"Aunt Lulu!!!" said Joy excitedly as she ran into Lulu's room and Lulu turned to face her.
"Joy!!!" said Lulu with a bright smile as she bent down and picked up Joy.
"I missed you so much Aunt Lulu" said Joy as she hugged Lulu.
"Aww my dear niece, I missed you so much too" said Lulu as she hugged Joy and Natasha walked into the room.
"You didn't tell me that you were coming back today Lulu" said Natasha as she smiled.
"That's because I wanted to surprise you, but you guys weren't at home" said Lulu.
"Well I'm glad you are back" said Natasha as she smiled.
"I am glad too, and I missed you so much" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha laughed.
"Oh dear niece of mine, you don't know how much I missed seeing your lovely face" said Lulu as she tapped Joy's cheeks and Joy giggled.
"Aunt Lulu I missed you too, the house was very boring and quiet without you" said Joy as she smiled.
"Oh is that so my darling?" asked Natasha in surprise as Joy turned to look at her and she nodded as Lulu laughed.
"I guessed as much, I knew that this house would be dull and bland once I leave, let me guess, everyone was just busy working?" asked Lulu as Joy nodded.
"And the house was very quiet, all I did was watch tv and play with Meggie" said Joy.
"You didn't tell me that you were bored my darling" said Natasha as Joy was making her feel bad, it made her feel like she was no fun to be around.
"I didn't want to bother you mommy, I know that you and daddy are very busy" said Joy.
"But you know that we always have time for you, always" said Natasha.
"Yes I know mommy, but Aunt Lulu is more fun" said Joy as Natasha felt her heart break.
"So you don't think I'm fun my darling?" asked Natasha.
"No Mommy you are very fun, very, very fun, but Aunt Lulu runs around in the garden with me, and we play tag, and she beats me in a race" said Joy.
"Oh so you are saying that I am old my darling?" asked Natasha.
"You are not old mommy, you are perfect, Aunt Lulu is just more fun" said Joy as she smiled and Natasha smiled, what could she say, hearing her baby call her perfect just warmed her heart.
"Well alright my darling if you say so" said Natasha as she smiled and Joy giggled.
"Awww you are the sweetest Joy, and you are right, your mommy is perfect, and I am very fun" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha smiled.
"So my dear niece, how was school and what were you up to while I was gone? Did anything happen? You have to tell me everything, I can't wait to hear what you have to say" said Lulu with a smile as Joy nodded and giggled.
"Well I will leave you two alone, my darling what do you want for dinner?" asked Natasha with a smile.
"Spaghetti and meatballs" said Joy with a giggle.
"Mhmm my favourite" said Lulu as Joy nodded and giggled.
"Spaghetti and meatballs it is then, I will tell Alfred to make his famous chicken meatballs" said Natasha with a smile.
"Yayyyy" said Joy and Lulu in a chorus as Natasha laughed and shook her head as she left.
…
"So how was your trip?" asked Dom as he smiled and looked at Lulu as it was already time for dinner.
"Well dear brother of mine it was great, I worked a bit, did some playing and it was nice to get out of the house and office for a change" said Lulu with a smile as she ate her spaghetti and Dom packed Joy's hair into a quick bun so it wouldn't get in the way of her eating.
"Thank you daddy" said Joy with a smile as Dom smiled at her.
"And Charlie, how was checking the plant? He hasn't called to tell me about it yet" said Dom as he looked at Lulu and Natasha walked into the dining room and sat down across Dom and Joy.
"You know it's dinner time right now Dom, let's talk about this later, I will send you a report first thing tomorrow morning" said Lulu as she really wanted to eat right now and not discuss business.
"You are right, alright" said Dom as he smiled and they all started to eat.
"So how was school today princess?" asked Dom as he smiled and looked at Joy.
