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Chapter Text

Which is no surprise, she'd always woken up alone back in the 'real world', before the hex. Not including the moments where she had to face the consequences of her drunk counterpart, of course, but when she wasn't sharing a bed with some random, equally hungover stranger, her bed would be empty.

Just how she liked it. 

It was the same here in the hex.

Which is pretty obvious, she didn't actually have a husband like she claimed to. She didn't have a bed companion like the other women in the hex. There weren't any robotic spouses here in her big bed, it was only her waking up alone.  

Except now, for some odd reason, her bed was not empty. She did have a bed companion this time. Something she discovered during her routine morning stretch, when her foot bumped into something warm on the right side of her bed. She froze completely, her limbs still outstretched as she heard the stranger mumble something in their sleep as a result of the contact. 

The mumbling voice definitely belonged to a woman, that much was clear, but that was impossible because there is no way in hell she brought someone home last night, especially not a woman.

That would be highly inappropriate.

After all, she was a married woman here in the hex.

A heterosexual, married woman named Agnes to be a bit more specific and Agnes certainly wouldn't be committing adultery. She was a respectable, well-mannered housewife married to a man named Ralph for goodness' sake.

She was loyal. 

Yet, someone was definitely here in her bed. 

Agatha thinks back to the previous night: she remembers the martinis that Wanda had served at her get-together and sure, they were a bit too strong, and yes maybe she had drunk four too many but she couldn't have been that intoxicated. At least, not intoxicated enough to make a stupid decision like bringing someone back to her (borrowed) home last night for a one night stand. 

So what the hell was a woman doing in her bed right now? 

Agatha was starting to panic. What if it was Wanda in her bed? It couldn't be right? Because that would be absolutely insane, Wanda was also married.

Well sort of, if pretending to be married to her deceased robotic husband counts then yes, Wanda was technically married, and besides, Wanda didn't really give off gay vibes anyway, not really.

Except for when she held on to Agatha's hips for a little too long that one time in her kitchen, or last night when her eyes kept drifting down to Agatha's lips as she sipped from her drink.

Now that Agatha thinks about it, there were hints of barely hidden lust in those green irises, somewhere around Wanda's third alcoholic drink. 

Oh, god! What if it is Wanda in her bed? 

There was only one way to find out if that was true and even though she really didn't want to, Agatha slowly opened her eyes, absolutely terrified of seeing her redhead neighbor asleep in her bed.

She gasped and quickly threw her hand over her mouth at the sight before her. It wasn't Wanda, or any of her other neighbors, in her bed. It was her fucking ex-wife of all people, sleeping peacefully as if she belonged here in the hex. Which she absolutely did not, Agatha herself didn't even belong here. 

Agatha was still frozen, unsure if this was actually happening. Perhaps this was the result of a spell she'd casted in her sleep. It wouldn't be the first time she cast a spell like this: one where a projection of Rio was in the same bed as her. She would never admit it to anyone, of course, but it had happened once...or maybe five times in the past. 

Except this Rio definitely wasn't an illusion, she was actually here in her bed. Solid, warm and still sleeping like a baby. 

Agatha glanced around her bedroom, looking for any hints, trying to see if this was a glitch in the hex. Maybe Wanda's powers had gone haywire again, but everything looked normal. Well, as normal as things in the hex could be, that is.

All of her bedroom decor was in the same place as before. The only difference is that the decor was now updated to match the current decade, but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. 

Still, something weird was obviously going on and Agatha really didn't want to investigate it.

She wanted to roll over and go back to sleep until whatever this is was resolved. She wanted Rio out of her bed and out of her life immediately and if her heart said otherwise; if it sped up at the sight of Rio sleeping next to her with her lips parted, well that was none of her business really. 

She knew she had to wake Rio up, to see if she knew anything about what was going on. Maybe she had something to do with it, Agatha wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. 

She reached her hand out slowly, hesitating once it was hovering over Rio's back. Did she really want to wake Rio up? What was she supposed to say to the only woman she'd ever loved in her life after being apart for so many years? The woman she hated so much, and didn't at the same time. The woman that she'd dreamt about for the last century or so, hoping that something like this would happen someday. 

She'd wanted Rio back in her bed, eventually. Just not under these circumstances. 

Agatha finally moved her hand and poked Rio in the middle of her back, "Rio, wake up!" She whispered, loudly.  

"A few...more minutes," Rio mumbled in her sleep, rolling over to lie on her other side. 

Agatha rolled her eyes at the back of her ex's sleeping figure, "Rio, get up now!" She poked her a few more times in the spot that she knew Rio was ticklish in and if she remembered a detail as minuscule as Rio's ticklish spots after all these years then who cares?

Rio quickly sat up then, panic written all over her face at Agatha's urgent tone and her incessant poking. "What?" She asked groggily, still half-asleep. 

"What do you mean 'what'?" Agatha huffed out in disbelief at her nonchalance, "What are you doing here?" 

Rio looked around unable to answer her question, brown eyes taking in every inch of the room as if it was her first time seeing it. Which couldn't be true, she would've seen it last night before she fell asleep. 

"What did you do?" Agatha asked another question, interrupting Rio's tour of the room, squinting her eyes in an accusing manner. 

"What do you mean what did I do?" Rio yawned, hardly freaking out about the fact that she was in the same bed as Agatha. She was still in a daze from being woken up. "You're the one that summoned me here."

"I did not!"

"Then why am I here?" Rio asked, looking around the room once again, more alert this time. "Where is here anyways?" 

Agatha shook her head, "That's not really important. What is important is the fact that you need to leave right now." 

She omitted the part where she needed Rio to leave instantly because the sight of her - messy and half-asleep - was doing weird things to her insides, specifically her pounding heart and flipping stomach. 

Rio's mouth slowly curved into that smile that Agatha knew all too well. It was the annoying one she always put on before saying something stupid and flirtatious. "Did you miss me, Agatha?" Rio asked, her smile only growing bigger once Agatha rolled her eyes at the question. "Is that why you summoned me here?"

She leaned closer, over to Agatha's side of the bed, "If you wanted to get me in your bed, there were easier ways to do so. You didn't need to summon me." 

"I told you I didn't summon you, you idiot." Agatha scoffed, ignoring the desperate need she felt deep within herself to lean closer to Rio, and her teasing. It felt too familiar, too comfortable. It was dangerous. She really needed to get Rio out of here as soon as possible. 

Agatha opened her mouth to urge Rio to leave but the sound of a bedroom door opening stopped her in her tracks.

Both women quickly looked over at each other, trying to see if the other person heard the same noise. The matching looks of confusion on their faces confirmed that they did indeed hear a door opening from somewhere in the house. 

Agatha leaned closer to Rio instinctively, searching out her protection like she'd done so many times in the past. Rio quickly wrapped her arm around Agatha's waist without a second thought, pulling her closer to her body.  

The sudden contact, and the close proximity, made Agatha shiver even though the weather in the hex was nowhere near frigid right now. It was perfect like always, sunny and just the right temperature.

She ignored how good it felt to be so close to Rio again, how safe she felt in her arms after so long. 

It felt natural, it felt right. 

There was the sound of footsteps padding down the hallway and then her bedroom door creaked open very slowly. 

Agatha's breath hitched, her vision blurring at the sight before her. She shook her head in disbelief a few times. This couldn't actually be happening, right now. This had to be one of Wanda's mind tricks.

A very cruel, twisted mind trick that was awakening tear ducts that had been dormant for many years now. 

She couldn't actually be seeing him right now, but he looked so real, standing there in the doorway of the bedroom with his long hair messy around his face. The face she'd dreamt of even more than the one of her ex-lover. The face she'd longed to caress, or kiss, just once more. 

He couldn't be real, but he definitely looked real.

Rio's head snapped towards Agatha as she finally realized who the tiny intruder was, "Is that..." Her question fell short. She couldn't bring herself to say his name, not after what she'd done in the past. 

Agatha simply nodded at her unfinished question, unable to form a coherent thought. 

Nicky rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with the hand that wasn't holding his stuffed rabbit, "Mama can you make chocolate chip pancakes?" He asked, yawning in a way that looked eerily similar to the way Rio did a few minutes ago. 

Agatha swallowed down the sob that was begging to be released from her throat. Her son was actually standing here, alive and well, asking for chocolate chip pancakes of all things. She wanted to laugh at how silly the thought of that was but she couldn't. She was just so confused. 

What the hell was happening right now? 

"Nicky..." Agatha whispered quietly, afraid that if she said his name too loud, she would break the spell they were trapped in. Like the volume of her voice would shatter whatever dream she had woken up in. She was so scared Nicky would disappear, leaving her heartbroken all over again.

She wasn't sure she could handle losing him a second time. 

Nicky didn't hear her say his name, or if he did, he didn't seem to care about his mother's bizarre behavior, he only cared about his empty stomach. He walked further into the room, dragging his rabbit on the floor behind him. "Mama," He whined, "Can you please make chocolate chip pancakes?" He asked again. 

Agatha watched, utterly confused and somewhat hurt, as her son walked over to Rio instead of her, tugging on her hand as he asked her the question for the second time. 

Rio looked over at Agatha, just as confused as she was. She looked like she had seen a ghost, which technically, wasn't too far from the truth. She was frozen in her spot on the bed, her arm falling from Agatha's waist in the midst of her confusion. 

(Agatha immediately missed the contact)

Rio was still shocked, still sitting in the same spot, hyper aware of the little boy pulling on her hand. 

The last time she'd held Nicky's hand like this was well...it was when she was taking him away from Agatha all those years ago, and she knows that really happened. She definitely knows, she's dealt with the consequences of that over the last few centuries. 

But here she was, in this random room with their son - Agatha's son? - pulling on her hand, asking for pancakes as if this was a normal occurrence. Which according to his behavior, it was for him. 

Nicky pouted at his unmoving mother, tugging harder on her hand. "You said we could have pancakes today." 

Rio looked back over at Agatha for guidance, unsure of what to do but that was pointless, Agatha wasn't even looking at her. She was staring at Nicky, her head spinning as she tried to understand what was happening. 

This had to be the result of Wanda's out of control powers. It had to be.

Sometimes when Wanda's powers are out of control, it comes with some pretty weird side effects like her changing the decades subconsciously or her editing reality but apparently this time, her inability to control her powers gifted Agatha with the presence of her annoying ex-wife and her dead, or not-so dead, son. 

It was all too much for Agatha right now, she needed space to think. 

Agatha cleared her throat, "Yes Nicky..." She hesitated, trying her hardest to force the next words out of her unwilling mouth, "Your mom will make you pancakes for breakfast." 

God, it felt so weird calling Rio his mom. She wasn't used to sharing him with anyone else. For those six years that she'd had him, he was hers only.

He was also Rio's, of course, based on his biology and the obvious evidence quite literally written all over his face, they were practically twins, but she'd never called Rio his mother out loud. She did in her head, though. Just never to Rio. 

"What?" Rio asked, snapping back to reality. She was so confused on, well, everything really but mostly Agatha offering up her cooking services and her calling her Nicky's mom.

It left a warmth spreading throughout her entire chest, making her black heart a little warmer than it was a few seconds ago, and a lot faster too. It was already beating pretty fast when she first woke up next to Agatha, but this speed was something else.

Something life threatening. 

Luckily for her, she was incapable of dying. 

Agatha gently pushed Rio, forcing a smile on her face, "Go make breakfast for our son." She said.

It felt so weird saying those words. It felt too real, and she knew it wasn't real but a small part of her wanted it to be. Which was bad, it was really bad. 

Agatha shook those thoughts away and gave Rio another push when she didn't move, urging her to follow their very persistent son out into the kitchen. He looked like he was a few seconds away from breaking Rio's wrist with how hard he was pulling on her hand. He must really like chocolate chip pancakes. 

"Yeah come on mama," Nicky was already pulling Rio off of the bed, his patience running thin. "You said I could add the chocolate chips if I don't waste them like last time." He laughed at some former memory that neither of his mothers were in possession of. 

"Did I?" Rio asked, looking back at Agatha as she was dragged out of the room, still confused, silently pleading for help. 

"Yes," Nicky laughed, again, as he pulled her into the kitchen. His plush rabbit grasped tightly in one hand, Rio's hand clasped tightly in the other. 

Agatha let out a sigh once the bedroom door was closed, biting back a smile as she heard Nicky already yapping away in the kitchen to what she knew was a very confused looking Rio.

She was just as confused as her ex. Her head was pounding harder than it was last night when she threw back her third martini. 

She needed to recap:

1) So apparently, Rio also had no clue what was happening.

She didn't do some weird spell that landed her in Agatha's bed last night, they didn't have some weird witchy one-night stand, Rio was also confused about their current predicament. Which wasn't good.

Agatha fully planned on forcing Rio to reverse whatever spell she'd casted. She wanted, no - she needed - Rio to leave her life before things got too weird, but that clearly wasn't happening anytime soon. 

So again, not good. Not good at all. 

2) Nicky is alive in this weird timeline that she'd woken up in and apparently she co-parents him with Rio. Which is simultaneously everything she'd ever wanted and also something she'd never expected in a thousand years, but it was real here. 

The million dollar question was: how long was it real? Will the spell wear off in a few minutes, a few hours? Did she only have Nicky for a short amount of time? 

There was no telling here in the hex, one second something is here and the next it's gone. The thought of that filled Agatha with a sense of dread. She'd only just gotten him back and even if he wasn't technically her Nicky; he looked like him and he talked like him. 

He also smiled like him, as well.

Agatha could feel her own smile creeping on her face as she remembers how adamant he was on having chocolate chip pancakes.

She'd never gotten to cook a proper meal for Nicky back in the day. It's not like pancake mix and chocolate chips were readily available in the 1700s, she didn't have the chance to make fine cuisine for him then. 

She had the chance now though, he was a few feet away in the kitchen. Although apparently, he didn't want her to cook for him because he specifically asked for Rio to make them, not her. Whatever that was about, she was a fine cook, too. 

Agatha was still sitting on the bed, listening to Nicky laugh at some - probably stupid - joke that Rio told him. 

She was so conflicted.

A small part of her wanted to just throw the covers over her head and wait for the spell to be over. To wait for Nicky's voice to fade away, tucking it back into her precious memories where it belonged. To save herself from the inevitable heartbreak of losing him again. 

But the other part of her that wanted just a little more time with her son, and his annoying other mother, made her get out of bed and walk out into the kitchen to see what was making Nicky laugh so hard. 

Chapter Text

Which was obviously the source of the loud laughter that had dragged her out of bed in the first place, he was still laughing as if a pancake being tossed in the air was the most amusing thing in the world.

Which, for a six-year old, it probably was. 

It was honestly entertaining Agatha as well.

She couldn't stop herself from smiling as Rio did it again. Tossing the pancake up high in the air and catching it behind her back this time to earn another laugh from the small boy at the table. 

She couldn’t help but notice how different Rio looked now. She looked much different than she did a few minutes ago when she was being dragged out of the bedroom, all wide-eyed and perplexed. She was clearly adjusting to this weird reality really fast.

A little too fast. 

Which made Agatha super nervous. 

She still didn't know how long this spell would last. Nicky might only be here for a few more hours, or maybe even a few more minutes, she really didn't want Rio getting too attached to him if he wasn't going to be around for long. 

She knew that was inevitable, though. 

She knew Rio would get attached to Nicky whether she had five minutes or five hours with him.

Which made Agatha feel sick with guilt.

After all, it was somewhat her fault that Rio never got the chance to do things like this with him. She'd never had the chance to hear the laugh that was still floating around the kitchen.

Which is probably why she kept tossing the pancake in the air over and over, even though she was clearly getting tired of doing it. 

The sight of her ex doing everything she could to make their son laugh was awakening feelings with Agatha that she absolutely could not afford to feel right now. 

She could feel that foreign emotion called happiness flooding her body. Which she definitely shouldn't - no, couldn't - be feeling right now because she shouldn't be happy about any of this. 

She shouldn't be smiling at the scene before her as if it was normal, because it wasn't. It was nothing close to normal and it wasn't even real. Something she had to remind herself of when she felt the muscles in her face starting to ache from how hard she was smiling.

She had to remind herself that this was some sick, twisted dream that she was living in right now. 

Well it wasn't an actual dream, she knew that it wasn't because she could feel the warm air of the house surrounding around her. She could feel the floor beneath her feet, hard and sturdy which is the complete opposite of how she felt on the inside, and she could definitely hear Rio making their son laugh, loud and clear.

But despite what her five senses were telling her, it still felt like a dream. A part of her was still convinced that it was, it had to be. 

Maybe she'd never actually woken up this morning. Maybe she was still fast asleep in Ralph Bohner's bed, imagining all of this. It definitely wouldn't be the first time that she imagined a scene like this: Rio cooking for her and their son, but this one felt so much different than her previous dreams. 

It was more vivid, more tangible. 

It was real, in some sense.

It wasn't some lucid dream she was having, but it really fucking felt like it.

It looked like a dream as well. With the morning sun pouring in through the kitchen window, bathing Nicky and Rio in a golden light. It looked like a scene straight out of a movie and she found that she never wanted the film to end. 

It would, though. The realization of that almost threatened to reawaken those tear ducts once again but Nicky's voice broke through her dismal thoughts before that could happen. 

"Can I try mama?" Nicky asked Rio, his wide eyes following the pancake's journey back into the pan.  

"Absolutely not," Rio laughed as she sat the hot pan back on the stovetop so Nicky didn't feel tempted to ask again.

Plus, her arm was really fucking tired now. 

Rio thought about her response. How it should've sounded unnatural, but it didn't. It flowed out of her mouth with ease without her having to think about it. 

It was most likely just a side effect of the spell that she had found herself trapped in, and not the fact that she'd always wanted to say something like that to Nicky. Things like telling him that he can't hold a scorching hot pan because that would be much too dangerous for a six-year old and she would be a terrible mother if she let something like that happen. 

In the midst of her thoughts about her new role as a mother, Rio looked up from the stove, finally noticing Agatha standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a big smile on her face. 

"Are you just gonna stand there watching us like a creep or are you gonna come in and eat with us?" She asked her with a smile that was equally as big. 

Agatha laughed at her teasing and moved to fully enter the kitchen but she stopped in her tracks when she heard Nicky say, "Yeah mom come in, mama's almost done cooking." 

Suddenly, it had felt like the kitchen, and the entire house, really, was spinning and tilting in such a sickening way. 

It was the first time Nicky had spoken to her this morning and it was also the first time she'd heard him call her 'mom' in such a long time. 

She was overwhelmed - in an absolutely positive way - by Nicky's acknowledgment of her existence. She was so relieved by it because honestly, there was a small part of her, back in the bedroom, that was scared that Rio might be his only parent in this timeline. 

After all, Nicky hadn't looked over at her once in the room, not even a single glance. He hadn't said a single word to her. No "good morning" or even just "morning". Nothing. He had only spoken to Rio and that really scared her for a second but apparently, it wasn't actually that serious. He was just a six-year old with an empty stomach, craving pancakes. He didn't have time for greetings and other irrelevant words that didn't involve food. 

Agatha was absolutely over the moon to find that she was still his mother too. 

She could feel herself smiling, again. And this wasn't the usual smile that she wore in the hex. It wasn't fake, or rehearsed in the bathroom mirror. It wasn't exaggerated to make her look more like a sitcom character and less like a ruthless witch. 

It was her genuine smile and its return felt so good.

And yes, she was fully aware of how silly she looked, smiling like a dork in the doorway but she couldn't help it; she'd just heard Nicky call her mom for the first time in centuries. 

Although, it did kind of suck that she'd been demoted to the basic 'mom' title while Rio had earned her previous title as 'mama'.

There was a part of her - the petty half of her - that was secretly hoping that he didn't make that decision based on who the cooler parent was because there was no way in hell that she was the boring parent, in any reality. Real or warped. 

Although, she definitely knew that Rio wouldn't be the boring parent either. In all of her fantasies, where she'd imagined raising Nicky with Rio in a big suburban home just like this one, she'd always imagined both of them as the fun parent. 

Which was the only option, really, because neither of them had the maturity levels required to be the strict parent. 

Finally, after a few minutes, the room stopped tilting and turning around Agatha and she moved further into the kitchen, walking over to where Rio stood by the stove. 

She looked down at the stack of pancakes on the plate, highly impressed by the lack of burn marks on them, "When did you have time for cooking classes in between leading people to the other side and chasing me around for years?" She joked, still impressed by the culinary skills of her ex-lover.

Rio laughed as she placed the last pancake down on the plate, "I didn't take any cooking classes, I’m just a natural," She quickly turned off the burner before adding, "and you know I'm also just really good with my hands," She shrugged, trying and failing to hold back a smirk. 

Against her own will, Agatha had laughed at the inappropriate joke. She chose to hit Rio on the arm instead of allowing her very inappropriate response to spill out of her mouth because what she wanted to say in return to that comment was nowhere near appropriate for the company they had right now. 

It really wasn't appropriate in general, actually.

She wasn't supposed to be flirting with Rio. She was supposed to be figuring out what was happening right now. How they even ended up in this situation in the first place. 

But she wasn't. She was smiling at her instead and she hated how natural it all felt. It felt like they'd lived together for decades, engaging in dumb banter over breakfast while their very hungry son laughed from where he sat at the table. 

She should be freaking out about all of this. She should be avoiding Rio as much as possible, but then again, she'd never been good at resisting Rio and her charm. Which is something that Rio was well aware of, based on the smile on her face. 

At Agatha's inability to respond to her flirtation, Rio shot her another sly smile before focusing her attention on something that was much more important right now. Which was feeing their son. 

Rio placed two of the perfectly cooked pancakes on a plate for Nicky. 

Nicky spoke up before she could bring the plate over to him, "Don't forget the whipped cream, mama," He said, quickly reminding her of something that she should've technically already knew. 

"Oh how could I ever forget that?" Rio asked as she sat the plate back down on the counter. 

And again, she wasn't quite sure where these responses were coming from or how they were sounding so natural. They were just kind of happening without her having to think about them. Like she was running on auto-pilot. 

It was kind of fun, though. 

She was having way too much fun right now, playing house with Agatha and Nicky. 

She still didn't know what the hell was happening or how she even ended up here in the first place, or how their son is even alive and sitting at the kitchen table, but the one thing she was sure of, is that she doesn't want any of it to end anytime soon. 

Rio scanned the shelves of the unfamiliar fridge, looking for the whipped cream that their son had requested. She found it, after a few minutes, in the between the bottle of ketchup and the milk carton in the very back. 

Rio scanned the shelves of the unfamiliar fridge, looking for the whipped cream that her son had requested. She found it after a few minutes, in between the bottle of ketchup and the milk carton in the very back. She quickly grabbed the can of Reddi Wip and studied it, looking absolutely puzzled by its vintage design.

"Why the hell are we stuck in the 90s?" She asked Agatha, noticing for the first time that the entire house was set in a different time period. 

Which, no one could really blame her for her delayed realization. 

She'd just woken up to the sight of the only person she'd ever loved in her very long life and their son that had been revived somehow, so she couldn't really focus on unimportant things such as house decor. 

Agatha brushed off her question, "I'll explain later," She said because she had absolutely no clue where to even begin. 

Does she start with the fact that they're stuck in a hex? Or should she start with the fact that they're trapped in a sitcom that's constantly changing decades? 

Or should she just explain the whole Wanda situation as a whole? The reason why she ended up here in the first place. 

She wasn't really sure where to start of none of that even mattered right now because she was distracted and preoccupied with watching Rio spray the whipped cream on Nicky's pancakes.

Rio was so focused, taking her job very seriously as she decorated them with the utmost precision. She even had her bottom lip tugged in between her teeth as she did so. Making sure that the smiley faces were one-hundred percent perfect, not a single flaw in the cloud-like topping. 

The sight of it was making Agatha bite her lip top. Though hers had nothing to do with being focused. She was only biting her lip to hold in her smile because she was highly amused by Rio's very serious concentration on something so silly. 

She'd almost forgotten how cute her ex-wife was sometimes but this was definitely helping her remember that fact very well. 

It was endearing, how she just spent the last five minutes making the most perfect expression on a pancake that would be eaten in such a short amount of time, just ti make their son happy. 

It was a thought that she really shouldn't be having but she was and her stomach was fluttering as a result of it. But she chose to blame the weird fluttering sensation on her hunger instead. Even though it didn't resemble a low appetite in the slightest. 

But it was much safer than admitting that the feelings she'd buried so long ago were already being brought back to life after less being around Rio for less than an hour. 

Of course, those feelings were never actually buried. They never would be, no matter what Rio did. She'd always known that, even in the past. 

Once she'd perfected the design, Rio looked up at Agatha. She was immediately flustered by the sight of Agatha staring at her with a small smile on her face. The sight of it was making her feel super funny on the inside and if Agatha didn't stop looking at her and smiling at her like that, Rio was quite certain that her face would be mirroring the one made out of whipped cream in a few minutes. 

"What?" Rio asked her, still flustered and still so very in love with the woman staring at her. Though she didn't plan on admitting that anytime soon. 

Agatha quickly shook her head as if she were trying to shake off the look that Rio was questioning her about, "Nothing." She said, looking away from Rio and pretending to be interested in the stack of pancakes on the counter instead. 

Rio shook her head at Agatha's weird behavior, quickly moving away from her before her face could get any warmer. Warmth that had nothing to do with the heat of the kitchen.

Rio sat the plate of pancakes down in front of a very patient Nicky, who had to entertain himself with his stuffed rabbit for the last ten minutes while his personal chef was flirting with his other mother. 

