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Valentina Allegra De La Fontaine
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| For the fourth day in a row, Val sat on the floor in the nursery, surrounded by her daughters as they played with her and explored their baby-gated environment, and fell asleep.
It had been happening more and more over the past months. Despite her best efforts to stay awake and attend to the everyday tasks necessary with two crawling babies and a walking Sammy, some switch in her head would flip and she couldn't keep her eyes open.
It shouldn't be this hard to adjust. The girls were all sleeping through the night now, mostly, and they had plenty of daily help with them and the household chores. It was her, and if she could just shake the lethargy that plagued her it would be okay. She didn't need to talk to anyone, which would be Nick's answer. She had no close female friends and she wasn't talking to a shrink. Her private life was exactly that, private.
With no clear solution she could grasp and put into action, she continued to fall asleep at odd moments of stillness like now, sitting on the floor against a chair, waking only when one of the girls crawled over her or cried out about something. If Nick came to the door, one of the girls would call out to him and wake her up. Nick's attention these days was firmly fixed on his daughters. So far he hadn't noticed her lapses or the bouts of depression she passed off as tiredness. Babies did that to a person, didn't they? | comments: 28 comments or Leave a comment   |
| Halloween was the perfect time to go back to their house in the States, check on things, and show off their babies to friends who weren't trying to take Nick into custody. Just in case, however, Nick carried Sammy off to make the Halloween rounds to stay mobile while Val kept the home fires burning with Nikki and Jo.
After Val saw them off, Sammy dressed as a tiny little spy all in black with an odd cloth mask she picked up somewhere, (...hrm...where had Sammy gotten that...), she filled a bowl with eye patches, toy guns filled with candy buttons, and the all important mini chocolate bars to set near the front door. The porch light is on. The security system set to allow only unarmed people within a hundred foot radius of the property. Those with working weapons would find themselves targeted first by light, and then by a stunning bolt. Val would call for medical assistance after the last trick or treater of the night.
Nikki is asleep. Jo is tressed as a tiny little spy with one of Daddy's eyepatches as a teething toy and currently carried around in Mommy's arms while Val putters through the house. All is ready. | | comments: 18 comments or Leave a comment |
| Sammy was the only one of the three babies that wasn't ready to nap. Nick kissed her soft head, then Val, before taking the other two into the house and to the nursery.
Val cleaned up their picnic area, with Sammy overseeing the work. The baby sat to one side with the last bit of orange in her chubby little hand.
Blanket and small basket in one arm, Sammy in the other, Val makes her way into the kitchen to find Tasha coveting a pot of coffee leftover from lunch.
"You only get one cup," she reminds her with a smile. | | comments: 47 comments or Leave a comment |
| Not everyone was asleep at 3am. Val was in the nursery rocking Nikki when she heard footsteps in the hall. She eased the hall door open on silent hinges in time to see Logan enter Jubilee's room. Nothing to worry about. A sigh of relief blew through pursed lips. Something to drink, she thought. Nikki was almost asleep again. The little darling seemed to sure people were having fun without her that she tended to wake up when her sisters were sleeping. It was much like Sammy's ingrained belief that people were having wonderful meals in her absence and she had to get her share no matter what.
With Nikki over her shoulder, Val stepped out of the room in time to hear Logan's muffled growl about strangers in the house. Surely she could not have heard that right. She moved closer to unashamedly eavesdrop. This wasn't her pretending not to hear the rather animalistic sounds coming from Tasha's room late at night when she walked the floor with one or two babies in her arms. That made Val and Nick smile at each other in lascivious memory.
This was potentially devastating. She would have to talk to Nick again about getting their own house. So far it was all wishful looking at various properties, wondering if they could really be happy so far from home. She was a city girl at heart, as much as Nick's heart still lived in Hell's Kitchen. What did they know about the country?
Better question, what would they do to keep their daughters safe?
Putting Nikki back in her crib with Jo, Val softly kissed all three girls, double checked the deadbolt lock on the hall door, and retired to the connecting bedroom. Nick was sprawled on his side of the bed, yet his arm was flung across her side. Was retirement agreeing with him? He seemed more tired these days. They both did. If they had their own place, they could see about hiring a live-in nanny to help out with the girls and give Nick a break.
