Twin-Sitting
An average day in the life of Y/N. You wake up with a tired sigh to your alarm ringing loudly…but it’s turned off before you can bang your hand against it, usually trying to press the button and failing a couple of times. You can’t slide off the bed because an impossibly soft arm sneaks around your torso, nails softly scratching your skin. Your abs tense up at the contact and the hand stops, realising you’ve woken up.
“Morning.” She whispers, voice low, raspy, somehow sounding…happy? No, maybe she’s just had a good night's sleep.
“Uh, good morning.” You whisper back croakily, cheeks flushing at the sound of your voice. She laughs gently, nuzzling her head into the space between your neck and collarbone. “Shush.” You tease, threatening her with a poke to her side. She squeals, moving in closer to you, her warmth flush against your body. Silence takes over the room as both of your eyes start fluttering open, adjusting to the early morning sunlight. You hesitate before sliding a hand up to tuck a couple of light ginger hairs behind her ear; they were blocking your view of her eyes catching the sun.
“Thank you. For letting us stay.” She says below her breath, her hand still on your stomach, looking up from where her head rests on your chest.
“Stay longer.” You find yourself asking, demanding almost. Wanda’s eyes flicker between yours, trying to decipher something before a soft smile takes over her expression. “I promise we can have cake for dinner, so long as you don’t cry about it.” She rolls her eyes, pink flushing her cheeks.
“You know, Billy’s never going to let me live that down. He has a remarkably good memory.” She sighs, rolling to lay on her back. You immediately miss her warmth, but you clear your throat and get back to your average day for your average life. Throwing the sheets off your body, you drop down to the yoga mat on the ground, sighing deeply with your eyes closed. Wanda remains on the bed, managing to find a book you didn’t even know you had here. It’s probably hers, something she left here whenever she came over before. Just the thought has your heart warming in your chest; the thought of her stuff being here, leaving a bit of herself around your home that doesn't feel or look like a home so that maybe one cold morning before rushing out the door to go to work you’d catch her reading glasses on the coffee table and smile. Smile all the way to work, smile through a conversation with Dan, through meeting after meeting, email after email. A knock on the door breaks you out of your thoughts.
“Mum…we feel sick.” The boys coyly walk into your bedroom, Loki rushing through the gap. He strolls by you, only jumping up to Wanda after you rub his head gently.
“No, you don’t.” She scolds, giving them a stern look. They audibly groan, shoulders slumping at being caught before they can even put up a performance. Glancing at Wanda over your shoulder, you sigh and crawl over to them quickly.
“I think I should run a couple of tests to see what the problem is.” You dramatically offer, eyes widening to them to indicate that you’re in on their act. They fail to contain their giggles as you place your hands on their foreheads, gasping and removing them as if you’ve just touched coal. “Ouch!” You exclaim, flapping your hands about theatrically.
“Y/N…” Wanda warns but you see the soft smile on her face when you look over your shoulder again. The crinkles start forming in the corner of her eyes but she tries to bite her bottom lip to maintain her sternness. “Boys, go get ready.” They whine in protest, pouting their lips at you and giving you their infamous puppy eyes. “Don’t give in, Y/N.” Wanda warns again but you turn to her, this time giving her your own pout and puppy eyes.
“Come on…it’s just one day. I’ll call in sick too if you want.” You tempt her, crawling to the bed and sliding in to lay beside her. “I want to be here for you.” You whisper to her as her open book plops down against her chest. Wanda takes a moment to scan your expression before ultimately sighing in defeat. The twins cheer, rushing out of the room to cause mayhem. You trust Loki to make sure they don’t break anything precious - if you even have anything precious here. Apart from your best friend in your bed but she already looks broken enough and you’re going to do everything you can to help mend her.
“You don’t have to miss work for us.” She adds, her plucked brows pinched downwards as she looks at her hands on her lap. Seeing her anxiously tugging and peeling at the skin around her nails automatically puts a frown on your face. You hold her hand in yours to stop her, intertwining your fingers.
“Oh, come on. I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it because I hate work.” You tease with a smirk, laughing when she gasps and giggles, slapping a hand against your bare shoulder. The smirk turns into a smile as you watch her laugh, amusement in her eyes as she looks down at you.