Nicky instantly picked up his fork, earning a loud laugh from Rio, "Thank you mama,"  He said before biting into the pancake. He was already messing up the whipped cream smiles that Rio had so carefully placed on them. "Now hurry and make yours so we can eat together," He urged her with a tone that could hardly be considered demanding when it was said through a mouthful of pancakes. 

Both of his mothers laughed at his 'demand'. Rio shook her head, still laughing, as she walked back over to the stove, "Yeah, he's definitely your son. He inherited all of your bossiness." 

Agatha shook her head in total disagreement with a dopey smile on her face, "He's our son." She said before she could stop herself and fuck, she really didn't mean to say that out loud, she'd only meant to think it, but now Rio was staring at her as if she'd pulled the brightest star out of the night sky and handed it over to her wrapped in a beautiful bow. 

Both of them were speechless, for different reasons; the meaning of what Agatha had just said hitting them at the same time. 

What she had said was a simple fact, really. 

A biological fact that they both were well aware of but the feeling Rio had gotten from hearing those words, for the second time this morning, was unlike anything she'd ever felt in her life. She felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She suddenly felt light on her feet, like she might start floating around the kitchen like a cartoon character being reeled in by the smell of delicious delicacies. 

But before anything like that could happen, Agatha awkwardly cleared her throat, officially putting an end to the sentimental moment that they'd barely shared. 

Agatha decided that she really needed Wanda to hurry up and fix whatever spell she had her under, because it was making her say really stupid things that she didn't mean to say. 

Things that were far too tender and a little too sappy for her liking. 

She averted her eyes, trying to ignore how soft Rio's had become, "So do I get a plate or is Nicky the only one allowed to eat?" She asked, deflecting with humor. 

Per usual. 

Rio smiled at the obvious deflection. She wanted the moment to last longer but she was honestly grateful that it was so short-lived because she was a few seconds away from professing her love for Agatha, for the thousandth time in their lives, and she really didn't want to scare her away right now. Not when she'd just gotten her back. 

So instead of doing something dumb like that, she ended up putting two more pancakes on a plate, reaching out to hand it to Agatha. 

"Thank yo-" Agatha's gratitude was cut short by Rio pulling the plate back at last minute, a mischievous look already finding its way on her face. Agatha rolled her eyes, preparing herself for whatever trick Rio had up her sleeve this time. 

"I'll give you the plate..." Rio paused, unsure if she actually wanted to say the rest of her sentence. Now was really not the time for her to mess around like this. Not after what just transpired between them, but she couldn't help herself. "...if you give me a kiss." She finished her sentence, still holding the plate hostage, keeping it away from a very hungry Agatha. 

The open flirtation was so bold.

It was so bold for her to be speaking like this on their first day back together, but in all honesty, it didn't feel like it was their first day back together. It felt like no time had passed at all as she watched the light shade of pink flooding Agatha's face at the sound of the unexpected words. 

Rio couldn't blame Agatha for her flushed face, even she was caught of guard by her words but there was something about being here in this kitchen that made her want to say cheesy, romantic things to the woman she'd missed so much. 

Maybe it was a side effect of whatever mess she they were trapped in. 

Maybe it wasn't. 

Agatha finally spoke up once she regained her composure. Though her voice sounded a lot different than before. "No thank you," She scoffed, to really sell her disgust, "I'll just make my own plate if that's the case." 

It was all an act, of course. 

Every insult, every annoyed look was an act when she was around Rio. It always has been. Especially now. 

She found that she wanted to kiss Rio so badly in this moment for some reason and she knew it had nothing to do with the promise of breakfast in exchange for the romantic gesture. 

Nicky stopped eating, frowning as he watched his moms interact from where he sat, "You always give mama a kiss when she cooks for us," He said, utterly confused by Agatha's weird behavior. 

"Oh do I?" Agatha asked, amused by the information he revealed to her.

Rio was also amused and absolutely jealous of whatever version of her that Nicky was referring to. She wanted nothing more than to feel Agatha's lips on her own again. 

Nicky nodded at her question, "Yes," He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his pajama shirt before adding, "and I do too." 

Agatha quickly shot Rio a worried look. She knew that Rio had never interacted with Nicky like that in the past, it must've been weird for her to experience affection from someone that was somewhat of a stranger to her. 

"Did you give her a kiss this morning?" She asked him, still looking at Rio. 

Rio shook her head, silently answering the question that was directed at their son. 

"No," Nicky shook his head, "but I will after I eat." He added with an innocent smile, completely oblivious to what was happening in the minds of his mothers. Fully unaware of the fact that this Rio wasn't the one he had given a kiss to every morning.

Rio stiffened at the sound of his words.

The hand holding earlier was already...a lot for her to handle so to receive a kiss from him, would absolutely overwhelm her. 

It would make all of this feel a little too real and she didn't want to get attached to him. Especially not right now, when she knew nothing about how he was even here or if he would be around for long. 

She wished that he could stick around forever and if she could get confirmation that he would be around for a long time, then he could give her however many kisses he wanted to. 

After all, it’s all she ever wanted. 

"Maybe save the kisses for later, Nicky." Agatha said, coming to her rescue. 

"Okay, mom." Nicky returned his attention to the food in front of him, absolutely clueless as to why he had to hold off on giving his mom kisses. 

Rio practically shoved the plate of pancakes into Agatha's hands now. She was still a little shaken up by the thought of Nicky showing her affection. 

Agatha was concerned by her weird behavior and she wanted to ask her if she was fine but now definitely wasn't the time, not in front of their son that would be the topic of the conversation. 

She didn't want to confuse Nicky. 

So instead of checking up on her ex, like she wanted to, Agatha took the plate over to the table and sat down in the chair to the right of Nicky. 

"That's mama's chair," Nicky pointed out, frowning for the second time this morning. He was so confused on why his moms were doing everything wrong all of a sudden and acting so weird around each other. 

Their first mistake was not waking him up on time. He had to get himself out of bed, which never happened before. They were always in his room before he could even open his eyes, kissing him awake and asking how he'd slept. 

Then, he had to practically beg Rio to make him pancakes when she would usually agree after his first time asking. Already smiling and nodding her head before he could even finish his request. 

Then, once Rio finally allowed him to drag her to the kitchen, she couldn't even remember where the pancake mix was until he reminded her that it was in the cabinet closest to the fridge. 

And then, the most confusing difference of them all: Agatha wasn't giving his other mom a thousand kisses after she cooked like she always did and now, Agatha wasn't sitting in her assigned seat. 

She'd always sat to the left of him, ever since they'd moved in to the house.

Everything was so...off right now, and he was confused about all of it. Which, sure, his moms were always weird, which he absolutely loved about them, but they were never weird like this. 

"I'm sorry, Nicky," Agatha sighed, frustrated by the amount of rules they had in this house. This weird new reality didn't come with a list of do's and don'ts? "Where do I usually sit?" She asked. 

Nicky patted the chair to the left of him.

Which, okay, that really wasn't that big of a difference, but because this was Nicky, she quickly got up from what was apparently Rio's chair and sat down in the other one. 

Rio, no longer nervous, smiled at the sight of Agatha obeying a six-year old of all people. 

Yes, it was Nicky but still, Agatha never listened to anyone. Hell, she barely even listens to her and by barely, Rio means she never does. 

Rio was still laughing at Nicky being the boss of Agatha as she made matching smiley faces on her own pancakes. Once they looked absolutely perfect, she moved to sit down in her assigned seat, to the right of Nicky. 

The three of them ate in complete, comfortable silence: Nicky was too busy stuffing his face with chocolate chip pancakes to talk. Rio was too busy thinking about how weird their current situation was, and Agatha was too busy thinking about how she really didn't want the weird situation in question to end anytime soon. 

It just felt so domestic and so...perfect. 

She'd pictured moments like this a million times in the past. She'd dreamt of doing something as simple as having breakfast with her son and the love of her life countless times.

Of course those dreams were never set in this weird hex they were in and it never included assigned seats and a stolen house, but it was still so perfect, so surreal. She never wanted it to end, she felt like she could do this forever: waking up next to Rio, watching her cook for them and their son, flirting with her over a plate of pancakes, and having breakfast together.

She didn't want it to end, but she knew it would soon.

That realization made her nauseous, she no longer had an appetite. 

As soon as she placed her fork down, there was a loud knock on the front door, followed by an all-too familiar voice. 

"Agnes," Wanda called out, her upbeat sitcom voice reaching the kitchen. 

"Who the fuck is Agnes?" Rio asked, looking lost by the foreign name.

Nicky laughed at the swear word, "Language, mama." He shook his head at Rio before finishing the last bite of his breakfast.

"Sorry," Rio smiled at him apologetically. She’d totally forgotten there was a little human sitting next to her, she was too busy trying to figure out who Agnes was. 

Agatha seemed to know who she was, she was frozen in her chair with obvious fear written all over her face. She was cursing (in her head so Nicky wouldn't hear). 

She'd forgotten all about Wanda, and her sitcom persona, in the midst of her confusion. 

She was supposed to be married to a man named Ralph, with no children. How was she supposed to explain her ex-wife and her undead son to Wanda?

She looked around the kitchen, panicking, unsure of what to do. Her, and her fake identity, were a few seconds away from being exposed. 

"Who is that?" Rio asked confused at the sound of the unfamiliar feminine voice that was still calling out Agatha's fake name. 

“It’s Wanda,” Nicky laughed like Rio just asked them the silliest question ever. “She’s mom’s best friend, remember?”

Agatha's head snapped towards him, panic being replaced by shock. 

Now she was even more confused about what was happening.

How did Nicky know about Wanda? and if he was related to Wanda's powers,  somehow, does that mean that this version of him only exists here in the hex? 

The thought of that was gut-wrenching. She wasn't sure that she would ever be able to step foot out of the hex if that was the case, but she didn't really have time to dwell on those thoughts right now because Wanda's knocks were only increasing in volume. 

Agatha quickly stood up from the table, ignoring the look of bewilderment on Rio's face. 

This was going to be so hard for her to explain later on. 

She rushed over to the door, swinging it open before Wanda could put a dent in it from her incessant knocking. 

“Oh Agnes!” Wanda exclaimed as she looked her up and down, “You look…terrible,” She frowned as she took in the wrinkled pajamas that Agatha was wearing and the lack of makeup that she usually had on before the sun had even risen. 

Agatha wanted to scoff at the very rude comment. She wanted to tell Wanda to fuck off but she was Agnes now so she couldn't really do that. 

She really wanted to, though.

It’s not like she had ample time to apply makeup and put on pretty clothes this morning. She was too busy waking up to the sight of her ex-wife in her bed and her formerly deceased son asking for pancakes, so Wanda would have to forgive her for not looking as put together as Agnes usually does.

"Wanda!" Agatha put on her Agnes voice, "What are you doing here?” She moved over in the doorway, blocking Wanda from seeing her family in the kitchen.   

"You know, I'm actually not too sure." Wanda said, looking confused on her reasoning for coming over. It looked like she was glitching out for a second but she perked up a few seconds later and god, it was so creepy when she snapped out of a trance like that. "Oh right! I was coming over to take Nicky to school." 

"What do you mean take Nicky to school?" Agatha asked, so lost on why she was even mentioning her son when she shouldn't even know of his existence. 

"What else could I mean by taking him to school, silly?" Wanda laughed and so did that very annoying fake audience in the background. Wanda sniffed the air, quickly switching topics, "Is that Rio's famous pancakes that I'm smelling?" She asked, moving past Agatha and entering her house without permission.  

Agatha on the other hand, was frozen by the door, her eyes wide in disbelief from hearing her former lover's name tumbling out of Wanda's mouth so...casually. 

So apparently Wanda knew both her son and her ex-wife, that's great and not at all confusing.

It was actually really confusing and she was so lost.

How did Wanda know her family? Why was she not confused about the absence of Ralph? And what is so damn special about those pancakes? 

They were delicious, sure, but they weren't anything too special.

(they definitely were, she was just jealous that Nicky asked for Rio to cook for him and not her)

Agatha came to her senses after a while and shut the front door, following Wanda into the kitchen. She was super nervous to see how this would play out. 

"Morning Rio," Wanda said easily as she entered the kitchen, "Morning Nicky," She said, smiling at the sight of Nicky licking the whipped cream off of his plate. 

"Morning Wanda," He replied, smiling at her as if he'd known her his whole life. Which, if he had been born today or rather, materialized today, then technically, he had known her his whole life. 

The sight of her son smiling at Wanda left Agatha feeling uneasy. She didn't want Nicky being buddy-buddy with the woman she was scheming to steal from.

Of course, it wouldn't be his first time witnessing her steal the powers of another witch, but still, she wanted things to be different this time around. 

Agatha glanced over at Rio, holding in a laugh as she mouthed, "Who the hell is that?" when Wanda wasn't looking at her.

Agatha shook her head in amusement, Rio looked so adorable when she had her nose scrunched up in confusion like that.

Which is definitely not something she should be focusing on right now. She had to figure out why Wanda was acting so normal about her having a wife and a son when she didn't have either one of those 24 hours ago. 

"Well I am slightly offended that you guys didn't invite me over for breakfast," Wanda said as she looked at the empty plate on the kitchen counter, "and I'm also surprised you guys let Nicky have chocolate chip pancakes on a school day," She finished, smiling at the guilty looking six-year old hiding behind his plate at the table. 

"They forgot," He quickly explained, smiling apologetically at his mothers.

Neither of them cared about him tricking them, of course. They didn't even know what the hell they were talking about.

Plus, Agatha couldn't stay mad at him for long, his smile looked exactly like the one on Rio's face right now. 

Wanda laughed at the six-year old's trickery and looked over at the clock in the kitchen. "Agnes! You usually have Nicky dressed by now!" She shook her head, confused on why her neighbor was acting so strange today. 

"Sorry, I had a long night!" Agatha quickly explained, ignoring Rio's confusion on the high octave of her voice. She searched Wanda's face for any hints, to see if she remembered drinking martinis together all last night, but nothing about her expression said that she did. 

"Oh, did you?" Wanda asked, confirming that last night really never happened in this new timeline she had them in.

Which was even more confusing and Agatha should probably try to figure out what this means for her, and her plans, but honestly, it was way too early in the morning for that. 

She would figure it out later. 

"Well if you could get Nicky dressed that would be great! The boys are waiting for me in the car," Wanda said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

At the mention of going to school, Nicky jumped up from the table. 

It didn't make any sense to Agatha.

She wasn't confused by Nicky's eagerness to get an education - well maybe just a little bit confused because who is that excited to learn - but she was more confused by the mention of a school operating here in Westview. 

Last time she checked, there weren't even enough children in this town to fill up a school. Let alone a bus. 

They were all locked away in their houses, thanks to the redhead at the table. So the school's population had to be three people in total: Wanda's rapidly growing rascals and now apparently Nicky. 

"Come on mom, I don't want to be late!" Nicky tugged on Agatha's hand, urging her to get a move on it and help him get dressed for school. 

Agatha looked over at her confused ex, "Rio, do you want to come help me with getting our son dressed?" She asked, nodding towards the hallway. It felt so weird using her Agnes voice when talking to Rio. It was so unnatural, but absolutely necessary, she had to keep the act up in front of Wanda.

Rio shook her head, looking somewhat weird out by the events unfolding in front of her: the weird thing Agatha was doing with her voice, the quirky stranger in their home that was mentioning both her and Nicky's name so casually, and also the fact that Nicky was actually here was still throwing her off completely. 

Agatha shot Rio a look, one that said: please catch on soon, “ Come on, you know I have a hard time tying Nicky’s shoes. You’re so much better at it than I am!” 

She was absolutely terrified of leaving Rio alone with Wanda in the kitchen.

Who knows what they would talk about? Rio would probably expose her, by accident, in less than ten seconds.

She’d probably call her ‘Agatha’ or maybe mention her powers or something else that she definitely shouldn't. She needed to separate them now until she could explain everything to Rio to keep that from happening. 

Rio gave a fake laugh, slowly catching on to whatever was happening. "Oh yeah, I'll come help you,” She found herself changing her voice to match the tone of Agatha’s. She wasn’t sure why they were talking like this, it sounded like they were in some cheesy sitcom, but Agatha looked pleased by her response so she knew she did something right. "I know it'll take an hour if you try to do it yourself." She finished, standing up to take their son's other hand. 

Rio quickly gave the confused looking stranger at their kitchen table a semi-polite smile before following Agatha and Nicky down the hallway to his bedroom. She shook her headache ridden head as she closed the door to Nicky’s room.

Who the hell is that in the kitchen and who the hell is Agnes? 

Chapter Text

The scene felt so familiar, and not in a good way. It reminded her of the last time Rio took their son somewhere and what the outcome of that was.

The thought of that same thing happening again, so many years later, left her mind reeling. There was a small, rather convincing voice, that was whispering words of persuasion to her, tempting her to chase after them. Which she absolutely did not listen to because she would look like a madwoman if she did.

After all, it wasn't actually as serious as she was making it seem, she was just being a tad bit dramatic, per usual.

Nicky wasn't heading off to the afterlife (for a second time), he was simply going to Westview Elementary School for a few hours, but still, she didn’t want him to leave.

He had to, though, and she had to let him because she was no longer Agatha, the grieving mother, she was Agnes right now and she was currently being watched - quite intensely - by Wanda, who was standing next to her. 

So instead of doing anything that would blow her cover, like chasing after Nicky with no shoes on, she swallowed down her worries and pasted a huge smile on her face.

Agatha waved, wildly, towards the parked car, "Have a wonderful day at school, Nicky!" She shouted in that cheesy voice mothers use in sitcoms when sending their offspring off to school.

That fake voice where they pretend to be disappointed that their kids are leaving but in reality, they can’t wait to have a childfree home for a few hours. 

Her dramatics were absolutely necessary this time because she needed to put on a show for Wanda because her next door neighbor had been giving her the strangest of looks since she walked back out of Nicky's room earlier, as if she sensed something was off with her. 

Which, of course, something was off.

Wanda wouldn’t be wrong to have those suspicions, but it was a bit unfair for her to have them when she was the reason everything was so out of whack right now.

Well, her and her wacky powers that is. 

"Someone's excited to have the house to themselves," Wanda finally spoke up, laughing at Agatha's enthusiasm to send Nicky off. There were still the tiniest traces of suspicion on her face, but Agatha chose to ignore them.

"Yes, I am!" Agatha laughed, finally putting down her aching arm but leaving that same dazzling smile on her face. "I mean don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore Nicky but he can be such a handful sometimes!" She said, letting out a theatrical sigh to really sell the whole tired mother act. 

"I know what you mean," Wanda quickly nodded in agreement, "Billy and Tommy are a handful, too, as you know." She let out a loud laugh and this time, Agatha did possess these memories, she was fully aware of how mischievous Wanda's twins were. 

Before Agatha could respond with some emphatic comment about how hard motherhood is, there was the feeling of a warm hand landing on her upper arm.

"Agnes..." Wanda started, hesitating as if she were afraid to say whatever was coming next. "I don't mean to overstep or anything..." She trailed off, again, before quickly glancing at the car outside where Rio was struggling to get the seat belt on Nicky. She lowered her voice before continuing,"...but is everything alright with you and Rio? You two seem so different this morning." 

Shit.

Agatha could feel that same panic from earlier creeping in as she stood there, staring into the reflection of Wanda's worried eyes. 

She took a minute to ponder Wanda's concerned, and somewhat meddlesome, question.

She was silently praying that the question didn't mean what she thought it did because it sounded a lot like Wanda was implying that her and Rio were married to each other in this warped version of reality. 

But that couldn't be true, though, right?

Like sure they share a house, and a son, but maybe they were just really good at co-parenting. Like so good they slept in the same bed every night and kissed each other on the mouths every morning at breakfast, according to Nicky, but people that co-parent can do all of that too right?

That stuff didn't necessarily mean that they were married. 

She secretly knew they were this entire time, because it was pretty fucking obvious, but she was just really deep in denial.

“I’m sorry, it’s really none of my business,” Wanda spoke up again, shaking her head at Agatha’s silence. Mistaking it for discomfort at her questioning when really, Agatha was just thinking about what all of this means for her and Rio. How they would have to act like lovesick idiots whenever Wanda was around just to keep her suspicions at bay.

With acting being the keyword here because there is absolutely no part of her that still has feelings for Rio. There isn’t a single fiber of her being that would want to be married to Rio, again.

Despite her body's obvious reactions to her ex and their back-and-forth flirting in the kitchen earlier.

Those were simply moments of weakness and she wouldn't let them happen again. 

Wanda was still staring at her, waiting for her to say something. Anything, really. Agatha had to come up with an excuse quickly before Wanda, and the live audience watching them, started to notice her weird behavior. 

“You don't have to apologize for being concerned, that's what friends are for!" Agatha said in that cheery voice she was really starting to despise. “But you know…” She mimicked the way Wanda lowered her voice as if she were spilling a secret, “…we actually did get into a fight last night.” She mentally patted herself on the back for coming up with a valid excuse off the top of her head so quickly. 

"Oh no!" Wanda said, her voice full of concern. The concern was kind of sweet, even if it was for a fake fight that never actually happened. "I knew something was off when you two weren't all over each other this morning!" She laughed at some unknown memory of affection. 

Shit, Agatha cursed in her head again.

Of course her and Rio were incapable of keeping their hands off of each other in this timeline, why wouldn't they be?

So not only did they have to pretend to be deeply in love with each other while in public, they also had to really play up the whole PDA factor too to make it more believable. 

Which was a sickening realization.

Agatha could feel that sickness, that familiar nausea, deep in her gut. Her stomach was fluttering at an insanely rapid pace whenever she thought about having to be affectionate with Rio after not touching her in so many years.

Centuries, really. 

It had been hundreds of years since she last touched Rio in a romantic sense and now her stubborn streak was coming to an end against her will because she had the bright idea of entering this hex for her own personal gain. 

She felt queasy just thinking about doing something as innocent as intertwining her fingers with Rio's and surely that queasiness was due to disgust and not something as outrageous as butterflies in her stomach (but she secretly knew it was)

Agatha let out an uncomfortable laugh at what Wanda just revealed to her. "Yeah well, she won't be getting any kisses from me until she apologizes for what she did last night!" She chose to ignore how much stronger the fluttering in her stomach had gotten at the mention of kissing Rio. 

Wanda smiled at her, those suspicions from earlier slowly melting away. Agatha was starting to sound a lot more like the next door neighbor that she had come to know. 

Wanda was a little worried at first. It was almost like someone else had woken up in Agnes' body. But that would be absolutely insane and totally impossible. 

Right?

"I also noticed neither of you had on your wedding rings this morning," Wanda pointed out, glancing at Agatha's bare ring finger. Her tone wasn't accusatory, or skeptical even, she was just curious on why the matching silver bands were absent from their hands when they'd always been there before. "Is that part of the punishment, too?" Wanda asked, letting out a small chuckle. 

"No," Agatha gave her most convincing laugh in return, hoping that Wanda couldn't tell how badly she was freaking out on the inside. There was way too much information being thrown at her right now and it wasn't even eight in the morning yet.

She made a mental note to make a comprehensive list of reminders later on so she could keep her true identity a secret. "I took my ring off last night when I was doing the dishes and I must've forgotten to put it back on, silly me!" Agatha did her best sitcom laugh, hoping it would distract Wanda from how she was shifting on her feet and how she didn't have an excuse for Rio's missing ring. 

Wanda looked unconvinced by her excuse this time. She looked like she wanted to ask more questions but Rio had chosen that exact moment to close the car door. She was already walking up to them, so Wanda didn't ask anything.  

Instead, she said, "Well, I better get the boys to school before they're late!" She shot Agatha a look, one that said they weren't finished with this conversation. Which was a look that Agatha really didn't want to see right now.

She honestly wanted the conversation to be finished indefinitely. She was an amazing liar, sure, but it was getting a little hard to keep up with all of the lies when she was balancing a fake identity in a fake sitcom with a fake family. 

She had quite the workload cut out for her. 

"Don't forget Nicky is coming to our house after school today," Wanda shouted over her shoulder as she walked to the car, "You can pick him up around 5." 

"Sounds good!" Agatha shouted back just as loud. Which was unnecessary because they weren't that far away from each other but she realized the best technique for her when pretending to be Agnes, is to just match Wanda's energy no matter what. 

It works like a charm every single time. 

Agatha watched as Wanda slipped into her car and drove off. She was now left alone with her real identity and her very fake spouse. 

She looked over at the spouse in question, laughing at the small droplets of perspiration on Rio's forehead. "It couldn't have been that hard to put a seat belt on a six-year old." She teased, remembering Rio's small grunts of frustration that were periodically interrupting her conversation with Wanda. 

"Well it was hard because Nicky moves around a lot and those random boys in the backseat weren't making things any easier by tempting him with shiny toys and comic books." Rio said, wiping her sweat off with her forearm. 

Agatha laughed even louder at Rio calling Wanda's sons, 'those random boys'. 

"Those boys are Wanda's sons." 

"Okay..." Rio said, still confused. "and who is Wanda?" She asked and Agatha couldn't help but laugh at her obvious confusion. 

She did feel bad for her, though. Rio was probably so lost on what was happening. She knew she would have to explain everything to Rio.

Which wouldn't be a problem if everything didn't include informing her that they were still married to each other here in the hex and that they would have to play their roles perfectly because she had nefarious plans to steal Wanda's powers at some point in the near future.

