Natasha walked out the elevator with two kids tangling along next to her, each of them carrying a bag. She searched the room for familiar faces, only to find Sam, Bucky, Steve and of course, Sharon who was siting next to Steve and opposite Bucky with Sam on his side. They had taken a table of ten and she realized they'd need extra seats. She walked to them with a smile and Sam was the first one to acknowledge her, as Bucky was talking to Sharon and she and Steve had their backs towards her, "Morning Romanoff!".

Steve's eyes sparkled at her sight and swiftly, rested on her dress, just where he could see the shadow of her swimsuit hugging her curves. She waved a hand to him and the rest who'd just turned to face her "Hey, how come you didn't get a bigger table?" She asked as she got closer.

Steve stood up to show him dressed in a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt, with a light smile and pulled back a seat that she thought was meant for her, but Lila was faster and took it with a wide smile. Natasha rolled her eyes in a playful act of annoyance and took the seat beside her as Cooper took the seat on her other side.

"Wanda isn't going to join us, neither is Vision" Sam answered her as he took the coffee pot and reached his hand for her to take it, but Steve was faster to take it from him and pour the hot freshening coffee in her mug.

"Can I ask something?" Sharon spoke to no one but everyone, "Can he even eat food?" She had a shy smile on her face.

Natasha turned to study her, her hands folded on the table, her smile shy and eyes calm. Her body was well rested on her seat, not even slightly pivoted to Steve's direction, as if she had no specific interest in him. She crooked a brow trying to figure out what this change of character meant, but decided not get her mind wrapped around Sharon much.

"Well He says he doesn't need to, but he can." Sam mumbled.

"Oh, that's confusing." Sharon replied, still holding a shy smile.

"Everything about that dude is weird!" Sam blurted out, causing everyone to laugh. He'd never really gotten used to Vision, they were good friends, but he failed to understand or better said, tolerate the idea of him being an android; because he believed every assumption of Y2K could actually happen!

Steve was only smiling as they talked, getting some pancakes and cream on Lila's plate and pouring her some juice. He'd whisper to her asking what she wanted and she would whisper back in the same gentle manner, a pleasant sight for Natasha who was too helping Cooper with what he wanted and couldn't reach.

"Morning fellow avengers!" Tony's voice crept un to them suddenly. They all turned around to greet him and Pepper and Maria who were both smiling. "You're late!" Natasha murmured, mostly to the girls. "Sorry, Tony took forever to get ready and I'd asked Maria to wait for us" Pepper answered for three of them as they took their seats.

Tony had barely sat down when he shouted "So who's going to beach after breakfast?" Pepper bit back a chuckle "Tony, would you just keep it down for ten minutes? I haven't had coffee yet!" But the kids were already to excited and started squealing in joy, making Natasha send a death glare to Tony "Grate, now who's gonna get them to finish breakfast?"

Steve who was laughing at Lila's excitement, gently grabbed her hand and started whispering in her ear, causing her to giggle and the rest of them watched, dumbfounded. Non of them had really ever seen Steve this close to kids and this was a new side to them. He pulled back but kept his gaze on Lila, as if expecting an answer. Lila nodded with a smile and went back to eating her breakfast as did Steve. The rest of them were still watching in silent "What did you just do?" Tony asked with a shocked expression. Steve looked up and shrugged, "Nothing, we just made a deal."

"A deal?" Sam asked again, the only ones who seemed to find this normal were Bucky and Natasha who went back to eating their breakfast.

"Yeah" Steve responded while picking up his mug to take a sip of his coffee "If Lila eats her breakfast, I'll help her build a sandcastle.".

"Ok, when we have a kid, you're definitely coming over!" Tony rambled on and then, Pepper chocked on her coffee having just taken a sip. He turned to face her and the wide eyes and dropped jaw told him he'd taken things a step further than should have "I mean if. If we have a kid, someday, you know. If someday we have a kid, he can come over to help." They watched him ramble on, trying their best to keep in their laughter. Pepper shook her head in disbelief "It's fine Tony, you just took me by surprise." She assured him with a gentle tone before going on "But can you please just let everyone eat their breakfast in peace?" She held a sweet smile but her shock was still visible.

