Two days later.
Natasha was in the library on her phone as she sighed, and she looked up when she saw Lulu sit down next to her.
"Hello Natasha" said Lulu with a smile.
"Hi Lulu" said Natasha with a smile as she sighed.
"Anyway, how far?" asked Lulu with a smile.
"Horrible, I haven't been able to see Mark Anthony and his girlfriend for two days now, and it sucks" said Natasha as she sighed.
"That does suck" said Lulu.
"His girlfriend hasn't showed up yet, and I've been here all day, I even came yesterday and still she didn't come" said Natasha.
"Did you ask the other librarian?" asked Lulu.
"I did, and she said that she knows nothing about the other librarian" said Natasha.
"You know, now that I think about it, the librarians do rotate every week, but I don't know if that's the same case here, what if she was fired?" asked Lulu.
"I doubt it, Romanoff would have called me to tell me that, since he knows all and sees all" said Natasha in a sarcastic tone as Lulu laughed.
"Can you speak like that in front of him?" asked Lulu.
"I mean I don't see why not" said Natasha.
"But aren't you scared of him?" asked Lulu.
"Why should I be scared of him, I doubt he would ever hurt me, or else he really is crazy" said Natasha as her phone rang and she looked at the message.
"Oh no" said Natasha.
"What's wrong Natasha?" asked Lulu as Natasha frowned.
"Chloe just texted me, she can't pick up Joy since she's help up in a meeting at the office, and her husband picked up Ethan early, so she can't go and pick up Joy from school" said Natasha.
"Oh my precious niece, left all alone at school" said Lulu.
"I know right" said Natasha as she sighed, she did not know who to call to go and pick up Joy, she couldn't call Michael or Charlie since they weren't at home right now, Alfred couldn't drive anymore, Benjamin was on leave, and she had no one else in mind to call.
"I don't know who to call to pick up Joy from school" said Natasha.
"Umm you do, I know who" said Lulu.
"Who?" asked Natasha.
"Dom of course" said Lulu.
"No, no" said Natasha as she did not want to call him, so far so good, she was fine, she hadn't heard from him.
"Oh come on Natasha, I don't even know why he isn't the one picking up Joy from school in the first place" said Lulu.
"Well because we agreed to rotate weekly on who picks up Joy, it's my turn this week, and I don't want to talk to your brother" said Natasha.
"Well he's the only one you can call now, and also, you and my brother really have some system going on" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha frowned.
"Call him" said Lulu.
"No" replied Natasha.
"Call him" said Lulu in an annoying tone as she smiled.
"Come on think about my lovely niece, who will be sad thinking no one cares about her and they all forgot about her" said Lulu as Natasha sighed in annoyance.
"Fine, but I'm not calling him" said Natasha as she picked up her phone and she started to text as Lulu looked at her with a smug look on ger face.
"Wipe that look off your face Lulu" said Natasha in annoyance as Lulu just laughed.
"There" said Natasha.
"Yayy, I knew you could do it, there is nothing bad with asking for help" said Lulu as she smiled.
"I have nothing against asking for help, I just don't like asking for help from your brother, he can capitalize on this" said Natasha as Lulu just laughed.
…
"And that concludes the presentation" came the voice of a woman as everyone clapped.
"Alright, that was a good presentation, you did well" said Dom with a smile.
"Thank you Sir" said the woman.
"I will need a copy of the files, and please send one to Xavier as well" said Dom as the woman nodded.
"Yes Sir" said the woman.
"I will also need the PowerPoint presentation that you used, a digital copy" said Nine.
"Yes Mr. Xavier" said the woman as she nodded.
"Well meeting adjourned, back to work" said Dom as everyone nodded and they walked out of the board room, leaving Dom and Nine there.
"Do you have a copy of the revenue?" asked Nine as Dom nodded and he handed him the file as his phone rang and he looked at the message with wide eyes as he could not believe what he was seeing.
"What's wrong Dom?" asked Nine as he noticed the reaction on Dom's face.
"Natasha texted me" said Dom in surprise.
"She did?" asked Nine as Dom nodded.
"What did she say?" asked Nine.
"I need you to pick up Joy from school, I'm not around right now" read Dom.
"Hmm" said Nine.
"I'm going to text her back" said Dom as he hadn't received a text from Natasha in a long while, which was why he was surprised.
"Why? Where are you?" asked Dom as Natasha heard her phone ring and she looked at his message.
"I went on a business trip, can you pick her up or not?" replied Natasha as Dom looked up.
"She went on a trip and I didn't know?" asked Dom in surprise as he replied to her.
"I see, okay, I will ask Nine to go pick her up, I have a meeting" replied Dom.
"No, Nine can't go and pick her up on his own, the teacher won't let him take her, the school has upgraded their security, they need to see him first and then get your clearance" replied Natasha.
"I see, not to worry then, I will go pick Joy from school, and tell them that Nine can come pick her up the next time" replied Dom.
"Alright then" said Natasha as she replied and she did not thank him, why would she thank him for picking up his own daughter? She was his daughter as well, part of his responsibilities.
Dom did not know if their conversation was ended just like that, but it probably was, he did not see any more messages from Natasha, so he assumed that she was done speaking to him.
