Chapter 1
Tony loved the holidays. The lake froze, snow fell, and someone always burned the turkey. Plus, Peter and his family always came to visit around Christmas. And this time, baby Anna-May, not even a year old, was coming to celebrate her first Christmas. So all around, there was a lot to be excited about.
They had shown up a few days ago, all trademark smiles and chaos. Ben had immediately broken a vase, and as MJ was apologizing Annie had thrown up on Pepper’s sweater.
But they were adorable, so there wasn’t much to be mad about.
Morgan was so excited to see Ben and Annie again, and they were just as excited to see her. Ben had run into her legs for a hug and screamed, “Momo!” The two were thick as thieves, and Tony couldn’t wait to see what trouble they’d get up to this holiday.
When Tony got a chance to look Peter over, he saw the kid looked tired and thin, but that wasn’t really surprising. He’d been in the medwing at the Baxter Building recently after a run in with the Rhino, and was still recovering. Tony hated to see him like that, but there was plenty of time to get him rested and fed while he was here for Christmas.
Now, they were playing in the yard, playing in the snow that had fallen fresh the night before.
Tony watched as Peter walked with Annie. She stood between his legs and he held onto her gloved hands as she took uncertain steps forward, her boots sinking into the soft snow. At one point she fell forwards a bit, and he lifted her back onto her feet, a smile on his face. “Whoops, I got you, Annie!” Peter said happily, looking up and catching Tony’s eye.
Tony smiled back, chuckling.
“Babbo!” Ben said loudly, grabbing his attention. “Babbo, look!”
“What is it, Ben?” he asked, looking down.
Ben was holding out his two hands, a lump of snow stuck to his gloves. “I made a ball!” he said proudly.
“Wow,” said Tony, thoroughly impressed. “Good job there, that’s a nice one.”
“Imma -- Imma give to Daddy,” Ben told him conspiratorially, in the loudest whisper Tony had ever heard.
He nodded and responded in a similar tone, “Good idea. I think he’d like that.”
“Yeah!” the three year old responded excitedly.
“He’s right over there, why don’t you bring it over to him and show him?”
“Okay,” Ben said, holding the snowball tight. “I’ll do that.”
Tony grinned as the kid made his way through the snow and over to Peter. He looked over at Morgan, who had paused in building her snowman to watch the scene, and thought about when she was this age. She’d been just as ridiculous. Now she was growing up so fast -- she was practically an adult. He wished he could turn back the clock, and have one more day with that silly little girl.
“Daddy, look!” Ben called, stepping up in front of Peter.
Peter was squatting in front of Annie now, his hands holding her up under her armpits. He looked over. “What’s up, Ben? You got something for me there?”
“Yeah!” Ben said, and without delay threw the snowball right in Peter’s face. Peter blinked as the snow slid down his cheeks.
Tony broke up laughing. “Oh, God,” he said, wheezing. “Pete, he got you good.”
“I got you Daddy! I good got you!” Ben declared.
Peter was laughing now too, and he had to set Annie down in front of him to wipe the snow off of his face. “You sure did, Ben -- you little rascal. Who taught you to do that?”
“Taught me to do that,” Ben agreed, giggling.
“Who taught you to do that?” Peter asked again.
“Me!”
“You taught yourself? That’s silly.”
“I’m silly!” Ben said, reaching down to pick up some more snow.
Peter looked up at Tony again, amused. “You sure are.”
“I have a ball!” Ben said then, laughing, and snow was flying again.
But this time, it wasn’t such a good throw. Or maybe it was, and Ben was already learning how to be a scheming older brother. Because this time, when he threw the snowball, it hit Annie’s face instead of Peter’s.
There were immediate tears, and Annie wailed her discontent.
Peter picked her up quickly and pulled her to his side, rocking her slightly. “Ben!” he scolded. “That wasn’t nice. We don’t throw things like that.”
“But I hit you!” Ben argued.
“Annie’s little,” Peter replied. “You can’t hit her like that, that’s not nice.”
Ben just looked up at him before picking up more snow and throwing it again.
Peter stepped aside easily, a frown on his face now. “Ben, are you listening? Don’t throw stuff at your sister!”
Annie was still crying, her cheeks bright red and covered in tears, and Peter turned to her, speaking softly to try and get her to calm down.
“Ben, come back over here,” Tony suggested, trying to separate them. “Let’s leave them be, okay?”
“Yeah,” Morgan said. “You can help me with the snowman! It’s really fun.”
