Synthesis

Chapter 17: Nothing Can Phase Me

The late morning light shines through the plated glass window as Vision holds the solid, very alive boy in his arms more tightly, before Billy pulls back, smiling at him sweetly, before knowingly fluffing his hair. 

“Daddy. Why do you look so dwifferent?” Billy asks quietly, and Vision shoots a wary glance to Wanda, even as he sets Billy down and the twins switch, Tommy running to Vision and nearly knocking him over from where he kneels. He holds the boy closely to him, a hand in his air, and he breathes out steadily, sending a quick mental message to his wife as he can pick up on Agnes tipsily adding commentary from the kitchen. 

Wanda, darling, could we ask Agnes to depart? I think our family needs...time to adjust. 

Her brilliant aquamarine eyes meet his, and she nods determinedly at him, even as she cradles William against her. 

I think so. How about you take the boys to the kitchen? They have to be hungry. I think we might have peanut butter and jelly. I’ll walk Agnes out.

Vision nods to her, regretfully letting go of Thomas a little and addressing them both. 

“Boys, are you hungry?” Vision asks, and they nod enthusiastically, Tommy’s eyes bright and wide as he runs towards the kitchen. Meanwhile, he feels the clammy warmth of William’s small hand slide into Vision’s own, and Vision stares down at the child, amazed, terrified, concerned, overcome with love. 

“Should we go find your brother?” He asks William through a small smile and squeezes his hand. William smiles again, and nods, as Vision leads William into the kitchen through the French doors, Agnes talking something about babysitting again in the background as Wanda sees her out.

“Alright,” Vision says, as Billy lets go of his hand and joins Thomas at the small table in the kitchen nook. He smiles reassuringly at them again, stifling the panic and fear and uncertainly he has, and instead focuses on his children in front of them, currently engaged in a game of... rock, paper, and scissors, his mind supplies. He watches as they giggle and laugh, delight illuminating the delicate lines of ther faces. They both have brown hair, which is interesting, because Wanda’s hair is auburn, but their noses are distinctly, well, closer to his. And something about William’s eyes...he pulls his glance away from them, clears his throat, and rolls up his sleeves of his plaid shirt, taking notice of the pale skin of his disguise. Even as he plucks the Jiff peanut butter out of the pantry, the Smucker’s strawberry jam out of the fridge, and Wonder bread from the breadbox ( did their food always have these very specific brand names? He wasn’t in the kitchen enough to know.) he considers this ethical quandary, as he carefully spreads the peanut butter on two slices of the four he’d extracted. 

Wanda had made it so easy when the twins were born. Well don’t you want to meet your son as yourself? And it was simple, because Thomas was an infant. But would the twins be alarmed with his authenticappearance? They had been alive four days, and yet they were now five years old. In the few minutes they had existed this way, their cognitive development seemed to be on par with their physical appearance. They knew how to speak, how to walk, but what else? How much expectation and knowledge did they have of the world? Would they immediately know their father was something... not human? Something so entirely different looking than their own russet hair and chestnut eyes? So...alien?

Still though...what had Billy said mere moments ago? Why do you look so different?

“No crusts, Daddy!” Tommy suddenly says, and Vision turns to him as he holds the butter knife, flummoxed. He had just applied the necessary amount of jam on both sandwiches, so the ratio of peanut butter-to-strawberry was exactly even, and was putting them together when Thomas made his request. But how would Thomas even know to have preferences? 

“Oh really?” He murmurs, finding his voice through another small smile. “And how about you, William?”

The boy giggles, hiding his eyes for a moment, before putting his hands down on the table in feigned exasperation. 

“Daddy! You know I like the crwusts !’ Billy laughs. “Stop being silly!”

Vision offers a light laugh, despite himself, turning back around to the sandwiches, easily cutting off the edges of Tommy’s sandwiches before slicing both diagonally to make perfect isosceles triangles. He opens up the cupboard to notice there are children’s plastic cups on the shelves that had not been there last night, and he frowns slightly as he takes two and fills each with milk. He walks the sandwiches over to the boys, and then the milk, handing William the green cup and the little boy laughs.

“Daddy, you gave me Tommy’s cup!” Billy giggles, and Vision frowns again.

