Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Home; living room, Wednesday February 28^th 2035, 7:48pm

“So, do you wanna talk about anything?” Trina asks her new sister as they watch TV with their brother.

Antonia thinks about it carefully. “Could you please tell me about yourself?” She asks gently, wanting to know more about her new sister.

Trina gives her a warm smile. “Sure. Well I’m a robot built in 2032 to be 15, and I’ll be 18 in August. I like comic books and LEGO.”

“Interesting.” Antonia notes. “Well, I’m 9, and I like reading.” She says a bit awkwardly, since she didn’t really have much to say.

Trina perks up. “What do you like reading?”

“…Fanfiction.” Antonia admits with a huge blush from embarrassment.

“That’s cool.” Trina says. “What kind?”

Antonia was surprised Trina didn’t make fun of her. “Rey and Rose friendship fics.”

“Star Wars?”

Antonia nods. “I like seeing stories that didn’t happen in canon. Their friendship could’ve been expanded upon greatly.”

Trina could tell how much Antonia liked the stories with the awkward but passionate tone she spoke with. “That’s nice. Their friendship would’ve been great to see on screen.”

Antonia’s blush fades. “You’re a fan too?”

Trina smiles and nods. “Yeah, they’re an underrated duo.”

Antonia smiles, feeling glad that she and her new sister had similar interests. She then looks at David. “What about you, David?”

David looks at her and thinks. “I like SpongeBob, seals, and fried fish.”

Antonia chuckles. “Fried fish?”

“He’s a picky eater.” Trina bluntly states. “He won’t eat anything healthy without being bribed with it.”

“HEY!” David exclaims to his sister, making Antonia snicker. She already felt like part of the family.

“Do you have any sisters, Toni?” David asks, making Antonia coil back in fear as her pupils slightly widen.

“DAVID!” Trina scolds him, remembering what their mom told them about Antonia’s accident.

Antonia slowly shakes out of it, still shaken. “It’s ok.” She says in a low and trembling voice. “Besides Natalia..” She says very shaky due to the heartbreak, “I also have another sister named Yelena. She’s wonderful.” She says with a small smile. “She’s so sweet and kind and loving. She’s about 8 years older than me.” Her love-filled words were filled with great warmth, making her sister smile.

“You really care about her.” Trina smiles.

Antonia happily nods. “I do.” She gushes.

Dinner table, 8:22pm

Victoria had made a special dinner for Antonia; pelemi (Russian meat dumplings), which were her favorite. As Antonia ate them, she enjoyed and savored every bite. It felt just like home. “Thanks, Victoria.” She smiles. “It’s delicious.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie.” Victoria smiles, feeling glad she made her daughter happy.

As Antonia eats, she thinks about a good question. “When do I start school?”

Victoria thinks about it. “You’d have to be enrolled, so I’d say 2 weeks or so.”

“Ok, thanks.” Antonia says before continuing her food. “So, anything going on tomorrow?”

“Not much.” Victoria shrugs. “I’ll be taking work off tomorrow so that way we can go clothes shopping.”

Antonia nods in understanding then continues eating her pelemi. It was sweet that Victoria made it for her.

The Kases’ room, 9:01pm

It was finally bedtime, so Victoria was tucking Antonia into her new bed. Today was amazing Antonia says in her mind.

“Do you need anything, Antonia?” Victoria asks as she finishes tucking her in.

Antonia shakes her head. “No, thank you Victoria.” She says in a positive voice.

Victoria smiles. “Alright then. I’ll be nearby if you need me. Good night, Antonia. I love you.”

“..I love you too.” Antonia smiles before starting to drift off. She and Victoria had talked about it and decided that she wasn’t ready for motherly kisses yet, since she was still upset about her mom being arrested. As she drifted off, she knew she felt loved. She knew that in this house she was loved.

Chapter Text

The Kases’ room, Thursday March 1^st 2035, 7:25am

“Antonia sweetie, time to wake up.” Victoria says in a loving and motherly voice, prompting Antonia to sit up and stretch.

“Good morning, how’d you sleep?” Victoria asks.

Antonia smiles. “Good, thank you.”

“Time for breakfast.” Victoria says. “I made pancakes.”

Antonia nods, then gets out of her bed and heads out of the room to wash up.

Table, 7:36am

Everyone (except Trina) was enjoying their breakfast; delicious homemade flapjacks. They had whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Antonia really enjoyed them. She was wearing some pajamas that Victoria had bought her the day before since she didn’t really have anything for Antonia in her size. They planned to go clothes shopping later that day.

“The flapjacks are really good, thanks Victoria.” Antonia smiles.

“You’re welcome sweetie.” Victoria smiles back.

Celine drinks some of her chocolate milk, then there’s a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.” She says before getting up. Everyone else was surprised, since they weren’t expecting anyone. She walks up to the door and answers. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, tell Tori I wanna meet my new niece.” Yuriko says with a smug smile while Victoria Hand has a small laugh.

Victoria perks up. “Yuriko?”

Celine lets Yuriko and Victoria Hand in, then Victoria gets up from the table and hugs her sister with joy. “It’s good to see you.” She gleams.

“It’s good to see you too, sis.” Yuriko gushes. “So, where’s my niece?”

They break the hug, then Victoria gestures to Antonia. “Yuriko, this is Antonia Kase; my third child.” She gushes with pride.

Antonia and Yuriko (with Victoria Hand) look at each other in shock. “Antonia?” Victoria Hand says in shock.

Antonia nods in shock. “Hi Ms. Sato, hi Ms. Hand.”

“You three know each other?” Trina asks in confusion.

“They’re the ones that rescued me from my father.” Antonia shares, making the rest of the table shocked. Yuriko then gets a warm smile on her face. “Well, I’m also your aunt.”

Antonia’s eyes widen a bit with shock, then she gets a small smile. “Really?”

Yuriko nods. “Yep, we’re family now.”

Antonia’s heart is warmed, since she greatly respected Yuriko for saving her. “Everyone, this is my best friend Victoria Hand.” Yuriko smiles, gesturing to V.H.

“Nice to meet all of you.” Victoria H. smiles, greeting them with a small wave.

Victoria shakes her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m glad my sister has a best friend.”

Victoria H. smiles warmly. “I’m glad I met her.” She gushes. “She’s a really great friend.”

Yuriko’s heart warms from her friend’s comment. “So, what’s the plan for today?”

“We’re going clothes shopping for Antonia.” Victoria says.

“Oh.” Yuriko nods in understanding, before getting an idea. “Can we come?”

Victoria thinks about it then looks at Antonia. “Sweetie would you be comfortable if Aunt Yuriko and her friend came with us?”

Antonia thinks about it for a second, then nods. “They can come.”

“Yay.” Yuriko gushes with a small clap. It was going to be fun spending time with her new niece.

Kohl’s, 8:23am

Victoria looked through racks for clothes that Antonia could possibly like. She wanted to make sure the options were vast. Meanwhile, Antonia waited along with Trina, David, and her aunts Celine, Amy and Yuriko; with Victoria H. too. “So, how’s life with my sister going?” Yuriko asks nicely with a smile.

Antonia looks at her and slight smiles. “It’s nice. Home is great, and my new family is loving and caring.” She says with a tone of happiness, making Yuriko’s heart warm.

“That’s great to hear.” She says. “Tori’s really kind.”

“She is.” Antonia lightheartedly chuckles. “So, you’re her sister?”

“Through honor.” Yuriko smiles with glee. “I’m her maternal aunt, but we consider each other sisters.”

Antonia’s smile grows a bit. “That’s cool.”

Yuriko’s smile gets warmer. “Yeah, it is.”

Antonia looks over at Victoria Hand. “Ms. Hand, how did you meet Aunt Yuriko?” She wonders.

Victoria H. lightheartedly chuckles. “It was around 23 years ago, and we were paired up together in the academy as lab partners. We started chatting, and eventually we became best friends.” She says, feeling warm from the loving memories.

“And we’ve been close ever since.” Yuriko says, her heart tingling from the warm memories.

Antonia can’t help but smile from all the love in the room. She really appreciated the friendship between her aunt and Victoria H. She then turns to her other aunts. “Aunt Celine, how did you meet Aunt Amy?”

Celine snickers. “I broke her out of jail. But we became friends later. She was nice to me, and stood up for me.” She says warmly. “She became my best friend.”

“That’s so sweet.” Antonia can’t help but have a warm smile.

“Hey Toni, check this out.” Victoria says, getting her attention.

Dressing rooms, 8:54am

After helping her pick out some clothes, Antonia had finally put together an outfit; one of many. She steps out of the dressing room, nervously showing her new outfit to her family (and Victoria Hand). She was wearing black casual pants with a dark blue t-shirt under a black hoodie with dark blue sleeves along with a pair of black sneakers. “What do you think?” She asks, nervously twirling her foot.

Victoria gives her an encouraging smile. “You look nice, sweetie.” She says in a loving voice.

“You look good, sis.” Trina says with a thumbs up.

David giggles while Celine and Amy give thumbs up as well. “You look great, Toni.” Yuriko says in a friendly tone while Victoria gives an encouraging nod.

Antonia blushes and smiles from flattery. “Thanks, guys.” She felt so, appreciated from their compliments.

Victoria gets up and stands on one knee as she faces her youngest daughter. “Are you happy with the clothes we picked out today?”

Antonia happily nods, making her adoptive mom smile. “That’s good.” She smiles. “Come on, let’s go pay.” She pats Antonia’s shoulder as she stands back up and heads to the cart. Antonia smiled, still feeling proud with the clothes she picked.

Living room, 9:42am

Antonia snickers. “So, Aunt Yuriko actually played keep away with the palace guard’s hat?”

Yuriko blushes from embarrassment. “I was like 17, GIVE ME A BREAK!” She cackles as the rest of the room laughs.

“Man, mum and your parents were MAD!” Victoria chuckles.

“Oh yeah.” Yuriko snickers.

Antonia smiles warmly. She really enjoyed the time she was spending with her new family. “So Aunt Yuriko, do you and Aunt Victoria have any plans?”

“Not really.” Yuriko shrugs.

Victoria H. nods. “Yeah. We have some paperwork to do, but besides that no-“ She stops when her brain catches up, her eyes widening when she realizes what Antonia said. “You called me Aunt Victoria.”

Antonia nods warmly. “Yeah, you, Aunt Yuriko and mom saved me.” She says happily in a soft voice. “You’re like family to me.”

Victoria H. then starts getting a bit teary eyed, prompting her to grab a clothe tissue from her pocket and dab her eyes. “Thanks, Antonia.” She says in a low but joyed voice with a warm smile. “I’d like having you as my niece.”

Antonia smiles then runs over and hugs both of her aunts, with them lovingly hugging her back. Victoria’s heart is warmed by how well Antonia is getting along with her sister and her sister’s friend. Today was a good day for a visit.

Chapter Text

S.H.I.E.L.D base, Saturday March 3^rd 2035, 11:08am (8:08am San Fransokyo time)

Melina reads patiently in her cell. It had only been a few days since her arrest, but she had privileges for good behavior. She didn’t mind prison too much, but she missed her daughters; although she was very mad at Natasha for what she did. *BZZZT* She looks outside the glass barrier at the door. “Melina, you’ve got visitors.”

Melina closes her book in curiosity, since she wasn’t expecting any visitors. Then, a guard comes in, letting the glass barrier down right before the visitors come in, who were Victoria and-

“MAMA!” Antonia says, running into her mom’s arm with tears of joy, which Melina shares with her.

“I missed you so much as well, milyy (sweetie).” Melina gushes.

“I was able to convince Yuriko to let us come by to visit you every two weeks.” Victoria smiles. “I thought she should see her mom whenever possible.”

Melina gives the former chef a big warm smile. “Thank you.” She gushes with heartfelt joy. She and Antonia then break the hug and look at each other. “So, how’s your new family?”

“They’re sweet and great.” Antonia smiles. “I have aunts and two siblings; a robot sister and a 1 ½ year old brother.”

“That’s great.” Melina smiles. “And everything’s ok with Victoria?”

