The Witch's Shadow (Wanda Maximoff x Girl)

Epilogue

Five Years Later

My house is silent and dark when I get home, something that wouldn't usually worry me, but usually Wanda is in the kitchen baking cookies or muffins when I get home from the tower, but today the kitchen is silent. I put my keys on the hook and walk through our house looking for her.

There's only a few lights on, same as always. It's a delicate balance, keeping enough light so that Wanda can see comfortably and yet keeping it dark enough so that Melina and I can still use our powers if need be. Not that either of us really do. After I'd retired from field work, I didn't have any reason to use mine and Melina.. well, she just wanted to be a normal kid.

I walk down the hallway towards our bedroom, glancing fondly at our family pictures. From birthdays to holidays to random moments, our walls were covered in photos. Most were of Melina, but one was of Wanda and I on our wedding day. I was so nervous you could see the shadows swirling around me, and Wanda had let her own magic out to mingle with mine.

It was my favorite picture of us, our magic merging together as we said our vows.

And speaking of my wife, I find her curled up in bed fast asleep. I smile softly as I watch the rise and fall of her chest, taking in her natural beauty. Trying not to wake her I get out of my work clothes and slip into bed with her. As I snuggle up close she moves closer to me.

"I fell asleep," she mumbles. "No cookies today."

"That's ok love, you need your sleep. How's my girls today?" I ask her as I rub her pregnant belly.

"Moving around a lot." A kick to my hand brings a smile. After being married for three years we had finally decided to have child of our own and after we made the decision it was like our magic knew. Wanda got pregnant a week later and at first we couldn't believe it but then we thought why question it. Our magic had always had a mind of its own, had always done what we wanted. Why should this be any different? "Where's Melina?" She asked sleepily.

"At the tower with Uncle Tony. She had an idea for his suit and of course they just had to implement it right away," I tell her as I snuggle into her neck.

Yes, Uncle Tony.

Nobody was more surprised than me when he took an immediate liking to Melina. He built her so many toys her first year that he ended up building a playroom that took up an entire floor of the tower. And when her powers had shown no sign of slowing he built her her first suit, 'just in case' he said. And now at age fifteen, the only person who could keep up with her ideas was Tony. They spent most days in his lab building the ideas of an extremely gifted young woman.

It had taken me years to be comfortable enough to leave her alone in the tower. But then again she was never truly alone. All the Avengers would protect her like their own. I still woke up some nights in a panic thinking that Dreykov would come and take her again. On those nights I would sit in her room and watch her sleep until the feeling went away. And through it all Wanda had been there. And I was forever grateful to her.

I rub Wanda's belly until she starts softly snoring and I kiss her head. I keep my hand on her belly and feel our child kick. It never ceased to amaze me, our life together.

A life I never thought I would have.