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Leaving Peter to babysit Morgan on Christmas Eve while Tony and Stephen attended to important business seemed like a good idea at the time.
It had softened the blow for the little girl, not having her Dads home for one of the most exciting nights of the year, but hero business never ceased.
Peter wasn’t thrilled about being left out of the mission, but Tony couldn’t worry about him too while they were gone, he and Stephen had to end the mission, and be home in time for presents in the morning. This way, both Morgan and Peter were safe and sound at home, and maybe Tony wouldn’t go anymore grey from the evening.
It was close to two when he and Stephen finally managed to drag themselves in the front door. It wasn’t a particularly hard mission, but it drained the spirit of the season. They’d both been in holiday mode, well relaxed and settled into the cabin, enjoying their time with Peter and Morgan. It was hard to pick up into battle mode, and hard to come back down from.
Still, it was easier for Tony with Stephen there. He brought Tony back from the edge every single time. So steady in battle and so domestic at home. It was that simple “coffee?” or “takeout tonight?” And Tony would be right out of Avenger and back into family mode. It was so easy when he didn’t have to fight to have both.
They shuffled quietly as they could through to the dinning room, flicking the light on to find their safe path to the stairs, and that was when they saw it.
Set at the head on the table was a giant plate of cookies and a cup of milk, with it, a little note, half in Morgan’s handwriting and half in Peter’s. It was Tony who stepped forward and picked up the little piece of folded card to read it.
Dear Santa,
We left some snacks for you so you don’t get tired on your big night. We baked the cookies ourselves, and it’s almond milk!
We hope you enjoy.
Merry Christmas,
Love, Morgan and Peter.
Tony set the not back down, and took in the plate in front of him, piled high with at least two batches of freshly made cookies.
“That is the last time we leave Peter in charge,” Tony stared at the food on the table,
Stephen laughed, “what else did you expect?”
Stephen did have a point. Peter was just a big kid, and he’d been so great doing the Santa thing with Morgan this year. Tony could imagine he’d been very enthusiastic about the suggestion of baking cookies, he’d also bet his last dollar that Peter had ate most of them before they even made it to the plate, he’d bet their cupboard would be half empty right about now.
“Come on… someone has to eat them, otherwise she’ll think Santa didn’t come... Drink the milk.”
Stephen picked up the plate, though Tony swooped in and stole it only a second later, relieving Stephen’s hands. He then took a small sip from the glass, deciding that it would probably be better off down the sink, it had to have been sat on the table a few hours by then, and he didn’t want to get sick on the most important day of the year.
He made sure to leave just a little bit of milk in the bottom for Santa evidence, then set the cup back on the table, a little skewed from where it was originally. When Stephen was satisfied with the effort, he passed Tony another plate, earning a glare, before they crumbled one of the cookies up and placed it back on the table for Morgan to find in the morning.
Meanwhile, the full plate of cookies was absolutely going to bed with them. Tony was starving, but it was far too late for them to prepare anything, they needed at least a few hours sleep before Morgan barged in for Christmas festivities.
With the scene set, Tony followed Stephen up the stairs, heart humming at Stephen’s enthusiasm to make Christmas enjoyable for his daughter.
It was their first holiday season together. Their first anniversary was coming up next week, and they’d been so lucky to have Morgan for the holidays. Pepper had made plans to visit her family back in her hometown, and Morgan, ever head strong, had decided she didn’t want to go, and no amount of convincing would get her to meet her extended family.
Tony and Pepper had agreed that if she wanted to spend Christmas with Tony instead, then she should be allowed to make that decision. They wouldn’t push her into something she didn’t want. With parents like them, Morgan was always going to be a force, and nor Tony or Pepper ever had plans to fight it.
Pepper, his beautiful, beautiful girl. They had tried to make things work between them, they really had, but they could never find common ground on the Iron Man. Their love wasn’t destined to be a husband and wife, and that was okay. It didn’t mean they cared any less about one another, didn’t mean their love as friends and colleagues wasn’t valuable.