“Oh wow, you sure know how to make a woman feel appreciated.” You scoff and lay flat, looking up at her from her sitting position. She looks pretty even in the morning, upside down with messy hair and puffy eyes.
“I’ll have you know I am great at that. Super great. So great, in fact, that no woman can handle the sheer amount of love I give them…which is why I’m forever single.” You explain in a dramatic and sarcastic voice. Wanda rolls her green eyes at you, rubbing under them tiredly.
“That’s not true in the slightest.” She mutters, pulling her head side to side to undo the knot formed in the back of her neck. Leaning up, you rest on your elbows, eyes glancing over her neck as she stretches it.
“Did you…did you not pick up on the heavily sarcastic tone of my voice? Seriously, it’s practically dripping. Look, you can see it.” You laugh, freezing in your spot for a second as she reaches a hand down to your face. Your eyes look up at the ceiling, letting Wanda’s thumb brush the hardened eye-goop out of your eyes. There has to be a science behind why that always feels so damn good, despite the fact that everything looks blurry and spinny for a few seconds after.
“That’s just your drool from waking up in bed with me.” She teases, giggling when you gasp dramatically.
“Christ! Wanda, you haven’t even signed the papers yet!” You joke, but the smile falls from her face pretty quickly at the reminder. Oops. Pushing yourself off your elbows to sit up, you quickly pull her into you as tears swell up in her eyes, fingers running through her hair. “That was a joke, I’m kidding, I’m sorry-” You burst into apologies, your face visibly cringing at your dumb mistake. But Wanda sighs into your neck, nuzzling in and clinging a hand to your tank top.
“I know, I know. Let me cry, it’s still fresh.” She lets out a wet laugh before breaking out into gentle cries, almost soundless as her body shakes slightly.
The last time you saw her cry this bad was during her pregnancy when her hormones were at an all-time high. Or maybe it was at college when Vision almost broke up with her because he couldn’t handle the distance. Realistically, you knew they were eventually going to break up back then. The fact that they even had kids and lasted this long is a shock to you; you know Wanda’s always been quite timid and a bit of a pushover, but to stay in a passionless marriage is a different level of conformity.
Wanda and Vision loved each other in that innocent first love kind of way. That’s how they started as teens kind of crushing on each other, taking whatever attention they would get from the opposite gender. It was never like that for you in high school because you were deeply closeted. Like, not a single person apart from Wanda knew you were interested in women until you went to college and felt safe enough to be yourself. But even then, Wanda never felt like she could express herself or break free from the norm. She had a boyfriend, miles away from her, but he was still hers and she was still his. Even if they only spoke once a week, even if she only saw him once a month, even if it seemed like she didn’t really crave his presence like you’d expect lovers to.
She came out of her shell a little in college, spending more time with you partying, and drinking, and you’re proud to be the person she decided to first smoke weed with. She seemed happy, even without Vision. But the moment he suggested a break-up, she cried on your shoulder for a solid night through to the next morning, claiming her life was over. She couldn’t see that her life was just beginning if she just opened her mind to the possibilities out of the convention. The convention is all she knows, all she grew up with. With two loving parents and a protective twin brother, growing up watching sitcoms with happy marriages, heteronormativity, domesticity. Wanda’s mind couldn’t fathom the possibility of happiness outside of that. Or maybe she just settled.
“God, I’m sorry.” She pulls away, wet cheeks that she wipes furiously. You brush a thumb over her glowing skin, shaking your head at her apology. She leans her cheek into your hand, pouting her lips slightly as she feels another sob wanting to break free.
“Want breakfast?” You offer with an enticing smile, hand dropping down to her knee as she laughs at the offer.
“You can’t cook.” She sniffles, groaning in embarrassment at this entire situation. You give her a tissue from the nightstand behind you, watching endearingly as she delicately dabs under her eyes.
“I make a mean omelette.” You hop off the bed, yoga long forgotten. This morning your back doesn’t hurt as much as it usually does. You walk into your bathroom, turn the tap on and splash some water on your face.
