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"Alright," Tony said, rechecking the breakfast tray complete with pancakes and a cup of tea, a birthday cake, and a wrapped present box he prepared for that morning. This was the perfect set for a surprise breakfast-in-bed for their dear sorcerer's birthday.
"So here's what'll happen," he started, as Peter and Morgan listened attentively at him from their position on the dining table chairs, "We come into the room, I hold the birthday cake, you hold the breakfast tray," he pointed at Peter, "and you hold the present," he said to Morgan, smiling.
"But I want to hold the breakfast tray," Morgan complained.
Tony winced internally. That was quite a risky choice…
"Look, Morgan–"
"I promise I'll be careful!" she said to him, "Peter doesn't mind if I bring it instead, right Peter?" she looked pleadingly towards the 6 year old's direction.
"I don't mind!" he chirped. Morgan gave him a cheerful smile, and looked Tony's way.
Tony looked at them both.
God, this wasn't in the parenting manual.
"Sure," he shrugged, "So you can bring the breakfast tray, and you'll bring the present, Underoos."
Morgan and Peter cheered at that, and something warm bubbled inside Tony's chest.
*.~ ◇ ~.*
"Happy birthday!"
Stephen roused from his sleep to be met with the sight of his husband and children stepping into the room. He smiled, looking at the cake, the tray, and the box held by them.
"Well, isn't this a surpr–"
Crash.
The breakfast tray slipped from Morgan's hands and toppled over to the floor in a crash of ceramic, the maple syrup spilling over as the pancake flopped to the floor, the tea adding into the mess.
Morgan stared at the fallen tray with wide eyes as she bit her lip, looking up apologetically towards Stephen's shocked face as he laid on the bed. Her shoulders raised and she started fidgeting, before she dashed towards the door with teary eyes that were wiped away by trembling fingers.
"Morgan!" Peter called, and ran off towards her. "Come back!"
"Oh dear," the sorcerer said, and Tony winced.
"Yeah…" the engineer pursed his lips, "I thought that would happen."
Stephen sent him a pointed glare.
*.~ ◇ ~.*
"Are you alright, Morgan?" Stephen kneeled down in front of where Morgan curled in on herself inside the wardrobe. The inside of the wardrobe's door had crayon-drawn heads of Peter (in blue) and Morgan (pink, obviously), a note beside it measuring their current height.
"She's sad because she thinks she's ruined your day," Peter, who stood nearby, provided. Stephen gave her a gentle smile, and placed a hand over her shoulder.
"It'll take more than that to ruin my day, Morgan."
Morgan sniffled.
"I ruin everything," she buried her face between her knees, hugging them.
"These things happen, honey," Stephen tried to console her, head leaning down, "I'll tell you what I do," he offered. He lifted his head towards Peter's direction.
"Peter, checklist."
"Ooh, okay." Peter held up his hands as if he were holding a clipboard and pen, straightening himself. Morgan looked up.
"I have a little cry," Stephen gestured like he was crying, complete with little sobs.
"Check!" Peter moved his imaginary pen to tick on his imaginary paper.
"Then I pick myself up," Stephen continued, standing up.
"Check!"
"Dust myself off," he rubbed his hands over his clothes to dust it off.
"Check!"
"And keep going," he said, a look of determination on his face as he placed his hands over his hips. Morgan responded with a sniffle. "The show must go on!" He pointed towards the ceiling.
Peter giggled at that, before he moved away, distracted by a few items he found at the other side of the room.
"The only one of those I know how to do is the crying one," Morgan admitted, looking down.
Stephen kneeled back down and patted her knee as he smiled gently, "Then just do that one for now."
Peter scurried back to them as he held a hockey stick, smiling brightly.
"Morgan, let's put on a show!" Peter suggested cheerfully, and Morgan's face lit up immediately at the thought.
"Okay!" she responded, all the sadness from before forgotten as she giggled and followed her older brother.
*.~ ◇ ~.*
Peter moved into the bedroom with Stephen and Tony following from behind, his hands steepled behind his back.
"Please take your seat," Peter gestured to the edge of the bed, the side that overlooked the verandah, and both the sorcerer and engineer moved to sit where he directed. "The show is about to start!" he announced, arms wide apart. And then he giggled, running off towards the left side of the verandah where they couldn't see him.
"Oh, it's so nice to go to the theatre." Stephen said, smiling. He flicked open the hand-drawn program booklet, admiring the childish scribbles and what looked like a cat doing ballet, complete with a tutu. He smiled fondly at that.
Tony played along.
"Oh, yes, I've heard very good things about this production," he said, holding up the hand-crafted 3D spectacles up to his eyes. He could barely see a thing through it but the red and blue coloured cardboard it was made of.
Peter and Morgan's giggles were heard, before the boy scrambled to the middle of their so-called 'stage'.
