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Steve texts Tony when he gets home, just to be sure his boyfriend is still out and their apartment is empty. As soon as the affirmative response arrives, he pats the box sitting securely in his passenger seat and jumps out of the car. He only has a short window of time before Tony arrives home from work, and he wants to make this surprise perfect.
He leaves the box for the moment and pops his trunk, hands on his hips as he tries to plan the most efficient way to get all of the bags into the house. Part of him says to just take all of the bags at once, that way he can come back for the box and have everything done in two easy trips. But he can already hear Tony scolding him in the back of his head, so he starts with just a few. It still only takes him three trips, the last allowing him to take the remaining few bags in one hand and heft the huge bag of dog food onto his other shoulder.
Then all that’s left is the box.
Once all of the supplies are spread out on their living room floor, Steve jogs down the front steps of their apartment building and goes for the passenger door. He leans in, carefully picking up the slightly wiggling box on the seat. A little nose pokes out of one of the holes on the side, making him chuckle. Holding the box securely in both arms, he uses a foot to kick the door shut and heads back up the two flights of stairs to their apartment.
Inside, Steve sets the box down on the floor and sits next to it. There’s a soft bark from within the box, and as soon as he opens the flaps, two big ears and a curious little face pop out. He holds out his hand with a grin, and the little french bulldog puppy sniffs it for a second before eagerly bathing it with her tongue. The sensation makes Steve chuckle. He lets her go for a minute before lifting her out of the box and tucking her against his chest. Her tiny body looks even smaller in his large hands.
She’s small enough that he can hold her securely with one hand while he picks up a couple of the bags with the other and carries them into their bedroom. The puppy starts wiggling as they enter the room, excited to explore the space. So Steve sets the bags on the bed and crouches down to gently set her on the floor. He watches her waddle around on her squat little legs, nose to the carpet to sniff the space. The sight makes his heart swell even bigger.
Tony was going to lose it when he sees her.
Steve keeps one eye on the puppy while going through the bags from the pet store. He sets the plush bed in a corner of the room, tucking a soft blanket and one of the plush toys inside. The other toys he leaves in the bag and sets them on the dresser to be scattered around their apartment later.
He finds the newest member of their little family with her paws on the bathtub, staring intently at the porcelain. Steve laughs, scooping her up and carrying her back into the bedroom.
“What’s so fascinating in there, little miss? Are you gonna be a prima donna and enjoy taking long baths like your daddy?”
The puppy gets deposited on the bed, and Steve hopes the height will be a deterrent to her jumping off and getting into anything while he goes to hide her food and treats out of the way in the kitchen so Tony doesn’t seem them the minute he walks in the door. He doesn’t want the surprise to be spoiled too early.
Once he has everything stowed out of sight in the kitchen cabinets, Steve goes back into the bedroom, a pretty collar and bow in his hand. The puppy sits in the middle of their big bed, and she yips at him as soon as she sees him. He sits down next to her, scratching under her chin before tugging her into his lap. She goes without protest, watching his fingers as he unclasps the collar. As he moves to put it around her neck, she nips at his fingers and he winces at the sharp bite of her pointy puppy teeth.
“Easy there, you little hellion. You really are gonna be as bad as Tony, aren’t you?”
Steve figures out how to dodge her teeth fairly quickly, and gets the glittery gold collar clasped without any more bloodshed. The puppy scratches at it a little before ignoring it to tug at the big red bow he attaches next. But she’s easily distracted by one of the toys, just in time for Steve’s phone to chime with a message from Tony. His boyfriend is about twenty minutes out, so he leaves the puppy to chew on the toy and goes into the kitchen to start dinner.
There’s pasta boiling on the stove and Steve is steadily working his way through a small pile of veggies for a salad when he hears Tony’s key in the lock.
“Honey, I’m home!”
Steve snorts, grinning down at the cutting board while carefully working the knife. “In the kitchen!” A few moments later, two arms wrap around his waist and Steve feels the shorter man squish his face in between his shoulder blades. He sets the knife down and covers Tony’s hands with his own. “Welcome home, sweetheart.”
Whatever Tony tries to say is muffled in the back of his shirt, and Steve chuckles before turning around and pressing a kiss into dark curls. “What was that? I didn’t quite catch it.”
Tony huffs, but leans back just enough so he can look up at Steve and speak clearly. “I said, I hate interns. They all stare at me like they’re either terrified of me or completely starstruck. Or both. There’s only one in the entire bunch that actually looks promising.”
The blonde smiles and lets his hands drift down until they’re cupping Tony’s gorgeous backside. “They’re all in awe of your brilliance and your beauty. I thought you liked being admired by the masses.” He takes pleasure in the blush that spreads over Tony’s cheeks and down his neck.
“I need brilliant young minds working for me, Steve, not a bunch of starry eyed fans. Besides, you know the only person I want admiring me is you, hot stuff.”
Steve’s powerless to resist leaning down to steal Tony’s breath away with a kiss after that statement. They kiss for a minute, before the sound of the pasta water starting to boil makes Steve step away and turn to pour the raw noodles into the pan. “Can you go into the bedroom and get my phone off the charger? I wanna check the recipe again.”
“Sure thing, babe.”
He listens as Tony goes down the hall, holding his breath as he waits. He hears the door creak open, and then there’s nothing but silence until…
“S-Steve? What…”
Steve comes around the corner and finds Tony standing in their bedroom doorway, one hand still on the knob as he stares wide-eyed into the room. The puppy is oblivious to both of them, looking tiny in the center of their king sized bed where she’s laying wrapped around the toy Steve had used as a distraction.
The blonde comes up behind Tony and tugs him back against his chest, a mirror of the position they had been in a few minutes ago. He leans down a little to tuck his chin over the brunette’s shoulder. “Surprise, honey.”
Tony’s eyes well up a little with tears, and Steve can feel the way he trembles as his hands come up to clutch Steve’s arms.
“Steve… what is this?”
Steve walks them slowly into the room, and the movement finally catches the puppy’s attention. She abandons the toy and waddles on her short legs towards the edge of the bed, stubby little tail wiggling hard enough that it shakes her whole body. Tony collapses onto the bed and holds out his hands, the tears in his eyes finally spilling over when she comes to him immediately and climbs into his lap. Steve sits next to him and reaches out to scratch behind her ears.
“The one thing you’ve talked about more than anything, the entire time I’ve known you, is how much you always wanted a puppy but Howard always forbade it. So I made a promise to myself that one day when we had a place of our own, that’s the first thing I would get you. I went down to the shelter today, and there was a whole litter of them that had been abandoned. One look, and I knew she was meant for us. Her name is Daisy.”
Tony cradles the puppy in his still shaking hands, and carefully holds her up so they were eye to eye. Steve could see the instant the younger man fell in love, could see it in the brilliant smile that spreads across his face.
“Hello, Daisy. You’re just the prettiest girl in the whole wide world, aren’t you?”
She yips, as if agreeing that she was in fact the prettiest girl. Both men laugh, and Tony pulls her in to cradle her against his chest. He sighs, a soft and content sound that Steve knows well. Mentally, he’s cheering at how well this surprise worked out.
“You know I’m gonna spoil the shit out of her, Steve. This is your one and only warning, and I’m not sorry.”
Steve barks out a laugh, turning his head to press his forehead against Tony’s, eyes closed.
“I know, baby. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I picked her up. And don’t underestimate me. I’m probably going to be just as bad.”
“I love you, Steve.”
“I love you too, honey.”