“All I recall is you burning any attempt at food in college.” She teases, feet softly padding on the marble tiles. She winces at the cold but grabs her spare toothbrush from the glass cup hanging above the sink.
“Would you believe me if I say I faked being a bad cook so you could cook for me?” She raises a brow at you, her brush frozen in her mouth. You snort, brushing your own teeth messily. Wanda’s far more delicate in her actions, holding her hair back as she spits into the sink.
“I’d call you sexist.” She responds with a smirk after cleaning her mouth. You sputter at her, spitting in the sink.
“I’m a woman.” You argue back, cleaning your brush with water before throwing it towards the glass. It misses, clinking against it and dropping into the sink. Wanda rolls her eyes at you, picking it up and placing it into the glass gently.
“Women can be sexist too. You should pick up a book every once in a while.” Wanda strolls back into your bedroom, tugging the duvet off the bed. You follow her, standing on the opposite side of the bed and tucking your sheets properly.
“I know that. I’m just saying, I’m not a man, so wanting you to cook isn’t-” She interrupts you with an amused snort, white teeth on show as a wide smile takes over her features.
“I’m kidding. You can’t see the sarcasm dripping?” She teases with comically widened eyes to mock you, echoing your earlier words.
“That’s just toothpaste. You missed a spot.” She reaches a hand up quickly, an amused look on your face when she realises you’re joking. “Made you look.” She rolls her eyes, grabbing the heavy duvet from the floor. You hold the other end to help her, tugging it in the air, amused as it creates a wave.
“You’re such a child.” You comb a hand through your short, messy hair, grinning at her as you walk over to her before she can sit back on the bed.
“Well, you have two already. I’m sure you can handle me too.” Practically bouncing on your feet, you hold her arm to make her follow you into the kitchen. “Come on, let’s see what I can cook up.”
30 minutes pass until you all have full stomachs from your legendary omelettes and Lucky Charms for the boys. Wanda spent a good five minutes teasing you about your choice of childish cereal but after you told her you keep it in your cupboard because you know it’s the twins' favourite, the smile doesn’t leave her face for the rest of your breakfast. This is until the boys settle in the living room with cartoons on the TV.
“I think you should go to work.” She suggests quietly to which you frown.
“No?” You say with a laugh, shaking your head and shrugging her off. Chugging the rest of your juice, you stand up and start gathering the empty dishes.
“Y/N, you can’t just put your life on hold for me. Just go to work. I should probably take the boys back home too.” She argues, helping bring the dishes to the sink. But you take them from her and hold her hands in yours.
“No. I said you guys can stay here. Really, it’s not a problem.” You reassure her, but Wanda shakes her head, breaking free from your grasp. “Wanda, seriously?” The glass clinks against the sink as you place it down a little too hard. Turning the tap on, you start cleaning the dishes hurriedly.
“It’s not fair on Vis. They’re his sons too and he wants to see them, wants to see me so we can…God. Talk about it, I guess. He texted.” She pinches the bridge of her frustratedly, leaning against the counter next to you with a tea towel in her hand.
“It’s been a day. Hell, a night.” You say in disbelief, and you get that maybe you’re being a little insensitive or something, but surely it’s too soon to go back when he’s just asked for a divorce? Don’t couples usually take time apart in these situations or something?
“And he usually tucks his boys in, wishing them sweet dreams. Look, this is complicated and that’s what makes it so hard. There’s no bad guy here, no adultery, it just…faded. This is difficult.” She explains, sighing as she dries off the cleaned dishes you placed on the side.
“And I want to make it easier for you, Wanda. I just want to help.” You plead, wanting her to stay, wanting the twins to stay. Are you a bad host or something? You just don’t understand why she’d need to go back home this early.
“And you have. And I love you for it, I do, Y/N.” She whispers, standing closer to you as she looks up at you, red-rimmed jade eyes so bright, her high cheekbones making them look even sharper.
“But?” You whisper back, realising she’s been staring up at you for a few seconds in silence.
“Right. Sorry.” She clears her throat, shaking her head as she turns away and drops the tea towel on the counter. “But, I still have to go back to my home, and clean the house, cook dinner-” You scoff annoyedly, gesturing with your arms.