Tony nodded softly and turned his focus on his food. He was scared of loosing her more than anything, he'd tried to get serious with her in the past, but then made a few mistakes, lost a couple of friends and as she would say, constantly looked for trouble and put himself at risk, something she couldn't bare and decided to leave him. He'd fought governments, aliens, and friends. To that date, that last one hurt the most but being left alone, and the one leaving being the only woman he ever truly loved hurt the most. He'd spend a long time trying to recover but failed miserably and then came the Sokovia Accords, a time that they had all gone extremely over the lines and made all the mistakes they possibly could have and then he was really alone. But he realized even then, the biggest pain was loosing Pepper and he needed her back, so for once he'd man up, made the effort to go visit her, and do it over and over as she had rejected him every time and then, the one time she'd finally agreed to meet him, he'd kneeled in front of her and told her he was desperately in love with her and she'd been the only thing that would ever let him feel whole, and that he missed her. That he simply, but painfully, missed her. He'd watched her eyes glisten, then her lips part and whisper three words that meant the world to him, "You're an idiot!".

Tony had learned to love those three words, it could be go to hell, or I'm over you, or We are done here, but it wasn't. He'd stood up and pulled the blonde to his embrace, kissing her head as she sobbed in his neck. He'd then promised he wouldn't do anything stupid and that he'd never leave her, ever again.

Pepper took another sip of her coffee as Tony nodded with uncertainty in his eyes, then leaned down and gently kissed her shoulder. She offered him a reassuring smile, letting him know they were fine and he'd only taken her by a surprise.

"Can we go to the beach now?" Cooper asked Natasha just as he finished his breakfast and Lila joined in "Can we? Please!" She nearly pleaded. "Sure we can" Natasha winked at them and stood up then turned to face the rest of them "We'll see you out there." But before she could push her way from between the chairs, Maria stood up "I'll come too, I'm done" Natasha nodded but again, she was interrupted by Steve.

"You can't go alone, I'll join you." He said in a firm tone as he stood up. Remembering her effect on him when he saw her first, in a mid-tight long white sundress and black swimsuit under it, he wasn't going to let her go to the beach without him. And thankfully, given the fact that both girls were wearing sundresses and for Maria, what seemed to be a bikini according to the strips that were resting on her shoulders, Steve Rogers not wanting to leave them alone on a beach full of strangers wasn't a surprise.

Sam wanted to join them as well, but Steve nodded his head in his direction, assuring him that he would keep an eye on them both as Sam wasn't finished with his breakfast yet. He smiled and sat back, knowing Steve wouldn't let anyone treat the girls wrong and also not wanting to seem too obvious to every other eye at the table. What him and Maria had, hadn't been cleared up yet. They had had a few encounters previously, non of which had been followed up with the talk. He was found of her and wished to get to some other level than just a casual thing, but she'd refused to go down that road with him. He saw this trip as his chance to get a meaningful conversation with her.

Natasha and Maria walked side by side, following the kids as Steve followed them. He watched them talk in whisper and Natasha threw him a brief glance before saying something to Maria that got the brunette to elbow her side. Knowing the two were most likely on a friendly banter, he pushed it aside with a soft chuckle. Upon reaching the shore Lila and Cooper started racing to the beach and threw their bags on the ground while Natasha and Maria walked to the lounges. Steve walked to the bags and picked them up, a corner of his lips jumping up to a lopsided smile. He walked back to the girls and took a seat on the lounge next to Natasha.

"I'm going in for a swim, you coming?" Maria asked them, mostly Natasha. She shook her head "Not yet" Maria nodded and got up, pulling out her dress and dropping it on the lounge, leaving herself in a black bikini while eying Steve from the corner of her eyes, just as Natasha was doing. In fact, that was what she'd been asked to do.

As they were walking to the beach, Steve a fair amount of space behind them, Natasha leaned to her side, whispering. "Hey, you up for some teasing?" She'd asked and Maria replied with the same manner "Sure"

Natasha threw a glance at Steve "What you say about examining Steve Rogers' civility?" Maria elbowed her playfully "What did the man ever do to you?" She chuckled.

