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Wanda and Vision had settled into bed angry. That, of course, went against all general advice not to do so, but there was little choice. Their argument hadn’t been settled, having been interrupted by the bigger bombshell of Wanda’s brother, Pietro, suddenly arriving out of nowhere. Wanda had previously said he was gone; she’d nearly explained it to the boys in the same way she’d tried to explain the loss of Sparky. And, strangely, Wanda didn’t recognize her own brother’s face after all these years. Had it really been so long since he di—wait, no, static filled her memory. He’d just been… away.
So rather than solve any of the issues that bothered them, the couple had put their two rambunctious 10 year olds to bed, and let the mysterious Pietro crash on the couch.
Both the witch and the synthezoid were in much better spirits upon waking up. There was a pleasant chill in the air that encouraged them to pull closer together under the covers, settling into a nice half-asleep half-awake closeness as the morning light started to stream through the windows.
“I’m sorry for trying to shut down your argument last night…” she mumbled to him, “I really don’t know…”
“Shhh, darling, we can discuss this in a moment,” he whispered against her hair as he brushed his lips over her forehead. For a nice, chilly-outside warm-inside morning like this, he just wanted a moment to pretend everything was still okay. That they were still blissfully in love, living the suburban dream, that none of the disturbing strangeness at his office and Norm’s desperate pleas hadn’t happened…
He bent his head to kiss her, their lips moving softly against each other at first, but steadily growing bolder, hotter, tongues tangling as their passion grew. He felt Wanda wrap her arms around him, ready to pull her atop him, when unfortunately…
“Mom! Dad!”
Their twin sons, Billy and Tommy, suddenly burst through the door, almost with enough strength to tear it from the hinges.
“Why does this always happen?” Vision exaggeratedly whined, sitting back up as a laugh track echoed from regions beyond.
“What is it, boys?” Wanda asked, voice unnaturally chirpy, as it tended to be whenever this… feeling took over. The feeling that meant a laugh track sometimes randomly echoed with no apparent source.
“Seriously, you don’t see it!? I’ve already run outside twice to play in it!” Tommy shouted excitedly, jumping up and down in place at the foot of his parents’ bed.
“SNOW!” Billy answered at the same time, pointing out the window.
“And you know what snow means?” Tommy continued.
“Snow means Christmas!” Billy added. He and his brother then high-fived each other, running back out of the room, chanting “Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!”
“Christmas?” Vision asked, puzzled. Wait, it hadn’t been anywhere near winter last episode… wait, last episode? That was last night …
“Christmas!” Wanda answered, smiling awkwardly, like she knew she had to smooth things over. To the audience, it looked like a quirky sitcom mom accepting that December 1st meant giving in to the kids’ Christmas-chanting antics. To Vision, he felt that it was her trying to cover up whatever curse was happening. Surely his beloved wife couldn’t actually do something so evil as—
A Very WandaVision Christmas!
An amusing montage played of the citizens of Westview, New Jersey preparing for the holiday season. A sparkling ball of “holiday magic” fluttered about the prominent citizens, transforming their clothing into festive sweaters, causing sparkling lights to appear on neighborhood trees, and coating the ground with an aesthetically pleasing layer of snow. In some places where it touched, the magic ball even caused whole Christmas trees and Hanukkah menorahs to spring up in living rooms, all optimally placed to look picturesque from the street. The whole while, a new theme song played, set to the tune of “Jingle Bells”:
Wan-da Vis-ion
Wan-da Vis-ion
Wanda all the waaaaaay!
Through the title sequence, everything was distinctly aesthetically 90s. Cars took on an odd bubbly aesthetic, businesspeople carried bricklike cell phones as they chatted on their way to the mall, and men in flannel shirts grunted over tools while women in long dresses and turtlenecks pondered shopping. The sequence ended with the words of the title forming the shape of the house, with Christmas lights draped over it.
Speaking of men grunting over tools…
“Would you look at that beautiful light setup!” Herb bragged, “This brand new staple gun I just bought myself made it all possible!” he said, proudly holding up the self-gift in question.
“Why, that is rather impressive, Herb!” Vision agreed, looking at the elaborate strings of large lights streaking across Herb’s eaves, and the light-up star over Herb’s garage. Wait, how had he gotten out here? How was he in his human disguise? And he too was perfectly dressed in high waisted jeans, a flannel shirt, and sensible work boots. Hm.