“Huh?! Don’t tell me that ass is asking you to come home because he can’t cook a damn meal.” Your voice rises, gaining the attention of the boys. They turn their heads, hands gripping the back of the couch as they look over it nosily.
“Y/N-” Wanda warns tiredly, crossing her arms over her chest. But you’re too annoyed at the mere thought of Vision texting her to come home because he wants his food ready by the time he gets back from work. He wants a divorce yet still wants her trapped in his domesticity?
“After you just called me sexist for the same thing!” You point out, brows knitted together in frustration. Wanda looks up at you, her brows furrowed like yours but in sadness.
“Why are you yelling at me?” She asks quietly, a frown threatening to break out. Your eyebrows rise right back up from the middle, calming down instantly when you realise you’re the one being an ass right now.
“I-I don’t know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” You hesitantly reach your hands forward, squeezing her shoulders gently in apology. “Look, go meet with Vision today. I’ll go to work if it makes you feel better, and I’ll bring the boys with me too.” You offer, finding the perfect middle ground for her. Wanda rolls her eyes at the suggestion, crossing her arms tighter under her chest. Your eyes impulsively stray down for a moment at her movement but jump back up when you’re only met with cleavage. Nope.
“To your office? Don’t be ridiculous.” She scoffs, shrugging your hands off her shoulders as she grabs the milk carton from the kitchen island.
“There’s plenty of stuff for them to do!” You insist as she opens the fridge and puts the milk back in.
“Like what?” Wanda sighs, indulging you for a moment. You think, running a hand through your hair before remembering something Dan asked you yesterday.
“Are they any good at Maths?”
The journey to work this morning is not your average journey to work. The lift ride consists of the twins out-talking your annoying neighbour much to her amusement. The usual 10-minute walk takes double the time; Tommy got distracted by an ice cream shop just opening; Billy got distracted by the kid books on display at one of the bookshops you typically just walk past; both of them walked so slow, eyes wide as they looked up at the skyscrapers surrounding them.
Dan assumes they’re your kids in the elevator ride, shocked that you kept it hidden for so long. After they laughed out loud at him saying ‘Auntie’s gay!’, he sputters and stays silent while you correct them, telling them gay people can have kids too. They seem interested in the topic, asking more questions that you think Wanda would rather answer.
“Oh. Is this…volunteer work?” Darcy questions, a confused expression on her face as she stands up from her desk. “Hi, kids.” She smiles at them, almost cooing as they hide behind you, waving their hands sticking out from either side of your body.
“Wanda’s twins.” You explain, waddling like a penguin with their arms wrapped around your legs from behind. Darcy snorts at the image, sneakily taking a photo.
“I’ve heard a lot about you two. Good things.” She exclaims after placing her phone back on the table. The twins peek their heads from behind you this time, intrigued at her words.
“We’re good.” Tommy says with a proud smile, Billy looking at him with a similar expression. You ruffle their hair as they finally let go, immediately taking over Darcy’s space.
“Oh, careful with that.” She mumbles, stepping back, grabbing her cup of coffee from the desk before they accidentally spill it. “So?” She asks, walking after you into your office. You take your seat, a smile on your face as you spin around to look at the view. Is it just you or is the sun brighter today?
“Oh, I needed the best mathematicians I could find to triple-check those numbers Dan wanted.” Darcy rolls her eyes, taking the seat in front of your desk. You spin back around, avoiding her prying eyes. It’s probably weird that you’re bringing your best friend’s kids to work. Especially when her parents no longer work and have a free house for the twins to spend their time in during this adjustment period. “I’m just looking after them for the day. Surely you can keep them entertained?” You ask, challenging her with a raised brow. She raises one back, leaning forward to whisper.
“You do realise I have a job too, right?” Leaning back in your chair with a scoff, you slam your hands down against your thighs.
“Oh, are you going to call me sexist too now?” You complain, running a hand through your hair. It’s getting annoying and you didn’t shower this morning. Opening the drawer, you sift through until you find a hair tie, grabbing whatever strayed hair keeps falling over your face.
