The Tear of Celeste

Chapter 17: Surprise breakfast

When you wake up the next morning you frown, roll over, and groan into your pillow. You don't remember how you got to bed and because of all the stuff you've been through lately, you were not happy about that.

You quickly get out of bed, stretch, and walk over to the window to watch the sunrise. You are still in your pajamas as you make your way over to the armchair by the window you placed for the perfect view.

You watch the colors change as you let yourself wake up. You figure someone must have carried you to bed and suspected Pietro or Vision, but was not sure.

After the sunrise has lightened up the city you get up, giving your body another stretch before getting dressed in a simple outfit, pulling on jogging pants and a shirt with a lovely star print on it.

You walk down to the kitchen, giving a quick yawn as you ask Friday if anyone else is up right now, it's still super early and no one in the tower seemed like a morning person. It was also the weekend.

"No, but everyone is back from their mission" She answers, making you smile. They must have gotten back while you were asleep. You wondered if Steve or Thor had taken you to bed yet, but decided it was a mystery not worth solving.

"Great!" You said, clapping your hands together, and made your way over to the stove "Will you help me make breakfast for everyone?" You ask the AI, as you move to find the stuff you need to cook.

"I'll pull up a list of everyone's favorites," She says, and your smile widens. Time to show everyone how thankful you are for them being so nice to you!

༺☆༻

Your surprise breakfast had an even better effect than you had anticipated.

"YOU TRULY ARE WORTHY!" Thor boomed as he was shoving pancakes into his mouth, you almost have to cover your ears at how loud he was.

"Could you keep your voice down for just five minutes?" His brother groans, looking like he did not get a lot of sleep last night. You wonder why?

He too is eating pancakes, though he had mint chocolate chips in them, which he has been pleasantly surprised about. Friday had told you chocolate chip pancakes were his favorite, but you took a gamble making them mint flavored.

Wanda was eating cereal from some brand you never heard about, but when you had presented them to Wanda you had gotten such an excited squeal and such a warm hug you thought it was worth the money you had to pay out to get them delivered so early in the morning. In fairness, it was Tony's money.

Vision didn't need food, so he just watched Wanda with a warm smile, clearly enjoying watching how happy this food made her.

Pietro had a lot of greasy stuff on his plate, wiener dogs, bacon, scrambled eggs, and other meats, he must be enjoying it a lot, because he was eating slowly, enjoying each bite.

You made Clint oatmeal, but with apples, cinnamon, and just a pinch of nutmeg, his eyes lit up when he tasted it, and gave you a very warm smile.

Tony was biting into a croissant and drinking his coffee. "I'm surprised you know how to cook and bake," He said between bites.

"Well, as soon as I could stand in front of a stove I have been cooking for myself" You explain as you put the plate of very fluffy pancakes in front of Nat, following a recipe translated from Russian you did not recognize.

"Your parents made you help out in the kitchen?" Peter asks, already eating his waffles.

You pause, glancing at Tony, Bruce, and Nat. Apparently, they had not told anyone else about your past.

You turn back to the stove, working on Bruce's breakfast as that was another big order. "Um no, I...." You sigh "I don't have any"

You have the back to the group as you keep cooking, so you don't see how Peter pauses and then curses at himself silently for asking.

Pietro and Wanda look up too, and then at each other. They seem to be communicating with just their eyes for a bit before giving each other a knowledgeable nod. Unbeknown to you, you have just been adopted as their new sibling.

"It's not a big deal," You say as you flip another pancake. "I didn't lose them or anything, I just never knew them" You catch the pancake and put the pan on the stove again "I was abandoned on the doorstep of an orphanage" You explain.

You are still not looking at the group, so you don't see the shudder that goes through Loki's body as you say that, his eyes now fully focused on you, his lips set into a hard line.

Steve and Bucky look up from their breakfast, eating the same kind of food, another mega potion of food, and they look at each other with a frown.

"I learned a lot of stuff at the orphanage," You say, trying to lighten the mood, putting a positive spin on things "Cooking for myself, cleaning, laundry. How to take care of myself and all that good stuff."

You flip the last pancake onto the plate and slide the plate over to Bruce, you notice he looks a bit green and you are worried he might be sick until he quickly starts eating the pancakes as if it will keep some sickness away, his skin returning to normal color.

Sam frowned a bit and decided to speak up. "Have you ever heard of the concept of something being so messed up that you don't know until you tell others and see how they react?"

You look up at him surprised and see the expression on all their faces. You quickly hold up your hands defensively. "No no! I'm really okay! It's not like I was neglected, there were just a lot of us and not a lot of adults" You shrug "I learned to be independent to ease their load."

Sam shakes his head. "My point still stands."

You sigh with a head shake, just wanting to change the subject by now. "More coffee Doctor Strange?"

"Stephen is fine," He said, letting you pour him a cup even though he could have himself with magic, eating an English muffin.

You were a bit surprised at that, from what you heard and saw he was very particular about people using his honorary title of doctor.

"Alright, Stephen!" You said, giving him a grin "How is the research on the artifact going?" You say, turning back to the kitchen to make yourself some breakfast "I'm quite curious about it! I still can't believe a necklace I had all my life apparently was a magical artifact from another world!" It was so wild and much more interesting than talking about you!

But the only thing the others took from your comment was that the necklace was dear to you and you most likely could never have it back.

Stephen frowned, vowing to himself to find you some answers soon about what that artifact was.

Tony and Bruce looked at each other, they too vowed to get you some answers.

Nat and Clint exchanged a look too, both of them knowing what they wanted to do next.

You didn't know it yet, but it seemed like the whole group had decided to adopt you into their family in their own ways.