Ben paused before smiling and turning away from his dad and his sister. “Okay!” he said happily. His boots made little footprints in the snow as he made his way back over to them.
“Here,” Morgan told him. “You can stick on the buttons. These little rocks here, you can stick them in his belly.”
“I’ll stick the buttons,” Ben nodded.
Tony glanced over at Peter again, who was pacing with a slightly calmer Annie, bouncing her on his hip. Then he looked back down at Ben. “Do you know you did something wrong?” Tony asked him.
Ben looked up at Tony, the rock held tight in his fist. His face was pink from the cold. “Daddy’s mad,” he said.
“He’s not mad,” Tony replied. “He just didn’t like to see you do that.”
“Oh,” Ben said quietly.
Tony squatted down to eye level. “Can you tell me what you did wrong?”
“Made Annie cry,” Ben said guiltily. “I put snow on her face.”
He nodded seriously. “That’s right. And why was that wrong?”
“Annie’s a baby,” he replied. “She didn’t like it.”
“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “So let’s not do that again, okay?”
“Okay,” Ben said.
“Good. Now, you gonna put that button on, or what? This man’s struggling here with no buttons on his jacket!”
Ben giggled, “No buttons.”
“You can’t walk around without buttons on your jacket! That’s just embarrassing.”
Morgan pointed at a spot on the snowman’s middle. “Put it in right there, Ben.”
Ben held it up and pressed the rock into the snow.
“Good job!” Tony said, smiling with Morgan. “You’re as good as my tailor, kid.”
“I don’t have a tail!” Ben said indignantly, looking at him like he was crazy. “Monkey has a tail.”
Tony laughed. “You’ve got me there.”
Peter walked up then, a calm but still sniffling Annie on his hip. “Hey, Ben,” he said, looking down at his son.
“Hi Daddy,” Ben replied.
“Did you talk about the throwing?”
Ben nodded. “Yeah. Babbo saids not nice since -- ‘cause Annie’s a baby.”
“That’s right,” Peter agreed. “So what do you say to your sister?”
“Sorry.”
“Yeah,” Peter said. He knelt down so Ben was level with Annie. “You want to give her a kiss? Make it better?”
“Yeah,” Ben said. He leaned forwards and kissed her cheek. “Sorry,” he said again.
Annie gave him a little smile and said, “Lah!”
“Thank you Ben,” Peter said, standing up again. “Now, do you wanna come inside with us and get some hot chocolate? Mommy said she’d make us some.”
“Hotchocate!” Ben said excitedly. “Mommy!”
“That sounds like a yes,” Peter smiled, and the three of them walked back towards the house, Peter casting a grin over his shoulder as he went.
After a moment, Morgan turned to Tony. “Well, that was adorable,” she said, chuckling.
“Very,” Tony agreed. “You were just as cute as a little toddler,” he told her, reaching a hand up and rubbing her back. “Just as annoying, too.”
Morgan smiled at him, her eyes shining. “I ever hit you with a snowball?” she asked.
“Can’t say you did that. Ben’s got you beat there.”
“Well then…” she said, an evil grin spreading over her face.
“Oh, no.”
Before he could blink, a round of snow had collided with his face.
He wiped it away, fighting a smile from his face as Morgan laughed at him. “Yup. That’s a wrap. I think I need hot chocolate, too.”
“What, no lesson on not throwing things?” Morgan teased.
“Oh, it’s too late for you,” Tony replied as they turned to walk in. “You’re a lost cause.”
“And all thanks to you, Dad,” she replied happily.
“That’s right,” Tony said. “When the police ask you why you burned down the house that’s what you can tell them.”
She rolled her eyes. “Cause that’s a slippery slope. We all know it’s snowball fights one minute and arson the next.”
“That’s right. If you’re gonna be a criminal you better do it right. Can’t be degrading the family name.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll be sure to put that on your tombstone. ‘If you’re gonna be a criminal do it right.’”
“Sounds good to me. Just tell the coroner it was death by snowball to the face.”
Morgan laughed. “You’re so weird.”
He smiled at her. “Ah, so that’s where you get it from.”
“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes again. “I’m getting hot chocolate.”
“Not too hot! That’s how the fire starts.”
“Oh, my God. You’re ridiculous.”
“Hi Morgan, I’m ridiculous.”
“I’m not even gonna dignify that with a response.”
Tony nodded serenely. “Valid,” he agreed.
