Where the Heart Is

You Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can Fly

"I don't believe I'm doing this right," Wanda said as she forced a spatula underneath a hamburger patty and flipped it over. It nearly fell right out of the pan, and only a quick dart of her telekinesis kept it from splattering on the stove top.

"It's in the wrist," Laura said, twisting her own wrist as an example and then smirking. "But using telekinesis works too, if you're cool like that."

Wanda smiled back, but she really did want to master doing it the normal way. So many things in her life were extraordinary and strange, it seemed like she should be able to flip a hamburger just like anyone else. A slice of normalcy among all the craziness.

"I just want a hamburger," Cooper said. He was sitting at the kitchen table, alternating between working on homework and staring longingly at the makings of dinner. Apparently baked potatoes were way more enticing than mathematics. "Any kind of hamburger."

"Soon, halfpint." Laura pointed the spatula at him. "You better finish that homework soon. I think I heard your dad talking about wanting to take you on a run later today, or he was if you finished your homework..."

That got the boy studying again, his brunette head bent over his book as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the room. Doing schoolwork on a Saturday was not fun, but at least he would be finished with it.

Wanda turned back to the stove, watching the hamburgers sizzle and pop. She couldn't help but notice how much both Lila and Cooper sought Clint's attention. They both jumped at any chance to spend to time with him, perhaps always afraid it would be last time. As far as she could tell, the two children both knew who their father's superhero identity was and what he did for a living, though she wasn't sure if they knew about his SHIELD affiliation or not. It was probably safer for them if they didn't know...

"Oh, Wanda, flip! Flip!" Laura said with a laugh, pointing at the pan where the burgers were starting to smoke.

Wanda muttered under her breath a word in Sokovian that was off-limits in the house and waved her hand over the burgers. Scarlet energy scooped each one up and turned it over before settling it back in the grease. How did people cook without magic? It made things so much easier.

She turned around to find Cooper looking up at the ceiling, scrutinizing the fire alarm. "Is the smoke detector broken?" He looked over at Wanda, then at her sizzling hamburgers, and then grinned impishly. "Must be."

"I'll show you broken," Wanda said with a grin of her own before she waggled her fingers at him, making his chair float up from the floor and his papers scatter. He retaliated by launching his eraser at her, nearly hitting her in the forehead before her telekinesis caught it.

Laura's hand came down to rest on Wanda's shoulder, and she gave Cooper a pointed look. "Less floating things and teasing and more cooking and studying, please and thank you." Her smile softened the words. "It'd be nice to have lunch fixed before supper time rolls around."

For a little while, it was quiet in the kitchen, with just the sounds of hamburger cooking, Laura's knife cutting vegetables for the salad, and Cooper's pencil scratching against his worksheet. Faint in the background, the some band of tenors sang from the speakers on Laura's iPod dock.

Then Lila came racing in with Lucky running behind her. Both of them were covered in mud and made tracks as they skidded to a stop in the kitchen.

"Lila Nicole Barton, what happened to you?" Laura asked, her eyebrows raising.

But Lila was too excited to answer. She just bounced up and down on her dirty bare feet, glee in her eyes. "Mommy, Mommy, there's a shiny purple wizard and a man with wings in the front yard, and Mr. Uncle Steve and Auntie Nat are here with Daddy and Pietro!"