Work Text:
Looking around the now destroyed table, Tony was contemplating finding a new family. There wasn't an inch of the room without food splattered onto it. In the background, he could hear Carina crying while Narfi and Vali were being unusually quiet. Peter and Cassie were holding tightly onto Morgan's arms, keeping her from further damage. Jane was hovering over Loki, cleaning the cut on his head while Thor was looking sheepish in the corner. Right as Tony was about to start yelling at everyone, he heard the front door open.
Pepper, Happy and Rhodey all walked in with big smiles on their faces which quickly morphed into shock and confusion. They slowed their walk as they took in the sight of everything that was going on.
Gesturing around the room, Tony plastered on a fake smile "Welcome to the shit show"
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Three Hours Earlier
Tony had been looking forward to Thanksgiving all year. With their family spread out across different realms, it was hard to gather them all together and they usually ended up being somewhere else on the holiday. This year was the first year that Tony was hosting, and he wanted it to be perfect. The turkey had been in the oven and most of the sides were prepared so he left the kitchen to get dressed for dinner. Most of the Avengers were busy with other things but he was expecting Thor and Jane along with Pepper, Happy and Rhodey.
Walking into his bedroom, he expected to see his husband reading on the bed but found the room empty. Before he could question it, he heard a door slamming in the distance and Loki entered their room a moment later. The God looked exhausted and gave Tony a tired smile.
Crossing the room, he pulled Loki into a hug and rubbed his back "Morgs still giving you a hard time?"
Loki sighed "Yes. She does not understand why I do not want her sky-walking on her own yet"
"Weren't you doing it on your own much younger than her?"
His husband pulled back and glared "That does not mean it is not dangerous! My mother constantly warned me of the dangers, I just did not listen"
"Right. And Morgan is your daughter with a similar temperament so..."
"Fine. Let her sky-walk on her own and if something happens to her do not come crying to me" Loki stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door.
"That went well" Tony announced to the empty room. He decided he'd talk to Morgan again and get her to at least lay off her mother until the holiday was through. Loki could be stubborn, especially when his children's safety was involved. Just as he was finishing getting dressed, Carina bounced into the room wearing her favorite green tutu and black tights.
"Hey Rina-roo, you look very pretty"
"Thank you Daddy! It's my Thanksgiving outfit" She said as she started skipping towards the bathroom.
Tony stepped in her way to block her "Where do you think you're going, kiddo?"
She looked up at him with her best innocent face "To spend time with Mama"
He hummed in acknowledgement "How about we give your mom some alone time for once?"
"But Mama loves me" Carina said with a pout on her face while crossing her arms
"Of course your mom loves you, that doesn't mean he wants to be bothered all the time. Now scram"
Carina rolled her eyes and skipped out of the room to most likely bother someone else. He would be surprised that his kids have no sense of personal space, but he was constantly told that he was the same way so he had no room for judgement. Heading back into the kitchen, he saw Narfi and Vali huddled together in the living room which couldn't be a good sign. The second they heard him coming, they jumped apart and waved before running out of the room. Tony's only goal was to keep Thanksgiving on track, he did not have time to worry about mischievous children.
Cassie and Peter were setting up the dining room table together, so he focused on checking his food again. Everyone knew to stay out of the kitchen when Tony was cooking so he got a little reprieve from the family chaos. As soon as Thor and Jane arrived, Tony brought out some appetizers and made sure everyone had a drink in hand. Things were going great until it took a turn for the worse. Morgan decided to bother Loki once again about sky-walking on her own and he was pretty sure Loki was about to murder Thor when the thunder God took Morgan's side.
Morgan was still learning magic, so it wasn't surprising when her hands started glowing red and green in her upset state. Thor made the mistake of trying to help and just ended up tripping over a chair which caused Morgan's magic to burst from her hands and caught Loki in the crossfire. The burst had hit a shelf above the God and hit him right on his temple. That all would have been bad enough but just as that happened, Thor unknowingly stepped on a trip wire the mischievous twins had previously planted.
There was a small explosion and the food that was covering the dining room table flew everywhere. To keep Morgan's magic under control, Cassie and Peter grabbed her arms while Narfi and Vali slunk back into the nearest wall to try to not be seen. In all of the commotion, Carina noticed the cup she had made for Loki one year had fallen and broke, causing her to start crying.
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Present Time
Gesturing around the room, Tony plastered on a fake smile "Welcome to the shit show"
Pepper bravely stepped forward first "What happened?"
"My children. That's what happened" he sighed and ran a hand over his face. He was furious to the point that he was overly calm "You know, I put up with a lot around here. I make sacrifices and changes to make sure everyone else is happy. All I wanted was a nice, peaceful Thanksgiving dinner with my family"
Before he could have a full meltdown, he abruptly left the room and went to clean himself off. As he was picking turkey and mashed potatoes out of his hair, he started to feel bad about yelling. He was always the one trying to bend the rules and have fun and yet, here he was, being upset at the kids prank. To be fair, they probably weren't expecting that big of an explosion if their expressions were anything to go by. Looking back on all this a year from now he knew he'd be laughing about it too.
Deciding to stop moping, he went back out to the dining room to see everyone working together. Pepper and Happy had Peter helping fix Carina's cup. The twins and Morgan were using their magic to clean all of the food off the walls and floor. Jane and Thor were re-setting the table while Rhodey, Cassie and Loki were in the kitchen, salvaging whatever they could. He was about to start apologizing when Narfi and Vali walked over to him.
Narfi looked at Vali before mumbling "We're really sorry, Dad"
Tony smiled "You weren't expecting it to be such a big explosion, were you?"
Vali shook his head quickly "No, we checked with Jarvis and everything!"
"It was supposed to be really small, just throw a roll or two around" Narfi had cut in
Laughing, he pulled them in for a tight hug "It's alright, I've never been one to discourage your mischief before. I'm sorry I got so upset"
He then went over to Carina and made sure that she wasn't upset. Thor had apologized to him as well even though he really didn't do anything wrong. Finally, they got their dinner back on track and were starting to joke about how ridiculous the whole thing was. Tony had heard Morgan apologizing to Loki and the God agreeing to practice with her more so that she can sky-walk on her own.
Looking around the table, he couldn't help but think how lucky he was. So, before he could change his mind, he stood up and cleared his throat "This has been eventful, huh?"
They laughed and shook their heads before he continued "Thank you guys for being here and sticking with this crazy family of ours. You all make me want to bang my head against a wall every now and then, but I wouldn't trade you for the world. I love you all, let's hope that Christmas is another holiday to remember with bigger explosions!"
"Cheers!" The group yelled before talking amongst themselves.
Tony sat back in his chair and tried to commit this moment to memory. Why bother having a normal Thanksgiving when you can have a Stark family Thanksgiving?