Antonia happily nods. “She’s a great parent. She loves me a lot.

Melina gets a warm smile. “I’m glad to hear that.” I’m happy my daughter has a loving parent to look after her.

“How has prison been?” Antonia asks, curious about her mom’s living situation.

Melina shrugs. “Eh, it ain’t that bad.” She then gets a small frown. “Although I’ve missed my daughters.”

Antonia sulks a bit as well. “Yeah. Do you know what happened to Yelena?” She asks, worried for her other sister.

“She’s in a medical facility to undo the Red Room’s conditioning.” Melina says. “Afterwards she’ll be put up for adoption since she’s 17.”

Antonia gets a bit sad. “Will I ever see her again?”

“Yes.” Melina assures her. “I’ll make sure you two are connected.”

Antonia’s sad face gets a warm smile. She was glad she wasn’t going to lose another sister, but gets a bit sad at the memory of Natasha. “Has Natalia said anything?”

Melina shakes her head with regret. “She hasn’t visited me at all.”

“… Does she love me?” Antonia asks, a bit teary eyed. She had only hung out with Natasha a few times, well been in the same building as her, and she barely talked to her. She never even said that she loved her.

Melina’s heart starts breaking as she hugs her daughter lovingly. “.. I don’t know.” She says bursting into tears. “I’m sorry sweetie.” She chokes up. “She has hard feelings towards your father, and… she at least resents Alexei for not doing anything when they took her and Yelena away. She, might resent me as much for not doing anything after I healed from my injury.”

Antonia sobs into her mother’s jumpsuit. She loved Natasha; a lot. She remembered the day they met. Antonia was 8, and Melina had reunited with Natasha, who was a bit cold towards her. She was also shocked to find out that Melina had adopted another child, but she didn’t show any resentment towards Antonia.

Antonia thought the world of Natasha, but now she only felt her heart hearting.

“I’m sorry sweetie.” Melina cries as she holds her daughter close to her. Victoria’s heart ached as well, seeing her daughter in tears, so she headed over and joined the hug; giving her daughter additional support and comfort. Antonia sobs a bit more, needing to let it all out.

“Thanks mama, thanks Victoria.” She says, her voice tear-strained. “I love you both so much.”

Victoria and Melina both hold Antonia close to them. “We love you too, Toni.” She assures her in a loving voice.

Antonia gets a warm smile, knowing that she was loved. “So mama, what else have you been up to?”

“Reading mostly.” Melina shrugs with a weak smile. “You?”

“Just hanging out with the new members of my family.” Antonia says warmly, being glad she met Victoria and her family.

Chapter Text

Home; living room, Wednesday March 7^th 2035, 8:10pm

Antonia held her knee, wincing in pain from falling. She was running around the room with David when she tripped on the carpeted floor and bruised her knee. “Victoria!” She cries out in pain. Victoria runs over with worry and gets on one knee. “Let me see it.” She asks softly.

Antonia lifts her pant leg, showing her slightly bruised knee for Victoria to examine. “It’s not that bad, but please be careful next time.” She says in a motherly yet stern tone.

“Thanks Victoria.”

“You’re welcome.” Victoria says with a warm smile. “Would you like me to kiss it better?”

Antonia thinks about it for a moment, deciding that she was ready motherly kisses. “Yes please.”

Victoria then kisses her knee, then helps her up. “How do you feel?”

The 9-year-old girl gets a warm smile on her face. “Great, thank you.”

“Alright, then I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” Victoria says before heading back. Antonia couldn’t help but still feel warm from how nurturing her adoptive mother was. She was so kind, loving and cared for Antonia as if she was her own. Ever since she was adopted, Victoria had nurtured and loved her. And Antonia really loved that.

“You ok, sis?” David asks, noting her warm yet deep smile.

“Yeah, thanks David.” Antonia says. “I’m going to go see Victoria, BRB.”

“Ok.” David says as his sister heads to the kitchen, where Victoria was loading the dishwasher. She then notices her youngest daughter looking at her, nervous while holding her left arm. “Is everything ok, sweetie?”

Antonia nods. “Yeah, I just wanted to tell you something.” Victoria gets on one knee and faces her daughter. “I’m all ears.”

Antonia takes a deep breath. “Ever since you’ve adopted me, you’ve done nothing but care for me. You’ve fed me, you spent time with me, and you loved me. You’ve been a great parent to me, even though I didn’t call you my mom. I love you, Victoria, like a mom.” She says with a warm smile. “I still love my mama, and always will, but I think I’m comfortable with titles now. I love you, mum.”

Victoria gets teary eyed with a warm smile. “I love you Antonia.” She says, pulling her daughter into a warm and loving hug, which Antonia lovingly returns. She had two caring parents that loved her, and she wouldn’t give them up for anything.

Chapter Text

Home; living room, Saturday March 10^th 2035, 9:23am

Antonia read peacefully on the couch-*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* She looks up and closes her book. “TRINA! SOMEONE’S AT THE DOOR!”

“COMING!” Trina says, coming from upstairs and heading to the door, being joyed to see who it was. “Aunt Yuriko!” She says, hugging her aunt. Antonia gets up and heads over to enjoy the hug.

“I missed you girls too.” Yuriko smiles as she returns the hug. “I have a surprise for Antonia.”

The two girls break from the hug as Antonia looks at Yuriko with excitement. “A surprise?”

Yuriko happily nods. “You can come out now!”

A young girl comes into view. She looked to be around 17 and stood at 5’5, faired skinned and a bit pudgy with freckles on her cheeks along with dark brown eyes with dirty blonde hair kept short. She was wearing a sage green jacket over a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans with black sneakers. “Hi Toni.” She says softly with a small but overjoyed smile, with a slightly deep voice and a Russian accent.

Antonia starts tearing up. “Yelena?”

Yelena happily nods, then Antonia runs into her arms then the two hug and cry. It had been weeks since they’d seen each other, and they were grateful to see each other again. Trina smiled, being glad her sister found her lost sibling.

“They finished the deconditioning, so I brought her here.” Yuriko says with a warm smile. “Before we take care of everything else.”

Antonia looks up with a big warm smile. “Thanks, Aunt Yuriko.”

“No problem.” Yuriko joyfully shrugs.

Living room, 9:27am

“So, what have you been up to since then?” Yelena asks as she sips some chocolate milk as the four chat on the couch.

“Well, I visit mama every 2 weeks.” Antonia smiles. “And I have another mom as well.”

“Is she nice?” Her sister wonders, to which Antonia gets a warm smile. “She’s the best. I love her a lot.”

Yelena then smiles. “I’m happy for you, sestra (sister).”

Victoria comes down after hearing people come in. “Is someone h-“ She notices Yuriko and some random teenage girl on the couch. “Yuriko who’s the kid?”

Yuriko snickers. “This is Yelena Belova, Antonia’s other sister.”

Victoria’s eyes widen then she gets a small smile as she heads over and offers to shake Yelena’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Victoria Kase, Antonia’s mum.”

Yelena shakes her hand with a proud smile. “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for taking care of my sister.”

“It’s no problem.” Victoria gushes lovingly.

“So, care to introduce me to beanie girl and the small fry?” Yelena asks, gesturing to Antonia’s siblings. “Oh, right. Yelena meet Trina and David Kase, my newest siblings.”

Trina gives Yelena a joyful smile. “It’s nice to meet you Yelena. Antonia’s said so much about you.”

Yelena smirks. “I hope so.”

David walks closer to Yelena and looks at her. “Freckles.” He says, pointing at Yelena’s cheeks making her laugh. “Yeah, I have freckles. It’s nice to meet my sister’s siblings.”

Antonia hugs Yelena again, wanting to cherish every moment they have before Yelena was put into the system for adoption. “So, what do you want to do?” She asks.

“Do you guys have any games?” Yelena shrugs.

Trina smirks. “Oh yeah.”

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Victoria, Grace and Yuriko were watching from the counter as the kids interacted. It was nice to see them get along, but there was one question hanging over Victoria’s head. “Will Yelena be OK after, you guys go back?”

Yuriko nods. “Yeah. She’ll be put into a loving home, and will still be in contact with Antonia. We just don’t know who will adopt her yet.”

“I just hope she gets a loving home.” Victoria says, worried for the girl’s safety.

*THUMP* “Here’s some games.” Trina says, putting down the PS5 copies of Kool Aid Man: Story Mode, LEGO SpongeBob SquarePants: Across the Sponge-Verse, and LEGO Batman: Gotham’s Edge.

Yelena picks up one of the games in awe. “WOAH.”

“Which one do you want to play first?” Trina asks with a smug grin.

Back in the kitchen

Victoria watches as the kids play their videogame. They’re having so much fun, and Antonia is enjoying the time she is spending with Yelena. She was glad that the two would be in contact with each other, but she couldn’t help but worry. Yelena was 17 years old, and not many people want to adopt near-adults. “You ok, Tori?” Grace asks, noticing her best friend’s concerned expression.

“Just worried about Yelena, that’s all.” Victoria slightly sulks. “She might have trouble getting adopted since she’s 17.”

Grace sulkingly nods. “Yeah, it can be hard.”

“I hope she finds a good home.” Victoria says, wanting the poor girl to do well.

Back in the living room

“So, how do I access the multiverse index?” Yelena asks.

“Press R1 and D.” Antonia chuckles.

Yelena does so. “Thanks.” The plot of the game was to play as LEGO SpongeBob and friends in order to save the multiverse from Plankton. It was also open-world so that was fun.

“So, what do you think of the game so far?” Antonia asks.

“It’s fun, and LEGO-y.” Yelena snickers.

“Glad you like it.” Her sister smiles.

Trina moves her character around. “Where are we going?”

“To the Chum Bucket.” Antonia snickers.

“To continue story mode!” David exclaims with joy.

“Exactly.” Antonia smiles.

“Let’s go, I wanna get the story started.” Trina lightheartedly chuckles.

Back in the kitchen

As the three adults watch the kids play, Grace notices a look on Victoria’s face. A look of concern, and openness with care. “I know what you’re thinking.” Grace says with a small, warm smile.

Victoria looks at her with confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“You want to take in Yelena.” Grace says warmly. “So she has someone.”

Victoria’s pupils shake a bit, as she gets a worried flush. “I couldn’t, I already have three kids and your house is already crowded.” She says, with regret and some sadness.

“We can make it work.” Grace assures her. “We can set up the attic as a room. Victoria, if you want to do this, I support you.”

Yuriko nods in assurance. Victoria then continues supervising the kids playing, thinking about if she should adopt Yelena.

In the living room, 1 hr later

“Man this game is fun!” Yelena smiles as the four play.

“I know right?” Antonia says with glee. It felt good to be spending time with her big sister again. She knew that they’d still be connected, but the time they were spending now was still wonderful. She really missed Yelena.

Then Victoria comes from the kitchen and stands besides the couch, looking at the kids with a neutral yet concerned expression. “Kids, can you pause the game please?” She asks with a soft but serious tone. “I need to talk to Yelena about something.”

The kids then pause the game, wondering what Victoria wanted. “Is everything ok, Victoria?” Yelena wonders.

Victoria nods then walks up to Yelena, getting down on one knee with a worried but serious expression. “Yelena, if it’s ok with you, I would like to adopt you.” She says softly. Her words make her other kid’s eyes widen. While Antonia got an excited and hopeful look on her face, Yelena was flat out shocked.

“What?” She says, very flabbergasted.

“I want you to have a good home.” Victoria explains in a caring voice. “I want you to have a good life, one with someone there to guide you. I want to be there for you, if you’ll have me.” She pulls out a SHIELD adoption form and hands it to Yelena along with a pen. “This would speed up the adoption process. Whatever choice you make I’ll respect.” She says before leaving the room, to give the girl space to think.

Yelena looks at the paper, with great unsureness. “Lena?” Antonia asks, wondering what her sister thought. The blonde haired girl takes a deep breath. “What should I do, Toni?” She asks, her voice trembling; making her younger sister worried. “I mean, I know mama wants me to be cared for, but it feels like I’d be betraying her.” Yelena sulks. “If I got another mom.”