“So, when are you gonna get started on your light display, neighbor?”
“Ah, well, possibly today, possibly tomorrow… Christmas really just snuck up on me this year, you know? Almost like the days skipped by!”
The laugh track played.
“Well, you better get started quick,” Herb advised, “Because you know Dennis the mailman? Well, he lives across the street right there. And he gets intense about Christmas lights. He’s got the most elaborate display in the neighborhood every year, and nobody has ever managed to dethrone him. The city council even gave him an award!”
“What’s up guys? I am not taking part in this episode, so I’m gonna bounce and go snowboarding!” Pietro interrupted, bounding out of the house in colorful ski gear with a snowboard tucked under his arm.
“Oh no you don’t!” Wanda shouted, stopping him before he could leave the driveway. She was wearing a burgundy corduroy dress with a red long-sleeved top underneath, her hair cut sensibly to her shoulders. “You’ve got to watch the twins today!”
“What? I don’t get a chance to escape?”
“Escape? Oh, come on, your nephews aren’t torture ! They love their uncle! Especially when their uncle takes them cosmic bowling …” she explained, handing him some coupons for the Westview bowling alley.
“... Okay cosmic bowling is pretty sweet.”
“And warm. And indoors! And doesn’t involve driving out into a potentially impassable wall of snow! Really, a perfect place for you to watch the boys while I go and… how can I put this…” she glanced around to see if the twins were within hearing range. “While I go and get the gifts Santa will give them?”
“Ah, I get it. Sure, one babysitter, right here!”
“You got it!”
“Ha, and it’s gonna take all your power to get them the new Robo-Friend this year!” Pietro continued as he set the snowboard back inside the front door of the house.
“The new… what?” Wanda asked.
“The Robo-Friend? You know, the insanely popular robotic bird monster that even talks back to you? It’s the most popular toy this year. All the cool kids are getting one! I even hear they’re selling out everywhere that carries them, from sheer demand.”
Vision noticed an odd look in Pietro’s eyes as he described the toy. Sure, the young man’s tone was as near-gratingly enthusiastic as ever, but for a moment his eyes went blank, as if he was compelled to pitch this particular gift. Possibly by a corporate sponsorship.
“So, Pietro, you think this is something the boys would like?” Vision asked.
“Oh, definitely! Kids are going crazy for these things, and like I said they’re selling out everywhere! Like, man, it’s not Christmas this year if there isn’t a Robo-friend under the tree!”
“Well, I guess I’d better head off to the shopping center, then!” Wanda decided. “Billy! Tommy! Get your coats and come out here! Your uncle is going to take you cosmic bowling!”
Just like that, the twins appeared in the doorway, perfectly prepared for the winter drive, as Wanda tossed Pietro the keys to the 90s version of the red Buick.
“See ya later, Sis!” Pietro yelled out the driver’s side window as he and the boys sped away towards the bowling alley.
“Well, I’ll get going in the minivan. All the lights you need for your display should be in the garage and the storage shed in the backyard,” Wanda announced, turning to face her husband.
Storage shed in the backyard? If Vision remembered having one, he didn’t remember it being filled with Christmas decorations. Nor did he recall the details of the garage. And when did they get a minivan?
“Are you sure, dear?” he asked, “I really need to make this a special display; after all, this is the first Christmas the boys have had, and they’re already ten!”
“I’m sure...and I know what you mean. That’s why I have to give them the perfect Christmas gift! Oh, if all the other kids are getting this and then it’s not under the tree for them…”
“Now, darling, I have complete confidence in you,” Vision reassured her, pecking a kiss on her cheek. The studio audience made an “aww” sound. “Now go out there and get that Robot Friend Thing!”
She smiled at him, and then the scene faded to her driving up to the toy store at the Westview Shopping Center.
“Oh, wow, it’s more crowded than I thought!” she said, maneuvering her van through the crowded, hectic parking lot. Finally, a spot opened up, and she expertly swerved in to magically claim it just as another car honked at her.
“What is it!?!” Wanda frustratedly shouted at the honking car as she stepped out.
“I was trying to get that spot!” Beverly shouted out the window before going to find another parking spot. Huh, Wanda had never seen Beverly, one of the nicest women in the neighborhood, quite so agitated. Was she here for the same reason?
