Love of my life
*****
Grandpa Tommy likes to joke about how traits skip a generation, though he mostly does it to tease Grand-Uncle Bill. “Look at our family, for example. My father is brilliant, but Billy’s an idiot.”
When he said that at Thanksgiving last year, Uncle Bill shot back, “And what does that make you?” Grandpa threw a dinner roll at him, and when Uncle Bill added, “Not to mention how you didn’t inherit Dad’s excellent taste in women,” Terra had been pretty sure World War III was going to break out there at the table. But of course Great-Grandpa managed to smooth it over, like he always did.
Maybe Grandpa had a point, though. He had superpowers, but Mom (who was ace/enby but decided the triplets should just call them that) could barely run down the block, much less at super-speed. Terra’s brother Starr was almost as fast as the speed of light, and her sister Luna wasn’t fast but had incredible endurance. Terra herself could sometimes move things with her mind, but it didn’t work well – got it from Great-Grandma – but that was all.
And then there’s her cousins. Grand-Uncle Bill and Grand-Uncle Teddy’s children didn’t have any powers, but their grandkids have already been invited to join the Avengers once they finish college. Terra’s a little bit (no, a lot) jealous of that.
As she waits for Starr to get home from track practice – Mom finally lets them stay home alone now that they’re twelve – she looks over their life science homework project: create a family tree and determine which traits are dominant and recessive. Her brother will be excited to help her with it. The problem will be keeping their slacker sister from pretending she helped out too. At least their sixth-grade teacher, Mx. Aziz, is on to Luna’s con.
So… who to ask? She hasn’t seen the other side of her family since last summer, though Grand-Uncle Teddy keeps texting them to come visit. Grandpa is out in space these days, and Mom is busy with work. Terra smiles. Great-Grandma Wanda. Perfect. She shoots off a text: “Can I come over this afternoon? I need your help with a project.” Soon, Great-Grandma replies, “Sure! I’ll open a portal,” followed by a ton of emojis because she’s old.
Before Terra can text back to wait until Starr gets home, there it is. Yellow and sparkly and so, so pretty.
She hesitates for a second. Supposed to wait, right? Then she decides: screw it. My idiot brother didn’t wait for me when he and Aunt Rina went out for ice cream last week. And she steps through.
There’s Great-Grandma Wanda and Great-Grandpa Vision, ready for a hug.
Of course Terra runs right into their arms. They give the best hugs. His are cool and hers are warm and they squeeze her super-tight. When they finally let go, Terra does a double-take because they look so young. Okay, not young, but definitely not old the way they’re supposed to. The way all her friends’ grandparents do. Makes sense, though. She’s a witch and he’s a synthezoid. Probably did a spell or something.
Then she realizes this is the cabin in Sokovia – or what used to be Sokovia in ancient times – instead of their house in Shanport. Excellent. Mom used to ship the triplets off to here in the summer, which was so much fun. Even better now that it’s autumn and it’s all decorated for Halloween and the harvest and such. Great-Grandpa probably did that; Terra can’t imagine her hanging up those streamers and carving pumpkins.
The three of them go out to the porch. The grownups sit on the wooden loveseat while Terra takes the rocking chair that she’d given them for Hanukkah last year. “So, what brings our favorite great-grandchild here?”
Terra grins even though she knows they say that to all their great-grandkids. “I need you and Great-Grandma Wanda to help –”
A cough. “I thought I told you not to call me ‘Great-Grandma’. It makes me feel old.”
Oh, right. Probably a bad idea to point out that she’s, what, ninety-two? Great – um, Vision’s lips curl into a grin, like he’s also resisting the temptation to remind her of that.
“Sorry, Wanda. I need you and Vision to help me make a family tree.”
The two of them actually glow. Seriously – the blue gem in his forehead lights up, and Wanda’s hands spark a bit of red. But in a good way. They glance at each other, then Vision says, “We’d love to. What do you need to know?”
Terra pulls out her tablet. “Okay, so, I’ve already sketched out the tree itself, but I’m supposed to do all this other stuff about recessive genes and whatever.”
Vision reaches out a hand, and she passes the tablet over to him. He pokes at the screen for a few seconds then holds it up. “There you go. All done.”
Both Terra and Wanda stare at him. “I think my teacher wants me to do it myself.”
“My apologies. Should I wipe it clean?”
“No!” Yeah, it probably counts as cheating, but Mx. Aziz doesn’t have to know that.
Wanda crosses her legs. “How about this? You have all the information there, thanks to your great-grandfather,” she elbows him, and he chuckles. “But why don’t we tell you the real stories?”