With this in mind, she removed her robe and slipped beneath the sheets to snuggle up to her husband. As soon as his sleeping brain realized he wasn't alone, he abandoned trying to embrace empty space and gathered her to his chest. Val planted several soft kisses on his chest before sighing again, releasing the tension of the last few minutes. | | comments: 14 comments or Leave a comment |
| Early mornings were again one of Valentina's favorite times. In her heart of hearts, she loved the Italian countryside. In fact, she had wanted to bring up the idea to Nick about buying a small villa when retirement was a certainty rather than a possibility. Now that they were retired and raising three daughters, the space and fresh air could only help.
The sun was just over the horizon as she made a fresh pot of coffee. Nikki was the only other person awake, and she was content to doze against Val's shoulder. The fresh air and constant activity in the villa meant that all three babies were sleeping through the night. They fell asleep exhausted every night, and awoke with a minimum of unhappy whimpering in the mornings.
Pouring a cup, she carried it, and Nikki, outside to wander the grounds in peace. She could get so used to this life. Without all the extra people. She admired Natasha's open house policy; in fact, she and Nick wouldn't be here if they had not received the invitation. The registration act scared her into agreeing to this. It helped her sense of fair play that she was able to exchange child care with Natasha. Between them, all five kids were well supervised and protected.
Finding time for Nick and herself was a lost art. It had to get better.
Reaching the old stone wall that marked the boundary, she sat down and watched the sun make its ascent. | | comments: 21 comments or Leave a comment |
| Once inside her suite, Val turns on Nick and fixes him with a half-hearted glare. Half-hearted because inside she was amazingly happy to see him.
"So, where were you calling from this morning? You made me believe you were at home." | | comments: 11 comments or Leave a comment |
| Not only has the time difference conspired to wake her up early, but her own body has helped it along. Accustomed to waking every few hours to tend to the babies, Val doesn't fight the urge to get up and move around. It startles her at first. The suite is silent, the warm body next to her tiny and sprawling boneless. The moment of confusion washes away.
Beijing. Sammy. No Nick.
A tiny foot twitching into her side. Sammy was such a bed hog. She wouldn't sleep in the crib the hotel brought up for her. Val finally pushed the crib against one side of the bed, surrounded Sammy with pillows, and slept herself. Only a few hours, though.
She gets up, slips on a matching robe, and wanders out to the balcony. For awhile she stares at the night sky, thinks about Nick, Sammy, Joey and Nikki. She still believes Nick will find a reason to go back to SHIELD. It's in his blood. Why fight it? The worst thing she could do would be to make an issue of his promise to retire. It's not the first time she's held down home base while he did what had to be done. Raising three daughters really wasn't that much different.
The murmur of voices from the next balcony over doesn't have time to register when a faint, sleepy "hoh!" comes from inside. Val walks back inside to find Sammy sitting up, still half asleep. The child has an incredible appetite. Her metabolism had to be unusually fast to process everything she ate. Val doesn't fight it. She picks Sammy up, cuddling her as she gets a soy s'more from the minifridge. Sammy begins gumming it immediately, and through a diaper change.
Once Sammy is settled in her arms, Val carries her out to the balcony to enjoy the air. Now the murmur of voices is a little louder, but not enough to distinguish words. She ignores it, until the voices becomes wisps of sounds, moans and sighs of pleasure. It's not until she remembers that Natasha had the suite on that side, and the growly baritone voice must be Logan's, that Val realizes who it is and what they're doing. Her cheeks tinge pink, unseen in the dark.
With the soft, warm weight of the baby against her chest, Val finds in herself a bit of envy. She misses Nick now, and the life they used to have. Even if she calls home and asks him to join her, they would never be able to recapture that life. Did he even see her as a woman any more? Did anyone?
She chalks it up to postpartum depression, exchanging freedom for diapers and bottles. It will pass. It must. She has too much to lose. | | |
| Fine, Nick. You can't just let me rest and enjoy the holidays, you have to complain in public, AGAIN. Just for you, I called the doctor and dragged her away from her own holiday with her family so you can sleep tonight. Or after you recover from the hangover that is surely in your future.
I'm on the anemic side and I'm tired. I'm NOT PREGNANT. I'm in my mid-60s, you damned yahoo! Give me a break! I get tired sometimes. And really, that last meal you made a few days ago... it caused the nausea.
Feel better now?
*mutters* Men. Can't live with them, can't legally sell them. | | comments: 25 comments or Leave a comment |
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Valentina Allegra De La Fontaine
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