Wanda got her answer as she rushed up to the display of Robo-friends… only to see the last one plucked from the shelf just as she ran up to it. Beverly was right beside her, panting from running in and looking frustrated.
“Oh, come on !” Beverly shouted, “Not this store too!”
“I take it you’re also here for the hottest new Christmas gift?” Wanda asked.
“Yes! I need this thing for my kids! I haven’t seen them for so long, locked away as they are…”
Beverly looked panicked for a moment, as if she’d just let something slip that she shouldn’t. Wanda, however, was puzzled. Didn’t Beverly work from home? Her kids were what ?
“I heard KB Toys down the street might have some still,” the acne-ridden teenage retail worker explained, interrupting Wanda’s worries. Both women looked at each other with stern determination. They were moms on a mission! They WOULD get those Robo-friends, no matter what!
***
“Ah, there, that’s starting to look nice,” Vision assessed as he stepped down from the ladder. A colorful string of large glowing bulbs now ran along the lower eaves of his house, and a wreath hung from the door. A simple, yet classy display of Christmas elegance.
“Going for the plain stuff this year, Vision?” he heard Dennis taunt from across the street. When he looked over, sure enough, Dennis had decked out his house with lights across both the lower AND upper stories, and put a wreath on both the front door and the garage door.
“I’m not sure I’d call this plain ,” Vision retorted. He thought his home looked rather nice. And… wait a second, had the mailman always lived across the street? Had he ever actually met all of their neighbors?
“Well, as I’m sure everyone’s told you, I’m dedicated to having the best Christmas lights every year!” Dennis bragged. “This new ladder I got is really gonna help me take it over the top this year too! Look at this puppy, solid steel! Reaches the upper levels and the roof like a charm!” Dennis patted the ladder in question. “After all, what’s the point of doing lights on the family house if you can’t give your family the ultimate display?”
“Well, that is lovely so far.”
“Oh, I’m just getting started!”
Vision paused to think. He was making up for nine missed holiday seasons, could he really afford to let his family down by going for something simple? No, definitely not! In fact, if he was going to give Billy and Tommy the best Christmas, they had to have the best decorative display in the whole neighborhood! After all, what would impress the boys more than having the most popular toy under the tree and the most brilliant home in the neighborhood?
He went into the garage to retrieve more lights.
***
Wanda and Beverly pulled up to the KB Toys in their respective minivans at the same time. They even pulled up into parking spaces across from each other, allowing them to glare at each other through their windshields as they pulled into their spaces. They burst out of their van doors at the same time, racing stride-for-stride into the toy store, barrelling through displays and shoving other customers out of the way in single-minded determination accentuated with epic slow motion.
But as displays of Barbies and Pikachu plushes fell clattering to the floor around them, alas, the shelf with the Robo-Friend logo above it was empty.
“Oh no!” Wanda gasped, face gaping with exaggerated sitcom panic.
“What am I going to do!” Beverly shouted at the same time, looking genuinely distressed.
“I heard that WalMart, of all places, got a new shipment in,” the store’s employee informed them as she started re-stacking all the toppled Barbies, looking woefully at the mess.
Bev and Wanda turned to look at each other. Their eyes met, steely with determination, and they sprinted out the door at the same time as the camera faded out.
***
The commercial appeared, displaying a grouping of Hershey’s Kiss candies in their holiday wrapper colors arranged against a white background. Each candy leapt up and down, as if it were a ringing bell, playing the tune “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. However, despite the candies’ motion, the sound of each note was not entirely like the ringing of the bell. Instead, as each Kiss played, its note came out with a distinct snapping sound. As they finished their coordinated song performance and the lead candy used its wrapper to wipe its “forehead” in relief, the camera panned up to show the candies were arranged in the form of a heart with a break running through it. Text appeared at the bottom of the screen.
Hershey’s Tragic Final Kisses
Perfect for all of your family members!
***
(Outside the Hex, Darcy noticed the change in season that had happened in the episode, and decided to look out the window at the Hex, to see how much it matched what she’d been watching in the television broadcast she’d monitored. Jimmy walked up at the same moment, cup of coffee in hand as he glanced out the window.
“Did the Hex just become—” he began.
“A giant snow globe?” Darcy interrupted. “Yes, yes it did.”)
***
The camera faded back in to show Vision floating up to the second story roof level of his house, a dozen more bundles of lights in his arms.
