Christmas Eve of 2015 arrived as expected.
Similarly.
The heavy snow also arrived as expected.
Starting from the twenty-second, a snowstorm had completely turned New York City into a snowy city.
The skyscrapers of Manhattan turned into snow-covered crystal columns.
The trees in Central Park seemed to be wrapped in a thick quilt of snow, while police cars with snow chains rolled out in full force.
And fifty miles away from Jersey City, across the Hudson River, in a place called West View Town, the snow had another way of falling.
Here the snow fell in large, vertical, tranquil flakes.
The Victorian-style old houses in the town were wearing thick snow hats, with chimneys leisurely puffing out white smoke.
Inside house No. 123 in West View Town.
The fireplace flames roared, filling the house with warmth.
A fir Christmas tree radiating its unique forest scent quietly stood in the corner of the living room.
The Christmas tree was now covered in decorations.
And beneath the Christmas tree, various wrapped gifts were piled up.
Pietro was currently outside shoveling snow.
Yet after just a short while, his hair and clothes were dyed white by the snow.
As for Wanda.
Wanda was squatting in the kitchen with her daughter, Jean, both watching small cakes rise slowly in the heat.
Soon.
"Ding!"
The oven made a crisp sound.
In the kitchen of Palm Street No. 521A, Gwen, wearing heat-resistant gloves, opened the oven and took out the small cakes made for Christmas Eve.
She tasted one, brightened up, and looked around for Hawk, finally spotting him shoveling snow outside.
Gwen raised an eyebrow, smiled, and watched Hawk shovel snow with raw simplicity at the garage door.
Then...
Her expression turned to surprise.
In her view.
Hawk, seemingly annoyed by shoveling, threw the shovel aside, casually placed his right hand on the ground, and in an instant, the temperature of Phoenix Fire swept in all directions.
Instantly.
With Hawk's hand at the center, the snow vaporized rapidly, and the ground visibly returned to a dry state.
In the blink of an eye, the snow leading from the garage to the road had completely disappeared, and the ground's residual heat ensured that any snow continued to fall would vaporize upon contact.
After finishing, Hawk nodded with satisfaction at his masterpiece, clapped his hands together.
In the next moment.
He met Gwen's gaze through the window.
Hawk raised an eyebrow and turned towards the garage, then returned to the living room.
Gwen, carrying the tray of small cakes, looked at Hawk coming back, helplessly said: "You should know everyone's driveway has snow, except ours, which is quite incredible."
Hawk shrugged.
"Darling, do you know what's even more incredible?"
"What?"
"It's snowing outside, yet you asked me to shovel snow early in the morning."
Hawk looked at Gwen earnestly.
No sensible person would shovel snow while it's still falling; it's like the futile math problem of water coming in and going out simultaneously.
Gwen heard Hawk's words, instinctively glanced at the snowflakes still floating outside, then looked back at Hawk.
Four eyes met.
Gwen held the tray, pinching a freshly baked small cake and feeding it to Hawk.
"Is it delicious?"
"..."
After silently eating the cake fed to his mouth, Hawk's expression was helpless.
"Darling, do you know something else?"
"Uh…"
"Your topic-switching skills are very awkward, without any preface."
"I'm a woman!"
Gwen smiled and said: "Besides, I'm your fiancée; I don't need a preface to change the subject as long as I'm happy with it."
Facing his fiancée's speaking green gemstone eyes, Hawk's expression turned serious, nodding.
"You're right, I was wrong, sorry."
"I accept your apology."
Gwen smiled, then elegantly turned away.
At this moment.
There was movement at the stairs.
Hawk and Gwen looked towards the stairs.
Anya, with her rosy lips and white teeth, descended the stairs, meeting Hawk and Gwen's eyes, and said to Hawk: "Brother, I'm on sister-in-law's side."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
Gwen beamed with joy, thanked her, then said: "Anya, try the small cakes I just made."
Anya ran over to Gwen, picked a cake, took a bite, and showed a delighted expression.
"It's delicious."
"Want to learn? I'll teach you; this is the Fox family's secret cake."
"Sure, thanks, sister-in-law."
Anya happily hooked her arm around Gwen's, expressing her joy.
Hawk was somewhat speechless.
"Anya, can you not switch sides so quickly? It's only been a few days, and you've already been turned."
"Brother, it's not switching sides; I stand on the side of reason."
"Rea—"
Hawk looked at his serious sister Anya, twitched his mouth, then focused on what Anya was wearing.
A deep navy blue duffle coat paired with a plaid mini skirt and heavy Martin boots, her legs only wrapped in a fine layer of sheer black stockings.
"Hiss!"
