Steve was sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, watching Tony cook them both breakfast. It was times like this when Steve could forget everything he'd been through, everyone he's lost, and just be happy. The sort of happy where you realise just how content you are and how lucky you are to have everything you've got. He was sat, his chin resting on his palms and a content smile on his face whilst he watched Tony's back.
The smaller man was cooking bacon and pancakes, their favourite. He was humming quietly at the same time, Tony being just as happy as Steve was. He kept jumping between making a pancake and then checking on the bacon and then back to the pancakes. There was a slight skip in his step.
They'd been married for the past 3 years, quite happily. Of course they'd had arguments, very relationship does, but they never went to bed angry at each other. No matter how much they had shouted at each other, thrown things across the room and insulted each other, if they were still hadn't sorted things out by the time they were getting ready for bed they would sit down, on the edge of the bed, and talk things through until they came to an agreement. There arguments rarely got this far though and neither man could bare fighting with the other so apologised fairly quickly.
Within a few minutes the food was ready and Tony handed Steve his plate. Steve smiled that loving smile in thanks and began working his way through the food in front of him. He was already half way through the bacon and taking the first bite of his pancakes when he realised Tony hadn't touched any of his breakfast.
"Baby? What's wrong?" Tony glanced up from his plate when he heard Steve's pet name for him. He took a deep breath, as if pausing to gather his courage before he spoke.
"I've been thinking," He began, pausing again when he saw Steve's head tilt slightly with curiosity, not unlike a confused puppy. "What if we, ya no, had kids? It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world…" His voice trailed off, eyes staring at the marble slab atop the breakfast bar.
Steve stayed silent for a few minutes, considering what Tony had said. Did Tony want to have kids? With him? Obviously they'd have to adopt, but was Tony really serious about this? It wasn't just some little project he'd thought of to be discarded in a week once he was bored of it? How long had he been thinking about this? How many kids? What age? What gender? Steve's mind began to run away from him as he began panicking a little, but keeping all evidence of it hidden. He'd been close to Tony for several years now and had gotten pretty good at reading further into what Tony said but he was a bit unsure with this one.
"Are you serious? You want to have kids?" Steve studied Tony's face as he spoke, looking for any clues that this was just another one of the smaller man's jokes, but couldn't find any.
Tony nodded. "I've been thinking about it for a while. It would be cute, having a little kid to play with, teaching him the science of the suits when he's older, being the coolest dads at parents evening…" He smiled at the thought, then blushed as he realised he was talking out loud. He wasn't great with talking about how he really felt but this situation called for it.
"There would be a lot more to it than that Tony, it would be a lot of hard work, being responsible for a whole other life, that life completely dependent on you for AT LEAST a couple years. And then there's the fact we're Avengers. We've made a lot of enemies. Would we be able to keep our child safe? Would it be worth that risk? We're surrounded by violence all the time, whether on a mission or just training, is that really a good environment for a growing child?" As ever, Steve was being the rational one, thinking through every outcome, the impact their lifestyle would have on an impressionable young kid.
Tony still didn't meet Steve's eyes, he knew he would react like this. Steve had always been more responsible than him.
"We aren't fighting all the time! He wouldn't have to see us fight at all, not until he's older. And we've managed to keep the world safe these past few years, surely we can manage to keep a child safe! We could do this, I think we'd be great parents!" For the first time in this conversation Tony looked Steve in the eyes. He really wanted this, it was written all over his face but he knew he was struggling to convince Steve it would be a good idea.
Steve was silent for a long time, weighing up all his options, trying to figure how to best to say it wasn't sensible without hurting Tony's feelings. But the look on Tony's face told him that there was no way to tell him without breaking his heart so he simply nodded and said "I'll have a look around, see what I can do"
Tony smiled, doing a bad job of keeping the excitement off his face. He got up and skipped around the breakfast bar, placing his hands on each of Steve's shoulders and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. He went to skip out of the room, his breakfast untouched and forgotten but Steve stopped him, catching his wrist.
"What about your breakfast? You went to all that effort to make it and you've not touched yours at all!" Steve laughed, his loving smile once again plastered across his face. Only then did it dawn on him that Tony had probably cooked this amazing breakfast to soften him up, put him in a good mood in hope of a good reaction once he brought up the topic of having kids. He didn't mind though, he liked it when Tony made an effort.
Tony's smile faulted, realising he'd forgotten about his food completely. Without saying a word, he sat down again and begin tucking into his pancakes. Steve smiled at him, finishing off his food, and Tony smiled back sweetly. They looked happy, despite the worries flying around Steve's mind.