Work Text:
Monday, 7:00 a.m.
Rogers-Stark Household
"Are you ready for school today?" Steve smiled, glancing back at his son as he sat at the counter before quickly putting his focus back on the stove.
"I guess," Peter said, yawning tiredly. The six year-old looked exhausted. His hair was still a mess. He was still in his pajamas.
Steve still thought Tony buying Peter a Captain America shirt was ridiculous.
"Where's daddy?" Peter asked against his arms as he laid his head down on the counter.
"Getting ready for work," Steve smiled, "He'll be down before I take you to school, don't worry."
"Do you have to work today?" Peter asked, his voice muffled.
"Yes, but only two clients," Steve smiled, "So I'll be there to pick you up from school."
They'd adopted Peter when he was just year old. His aunt and uncle had been killed in an accident, one that the Avengers had tried to prevent any casualties from. They found out his parents had died a few months after he was born. It was like the kid just kept losing people. So Steve instantly wanted to take him in. He had just married Tony a few months before and Tony had been terrified to even become a father, let alone that quickly.
It didn't matter. In the end, they officially adopted Peter and they've been a happy family for five years now.
"Thanks, dad," Peter chirped. His eyes widened and he got up quickly, "I got a paper for you! My teacher wants you to come to the zoo with us!"
"Oh," Steve said, looking confused, "Why are they taking you to the zoo? I didn't say they could do that. Is that something schools do-"
"It's called a field trip," Tony sighed, walking downstairs, "And we really need to work on getting you up to date on this stuff again. We put it off after we got Peter."
"They're taking them to a field?" Steve asked, "Peter said the zoo-"
Tony sighed, "It's a trip they take the kids on. For fun," he said, taking the slip from Peter and signing it, "They take some parents as chaperones and apparently they think you're trustworthy enough to come with them."
"Nah, they just think the kids will think Captain America coming on the field trip is cool," Peter giggled, climbing up on the stool.
"Oh," Steve said, looking confused, "I suppose that would be okay, then. What do I need to do?"
"Watch your group and don't lose any of the kids," Tony shrugged, "Simple," he said, kissing Peter's head and then kissing Steve's cheek, "Work today?"
Steve nodded, "Two clients, but I can get him from school," he said, putting a plate down in front of Peter.
"You're the best cook," Peter said, giving him a toothy grin.
Monday, 7:00 a.m.
Xavier Household
"Food," Logan said, putting a large box of poptarts on the counter, "One package for each of you. Go."
"I want mine toasted!" Pietro yelled.
"We don't have time for that, just eat it," Logan groaned.
"Logan, please be nice to the children," Charles laughed as he came into the room.
"MORNING, DAD!" a few of the kids yelled loudly.
"Good morning," Charles laughed quietly.
"Tea," Logan grumbled, putting it down on the table for him, "Where's Magneto?"
"What's a Magneto?" Sean asked, struggling to open his package.
"It's Erik, dumby," Alex snorted, opening his easily, "He used to be called that when-"
"Alex," Charles said quickly, "We try not to talk about that here, okay?"
Alex just wrinkled his nose and opened Scott's package for him as he waited for his little brother to come downstairs. They were the newest kids in the house. They were still learning, but they were comfortable and happy. Alex tried not to act like he was, but everyone knew he was just trying to put on a tough-guy act.
"Permission slip," Scott walked in and handed it to Charles quickly, "It's for the field trip next week! We said you'd chaperone."
"Please don't volunteer me for things without asking," Charles sighed, taking the slip from him. He paused, his pen in hand, "There should be another permission slip for this if Scott has one, Wade."
Wade jumped up from the table quickly and ran out of the room.
Charles sighed and signed the slip quickly, "Put that in your folder and give it straight to your teacher. Tell her I'll let her know if one of us will be able to chaperone."
Scott took the slip quickly, a smile on his face.
"Charles, if you volunteer me for this, I swear-" Logan started.
"Not to worry, Logan," Charles sighed, "It looks like I'll be able to take the day off to do it. It's at the zoo, they'll have ramps."
"What has ramps?" Erik asked as he walked in, carrying Lorna and putting her in her booster seat.
