Later that day.
"Madam, Joy has arrived back from school" said Alfred as he smiled happily and he walked into Natasha's office after he had knocked on her office door.
"Really??" asked Natasha as she looked up from her laptop at Alfred with a smile.
"Yes Madam" said Alfred as he smiled.
"What a surprise" said Natasha to herself, as far as she could remember it was not up to an hour that Joy had went to school but Natasha glanced down at the right corner of her laptop and she saw that the time was 12:50pm, which meant that she had actually been so engrossed in her work that she did not notice all the time going by.
"I will be right down Alfred" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Alright Madam" said Alfred as he smiled and he closed the door behind him as Natasha quickly saved what she was working on and she shut down her laptop as she smiled and she closed her laptop as she stood up and she walked out her office door as she walked down the stairs and she heard the voice of her beloved baby.
"Mommy!" said Joy as she called out to her mother and she ran to hug her.
"Hello my baby" said Natasha as she smiled and she picked up Joy, she wondered what she would do when Joy became heavy, she doubted that she would be able to carry her the way she did all the time.
"Hello Mommy" said Joy as she giggled.
"How was school today?" asked Natasha as she smiled and she pinched Joy's nose as she wiggled it which made Joy giggle, Natasha loved doing that because she had grown up with her father doing the exact same thing to her, when he wanted to tell her something, or get her attention, he would always start by wiggling her nose.
"It was very good mommy" said Joy as she giggled.
"I am glad that it was good my baby" said Natasha as she smiled.
"My baby, where is your daddy?" asked Natasha out of curiosity as she could not see Dom anywhere.
"Daddy said that he had to go back to the office" said Joy as she smiled.
"Ahh, I see" said Natasha as she smiled, that was better for her, it probably meant that he was not coming back home anytime soon, and to her that was a good thing, sure she could pretend to ignore him, but it was just much more easier when he was not around.
"Well then my baby, let's get you changed, and then you can eat lunch, then you take your nap" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Aww but mommy, I do not want to take a nap" said Joy as she frowned.
"Is that so my baby?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"Mhmm yes mommy" said Joy as she nodded her head and she smiled.
"Well my baby, I am sorry but the answer is no" said Natasha as she smiled.
"No" said Joy as she frowned.
"My baby, do you want to have energy all the time?" asked Natasha.
"Yes Mommy" said Joy as she nodded her head.
"Then you need to take a nap to refresh your mind" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Really mommy??" asked Joy innocently.
"Yes my precious baby" said Natasha.
"So if you want to play, and not feel tired, you need to take a nap" said Natasha as she wiggled Joy's nose.
"Okay my baby?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"Okay mommy" said Joy as she smiled and she nodded her head.
"Good girl" said Natasha as she smiled and she walked up the stairs with Joy in her arms.
Later that afternoon.
"Madam, I have done as you have said, and you now have the kitchen all to yourself" said Alfred as he smiled as he and Natasha were together in the kitchen.
"Thank you Alfred" said Natasha as she smiled, she had decided that she was going to prepare dinner today, after she had visited her father, she had decided that she need to reprioritise, family was the most important thing, and spending time with her daughter was important very important, she had realized that she wanted to do something more.
"Have fun Madam" said Alfred as he smiled, he knew that Natasha was a great cook, she loved cooking as well.
"I will Alfred, thank you" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Mommy, what are you doing?" asked Joy as she walked into the kitchen and she walked to her mother.
"My baby, aren't you supposed to watch your cartoons?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"No Mommy, I already watched that episode, and I want to stay here with you" said Joy as she shook her head.
"Oh my baby" said Natasha as she laughed and she carried Joy, her baby was something else.
"Thank you once again Alfred" said Natasha as she looked at Alfred.
"You are welcome Madam, I will take my leave now" said Alfred as he smiled.
"Bye bye Alfred" said Joy as she waved at Alfred.
"Goodbye Joy" said Alfred as he laughed and he waved back to Joy as Natasha laughed and he walked out of the kitchen.