Of course, she would have to explain everything in much simpler terms if she wanted Rio to understand anything that she was saying but it was a good starting point. 

She nodded towards the inside of the house, motioning for Rio to come back inside. "I'll explain everything to you...after you take a shower." Agatha said when she noticed how drenched Rio's t-shirt was. 

"Fucking finally!" Rio was so eager to know what this was all about. Why was she here? and where was here exactly?

She moved past Agatha to enter the house and there was a brief moment, no longer than a second, where their bodies had brushed up against each other. The contact made Agatha tremble, her knees weakening as if she were an adolescent that had just held their crushes hand for the first time at recess.  

Her reaction was embarrassing to say the least and it was even worse because Rio didn't seem to be affected by it all, like she was. She was already making her way to the bathroom to wash off the sweat that was left on her skin from her fight with the seat belt while Agatha was still leaning in the doorway, trying to catch her breath from the sudden contact.  

It made absolutely no sense. Her body's reaction made no sense whatsoever. 

She had touched Rio a lot more than that in the past, especially in more...intimate ways and even in less intimate ways such as earlier this morning, when Rio had quite literally wrapped her arm around her waist in bed. 

But that was different. 

That was before Agatha had any idea what the future held for them: the hand holding they would have to do, the overly-sweet pet names they would have to add into their sentences to really sell their fake marriage, the amount of kissing they would have to do because their counterparts in this timeline were obsessed with each other, the domesticity of raising their son together in this borrowed suburban home.

All of that made her reaction much stronger this time around and the feeling was almost too much for her. 

It was too much because it made her wish that all of this was real. All of it, even her marriage with Rio. 

She quickly shook off those thoughts. There was no way in hell she was already yearning for Rio like this and they hadn't even started their scheme yet.

She moved further into the house in search of headache medicine, or maybe a sleeping aid that would lead her into a deep slumber and into the next morning prematurely, so she could wake up from this odd dream that she was having. 

"So let me get this straight..." Rio said, sitting up on the living room couch. "We're stuck in a sitcom inside a magical hex, controlled by a witch that you're planning on stealing from and on top of all of that, we're now stuck in a new timeline that you don't know anything about and our son exists only within the walls of this hex?" 

"Yeah, that pretty much covers it." Agatha shrugged, trying her absolute hardest to look nonchalant but the truth is, she was feeling anything but nonchalant as Rio sat on the couch, drying off in her bath towel. 

Agatha had kindly asked her to get dressed properly for this very important conversation that they would be having but Rio refused to because it was 'way too fucking hot in the house right now' and Agatha couldn't help but to agree with her observation of the high heat. 

Although, the high temperature of her body had nothing to do with the aftermath of a hot shower, or their broken air conditioning. It had everything to do with the remaining shower droplets that were traveling down Rio's neck and chasing each other into the top of her towel. 

The sound of Rio's voice interrupted the game she was playing in her head. The one where she was seeing which water droplet would make it to their destination first. 

Unfortunately for her, the one that she was currently betting on, had lost the race. 

"So in order to convince Wanda that you're the Agnes that she's familiar with, we have to pretend to be married, correct?" Rio asked in an innocent tone even though Agatha knew it was anything but innocent. 

She knew Rio too well. She could practically hear the excitement that was disguised as innocence in her tone. 

"Yes, that's correct." Agatha said, shifting around at the topic at hand. 

"So that means that we have to like hold hands and kiss each other?" Rio asked, still maintaining her innocent act even though the wide grin on her face was making it completely pointless at this point. 

Agatha rolled her eyes at how excited Rio looked by the idea of all of this, "Yes, I believe that is what married couples do." 

The grin on Rio's face widened even more, she'd really gotten lucky out of nowhere.

One minute she was wandering around, moping really, in her deadly domain and now here she was: co-parenting with Agatha, who she was also semi-married to. It felt like a dream and she would absolutely believe that it was one if she was capable of having those. But she wasn't, so she knew it was real. 

"I do think we should have rules, though." Agatha added as an afterthought.

"Rules?" Rio laughed at the absurdity of her suggestion. 

"Yeah," Agatha shrugged, "We aren't technically married so I think we should have some rules to keep things in order so we don't cross any boundaries."  

So she doesn't cross any boundaries is what she really meant. 

"We don't need rules, Agatha, we're grown adults that are fully capable of behaving ourselves." Now it was Rio's turn to roll her eyes, "Plus, we're exes, we've already crossed every boundary there is." 

It was a fair point, but Agatha was quite stubborn so she didn't give in. 

"First of all, that was years ago and I know that you have trouble following rules, but I think they're important to have anyway." Agatha almost laughed at how uncharacteristic she sounded. She didn't actually give a shit about rules, she never has, but maybe this whole Agnes act was getting to her.

Rio laughed at her, "Since when do you care about rules?" 

"Are you going to let me say them or what?" Agatha asked, ignoring her question. She really didn't have an answer for her.  

"Fine, what are your boring rules?" Rio gave a dramatic sigh as she adjusted her bath towel and no, Agatha was not paying any attention to the newly exposed skin near her chest area. 

Agatha cleared her throat for reasons completely unrelated to the dirty thoughts she was having: 

• "Rule #1: If we absolutely have to kiss, it will be a small peck on the lips and there will be no tongue involved." 

"Boring!" Rio yawned, already interrupting her rules. "If Wanda mentioned how we're always all over each other, then how does it make any sense for us to just peck each other on the lips?"

Agatha wanted to ignore her rude interruption and continue her list, but Rio made a great point. 

"Fine, if we have to kiss, our lips can only make contact for no more than five seconds, and there will still be no tongue." Agatha slightly adjusted the rule. 

"Are we supposed to count in our heads every time we kiss or what?" Rio asked, thoroughly entertained by how silly Agatha was acting right now. They'd done a lot more than tongue kiss back in the day yet here she was, limiting them to pecks and putting a time limit on their kisses. 

"You can count in your head if that helps you, yes." Agatha replied sarcastically.

She had to hold back on laughing at her own dumb rule. It was so stupid but necessary. Five seconds seemed like a decent amount of time, it would make it a lot harder for her to fall for Rio again if they were operating on timed kisses with no tongue action. "Now can I finish?" She asked Rio. 

Rio laughed, motioning for her to go on. "My apologies my love, please continue your very dull list of rules that we absolutely do not need."

Agatha shot her a dirty look that was fully devoid of any actual malice, she wasn't actually annoyed with Rio. She couldn't be, not when the banter felt so familiar and so right.  

• "That leads me into Rule #2: No excessive pet names unless we really need to use them to sell our fake relationship."

She expected Rio to protest but Rio had nothing to say. She didn't really care for pet names beyond the basics, anyway, but then she remembered an important detail. 

"Wait, if we're stuck in a sitcom, then aren't excessive pet names like super common between couples on television?" Rio asked, smiling at the annoyed look on Agatha's face. 

Again, Rio made a great point, her list of rules was already becoming pretty pointless. She didn't really think them through. Really, she was just making them up on the spot. 

"Okay, ignore that then." Agatha said with a sigh, "but don't call me anything super cheesy like pumpkin or else I'll kill you." She said, glaring at Rio when her eyes lit up with mischief as if she just had a brilliant idea. 

Rio raised her hands in mock surrender at the glare, swallowing down the nickname that she was going to call Agatha. The one that started with a 'P' and ended with an 'N'. 

She motioned with her hand for Agatha to go on, once again, "Please continue, I can't wait to hear what brilliant idea you think of next." 

Agatha smiled at her teasing. 

• "Rule #3: No touching each other behind closed doors"

"That sounds really fucking dirty," Rio said with a very immature laugh. 

• "Rule #4: Please act your age!" Agatha said, even though she, herself, was also laughing at Rio's dirty mind. 

"Okay, okay." Rio said, still laughing. “but back to number three, what does no touching behind closed doors mean exactly?" 

"You know...if Wanda isn't around, and we're alone in the house then keep your hands to yourself."

"Hmm," Rio tapped her chin, pretending to think about something. She was trying to come up with a rebuttal for this rule but there wasn't one. The rule was pretty valid this time, but she still wanted to annoy Agatha in some way. "So we can't touch each other at all?" She asked, scooting closer to Agatha's side of the couch as the whispered question spilled out of her mouth. 

It wasn't really meant to be seductive, at least those weren't her intentions, but because of her lack of clothing, and the nature of her question, it kind of came off like that regardless. 

This sitcom was slowly turning into a raunchy rom-com.

Once they were a few centimeters away, Agatha froze completely. The air around her was stifling, constricting her airways almost, making it hard to breathe as Rio's breath ghosted across her lips. 

She wanted to lean forward and close the gap between them. She wanted to ignore all of her dumb rules, especially the first one regarding tongue kissing, but she couldn't. 

She had to remind herself that they weren't actually married to each other. But, fuck, it was so hard to do that when Rio was looking at her like that: her mouth curved in a smug smile as if she could read Agatha's mind. 

Agatha was so close to listening, but she couldn’t, so she moved her face back a few inches instead. "No touching, and no flirting, behind closed doors." Agatha said, adding an extra, much needed, component to rule #3. 

Rio laughed at the obvious blush on her face. "Are there any more rules that you would like to add?" 

Agatha almost said no, but then she paused, remembering their sleeping situation. 

• "Yes, actually. Rule #5: Stay on your own side of the bed at night, no cuddling or anything close to it." 

"That one is useless, too." Rio let out a small laugh without explaining any further.

She didn't need to, Agatha knew what she was referring to. How her body gravitated towards Rio's on its own accord, even in her sleep. There were so many times in the past where she tried to stay mad at Rio, sleeping as far away from her as possible, only to end up wrapped up in her arms in the morning. 

"Stay on your own side of the bed," Agatha repeated, unwilling to remove the rule.

She had a trick up her sleeve to solve her own gravitational problem, one that involved a spell that would make her as still as a rock as she slept. 

"Okay, Agatha," Rio said, still sitting much too close for comfort. She went quiet for just a moment before speaking up again. "Should we practice?" 

"Practice what?" Agatha asked, utterly confused on why they would need to practice anything, when they'd already done everything.  

"Kissing,” Rio replied as if that was oh so obvious. 

Agatha laughed, loudly, the suggestion catching her off guard. "Why would we need to practice kissing if we've kissed a million times before?" 

"I don't know," Rio said, "That was so long ago, it might be different now." 

She leaves out the part where she just wants an excuse to feel Agatha's lips pressed up against her own. 

"I think we'll be fine. It doesn't take a genius to know how to kiss,” Agatha said, ignoring the small voice that was whispering to her in her head. It wasn't the same voice from earlier. No, this one was different.

It was much more persistent.

It was the voice of a hopeless romantic and she really needed it to be quiet right now. 

"Suit yourself, I'm gonna go get dressed then." Rio said as she finally stood up from the couch. 

She walked to the bedroom, completely oblivious to the reaction that her, and her towel-clad body, was having on her Agatha. It really wasn't making things any easier when she smelled so delicious. Agatha could smell the strawberry shower gel that had cleansed Rio's body a little while ago, lingering and clinging to her damp skin, the fruity scent filling up the entire room. 

It was filling up her head too, trying its hardest to make room in her already crowded mind. It was already full of so many different thoughts that all had the same thing, or rather - the same person - in common. 

She was never going to survive this fake marriage. 

Agatha sat at the kitchen table, making a list of important things that she needed to remember in order to become this new version of Agnes that Wanda was familiar with. It didn't take long to write the list, it had honestly been completed a long time ago but she found herself doodling on the sheet of paper mindlessly as images of Rio floated around in her mind. 

Again, she felt like a school girl with a crush as she thought of her ex. She still had those butterflies that one gets in the beginning stages of a relationship. She still felt nervous around her for some reason and totally off balance and it had only been less than a few hours around her.  

She was so fucked. 

She double-checked the notebook paper in front of her, making sure that she didn't accidentally write something childish like 'Agatha + Rio' in the corner of the paper and then she walked to their bedroom and taped the paper to their bedroom mirror. 

Chapter Text

Picture frames that definitely weren't in Agatha's house the day before, but they were now, coated in a thin layer of dust as if they'd been there for years. 

"For the last time, that," Agatha gestured towards the two strangers in the photo that just happened to look a lot like them, "isn't actually us." 

Rio shrugged, unfazed by the reminder. "Well they look exactly like us so technically it is," She brought the picture frame closer to her face for a better look, "See, she even has the same exact laugh line that you always get when someone says something super funny, how cute is that." She teased, holding the picture frame out for Agatha to see.

Sure enough, the laugh line was there. Deep and genuine and somewhat of a stranger to Agatha at this point in her life.

It'd been so long since that specific laugh line had made an appearance. So long since Rio last touched it, but somehow, she could still remember exactly how that felt. How Rio would always skim her thumb across it, mid-laughter, before leaning forward and kissing her underneath a canopy of green leaves and warm sunlight.

It was such a soft gesture, so full of unconcealed adoration for her, that it always made Agatha fall a little more in love with Rio whenever she did it. 

Which she definitely shouldn't be thinking about right now because for one, she preferred to keep those memories in the past where they belong and secondly, she was currently pretending to be annoyed by Rio because she had been walking around for the last fifteen minutes, giving her unsolicited opinion on each and every picture as if she were an art critic at a museum rather than a cosmic entity trapped in a sitcom. 

Agatha listened as Rio rambled on and on about how in love ‘they’ looked in the picture. "Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?" She asked. 

Rio laughed as she placed the picture frame back in its rightful place on the television stand. "You know, I actually do get that a lot." She replied, flashing her most charming smile.

It was a little too charming, making Agatha falter for only a split second before she regained her composure. “Oh I’m sure you do,” She said, rolling her eyes with mock sincerity, biting back her own smile, "And I wholeheartedly agree with whoever told you that because you are really fucking annoying." 

Rio pretended to pout at her insult, sticking out her bottom lip in a way that made Agatha's stomach flip, "Oh come on, Agatha, you don't actually mean that,” She said in a low, teasing tone, exchanging her pout for a small smirk at the end of her sentence. 

Agatha's mouth snapped shut. The sarcastic remark that had been hanging on the tip of her tongue had been shut down immediately by the sultriness in which Rio had said her name. She silently cursed her body for betraying her once again. 

Rio shot her another smile that was even more charming than its predecessor, one that said she was fully aware of what just happened.

"You are so annoying," Agatha repeated, trying her hardest to sound sincere but failing miserably as her eyes met the brown ones on the other side of the living room. 

Rio shrugged playfully, "You still love me though," She said absentmindedly as she walked around the living room, searching for another photo. She ended up in front of a small picture frame, picking it up and smiling genuinely at it. "This is definitely my favorite one," She said, her voice lacking its previous sarcasm this time around. "Look how small Nicky was.” 

She flipped it around and Agatha's chest tightened at the sight before her. 

It was a picture of her and Rio with Nicky on his third birthday.

In the faded photograph, Nicky was smiling up at the camera with his small face and chubby hands completely covered in chocolate frosting. The same dark frosting that was stuck to the side of her and Rio’s faces, in the shape of a toddler’s handprint. Both of them were leaning over the kitchen table with their eyes closed, working together to blow out the crooked number three candle for their son. 

It was such a beautiful moment, captured indefinitely and made timeless by some cheap digital camera from the 90s, the shitty camera quality only adding to the authenticity of the photograph.

Agatha found herself wishing that she'd actually been there to experience that day first hand rather than just observing the aftermath of it in the stillness of the photo. 

Rio seemed to notice her silence, and the longing written all over her face, "I'm sorry," She shook her head, quickly putting the mahogany picture frame back where it belonged. "I don't know why I showed you that."

Agatha laughed at how apologetic Rio sounded and looked. Something foreign had appeared on her face: a light shade of embarrassment that she didn't typically wear. She looked nothing like the confident woman that had been teasing her a little while ago. 

“I’m not upset, Rio,” She reassured her and honestly, she meant it, it wasn't just to make Rio feel better. She wasn’t upset, or even saddened, by the photo. Maybe a little envious of her fake counterpart but that was it, really. 

Rio's entire body seemed to relax at the reassurance, "Okay, good." She said, giving a small smile. 

Agatha glanced at the clock in the living room, noticing how close the hour hand was to the five. “It's almost time for us to pick up Nicky, we should probably head over to Wanda's now," She said, standing up from the couch and making her way over to the front door.

She was fully prepared to leave the house when Rio's voice stopped her in her tracks, leaving her hand hovering over the door knob. 

"Agatha..." Rio said, dragging out the last vowel in a sing-song voice, "Aren’t you forgetting something?” 

Agatha muttered a string of expletives under her breath, annoyed by her ex’s perceptiveness. She turned around to the sight of Rio spinning the silver wedding ring around on the tip of her index finger.

"I already told you, I'm not wearing it today." Agatha said, hoping to postpone slipping the piece of jewelry on her finger for as long as possible. When Rio gave her a stern look, she added, "Like I said…Wanda thinks we had a huge fight last night so she won't be expecting me to wear it. It's not that big of a deal." She tried again, shrugging at Rio’s disapproving look.

"Yes, I know what Wanda thinks but I'm wearing mine now so it doesn’t make sense for you to not have yours on too,” Rio said, walking over to her. 

She raised her left hand to further prove her point. Her own silver band gleamed under the sunlight that was pouring in through the transom window. 

"Plus we made up after our fight, remember?" Rio continued, giving a slow, wicked grin, full of seductiveness and inappropriate sexual undertones, "Quite a few times, might I add, while we had the house to ourselves," She said, reminding Agatha of the indecent excuse they'd brainstormed together a few hours ago, just in case Wanda ended up questioning them on how they'd made up in such a short amount of time. 

Agatha’s skin heated up, to the highest degree, at the implications and the images surrounding their excuse. It was all make-believe, of course. It hadn’t actually happened and it never would but it still left her feeling weird on the inside.

”I’m not wearing it,” Agatha repeated, firm in her decision.

The first item on her list of reminders was already being ignored by her but she didn't care. She didn’t want to wear the ring just yet. It would make this fake marriage feel a little too real for her liking. 

Rio smiled at her stubbornness, "Look, Agatha, if you don't put the ring on, then Wanda will start to ask you even more questions about the status of our relationship and then it’ll only be a matter of time before you slip up and reveal something you probably shouldn’t have and then eventually, Wanda will catch on and probably kill you or something once she finds out about your dirty little secret.” She finished, letting out a small laugh at how extra she was being. 

“You’re so fucking dramatic,” Agatha said, laughing at how crazy Rio sounded. Sometimes, she still couldn’t believe that she’d managed to fall in love with the only other person in the world that could give her a run for her money in the dramatics department. “I doubt any of that will happen just because I didn’t wear a stupid piece of jewelry for one day.” 

"You never know. It might." Rio shrugged, glancing down at Agatha's bare hand, "Now please put on the ring so we can go pick up our son." She said with a smile. 

Letting out a deep sigh and shaking her head in defeat, Agatha held out her palm, waiting for Rio to drop the ring into it.

Instead of simply dropping it into her hand, Rio grabbed her palm with the same amount of gentleness she’d always used in the past. She hesitated, for only a second, before flipping Agatha’s hand over and slowly slipping the silver band down the length of her ring finger. 

Both of them tried to ignore how real it all felt.

How if they closed their eyes for long enough, it almost felt like they were at the altar exchanging heartfelt vows rather than standing in their fake home, exchanging snarky remarks. 

Rio traced the top of the silver band with her thumb as she spoke, her voice lower than usual, “See that wasn’t so hard now was it?”

“Shut up,” Agatha said nervously, her voice equally as low as she stared into the darkened eyes before her. She could hardly hear her own insulting words over the sound of her wildly beating heart. She pulled her hand away at such a rapid pace, it was hard for her to play the gesture off as casual. 

Which it wasn’t.

Nothing about the exchange felt casual.

Agatha felt like someone had dragged a lit match across her entire body, holding it for a little too long in the places on her hand where delicate fingers had previously held it. 

She cleared her throat, attempting to cough up the feelings of desire that were trying to settle low in her stomach. “Can we go now?” She asked, nodding towards the door.

Rio smiled at the obvious shakiness in her voice and nodded at her, “After you," She said, holding the front door open for Agatha. She ignored the rapid pace of her own heart as she quickly followed her out of the house. 

The walk to Wanda's house was less of a walk and more like a few steps across her perfectly mowed lawn.

Which Agatha didn't really understand why they needed to go over to Wanda's house to pick Nicky up when he could quite literally walk home by himself, but if that was how the Agnes in this reality did things, then she would have to do the same.

No matter how stupid it was. 

Which is how she ended up in front of Wanda's door, standing awkwardly on the doormat that had some cheesy slogan written on it that had been made ineligible by the passage of time and muddy footprints. 

Rio was watching her, clearly amused by her awkwardness. She nudged Agatha's foot with her own, “Stop standing so weird," She said, laughing at how nervous Agatha looked. 

Much more at ease than Agatha was, she was leaning up against the front door of the Maximoff residence with her arms crossed over her chest. 

"I'm standing perfectly fine," Agatha shot back, pulling her foot away from that one that was still pressed up against hers. She knew that she was standing weird. She could feel it in the stiffness of her limbs but she couldn't help it. She was nervous for some reason."Now, make yourself useful and knock while you're standing there." She said, motioning towards the front door that Rio was leaning on. 

"Are you actually gonna let me knock this time?" Rio asked. She'd tried knocking on the door quite a few times already but she was stopped each time by Agatha and her stalling. 

Agatha rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm ready this time," She lied. She wasn't ready in the slightest because she knew that once they stepped over that threshold, it was showtime. 

Rio was still smiling at her and her uncharacteristic nervousness as she pushed herself off of the door. She reached her hand up to knock on the front door but she was stopped by Agatha's voice, once again. 

"Wait," Agatha said.

She walked closer to Rio, hesitating before taking hold of her free hand. She quickly intertwined their fingers, trying not to focus too much on the action itself and more on the logic behind it. 

If they were always all over each other like Wanda had said then it made total sense for them to be holding hands when she opened the door.   

Agatha fully dismissed the burning sensation in her left hand. Refusing to acknowledge how it burned even hotter than before as her fingers molded perfectly around Rio's. Melted around them, almost. Like they belonged there. 

When Agatha noticed Rio’s raised brow and her amused glance down at their hands, she said, "Don't get too excited, it's only for show.”

She wasn’t really sure if she was reminding Rio, or herself. 

"Right...just for show," Rio said with a barely concealed smirk on her face.

If they were doing things - just for show - then it only made sense for them to be standing closer to each other so she pulled Agatha closer to her by their conjoined hands, smiling at how natural it felt when their bodies collided with each other.

It reminded her of those moments in the past when they'd roam around under ancient trees and pale moonlight, holding hands exactly like this. Except now, there was a lot less kissing, and fewer touches, but the same amount of immaturity. 

When Agatha shot her a displeased look that was hardly convincing, Rio said, "Don't worry, it's only for show," She mocked Agatha's previous statement with a smile, swinging their hands around and laughing at Agatha's annoyed sigh. 

"Can you just knock on the door, already?" Agatha asked, nodding towards the wooden barrier that stood between the real them and the sitcom version of themselves. 

Rio laughed and finally knocked on the door, a little louder than necessary. 

As they stood there waiting for Wanda to open the door, it felt like an eternity had passed. Their conjoined hands were only growing warmer the longer they stood there waiting, sticking together as if they were afraid to be separated again. 

After a few minutes, there was the sound of brass locks being flipped and then the door swung open, revealing Wanda. She was in a messy kitchen apron with her red hair pulled back in a ponytail that was even messier than the kitchen garment covering her clothes.  

"Finally!" Wanda said as she came face-to-face with the fake couple that looked a little too convincing. She dusted off her apron, moving a stray strand of hair out of her face with her flour covered hand. "I was starting to get worried when you two didn't show up on time," She said.

Which was so dramatic because they were only a few minutes late. 

Agatha easily slipped into character and smiled, "Sorry about that hon, time just kind of slipped our minds!" She let out a laugh, hoping Wanda would catch on to what she was hinting on.

She was the one swinging her and Rio's hands this time, hoping to catch Wanda's attention with the movement. 

It worked.

Wanda's eyes slowly fell on their interlocked fingers, green irises lighting up with recognition. "Oh I see," She said with a laugh as she realized what Agatha had meant by letting time slip away from them. She gave them a bright smile, "Well in that case, your tardiness is excused. Now, hurry up and come in, I don't want any flies sneaking in." She stepped to the side, granting them access to her home.

Although, Agatha wasn't sure that she wanted the permission to enter. 

Rio on the other hand, was more eager than she was, already untangling their fingers so she could walk further into the house. She was so ready to experience this whole 'sitcom' thing firsthand, now that she understood what was happening. 

"You two sure made up fast," Wanda whispered to Agatha as she walked in, with an amused glint in her eye.

Agatha gave her best Agnes laugh, "Yes well, how does the saying go?" She pretended to think, but really she was just buying time to make something up. "Oh yes! A child-free home does wonders for quarreling parents!" She said with a wink to get her point across. 

Wanda laughed loudly at her dirty joke, "Oh, Agnes, you're so dirty," She said, swatting her on the arm with the kitchen rag that had previously been draped over her shoulder. "Well, I'm glad to see you two are getting along again, I was worried that you might be headed to the courthouse pretty soon." She joked. 

"I can assure you that would never happen, she's stuck with me!" Agatha said, holding back her laugh at Wanda's obliviousness, because technically, her and Rio had already been to this hypothetical courthouse.

Quite a few times. 