“Forgive me, William. I did not know you had a preference,” Vision says, switching the cups.

“Billy likes blue. I like green!” Tommy says, as if Vision should know this. It’s then his wife comes through the French doors, staring at the boys eating the sandwiches through a quiet smile, before walking over to Vision and placing a tender kiss on his cheek. She has to reach up on her tiptoes to do so, and it’s a fact Vision has always adored about her.

I know you are worried, but it will be alright, she mentally murmurs to him, and Vision nods just slightly, before Wanda turns to the children.

“Daddy’s already got your lunch ready! How are the sandwiches, boys?” Wanda says through a knowing smile.

“Daddy’s sandwiches are the best!” Tommy says, and Vision notices he’s already polished off the first triangle and hungrily reaches for the second. Meanwhile, Billy is still on his first half, taking careful bites, fiddling with it slightly, as he glances up to Vision once more through a small frown. Wanda notices this, and then turns to Vision, shooting him another mental message. 

Why the disguise still, sweetheart? She says, accompany the mental communication with running a hand down his face. Vision’s frown deepens as he shifts uncomfortably on his feet, still by the sink.

I...did not wish to alarm them, he projects to her . They would have no memory of me in my natural state, as I have read children do not retain memories of their first two years of life.

Wanda frowns a bit, before she closes her eyes, as if she is searching for something, and she smiles, swiping her thumb down Vision’s cheek and dropping her hand.

Play along, she whispers mentally, and something about her voice and the way it sounds like she’s whispering into his ear makes him shudder slightly.

“Uh oh!” She says her hands on her hips, and turns to both boys, who look at their parents in a mixture of sudden curiosity and concern.

“Daddy left his disguise on! Daddy! Quit playing tricks on us!” She says, swatting him playfully on his arm. Both boys start giggling, Tommy almost spitting out his milk, and Vision frowns.

“Daddy! This isn’t the grocery store! Don’t be silly!” Wanda nudges him with her shoulder, and then the boys are laughing even harder.

It’s ok, dear. Just watch. Drop the disguise. Vision nods dutifully, phasing away the pale skin and blonde hair, closing his eyes for a moment, terrified to see their reaction, before he opens them once more. To his surprise, he sees they are both smiling lovingly at him.

“ There you are, Daddy!” Billy laughs, and Vision almost collapses in relief, as he walks over to the table, ruffling Billy’s hair before he sits down next to the boy, and Wanda follows him. 

“Sorry, chaps. Seems I forgot,” he says through a small smile. Then curiously strikes him. How much did they know? It’s a question only his sons can answer, so he turns to both of them, addressing them at the same time.

“Can you tell me, what else do you know about me?” Vision says, and Wanda glances at him, a look of surprise on her features before it melts into a smile, as she looks to the twins.

“You make yummy sandwiches,” Tommy says, giving him an adorable thumbs up, and Vision smirks, but then Billy is raising his hand, and Vision’s finds himself reveling in William’s politeness. “Yes, William?” Vision murmurs.

“You are magical, like Mommy,” Billy says with a nod of his head, before glancing at Wanda. Vision’s brows furrow, and he’s about to say something, before Tommy speaks up. 

“Billy, that’s silly. Daddy’s not magic. Daddy told me yesterday he’s a synth- cinf- ficenzoid,” Tommy finally nods, feeling successful. Wanda stifles a laugh, a hand over her mouth as she meets Vison’s wide eyes. He had told Thomas that yesterday, but unless he was severely malfunctioning, and a quick check of his systems lets him know he isn’t, Thomas was just a squirming infant at the time. 

“What’s a cen- synfi… what is that , Daddy?” William asks, and he realizes the boy has stood from his seat, coming over toward Vision, expecting something, and Vision immediately pulls him up on his knee, and Billy hugs him. 

“Well,” Vision murmurs, glancing up to Wanda for guidance, but she only gives him a loving look that suggests go on. Vision swallows hard. 

“Your mother was pregnant with both of you and then you were born, right?” He asks, wondering fleetingly if the twins even are even aware of that much, but Billy nods dutifully, and Vision attempts to explain.