"Welcome to the show!" Peter announced, still giggling.
"Peter, quick! This side!" Morgan called and beckoned him to the side with her. Stephen and Tony smiled at their childish laughter.
As they were 'backstage', Peter explained to Morgan the details of their performance.
"Morgan, you're going to play Doctor Dad," Peter instructed, and Morgan nodded eagerly.
"I promise my best I won't ruin it, Peter!" she responded. Peter handed her the hockey stick, and she took it in her hold.
"You won't," he stated. It was an innocent, short, fleeting statement, but not a single hesitation was found in his words. "Now go!"
He pushed her towards the stage.
Morgan stood there for a moment in front of her parents, before she began walking around in aimless circles with the hockey stick thrown over her shoulder.
"Doo-do-do-do," she sang as she stepped around. "It's me!"
Peter smiled as his head peeked out from the side,
"One day…" he started, before he paused for a bit. A look of confusion took over him and his eyebrows scrunched together.
"Ah, wait on," he said, head whipping to where the two of his parents sat, "What's your… not Doctor Dad name?"
"Stephen!" Stephen responded in a shouted whisper, chuckling a little.
"Oh, yeah." Peter said, nodding. He started over.
"One day, Stephen was walking along," he said as Morgan kept walking around, "Oh, and, um, this was before he was Dr. Dad. In the olden days!"
Tony laughed at that, and Stephen gave him an offended glare.
"Stephen loved playing hockey," oh boy he did not , but he didn't have the heart to mention that either, "and, um…"
"Dancing!" he suggested.
"Oh, yes! Dancing!" Peter moved to where a toy radio was conveniently placed nearby, turning on an upbeat song that reverberated around the room. Morgan danced to it with the hockey stick over her head.
"Mm," Stephen said as he watched Morgan's childishly sloppy, uncoordinated movements, "I'm a good dancer." He smiled.
"But…" Peter continued to narrate, turning off the music, "...he was very lonely."
"No, I wasn't!" Morgan said.
"Yeah!" Stephen agreed, "No, I wasn't!"
"Yes, you were." Peter said simply. He ignored the protest in favour of continuing the narration. "So, he…" Peter looked confused again.
His head swished back to their direction on the bed.
"Where did you meet Dad?" he asked.
"Well…" Stephen said, "at a gala."
He smiled upon the memory, and Tony glanced at him with glinting eyes and a loving smirk in return.
"What's a 'gala'?" Peter asked, pronouncing the last word as carefully as he could.
"It's like… an event. A formal event." Stephen answered.
"Ooh," Peter nodded, "Like with suits and champagne?"
Stephen snorted at the way he pronounced the 'ch' in 'champagne' similar to that of 'change'.
"Yep. With suits and champagne."
Tony muffled a chuckle.
"In where?" Peter asked again.
"London."
"Ooh!"
*.~ ◇ ~.*
"Cheers to the queen!"
Morgan held up her toy teacup to the air, saying 'clink' as the cup met another, which was held by a crowned doll they deemed as the 'queen'. There was a simple tea party set-up before her, complete with a plastic plate with toy biscuits, a teapot, all laid out on a table for two.
"Ta! Sip, sip, sip, what lovely tea," she moved the doll as if the queen was speaking, imitating a British accent.
"I don't remember the queen being there!" Stephen said with laughter.
"You wouldn't," Peter shrugged. "Then suddenly this short guy–" "Hey!" a giggle. "So this tall guy came…"
"Much better." Tony nodded in approval. Stephen huffed. He'd let this slide just this once.
"His name was–" another look of confusion directed Tony's way.
"Tony!" the engineer shouted-whispered back.
"Oh yeah! Tony walked in," Peter hooked the hockey stick over his shoulder as he walked forward.
"Alright, here we go!"
Peter slumped his posture, looking like a human candy cane as he took lazy steps forward, a finger thrusted up in his nostril.
"Hey, babe!" he imitated Tony's deeper voice, which his young self could yet have, coming up Morgan's side, "Smell this!"
He lifted his bum against Morgan's face and made a fart sound, his sister giggling and pushing him away. Stephen laughed.
"What?!" Tony exclaimed, looking offended.
"Spot on!" the birthday sorcerer said as he clapped his hands, clearly enjoying their accurate performance of Tony and his first meeting with him.
"Ooh, delightful!" Morgan commented from behind Peter's bum. She reached out to the doll-queen, moving her from side to side as she spoke in a poorly-attempted British accent, "Yes, jolly good."
"Who wrote this?!" Tony said, flipping through the colourful paper booklet they both gave him. Stephen cackled hysterically beside him.
A moment passed as they pushed the tea party set up to the side, carelessly ridding of the unnecessary props for their next scene.
"And then," Peter kneeled on one knee in front of Morgan, "Tony asked Stephen to marry him on a romance trip to, um…"
"Italy!" Tony said.