“It sure is useful that I can fly!” he said to himself, feeling compelled to do so, as if for the sake of an audience. “After all, it sure makes it easy to get to the second level without a ladder! That’s one benefit to being one half of a rather unusual couple!” The laugh track played.
He plugged in the new strands and drifted down to the driveway, admiring the multiple layers of lights now hanging from each level of the house, along with a lighted star above the garage. Then he turned around to look at Dennis’ house.
Somehow, while Vision had been applying his latest finds to the upper level, Dennis had added an entire zoo’s worth of lighted animals across his lawn. Reindeer, horses, wolves, polar bears—a whole menagerie glowed in chicken wire set with white mini lights, as Santa and his reindeer flew in plastic form on a string between Dennis’ garage and the large tree that had suddenly and conveniently sprung up in the middle of his yard.
Well then, it looked like Vision was going to have to step up his game even further.
***
The WalMart parking lot was entirely packed. Bev and Wanda got the last two parking stalls in the entire lot, far in the back. It would be a long walk just to get to the entrance. The two women stepped out of their cars at the same time again, glaring at each other from across the aisle. Determination was clear on both of their faces; each thought that she alone would emerge victorious, that she would be the one to obtain the cursed animatronic bird for her precious children.
They started walking sensibly toward the store, as one should do in a parking lot. Then Wanda glanced over, and started walking faster, soon increasing her pace to a power walk. Beverly noticed, and sped up her stride in return, breaking into a jog to get ahead of Wanda. Well, Wanda couldn’t have that, so she started jogging, thankful that she’d worn sensible Doc Martens boots. Of course, Beverly jogged along as well, going into a full blown run as she seemed to realize how large the parking lot was, and remembering how every precious second likely meant one more Robo-Friend off the shelves.
Even running at full speed didn’t seem enough for the two of them, and soon each of them grabbed a conveniently placed empty shopping cart as they ran by. Both of them put one foot on the base of the cart and started pushing with the other foot like a scooter, building up speed before jumping on to ride the cart as it barreled towards the automatic doors. Other townspeople desperately dove out of the way of the careening carts, and cars blasted their horns as the ladies’ irresponsible cart scootering sent them directly in the path of the vehicles. Neither gave a crap about safety anymore, there was nothing but the Robo-Friend now.
They could see the robotic birds in the cart of nearly every customer they saw leaving the store. They knew the stock was depleting quickly. Despite all their rushing, could they still have been too late?
They successfully piloted their carts all the way into the WalMart toy department, jumping off right in front of the Robo-Friend display, sending the empty carts crashing into the shelves on either side, not caring about the amount of other toy stock sent tumbling to the floor, nor the way the shelves bent from the force of the impact. There was only one Robo-Friend left.
It was admittedly an ugly thing, Wanda thought as she finally saw it, sitting there in its box. A fluffy, vaguely avian creature, with blank robotic eyes, set on tall piston-like legs. It came packaged with a plastic “bird food” tub that it could interact with, and the tag like “Tickle me, then I’ll talk!” was plastered in bright font across the front of the box. It didn’t look really appealing, honestly, but Wanda knew that this was THE most popular toy this year. Her boys deserved that. After all the Christmases she hadn’t given them, they NEEDED this toy. This was how she’d show that she loved them, this was how she’d prove she was a good mother! She reached for the box…
And of course, Beverly, who was thinking much the same as Wanda, grabbed it at the same time.
“Hey, I grabbed it first!”
“It’s mine!”
“Give it back!”
The women yelled at each other while pulling the box back and forth between them. Neither was willing to budge as they stepped back and forth with the force of their pulls, not even registering when they started knocking each other into the shelves as well, various other merchandise raining down around them.
“Please, I need this for my kids!” Beverly shouted, and when Wanda looked at her, she was slightly disturbed at the look she saw in Bev’s eyes.
“I need it for my kids too! I’ve missed 9 of their Christmases!” Wanda retorted, pulling harder on the box. It started to crease under the strain.
“I haven’t seen my kids either! They’re stuck! I can’t go to them! I NEED this so I can give it to them! I can see them then!” Beverly yelled back, and her eyes once again showing a complete desperation that seemed far deeper and more serious than the situation called for. Still, Wanda’s mind was singularly focused on obtaining the Robo-Friend at hand. She couldn’t be distracted!
