
Natasha crams her thumb in her mouth when they pull away, relieved to be on her way back to the tower.
When they get back Tony sits her down on the couch and Natasha loses herself in Cartoon Network for a while. She feels her eyelids growing heavy, and she dozes off for what feels like two seconds when she's brought back to reality by Pepper's voice.
"Hey there, cutie." She says, pulling Natasha's hat from over her eyes.
"Mommy," Tasha states happily, making grabby hands up at her and receives a clumsy upside down kiss in return.
"Oh my goodness, who's this?" She asks once on the couch, indicating to the corduroy plush in her lap. Natasha burrows into her side and sighs contently before bringing her attention back to the toy in question.
"Daddy Tony got 'm for me t'day. When we were on ride. We went to the toy store 'n I picked 'm out 'n everything."
Pepper's eyebrows nearly reach her hairline at that and she distractedly runs her hand through Natasha's hair. "You went to the toy store? did that feel okay, you weren't scared?"
Natasha shrugs as if she spent every day gallivanting around in little girl mode, which was a long way from the truth. Playtime is circumstantial and little Tasha doesn't get to come out nearly as often as she would've liked.
"Was scary at first, was scared people would look, but not after a while. Elephant help." Natasha states, putting the toy in Peppers lap as if to demonstrate it's therapeutic skills.
Pepper makes a mental note to scold Tony, first experiences are important and need to be premeditated and discussed with the whole team, not just carried out completely rogue. He'll get an earful tonight.
"I'm glad that he helped you out, then. You're tired, huh sweetie?" Pepper inquires when Natasha jawns, small and sweet and trusting. "No wonder, you've been such a good girl today. Let's get you ready for bed."
Natasha protests with "but not tired, mommy" and "just a little while longer" but Pepper is hard to woo when it comes to bedtime, and she tugs the protesting girl to the bathroom.
"Are you wet, baby?" Pepper asks when she starts stripping Natasha down to her diaper, patting her padded crotch while asking.
"Uhmm...think so, mommy."
Pepper smiles and sticks a finger in the legband of her diaper to make sure, and she was in fact wet. She makes a quick affair of the change and Natasha giggles when the powder makes clouds. Then comes the brushing of teeth and Natasha hugs Elephant, squirms when Pepper focuses the brush on her gums.
Pepper leads her by the hand to the spare bedroom, tucks her in and reads her Where The Wild Things Are for what feels like the millionth time. But it's safe, it's familiar, it's home and it's just what she needs. |
|