That’s not part of the life science project, but storytime with her family is always fun. So she nods and returns the tablet to her backpack.
“Guess we’ll start at the beginning. I was born here in Sokovia – in the city, I mean, not here in the mountains. I had two wonderful parents and a twin brother. We were all really happy until Mama and Papa were killed by a bomb during the war.” Her face gets a little sad for a second. “My brother Pietro and I went through a bit of a rebellious streak, and that’s how I got my powers.”
“Kind of like how Mom joined the New Guard when she was in college?” Oops, Mom doesn’t like anyone talking about that.
Vision laughs. “In a sense, I suppose, though also different in ways that you might be too young to understand.”
Terra rolls her eyes.
“We’ll tell you later, promise.” Wanda looks over at Great-Grandpa. “Long story short: that’s when I joined the Avengers and met your great-grandfather.”
Vision picks up, “It is a long, convoluted story, but suffice to say that I was created to fight a nefarious foe, which the Avengers vanquished, of course. And the first person I saw when I was born was your mother.”
They gaze at each other with big moon eyes and lean in for a kiss. It’s yucky… but also kind of not. Still, she rolls her eyes because that’s what 12-year-olds are supposed to do at PDAs, right? And when they separate, they look over at her and laugh. Typical.
“So… you two got married and had my grand-uncle and grandpa, yeah?”
“At the risk of sounding like a broken record,” Vision says, and Terra’s watched enough super-old TV shows to get the reference, “it was quite a bit more complicated than that. We were separated when your great-grandmother was sent to prison —”
“Wait, what!?”
This is the first time she has ever seen her great-grandmother blush. “Um, it wasn’t my fault! Okay, it sort of was, but… how the hell can I explain it? The Avengers broke up because the government passed a very bad law, and when I fought back, they sent me to prison. But only for a few months until my friends got me out.”
Whoa. There’s gotta be more to it than that, but… Terra isn’t sure she wants to know. Sure, their whole family is weird and kinda messed-up, but still. Great-Grandma has always been so smart and chill and loving. The idea of her doing really bad things that got her sent to prison makes her feel sad. She’d rather not screw up the good vibes right now, so she shakes her head and asks, “What happened after that?”
Both of the grownups actually sigh, like they’re relieved. “Your great-grandmother and I fell in love, but soon we were summoned to battle Thanos.”
“Oh, yeah. I heard about all that in history class. You got poofed and came back, right?”
“That’s the jist of it, yes. I died twice, though obviously I was revived….”
“And I didn’t take it well, to say the least.” Wanda’s face scrunches up. “Another very long story short: I gave birth to your grandfather and Uncle Billy, but we were all separated again. Then, um, some other stuff happened. Vision came back to me, and we found the twins in the multiverse and brought them home.”
Exhausted, Terra slumps down in her chair. “So that’s it?”
Vision nods. “More or less, though the full details would likely comprise a multi-volume biography.”
“Shit.”
Her great-grandparents are too busy smiling at each other to complain about her cursing. Besides, it was a wow curse, not an angry curse. “I think I know the rest,” she blurts out, though she doesn’t know why.
They finally stop acting all lovey-dovey and turn to her. “You don’t want to hear about what happened afterward?”
Terra bites her lip. She should probably go home. Mom’s cooking chili tonight, and she’s gotta help her sister and brother put together this project… or, rather, she and Starr will do all the work while Luna pretends she’s too busy with other crap. But it’s really nice out here on the porch, and when Wanda says, “I’ll make you some hot chocolate,” in a sing-songy voice, that seals the deal.
“Fine. If you insist.”
They look very smug for two incredibly old people. Instead of going inside, Wanda flicks some red from her fingers, and poof – two mugs of hot chocolate. With marshmallows, even. One of the best things about having the Scarlet Witch as a great-grandmother. The three of them settle back into their seats, and Vision begins the rest of the story.
“Now that we were a family, we bought the house in Shanport and began raising our sons. Their enhanced abilities were not a surprise, nor were their, ahem, growing pains.”
Wanda pipes up, “Your grandfather in particular was a handful.” The three of them laugh. “But they grew up into wonderful young men. Billy was eager to become an Avenger, though that was probably, like, fifty percent wanting to save the world, and fifty percent him meeting Teddy. Which was a great thing, don’t get me wrong! Their wedding was one of the happiest days of my life.” She looks at Vision, who nods.
“Mine as well. I was created to be a weapon, to be frank, but now, there I was, a father of the groom. And then a few years later, a grandfather.”
Terra smiles. “Yeah, they named their kids after Wanda’s parents, right?”