The laugh track bellowed at the over the top tug-of-war.
“My kids deserve this! I need to show them I’m a good mom!” Wanda yelled as she yanked at the box again. Part of the cardboard tore.
“Well, why don’t you just command a restock then! The world just bends to what you want and deserve, doesn’t it! I can’t even get one nice thing so I can see my kids again! You’re worried about being the best mom, but I haven’t been allowed to be a mom since this shit began!” Beverly ranted, nails clawing into the tearing cardboard, desperately clawing at the Robo-Friend.
Wanda suddenly dropped the box in shock. What… What had Beverly just said? That desperation, that venom… it wasn’t in character. On several levels. People didn’t talk that angrily or that desperately, didn’t have that haunted look in their eyes on shows like this.
Beverly snapped back into her over the top sitcom persona just as she had the Robo-Friend entirely in her hands. She cheered, jumping up and down as dramatic victory music played, letting her victory dance in slow motion. The audience laughed as she victory-danced all the way to the checkout lanes.
Wanda sank to the floor, a strand of hair falling into her face, which she blew away with a puff of air as she sighed. To the audience, her expression looked like that of a comically overworked and disappointed mom who had just lost out on the latest popular Christmas toy. But on the inside, her mind was reeling. What was it that Beverly had said? About her controlling things? About Beverly being kept away from her family? It echoed alongside her memories of her fight with Vision at the end of the day/decade/episode before. Wait, which was it? A day, a decade, or an episode? Her face sank into her hands, rubbing her temples to try and soothe herself. Why couldn’t she remember what she needed to—
***
The camera cut back to Vision, bundling even more lights onto the house. By now, his light display had also spilled out into the yard. Wire-and-light animals, a Santa that popped up and down out of a chimney, reindeer strung between the trees, even a few of those fancy new inflatable decorations that looked like giant snow globes. For added measure, he’d even dumped a bunch of blue lights across the lawn to look like a “river” that the various light up animals were gathering around. A giant star was stuck up on the roof, as were several more stars dotted around various places on the house. No less than five different strands of different types of lights hung from each feasible place on the eaves.
Vision ascended to the roof again, more bundles of lights in his arms, intent on simply dumping them across the entire roof. He was going to create an entire mat of lights across the top of his house. He wanted astronauts to be able to see this from space! The city council would have no choice but to recognize his incredible feat of electrical artistry! The boys would know that their dad had given them the coolest Christmas ever!
Something in the periphery of his sight caught Vision’s attention, and he turned his head to see Dennis once again pulling his ladder—that fancy new one, solid steel, that could even reach the upper story—out of his garage. Dennis had several more coiled strings of lights strung over his shoulders, and his intent was clear. He’d seen Vision’s additions to the light display, and he was going to try and surpass even that .
In Dennis’ haste to one-up his decoration rival, he didn’t notice that his ladder wasn’t steadily planted on the ground. The light dusting of snow obscured a small rock that was under one of the ladder’s legs, destabilizing it, but not enough for Dennis to immediately notice. The mailman reached the very end, and was about to push himself onto the roof when the ladder slipped away, leaving him stranded clutching the gutter for dear life, fingers quickly slipping off the icy metal.
Vision’s lightning-fast reflexes let him immediately process what was happening. If Dennis were to fall, he would surely be grievously injured, or possibly even dead! Without any second thought, he used his super-speed and flight to rush over to Dennis, catching his Christmas light rival midair and floating him safely back to the ground.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe she made me pull a stunt like that!” Dennis muttered, shaking from the shock of his near-death experience. Wait, “she”?
After Norm’s terrified ranting from yesterday (or whenever that was in this bizarre place where time seemed to pass so fast and yet sometimes not at all), Vision knew he needed to investigate this further. After looking around to see if anyone else was watching, he pressed his fingers to Dennis’ head, a golden light emanating from them as he freed Dennis from whatever spell engulfed his mind.
“Oh my god, what am I doing here! Why am I doing this? This isn’t even my house! Why is she making me do this, I live on the other side of town! I barely even put up Christmas lights! She almost killed me! The first time I was free of her was in that short second I was falling, I think the shock set me free!” The words rushed out of Dennis’ mouth. He turned to Vision, eyes wide, grabbing the blond synthezoid by his shirt lapels. “You have to help us! You have to free us all! Get her to listen! She might listen to you!”