“Right Well I…” Vision stops, searching his data banks for anything about exactly how he was made, but once more comes up empty. He frowns, knowing somehow, inherently, he never had a childhood, but the specifics surrounding his creation are... lost somehow in the fog of memory. He realizes his sons are still looking for an answer, so Vision continues in a vague sort of way.

“I was made a different way. I was built, or, rather, born, differently. So I’m not quite like you two, or Mommy, for that matter,” he murmurs, catching Wanda’s gaze, and he realizes she’s smiling slightly, although her eyes are glossy with the nascent beginning of tears, but she holds back, sending him a quick, mental I love you. 

Thomas and William seem to accept the simple answer, and now William practically crawls up Vision’s torso, patting the top of his head. 

“No hair,” he says through a giggle, and Vision grins.

“Nope,” Vision says, and then Billy’s warm fingers follow the line of where Vibrainum meets his synthetic skin down his temple.

“And silver here,” he says with a firm nod.

“Vibranium,” Wanda offers, and Billy attempts the word.

“Vi- Vibrwanium,” Billy says, and Vision gives his hand a tight squeeze. 

“But I still love you, very very much. And I’m still your father,” he says, glancing to Wanda once more, who subtly wipes away a tear, before taking Tommy in her lap. 

“What else can you do, Daddy? Do you have powers like mommy? ” Tommy asks, staring at him through a tilt of his head, and Vision is suddenly reminded of himself. It’s a quirk Vision’s always had, doing it when he’s inquisitive, and now his son echoes him, and it makes his heart quiver in his chest. Vision smiles knowingly, before he makes his hand intangible for a moment and lets it slide through the table. Both boys’ eyes go wide.

“Wooowww!” Tommy says, and, at their adoration and love, Vision finds the courage to stand, Billy still in his arms.

“Hold on tight,” Vision murmurs to Billy, who nods, just as he levitates off the ground just a few inches. Billy laughs in delight, and Tommy’s eyes are as wide as saucers. 

“Daddy! You can fly?” Tommy asks from where he sits with Wanda as Vision’s feet touch back to the ground.

“He sure can,” Wanda says, taking the other half of Billy’s forgotten sandwich with a few scarlet tendrils of her powers and placing it in her hand to take a bite.

Why do they seem to not be surprised by your own power, darling? Vision asks mentally.

I’m not sure, but knowledge of what I can do was already in their memory.

Their...memory? Vision asks, tousling Billy’s brown hair, holding him close for a moment, before he is squirming to get down.

I.. I read their minds. They remember what you told them, all that you’ve done for them so far, how you actually look, as if it was this morning, which, it was, Wanda replies, her eyes smiling brightly. Vision stares down at Billy and then glances at Tommy, before he hugs his son tightly to him again, placing a kiss on the crown of his head before letting him go to play with his brother. 

—

The day is quiet and peaceful. It is perhaps his first day in a week since arriving in West View where Vision lets his thoughts simply rest, spending each possible moment with his wife and children, forgetting about Agnes’ strange behavior from earlier, forgetting about the internet, and the corrupted memory files, and his missing memories, in attempt to be as present as possible. They play Go Fish and Chutes and Ladders. They make fall crafts together. They go outside and Vision and Wanda push Thomas and William on the small swing set he constructed four days prior. With each activity and each passing hour, Vision comes to learn more about each child. Thomas is more outgoing than Billy, and more competitive, although he doesn’t complain when he loses. William is for more quiet, more inquisitive and looks to both parents for permission before doing something new. 

Both twins are patient, for five year olds, intuitive, empathetic. All of the characteristics he loves about Wanda, plus... something about them suggests his own temperament has woven itself within the children’s characteristics, too. He wards off the thoughts that suggest this might be wishful thinking on his part, remembering the sheer imprint of his portion of his consciousness on their own, and chooses to revel in every moment, savor each activity that fills up their day. Hour after hour, he asks them question after question, ( Do you know what addition is? How do you think you spell “family”? What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?) and they mimic him, asking their own questions in return ( Can you shoot lazer beams? Why are there gears in your eyes, Daddy? Is that how you see in the dark? What does it feel like to walk through a wall?) Each question is asked earnestly without the slightest bit of judgement or disdain, and he answers them the best he can. 

