Where the Heart Is

The Morning Routine

It was before dawn, but the Barton household was already up and on the move. Or, actually, Laura, Cooper, Lila, and Wanda were active.

Pietro was still sleeping, sprawled out on a mattress that had been dragged into the nursery. He had been on the couch the first night and then a cot in Cooper's room, but Wanda could have told them that would never work. Pietro was like an octopus when he slept, limbs everywhere, and it didn't help that he was so tall.

Clint was at the kitchen table, but he was basically motionless and staring at the slowly brewing coffee pot. Wanda and Pietro had been living at the Barton farmhouse for about two weeks, and they were starting to catch onto the patterns of the family. Starting to fit into it like missing pieces.

Still, it was rather funny to see Clint unable to function every morning until he got his first cup of coffee.

"I don't see why you won't just buy a Keurig," Laura said as she grabbed a box of cereal out of the cabinet and set it on the table. Breakfast was often a fend-for-yourself meal with the Bartons, or that was how Laura described it. If you were over the age of ten, you found your own food or you didn't eat. "Wanda, could you get the milk out of the fridge, please?"

Wanda already had the refrigerator open so she could get the cantaloupe and the hard-boiled eggs, so she simply used her telekinesis to float the milk carton over to the table. There were two rules regarding using powers inside the house: 1) no speeding unless it was an emergency, and 2) no mind control. Otherwise, the twins were encouraged to use and experiment with their powers, though Wanda was still hesitant to try the whole flying thing.

Cooper grabbed the milk as he trudged over to the table, looking sleepy. "Thanks, Wanda." He flopped into the chair beside his father and dutifully fixed himself a bowl of cereal.

"No Keurig," Clint grumbled, his fist against his cheek, elbow on the table, "Keurig coffee sucks."

"But it's faster, honey."

"But the coffee still sucks, sweetheart."

"It's not that bad, cupcake."

"It is too, pookie bear."

Wanda had noticed a few days ago that when the Bartons started almost-arguing, they started using pet names. As far as she could tell, it kept the conversation light, so that it didn't evolve into bickering. It was difficult to actually get too aggravated when you kept calling each other increasingly silly names.

"Tony could make a better one," Cooper said, grabbing a bagel from the middle of the table. "He could make a coffee pot that makes coffee and plays movies and transforms into a tablet. All at the same time."

"Nope," Clint said, "No. No more Tony-bots. Just coffee. No more world domination. Especially not before coffee."

Wanda silently agreed with that. She wanted to help save the world, but if there could be a couple months in-between one world-destroying maniacal crazed villain and the next, that would be for the best. At least she hadn't had any dreams or anything that predicted something like that in their near future.

"You're so ridiculous and cute in the morning," Laura said, leaning over to kiss Clint on the top of the head before ruffling his hair, "Go make yourself useful. See if Lila's coming down for breakfast."

Clint made an incoherent but affirmative noise and climbed off the chair that he was sitting on backwards before heading for the door, shuffling on bare feet.

"Oh, and wake up Pietro!" Laura called after him. She leaned against the counter, her hands around a cup of tea, and smiled at Wanda. "Hey, I'm going to go pick fresh strawberries over at the Jamesons' farm later this morning, if you're tired of training and want a break. You and Pietro can come, if you want."