"DADDY!" Pietro yelled.
Wanda shoved him when he yelled right in her ear.
"Good morning," Erik smiled, kissing Pietro's silver hair before moving to do the same to Wanda, Sean, and then Angel.
He knew what kids would want affection from him.
He'd already had Wanda and Pietro when he married Charles. The twins had just been four years-old. Magda had died giving birth to them and they were immediately with Erik. Years later -well, one year after he married Charles, actually- he'd found out Lorna was also his daughter when Suzanne showed up on the doorstep with the one and a half year-old, demanding that he take her. Charles had always been so patient with Erik, he felt like he didn't deserve it. He instantly accepted Lorna with open arms, treating her like his own. Lorna, of course, took to Charles instantly like most children did.
Erik had been with other people, Charles learned to accept that. As soon as Erik called off his days as "Magneto," he and Charles instantly got married. They moved fast, Charles didn't mind. Charles knew what he was getting into when he got involved with Erik in the first place. He knew what was coming and loved him unconditionally, despite all of his faults. Charles had known Erik for years, they'd been involved before, of course. Charles wouldn't jump into some random marriage. But -after a series of differences in opinion regarding Erik's quest for mutant supremacy- they'd called it off after one final blow. Erik had killed a civilian in one of his big demonstrations. Charles couldn't take it, that was the end of them.
Then the incident with Wanda and Pietro came up. Suddenly Erik was back with Charles, asking for help with his children. He'd never groveled in his life, but without help taking care of them from members of his "Brotherhood," he was alone. He needed help and he knew who he could turn to. He was definitely surprised when he showed up at Charles' new house (after tracking him down) and he saw there were already children there.
Sean, Darwin, Hank, and Angel had already been with Charles as well, at the time they got married. They were all used to Erik and called him their dad as well. They took to him fast, seeing how comfortable Charles was with him.
Raven came around the time Lorna did. She still called him "Erik" but loved him like father. She was the oldest in the group, a month older than Darwin. She prided herself in that and assumed that she was the boss of all of them. She tried to act extra tough.
The newest additions were Alex and Scott. Erik didn't dare try to show those boys any affection. They'd only been with them for about two weeks. Alex had apparently watched a lot of television, because he remembered Erik's days as "Magneto," despite Scott not seeming to know about it. Their parents had abandoned them and Charles took them in.
They were happy and comfortable, despite the amount of people in the house.
Logan had been with Charles when Erik first met him, all those years ago. He thought, at the time, that Logan was his boyfriend or husband and was worried he was being a homewrecker. But Logan was a friend, he'd been there when he'd gotten in his accident, and he stayed with him to take care of him. He even stayed when he found out he had a son, Wade, who was dropped off to him one day.
Wade was an absolute menace, in Erik's opinion. He was a horrible influence on all of the children, he was loud, obnoxious, and ate all the junk food in the house. He was seven years-old and already cursing.
They were suspicious that most of the children could possibly have mutations, but only Raven, Pietro, Hank, Alex, and Lorna had been the kids confirmed so far. They weren't sure what Lorna's mutation would be, but the green hair was definitely her secondary mutation.
The house was three stories tall. All the children had their own room and they were happy and comfortable. Erik loved their little (well, big) family with all his heart, but they could all be obnoxious when they wanted to be.
They always wanted to be.
"They're going on a field trip to the zoo and they volunteered me, it seems," Charles said, snapping Erik out of his thoughts.
"Which ones?" Erik laughed, kissing his cheek and grabbing a cup of coffee quickly.
"Scott and Wade's class," Charles told him, "Next week. I'll need you to take care of the others that day, we won't be back until five in the afternoon."
Erik just nodded, "Logan and I will handle it, then."
"That means we're getting pizza," Sean snickered.
Wade slapped the permission slip down and climbed up on the counter and opening the cabinet to get into it. He reached for the box of twinkies but Logan grabbed him and put him down on the floor.
"Charles, pen," Logan said simply.
Charles threw him the pen he'd used to sign Scott's permission slip.
Logan signed it quickly and handed it Wade, "Lose this and you don't get to see the bears," he said and handed him a pack of poptarts as well.