As for Stephen, their New Years kiss, thanks to, believe it or not, Pepper- ‘just man up and kiss him, Tony. You won’t have another excuse for a year.’
He’d stared at her wide eyed for a solid minute before she had enough of him and shoved him in the arm. She’d never accepted any of his idiocy, and it really did help to know that she approved of the sorcerer. It was important to Tony, for Morgan’s sake, that he had the blessing of his family. He wouldn’t upset anyone or burn any bridges.
It was just flirting between the two at first. Tony wasn’t sure when ‘god, he’s hot,’ turned into ‘I don’t want you to go.’ However, somewhere along the line, it had. He was finding excuses to see the sorcerer, wanting to touch, Stephen started popping up in his dreams, and Tony searched for him in every room.
He was lucky when he ambushed the sorcerer with a kiss at the stroke of midnight, he wasn’t shoved away, rather pulled closer and dragged off through a portal and into the Doc’s personal room at the Sanctum.
It hadn’t sunk in until an hour later, when Tony was catching his breath, curled up in Stephen’s chest as he took in the room around him. It was bare, but still so Stephen, and Tony wanted more of this- learning about the man, the things no one else knew. They talked all night, argued and laughed, and Tony found himself with a date he was more than excited to go on.
Almost a year later, Tony couldn’t remember the last time they went on a ‘date,’ but he knew Stephen hadn’t missed a single dance recital or science fair, and he’d take that over dates any day. Stephen had taken Morgan and Peter in without hesitation, and as if Tony wasn’t totally in love with the sorcerer already, he fell all over again every time he saw Stephen spend time with his kids.
That was why he was so excited they were all together for Christmas. As he followed Stephen down the hall, the two of them paused at Morgan’s door to check on the little one, passed out, softly snoring with a teddy in her arms. Stephen dimmed the butterfly he left behind for her night light, and they continued through the hall to Pete’s bedroom.
The teen stirred under their footprints, and both men froze still, Stephen’s hand on Tony’s arm as Pete pushed up on his elbows and looked dead at them.
“Santa?” Peter mumbled.
Sleep talking again, Tony realised. He truely hoped it wouldn’t progress into walking one of these days.
“Yes,” Stephen whispered, “go back to sleep,”
“Okay,” Peter agreed, head buried face first back in his pillow,
Tony sniggered, and Stephen joined in as the boy started to snore again.
Once upon a time, Tony couldn’t have imagined having this much joy in his house. He never saw himself ever having this kind of love. It was special, and precious, and he’d never let it go, not for anything.
“Shh!” Stephen hushed, though he too was laughing, “you’ll wake them!”
“Here,” Tony rested the plate of cookies against Stephen’s forearm, “let me just fix his head so he doesn’t cut his own breathing off.”
Tony crept into the room, and very carefully adjusted Peter’s neck so that only his cheek was pressed into the pillow. When he was satisfied with the boys ability to breath clearly, he met Stephen back in the hall, closing Peter’s door behind him before fetching the cookies and leading his sorcerer into their bedroom.
The familiar sound of magically bound belts unclasping filled the room, and Tony knew Stephen must’ve been too tired to try and undo them with his own fingers- still, Stephen could be stubborn like that. Tony was always happier when Stephen took the comfortable route instead.
They both stripped down to boxers, and crawled under the covers, full plate of cookies set between them. Tony rolled over and rested his elbows on his pillow, brushing down some of Stephen’s messy hair before he moved to dig in. His stomach was growling at him, and he actually couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten cookies.
“At least this made dinner easy,” Stephen fetched his own cookie,
“Yeah… moments like these, retirement sounds good,”
“You’d be bored in a day,” Stephen glared at him affectionately,
“I know…” Tony agreed, “but I didn’t want to miss moments like these… baking cookies with Morgan and Pete for Santa…”
“I know…” Stephen pressed a kiss to his shoulder,
“Mmm,” Tony hummed, looking at the cookie, then to Stephen, “these are really good,”
“Looks like you’ve got a little baker on your hands,”
“We do,”
“Yeah,” Stephen corrected, cheeks tinted pink as he tried to hide a smile, “we do.”
