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It was all a weird series of coincidences leading to Stephen suddenly becoming a father. Well, one could say that as any parent, however this one was not exactly…normal.
It started on a regular Sunday. Stephen had arrived at Tony’s place as per usual to visit his boyfriend and sometimes his intern -coughemotionallyadoptedsoncough- would be there as well. The problem was that both geniuses were bored and Stephen did not have the patience to entertain them at home.
“Stepheeeeen. We’re bored. Do something magic so we can study it.” Tony whined. The inventor’s head was laying in Stephen’s lap as the younger man was reading about a new casting technique being popularized in the London Sanctum. Peter was laying on the ceiling, looking just as distraught.
“I am not going to be a lab rat just so the two of you can have something to do.” Stephen said, still engrossed in his book. Tony wiggled until the sorcerer looked down at him in annoyance. “I’m also not here to entertain you and will just go home if you keep this up.”
“Please Stephen? Can we at least go somewhere interesting? If Tony takes us then it’ll take hours and May will kill me if I miss school again for anything other than being sick.” Peter chimed in. After looking at the two, Stephen let out an exasperated sigh and set down his book. The other two cheered, knowing the sorcerer’s will had been broken by sheer annoyance.
“Fine. We can go to the magical bazaar but if you end up in trouble then I’m not saving you.”
The magical bazaar was technically a different dimension, however it was much closer than the mirror dimension was. There were places around the world one could step through to reach it, without a need for a portal, and anyone who could find it was welcome. Magical beings from all walks of life congregated there. Stephen was happy to find out that Tony and Peter would be occupied for some time before Stephen had to drag them out.
The sorcerer himself decided to get some shopping done in the meantime, looking for some rare books or some snacks for the Sanctum. It was a small booth that seemed to grab his attention.
“You’re that sorcerer who bested Dormammu, aren’t you?” The old woman running the booth asked and after a moment of hesitation, Stephen nodded. “Thank you for what you did. The world owes you quite a bit of gratitude.”
“No, it’s fine. I just had to do what had to be done.” Stephen replied.
“So what brings you here today? Anything I can help you find?”
“Just anything that catches my eye.” He replied, looking over her stall. It seemed to be filled with plants. There was a small pot that seemed to catch his attention because there was no plant in it. The old woman grinned.
“Ah, yes. That one is special. It will grow once it has someone to nurture it. Along with the usual water and sunlight, it needs energy in order to grow.”
“And let me guess, love.” Stephen teased and the woman laughed.
“That will come later. It usually does after taking care of something before it shows its hidden beauty.”
“I think I’ll take it.” He dropped a few gold coins into the woman’s hand and picked up the pot.
“I know you’ll appreciate her, that little beauty is going to be something special. But just in case: no returns.”
Stephen let out a laugh before going to find his companions. Tony luckily didn’t have physical cash on him otherwise he would have bought out the whole marketplace, but Peter had bought the two some magical candy. With a promise to return next month, the three headed back to Tony’s.
Over the next few months, Stephen found himself including his new plant into his daily routine. If he happened to stay over at Tony’s, he brought it with. Its pot was slowly decorated by Peter, with some contributions by both Stephen and Tony, and the group were anxiously waiting for when it would finally bloom.
It was six months after acquiring it that the three stood around the flower. It had formed petals but it looked like today would be the day that they would finally see it in its full glory.
“I still think it’s a weird tulip.” Tony stated. He leaned closer to the flower only to be smacked on the shoulder by his boyfriend. Any testing of the plant had been forbidden by Stephen so they were flying blind.
“I think that if it’s some form of a plant that ends up like a flytrap, we need to torch it and not give it human blood.” Peter piped up.
“If it were going to do that, it would have already.” Stephen replied deadpan.
Tony went to say something however as the first rays of light began to hit the petals, it slowly began to open. It did appear to be like a tulip however there was a gradient to the petals which hadn’t been seen before. The most surprising, however, was a tiny girl no larger than a thumb lying in the center.
“I- I think I know why she told you there were no returns.” Peter stated, eyes wide.
The tiny girl was brunette with rather long hair dressed in flower petals that matched the one she currently laid in. She looked more like she was a preteen than a child however as she yawned at looked up at the three of them with wide and innocent eyes, Stephen could feel his heart melt. It seemed Tony was not the only one in this relationship to adopt children…though after subtly scanning her with magic, it seemed she was more biologically his than anything.
“Congrats Stephen, it’s a girl.” Tony said, dumbfounded.
“Hello.” Stephen said gently to the small girl, setting his palm next to the flower so she could step out. She stumbled over, still not quite used to moving around. “I’m Stephen. This is Tony and Peter. I suppose I’m your father, all things considered.” He smirked before a gentle smile graced his face.
He hadn’t expected to become a parent, but Stephen couldn’t be upset. It was just as the woman had said: she was something special.