“And why is the pterodactyl your favorite dinosaur, Thomas?” Vision murmurs, picking out dinosaur pajamas in the dresser now in the boys’ fully-furnished bedroom. It was hardly a surprise, by now, that the guest bedroom upstairs had quickly transformed into the boys’ new room while Vision was cooking dinner, twin beds now flanking the room on either side, a blue comforter for Billy and a green one for Tommy. A telescope stands in one corner, glow-in-the-dark stars fleck the ceiling. Toys now lay scattered around the room, toy jets and cars, in such a haphazard way to suggest they had always been there. 

“Because they can fly, like you,” Tommy says through a firm nod, and Vision chuckles slightly, turning back to him with the pajamas, however, when Vision reaches for Thomas’ shirt to pull it off him, Tommy laughs again.

“Daddy! I know how!” He says, taking the pajamas from him, and Vision kneels on the floor still, taken aback, as his son gets changed easily by himself, even checking to make sure his shirt is not on backwards by finding the tag that goes in the back.

“Where did you learn how to do that?” Vision says, finally standing and crossing his arms as he stares down at the boy.

“You taught me!” Tommy giggles, and Vision’s smile drops slightly at the notion, before he shakes it off, leaning down to scoop the boy up in his arms, and he laughs.

“Ready for movie night?” He asks, before kissing the side of his face, and he laughs again, before Tommy’s eyes go wide and Vision can practically see the lightbulb go off above the boy’s head. 

“Can you fly us downstairs, Daddy?” He asks. “Billy got his turn, but I didn’t and I really want to.” Vision chuckles at this, nodding to his son.

“Fair’s fair,” he murmurs, lifting off the ground only an inch and hovering his way down the stairs to the living room, and Tommy squeals in delight. Downstairs, William is already changed and Wanda walks out of the kitchen with a big bowl of popcorn. She’s in an oversized t-shirt, and he realizes it’s one of his from the clothes he rarely puts on. She’s positively radiant, and the heat flushes Vision’s cheeks before he shakes his head to take his attention off his wife, glancing down at his own attire. Vision’s still in jeans and a button down, and he quickly phases on some sweatpants and a t-shirt instead, appearing the most casual he’s ever felt, and he hears the delighted laughter and clapping of his two sons. 

“Daddy, do you have all the powers??” Tommy says as Vision sits on the far left of the couch and Wanda on the far right, the boys in the middle. 

“Actually, it comes from mostly the same power. Molecular manipulation,” he says, ruffling the boys hair and Thomas looks up at him in confusion.

“Mo-molek-“ he begins, and Wanda and Vision both chuckle.

“I fear it is a concept I will have to explain to you when you’re a little older,” he says, and Tommy laughs a little shyly, before snuggling closer to Vision on the couch, and Vision’s heart thuds more heavily in his chest. 

As Annie begins to play from the VCR, Vision lets the music and movie sweep him up, the warmth of Tommy leaning on him, content to be here and now. Wanda has always loved musicals, and Vision finds he is quite partial to them too, the melody and chorus gliding over the glitzy dance numbers in unison. Billy and Tommy stare at the screen, wide-eyed, until the sun begins to sink lower in the sky and their eyelids begin to droop.

Precisely an hour, twelve minutes and forty-five seconds in, Thomas and William are asleep on the couch. Vision had torn his eyes away from their television set to notice, but also to catch sight of Wanda studying him. Vision’s lips quirk, eyes traveling down her body, and she blushes, as she gestures to the children in between them.

“We should probably get them in their beds,” she murmurs quietly, and Vision nods, before gently scooping up Thomas once more in his arms. He stirs slightly, but remains asleep.

“You have William?” Vision says, and she nods. She has to strain a little more than Vision, but finally manages to collect the boy into her arms. Quietly, they walk up the stairs, depositing either sleeping boy into the appropriate bed, both of the twins miraculously not waking. Wanda pulls up the blanket around William’s shoulders and Vision presses a kiss to Thomas’s forehead, before they switch soundlessly, Vision being sure to place  a hand on the small of her back and squeeze her arm as he passes, and he hears her breath hitch, as they murmur silent goodnights to either child. Vision becomes less dense so as not to step on the creaks of the floor, and Wanda follows soundlessly behind him. She closes the door slowly, and Vision watches with a tilt of his head, as a vibrant red glow radiates from her hand, forming a seal around the door.