Dom dialed a number as his call was picked up almost instantly.
"Alfred, I have a quick question for you, where is Natasha?" asked Dom.
"Well she went on a trip young Master" replied Alfred.
"Since when?" asked Dom.
"Since Tuesday young master" said Alfred.
"Alright, thanks Alfred, I'm not coming home for lunch, and neither is Joy" said Dom.
"Alright young master" said Alfred as he nodded and Dom ended the call as he sighed.
"What are you doing?" asked Nine.
"Waiting to see if she's going to say anything else, but it seems now, come on let's go pick up Joy" said Dom as he got up and he put his phone away.
"Why do you sound disappointed?" asked Nine.
"I'm not" replied Dom as Nine just shrugged off his thoughts and got up as he followed after Dom.
…
"There" said Natasha as she put her phone down and Lulu picked up her phone and read through the messages that she had sent Dom.
"Wow, your messages with my brother are so… I mean dry and stale" said Lulu as she frowned.
"Well what do you expect? A word of advice Lulu, that's what the texts of an estranged married couple looks like, don't fall into the same pit I did" said Natasha as Lulu gave her back her phone.
"Oh relax Natasha, you worry too much, come on let's go to the cafeteria, you can look for Mark Anthony tomorrow" said Lulu as Natasha nodded and she stood up as she followed after her.
…
Joy sighed as she was the last child left, waiting with Jennifer for someone to come pick her up.
"Joy, who did you say was going to pick you up again?" asked Jennifer as she looked at Joy.
"My Aunt Chloe, who is Ethan's mom is supposed to come pick me up since my mommy is on a trip" said Joy as she looked at Jennifer.
"Well we should wait for a few more minutes, and if no one still comes, we will go to the principal's office so I can call your parents okay?" asked Jennifer as Joy nodded and in the same moment she saw Dom walking towards her as she let go of Jennifer's hand and she ran towards him.
"Daddy!!" said Joy as she laughed and Dom laughed as he carried her.
"How are you my princess?" asked Dom with a smile.
"Very good daddy, you came to pick me up?" asked Joy.
"Your mommy asked me to" said Dom as he smiled.
"Good Afternoon Miss Honey" said Dom as he smiled and Jennifer smiled at him.
"Good Afternoon Mr. White, I was just about to call you" said Jennifer with a smile.
"Yes, sorry for delaying you, I was only called recently to come and pick up Joy" said Dom as he smiled.
"No worries Mr. White" said Jennifer with a smile.
"Oh Miss Honey, this is my brother, he will be coming here to pick Joy up when I am unable to" said Dom as Jennifer looked at Nine.
"Oh that's alright, it's nice to meet you Mr…" said Jennifer.
"Nine, and it's nice to meet you too" said Nine as Jennifer was surprised by his name but she kept her comments to herself as Joy giggled and she reached out to Nine who carried her.
"Hello princess" said Nine as he smiled.
"Hello Uncle Nine" said Joy as she giggled.
"Well see you later Miss Honey" said Dom as he smiled and Jennifer smiled at him.
"Bye Miss Honey" said Joy as she waved at Jennifer.
"Bye Joy" said Jennifer with a smile as she waved and they all walked away.
"How was school princess?" asked Nine with a smile as he buckled Joy up in her car seat and he sat down beside her as Dom started the car.
"It was very nice Uncle Nine" said Joy as she giggled and she started to explain.
"Princess, do you know where your mommy is?" asked Dom as he wondered if Joy was aware that Natasha went on a trip.
"Well she went on a trip daddy" said Joy as Dom was surprised, was he the only one who didn't know that Natasha had gone on a trip?? How was that even possible, they lived in the same house, and yet he did not realize that she was not present.
"A trip to where princess?" asked Dom.
"Umm I don't know, but she went to go and catch a bad client" said Joy as Dom scoffed internally, knowing Natasha nothing she did was normal, Dom could still remember what happened at the warehouse.
"I see" said Dom.
"Xavier, did you tell my secretary to delay the meeting?" asked Dom.
"I did, she moved it to 2pm" said Nine as he replied.
"And what time is it right now?" asked Dom.
"It's one thirty" said Nine.
"Princess, we are not going home right now, I have to get to a meeting, would you like to come to the office with me?" asked Dom as he smiled.
"Yes daddy Yayy, I can finally see the new office" said Joy as she giggled and Dom laughed.
"Yes my princess, the skyscraper you wanted to see so badly" said Dom as he laughed.
"Uncle Nine, have you been to the office already?" asked Joy as she looked at Nine who smiled at her.
"I have been there princess" said Nine as he smiled and Joy giggled, she could not wait to see it.
…
"And that's when I raised my hand, and I was like, look, I don't know the answer, and you surely don't" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha laughed.
"Well that is funny Lulu, really" said Natasha with a smile as in the corner of her eye she saw a familiar black leather jacket and one brown eye watching her.
"Lulu, stay here for a moment, I need to go check something" said Natasha as she stood up.
"Okay" said Lulu in confusion as she nodded and Natasha walked to deal with the man who she knew was watching her while looking at him.