Reunited at last
The two weeks seemed to fly by. Steve had texted Tony random pictures of the kids when he could, and Tony would save all of them but that was about the extent to their communications. Even though Tony knew about the kids now, it seemed to change nothing between them. But that was all about to change because today was the day Tony would be arriving. He had decided to just show up the day of the party, and Steve guessed he was limiting his time. He hadn't told him who he would be bringing, but Steve had a pretty good guess that he would be bringing the whole crew.
"Come on James, I need you to cooperate with me" Steve begged his kid, who was fighting him because he would much rather stay in his pj's. Maria was in a pale blue dress, with a daisy headband on her head. James had brown pants and a cute button up blue shirt, same colour as his sister's. Steve shied away from the blue, and instead wore a red button up shirt and black dress pants. The red obviously had its symbolism. Maria had been easy to dress, but James was fighting Steve while he tried to button the shirt.
"Need a hand?" Wanda asked from the nursery doorway, but without waiting for an answer was already bouncing through the door. She had lost her accent, it only came out when she spoke really fast and it was still a little weird to hear her without it. Since being here, and having the kids be born Wanda had started acting more her age. She had turned eighteen recently and it was nice to see her so open. She spent a lot of the time with the twins, and Steve wasn't afraid to admit he started to act fatherly towards the girl, seeing her as another daughter.
"Brat won't sit still" Steve told her, and she gently pushed him out of the way to do it herself. James cooed as her hair dangled in his face, and he gently tugged on it. She had dyed it orange to hide her identity, and Steve liked it. It seemed to give her more life and colour in her skin and face. Smiling, Steve picked up Maria and waited for Wanda to finish.
"You ready for today?" Steve asked her, because while today would be tough on him he knew it would also be hard on everyone else involved. Wanda's back stiffened after he asked, but she didn't stop to look at him, choosing to focus on the buttons.
"Probably about as ready as you are" she told him honestly, and he nodded.
"No matter what happens today, you remember you are a good person. And if Tony says anything to you, you can be damn sure I'll be stepping in" Wanda shot him an appreciative smile as he said that, and he returned it. Lifting James up Wanda rested him on her hip and faced Steve.
"Ready?" he nodded and waited for her to pass before following after her. But as she passed him, she stopped to hug his side. It was a little awkward considering they were both holding a child, but Steve wouldn't complain.
"Thanks Steve" after a few seconds she let go, and Steve followed her out of the room.
"So is Vision coming?" Steve asked as they left the cabin. It was decided that the party would take in the palace ball room, because it was bigger and had working staff members.
"I believe he is. I think he's coming with Stark" Wanda no longer spat out Stark, but it was clear there wouldn't be a hugging reunion between the two anytime soon.
"That's good. No sneaking off to a broom closet" Wanda gasped as she spun around to face him, cheeks already turning rosy.
"That was one time! And you swore you would never speak of it again" she playfully punched his shoulder, and Steve chuckled. What an embarrassing moment that had been for all of them, when Steve had opened up the broom closet in the palace, thinking it was a bathroom door, and instead of a toilet he saw Wanda and Vision in a heavy make out session. Thankfully, clothes were still on.
"I don't remember promising anything" Steve teased and Wanda huffed, before marching the rest of the way to the palace. It wasn't that long of a walk, and it was peaceful and warm so no one minded. Nat, Bucky, Sam, T'Challa, Shuri, Nakia, Okoye, Queen Ramonda, and Adia were all going to be there, and a few other palace people that Steve knew. Tony would definitely bring Rhodey and Pepper, maybe Happy, and Wanda said Vision was coming, so it would be a decent sized party. Clint and Scott couldn't make it, both not wanting to risk anything with their house arrests, but soon they swore they would see each other again. And Bruce and Thor were still no shows. No one even knew if Bruce was alive.
As they approached the palace doors, the guards nodding at them as they passed, they were suddenly halted by a panting Sam. Sam still relatively looked the same from two years ago, the only difference being he had grown out his facial hair.
"It's about damn time" he huffed out, and Steve wondered how fast he had run to get so winded.
"Sorry, it took a little longer-"
"He's already here" Sam interrupted, and Steve froze. No, that wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to be here until later, when Steve was more prepared. Not now, not when he would have to do a dramatic entrance where everyone would be starring. Tony ran by his own clock, which meant everything at least three hours late, and yet he's here on time the one day he shouldn't be.
"When did he get here?"
"Half hour ago maybe. We were going to send you a message, but figured we may as well just wait and not make your walk anxious. He brought Colonel Rhodes, Vision, Pepper, and Happy. Shit Steve, he brought the whole crew, the only one he forgot was that spider thing" it didn't surprise Steve that Tony had brought everyone; they were his support people. Wanda was looking at Steve worriedly, for both herself and Steve, and Steve nodded assuredly at her.
"I'm fine. We shouldn't keep everyone waiting any longer" fixing Maria on his hip, he led the way, using his soldier walk. Head held high, shoulders back, eyes straight. He could do this. He wouldn't break down, not now. This was the moment he had been waiting for, but also dreaded. Approaching the ball room doors, he nodded at the two men keeping guard and they nodded back before opening the doors.
