Christmas Cards
Peter had always liked Christmas cards. Sending out a Christmas card to update friends and family about the past year. The ups and downs of it all. Accomplishments of family members and anything else people wanted to tell their friends and family.
Peter himself had never really been in a Christmas card, and he never really received one- unless you counted Ned passing him one at school. His foster families did though. And he remembers them sending out stacks of envelopes, packed full with letters and greetings, and maybe even a picture or two. Telling everyone on the mailing list of how the kids had grown, and how Grandma was doing just fine.
Peter knew that Christmas cards weren’t as popular these days, as with emails and the internet at people’s disposal, but he still liked the thought. It seemed more personal than just shooting a text or typing out an email to wish someone a happy holiday.
He hadn’t known that Tony and Pepper were one of those select few who still sent out a Christmas card.
Peter thought nothing of Tony and Pepper wanting a family photo, decked in fancy clothes. Peter basically just told about it, handed a stack of clothes to put on and in the next half hour he was sat with the family of three in the living room while a man with very expensive looking camera stared back at them.
Peter didn’t really care about how rushed it was, since he was typically game for anything when it came to participating in anything family wise, so long as the Stark family wanted him too.
Standing around everyone, Peter noticed the similar theme of clothing. Morgan was in a red and green plaid dress. A ribbon was tied around the waist, bow black and perfect around her; tying the outfit together. She had cute little black shoes and white frilly lined socks. Pepper put her hair up in pigtails, and she was just the cutest thing Peter had ever seen.
Pepper herself was in a nice red dress, highlighting her figure perfectly. She wore black heels, similar to what Morgan was wearing on her feet, but of course with the heel Morgan’s lacked. Pepper’s hair was down; which Peter didn’t see often. She could really pull anything off, Peter thought, Pepper was really pretty.
Peter found out that he and Tony were literally wearing the same thing. Peter flushed at that, because he couldn’t imagine the billionaire wanting to match. But apparently it had been Tony’s idea.
They were in white dress shirts, dark jeans, and black blazers. Then, there was the matching ties, bright red and corresponding to the ruby red in both the girl's dresses.
The photography session had gone by in a flash.
Pepper and Tony posed Peter and Morgan together. The photographer moved everyone around to his liking and the camera flashed too many times for Peter to count. They couldn’t have been there for longer than twenty minutes.
Things only seemed to slow down when Morgan started to get fussy.
No one really told Peter what they were posing for, or why, but he assumed it was for a magazine or something. Something to promote Stark Industries. An article of the adorable Stark family, and foster kid Peter Parker.
After all, it wasn’t that weird for Peter to be a part of it, considering he was still practically Tony’s personal assistant, and now they were fostering him. His name was a known a bit.
Peter didn’t remember much, as camera flashes blinded him and he tried to remember to smile. Mostly Morgan being passed around like a doll, propped up in someone’s lap or settled on someone’s hip as everyone moved around for different poses. Peter faintly remembered, Tony’s arm over his shoulders, and Pepper wrapping her arms around him and putting her cheek beside his from behind him as instructed by the photographer.
The pose Peter remembered best from the session was probably him sitting in the wooden chair the photography had brought with him as a prop, and Peter was cuddling Morgan while Tony and Pepper stood behind them.
It had been a great deal of fun, but Peter still didn’t know what prompted the photo-shoot in the living room.
So, he incredibly was surprised when he walked into the living room one afternoon to see Tony and Pepper settled at the kitchen table; stacks of cards and envelops piled around. Tony scowled as he licked the glue residue on the envelope in his hand. Pepper’s hand moved in a steady pattern as she signed her name, as well as a small heart.
“What’re you guys doing?” Peter stepped closer, looking over Pepper’s shoulder at what she was writing.
“We’re sending off Christmas cards,” Tony sighed, “the worst time of the year.”
“Hush,” Pepper rolled her eyes. “We’ve sent cards out since Tony and I got married. Everyone’s always curious about what we get up to- or, what Tony gets up to.
“No way!” Peter grinned, “can I help?”
“You actually want to help?” Tony paused, tip of his tongue stuck out, and a grimace on his face as he held an envelope in front of his tongue.
“I love Christmas cards,” Peter admitted, slipping into the chair beside Pepper. She’s patted it while Tony was being dramatic. “One of my foster families always loved to send out Christmas cards, and I always thought it was cool.”
“They’re cute,” Pepper agreed, “Tony’s just mad he’s stuck in here helping me.”
“I’m on licking duty, can you really blame me? Do you know how awful that glue tastes after the fiftieth envelope?”
