Work Text:
"Whatcha guys making?" Tobias asked as he poked his head in the kitchen doorway.
Tony waved and gestured at Emily, bowing slightly. "We're making cookies per the lady's demand."
"Oh you better be careful that you watch what recipe she uses."
"That was one time, dad!" Emily huffed.
"Oh I have to hear this story now." Tony settled back onto the stool and stared at Tobias expectantly.
"Dad," Emily whined.
"What? He'll find out eventually, but you can tell the story if you prefer."
"And you won't embellish it?"
"You mean will I fill in anything you leave out? Of course, I will."
Emily glared. "You start it then and I'll correct anything you get wrong."
Tobias snickered. "Ok, Em."
Tony glanced between his lover and his lover's child with an amused smile on his face. "Don't forget about our cookies, Emily. We don't want them to burn."
"Oh, shoot!" She dashed over to the oven and pulled out a tray of cookies. Quickly putting the next tray in, she worked on moving the cookies off the cookie sheet and onto cooling racks.
Tony locked eyes with Tobias and gestured for him to start talking.
"Ok. So this was a story from when Emily was much younger. I believe she was seven or eight at the time."
"Go on."
"She wanted to make rice crispy treats and the last time we'd made them we'd used a recipe. She went looking for it and found something that said recipies. She thought it was the rice crispy treat recipe."
"Oh no. Did you really, Emily?" Tony asked, seeing where this story was going already.
"Sadly, yes. I was young and still learning to read. Plus, the label was misspelled, which was Dad's fault."
Tony cackled. "Spelling is still not your dad's strength."
"Oh, shut up." Fornell complained.
"Make me." Tony grinned wickedly at Tobias.
"No! Not in the kitchen. We're making cookies. You keep your hands off Tony, Dad."
Tony couldn't help it. He started laughing so hard he clutched at his stomach.
Tobias sulked. "It's not funny."
After Tony recovered, he waved his hand in a go on motion. "Continue the story."
"Anyway what Emily thought was a rice crispy treat recipe was actually a recipe for a broccoli cauliflower bake."
"So what happened next?"
"Well she started following the directions, but they weren't what she remembered, so she tried to add the instructions she remembered, including how long to bake them for. She was so proud of her final product and woke me up to share them with me."
"I was proud until I tasted them you mean," Emily butted in.
"Yeah. They did taste pretty horrible."
"Oh God. I can just imagine. That's hilarious." Tony giggled. "Next time don't misspell recipes. That extra i really does make it look like rice crispies."
"Thank you!" Emily exclaimed. "I'm glad someone else sees things my way."
"You're welcome, Emily." Tony smiled. "Let's avoid cookies made out of savory recipes, though, ok?"
"Ok. I don't want to repeat the experience either, you know."
"Good."
Tony and Tobias smiled at each other over Emily's head. It was nice to spend time as a family around the holidays even if the desserts sometimes took an unexpected turn for the worst.