"Oh, you have no idea!" She mused with a smirk, causing Maria to gasp "Oh no, you didn't!" She blurted and Natasha instantly turned to see if Steve was close, but saw him following the kids trail instead. She nodded slightly and Maria bit her lip. "You're gonna have to tell me everything!" She nearly squealed.

"I'm not sure if you can handle it!" She chimed while seating down on the lounge.

"You wouldn't mind me teasing him though?" Maria asked, a brow coked. "I mean I kind of want to see how he behaves in this situations, I've never seen him before." Maria could feel the uncertainty in her eyes. Natasha had seen Steve respect women ever since they'd met, but they'd never really been in a situation that he was surrounded by many different women, exposed to be explore with every other men's eyes. She wanted to know what he'd be like.

And now, there they were. They both saw Steve's eyes dart away from Maria the minute her fingers pulled up the hem of her dress, looking back at the two kids who were playing on the shore and they'd been already told they weren't allowed to get in the water without the supervision of a grownup so seeing Maria in only bikinis got them both cheered up and they ran back to them, Cooped pulling up his shirt as he was running. Steve chuckled and watched them get to Natasha "We can go swimming with auntie Maria, right?" Cooper pleaded as he started to unbutton his shorts. Natasha laughed at his enthusiasm and nodded "Yeah, you can" then she helped Lila out of her dress, leaving her in her swimsuit. Cooper turned to Steve "Will you come with us?" He asked him, in hope he would say yes. "I'll join you when your auntie Nat does" he promised with a smile. The kids walked to Maria, each taking one of her hands as they walked to the never ending blue.

"She's really good with kids!" Steve exclaimed "I never thought she'd be this easy around them" he looked back at Natasha, only to find her studying him with narrowed eyes.

Before he could ask her what she was thinking, she looked away "Yeah, she really is" She sighed "I really hope I'll get to be her children's auntie someday." She looked back at him "This whole lifestyle doesn't help with family stuff, does it?" She asked him with a serious tone.

He shook his head gently "If Clint could pull it off, so can we!" She studied his words, trying to suck in all the hope he was sending her way. Then she watched him lean on the lounge, his eyes never leaving her. She grabbed her bag and pulled out her son bloke and poured a fair amount on her hand, then fold her legs on the lounge. She let her dress fall to her upper tights, showing off too much skin.

She started applying the cream on her legs, all the way to her tights. Then she did the same to her arms and gently leaned back on the lounge. She could feel Steve's glare her the entire time, then huff at air as she leaned on her back, making her snicker.

The beach was starting to get crowded and they wouldn't be left alone for long, at least not Steve. Girls would throw themselves at him shamelessly and the thought was irritating for Natasha. She watched three girls walk to Steve's direction, eying him up and down. As they got closer, they started swaying their hips, each wearing bikinis that were too reviling, even for bikinis!

Natasha rolled her eyes, but then fixed her face straight ahead while once again watching him, analyzing him just from the corner of her eyes. Steve being the overprotective man he was, was darting his eyes sideways to forth see any upcoming thread and that's when his eyes fell on the girls. One of them sent him a playful wink that even he could tell what it meant. His face clinched and he turned to face away, not even in Natasha's direction, he looked straight ahead and the girls walked passed him in disappointment. Natasha was shocked, she'd expected him to turn red or look down in shyness, not if winking back like most men would. But the agitating and irritated look on his face wasn't predictable.

"Steve" she reached her hand to engulf his, drifting his trail of thoughts apart "What happened?" She asked softly.

He shook his head, exhaling loudly "Do their parents know?" He asked her with darkened eyes "I mean they looked like teenagers, do their parent know what their doing right now? Shouldn't they be in school or something?" He was desperate, this part of the century was something still hard to understand.

Why was everyone in such a rush to make mistakes they had many years to make?

Natasha squeezed his hand "Steve, it's just how they are. Don't get your head wrapped in it, it'll drive you mad." She was being soft on him, she knew how he felt responsible for everything, literally everything. "This isn't a part of being an avenger, Steve." She was pleading him to calm down, to enjoy his little time he had to himself or maybe to her even.

He sighed and turned to face her "You know, you're my voice of reason!"