Antonia’s eyes widen a bit, understanding Yelena’s fear. She then puts a hand on her sister’s shoulder and looks at her with a small but warm smile. “Lena, you aren’t betraying her.” She says in a loving voice. “She knows that you need an adult there to be there for you and love you. She wouldn’t think you’re betraying her, she’d think you were accepting that someone wants to be there for you.”

Yelena looks back at the paper, really taking in Antonia’s words.

Back in the kitchen

“Do you think I came off too strong?” Victoria asks her best friend and her sister, worrying that she might’ve crossed a line with Yelena.

“No, you just caught her off guard.” Grace assures her.

Yuriko puts her hand on her sister’s shoulder to try calming her when Yelena enters the room, holding her arm nervously as she looks at Victoria. “Victoria, can we talk?”

Victoria nods, noticing Yelena’s nervousness. “Of course.”

The 17-year-old blonde takes a deep breath, then hands Victoria the adoption paper, which is filled out. “I decided to take you up on your offer.” She nervously says, having trouble saying the words clearly.

Victoria gets a bit teary-eyed from how overjoyed she was.

“Is it ok if I don’t refer to you as mom?” Yelena asks. “Since I’m not comfortable with it?”

Victoria gives the girl a warm smile. “Of course, sweetie.”

Yelena then rushes over and hugs her, crying a bit with joy, joy that someone wanted to care for her. Victoria then lovingly returns the hug, joyed that she had another kid. Grace and Yuriko had warmed hearts as well.

“I’ll file the paperwork as soon as I can.” Yuriko says.

“Thanks, Ri.” Victoria says, her heart tingling from the warm feelings. Her other kids come in the room, having heard Yelena’s feet hit the floor hard when she ran. Victoria looks up at them with the same warm smile. “David, Trina. Soon Yelena will be your new sister.” She says warmly.

Trina and David smile bigly, while Antonia is very ecstatic and overjoyed. Now her sister was part of her new family.

Chapter Text

Home: Yelena’s room, Saturday March 10^th 2035, 2:03pm

After some cleaning and moving boxes, and putting in new beds and a dresser, the attic was a nice makeshift room for Celine and Amy. The two of them along with Grace and Victoria agreed that Yelena should have her own room, so they gave up their room for the girl. “So, what do you think Yelena?” Victoria asks, showing her daughter her new room. Yelena walks around, noting how nice it was.

“It’s good, thank you.” She says in a normal yet noticeably happy tone, making her adoptive mom happy.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Victoria smiles. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

Yelena nods, then Victoria heads out, prompting the 17-year-old blonde to flop back on the bed; loving how soft it was. She was glad that she had a new home, her sister back, and a loving family to be there for her, to love her. They were so loving and cared for her, it made her warm inside. She couldn’t wait to see what the rest of her life held.

Living room

After about 10 minutes of enjoying the soft bed, Yelena heads downstairs and sees her sister and her new siblings watching TV. Antonia looks over and smiles as she waves at her. Yelena slight smiles and waves back as she heads to the couch and sits down. “So, what are we doing?” She asks.

“Just watching cartoons for now.” Trina says. “Did you guys want to continue our game?”

“Sure.” Yelena says casually as Antonia and David joyfully exclaim “YEAH!”

Trina chuckles. “Alright, let me just..” She changes the HDMI settings on the TV, starting up the PS5. She leans over to the table and grabs the controllers, handing each of her siblings one. She then opens the game back up and they continue.

“So, where were we?” Yelena asks.

“Weenie Hut Jrs. for Plankton.” David says.

“Right.”

The four then continue their game, working hard to achieve their current mission. “What now?” Yelena asks.

“After we get information, we confront Plankton and face him before he opens the Multiverse Gate.” Trina explains.

“Where’s the contact?” Antonia asks.

“It the goofy looking one?” David asks.

“No, but I don’t want to spoil it for Yelena.” Trina states.

Yelena smiles. “Thanks, sis.”

“No problem.” Trina warmly laughs.

“There he is!” Yelena smiles, seeing the contact.

Antonia smug smirks. “Let’s go.”

Dinner table, 6:45pm

Yelena’s first dinner with her new extended family was going great. Victoria had made her favorite; mac and cheese with green beans. It was so delicious, and it reminded her of how her mama made them. “Thanks you, Victoria.” She smiles. “This is good.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie.” Victoria says in a loving tone.

As Yelena stuffed her face, Antonia couldn’t help but snicker. Her sister always looked so funny when she was scarfing down food. It was just like old times. “So, what’s going on this week?”

“Not much.” Victoria shrugs. “I won’t become a teacher at SFIT for a while, so really the only thing to do is to enroll Antonia in school.”

“Alright.” Yelena shrugs before continuing her food. Meanwhile, Antonia was almost ready to go back to school, since she was still shaken up a bit from the last time she came home from school; in Budapest.

Celine drinks some of her water. “So Yelena, any interesting hobbies?” She asks, curious about her new niece’s life.

Yelena thinks about it. “I like dogs, food, and cool clothes.” She shrugs, not really knowing what to say.

“That’s nice.” Celine smiles.

Amy looks over at Victoria. “Vic, does Yelena schooling?”

Yelena freezes, not expecting that question. “Well, I checked.” Victoria explains. “And she does need some schooling, just enough to finish off high school. She can just get a GED.”

Yelena didn’t really think she’d attend school. She assumed she’d just, stay home.

“Yelena, is everything ok?” Victoria asks, noticing her daughter’s conflicted expression.

“Yeah.” Yelena says, snapping out of it. “I just, didn’t expect to get ANY type of schooling.”

Victoria gives Yelena a small smile. “You’re my daughter, and a GED would provide you with the education you need to get ahead in life. I want you to have a stable life.”

Yelena is a bit shaken up, not expecting Victoria to be that caring. She then gets a small, warm smile. “Thanks, Tori.”

“Of course.” Victoria lovingly shrugs, before continuing to eat her dinner.

Yelena’s room, 10:12pm

Victoria tucks in Yelena as Antonia stands by her. “Are you nice and warm?”

Yelena nods. “Yes, thank you Tor.”

Victoria smiles warmly, then looks at Antonia. “Toni, say goodnight to your sister.”

Antonia leans over and gives Yelena’s forehead a quick kiss. “Spokoynoy nochi, Yelena. (Good night, Yelena).” She says with a loving smile. “Ya tebya lyublyu (I love you).”

Yelena gets a warm smile back. “Ya tozhe tebya lyublyu, Toni (I love you too, Antonia).”

Victoria and Antonia then exit the room, letting Yelena start to drift off. As she did, she felt warm inside. She had enjoyed spending time with her new extended family, and couldn’t wait to see what comes next.

Chapter Text

Home; Yelena’s room, Sunday March 11^th 2035, 8:51am

Yelena snores as she turns on her side. Then, Antonia runs into the room with a joyful smile and slowly shakes her sister awake. “Yelena wake up!” She joyfully exclaims. “Time for breakfast!”

“Meh.” Yelena mutters as she turns on her other side. “Five more minutes.”

“It’s pancakes with all the works.” Antonia says with a smug smirk, making Yelena’s eyes shoot open as she gets out of bed and runs outside. Antonia lets out a small snicker as she heads out; knowing that line would work.

Kitchen table, 9:18am

Yelena stuffs her face with pieces of pancake as her family watches in cringe and queasiness. She was gorging herself like a pig. She had four pieces of pancake on her fork at a time as she stuffed them into her mouth; as she chewed with her mouth open.

“Yelena sweetie, please chew with your mouth closed.” Victoria says in a stern voice, not wanting her daughter to have bad table manners.

Yelena pauses, then begrudgingly does so. “Yes Tori.” She says in a low and slightly annoyed voice before continuing to eat.

“And please eat slower.” Victoria notes.

Yelena sighs from annoyance and does so, putting only 2 pieces of pancake at a time on her fork as she ate.

“So Yelena, did you and Antonia want to do anything special today?” Victoria asks.

Yelena shrugs while Antonia thinks about it. “How about the park?” She asks with a smile.

“Sounds like a plan.” Victoria says.

Trina drinks her chocolate milk. “You excited for the park, Yelena?”

“Huh?” Yelena asks. “Oh, it might be fun.” She shrugs.

“More please!” David exclaims, pointing to his chocolate milk cup. “Don’t shout, David.” Victoria lightly scolds him as she grabs his cup and heads to the kitchen.

“So Yelena, when did you want to start studying for your GED?” Celine asks, wondering about her niece’s education.

Yelena thinks about it. “Maybe next week.”

Celine smiles. “That’s good. Maybe I can help you study.”

“That’d be nice, thank you.” Yelena says with a small smile.

Amy finishes her pancakes as Victoria returns with David’s chocolate milk. “So Toni, how’d you sleep last night?”

“Great, thanks Aunt Amy.” Antonia gushes. “So, are you and aunt Celine going to get jobs soon?”

“Maybe.” The 66-year-old shrugs with a hopeful smile. “Depends on what the mayor says.”

Celine nods. “Oui. We might be eligible to start looking.”

“That’s nice.” Antonia says.

“Yeah, having a real job for the first time in decades will be nice.” Amy jokes.

Celine snickers, noting that she hadn’t had a real job in around 10 years. Meanwhile, Yelena was enjoying the banter across her new family.

“So Yelena, how are you enjoying breakfast?” Grace asks, noting her niece’s amused smile. Yelena is pulled out of her thoughts and looks at Grace. “It’s going great, thanks.” She says, enjoying the family bonding time.

Chapter Text

Best Buy, Monday March 12^th 2035, 10:20am

“So this is where Victoria works, huh?” Yelena says as she walks around Best Buy with her youngest siblings and her aunts as their mom worked.

“Yep, it pays well and allows her to spend time with her kids.” Celine smiles, glad that Victoria could look after her children.

Antonia loved Best Buy. The gloomy colors were wonderful and the stuff on display was fun looking. It was exhilarating to walk around and browse all the wonderful items.

“So Yelena, did you want to browse anything in particular?” Amy asks.

Yelena shrugs. “Not really. I’ve never been here b-“ She then stubs her toe on a display table leg, her face scowling with anger. “OH BLEEP!” She yells as she holds her toe in pain as her aunts eyes shoot open with shock, while Antonia and David wonder the word meant. Yelena then notices her aunts’ expressions. “What?”

“You just cussed.” Amy says, her voice still having a shocked tone.

Yelena’s pupils shrink when she realizes she did. “Oh my- I’m sorry for swearing in front of the little ones.” She says with great regret.

Celine gives her a stern look. “Mon chere niece (my dear niece), you shouldn’t be swearing in general.” She scolds her.

Yelena blinks with confusion. “Why not?”

“It’s rude and vulgar.” Celine states. “And it’s bad enough that you swore in front of Toni and David.” She then notices her niece and nephew staring at her. “Aunt Celine, what does that word mean?” Antonia asks, making the former acrobat sweat nervously.

“Well, it’s a very bad version of pre-existing words.” She explains, not wanting to tell her the meaning. “VERY mean.”

Antonia nods in understanding, while David was confused. “Why is it bad?” he asks.

Amy takes a deep breath then gets down on one knee and puts her hands on her nephew’s shoulders. “David honey, they’re REALLY bad, mean specifically.” She explains lovingly. “We’ll talk about it later with your mother.”

David nods, then Amy gets up and faces Yelena. “We’re going to work on your swearing problem, young lady.” She sternly states, making Yelena begrudgingly nod. “Where’d you even hear that word anyway?”

“France.” Yelena shrugs. “Missions get long.”

Celine face palms, feeling shame that her home filled her niece’s mouth with that horrible word.

“How many bad words are there?” Antonia asks, making her two aunts straighten up with fear.

“Um… that’s unimportant.” Amy nervously shrugs off. “Let’s just continue walking.”

Antonia nods, then the five continue walking. Celine couldn’t believe that her niece cussed, or that it was a regular habit of hers. She was determined to rid her of that habit.

