PROLOGUE
The World Turned Upside Down

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE IN LIFE—whether big or small, fast or slow. Eloise Earnshaw knew that, but she never imagined her whole world would turn upside down so quickly.

    Her morning started off as normal as normal as any other. Ellie had always been an early riser, always wanting to have a good head start on her day. She yawned as made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and take a shower. Her morning showers were a ritual, the only thing that truly woke her up every morning. She stepped out of the shower, her hair still drenched, wrapping herself in a warm bathrobe.

    After changing into her outfit for the day, Eloise drifted down to the first floor of their brownstone, lured by the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen. Standing there was her beloved mother, packing up her lunch. Constance Earnshaw was a woman of many trades—a doctor, a former Avenger (she was finally retired now. It had been arranged after Sokovia last year and had finally been made official just this year.), and, most importantly, her most favorite job of all, Ellie's mother.

    "Good morning, sweetheart." Constance greeted, snapping the tupperware full of Ellie's lunch close. Ellie wandered towards her mother and wrapped her arms around her waist. She buried her face into her mother's back, her wet hair dampening Constance's sweater. "Hey! You're going to get me all wet, Eloise!" she protested, but did not resist her daughter's embrace.

    "You don't care, Mommy," Ellie asserted, her voice muffled by the fabric. "You love it when I do this."

    "Whatever helps you sleep at night." Constance teased, rolling her eyes playfully, prying her daughter off of her and guiding her to the kitchen counter, where Ellie plopped down onto a stool.

    "I'm going to get the blow dryer." She told her daughter, sliding her the remote before making her way upstairs to get the things she needed to get her daughter's hair dry.

    The mother and daughter often had the television on during breakfast time. The noise coming from the shows that were on combined with their early morning chatter was a cacophony the two were so very used to listening to. Ellie scrolled aimlessly through a few channels, food and lifestyle, that channel with the crappy reality shows, before finally scrolling back to the news after nothing seemed to interest her on the other channels.

    Constance returned downstairs, hair items in tow, just as Ellie started digging into the pancakes her mother had made specially for her that morning. She had always been used to this routine, just her and her mom before school. Being an only child she was obviously doted on. Even with her shifts at the hospital and the occasional field assignment back in the day, Constance Earnshaw had always been the doting mother. And today was no different.

    "What time do you get out today?" Constance asked, plugging the blow dryer into the socket nearest to where her daughter was sat. She then turned on the device and started to dry her daughter's hair.

     "Not sure." Ellie shrugged, pouring more maple syrup on her pancakes. The whirring of the blow dryer was loud, but she was sure her mother had heard her. "I can get home by myself. I'm a big girl now, Mommy." Ellie flashed her mother a pancake-filled grin, sweet as sugar.

    Constance shook her head, still blow drying, but now moving to dry a different section of Ellie's hair. "I know you're a big girl, Ellie. But that doesn't mean I like the idea of you riding the subway home all alone."

    Eloise huffed as she bit back a smart-ass remark. She knew her mother meant well. She always did. She had always been a little (a lot) overprotective of Eloise. But her mother's protectiveness came from a place of love, and Ellie knew better than to argue. Constance Earnshaw had seen and been put through too much in her life. It would go against everything she fought for and believed in for her not to be overprotective when it came to her only child.

    Her mother had a past and Ellie knew it. Eloise's very existence was a big, fat reminder of somebody Constance Earnshaw used to know, somebody she used to love very dearly. But she did think of herself as a very lucky girl, not everybody's moms cared as much Constance did.

    "I'll just text you when we finish Academic Decathlon today." Ellie relented. Constance nodded, seemingly satisfied. Her mom had dried half of her head at this point.

    "Good." Constance smiled, satisfied. She put down the blower for a bit and pressed a soft kiss on her daughter's temple. "But if you want to go out with your friends you just have to text me where you are, alright?"

    Ellie looked up from her pancakes and nodded. "Okay, Mom. Will do."

    Her mom let out a soft hum before resuming drying her hair. Breakfast went on for a little longer as Ellie requested a second round, now with the leftover rice and dishes from the lunch her mom had packed lunch with. They had quite a bit of time before to spare so Constance indulged her daughter, even letting her sip on a little bit of her coffee.

    Ellie and Constance chatted quite a bit at breakfast. It was an essential part of both of their everyday routines. They chatted about everything under the sun, with the occasional chiding of Ellie's habit of talking with food in her mouth. It was their thing, right before they had to deal with the chaos of school and work. The mother and daughter savored every minute of it.

    "Do you want me to braid your hair, sweetheart?" Ellie shook her head as she stuffed another spoonful of rice and braised beef into her mouth, getting a little bit of the sauce on the side of her mouth. Constance sighed exasperatedly before wiping the sauce off with a tissue. "Chew properly, Eloise. Please. You're going to choke."

    "Sorry." Ellie apologized, her voice muffled by the food that was stuffed in her mouth. She then went on droning about how much of a pain in her ass Flash Thompson was. Ellie was so into her very vivid storytellings of the shenanigans that happened while she was away at school that she didn't even notice her mother wasn't listening anymore.

    "Hey! Mom! You weren't listening to me!" Ellie whined, trying to grab her mother's attention, but it seemed she was glued to the news. Ellie's brows furrowed before turning to the television to see what had gotten the great Constance Earnshaw to turn away her focus from her beloved daughter.

    Ellie's jaw instantly dropped when she saw the news. Her wide eyes flicked to her mother, who was staring at the screen with the same stunned expression.

    A United Nations ceremony had been bombed, the king of Wakanda killed, and the prime suspect for this terrorist attack? James Buchanan Barnes.

    In an instant, their quiet, routine morning had unraveled. Everything had changed.

note.

so, yeah. um.... here's this.

it's more of an introduction to ellie and constance and their dynamic more than anything. those two love each other very much. ellie is her mom's whole world. i may or may not be basing their relationship off my own with my own mother. single moms rock.

i'm excited to write more. i hope i wont be so busy now. love you guys mwa.

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