"It was very nice daddy, we played soccer again, and this time me and Clarita beat the boys because Prince kept on saying that his leg hurt and that's why they were losing" said Joy as she laughed and Dom smiled as he glanced at Natasha who ignored him and focused on her food, and this little action did not go unnoticed by Lulu who had been intently watching the two of them.
"My darling, be careful, don't talk with your mouth full" said Natasha as she finally spoke up when she saw Joy stuffing her mouth while also attempting to talk.
"Okay mommy" said Joy as she smiled and nodded as Natasha smiled and Natasha poured her a glass of water.
"Mhmm Alfred certainly knew what he was doing when he was making these meatballs, I need to get his recipe" said Lulu as she groaned and both Natasha and Dom laughed.
"Well you know how much Alfred loves sharing his recipes, so go ahead" said Natasha as she laughed and Lulu laughed.
…
Natasha yawned as she was tired, but she had to work a bit before she could go to sleep.
Natasha climbed into bed as she put her laptop on her lap when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.
"Come in" she said as Lulu walked into her room and closed the door behind her.
"What's up sister in law?" asked Lulu with a smile as Natasha smiled at her.
"Nothing much, I just had some work to do, do you need anything?" asked Natasha with a smile.
"Well I wanted us to talk, but if you are busy I can come back" said Lulu happily.
"Nonsense, let's talk, this can wait" said Natasha with a smile as she closed her laptop and put it beside her on the bed as Lulu sat down at the edge of her bed.
"You are the best" said Lulu with a smile as Natasha just smiled.
"So what do you want to talk about?" asked Natasha.
"Hmm, let's see, what's going on between you and Dom?" asked Lulu as she saw no point in beating around the bush, and her question caused Natasha to sigh.
"Is it that obvious?" asked Natasha.
"Well I mean yes, before I left you two were at least on good terms, you talked to each other, but now it's different, it wasn't hard to notice how you were ignoring him during dinner" said Lulu.
"Not that I mean to meddle in your relationship with him, but it feels like everything is back to being cold when you both are in the same room together" said Lulu.
"You are right Lulu, It is obvious, I guess that I was just trying so hard not to see it myself" said Natasha as Lulu smiled.
"So what did that idiotic brother of mine do this time?" asked Lulu as what she said caused Natasha to chuckle.
"You know it's true, he can be an idiot so tell me what he did so I can talk some sense into him" said Lulu as Natasha sighed, not knowing where to start.
…
"Ouch… I can't believe he actually said that" said Lulu as she shook her head in disappointment after Natasha had told her what happened.
"Well he did say it, and that's why I've been ignoring him ever since" said Natasha as she sighed and Lulu sighed and shook her head.
"How could he say that he's never broken anyone's heart?? Typical Dom" said Lulu as she tisked, just how dumb was that elder brother of hers, he went and ruined something that was fine and he dug it out with his own hands, especially his mouth.
"Yes, it did hurt for him to say that, but you are right, it's him being himself, only he can say such a thing, which is what makes me even more angry that I feel offended when I clearly shouldn't I thought I was past this, I thought that I moved past all the pain but it still hurts you know" said Natasha as she sighed.
"Of course it hurts, it only makes sense that it hurts" said Lulu as Natasha looked at her.
"I mean you loved him, and he broke your heart, any heartbreak is bound to hurt if not wholly mended" said Lulu as Natasha sighed.
"It's not even that, it's his face when he realized what he said, and the way he keeps on saying we need to talk, he doesn't understand anything at all, and it's just irritating" said Natasha.
"You're still angry with him?" asked Lulu.
"No, just disappointed at him and at myself, the past is in the past, right now, your brother and whatever he says are the least of my worries" said Natasha.
"You are right, I need to warn him to keep that big mouth of his shut" said Lulu as Natasha laughed.
"You know it's the truth, he has a big mouth sometimes" said Lulu as she and Natasha laughed.
"Thanks Lulu, I feel much better now that I talked to someone about it" said Natasha with a smile.
"Anytime Natasha, anytime" said Lulu with a smiled.