"...The dump!"
"What?!" Tony's eyes went wide.
Stephen was nearly wheezing at this point.
"Ooh, marry me, babe!" Peter said, holding up an invisible ring box.
"Ooh, why should I?" Morgan questioned.
"'Cause I love you, babe." Peter stated, "I love your ears, babe."
Morgan giggled.
"Do you love my stinky feet?" she pointed to her toes as she lifted a foot.
"Oh, yeah, I loves your stinky feet." Peter held it in his hands and looked at the foot fondly.
"And my belly button?" she pointed at her belly button.
"Oh, yeah, I loves your belly button, babe."
Peter came up to blow raspberries over Morgan's stomach as the 4 year-old giggled.
"That is not how it happened!" Tony complained, but a smile was on his face.
"Aw, yes, it was." Stephen cooed, looking Tony's way.
Some arrangement later, Morgan and Peter stood side by side.
"They had a big wedding," he threw flower petals into the air, before reaching out and taking a hold of Morgan's hand, beckoning her backstage, "Come on, Morgan!"
"Is this a toilet break?" Tony called out.
"No!" Peter responded from behind the wall. He moved to blow into a blue balloon as Morgan smiled beside him.
"Peter! I haven't ruined the show yet!" Morgan proudly stated.
Peter took a breath off the balloon-blowing to respond cheerily, "Good one, Morgan!"
"Well, I'm enjoying this very much." Stephen smiled.
"I have some minor quibbles with Act 1, but," Tony gestured his hand in circles at the air in front of him, before his head turned to give Stephen a smile, "me, too."
Stephen gave him his own smile in return.
Peter walked out, and they both turned their heads towards him.
"And then…" Peter continued as Morgan stepped forward, with a balloon stuffed up her shirt , "Stephen had a baby boy!"
Tony cackled as Stephen choked on perfectly clean air.
"That's not–" Stephen started, before Tony laid a hand over his arm and gave him a cheeky look. 'Let them' , the engineer mouthed out.
Peter pulled up her shirt to reveal a balloon in his favourite colour, blue, pointing at it.
"It's me!" he giggled. He looked down at it.
"How're you doing, little thing?"
"Kick!" Morgan said as she bounced forward with her stomach out, the balloon hitting Peter's way.
They both giggled, and she did it again, some several times.
"Alright, alright! Let's keep this moving," Tony said.
"So, then they…"
Pop.
The balloon blew up in pieces of plastic flying around the air. Tony and Stephen stared with wide eyes.
Morgan looked between them and Peter, before she ran off.
"Morgan!"
She sat behind the wall where it wasn't visible for their audience, sniffling as she returned to the position she was in the wardrobe a few moments before they started all this.
"Gentlemen… we're uh, having show problems," he picked up the toy radio and turned on an incredibly loud song, "Please enjoy some music!"
Stephen covered his ears, and Tony winced at it.
Peter crouched down to Morgan's side.
"Morgan, what are you doing?" he asked gently.
Tony turned off the toy radio in the background.
"I knew I'd ruin the show," she sniffled.
"It wasn't your fault," Peter tried.
"It was." Morgan whined.
"We can just blow up another one," Peter picked up the remains of their unblown balloons, "Oh, there's no blue ones left."
"I ruin Birthdays every day." Morgan looked down.
"There's green!" Peter offered, picking up a green balloon.
"But your favourite colour isn't green."
"I don't mind," he looked around to find the doll they used previously, "Oh! I know, let's stuff the queen up there."
"But she's an old lady."
"How rude!" Peter imitated the queen's voice.
Tony's head peeked into the verandah.
"Hey, uh–"
"No!" Peter stood to push his dad back in place, "Get back to your seat!"
"I have to go to the toilet!"
"Sit down!"
"Hey, hey! Okay, okay, gosh." he chuckled.
Peter scurried back to Morgan's side.
"Morgan," he said, "we've got to finish this show!"
"I can't! Just do it by yourself." she buried her head between her knees, wiping out a tear.
"But we can't do the show without you!" he said, "You're Doctor Dad!"
Stephen's face shifted as he listened to the conversation.
Morgan lifted her head.
"Peter, checklist," she ordered.
"Okay," Peter did so, lifting his imaginary pen, "Go."
"Have a cry," she sniffled.
"Check!"
"Pick myself up," she stood.
"Check!"
"Dust myself off," she rubbed her hands against her shirt.
"Check!"
"And keep going."
"The show must go on." Peter finished, smiling.
"Check." Morgan smiled back.
"She's back!" Peter announced as they both walked back up the stage. Stephen and Tony cheered, clapping and whistling.
"Morgan! Morgan! Morgan!" they chanted, "Morgan! Morgan! Mor– hey!" Tony jerked as Morgan pulled him with the end of the hockey stick, complying as he slid off his seat and stood up, walking up to the verandah.