“Sound proof on their side, but not on ours. Just in... case,” she whispers, and a blush is again on her cheeks, even as she arches a suggestive brow at him, and there is a low growl in his chest. That’s all the consent she needs, and then she quickly closes the space between them, and she’s kissing him, hard. She runs a tongue along his, and he inhales a shaky, wanting breath, and his hands are all over her, running underneath his shirt she wears, and now she’s got him back up against the wall, and he groans into the kiss, flipping them easily so that now she is pinned, and she wraps her arm around his neck to pull him closer, before he draws back quickly, hesitating.

“What, my love?” She asks, brows furrowed, but fingertips still trailing along the seams of vibranium of his neck and the part of his chest that isn’t covered by the appearance of a shirt, and Vision’s eyes want to flutter shut.

“The doctor said…” he stops through a breathy groan, as her fingers are replaced with her tongue, and he fights to still access his vocal processing system. “S-six weeks.” 

The clever re-programming he could have kissed himself for developing somewhere along the way, the same programming that allows his body to experience pleasure, make love to his wife, reach orgasm, has already activated at the sensation, his molecules already rearranging so he’s hard beneath her touch, a fire coursing through his veins. He barely registers her next words. 

“I think it’s fine. Now… take me to bed or I’ll have to make you, ” she murmurs into his ear, and a shiver travels down his spine and he is nodding his head, hands easily lifting her up as her legs straddle his waist and he carries her into their bedroom, intent on never going days without touching his wife ever again, damn the consequences. 

-

After several rounds of lovemaking, thanks to a remarkably short refractory period built and designed by himself somewhere along the line, and because, often, they took turns on who was on the giving and receiving end of sex, Vision lazily trails fingers over his wife’s naked body. There is still a glistening sheen of sweat on her and she breathes heavily, as his wife had done most of the work this most recent time, and he feels the need to gently place kisses along her collarbone, her naval, her arms in gratitude. He can’t quite keep his hands off her, and because their minds are still woven together, he feels the ghosting of his touch on her through the connection. 

“I do not deserve you, do not deserve what you do for me,” he murmurs into her wrist he is currently kissing, and she smiles, turning toward him to run a line down the vibranium plating of his ribs, and when her fingers graze where his skin meets it, he shudders, still feeling the tremors and aftershocks of the orgasm she had recently bestowed upon him. 

“You act like it’s charity. You realize there’s a bullet vibrator attached to that strap-on of mine, don’t you?” She smirks, and he offers her his own coy smile, before moving to meet her lips, and she tugs gently on his bottom one, before letting go.

“And I love, absolutely love, seeing you come undone, knowing that I caused it,” she murmurs just beyond his lips, before kissing him again, and he growls a little as he deepens the kiss, before letting go.

“And I, you,” he murmurs, running a hand through the curls of her hair, before he finally feels the gentle nudge in his mind, his attempts to distract himself now coming to an end as she finally catches a feeling of the lingering anxiety running through him.

“You’re worried about how they’re aging,” she murmurs against his chest, and he sighs, pulling her more closely to him, running a hand down her arm.

“Yes,” he murmurs into her hair, and it is her turn to sigh as she pulls back from him slightly.

“I am, too, you know,” she finally says, and he looks to her inquisitively, and she smiles sadly at him.

“I know...I know some of this has been... new for us. Westview is a change for us both. And ever since we moved here, things have been changing fast,” she finally says, and he freezes. This is perhaps the most specific she’s been with him in the past eighteen days, and he is dumbstruck by her clarity.

“I do not wish for you to think I am not... entirely grateful... for what we have. Those boys in there...they are miracles,” he says, fingers still running up and down the length of her arm.

“Yes, they are. And perhaps we never really knew how my powers would affect...a pregnancy. Or how it would affect them for that matter,” she says, and he nods, before a wave of sadness overtakes him.

“We missed their first words, that’s where I think this...sadness...comes from. God , Wanda. Their first steps, their first bad dreams. Their first birthdays. Thomas told me tonight that I taught him how to get dressed, for god’s sake,” he murmurs and Wanda looks to him again sadly.

