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Tony heaved a huge box onto the kitchen island, startling Stephen who looked up from his morning paper in surprise.
“So,” said Tony expectantly, “where should we start?”
“Start?” Stephen repeated, giving Tony a blank look.
“Yeah,” Tony said. “You know, decorating.”
“And why are we decorating?”
“The spirit of the season!”
“I’m not following,” Stephen said, picking up his favorite coffee mug and taking a sip.
“Come on, Stephen, it’s Christmas! We have to do all the cute Christmas-y things!”
Stephen was about to say something like “thanks but no thanks”. Christmas was less than enjoyable ever since Donna had passed, and now, without his parents or Victor, he couldn’t picture himself ever enjoying another Christmas again.
But when he looked up at Tony’s happy, eager expression, he folded like a house of cards. How could he say no to that childlike excitement, especially knowing Tony didn’t really have any good Christmas memories and wanted to make some with him?
“Very well,” he agreed, standing up and setting his paper aside. “Lets start with the tree.”
Trees were messy.
Stephen somehow hadn’t expected Tony to go the extra mile of a real and very much alive tree. He’d been expecting a particularly fancy fake one.
This tree, however, had real needles and sat in a pot of dirt they would need to water. It smelled wonderful, he had to admit, but he had to keep picking up his little furball of a kitten to stop the little thing testing his claws on the bark.
“Oracle, here,” Stephen said, placing the kitten in front of his scratching post. The little thing turned his scarred face to Stephen, his bright, blue-green eyes full of pleading.
“You’re adorable, but the answer is still no,” Stephen said, booping his nose with his finger. The kitten sneezed and blinked at him in shock.
“What should we do first? Lights? Garlands?”
“Lights, I think,” Stephen said, trying to remember. It had been a long time since he decorated a Christmas tree.
“Great!” Tony said brightly. “I found these- they’ve got a multicolored setting and a white one, or a flashing one! Sounds nice, right?”
“Sounds perfect,” Stephen corrected, kissing his cheek and helping him unwrap the lights before they wrapped them around the tree’s branches.
“Garland next?” Tony asked.
“I suppose so,” Stephen agreed, using magic to add the tinsel.
“And ornaments!” Tony said eagerly, turning to his boxes of decorations.
Stephen was surprised at the collection. Ornaments for all kinds of things Tony liked, like tools, his favorite characters, his hobbies, even of the other Avengers and lots of Stephen.
“When did you buy all these?” He asked in surprise, picking up an ornament of a Rottweiler angel.
“Oh, I always buy ornaments every year, even if I don’t get a tree set up, just in case.”
Stephen felt sad. Tony’s tone was cheerful and warm, but Stephen could hear the pain and sadness in his voice. He wondered if Tony had tried to do Christmas with others in the past and received less than warm responses.
And here he was, only agreeing because Tony was his partner and he wanted him happy, but not exactly going out of his way to make any extra effort.
“How would you feel about making our own ornaments?” Stephen asked him.
Tony looked up at him, forgetting the ornament of the Cloak in his hand. “Really?”
His voice was so full of hope, and Stephen smiled back.
“Really. What do you think?”
“I want to!” He said excitedly. “Yes! We can make ornaments together and hang them on the tree!” Stephen smiled and nuzzled him gently. “I think that sounds perfect.”
He picked up the Rottweiler and hung it from a branch of the tree. “Come on, let’s decorate,” he said, with real enthusiasm.
He suddenly bent down quickly, snatching up a little mischievous ball of fur.
“Except you.”
“This is a great idea!” Tony said happily as they sat at the table, a box of multiple acrylic paint colors, a bag of brushes, and multiple ceramic animal ornaments in front of them.
“I’m glad you like it,” Stephen said, smiling at him.
“Who would you like to paint first?”
“Hmm….” Tony looked from the animal ornaments on the table, then over at their pets. “Do you mind if I start with Oracle? I think it might be fun to paint his eyes….”
Stephen chuckled softly. “No, not at all. You can start with Oracle,” he agreed. “I think I’ll start with Onyx.”
Their tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniel raised his head and wagged his feathery tail at them, his large, baby brown eyes wide and hopeful, as if begging for attention.
Tony grinned, picking up a kitten ornament and a paint brush as Stephen picked up a puppy ornament and did the same.
“Perfect! Let me get his good side,” he said, picking up his phone to scroll through the many photos of their pets on it. He landed on one that was a perfect shot of Oracle sitting still and looking at the camera- the image of perfection and cuteness.