Natasha made a mock-offend face "Me? The Black Widow?"

He chuckled "Yeah, sometimes".

She smiled "That's bold coming from you!"

He nodded "I guess you're the one thing missing from my puzzle."

Natasha felt butterflies in her stomach, her heart skipping a beat and her head felt light.

He smiled at her pink colored cheeks and turned his focus back on the kids who were playing with Maria "Don't you think we should join them?" He nodded to their direction with his chin. "Sure we can, but I need some help before that" she smirked as she stood up and pulled her dress over her head in a quick motion.

Steve's jaw dropped as he eyed her, her perfect curves being hugged too tight in her black swimsuit, her tights showing all skin and the low neckline showing too much cleavage. Her creamy skin shining under the bright rays of sunlight as she turned around, her back facing Steve who had to hold in his breath as his mind wondered at the sight of her exposed back and her alluring fully ripe-

"STEVE!"

He was pulled out of his thoughts as she called out his name a little to loud. "Huh, yeah?" He asked dumbly.

"Can you help me with this?" She asked him, handing him her sunblock and he nodded, still dumbfounded. She laid back on her lounge,on her stomach , and pulled her hair to a side, her back entirely exposed to him.

He swallowed hard as he poured some of the cream on his hand and smoothly rubbed it on her skin in a circular motion. He moved his hands over her skin, remembering how he'd felt her skin the previous night. He had to keep his mind busy, thinking about whatever he hated or even disgusted him just to keep himself from being aroused to a point that there would be no going back from with just a cold shower. Natasha had wanted to tease him but the feeling of his skin on hers, the sensation made her hum in relaxation and pleasure.

Their peaceful moment was interrupted as she felt Steve jerk his hand of her and then there was a towel dropped on her body, covering her from neck to mid-tights. She turned to face Steve but he wasn't paying any attention to her, his eyes were darted to elsewhere and as she followed his gaze, she gulped nervously. "Steve" she called out, pleading for him to turn his focus back on her but failed.

Steve was sending what could be only described as only death glares to a group of men whom where standing at the closest bar to them, their eyes hovering over Natasha not discreetly at all and Natasha could feel the blood boiling in Steve's veins. Before anything could escalate from that, she tugged on his arm "Steve, let's go for a swim."

She pleaded again and Steve huffed, but nodded in agreement. Causing a scene at public was the last thing they needed. He stood up and unbuttoned his shorts, a motion that got Natasha to lick her lips with the tip of her tongue in anticipation. He slid his shorts down to show him in his swimming trunks that were more tight than any normal piece of clothing Steve Rogers would ever wear. He held out a hand for Natasha who took it with sparkling eyes and stood up on his side. As the towel dropped to the sand, she heard whistles from behind her, just where the ogling group of men were standing and she saw Steve's jaw clench.

"Let's just go" she said as she pulled his hand and walked away from them. Steve followed her, trying his best to ignore them but just then, a shout got their attention.

"Boy I'm telling you, I'd hit that ass all right!" Before Natasha could react, Steve jerked his arm out of her hold and turned back to them, jogging. The minute he got close to them was when they finally realized they made a mistake, given the fact that Steve was taller than all of them and twice the size of the biggest one.

Steve threw a sharp glare at them "Which one of you dared to say that?" He shouted at them, getting the attention of a few families and other young visitors to turn their focus on them.

"Steve, please, let's go" Natasha had walked to him slowly, and was now tugging his arm. He glared at them, but turned to Natasha and placed a hand on her waist and turned her away from them. He made her walk just in front of him, her backside being out of their or anyone else's sight.

"What are you doing?" She asked him as he kept his hand in both her sides.

"Thanking god you're not wearing a bikini." He growled with all seriousness.

Natasha froze at his words and he had to turn her to face him "What?" He asked, a little worried. "I-yo-you kno-...." she stuttered and he had to hold her chin in his fingers and make her face him. "You know I don't wear bikinis" she mumbled.

Steve sighed at the realization, an old memory tangling with his mind. "Nat, it's not that" he gave her a warm smile "You know you're gorgeous, you know how I feel about you. I just think I couldn't bare their looks on your body." He looked her in the eyes, deep and intense.