Nadia smiled, and threw herself forward, embracing both women in a hug simultaneously. Janet and Bobbi laughed, trying not to bonk heads as Nadia’s impressive strength dragged them together.
And so they were all back together in the Lab, and things were going to be okay. Things always ended up okay, as far as Nadia was concerned. That was one of the many upsides of having chosen her own family. They always had to keep choosing each other. And they always did.
“So the reception was good?” Janet asked, grabbing some empty dishes off the table and taking them to the sink.
“Definitely,” said Priya. “We were also the best-dressed team by a wide margin.”
Janet waved a thank-you in acknowledgment of her skills. She had made sure the team looked impeccable for their presentation on the Like Minds show floor.
“It sounds like Stark Industries is going to pick up the Bee-Bois for further R and D,” Taina said excitedly around a mouthful of sambusa.
“They should!” Nadia added enthusiastically. After the debacle at HoffTech, Nadia, Taina, Priya, Shay, and Ying had spent the rest of the week together in the lab, working on improving Taina’s Bee-Bois. After they removed the weaponized Stingers (naturally), Priya had helped develop a bio-agent that would help make flowers more receptive to the drones, delivered with Ying’s sewage-treatment agent. Shay and Taina had made the drones more nimble, and Nadia had linked them all with the quantum-speed connection she’d been working on with VERA. It was the perfect team project, and they’d absolutely nailed it.
“Doesn’t seem too small-time to you, still?” Taina asked Nadia, a smirk on her face.
Nadia speared a potato. She deserved that.
“You were all right,” she admitted. “There’s nothing wrong with starting small.” She touched the Crystal Lab charm, safely around her neck once again. She knew she had the strength not to use it. She didn’t need to. And it was nice to have it on, as a reminder.
Suddenly, Nadia recalled something she’d been meaning to do today. “Hold on,” she said, jumping up and running to her room. It was all unpacked; a riot of reds and oranges and fairy lights and notebooks and corkboards full of pictures of her family and friends. It was small and cluttered and entirely hers. She loved it. A home. Finally.
On the desk where VERA used to live sat Maria’s journal—and a bright pink notebook. Nadia grabbed the notebook and ran back to the kitchen, holding it aloft.
“I have this now!” she said excitedly.
“Please tell me it’s not another mind-controlling robo-mom,” Taina groaned.
“No.” Nadia shook her head. “My own journal. Look!”
Nadia opened the book and flipped through it, showing her friends all the different pages. “Here’s my current project list—only two to three things at a time, I promise—and here’s my ideas for future projects, and here…here’s my own to-do list.”
“That’s great, kid,” said Bobbi. “What’s on it?”
Nadia sat back down in her chair and passed Bobbi the journal. She was happy to share this now, with everyone—no more secrets. Nadia had been clinging to the idea that doing the things Maria wanted to do with her might somehow reveal something more about Maria beyond the list—who she was, what she liked, what made her laugh. But with each item completed, Nadia never learned more about Maria—she knew exactly as much about her mother after watching A New Hope as she did beforehand: that Maria liked Star Wars.
But she knew more about herself. She knew that her favorite ABBA song was “S.O.S.” because it was a bop but it was also kind of melancholy, and that was sometimes how Nadia thought of herself. She knew that she could walk on water and that palacsinta was easier to make than she thought it would be. She knew that she had friends who loved her and wanted to share in these moments with her.
And she knew that Maria and Hank would always live on in her mind. She would never forget them. But she had a family. Right here. A way forward. And she was going to figure out every single item she’d want to put on her own list of favorite things.
There was only one way to do that.
“I took some things from Maria’s list—like the Insectarium,” Nadia explained, “but I added my own things, too. I have a lot to catch up on after the Red Room, but I wanted to be the one to decide what was important to me. So ‘Thanksgiving dinner in my own home’ can be the first item we check off!”
Bobbi passed the journal to Janet with a smile. “I love it. Are you taking suggestions?”
Nadia bobbed her head enthusiastically. “Absolutely.”
“I notice you kept Star Wars on here,” Ying said approvingly.
“‘Go shopping with Shay’ and ‘Learn how to do hair with Priya’ are numbers four and five.” Shay grinned. “Nice.”
“And there’s our hockey game.” Janet smiled. “Ah, and ‘weekly therapy for life.’” Janet ruffled Nadia’s hair. “Strong choice.”
“Is there anything on there about learning to drive a car?” Nadia’s dedushka suggested primly. “I sincerely hope so, because you are about to be late for your lesson.”
Nadia jumped out of her chair. “Oh no. She’s scary when I’m late.”
“She’s not that scary,” Bobbi said, rolling her eyes. “Trust me.”