If having a messy, somewhat complicated, breakup that spanned over the course of hundreds of years counted as a divorce then yes, they'd technically already been there. 

"Well I'm happy to hear that," Wanda said, pleased with the status of her closest friends' marriage. She shut the front door behind her and said, "Nicky and the twins are upstairs playing with some new toy Vision bought for them the other day but they should be down soon." She headed towards the kitchen before turning around, "Actually, I was in the middle of making supper if you two wanted to join us," Wanda offered, gesturing to the kitchen table that was definitely too small for seven people to sit at.

Rio went to open her mouth to accept the invitation but she was quickly cut off by Agatha, "We appreciate the offer but I already have dinner cooking in the oven," She lied. Her oven definitely wasn't cooking anything but she didn't want to be at Wanda's house for any longer than necessary. 

"Okay," Wanda said, moving to tend to her own supper. "Well at least stay for a drink," She shouted from the kitchen. She was desperate for any interaction with people her own age after being stuck in the house with three rowdy six-year olds for the past few hours. 

Rio spoke up, beating Agatha to the punch before she could reject yet another offer. "That sounds great, Wanda, we would love to stay for a drink," She smirked at Agatha from her spot on the couch, pleased with the speed of her reply. 

She knew that Agatha wanted to leave as soon as possible, but she didn't. Besides hand holding, she hadn't even had the chance to play the role of Agatha's wife yet. 

"Perfect!" Wanda said from the kitchen, her wide smile evident in her voice. She checked on her meatloaf once more before moving to grab the alcohol out of the cabinet and began preparing their drinks. 

Agatha walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Rio and leaning over to her, "You are so annoying," She whispered. 

"So I've been told," Rio replied with a smile. She leaned back against the couch before asking, "Why did you have to say no to dinner, I'm fucking starving." 

Agatha let out a laugh at Rio's big appetite, "I'm sorry but sitting around eating dinner with Wanda and her twins isn't really how I want to spend the rest of my evening," She said. She leaned back against the couch as well, looking over at Rio, smiling at how dejected she looked with the absence of dinner plans. She did feel a little bad. "Fine, if you're so hungry then you can cook dinner when we get back home." 

"That's not fair, I made breakfast," Rio argued, almost pouting. 

"Well I'm not cooking either," Agatha argued back. Though the entire exchange could barely be counted as an argument, if their matching smiles were anything to go by. 

Rio was fully prepared to accept defeat before an idea popped up in her head. "Fine..." She said, shrugging her shoulders, "I guess me and Nicky will just eat cereal or something." 

"I am not letting our son eat cereal for dinner." Agatha said, rolling her eyes and smiling at Rio's cunningness. 

Rio shrugged again, a lopsided smile on her face, "Well then I guess you'll have to cook." 

"Whatever," Agatha said. 

She was already thinking of ways to get Rio to be the one in the apron when Wanda came out of the kitchen, carrying three martinis in her hand. 

"I'm missing quite a few things so they're not as good as usual," Wanda explained, handing two of the wine glasses to the women on the couch before sitting across from them.

"I'm sure they're just as good as always, Wanda," Rio said, smiling over the rim of her glass as Agatha shot her a dissatisfied look. She knew that Agatha wanted her to say as little as possible in the presence of their neighbor but she had other plans. 

"Yes, what she said," Agatha laughed, patting Rio's thigh a little too hard, earning a muffled laugh from Rio's martini-filled mouth. She turned her attention to Wanda, "I hope the boys didn't give you too much trouble today."

Wanda smiled before saying, "Well, Nicky was an angel, as usual. But Billy and Tommy, on the other hand...not so much," She laughed, shaking her head in that fond way mothers do when speaking about their troublemaking children. The love she had for them was written all over her face, right next to the patches of flour that is. "I could barely get them to stand still long enough so I could get them dressed for school this morning," She said, leaving out the part where Tommy had been running laps around the whole house with his newfound power. 

"Well, if you ever need a break, we'd be happy to watch them one of these days," Rio offered before looking over at Agatha, "Isn't that right, babe?" 

Agatha almost choked on her flavorless martini as the words fell on her ears. She was going to kill Rio, less than twenty four hours into their fake marriage. 

If she were herself, she would've laughed in Rio's face and rescinded the offer at a speed faster than Wanda's son, but unfortunately, she was Agnes and Agnes would definitely offer to help out her dear friend. 

So she ended up saying, "Yes, we would love to have the boys over sometime!" She smiled, tightening her grip on the stem of her wine glass.

Rio chuckled at the sight of her pale knuckles. 

"Really?" Wanda asked, her face lighting up at the idea of having time to herself for once. "I would really appreciate that, thank you!" 

"You're so welcome," Rio said in her newfound sitcom cadence. She scooted over to Agatha and lazily wrapped her arm around her waist, pulling her closer to her. "It'll be so fun," She said, smiling at her. From this close, she could see the vexation swimming in Agatha's eyes, the polar opposite of the wide smile on her face. 

"You guys are the best," Wanda said before rising up from her spot on the couch to go shut off the cooking timer that was ringing loudly in the kitchen. 

Agatha waited until Wanda was out of earshot before looking over at Rio. 

"I'm going to kill you," She whispered harshly. She'd absolutely meant it but her voice wasn't quite matching her intentions. She couldn't really focus on making her statement sound sincere when Rio's hand was still on her waist. Heavy and comforting and so familiar. Still holding on to her even with the absence of company. 

"You can't kill me, Agatha," Rio reminded her with a laugh. She squeezed her waist lightly before adding, "Also, you really shouldn't say things like that. Agnes certainly wouldn't be speaking so violently," She teased. 

Agatha's brain was short-circuiting at this point. She had lost all coherence, and her smart ass reply, once she felt Rio squeeze her waist. 

Slowly, but surely, her senses came back to her, "If Wanda takes you up on that offer and we actually have to watch her snotty little troublemaking twins, then I absolutely will find a way to kill you," She said, not caring about how impossible that was. 

Rio leaned closer to her, her eyes sparkling with mischief and something else. Something a little closer to fondness. "You're so cute when you threaten me," She chuckled at the small blush that had graced Agatha's face.

A blush that they both knew was completely unrelated to the heat of the alcohol coursing through her veins and a little more related to a different kind of heat. 

Agatha opened her mouth to tell Rio to fuck off or to maybe ask her to shut up and kiss her, she wasn't quite sure at this point. Though she chose to blame it on the small sips of alcohol she'd had. It didn't really matter which reply she would have chosen because her response had been shut down by the sound of the front door opening. 

"Wanda, I'm home!" Vision said, his briefcase clasped tightly in his hand. He turned around, surprise written all over his face at the sight of the two women sitting on the living room couch. "Oh! I didn't know we were having visitors." He said, smiling at them. 

"Actually, we were just leaving." Agatha said. She set her wine glass down on the wooden coaster and stood up, hoping to leave her feelings for Rio behind, embedded in the couch cushions. 

"Don't you want to stay for supper?" Vision asked, sounding a little upset by their early departure. "I think I smell Wanda's famous meatloaf cooking." 

Agatha held back from rolling her eyes. He was almost as bad as his wife when it came to handing out dinner invites. "That's alright, I already have dinner cooking at home," She quickly lied again. 

Wanda came out of the kitchen, her skin flushed from the warmth of the oven. She walked over and pecked Vision on the cheek before taking his coat.

"Don't worry, Vis, they'll be back over for our weekly dinner this weekend. Isn't that right, Agnes?" She asked, smiling at her two confused neighbors. 

"Yes!" Agatha and Rio nodded at her question. "We wouldn't miss it for the world," Agatha said, thoroughly upset by the idea of having dinner plans with the Maximoff family. 

Weekly dinner plans at that.  

Rio downed the rest of her drink before standing up and wrapping her arm around Agatha's waist again, "Well we should get going now." 

She actually wanted to stay a little longer but fuck, was she famished. 

"Right, I'll go get the boys," Wanda said, walking up the wooden stairs and leaving them alone with Vision. 

It was a little awkward - super awkward, actually - until Vision broke the silence, "You know..." He started, moving to sit down on the couch. "I didn't see you at work today," He said, looking over at Rio. "Were you sick or something?" 

Rio froze, her fingers no longer drumming on Agatha's side. Surely, she wasn't hearing him correctly. 

Work? As in human labor? 

Suddenly, this whole warped reality sounded a lot less fun. 

Agatha bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from releasing the laugh that had been trying to escape. The idea of Rio, Death herself, having to work a 9-5 was hilarious. 

Suddenly, this whole warped reality sounded a lot more fun. 

Rio cleared her throat, lightly pinching Agatha on her side for barely holding in her laugh at her misfortune. "Yes, actually I was sick. I woke up with a terrible cough this morning," She said, clearing her throat again for extra emphasis. 

"Oh," Vision started, sympathy written all over his fake human features, "Well I hope you feel better soon." He said before adding with a smile, "Because if you don't, I'll be stuck listening to Norm for the better half of the day and I don't think I can deal with that again," He laughed. 

Rio laughed too. Though hers was much less genuine. She had no fucking clue who Norm was. 

"Oh don't worry she'll be there bright and early tomorrow," Agatha interjected with a big smile on her face. "Isn't that right honey?" She grabbed the hand that was at rest on her waist and intertwined their fingers. 

"That's right!" Rio said, with a big smile on her face. Agatha's attempt at messing with her had failed. She found that she no longer cared about having to go to work if it meant coming home to Agatha and Nicky. 

Work would suck, of course, but it would be worth it afterwards. 

Suddenly, there was the sound of loud feet running down the stairs that sounded a lot like three large elephants rather than three small boys. 

"There's my boys!" Vision said, standing up to pick up his twin sons and giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. "I hope you didn't give your mom too much trouble while I was gone." He gave them a stern look that was invalidated by the smile on his face.

"We didn't!" Billy and Tommy said at the same time.

At the sight of his moms, Nicky quickly ran over to hug both of them around the waist, earning a sigh of contentment from them. Both of them missed him dearly, having only seen him for less than an hour in the morning. 

Rio reluctantly removed her arm from Agatha's waist so she could pick Nicky up. "Did you have a good day at school?" She asked him, smiling at how different he looked from when he had left this morning. 

His long hair was messy, hardly contained in its ponytail. His Rugrats shirt was stained with what appeared to be chocolate milk. It looked like most of it had landed on his shirt rather than his mouth and his jeans were covered in colorful marker lines. 

Agatha seemed to notice his appearance too. "Well, it sure looks like he had a good day." She said, suddenly grateful that it wasn't her wallet that was contributing to buying his clothes if this was the outcome of them after one school day. 

"I did," Nicky laughed, light and childish. "We had pizza for lunch and then we played tag at recess but I kept losing to Tommy," He frowned.

Wanda and Vision shared a discreet look with each other at the mention of their son with super speed winning tag at recess. They would have to talk to him about that later on after dinner.

"But it was still super fun," Nicky continued, talking much too fast, "and then I got to hold a rabbit in class but it tried to bite me so I had to give him back to the teacher and then we had art class and I drew my favorite superhero." He finished with a big smile that, once again, looked a lot like Rio's. 

Both of his mothers laughed at how he hadn't slowed down once during his rant. "Well it sounds like you had a lot of fun," Agatha said, ruffling his already messy hair, "but what did you learn today?" She teased because there was no mention of academics anywhere in the retelling of his day. 

Nicky shrugged with a smile on his face, earning a loud laugh from all of the adults in the room, and the fake sitcom audience. 

Rio's stomach suddenly growled. "Well I think I smell our dinner burning so we'd better leave," She said, leading Agatha over to the front door with a hand on her back. 

As they walked out of the door, there was a cacophony of farewells and promises to see each other this weekend for dinner.

Which Agatha still wasn't too happy about but it would give her the opportunity to observe Wanda, and her weird little family, up close. Something she needed to get back on top of. She still planned on following through with her nefarious plans, even with the presence of Rio and Nicky in her life. 

As they walked back home, Rio leaned over and said, "He didn't look like a robot to me."

When Agatha had mentioned Vision being a robot, she fully expected nuts and bolts, not human flesh and blonde hair. 

Agatha laughed at Rio's priorities. She had just found out that she had to work an eight hour shift, five days a week and she was focused on Vision's appearance instead. 

"Yeah well no shit," Agatha said, whispering the cuss word so Nicky wouldn't hear it. "How would that look to the viewers if he just was walking around in his natural form?" 

"I don't know, I think it would be pretty cool." Rio shrugged before walking into the house. 

Endearment had found its way into Agatha's body as she watched Rio walk into the kitchen with Nicky still in her arms. They'd barely scratched the surface of their fake marriage. Yet, she was already feeling things that she definitely shouldn't be.

Which wasn't good at all. 

She needed a break. A minute to collect herself. To force herself to get it together but that wouldn't be happening anytime soon because she had to go cook dinner for her hungry ex-wife and their son. 

Which she actually didn't mind. 

She smiled at the sound of the pair calling for her from the kitchen and quickly followed them into it, hoping her inner thoughts weren't written all over her face. 

Chapter Text

Nicky scraped the fork against his ceramic plate, the only sound in the otherwise silent kitchen. He'd been doing this for the last few minutes. Just waiting for one of his mothers to take mercy on him and release him from his imprisonment at the dinner table. 

Agatha watched him, smiling at his distaste for the untouched pile of peas on his plate. It seems some things never change. Regardless of the century or reality. He'd always been a picky eater. "All done?" She finally asked him. 

Nicky nodded with haste, already abandoning his fork and pushing his plate. "Yes, can I watch TV now?" 

Agatha shot Rio a look over the top of his head, silently questioning: Is that allowed? Do we usually let him watch TV this late? Rio had no answer for her. Just a small, helpless shrug in response. How was she supposed to know what was allowed and what wasn't, she'd woken up to the same mess she did. 

"You can watch for twenty minutes," Agatha said, making the decision for them. Twenty minutes seemed reasonable enough. "Then it's time for bed." 

"Thirty minutes," Nicky countered, already sliding from his chair, eager to begin the countdown. 

"Twenty," Agatha repeated, smiling at his failed attempt at negotiation. 

Nicky scrunched his nose in displeasure before giving in, "Fine." He said. Then he was gone, small feet racing into the living room. The sound of cartoon voices flooding the house a moment later. 

"I don't think we usually let him watch TV after dinner," Rio said, standing up from the table. She laughed, thinking about how quickly he'd run out of the room. "He looked too excited." 

"I don't think so either," Agatha agreed with her own laughter, standing to help Rio clear the table. Their hands brushed, for a split second, when they reached for the same plate and Agatha felt the shock of it all the way down to her sock-covered feet. Strong electrical currents like they'd been sent from the metal forks in her hand rather than fingers she'd held countless times before. She pulled back from the touch too quickly, too obviously, and cleared her throat before heading to the kitchen sink. 

Rio didn't comment on it. No teasing remarks. No mentions of her flushed face. She just followed close behind, her own hand stinging from the brief touch. 

They worked together in semi-awkward silence, the running water and occasional clink of dishes the only sound between them. Agatha found herself stealing glances at Rio the entire time. Glances that probably weren't as discreet as she hoped, but she continued regardless. She couldn't help it. She'd never seen Rio in an environment like this. Had never seen them in an environment like this, standing next to each other under dim kitchen lighting, washing dishes together. 

It was strange, Agatha thinks, for them to fall into a routine so naturally without a single word being exchanged between them. No one had assigned roles. No one said i'll do the washing, you do the rinsing. They just slipped into their respective roles with ease, like they'd done this same thing every night. 

Agatha chose not to think about how nice it felt. 

"What do we do after this?" Rio asked, breaking the silence. Her voice sounded too loud in the quiet kitchen. Nervous as well, like she'd felt the weight of the constant staring from the right of her the entire time. 

Panic slowly crawled up Agatha's throat at the question. "What do you mean?" She asked, confused. Worried. Did Rio mean what do we do once this day is over? or what do we do once all of this is over?

Once the hex shifts again. 

"Like what do we usually do after dinner?” Rio clarified, easing her worries. She rinsed the last fork and shut the water off. Turned to look at Agatha for the first time since they started cleaning. “Do we give him a bath now or what?” She asked, uncertain. Knowing the question was practically useless because neither of them had any clue what they were doing. 

There was heat coursing through Agatha's body from the way Rio was looking at her. Brown eyes highlighted by the light overhead, making every movement much more obvious. She almost forgot that a question had been asked in the first place once they started moving lower, in the direction of her mouth. "I don't know," She said, shifting around in what she tried to convince herself was discomfort. "I think a bath comes after dinner." She shrugged, trying to remember any maternal anecdotes that Wanda had shared about the twins' nighttime routines. 

"That shouldn't be too hard then," Rio dried her hands. Smiled like she knew the reason for Agatha's restless feet, then asked, "You've given him plenty of baths before, right?" 

You, not we. 

A reminder that Rio hadn't been present during those times. 

"Well, washing him in a river isn't really the same as giving him a bubble bath," Agatha joked, ignoring the pang in her chest at the reminder of their separation. The reason for their separation. "But yes, I've bathed him before."

Rio laughed at her smart ass reply, "Then it should be fine." She said with a shrug, already walking out of the kitchen to join Nicky in the living room. 

Half an hour later, they realized just how foolish her assumption had been.

**

Bath time had been, in very few words, a total disaster. 

Neither of them had known which toys belonged in the tub and which didn't. Something Nicky had picked up on entirely too fast, informing them that the rubber duck was for babies therefore it was no longer allowed in the bath with him. He had no problem with the turtle, though.

Neither of them had known that the apple-scented soap was reserved for morning baths, while the bubblegum-scented one was reserved for the ones that took place at night.

Whatever the hell that means.

And neither of them had known that in order to get Nicky to stop squirming so much during hair washing time, they just had to use the plastic cup that sat on the edge of the tub to rinse the shampoo out. 

Neither of them had known anything and Nicky had no problem letting that be known. 

"You guys are acting weird," He told them mid-bubble bath. Not accusing. Not annoyed with their mistakes. Just amused at the fact that their clothing had been drenched for the first time ever during bath time. 

Rio had saved them from having to respond, distracting him with an impromptu game that involved battle ships and sea monsters with animated voices, but his astute observation still lingered in the humid bathroom air. 

Both of them were starting to worry that he might be catching on. That he might soon realize something was wrong, if they kept slipping up but he didn't mention their odd behavior again for the remainder of bath time. 

Now, in his bedroom, they faced yet another challenge: 

"Which ones?" Rio whispered, standing before an open dresser drawer. Pajamas of every color and pattern stared back at them. Fire Trucks. Dinosaurs. Rocket Ships. Cartoon characters neither of them recognized. "Is there some kind of system here or do we just pick some at random and call it a day?" 

"I don't know," Agatha whispered back, peering into the same drawer. Picking out pajamas seemed simple enough but if the last few hours were anything to go by then it most likely wasn't. She peered over her shoulder and asked, "Nicky, which ones do you want to wear tonight?" 

Nicky bounced on his bed, still wrapped in a towel that was too big for him. "My favorite ones!" He replied. Which certainly didn't help. 

Rio and Agatha exchanged a quick look before returning to the drawer, searching for any pajamas that look like they could be his favorites. Agatha gave up after a few minutes, grabbing a random pair and hoping for the best. 

"Not those," Nicky protested with a laugh when she held up a pair covered in what might have been cats, might have been foxes. Who knows. "The ones I always wear. The robot ones." He added for much needed clarification. 

They continued their search, still unable to find the requested pajamas. "How about," Rio said after a while, still searching through the drawer, "You come help us find them?" 

Nicky giggled, scrambling off the bed. He squeezed between them, determined as he dug through the drawer. "These ones," he announced, triumphant, holding up pajamas covered in spaceships. Not robots. "The robot ones."

Rio laughed at him. A genuine laugh that softened her features. Made her look more youthful. Made Agatha's heart stutter once, maybe twice, in her chest. "Of course. The robot ones. How could we forget?" Rio said, still smiling at his childish error. 

Nicky looked up at her with a smile, puzzled by the sound of her laughter. "You're acting weird," He said again. Still, with no real suspicion. No big frown on his face or squinted eyes that said, You two aren't the same mothers I grew up with. 

"We're just really tired, Nicky." Agatha said, guiding him back towards the bed. Ignoring how her heart still hadn't stopped beating to the same tempo as Rio's laughter. "It's been a long day." She added. Which wasn't an exaggeration in the slightest. 

Nicky nodded, content with her excuse. Content with accepting tiredness as an excuse for them not knowing his favorite pajamas. He lifted his arms above his head, allowing them to dress him in the matching pajama set with spaceships on them. 

"Now, time for bed!" Agatha said once he was dressed. She smoothed his still-damp hair down, the gesture natural to her. Muscle memory from a long time ago.  

Nicky pouted at the mention of bedtime, but he still scrambled into bed the moment Rio pulled the covers back. “Story time?” he asked them, eyes wide with hope. Eyes they couldn't say no to even if they tried. 

"One story," Rio said, being the first one to give in. She moved to sit next to him, smiling at how he scooted closer to her. "Which one do you want to hear?" 

Nicky sighed, exasperated at such a pointless question. "The witch one," He said, the duh at the end of his sentence silent.  

Of course. Of course their son would want a story about witches. Wanda's subconscious had a sense of humor, it seemed. 

"Right," Rio said, shooting Agatha a look, "Honey, why don't you tell it tonight? You do the voice so much better than I do. Isn't that right, Nicky?" 

Nicky laughed, nodding his head in response to her question. The sound of it much quieter than his previous laughs, evidence of his rapidly approaching exhaustion. 

Agatha shot a dirty look at Rio, who only smiled at her in return. Tilted her head in that maddeningly innocent way, like she had no clue why she was on the receiving end of such a displeased expression. 

"Fine," Agatha said, lowering herself to sit on the other side of Nicky. Pulled him closer in the way she always did when telling him a story. Though it was no longer over a fire in the woods. "Once upon a time there was a witch," She began with absolutely no clue where the story was headed. She made it up as she went, pulling together fragments of stories she'd heard as a child and her own history, careful to keep some of the...darker parts neatly tucked away. 

Ten minutes into the story, Nicky's eyes were already growing heavy. By the time the witch in her story had made friends with a talking bear (a detail that made Rio laugh softly), he was already asleep. 

The two of them sat there for a moment, watching his chest rise and fall in absolute silence. It was a familiar sight to Agatha and an unfamiliar one to Rio, though it tugged at their heart strings the exact same way. 

"Come on before we wake him up," Rio whispered, still looking at the sleeping boy next to her. He looked a lot more like Agatha in this state, she thought to herself. 

Agatha nodded, leaned down to press a quick kiss to the same spot she'd always kissed Nicky in, on his temple. Rio hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should do the same. She did in the end, pressing a kiss in the same spot. 

Agatha quickly looked away from the sight of the affectionate gesture. Not because it was weird to see Rio being so affectionate with their son but because she didn't like how it made her feel. How she wanted all of it to be real. 

With one last look at Nicky, they carefully slipped out of the room.

Agatha pulled the bedroom door closed, leaving just a crack a light from the hallway in case Nicky found himself having a nightmare like he so often did in the past. 

It was silent now, with the two of them standing there in the hallway. Too close, too awkward. The adrenaline of surviving a day of deceit fading, leaving behind the awareness of their current situation. Awareness of each other. Alone, in the hallway of their fake home.  

"I should shower," Agatha spoke up, looking down at her damp clothes. "I smell like bubblegum and sweat." 

"Go ahead," Rio said, "I'll be waiting in the room." She gestured towards the general direction of the bedroom down the hall.  

Agatha only nodded and walked away as if her heart wasn't pounding beneath her ribcage at the mention of Rio waiting for her in the bedroom. 

**

The shower water was scalding.

It burned Agatha's skin and she let it. She wanted it to. Needed it to. Hoping it would incinerate the memories of this weird day she'd awoken in. 

She closed her eyes, letting the spray beat against her face, her shoulders, her chest. Washing away everything and nothing at the same time. She reached for the bar of soap that had some herbal scent that smelled too much like Rio. Not the Rio in the hex. Not the one that smelled like strawberries, but the one from before. Before Nicky. Before everything fell apart. She shook her head. Scrubbed her body a little harder than necessary, as if she could erase the sensation of Rio touching her throughout the day:

Rio's hand in hers on Wanda's doorstep. 

Rio's fingers finding her waist on their own, instinctively, as they moved around the kitchen, preparing supper together. 

Rio's shoulder pressed against hers as they leaned over the bathtub, laughing as they worked together to catch the splashing six-year old. 

Rio's breath, warm against her ear while whispering to her about what pajamas to choose. She remembered that one the most for reasons she wasn't willing to look into at the moment. 

The soap slipped from her fingers at the memory, landing with a dull thud against the floor of the slick bathtub. She swore under her breath at the sound of it echoing off the bathroom walls. It was too loud, but not louder than the thoughts she was still having about her ex. 

Don't think about Rio, she repeated in her head as she picked the soap back up. 

Don't think about how Rio's hair had stuck to the nape of her neck after bath time. How she wanted to reach over, back in the hallway, and put it back in its rightful place. 

Don't think about the way Rio looked, sitting on their son's bed, watching her with a face full of adoration as she improvised some bullshit story about witches and talking animals. Smiling at the parts she remembered and laughing at the ones she didn't. 

Agatha tipped her head back in frustration, letting water stream through her hair. She'd spent years building walls between herself and Rio. Years spent avoiding her as much as she could and now, they'd been forced back together. Forced to share a house, a child, a life. 

A bed. 

