Joy looked so relieved. She did not know how her mother was going to react, but this was definitely the best way she could have reacted.
"Really mommy? You're not upset?" Joy just had to ask again, maybe her mother did not hear her right the first time.
"On second thought, I'm not angry for sure, but I am upset." Natasha said. "But I won't shout, I'm just glad that you're alright and that's all that matters to me." Natasha smiled.
"Thank you mommy, for not being angry." Joy said as Natasha bent down and hugged her.
"I am glad you're alright my darling, now I need you to do me a favour, go upstairs to your room for a while, I need to talk to your Aunt Lulu, okay?" Natasha asked.
"Okay." Joy nodded, she ran to Lulu and gave her a hug.
"Good luck Aunt Lulu, mommy isn't angry so she won't shout at you." Joy said patting Lulu on the back.
Lulu nodded, "That's because you're getting off easy." She said to herself.
Joy let go of her and proceeded to walk up the stairs to her room. She turned back momentarily and gave Lulu a thumbs up and a smile as if wishing her good luck.
Lulu smiled, she really did need the good luck.
Natasha who watched the little interaction between aunt and niece chuckled lightly.
"Now, Lulu, you are going to tell me your side of the story." Natasha turned to Lulu.
Lulu sucked in a breath, she knew that Natasha would not let her off so easy. It made sense, she was an adult, Joy was her daughter, of course she would demand an explanation.
"The thing is Natasha, there was this annoying delivery guy that refused to deliver the package I ordered at our doorstep as usual, so I had to go out and meet him." She said.
"And you couldn't have thought to take Joy with you?" Natasha asked.
"I didn't want to take her with me because I knew I would show her a bad way to act and she would hear really bad words, really, really bad words because that delivery guy got on my nerves so much and he wasn't even apologetic at all." Lulu hurriedly said.
"I did not expect to be gone for so long, and I would have left her with someone I trust, but I didn't know Benjamin was back yet, had I known, I would have never left her alone, you have to believe me Natasha." Lulu said.
"The thing is Lulu, you should have known better, the things Joy said she did sound so dangerous and things could have gone so bad, so very bad if not for the fact that you arrived in time." Natasha said.
"I am sorry Natasha, really sorry, this is the first time I've ever done something like this, and I know that's no excuse for being negligent." Lulu said.
"You know that I really care about Joy, like she's my own and I love her so much, I would never do anything that will make her get hurt, never again, so please, forgive me Natasha. I don't want to lose your trust." Lulu said, she said sounded so sorry and sincere and Natasha knew she was.
"Lulu, you know you that I do trust you, and I consider you a sister, and I know you would never deliberately do something that would put Joy at risk." Natasha said and Lulu nodded.
"I also know that you strive to be a good example and you love being an aunt." Natasha said.
"I'm not really that good of an example... earlier, Joy asked me if we could not tell you and I agreed at first before Benjamin talked some sense into me. I was just so scared of you being angry with me." Lulu admitted.
Natasha chuckled, Lulu was the sweetest always, ever since she was a little baby.
"The fact that you just told me that shows you really are not as bad as you think you are."
"Of course, it's normal for your first reaction to be not to tell me because you were afraid, but what matters is that you decided to tell me in the end, and I'm sure you explained to Joy why you decided to tell the truth." Natasha said and Lulu nodded.
"I'm not angry, far from it, I'm happy you decided to tell me. Hearing it from you other than someone else makes me feel much more trusting of you." Natasha smiled.
"Oh, you don't know how relieved I am Natasha, I thought for a moment that you would be so angry and hate me and want me to leave." Lulu said as she hugged Natasha.
"No, of course not, I would never overreact like that. Like you said earlier, it's just a one time thing and I'm sure you won't do it again." Natasha laughed.
"No, no never." Lulu said. "Thank you so much Natasha, you're the best." Lulu said as she let go of her.
"I mean it when I say that I consider you my own sister. And had it been your brother, he would have expressed his displeasure, but he would never throw you out of the house, never, and that's the same way I would never chase you away." Natasha smiled.
"Aww Natasha, I love you so much, so very much." Lulu said.
"And I love you too Lulu, now, I need to talk to that little naughty girl of mine. She really did a lot in a such a short time." Natasha laughed and Lulu laughed.
"Don't be so hard on her, I contributed to half of that." Lulu laughed.
Natasha laughed, she shook her head and walked up the stairs. She entered into Joy's room where Joy had been sitting patiently on her bed waiting.
"My darling, I need to talk to you." Natasha said, she sat down on Joy's bed and carried her on her lap.
"You don't look angry mommy, so okay." Joy replied, her response almost made Natasha laugh.
"Alright, my darling, firstly, when your aunt told you to stay put, you should have stayed put. You should not have gone outside to get Maggie." Natasha said.
"Yes mommy. I just felt lonely, so I went to get Maggie." Joy said.
"My darling, did you really feel lonely, or did go and get Maggie because you knew you would not get in trouble?" Natasha asked.
"Ummm..." Joy said.
"Mhmm, that's the answer, you went to get Maggie because you knew you would not get in trouble, especially not with your Aunt Lulu." Natasha said. Yes, her daughter was her little angel, but she was starting to grew up and a little naughty at that.
She was starting to test the odds, when she was told no, she would sometimes go and do it anyway, and most times she got away with it, especially when she was with her daddy, uncles and aunt.
Joy was silent, her mother was right, she did go get Maggie because she did not think it would cause such a problem.
"My love, when an adult tells you to stay put, you must stay put, except in the case of an emergency." Natasha said.
"We only want the best for you and sometimes we can see that if you do a certain thing or act a certain way it's going to be bad for you, as we don't want that to happen, so when an adult says not to do something, especially me or your daddy or your aunt and uncles, don't do it, okay?" Natasha asked.
"Okay mommy." Joy nodded, she felt guilty.
"Good my darling, I know you're bored and you're lonely sometimes, but I just don't want you to get hurt." Natasha said and Joy nodded.
"I'm sorry mommy, for getting Aunt Lulu in trouble and for worrying you." Joy said hugging her mother.
"It's alright my darling, I know you are and that is all that matters." Natasha smiled hugging her.
"Thank you mommy." Joy smiled.
"Have you eaten my love?" Natasha asked.
"Mhmm, I had pasta with Aunt Lulu and Uncle Benjamin, he was here a while ago, then he left." Joy said.
"That's nice, I didn't know he was back already." Natasha said.
"Mhmm, he just came back today and he wanted to talk to Aunt Lulu, then he came here and saw my mess and he helped us clean up and stayed for lunch." Joy said.
"Your Aunt Lulu must have been so happy to see him." Natasha smiled, she knew Lulu and Benjamin were close to an extent even though Benjamin did not wish to admit it.
"Yes she was, but she was also angry because of a mean delivery man and she kept on talking with him about it." Joy giggled.
Natasha laughed, Joy was her little information keeper. She took note of everything, which was a good skill, but at the same time, people rarely realized that she did, which made her a little invisible weapon.