"Save my seat!" he called out to a grinning Stephen.
Tony was pulled backstage with Morgan. Peter, who stood confused on stage, looked over at them.
"So, what was happening…" Peter's eyes lit up. There seemed to be some shuffling back there, a brush, a flip flop, and the queen thrown out on stage, "Yeah! Stephen went to the hospital, and, are you ready?"
"No!" Tony answered.
"Yes!" Morgan giggled out instead.
Tony stepped out with Morgan following from behind. He was sucking on a pacifier, with a rattle in hand, wearing a diaper from outside his trousers. Stephen burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it.
"They had a baby boy."
"Goo-goo, ga-ga." Tony said, voice flat and monotone.
Morgan hugged him, "I'm calling you Peter."
"That's me!" Peter pointed at himself.
Stephen wiped a tear at the edge of his eyes, still laughing uncontrollably. Tony spit the pacifier out, looking at himself. Was the diaper necessary?
God, this wasn't part of the parenting manual.
"Oh, I'm you , aren't I?" Tony said, tapping the rattle over his chin, "Let's see…"
He twisted around to push his bum up Peter's face.
"Daddy, me go boom boom in nappy!" he wiggled his arse, and Peter ran off giggling. Tony chased after him with his backside sticking out. "Change me, Daddy! Dada, change me!"
They all laughed, giggles and chuckles echoing across the room.
"The end." Morgan bowed.
Stephen clapped, sighing happily.
"Again."
*.~ ◇ ~.*
When the day turned dark, and both their gremlins had been tucked into bed, Stephen and Tony trudged into the bedroom, sighing as they slumped down on the covers. A moment lapsed in comfortable silence, the both of them simply enjoying each other's company.
"You haven't opened your present," Tony said after a while, head propped up on his hand.
"Hm," Stephen replied absently with his eyes closed as he laid on the bed, "Wonder what you have prepared for me, darling…"
He peeked an eye open, smiling cheekily. Sitting up, he fetched the present box on the bedside table. It was wrapped with a bow on top, and a birthday card stuck to it. Picking up the card, he smiled fondly at the childish scribble of 'Happy Birthday, Doctor Dad!'.
"Is that us?" Stephen pointed at four stickman drawings of them. Tony chuckled.
"Isn't it perfect?"
"Oh yes. The most wonderful drawing I've ever seen."
They giggled like idiots.
"God," Stephen sighed. "That's our children," his trembling fingers hovered over the stickman drawing of Peter and Morgan, " We raised them."
He smiled, head landing over Tony's shoulder. Tony's arm went over his shoulders, grabbing reassuringly.
"Yes. They're our children. Our very own."
Stephen moved his head to look up at him. The position was uncomfortable as he had to bend his neck and spine, but it didn't matter. Of course it didn't. He was with Tony, nothing ever really mattered other than that.
He pecked the engineer's cheek, who gave him a kiss on the lips in return. Pulling back, their noses bumped.
"Time to open your present, birthday boy." Tony smiled.
Stephen nodded, chuckling, and pulled away to lay his eyes over the ribbon. He pulled it out, grateful as it was easy enough for his hands to do so, and lifted the box's lid.
He pulled out what seemed to be a mug wrapped up in cellophane. He unwrapped it, gently holding the mug in his shaking hands. "#1 Dad" written on it, but the word 'Dad' was scribbled off with a sharpie and replaced with 'Wizard'. (Because of course Tony wouldn't let him be the number one dad of the family.)
He smiled at that, but it wasn't the only thing that caught his attention.
"What is…" he turned it upside down to look at the bottom of the mug.
"Oh, that," Tony said, "We wanted you to have unspillable mugs. This bad boy has a powerful suction and air-tight seal system device placed under it so even if we, say, get a cat someday, it won't spill." he explained. “Oh, it also has stabilisers over the handle. Just in case. We thought about getting a counter weight mug instead but, uh, you know. That would make it heavy. We don’t want that.”
Stephen stared.
"That's…" he started to feel tears well up, "That's very thoughtful, Anthony. God, I don't know what I did to deserve you. All of you."
Tony smiled, taking the mug from Stephen's hand and placing it over the bedside table. He cupped Stephen's trembling hands in his own calloused ones, rubbing against the old scars. He leaned down, giving butterfly kisses over the knuckles.
"Anything, love." he said, "I'd do anything, give you anything, if you'd let me."
His head looked up to Stephen's beautiful, teary eyes.
"If you'd have me."
Stephen chuckled wetly, a happy, teary smile on his face.
"Always," he answered, "Always and forever."
Some moments later found them finally going under the covers to get well-needed sleep, and Stephen smiled as he laid beside his husband.
Whatever he did to deserve something like this, whatever it might be, he was grateful for it.
He wished it would stay like this forever. He'd make sure of it.