Stephen chuckled softly as he picked up a puppy ornament and began laying down some white coats that he would add Onyx’s black and brown markings to after.
It took a few hours, but eventually the ornaments were painted. They were down a significant amount of paint, but they now had two of each of their pets hanging from their Christmas tree- one set painted by Stephen, and one set painted by Tony.
Tony beamed as he looked over the ornaments, and suddenly turned, hugging Stephen tightly. “This was perfect! I loved it! Thank you!”
Stephen smiled slightly, moving to hug Tony back and kissing his head.
“You’re welcome,” he murmured.
It hadn’t been much, but it had meant everything to Tony.
So he would do more.
“What’s so urgent?” Tony asked as he hurried up from his lab, wiping soot off of his face and looking worried.
“Did something happen?”
Stephen looked up at him. “No. What’s wrong?”
“Uh… JARVIS’s message saying you needed me might’ve surprised Dum-E….”
“I see,” Stephen said, his eyebrows still raised, before he turned back to the counter. “But no. Nothing is wrong. Except that I can’t start baking Christmas cookies or making Christmas candy if you’re down in the lab rather than up here helping me.” Tony’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Well, we need cookies and candy.”
“And we’re going to make it all ourselves? Together?” Tony asked hopefully.
“Of course. Toffee, fudge, sugar cookies, Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, peppermint bark…. You’ll have to clean yourself up first, though.”
The mechanic zipped off to the bathroom so fast Stephen wouldn’t be surprised if he’d found a way to give himself super speed.
When he returned five minutes later grime-free, Tony grinned, seizing a mixing bowl and Stephen’s mother’s homemade cookbook with the excitement of a child anticipating a sugar high. “Let’s get started, then!” Stephen laughed as he took the cookbook back and flipped it to the sugar cookie recipe. “Here. Start here.”
Tony made a delighted sound that was suspiciously close to some kind of cackle, seizing the book and inspecting the recipe before grabbing the ingredients needed that Stephen had laid out.
“Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea,” Stephen mused to himself as he watched, fascinated, as Tony made the biggest mess for a single batch of cookies he’d ever seen.
One recipe down. Nine to go.
“These are delicious!” Tony said happily, taking another of the homemade Oreos from the huge platter on the counter. Stephen couldn’t help smiling as Tony admired the final products (multiple batches of each for themselves and their family and friends) of all their hard work.
“So, did you enjoy yourself?” Stephen asked.
“So much!” Tony said, beaming at Stephen. “The fudge is so good, and the peanut butter bars are yummy, and the chocolate chip cookies are the best I’ve ever had!”
“I never thought you’d like my mother’s recipes so much,” Stephen said, a fond smile on his face as he leaned over to kiss Tony’s cheek. “And you really seemed to enjoy the process.” He looked around at the kitchen, admiring the chaos and mess they were surrounded by. “Quite a lot.”
Tony blushed and looked around at the evidence of flour, chocolate, dough, eggs, and sugar decorating the countertops, cabinets, and drawers. “Oh, uh, yeah… sorry,” he said, giving Stephen a nervous smile. “I’ll clean this up.”
Stephen smiled slightly. He flicked his finger and scrub brushes, washcloths, and buckets of soapy water appeared and began to clean up the mess themselves.
Tony’s eyes widened. “Whoa… you can do that?!” Stephen smirked slightly and kissed his cheek. “Of course. You think there aren’t spells for cleaning?”
“I didn’t know you could do that,” Tony said, still just as amazed. “I’m still learning new stuff about you.”
“That’s part of the adventure,” Stephen teased, kissing his cheek and snorting in amusement when he realized he now had some flour and frosting on his lips thanks to Tony’s enthusiastic efforts earlier.
“This is cool….” Tony breathed, watching the cleaning supplies work.
“This is nothing. Come on, make yourself a plate of treats and go put on some pajamas. Time for Christmas movies.”
Just before bed on Christmas Eve, Stephen walked to join Tony in the kitchen where he was helping himself to another square of fudge from their personal stash.
“Tony,” Stephen said. “Time to open one of your Christmas presents.”
“What?” Tony asked blankly, staring at him.
Stephen held out the wrapped box, looking amused.
“Go on. Take it,” he encouraged.
Tony eagerly seized it and ripped off the blue and silver reindeer wrapping paper, then opened the box. Tony grinned and laughed in delight at his brand new Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme pajamas, hugging them to his chest. “They’re perfect! And… damn, they’ll be nice and warm,” he said, feeling the material and smiling. “That’s good. New York is freezing compared to California.”