“Too? That’s two too many.” Darcy winces, looking at you with playful judgement. This is really starting to make you think more about the things you do and say. Maybe you should pick up a book every once in a while.
“Just give Billy an iPad and let him spend the day calculating the numbers due today. Tommy will be entertained by literally anything. Like, seriously. Give him a pencil and he’ll turn it into a snake monster or something crazy.” You chuckle, looking through the glass at the boys currently looting Darcy’s desk. Billy finds a ball of rubber bands while Tommy picks up a calculator. They turn, looking at each other and glancing down at their items before switching them with content smiles.
“Which is which?” Darcy asks, standing up and looking over her shoulder to gesture to them.
“Billy’s the glasses.” You turn on your iMac with a sigh. Back to your average day. In the average life. With Wanda’s twins across from you causing mayhem. You don’t bother fighting the half-smile on your face.
“Gotcha. You have a 2 o’clock with Miss Mikaelson and a quick meeting with Dan at 5. Do you want to take an early or late lunch?” She asks. Right. Miss Mikaelson. The only reason she even has a job here is because her family runs the place and have been since they founded it decades ago. It’s also the reason you got the blame and the hour-long meetings with HR for a week after she came onto you and you rejected her.
“Ah, I don’t know. I’ll decide when I get hungry.” You clear your throat, blinking as you sit up and scroll through your emails. It’s not that she’s not attractive. She is. She was. It’s just…
“Right. Uh, I’m keeping your door open in case the twins need anything.” Darcy smiles as she speaks quickly, rushing out the door before you can protest.
“Sure. Thank you, Darcy.” You mumble, barely paying attention anyway.
You distinctly remember the reason you didn’t want to go out with her for drinks that night was because Wanda made her famous chicken paprikash and invited you over. Wanda also cooked it the week before, and also had you over. But, well, who would pass up that opportunity again? Food is the key to your heart, especially Wanda’s chicken paprikash.
An hour passes before you hear small footsteps dragging along the floor. Looking up from your half-complete document, you find Tommy with his hands behind his back, looking around the office.
“Can I help you, Sir?” You ask with an amused smile, indulging him in this act. His face lights up at the attention, but he straightens his shoulder, marching around the desk until he’s standing next to you. He squints as he looks at the screen.
“Uh, yes. I would like…two of these papers done by the end of the day. Or you’re fired!” He plays, pointing at you with fake anger on his face. You gasp dramatically, straightening your back and typing rapidly, pounding on your keyboard.
“Fired, you say! Why, I’m so sorry, Sir, I’ll get to it right away. Please don’t fire me!” You play along, a smile breaking out on your face as he laughs at the random letters popping up on the document. See? Easily entertained.
“You’re funny.” He laughs loudly, hunching over and holding his stomach. After his laughter dies down, he nervously picks the skin around his nails. You reach your hand out, holding his to stop him; he ducks his head bashfully before clearing his throat. “Can we stay at your house again?” He asks under his breath nervously. Your heart swells, spinning your chair to face him.
“Apartment, not house. And duh, obviously. Why’d you think my cupboard is stocked with all your favourite snacks?” Well, that was definitely the right thing to say judging by his wide eyes and excited smile. But his shoulders slump when he remembers Wanda’s rules on sweets.
“Mum says we can’t have snacks after dinner.” He complains, pouting at you in hopes to turn you on his mother. While you’ve figured out his evil plan…you’re still letting him win because look at his cute little face. You’re not heartless.
“Mmm, well…I’ll keep her distracted tonight while the Twinjas go on a stealth mission to the snack cupboard!” You hold a finger to your lips to pretend it’s a secret, a smile breaking out when he squeals, running around your desk in circles.
“Yes! We’ll be super, super quiet.” He yells, jumping up and down in excitement.
“Uh-huh, I’m sure.” You chuckle, spinning back around to get back to your work. “Only one item though. You still have to be responsible, unless you want to go to bed with a belly ache.” You warn with a raised brow.
“Promise! I gotta tell Billy!” He runs out of your office and you follow him with your eyes, seeing Billy squeal at the news. Darcy turns to you with a shake of her head. You’re definitely going to regret that.