11:24am

“Aunt Lin, what do you think of this?” Antonia asks as she points at a speaker. “It looks fun, sweetie.” Celine chuckles as she examines it.

“BLEEP!” Yelena says after someone bumps her as they pass by, making her aunts even more upset.

“YELENA stop please.” Amy says. “You DON’T want to face Victoria, do you?”

Yelena thinks about it, then shakes her head. “No.”

“Good, cuz I wouldn’t.” Amy says. Yelena then continues looking at the digital doorbells, noting how smooth and pushable the buttons were. She wasn’t a bad kid, she just had bad habits. And she wanted to get rid of them; for her family.

“Lena, you know we care about you.” Celine explains softly. “Swearing is a bad habit, and makes people look down on you. And your siblings shouldn’t be hearing it.”

Yelena slowly nods. “I know.” She verbally shrugs in a low tone. “And I’ll try, for them.”

Celine gets a warm smile. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Sestra, look at this!” Yelena turns to see Antonia holding a SpongeBob plushie as big as her. “IT’S SO BIG!” She giggles, making her sister’s heart melt.

“Da, it looks cuddly.” Yelena warmly chuckles. She loved her sister, and her new siblings, so she wanted to do right by them. Then an employee passes by them with a cart of products. After they bump into the counter, a box falls off and lands on Amy’s foot, making her eyes shoot open in pain as she holds back a mighty yell. The employee then quickly grabs the box off of her foot. “I’m sorry ma’am.” He apologizes as he puts it back on the cart and hauls it away. As soon as he’s out of range-

“WOO-WOW WHOA!” Amy yells at the top her lungs. “OW MY BLEEP FOOT!” She yells as she holds it up, and as her friend, nieces and nephew look at her in shock. “What BLEEP genius would bring a BLEEP cart this close to the BLEEP customers?! Can’t they see I got a BLEEP foot here! OH BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP! Aw BLEEP BLEEP whomping BLEEEP!” She says before wincing more in pain.

Meanwhile her nieces and nephew were shocked in horror, as was Celine. Antonia finishes counting on her fingers, her pupils shrinking in horror. “Guys, that’s 14 words.” She says with disbelief, making the others shocked. David looks up at his aunt, knowing what to do. “Let’s tell mum!” he yells, making Amy’s pupils shrink with fear as she stops hopping around. “WAIT, NOT VICKI!” She begs.

Celine and the kids then run away, getting a head start as Amy follows them. “WAIT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!” She pleads. “I DIDN’T MEAN IT!!”

The five then find Victoria restocking the ink cartridges. “Hey guy-“ She notices the look of concern of their faces. “What’s wrong?”

Yelena takes a deep breath. “Look, I have a problem cussing, so Celine and Amy tried helping me. After I decided to try stopping, Amy said 14 bad words after an employee dropped a box on her foot.” She says quickly but clearly. Victoria then looks in the back at Amy, who was giving her a sheepish smile. Her expression gets angry as she walks up to Amy. “Amy, did you cuss in front of my kids?” She asks in a stern and angered tone.

Amy nods with a look of regret. “I’m sorry, it was an accident.” She sulks.

Victoria takes a deep breath, then scrunches her forehead with her right fingers. “I’m disappointed in you, Amy.” She says in a low voice. “But, you regret it, and you WON’T do it again, right?”

Amy nods quickly. “Good, now then, we’ll continue this and Yelena’s problem later.” She says as she continues restocking. “I have to resume working.”

The 65 year old woman nods then walks away with the rest of her family, sulking a bit. “I’m sorry everyone.” She says in a low and sad voice. “I really let you guys down.”

Celine pats her back. “You made a mistake, it happens. And you learned from it.” She assures her in a warm voice, making Amy feel a bit better.

“Thanks, Lin.” She smiles.

“Hey Lena, do you want me and David to show you the kitchen stuff?” Antonia asks, finding the appliances so fun to be around. Yelena warmly snickers into a small smile. “Sure, sestra. Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Home; living room, Tuesday March 13^th 2035, 5:48pm

Victoria heads to the living room and sits by Antonia as she watches TV, excited for today. She wanted to spend some one-on-one time with her youngest daughter, and with David and Yelena spending time with their aunts upstairs, it was the perfect opportunity.  “Hey Toni, did you want to do something together?” She asks with a small but warm smile. “Just the two of us?”

Antonia looks at her with surprise widening her eyes, then nods. “Sure.” She shrugs.

“So what’d you want to do?” Her mum asks, prompting the 9-year-old Russian girl to think about it deeply. Then she gets an idea so shocking it made her pupils widen with amazement. “How about we cook dinner together?”

Victoria’s eyes shake a bit from shock; she was surprised that another one of her children wanted to help her cook. She gets a small smile as her eyes get teary and her heart warms. “Of course.” She says warmly and softly.

Kitchen, 5 minutes later

After Victoria gets the supplies ready and on the counter, she looks at Antonia, who was as excited to help Victoria as Victoria was that her daughter wanted to help her cook. “Alright, you ready?” Antonia happily nods.

“Alright then.” Victoria then starts cutting the meat on the board. “As I cut the beef, could you please cut the vegetables?”

Antonia smiles and nods, then grabs some vegetables and puts them on her cutting board. She chooses a knife and starts cutting them. This is nice she gushes in her mind. It felt, good to help her mum prepare food. She then finishes cutting. “Done.”

“Alright then.” Victoria says as she puts meat into the pan. “Could you please add some pepper and garlic?”

“Sure.” Antonia says before dumping the cutting board into a bowl and then grabbing the pepper, slowly grinding some over the vegetables. “That’s good sweetie.” Her mum says after a while of pepper grinding, prompting Antonia to put the pepper down and grab the garlic container and carefully sprinkle some into the vegetables. Everything seemed to be going great.

Some time later

Victoria sautés the meat around in the pan. “Alright then, Toni. Time to stir in the vegetables.” She smiles.

“KK.” Antonia says as she dumps the vegetables into the pan, allowing Victoria to mix them; helping them become a stir-fry. Antonia watches as the meat browns and the vegetables cook, it was kinda memorizing.

“Toni, would you like to stir the pan?” Antonia is caught off guard by her mum’s offer. She looks at her, noting her warm smile. It made her feel confident. “Yes please.” Antonia says with a small, nervous smile. Her mum then moves out of the way and hands Antonia the spoon. “Just like I did.” She warmly assures her daughter. The Russian girl then nervously starts stirring the food around in the pan,  switching to a less nervous speed as she stirs, feeling her confidence build up. Meanwhile, Victoria looked proudly at her daughter. Antonia was doing such a great job helping her, despite it being her first time. She looked so happy.

Dinner Table, 8:10pm

As everyone (but Trina) eats the food, Antonia notes that they’re enjoying it; not noting any difference. It made her feel, proud of herself.

“You did a good job tonight, Tori.” Grace says between bites.

Victoria warmly chuckles. “Well, Toni helped me make it.”

Grace and the others perk up, surprised, giving Antonia assuring smiles. “Good job, Antonia.” She says.

“Cest bon.” Celine says. Yelena nods in encouragement as she stuffs her face.

Antonia can’t help but smile at the compliments. “Thanks everyone.” She says in a low but flattered tone. It felt great to do something that made others happy, and it felt better since she did it with her mom.

Chapter Text

Home; living room, Wednesday March 14^th 2035, 8:10pm

*DING DONG* “I’LL GET IT!” Yelena yells as she heads to the door. She opens it, surprised to see some TV host and a random lady. “Can I help you?” She asks.

“Is Victoria home?” Wendy asks. “We’re her friends.”

Yelena holds up one finger and sticks her head in the back of the house. “TORI!” She yells at the top of her lungs, making the women coil back. “TWO WOMEN ARE HERE TO SEE YOU!”

“COMING!” Victoria says as she heads to the door, smiling when she sees her friends. “I’m glad you two made it.” She says warmly.

The two smile back. “Thanks for having us.” Rebecca says.

Yelena looks back at forth at the two women she’s never met, with great confusion. “Tori, who are these two damy (ladies)?”

Victoria gives her daughter a happy smile. “Yelena, meet Wendy Wower and Rebecca Tourminet. Two close friends of mine, as well as David and Trina’s aunts.”

“That’s right.” Wendy smiles, extending her hand to Yelena. “And you must be Yelena.”

Yelena hesitates for a moment, then shakes Wendy’s purple-gloved hand. “It’s, nice to meet you.” She says awkwardly, not knowing how to react.

“It’s great to meet you too.” Wendy says, in a very energetic tone. “Tori has told us a lot about you and Antonia.”

Yelena’s eyes slightly widen in shock. “Really?” She asks bluntly.

Wendy nods. “So, where’s Antonia?”

“Well, come in.” Victoria says, waving them in.

By the couch

Antonia was watching TV on the couch, when she notices her mum and older sister walk in with two women she’d never met before. She was a bit nervous, but also curious. “Mum who are your friends?”

“Antonia, meet Wendy Wower and Rebecca Tourminet.” Victoria says proudly. “Two of my closest friends, and the aunts of my children.”

Antonia gets off the couch and walks up to her new aunts, looking up at them. She noted Wendy’s lime green hair and bright clothes and Rebecca’s muted pantsuit. They both looked quite friendly. “You’re my aunts?” She asks, wanting to be sure she heard right.

Rebecca nods with an assuring smile. “Yes, Antonia.”

Antonia takes it in, then hugs her two new aunts with a big warm smile on her face. Wendy and Rebecca then hug her back, delighted to have more nieces. While Yelena was still at a loss for words from social awkwardness, she was glad her youngest sister was happy with her new family members.

Not too long after

“So, how did you two meet my mum?” Antonia asks Wendy and Rebecca, sitting with them on the couch.

Wendy gets an amused smile. “Well, technically me and your mother have met three times, but that’s a story for another time.” She knew that Victoria hadn’t told Antonia, Yelena or even David about her time travel adventures yet, since she was waiting for the right time.

“Me and Tori have known each other since we were kids.” Rebecca says, smiling from the warm memories. “We became great friends.”

“Wow.” Antonia says in heartfelt awe. Yelena then looks up and down at Wendy’s performer outfit. “So, what job do you have, Rebecca?” She wonders.

“I’m the vice dean at SFIT.” Her aunt shares. “I’m basically vice principal.”

Yelena nods, noting that it was a bit interesting, and not knowing how to respond in general. “So what do you do, Aunt Wendy?” Antonia wonders.

“I’m a scientist, teacher and a kid’s education TV show performer.” The lime-haired woman explains, making her niece perk up with curiosity.

“You’re on TV?”

Wendy nods. “Yep. Wendy Wower’s Science Hour. I also teach kindergarteners at the Scientorium.”

“Cool.” Antonia says in awe. Yelena, feeling like she should pitch in, looks at Rebecca. “So, what was Tori like as a kid?”

Rebecca snickers and snorts. “Kind, sweet and loving. Just like now. She was shorter though, until she started getting taller.”

Antonia snickers, enjoying her aunt’s dry humor.

“She would also draw a lot in her notebook.” Her aunt notes. “She was there for me and the others when we were down.”

Yelena raises an eyebrow. “Others?”

Rebecca nods, getting a slightly tense face. “Yes. Later on Victoria’s sister Yuriko was added to our friend group, but on the day I became friends with Tori, I also became friends with her friend,” She looks at Victoria, who gives her a small nod. Rebecca then looks back at Antonia and takes a deep breath. “Victor Richards-Timely.”

Antonia’s eyes widen slightly while Yelena’s pupils shrink with shock. “Woah.” The latter mutters.

“Yeah, that was before he went down that path.” Victoria says, sulking a bit. “He was my first friend, and it hurt when he…” She sulks more, not being able to finish the sentence. Rebecca sulks as well, remembering how he hurt Trina in a blind rage against Red Panda. Antonia then hugs Victoria, knowing she needed it. Her mum gets a small smile and hugs her back. Yelena didn’t know the context, but she knew whatever it was, Victor really hurt Victoria.