“Billy told me the same thing when I was trying to show him how to brush his teeth,” Wanda says quietly, and Vision frowns once more, as the conversation falters slightly between them.

“Maybe…” Wanda trails off, her hand moving to squeeze Vison’s own slightly. “Maybe we can throw them a belated birthday party tomorrow. Like...years one through five?” She asks through a small smile, and Vision finds himself mimicking her.

“A brilliant idea, darling. Make up for lost time,” he says quietly and she nods. 

“We should make a day of it. A picnic maybe in the park? Then I can pick up an ice cream cake or something…” she says, the question in her mind of what the cake might look like, and Vision smiles as he answers. 

“William will want planets and Thomas will want dinosaurs,” Vision nods, and Wanda stares at him in a way that expresses her complete and utter adoration. 

“You already know so much about them,” she whispers, and he closes the small space between them. 

“I want to know it all, Wanda,” he says, placing a kiss to her temple, before moving backward slightly. “Each fact,” he says, kissing her forehead, “every quirk,” he murmurs, kissing her cheek, and she laughs slightly. “Every single thing they offer up to me to know,” he says, finally kissing her lips, and she sighs into the kiss, and he deepens it, his tongue once more brushing up against her own.

It’s several long moments before he lets her breathe, and she trembles slightly under her touch.

“I don’t think I have it in me,” she murmurs shyly against him. It’s another fact he loves about her: For all her fierceness, for all her strength, for all her often primal need to more than occasionally dominate in the bedroom, which he has long loved and savored her for, they often meet each other as if it’s the first time, as if it’s their first moment making love, or kissing, or even touching. He grins, moving to hover over her, a hand on either side of her body, kissing along her rib cage, before traveling lower.

“Darling, I wouldn’t dare ask anything of you. Just...lie back, and take advantage of the fact your husband’s energy is rather quite endless,” he murmurs between kisses.

“Oh god. When you put it like that,” she whispers and then sucks in a sharp breath as he moves lower still, as she finally gives into another cresting course of pleasure. 

—

The next day is brilliant and blue and beautiful, as Wanda and Vision walk, hand-in-hand, and Tommy and Billy walk a little further up from them. Wanda looks stunning in a long denim skirt and sweater, hair curly and down around her shoulders. Vision is, of course, in disguise; at first the ensemble startling and being the impetus to about ten more questions from each of them, ( Why blonde hair, Daddy? Why do you have to hide when you go out in public? Does it hurt when you do that?) Vision, of course, only had vague answers to most of their questions as he himself didn’t know the answers to some of them, but as they began their trek to the town square, their curiosity had dwindled with the sights and sounds of the outdoors. Now, as they walk, Vision tracks every vehicle, every possible hazard, and Wanda has to send soothing energy through their mental link to help him quell his anxiety. If it were up to Vision, he’d have the boys right at his side, but the adults hands were full, Vision holding an old football he found in the garage, along with a blanket, and Wanda holds a large wicker picnic basket. 

As they near the town square’s center, Vision is at first surprised to find it empty, before he realizes he is still taking advantage of his time off work and it is 1:09pm on a Friday. He squeezes Wanda’s hand before he lets go of it, and Wanda gestures for the blanket. He gives it to her with a quirk of his lips, anxiety lessening quickly knowing that they are safely to the park, as Thomas and William are clamoring for the football. Vision holds it in his hands, testing its grip, realizing that, for all the milestones he’s missed, this is not one of them. He barely knows the rules of the game, as athletics are something that never quite really interested him, compared to most masculine-presenting people he’s met, but he figures he won’t need them anyway.

“Play with the boys,” Wanda says, spreading the blanket out in front of the gazebo. “I’ll get their lunches set up.” He nods to her, grinning at Tommy, who is obviously more interested in the game than Billy, and he backs up a few steps.

“Thomas, the key is to keep your eyes on the ball,” he says a bit more loudly to him, as he quickly calculates the speed and curvature in which to throw the ball so a boy of Tommy’s stature and height can catch it. But as Vision tosses it, the football still slips through Tommy’s fingers, and he frowns as it lands in the grass by his feet. 