Her great-grandmother practically glows. “Sort of. My mother was Iryna, and my father was Olek. It was Teddy’s idea to name the twins Rina and Alec.”
“Twins do run in the Maximoff family,” Vision adds in a bemused tone. “Though, I suppose, it skipped the next generation of that branch of the tree.”
Right. Her cousins Alexa and Joey were a few years apart. And Uncle Alec and his girlfriend only had one son.
Wanda must be reading her thoughts, because she chimes in, “I’m so proud that Alec and Takako named him after your great-grandfather.”
He laughs. “Vision the Second. Poor boy.”
“Oh, yeah. He hates that.” Terra hasn’t seen her cousin in almost a year, not since last Thanksgiving. She should text him and see what he’s up to, though it’s weird because he’s already in college and probably doesn’t have time for a sixth-grader like her.
She finishes off her hot chocolate, which Wanda notices and refills it with another flash of red. Great-Grandma is awesome.
“Okay, that’s one side of the family. What about my side?”
Wanda and Vision exchange knowing glances. “Well,” Wanda draws out the word like it’s a big secret, even though Terra already knows. “Like I said, Tommy was a handful. It took him a while to figure out what he wanted in life. He eventually settled down with Parker, of course, but then there was that dalliance with Amelie….”
“You mean his baby mama.” Terra rolls her eyes, and the grownups look shocked. “It’s okay. He told me ages ago about how they just dated a few times even though he was mostly into guys, and then she got knocked up. C’mon, I’m not a baby. I know the truth.”
Ugh. As cool as they might be, her great-grandparents are acting like she’s a kid. Vision clears his throat, which is kinda funny because he’s a synthezoid and doesn’t get sick. “Right. Yes. That is… basically what happened. Fortunately, all parties worked out their differences and became marvelous co-parents to Silver.”
That makes Terra laugh again. “I guess that’s one way of putting it. Mom told me stories about how their holiday dinners made last Thanksgiving look like a freakin’ lovefest.”
Wanda shrugs. “Well, whatever the case, Silver grew up to be my favorite grandchild. Don’t tell the others that.”
Everyone laughs again. Vision says, “And, of course, you know about how she used a donor to conceive you and your siblings.”
“Yup. Mom told us about that practically before we could even walk.”
“Triplets,” Wanda says, laughing. “At this rate, you’ll have quints.”
Terra cringes. “God, no. I’m never having kids.”
“Well, if I’ve learned anything since my creation, it is that life can lead you down many unexpected paths. Never say never.”
Yup, there’s the wisdom that her great-grandfather likes to give. Anyone else would make her want to go on and on about how wrong they are, but something about Vision’s wisdom feels right. Always has, ever since she can remember, like that first summer here when she and her siblings were four, and he walked them through the woods and told them all about how nature should be respected. He’s great about that. So is great-grandma, and her mom, and her grandpa, and all her cousins and uncles, but there’s something special about Great-Grandpa Vision.
That’s why she gets up from her chair and goes over for another hug from him. Wanda too. There’s birds chirping in the trees, and the sunset glints off the blue stone in his forehead, and everything feels wonderful.
When they finally separate, Terra pretends to be resigned. “Fine. Maaaaaybe I’ll have kids.”
“Well done,” her great-grandpa replies.
Then Wanda surprises her by saying, “I just wish I could be around to meet them.”
Oh, right. She’s really old. Terra does some head-math: right now she’s 12, and she won’t be ready for kids until she’s at least, like, thirty. Wanda is ninety-two. That means she’ll be –
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I forgot.”
Instead of looking sad, though, Wanda pulls her in for another hug. Against Terra’s neck, she murmurs, “It’s okay. I’ve lived a very full, absolutely amazing life. When it’s my time to go, I’ll be satisfied.”
Terra doesn’t want to think of a life without her great-grandma. Or any of her family, really. But that’s life, right? Even so, she hugs Wanda tighter.
And Wanda’s voice sounds kind of amused when she pulls back and says, “Besides, my husband here is eternal. I know he’ll take good care of your children and your cousins’ children and all the family to come.”
Vision leans over to kiss her forehead. “It’s quite remarkable, isn’t it? Sixty-seven years ago, I was created in a burst of energy from the hammer of a god. Then I met the love of my life, and we planted a tree with deep roots and branches that will grow for generations. Imagine that.”
Great-grandma Wanda smiles at her husband and Terra. “Yeah, the loves of my life.”
The three of them snuggle together on the porch of the Maximoff family cabin and watch the sun go down, another day with infinite to come. Terra feels safe and loved. And she feels so perfectly happy.
*****