She then moves over and hugs Victoria as well, wanting to provide some comfort. Victoria’s smile grows a bit more as she feels warm inside; appreciating her oldest daughter’s affection.

Rebecca and Wendy can’t help but smile at how much Victoria’s newest daughters cared about her. They could tell that Antonia and Yelena really loved her.

Chapter Text

Home; living room, Thursday March 15^th 2035, 8:02pm

Antonia reads a book while Yelena watches TV. Grace would be home soon with Trina while Victoria and David were upstairs with Celine and Amy. Overall, everything was peaceful.

“We’re home!” Grace says as she comes in, her dogs running up to her for petting. “Mommy missed you too.” She smiles as she crouches down and pets them. Meanwhile Trina gives the dogs a quick pet then heads to the couch, walking up to her sisters with an unexpected guest.

“Trina who’s the tall girl?” Yelena bluntly asks.

Trina smiles then gestures to Karmi. “Girls, this is Karmi Khan; one of my best friends.” She says proudly. “She came over to study. Karmi, these are my sisters Yelena and Antonia.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Karmi smiles.

“Sup.” Yelena says casually as Antonia closes her book and places it on the couch as she gets up. She walks to Karmi and looks at her. “You’re really pretty.” She says.

Karmi lightly chuckles, feeling flattered. “Thank you.”

“We’ll be at the table studying.” Trina says, before she and Karmi head out. Antonia then sits back on the couch, thinking that Karmi was nice as she rubbed the scarred half of her face. She didn’t really think about her scars, but she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious next to Karmi. Yelena notices her sister’s upset expression and gets worried. “Sestra, are you ok?”

Antonia weak shrugs as she stops rubbing her scars, then sulks. “Yelena, am I ugly?”

Yelena’s eyes shoot open as she scootches closer to her sister and puts her arm around her. “Of course not.” She says, feeling sad that her sister would ask that.

“Compared to Karmi?” Antonia asks in a flat, sad tone. Yelena’s face softens, realizing why her sister asked that. She then pulls her into a warm hug.

“Toni, you’re beautiful.” She assures her in a loving and sympathetic voice. “Scars don’t make you ugly, they’re a reminder of what you survived. You’re a very pretty girl.”

Antonia cries a bit from the sincereness and hugs back. “Thanks sestra.” She gushes in a low, but happier voice.

At the table

“So, what do you think our next test will be about?” Karmi wonders as she and Trina read their textbooks.

Her robot friend shrugs. “I dunno, maybe physics.”

Karmi snickers. “That’s too vague.”

Trina laughs a little back, then sees Yelena and Antonia walk up to them, with Antonia holding her arm nervously. “Sis, is everything ok?” She asks, now worried.

Antonia does a weak nod, then looks at Karmi. She knows Yelena was right, but she needed to hear it from an unbiased perspective. “Karmi am I ugly?”

Trina’s heart dropped when she heard that, as did Karmi’s. The brown-eyed girl puts her book down and faces the poor girl. “No, of course not.” She says in an assuring and slightly saddened voice. “Why would you ask?”

“I, needed to hear it from someone I didn’t know.” The 9-year-old admits in a low voice. “When I saw you, I felt like, I felt like my scars were on display, like I, was ugly.”

Karmi’s eyes shake a little, her eyes getting teary from the heart-breaking confession. She wipes away the tears, needing to assure the girl. “Antonia you’re a cute girl.” Her voice breaks as she gets a weak smile. “Your scars don't change that.”

Antonia perks up, feeling reassured. “You think I’m pretty?”

“Yes.” The 19-year-old girl says with a warm smile.

Antonia’s smile grows, then she runs up and hugs Karmi; feeling reassured by her sister’s friend. Karmi returns the hug, knowing she needed it. Trina and Yelena find the moment very touching.

“What am I, chopped liver?” Yelena asks in a joking tone, making everyone else burst into laughter. Karmi wipes her tears. “You’re pretty too, Yelena.” She assures her through the laughter, making Yelena get a small smile. She appreciated the compliment and the fact that Antonia was assured of her own beauty.

Chapter Text

Yelena’s room, Friday March 16^th 2035, 3:28am

Yelena sits up, having waken up in a cold sweat. She rubs her face, realizing she wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. Then, an idea forms. She gets out of bed and heads out of her room, carefully opening Victoria’s door and entering. She then quietly walks to Victoria’s bed, passing her siblings sleeping in their own beds. She approaches Victoria, then starts carefully shaking her. “Tori.” She calls in a sharp whisper. “Tori.”

Victoria slowly starts drifting into consciousness. “Huh?” She asks, mostly asleep.

“I had a bad dream.” Yelena admits, sulking a bit. Her adoptive mom then sits up, a look of worry on her half-asleep face. “What was it about?”

Her daughter takes a quick deep breath. “I dreamt that I was thrown in jail, for being involved with the Red Room. I felt trapped, and sad since I wasn’t with my family.” Some tears fall down her face as her voice breaks. Victoria’s heart breaks a little, so she pulls Yelena into a warm hug; which the blonde girl lovingly returns.

“Would you like to sleep in my bed tonight?” She asks. Yelena thinks about it for a sec, then nods. The two break the hug, then Victoria scooches over and uncovers that part of the bed. Yelena then carefully gets into bed and faces opposite of her adoptive mom.

“Good night, Yelena.” Victoria slurs as she drifts off. “I love you.”

Yelena gets a small warm smile. “I love you too.” She says before drifting off. She felt safe and loved with Victoria.

Chapter Text

S.H.I.E.L.D Base, Saturday March 17^th 2035, 11:10am (8:10am in San Fransokyo)

Melina flips the page of her book, finding it quite interesting. “Melina, you have visitors.” A voice over the intercom says, prompting her to put her book down and get off her bed; with a big smile on her face. A guard enters the room and presses a button, lowering the glass barrier. Then Victoria enters with Antonia and Yelena; who run up to their mom and pull her into a warm hug. Yelena was crying some tears, not having seen her in weeks.

“YA tak po tebe skychala. (I missed you so much)” Yelena’s voice breaks with emotion. Melina gives her daughter a kiss on the head. “YA tozhe. (So did I)” She says in a relieved voice.

The three then break the hug. “So, I heard Victoria adopted you as well.” Melina says to Yelena with a warm smile. Her teenage daughter nods. “Da, she wanted to care for me, and she has.” She lightly gushes with a small warm smile.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Her mother says warmly. “So, what have you two been up to?”

“We’ve been hanging out and walking around mum’s work.” Antonia gushes. “And we’ve been spending some time with our siblings.”

“That’s great, milyy.” Melina says. She didn’t expect for Antonia to call Victoria “mum”, but she wasn’t mad. Her daughter cared for her adoptive mother, and that was sweet.

Yelena shrugs. “Yeah, we’ve had some fun. Victoria is a nice parent.” She says in a casual tone, but her sincerity was subtle but present.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Melina says. “And, I’m glad to hear that you two are being loved.” The 50ish woman then gives Victoria a look of gratitude. “Thank you for taking care of my girls.” She says in a warm and loving tone.

The smile on Victoria’s face grows a bit more. “I love them a lot.” She lovingly shrugs. Melina warmly chuckles then looks back at her daughters. “So, what else have you two been up to?”

Antonia nudges Yelena’s shoulder. “Tell her.” She says in an excited tone, making her sister sigh from annoyed defeat. “Fine.” The blonde girl mutters, before clearing her throat. “I have started studying for my GED.”

Melina’s eyes grow a bit and her smile widens. “I’m so proud of you, Lena.” She gushes as she hugs Yelena, making her blonde haired daughter feel a bit warm inside.

“Thanks, mom.” The freckled girl smiles shortly before they both break the hug. “Mama, I helped mum cook!” Antonia happily exclaims, making Melina amusingly raise an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

Her youngest daughter joyfully nods. “It turned out really good!”

Melina feels her proud smile grow again. “Good job, Toni. I’m proud of you.” She gushes, making the young girl feel immensely happy.

“She was a really good helper.” Victoria says with a proud smile, making Melina warmly snicker. “She must’ve had good teachers.” She says, gesturing to herself and Victoria, making the blue-haired woman blush a little from warm flattery. Victoria really loved their kids, and she was determined to give them the best life possible.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in New York, Sunday March 18th 2035, 9:30am (6:30am in San Fransokyo)

Victoria sat patiently with her kids as Yuriko drove the van. Trina’s siblings didn’t know where they were going, but she did. It was somewhere she, her mother and David hadn’t been in over a year; well both a year and about 21 years.

“Trina, where are we going?” David asks for the umpteenth time, getting a warm smile from his “older” sister. “You’ll see.” She assures him.

Yelena’s bubblegum bubble pops. “I wonder where too.”

“Wherever it is, mum is excited.” Antonia says, glad to see her mum so happy. Victoria had a big smile on her face the whole ride, which let her youngest daughter know that it meant a lot to her.

Outside some houses

Yuriko pulls up in someone’s driveway, then she and her family start getting out. “Where are we?” David asks as he and his family walk up to the door. “You’ll see.” Yuriko smiles as she presses the doorbell and steps back. Then, they are greeted by an elderly Japanese-Korean/Taiwanese woman with piercing green eyes and a big, teary eyed smile. Victoria and the woman then embrace each other with a hug. “It’s good to see you again, Tori.” The woman gushes.

“I missed you too, mum.” Victoria says with a warm smile.

“MUM?!” Yelena and Antonia say in unison. David absorbs what he heard, then runs up to the woman. “GRANDMA!” He says as he hugs Mikan’s leg, getting a chuckle from her as Trina joins the hug. “I missed you too, David.” She then pulls away from the hug with her daughter to see a tall blonde girl and a short brunette. “Care to introduce them?” She warmly snickers.

Victoria happily nods then walks to her newest daughters and gestures to them. “Mum, meet Antonia Kase and Yelena Belova, the newest additions to my family and your new granddaughters.” She says proudly.

Mikan’s eyes start getting teary as she walks up to the two girls. “You’re, my new grandchildren?” Her voice breaks up a bit with emotion.

Antonia happily nods, while Yelena nervously but lovingly nods. Then they’re pulled into a warm hug by the dark gray-haired woman. “Welcome to the family.” She lovingly gushes. Antonia and Yelena return the hug, feeling the love.

Inside Mikan’s house

“What’s all that racket?” Akiro says as he comes down the stairs. Like Mikan, his black spiky hair had more gray. “It sounds like there’s a marching band in the l-“ He stops when he sees his wife standing with their daughter, his sister-in-law, his grandchildren and two kids he’d never seen before. He gets a bit teary eyed. “Tori?”

Victoria happily nods, then she runs over and hugs her father. “Hi dad.” She warmly gushes. “Grandpa!” David yells as he and Trina run over and hug their grandfather, which he warmly returns as well. “I missed you guys, too.” He warmly gushes, before noting Yelena and Antonia. “I’m afraid we haven’t been introduced yet.”

Antonia fixes her hoodie nervously. “I’m Antonia, and this is my sister Yelena.” Yelena does a casual wave. “We’re your new grandchildren.” She says with a warm smile, making Akrio’s smile grow. “GET IN HERE THEN!” He happily exclaims, prompting Antonia and Yelena to head over and join the warm hug. They had a lot to talk about.

10 minutes later

After Akiro and Mikan’s parents arrived, they got to chatting. They were delighted to know they had more great-grandchildren. As they chatted, Mikan and Yuriko laid their heads lovingly on their mother’s shoulders. At this point, Kira Sato was about 109 years old, so the two Sato girls wanted to spend as much time with their parents as possible.

“So, are you really almost 110 years old?” Yelena asks a bit nervously, getting a snicker from Kira.

“Yep, and proud of it.” She confidently states. “Kenji’s too stubborn to die, because he loves his family.” Her 111-year-old husband gives a thumbs up, impressing Yelena. “Cool.” Meanwhile, Antonia was sitting with her grandfather and his parents.

“Grandpa Akiro, what was it like back in London?” Antonia asks.

