A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! :D I hope all of you are having a safe and wonderful holidays and I hope that your New Years is just as awesome! <3
Dedicated to @just-the-daydreamer on Tumblr. I love you so much Rebeca and I was SO HAPPY to get you as my Secret Santa! :D I hope you enjoy this one-shot hon, and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! <3 I LOVE YOU!
Disclaimer: I do not own Spider-Man or any related materials.
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"Do we really have to watch Elf again?"
"Yes! 'Course we do, Pete, then we can watch Frosty The Snowman too!"
"Again?!"
Tony glances up from where he's leaned over the island in his kitchen, frowning. The batch of Christmas cookies he had just pulled from the oven quickly start to cool against the smooth marble surface and the genius scoots to the side to allow May to take his place.
"Go check on the kids, Tony." She says with a smile, taking the reindeer printed oven mitts from his hands. "I'll take care of the cookies."
"Are you sure?"
"I think I can handle turning off the oven." May says, flicking one mitt-covered hand over her shoulder. "Go get them before they break the remote again."
Tony barks out a laugh of his own. "Yes ma'am!"
With a grateful nod, the genius makes his way to the living room, snorting at the state he finds it in.
Pillows and blankets litter the carpet, sheets draped over the couches to create something like a cave next to the coffee table. Scooting around the couch, Tony glances briefly at the TV as he passes, watching as Buddy the Elf hops along with the title sequence.
"Peter? Morgan?" He asks, leaning down and sticking his head underneath the sheet closest to him, squinting as a flashlight clicks on, Peter's curls illuminated in the yellow light. "What are you bickering about now?"
His son frowns up at him, doe eyes wide in innocence, face pulled in a grimace as he glares at his giggling baby sister.
"Morgan won't let me watch something I like!"
Tony laughs, sinking to his knees and wincing a bit as his joints pop. Faintly, the retired Avenger can hear Rhodey snort from his place on the loveseat and Tony spares him a single rude gesture before climbing completely underneath his kid's blanket fort.
"Mommy, Daddy called Uncle Rhodey #1 again!" Morgan yells, Peter wincing as the squirming 6-year-old climbs on top of his legs to reach their father.
"Tony!"
Tony himself winces, peeking his head out to plead his innocence to his wife as she passes, decked out in gingerbread themed pajamas.
"Sorry, honey! Peter put me up to it, I swear!"
"Hey!"
Pepper only smacks the back of his head, both hers and May's answering laughs ringing through the room as she gets to the kitchen.
"You'd think he would've learned by now." Happy says as he enters, scooting around Pepper. He takes a seat by Rhodey, his plate of Christmas cookies rattling. "Do you know how many times I've had to fuss at Morgan to stop yelling the F-Word when I pick her up from school?"
Rhodey laughs, taking a sip of his coco. "I can imagine."
Tony grumbles. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Next time I'll put you in charge of clean-up time when her and Peter play with legos. See how kid-friendly your vocab is after you have 3 plastic blocks sticking out of your foot."
Peter snorts this time, shifting under their fort and nearly knocking the roof off. He fixes it with a quick tug, eyes wide. "Don't act like you don't enjoy playing with legos too, Dad."
"Yeah, but having to dig them out of your skin while replacing every cuss word with 'frick' or 'dang' is a feat in itself. I'm surprised I still know how to curse correctly with all those baby shows I'm forced to watch."
"I know, those are honestly the worst." Happy says, rolling his eyes.
Rhodey sets his now empty cup down, smirking. "Says the guy who knows the words to all the Frozen songs."
Happy blanches, nearly choking on his bite of oatmeal raisin cookie. "They're catchy, okay?"
"Whatever you say, man."
"Anyways." Tony says, turning his attention back to his kids. Two pairs of nearly identical brown eyes blink up at him in the muted light and the genius swallows. "What seems to be the problem down here?"
"Peter got mad cause I wanna watch Elf!" Morgan answers, cutting her brother off as the boy huffs. "Well, it's true."
"We've already watched it three times already, Dad." Peter says, a pout wrinkling his button nose. "It's boring!"
"You're boring!" Morgan shouts.
Peter gasps. "And you're a turd!"
"You look like a turd."
"Well, you-you smell like a turd."
Morgan laughs. "Turd!"
"Bigger turd."
"Enough!" Tony reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose, exhaling a long sigh. "Enough. Stop saying 'turd,' Morgan let Peter pick the next movie and both of you, please, for the love of Jarvis, keep the bickering to a minimum."
"Please." Happy says, voice muffled through the fabric above their heads. "I can barely hear myself think above the juvenile arguing."
"You can actually think?"
"Shut up, Rhodes."
Morgan reaches over, tugging on Tony's shirt sleeve and the billionaire smiles down at his daughter. Peter leans against his side, flicking through the tablet sitting in his lap, browsing the saved Christmas movies for something to watch.
"Are the cookies ready yet, Daddy?" The 6-year-old asks, Peter's gaze lifting in interest.
Tony snorts. "Didn't we just have dinner?"
"Yeah, but cookies." Peter chimes in, the teenager wiggling his fingers in emphasis, brown eyes clouded in mirth.
Tony opens his mouth to respond, something along the lines of 'yeah but patience' when Pepper's voice filters from the kitchen and all three brunettes perk up at the sound.
"Anyone who wants chocolate chip cookies, come get 'em while they're hot."
There was a slight pause, Peter and Morgan eyeing each other, before Morgan shoots up, nearly knocking Tony onto his back. Her excited squeals and yells of "cookies!" fade to the background as she scoots into the kitchen, Pepper chiding her to slow down.
Peter and Tony start moving after a second, dismantling the blanket fort for the rest of the movie night.