Dennis started frantically shaking Vision back and forth by his lapels in his panic. Vision held the mailman’s forearms and gently pushed him away to get him to let go, trying to comfort the guy but unable to get a word in between the endless refrains of “get her to stop! Free us!” He thought he heard footsteps in the distance, and realized that he couldn’t risk alerting whoever “her” was that he’d freed somebody. With great reluctance, he zapped Dennis back into his sitcom persona.
“Whoopsie, looks like I took a tumble off the ladder there!” Dennis said, placidly smiling as the look in his eyes continued screaming for help. “Good thing you were somehow able to catch me! Don’t know how you did that!”
“Uh, a lucky catch,” Vision replied, forcing a smile with a fake half-laugh.
“Well, I’ll take that as a sign to stop for the night. But I can’t guarantee you won’t see more lights tomorrow!”
“I’ll be ready!” Vision responded, the two guys pointing at each other as Dennis walked back into his—well, it really might not be his —house.
Damn, once again, somebody was desperately asking for Vision to save them from “her”. And this time, “she” had deliberately put somebody in danger! Could this really be Wanda? She’d been so insistent that it hadn’t been her, and he wanted nothing more than to believe that the woman he loved so much was innocent of this, but who else could it be?
As he stepped back into his yard, still pensive, the remainder of the sitcom plot brushed up against his mind. Oh well, may as well at least see how his light display looked while he pondered that his wife might be torturing people with magic. He found the master cord at the side of the garage and plugged the obviously-overloaded extension strip into the socket.
For one glorious moment, every piece of the display lit up, a massive beam of light emanating from the Wanda and Vision household in all directions. It might actually have been visible from space.
And then, of course, everything immediately went dark with a loud popping sound. A few sparks flew from some of the cords, the sparks thankfully dying in the layer of frost over everything. Yeah, he’d blown every fuse possible. Damn , he finally got a Christmas with his sons and now he’d botched it…
“Heighty-ho, neighbor!” Agnes’ voice called from her side of the fence. Vision looked over to see her standing there behind her bushes, only her eyes and the top of her head visible over the fence and the branches. “What’s got you so glum?”
“Well, Agnes, you see,” Vision began, stepping over to the fence to talk to her. “I really wanted to make this Christmas special for the boys. Give them a big surprise by having the best holiday light display, all bright and ready for them when they come back from the bowling alley. But instead, I’ve started a rivalry with a neighbor and, well…” he waved his hand at the mess of his house and yard. The studio audience made an “awww” sound.
“Oh, Vision , you don’t understand, do you?” she answered, voice soothing. “What will make the boys have a special Christmas isn’t having the best light display! Heck, who knows if they would even notice! No, what will make it special is that they get to spend it with you .”
“You really think so, Agnes?”
“Of course! You’re their dad , they love you! Any holiday spent with you is a holiday they can enjoy.”
The audience “aww”-ed again.
Vision perked up.
“Thank you, Agnes. I really needed to hear that.” He then surveyed the absolute mess he’d made of the yard, and considered how many fuses he needed to change. “I should probably get around to fixing this mess.”
“Sure thing neighbor! Have a Merry Christmas!”
Vision went inside the garage to start repairing the essential circuits.
***
Wanda pulled into the driveway in the minivan, still looking haggard and upset. She let the audience believe it was about losing out on getting Billy and Tommy the Robo-Friend, the ultimate toy for this year. She stumbled out of the car in the driveway, sighing as she hit the button on the key to lock the door.
“Hey there neighbor! What’s got you down?” Agnes’ voice once again sounded from behind the fence and bushes.
“I failed to get the boys the Robo-Friend this Christmas. You know, the super popular animatronic bird that really talks back to you?” Wanda sighed again as she finished the spiel. Really, why had she recited the whole damn copy as part of her sad monologue?
“All this over a children’s toy?”
“It’s not just a toy… it’s… it’s that I want the boys to know how much I love them! I want them to think I’m a good mom and a cool mom and that I can give them the best Christmas ever! Regardless of the material cost or how hard it is to get something for them.”
“You realize, getting them the flashiest toy this Christmas isn’t what makes you a good mom, or what makes it possible for you to give them the best Christmas. I know I may be a bit guilty of perpetuating the materialism, I even told Ralph about that thing when I heard about the rush on the news! But really, being there for your kids, and being with them on the holiday...that’s how you do it.”