"Mommy, what are you doing?" asked Joy as she turned back to look at her mother.
"Well my baby, I am making dinner today" said Natasha as she smiled and she placed Joy down.
"Oooh" said Joy as she seemed to be intrigued.
"Mommy what are you making?" asked Joy as she saw her mother move to and fro in the kitchen as she brought out some pots and pans from the cupboard and she placed them on the countertop and one on the stove.
"Well my baby, I am making spaghetti and chicken in a sauce, and for desert I am making a chocolate cake" said Natasha as she put some spaghetti in a pot full of water on the stove as she turned on the stove.
"Oooh okay mommy" said Joy as she watched her mother move around the kitchen.
"Yes my baby" said Natasha as she looked down at Joy and she smiled.
Natasha brought out the chopping board as she placed it on the kitchen countertop and she brought out some onions, green peppers, yellow peppers and tomatoes as she began to chop them.
Joy walked over to the kitchen pantry as she opened the door and she brought out a small yellow plastic stool as she carried it to where her mother was chopping the vegetables.
"Mommy, can I help you?" asked Joy as she climbed on top of the stool so she could now see what her mother was doing.
"Sorry my baby, you can't, when you are older you can" said Natasha as she looked at Joy and she smiled.
"Okay Mommy" said Joy as she smiled and she watched her mother chop the vegetables in awe.
"Mommy" called Joy as she smiled.
"Yes my baby?" asked Natasha as she remembered that she needed the chicken to defrost so she walked over to the fridge and she opened the freezer side and she brought out four pieces of chicken as she soaked them in water so they could defrost soon.
"Who taught you how to cook?" asked Joy as she smiled and Natasha went back to chopping.
"Ahh my baby, well my dad taught me how to cook" said Natasha as she smiled as she chopped the onions.
"I used to watch him whenever he used to cook" said Natasha as she smiled as she thought of fond memories of her watching her dad cook, and that was when she started getting interested in learning how to cook as well, which was why she was letting Joy watch her, just like she had watched her father.
"Oooh that is so cool Mommy" said Joy as she smiled.
"Yes it is my baby" said Natasha as she smiled and she put a pan on the stove as she switched it on as she put a bit of olive oil in the pan.
"Mommy what about your own mommy?" asked Joy.
"Didn't she cook as well?" asked Joy as she wondered.
"Ahh well my baby, she loved to cook too" said Natasha as she smiled.
"But she died when I was about your age, I don't really remember her" said Natasha as she looked at Joy and she smiled.
"Mommy, what did your mommy look like?" asked Joy.
"Ahh well my baby, I have seen her in pictures, she had hair just like mine, and brown eyes, and she was very pretty" said Natasha as she smiled, she had always thought about how her life would be if her mother was still alive, she found it funny, her mother died and left her when she was young, and she had done the same to her daughter, she guessed it ran in the family, but not anymore.
"Oooh mommy can I see her?" asked Joy.
"Of course you can my baby, but that would be later, I need to search for those pictures" said Natasha as she laughed, she did not remember where she had kept those pictures.
"Mommy, can I see your daddy?" asked Joy as she had never seen her grandfather before.
"Ahh well yes of course my baby you can, I went to visit him last week, and I promised him that I would take you to see him" said Natasha as she laughed and she began to chop the chicken into pieces.
"Can we go and see him tomorrow??" asked Joy as she giggled.
"Well no my baby, not tomorrow, because you have school tomorrow" said Natasha.
"We can go and see him on Saturday, okay my baby?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"Okay Mommy" said Joy as she smiled and Natasha finished chopping the chicken as she put them in a pot and she began to season them.
"Good girl" said Natasha as she smiled and she boiled the chicken for a while as she stir fried the green peppers, yellow peppers and onions as she added the pre boiled chicken to the stir fry to mix, and she took out her spaghetti as she strained the water away.