"Morgana's a wild one, Pete." Tony sighs as he sits back up, allowing his son to reach around him toward the edge of the nearest sheet. "I'm sorry if she's been causing you trouble, buddy."
Peter shrugs, standing up once he has the roof taken down. He stretches, reaching down to help Tony to his feet. Once Tony's standing, he hands the other end of the sheet to his Dad, both of them starting to fold it into neat squares.
"Nope, she's been pretty good actually. Watching Elf five times in a row wasn't that great, but at least it's better than her screaming if I said no."
Tony shudders, handing the folded blanket to Happy to put on the edge of the couch. "Anything's better than that."
"Thanks for inviting us, by the way." Peter says, grinning. "It's really fun."
Tony laughs, reaching over to gently brush a stray curl behind his son's ear. "You're family, kiddo, you don't have to thank me."
Peter smiles, eyes sparkling. "I think May's more excited about the size of your kitchen then I am, though."
"She can use it whenever she wants. Pepper doesn't really cook that much anyways and I think she'd really enjoy having a sort of girls night."
Peter's eyes widen, both him and Tony weaving around Rhodey's legs toward the kitchen, the smell of the cookies causing Peter's stomach to growl so loudly he blushes. Tony laughs, tugging his kid against his side.
"I wouldn't let Aunt May anywhere near your stove, Dad." Peter laughs, grabbing a cookie from the filled plate a bouncing Morgan holds out. "She'll burn your house down for sure."
"What are you saying about my cooking, Pete?" May asks as she steps around the island, reaching out to playfully ruffle her nephew's hair.
"Nothing that's not true."
May scoffs. "Excuse me, mister, but I'm a great cook."
"Uh, huh."
"What about the roast I made a few weeks ago?"
"You burnt that, remember? We had to get Chinese instead."
May frowns, brows pulled in confusion. Pepper and Tony make eye contact over the counter, both struggling to stifle their laughter.
"What about the spaghetti? You liked that."
"It was from a box, Aunt May."
"Well," May sighs, Peter smirking a bit as his Aunt finally admits defeat. "At least I can make some pretty decent cookies."
"That you can." Peter takes a bite of chocolate chip, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. He goes red, however, at the evil eye Pepper gives him, taking the offered napkin with a grimace. "My bad."
"Now that that's all settled." Tony says, clapping his hands to gather everyone's attention, reaching down to gently pick up Morgan when she tugs at his pant leg. "Let's go watch a movie, shall we?"
Pepper follows behind him as he makes his way back to the living room, both Parkers trailing behind. "What movie did we end up deciding on? I know we had a vote a few days ago, but I completely forgot to re-check the results."
May flips out her phone, settling down beside Happy when the driver pats the seat next to him. "We has a tie for How The Grinch Stole Christmas and The Polar Express, with A Christmas Story as the big winner with 3 votes."
"That was my pick." Rhodey says with a proud wave.
Tony sighs. "I still vote for The Grinch."
Peter laughs, plopping himself beside the billionaire as Tony scoots between Pepper and the arm of the couch, curling into his father's right side as Morgan snuggles into his left, her legs laying across Pepper's. His plate of cookies is balanced against his knees, the crumble trailing down his sweatshirt as he takes a big bite, speaking in-between bites.
"Because it reminds you of yourself?"
"No, you little shi— poop ." Tony flicks Peter's ear, ruffling his hair when the spiderling yelps. "It's a classic."
"So is A Christmas Story."
"He's not wrong, Tones." Rhodey speaks up, reaching over the coffee table to reciprocate the high five Peter holds out for him. "You're just a sore loser."
Tony gasps, reaching around a nearly asleep Morgan to rest a hand against his heart. "I'm wounded. First my kid and now my Rhodey. Are you going to betray me too, Hap?"
"Maybe." Happy deadpans, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. May smacks his shoulder, trying hard to stifle her giggles. "What?! Would you rather I lie?"
"Why don't we call be quiet so I can finally start this movie?" Pepper asks, raising an eyebrow and holding up the remote. "Or would you rather we argue all night about how stupid Tony is?"
"I vote that one— ow!"
"Good one, May."
"Thanks, Rhodey."
Happy huffs, rubbing his arm. "Y'all are the worst."
Tony laughs. "And yet, you love us anyways."
"Yeah, yeah, start the movie already Pep, before we starting singing carols and holding hands."
When May reaches over to grab his hand, however, Happy makes no sound of protest. Peter and Tony share a grin, Tony tugging his son further against his side. With a quick order to Friday to dim the lights, all members of the family finally quiet down, shifting to get more comfortable as the movie begins.
"Doing okay, bubba?" Tony suddenly whispers, reaching down to gently brush a stray curl from Peter's forehead, his heart blooming when Peter leans into the touch. "All comfy?"
"Snug as a bug." Peter laughs, resting his head against Tony's chest, right below the scar of the Arc Reactor.
"What about you, Dad?"
Tony smiles, pressing a sweet kiss against his kid's temple, feeling Morgan curl up further against his other side. Pepper's palm is soft against his shoulder and Tony frees his left hand to give his wife's a gentle squeeze.
Across the room, Happy and May are pressed together, the bodyguard's arm wrapped around the elder Parker's shoulders, both their legs entangled under the blanket they share.
Next to them, Rhodey is shifting against the leather, drawing his prosthetic legs further under him. His and Tony's eyes meet for a split second and Tony grins at his best friend, Rhodey's answering smile causing his chest to warm.
My family.
Looking down into Peter's bright doe eyes, Tony answers just as TV brightens, the snow on-screen reflecting in his son's gaze.
"Never better, oh sweet Spider-Baby of mine, never better."