"Wow, you're such a great cook," Wade called, walking over and sitting beside Pietro.
Monday, 7:15 a.m.
Stark-Rogers Household
"See, this is why we don't ask your pops to set out your clothes," Tony said, standing in Peter's bedroom with him. The man had set out a pajama shirt with the American flag on it along with a pair of purple shorts.
Peter shrugged, "I like the colors.
"They don't match, buddy," Tony laughed, putting a pair of khaki shorts down, "What color shirt with that?"
"Red!" Peter said quickly, smiling when his dad put out a red t-shirt, "My favorite color!"
"Good choice, buddy," Tony smiled, "Go get dressed. Brush those teeth and your hair while your at it."
Monday, 7:15 a.m.
Xavier Household
"RAVEN, TIME IS UP, GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM!" Erik yelled, pounding on the door. They had two bathrooms and a half-bath in the house, but they had eleven children and three adults. The numbers weren't good, so Charles created a time table. It didn't work, most of the time, but it helped get the kids moving.
Most of them got dressed in their rooms and needed the bathrooms just for the mirror and the sinks in the morning. Half the time some of the kids ended up brushing their teeth in the kitchen sink.
"In a minute!" Raven called.
Erik sighed, checking his watch, "Just hand me the toothbrushes, damn it," he grumbled.
Raven opened the door to hand them to him and Erik shoved his foot in it quickly.
"Here," he stalked in and grabbed a ponytail holder and pulled Raven's hair up, "There. You're done. Get out."
"I was trying to make it straight, Erik!" Raven yelled.
"Another day, Raven," Erik sighed, unplugging the straightener, "And what did we tell you about using this alone? It could burn you."
"You're a jerk!" Raven yelled, stalking out of the bathroom.
"Well, I'm a jerk on a time schedule!" Erik yelled after her. He looked at Angel, who was staring at him with wide eyes and sighed, "Go ahead and get ready for the day, dear."
"I'm telling you, I'm growing facial hair, look," Alex said, studying his reflection in the mirror of the half-bath closely.
Scott and Hank were crowded in the small room with him, looking for any sign of the hair Alex claimed to have.
"I don't see it," Scott shrugged, looking up at his brother.
"Boys, I hope you're brushing your teeth in there," Charles called.
Monday, 7:30 a.m.
Rogers-Stark Household
"JARVIS, traffic report," Tony called as he walked into the kitchen.
"Traffic is moving at a normal pace this morning, sir," JARVIS said simply, "Nothing to report."
"Thank you, JARVIS," Steve smiled, eating his breakfast at the counter. He smiled at Tony, "Is Peter ready for school?"
"Brushing his teeth now," Tony nodded, kissing the side of his head and wrapping his arms around him, "Pepper says I should be home by three, if all the meetings go okay."
"Just don't fight with your dad," Steve said under his breath.
"That's difficult for me, you know that," Tony said, kissing his shoulder and then changed the subject, "How has work been?"
"Good," Steve nodded and smiled weakly, "Sam has been a lot of help recently. It's been hard, helping Bucky," he said quietly.
They'd recently found out Steve's friend, Bucky, was alive. He'd been taken by HYDRA and turned into a supersoldier. They called him the Winter Soldier. They'd manage to catch him and slowly help him.
Well, if you want to get technical, Tony knew about Bucky a long time before Steve did. He knew about him even before Steve came back. That caused a huge rift in their relationship and Tony would rather just forget about the whole incident.
They learned his trigger words and were slowly trying to just get him to the point where he could walk down the street. They even taught Peter his Uncle Bucky's "no words" so Bucky could meet him. The older man almost cried when he met him, especially after Steve told him he was one of Peter's godfathers.
"I know," Tony said quietly, "But he's been getting better, everyone can see it. You're doing a great job."
Steve leaned his head back and kissed him, "Thanks."