This is it.
The room was decorated beautifully. Pink and blue balloons were scattered across the floor, some in the ceilings along with streamers. There was a table full of presents, and another full of snacks. The dining tables either had a blue or pink table cloth on them, and there was two giant one balloons. The floor was spotless so that if Steve put the kids down they wouldn't choke on anything. Everyone had truly outdone themselves.
But despite how perfect the room looked, the company inside was anything but. There was a clear divide in the room, Team Cap on one, Team Iron Man on the other, and Team T'Challa in the middle. And then, Steve saw Tony and it was so cliche, like in one of those movies Wanda loved, but it actually seemed that time had stopped. Because there Tony was, in a fancy black suit and tie, sitting at a table between Pepper and Rhodey, Happy across from him. His hair had gotten a few more strands of grey in it, and his eye bags were still very prominent, but to Steve he looked perfect as always.
It was Shuri who noticed them first, and she clapped her hands together when she saw them.
"Well it's about time" and suddenly everyone's eyes were on them, and oh god Tony was looking at him, and Steve was no longer sure he could do this. Thankfully he was saved by Nat, because Nat was always there for him, who came over to steal Maria.
"Hello printsessa" Nat cooed, using her Russian nickname for her niece. She made eye contact with him, and he smiled weakly in appreciation. She had cut her hair again, so it fell just above her shoulders, and it was dyed blonde. He doesn't think he'll ever get used to seeing her look like this.
"You need to leave at anytime, you let me know" she whispered to him and he nodded before turning to face everyone else in the room.
"Sorry we're late. James didn't want to get dressed" his voice only broke once as he spoke, and he considered that a win.
"Of course he did, have you seen the outfit you put him in?" Bucky walked over teasing, but Steve could see how tense he was, and his eyes kept flickering to Tony's side of the room. It was like he was waiting to be attacked. Bucky looked the best out of everyone; while everyone changed their looks to loose their identity, he changed to find his identity. Physically he didn't look much different. He got a new arm that Shuri made him out of vibranium, but that was really the only physical change. It was the aura around him that had changed; it was happy, and carefree and it was like the old Bucky.
"Excuse me asshole, I helped pick out the outfits" Sam walked to stand in front of Bucky and crossed his arms.
"Exactly" Bucky smirked, and Sam punched his shoulder, a lot more gentle then he would have two years ago. Something was happening between the two of them, and Steve was happy to sit back and watch them realize they loved each other. If this was how he and Tony acted in the beginning, both hiding their feelings with snark and attitude then he understood why everyone smirked knowingly at each other when he and Tony talked. Because now he shared those smirks with Nat and Wanda.
"I think they look adorable" Queen Ramonda gracefully walked over, and smiled at everyone.
"Your majesty" Steve greeted, and Queen Ramonda rolled her eyes.
"You do not need to call me that, Captain" it was a small joke between the two. As long as Steve called her her majesty, she would call him captain. "But unfortunately I can not stay. I am needed elsewhere. Good luck" she told him before leaving, two maids following after her. She didn't hide the 'good luck' because she was a Queen in her home country, what was anyone going to do if she offended them? The room grew silent after that, nobody knowing what to do. Steve didn't know what to do. Did he go over to Tony, or did he wait for Tony to come to him?
"Cake will be served in a bit. After cake, we will do presents" T'Challa told everyone, and Shuri chimed in from beside him.
"And I would like everyone to know, I got them the best presents"
"You wish princess" Nakia teased, and that got everyone to ease up and start socializing. All except for Steve, and he could guess Tony wasn't comfortable either. Wanda set James down on the floor, and he cutely fell on his bum straight away before crawling away.
"What do I do?" Steve turned to the original four who had accompanied him, and not one of them looked like they had a helpful answer.
"Go and talk to him?" Sam suggested, but Steve quickly shook his head.
"Not while he's surrounded by people"
"Wait for him to come to you. He could be waiting for the right moment. Remember, this was all just sprung on him two weeks ago" Nat told him still holding Maria, and Steve nodded.
"I just hate waiting, I wish-"
"Steve" Wanda cut him off, looking over his shoulder at something with her mouth agape. Furrowing his eyebrows he turned to see what could be bothering the girl, and gasped. James was standing, and taking slow steps in the direction of Tony, who look horrified but also in awe of the child nearing him. It was like James knew who Tony was, and instantly felt a connection to him. James fell down, but pushed himself back up, to stubborn to quit just like both his parents. Steve along with everyone else waited to see if James would reach Tony by walking. He took a step, before another one, only falling down once more before he was holding on to Tony's knee a wide goofy smile on his face. The room erupted into cheers, and Steve to proud to think about what he was doing was approaching the table.
"Oh my god, you did it baby boy! You took your first steps!" Steve picked up James and kissed his cheek, and James clapped his hands together, like he was applauding himself.
"I'm so proud of you!" Steve looked up from James, and realized where he was standing. They were so close that if Steve slid his leg up a little more they would be touching. When he looked down, he wasn't surprised to see brown eyes already starring back. Swallowing, Steve spoke to the man he loved for the first time in person in two years.
"Hello Tony"