"What are you doing here Romanoff?" asked Natasha as she walked to Romanoff who had been watching she and Lulu.
Romanoff shot Natasha a suggestive look, and she knew what he wanted, it made her annoyed.
"Good Afternoon Romanoff, can you please tell me what you are doing here?" asked Natasha with a not so friendly smile and Romanoff smiled at her.
"Good Afternoon to you too devochka (girl), I can see that you are enjoying your time here" said Romanoff with a smile.
"No, not necessarily, she is just a friend of mine from back home, anyway, what are you doing here Romanoff? You still haven't answered my question" said Natasha as Romanoff had a habit of doing that, not answering her questions.
"How far with catching the traitor?" asked Romanoff.
"I only saw him once with his girlfriend in the library, and I haven't seen them since then" said Natasha.
"Mhmm" said Romanoff.
"Is that why you are here? To get information?" asked Natasha.
"Well no, I came here to check on you" said Romanoff as Natasha scoffed.
"Well you have seen me, so you can go now" said Natasha as she did not know why she felt as if Romanoff was watching her as if he was her father.
"You are in a rush to chase me away devochka (girl)" said Romanoff as he smiled.
"Well yes, I do not want to be seen with a man, of your calibre" said Natasha with a smile as Romanoff just smiled at her.
"What do you want me to do when I catch Mark Anthony?" asked Natasha.
"Bring him to the hotel I am staying in, as simple as that" said Romanoff.
"Alright then" said Natasha as Romanoff walked away and she walked back to where she and Lulu were sitting down.
"Is that Romanoff?" asked Lulu as Natasha sat down and she nodded.
"Yes, the one and only" said Natasha with a sigh.
"Natasha, that man looks rugged and dangerous, like a real bad guy" said Lulu.
"You don't know the half of it, he really is" said Natasha as she sighed, she still scolded herself for getting herself involved with him again.
"You are talking about a man who still shoots you if you complain that you don't want to get shot" said Natasha.
"Gosh, he is dangerous, you know what, I don't know if it's a good idea that you are involved with him" said Lulu.
"I agree but well, I got myself into this mess, now I have to get out of it" said Natasha as Lulu hoped that she would be alright.
…
"Xavier did you receive the email from PR?" asked Dom as he was in his office and Joy was sitting down on the couch colouring in her colouring book as he and Nine worked.
"I did, why do you ask?" asked Nine.
"I only just received it right now, when did you see the email?" asked Dom.
"At about 10am" said Nine.
"I see" said Dom as he was typing on his laptop.
"Daddy" called Joy.
"Yes Princess?" asked Dom as he looked at Joy.
"Who is Xavier?" asked Joy in confusion, she had been hearing that name quite a lot from him, and she did not know who it was, she was confused.
"Xavier is your uncle Nine princess" said Dom as he smiled.
"He is??" asked Joy in confusion as she looked at Nine who smiled at her.
"Yes princess it is" said Dom with a smile, he had forgotten that Joy didn't know Nine's real name, no one ever used his real name, but now that they were working at the company together, they had to be formal during meetings, and hence why he resorted to calling him by his real name, Xavier White.
"But isn't uncle Nine's name, Nine?" asked Joy as she still didn't get it and that made Dom and Nine laugh.
"No princess, Nine isn't your uncle Nine's name, that's a nickname for him, his real name is Xavier" said Dom as he explained.
"Ahh I see now" said Joy.
"I always thought that your parents liked numbers a lot, and that was why they named you Nine uncle Nine" said Joy as she looked at Nine who smiled at her, she always thought that Nine was an odd name.
"No princess, my parents named me Xavier, but I don't really like that name, your mother was actually the one who came up with the nickname Nine, we just stuck with it" said Nine as he smiled.
"She did?" asked Joy in surprise as Nine smiled and he nodded.
"So can I call you Uncle Xavier?" asked Joy.
"You can call me whatever you want princess" said Nine as he smiled.
"Okay, I will call you uncle Nine when we are together in public, and uncle Xavier when we are at home" said Joy as she gigged and Nine smiled at her.
"Nine how about you take Joy out for lunch while I go to my meeting" said Dom as he stood up and he gathered some papers together.
"Alright Dom, princess what do you want to have for lunch?" asked Nine as he smiled.
"Fries and ice cream" said Joy as she giggled and Nine looked at Dom.
"Fine, she can have fries and ice cream, and nothing else, don't allow her trick you Nine" said Dom as he laughed.
"Be good princess, I will see you later, I have a meeting now" said Dom as he smiled and he gave Joy a kiss on the forehead.
"Okay daddy, I will be good, and enjoy your meeting" said Joy as Dom smiled and he walked out of his office.
"Let's go eat princess" said Nine as he smiled and he stood up as Joy did the same and she held his hand.
…
"What's wrong princess?" asked Nine as he noticed that Joy was looking a bit sad as she was eating her fries.
"Uncle Xavier, you and my mommy used to be friends right?" asked Joy as she looked at him.
"Well yes princess, we used to, we all grew up together, and we still are" said Nine.
"But then why are you not as close to my mommy as you are to my daddy?" asked Joy as Nine did not know what to say.
"Princess, I guess that's because we are just closer" said Nine.
"My mommy and daddy used to be friends right?" asked Joy as Nine wondered why she was asking so many questions, he wasn't sure if he would be able to answer them all.