Hawk gasped as he looked at his sister's black stockings and quickly said, "Go upstairs and change your clothes."
Anya blinked, looked down to examine her outfit, and curiously looked at Hawk.
"What's wrong? I checked, this is this year's trend."
"Not a Phoenix Clan sister's trend."
"...Brother!"
"Hmm."
"You're too conservative!"
"Ha."
Gwen, listening to the conversation between Hawk and his sister Anya, chuckled and then said to Anya with a smile, "Your brother isn't conservative; he's just protective of you. But since you're going out later, it might be a bit chilly in that. Didn't we buy a cashmere dress when we went shopping last week? You could wear that."
Anya thought about it, nodded, agreed, and headed towards the stairs.
Hawk breathed a sigh of relief.
Gwen watched Anya disappear at the top of the stairs and looked at Hawk, "You're a bit too tense, Hawk. It's not good for either of you."
Hawk shrugged, "I know."
He admitted that he was indeed a bit too controlling just now.
After all, Anya's outfit was actually fine, and the pursuit of beauty is a natural instinct for every woman.
But…
Hawk shook his head, "It's just that Anna was only thirteen when she left me, and she just came back. I'm afraid she might get hurt."
Gwen understood Hawk's feelings.
After all, it was for Anya that Hawk set out on the path to becoming stronger.
But…
"You should figure it out yourself sooner rather than later. If you can't accept it, resurrecting Anya would be equivalent to hurting her a second time."
"I know."
Upon hearing this, Hawk nodded.
Just at this moment.
Anya came back down the stairs, having changed her clothes.
A classic camel Chester coat over a soft cashmere dress and sleek knee-high boots.
Anya twirled in front of Hawk.
"Is this okay now?"
"It's okay."
Seeing his sister now completely covered, a look of satisfaction appeared on Hawk's face.
Gwen silently shook her head and changed the subject, "Anya, come help me pack. We're getting ready to head to West View Town."
Anya immediately responded, turning to help her sister-in-law pack for the evening trip to West View Town.
Compared to Hawk, who took comprehensive protective measures for Anya after her resurrection.
Gwen, after meeting Anya, took the approach of a qualified sister-in-law, taking Anya shopping and introducing her to the brand-new world seven years into the future. In just one month, Anya had fully integrated into this world, thanks in no small part to Gwen.
Half an hour later.
The black Audi A8 drove out of the garage, leaving Palm Street and heading towards West View Town.
"By the way, have the Maximovs arrived at West View Town yet?"
"They should be on their way too."
Hawk wasn't too sure.
Unlike his sister, whom he brought home right after her resurrection last month.
The Maximovs stayed at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Cloning Base, adapting to their brand-new bodies.
Don't ask Hawk why he didn't bring them back together.
The answer was Pietro wanted to give his sister a surprise.
Yes.
After all, to be certain of the skeleton's identity, Pietro was summoned to New York S.H.I.E.L.D for a DNA comparison.
If the wrong bones were dug up and cloned, it would be a huge issue.
So…
Just as Hawk drove with his sister and Gwen towards West View Town, a seemingly ordinary S.H.I.E.L.D. Fighter had already landed at the S.H.I.E.L.D Airport outside West View Town.
Very soon.
A seemingly ordinary vehicle carried Ilya Maximoff and Marina Maximoff towards the nearby West View Town.
Wanda was currently at home feeding Billy and Tommy.
At four years old, Jean was very mature, sitting on the couch, watching "The Powerpuff Girls" on TV while eating the little Christmas Eve cakes her mother Wanda had just baked, titled "Maximoff's Peace Night Cakes."
With a swoosh.
Pietro, who had been coming and going since this morning, ran back inside once more.
Wanda, feeding Billy and Tommy, looked helplessly at Pietro, who seemed particularly excited today, "If you're free, could you go upstairs and tidy up the mess in the toy room?"
Pietro suppressed his excitement and nodded, "Sure, later. When someone arrives, you answer the door."
Wanda frowned slightly.
"What…"
"Ding-dong!"
The doorbell rang.
Wanda instinctively looked at Pietro.
Pietro didn't speak, but his expression was very excited.
Seeing Pietro's expression, Wanda rose with scarlet Chaos Magic swirling at her fingertips. She seemed to see something and paused, looking at Pietro.
Pietro, with tears brimming in his eyes, nodded excitedly.
Wanda also instinctively covered her mouth with her hands, then quickly ran to the door and opened it without hesitation.
In her view.
Outside the door.
The father and mother, Ilya and Marina, who appeared in her countless dreams, were standing right outside.
Wanda burst into tears.
"Dad!"
"Mom!!"
"..."