“It’s alright, Thomas. Try throwing it to me,” he says, and Thomas nods, picking it up and pausing to try to hold it the way he’d watch Vision, and he throws it, and it actually travels far enough that Vision is able to dive slightly to catch it.

“Great job, Tommy!” Wanda shouts from the blanket, and as Vision turns to Billy, he realizes his other son appears a little more hesitant. Noting his concern, Vision decides to walk over to where Billy stands, handing him the ball.

“It’s alright, William. Try tossing it to your brother,” he says, and Billy nods through a small smile. William sticks out his tongue just slightly in concentration, just as Vision’s seen Wanda do a hundred times, and Vision is sure to permanently maintain the image, just as William throws the ball to Thomas, who catches it. Thomas stares down at the ball, a little dumbstruck to see it still in his hands, before they both giggle in delight. 

“Bet you can’t catch me, Daddy or Billy!” Tommy shouts, and then he’s off, running around the grass, and Billy grins and tries to chase him. Vision follows at a slower pace from behind, smiling like an idiot, before he walks over to where Wanda is setting out a bowl of chips and a carton of grapes, picking one from the container and eating it, as Vision sits down beside her.

“This was a good idea, darling. They are enjoying themselves,” he smiles, and she grins at him before taking a sip from her water, before gesturing to him with her finger, bringing him in for a kiss. He returns it, just before he hears Tommy say something from just beyond the blanket.

“Mommy! Bleh!” Tommy says and Wanda only laughs, gesturing for both boys to sit. 

“Lunch time, kiddos! Also, I get to kiss Daddy whenever I please and the two of you don’t get a say in it, as he’s my husband and all,” she says, handing Billy a sandwich with crusts and Tommy one without.

“Daddy’s not eating again?” Billy asks, and Vision slides a glance over to Wanda, who smiles slightly and offers him a shrug of her shoulder. The children had not asked about it at dinner last night, and he wonders, idly why it comes up now of all times. Vision glances around for park goers and passers by, and finds no one within earshot.

“My body doesn’t need to eat or sleep in order to function, like yours” he says, shrugging his shoulder. “Part of being a synthezoid.”

“I wish I didn’t have to eat bwoccoli,” William says, his empathic understanding impressive, even if his logical leap is a little, well, lacking. Meanwhile, Tommy giggles, picking out a potato chip and offering it to Vision.

“Are you sure Daddy? Chips are yummy!” Tommy says, and Vision smirks, playing along, grabbing it from him, like he’s going to eat it, before throwing it over his shoulder, and both children are reduced to a fit of giggles.

“What do you do then, when we’re asleep, Daddy?” William, ever the curious one, asks, and Wanda has the most evil, devilish smirk on her face that Vision has to physically look away from so he can keep a straight face. 

“Well..I read, mostly,” Vision says through a nod.

“Like you were talking about teaching us yesterday?” Tommy says through a bit of his sandwich.

“Tommy, mouth closed when you’re chewing,” Wanda says, and he immediately closes his mouth.

“Exactly. There’s a lot you can learn from books. Almost anything, practically,” Vision says, and then William speaks up.

“Will you read to us tonight, Daddy?” Billy says, and Vision’s heart practically aches with how much love he feels, before reaching out to bring him closer to him, kissing the top of his head.

“Of course I will, boys,” he says softly and he can feel, then, the glowing happiness radiating through Wanda’s mind, and then he realizes it is not only her own, but Thomas and William’s too. He looks up to her sharply, and she only smiles through a shrug of her shoulders.

Thought I’d show you how happy you make us all, she thinks, and Vision can’t help himself as he kisses her again, this time on the cheek, to an “awww” from Billy, and a “blegh, not again!” from Tommy.

—

“Are you suurreee you can’t tell us what the surprise is?” Tommy asks Vision, tugging on the sleeve of Vision’s sweater slightly. Wanda had taken the car to fetch the cake and presents while Vision was tasked with keeping the two occupied and somehow not giving up any top-secret intel, a task he was finding incredibly harder to accomplish.