Stephen smiled and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad you like them. Go try them on?”
Tony smiled and hurried to change, coming back and almost tackling Stephen in a hug when he returned. He looked proud as a peacock as he showed off his pajama bottoms covered in portals and spells and his pajama shirt decked out with an illustration of Stephen in the middle of some cool and mysterious action pose.
“How do I look?” Tony asked, striking dramatic poses as he showed off the pajama set to his husband.
Stephen snorted. “You look like a very dedicated fan.”
“Hell yeah I am!” Tony cheered, throwing himself into Stephen’s arms. “And I am so buying you Iron Man pajamas after this.”
Stephen raised his eyebrows and snapped his fingers, making another box appear in his outstretched right palm. “Like these?” He asked, flicking his left forefinger a few times to unwrap the paper magically and remove the box’s lid before his own set of pajamas lifted out of it with magic.
The bottoms were decked out in various Mark model helmets and arc reactors while the top was an illustration of Tony’s Mark LXXXV mid-flight or hovering in midair, with Tony looking up and seeming determined.
Tony grinned. “Who’s the dedicated fan now?” He teased, kissing Stephen’s lips.
“Why, do you even need to ask, Mr. Stark-Strange?”
Tony snorted, then pulled back slightly as he laughed hard. “God, Stephen, I love you.”
Stephen chuckled. “I love you, too. Now, let’s get ourselves to bed. Santa Claus will know if we’re awake, after all.”
Tony rolled his eyes, but obeyed, dragging Stephen towards their bedroom and their comfy bed.
“Stephen,” he said, his voice playfully exasperated, when he saw all their pets already waiting for them, each wearing their own set of Iron Man or Doctor Strange pajamas.
“What can I say? You have a dedicated following,” Stephen teased.
Stephen was curled up in their warm bed, his arms wrapped around Tony, and crooning softly in his sleep as he enjoyed good dreams of happy Tonys enjoying their future together and reaping the rewards of a (very much earned) retirement.
“Stephen?” Tony asked, gently kissing his nose.
“Mm?” Stephen mumbled, slowly opening his pale eyes.
Tony grinned. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he purred.
“It’s Christmas! Don’t you want to see what Santa brought you?”
Stephen chuckled softly as he snuggled closer to Tony.
“But that means leaving this nice, warm bed,” he complained good-naturedly.
Tony laughed. “Come on, I wanna spoil my husband with presents!”
Stephen shook his head slightly and sat up. “Okay, okay. I’ll make some hot chocolate and we’ll start with our stockings.”
“Awesome!” Tony said eagerly, leaping up to dash off to the living room where their tree lined with presents was waiting. Stephen watched as their herd of animals all followed Tony, who Stephen could hear preparing their breakfasts. He chuckled fondly as he stood to go and join them in the living room.
“Did you have a good Christmas?” Stephen asked Tony as they sat before the tree and the fireplace that evening. The night had fallen and turned colder. Snow was falling in large, puffy flakes outside. Their dogs and cats where curled up in their beds before the fire, dozing as they waited for their humans to finish they mushy moment and retire for the evening.
Tony nuzzled affectionately at Stephen’s cheek and snuggled closer to his side, resting his head on Stephen’s shoulder. “It was perfect,” he assured Stephen.
He looked up at him, his brown eyes shimmering with love and gratitude. “Thank you for doing so much holiday stuff with me. I know Christmas isn’t your favorite holiday. But it means a lot that you agreed to set up a tree and do presents with me… and it means more that you suggested those other things. Like the ornaments and the desserts and the pajamas.”
Stephen smiled and kissed Tony’s lips gently. “I’m glad you liked it, my darling. I want you to be happy. And this Christmas was one of the very best I’ve ever had. Thank you for asking me to spend it with you.” Tony grinned, his eyes hopeful and the best mix of puppy dog and baby doll that could only mean he’d been taking lessons from their Cavaliers (adorable little traitors).
“Does this mean you’ll do Christmas with me next year?”
Stephen chuckled softly and gently pulled Tony closer as he tucked the blanket closer around them with magic.
“Darling, for you, I’ll do Christmas every year, even when we’ve moved on from this plane, if you’d like.”
Tony snorted softly and kissed Stephen.
“Merry Christmas, Stephen.”
“Merry Christmas, my Tony.”