“No,” Pepper shrugged with a playful smile, “because you’re on licking duty. I have the nicer handwriting.”
“Maybe Peter should be on licking duty,” Tony scrunched his face up, “whaddya think, Petey?”
“Um, no thank you...” Peter gave him a grin. He looked back to Pepper, “who do you guys send them too?”
“Distant relatives, mostly,” Pepper explained, “my great aunts and uncles, a few of my cousins. Tony’s couple of times removed cousins...”
“Rhodey, Rhodey’s mom, Hap, Steve and all the Avengers. So, pretty much the whole universe.” The billionaire groaned.
Peter laughed at Tony’s antics and the billionaire pouted, dragging his tongue along another envelope.
“Is there anyone you want to send one too, honey?” Pepper turned a curious eyebrow to Peter. The boy froze, looking over at them. He was allowed to send one? He’d never done that before.
“I can... I can send one?”
“Of course, you can, sweetie,” Pepper leaned over to cup Peter’s cheek and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.
“You can send as many as you want,” Tony promised, raising an eyebrow of his own at Peter’s shock.
“Can I send one to Ned?” Peter asked slowly as he bit his bottom lip.
“Sure.” Tony agreed.
“And MJ?”
“Of course.”
Peter felt giddy as he watched on. Pepper handed him two Christmas cards. Peter gaped when he caught sight of the cover of the cards. It was a picture. A family photo, actually.
They looked... like an actual family. It looked completely natural. Peter blinked a couple times at it.
The photo that was on the cover was the photo of Peter sitting on the chair holding and cuddling into Morgan. He believed he was mid-cooing at her when the picture was snapped. Behind them, Tony and Pepper were stood hip to hip directly behind the chair, one of each of their hands set on the back of the chair Peter was sat in.
They looked down at Peter and Morgan with nothing but love, eyes bright and smiles small, but possible the realist Peter had ever seen.
Off to the corner of the card was a bright red ‘Merry Christmas’ printed in a swirly cursive font.
“I’m in this,” Peter stated stupidly.
“Yeah,” Tony tilted his head, setting a recently licked envelope down in his pile of ‘licked’, “why wouldn’t you be?”
Why wouldn’t he be? What a good question. “I... I uh, I don’t know. Just, a bit surprised I guess.” Because he’s never been in someone Christmas card. Mentions, possibly, but never front and center on the actual card. Peter didn’t even know people still printed their own cards.
But they were billionaires, he supposed.
Peter took a second to watch as Pepper drew another card from the stack, flipping it open and writing a couple paragraphs of updates, then signing it from the Starks. He watched as she picked up a small picture, smiling at it, then placing it in the card and putting the card in an envelope (then handing it to Tony).
The picture was another of he and Morgan. Just the two of them. Peter didn't even remember the picture being taken. He was simply smiling down at Morgan who was giggling at the photographer. Morgan stared directly at the camera, which was impressive for a two-year-old and Peter was at a perfect angle to see most of his face, even with his gaze elsewhere.
“Everyone wants pictures of the kids,” Pepper explained when she caught Peter staring at the photo being added to every card.
“Yeah,” Tony agreed, “they always grow like weeds through the year.”
Peter flushed at the billionaire’s smirk.
Peter’s attention dropped to the two cards sitting on the table in front of him. He flipped the first open, writing season greetings to MJ and her family. He bit his bottom lip, deciding that it would be a little weird sending her a picture of himself and Morgan. He drew a little picture off to the side instead. He wrote MJ’s address and the return address on the envelope, before slipping it in and licking it closed.
Ned’s card was a bit harder to write. He’s known Ned for years and years. Longer then he’d known the Stark family. He was overly proud of the family pictures, and managed to snatch a couple more of the four of them to slip in. Peter knew Ned’s mom would love to finally get some pictures of Peter and his new family to hang up.
Peter thought it was weird, but Ned assured him that it was simply because Ned’s mother viewed him as her son as well. And then things made sense, since all the walls were lined with Ned and his siblings through all ages.
He wrote everything needed on Ned’s envelope as well, grinning down at the two Christmas cards. His first two Christmas cards.
“Finished?” Pepper asked, stacking all the envelopes she and Tony had made into a neat pile. Peter nodded, handing the two over. “Perfect, we can put them in the post this weekend then.”
“Thanks,” Peter grinned at the two. They didn’t reply, but he did get smiles from them. He really hoped that they didn’t notice him snatch one of the Christmas cards and one of the pictures of him and Morgan from the table. And if he hid them in his dresser drawer, then so what.