deercountry | ( this one's for the moms )

( uh. )

Yeah, but that's fine. Were you asleep?

( usually she knows he's coming and makes a point of telling him that she'd known he was there and was just waiting for him to stop being slow. )

I can come back.

[ she immediately shakes her head and waves her hand dismissively. ] No, it's fine.

[ yes, she had been asleep. her dark hair's a little tangled and her cheek's a little red, but wanda is wide awake and here now. wide awake and... well, not as powerful as she once was. ]

The boys are out the back and will are due to break something very soon, so...

[ she opens her door wide in an invitation for him to step inside. ]

The...boys?

( he steps inside but he sounds confused, glancing at her as he does. )

You have other people over?

[ she laughs. ] Yes.

[ with a gentle flick of her fingers, the door closes behind him. she walks through her foyer, expecting he'll follow. ]

My sons? [ she smiles toothily. as she leads him through the hallway to the back of the house, a plethora of photo frames sit on small tables and are pinned to the walls of a happy family: a mother and her two boys. only a few of those photographs had been there before. ]

They're out the back. Most likely getting into so much trouble.

Yeah, your sons. I just didn't know...they were here.

( he didn't think the portal let people out to actually stay so he frowns and follows her. even her place looks different and he doesn't know why or when that happened. )

They weren't here the last time I was here. I'm just surprised.

[ wanda only chuckles.

with another gentle flick of her fingers, she opens the back door into her sprawling garden. her home is a bright and healthy open space with lush greens and blooming flowers. in the distance are her two horses.

a dash of blue streaks across the yard. a little boy in red appears, pressing his hands to his knees as he pants hard. he's not quite as solid as he should be; his skin's covered in pinpricks of wanda's red magic. ]

You're cheating, Tommy!

Nuh uh! [ the streak of blue appears again and smacks its shoulder into billy. tommy continues to super speed around the yard and rustles flowers in his wake.

wanda steps out onto her back porch and shakes her head. ] Come on now, boys. Play fair.

Whoa.

( this is...strange. because he hasn't seen these kids before in her house like this. he knows about them but seeing them?

this is strange. he doesn't know how they got here and he doesn't know if he should ask either, if that's going to be the wrong question. )

They look like they're having fun.

[ she sighs heavily. ] They always do at the cost of my poor flowers.

[ when tommy flashes through the yard again, the rose bushes and other flowers she's grown shiver almost in fear. some of the petals are discarded on the ground sadly. ]

But that's what happens when you have two rowdy boys who don't listen.

[ billy winces sheepishly. ] Sorry, Mom.

[ wanda smiles as billy takes off at a human paced run after tommy.

she glances at amos and then gestures to her cane chairs. ] Did you want to sit?

Sure.

( even if this feels very weird and he thinks he should make sure she's okay. he swallows and takes a seat, glancing at her. )

So, uh. Is there dad around too?

[ taking a seat, wanda peers out at her backyard and watches as billy tries to keep up with his unfairly speeding brother. this is the life that she has always wanted. she's always wanted to sit out the back and watch her children play games that she and pietro tried to enjoy in the confinements of their childhood apartment.

she shakes her head. her smile disappears; the teasing and lightness to her darkens just slightly. ] No. He's not here.

[ not that he ever was. magical boys are magically made. all she needed was herself and love. ]

It's just the three of us.

Okay.

( amos is at a loss here. he doesn't know how this happened and she seems to be acting like it's always been like this. he frowns and then rubs a hand through his hair. )

So, when did they get here? I don't remember seeing them before.

( he's never been one to just beat around the bush so he has to ask. )

[ she opens her mouth and immediately furrows her brows together. tilting her head to the side for a moment, she tightens her frown as she opens her mouth again. ]

Uh...

[ smiling a little sheepishly, she ignores the flush to her neck and cheeks. they've always been here, surely? but she can't quite recall the very moment billy and tommy had arrived. there are flickers of her memory that she does remember... arriving here all alone. having this house.

it was always filled with her children. ]

I don't remember.

Okay.

( he purses his lips because he wants to ask her if she thinks that's right, that she shouldn't remember. but he doesn't know what's happening here.

he frowns and then looks at her a little closer. )

You do something different with your hair?

[ what a curious question to ask.

fingering her hair, wanda tugs some of it over her shoulder. scrutinising it, she thinks to ask him if he's all right. but hadn't her hair been strawberry the other day? ]

It's always been this way.

[ she frowns deeply. ]

Hasn't it?

No, it looks...it looks different.

( which is fine, sure. maybe she did something different with it. )

I remember it being different. I thought maybe you dyed it or something.

It was always this way.

[ but wanda doesn't sound very convinced by that. no, that doesn't seem right. her hair had been this dark before... back in sokovia, back before she came here. why doesn't she remember dying it? all of her photos have her with dark hair. ]

I don't... [ she shakes her head before she smiles in an attempt to downplay it. ] I just had the strangest thought.

What?

( he doesn't really know how to be sympathetic or anything but he's trying. his voice is softer and he leans forward a bit. )

What kind of thought?

[ the shake of her head is small. wanda looks off into the distance for a moment as she considers the strangeness of that thought. it doesn't sound right. it isn't right.

licking her lips, she looks at him, the furrow on her brows remaining. ]

I don't remember you ever meeting them before today.

I hadn't. I'd just...heard about them.

( he rubs his fingers together, looking down. )

But I'd never seen them before today.

[ that's a strange answer. it's as strange as her not being able to remember amos with the boys. surely, if he's sitting beside her, if she feels comfortable being in his presence, that means he has been in her life for some time. ]

Maybe you just forgot.

[ even as she says it, she doesn't believe it. how could anyone forget her boys? how could anyone forget their friend's children?

she nods. ] Yes, that's it.

Wanda, I didn't just forget.

( he's a dumbass but he's not that dumb. he would not just forget his friend's kids. )

We see each other pretty often and this is the first time I'm seeing these kids.

[ wanda continuously shakes her head. she doesn't like what she's hearing. that doesn't sound right.

no.

he knows them. he has to know them. they're her kids! they have always been with her. she has never been without them, not ever since they were born…

born in westview. tucked into bed. wanda knows that they have been here with her all this time. they had to have been. ]

No. You've seen them before. [ she nods quickly and ignores the tightness to her throat and the tears pricking her eyes. ] They've always been here.

Wanda, I haven't. I don't know them and I've never met them.

( he hates that he has to break it to her but there's something off here and it's making his stomach turn. )

I don't know how they're here but I don't know them. I've been to your apartment before and they've never been before. I'm sorry.

[ wanda doesn't look at him. she wishes to gaze forward and not see nor hear amos' words because they're not true. they're not true. nothing he's saying is true.

but as her boys run across her backyard, she sees them fritz out like white static on the television. that's familiar. she recalls her house going on the fritz, the furniture changing from decade to decade.

wanda shakes her head. ] They've always been here.

[ but billy's covered in static and morphs to being several years younger before returning back to his ten year old self. ]

Wanda.

( he doesn't know what to do. he's not good at this but he doesn't want to just...leave her with this. so, he steps forward and puts a hand on her shoulder. )

I'm sorry.

( he wishes he could do more than just apologize. )

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