Akiro straightens up as he remembers. “Well, it was really gloomy, like all the time.” He says dryly, making his granddaughter laugh. “But your mum loved it. It was peaceful, and we had a great life. We might’ve had to leave for our own safety, but we had a good life now. Me and Mikan have our parents, Yuriko visits whenever she can,” His smile gets warmer. “And now, we can get annual visits from our grandchildren.”

Antonia’s smile grows a bit, liking the sound of that. “That’ll be nice.” Riko loving the thought of seeing her great-grandchildren often, getting a nod of agreement from her husband. “Yeah, it’ll be nice to see them as much as possible before we pass.” Aoi comments. At this point both he and Riko were about 112 and 113 respectively, so they wanted to make good of what time they had left.

“What was Japan like?” Antonia wonders, making the three original Kase lightly chuckle. “Get comfy, we’ll be for a while.” Akiro smirks warmly.

Meanwhile, Yelena was chatting with Grandma Mikan. “So, you were a cook?” She asks, since Mikan recently told her about her old restaurant “Mikan’s Loft”.

“Yep.” Mikan joyfully nods. “For around 20 years. It was quite popular. Tori helped me a few times with the cooking.”

Yelena was, impressed by what she was hearing. She loved Victoria, but there was much about her past she didn’t know. “Could you tell me more about Victoria’s past?”

Mikan warmly snickers. “Sure. Wanna hear about the time she dug through the couch cushions for phone money?” Her granddaughter’s jaw drops with curiosity. “Tell me more.” She begs, making her grandmother snicker and snort. “Well, it was 2003-“

Around 12:34pm

Since lunch time came, Mikan decided to cook; with help from her daughter and granddaughter. They made shrimp tempura with a pork/veggie stir-fry. Everyone at the dinner table was enjoying it (except Trina who doesn’t eat); especially Victoria, who was teary-eyed from the joy of eating her mother’s cooking again.

“This is really good.” Yelena says as she shovels food into her mouth, getting a quick scolding look from her adoptive mom; prompting her to slow down. “Thanks you three.”

Milan puts on a warm smile. “You’re welcome, koibito (sweetheart).” She turns to Yuriko. “So Ri, do you think maybe Rebecca could come during one of your next visits?” She asks with a hopeful tone, having not seen her niece in over 20 years.

Yuriko pauses her fork-moving, and considers it. There didn’t seem to be much of a risk, so a warm smile grows on her face. “Sure, sis.” She says in a warm tone, making her sister feel hopeful and happy.

Meanwhile, Antonia and Yelena were enjoying every minute of their visit. They were eating with their grandparents AND great-grandparents. The two still couldn’t believe it, but they loved it. And David was enjoying it as well. The last time he’d seen his grandparents, he was 6 1/2 months old; too young to remember them. While he was too young to maintain most of his memories, he was having a blast. And Trina was enjoying participating in the family banter. Overall, Victoria’s kids were loving the time they were spending with their extended family.

“So Tori, how goes the teacher job?” Akiro asks between bites, having remembered that when his daughter visited in 2013, she mentioned that she was studying to become a teacher.

Victoria puts her fork down and clears her throat with a big smile on her face. “Actually, I graduated last month.” She proudly gushes. “I’ll be applying to SFIT as soon as Yelena turns 18 in May and hopefully start teaching after summer break.”

Her family’s eyes widen with glee and they get smiles of pride. “I’m so proud of you, Tori!” Mikan exclaims with joy.

“Good job, Tor.” Akiro smiles. “We’re all proud of you.”

Victoria’s grandparents say “Yep” and “Very proud”, making Victoria a bit teary eyed. “Thanks everyone.” She warmly gushes. It was nice to hear her family be proud of her again.

“Mum, what’s SFIT?” David asks, making his mom’s warmly chuckle as she picks him up and holds him. “SFIT is short for San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. It’s a college, which is extra school.” She explains in a motherly tone. “Your mommy will be teaching there in the fall.”

“Wow.” David’s eyes widen with surprise, prompting his mother to give him a kiss on his cheek.

Antonia can’t help but smile at the loving moment between her mum and her brother. Overall, today was a great visit.

Chapter Text

Home; living room, Monday March 19^th 2035, 8:01pm

Yelena sat on the couch, quietly studying the GED handbook. She was determined to obtain her GED, for Victoria. As she flipped the page, she sees David get on the couch and sit by her, looking at her with his big, curious golden eyes. “Can I help you, David?” She asks nicely.

“Lena, do you have a dad?” He asks, making Yelena put on the spot, and a bit uncomfortable. The blonde takes a deep breath, then looks at her brother with a look of slight grief.

“Yes David.” She says in a low voice. “I have a father. I loved him, but he didn’t do anything when me and Natalia were taken away. I, I’m not ready to forgive him.”

David’s face softens as he sulks a little. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re fine.” Yelena brushes it off in a low voice. David then lays his head on her shoulder, sulking a bit from the heart.

“I never knew my father.” He says in a grieved voice, making Yelena’s eyes widen a bit. “Mum says he was a bad man but doesn’t elaborate much beyond that. So, I never had one.”

Yelena then pulls her younger brother in a warm hug, crying in empathy for him. He hugs her back, smiling warmly. He was glad to have her as a sister.

The Kitchen, 8:42pm

Victoria finishes loading the dishwasher, noting Yelena standing there with her a “we need to talk” face. “Is everything alright, sweetie?” She asks, worried about what her daughter wanted.

“Who’s David’s father?” She asks bluntly, making Victoria’s pupils shrink in shock. She didn’t expect to be asked that.

“Get your sister and come with me.” She says in a low, awkward voice.

The Kases’ room, 8:46pm

“Please wait for us in Aunt Lin and Amy’s room, alright sweetie?” Victoria tells her son in the doorway. “Do NOT come down until I say it’s ok. It’s a very private matter.”

David nods. He didn’t like it, but it was important to his mother. “Yes mom.”

“Good boy.” Victoria slight smiles as Amy and Celine take him to their room. She then closes the door and walks up to Antonia and Yelena, who were sitting on the bed. She takes a deep breath and sits with them on the bed with a look of uncertainness on the bed. “Yelena, Antonia knew part of this already, but David is adopted.” She explains softly. “His mother couldn’t take care of him, so I adopted him.”

Antonia and Yelena softly nod. Victoria then takes another deep breath. “His mother is my sister/aunt Yuriko.”

Her daughters’ pupils shrink further. “What?!” Yelena exclaims in shock.

“She was in danger, so David was in danger. That's why she had to give him up.” Their mom explains. “She divorced David’s father, but she never told me who he was.”

Yelena flops back in shock. “I can’t believe this.” She mutters.

“And, David was born in January 2013.” Victoria bluntly says, making the girls’ pupils shrink further.

“WHAT?!” They both yell as Yelena sits back up.

“Last January, me and Trina accidentally got trapped in July 2013.” Victoria says gently. “Since our present was safer than David’s, I volunteered to take care of him for Yuriko and at one of her conditions, I adopted him. When he’s 18, I’ll return him to his present so he can live his life in chronological order.”

Antonia and Yelena’s jaws are dropped. They didn’t know how to process this. Their brother was a time traveler.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but any questions you have I’ll answer.” Victoria lovingly assures her daughters. Yelena and Antonia look at each other, shrug, then back at their mom.

“Mom, where’s David NOW?” Antonia asks, needing to know. Victoria takes a deep breath, then gives her a small smile.

Ferns’ House, 9:24pm

After pulling up, Victoria walks her daughters to some house they’d never seen before. The two girls’ hearts pound in their ears as they walk up the porch steps. Victoria rings the doorbell then steps back. After a moment, someone answers the door. It was-

“Aunt Victoria, what brings you here?” Juniper asks, before noticing the two girls with her and then starts squealing. “Are those your daughters?”

Victoria nods. “Antonia, Yelena, meet Juniper Sparks; my niece and Trina’s cousin.”

Juniper runs out and looks at them. “You two are SO CUTE!” She gushes, making the two feel flattered.

“Thanks.” Yelena says, unsure how to take the compliment.

“Sweetie, is your brother home?” Victoria asks, getting a nod from Juniper. She then leads the three in.

Living room

Juniper leads the three to the living room, where Yelena and Antonia’s pupils shrink from shock. It was a 22-year-old version of their brother on the couch, watching TV. He had blue streaks in his floofy hair, similar to their mom, and his eyes were paler.

“David, you got visitors.” Juniper says softly with a smile, prompting her brother to perk up and face her direction. “Who is it?”

“David?” Antonia asks, making David’s pupils widen as he gets up and carefully walks over to Antonia and gets on one knee. “Antonia?” He asks, tearing up a bit. It was now that Antonia realized that David was blind.

“Hey dude.” Yelena says in a low voice, prompting David to face her direction as well. He then pulls the two into a hug, tearing up with a smile. The two girls couldn’t believe it; this was their brother. One day they’d miss some years of his life, but in the end; they were family.

“I missed you two so much.” His voice breaks, making his sisters’ hearts melt. They hug back, knowing that he needed it. They loved him, and they were going to be there for him during all the time they had left.

Chapter Text

Home; kitchen, Saturday March 24^th 2035, 12:42pm

Celine opens the pantry and grabs a bag of chips, only to find that the bag was VERY low. “Hey, who was eating the chips last?” She asks the others in the area.

*CRUNCH* Her direction is then directed to the couch, where Yelena is chomping down on chips as she watches TV with Antonia. The 36-year-old physicist walks up to her niece, who was munching down chips with a bag of cookies next to her. The blonde looks up at her innocently. “Want a bite?” She offers. Celine puts her hands on her hips and looks at her sternly.

“Lena, that is a LOT of junk food.” She says in a stern tone.

Yelena shrugs. “I work out a lot, it won’t do much damage.”

Celine’s gaze sharpens a bit. “Yelena, that doesn’t mean you should be scarfing down a lot of snack food.”

“Victoria’s food is very healthy.” Yelena rebuts. “It balances everything out.”

Celine scrunches her nose. “Lena, that doesn’t make it ok.”

“I’m FINE.” Yelena amusingly brushes it off, making Celine more angered. “HEY!” She yells as her aunt  confiscates the cookies and chips on her way out.

Outside The Kases’ room

Celine walks up to Victoria’s door and knocks sternly. “Victoria, we need to talk about Yelena.” She says in a worried tone.

Her friend answers the door, with a worried look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Yelena’s addicted to junk food.” Celine says, holding up the bag of cookies and bowl of chips she confiscated. “She was eating these with most of what was left in the chip bag.”

Victoria’s pupils shrink ever so slightly, her worry building up. “This could be a problem.” She says, worried about her daughter.

Celine nods. “Oui. What do we do?”

The blue-haired woman puts her hand to her chin as she thinks of a solution, then snaps her fingers when she gets an idea. “I got it.”

Living room

Yelena grumbles, since her snacks were taken away. Meanwhile, Antonia is confused by the reaction. “Lena, isn’t this a bit much for snacks?” She asks.

“NO.” Yelena huffs in a petty tone. Then, their adoptive mother and their aunt come from downstairs, with Victoria having a serious yet motherly look on her face as they approach the blonde. “Lena, can we talk?”

Yelena scoffs. “Why not?” She says sarcastically.

Victoria sits by her daughter and puts her hand on hers. “Lena, I’m worried about you.” She says softly. “Me and your Aunt Lin. You can’t be eating a lot of junk food, even if you exercise regularly and eat healthy. It can be a bad habit.”

“But I’m CANCELLING out the effects.” Yelena refutes.

“Lena, it can lead to you eating that much on days where you don’t do your healthy stuff.” Victoria explains. “Either way, you can risk plaque build up, or getting out of shape, or heart problems.”

Yelena’s pupils widen a bit, actually feeling it sink in.

“Lena, I love you.” Victoria says in a trembling voice. “You’re my daughter and I love you. I want you to live a long, healthy life. I want you to be able to see your siblings grow up and start their own families, to be able to have a family of your own.” Tears start forming in her eyes. “I want you to have a good life.” Her voice cracks. Yelena starts crying in response.