No. She wasn't thinking about that yet. About Rio already waiting in the bedroom. About how they would be sharing a bed tonight with only a few inches between their bodies. 

She grabbed the shampoo with more aggression than needed at the thought of that, quickly working it through her hair, nails scraping against her scalp. Too hard but the rhythm of it helped. Helped her forget, for a second, about her panic regarding future sleeping arrangements. 

When had she last shared a bed with someone? She wondered as she lathered her hair. 

She'd woken up with others in her bed, yes, but that hadn't been sharing. Those were distractions. Distractions that never made it past sunrise. Distractions that could never compare to Rio. Which is something she'd always known, before and after taking them to bed. Though that never stopped her. 

Agatha rinsed her hair. Watched the suds disappear in the drain. Tried not to think of Rio in this same shower earlier in the day. Tried not to picture her with water running down her neck or the curve of her spine, over her- 

Nope. Absolutely not. 

She shut off the water with more force than necessary. Her own uneven breathing the only sound left in the bathroom. She yanked a towel from the rack near the tub and wrapped it tightly around herself, promptly exiting the bathroom. Hoping to leave those unpleasant thoughts behind, with the steam from her shower. 

When she reached the bedroom door, she paused. Finding herself too nervous to enter. Her hesitation was absurd, she thought. After all, it had technically been her bedroom first.

Well, first after Ralph of course.

When she finally worked up the courage to enter the room, she found Rio lounging in her bed - their bed - with one leg bent at the knee, a magazine splayed open beneath her fingers. Casual. At home. As if they shared this space every night, as if this didn't feel like the most unnatural thing in the world. 

She'd changed into sleep clothes. A faded t-shirt, worn down by a version of her that wasn't actually her. She had shorts on as well. Too short, revealing too much of her legs. Not that Agatha was thinking about that, or anything. 

She looked away from Rio, and her legs, only to find herself staring a few seconds later. She couldn't help herself, really. Though she tried to blame it on the fact that she'd never seen Rio dressed like this: in modern sleepwear. Tried to convince herself that she was simply intrigued by the change in attire. 

Surely that was it. 

Rio glanced up at the sound of the door closing. Wasting no time in traveling the length of Agatha's body with her eyes. Unhurried. Appreciative in a way that made goosebumps bloom across Agatha's still-damp skin. Made her stomach lurch as if she were the passenger in a speeding car. The towel wrapped around her body suddenly feeling useless.

A slow smile spread across Rio's face. "Well," She said, letting the magazine fall closed. No longer interested in 90s fashion. "If I had known that the day would end like this, I would've been a lot less hesitant to get it started this morning." 

Agatha tried not to laugh. Tried not to smile at the dumb flirtation that felt so familiar. Tried and failed, that is. "Shut up," She said, but there was no bite to it. No real heat like she intended. "And close your eyes."

Rio's smile widened at her request. "Seriously, Agatha?" She sat up, leaning against the headboard, "I've seen you naked before." She said as if either of them needed that reminder. Especially at a time like this. "I still have every inch of your body memorized," She continued, eyes still roaming. "All the way from that scar on your elbow down to the birthmark just a few inches above your right hip." She smiled, remembering the mark that had been her favorite one.

Her gaze dropped to the spot where, beneath the towel, they both knew the mark existed. Both of them were well aware that even with the fabric between them, Rio had pinpointed its exact location. She'd always been good at that, Agatha remembers. Memories flashing lightning-quick through her mind. Rio's hands. Rio's mouth. Rio's eyes, dark with want.

Memories she definitely did not want to think of right now. She turned away, afraid her face might be giving away too much. "Eyes. Closed. Now." She commanded, her voice much steadier than she felt. 

Rio sighed, dramatically, but obeyed. Pressed her hand over her eyes. "There, are you happy now?" 

"I don't know, are they actually closed?" Agatha asked, unsure of what answer she preferred to hear at this point. 

"I don't know," Rio mocked, voice dripping with mischief, "You might have to come check." 

Again, Agatha tried not to laugh. Again, she failed. Again, she told her to be quiet. 

Agatha purposely avoided her own reflection as she looked through the drawers of the dresser, searching for something to wear. Something that would make her feel a little less naked in the presence of Rio. Both literally and figuratively. She opened the drawers randomly. Not really knowing where to find what she was looking for, until she found a collection of t-shirts in the fourth drawer. T-shirts that definitely didn't belong to Agnes. 

The thought of wearing something that belonged to Rio, made her stomach twist violently. She didn't need to, surely there were t-shirts belonging to Agnes buried somewhere a little deeper in the drawer but she grabbed the one with the faded band logo on it anyways.

Only because Agnes' shirts probably weren’t as comfortable as the one in her hand, she told herself.

She dropped her towel. Pulled the shirt over her head as fast as possible, before the implications of her choosing it could settle in. She smiled, against her will, at the faint scent of Rio on the collar of the shirt. 

"Can I look yet?" Rio asked from the bed, bringing her back to reality. The reality that the source of the sweet-smelling scent was currently waiting on the bed with her eyes closed. 

"Not yet," Agatha replied. She found sleeping shorts and stepped into them before turning around, "Okay, you can look now." 

Rio's hand fell away from her eyes. For a moment, she said nothing, then something indecipherable passed across her features. "That doesn't look like a shirt Agnes would own," She said, the actual meaning behind her statement hardly hidden. 

"I grabbed the first thing I saw," Agatha lied, suddenly feeling defensive. 

"Mhm," Rio said with a smile, "Well, it looks good on you." You look good wearing my clothes that aren't really my clothes, is what she actually meant. 

Agatha wasn't sure how to respond to her. So she didn't. 

Instead, she moved towards the bed, each step feeling more difficult than the previous one. The realization of them sharing a bed in a few seconds hit her, making it hard to breathe. She hesitated, once she reached the bed. Smoothed the comforter out a few times. Fluffed a pillow that definitely didn't need fluffing. Did anything to postpone the inevitable. 

Rio laughed at her obvious stalling. She shifted over to the side of the bed she'd woken up in this morning and patted the empty space beside her, "Come on, Agatha. I don't bite." She said, the teasing in her voice making her statement really hard to believe. 

"You used to," Agatha replied before she could stop herself, warmth flooding her face at the accidental flirtation. 

Rio grinned at her, which only made the warmth far worse. "Only when you asked me to," She said without missing a beat. Easily falling into the rhythm of the flirtation they so often engaged in. 

Agatha paused. Swung her legs onto the bed, without saying a word. Trying to think of a response.

Half of her wanted to say fuck it. Wanted to make that same request right here in this foreign bedroom. She didn't though. Instead she said, "Well there won't be any of that tonight," and felt an odd sense of disappointment at her own words. 

"How unfortunate," Rio said with a smile, slipping under the sheets. Unbothered by her rejection. 

The bed felt different, that was the first thing Agatha noticed once she fully committed to lying in it. Not different in terms of shape or size but different in terms of how it felt to be in it. It felt smaller even though it obviously wasn't. It was still queen-sized. Big enough for both of them to stay on their respective sides without making contact. Without having to worry about waking up to find themselves wrapped up in each other in the morning, muscle memory betraying the rules they'd set.

But it still felt too small.

"Today was weird," Rio said, breaking the silence that had settled between them in the darkness of the room. 

Weird, was an understatement. 

Agatha nodded, "Yeah, it was." She said, having no other response to the obvious statement.

"It was kind of fun though," Rio spoke again after a couple of minutes had passed. "I liked being around you...and Nicky."

Silence hung between them as she dared to uncover the elephant in the room. The acknowledgement of their son. The fact that there was no telling what the morning would bring. That the hex might shift again as it so often does, stealing their son away from them once again. 

Agatha could only offer a quiet hum of agreement, even as something sickening settled low in her stomach, its origin unclear. 

Was it Rio admitting that she enjoyed her company? Or was it dread about the unknown? 

She wasn't quite sure. 

Silence fell again. No longer comfortable after Rio's confession, but not necessarily uncomfortable either. 

Rio shifted beside her and Agatha turned her head at the sound of it. She swallowed hard, when she realized Rio was already looking back at her, head propped up on one elbow, face semi-hidden in the darkness of the bedroom. 

"What?" Agatha laughed awkwardly, feeling nervous for reasons beyond comprehension. 

"I can't sleep," Rio said with a small smile that contradicted her words. A sleepy smile that said she absolutely could fall asleep, if she tried. 

"You haven't even tried to," Agatha found herself whispering. Like they were the only two awake at a sleepover. She stilled her fingers on the comforter, stopping them from reaching out and brushing that same strand of hair away from Rio's neck. 

"I did," Rio whispered back at the same volume.

Agatha noticed the movement of her eyes. It was impossible to miss how they kept dropping to her mouth, half-lidded, lingering for a few seconds before looking away, only to find their way back again and again. It was starting to make her feel lightheaded.  

Agatha settled her head against the pillow in an attempt to stop the dizziness. "You're staring," She said, calling Rio out with no shame, her own voice barely above a whisper now.

"No I'm not," Rio let out a low laugh. Denied the accusation even as her gaze, very obviously, stayed on her lips. She shifted closer to Agatha, not quite touching but close enough to feel the warmth that was still radiating off her skin. Leftover evidence of the shower where she may, or may not, have had thoughts of a moment similar to this one. 

Rio looked determined, the closer she moved. Like she might attempt what they hadn't gotten around to at Wanda's house. 

Agatha's heart was hammering as a result of it. She was certain Rio could hear it, could see it moving against the skin of her neck. She thought about closing the distance. She wanted to close the distance. Wanted to taste Rio's mouth again. It’d been so long since she last did so, but she didn't move closer.

She couldn't. 

Everything around them was fake, fabricated. The house, the bedroom, the photographs downstairs of them smiling at each other, her personality whenever she was out in public. All of that was fake but Rio wasn't. Rio was the only real thing in the hex. Which meant doing something like kissing her, would lead to some very real consequences. 

So Agatha couldn't give in. "Go to sleep," She said, voice trembling. Her breath hitting Rio's lips from their close proximity. "And stay on your side." 

She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Regretted the taste of them as opposed to the one she really wanted. Regretted the disappointment flickering in the brown eyes in front of her. It was brief, but she still saw it. Felt it, reflected in her own chest. 

Rio sighed, her head falling back against her pillow. She hid her disappointment well as she retreated back to her side of the bed, across the invisible line Agatha had drawn between them when she made her dumb rules and when she rejected her advances. Her eyes remained on Agatha, though. Searching for something. Searching for memories of the woman she once knew. The woman that would have leaned forward without hesitation.

Rio could feel her pulse racing at how Agatha looked like she wanted to lean in too. She hadn't, of course. Though Rio hadn't expected anything different. Hoped for it, yes, but not expected. 

"Goodnight, Agatha," Rio said, turning onto her side, presenting her with the same view she'd seen this morning before all the chaos started. 

A pause and then, "Goodnight."

The darkness wrapped around them once again. Somewhere in the house, a clock ticked. Reminding them that tomorrow morning was getting closer, the inevitable lurking in the shadows of the bedroom. Outside, violent winds stirred the branches of a tree against their window. All loud sounds. None of them louder than the pounding in their chests. 

Agatha closed her eyes, listening as Rio's breathing slowed. Her own breathing unable to do the same. It wouldn't for many hours. Not while Rio was sleeping next to her. Not while the future of their family was uncertain. The thought of that continued to torment her, making it harder for her to follow in Rio's footsteps. 

She knew the remedy to her restlessness. Knew that all she needed to do was roll over to the other side of the bed. Lift Rio's arm and position herself beneath it. It had always been her preferred method in the past when sleep was hard to come by. But things were different now. So she remained on her side of the bed. 

Eventually, she drifted off, dreaming of a life she'd never lived, with the woman she'd once loved, and the son they'd both lost.

Chapter Text

The first thing Agatha notices when she wakes up is warmth.

Not just any kind of warmth though. It's a very specific kind. The kind that comes from being wrapped up in arms that have held her through countless sunrises and endless sunsets. It's the kind of warmth she hadn't felt in centuries. The kind she'd found herself craving innumerable times before. More often than not, in this exact same bed. 

Agatha knows all about the dangers that come with leaning into the familiar sensation. Knows about the terrible consequences of allowing herself to be held like this.

She can already hear that nagging voice in the back of her head. Sharp and persistent, reminding her about boundaries and rules that had been set the day before. Seemingly pointless rules that had been broken in less than 24 hours, though she'd never really had any hope that they would be followed in the first place. 

Still, she should move. Agatha knows this. She tries to convince herself that she wants to. Even makes a few half-assed attempts to do just that but she can’t. Her limbs seem to be at war with that voice in her head, protesting against its plea for distance for distance from the woman pressed up against her.

She pretends to be annoyed by it all. By the betrayal of her own body. Pretending to hate how much she loves being held by Rio. She rolls her eyes and even lets out a small huff of annoyance to really sell the whole 'I hate this so much' thing, but there's no use.

This is, by far, her worst acting yet.

She knows it. Her body knows it. It's obvious from the way she keeps shivering whenever Rio's breath hits the back of her neck. She tries to ignore the feeling of it. Tries to ignore the blush creeping up her neck, as well, when Rio's arm tightens around her waist, possessive even in a state of unconsciousness.

Agatha finds that the worst part of it all, though not really, is the hand that has somehow found its way beneath her shirt. A soft palm flat against her bare skin, creating a warmth much more different than the previous one. 

I hate this so much, Agatha repeats to herself and she believes it even less the second time around.

She realizes that this is actually a good thing. Not that Rio is holding her, not necessarily, but the fact that Rio is here at all. It means the hex hadn’t shifted overnight. Hadn't taken her family away while she slept.

The relief she feels is quickly overshadowed by suspicion.

Because she knows Wanda. Knows the hex. Knows that things aren't explicitly black and white here in Westview. She scans the bedroom, seeking out those gray areas. Looking for any differences between this morning and the last.

She finds none. 

The wallpaper is the same as before. The curtains are the same, as well. Both of them still hideous to look at. Everything is the exact same. Unchanged and still dressed in true 90s fashion. 

Relief floods Agatha's body again and this time, she allows herself to relax at the feeling of it. To sink into it, allowing herself to be held by Rio for a moment longer before the inevitable awkwardness.

Several minutes pass before it happens but when it does, when gentle fingers brush up against her ribcage as Rio startles awake, Agatha tries to change her breathing pattern. Tries to slow it down a bit. To pretend like she'd been asleep this entire time.

Which proves to be pointless. Rio can decipher her every breath, even with her eyes closed. 

"Morning," Rio mumbles against the back of her neck, her voice laden with sleep. She's clearly still half-asleep. Otherwise she would've noticed their close proximity. Would've noticed how her fingers remain splayed across Agatha's ribcage in a manner that's almost bordering on inappropriate. 

Agatha pauses at the sound of the greeting, wondering if she should make another attempt at feigning sleep. She doesn't. Instead she answers with a mumbled, "Morning," of her own and hates how soft her voice sounds to her ears.

It appears her voice hadn’t gotten the memo. Wasn't notified that she isn't still waking up in some far away cottage with her lover.

There's a moment of silence following her response and then Rio stiffens behind her. An indication that she's fully awake now. That she is now very aware of how close they are to each other. Fully aware of where her hand is resting. Agatha braces herself. Waiting for Rio to jerk her hand away as if it had been burned. Waiting for Rio to scurry back to her side of the bed with genuine apologies spilling out of her mouth on the way there but it doesn't happen. 

Of course it doesn't. 

"I told you the rule was pointless," Rio said, letting out a tired laugh and Agatha can practically hear how smug her smile is. Under different circumstances, she would have turned around and kissed that same smile right off of Rio’s face.

She makes sure to continue facing forward. 

Just in case. 

"It wasn't pointless," Agatha argues back, reluctantly withdrawing from Rio as she speaks. "I wasn't the one that had trouble following it," She points out, putting some much needed distance between their bodies. She sits up and tries her hardest not to think about how much she misses their previous position. 

Rio laughs once more. Less tired this time around and much more amused. She doesn't argue back. Doesn’t tell Agatha that they’d both broken the rules. It's obvious they had met each other in the middle of the bed, based on their former position.

She doesn't tell Agatha that she knows she'd been up long before her but had made no attempt to slip out of her arms.

There’s no point in mentioning any of that, Agatha would just deny it. 

"How did you sleep?" Rio asks instead, also sitting up. She glances over at Agatha, briefly, and hopes that the pounding in her chest isn't noticeable. How it beats a little faster, a little louder, when she sees the sleep indents pressed into the face she may or may not be tempted to lean over and kiss right now. 

"I slept fine," Agatha replied with a small shrug. Nonchalant on the surface, even though she knows it was indeed the best sleep she's had in a very long time. 

"I did too," Rio responds and there’s a certain awkwardness settling between them now. An awkwardness born out of an almost-kiss in the dark and too-close bodies in the morning. Neither of them really know how to mend it. 

Rio clears her throat before speaking up again, “I see everything is still the same," She gestures vaguely to herself and the bedroom surrounding them. She's relieved to find that this reality she'd been thrown into hasn't come to an end just yet.  

"Mhm," Agatha nods in agreement to the observation. She isn’t sure what else to say at the moment but she knows what she wants to say.

What she really wants is to tell Rio how good her voice sounds like this. How pleasant it sounds to her ears: a few octaves too low and clearly still full of sleepiness. She has never heard it sound like this before in her life. ‘Morning voice’ isn’t really a thing when it comes to Rio outside of the hex with the whole ‘Death not needing sleep’ thing and whatnot and she’d been way too shocked about finding Rio in her bed the morning before to notice the sound of it. 

But now, it’s all she can think about.

It’s all her body can think about. 

“We should go check on Nicky,” tumbles out of Agatha's mouth instead of the confession. She’s already slipping out of the bed before Rio can respond, and Rio wastes no time in following in her footsteps.

The hallway is the exact same, much like their bedroom. Which is a good sign, of course. But there's still matching lumps lodged in both of their throats. Refusing to go away until they find the real answer they're searching for; whether or not their son is still around. 

They pause outside of Nicky's door once they reach it, Agatha's hand hovering over the doorknob. She's afraid. Terrified that once the door opens, they'll be met with the sight of...nothing, or perhaps a minimally decorated guest room like it had been before this twisted reality.  

But that isn't the case. 

Nicky is there when they open the door. Sprawled out on his back in the same 'robot' pajamas from the night before. His room is an exact replica of the one from last night: various action figures scattered across the floor, those same paper planets hanging from the ceiling, and most importantly, the crayon portrait of the three of them is still taped to the wall above his bed. 

Both of them exhale at the sight, releasing a tension neither of them had known they were holding in. 

"We should wake him up. Get him ready for school," Agatha whispers after a few seconds, remembering how Wanda had commented on them not having Nicky ready on time. Remembering the suspicion lurking beneath the surface of Wanda's perfectly crafted smile when she had said that.

That is a mistake they cannot afford to make again. So they move into the room and wake their son up with forehead kisses and promises that he can choose his own breakfast this morning. 

**

Nicky's morning routine is less complicated than its nightly counterpart. In less than half an hour, he's fully dressed and seated at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of too-sugary cereal."Mom, did you sign the paper I told you about?" He asks, looking up at Agatha with wide, questioning eyes. 

Agatha can’t help but smile at the sight of them. Just happy to see that they're still here. That Nicky is still here. Currently looking up at her and waiting for a response. "What paper?" She asks and she can just barely make out the words 'permission slip' and 'field trip' through the mush of cereal in Nicky's mouth. She shakes her head apologetically, "I'm sorry, I forgot to."

I never knew about it, is what she really means. 

"It's okay,” Nicky said, his smile bright and forgiving. It's the kind of smile that always reminded Agatha she had done a wonderful job at raising him. “It's in my bag,” He adds as an afterthought, already shoveling another spoonful of colorful cereal into his mouth. He doesn't seem to notice that they have, once again, forgotten something they were supposed to remember.  

Rio takes care of it. Finding the paper in question smushed at the bottom of Nicky's backpack. She signs it for him before tucking it away into one of his color-coded folders. 

For the remainder of breakfast, Nicky continues rambling on and on about his upcoming field trip and Agatha finds herself wondering, for the first time, what school is actually like here in the hex. 

What is Nicky's teacher like? Who is his teacher? What are his classmates like? Does he get along with all of them? Her Nicky had, obviously, never attended school so it would certainly be interesting to witness something like that. 

Agatha wants to.

She wants to experience everything that comes with being a mom to a first-grader in this hell known as the suburbs. She shouldn't want to. Would probably laugh in someone's face if they told her she would be looking forward to being surrounded by twenty small children and their insufferable parents but she does want to. 

She wants to experience all of it, with Rio by her side.

The parent-teacher conferences where they boast about having such an intelligent child. The holiday themed parties where they’d be forced to bake something from scratch because of some dumb rule put in place by Nicky's teacher. She wants to experience the school plays where Nicky has the most important role because well, he is her son after all. Of course he would be the main character. 

Most of all, she wants to experience this field trip that Nicky seems so excited about. Wants to walk around, holding his hand as he points out his favorite exhibits. She can already feel the smile that would surely find its way onto her face once Rio starts explaining the plant exhibits in that nerdy way that always made her burst out in laughter.

Always made her fall deeper in love with Rio whenever she would call plants by their formal name rather than just using its basic name like most people would. 

A memory flashes through Agatha’s mind at the thought. Unwanted and so vivid she can practically smell it: 

The forest had been brighter than usual on this particular day. Summer in full effect. Trees adorned with a new set of verdant leaves.

They'd been walking for hours on end, Rio leading her deeper and deeper into the forest. And Agatha should've felt nervous, being led away from everyone else with Death's hand in hers but she hadn't been afraid at all. It had actually been the first time in her life where she had felt at peace. 

"Where are you taking me?" She asked Rio, not for the first time. Or the second. Or the third. 

Rio laughed, looking back over her shoulder. "You're terrible at surprises, you know.” She said, her brown eyes sparkling with amusement under the too-bright sun. 

"I just prefer to know what I'm walking into," Agatha replied with a laugh of her own. She tightened her hold on Rio's hand as they walked through one of the rougher areas of the forest. Smiling to herself when Rio's fingers squeezed her own in response. 

"Just be patient," Rio responded even though she knew that asking Agatha to be patient was like asking a small child in a candy store not to touch anything. "It'll be worth it," She added when Agatha huffed behind her.  

Several minutes had passed before they finally reached their destination: a large meadow covered in rows and rows of the most beautiful flowers Agatha had ever seen in her life. Her breath caught in her throat, the sight of them rendering her speechless.

Rio was right. That terrible trek through the forest, the pesky bugs, the sweat had absolutely been worth it. 

"Wow," Agatha said, the short word hardly audible over the sound of the birds in the sky and that voice in her head that was screaming how much she loved the woman that had woken her up at the crack of dawn just to whisk her away to this ethereal place. 

"I told you," Rio said, smug as she tugged Agatha forward. Leading her deeper into the meadow. Rio dropped her hand once they reached a bed of gorgeous sunflowers, kneeling down to gently pluck the most vibrant one of the bunch. 

"Helianthus annuus." Rio said, twirling the stem of the flower around in her fingers as she stood back up.

Agatha shook her head, a loud laugh bubbling up in her chest. Still an unfamiliar sound to her own ears at this point in her life but she was starting to become more acquainted with it, the longer she spent around her lover.

"What?" She asked, still laughing at the absurd word.

"Helianthus annuus." Rio repeated with a small shrug. She had that smile on her face, the one she always got whenever she succeeded in making Agatha laugh. "It means sunflower." 

"Why don't you just say sunflower then?" Agatha asked, accepting the delicate flower that was now being offered to her. She was still smiling wide. Another unfamiliar feeling to her but again, one she was getting to know a little better whenever she was around Rio. 

"I think helianthus annuus sounds much better."  

"No." Agatha shook her head with a laugh, "It really doesn't." 

"It does," Rio said, "Try it." 

Agatha shook her head again before giving in, "Helianthus annuus." She slowly repeated the unnecessarily lengthy word, laughing at her own butchered pronunciation of it. 

"That was horrible," Rio said bluntly, though Agatha found it hard to take any offense at the sound of it. She couldn't. Not really. Not when Rio was looking at her like that. So utterly in love with her, and her terrible pronunciation skills. 

"I'm sorry we can't all be nerds," Agatha said, moving closer to Rio. Already missing the warmth her body had to offer. It was uncomfortably humid outside on this particular day, one of the more hotter days of the summer season but she still wanted to be close to Rio no matter the temperature. They could be in the middle of the Sahara desert and she would still find an excuse to be wrapped up in all things Rio. 

"A what?" Rio asked in return. Laughing at the foreign four-letter word. 'Nerd' was meant to be an insult in this context, she knows that much but there are some words in the human language that still trip her up sometimes. 

"A nerd," Agatha repeated, still moving closer. She stopped in front of Rio, their faces inches apart now. "It means someone who knows too much about stupid things. Like the 'real' names of flowers." 

"It's not stup-" Rio began to defend herself but was unable to finish her sentence. Agatha's mouth was already on hers before she could.

The kiss was soft and somehow warmer than the sun beating down on their backs. It wasn't their first kiss, far from it, but it still had that same excitement that comes from kissing someone for the first time. 

It still had that same hunger too. Evident in how quickly the kiss had deepened. Rio wasted no time in bringing her hands to Agatha's waist to pull her body closer to her own. Everything around them had become nothing but background noise. Nothing else mattered for the next few minutes except the mouth moving up against their own. 

