She didn't manage to finish what she was saying as the back door burst open and one more small figure run into the room. Of course, she heard.
"Mama!" the little one called out with a strong accent.
It was a girl, she couldn't have been older than twelve. She was scrawny and rather short even for a child her age. She wore denim overalls with a loose, striped sweater underneath them and red, laced sneakers. She had shoulder-length, light blonde hair, so light it could have been mistaken for white.
Her bright blue eyes lit up as she run towards Natasha, who crouched down with her arms open wide, ready to embrace the girl. The child's impact made her lose her balance for a split second almost sending them both on the floor. She regained it quickly and wrapped her arms around the tiny body and the girl buried her freckled face in the crook of Natasha's neck.   
"Privietik, moya zvezdochka." Romanoff said in a gentle tone before planting a kiss on top of her head and continued stroking her back. 
She had no idea how long they stayed like that, but finally, she opened her eyes and caught some puzzled looks from the four men she forgot were still in the room the moment she saw her little girl. Natasha slowly stood up when she felt her grip loosen a bit and started holding her hand instead. She send the girl a reassuring smile and caught Clint's gaze from a few feet away where he stood with Laura, embracing her with one arm, both of their kids in front of them. He was smiling at her, he couldn't help it when he saw his best friend so happy. 
"Alright, Barton I can understand, he was always weird," Tony began and pointed at Natasha "But you? There's something off here."
    Natasha sighed with a helpless smile. She understood where Tony was coming from. The way they knew her, even the small bits of her softer side, she didn't seem like a mom type. 
"Do you want to introduce yourself?" she asked the girl, but she didn't react and kept her eyes glued to Nat's face, her little hand clutching hers. Her previous energy and joy disappeared when she took in all of the strangers in the room. 
"It's okay." Romanoff comforted her and looked back to the rest of the Avengers. "This is Katya, she gets a little shy in front of strangers. And yes, she's my daughter. May be adopted, but she is my daughter." 
"But why does she live with these guys?" Tony asked and gestured towards the Bartons. Steve, Bruce, and Thor still kept quiet "And not with you?" 
"It's a really long story and I'll explain it a bit later, okay?"
"You don't have to explain anything, Nat." Steve chimed in. 
"I do. You deserve the truth and I want to tell you what I can-"
"Let's maybe settle you all in first and then we can all talk" Laura interrupted. "We have enough space for everyone."
"Don't mind me, I'm going to look for answers elsewhere," Thor said and went out. Steve followed him.
"Nat, your room is still yours."
"Oh, someone can take it, I'll stay with Katya." Romanoff shrugged.
Her room was actually just a guest room but since she was definitely the most frequent guest in the house and usually stayed there, it quickly became her room. Laura didn't protest against her proposition and let Clint lead Tony, Steve, and Bruce upstairs to show them where they can get cleaned up a bit and rest after everything they'd been through lately. Lila and Cooper went back to doing whatever they were doing before the group barged in. Katya stayed glued to Natasha's side. 
"Why don't go upstairs and get ready to tell about every cool thing you did while I was gone, hm?" Natasha suggested. "I'll see you in a minute."
Katya nodded excitedly, smile showed back on her face before she turned on her heel and run upstairs. Natasha watched her for as long as she could and when she disappeared out of her sight, she turned back to Laura.
"How was she?" she asked.
Natasha was a master of hiding her feelings. Putting up a stone-cold face as a mask, pretending to be a robot. She was taught and raised to do that. But underneath all of that, she was scared. Terrified, each time she was leaving Katya, even though she knew there wasn't anyone better to take care of her daughter. She trusted Clint and Laura not only with her own life but Katya's too. But she worried anyway. Master assassin or a housewife, that's the one thing every mother has in common. 
"She's been just fine," Laura replied and Natasha felt immediate relief. She knew Laura would never lie about Katya even to make Romanoff feel better. "She had only one nightmare and she told me about it only in the morning so it wasn't a bad one. No panic attacks. She spends most of her time outside, reading or drawing and if I didn't know, I would say she's a completely normal eleven-year-old girl." 
"And the episodes?" Natasha questioned and immediately felt all of her muscles tense.
"She had three. Minor ones, one nosebleed, no fainting or anything, she just spaced out. She saved Cooper from falling down the stairs and gave me an idea for dinner before I even thought about it. And she drew something once, back then I had no idea what it meant but when I now think about it, it might have been about Clint bringing you all here. Katya is doing fine, Nat, I don't think she's ever been better." 
Weight lifted from Natasha's shoulders once again. She still remembered their beginnings, when Katya would go for days without sleeping because she was too afraid to fall asleep despite the exhaustion. She used to have multiple panic attacks a day and much more episodes than she was having now, which didn't help with that either. One issue caused the other and for a very long time, they were stuck in a vicious circle. 
"I can never thank you enough for taking care of her." Natasha shook her head and embraced Laura with one arm. 
"You keep taking care of my husband and we'll be even," she assured.
"And how's your little one?" Romanoff asked, reaching to touch Laura's swollen belly with one hand.
"It turned out it's gonna be Nathaniel, not Natasha."
"Traitor."  


translations:
"Privietik, moya zvezdochka." (rus.) - "Hello, my little star"

next chapter in two days :)