Steve worked as a counselor for war veterans. Sam helped him a lot, when he first started. He understood what needed to be said and helped Steve when he was awkward at first. Now it came naturally, talking these men and women. It wasn't paying, but it made him happy. On top of saving the world all the time, he was pretty busy. He wasn't by any means a "house husband" but he was home more than Tony was. Tony ran Stark Industries with his father. Tony was in charge now, but Howard had a lot of input. The two fought all the time, but they got along around Peter and Steve.
Tony tolerated Howard for them. He tolerated him. He didn't tell Steve anything about his past with his father, just that they weren't close and didn't get along. Steve had an image of Howard Stark in his mind: a friend who made his shield. He helped make him Captain America.
He couldn't take that away from Steve. He just couldn't. Even if that meant sort of keeping a secret from him.
"Sir, it seems a traffic jam has just developed. If you want to take your normal route to take Peter to school, I suggest you leave now," JARVIS' voice sounded through their house.
They'd decided to get a house. It was large, three stories tall (if you counted their attic). All the business was moved to the Stark Tower and they moved into a house to make things more normal for Peter. It had a large backyard and relatively nice neighbors. They had kids that Peter liked to play with.
Steve hadn't gotten to meet their parents yet, but he knew they had a lot of kids and one of them, Wade, was in Peter's grade. Peter talked nonstop about Wade all the time.
Steve hoped he'd meet the two parents of them one day. Wade seemed to make Peter very happy.
Maybe one of them is a chaperone on the trip to the field, Steve thought to himself.
"Peter, let's go, you're going to leave a little early, bud," Tony called up the steps.
Peter ran downstairs and smiled, "Ready to go!"
Tony fixed his hair, "Have a good day at school," he said, kneeling down to give him a hug, "Learn some things."
"Okay, daddy," Peter smiled and ran over to Steve, "Let's go, let's go!" he said excitedly.
"See you later," Steve said, kissing Tony on the lips as Peter practically drug him out the door.
Monday, 7:40 a.m.
Xavier Household
"You have five seconds to get down here!" Logan yelled.
"Just a minute!" Wade called.
Logan glanced around and mentally counted the kids that were running around in the entry-way. All of them were thankfully there except for Wade.
He had no idea how his life had went from "helping a friend" to "permanent babysitter."
"Sorry, I had to get my book to show Petey," Wade said, running downstairs.
"Okay, whatever," Logan grumbled, "Did everyone say goodbye to Charles and Erik?"
He got a chorus of "Yeah"s and "Yes"s and nods of little heads.
"Okay, everyone outside in the van, I want a headcount," Logan said, opening the door and counting their heads as they went.
All ten out the door in order and right on time. Good.
Traffic. Logan hated traffic with a passion. Especially when he had a van full of screaming children.
They had a large van that could probably qualify as a small school bus. It seated fifteen (three rows of four seats, plus three up front) people, which was great if they actually all went somewhere together...which was rare because it was a huge ordeal when they did. If they did go somewhere, they walked because it was easier.
"YOU PULLED MY HAIR!" Wanda screamed.
"NU-UH!" Pietro yelled.
"YU-HUH, I SAW IT!" Scott yelled back.
Steve tapped the wheel of the car anxiously, hoping it would clear up soon. It was getting close to eight o'clock and that was when he had to have Peter at school. He glanced back in the mirror and saw Peter was playing on his electronic game that Tony had given him for his last birthday (he assured Steve that there were learning games on it, but Steve was dubious about that because Clint had been giving Peter tips on how to fight someone with a sword one day on the game).
He looked around and saw the large, red van that was always in his neighbor's driveway. His eyes widened when he saw all the screaming children in the back and he quickly looked away when the angry looking man looked over at him.
"WADE!" Peter yelled, "Pops, put down the window, quick!"
"Peter, what is it?" Steve asked quickly. It was morning and already almost eighty-nine degrees, according to the car. He had the air conditioner on for a reason.
"WADE!" Peter pointed at the van, "Look, it's Wade!"
Steve looked confused and unlocked the child lock on the window, sighing in relief when he pressed the right button.
He put his window down as well and waved at the man in front.
The man put he window down, "What?"
"Hello, I'm Steve," he waved, "Are you Wade's father? Peter is friends with him."
"Yeah, so?" the man grunted.