When they finally broke apart, both of them kept their eyes closed for just a few seconds longer. Letting the ghost of it linger on their lips. 

"I love you," Rio blurted out once their eyes had locked again. Her face turning redder than the row of tulips a few feet away once she realized what she had said. The three words felt strange in her mouth. Odd. Unfamiliar and never uttered by her prior to that day. She'd heard them, of course. Knew what they meant, but she'd never said them to anyone. She could feel embarrassment seeping in under her skin. Which was also new to her. 

There was a silence as they stared at each other. Not uncomfortable in the slightest. Just the kind of silence that comes from two witches that had always been alone realizing that they'd finally found their person. 

"I love you too," Agatha said after a while, a small pool of tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. She would later deny this fact whenever Rio would bring it up in the future. Whenever Rio would playfully tease her about how sensitive she secretly is. Rio would use that day as evidence of her accusation and Agatha would deny it, of course she did, but the tears had actually been there that day. 

Not for long though. Rio kissed them away shortly after. Then she kissed Agatha, again. Pressing their lips together until Agatha, the only one who actually needed oxygen, had to pull away from it.

That day, Agatha cursed her mortality. Hated how it stopped her from kissing Rio for as long as she wanted to. Not that it really mattered. She'd found a way in the end, lowering her oxygen intake as much as possible just to feel Rio's lips on hers for a little longer.

It was dangerous and exhilarating and she loved every second of it.  

A loud knock on the front door pulls Agatha out of the memory.

She shakes her head a few times, attempting to push that sacred memory back into that little mental box she'd stuffed it in long ago. That box covered in big red warning signs that have, "DO NOT OPEN!!" written all over them. Even though she always does anyway. 

She can feel Rio staring at her from her spot by the counter but she can't find it in herself to look back at the moment. Afraid that she might accidentally reveal what she had been thinking about by maybe glancing down at Rio's mouth. Wondering if the taste of it has changed from that day. Or perhaps, she'd really slip up and ask Rio if she still loves her as much as she did back then. Though she's quite certain she already knows the answer to that question. 

There's another knock on the door. Wanda. Right. The front door opens, the sound of Wanda letting herself into their home and then, "Good morning! I hope I'm not too early." 

She isn’t. She knows she isn’t.

"Right on time!" Agatha said with a forced smile on her face. It's always forced around Wanda. Always fabricated. But it feels a little more strained this time around, with memories of sunflowers and warm lips still heavy on her mind. 

Wanda doesn't seem to notice. She walks over to Nicky's chair and ruffles his hair, "Morning, Nicky. Are you ready for school?" She asks him and it's still so weird for Agatha to see the person she loves the most in this world and her current target so close to each other like this. So weird, it makes her skin crawl. 

"Almost," Nicky replied, smiling up at Wanda so genuinely, it almost convinces Agatha to change her nefarious plans entirely. 

Almost, but not quite. 

Nicky returns his attention to his bowl of cereal, quickly downing the artificially colored milk before wiping his mouth off. "Okay, now I'm ready!" He said, sliding out of his chair and putting his backpack on. 

"Well then, let's get going!" Wanda said, and Agatha does her best to hold in her sigh of relief at Wanda's early departure. She really doesn't have the mental capacity to deal with her right now. 

Her relief is short-lived though. Leaving faster than it had arrived because Wanda doesn't leave. She stops in place instead, almost like she's noticing something she shouldn’t.

And Agatha is suddenly very aware of the distance between her and her ‘wife’ and she realizes this probably isn't a good look: her sitting at the table by herself, avoiding Rio’s gaze as much as possible because the memories of that day are still fresh on her mind. 

"You know," Wanda said, suspicion leaking in her tone. "I think I have just enough time for one cup of coffee, if you wouldn't mind." She said sweetly, looking over at Rio, who is closest to the coffee maker. "The boys kept me up all night, I don't know if I'll be able to function without it." 

Rio laughs in that knowing way mothers do with each other. "Of course!" She replied in an equally sweet voice, turning around to start the machine. "Would you like cream? Sugar?" She asks Wanda, looking back at her with a smile so fake it makes her jaw hurt. 

Like Agatha, Rio notices the suspicion written all over Wanda's face. The crease between her brows. The intensity in her stare and she thinks to herself, We are so fucked. 

"I'll take both, thank you!" Wanda replied. She looks over at Nicky, who is patiently waiting for permission to join his friends in the car. "Oh!" Wanda said like she'd just remembered his presence. Like her focus had been elsewhere. Somewhere it definitely shouldn't be. "You can go join Billy and Tommy in the car if you'd like!" She said to him and then Nicky is already bolting out of the front door, shouting his farewells and a quick "love you" aimed at his two mothers. 

Wanda returns her attention to the women in front of her. "Actually, Agnes..." She began. Too sweet to be sincere. "...would you mind giving Rio a hand? I think I still have a few cavities from the last cup of coffee she made for me." She jokes, laughing at a volume that is far too loud for the time shown on the kitchen clock.   

It's obviously a test. To prove something, though Agatha isn't sure what. Isn't sure if it's something as simple as Wanda being worried about their marriage, once again. Or something far worse. 

"Sure thing!" Agatha smiles, moving to join Rio at the coffee maker. She hesitates momentarily. Pauses behind Rio before saying fuck it and sliding her arms around Rio's waist. Pressing herself as close as possible to her back. She can feel Rio stiffen, much like she did this morning, before she melts and relaxes into the embrace. "Play along," Agatha whispers low enough that Wanda is unable to hear her.

Rio nods, slightly. She clears her throat and said, "Hey, you.” Attempting to make the two words sound as romantic as possible. Which isn’t too difficult, with Agatha pressed up against her like this. Her voice is way steadier than she feels on the inside and huskier than intended. 

Agatha smiles at the sound of it. Lets out the lovesick laugh that's expected of her. She lifts up on her tippy toes and rests her chin on Rio's shoulder and she really hates how good it feels. Hates how she secretly likes how suspicious Wanda is becoming of them. Because that suspicion gives her an excuse to do things like brushing the shell of Rio's ear with her lips a few times and whispering: "laugh like I just said the funniest thing in the world" into it. 

Rio does as told, laughing as loud as possible. It sounds super genuine. Mostly because it is. She can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. How her ex-wife is whispering commands into her ear while this stranger watches them from afar. 

Rio reaches up to fetch a coffee mug from the cabinet and Agatha uses that as an excuse to tighten her hold on her. To splay her fingers across Rio's stomach in a similar fashion to the ones that had laid against her own ribcage earlier this morning. She can feel the warmth of Rio's skin through her shirt. Can feel the way Rio's breath stutters at the feeling of her hands pressed to her stomach.  

Rio pauses. No longer caring about the coffee mug she had been reaching for. She turns her head a little, in order to better face Agatha. Their faces are centimeters apart, and Agatha shuts her eyes at the sight of it. Has to shut them because she can't stop thinking about Rio looking at her exactly like this back in that damn meadow that hasn't stopped haunting her thoughts since she'd remembered it. Her eyes flutter back open after a while. “What?" She whispers, squirming around under Rio's stare. 

"Nothing," Rio whispers back. Forgetting about the task at hand. Forgetting about their audience entirely. She can only think about Agatha. About how beautiful she looks this close up. How nice her hands feel on her stomach. How she wants to kiss Agatha for reasons completely unrelated to this test they'd been forced into.

Rio finds herself leaning in before she can stop herself. Feels herself moving closer to Agatha, and her mouth, without much thought. Like she had last night. She can practically feel the nerves bouncing off of Agatha as she inches closer to her. Notices Agatha trying not to freak out entirely. Trying her hardest not to blow their cover in front of the woman studying them. 

Rio decides to have mercy on her.

Even though she really really doesn't want to, she does it anyway. She changes her course at the last minute and places a small kiss on the corner of Agatha's mouth instead of fully capturing her lips under her own like she so desperately wanted to. 

The ‘kiss’ is nothing really but somehow everything to them.

It burns Agatha, in the best way, where Rio's mouth had caught the edge of her own. Sort of feels like the sun had kissed her there instead. It feels like she is both floating and incredibly grounded at the same time. She should've given Rio permission somehow, Agatha thinks to herself. Maybe with a look that would go unnoticed by their spectator or a small nod perhaps. Something that would have let Rio know that she would've been fine if she had gone through with her plan. 

But maybe it's better that she didn't. Because her pulse hasn't slowed down yet and that had barely been anything at all. Hadn't even properly touched her mouth and if this is how she feels after something as small as that, then Agatha couldn't even begin to imagine what last night would've been like; if she hadn't stopped Rio. 

She would like to know though. What that would've been like. 

There’s the sound of Wanda clearing her throat from the kitchen table. So distant to both of them. "Coffee?" Wanda reminds them, amused by how invisible she had become in such a short amount of time. 

"Right," Rio said, pulling her attention away from Agatha. "I'm sorry. My wife can be so distracting sometimes."

The term is just for show. The sentence as well. Agatha knows this. But that doesn't stop her face from heating up at the sound of it. She forces out a laugh. Strange sounding to her ears and hardly convincing. She releases Rio from her hold so she can take over coffee-making duty. Adding an unnecessary amount of cream and sugar to the mug. Remembering how Wanda likes it and stirring it carefully before carrying it over to the table. Rio follows, her hand sliding around her hip easily on the way there. 

Still just for show, Agatha reminds herself. 

"Here you go," Agatha said, handing the mug to Wanda. "You shouldn't need any trips to the dentist this time around!" She jokes, feeling at ease when Wanda's own laughter starts up. That gnawing suspicion she'd harbored not too long ago seems to be dwindling.

Agatha glances over to their former spot and realizes that from this angle, it must've looked like they had actually touched lips. Which is obviously the biggest factor in Wanda's newfound ease. 

What a relief. 

"Well," Wanda said, seemingly satisfied with the little show they'd put on for her, "I should let you two get on with your day. I know you have that big meeting today, Rio. Vision has been talking my ear off about it for the past week now. He really wants to impress that Mr. Hart, you know..." 

Rio nods at Wanda's incessant rambling, holding in a groan at the mention of work. She hadn't forgotten about it but she had certainly hoped it had been a fluke. A mistake or perhaps a flaw in Vision's code, causing him to misspeak and say untrue things but that doesn't seem to be the case. 

"Mhm really big day." Rio said with a tight smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes but Wanda just chalks it up to nerves about the meeting. 

"You'll do great, don't worry." Wanda reassures her as she rises from the table. 

"She always does." Agatha speaks up, finding that she means it entirely. She leans over, and presses a featherlight kiss on the underside of Rio's jawline. 

Agatha tries to convince herself that it was only done to ease any lingering suspicion that might be left. That she hadn't done it because the sight of Rio’s jawline had been distracting her, and she wanted to see what it would feel like to press her lips to it. She can hear the sharp inhale Rio takes, low enough Wanda can't hear it. But Agatha can and she loves it.

Rio looks at her, something flickering across her features for a split second. "Thanks, babe," she said in return to the compliment, the term of endearment falling from her lips a little too naturally. 

Wanda beams at them, all traces of suspicion vacant from her stare. "You two really are the perfect couple," she sighs like a person watching the end of their favorite romance film for the hundredth time. She looks at them one last time. Less suspicious this time around. "Well! I'd better get going." She said, walking to the front door. "I'll have Nicky back by 3pm!" is the last thing she shouts before the door slams behind her. 

The house is too quiet now. 

Rio slides her arm off of Agatha's hip and said, 'Well, I think that went great!" 

Agatha looks at her. Really looks at Rio, and smiles despite herself. Because this is what she loves most about Rio. How she refuses to take anything seriously. The way she cracks a joke and brushes everything off instead of calling her out and saying things like, I saw how you reacted when I almost kissed you or that kiss you placed on my jaw wasn’t necessary, Wanda had already been convinced at that point. 

Rio doesn't say any of that and Agatha loves her for it. 

"Do you think she bought it?" Agatha asks her, still smiling as she moves to wash out Wanda's abandoned mug. 

Rio nods, her mouth quirked into a small smile. "I think she did." She said, joining Agatha at the sink. Both of them falling into their respective roles from the night before. "I think the kiss was a wonderful touch. If I do say so myself." She adds, her voice low. Teasing. Pleasant, again, to Agatha's ears. 

"Mhm." Agatha hums in agreement. "It was very convincing." 

"You were very convincing." Rio said back, touching Agatha's hand as she reaches for the now-clean coffee mug. 

Agatha freezes at her accusation, and for a second, Rio thinks she took it too far. That she had made Agatha retreat back into that place she always runs off to when she doesn't want to confront her feelings but then Agatha laughs and everything is fine again. "I wasn't the one that started it." Agatha reminds her. She's hyper-aware of Rio's fingers still resting on her hand. Coffee mug long forgotten, again. 

"No..." Rio starts with a smile, "but I think I felt you lean in though."

She did lean in. Agatha knows she did. Rio knows she did. Hell, Wanda probably saw it as well. Agatha opens her mouth to deny the accusation but nothing comes out. Denying it is pointless. 

They stand there, simply staring at each other, and Agatha finds herself thinking back to that meadow again. Thinking about how bizarre it is that this is their reality now. How different it is compared to back then. How if they were those same witches from that day, young and so stupidly in love with each other; they would already be kissing each other by now. 

That version of them certainly wouldn't need to put on an act for Wanda. But this version of them does. So Agatha peels her eyes away from Rio and said, "You need to get ready for work." 

Rio groans, the intimate moment dissolving into thin air. "I don't want to," She said, and Agatha laughs at how whiny she sounds. She doesn't blame Rio in the slightest. If she had discovered that there was a job waiting for her in this reality, she would've left the hex immediately after. Plans long forgotten.

"You'll be fine," Agatha considers leaning over to press a light kiss to Rio’s cheek to really reassure her, like she’d done so many times before, but decides against it. For obvious reasons. She moves over to the fridge, instead, seeking out her own breakfast. 

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to do there." Rio points out. She finds herself feeling anxious. There’s something nerve-wracking about being away from Agatha for the first time in the hex. Being alone, surrounded by men in ties and technology she has no clue how to operate. "If you think Wanda was suspicious of us this morning, just imagine what’ll happen when her husband comes home telling her about how weird I was acting at the office. How off I seemed." 

Agatha laughs at her. Not a laugh of mockery though. It's just a laugh that said god, I still love this dramatic idiot that's pacing around the kitchen. "Just copy what everyone else is doing," Agatha said with an ease that Rio envies right now.

"Wow! Any other great advice, Agatha?" Rio deadpans sarcastically, though the smile on her face invalidates the sarcasm entirely. She stops pacing around the kitchen and leans back against the counter instead. Forcing herself to be still. 

"Try not to get fired.” Agatha shrugs from her spot at the table, opening the vanilla yogurt in front of her.

"You know, maybe you should apply to be a counselor," Rio said. There's something tugging low in her stomach now, when Agatha looks up at her. Eyebrow quirked up in amusement, in that way that means she's waiting for Rio to finish the witty remark that she knows is coming. "You're just so good at giving advice.” Rio finishes, as expected. 

"Well..." Agatha begins, her voice dropping an octave, deliberately intimate on all fronts. She holds Rio's gaze as she speaks, "I do look amazing in a pencil skirt." 

Rio's brow shoots up at the suggestive statement. It was inevitable, this flirtation between them. It had been since they’d woken up. Rio tries not to imagine it, this piece of clothing that Agatha speaks of, but the image is far too vivid for her to succeed. 

"Well, we should definitely see if Nicky's school is looking for one then.” Rio flirts back. Grinning at the flush on Agatha's face. It’s not often that she beats Agatha in this game of teasing, this back-and-forth flirtation, but it's so worth it when she does. 

"Shut up,” Agatha retorts. Meaning for it to sound rude. Insulting, maybe. But the shade of her face betrays her. "And go get ready for work," She points at the clock with her yogurt-covered spoon. "It won't be a good look if you're late on your first day back." 

Rio shakes her head at her. Stubborn and childish in a way that makes Agatha's face ache from the smile stretching across it. "Fine I'll tell you what," Agatha said, voice too soft. Still missing the memo it seems. "If you go to work, I'll have dinner waiting for you when you get home."

Rio's brow shoots up in skepticism at the proposal of dinner. “You're going to cook dinner?"

"No. I'm going to go over to Wanda's for lunch and bring back leftovers." Agatha smirks, laughing at the idea of her actually cooking dinner by herself. It had been hard enough yesterday, and she'd had help then. 

"Fine," Rio laughs. "I'll go be Wanda's little puppet but don't blame me if our secret is discovered three minutes into my shift." 

"I won't," Agatha shouts back at Rio's retreating figure. Meaning it entirely because she would never blame Rio for anything.

Well she has, but she'd never meant it. 

Rio looks at her once more and sighs before finally heading upstairs, where she knows the closet full of work attire is waiting for her. Teasing her with the presence of white blouses and straight slacks. 

**

Rio stands in front of the office building that has 'Computational Services Inc.' on it, in big bold letters. She tugs at the sleeves of her white dress shirt a few times. Brushes her free hand on her slacks once more, and mutters, "I've got this," to herself as she walks into the building. 

The lobby of the building is so...mundane looking when she walks into it. It can't possibly be a healthy sight for the morale of its workers.

It certainly isn't doing it for Rio. 

She glances around the seemingly empty space once more. Wondering why her counterpart, or anyone else, would want to work in a place like this. Or maybe she's just being petty about it because she would much rather be somewhere else.

Anywhere else. 

Like back in the kitchen, with Agatha, Rio thinks as she walks over to the elevator. The doors of it slide open with a ding, and Rio is relieved to find that the building only has one other floor. Meaning less room for error. Less of a possibility that she might choose the wrong floor and expose herself in less than five minutes, when everyone stares at her in confusion. 

She studies her reflection in the metal doors, noticing how different she looks. How different she feels. With her hair in a low bun, and these clothes that fit her perfectly even though she'd never worn them before. Then, there's the wedding ring, of course. The biggest difference of them all. Rio glances down at it and contemplates whether the other version of her had loved her Agatha as much as she does. 

I doubt it, Rio thinks as she exits the elevator. It'd be really complicated to replicate a love like theirs. 

Rio is greeted by an open floor plan once she exits the elevator and the best way to describe the office space is simply: mundane. Much like the lobby that had led her here. There's rows of desks covered in mountains of manila folders and bulky computer monitors that let her know they are indeed still in the 90s. 

"Rio, there you are!"

She spins around at the sound of the familiar voice, coming face-to-face with Vision. It's a bit strange how comforted she feels in knowing that she has met at least one other person here. For like five minutes. But still, it's nice to see a familiar face. 

"I was starting to think you weren't coming in," Vision said, his voice carrying that same sweetness as his wife's. He guides her towards what Rio thinks is her desk. Kind of hopes it isn't, because it's situated directly in the middle of the floor. 

It is indeed hers, according to the brass nameplate sitting on it. 

"Are you feeling better?" Vision asks, a look of concern finding its way onto his face.

The lie about her sickness comes rushing back to Rio."Oh, yes!" She nods quickly, plastering on a smile that feels too strained. "I feel much better, thank you!"

"Well, it's good to have you back. This place was this close to falling apart without you here." He laughs, leaning up against her desk with a familiarity that leaves Rio studying him curiously. She notices how easy his posture is. How he settles onto her desk, holding a stack of documents with relaxed fingers. Like this is the very first thing he does at the beginning of every work day. 

"Did you have a chance to look over the proposal that I emailed you yesterday?" Vision asks, his eyes wide with eagerness. Like he truly believes that she might say yes. "I know you were out sick but Mr. Hart is expecting it to be revised and completed before the meeting later this afternoon."

The hopefulness in his tone tells Rio everything. The other Rio certainly would have had it done, illness be damned. 

"I looked at it, yes," Rio lies, settling into her chair with a nonchalance that feels as fabricated as everything else in this town. She feels uncomfortable, in the office chair. Feels uncomfortable at this desk, with Vision studying her from where he sits at the edge of it. "But I'd love to go over it one more time before the meeting.

It isn't the best thing she could come up with. Far from it actually, based on Vision's inquisitive stare, and the way he tilts his head, but it's all she has to offer. 

"Hmm," Vision hums, studying her a little harder. It's scarier when it's his attention on her rather than Wanda's. Something about the whole robot thing leaves her feeling unsettled. "You usually have them done long before you walk in for the day." He points out. 

Shit.

Damn the other version of herself, and her overachievements.

Rio flexes her fingers, resisting the urge to tug at the sleeves of her shirt. "I know," She laughs awkwardly, shuffling the folders on her desk into a neat stack. Doing anything to distract her hands. "But I was really sick. Could hardly stay awake for longer than ten minutes." 

Vision nods, understanding painting his face. Though Rio secretly knows that neither of them had ever experienced sickness in their lives. There's a strange kind of affinity she feels in knowing that they share something like that.  

"Well, all of your previous notes should still be in the file on your computer, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about. And you still have plenty of time to finish the report before the meeting," Vision reassures her, standing up at the sound of a door opening. "Looks like Mr. Hart is ready for me." He said, adjusting his tie. "Norm will catch you up on anything else you've missed."

He gestures to a man at a nearby desk who offers Rio a friendly wave. Vision nods at her once more before heading towards what appears to be a conference room, leaving Rio alone at the foreign desk that feels too small for her. 

Norm rolls his chair over to her shortly after. His smile is inviting enough. "Welcome back, stranger!” He smiles a little brighter, nudging her with his elbow, “We all missed you, this place really starts to fall apart when you’re not here.” 

"So I've heard," Rio forces a laugh, trying to match his upbeat tone. "Um," She said and curses herself for the two-letter word of hesitance, "Vision mentioned a file containing my notes?" She hopes she doesn't sound as confused as she feels. 

"Oh, the Whitmore Proposal? It's all in the system." Norm pauses, a realization hitting him as he watches her stare at the locked computer screen. "Oh, right! Everyone got new passwords yesterday. You know we had to take extra precautions, with that virus running around and whatnot. I wrote yours down somewhere."

He rummages through the items on her desk, hands pushing away cramped folders and bent paper clips until he finds what he's looking for. "Ah, here it is!" He slides a small sticky note over to her, and Rio feels a relief so strong she could almost kiss him for saving her ass. 

She won't kiss him, of course. Because she's a lesbian and far too old for him, but it feels like she could. That's all. 

"Thank you." Rio said. Unsure if she's addressing Norm, or whatever deity in the sky that had saved her from embarrassment. 

"You're very welcome!" Norm replied. "Let me know if you need help with anything else." He rolls back to his own desk, leaving Rio to figure out the rest on her own.

Well, luck can only last so long.

Her eyes scan the desk, noticing the things covering it. There's a picture frame there, half-tucked behind the monitor. She picks it up, smiling at the photo of her little family. The three of them posing in front of a Christmas tree that had been decorated messily. Ornaments hung at awkward distances, the lowest ones - the ones that had obviously been hung up by a child - are much too close to each other.

The tree is the kind of mess that lets her know it was decorated by a family that cares more about the process that got them there, rather than the results. 

She puts the picture back, analyzing the rest of her desk. 

The rest is as foreign as the photo she'd recently departed with. There's a stack of folders with handwriting that looks exactly like her own, a crowded calendar with circled dates she doesn't know the importance of, and small souvenirs of vacations that definitely hadn’t been taken. 

Rio finds herself marveling at how precise Wanda's magic is. How it hadn't left any stone unturned, touching even the most irrelevant of things. 

Rio looks up at the monitor in front of her, feeling relieved when she manages to turn it on without incident. The password from the note is transferred to the keyboard, and then the desktop is staring back at her. Full of ominously named folders she doesn't understand. 

"Hey, Norm." Rio calls out, hesitating as she tries to figure out how to phrase her question without sounding like a complete idiot. Without sounding like this was her first day on the job. How would Agatha handle this? She wonders. She has no fucking clue, so she just asks, "Would you be able to show me how to find the Whitmore Proposal?" 

Norm looks absolutely puzzled by her request. He stares at her, brow furrowed, and Rio can feel herself losing control of the situation. Norm's eyes widen and Rio curses under her breath, waiting for him to notice she doesn't actually belong here. She exhales when Norm says, “Oh! Did they forget to tell you they changed the system back to the one from before.” He shakes his head, “I don’t think you were working here when we…” 

Rio is already tuning him out, thinking about her crazy luck instead of his rant about constantly changing computer systems and whatnot.

“They always change it at the worst time, you know.." Norm is still ranting, leaning over and tapping away at her keyboard as he does so. "Here, let me show you the new way." 

Rio watches closely. Trying to remember every single step. Every folder. Every click that leads her to where she needs to be. It's much easier than she'd expected it to be. 

"Thank you," She said again when the file finally graces the fuzzy screen in front of her. 

"No problemo." Norm replied in that lame way comedic relief characters do in sitcoms. He drops his voice to a whisper, "Also, don't worry about working on that data ingestion pipeline that Hart requested. I finished it for you." 

"I appreciate it." Rio replied, not having a single clue about whatever the hell he just said. 

Norm smiles at her gratitude before rolling back to his rightful place, humming a cheery tune under his breath. 

The rest of the morning passes in a blur of feigned understanding. Rio nods at words she can’t comprehend, smiles at colleagues she can't remember the name of, and tries her hardest to look like she belongs among these people who sound like they're speaking a different language entirely. 

By lunchtime, she had made some small accomplishments. 

She's managed to, at least, figure out how to check her email. Easy enough. Until it wasn't. Until the letters began to blend in with each other, becoming indecipherable the longer she stared at them. 

