Peter & Tony & Mary
"Mommy, Daddy, get up! Santa has come! He was here, he was here, he was here! And he brought presents, come and see!" Peter was so looking forward to the presents that he probably couldn't get a night of proper sleep. He even wrote his letter to Santa in August (or Tony wrote for him) to be among the first and Santa not to forget him, but anyway, they had to rewrite his letter three more times so that there was really everything he wanted.
His parents didn't react to him, only Tony sighed from his sleep and muttered something. Peter, in his red pajamas and a teddy bear under his arm, frowned in displeasure and decided not to let it go. He walked barefoot into his parents' bedroom and crawled onto the wide bed. Then he lay down among his parents, scrambled under their blanket, and kept saying that Santa had arrived.
"Your son is awake," Mary muttered sleepily, rolling over.
"It's your son by eight in the morning," Tony sighed, rubbing his eyes. Peter put his brown eyes on him and smirked. "Hi, little bat. So soon, huh?"
"But Daddy, Santa's here!" Peter shouted, looking at his father in disbelief. He had talked about this day for such a time, didn't he listen to him at all?
"That's right, Santa has come! How could you forget that, Tony?" Mary said this time, knowing that she would not fall asleep anyway and that Peter would annoy her until she got up and went to unwrap the presents with them in the living room. She smiled happily at Tony, and he kissed her good morning while Peter covered his eyes.
"Come on!" He shouted impatiently, bouncing on the bed. Tony had to take him in his arms to stop him, and Peter immediately snuggled up to him. He had always loved when he could curl up in the arms of one of his parents.
"We're leaving, little bat," Tony said amusedly, tossing him lightly over him, making him laugh and scaring Mary, then Peter grabbed him around the neck and pointed his finger at his mother.
"But Mommy has to come with us," he said in a commanding voice, nodding emphatically at her. Mary promised to come after them, just go into the bathroom.
"In the meantime, we'll go without Mom and see how many presents Santa actually brought us. What do you think, were you really good? Why I'm even asking, I know you're such a naughty boy! You're just going to have a small gift there," Tony teased, but Peter didn't laugh much. Rather, it looked like the boy wasn't far from crying, and he immediately began to argue that he was good. "Come on, I didn't mean it... won't we have breakfast first?"
"But Dad!"
"Yeah, It's clear to me," Tony laughed, and as they entered the living room, Peter squealed with joy. There were a lot of beautifully wrapped presents under the tree, and he felt like in paradise.
"So which one will we open first, huh? Maybe this biggest one? Who will it be for... well, no, it's for a little bat! You must have been really nice," Tony smiled at Peter as Peter sat down in the tree admiring the gifts. Tony immediately reached for the biggest one, but Peter stopped him.
"We still have to wait for Mom!" He instructed him, though it cost him every effort not to rush to the present and unwrap it with all his might. Mary joined them, already dressed, but with an expression on her face that Tony knew well. The smile on his face fell.
"Darling, I'm so sorry, but I have to go to work, there was an accident..." she explained hurriedly as she kissed Tony on the cheek and stroked Peter's hair. He stared at her blankly.
"I'll be there as soon as I can, yes, baby? Unwrap the presents, I'll unpack mine then and we'll play together, okay? Bye!" She said goodbye quickly and was gone.
Tony saw how sad Peter was from her departure, and his heart ached. He hoped he could at least disperse the presents, but he feared it wouldn't improve his mood either. Peter tugged at the decorative ribbon and muttered something under his nose.
"So what are you saying, bat? Shall we pounce on those presents? Which one will we take first?" Tony asked, trying to playful undertone. He was sorry too. He was looking forward to the three of them spending Christmas together, as a family, and enjoying it.
Peter nodded and began to unwrap the presents with him. But even the most expensive gift could not replace his mother's absence.