"Yes they were" said Nine.
"But then why did they stop being friends?" asked Joy.
"Well princess, there are many reasons why adults stop being friends" said Nine.
"You are not going to tell me the real reason are you uncle Nine?" asked Joy.
"Well no princess, I can't tell you, it's up to your mommy and daddy to decide if they want to tell you or not" said Nine as Joy sighed.
"But don't look like that princess, you should know that your mommy and daddy both love you very much" said Nine.
"I know that they do, and I also know that they used to be happy before I was born. Aunt Lia said that they used to be very good friends, did they stop being very good friends because of me?" asked Joy.
"No princess, no, they didn't stop being good friends because of you, they stopped being good friends because of life, you shouldn't blame yourself for something that isn't your fault" said Nine.
"But my mommy isn't happy with my daddy" said Joy.
"How do you know that? Did she tell you that?" asked Nine as Joy shook her head.
"No, she didn't tell me, but I can see it, she doesn't smile at my daddy, and my daddy doesn't smile at her, and we don't eat dinner or breakfast together most times, we don't spend time together" said Joy as Nine wondered what kind of dilemma he was in right now, it was clear that Joy wanted answers, answers that he was not allowed to give her for her own good.
"Can I tell you a secret princess?" asked Nine as Joy nodded.
"Though your parents aren't together, they still care for each other, and that's because they were friends for a long time" said Nine as he knew that was the truth, if anything, it was clear that Dom still cared for Natasha.
"They just have some differences to work out" said Nine.
"Really?" asked Joy as Nine smiled and he nodded.
"Really" said Nine.
"Everyone has differences, look at me and your uncle Charlie, he can be so annoying and obnoxious and a total pain to be around, but I still love him and I care about him, it's like that, sometimes we adults don't show our love, but it doesn't mean that we still don't care for each other" said Nine with a smile.
"I get it Uncle Xavier" said Joy as she smiled.
"Thank you for explaining to me, I miss my mommy so much, we haven't talked in a long time" said Joy as she smiled.
"I am sure that your mommy will be back soon" said Nine as he smiled.
"You want to go get some ice cream now princess?" asked Nine with a smile.
"Yayyy yes, ice cream, ice cream, I want ice cream" said Joy as she giggled.
"Alright, wait here while I get you some ice cream, which flavour do you want?" asked Nine with a smile.
"Vanilla" said Joy as she smiled.
"Then Vanilla it is" said Nine as he smiled, he loved spending time with his niece, she was such a good girl.
…
"*Ugh*" said Lulu as she groaned and she typed something on her laptop.
"What's wrong Lulu?" asked Natasha as she looked up from her laptop at Lulu who was sitting on her bed.
"I just can't get the right design here" said Lulu.
"Maybe you should take a break" said Natasha as Lulu closed her laptop.
"You are right" said Lulu as she smiled.
"So what are you doing?" asked Lulu as she looked at Natasha.
"Just working on a few things" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Are you too busy to talk? I'm bored?" asked Lulu as she frowned and Natasha laughed as she looked at her and she closed her laptop.
"Well no, I am not too busy to talk" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Yayy, you are the best sister in law" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha laughed.
"I've always wanted to ask, you are studying a degree in business right?" asked Natasha.
"Well yes I am, but I am specialising in marketing and design" said Lulu as she smiled.
"That's an interesting choice" said Natasha as she smiled.
"I know right, and I love it, you want to know why I chose it?" asked Lulu as Natasha laughed and she nodded.
"Well because of course in the family everyone has to have something to do with business, and I chose marketing, and I chose design because I love creating things, and drawing as well" said Lulu as she laughed.
"I know you do, as a child, we all wondered if you were going to become an artist or a painter, because you loved drawing everyone and everything" said Natasha as she laughed.
"I do, I really do, but I shaped my passion into you know business, making logos, adverts, you know cool things, so I can also help out in the company and it's not only Dom doing all the work" said Lulu as she smiled.
"That's sweet, you know, remember that drawing you made of me when you were 10?" asked Natasha with a smile as Lulu gasped and she nodded.
"Well in my folder in my father's house, I kept it there" said Natasha as she laughed.
"No way, that thing is over ten years old, no way you kept it" said Lulu as she laughed.
"Well I did, I really cherished it, and I mean it does look like me" said Natasha as she laughed.
"No, you looked like a blob" said Natasha as she and Lulu laughed.
"So yes, I took this degree because I love it, and it wasn't offered at the university back home, this was actually the only university I found that offers the kind of specialized degree that I want" said Lulu.
"And it's so far away from home" said Lulu as she laughed.
"You know, I was very surprised when Grandfather allowed you to go, I mean we all were, you are his precious baby, he never let you go anywhere, not to even talk about this far" said Natasha.
"I know right, but Grandfather called me into his office, sat me down, spoke to me and told me that Grandmother had told him to let everyone be happy, and that included me, so he said that if I wanted to go, I could go" said Lulu as she smiled.
"You know, Grandfather can be so understanding sometimes" said Natasha.
"I know right, but most times he's so strict and very grouchy" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha laughed as in the same moment there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" asked Lulu as she smiled.
"It's me Lulu" came Margaret's voice from outside the door as the smiles on both Lulu and Natasha's face dropped.