"IS THAT CAPTAIN AMERICA?!" one of the kids in the back screeched. Suddenly there was a lot of screaming in the back.
"Are they all yours?" Steve asked.
"No, thank fuck," Logan snorted, "Just Wade. The others are Erik and Chuck's lot."
"Oh," Steve said, trying to ignore the man cursing in front of the children, "Do you think we could set up a playdate one day? Peter really loves Wade and I-"
Traffic started moving and Logan drove away without sparing him a second glance.
Steve quickly put the windows up and looked back at Peter, "That was Wade's family?"
"Yeah, he has tons of brothers and sisters," Peter shrugged.
Steve tried to put the pieces together. Logan said the rest of the kids were Erik and Charles' children. Why did Wade consider them his siblings enough to tell Peter that they were?
The new world confused Steve. A lot.
Monday, 7:55 a.m.
Elementary School
Steve parked the car in the parking lot and got out quickly, opening the door for Peter, "Here we are!" he smiled.
Peter had only been going here for a few weeks, since they moved into the new house. They'd home schooled him up until now and Steve wanted to make sure Peter was completely comfortable in this place. He drove him to and from it everyday, just to study his reaction and make sure he wasn't nervous or uncomfortable.
Peter seemed to like it. He already had a friend.
Steve glanced up when the van pulled in and the man got out, pulling open the sliding door.
"Have a good day," the man said, his voice gruff as he did, "Don't get detention, please."
Steve watched as the kids piled out the car with wide eyes. He could handle kids, he assumed he was pretty good with them. He was good with Peter. But that many children? How could they possibly manage?
"WADE! WADE!" Peter started yelling.
The boy, Wade, ran over and hugged Peter tightly, "Hi, Petey."
Steve raised an eyebrow.
"Whoa, your dad really is Captain America!" Wade said excitedly, "Hey, Mr. Peter."
Steve laughed, "Just Steve is okay, Wade."
Wade's eyes widened, "I can call you Steve?"
"Of course," Steve nodded.
"Whoa," Wade grinned and grabbed Peter's hand slowly, "Your dad is awesome."
Steve just laughed again and checked his watch, "Peter, did you want me to walk you to class?"
"No, I can do it!" Wade said quickly, "I'll take care of him, don't worry, Mr. Captain America- I mean...Steve!"
Steve looked at Peter.
"It's okay," Peter nodded.
"Okay, then," Steve nodded as well and hugged him, "Have a good day, I'll see you after school."
"Bye, pops!" Peter grinned as Wade led him away, not letting go of his hand as he did.
Steve smiled, making sure they went into the school and the door closed behind them before going to get in his car.
"It's not as bad as it looks," the man, Wade's dad, called as he closed the large door. He walked over, "I'm Logan."
Steve studied him, "I knew you looked familiar. You're the Wolverine. You've helped us before."
"Yeah," Logan said simply, "'S what I do," he shrugged.
"What do you mean 'Not as bad'?" Steve asked, looking confused.
"I mean the kids," Logan shrugged, "They're not that bad. Sure, it's hectic, but we love 'em. We're comfortable."
"Oh...I never doubted that-"
"I know it looks bad," Logan told him, "We've gotten our fair share of looks. But Chuck keeps those kids comfortable. He has a lot of money. He sold a mansion and moved them into a normal house so they could have normal lives and be safe."
Steve smiled, "He sounds like a very noble man."
"He is," Logan shrugged, "And, uh...Wade has a crush on your kid, sorry. He ain't going to let him go anytime soon."
"A crush?" Steve's eyes widened, "Oh, that certainly explains a lot."
"Uh...if you want to set a day, my kid could come over to yours or he could come over to ours," Logan said awkwardly. He had to do this for Wade. He could do this for Wade.
"That would be great, here," Steve said, reaching into his car and giving him a card, "Just...ignore all the other stuff. Feel free to call anytime or just send Wade over," he smiled at him, getting in the car, "It was very nice meeting you, Mr....?"
"Howlett," Logan sighed, "Logan Howlett," he told him, looking down at the card. He didn't know Captain America was a counselor by day.
"Nice to meet you, Logan Howlett," Steve smiled at him.