They walked up the steps and inside, relishing in the warmth that hit their faces. Pepper had started a fire in the hearth, and the wood was crackling and popping. The sweet smell of cocoa and sugar was wafting through the air as they walked towards the kitchen.
Peter was standing with Ben by the counter, pouring cocoa into a cup for him. As he passed it over, Peter asked, “You got it? It’s a little hot, so don’t spill.”
MJ placed Annie in the high chair before smoothing down her curly hair with one hand and placing a bottle down with the other. Annie reached happily for the bottle, saying, “Goo-ah! La la ba da da.”
“Come and sit at the table, Ben,” Pepper said, patting the chair next to her. Ben walked over, and Pepper grabbed his cup while he climbed onto the chair. Once he was situated, he grabbed the cup back and took a sip.
Tony walked over to Peter and leaned up against the counter. “Pour me a drink, would’ja?”
Peter chuckled. “Yeah, sure. You want the giraffe cup or the hippo cup?”
“Please, Peter. You know I’m a man of taste,” Tony said. “It’s gotta be the giraffe.”
“Did you hippos are like, super dangerous?” Morgan said, grabbing the other hot chocolate. “But the babies are really cute.”
“I guess that’s just the way things go,” Tony said. He gestured to Annie, “Cute as baby, dangerous as an adult,” he finished, poking Peter in the chest.
Peter chuckled. “The Daily Bugle would agree with you there. I’m a menace.”
“No, Spider-Man’s the menace,” Tony reasoned, taking a sip from his giraffe cup. “Peter Parker’s just the contributing photographer,” he said with a wink.
“I thought you weren’t going to make fun of me for that,” Peter said, hiding behind his mug.
“Make fun of you? When have I ever done that?”
Peter and Morgan shared a look. “Uh…” Morgan said, chuckling.
“Yeah, best not to answer that one,” Peter said.
Ben’s voice came loudly from the table. “Oh no!”
Peter’s gaze snapped over. “Oh, shit, he’s spilled it. Pass me that towel, would you?”
Tony gave him the towel, and he and Morgan walked away -- Peter to clean up the spill, and Morgan to talk to MJ and Annie. Tony followed Peter and took a seat next to Pepper, away from the running hot coco river.
At that point, Annie started crying again, having dropped her bottle, and the whole kitchen was full of sound and movement.
“You know,” Tony said to Pepper, looking around at the chaos, “I was thinking earlier that I missed Morgan as a baby. But I sure don’t miss this.”
“Perks of being a grandparent,” Pepper said, wrapping her hand around his waist with a smile. “All the cuteness and none of the responsibility.”
Tony pressed a kiss to her temple. “Just the way I like it.”
Pepper looked up at him and gave him a soft look. Then she seemed to remember something, and asked him, “Did you have Peter get down the ornaments? We were gonna decorate the tree after this.”
“Not yet. I’ll tell him in a minute, though. He looks a bit wrapped up.”
“Yeah,” Pepper replied, chuckling at Peter’s attempts to simultaneously mop up the hot chocolate and keep Ben from standing in the way of the dripping mess. “That’s probably a good idea.”
Tony laughed. “God, the holidays are fun,” he said, and drank again from his glass covered in giraffes.
Later, the sun was down, the tree was decorated, and Christmas music was playing softly over the speakers. Peter and MJ had just put the kids to sleep, and now they were all snuggled up on the couches, eating from a tray of cookies. The room was warm, and softly lit by the tree lights.
“Can we watch Charlie Brown Christmas tomorrow?” Morgan asked, taking a bite of a gingerbread man.
“Yeah, we should,” Peter said. “Ben’s never seen that, I’m sure he’d love it.”
“It’s just short enough for his attention span,” MJ laughed.
“Just short enough for yours too, Peter,” Tony teased.
Peter blinked. “What was that? I wasn’t paying attention.”
They all laughed, the sound brightening the room.
“How’s Ben doing at his school?” Pepper asked when they quieted, putting an arm over Morgan’s shoulders.
MJ smiled. “He loves it, actually, which is great. We’ve even had some play dates with some of the other kids.”
“Yeah, he’s a regular socialite,” Peter joked. “It’s the natural Parker charm, I think.”
MJ chuckled at him. “Did I just hear you say ‘Parker charm?’ Where was all this charm in high school?”
“Oh, shots fired,” Morgan laughed.
Peter laughed, but then said to MJ, “Well, it seemed to work well enough on you.”
