Chapter 19
TONY
As expected, his son was loved by all his teachers. Really, all his kids were just so damn smart and great it was hard not to brag.
Oh, who was he kidding, he’d brag about them to strangers if his husband hadn’t made him swear to stop doing that.
And after the week they'd had, it was nice to have a pleasant, stress free evening. He looked at that tall blonde man of his as the three walked to the elevator, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as he smiled back warmly at the genius.
All of the warm fuzzy feelings he was having, including when his husband grabbed his hand to hold in the elevator – went out the window when JARVIS made an announcement.
“Sirs, I should warn you…there has been a development with both Emerson and Peter this evening. Dr. Banner was notified as well as Natasha and…"
“Development?” Miles interrupted as Tony shared a confused look with his husband.
“What does that mean, J? They’re safe right? What’s Petey doing here anyhow?” Tony asked as panic began to set in. Before the AI could respond, the elevator doors open on their floor and they were greeted by a sight that nearly made the billionaire fall dead then and there.
Skidding to a stop in front of them was their oldest…who was currently…a child.
No more than six.
“Daddy! Papa! You’re home!” the boy shouted in excitement before running over to the pair. Their no-longer-youngest had his jaw dropped as he realized what the parents had without even knowing the kid at that age.
The blonde was slightly less shaken than the brunette, at least enough to catch the running child to hold in his arms.
“Pete?” he still asked skeptically as he turned back to Tony in bewilderment. It was then that Barnes and Bruce made their presence known, stepping into the hallway to greet the family currently their correct age.
“Can someone please tell me what the actual fuck is happening?” Tony asked before being reprimanded by his youngest/oldest.
“Language, Daddy!”
“Tony, you remember that wine you received from Dr. Strange for your thirtieth anniversary? Well it appears Emerson and Peter drank it last night…” Bruce said as he handed the brunette the empty bottle.
“…Strange…” Tony confirmed as his husband walked over to inspect the bottle as well. Peter decided that it was time to switch fathers, Tony trying not to groan as his son squeezed him in a tight hug.
“I’ve never even seen this bottle?” Steve asked in confusion.
“It was a gag gift from Strange, I didn’t think it’d actually work…” the genius said as he tried to read the contents on the bottle.
“So it...de-ages people by twenty something years?” Miles asked, doing the math in his head. “Would I like...cease to exist?” he turned to ask his Uncle Bruce.
“It’s probably correlated to the amount of wine you drink…” Bruce added.
“Where’s Emerson?” Steve asked.
“She’s hiding in the hallway closet. According to JARVIS, she woke up first and hid and hasn’t moved since. Nat’s with her now trying to talk her out,” Barnes said sadly as Peter then reached out to be held by his uncle. Tony obliged for maybe the first time ever before turning to his husband in concern.
“I called Dr. Strange, he said it should wear off in a few hours,” Bruce spoke up as they breathed a sigh of relief.
“Petey-pie, how old are you?” Steve suddenly asked the boy who was giggling in Bucky’s arms.
“I’m five and a half, Papa,” the boy said as he held up one hand to show it as well.
“So that makes Em…” Steve said thinking as Tony finished for him “four.” The husbands looked at each other for another sad moment before Peter interrupted them.
“Who are you?” the boy asked as he wiggled out of his uncle’s embrace to confront the teen.
“I’m…Miles. Peter right?” their youngest said to their not-current-eldest as he extended his hand in greeting. Peter, ever the social butterfly, returned the gesture before beginning to tell his new friend all of his favorite things.
Tony smiled another moment before he felt his husband tug his arm in the direction of the hallway. He took a breath before following.
They saw their old friend sitting near the cracked open door, her eyes sad as she looked up at the approaching fathers. The red head slowly stood up and gave the fathers a silent shoulder-shrug head-shake combo before giving them privacy to try.
“Em-” Tony began as he sat down where Nat had. He was stopped by his husband who held a firm grip on his shoulder.
“Ashley?” Steve asked in a more confident voice as Tony suddenly remembers she had another name in her past life. The blonde then gently sat next to the man as they both cracked the door open a little more to see.
And practically cried at the sight of her.
Four year old Emerson was something else. Big, watery green eyes stared back at the men as her adult clothing shifted on her tiny child body. Her long brown hair hung in her beautiful face as she kept blinking back at the men – looking like she was expecting them to hit her any second...or worse.
“Ashley?” Steve tried again. “Sweetheart you’re safe, okay? We’re…just watching you for the day. Your uh…parents – Kimberly and Robert” Tony was legitimately impressed with this man’s memory, and demeanor cause the genius is close to crying just looking at the kid, “they are busy today and so you’re with us. Does that make sense?”
Their tiny daughter looked on the verge of tears again before finally speaking up and breaking their hearts.
“Was I bad?”
“What?" Tony rasped out as he was thankful Steve spoke for the both of them.
“No honey, of course not.”
“He said…he said he’d sell me if I was bad…” she whimpered out before bursting into tears. And Tony suddenly found himself (not for the first time, mind you) thankful that the rat bastard of a father was already long dead.
“No, baby girl you weren’t bad,” Steve said with tears of his own as he gently reached out to her. She shrunk back at that, which had Steve frown and bring his hand back to himself in silent agreement.
Tony was wracking his brain trying to think of a way to help when they heard tiny feet quickly approaching. He looked up in time to see their no-longer-eldest sprinting towards them with Miles trying to grab him.
“Pete!” the teen harshly whispered as he followed the boy who jumped on Steve’s back.
“Peter-” the blonde began as he tried to close the door, but the observant child already saw.
“Who’s that?” Peter asked as he wiggled past his father to open the door more. “Hello?” he asked as Emerson shrunk back farther away from him. “Hi. My name’s Peter, what’s your name?”
Tony couldn’t help smiling, secretly glad for the reminder of how freaking adorable his son was as a kid. He made a mental note to get the recording from JARVIS later.
“Ashley," the girl whispered in answer as Peter opened the door more. The fathers shared a look before their son continued.
“Hi Ashley, whatcha doin in the closet?” he asked as he crawled in with her. “Are you okay?” he asked after taking a look at her scared face. “What’s the matter? Are you scared?” he asked as Steve moved in to begin to pull him out. Tony quickly reached an arm out to stop him, shaking his head when he looked back at him in confusion.
“Well that’s silly!” they turned in shock at their son. “My daddies are superheroes, Ashley! No reason to be scared,” he sassed as they saw her face perk up a little in hope.
“They are?” she asked hesitantly as she inched closer.
“Yeah! Have you heard of the Avengers?” Pete asked excitedly.
“Uh huh,” their daughter said, inching even closer as the fathers shared a look and scooted back to give them room.
“Yeah? Which one is your favorite? Mine is my Uncle Bruce! He’s the Hulk,” Peter chatted as the two moved out of the closet, Steve ignoring the scoff from his husband.
“You know da Hulk?” she asked adorably, staying near Peter and still looking a little skeptical at the other three.
“Man, and I thought Pete was cute,” Miles muttered absently as Tony threw a smile at his current oldest.
“So? Which one is your favorite?” Pete asked again, his daughter blushing with a smile before answering.
“Iron Man.”