She knew Victoria was right, but it hit close to home. It was, touching seeing how much her adoptive mom cared for her. She, still wasn’t used to it. “I’m sorry.” Her voice cracks, prompting Victoria to hug in her in response.

“I know, sweetie.” The 44-year-old woman says softly with a warm smile. “I know.”

“I love you so much, Tori.” Her voice cracks, warming her adoptive mom’s heart. “I love you too, Lena.”

Antonia and Celine share a tear from how touching the moment was. Meanwhile, Yelena was enjoying the hug, being glad Victoria was in her life.

Chapter Text

Home; living room, Saturday March 31^st 2035, 9:21am

It was a great day. Antonia and Yelena were sitting on the couch with Victoria, Grace, Trina and David watching TV while Celine and Amy were working on paperwork in the kitchen. Antonia snuggles against her mum’s shoulder, feeling loved. And Yelena really respected and loved Victoria. She was kind, cared about her and was a great parent. She and Antonia were really loving the time they were spending with their new family.

*DING DONG* Victoria looks at the door, surprised. “Wonder who it is.”

“I’ll get it.” Grace says, getting up and walking to the door. When she opens it, she notices a woman she’d never seen before. She appeared to be around 23 and about 5’6 with fair skin, bright red hair kept long and green eyes. She was wearing a black leather jumpsuit, gloves and boots with some kind of golden gauntlets and a red hourglass belt buckle. She had a stern look on her face. “Can I help you?” Grace asks the woman.

“I’m here to see my sister.” She says, in a tomboyish voice with an American accent. Grace raises an eyebrow in confusion. “Your sister?”

Natasha’s gaze sharpens. “Yelena Belova.”

Grace’s eyes widen as her heart skips a beat. This was Yelena and Antonia’s sister, the one who hurt Antonia. She couldn’t just let her in. “Could you please give me one moment?” She asks in a strained voice. Natasha nods, then Grace rushes back in, slamming the door behind her. She rushes up to Victoria at the couch. “Tori, a word in private?” She asks in a worried voice.

Victoria gets a bit worried, then nods. “Kids, mommy will be right back.” She says as she gets off the couch and follows Grace to the kitchen. “What is it?”

“Yelena and Antonia’s sister is here.” Grace says in a worried voice, making Victoria’s heart drop with fear. “She wants to see Yelena.”

Victoria breathes nervously for a moment, before she gets an angry glare. “She can’t just visit after what she did.”

“I know, but maybe we should ask Yelena.” Grace suggests. “It should be HER decision.”

Her best friend thinks about it for a moment, then begrudgingly nods. “Alright.” She and Grace then head over to the couch, walking up to Yelena with worried faces. “Yelena, we have some news for you.” Victoria says, worried.

Yelena perks up, a bit worried herself. “What’s wrong?”

“Can I speak with you, in private?” Her adoptive mom asks, in a concerned voice. The blonde teen nods, then follows Victoria to the kitchen.

“What is it?” She asks.

Victoria puts her right hand on Yelena’s shoulder with a worried look. “Your sister is outside, and she wants to visit you.”

Yelena’s heart drops, her anger building up. “She almost killed Toni, I don’t want to talk to her.” She says with great anger.

“I know, but we thought you should decide.” Victoria calmly clarifies. “She did come to see you, and it is your choice.”

Yelena takes a deep breath and thinks about it. She never did tell Natasha about her feelings about Budapest, and she needed to. “Alright, but please come with me.”

Victoria nods, then the two head outside. Yelena looks at her older sister with a stern anger, while Natasha looks at her with relief. “It’s good to see you again Yelena.” Natasha says with a small smile as she tries coming in with a hug, which Yelena rejects.

“I’m not ready for that yet.” Yelena says in an angry voice. “I just wanted to tell you how I feel.”

Natasha recoils back a little, then nods. Yelena takes a deep breath and looks at her older sister. “Natalia, you almost killed our sister; ON PURPOSE.” She states, tears flowing down. “You never came to see us, or mama. Antonia almost died, and I can’t easily forgive that.” She chokes up, making Natasha sulk a little with guilt.

“Sestra, I am sorry about that.” She says in a low voice. “I, shouldn’t have disregarded Antonia during my mission.”

Yelena sniffles. “You should be apologizing to our sestra as well.” She sternly states, making Natasha coil back a little. “But, I don’t think she’s ready to see you.”

“I don’t think so either.” Victoria says.

Natasha sternly gulps. “I should try to make my peace before going back.” She says in an awkward tone. The blue-haired woman thinks about it, then takes a deep breath. “Yelena, come with me inside please. We’ll be back, Ms. Romanoff.” She and her daughter then head back inside and head over to the couch, looking at Antonia with concerned expressions. “Toni sweetie, we have a, situation we need your input on.” Victoria says, worrying Antonia would have a meltdown.

Antonia’s eyes shake a little, noting the worry on her mum and sister’s faces. “What’s wrong?”

Victoria directs attention to Yelena, who takes a deep breath. “Natasha is outside, she came to visit me and wants to apologize to you as well.” Her voice strained with grief. Antonia’s heart drops as she hugs Victoria for comfort. “Mum, do I have to?” She says, her voice breaking with fear as her eyes get teary.

“No sweetie, it’s your choice.” Her mum assures her in a loving voice. “Only if you’re ready.”

Antonia thinks deeply about this. Her own sister tried… and that was hard to forget. She was very heartbroken from what happened, and traumatized. But, maybe she should get this off her chest. Maybe this could be the way she repairs her relationship with her oldest sister. “I’ll listen, but only if Yelena and Trina come with us.”

“Of course.” Victoria says with a warm smile. “Count us in.” Trina says with the same warm smile, to which Yelena nods. Antonia smiled, being glad to have a mum and sisters like them.

Back outside the door

Antonia nervously exits the door with her mum and sisters, shaking as she saw her oldest sister; who had a look of empathy on her face. Victoria holds Antonia close to her, to make her feel safe. Natasha bends down on one knee and looks at the 9-year-old.

“Antonia, I am sorry for what I did.” She says in a low, grieved voice with a few tears. “I shouldn’t have done that, especially to an innocent civilian.”

Antonia questions the wording, but brushes it off. “Sestra, I looked up to you.” Her voice chokes up. “Whenever mama talked about how you broke free of the Red Room, she had pride on her face. When you… it broke my heart.” Her eyes get teary. “I, I’m not ready to forgive you.”

Natasha sulks a little, noting it was fair. “Understandable.” She says, her nasally voice lower due to her empathy. She was going to have to earn back the girl’s trust. Victoria then walks up to Natasha, prompting the redhead to stand straight. “Ms. Romanoff, you may come back IF your youngest sister allows it.” She states sternly, making the redhead coil back a bit more, before getting confused; then a bit agitated upon realization. “What?”

“Antonia’s feelings come first.” Victoria tries to clarify. “She is the one you wronged.”

Natasha waves her hand. “I know that, but she’s my stepsister.” She says in an annoyed tone, making everyone else coil back in shock.

“What do you mean by that?” Yelena asks, her temper flaring up.

“Lena, I barely know her.” Her sister says, making the oldest Clan Kase members get angrier.

“She’s your sister.” Trina states. “You two share a mother, you’re sisters. And while nothing is wrong with the term “stepsister”, you said it very wrong.”

Natasha scrunches her face in annoyance. “Lena, She’s Dreykov’s daughter; mama worked for him even after breaking the conditioning.”

“Mama didn’t know how to get out.” Yelena says.

Natasha scoffs. “Doesn’t make it right. And little one, you know what Dreykov did to me, what he made me do.” She states with venom. “I can’t have children of my own because of him.”

“ANTONIA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT!” Yelena yells.

“SHE WAS THE ONLY GIRL NOT INDOCTRINATED INTO THE RED ROOM!” Natasha yells, getting angry. “And to make matters worse, she was adopted by our mother. OUR OWN MOTHER replaced us.”

“But we’re family, and family is supposed to love each other!” Yelena yells at Natasha, her heart broken. “Alexei abandoned us, but MAYBE I can talk to him again one day. But Antonia is family, you can’t just disown her because of some, JEALOUSY!”

Natasha takes an angry breath, then looks at her sister with stern eyes. “It’s not disowning, if we were never family.” She hisses with venom. Then the sound of sad choking fills the air, directing her and Yelena’s attention to Antonia; whom Natasha wasn’t aware was hearing the whole conversation.

“But, but,” Antonia then breaks down into tears and hugs Victoria and Trina, who cry with her as they hug her. Natasha’s heart skipped a few beats, realizing all of her venting was heard by the 9-year-old. Then, she notices Yelena starring daggers into her eyes.

“GET OUT.” Yelena spits with venom, before running over and joining the hug.

“But Len-“

“You heard my daughter.” Victoria says, her voice choking up from crying. “You’ve outstayed your welcome.”

Natasha’s eyes shake a bit, then she stares angerly at Victoria. “Ms. Kase-“

“DON’T MAKE ME CALL THE POLICE!” Victoria yells, making Natasha coil back. Had she gone too f-

“AGENT ROMANOFF!” Everyone turns to see Yuriko, with Victoria Hand, walking up to Natasha; very angry. “YOU’RE ON PROBATION! We told you NOT TO WANDER OFF!”

“I came to apologize to Yelena, then I did so with Antonia.” Natasha tries defending herself. “Bu-“

“WE KNOW.” Yuriko says with venom, her sunglass covered eyes staring daggers into Natasha. “We listened to your whole hate rant through the security comms.”

Natasha’s heart skips a beat as her pupils shrink in horror.

“They’re mandatory for those on probation, ESPECIALLY useful for when they wander off.” Victoria H. states, her voice furious.

“I, I,” The former Black Widow is at a loss for words.

“Agent Romanoff, THIS will be reported to Fury.” Yuriko says, her voice strained from how upset she was. “And, your probation will be extended. And one more thing.”

Yuriko takes off her sunglasses as Victoria H. takes off her glasses, then the two stare at Natasha with angry tears. “NEVER do that to our niece again.” Yuriko says, venom dripping. Natasha feels her skin go pale from fear, then she nods. “Come on, we need to go discuss your punishment.” Victoria H. states as she and Yuriko drag Natasha off, before giving Antonia and the other Clan Kase members a brief look of empathy.

“Good to see you this early, sis.” Yuriko says to Victoria. “I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

Victoria nods in agreement as she holds her crying daughter close to her. Antonia didn’t deserve this and needed all the love she could get right now.

Living room

Celine and Amy look up from their paperwork as they see Victoria carry a crying Antonia in, with herself and her other daughters crying as well. They put down their papers and run over to the four; who had walked to the couch, also catching the attention of Grace and David.

“What happened?” Celine asks, worried about her niece.

“Yelena and Antonia’s oldest sister came by.” Victoria explains in a tear strained voice. “She apologized for what happened in Budapest but, she said, in very harsh words, that she didn’t consider Antonia part of her family.” Her soft voice chokes up, helping her friends get the point, while David somewhat got it.

“Oh my word.” Amy mutters in horror as Victoria carefully sits on the couch, still holding Antonia close to her and comforting her. David, knowing that his sister was in pain, joined the hug.

“Luv you, sis.” He says in a warm, comforting voice. It made Antonia feel a bit comforted. Then, Celine, Amy and Grace join the hug, just before Trina and Yelena carefully rejoin the hug.

“You’re not a replacement, Toni.” Yelena assures her in a heartbroken voice. “Mama adopted you because she loved you; not because there was a void in her heart.”

Antonia sniffles, feeling a bit more comforted. Her heart then feels a bit warmer, recognizing the love her family was giving her. A small smile grows on her heartbroken face. “I love you guys so much.” Her voice breaks as she further embraces the hug. Her family really loved her, and she really loved them.

S.H.I.E.L.D Base; Fury’s office, 5:28pm (2:28pm in San Fransokyo time)

“Agent Romanoff, I’m disappointed in you.” Fury says, scrunching the skin between his eyes as he leans back a bit in his desk chair. “You not only wandered off from your S.Os, you also said horrible stuff to your sister.”