The studio audience gave another over the top “aww”.
Wanda swallowed as she processed Agnes’ words.
“Thank you, Agnes,” she said quietly. “I needed to hear that.”
“Anytime, neighbor!” Agnes replied cheerily, waving goodbye as Wanda went into the house.
Inside the house, she found Vision starting a fire in the fireplace, as well as lighting a bunch of candles on the coffee table in the living room. He hadn’t quite been able to repair the damage to the circuits, so it looked like they’d be without power for a bit.
“I… take it your mission wasn’t a success…” he greeted her, tone gentle as he took note how she’d come home not only empty handed, but with rumpled clothes and hair and eyes red from crying.
“No… no it wasn’t,” she answered softly. “And given that we have no power and the lights weren’t on outside, I assume you didn’t succeed either?”
“Unfortunately not my dear,” he sighed, as they both sank onto the couch in defeat beside each other.
“I just really wanted to give the boys a spectacular Christmas…”
“Me too…”
Wanda sank her head into her hands again and Vision rubbed her back reassuringly.
“I guess… we can say we tried our best…” he attempted to comfort her.
Just then, Pietro, Tommy, and Billy burst through the door.
“We’re back!” Pietro called, tossing the car keys into the dish by the door.
“Cosmic bowling was awesome! ” Tommy shouted as he dashed over to plop on the couch beside his mom.
“Wait, what’s wrong? Are you all right, mom and dad?” Billy asked, settling on the other side of the couch beside his dad. He’s so perceptive, Wanda thought.
“Well, sweetheart…” Wanda began but trailed off.
“Your mother and I, well, we had some grand holiday plans for us all. But they seem to have fallen through. And also the power is out,” Vision helpfully finished.
“What grand holiday plans?” Tommy asked.
“Well, your father was going to have the brightest light display in the neighborhood!” Wanda explained, “And, well, I checked around everywhere for that new Robo-Friend all the kids seem to like. I even called Santa’s workshop! And, uh, Santa himself told me that even they are out of stock, so… well… Your father and I were trying to give you guys the most special, perfect Christmas we could, but things might fall a little short.”
“Oh, you weren’t trying to make a great Christmas for me ?” Pietro quipped, breaking the tension as the laugh track chuckled.
“But, mom, dad, that’s not what makes a special Christmas!” Billy interrupted. “Look at us! Sure, you didn’t get the most popular toy, and we won’t have the best light display, but we’re together! Isn’t family the true meaning of Christmas?”
The audience gave its biggest “aww” yet.
“Yes, sweetie, yes it is,” Wanda said as Billy walked over to her. She hugged both of her sons close. Vision put his arms around them all too, and then Pietro bounded over to pounce-hug the whole pile. The camera zoomed out to show the idyllic scene of the house with snow falling softly outside, a peaceful rendition of “Jingle Bells” playing as “Happy Holidays!” appeared above the scene, making it reminiscent of a peaceful rendition of a snow globe, followed by credits scrolling over the whole image.
In her mind, though, Wanda’s thoughts raced. This felt too good to be true, like something was wrong, like she was forgetting something. What about those things Beverly had said? That didn’t seem right. And wait, why had she missed Christmas with her family before? Something felt cold and blank and empty, not just in her memory, but in feeling , like there was loneliness in place of warmth. Like she was alone on Christmas, like she was always alone...
Vision, too, was troubled, even though he tried to enjoy getting to hold his family like this, Pietro’s awkward embrace aside. Who was this “she” controlling everything? If it really was Wanda, he had more concern than ever before; after all, “she” had gone from merely mentally controlling the townspeople to physically threatening at least one of them. Why did Dennis think Vision could get through to this person? The only answer was that it had to be his wife, as troubling as that was. He would definitely have to investigate further, but he would need to find an excuse to do so without raising Wanda’s suspicions again. Confronting her directly hadn’t helped, and she might genuinely not know what was going on either.
Eventually, the entire family made their way to bed. When Vision awoke the next morning, he looked outside to see the season had changed again overnight. Not only changed, but gone backwards . Fall leaves were drifting to the ground. When he went to his closet to get dressed, he found only a green jumpsuit, a yellow cape and shorts, and red face paint.