In Darkness, Be My Light

Torn Family

Wanda tapped the bottom of her pen on her desk, the sound of the small spring squeak was the only thing she could hear in the room, and she clicked the ballpoint out every so often. Trying to determine the best answer to her babies' father without causing media drama was not an easy task. Ross specifically requested that this be introduced alongside her pregnancy during the press conference. There wasn't much she could do. Even Steve couldn't convince Ross to let the answer to 'who's the baby daddy?' go.

She drew a horizontal line across the upper half of her notepad, then a vertical line down the middle. She wrote 'pros' and 'cons' on either side of the vertical line. The first thing she could think of was all the cons. She didn't want to deny that Vision was the father of her children. It would be dishonest. Not only that, it could negatively affect their relationship in so many ways.

She wanted to get the cons over with, so she started to write despite only able to use her left hand:

Cons:

Vis could eventually deny his own fatherhood.

Reasonable. Although she knew that her fiancé faltered when he heard that this was a requirement, that he was supposed to play the role of her beloved while ultimately looked down upon for not being the children's biological father - like normal people could ever believe it, she didn't think he would assume that she was unfaithful to their relationship and eventually come to the conclusion that he is 100% infertile.

It could affect the way people see our relationship, meaning that we could never live with the truth and that someone else will take the fall for being the biological father. The media could even ask who the father is if I chose to say it was a one night stand. People might even question why Vis and I are still together. It would be unhealthy both publically and privately.

That would most likely happen. It's not like the media disregards any drama with infidelity. Wanda could simply imagine one of the gossip column headlines: 'Scarlet Witch Cheated on The Vision Confirmed!' or maybe 'Babies Will Grow Up Without a 'Real' Father.'

Just thinking about the possibilities made her stomach turn.

It would put a bad view on the morals of the Avengers, what we stand for.

Oh definitely. There would be too much drama even if she did announce that the babies' father was someone other than Vision. Some may suggest that they're just a bunch of hypocrites.

Satisfied with the top three cons, she moved on:

Pros:

The media will leave my children alone regarding how they were conceived, that they are children of a 'robot.'

She wanted the media to stay as far away as possible when it came to gossip on her children. She'd rather take the fall of media drama.

As Ross said, the drama would possibly be less if I came out saying that someone biologically human is the father. It could also prevent rumors of me cheating. The opposite would most likely happen if I did decide to say that Vision is the father. People most likely won't believe he is the father anyway.

That would be a huge relief for her mentally. Rumors of her cheating would be devastating. If she simply came out and said that it was someone else, the idea of her cheating would simply be out there instead of pressing questions if there were simply harsh rumors.

It could save our children from future harassment for being the 'biological' children of a 'robot.'

That struck her hard. She could only think of the benefit of her children at this moment. She knew how society took lots of time accepting new ideas, especially ideas of romance and parenthood of other species'.

The difference? she wrote underneath the answers, in the middle somewhere. Public relationship versus my relationship with Vis.

She closed the notebook as soon as she heard the door to the bedroom door open. She looked to her right and saw as her fiancé walked through with a beautiful smile. "I um," she started as she held the pen, slowly tapping again out of anxiety. "I think I made up my mind about this thing with the press."

He glanced over at the closed notebook in front of her. "You did?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I think...I think it's best if we tell the media that their father is someone else besides you." She risked a look into his eyes and almost turned away from the pain that immediately took over.

"Why?" he asked in a surprisingly calm manner despite the expression that betrayed him.

She opened the notebook to the page that she wrote the pros and cons pushed the list over to him. She crossed her arms, leaned back awkwardly in her chair, and looked up at the ceiling as he read silently.

"You...you want to deny my identity and role of a biological father?" he asked.

She nodded, as much as it pained her, "Yes."

"And you believe that a public relationship is more of a priority than ours?" he was taken aback as he spoke. He looked at her.

She shook her head as she sat up straight, facing him properly. "No! Not at all! I'm just saying that-"

He interrupted her and repeated, this time with more disappointment and anger in his voice, "A public relationship is more of a priority than ours."

"Vis?" she started. "I'm not saying that in any way."

"It seems like it. You wrote it down," he said lowly.

She shook her head and looked at him with saddened eyes. She wished that he could see her side of things regarding this matter. "I'm just thinking of how simple it could be to just come out and say it was a one night stand instead of risking the idea, especially what the media could use as stories, that our children are sons of a-"

"Robot," he finished for her. "A robot. That's how you think of me, Wanda? A robot? You said it yourself that I should embrace who I am, that I'm more than a simple humanoid. Or was that a lie?"

"Vis-"

"Was it? What else did you tell me that is completely false?"

"Vision-"

"You wrote down that," he set the notebook down and followed along with his finger, "our children could be harassed for being the biological children of a robot. Wanda, how could you ever think such a thing? You think that I'm a robot?"

"But-"

"No, Wanda, I'm finished with your excuses. Maybe we should spend some time apart. It seems like you already want to do that by agreeing to say that you slept with another man and are carrying this mystery man's children." He stood up quickly, angrily and went for the door.

"Vision! Stop!" she ran after him and tugged on his arm, but he pulled away without looking at her. "Please!" she cried. "Please, Vis. Don't leave! Let's talk this out. I can explain-"

"You already explained enough. Maybe you need to think through whether or not you want to be honest about our children."

She shook her head frantically. "No! I don't need to think, Vis. I want this family, to marry you! I want our children and them to accept your role as their father! Please, come back, Vis!" she cried.

He simply glanced back at her, shaking as tears rolled down her cheeks, distraught, and continued down the hallway.

Furious and completely regretful and full of hurt in her heart, her eyes glowed a deep red, and her hand clenched. "Alright then! You know what? I don't want this!" she shrieked and tore off her engagement ring and slammed it on the floor of the compound.

As he turned around to see what had happened, his eyes grew wide and she screamed, "I don't love you!" and ran into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

He shook his head in disbelief and started to feel a sting of guilt. He slowly approached the fallen ring and sighed of relief when he saw that it was still in good condition, but continued down the hallway that leads to wherever as he tried to hold back the tears of knowing that his fiancé was no more his fiancé.