Natasha gulps, squirming a bit in her chair. “I know, but Di-“

Fury holds a hand up. “Probation extended; no solo missions for a while. Your S.Os will provide further instructions, UNDERSTOOD?” He says sternly with a bit of anger.

Natasha nervously nods. “Yes sir.” She mutters as she holds her arm. “Director, permission to see my mother?”

“Denied.” Fury says. “She said she doesn’t want to see you right now.”

The redhead coils back in shock, and a bit of hurt. Angry, she storms out; leaving Fury to take a sad sigh and ponder everything that happened. He couldn’t believe that Natasha actually did that.

Inside Melina’s cell, 5:42pm

On the prisoner’s bed, Yuriko and Victoria held a crying Melina; who was heartbroken when they told her the news. She couldn’t believe that her eldest daughter was like that, so mean and.. heartless.

“We’re here, don’t worry.” Yuriko assures the woman; who was the saddest of the three. Then there’s a thud noise outside, prompting the three to look to the door. It then opens; with an angry Natasha walking in.

“Mom, I wanna talk.” She says in an annoyed yet sad voice.

Melina sniffles, before looking at her daughter with her tear stained face. “Please Natalia, I don’t want to speak to you right now.” Her tear strained voice breaks.

“But I need to talk with you.” Natasha says, her voice a bit saddened.

“Natalia pl-“

“I want to talk to you.” Natasha says, a bit teary eyed. Melina is hurt by the tears, but she’s still upset by what happened. “You never wanted to talk with me recently.”

The red hair coils back a little in a bit of guilt. “Mama-“

“Natalia, you could’ve visited me anytime.” Her mom’s voice says, very tear strained. “Even when we reunited 2 years ago, you barely spoke with me.”

“Well, you didn’t come back for me or Yel-“

“WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE?” Melina says, very upset and annoyed. “Dreykov had eyes and ears everywhere. I couldn’t have taken you girls back.”

“But-“

“And, we could’ve talked this out years ago.” Melina points out. “Yelena and I did.”

Natasha’s eyes widen a bit, realizing her mom had a point. “But-“

Melina’s gaze then sharpens. “Natalia, you almost killed my youngest daughter, YOU AND YELENA’S SISTER.” Her tear strained voice angers. “Then, after you apologize you say all that horrible stuff about her.”

Natasha can’t help but coil back every time her mom vented. “Mama-“

“I didn’t adopt Antonia to replace you two.” Her mom sternly states. “I just wanted a third child. And this jealousy of yours has gotten out of hand.”

Natasha spits and scoffs. “Jeal-“

“YOU’RE JEALOUS that Antonia has the life YOU wanted.” Melina says, her saddened voice cracking up. “And you don’t even consider her your sister because of that.”

“Mama, she is the daughter of the m-“

“SHE ISN’T HIM!” Melina yells. “She had nothing to do with his work. She is my daughter, like you and Yelena.” She sniffles. “I love her so much. Natalia, I am mad at you; and disappointed.”

Natasha’s pupils shrink in shock, and a bit of hurt.

“Please leave me with my friends.” Melina asks in a low, soft voice. “I need to be alone with them for a while.”

Natasha hesitates, then begrudgingly nods. The redhead then storms out of the cell, apologizing to the guard for knocking him aside. Then Melina goes back to the loving comfort and embrace of Yuriko and Victoria as she cries more. She couldn’t believe what just happened, and it hurt her heart to see her eldest daughter behaving that way, thinking that way about her youngest. The comfort her friends were giving her was so heartwarming and caring. She really appreciated them.

Home; Kases’ room, 8:34pm

In her bed, Victoria was holding her youngest daughter close to her, providing comfort. Antonia nuzzles her head against Victoria’s left shoulder while her siblings were also on the bed with them. She really felt the love from her family.

“Mum, I know I say this a lot, but I love you a lot.” She says softly, nuzzling her head further into Victoria’s shoulder. Victoria warmly chuckles as she leans her head against Antonia’s.

“I love you so much too, Toni.”

Trina’s warm smile grows a bit. “We all do.”

As Antonia drifts off, her heart feels warm from knowing how many people love her.

Chapter Text

Home; porch, Sunday April 1st 2035, 9:26am

From their porch, Clan Kase watches as movers unload the truck for their new neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Smith moved away hours ago, since Mr. Smith got a job in Kentucky, so now a new family was moving in.

“Do you think they have kids my age?” Antonia wonders.

Victoria warmly chuckles. “Maybe, dear.”

“It’d be nice to have a friend next door.” Trina notes, since all her friends lived somewhat of a distance from her.

As they watch the movers move stuff around, a man then approaches them. He seemed to be middle-aged, 56ish, with dark brown skin and a height of about 6 feet, with dark brown eyes. He had very short, medium gray curly hair and beard, with black rectangular glasses. He was wearing a very dark gray-green blazer over a medium gray t-shirt with tan casual pants and black casual shoes. He greeted them with an extended hand and a smile; which revealed his gap tooth. “Howdy neighbors. Dr. Bill Foster.” He says as Grace shakes his hand.

“Professor Grace Granville.” Grace says proudly. “It’s nice to meet you. This is my family; Victoria, Grace and Celine (my friends), and Trina, David, Antonia and Yelena; my nieces and nephew and Victoria’s children.” She says as she gestures to each of them individually.

“Well, it’s nice to meet all of you.” Bill says, before noting something. “I’ll be right back.” He then heads towards the direction of his house. After a few moments, he returns with a kid. She was around 10-11 and had light brown skin and bright blue eyes (which reminded Trina of Ari) with dark brown curly hair kept in a ponytail. She was wearing some kind of gray rubbery tech vest over her pale pink t-shirt and yellow skirt with lavender sneakers. She was a bit shy, hiding behind Bill. “Grace, Grace’s family, this is my daughter Ava Starr.” He says proudly. “I adopted her recently.”

Grace and the others put on small, kind smiles. “Hello Ava.”

Ava goes back behind Bill’s leg. Then, Antonia walks up to Bill, trying to look at her. “Hello?”

Ava peaks from behind, noting the girl within her age range. Feeling a bit brave, she slowly gets out from behind and walks up to her. She holds her arms nervously as she looks Antonia in the eye. “Hello.” She says nervously, speaking with a British accent. “I’m Ava.”

“I’m Antonia. Nice to meet you.” Antonia says with a warm smile. “So, what do you think of the neighborhood?”

Ava looks around, noting the nature and painted lady houses. “It’s, fine I guess.” She shrugs. “I’m not used to it.”

“That’s ok.” The Russian assures her. “It can take time. So, what do you like to do?”

Ava buries her face in her shirt a bit. “Um, cuddly toys, cartoons, and walking.”

Antonia’s mouth drops a little with shock. “Me too.”  

Ava slowly unburies herself from her hoodie, feeling less shy around the new girl. She seems nice She says to herself.

Bill takes a few steps back, giving Ava space. Victoria then stands by him, watching as their children interact, with a proud smile on her face. “Looks like our kids are getting along.”

“Yep.” Bill says, glad Ava found a friend.

“So, what brings you here Bill?” Celine asks.

Bill takes a sigh of grief. “Well, we’re here because I wanted a new start for Ava. Her parents died a few weeks ago, traitors to the US for all things.” Victoria’s heart drops, feeling bad for the poor girl. “She was there, when their experiment went wrong. It, messed with her biology. Without that vest, she would.. phase out of existence.”

Victoria and the others grab their hearts in empathy.

“We’re here because San Fransokyo’s tech is highly advanced. I’ll be able to have the proper tech to care for Ava.” Bill says in a low, worried voice. The women can’t help but have their hearts bleed for Ava.

“Well, this is one of the best places to do so.” Grace says with a warm smile, making Bill feel a bit better.

“Couldn’t agree more.” Bill says. It felt like everything would be ok.

“Area is secure, Dr. Foster.” Bill turns around, as does Ava and Clan Kase, to see Yuriko and Victoria Hand walking up to him. “All your tech and research is at no easy risk of hacking or theft.”

Bill happily nods. “Thanks, Yuriko.”

Yuriko then turns to Victoria, giving her a small smile. “It’s good to see you again so soon, sis.”

“You too.” Victoria smiles, before confusion shows on her face. “But, why are you here?”

Yuriko pats Bill on the back. “Dr. Foster is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” She sharp whispers, making Clan Kase’s jaws drops. “That’s how Bill has the funds and access for Ava’s healthcare.”

Bill warmly snickers. “Yeah, it’s been a really help. I can’t thank you guys enough for the help you’ve provided.”

Yuriko and Victoria H. give Bill warm smiles. “No problem, Dr. Foster.” Victoria H. says. “Now, we should get going Yuriko. There’s work to do back at the base. Fitzsimmons needs us.”

Yuriko nods. “Alright. Well, it was nice seeing you 8. Love y’all.” She and Victoria H. wave as they walk away.

“Take care, sis.” Victoria waves as they enter their car and drive away. After that, Grace looks at Bill. “Hey Bill, would you and Ava like to come over for dinner?”

Bill’s smile grows a bit warmer. “What do you say, Ava? Wanna have dinner with Antonia and her family?”

Ava coils back in nervousness, then looks at Antonia. She really wanted to spend some more time with her, so “I would love to.” She says warmly.

“We’ll be there.” Bill tells Grace.

“Wonderful.” Grace claps her hands together. She was happy to spend more time with their neighbors. Meanwhile, Antonia and Ava were excited to have dinner together.

Dinner table, 6:54pm

For dinner, Victoria and Grace had made a steak-veggie stir-fry. And everyone (besides Trina who didn’t eat) was enjoying it; especially Ava.

“This is so good, thank you Ms. Kase.” She gushes between bites.

“You’re welcome, Ava.” Victoria smiles as Amy takes a sip of her water.

“So Bill, what’s the plan from here-on-out?” She asks, begin curious.

Bill fixes his glasses. “Well, in a few weeks Ava will be ready to return to public school, so we’ll have to prepare for that.”

Victoria gets a stroke of genius. “That’s the plan for Antonia too.” She smiles. “What school are you sending her to?”

“Shiro Yoshida Middle School.” Bill answers.

Victoria happily snaps her fingers. “That’s where I’m enrolling Antonia!“

“Really?” Bill says with a smug smile. “Well, i guess they’re school buddies then.”

Ava and Antonia look at each other, smiling from how good it sounded.

“Maybe we could do our back-to-school shopping done together.” Victoria suggests.

“It’s a date.” Bill smiles, making the two pre-teens very happy.

“So Antonia,” Ava says between bites. “How old are you?”

Antonia smiles. “9, but I’ll be 10 in May.” She shows with her fingers. “You?”

Ava chuckles. “I’ll be 10 in July.”

“Cool.” The Russian smiles. “So, what are you doing tonight?”

“After my check up, probably just read.” The blue eyed girl shrugs, with Antonia nodding as she listened.

“What are you reading?”

“You know, novels, comics here and there, *fanfiction*” she mutters the final one under her breath.

Antonia’s eyes widen in awe. “You read fanfiction too?”

Ava relaxes, surprised that her new friend read fanfiction as well. “Yeah.” She says in a low voice, her embarrassment slowly fading.

“I read mostly Rey and Rose Tico friendship fics, you?” The green eyed girl says.

Ava clears her throat. “Um, Batfamily.”

“Like, Batman?” Antonia asks for clarification.

“Yeah, him and his family-team.” Her friend says, a smile slowly growing. “It’s great to see fanfic stories where they’re expanded upon; well official stuff has it too but still. But my main is ones where like in pre-Flashpoint, Barbara Gordon is Cassandra Cain’s surrogate mother, like a mom to her. But in these fanfiction universes, it’s given more depth.”

“That’s so cool!” Antonia gushes, interested in her friend’s love of found family fanfiction.

Ava couldn’t help but smile. She, had actually found a friend with something in common. “I can’t wait to go to school with you.”

“Me neither.” Antonia gushes. Whatever came next, she had her family and her new friend there to support her.