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Wanda woke up to the smell of burnt cake.
The smoke alarm wasn’t going off yet, which she took as a good sign, but the sound of a flapping towel and the shrieking giggles of her sons told her everything she needed to know. With a heavy sigh she hauled herself out of bed to prepare for the day.
When she entered the kitchen ten minutes later, most of the smoke was gone. Only a slight haze remained around the ceiling lights. She shivered as a cold breeze wafted in from the open window.
The sight of her family, however, warmed her right up.
Vision, dressed in her favorite blue sweater and a red apron, was waving his oven mit-covered hands in front of their sons’ chubby faces. They were laughing their heads off, their cheeks pink and their toothless smiles wide. Her husband was apparently trying to quiet them down with little success.
“Your mother is sleeping. She deserves her rest. Please, this is not as silly as it seems. We were actually in danger a few moments ago. Please be quiet, your mother -”
“Woke up when she thought the house was burning down.”
Vision spun about, and she could’ve sworn his density decreased for a moment. His eyes were wide as he took her in. Though she kept her expression stern, she could feel her own laughter bubbling up her throat.
“I… am… sorry,” Vision began cautiously. She raised an eyebrow. “I am… very sorry. I did not intend to wake you. I had hoped to have this done before any of you got up, but the boys became fussy approximately an hour ago. I left the cake unattended while I changed their diapers and dressed them, and the timer failed to go off at the optimal forty-five minute duration.”
She could have made him go on, but he looked so guilty that she couldn’t help but let a chuckle escape her.
“Viz,” she said, crossing to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Your brain is part supercomputer. You could have kept perfect time all by yourself.”
“Yes,” he agreed, leaning into her palm against his jaw. “I suppose I got distracted.”
She looked past him to where the twins wiggled in their high chairs. Her heart sang, just as it did every time she saw their feathery hair and pudgy hands and eyes that got lighter each day. How ten months had gone so fast, she did not know.
“I understand,” she said. She leaned down to each of her sons and blew raspberry kisses on their rosy cheeks. They rewarded her with more peels of laughter and a sticky hand smacking her chin. “They are a wonderful distraction.”
“Precisely,” Vision said as he slid an arm around her waist. They stood together for a few moments, watching their beautiful children play with the toys on their trays.
“Viz?”
“Yes, Wanda?”
“Why were you baking a cake at seven in the morning?”
She turned slightly in his embrace so that she could see his face. He did not return her gaze, which meant he was embarrassed.
“It is December 21st,” he began. “Because we live in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the shortest day of the year. You have mentioned how the long winter nights make you weary; I wanted to do something that would brighten your day and make this longest night more bearable.”
There was suddenly tears pricking at the back of her eyes. “Oh, Viz,” she breathed.
“I am sorry that I burned the cake. It will not be doing much brightening now.”
She turned completely so that she could cup his face. His arms naturally wound around her, putting her in her favorite place.
“The cake was a nice gesture,” she said. “But I don’t need dessert to help me through the darkness. All the light I need is right here.”
Vision smiled down at her, his gaze open and so adoring that she thought she might melt. She stretched up on her toes to place a soft kiss on his lips, and his arms tightened around her. Then one of their sons made a loud gurgling noise and threw his toy on the floor.
“I think he agrees,” Wanda joked as she pulled away. She picked up the toy and began unbuckling him from the high chair so that she could feed him.
“Perhaps we could take them to the park to see the holiday lights this evening,” Vision said.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea. Don’t you, Tommy?”
She nuzzled into his belly as she lifted him up, earning her a slobbery smile. Vision got Billy out of his chair and helped her settled him in her other arm. Before she left the kitchen, she turned back to her husband.
“Viz? Next time you want to bake something this early, wake me up first. I don’t think lighting the house on fire is the kind of brightness you were going for.”
“Of course not.”
She grinned at him slyly, and he smiled back, as genuine as ever.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too, Wanda. Happy winter solstice.”