MJ rolled her eyes, but gave him a quick kiss anyways.
“Oh, get a room,” Tony said, covering his eyes.
MJ raised an eyebrow. “We have. How do you think we ended up with two kids?”
Pepper laughed and caught Tony’s eye.
“I don’t know,” Tony said, “Doesn’t the stork come and drop them off in your garden? That’s how we got Morgan.”
Morgan was covering her face. “Oh, god.”
“Well, you see,” Peter said, “Apartment buildings don’t have gardens. So we have to do things the old fashioned way.”
“What’s that?” Tony asked.
Peter shrugged. “Oh, you know. Mail order catalogue.”
Morgan was giggling, her eyes covered by her hand. “Someone needs to stop you guys. I’m right here,” she said.
“What?” Peter asked, “Your dad never told you about the birds and the bees and the mail order catalogues? I thought that talk started in middle school.”
“Someone save me,” Morgan replied helplessly.
Pepper was laughing, too, but she steered them away from the conversation. “And what about the photography?” she asked. “How’s that going?”
“He’s trying to perfect the art of the selfie,” Tony joked, leaning in to grab another cookie.
“It’s just for now,” Peter said defensively, shrugging. “It’s decent money, and I don’t have to conflict with Spider-Man. Plus, it’s been a pretty good cover.”
“No, it’s good, Pete,” Tony reassured him. “It’s creative. And they’re really good pictures.”
“Yeah,” said Morgan. “How do you even take them?”
Peter smiled at her, and shrugged. “Can’t tell you. That’s trade secrets,” he said.
Morgan rolled her eyes, and shared a look with MJ. They obviously both thought he was ridiculous.
“But you’re feeling okay?” Pepper asked, “After everything with the Rhino?”
Tony noticed MJ stiffened a little, and Peter shifted in his seat.
“Yeah,” Peter said, nodding. “I’m all good now.”
“You almost weren’t,” muttered MJ darkly, and Peter shot her a quick glance before looking away, as if pretending that he hadn’t heard. Like that could be believed from the guy with super-hearing.
“Like I said,” Peter continued, “I’m better now, so… no need to worry, or anything.”
The atmosphere turned awkward and still, and after a few minutes of stilted conversation, MJ got up and said she was going to bed.
Peter shot a desperate and guilty look after her, but didn’t follow.
Seeming to sense Tony and Peter needed to talk, Pepper and Morgan went up to bed soon after.
“So,” Tony said, breaking the silence once they had the room to themselves.
Peter brought his legs up onto the couch and refused to look him in the eye. He looked so small sitting across the room. “Yeah?”
“I noticed a little tension there, between you and MJ.”
“Oh, yeah. That.”
“Yeah,” Tony said. “‘That.’ You got any thoughts on ‘that?’”
Peter shrugged, still not looking at him. “I mean, not really.”
“Not really?” Tony asked incredulously.
“There’s not really a lot to say. She still doesn’t like me getting hurt, and I still can’t give it up.”
Tony frowned. “You can’t give up being hurt?”
Peter finally looked up at him across the table before quickly looking away. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “I can’t give up Spider-Man.”
“And Spider-Man means you get hurt,” Tony supplied.
Peter shrugged again. “Yeah. That tends to happen when you fight supervillains.”
“Huh,” Tony replied. “Who knew.”
Peter gave a small chuckle, and caught Tony’s eye again.
“So MJ doesn’t like you being hurt,” Tony prompted. “That’s not crazy. She is your wife. You have two kids.”
Peter sighed. “I know. And I understand that. And she understands why I do what I do. I just still think it doesn’t quite make sense to her for me to protect random people at the expense of our family.”
Tony paused, considering him. “Have you ever thought about giving it up entirely?”
“We’ve talked about this. I can’t give it up. It’s too big a part of me.”
“I thought the same,” Tony said. “Before I had Morgan.”
“Well,” Peter argued, “That -- that was different. The whole world changed then.”
“And your whole world didn’t change when you had a kid?”
Peter frowned. “That’s different,” he said again.
“Yeah, I know,” Tony said. “But -- it’s also not, really.” He stood up. “I’m going to bed, too,” he said. “I’ll see you in the morning. Just… try and apologize to MJ.”
“Okay,” Peter replied. “Goodnight.”
“‘Night, kid,” Tony said, and with one last glance at Peter, made his way upstairs.
He knew Peter would figure it out eventually. Tony just hoped it would happen before he got himself killed.