Chapter 26

Bruce's POV

Time Skip... A Year Later...

  We've made a lot of progress in the world this past year. We're at fifty percent recovery which is pretty damn good if you ask me. I honestly didn't think we'd be at more than twenty five percent recovered at most. I'm so proud of the work that everyone has put in to make the world go on again. Nat and I both have been doing a lot of thinking lately about all of the children in the world who no longer have parents due to losing them in the battle and we want to adopt a child. We'd help all of them if we could, but we can only handle having one right now. Even helping one child have a family and home is such a big deal. 

   We're currently at an orphanage in the heart of the city, visiting with different children to see which one melts our heart the most. They're all wonderful but we want to adopt the one that really connects with us the best. As we interact with them for several hours on end, we come to a decision. We're going to adopt a ten year old girl named Mikayla. All of the children are wonderful but Mikayla just seems like the best fit for us and vice versa. It takes a couple of weeks for the fingerprints and paperwork we're filling out to be processed but once it is, we'll be able to take Mikayla home, which is currently Stark Tower. Mikayla happens to be a huge fan of the Avengers and will love living amongst them for sure.

    Mikayla already knew who we were before we even introduced ourselves. She's not even scared of the Hulk, she thinks he's awesome, though she promised me that she'll do her best not make me angry too often just like I promised to do my best not to lose my cool. The last thing I'd ever want to do is scare an innocent child. Nat is smitten with Mikayla. She's trying not to show it but she is. Both of us were robbed of getting to make a child the natural way but adoption is just as meaningful, if not more so. I can't wait to take Mikayla home for us. An orphanage is not a home for a child. No child deserves to be in an orphanage. If anyone gets that, it's Wanda. I might have Wanda spend a day with Mikayla sometime. It would be good for her to talk to someone who went through the same situation herself.

    We go back to visit with Mikayla for a little while longer, bonding over pizza for dinner before having to leave. Mikayla hugs Nat and I tightly with tears in her eyes, though they're tears of joy. I'm not going to lie, Nat and I end up shedding some tears of joy ourselves. We make a promise to see Mikayla again in a few days and eagerly await the day we get to bring our baby girl home. 

      When we get back to the tower, we break the news to everyone that we plan on adopting our baby girl Mikayla. Everyone reacts positively to the news and we all celebrate with a nice home cooked dinner made by Tony. Clint supplies us all with wine. We're on cloud nine right now. We're finally getting a sense of normalcy back as well as the real start to our future. Adopting Mikayla will be the best thing to ever happen to me besides marrying Nat. We still haven't had a proper honeymoon because of rebuilding the world but we will eventually. 

     Now that I think about it, I'd rather take a trip with Mikayla and Nat as a family rather than just run off and screw Nat in a fancy hotel bed in a honeymoon destination like Hawaii. We're going to be a family and I want to do as many things together as possible. We all know how precious life is and how every single day counts. In this moment, I can say that both Nat and I are a point where we can be happy, truly happy. 

Hoped that you guys liked this chapter! I wanted to update tonight because I most likely won't tomorrow. I know that the updates have been a bit shorter, but this fanfic will most likely be completed pretty soon. :) -Mary