“Tommy! Daddy can’t tell you, or then it wouldn’t be a surprwise!” Billy says from his spot on the couch. They’re both on either side of Vision, who’s got his legs crossed, reading Stuart Little aloud to them. Despite William’s insistence, he can tell both boys are getting anxious, and Vision checks his internal clock again. Wanda has only been gone for fifteen minutes, but it feels remarkably longer than that. 

As the boys begin squabbling about what qualifies as a surprise or not, Vison’s eyes glance at the next bit of dialogue. He’s found himself quite enjoying the book, although he realizes belatedly it might be a little too mature from the children.

“There’s something about north,” he said, “something that sets it apart from all other directions. A person who is heading north is not making any mistake, in my opinion.”

“That’s the way I look at it,” said Stuart. “I rather expect that from now on I shall be traveling north until the end of my days.”

Vision frowns slightly, as his eyes read over the words again. Then again, and he almost doesn’t hear the front door open until the sound of the boys’ theatrical gasps alert him to it.

Wanda carries a large white box, and several brown shopping bags.

I’m sorry, dear, but try to keep them out of the kitchen for a bit longer. I’ve got to set things up, Wanda throws him an apologetic glance and Vision dutifully nods.

“Boys, not yet. Wait with me,” Vision says, and they both turn around to look at Vision glumly.

He smiles, setting the book aside, standing.

“A few more minutes will be worth the wait, I assure you,” he says, walking over to where they stand and patting Thomas’ shoulder. It’s less than that, even, before they all hear Wanda’s sing-song voice telling them to come in. The room is dark, except for the light coming from the kitchen table, where the flames of five perfectly situated birthday candles, wax carved into numbers one through five, dance. Thomas gasps again, and William is quiet, as he blinks twice then looks up to Vision.

“It’s our brwithday, Daddy?” He whispers, and Vision smiles, taking the boy’s hand in his as he leads them to the table, where they sit.

“We wanted to surprise you, since you’ve done a lot of growing in a little amount of time,” Wanda says, throwing a wink at Vision. The twins look to each other, and then stare at the cake. 

“What-what do we do?” Thomas asks, and Vision’s heart sinks a little at the boy’s and his own ignorance, as he looks to Wanda for guidance. What does one do? Vision couldn’t remember having a birthday, and he was having a difficult time recalling any of Wanda’s, and Wanda, sensing his hesitancy, immediately picks up the slack. Quietly, she starts to sing in Sokovian. Vision, Tommy and William all listen, enraptured by the melody, and when she finishes, she looks to the two boys.

“Now, you need to close your eyes and make a wish. Only after that, do you blow the candles out,” she says, features beautiful in the flickering candles’ light. Vision frowns slightly, even as the boys enthusiastically do as they are told. 

A birthday, he should have at least remembered a birthday. But, nothing. Nothing but the blank places where it all should be. And this is Vision’s new dilemma: if he keeps searching for the truth, for his North, he will take away time from this. A nagging, crippling fear resides in his mind, that he may lose that which he loves the most, if he keeps pushing, keeps pressing. Quickly, he finds himself sending up his own wish.

Please, just...please. Help me remember, he silently pleads. Help me remember so that we can stay like this.

Vision frowns again, but then changes his expression as the boys open their eyes, look to one another and then begin to blow. It takes several tries, but then Wanda is clapping, a flick of her magic turning on the lights, as the smell of an extinguished flame fills the kitchen.

“I wished for-” Thomas begins, but Wanda interrupts him.

“Uh uh! Don’t say it out loud or it won’t come true,” Wanda says, and Thomas swallows his words, nodding, before they both look back to the cake excitedly. 

“Now...something my матушка always asked me. Cake or presents first?” She says.

“Th-there are pwesents?” Billy asks timidly.

“Of course there are, silly! It wouldn’t be much of a party without them!” Wanda says, and the twins only wait half a second before they both responds with “presents!”. Vision’s smile still dips downward though, even as he takes the extended knife Wanda offers him to cut into the cake. 

Are you alright? Wanda asks mentally. You’re a little quiet, honey. Vision shakes his head slightly, coming back to himself, offering her an small upturn of his lips.

Of course darling. Thank you, Vision murmurs, although he is not sure what he is thanking her for. The extended knife, her efforts for making the birthday magical, her love, or for, perhaps, this one, quiet day of peaceful, incorruptible bliss.