The characters on the screen start to blur in her vision. Words that should mean something to her, but don't. She clicks back on the document showed to her by Norm, scrolling through data that means absolutely nothing and thinks, for the second time today: I am so fucked. 

The sharp trill of her desk phone startles her. Pulling her out of the hypnosis she'd started to fall under, staring at the numbers on her computer screen. She stares at the phone for a moment. Contemplating on letting it go to voicemail until she notices a co-worker peeking over at her. Wondering what's taking her so long to shut the damn thing up. 

She shoots the man a falsely apologetic smile before lifting the receiver. "Vidal speaking," She said, mimicking the way she'd heard the other workers answer the phone throughout the day. Always with their last names only. 

"Well, don't you sound like a professional." The voice flowing through the line is low and sweet and achingly familiar. A voice Rio knows better than her own. The panic that had been twisting in her stomach unravels at the sound of it. 

"Miss me already?" Rio asks, lowering her voice as she turns away from some of her more curious colleagues. The ones that have become prisoners to the boredom found in offices all across the world. Pretending to do their work as they listen in on private conversations, such as this one. 

"No," Agatha lies, even though her smile can be heard through the static of the ancient telephone. "Just making sure you haven't been fired yet." 

Rio glances around the office, watching her colleagues clack away at keyboards, engaging in hushed conversations entirely unrelated to data processing. All of them unaware of the imposter amongst them. "Not yet," Rio said, "Though that might change after this meeting." 

"I'm sure you'll do fine. You made it this far in the day." There's something oddly reassuring about Agatha's words. It's easier for Rio to believe her when she said it with such certainty in her voice. 

"I don't know." Rio sighs, "Apparently I'm like the fucking employee of the month here, and I have no clue what I'm doing." 

“That’s impressive," Agatha drawls, the sound of her smile growing is evident. Rio can feel her own smile spreading at the image of it. "I wouldn't have expected that," Agatha admits, "I figured you'd be a slacker." 

"Well I'm not. I'm a very hard worker." Rio's voice drops low. Something sultry and playful. Something a tad bit inappropriate, given where she's at right now. She twirls the phone cord around her finger, finding entertainment in the casual flirtation. 

"Is that so?" Agatha's voice matches the volume of Rio's, taking it down a couple notches as if she were the one sitting at a desk in a sea of business suits and strong cologne. 

Heat spreads across Rio's cheeks. She’s happy that her coworkers are unable to hear Agatha's side of the conversation. She lowers her own voice further. Just in case they can hear her side of it. "Mhm," She hums in response to Agatha's question, "I'm full of surprises, you know. Maybe I'll demonstrate a few when I get home." It's easier to be bold with a telephone between them, Rio thinks. Easier to say things she wouldn't dare voice aloud if this conversation were happening in person. 

Agatha seems to come to the same conclusion, her voice dropping to something close to indecent as she asks, "And should I wear something special for this demonstration?"

Rio nearly chokes on the sandwich she'd been chewing absentmindedly, caught off guard by the scandalous question. She clears her throat, recovering as Agatha chuckles on the other end of the phone. Her pulse quickens as she glances around the office before whispering, "Well…you can wear that skirt we discussed earlier."

Rio can feel a swarm of butterflies in her stomach, at her own boldness. Her heart races like a schoolgirl on the phone with her crush for the first time ever. 

The line is silent for a while, and Rio wonders if she had taken it too far. But then Agatha clears her throat. "Maybe...if you do a good job at work, I can arrange something." 

Rio laughs, the sound soft and intimate. She's fully aware that when she gets home, nothing of the sort would be happening. This is all a game. Simple flirtation done only because it's safer over the telephone, because they can't see each other's reactions. The longing that lets them know they aren't kidding at all when they talk like this to each other.

Rio knows this.  

Though that doesn't stop her from wanting it to be real. 

"Well, I should let you get back to work," Agatha speaks up again, ending the moment before it can go any further.

"I look forward to hearing about your day in the office," Agatha jokes, though her words are genuine. She really does mean it. She wants to hear all about Rio's day. Likes the thought of listening to Rio rant about the amount of mansplaining she had to endure, and bitter coffee that no amount of sugar could save. 

They say their goodbyes, and Rio feels much better than she did prior to the phone call. Grounded in a way that only comes from hearing Agatha's voice. 

The afternoon brings a few more challenges: a jammed printer, Vision seeking out her opinion on a document with a name she can hardly pronounce, the meeting where she remains strangely quiet according to Mr. Hart's comments at the end of it. It's exhausting, really, but she finds herself adapting and improvising where needed. 

By five o'clock, when everyone begins packing up their things, Rio feels a strange sense of accomplishment. She survived the day, and more importantly, she managed to convince everyone (except herself) that she actually belongs in this office. 

As she gathers her jacket, Vision approaches her desk once more.

"You did well today, considering you're still recovering." he said, his expression kind. "Mr. Hart was impressed with your input."

Rio has no memory of providing any input worth commenting on, but she smiles regardless. "Thank you. It's good to be back."

"Will I see you and the family tomorrow for dinner?" Vision asks. The invitation feels like a test, though Vision's face shows no threat. 

"We wouldn't miss it for the world."  

Vision nods, satisfied."Then have a good evening, Rio." He said, grabbing his briefcase, and tipping his hat in true sitcom fashion. 

As Rio walks out of the building, she finds herself thinking about this life she'd been thrown into. This job. The house in the suburbs with the perfect lawn. Her perfect family. It's all fake. All fabricated by Wanda's magic. Yet there's something about it that tugs at her in a real genuine way, and somewhere deep down, she's enchanted by it all. 

She slides into her car and allows herself a small smile. One day down, and who knows how many more to go. It could be only a few more, but she doesn't care about that right now. 

Right now, all she cares about is the family waiting for her at home. Her family waiting for her return so they can eat supper together, as they did yesterday. Her 'wife' waiting for her to be back by her side so they can complete complicated nighttime routines that, hopefully, won't be as much trouble this time around.

Rio starts the car, adjusts the rearview mirror, and heads home, smiling as she thinks about what lies on the other side of the front door. 

Chapter Text

Agatha is absolutely exhausted this morning, and it’s all Rio’s fault.

Why is it her fault? 

Well, because Rio is the one who started all of…this the day before. 

The almost-kiss that turned into a corner of the mouth kiss instead. The flirting over the phone yesterday. The inappropriate conversation about demonstrations and skirts, as if that was a totally normal thing to say to your fake wife at your super fake job (which it isn’t), and then, to top it all off, she had the audacity to come home from work, looking so damn…attractive with her shirt slightly unbuttoned, her blazer thrown over her arm and that smug, infuriating smile plastered on her face.

It had taken everything in Agatha not to grab Rio by the collar of her shirt, right then and there, and kiss her up against the front door like the wives do in those old black-and-white sitcoms Wanda loves so much. 

You know, the ones where the husband walks through the front door with his tie a little looser than it’d been that morning, hat in one hand while holding his briefcase in the other. Then he makes his presence known to everyone in the house with some corny one-liner and his wife comes running over at the sound of it, and then she kisses him passionately on the lips like she hasn't seen him in forever. 

Yeah those ones. 

That is the exact same scene Agatha had wanted to recreate with Rio yesterday. 

Except she didn't.

She’d simply asked Rio about her first day at the office instead and forced herself to ignore how badly her fingers were itching to reach out and make Rio follow through on all of those things she'd whispered about on the other end of the receiver earlier. 

She’d thought, or rather hoped, the temptation to kiss Rio would leave her body at some point, but it hadn’t. It stuck with her for the rest of the day, following her well into the evening and burying itself deep within her bones, making itself right at home in the spot closest to her heart. 

And it hadn’t stopped there either. 

That temptation, that urge to kiss Rio senseless, had followed Agatha into their bedroom as well, trailing behind her as she slipped beneath the sheets and then it led her into a dream so indecent, it made even her blush in her sleep. 

Because the dream hadn't been subtle in the slightest. 

It wasn't one of those vague dreams that slip away from you as soon as you wake up. The ones where you can’t remember a single detail no matter what. No. This dream had been anything but that. It was vivid. Like very vivid. Like 1080p resolution vivid, complete with a full script and everything.

There had been a skirt involved, as promised. A lot of demonstrating going on. A table might have been involved. Possibly the Reddi-wip from a few days ago as well. It had been...a lot, to say the least. 

But that's not the point. 

The point is, Agatha is really fucking tired this morning and it's all thanks to Rio (and that dream).

She’d tried to fall back asleep after waking up from it but that plan had been shut down immediately when Nicky came crashing into their room with way too much energy for the red numbers blinking back at them on the alarm clock.

He'd launched himself onto the bed and wedged himself in between her and Rio's (too close) bodies before asking, “Can we go to the pool today, mom?” right in front of her face and when Agatha didn't answer, because she had literally just woken up, Nicky moved his face a few inches closer to hers as if that might help her hear him better.

Which, to be fair, it did work. 

“Please, Billy and Tommy said they're going today and I really really want to go with them!” 

Agatha wanted to say no. In that sweet way that mothers did, of course, but she couldn’t.

So she didn’t.

Instead, she’d wrapped her arms around Nicky, pulled him closer to her and kissed the top of his head before saying yes to his (very very loud) request.

Which is how she ended up where she is now, lounging by the Westview community pool. Still very exhausted and still thinking about Rio.

Unfortunately. 

To be honest, it’s a little hard not to when Rio is currently swimming in the pool with Nicky, looking like she’d stepped right out of that magazine she’d been reading the other night. The one with the tanned, supermodels in high-cut swimsuits on the front. Those women had been beautiful, gorgeous even, but Rio was definitely giving them a run for their money right now.

Not that it was a competition or anything, but if it was, Agatha would definitely pick Rio for first place and probably second and third as well.

(she might be a little biased)

"Careful, Agnes. You keep looking at her like that and you might be leaving here with a public indecency charge.” 

Agatha startles at the sound of a voice floating from the neighboring lounge chair. She’d definitely forgotten all about Wanda sitting next to her due to certain…distractions.

She quickly slides back into character, and lifts her ridiculously large sunglasses that did absolutely nothing to hide her obvious staring. “I have no clue what you’re talking about, hun.” She lies with a bright smile on her face. “I'm just making sure Rio doesn’t drown our son with all of that spinning and splashing she’s doing with him.” 

Wanda's responding laugh is loud and way too knowing for Agatha's liking. "Right and that intense focus on Rio's...spinning and splashing...is purely maternal concern?"

“Yes.” 

"Agnes," Wanda’s voice drops into that confidential tone that Agatha was really starting to hate. "That definitely isn’t a 'concerned mother' look that you’re giving. That's the 'I want to drag my wife out of the pool and take her somewhere more private’ look."

She’s absolutely right, of course. That’s exactly what Agatha had been thinking about. In all honesty, she’d been thinking about dragging Rio somewhere private since she’d woken up but it was now, with Rio swimming around in that bikini, that the thoughts were only growing louder. The urge to pull Rio somewhere secretive like the pool locker room, or anywhere with a lock really, was becoming a serious issue. 

Although, her blatant desire was certainly helping with the whole convincing Wanda she was in love with Rio so maybe it wasn’t that much of an issue. 

Wanda leans in closer, the scent of her sunscreen wafting over, "Can I ask you something?” She asks and Agatha has to literally bite her tongue to stop herself from saying, No I’d really prefer it if you didn’t, because really at this point, Wanda should be the one in possession of the nosy neighbor title. Not her. 

She nods at Wanda anyway, anticipating even more questions about the status of their marriage. Perhaps Wanda will ask something like ‘why are you staring at Rio like you haven’t seen her naked in years?’ and of course Agatha wouldn’t be able to tell Wanda the truth and say that it’s because she hasn’t seen Rio naked in years.  

Wanda clears her throat a little before speaking, an indication that she's about to ask something a little awkward. "How are things between you and Rio? You know like…in the bedroom?” She asks and well, that’s pretty damn close to the hypothetical question Agatha had drafted up.

When Agatha shoots Wanda an innocent look that suggests she has no clue what Wanda is asking her (even though definitely she does), Wanda adds with a laugh, “I’m asking you how the sex is, silly!”

Agatha lets out a laugh in return. An innocent little thing that definitely doesn’t belong on the lips of someone who had spent her entire night dreaming about doing exactly what Wanda was asking about. 

"Wanda! What a naughty question that is!" Agatha laughs louder, meaning it entirely, because it is indeed a naughty question.

Was Wanda even allowed to ask about sex? 

"I'm sorry," Wanda laughs, "I don’t mean to pry. It's just...well, the way you're looking at her suggests you two aren’t getting nearly enough alone time.” 

Agatha has to remind herself that while she would be telling Wanda to mind her own business right about now, Agnes wouldn't. Agnes would be encouraging a conversation like this one. Honestly, she’d probably be the one to start it in the first place.

So Agatha does as she's supposed to. 

"Wanda, I can assure you our sex life is perfectly fine! We get more than enough alone time." She said, though the words hardly sound convincing once her eyes find Rio in the pool again. She is suddenly, painfully aware of how badly she wants those words to be true. 

"Mhm, right.” Wanda's tone suggests she's not buying the lie for a second. “Because from where I'm sitting, you look like you're undressing Rio with your eyes in a way that suggests 'perfectly fine' isn't entirely accurate."

Wanda has, once again, hit the nail on the head. Which Agatha hates. She's supposed to be the one assessing Wanda, not the other way around. 

"I’m not undressing her, Wanda. I’m simply admiring the sight of my wife in the pool. Is that a crime?” 

"No, it's not a crime, Agnes." Wanda smiles, clearly delighted by Agatha's flustered state. She pauses for a moment and Agatha can practically see an idea forming in her head. "Well I’ll tell you what," Wanda starts, with a little too much eagerness. "Vision and I were thinking about having Nicky stay over after dinner tonight…”

It sounds innocent enough, but Agatha has known Wanda long enough (exactly seven days) to know it was anything but. 

“The boys have been asking about having a sleepover for the past few days and I think now is the perfect time to have one!" Wanda continues, "That way, Nicky can hang out with his friends and you and Rio can have some time alone to…reconnect or whatever it is you’re claiming you don’t need to do.” 

There’s images of what Wanda is implying, swimming around in Agatha’s head. Images she has no business thinking about in broad daylight (or ever, really). Vivid images of Rio lying in their shared bed, with her soft skin and that charming smile plastered on her face. Her lips would probably still taste of chlorine, even hours after they’d departed from the pool, and there’d probably be little hints of that raspberry jam she had on her toast this morning still lingering around as well. Agatha knows she wouldn’t waste any time before licking both of the tastes right off her mouth. 

Not that she was actually considering taking Wanda up on her offer or anything crazy like that.

She, unfortunately, has to reject the very enticing offer but before she can do that, there's the sound of someone walking up to them. 

"What are you two gossiping about?" Rio asks, stopping right in front of their chairs. Before either of them can respond to her, she leans down and, without a hint of hesitation, presses a kiss to Agatha's cheek. It's a light kiss and totally appropriate for a married couple to do, but that doesn't stop Agatha's body from reacting like it’d been a full-on tongue kiss she'd just received.

There's barely time for her to recover before Rio settles at the end of her lounge chair, pulling Agatha’s feet into her lap with the kind of ease that looks, and feels, a little too natural. Her hands are cool and damp from the pool water, and her thumbs are already moving in slow, absentminded circles over Agatha's ankle.

It's probably meant to look normal. Innocent. Something for Wanda's benefit. 

It feels like so much more than any of those things. 

Every time Rio's thumb completes another trip around her ankle, Agatha can feel goosebumps following in its wake, leaving her shivering despite the sunny Westview weather. She'd completely forgotten that Rio had asked a question at all until Wanda finally speaks up.

“I was just telling Agnes here that we'd be happy to keep Nicky tonight after dinner. To give you two some time alone."

Rio's hands come to a halt. She’s afraid, for a moment, that Wanda is starting to suspect them again. “Why would we need time alone?” 

"Well," Wanda starts with the kind of knowing smile that suggests she's enjoying this conversation far more than she should, "Agnes here was doing some pretty intense staring while you were in the pool so I figured you two might benefit from some alone time.” 

Agatha can literally feel Rio's cocky grin forming before she even sees it, but when she does see it, it somehow drives her crazier than she'd expected it to. Which is impressive, considering she has seen it thousands of times before. 

"I was not staring at you," Agatha lies before Rio even has the chance to tease her about it. It's said too quickly. A little too I've been caught red-handed and now I'm a little embarrassed about it.

Rio raises her brow in amusement, "It's okay if you were," She smiles, leaning closer to Agatha. "You are my wife, you know. You're allowed to stare." 

Agatha wants to slap her. 

Because Rio knows she can't say what she really wants to because Wanda is right next to them, watching them with a hardly concealed smile around the straw in her iced tea. 

So Agatha doesn't say anything.

Instead, she gives the playful eye roll one gives when their spouse teases them about staring in front of their friend and sips from her drink while trying to ignore how Rio's thumbs have resumed their movement on her skin. 

"God, you two are disgusting," Wanda says fondly, smiling at them. "It's adorable."

Before she can tease them anymore, there's the sound of one of the twins calling for her from the pool. "Coming!" Wanda calls back as she sets down her glass on a nearby table. She stands up before adding, "While you two do that…” She gestures towards the direction of Rio’s fingers circling around on pale skin, “Just think about my offer, okay? An entire night alone. No kid. No interruptions." She winks before heading off towards the pool, leaving the two of them alone. 

Much to Agatha's dismay. 

"So..." Rio starts once Wanda can no longer hear them. "You were staring at me." 

"No, I wasn't." 

Rio laughs at how terrible of a liar she is. "You don't have to lie, Agatha." Her hands slide higher up on Agatha's legs as she speaks, thumbs brushing up against the inside of Agatha's calves in the process. "I could feel it."

Agatha decides to stop lying now. Mostly because she's already been caught twice and because it's pointless to keep lying anyway, her body is betraying her by shuddering violently every time Rio brushes her thumbs across her skin. 

"Well, it's kind of hard not to stare when you're showing off like that." Agatha finally admits, faltering when Rio's touch becomes more intentional, her fingers tracing patterns that have nothing to do with the casual affection from before and everything to do with driving her insane. 

Which, for the record, is working.

"I wasn't trying to show off." Rio shrugs, feigning innocence. "I was simply playing with our son.” 

Her hand moves to rest against Agatha's thigh, almost a little too high to be considered appropriate for the public, but not quite, and Agatha can hardly think at the feeling of cool fingers resting against her sun-kissed skin. 

When she doesn't respond to Rio, because she can't, Rio's hand slides higher, coming up to rest against her waist, her thumb stroking along the edge of Agatha's swimsuit. "Come swim with us," she pleads in that annoyingly adorable way she does when she knows the answer to whatever she’s asking will most likely be a firm no. 

As expected, Agatha replies with a "no", even though she can already feel herself leaning further into Rio's touch. Which is making it a lot harder for her to stand her ground.

"Come on," Rio urges. "I'm sure Nicky would appreciate it if both of us were in there with him instead of just me."

There it is.

The Nicky card.  

"You're an asshole." Agatha laughs, though it's obvious she doesn't mean it. Rio laughs back at her, and Agatha can feel her stomach flipping all over the place at the sound of it. 

"Come on," Rio said, pulling Agatha up from the chair and intertwining their fingers as she drags her to the pool.  

What follows is perhaps the most perfect afternoon Agatha has ever experienced. In the hex and in her entire life, really.

She watches Rio engage in an elaborate water fight with Nicky, both of them shrieking with laughter as they splash each other. She tries not to join in. Really, she does. She tries to stay neutral in this little war that's happening in the shallow end of the pool but that's no longer a possibility once Nicky ropes her in and convinces her to help him splash Rio. 

So she does. 

It's much later, when the water fight has ended and Nicky has abandoned them in exchange for doing cannonballs with the twins, that Agatha finds herself floating in Rio's arms, unsure of how she'd ended up there in the first place. 

Well, it's not that much of a mystery. 

It all started with a charming smile being flashed her way. Then, strong arms had somehow found their way around her waist, pulling her closer and now, she's floating in the deep end with her arms looped around Rio's neck. It's peaceful and intimate in a way that has nothing to do with having an audience.

Because in all honesty, Wanda isn't even paying any attention to them. Like at all. She's too busy trying to get the twins to stop attempting intricate dives in the shallow end of the pool. So really, there's no need for them to be wrapped up in each other like this. 

Both of them are already well aware of that though. 

"This is nice," Rio murmurs against Agatha's neck, her voice slightly muffled. 

The feeling of Rio's lips tickling her skin is making Agatha dizzy. It feels like she's drowning right here in this pool they’re floating around in. In a good way, of course.

She lets her eyes drift closed before replying with, “Yeah, it really is.” 

**

The kitchen feels too small after floating around in that huge pool for the last three hours.

There's definitely not enough space in it to contain the thoughts Agatha is having about Rio right now. She keeps catching herself thinking about the way Rio had held her in the water. The way Rio's thumbs had traced those super distracting circles on her skin. The way Rio wrapped them up in the same towel afterwards, as they lay on the lounge chair together, waiting for Nicky to get tired of swimming.

Which had taken forever by the way.  

"Mom, can you cut the crust off of the sandwiches?" Nicky asks from his spot on the counter next to her. The same spot that Agatha had specifically asked Rio not to place their damp six-year old on. "And can you cut them into triangles, please?" 

"You're being very picky, mister." Agatha teases him with a laugh. 

"Sorry," Nicky smiles at her, "But Wanda always cuts them into triangles for me." 

"Of course she does," Agatha mumbles under her breath, earning a small laugh from Rio.

Even though the request is a bit of a hassle, Agatha is actually grateful for the distraction of shaping the sandwiches into perfect little triangles. It's such a motherly task. A safe one that distracts her from thinking about how close Rio is to her. 

Rio is standing right next to her, slicing apples for Nicky and Agatha finds herself watching the motion of her hands intensely, thinking about how they’d been on her skin not even an hour ago. 

"Careful," Rio said without looking over at her. Her voice sounds too amused and Agatha knows she's been caught staring. Again. "You might end up cutting through the counter if you keep staring like that."

Agatha looks down and realizes she has indeed been cutting the same piece of bread for the past few minutes. Heat creeps up her neck, spreading to her face. She almost tells Rio to shut up, but then decides against it because Nicky is still sitting there and he’s still at that age where children and sponges are pretty hard to tell apart. 

Even though Agatha couldn’t say what she wanted to, Rio still lets out a little laugh anyway, like she can read her mind. 

Agatha is really hoping she can. 

"I can do a frontflip underwater now," Nicky announces proudly, unaware of the tension happening between his two mothers. "Well, kind of. Billy taught me how to. Did you guys see me do it?"

"We did see it," Agatha said, spreading peanut butter around on the new slice of bread. The one that hadn't been cut into oblivion because of her staring problem.

"It was very impressive, buddy." Rio joins in before leaning over and reaching past Agatha to grab a second bowl off of the counter.

Suddenly they're pressed together, Rio's chest against Agatha's back for just a moment. The contact is brief. Probably accidental (probably not), but it still makes Agatha stop breathing for a second. It's a little embarrassing, this reaction she's having, considering she’d been pressed much closer to Rio in the pool not too long ago. 

In far less clothing at that. 

"Sorry,” Rio murmurs, her breath warm against Agatha's ear. When she moves away, her hand brushes against Agatha's waist in what could be casual contact but feels like it was definitely done on purpose. 

After that, the rest of lunch is prepared in silence. Well, mostly silence besides Nicky rambling about how much fun he had at the pool. Once everything is finished, they move over to the table with Agatha carrying the sandwiches, Rio carrying the bowls of fruit, and Nicky carrying nothing but an empty stomach. 

"Can I have another sandwich?" Nicky asks shortly after they’re seated at the table. 

"After you finish that one," Rio said, pointing to the half eaten one still on his plate. Her voice is full of that motherly affection that Agatha is really starting to love. 

Like a lot. 

"And don’t eat too much," Agatha warns him, "We still have dinner later on." 

Nicky nods at her, already stuffing his mouth with the rest of his sandwich. He washes it down with juice before asking, "Can I have a sleepover with Billy and Tommy after dinner?" 

Agatha blinks at the mention of the sleepover. She'd forgotten all about Wanda's very generous offer. “We'll see." She tells him. 

Nicky smiles at her from across the table. It's that smile that says he's already thinking about all of the things he’s going to do at the sleepover because he knows Agatha will end up telling him yes anyway.

Agatha smiles back at him because she also knows she'll end up agreeing, much like she did this morning. 

"Can we play a game?" Nicky asks them, once all of their plates are wiped clean and sitting in the drying rack. 

"What do you wanna play?" Rio asks him, reaching over to ruffle his still-damp hair.

"I don't know." Nicky laughs at the feeling of it, "Something fun." 

Agatha looks at Rio, who's already looking back at her with the same expression. Like they're thinking the same thing. That it's really easy to pretend this is their real life when their son is casually asking for family game time after a day at the pool and a shared lunch. 

"Sure," Agatha said, because again, she can never say no to Nicky, and because the alternative is spending the next few hours trying not to think about Rio and the feeling of her hands on her skin while they wait for dinner. "What do you want to play?"

**

It's hours later when they finally start getting ready to head to Wanda's for dinner.

Agatha is applying her foundation with careful strokes, when Rio emerges from the closet, wearing black dress pants and a crisp white button down shirt. Her shirt is hanging open in a way that steals all of the moisture right out of Agatha's mouth.