Tony and Pepper agreed long ago that if they were to introduce Morgan to one of their future partners, it would be done with the intention of building on their family.
It was up to Morgan whether she wanted to call their partners by name, or variations of Mum or Dad, but it was non-negotiable that they would be involved in Morgan’s life. They’d be a trusted parental figure, who had her best interests in mind, and who she could rely on for the good, and the bad.
Watching Stephen bond with Morgan had made Tony fall in love all over again. Stephen took their relationship so seriously, desperate to please the little lady, wanting to be liked by her. Time and time again Tony had assured him that Morgan was fond of his presence in their home, that she asked after him when he was away on sorcerer duties.
These days, Stephen needed the assurance a lot less, and nothing made Tony happier than watching them interact over breakfast, or when they picked her up from school and she’d drag Stephen off to her desk to show him everything she’s been working on. He loved the way Stephen taught her things, well beyond her age, but she was always bound to be special.
It made Tony want another. In a year, he might bring up the topic with Stephen, see if he too would be interested in growing their little family with more tiny feet around the house.
For now though, this was enough. His loved ones under one roof, the first man he’d truely gotten to love the way he wanted snuggled up in his bed beside him, eating cookies so their daughter could experience the Christmas magic of a visit from Santa. He had to pinch himself to remember this was all truely real.
“Do you believe in Christmas wishes?”
“I’ve believed in much more unfathomable concepts,”
“You were my Christmas wish… last year,” Tony admitted,
“Aw! Did you have a crush on me?” Stephen teased,
Despite their relationship, Tony actually went shy,
“You did!”
“Shut up!” Tony chuckled as he hit Stephen in the arm, “I hate you,”
“I love you.”
Stephen didn’t say it a lot, though he always made sure Tony knew it in other little ways. Tony reached over and grabbed the sorcerer by the back of the neck, drawing him into a kiss.
It was Stephen who deepened it, pulling Tony closer, plate of cookies crushed somewhere between them- he’d worry about the crumbs in bed later. Meantime, he was more than happy to roll closer to his sorcerer, the man’s big hands sliding up Tony’s sides.
They kissed for a moment, open and familiar. Tony tangled his hands in the back of Stephen’s hair, which was a little longer than he usually kept it, more grey creeping through each month.
Tony brushed the hair back from Stephen’s face, and pressed his forehead to the Doc’s.
“I love when you say that,” Tony admitted quietly,
“What? That I love you?”
“Yeah,” he nodded,
“I love you,” Stephen repeated, cradling his face,
“I love you, too,” Tony grinned.
Stephen kissed him again, and Tony opened up and let him take. Stephen’s hands squeezed him tighter, the man flipping them, Tony moving slowly with his partner, bodies moulding together as Stephen eased him back against the sheets.
He let Stephen settle between his legs, wrapping all limbs around the sorcerer to keep him close, fingers creeping into Stephen’s hair and giving it a little tug. Stephen let out a hum of surprise at the sting, and bit at the side of Tony’s neck in retaliation, earning his own whimper from the engineer.
They went on like that for a while, playful as they kissed and pulled at one another, both of them eager to draw pretty sounds out of the other. It was all fun and games until Tony slipped his hand down the front of Stephen’s pants, and the sorcerer moaned a little too loudly for the early morning hour, exacting his revenge and drawing a little squeak out of the engineer.
“Shh! Peter has superhearing!” Tony whisper-yelled at him.
Stephen huffed and rolled his eyes, before he fetched a plush pillow from the other side of the bed, smothering Tony’s face with it. Tony laughed, though it sent a shiver down his thighs, and he understood the instruction.
He grinned as he pushed the pillow away to kiss Stephen one last time, because he had no self control, before he brought it back and smothered his own sounds, letting Stephen do whatever he wanted with his body, soaking up every little kiss against his neck, and every ‘I love you’ whispered between the sheets against his skin.