Natasha put her stir fry on medium heat, as she brought out some eggs from the fridge, along with some flour, white sugar, milk, and butter and some chocolates.
Natasha cracked the eggs as Joy watched her in awe, she wanted to crack an egg as well.
"Mommy can I crack the egg?" asked Joy in excitement.
"Well okay my baby you can" said Natasha as she smiled, one of the first things she had done in the kitchen was to crack an egg.
"Yayyy" said Joy as she smiled and Natasha gave her an egg as she demonstrated how Joy should crack the egg.
"Be careful my baby, and crack the egg like this" said Natasha as she broke the egg with a knife, so Joy would be able to follow.
"Okay mommy" said Joy as Natasha gave her a table knife that was not sharp enough to hurt her, but sharp enough to crack the egg.
And without warning Joy cracked the egg into the bowl, but she applied too much pressure and the entire egg cracked, but the eggshells followed after it.
"Hahaha my baby, you did good, but there are eggshells" said Natasha as she laughed and she picked out the eggshells with her finger.
"I cracked the egg mommy" said Joy excitedly.
"Well yes you did my baby" said Natasha as she laughed, she was having fun with her precious baby.
…
Dom sighed as he closed the door of his car and he walked to the front door, he walked inside the house as he smelt the aroma of something delicious and he was hearing giggles and chattering in the dining room as he went straight there.
"Daddy!!!" said Joy as she smiled and she ran to hug her father.
"Hello my princess" said Dom as he smiled and he picked up Joy as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Daddy, mommy made dinner" said Joy excitedly.
"Oh did she now?" asked Dom as he looked at Natasha who ignored him as she set the table, he could not remember the last time she had cooked anything, she was a good cook.
"Yes, Mommy, can daddy eat with us??" asked Joy as she turned to look at Natasha.
"Of course he can my baby" said Natasha as she smiled at Joy, she could not be petty and stop Dom from eating with them, they were adults after all and they could settle their problems behind closed doors.
"Yayyyy" said Joy as she smiled.
"My princess, let me go and change first" said Dom as he put Joy down.
"Okay daddy" said Joy as she smiled and Dom smiled as he walked away.
…
Dom, Natasha and Joy had all sat down for dinner as they ate, but there was no silence at all, since Joy was a little chatterbox, and it made Dom and Natasha laugh.
"Daddy, can you cook?" asked Joy as she looked at her father and Natasha started laughing.
"What's so funny?" asked Dom as he smiled.
"My baby, your daddy cannot cook even if it was to save his life" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Oh hey, that's not true, I can cook" said Dom as he turned to look at Natasha and he laughed.
"Righttt" said Natasha as she laughed.
"I can cook eggs" said Dom.
"Just eggs, you obviously would not survive without Alfred and the maids here" said Natasha as she laughed and Joy laughed as well.
"My princess, are you taking her side??" asked Dom as he turned to look at Joy.
"Mommy is always right" said Joy as she smiled.
"Oh my" said Dom as Natasha had turned his daughter against him.
"That's right my baby, I am always right" said Natasha as she smiled and she looked at Joy.
"Don't ask my for any ice cream again my princess" said Dom as he smiled as he looked at Joy and he shook his head.
"No, no Daddy, no" said Joy as she shook her head and Natasha and Dom laughed as suddenly Natasha's phone rang.
"Excuse me" said Natasha as she picked up her phone from the dining table as Dom smiled at Natasha and then he looked at Joy and he smiled.
"Hello" said Natasha with a smile as she picked up her call and she put her phone to her ear.
"Yes this is she" said Natasha as she smiled.
"What???!!" asked Natasha as she stood up immediately at what she just heard.
"What's wrong?" asked Dom as he looked concerned.
"Mommy??" asked Joy as she was startled by Natasha's sudden shout.
"Which hospital??" asked Natasha.
"Alright, I will be right there now" said Natasha as she ended the call and she looked very panicked.
"What's wrong??" asked Dom once again as he looked at Natasha.