Agatha’s breath catches in her throat as her eyes sweep across Rio's exposed torso a few times, noticing the black lace above it. She wants to abandon her spot in front of the mirror at the sight of it. She wants to cross the room, drag Rio back into the closet and kiss her until they're both out of breath rather than only her. She wants to slide her hands beneath the open shirt and trace the skin she's been missing for so long. 

"Does this look okay?" Rio asks as she buttons her shirt up, and Agatha has to stop herself from asking Rio to not do that. 

"It's perfect," Agatha manages, though her voice comes out much rougher than intended. She clears her throat and focuses back on her reflection. "You look very..." Attractive. Gorgeous. Sexy. "...neighborly." is what she decides on. 

Rio's laugh is soft, like she knows the other words Agatha wanted to say. She moves to stand beside Agatha at the mirror, and the two of them fall into an easy rhythm. Dancing around each other as they reach for different makeup products. Shoulders bumping. Fingers lingering as they pass mascara and eyeliner to each other without a word. 

It's nice.

Too nice. 

There's no pretending here. No need for them to act. Just two women getting ready for dinner like they do this same thing every weekend. Like this is a completely normal thing for them. 

Agatha finds herself stealing glances at Rio in the mirror during it all. Paying attention to the way Rio leans in a little closer to the mirror when applying her eyeliner, the way her brows furrow in concentration when she does so. The way she smiles, all white teeth and soft lips, when she catches Agatha looking at her in the reflection. 

All of it is driving Agatha absolutely mad. 

"Can you hand me that lipstick?" Agatha asks her, nodding towards the one she always wears for events at Wanda's house. 

Rio picks the tube up wordlessly. Then, instead of passing it over, she leans over and gently grabs Agatha's chin, lifting it slightly with her fingers curled underneath it. Agatha is too stunned by the action, unable to say anything as Rio leans in a little closer to her. She's so close that Agatha can feel her breath hitting the same lips that's about to have lipstick applied to them. 

Rio works silently. With the utmost care, in a weirdly intimate way. Her thumb is brushing against Agatha's jaw lightly every time she shifts her head to a new angle and Agatha tries her hardest not to close her eyes at the sensation. 

When Rio finishes, she leans back slightly and looks down at Agatha's lips with a small smile spreading across her own lips. "There, now you look perfect." 

Agatha clears her throat, hoping it's not too obvious how badly she wanted to lean in and smudge her newly-applied lipstick all over Rio’s mouth. She turns back to the mirror and says, "I always look perfect." 

"You do." Rio agrees with a nod. Which Agatha expected her to do but it still doesn't stop her cheeks from turning a bright shade of pink. 

(and no, she hasn't gotten around to applying her blush yet)

"You know," Rio speaks up again, using that tone that always means trouble. "I think we should kiss tonight. At dinner." 

"Of course you do." Agatha mutters, forcing herself to focus on the makeup brush in her hand rather than the way she can hear her heart over the sound of Nicky’s show downstairs. 

"I'm serious, Agatha." Rio laughs, "It's been three days and all we've done is flirt a little and fake a kiss in front of Wanda." 

"Wanda thought it was an actual kiss." Agatha corrects her. 

"That's not the point." Rio smiles at her. 

Agatha opens her mouth in an attempt to argue with her, but she doesn't. Because Rio does have a point. 

Wanda has mentioned, quite a few times now, how much they like PDA, and they've hardly done anything that supports that claim. Not including the pool earlier, but Wanda hadn't really been paying much attention then. 

So yeah. Maybe they should kiss. 

"...Fine." She gives in. Though it doesn't really feel like a surrender when she starts imagining how nice it'll be to have an excuse to kiss the lips she's been thinking about all day. 

“Do you want to practice?” Rio asks in a teasing voice, for the second time since they’ve been in the hex. 

Agatha's heart pounds against her ribs at the sound of the question. "No." She shakes her head unconvincingly, "I already shut that idea down once."

“Come on, Agatha.” Rio leans against the dresser with her arms crossed over her chest, a smirk on her face. “What if you forgot how to kiss me?” 

“I could never forget how to kiss you.” 

The words are already out there before Agatha can stop them, before she can reel them back in and turn them into something that sounds a lot less lovesick and a little too much like a confession she wasn’t quite ready to admit out loud. 

“Oh? Is that so?” Rio asks, smugness evident in each word. “Were none of the women after me good enough to make you forget?” 

Her question is playful, sure, but there’s genuine curiosity there as well. This isn't really a topic they visit often, if ever. This topic of the lovers that came after Rio. 

The question hangs between them, loaded with things Agatha has tried very hard not to think about. She can feel Rio watching her, waiting for an answer, and something defiant rises in her chest. "Actually, there was someone," She lies, looking over to meet Rio's eyes.

Rio's expression shifts, something dangerous flickering across her features. "You’re lying.” 

"I'm not." Agatha turns to face her fully, raising her chin up in fake confidence. She can still feel the way Rio's fingers had cradled it gently a few minutes ago. "She was a very good kisser.” 

"Better than me?"

Agatha nods, holding back her smile. "We'd kiss for hours and hours and then she had this little trick she'd do with her tongue whenever we-"   

"What did she look like?" Rio interrupts her before she can go further with her dirty lie.

Well, it's not a complete lie, there really had been another woman but her being a better kisser than Rio is where the lie comes in. 

"She had dark hair, like yours." Agatha said, knowing the last part will only annoy Rio further. "Her eyes were green," She adds even though she doesn't actually remember the color of them. She'd been too busy imagining them as the brown ones staring back at her right now. "She was tall and she had really strong hands and she knew exactly what to do with them." 

Rio steps closer to her so that they're inches apart from each other now, the expression on her face unreadable. She reaches up and traces Agatha's jawline with the tip of her index finger, lightly scratching it as she asks, "Like this?" while smiling at the way Agatha sways towards the feeling of it. 

"Yes, she..." Agatha can barely remember how to speak English at this point. Rio's so close now that their faces are nearly touching, their breaths mingling in the space between them. "She was..."

"...not better than me." Rio finishes for her with a whisper, and suddenly they're even closer to each other somehow. Their lips brush for a second. Barely anything but it sets Agatha's entire body on fire. She wants to close the distance. Needs to close it.

Doesn’t close it.

Rio's other hand slides to the back of her neck, long fingers tangling in her hair, and Agatha can no longer breathe, can no longer think, can't do anything but feel how close Rio's mouth is to hers. 

"Rio..." She warns.

"Just kiss me, Agatha." Rio breathes out against her lips, no longer caring about the former topic, only the sound of Agatha’s breath stuttering.

Agatha's legs almost give out beneath her at the sound of Rio’s plea. She almost, almost gives in. After all, there's less than a centimeter in between their lips right now. It would be very easy to do so. But instead of doing something as crazy as that, she lets out a shaky, "I will," instead before moving to put some distance between them and then she adds, "Later. At dinner." 

"Do you promise?" Rio asks, amusement overshadowing her previous desire.

Agatha can only give her a nod in response. Unable to speak because she's too busy thinking about how...perfect Rio is. How, even though she could've easily closed the distance between them on her own, she didn't. 

It kind of makes her want to kiss Rio even more. 

Somehow, after all of that, they manage to finish getting ready without tearing each other's clothes off.

When they finally head downstairs, they find Nicky sprawled out on the living room floor in front of the TV, wearing the button down shirt and khakis that he picked out himself. 

"Time to go, sweetheart," Agatha tells him, grateful for the much needed distraction from her thoughts of Rio. 

Nicky scrambles to his feet, smiling up at them. "Do I look handsome?" He asks them, clearly proud of getting himself dressed. 

"You look very handsome," Rio says to him, ruffling his hair affectionately. 

"Thank you." He replies before looking over at Agatha. “Mom, your face is all red," He observes with the blunt honesty of a six-year old. "Are you sick?"

Behind her, Rio makes a noise that sounds a lot like stifled laughter, and Agatha feels her cheeks burn even hotter at the sound of it."No, I'm not sick. It's just my makeup," She lies smoothly, shooting a warning look over her shoulder at Rio, who only smiles back at her. 

Nicky seems to accept her explanation, shrugging as he grabs both of their hands as they head out of the front door. They make their way over to Wanda's house exactly like that, with Nicky in between them, swinging their hands with obvious delight and it all feels so unbelievably perfect. 

Which is a very dangerous thought for Agatha to be having. 

But it's so goddamn true. 

**

"Oh Vision, you're terrible!" Agatha laughs, settling more comfortably in Rio's lap on the couch. Wine glass in one hand while her other hand hangs around Rio's neck. They look perfect together. Perfectly comfortable. Perfectly married. Here in Wanda's perfectly decorated living room that looks like it'd been pulled right out of the home section of the same magazine Rio had walked out of. 

"I told him it looked like something had fallen asleep on his head." Vision said with a wide smile, clearly enjoying the reaction his anecdote had pulled from his neighbors on the opposing couch. "It looked like a bird had created its nest right there on top of his head." 

"Vision, you can't just say that to someone!" Wanda giggles while playfully swatting him, her face is already flushed from the wine in her hand. "Even if it's true!"

"Especially if it's true," Rio adds, her thumb stroking lazily against Agatha's hip as she speaks. She hardly even knows what this conversation is about. Really, all she can focus on is the weight of Agatha in her lap and the smell of her floral perfume, but she figured it'd be a good thing if she made some kind of contribution to the pre-dinner gossip. 

"This is just lovely, Wanda." Agatha said, raising her wine glass once they'd finished laughing, "You always have the best taste in wine."

"I do try," Wanda said, "It's a 1989 Pinot Noir, straight from the cellar. I've been saving it for a special occasion like this one."

"What's the special occasion?" Rio asks because Wanda clearly wants someone to, so she can say something cheesy in response. 

"Having our favorite neighbors over, of course," Wanda beams at them. Cheesy, as expected. "I feel like we don't have enough time to hang out these days, or to do anything really. We're always so busy with the kids and work and...life."

"Tell me about it," Agatha agrees, shifting around in Rio's lap, trying not to think about how perfectly she fits in it. 

"That's why date nights are so important," Vision jumps in, "Wanda and I try to have one at least once a month. Just the two of us, no talk of the kids or anything else." 

Agatha has to hold in her laugh at the sound of that, because the hex hasn't even been here for a month. 

Not that Vision would know that. 

"When was your last date night?" Wanda asks them, leaning forward with the eager expression of someone who had offered to keep their son overnight because of this exact same subject earlier. 

Rio's fingers tightens slightly on Agatha's hip. "It's been...a while," she admits. Which is true. "Work's been really crazy lately," Vision hums in agreement to this, "and with Nicky being in first-grade now..." 

"Oh, you two need to make more time for each other," Wanda insists. "Marriage requires a lot of maintenance, you know. And a lot of romance," She takes a sip of her wine before adding, "Speaking of romance, I just realized the other day that I never asked how you two met! Isn't that horrible? We've been friends for months now and I don't even know how you two fell in love." 

Agatha freezes. She can feel Rio do the same beneath her, both of their stomachs doing a nervous little flip. They hadn't discussed this part. Not once. Somehow in between those dumb rules and all of the flirting they’d been doing, they'd forgotten to plan out one of the most crucial details of any fake marriage. 

The origin story. 

"Oh," Agatha said, plastering a fake smile on her face that she hopes is hiding the panic she's feeling on the inside, "Well, it's really not thatinteresting." 

"We met at a hardware store," Rio speaks up, and Agatha isn't really sure where she's going with this story, but she wants to kiss Rio on the lips for her quick thinking anyway.

"I was there looking for a new screwdriver because mine had broken earlier that morning, when I turned the corner and saw Agnes just standing there." Rio continues, sipping from her own wine glass, using it as an excuse to think of the rest of the details of this made-up story. "She had this confused look on her face and I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her, standing there looking so lost.” 

"She was judging me, is what she means.” Agatha rolls her eyes in a fond way and laughs as she finds her footing in the story.

"I wasn't judging you," Rio said, with a grin. "I was just...observing you. You looked like you were a few seconds away from having a meltdown in aisle nine."

"It was aisle eleven, darling." Agatha corrects her on the very false detail, simply because she felt like being annoying.

Plus, it makes the story feel more real this way. 

"Right...aisle eleven." Rio smiles up at her, fighting back the urge to lean up and kiss the infuriating smile off of Agatha's wine-stained lips. 

"So what happened next?" Vision asks, clearly enjoying the story as much as his wife, who is leaning forward more and more with every added detail.

"I offered to help her," Rio said with a shrug. "Figured if she was going to be brave enough to fix whatever was broken on her own, she deserved to have the right parts for it. You know, save her another trip to the store…and another headache." 

Vision and Wanda laugh at her. 

"And I said yes because she looked like she knew what she was doing with all of those mysterious pipes and tools in her cart.” Agatha adds. 

Rio shakes her head slightly, "No, I think you said yes because you found me insanely attractive." 

"Well, that too." Agatha laughs, lifting her wine glass to her lips. Mostly to hide the flush that has yet again found its way on her face, because her finding Rio attractive has been the truest statement so far. 

"But that's not even the best part," Rio continues, enjoying this a lot more than she should be. She strokes her thumb against Agatha's hip. "I ended up going over to her house that weekend to help install everything for her." 

"Because I would have flooded the entire house if I had done it on my own," Agatha laughs because this is true. She doesn't know a damn thing about plumbing. "Rio spent the half of the day under my kitchen sink and then, once she finished that, she fixed everything else in my house as well. Free of charge." 

"It took forever," Rio said, grinning. "But mostly because Agnes kept distracting me the entire time."

"I was not distracting you! I was being a good host by bringing you lemonade." 

"No...you were standing there in this cute little sundress, asking me to explain every single tool in my toolbox," Rio said, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Even though you already knew what most of the tools were." 

Agatha feels her cheeks warm at the false story they're creating. Was the sundress comment really needed? "Well, you were still very thorough in your explanations."

Rio nods, quickly remembering they do indeed have an audience and this isn't some little weird role play thing they have going on. She looks back over at the couple on the couch across from them, "We ended up talking until five in the morning," She said, voice dropping lower. Softer. "About everything. Traveling, books, relationships..." She trails off, looking up at Agatha with an expression that is hardly for show anymore. "And when I finally told her I should head home..."

"I asked her to stay," Agatha finishes in a whisper.

"And I did," Rio replies simply.

The silence that follows is full of naughty implications, and Wanda and Vision's eyes widen as it dawns on them. "Oh my," Wanda said, fanning herself dramatically. "That’s quite the story!"

"Yes well, it wasn't supposed to happen like that," Rio replies with a laugh, still feeling breathless from the story they'd built together. "But sometimes you just...know."

"Know what?" Vision asks, though his smile suggests he already knows what she's talking about. 

Rio's hand slides up from Agatha's hip, coming to rest against her ribs, right below her heart. "That you've found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with," she said, looking directly into Agatha's eyes. "That everyone before her had only been a distraction." 

In reality, there hadn't been anyone before Agatha, or after her, but even if she'd dated a thousand people before her, the statement would still be true for Rio. 

"I knew that first night," Rio continues, voice sounding softer than Agatha has ever heard it. "Watching you fall asleep in my arms, I knew I was already hopelessly in love with you."

This part is the absolute truth. 

The words hang in the air between them, loaded with something that goes far beyond their little fabricated story.

Agatha's heart pounds violently against her ribs as she stares down at Rio.

"That's the most romantic thing I've ever heard in my life," Wanda sighs and Vision nods in agreement. 

Neither Agatha nor Rio are paying any attention to them.

Not really. 

Agatha realizes, as she continues to stare at Rio, that this is the moment. 

This is the part where a real couple would kiss, caught up in the romance of retelling their love story to their friends. 

So that's exactly what they do.

Agatha leans down, her free hand coming up to cup Rio's cheek, and Rio doesn't hesitate for even a second before tilting her face up to meet Agatha halfway, her hand sliding from Agatha's ribcage to tangle up in her hair instead. 

Then, their lips finally meet, and it feels like coming home. Which is totally something Wanda would say, but it's true. 

Agatha had completely forgotten, or maybe she'd forced herself to forget, how wonderful it feels to have Rio’s mouth on her own. How Rio kisses her like she’s tasting her mouth for the first time ever. How she kisses her like she's dying for it, like she’ll stop breathing if Agatha stops kissing her.

The taste of wine is strong on Rio’s lips and Agatha would really like to sit here on the couch, kissing her long enough to get tipsy off of the taste of it, or full on intoxicated if possible. 

The kiss deepens before either of them can stop it, before either of them can remember where they are, who they are and who they're with. Rio’s tongue is already tracing along Agatha's bottom lip and Agatha opens her mouth immediately, already forgetting about the dumb rule she'd invented that clearly stated, 'no tongue kissing', because neither of them were ever going to follow that rule in the first place. 

Rio's hand tightens in Agatha’s hair as she pulls her closer, and Agatha melts at the feeling of it. She melts, again, when she realizes that the taste of wine is much stronger now that Rio’s tongue is in her mouth.

The kiss is definitely too inappropriate for their audience. Too full of desire, too desperate, too much like two people who've been stopping themselves from kissing each other all day and finally have an excuse to do exactly that. 

But Agatha can't bring herself to care about that. She’s too lost in the feeling of Rio's mouth against hers. Too overwhelmed by how perfect this feels. She could stay like this forever, Agatha thinks. She wants to stay like this forever. Wants to forget about dinner and scripts and the lines they've drawn between themselves. She wants to just be Agatha and Rio kissing on a couch simply because they can, because they want to. 

When one of them (accidentally) makes a somewhat indecent sound, someone clears their throat from the other couch.

Loudly.

Agatha and Rio break apart reluctantly, both a little breathless. Both dazed. Both wanting much more. 

It's Vision who cleared his throat, though he doesn't look annoyed or embarrassed by the public display of affection. Just...amused. 

"Sorry," Agatha said, laughing and feeling her cheeks heat. "Got a little carried away there."

"Oh no, don't apologize," Wanda said, "We're used to you two getting so lost in each other like...that." 

"We just can't help ourselves," Rio said, her hand still in Agatha's hair, fingers playing with the long strands of her straightened hair. 

"Well," Vision said with a chuckle, rising up from the couch. "Perhaps we should move to the dining room now before you two try to skip out on dinner entirely, in favor of doing other things."

All three of the women laugh before rising up and following him towards the dining room.

"Boys!" Wanda calls towards the staircase as she walks past it. "Time for dinner!"

The sound of small feet echoes through the house as Billy, Tommy, and Nicky come racing down the stairs with their hair tousled and their clothes looking slightly disheveled from whatever roughhousing they'd been doing. 

"Finally," Tommy declares dramatically as he runs to the table. "I'm so hungry I could eat everything!"

"You can't eat everything," Billy replies, running after him. "That's too much food for you."

"Yes I can," Tommy insists. "Watch me." 

"You might get a tummy ache," Nicky adds as he follows behind them. The only one not running. "My mom says that happens if you eat too much food." 

Agatha feels something flutter in her chest at being referred to as 'mom' so casually. Even though she obviously is his mom, it still catches her off guard sometimes. 

"Can I sit with Billy and Tommy?" Nicky asks, already moving to their side of the table anyway. "We wanna talk about our sleepover."

Agatha laughs at how Nicky already knows her answer about the sleepover. "Of course, sweetheart," She said, which means she and Rio end up sitting right next to each other across from Wanda and Vision. Not that she's complaining, especially because Rio's hand immediately finds her thigh under the table.

In a very appropriate way. 

"This looks amazing, Wanda," Rio said as Wanda began serving a delicious looking pot roast, surrounded by steaming vegetables. 

"Oh, it's nothing special," Wanda said as she added extra vegetables on all three of the boys' plates. "It's just a little family recipe.”

"Mom, can we stay up really really late tonight?" Tommy asks, once everyone has their food. 

"How late is really really late?" Wanda laughs with a raised brow. 

"Like...ten!" Billy joined in, proud of himself as if he'd suggested four in the morning or something. 

"Ten o'clock?" Vision asks. "I don't know...that's pretty late for six-year olds."

"We can handle it," Tommy said very seriously. "We're big kids now."

Nicky nods in agreement and Agatha laughs at memories of him saying the same thing when she'd offered him the rubber duck. 

"We're gonna build the biggest fort ever and it's gonna be awesome." Nicky adds. 

From there, the three boys continue to plan out their sleepover, very loudly, on the other end of the table. 

Agatha takes a sip of her wine as she catches Rio watching her, something soft and fond in her expression. Without thinking, she leans over and presses a light kiss to Rio's lips. Just because she can. Just because Wanda is watching and it feels so natural after everything that's happened today.

"I've never seen two people look so in love with each other." Wanda said, looking at them delighted.

Agatha can only laugh in response because really, her amazing acting skills have nothing to do with the way she looks at Rio. 

That is very real. 

Very her. Not Agnes. 

"This roast is really good," Rio said, quickly changing the subject. She squeezes Agatha's thigh under the table, and Agatha wants to kiss her all over again.  

"Thank you! I added special herbs to it this time," Wanda said then added, "Mrs. Hart lent them to me from her garden."

"Well it tastes amazing," Agatha said, leaning into Rio slightly because she can't help herself. Rio responds by pressing a soft kiss to her temple, a gesture so casual and romantic it makes Agatha swoon.

"Look, I finished my vegetables this time," Nicky said towards them, pointing at his now-empty plate. 

"Good job, sweetheart." Agatha said, smiling at him. 

"Can I have dessert now?" He asks. 

"What do you say?" Rio prompts without thinking about it. 

"Can I please have dessert?" He corrects himself. 

"Yes, you may," Wanda jumps in, "I made chocolate cake for dessert. Would you boys like some?" 

"YES!" all three boys cheer in unison before dissolving into childish giggles.

Rio leans over to Agatha and whispers, "They're gonna be so hyper," and then she presses a light kiss to Agatha’s ear. 

You know, just because she’s already near it.  

Agatha nods at her, amused. “Good thing Nicky isn’t our responsibility tonight." She whispers back, turning her head to catch Rio's lips with her own for only a moment. 

Again, just because she can. 

"So what are you boys planning for tonight?" Vision asks once there's a slice of cake on everyone's plate.

"We're gonna make the best blanket fort in the whole world," Tommy announces. "With like a gazillion blankets."

"And we're gonna tell stories too," Billy adds. "But not the scary ones or I won't be able to fall asleep." 

Nicky nods in agreement. "Yeah, me either." 

Agatha finds herself watching the easy friendship between the three boys, something warm settling in her chest at the sight of Nicky getting along with children his own age.

Even if it is Wanda's troublesome twins. It's still nice. 

The whole evening had been nice, really. The wine, the casual intimacy with Rio, the food. Even the conversation with Wanda and Vision.

It all felt so perfectly normal.

So perfectly right.

"More wine?" Vision offers, already reaching for the bottle.

"Please," Agatha said with a smile, not moving away from Rio to offer him her wine glass. 

The rest of dinner passes in a blur of easy conversation and little stolen kisses here and there. Rio's hand never leaves Agatha's thigh, not even once, thumb tracing patterns that make it hard for Agatha to concentrate on anything else. They share bites of cake, Agatha feeding Rio with her own fork, and when Agatha reaches across Rio to grab a napkin, Rio presses a soft kiss to the inside of her wrist, so quick and casual, it takes Agatha's breath away.

The boys talk excitedly about their sleepover plans between bites of chocolate cake, their voices overlapping as they make up a blueprint of their blanket fort in their heads. Nicky gets chocolate frosting on his nose at one point, like the picture of him when he was three years old, and when Agatha reaches over to wipe it off for him, he smiles at her with such pure happiness that her chest feels tight.

In a good way. 

"I think someone's getting sleepy," Vision laughs as Tommy starts to slump against his brother, both boys have that look on their face that comes from too much excitement and too much sugar.

"I'm not sleepy," Tommy protests, yawning. 

The adults laugh at his sleepy sounding words. Vision leads him, and his brother away from the table and up the stairs to get in their pajamas. 

As Wanda begins clearing the table, Agatha realizes this will be the first time she and Rio have been away from Nicky for such a long time, since getting him back.

"Come here, sweetheart," she calls to Nicky, who'd been helping Wanda stack the empty plates. He bounds over to her, still vibrating with excitement despite the sleepy look on his face. "Are you sure you want to stay here tonight?" She asks him, smoothing down his hair. "You can come home with us if you've changed your mind."

Nicky shakes his head firmly, "I wanna stay."  

"Okay," Agatha said, pulling him into a long hug, "but if you get scared or change your mind at any point, you have Wanda call us, okay? We can come get you anytime."

"I won't get scared," Nicky said confidently as he hugged her back tightly. "Love you, Mom."

"Love you too, sweetheart." 

Rio leans over to them and Nicky immediately throws his arms around her neck too. "Love you, Mama," he said, and Agatha watches something soft and vulnerable cross Rio's face.

"Love you too, buddy," Rio murmurs in response, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Be good for Wanda, okay?" 

"I'm always good," Nicky declares with a lopsided smile. 

"Most of the time," Agatha corrects him teasingly, earning a laugh from Nicky.

They say their goodbyes to Wanda and Vision afterwards, with promises to have dinner again soon. Wanda forces them to take home leftover food, pushing the containers into their hands as they step out the front door and into the night air. 

Both Agatha and Rio realize, at the same time, that they're alone now. Truly alone for the first time since this whole thing started. Their hands quickly find each other as they walk towards their house, fingers lacing together naturally, like it's the easiest thing in the world. 

Which…it kind of is. 

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